Chapter 543 - 23: A Vicious Proposal
The outcome of their discussions was to hold a ’life-and-death arena match’. This was a method the Daoist Scripture Hall often used in the past to resolve disputes. When two conflicting parties truly could not be reconciled, the Daoist Scripture Hall would set up a life-and-death arena and have the cultivators from both sides fight to the death.
The victor was considered to be in the right; whether the loser had a valid grievance became irrelevant.
The problem, however, was that the Daoist Scripture Hall of old held immense prestige. Its reclusive First Seats were all True Monarchs, and though they never showed themselves, no one dared to underestimate them.
The Daoist Palace of today, to put it nicely, was a grand alliance jointly formed by the Southern Cultivators. In reality, however, it was just a makeshift group that Zhi Gong Daoist had thrown together with Wang Ping and the others. Their greatest pillar of support was merely Wan Zhi Daoist.
It would have been fine if Zhi Gong Daoist could have remained fair and impartial. The problem was, she hadn’t. Instead, she was actively fanning the flames of conflict between the factions.
"Whose idea was this?" Zi Luan asked, his tone sharp. He placed a stone on the board and looked at Qin Zifeng.
"It was proposed by the cultivators from Hai Zhou Road," Qin Zifeng replied, cupping his fist.
"Interesting..."
Wu Quan mulled it over for a moment before looking at Zi Luan. "From the perspective of the Hai Zhou Road Cultivation Realm, there’s nothing for them to gain from this, win or lose."
Yu Lian drained her cup in one gulp. Sizing up Qin Zifeng, she asked, "You seem to have some thoughts on the matter. Why not speak them?"
Qin Zifeng offered a modest smile. He glanced at his master, Zi Luan, and only spoke after receiving a nod. "The most likely scenario is that the Hai Zhou Road cultivators have moles in other sects. They’re confident they can muddy the waters, escalating the original conflict between Mozhou Road and Hai Zhou Road into one that involves the entire Southern Cultivation Realm."
CLICK.
𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Ganxing placed a stone with authority. He looked at Qin Zifeng and smiled. "Very good. A clever young man."
Wu Quan turned to Wang Ping. "Zhi Gong Daoist is your ally, isn’t she? I’ve heard her disciples often cultivate at Qianmu Temple. If this really goes to a life-and-death arena, I’m afraid your Qianmu Temple will be targeted."
Wang Ping picked up his teacup and looked at Qin Zifeng. "Were any disciples from my Qianmu Temple present during their discussion?"
"No, Martial Uncle!"
"Heh."
Wang Ping gave a soft laugh, saying nothing more.
Zi Luan waved a dismissive hand. "You may go."
"Yes!"
Qin Zifeng cupped his fist in salute, then transformed into a streak of light. With a sound of rushing air, he vanished over the horizon.
Wang Ping produced a Communication Jade Token and smiled. "This matter has nothing to do with us. If someone has to step forward, it shouldn’t be us."
With that, he channeled his Wood Spirit Qi to inscribe a line of small characters onto the token’s surface. Then, he activated it with his Spiritual Qi and tossed it into the air.
"Exactly," Wu Quan said. "For us, if this succeeds, we get a piece of the pie. If it fails, it’s no skin off our backs."
Wu Quan glanced toward the Heart Inquiry Hall and shot Zi Luan a meaningful look. Zi Luan gave a slight nod, so Wu Quan shut his mouth and left the rest unsaid.
Yu Lian followed Wu Quan’s gaze, then rose into the air. "The fish and shrimp in the river near the Heart Inquiry Hall are the most delicious," she said. "Can I go catch a few to eat?"
The stone in Zi Luan’s hand paused in mid-air. He looked at Yu Lian and smiled. "You’d better not. There’s a large fish pond near this Dao Field that Xiu Yu used specifically for raising grass carp. I hear they were all nourished with Spiritual Qi, so the meat is exceptionally tender."
Yu Lian asked curiously, "He likes to eat fish, too?"
"He wanted to try, and imitate, everything our master liked," Zi Luan said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "That’s why he was our master’s favorite."
"Can I go take a look?"
Yu Lian extended her Primordial Spirit Consciousness, searching for the pond Zi Luan had described. She located it almost immediately.
"Go ahead," Zi Luan said nonchalantly. "There’s probably no one over there right now anyway."
"Haha, I’m off!" Yu Lian cheered. She reverted to her true form and ascended into the air. A moment later, the sound of churning water echoed from nearby.
A silence fell over the group with Yu Lian’s departure.
Ganxing and Zi Luan focused on the game on the Go board, while Wang Ping and Wu Quan leaned lazily against either side of the tea table, quietly sipping their tea.
As the game reached its middle stage, Wu Quan broke the silence. "Still no reply after all this time. It seems things are getting complicated. If they really hold this life-and-death arena, what’s your position?"
Hearing this, Zi Luan looked at Wu Quan. "The Six Heart Sect has a sealed forest for its disciples to train in. We could just throw them all in there and see who walks out alive."
He was joking, of course. His words couldn’t be taken seriously.
Just as Wu Quan was about to reply, a marked Communication Jade Token descended from the sky. Wang Ping felt its connection to his Primordial Spirit, and as he reached out his hand, the token landed securely in his palm.
It was the reply from Zhi Gong Daoist.
Wang Ping checked the token for any traps out of habit before probing it with his Primordial Spirit. He then looked at the other three and said, "Zhi Gong Daoist agrees to the life-and-death arena."
"That’s to be expected." Zi Luan glanced at Wang Ping, placed a stone on the board, and asked, "What are your thoughts?"
"What if I said I want to pull out?" Wang Ping countered.
’I’m quite interested in Zhi Gong Daoist’s advancement, but I have no interest in these trivialities. My real wish is to congratulate Zi Luan and take my leave.’
’But Qianmu Temple and Zi Luan are allies. That alliance is the very foundation of Qianmu Temple’s foothold on Nanlin Road.’
’Some things are truly beyond one’s control. This was probably the goal of Zhi Gong and the others—to drag me into this quagmire.’
"It makes no difference to me."
Zi Luan said with sincerity, "Our alliance agreement isn’t dependent on this single incident. However, if you simply walk away, it will be impossible for Qianmu Temple to maintain its foothold in the Southern Cultivation Realm."
Wu Quan seemed to have been waiting for just that. The moment Zi Luan finished, he eagerly jumped in. "That’s easy to solve. Tonight, my faction, Ganxing’s, and Fellow Daoist Changqing’s will join forces to eliminate the disciples from Hai Zhou Road. Then, we can use that as our excuse to withdraw from your succession ceremony!"
Halfway through his sentence, Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Ganxing all turned to stare at him.
CLINK.
A stone had fallen, slipping from Zi Luan’s grasp. He seemed shocked that Wu Quan could devise such a vicious plan. As he subconsciously reached to pick up the fallen stone, Ganxing, across from him, swiftly stopped his hand. "A move once played cannot be taken back, remember?"
"..."
Zi Luan stared at the stone he had dropped. "Since we’re going to do a cleanup," he said, "why not clean up a few more?"
Wang Ping raised an eyebrow and set down his teacup. "In a situation like this, it’s best we don’t get entangled in too much karma. Daoist Wu Quan’s plan is a good one, but there’s no need for us to be the ones to take the lead..."
He thought as he spoke, meeting the gazes of the other three. "Since Fellow Daoist Zhi Gong has her own intentions, let her be the one to carry this out. Handling this matter properly will serve her purposes far better than some life-and-death arena!"
As he finished, he stood up and looked at the three of them. "If you agree, I’ll go discuss this with Fellow Daoist Zhi Gong right now. After our discussion is over, I will return directly to Qianmu Temple."