Chapter 400 : Negotiation
Chapter 400: Negotiation
Yuan arrived at the fallen territory and looked at the surrounding scene, his expression turning cold.
Throughout his long life, he had always been giving for the Cultivator Faction! In nurturing the younger generation of cultivators, Yuan had contributed the most among all the Lords. Now, seeing more than a hundred World Clusters plundered and many Source World Origins devoured, how could he possibly feel at ease?
“The Ice Peak Faction and the Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction are essentially the same. Both are Naturally Born Chaotic Origin beings, requiring vast resources, and many of them enjoy devouring the ‘Source World Origin’.” Yuan thought to himself.
At the highest level of the Ice Peak Faction were twelve undying and indestructible existences, who occasionally liked to taste Source World Origins.
Aside from these twelve, there were also some Ancestors who had joined the Ice Peak Faction! These Ancestors had not reached the level of ‘undying and indestructible’ and were even more fond of devouring Source World Origins.
“The Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction is the greatest enemy, but our conflict with the Ice Peak Faction is just as severe.” Yuan understood this clearly.
As a lifeform that had emerged from within a Source World, he had irreconcilable conflicts with all life races that delighted in devouring the ‘Source World Origin’.
“Only by being strong enough ourselves…”
“…can we make all factions fear devouring Source Worlds.” Yuan thought. “Now, the eighth Lord, ‘Luo Feng’, has been born—and he is a Lord who breaks all laws with sheer power! In the future, a ninth Lord will also be born! Our Cultivator Faction will only grow stronger!”
Suppressing his anger, Yuan followed his senses and headed straight toward an Ancestor-Level existence within this fallen territory.
Whoosh!
Wherever Yuan passed, the rules operated. With each step, he crossed infinitely vast distances. In just a moment, he had already arrived at a certain place.
“Brother Yuan, you’ve come.”
A warm voice sounded as a towering black figure greeted him enthusiastically.
Yuan looked at the other party. This towering black figure wore black scale armor, with a single eye burning with blood-colored flames, appearing extremely ferocious. Yet his smile was exceptionally bright.
“Ancestor Wugu.” Yuan looked at him.
Ancestor Wugu was one of the twelve undying and indestructible existences of the Ice Peak Faction. In terms of strength, he ranked within the top five.
Across the entire Infinite Chaotic Origin Space, Ancestor Wugu could be ranked within the top thirty, comparable to the Lord of Lotus Prison Mountain.
“I came to discuss your occupation of over a hundred World Clusters.” Yuan said coldly. “Our Cultivator Faction and your Ice Peak Faction are considered allies! Yet you have occupied our territory? Is this how you treat allies?”
“Don’t be in a hurry. Knowing you were coming, the Ice Peak Ancestor has already summoned the top-level members. In a moment, they will all descend through their incarnations.” Ancestor Wugu said.
The Ice Peak Ancestor was the supreme leader of the Ice Peak Faction and the one who had founded this alliance.
……
Inside a massive, towering palace.
Ancestor Wugu accompanied him, while Yuan sat and waited.
In just a moment—
Eleven figures descended, all incarnations of the other eleven undying and indestructible existences of the Ice Peak Faction! With all twelve gathered, it was clear they took the Cultivator Faction very seriously.
“Brother Yuan!” A warm voice rang out. It came from a towering figure like an iceberg, his entire body formed from deep-blue ice. Even as an incarnation, one could glimpse the terrifying power within him.
The Ice Peak Ancestor was an existence on par with Yuan.
He possessed a nearly indestructible body comparable to Wu Lan, and he wielded endless frigid power! His methods against enemies were even more formidable than Wu Lan’s.
“Ice Peak.” Yuan nodded. The Ice Peak Ancestor had lived far longer than Yuan, and the two had once shared a period of life-and-death friendship, back when the Cultivator Faction had only Yuan as its sole Lord.
At that time, when the Ice Peak Ancestor established the Ice Peak Faction, he had warmly invited Yuan to join. Yuan had declined, but it had not harmed their friendship.
However, as the Cultivator Faction continued to grow stronger, their relationship had gradually changed.
“Brother Yuan.”
“Yuan.”
The twelve existences of the Ice Peak Faction were all very familiar with Yuan.
Yuan greeted them one by one before looking at a gray-robed woman.
“Sister Shazhou.” Yuan’s expression was somewhat complex. “It’s been a long time.”
The gray-robed woman looked at Yuan and gave a slight nod.
In a distant era, the universally acknowledged strongest existence in the entire Infinite Chaotic Origin Space had been this very ‘Shazhou’. She wandered alone and had a solitary temperament. She had very few friends—so few they could be counted on one hand.
Her closest friend was the Ice Peak Ancestor. Her second closest could be considered Yuan.
When the Ice Peak Faction was established, the Ice Peak Ancestor had warmly invited her, and she had joined! This made the entire Ice Peak Faction’s deterrence terrifyingly strong.
Later…
The Star Light Lord appeared!
Having mastered two Chaotic Origin-level Paths, the Star Light Lord was regarded by many factions as the strongest existence in the present era! Some still believed ‘Shazhou’ to be the strongest. However, one thing was certain—if selecting the top two in the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space, they would undoubtedly be Star Light Lord and Shazhou.
During clashes between the two major factions, the Star Light Lord and the Infinite Serpent Ancestor restrained each other with their void techniques, both only able to exert part of their strength.
The Infinite Serpent Ancestor excelled in void power and was bolstered by the Infinite World! His void abilities were extremely powerful, completely surpassing the Mother of Space-Time. In a one-on-one fight, he was not inferior to the Ice Peak Ancestor or Mogusi, yet he was still fully suppressed by the Star Light Lord.
“Sister Shazhou, our Cultivator Faction and the Ice Peak Faction have always been allies. Yet during our war with the Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction, you took advantage of the situation to occupy over a hundred World Clusters. Sister Shazhou, how do you think this matter should be handled?” Yuan asked.
“This trivial matter—you can discuss it with Ice Peak.” Shazhou said. She clearly did not care about disputes over these hundred World Clusters.
“Brother Yuan!”
The Ice Peak Ancestor pulled Yuan down to sit beside him. “You know Sister Shazhou’s temperament—how would she concern herself with such matters? Our Ice Peak Faction is indeed allied with your Cultivator Faction. But you also know that our faction is rather loose; it is difficult for me to fully restrain everyone. Once I learned they had occupied over a hundred World Clusters, I immediately ordered them to stop.”
“But making them return the occupied World Clusters… that is something I find very difficult to accomplish.” The Ice Peak Ancestor looked at Yuan.
Yuan also understood that the Ice Peak Faction was relatively loose. The twelve undying and indestructible existences each had their own interests. Perhaps only Shazhou did not care about such resources—what she cared about most was her close friend, the Ice Peak Ancestor.
Yuan knew very well the depth of Shazhou and Ice Peak’s friendship. For Ice Peak, Shazhou would spare no cost.
“Three thousand six hundred World Clusters! Not a single one of our Cultivator territory can be lost.” Yuan looked around. “You all know that we have reclaimed all other fallen territories. Only the hundred-plus World Clusters you occupy remain. Our Cultivator Lords will rely on the Space-Time Network to hunt down all enemies within our territory.”
“You dare!” Three nearly identical figures stood up, glaring angrily at Yuan.
“You dare fight us?”
“Your Cultivator Faction expanded to occupy such vast territory, and now you object to us taking a mere hundred World Clusters?”
The three figures shouted in succession. Since joining the Ice Peak Faction, they had been the most aggressive in launching invasions and occupations! Nearly half of those hundred World Clusters had been seized by them.
Some of the other undying and indestructible existences also rebuked Yuan, while others remained calm and observant.
“The Three Thieves of Wind and Thunder Sea!” Yuan looked at the three identical figures and sneered. “If not for relying on the might of the Ice Peak Faction, would you dare invade? In front of the Cultivator Faction, what do you amount to?”
The Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea were quite weak, ranking only mid-to-low among Ancestors! Yet because they wielded the highest-level power, each of them was undying and indestructible.
Relying on that and the backing of the Ice Peak Faction, they loved to cause trouble.
In the Eternal Land, they were among the weakest, which was why they banded together.
“Yuan!” Hearing themselves called ‘thieves’ to their faces, the Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea flew into a rage.
“Don’t forget—Morosa alone wiped out the three of you.” Yuan sneered. He truly looked down on them. Despite their weakness, they constantly stirred trouble!
Lord Morosa had once acted in fury, destroying all three of their bodies and seizing their weapons and treasures. Yet no matter how they were destroyed, they would still recover.
“Hmph.” The Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea were furious but knew Morosa countered them completely. Star Light Lord and Jin also had the strength to destroy their bodies.
“Yuan, it’s only a hundred or so World Clusters. Why harm the relationship between our two sides?” Ancestor Wugu still said with a smile.
“It is you who are harming the relationship! One sentence—you must return them!” Yuan looked around at everyone.
Among the twelve undying and indestructible existences of the Ice Peak Faction, each had their own thoughts. Aside from weak ones like the Three Thieves of Wind and Thunder Sea, there were also extremely powerful figures.
“How about this.”
The Ice Peak Ancestor finally spoke. “Yuan, our two sides are allies. Our greatest enemy is the Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction.”
The Ice Peak Faction and the Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction required almost identical resources.
“You also know our faction is rather loose, and many things I cannot force.” The Ice Peak Ancestor sighed. “Let us each take a step back. The Ice Peak Faction will return more than half of the World Clusters! We will keep sixty World Clusters, and I can pacify the internal situation.”
The surrounding undying and indestructible existences all looked at Yuan.
After hearing this, Yuan stood up.
“Within our Cultivator territory, not a single World Cluster can be lost.” Yuan’s gaze swept across the twelve existences. “If you insist on occupying them, then… our Cultivator Faction will formally go to war with you!”
The expressions of the twelve undying and indestructible existences of the Ice Peak Faction all changed.
War?
“Brother Yuan, you should think carefully.” The Ice Peak Ancestor looked at him.
“Address me as Yuan!”
Yuan looked at him. “Those who invade the Cultivator territory are not qualified to call me brother!”
The Ice Peak Ancestor’s expression also turned cold. “Yuan, I have already taken a step back. If your Cultivator Faction wants war, do you think we undying and indestructible beings would be afraid?”
“Very good.” Yuan nodded lightly. “But let me warn you—once war begins, the battlefield will not be limited to this fallen territory! All territories of your Ice Peak Faction will become targets of our Cultivator Faction. If you dare to invade, you must be prepared to be invaded.”
“What?” Some undying and indestructible existences were startled.
Counter-invasion?
“Our Ice Peak Faction—do you think we fear an expanded battlefield?” The Ice Peak Ancestor sneered. They did not care much about the deaths of lower-level beings.
“Then just wait.” Yuan swept his gaze across them and disappeared in a single step.
The hall fell silent.
The twelve undying and indestructible existences each had their own thoughts.
Was war truly about to begin?
The Ice Peak Ancestor, carrying anger, looked around.
“This is your decision!” he said in a low voice. “You insisted on holding onto the sixty most resource-rich World Clusters! And now the result is this—Yuan and the other eight Lords are going to war with us!”