Chapter 379: 214, The sinister nature of the human king’s body_2
"Brother Song, you’re truly a ruthless person with a deceptive appearance."
"Just now, Daoist Yan said he would host a banquet to apologize to you. Clearly, you were the one who offended him, and now you’re asking me for help to rush to the Outer Sea to kill him!"
The auction had ended, but Nan Lu and Song Knife did not hurry to leave; they stayed in place.
Nan Lu cast a seductive glance at Song Knife, teasing him.
Having successfully won the bid for the Human Yuan Fruit, she was in a rather good mood.
Moreover, her old rival, Song Knife, had just conceded to her.
She couldn’t help but feel quite triumphant.
"Nan Daoist, it’s just for mutual gain. It’s up to you whether you want to join."
Song Knife responded casually, "Yan Sheng’s origins are mysterious, and he’s very generous. If his background were ordinary, I don’t believe you, Nan Daoist, would be able to resist making a move."
Asking Nan Lu to help him intercept Yan Sheng was just his way of giving her leverage and establishing a common interest. He, Song Knife, had many friends and could easily enlist a few Dao Lords for assistance; it would be a simple matter. The reason he asked Nan Lu for help was largely due to the five million Spirit Shells he had borrowed from her earlier. Whether to lull Nan Lu or to genuinely collude with the Mingquan Sect, he needed to make a gesture. Intercepting and killing Yan Sheng was a good opportunity for that. It was merely using the situation to his advantage.
Of course, Song Knife wouldn’t openly reveal his true intentions to others. Although he colluded with the Mingquan Sect, he would not willingly become their pawn. On the contrary, he wanted the Mingquan Sect to lend him a helping hand and make Nan Lu his pawn.
"Brother Song has a point."
Nan Lu nodded approvingly when she heard his argument.
The Mingquan Sect was not a righteous faction; they didn’t need to worry about their sect’s conduct. Killing for treasures was a rare occurrence in the Flying Feather Immortal Palace, but within the Mingquan Sect, it was common practice that didn’t even require concealment.
"I’ll probe Yan Sheng’s background. If he’s not a person with significant influence, we’ll join forces and kill him after I have his whereabouts."
"Nan Daoist, you can kill him to nourish your dark spirits, while I only want the Substitute Puppet."
"At that time, we’ll stage a fake fight in the Outer Sea. You’ll defeat me, and I’ll suffer a great loss."
"You’ll gain both fame and profit."
"And I’ll only take a small benefit."
Song Knife laid out the subsequent arrangements.
Huge Mastiff Island was located in the Outer Sea region of the Wangchuan Sea.
Due to internal strife within the Sect, the Flying Feather Immortal Palace’s influence had plummeted, and its territory had significantly shrunk.
Now, they only had a degree of control over the Inner Sea.
As for the Outer Sea of the Wangchuan Sea, they were willing but lacked the strength to maintain control.
Their original territories had been gradually lost to their sworn enemy, the Mingquan Sect.
This was an important reason why Nan Lu never suspected Song Knife’s underlying motives when he sought her out for collaboration.
In the current Outer Sea of the Wangchuan Sea, the Mingquan Sect held absolute control.
"Brother Song has planned well."
Upon hearing this, Nan Lu’s beautiful eyes lit up, and her excitement grew as she listened.
Song Knife was no ordinary member of the Younger Generation.
He was the long-renowned Chief Disciple of the Flying Feather Immortal Palace.
Once she defeated Song Knife, the Mingquan Sect would inevitably hold her in even higher regard, and the Resources allocated to her would increase considerably.
"The crisis is temporarily averted."
Seeing this, Song Knife breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a great burden lifted. His greatest worry had been that Nan Lu would report today’s events to the Mingquan Sect. If that happened, he would inevitably be constrained by others, unable to act as he wished.
Although their collusion was merely verbal and couldn’t be considered concrete evidence—not enough to bring him down—he genuinely planned to collude with the Mingquan Sect and profit from it. However, he didn’t want to expose himself to the Mingquan Sect’s high-level members too early.
In a nutshell: the benefits of colluding with the Mingquan Sect? He wanted them. But the drawbacks? He did not.
There was much to be gained from the conflict between the two Higher Teachings; the difficulty lay in establishing connections with both.
Regarding today’s events, although he regretted not winning the bid for the Substitute Puppet, he had managed to go with the flow and successfully lay some groundwork within the Mingquan Sect. This could be considered a silver lining amidst misfortune.
His purpose in coming to the Wangchuan Sea, to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion... was not solely to pursue Xu Xing.
...
「One month later.」
Xu Xing hosted a banquet in a private box at the Cloud and Flower Building, and Song Knife attended as promised.
"Daoist Yan, you truly are quite wealthy."
"Although I, Song, don’t often come to Huge Mastiff Island, I’ve heard how expensive the banquets at the Cloud and Flower Building are. This Grade A banquet alone must be worth at least a hundred thousand Spirit Shells..."
Upon entering, Song Knife saw a line of Maids carrying various spiritual dishes and couldn’t help but exclaim.
A hundred thousand Spirit Shells might not seem like much to True Monarchs like them. However, assets were one thing; spending so lavishly on a daily basis still felt extravagant.
"Brother Song is joking."
Xu Xing shook his head. "Brother Song is a Chief of a Higher Teaching, while I, Yan, am just a True Monarch of a small faction. If I don’t prepare a decent banquet, how could I be qualified to entertain Brother Song?"
"True Monarch of a small faction?"
Song Knife’s eyes flickered slightly. He dared not recklessly kill True Monarchs from Large Sects, fearing future repercussions. However, a True Monarch from a small faction was no cause for concern. It was like with the Burial Halberd Elder; killing a Nascent Soul Daoist Lord from a small faction was a trivial matter to him. He even hung the Nascent Soul’s corpse on his Glaive as a trophy to show off.
"Drink, drink!"
Song Knife made himself at home, casually picking up a jar of wine from the table to pour for Xu Xing.
"This is just the complimentary wine that comes with the Grade A banquet at the Cloud and Flower Building. It’s not considered a precious item."
"I, Yan, have a superior Spiritual Wine here. It’s Hongxia Wine, brewed by the Northern Wilderness Crimson Cloud Sect. Brother Song, you should try it."
Xu Xing patted his Storage Bag, and two small clay wine jars appeared in his hand.
He casually handed one to Song Knife, then tore open the clay seal on his own jar and, without further ado, tilted his head back and took a swig.