Su Chen thought his idea was quite good, but he saw Lao Qing's brows gradually wrinkle.
On second thought, he immediately explained: "Senior Brother, I'm not trying to force the Sect's hand. Moreover, sitting idly by while the Royal Court's Radiant Moon Spirit is corrupted by Mist Embers has no benefit for us either. On the contrary, it will create a new Evil God."
"You're overthinking it." Qing Cang shook his head. He believed he understood Su Chen quite well. Using this matter to force the Sect's hand didn't seem like his style. It was just...
His meaning was hard to express. He paced around Su Chen left and right, "Do you really need Divine Blood that much?"
"There is somewhat of a gap." Su Chen gave a Vague Prevarication. Qing Cang's eyes narrowed. Suddenly, without seeing him make any movement, the shadow of the Bronze Ancient King standing to the side moved.
Su Chen only felt his body stiffen, and he saw the blue-green shadow of the Bronze Ancient King land beside him. Streaks of Data light gradually merged into his body.
Su Chen's heart skipped a beat, thinking that Lao Qing had discovered something. The Shadow of the Past could hide from Morning Stars, but it definitely couldn't hide from Radiant Moons. He also didn't know how much of the main body's strength this shadow of the Bronze Ancient King possessed.
However, he wasn't too worried either. After all, the Morning Stars of the other Sects had already left. Even if Qing Cang discovered some clues, it would be easy to handle.
Quickly, as the Data circulation ended, a Sharp Gleam flashed across Qing Cang's eyes, and he said in astonishment: "You've already advanced to the 8th-Tier?"
He used the shadow of the Bronze Ancient King to figure out if there was any Aura of Evil Gods in Su Chen's body, although he had already checked countless times before.
But the gap in the various Evil God-related items created by Su Chen was truly too large.
Furthermore, with the matter of Black Buddha's Advent Body happening not long ago, he was always somewhat uneasy.
But he truly didn't expect that the information fed back by the Ancient King's shadow would actually give him a huge surprise. Su Chen's bodily strength had already far exceeded the 7th-Tier standard.
And what made him feel even more astonished was that he completely couldn't see it. The detection of the Ancient King's shadow and his own perception were two different results.
"Uh..." Seeing that Qing Cang wasn't investigating his Talent, Su Chen smiled awkwardly: "I luckily advanced successfully a few days ago."
"But why do I feel that you are still at the 7th-Tier?" Qing Cang's eyes were complex. He naturally knew why. Su Chen definitely underwent Job Entry for a Profession focused on Concealment, to be able to hide it from his perception.
And this performance faintly revealed another matter: to some extent, he was already inferior to Su Chen.
How long had it been since he first saw this guy? Qing Cang considered himself to have thoroughly experienced the inner feelings of this generation's Holy Hall members of the Bronze Sect.
Ever since Su Chen arrived, within the Bronze Sect, the smell of gunpowder that wasn't much to begin with due to the Mimicry Challenge System had completely dissipated.
Comparing this and that, they couldn't compare to this guy anyway, so what was the point of comparing.
Seeing Lao Qing's eyes becoming increasingly complex, Su Chen, in order to avoid him associating too much, hurriedly feigned Displeasure and questioned: "Senior Brother, this is too much. Every once in a while, you have to think of a way to check up on me. Am I really that worthy of Suspicion to you?"
"Yes." Qing Cang nodded, not shying away from anything. "If you could clearly explain the whereabouts of those Evil God items, I might not suspect you."
"Haha..." Su Chen laughed twice, sighing with an irrelevant answer: "Senior Brother ah, it's truly not easy for you either."
"Enough." For some unknown reason, looking at Su Chen's excessively young face, Qing Cang always felt somewhat depressed in his heart, and said crossly: "How much Divine Blood do you need?"
"Two hundred..." Su Chen's spirit jolted slightly, thinking Qing Cang was preparing to directly allocate it to him. But just as he spoke, he saw Qing Cang's expression suddenly change, and his voice rose by several degrees: "How much did you say?"
Seeing this, Su Chen could only swallow the latter words 'more drops'. Two hundred was only the gap for this time; he had to prepare a bit more.
"Two hundred drops?" Qing Cang glared, his voice gruff. "Are you planning to turn into an Evil God?"
This number truly shocked him.
"Didn't you ask? I didn't think of letting the Sect allocate it to me either. Isn't this why I'm considering the Royal Court?" Su Chen muttered.
"Even if I wanted to allocate it, I don't have that much." Qing Cang said crossly, rubbing his temples, "Two hundred drops, two hundred drops..."
He kept repeating these words. Su Chen knew he actually wanted to ask what exactly he needed so much Divine Blood for, probably hoping he would take the initiative to speak out.
But he just played dumb while knowing the truth.
This thieving brat... Qing Cang secretly ground his teeth, sighed deeply, and said helplessly: "For this quantity, we can only look for the other Sects."
"That's right." Seeing Lao Qing relent, Su Chen's spirit was roused, and he hurriedly said: "Although we and the Royal Court have conflicts, right now neither of us can possibly annihilate the other. Moreover, as I just said, rather than watching helplessly as it turns into Sustenance for the Evil Gods, it's better for us to take some benefits."
"Furthermore, One in Ten Thousand, if the Royal Court is driven to desperation and comes up with some detrimental schemes, dragging everyone down with them, wouldn't that be troublesome?"
"You've thought it through quite comprehensively." Qing Cang glanced at him, but had to admit that Su Chen's words made sense.
A Withered Camel is Bigger Than a Horse. If the Royal Court reaches a dead end, cooperating with the Evil Gods to corrupt two types of Radiant Moon Spirits in exchange for the Crimson God lifting the corruption on the Royal Court's Radiant Moon Spirit, it wasn't an impossible thing.
"The Sect is my home. What I consider definitely needs to be more comprehensive." Su Chen grinned.
Qing Cang choked up at once, glared at him again, and pondered: "We can indeed try to cooperate with the Royal Court. However, this matter is a crisis for the Royal Court after all. If we take the initiative to offer to help them resolve it, I'm afraid it wouldn't be very good."
"Right, right." Su Chen nodded repeatedly. Waiting for the Royal Court to proactively look for them was definitely correct; only this way could they maximize benefits.
Him bringing it up right now was just to let Qing Cang start preparing for this matter.
Qing Cang nodded: "Mhm, I will inform Chu Lingyuan and have him release some goodwill. The Royal Court is definitely also terribly anxious over this matter, and might have considered you."
Saying so, he tapped open his Comm-Bracelet. Before the message could be sent out, he received a message from Chu Lingyuan.
He swept a glance over it, his expression slightly strange as he looked at Su Chen. "You and the Prison-Suppressing King actually thought of the same thing. After seeing off the other several Morning Stars, he unexpectedly turned back and mentioned this matter to Chu Lingyuan."
"Oh?" A Sharp Gleam flashed in the depths of Su Chen's eyes. It seemed the Prison-Suppressing King wasn't stupid either. He hadn't completely believed that Immeasurable Buddha, or perhaps he was testing the waters on his side to use as a backup or the like.
"Venerable Chu Lingyuan didn't refuse, right?" he hurriedly asked. If he had refused, it would instead be somewhat troublesome.
Qing Cang couldn't help laughing, "Chu Lingyuan wouldn't go so far as to make this kind of mistake. He was vague and evasive, not giving any stance."
"Then just have someone bring him directly back. It's just right to discuss it."
He modified the message, sent it to Chu Lingyuan again, and soon got a response.
The location for the discussion naturally wasn't here. Qing Cang brought Su Chen to an even higher level, to a place that looked like a conference room.
"Right, Senior Brother, how is the situation regarding the Faith Essence gathered by the various factions?" Su Chen asked, appearing casual.
"It's already about done. The sacrifice will commence again very soon to send this Faith Essence over, while simultaneously reporting the situation of your Talent inspection." Qing Cang responded, adding a sentence: "I will notify you when the time comes."
"No need."
Su Chen, however, shook his head and gave a Bitter Smile: "There's nothing much to see either. The Forbidden Codex Tier Meditation and Body Tempering Methods I just requisitioned are truly too obscure. I need to study them properly."
"Forbidden Codex Tier..." Qing Cang was startled, and suddenly had a sense of unreality. After all, what he currently circulated on a daily basis was also at the Forbidden Codex Tier.
Sigh... Secretly heaving a sigh, Qing Cang restrained his Thoughts and instead started discussing the price to set for the Royal Court with Su Chen.
Not long after, Chu Lingyuan led the Prison-Suppressing King and Ni Chuan back. Seeing that Su Chen and Qing Cang were both here, the Prison-Suppressing King's expression actually eased up quite a bit.
The words spoken by that Immeasurable Buddha had always left him with some Suspicion. If a gap could be opened on the Bronze Sect's side, he naturally leaned towards Su Chen.
"You two..." The sides of the Prison-Suppressing King's cheeks were still somewhat sunken, his flesh and blood not plump. Seeming helpless and seemingly with a Bitter Smile, he said: "Regarding the previous matter, please..."
"There's no need to speak nonsense." Qing Cang directly interrupted with a cold face. "And even less need for apologies To deal with someone courteously but without sincerity. That's nothing more than an illusion because you have a request of us."
The Prison-Suppressing King's expression froze. Chu Lingyuan, however, said: "The Bronze Sect and the Royal Court have existed in the Dust Star Sea for tens of thousands of years. Stretching across a long time, there has been cooperation, conflict, and war between us."
"That's right..." The Prison-Suppressing King found a way out and hurriedly said: "Before taking action last time, we repeatedly emphasized that even if there were results, we would absolutely not carry out any slaughter within the Bronze Sect."
"Heh..." Qing Cang sneered and said: "Just now, after Chu Lingyuan mentioned the message you left to me, I asked Su Chen for his thoughts. Do you know what he said?"
The Prison-Suppressing King hurriedly assumed a posture of listening attentively.
"He said, the crisis of the Royal Court is also the crisis of the Dust Star Sea. If we sit by and watch as the Royal Court's Radiant Moon Spirit becomes resources for the Evil Gods, it might not be a good thing."
The Prison-Suppressing King couldn't help but be slightly surprised. The reason for the Royal Court's action last time involved Su Chen, and it had already been exposed at that time. He didn't expect this young man to actually appear so profound and far-sighted.
Since Su Chen didn't resist it, then this matter... He hurriedly praised: "Star Seed Su has a long-term vision..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Qing Cang again: "However, young people are full of hot blood, but this old fellow like me is somewhat petty. Senior Brother Ku Baiye died because of this, and the entire Sect is extremely heartbroken."
Even if we didn't take action, that old fellow wouldn't have lived long anyway... The Prison-Suppressing King naturally knew Ku Baiye, being considered a person of the same era. He slandered in his heart, but his Thoughts were also tossed up and down by Qing Cang's back and forth.
He could only follow the words and continue speaking, "I am willing to compensate for the Sect's losses."
"Can dead people be resurrected!?" Qing Cang's eyes turned sharp.
The Prison-Suppressing King took a deep breath. It wasn't as if he absolutely had to rely on the Bronze Sect; there was still that backup, the Immeasurable Buddha. Right now he also couldn't figure out if this Bronze Sect was truly willing to discuss this matter, or if they were purely playing him.
"Qing Cang!" Chu Lingyuan reprimanded him, then looked at the Prison-Suppressing King and said gently: "Qing Cang and Ku Baiye have always been close, so..."
Su Chen had a strange look in his eyes on the side. The relationship between Lao Qing and Ku Baiye didn't seem to be very good; Chu Lingyuan's relationship with Ku Baiye was actually better.
It's just that Chu Lingyuan was, after all, the current person in power of the Bronze Sect, so it wouldn't be good for him to play the bad cop. This could only be done by Qing Cang.
Seeing this, the Prison-Suppressing King gritted his teeth and said: "You two, for the places that can be done, please just speak your minds. We are willing to show our sincerity."
"Show sincerity?" Qing Cang looked over, utterly unceremonious. "Since this is the case, first bring out one thousand drops of Divine Blood."
Even Su Chen stagnated for a moment. This was more than just The lion opens its mouth wide.
"Qing Cang." Chu Lingyuan shouted again, but then looked at the Prison-Suppressing King with a smiling expression.
The Prison-Suppressing King's expression fluctuated. That Immeasurable Buddha's Method only required five hundred drops of Divine Blood.
Looking at the two people chiming in with each other before his eyes, he said helplessly: "My Royal Court doesn't have many Divine Blood reserves either, and the consumption has been extremely severe recently. We can probably only take out two or three hundred drops."
"Five hundred drops, no less." Qing Cang's attitude was cold and hard.
The Prison-Suppressing King pondered in his heart. This price was about the same as the Immeasurable Buddha's. But if it was like this, why should he suffer this humiliation in the Bronze Sect? He might as well just directly agree to the Immeasurable Buddha and be done with it.
His expression restrained a bit, "Three hundred and fifty drops. This is the Royal Court's limit. We still need to reserve some to prepare for unexpected needs."
"That's about enough." Su Chen rippled out a mental fluctuation. He knew there was still an Immeasurable Buddha waiting for the Prison-Suppressing King. That guy harbored malicious intentions, but the Prison-Suppressing King didn't know.
Pressing too hard would easily be counterproductive.
Qing Cang hesitated slightly. He felt he could push a bit further, but hearing Su Chen's words, he said in a cold voice again: "Three hundred and fifty drops is fine. Half of it must be sent over first as a show of sincerity and apology."
"This..." The Prison-Suppressing King paused slightly. He hadn't done anything yet, and they wanted him to take out items first?
"If there isn't even this bit of sincerity, then let's not discuss it." Qing Cang said directly.
The Prison-Suppressing King's eyes shifted. Frowning, he said: "One hundred drops can be sent over first as quickly as possible."
"Good. Agreement is reached on this condition." Qing Cang nodded.
The Prison-Suppressing King's brows and eyes twitched fiercely. Seeing this, Qing Cang couldn't help but sneer and say: "Your Excellency doesn't think that with just this one condition, this matter will end, right?"
The Prison-Suppressing King sighed, "Naturally I don't think so."
In reality, as long as the Bronze Sect's price was lower than that Immeasurable Buddha's, everything could be discussed.
Next, the several people discussed surrounding many Resources. Su Chen mainly requested Divine Blood, Faith Essence, and Evil God Power.
There was no Essence Power, because the Bronze Sect also didn't have any stock of this kind of thing, and the Royal Court was the same.
Towards the end of the discussion, it was preliminarily settled on three hundred and fifty drops of Divine Blood, of which one hundred drops would be sent over at the fastest speed, one hundred and fifty portions of Faith Essence, as well as a large amount of various High-level Eldritch Powers.
These were Su Chen's benefits. As for the Bronze Sect's benefits, they involved many trade levels, which couldn't be settled in just a few sentences.
The several people only discussed a rough framework. Later on, personnel from both sides specifically responsible for this matter would be needed to conduct negotiations, but the fluctuations wouldn't be too large.
Towards the end, the Prison-Suppressing King's face had already turned ashen.
However, he was also calculating in his heart: "Strictly speaking, it's hard to say whether the price compared to the Immeasurable Buddha is higher or lower, but at least there are traces to follow on Su Chen's side, and it's also more secure."
However, regarding where to stay to Purify Mist Cinders, the two sides had a divergence of opinion again.
Qing Cang was Resolute and Decisive, "Even if all those previous conditions are invalidated, it's impossible for Su Chen to go to your Royal Court to resolve the Mist Embers."
"But..." The Prison-Suppressing King looked at Su Chen. "Didn't Star Seed Su say that there must be Starfire suppressing the Mist Embers for the Purification to be successful?"
"Then bring the Radiant Moon Spirit to our Bronze Sect," Qing Cang said.
The Prison-Suppressing King hesitated, but he hadn't not considered this option either. He quickly threw out his own demand: "It can be brought, but we must bring the Galaxy Throne."
"Acceptable." Chu Lingyuan spoke up. The Galaxy Throne's Might was not bad, but this was the Bronze Sect's Core Zone, and the other party was bringing a Radiant Moon Spirit.
After Purification, both sides would hesitate to pelt a rat for fear of smashing the vase beside it. It was the best resolution Method.