Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master

Chapter 1491: Chapter 611: We’re at a Disadvantage Now_2

Jin Mantang slapped his plump hand. "Yes, yes, yes, you can’t press all your business onto a single shop. We will invest in Flowing Gold Guest, but we cannot invest only in Flowing Gold Guest. My thought is, since everyone made a move last time, this time we must also advance and retreat together; we absolutely cannot scatter our strength."

"We not only have to invest in Flowing Gold Guest together, we also have to search for other candidates together."

Everyone once again fell into silence.

Under this plan, the contribution from each faction would far exceed before.

Jin Mantang had long anticipated this silent response; he had already guessed the hearts of men a step in advance. At this moment he struck straight at the heart: "Fellow Daoists, we all know what our relationship is; there’s no need to say it. Only by acting together, no matter in which direction, and all taking part, will we avoid falling apart and splitting up."

"If we don’t unify our actions, any operation targeting Nanming Village is bound to fail!" Jin Mantang said, firm and decisive.

Lei Wangyue’s expression was gloomy, Xu Duanchao’s eyes were cold, the Golden Hairpin Old Woman closed her eyes and said nothing, and Qiu Lei lowered his head, watching the slowly flowing earth qi beneath the Cloud Case. None of them answered immediately.

Deep in the Artifact Refining Hall.

A Black Iron Furnace stood heavy and still, earth fire surging in its belly, scarlet light reflecting off the four walls like blood.

Tie Kuang’s arms were bare, his broad palms pressed on the furnace rim, corded muscles glinting with an iron-like dull sheen in the firelight. He looked rough and boorish, yet there was not the slightest recklessness between his brows; instead, he was like an old hunter staring at the footprints of a beast deep in the mountains, eyes沉沉, thoughts heavy.

A subordinate stepped forward and, in a low and rapid voice, reported the situation at the Nanming Village council.

Tie Kuang listened, and did not speak for a long time.

Throughout the entire council, Ning Zhuo had never once mentioned Qiyuan Cloud Nest.

This place was not something Tie Kuang mentioned casually.

It could both fit the last twenty percent of the Nanming Fire Furnace’s repair, and allow the Artifact Refining Hall to justifiably intervene in Nanming Village’s冲峰.

As long as Ning Zhuo adopted this plan, the hidden flaws would ensure that, in future, whether repairing the furnace, mining, holding the territory, or refining materials, Nanming Village could not get around the Artifact Refining Hall, nor could they get around him, Tie Kuang.

Yet Ning Zhuo acted as if he had never heard of it.

He didn’t mention it at all.

Tie Kuang’s palm slowly tightened on the furnace rim. "He didn’t take a liking to it?"

As soon as this thought arose, Tie Kuang’s heart sank.

If Ning Zhuo hadn’t taken a liking to it, that meant his previous increase in stakes was insufficient, that the allure of Qiyuan Cloud Nest still could not outweigh Ning Zhuo’s wariness. Then he would have to continue raising the price.

But another possibility made Tie Kuang even more uncomfortable.

"Or is it... that he has seen through it?"

Firelight flickered in Tie Kuang’s eyes.

This Ning Zhuo, though he looked young, had in reality extremely seasoned methods. He used debt claims to determine seating order, used Flowing Gold Guest to establish prestige. With the spoils of war he released rumors, forcing Flowing Cloud Peak to follow up. He even used the external pressure from Flowing Cloud Peak to force Nanming Village into unity!

If Ning Zhuo had already seen through the connections behind Qiyuan Cloud Nest and deliberately refrained from mentioning it, then things would be troublesome.

In truth, whichever it was, it was very bad.

Tie Kuang suddenly loosened his hand; the furnace rim let out a low, muffled sound.

The subordinate beside him trembled inwardly, not daring to raise his eyes.

Tie Kuang lifted his hand, and a streak of scarlet light flew out from the furnace fire, fell into his palm, and turned into a Fire Seed.

"Tell Ning Zhuo that I can personally make a move and oversee the repair of the last twenty percent of the Nanming Fire Furnace. The Earth Fire Room of the Artifact Refining Hall, the Firework Steward, and the Furnace Testing Array Master can all be mobilized."

"As for Treasure, the Artifact Refining Hall can provide three catties of Heavenly Furnace Red Marrow to补炉膛火骨; nine taels of Lizhu Phoenix Pattern Copper to续炉壁羽脉; one box of Mystic Bright Spirit Sand to Suppress the Furnace Spirit’s panic; seven bottles of Nine-Turn Earth Fire Liquid to wash and refine the old furnace’s Fire Vein; twelve pieces of Mica Fire Embryo Crystal to buffer the conflict when the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit overlaps with the newly repaired furnace body."

The subordinate listened in shock.

Any one of these Treasures, taken out alone, would make a Golden Core Refiner green with envy.

And then he heard Tie Kuang say, "Besides that, I can also gift a piece of Fuyao Tinder."

The subordinate jerked his head up, blurting, "Hall Master!"

Fuyao Tinder was nourished at the convergence of wind and fire. Its fire was not focused on burning and destroying, but on rising, supporting, and driving. Used in repairing the Nanming Fire Furnace, it was extremely suitable, because the Furnace Spirit of the Nanming Fire Furnace was in the form of a Vermilion Bird, perfectly matching the intent of Fuyao rising on the wind.

The subordinate lost composure; Tie Kuang gave him a faint glance.

The subordinate immediately lowered his head.

"But make the condition clear as well," Tie Kuang said. "From now on, Ning Zhuo must provide Inheriting Dao Jade Pages to the Artifact Refining Hall on a long-term basis."

The subordinate waited a moment. Seeing that Tie Kuang still did not speak, he could not help but ask softly, "Hall Master, how many?"

Tie Kuang said, "You go negotiate. However many you can get is however many."

The subordinate took the order and withdrew.

Tie Kuang did not stop there.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly summoned a trusted cultivator.

"Let some wind out," he lowered his voice.

The trusted cultivator also spoke softly. "What wind does Hall Master wish to let out?"

Firelight was沉沉 in Tie Kuang’s eyes. "Say that Nanming Village has already been secretly selecting a station on Flowing Cloud Peak. It is not an ordinary Cave Mansion, nor an ownerless valley, but the foundation land of some major power on Flowing Cloud Peak."

The trusted cultivator continued to ask which major power it was exactly.

Tie Kuang said, "There are so many major powers on Flowing Cloud Peak; you can compile it yourself. Just remember to lay out your analysis clearly. As long as it draws attention and people feel the logic is smooth—vivid and detailed—that will do."

The trusted cultivator also took the order and withdrew.

Staring at the furnace fire, Tie Kuang sneered inwardly. "In this way, all the major powers will be on guard, and pressure will swarm around Ning Zhuo. By contrast, the Qiyuan Cloud Nest that I proposed happens not to be under any major power."

The Envoy, carrying Tie Kuang’s intent, immediately came to the front of Ning Zhuo’s Cave Mansion and delivered a visit letter.

Before long he was led inside and saw Ning Zhuo.

After the negotiation ended, Ning Zhuo courteously sent the Envoy out.

The Envoy’s expression was unsightly, his heart still echoing with Ning Zhuo’s polite rejection—

"Please inform Iron Hall Master that Ning has taken to heart the generosity of your Treasures. As for the matter of the Inheriting Dao Jade Pages, it is not that we cannot discuss it."

"It is just that the Nanming Fire Furnace is the very foundation of Nanming Village; all matters of furnace repair must be jointly discussed by all creditors. The Inheriting Dao Jade Pages are Ning’s private property; for long-term supply, we must all the more calculate carefully."

The Envoy was filled with doubt. "Why? With such generous terms, Ning Zhuo actually didn’t agree? This even includes a Fire Seed."

Ning Zhuo’s gaze was deep. "Inheriting Dao Jade Pages? Heh, that’s just a smokescreen Tie Kuang deliberately raised."

"I never once mentioned Qiyuan Cloud Nest, and it made him anxious."

"He wants to lower the price, but worries that directly lowering himself like that would be very unfavorable to the specific negotiations to come. So he deliberately used the Inheriting Dao Jade Pages to cover up his own passive situation."

Tie Kuang had made a small mistake. He had his subordinate go negotiate the number of Inheriting Dao Jade Pages, causing the subordinate to appear overly enthusiastic, which let Ning Zhuo keenly catch that his motives were impure. As a result, Ning Zhuo, by probing obliquely, smoothly deduced the specifics of Tie Kuang’s task.

"No rush, no rush."

Ning Zhuo’s gaze was幽幽. "As of today, I am no longer a solitary man."

After the council, Cultivators of Nanming Village began to make moves.

The first to act was not the Red Robe Guest, but Situ Xing.

He sent out a visit letter, publicly challenging the Broken Water Blade Pavilion.

After discussion, the Blade Pavilion did not send a Golden Core Cultivator to fight, but instead selected a Peak Foundation Establishment Blade Cultivator named Gu Kongliu.

He had a thin face, brows like blades, and in his hand a narrow-backed long knife, its blade dark green, its presence imposing.

A great many Cultivators came to watch this battle.

Gu Kongliu’s Blade Skill was extremely strange; his blade moves did not seek to cut men, but to sever the connections between Sword Qi. All of Situ Xing’s Starlight Sword Qi were cut off midway by him; the Sword Qi split like a broken star river, scattering light fragments across the field.

Situ Xing’s eyes tightened. He did not force an assault. His Flying Sword turned; the Star-drawing Sword became seven cold points of light, circling the arena to form a Beidou pattern.

Seeing this, Gu Kongliu finally drew his long knife.

With a single slash, he actually brute-forced open a corner of Situ Xing’s newly formed Sword Array.

The spectators on the sidelines immediately cheered in droves.

The Cultivators of Broken Water Blade Pavilion wore expressions of pride.

But as the battle went on, Situ Xing’s tactics took shape. The Seven-Star Sword Light closed in from all directions, like shifting stars, cold light linking into a single line.

Gu Kongliu swung his knife across, cutting repeatedly, but managed only to sever three points of Starlight; the remaining four passed through his blade force and pressed against his throat, brow center, heart, and Lower Dantian.

Gu Kongliu was defeated.