Chapter 251

Chapter 251: What a Coincidence!

Zhongzhou, Spiritual Moon Sect

Xu Mingyue anxiously looked at the army of Shenmu Sect outside the mountain gate. The reinforcements that Spiritual Moon Sect had hoped for didn’t appear. Her allies were perhaps willing to intercede for them, but they didn’t want to confront Shenmu Sect directly.

"Relatives, friends, none of them can be relied on. In the cultivation world, only strength is dependable."

Xu Mingyue clenched her teeth and said to herself, "After this battle, I hope to awaken the disciples in the sect, so they no longer fantasize about relying on men or gaining benefits through marriage. Only our own strength can be trusted."

At the same time, outside the mountain gate, two elders of Shenmu Sect were in the midst of the attack when they suddenly received news from Shenmu Sect’s stationed Void Achieving cultivators, causing their expressions to change.

"The four major families have launched a surprise attack on the sect. What should we do, senior brother?"

"Don’t panic, with Shenmu Ancestor present, the sect has nothing to worry about."

"But Shenmu Ancestor wants us to go back and support, to take down two Tao Achieving cultivators."

"After we leave, what should we do? When the time comes, it may be all for nothing, like drawing water with a bamboo basket. Our disciples could also be in danger. We must proceed cautiously."

Ancestor He said, he hated the four great clans very much right now. It is their thriving moment, yet they have actually dug into his old nest. If Spiritual Moon Sect becomes stronger, they might even face the crisis of being completely destroyed.

"Senior Brother, think of a solution quickly."

"Don’t panic, don’t expose any weaknesses. Gather our forces and have them stop making noise. I will handle this."

Ancestor He immediately realized what to do. He halted the attack and then gathered the troops. Once the troops were assembled, Ancestor He stepped forward and shouted.

"Xu Mingyue, why don’t you come out and talk?"

"Ancestor He, you have your army pressuring us. What is there to talk about?"

"So, are you planning to annihilate our sect?"

"How does Ancestor He want to negotiate?"

Xu Mingyue finally walked out of the mountain gate. The Spiritual Moon Sect is no match for the Shenmu Sect at all. Ancestor He wanted to talk, and she couldn’t ask for more.

"The Spiritual Moon Sect will give up the Siling Mountain’s Spiritual Stone Mine and the surrounding three hundred miles of land. They will return the Five Layered Divine Fruit or equivalent spiritual medicine. They will compensate the Shenmu Sect for the loss of two billion spirit stones due to their military actions. They will publicly apologize and send one hundred female disciples to serve as slaves in the Shenmu Sect. I will withdraw the troops after this."

"Ancestor He is being too deceitful."

Upon hearing this, Xu Mingyue became furious. The Siling Mountain’s Spiritual Stone Mine is a large mine under the control of the Spiritual Moon Sect. It produces millions of spirit stones every year and can continue mining for hundreds of years. This is like cutting off a piece of flesh from the Spiritual Moon Sect. As for sending one hundred female disciples as slaves to the Shenmu Sect, it is a humiliation to the Spiritual Moon Sect.

"Either negotiate or fight, Xu Mingyue. You’ve seen it too, who else in Zhongzhou is willing to fight for you?"

"The Spiritual Moon Sect is willing to compensate the Shenmu Sect with the Moonlight Divine Herb instead of the Five Layered Divine Fruit. They will compensate for the loss of one billion spirit stones due to the Shenmu Sect’s military actions. They will publicly apologize. This is my bottom line, there is no room for negotiation. If you want more, then let’s fight. Although the Spiritual Moon Sect is mainly composed of women, we still have our dignity."

"I see that you’re looking for death. Otherwise, let’s fight one-on-one. If I lose, I will immediately withdraw and forget about this matter. But if you lose, you must agree to what I just said, plus one more thing, you will become my concubine."

"You, surnamed He, how dare you!"

"Yes, I dare to. What about it? Do you dare?"

"You…"

Xu Mingyue was breathing heavily, but she really didn’t dare to agree. They had similar abilities, but Shenmu Sect was a powerful and well-established sect, while Xu Mingyue knew she was no match for them in terms of strength and knowledge. They practiced different secret techniques and used different weapons. Xu Mingyue knew she was not their equal.

"Hurry up and decide, either fight or talk."

"I…"

Just as Xu Mingyue was about to relax and lower the stakes, she suddenly heard a voice in her ear saying, "Mingyue, I received news that the Shenmu Sect is in trouble. The four major families of the Qing State have attacked the Shenmu Sect’s gates, and Shenmu Ancestor is engaged in a desperate battle."

As soon as the voice fell, Xu Mingyue moved quickly and immediately returned to the gates of the Spiritual Moon Sect. This surprised Shenmu Sect Ancestor, as they knew that Xu Mingyue must have learned the secret behind their ceasefire.

There was no other way, the battle between the four major families and Shenmu Ancestor created too much commotion. It couldn’t be kept a secret, so they wanted to resolve it quickly.

"What’s going on? Where did you get the news?"

"Multiple sources have confirmed it. There is a lot of activity."

"The Shenmu Sect has a long-standing heritage. It should have connections with ancient family clans like the Four Great Families. Why did they start fighting?"

"I don’t know either, but Mingyue, you must not agree to anything from them. They want to go back even more than we do now."

"Understood."

Xu Mingyue nodded, and then she arrived at the mountain gate once again.

"Ancestor He, Ancestor Yu, let’s talk about how to proceed."

"What do you want to discuss?"

"The Spiritual Moon Sect wants to apologize and compensate you with the Moonlight Divine Herb for your Five Layered Divine Fruit, as well as two billion spirit stones. How does that sound?"

"Hehe…"

Ancestor He sneered, this offer was even lower than before.

"Senior brother, agreed, Shenmu Ancestor is urging, the mountain gate is urgent."

"Junior brother, how can we give up now?"

"Senior brother, Spiritual Moon Sect is weak, after this matter, the two sects will surely be regarded as enemies. We can’t swallow Spiritual Moon Sect in one bite anyway, we can slowly absorb and merge with them in the future. Right now, we need to save the mountain gate. Tao Achieving Ancestor is in a fierce battle, it’s easy to destroy the mountain gate. If we upset Shenmu Ancestor, Shenmu Sect will be finished."

"Alright, let’s do it like this then."

As soon as Ancestor He heard this, he immediately felt it made sense. They weren’t confident they could conquer Spiritual Moon Sect in one battle anyway. They could take it slowly in the future.

········

"Let’s go."

Shenmu Sect’s mountain gate, without Shenmu Ancestor desperately fighting, Ancestor He of the Yu family and Ancestor He of the Lu family broke through the Shenmu Sect’s mountain gate array and disappeared from everyone’s sight.

It took a while before Tao Achieving Ancestor of Shenmu Sect appeared in front of everyone.

"Ancestor, we arrived late."

"You know you’re late. A woman can keep you all waiting for so long. If I were you, I would find a place to hang myself."

Shenmu Ancestor became very angry. The disciples below the gate didn’t know what was going on. How could they not know? Shenmu Ancestor’s situation was impossible to fight back. They should have come back long ago.

"Ancestor, the disciples have learned their lesson."

"Enough talking, how do we resolve this?"

"We can’t just let it go easily. We will go to Qing State to demand justice."

"Start the war and wipe them out."

"We can’t win."

Ancestor He sighed bitterly. The four major clans occupy the entire Qing State. How can the Shenmu Sect, with such a small territory, be their opponent?

"Waste, all of them are useless. The mountain gate has been invaded by others, yet they don’t dare to show any courage…"

Shenmu Ancestor continued scolding, both of them bowed their heads and endured the scolding. They were not as willful as Shenmu Ancestor. They had to consider the whole Shenmu Sect. Spiritual Moon Sect was weak, so they bullied them. The four major families were powerful, so they could only express themselves and not dare to send a large army to fight. This is what a qualified leader should do.

After scolding for a while, Shenmu Ancestor couldn’t be bothered with them and they ran away immediately as if granted amnesty. Shenmu Ancestor returned to the treetops, where Lin Batian had been hiding for a long time.

"A group of waste, I am so angry!"

"Shenmu Ancestor, don’t be angry. If it were me, I would also act in the same way. After all, the four major families are strong."

"Then what’s the point of cultivating immortality? As a prestigious Tao Achieving Ancestor, you can’t even enjoy the satisfaction of revenge. It’s better to be an ordinary person."

"Everyone has different pursuits, we shouldn’t demand too much. If the two senior brothers were just independent cultivators, solitary individuals, then there would be nothing to fear. But they have a big family."

"In the end, they are still worthless. So many years have passed, but they haven’t even reached the Disaster Crossing Period."

Lin Batian fell silent. This old man’s personality is indeed a bit strange. He won’t say anything more. It has been like this for hundreds of thousands of years, unchangeable.

"How is your secret technique practice going? Hurry up and finish, then get lost!"

"It will take some more time. The four major secret techniques are not easy to master."

"Back in the day, the Green Emperor achieved mastery in less than ten years. I think you will never achieve it in your lifetime."

"I wouldn’t dare to compare myself to the Green Emperor."

Lin Batian shook his head. The disciples of the four major families grew up listening to stories about the Green Emperor. They knew how powerful he was. He could defeat enemies from different realms, killing Golden Core cultivators with Nascent Soul cultivation, and Nascent Soul cultivators with Soul Changing cultivation. Moreover, he fought face-to-face without using schemes, unlike Lin Batian, who relied on cunning tactics.

"I don’t want to talk to you anymore. It’s boring. Just go away."

"Yes, Elder."

Lin Batian smiled and then flew down from the treetop. The treetop of the Shenmu Ancestor was not accessible to everyone.

In the following days, the Shenmu Sect first negotiated with the Mingyue Sect. The Mingyue Sect apologized and compensated for the losses. Although the compensation was not much, it restored the honor of the Shenmu Sect and they didn’t suffer any loss themselves. The other two groups from the Shenmu Sect were busy raiding and plundering within the Spiritual Moon Sect’s territory, and they didn’t need to return any of the spoils.

After the incident, the leader of the Spiritual Moon Sect took the elite members of the sect and went to the Qing State for justice. They first conquered several small cities and then demanded the four major clans to take responsibility.

The ancestors of the Yu family and the Lu family appeared and had a fight with the ancestor of the Shenmu Sect. Both sides were evenly matched and couldn’t defeat each other, so the matter was dropped.

However, afterward, the Shenmu Sect announced sanctions on the Qing State and expelled all Qing State businesses from their territory. There was a clear trend of the two families severing ties with each other.