Six months later, a sudden sob echoed from within the prison on Celestial Gate Mountain. Chai Miaoâs eyes were bloodshot as tears streamed down his face.
Itâs said that a man doesnât cry easily, but only because he hasnât been pushed to his breaking point. Someone had just informed him that the Spirit Wood Alliance had sent people to pay his ransom. In other words, he was finally going home to see his family.
Chai Miao was overcome with emotion, and Chai Wenzhai, beside him, was in no better shape. His body was covered in injuries, and his beard and hair were wildly overgrown. He had completely lost the dignified air of the Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator he had been six months prior.
Over the past six months, people from the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect had come to torture them every few days. But since they couldnât get any information out of them, the torture sessions eventually became less frequent.
Chai Wenzhai wasnât too concerned about the physical torment. âSince Fang Qingyuan didnât kill me on the spot,â he reasoned, âit must mean Iâm still valuable to him.â
Attended by servant girls, Chai Wenzhai and Chai Miao washed themselves, dressed in fine robes, and were led into a meeting hall.
Chai Wenzhai looked around and saw Fang Qingyuan sitting in the hostâs seat. Beside him stood a familiar figure.
"Thirteenth Brother!"
The newcomer was his clan brother. Seeing Chai Wenzhaiâs condition, the man immediately rushed forward, grasped his hands firmly, and apologized for being late.
Fang Qingyuan watched this touching scene from the side, a smile playing on his lips. After a few moments, however, he interjected.
"Iâve brought the men to you," he said. "You should inspect them, check for any hidden injuries. We wouldnât want them to drop dead on the way home and have you start blaming our Southern Border Beast Taming Sect."
Chai Wenzhai shot a furious glare at Fang Qingyuan, but with his Magical Power completely sealed, he couldnât even defeat a common Qi Refining Cultivator. Fang Qingyuan was, naturally, immune to his gaze.
Hearing Fang Qingyuanâs words, the man said nothing and began to inspect Chai Wenzhaiâs body. A moment later, he turned back.
"Thank you for your âhospitalityâ all this time, Elder Fang," he said. "The Chai Family is eternally grateful."
Fang Qingyuan laughed.
"Donât mention it," he replied. "Since thatâs settled, I wonât see you out. Safe travels."
Chai Wenzhai stared at Fang Qingyuan for a few more moments but ultimately said nothing. He simply lowered his head and followed his Thirteenth Brother out. Chai Miao, who hadnât said a word the entire time, saw them leaving and quickly scurried after them.
Only after they were gone did Fang Qingyuan let out a hearty laugh. As a trusted subordinate of Chai Yi and a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, Chai Wenzhai had fetched a high price. Fang Qingyuan had demanded five hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones for his return, thoroughly fleecing the Chai Family.
In comparison, Chai Miaoâa Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from a branch familyâwas worth much less. Fang Qingyuan had only asked for one hundred and fifty Top-grade Spirit Stones for him, which was practically just a bonus.
The only reason the Chai Family took six months to pay the ransom was that they had to spend that entire time selling off assets and scrounging up the Spirit Stones. The Spirit Wood Alliance was undoubtedly powerful, but it was also a massive organization. Even Chai Yi couldnât produce so many Top-grade Spirit Stones on short notice.
Furthermore, Fang Qingyuan had confiscated all of Chai Wenzhaiâs possessions, including his Magical Artifacts and Spiritual Materials, keeping them as spoils of war for the Beast Taming Sect. All told, the Spirit Wood Allianceâs losses this time amounted to at least a thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones.
With this windfall, more than half of the payment owed to the five branch sects the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect had hired for assistance was covered. The financial pressure on the sect eased considerably.
Of course, a portion of this money was supposed to go to Huo Bai. However, when Fang Qingyuan offered to help rescue Huo Hu, Huo Bai refused to take his share of the Spirit Stones.
The Spirit Stones delivered by the Chai Family were now safely in Fang Qingyuanâs warehouse. He began to wonder, âShould I send my men to kidnap a couple more Chai Family cultivators for another ransom?â
But the thought vanished as quickly as it had come. This incident had happened because the Chai Family made the first move and were caught red-handed. If he were to proactively send men into the Spirit Wood Allianceâs territory to kidnap their members, he would be violating the unspoken rules of their competition.
Currently, the Spirit Wood Alliance and the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect were merely competitors; it wasnât a full-blown war yet. That was why Fang Qingyuan had allowed the Chai Family to ransom their men. Otherwise, if the two sects were truly at war, Chai Wenzhai would have been executed long ago.
This was similar to how Zhao Liangde had been left in a coma rather than killed. That had been a deliberate choice on the part of the Spirit Wood Alliance. Otherwise, they wouldnât have gone to the trouble of leaving him in that specific condition.
After all, putting someone into a death-like coma was far more difficult than simply killing them.
Thinking of Zhao Liangde, Fang Qingyuan sighed to himself. The man still hadnât regained consciousness. Lechuan had even invited a renowned Golden Core healer to examine him, but the diagnosis was grim: two parts of Zhao Liangdeâs soul had been stolen. If they couldnât be recovered, he would remain in a coma for the rest of his life.
Such soul-stealing techniques were indeed characteristic of a White Mountain Cultivator. But the cultivators of the Spirit Wood Alliance all followed the Wood Spirit Dao. Although their methods were sometimes as ruthless as those from White Mountain, it was unheard of for them to possess such an art.
After capturing Chai Wenzhai, Lechuan had sent someone to interrogate the Spirit Wood Alliance. They claimed the attack on Zhao Liangde was the work of a White Mountain Loose Cultivator they had hired. As for this cultivator, the Spirit Wood Alliance said that when they tried to look for him again, he had vanished without a trace.
Thus, both the Spirit Wood Alliance and the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect were now secretly searching for this White Mountain Golden Core Loose Cultivator. Unfortunately, six months had passed with no leads.
Besides Zhao Liangdeâs situation, there was another problem: Ling Ziqing, the Elder of Precepts Peak, had not yet returned. Huo Cheng had taken him deep into the Death Swamp to rescue Heiye, but six months had passed with no sign of them.
If it werenât for the occasional messages Huo Cheng passed to Huo Bai, Sect Leader Le would have assumed they too had met with disaster. In Ling Ziqingâs absence, the duties of Precepts Peak had temporarily fallen under Fang Qingyuanâs supervision.
Over the past six months, Fang Qingyuanâs position had grown more and more secure. Most of Zhao Liangdeâs original confidants in the Ministry of Affairs had now pledged their allegiance to him.
Since Fang Qingyuan now held the moral high ground and even had the support of Zhao Liangdeâs wife, the original staff felt much less conflicted about shifting their allegiance to him.
Fang Qingyuan took advantage of Ling Ziqingâs absence to install several of his own loyalists in Precepts Peak. He figured that by the time Ling Ziqing returned, his authority there would be significantly undermined.
Just as Fang Qingyuan was pondering his next move, a trusted subordinate at the door came to report.
"Elder, Sect Leader Le requests your presence."
Fang Qingyuan nodded to show he understood. He took the somewhat listless Jinbao with him and strode quickly toward Lechuan Mansion.
Jinbao trotted behind Fang Qingyuan, its small ears twitching. Its eyes were somewhat glazed over. For the past few days, it had been constantly listless and drowsy, yet its appetite was frighteningly huge.
Seeing Jinbao like this, Fang Qingyuan knew the little one was on the verge of advancing. He mentally calculated the time; it had been seven or eight years since Jinbaoâs last advancement.
Jinbao came from an extraordinary lineage, which made advancement inherently difficult. However, ever since Fang Qingyuan had acquired the Ten Thousand Beasts Qiankun Banner, he had been periodically coaxing Jinbao into his Immortal Mansion to undergo baptisms of its pure Spiritual Power. This had likely accelerated the beastâs growth.
Fang Qingyuan had created an environment inside his Immortal Mansion that was nearly identical to the one within the Ten Thousand Beasts Qiankun Banner. As a result, Jinbao never noticed anything amiss when it went inside. When it was bathed in the Spiritual Power of the Immortal Mansion, it simply assumed it was an effect of the magical artifact.
Having been tricked by Fang Qingyuan into undergoing this refinement dozens of times, it was only natural that Jinbao was now ready to advance four or five years ahead of schedule.
As Jinbao followed Fang Qingyuan out the gate, it suddenly stopped in its tracks and fell asleep standing up.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan couldnât help but let out a helpless chuckle. He took out the Ten Thousand Beasts Qiankun Banner and, with a wave, sent Jinbao into his Immortal Mansion. He then placed the Crimson Young Bird on his shoulder, and together, the man and his fledgling companion made their way to Lechuan Mansion.