Dominant Restraint Master harrumphed. “You want us to work together, yet the evil of your thods is visible. Just look at how each of you is cursed with lowly beast parts!” He gestured to Noxious. “Even you have the eyes of a snake.”
Damn this bigoted old son of a bitch.
Noxious smiled slightly. “You’ve been in closed-door cultivation too long. We’ve already addressed many of our techniques’ imperfections, including that issue. At this point, I’m willing to wager that our thod of taming has fewer flaws and is more stable than yours.”
The man’s face turned red. “Nonsense!”
Little Spring stepped forward. “Senior, I apologize for interrupting, but it’s true! Just take a look. Thanks to the changes that were made, I can enhance my senses and show the parts I received from my beast at will.”
White husky-like ears grew from the top of his head, and his eyes turned blue.
The old man examined the kid. As he studied him, his gaze softened, and he stroked his beard. The pre-teen was, in fact, too adorable for words… or his protagonist's halo kicked in and helped our asses. Whichever.
“What’s your na, young Daoist?”
He reverted to his normal white-haired disguise. “This one is Verdant Spring.”
“What do you think of the taming thods of your Irrepressible Beast Blood sect?”
“I’ve seen the techniques of the most powerful sect in the world. If I compare those with this sect’s, then I’d have to say ours is better.”
Both Noxious and Dominant Restraint Master raised their eyebrows at the kid’s shocking statent.
While I wanted to defend my Indomitable Will Sect, I had to admit that the brat was right.
“Can you elaborate on that, young man?”
“Yes, Senior!” He cleared his throat and looked more adorable than Little Teasing Mouse ever had. “My previous orthodox thod taught to dominate my beast with the intention of treating him like a servant. I had to use food and punishnts to manipulate beasts. While effective, it never sat right with .”
Dominant Restraint Master nodded. “That is the orthodox thod of the most powerful sects.”
“This sect taught how to be respectful. To be a leader, not a master. That respect becos mutual the more you work with your beast. It turns them from mindless servants to caring partners who can think for themselves and have the sa goals.
“But the best part about this thod is that it’s given hope that soday I can form contracts with more beasts.”
He frowned. “Explain.”
The kid glanced at Noxious, who nodded.
“Well, my elder martial sister, Elder Linlin, travels with sotis. But beasts hate her.”
“...” Goddamn it. Why was he bringing into this?
I smiled awkwardly at the Immortal Bone Creation experts.
“If I want to travel with her, I can’t ta beasts with the orthodox thod I was originally taught. The beasts from those other sects always tried to kill Elder Linlin, even when their master was friends with her.”
My hair stood on end when the divine sense of four Immortal Bone Creation monsters scanned . If they were looking for the reason beasts hate , then they were out of luck. I’d already had the best physicians I knew try to figure out that mystery, but they couldn’t find shit.
These punks weren’t even half as impressive as those old masters.
“When I joined here, I discovered that the beasts in this sect obviously hated her, but they never tried to kill her! Not unless the tar also wanted her dead. That was a huge improvent! No other beast taming thod has that effect!”
The old man eyed like he wanted to prove that his own style would have that sa effect.
I pinched the brat’s elbow to get him to hurry up. If he said much more, this guy was going to kidnap for experintation!
The brat patted my shoulder. ”Thanks to the Irrepressible Beast Blood Sect, I can beco a tar with many beasts under my leadership while keeping my important elder sister in my life!”
Thankfully, Dominant Restraint Master had turned his hyper-focus back onto Little Spring by the end of his speech.
Not only had the kid been physically adorable, but the way he showed loyalty was moving.
Both sect leaders had visibly relaxed compared to when they first arrived.
The old man narrowed his eyes. “Do you truly think the orthodox thod isn’t good?”
He shook his head. “It is, but for my purposes, the Irrepressible Beast Blood sects are better. And now that the flaws have been resolved, it should be considered orthodox!”
Noxious grimaced but nodded. Then his eyes darted to . ::Was this your plan all along?::
I clasped my hands behind my back like the master I was. The corner of my lips turned up.
Dominant Restraint Master and Peerless Cacophony looked at each other and had a private conversation. Finally, the old man nodded. “While I’m not fully convinced that this isn’t so trap. I’m willing to sit down and have a deeper conversation about the possibility of a treaty. But in exchange, I want you to give my grandson the antidote.”
“Done. I’ll give all our hostages the first dose. But it will take five pills over the course of five days if you want him to be completely cured with no side effects.”
He narrowed his eyes at Noxious. “You really wanted to give us no choice.”
“I had no choice myself. All our lives are at stake here.”
“Well, make sure you thank this young man. His presence convinced to co to the negotiation table.”
We all turned to Fairy Peerless Cacophony, who sighed. “I also agree. Let’s end this now before it’s too late.”
Yes! We were well on our way to completing the fifth and final step in my plan to save this damned sect: the treaty.
I secretly held my fist toward the kid. He nonchalantly bumped it.
***
An hour later, we landed in the middle of the battle of the bands arena. Thanks to so diligent dread painters, it had been completely transford with decorations that symbolized peace.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Every sect set up defensive formations and their own beautiful tables that faced each other in a triangle. The sect leaders sat down at the center of each. Their Nascent Soul elders took their places beside them. Any elder invited who didn’t fit or who was in Golden Core stood behind their negotiation team as a defensive line in case this shit went south.
Of course, the Irrepressible Beast Blood Sect had to do things differently. When Junior Sect Leader Wild Hoof took his spot at their extra-long table, Noxious Fangstrike and Resentful Shadow Snake sat flanking him. A few chosen Nascent Soul elders took their place on the sa side of the expert they supported.
I was planning to stand at the back, but my damned in-na disciple gestured for to sit between him and Brother Wrathful Waterspout.
I shook my head.
“Master Lin, do you have sothing against this nice front-row seat?”
::Yeah. If any of you assholes throws a tantrum, I’ll be obliterated first.::
“If you’re between Elder Wrathful Waterspout and , you’ll be the most protected person here.”
Shit. He was right.
“Besides, shouldn’t you be at the table influencing the course of our treaty? We need soone who understands the orthodox way of thinking, and no one here knows it better than you.”
Damn it. I hadn’t wanted to put myself in the middle of this negotiation aside from giving advice here and there from the back.
Whatever. I sat down. Little Spring stood behind .
Fairy Peerless Cacophony pressed her palm to the Harmonious Sound Sect’s table and addressed the surrounding elders who hadn’t heard our parley. “We’re ready to discuss this treaty. While my sect won’t lose to anyone, fighting has never been our main goal. We strive to improve our music and art above all else. If there really is a great threat, then joining forces is in everyone’s best interest.”
Ice Lotus Flower, the Nascent Soul alchemist I t at the convention, grimaced. She clenched her fist so tightly her knuckles turned white. Apparently, she disagreed with her sect leader. There must have been a lot of bad blood between her and Noxious Fangstrike.
Dominant Restraint Master cleared his throat. “My Leashed Claws Sect is also ready to discuss a treaty. I’ve realized recently that we’ve taken too much inspiration from our enemies. We did that to fight back, and at the ti, it was the right thing to do, but I want to go back to our roots. I feel like my beast tars have lost their way. The fact that a child from an unorthodox sect looks more filial and virtuous than our own sect mbers hurts my heart.”
He glanced over at Little Spring.
So that was why he gave in so easily. He’d recognized the sa ssed-up shit I’d seen from his sect after being slapped in the face with an example of a proper orthodox beast tar.
Wild Hoof nodded. “That’s good to hear. Then let us discuss the details. Senior Vengeful Siren had an idea of where to start.”
The elder crossed his arms. “If we’re going to make this treaty work, we should first discuss reparations.”
The leaders frowned but didn’t argue. He must have started here because a good portion of deals fail because of financial bullshit. As long as we could co to a reasonable understanding on this topic, it would boost our chances of success.
And if we couldn’t co to an agreent, it was better to find out now than waste everyone’s ti.
“All sides have spent money and lives on this war, but you seniors were in the wrong first by attacking our sect.”
Neither leader agreed, but they didn’t say anything against it either.
“I imagine that we all wish to keep our financial situations private. For that reason, I recomnd that we make reparations by agreeing to send help when requested. For every two instances we support your sect in defending against the demonic cult, we suggest you support us at least three tis.”
He went on to give further details about exceptions, disciple numbers, and their stages. At the end of it, the two orthodox sect leaders kept their faces stern.
“Any complaints or changes?”
A stranger and his entourage of capable warriors suddenly stord into the arena from above. This new guy was at Nascent Soul and had a frown on his fox-like face. A spiritual tool that looked like round-lens glasses was stuck on his nose.
Several elders from the orthodox sects moved to block him. When he showed them a docunt, they backed off. A few of our Nascent Soul experts tried to intercept but were prevented from getting close.
Who the hell was this fucker?
When he neared the tables, he glanced between the two orthodox sect leaders and bowed. “Seniors, if I hadn’t been inford by Alchemist Iron Fang, I wouldn’t have known this was happening! How could your sects break your contract with us and consider a treaty with them?”
Iron Fang whispered to Dominant Restraint Master, who just shook his head and scowled. He said sothing back that made the alchemist seethe with anger.
“Who are you?” Resentful Shadow Snake crossed his arms and stared at the newcor.
The glasses guy bowed. “Senior, this one is Chi Qi Tan’s representative, Wealth’s Herald.”
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Wild Hoof leaned over and whispered to Resentful, who frowned and used his spiritual energy to pressure the man. “Ah! So you’re the rchant who sold our sect mbers flawed weapons and defensive tools!”
Herald swallowed and locked his knees to fight off the pressure. “Nonsense! My Chi Qi Tan has a perfect record. If you received defective products, it must have been from a scamr claiming to be with our company.” His eyes glinted. “I’m sure you have no proof that those items were handled by our group, correct?”
Of course they didn’t. Who would have rembered to get a receipt during the middle of war prep? Which he knew. And the actual rchant who worked under them who did it was probably gone.
“You personally sold weapons to ,” Wild Hoof said flatly.
“Yes, but were they flawed?”
“Those ones weren’t, but...”
“There.” He opened his arms as if everything he said was a done deal. “That settles it.”
“It does not!” Wild Hoof stood. “You claim our treaty will go against your contract with the Harmonious Sound Sect and the Leashed Claws Sect. Until we resolve this, we are not settled!”
The fox-eyed rchant smiled. “Look. We’re just doing business here. We have so clients who like your chrysanthemum hips, and, since these two were going to destroy your sect anyway, we wanted to make a deal to preserve them. That’s all.” He shrugged.
Fairy Peerless Cacophony crossed her arms. “Except you’re the one who told us about their old sect leader failing to ascend in ti.”
He clasped his hands casually. “But Senior, you would have found out about that sooner or later! It’s just good tactics to stay ahead of things.”
Everyone from the Irrepressible Beast Blood Sect glared at the Chi Qi Tan representative.
He cleared his throat. “As I was saying, if you go through with this treaty and break our contract, you’ll owe penalty fees. That ans you’ll have to give us two tis the cost of the weapons you’ve broken, return the rest, plus pay a usage fee of one high tier spirit stone per weapon.”
Dominant Restraint Master slapped his fist against the table. “What is this robbery?!”
“Ridiculous!” Peerless Cacophony’s face turned red.
Damn, just how much were those hips worth to this company?
The two Immortal Bone Creation sect leaders pressured the man with their energy.
He and his warriors dropped to their knees. He lifted his arms placatingly. “Rember, it’s not that you owe. It’s Chi Qi Tan. I am rely their representative. If I die here, you’ll still have to pay back everything. They’ll co to collect it no matter what you do.”
Like hell was I letting this damn greedy rchant group ruin the fifth step in my plan!
I stood up. “There will be a better option! Hand that contract!”
It was ti to use my expertise in the Dao of Paperwork!
One of the Harmonious Sound elders whispered to their sect leader.
Fairy Peerless Cacophony glanced at . She must have seen sothing she liked because she brought out a long parchnt. I could tell as soon as I saw it that it had been written with special ink on enchanted spiritual paper.
Wealth’s Herald scoffed. “I’m not showing an outsider—”
“Here, look at my copy.” The Harmonious Sound Sect Leader used her energy to send the docunt over.
The Chi Qi Tan group’s representative eyed it like he wanted to snatch it away.
I reviewed its contents while the Nascent Soul elders prevented the asshole and his guards from threatening with their proximity.
He harrumphed. “Even if you read through it, you’ll find that it’s inescapable. We have the most talented clerks on this continent working for us.”
I turned the contract toward and scanned it with my divine sense. I even held it up to the sun so I could see through it.
“Stop that! It’s a pointless waste of ti!”
I grinned and set it down.
Reviewing it would have gone faster if it had been on a jade slip, but I quickly got the gist of it. Both sects signed a single contract in triplicate. Chi Qi Tan gave them weapons in exchange for the land the Irrepressible Beast Blood Sect was on. The sects agreed not to take or harm any of the spiritual plants when they looted, leaving them for the Chi Qi Tan rchant group.
It really seed like they were trying their best to preserve the chrysanthemums; however, it stated ‘all the spiritual plants in the sect’ and not just the special fruit. As soone who had walked through the fields the horticulturists grew, and worked with their stored rare ingredients as an alchemist, I knew for a fact that these rchants were taking far more than their fair share rely for providing the weapons listed.
I rested two fingers on top of the paper and infused it with my spiritual energy. “This contract is unfair.”
“Nonsense! But even if it is, they still signed it. That makes it valid.”
I glared at him. “Did they know about these conditions, or was it hidden in the fine print?”
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