Chapter 696

Chapter 696: Regret Not Falling

Seeing Mo Qianxun successfully fool Immortal Lan Shan, Fang Lie and Huo Wufang were filled with admiration.

It seemed like a trade of secret methods where no one would lose, but in reality, there was a significant difference.

You see, the Earth Fire Dragon Worm warship of the Mo Sect had already been sold. Without the secret method, they could reference it and develop their own within a few thousand years. Although it wouldn’t be as powerful as the original, it could still reach Seventh-Rank level, completely capable of forming a large fleet.

However, the secret methods from West Kunlun couldn’t merely be secured by buying a few treasures.

High-level treasures couldn’t be recklessly refined with just good materials. From the very beginning of the refining process, it had to strictly follow the secret method—when to add what auxiliary materials, what flames to use, and which Divine Pattern Restrictions to apply—all needed to be exact.

Otherwise, the power of the crafted treasures would be greatly reduced, and their potential would be lost, making it difficult to advance.

These refining methods were closely guarded secrets of each sect, such as the Ten-Thousand Gu Flag from the Ten-Thousand Gu Sect and the Abbot Stone from Abbot Mountain, each with its own distinct features.

Yet only West Kunlun, inheriting the legacy from the ancient Kunlun Divine Sect, had access to dozens of thousands of methods for crafting treasures, including flags, Master Fa Yin, altars, gourds, jade, robes, battle armors, Flying Swords, and much more. They encompassed nearly every design and type of treasure, all compiled in the "Yuqing Secret Record of Treasure Refinement," the most famous treasure crafting method in the world.

It could be said that the strongest treasure crafting sect in the world was indeed West Kunlun. Other sects, even if they had good materials, might still struggle with crafting and remain concerned about the refining methods.

But in West Kunlun, they worried only about the lack of materials. No matter how powerful the materials were, they could always find a refining method, often more than one.

Because of this, West Kunlun held the largest and most powerful collection of treasures in the world.

On the surface, their number of Eighth-Rank treasures was similar to that of the Mo Sect, around one hundred, perhaps a little less.

But just like the Mo Sect did not count their Eighth-Rank warships, West Kunlun also didn’t account for their complete sets of treasures.

What was most renowned in West Kunlun wasn’t a single treasure, but sets of complete treasures, such as the Five Elements Beads and the Seven Star Sword Formation, where each set contained five or seven treasures. Then there were the even more outrageous Heavenly Gang Earth Fiend Zhu Xian Flag sets that contained one hundred and eight pieces. Many of these main treasures were Eighth-Rank, but they were not counted individually.

If the Mo Sect’s unapproachability stemmed from their powerful warships, then the reason West Kunlun could move freely across the world was undoubtedly due to these complete sets of treasures.

If they could somehow acquire some treasure refining methods from this, the Mo Sect would undoubtedly strike it rich.

It’s also worth mentioning that West Kunlun had paid a heavy price in precious treasures for the Immortal Spirit Jellyfish yet had not achieved their intended purpose, at most forcing the Mo Sect to agree to a fair trade.

To exchange such a high-grade treasure merely for the qualification to trade was clearly a tremendous loss, but West Kunlun did not dare to refuse. If they angered Mo Qianxun, he would truly expose the weaknesses of the Earth Fire Dragon Worm warship everywhere, putting West Kunlun in grave danger.

Counting it all up, it was West Kunlun that had fallen into Mo Qianxun’s trap, taking a serious loss. It’s no wonder Immortal Lan Shan was so furious.

Clearly outwitted, they ended up losing to Mo Qianxun, such cleverness was truly admirable. The nickname "Old Fox" was not unfounded.

Amid their admiration, Fang Lie and Huo Wufang did not forget to praise him, and Mo Qianxun smiled with satisfaction, then sent them on their way.

As Fang Lie and Huo Wufang left, they soon encountered two Thunder Tribulation Immortals who came to pay their respects to Mo Qianxun.

The two looked middle-aged, one in a green robe and the other in blue, both surrounded by swirling water vapor, and one could faintly hear the sounds of the tide – a clear sign of a peak performance of a certain water element method.

Upon seeing Fang Lie and Huo Wufang, their eyes brightened, and they quickly stopped to clasp their fists and bow, saying, "Greetings, Token Lord Huo and Elder Fang!"

Huo Wufang and Fang Lie did not dare to be negligent in their response, "Greetings, Elder Li and Elder Tian!"

"May I ask, did you come to escort the Immortal Spirit Jellyfish?" Elder Li inquired directly.

Huo Wufang and Fang Lie immediately understood their purpose, relieved that they had handed over the Immortal Spirit Jellyfish, or they would surely have been entangled by them.

"It has already been delivered to the Sect Leader!" Huo Wufang quickly nodded.

"In that case, we take our leave!" The two said no more and hurried straight to where Mo Qianxun was.

"Hehe~" Fang Lie smiled slyly as he flew beside Huo Wufang, "The Sect Leader is in trouble now!"

"Yes, neither of those two has the potential to advance to the late Thunder Tribulation stage, but refining the Immortal Spirit Jellyfish opens a path to the Semi-Immortal level! Opportunities like this may not come around even once in a lifetime, how could they not be anxious?" Huo Wufang said, then suddenly grinned. "But they will probably be disappointed, since this thing most likely belongs to your fiancée, Mo Lanyun, right?"

"Ahem!" Fang Lie coughed awkwardly twice, "It’s reasonable that the capable should take charge!"

"Nonsense~" Huo Wufang scoffed, "In the end, it still relies on backstage support! If Mo Lanyun weren’t the Sect Leader’s granddaughter and your fiancée, what if she was born with spiritual roots? She wouldn’t stand a chance against a Thunder Tribulation Immortal!"

"Sigh~" Fang Lie sighed heavily, his expression helpless. "I admit what you say is correct, but logically speaking, it’s better to give this precious treasure to a talent rather than letting two mediocre fellows waste it! After all, we are just the bottom level of the Mo Sect. The higher our produced talents, the more it helps those in power. I believe that even if our ascended ancestors were here, they would let Lanyun refine the Immortal Spirit Jellyfish."

"You make a valid point. If Lanyun refines it, even after ascending, she remains a peerless talent who can continue to bring glory to the Mo Sect. Those two would just be mediocre in the Immortal Realm, wasting it!" Huo Wufang nodded, then added, "Forget it; we don’t need to worry about this. Let the Sect Leader deal with the problem!"

"Hehe!" Fang Lie grinned, "No one would willingly give up an opportunity to ascend. Those two stubborn old men are sure to drive the Sect Leader crazy. I really want to see how that Old Fox squirms!"

"Hahaha!" The two began laughing heartily at the thought.

Meanwhile, after Immortal Lan Shan ended the communication with Mo Qianxun, he looked angrily at the Sword God beside him and said, "Junior Brother, I have said it many times; you are only suited to wielding the sword while I am better at refining treasures. None of us can outsmart Mo Qianxun! But you wouldn’t listen; and now look at the result? The Immortal Spirit Jellyfish was practically given away, and we will have to offer up our ancestral refining methods. We’ve really suffered!"

The Sword God wore an awkward expression, with nothing to say.

In fact, using the Immortal Spirit Jellyfish had been his idea, hoping to take advantage of the Mo Sect. However, he did not anticipate Mo Qianxun’s slyness. They ended up with no advantage and instead took a big loss.

Yet Immortal Lan Shan did not fully blame him. Soon, he smiled bitterly, saying, "Sigh, Junior Brother, please don’t blame me. I was angry and misspoke. I admit I was also greedy and nodded in agreement; you can’t blame it all on you!"

"Not at all~" The Sword God smiled wryly, "As brothers, let’s not speak of this. I will take responsibility for my part. The Immortal Spirit Jellyfish belongs to us; we’ll split the refining methods equally!"

Though East Kunlun was weak in refining, they excelled in crafting Flying Swords specifically. They would not acknowledge anyone as first if they were second.

Hearing this, Immortal Lan Shan smiled bitterly, "The Immortal Spirit Jellyfish may be said to be ours, but it’s still a secret inheritance of Kunlun, a shared resource between both sects. If we lose it, we all bear responsibility, so there’s no need for compensation. My only worry is whether that old scoundrel Mo Qianxun will scheme against us!"

"What do you mean?" The Sword God furrowed his brows.

"Even if we used half of the Earth Fire Dragon Worm warship to trade for other warships, the remaining ones are still our main forces. If Mo Qianxun publicizes the weaknesses of the Earth Fire Dragon Worm warship, we’re in big trouble!" Immortal Lan Shan said, gritting his teeth.

"Is that possible? They still have half of it!" The Sword God frowned.

"You know the Mo Sect’s resources. Do you think they care about a mere handful of Seventh-Rank warships?" Immortal Lan Shan replied helplessly, "We need to be cautious about this!"

"I understand!" The Sword God nodded, then solemnly said, "At worst, we can exchange the remaining half with other sects. Even if we take a loss, it can’t leave potential troubles behind."

"Smart, let’s do that!" Immortal Lan Shan nodded, then asked, "By the way, Junior Brother, do you really want to deal with Fang Lie?"

Upon hearing this, the Sword God fell silent for a moment, then worry crept into his voice, "You saw it too; that junior has grown to the point where I can’t match him, and he’s still only at the Qi Sea level! If he advances later—it’s not even necessary for him to reach a high level—just the Wind Tribulation or even the Nascent Soul level would be beyond my reach! Would there still be a way for East Kunlun to survive?!"

"Even if he is the strongest semi-immortal, he can’t break through the Kunlun Formation by himself, right?" Immortal Lan Shan frowned.

"Why not?" The Sword God said with a bitter smile, "He already has three hundred clones; how many will he have at the Semi-Immortal level? Ten thousand? Or twenty thousand? Five-digit Semi-Immortals, and each fearless enough to self-detonate at any time—do you really think the Kunlun Mountain formation can endure that?"

"This~" Immortal Lan Shan gasped, "Indeed, the Kunlun protective array is incredibly strong. Without Ninth-Rank treasures to assist, even a few hundred Semi-Immortals can be easily dealt with, but several thousand is a different story. If thousands of Semi-Immortals come, and they can self-detonate at will, it would definitely fall!"

Thinking of this, Immortal Lan Shan felt cold sweat trickling down his back, unable to help but sigh, "If I had known things would come to this, why would I have acted in the first place!"