Chapter 382

Chapter 382: New Waves Arise

Several days later, Fang Lie returned to Mo Sect headquarters, travel-worn and exhausted. He journeyed alone this time, having left the Earth’s Magnetic Force Warship and Great Earth General behind in Ten Thousand Flower Valley to guard against potential retaliation from the Jin Family.

Upon arriving, Mo Wanfang escorted Fang Lie onto the Qingyun Flying Boat.

As the vessel soared through the skies, Mo Wanfang remarked with admiration, "You’ve truly made a name for yourself! Forcing the Jin Family to kneel in apology—even the Sect Leader had to smooth things over. In all Mo Sect’s history, no outer disciple has achieved what you have."

"That only proves how pitiable our sect has become," Fang Lie retorted coldly. "Countless disciples have been wronged before me. They stood for justice but were crushed by corrupt power. Only by meeting force with force could I make truth prevail here. This isn’t my triumph—it’s my shame."

Mo Wanfang fell silent, his intended rebuttal dying on his lips. He couldn’t deny the bitter truth in Fang Lie’s words.

Though the Mo Sect posed as a Righteous Sect, its core festered with corruption. Powerful clans trampled others without consequence. Justice had vanished long ago, replaced by the iron rule of might.

In ancient times when the sect was founded, such injustices against Fang Lie would’ve been unthinkable—the Sect Leader would’ve acted immediately. Now such wrongs were commonplace. The Fang Family, last bastion of principle, stood ostracized by all. The tragedy stung deeply.

Mo Wanfang’s reverie broke as their destination came into view. He hurriedly guided Fang Lie to a mountaintop pavilion where three figures awaited around a White Jade Eight-Immortal Table.

Sect Leader Mo Qianxun occupied the central seat, flanked by the Heads of Bai and Jin Families. The two clan leaders scowled at Fang Lie’s arrival, while Mo Qianxun smiled warmly. "Fang Lie—join us."

The young man strode forward and dropped into the remaining chair. "I’m here. Speak plainly."

"Direct as ever," Mo Qianxun nodded. "First—an apology." He gestured to the Jin Family Head.

The clan leader reluctantly clasped his hands. "My subordinates acted foolishly. Though unaware, I bear responsibility for oversight." He produced an ornate box. "This Eighth-rank treasure—the Blazing Dragon Wing—enhances mechanical beasts when installed."

In truth, such components ranked below true Eighth-rank Treasures, being useless without specific mechanical beasts. The Jin Family’s cheap substitute should’ve angered Fang Lie—yet the name gave him pause.

The Blazing Dragon series included his family’s legacy weapon—the Blazing Dragon Cannon. This wing might integrate with it, potentially boosting his life-bound treasure to Eighth-rank power.

"I’ll take it," Fang Lie declared. "But deliver all 23,000 Green Fox Demons within a year—not one fewer."

"Nephew, such numbers are impossible!" the Jin Family Head protested. "20,000—perhaps 21,000…"

Fang Lie turned pointedly to Mo Qianxun. "The final matter?"

The Sect Leader gestured to the Bai Family Head, ignoring the Jin representative’s crimson face. "Tiequan Town falls under Bai jurisdiction. The transfer documents are prepared."

The Head of the Bai Family coughed once, took out a jade token and a scroll, placed them on the table, and gently pushed them towards Fang Lie, saying, "The token to control the Formation of Tiequan Town and the document of sect ownership are all here. From now on, it belongs to your Fang Family!"

Seeing his cautious demeanor, it was clear how reluctant he was.

Fang Lie didn’t care much; he picked up the jade token and dripped a drop of his blood onto it.

To his surprise, Fang Lie found that the blood did not soak into the token as expected but rolled around on it, unable to merge!

Seeing this, Fang Lie immediately frowned and asked, "What is going on? Why can’t I use my blood to refine my family’s token?"

"Well, I don’t know!" the Head of the Bai Family said, feigning calm. "Maybe your refining method is incorrect?"

"This is my family’s item. How could I be wrong? This is clearly because my authorization isn’t enough! There must be some trickery involved!" Fang Lie sneered, casually putting the jade token aside and began to flip through the scroll.

The scroll was not thick, just about ten pages long. Soon, Fang Lie found a gold-embossed page at the back. After reading it, he was immediately furious and slammed it down in front of Mo Qianxun, yelling, "Stubborn old man, you look at this and tell me what’s going on!"

Mo Qianxun was taken aback and hurriedly picked up the page, only to be left stunned.

It turned out to be a rental agreement, meaning that Tiequan Town was fully rented to the Jin Jian Sect for a period of ten thousand years for a rental fee of ten million small spirit pearls, with half paid up front at the signing!

Upon seeing this, Mo Qianxun finally understood why Fang Lie was so angry.

The income from Tiequan Town was immense, with the magma spring at the town center spouting mostly iron juice, and even the lowest quality materials being third rank, with some even as high as fifth and seventh rank!

Such a treasure trove would yield, at the very least, seventy to eighty thousand small spirit pearls annually, and potentially over a hundred thousand or even several hundred thousand in the best scenarios. Renting it out would normally fetch at least one hundred thousand small spirit pearls a year.

Ten million small spirit pearls was merely the income of one hundred years, yet it was being rented for ten thousand years!

It was known that the Thunder Tribulation Immortal had a lifespan of only three thousand years, and a Semi-Immortal would live for around five or six thousand years. Ten thousand years? Fang Lie would turn to dust!

In other words, this rental agreement was almost equivalent to taking Tiequan Town out of Fang Lie’s hands. And Fang Lie had no means to contest it.

Because this agreement was reasonable, the Bai family managed Tiequan Town, and although they did not have the right to sell it, they indeed had the qualification to sign a rental contract.

As for breaching the contract, it seemed nearly impossible. The Jin Jian Sect was not easy to deal with; it was a vassal sect of East Kunlun, established by one of their Elders.

Thus, since the reasoning was on their side, the Mo Sect could not breach the contract unless they wanted to completely fall out with East Kunlun!

Mo Qianxun was very sharp; he quickly realized that this must be connected to the Bai family; they were clearly behind this. Indeed, upon a closer look, he saw that the person who had signed on behalf of the Mo Sect was named Liu Qiang. Though he did not carry the Bai surname, he married into the Bai family, making him their son-in-law!

Furious, Mo Qianxun shouted at the Head of the Bai Family, "What exactly is going on here?"

With that, he threw the contract at the Head of the Bai Family.

The Head of the Bai Family picked it up and glanced at it, exclaiming, "Ah! What is this? How come I didn’t know about this matter?"

"Do you dare say you didn’t know?" Fang Lie sneered.

"I really didn’t know!" the Head of the Bai Family quickly denied.

"Very well. Since that’s the case, call that person who signed the contract here, and let’s ask him in public what is going on!" Fang Lie said with a sneer.

"Ah, I would like to ask, but the poor kid had bad luck. He went wandering out last month and met a Demonic Path cultivator, losing his life without escaping even his primordial spirit; what a pity!" the Head of the Bai Family said, his face filled with grievance. "In any case, that’s how it is. Even if I wanted to ask, I wouldn’t find anyone!"

"Hmph~" Fang Lie was already aware that this guy was silencing witnesses. He then coldly snorted, "So, along with him, did the five million small spirit pearls in advance also go missing?"

"Indeed, I haven’t even heard of that money!" said the Head of the Bai Family with a serious face.

Fang Lie could hardly take him seriously anymore; he directly asked Mo Qianxun, "Do you also not know anything?"

"I truly don’t know!" Mo Qianxun replied with a pained expression.

"You three stubborn old men are trying to fool me together!" Fang Lie said with a sinister smile. "Do you really think I’m an idiot?"

"Not at all!" Mo Qianxun shouted in panic, "I’m innocent!"

"Who are you?" Fang Lie sneered. "Everyone recognizes you as a wise man, and they even call you cunning and shrewd! Yet right under your nose, two of my family’s assets are nearly taken away and burned to the ground, while one is outright sold for a cheap price, and you tell me you know nothing? Do you really think I’m a fool?"