Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 140: Clue Inference
At night, the moon is bright and the stars are few.

At the headquarters of the coalition of loose cultivators, the leader of Luofeng Valley, Xu Quan, strode into the spacious hall. Sitting in the inner room was a middle-aged man with a pale complexion, a thin figure, and the appearance of a scholar. He was none other than Chen Zhongwen, the second in command of Luofeng Valley.

"How is it? Any news?" Xu Quan waved his hand to stop him from standing up and saluting, and went straight to the upper seat and sat down.

Chen Zhongwen continued his greeting, bowing slowly and unhurriedly before returning to his seat. His tone was as calm as ever, "We've already figured out Kasar's background. He was born in Kachu City on the Muhe Grassland. He's a casual cultivator. I heard he lives in a cave on Wuyuan Island in the waters near Kachu City."

"There's news that he appeared in Far East City some time ago and participated in the Far East City Market Auction. Around that time, Qingyuan Sect Elder Huang Qing happened to lead a team to Far East City. I assume that Qingyuan Sect must have connected with him at that time."

Xu Quan frowned slightly: "Why would he help Qingyuan Sect attack Yunfeng Trading Company?"

Chen Zhongwen rested his chin on his thin hand, his eyes deep. "That's all my source knows. As for why he helped the Qingyuan Sect, I don't know either. But I can infer that the Qingyuan Sect must have reached some kind of deal with that Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"Kachu City is even farther away from Far East City. It's impossible for him to travel all the way there for no reason."

"I suspect he must have important matters to attend to in Far East City. It's even possible that his destination is Qin State. He might need something, so he arrived in Far East City. I could tell from his participation in the local market auction."

"Qingyuan Sect has only been here for three years, so it's impossible for them to have any contact with him. So they must have met in Far East City."

"The Qingyuan Sect must have provided him with something he needed in exchange for his help. I suspect continued cooperation between the two parties is unlikely; this is likely a one-time deal."

Xu Quan felt relieved. "If that's the case, this person should have left Bianxia Town by now."

Chen Zhongwen's voice remained calm. "Although I can't be sure, it's likely true. Furthermore, no one has seen him in the past two months. He wasn't even present at the Qingyuan Sect's celebration banquet last month. If he's still in Bianxia Town, the Qingyuan Sect will definitely make him appear. This will both deter our alliance and reassure the Xuri Sect, the Ding Family, and the Hunyuan Sect."

"For the man who contributed the most to the attack on Yunfeng Trading Company to fail to show up at such an important event, that speaks volumes."

Xu Quan narrowed his eyes slightly: "As long as that foundation-building cultivator is not here, the Qingyuan Sect alone will not pose such a big threat to us."

Chen Zhongwen said, "According to intelligence, last month, during their celebration banquet, the Qingyuan Sect proposed establishing the alliance headquarters in Lingyun Mountain, but the other three sects rejected the proposal, so the plan was abandoned. This shows that the four relocated sects also have their own ulterior motives and are not united. Now is the time to take the next step."

.........

In the main hall of Solitary Peak, Song Xian had just returned from Qianyuan Valley and was about to go to the training room in the backyard. As soon as he entered the main hall, Shen Fan came to greet him and bowed respectfully: "Master."

Although he is now fully responsible for refining puppets and does not need to worry about other things, the sect's rotation is arranged as usual. When it is his turn, he has to put down the puppet refining and stand guard here honestly.

"Is there nothing going on in the sect these days?" Song Xian asked casually as he walked towards the backyard without stopping.

After walking a few steps, he didn't hear Shen Fan's response, so he stopped and looked back, only to see Shen Fan following behind him, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Seeing this, Song Xian's heart skipped a beat and his expression became serious.

Shen Fan then replied in a lukewarm tone, "Nothing much. It seems Senior Brother Zhang Ningyuan and Elder Zhong had an argument yesterday. Senior Brother Zhang slammed the table and they parted on bad terms."

Seeing him like this, Song Xian thought something big had happened again, but he didn't expect it to be this. He couldn't help but feel surprised and curious: "Why are the two of them arguing? What's going on?"

Shen Fan whispered, "Two days ago, Senior Brother Zhang brought a wandering cultivator with him, claiming he was a new disciple for the sect. Since you were away, I reported this to Elder Zhong. Later, Elder Zhong came and, after understanding the situation, he disagreed with recruiting this person into the sect."

"Senior Brother Zhang was unhappy about this and said it was arranged by you. Elder Zhong then said that even if it was arranged by you, he would not agree to recruit this person into the sect. Senior Brother Zhang got angry, retorted a few times, and left in a rage."

Song Xian remained silent. He knew that Zhang Ningyuan had dissatisfaction with Zhong Wenyuan since they settled in Guzi Mountain, but he did not expect that the two would quarrel.

Logically speaking, Zhang Ningyuan and Zhong Wenyuan should have a good relationship.

Zhang Ningyuan is a descendant of Zhang Shilin's clan in Qingyun Sect, and Zhong Wenyuan is Zhang Shilin's brother-in-law. The two were in the same camp in Qingyun Sect and experienced many dangers together.

After arriving in Bianxia Town, our relationship had actually deteriorated, which was quite strange. It was just the way people get along. Some people are just not meant to be together.

When they were in Qingyun Sect, although both of them followed Zhang Shilin's lead, due to the large number of disciples, they actually had few opportunities to spend time together, let alone be alone. However, they had a good relationship because they were in the same boat.

But after arriving in Bianxia Town, the two of them spent some time together day and night, and they actually began to dislike each other.

Zhang Ningyuan was dissatisfied with Zhong Wenyuan's behavior of always openly favoring Zhong Yang. He felt that he was nepotism. In their daily interactions, he also felt that Zhong Wenyuan was not friendly enough, and always made him feel superior in his actions and words.

Zhong Wenyuan thinks Zhang Ningyuan is impetuous.

"Go and find Senior Brother Wenyuan immediately and bring him to the first house in the backyard. I want to talk to him alone." Song Xian ordered.

When there is a conflict among the disciples of the sect, as the head of the sect, he certainly cannot sit idly by. Internal conflicts are often more threatening than external enemies. Isn't that how the Qingyun Sect ended?

"Yes." Shen Fan responded and left.

Song Xian came to the backyard room, and soon, Shen Fan and Zhong Wenyuan arrived.

"Master." After Zhong Wenyuan came in, he bowed respectfully. He never failed to be polite, no matter in front of others or behind their backs.

Especially when there are outsiders around, he will pay more attention and must bow at a standard 90-degree posture with a serious expression.

"Brother Wenyuan, please take a seat." Song Xian glanced at Shen Fan, who understood and immediately stepped out and closed the door.

Zhong Wenyuan took a seat as instructed. Since their last conversation in his mansion, he was no longer as depressed and was still concerned about the sect's affairs as before.

But his spirit was still somewhat languishing, his eyes no longer had the luster they once had, and his whole demeanor looked as if he had aged by ten years.

"We've already agreed on the Qianyuan Valley Spiritual Farm. From now on, it will be managed by Wei Lian. He will pay us 1,100 spirit stones annually. This is a good deal. Even if we send someone to manage the spiritual farm, we might not be able to generate that much income each year. It also saves manpower."

Song Xian did not talk about Zhang Ningyuan directly, but briefly talked about the signed agreement.

"The three-leafed ginseng planted by Yunfeng Trading Company took three years to mature. I don't know if it was due to poor maintenance or someone else's corruption. Now the remaining intact spiritual herbs are only worth about 3,000 spiritual stones. We still have to ensure that there is no more damage. In total, the average annual income is 1,000 spiritual stones."

Zhong Wenyuan said, "It's definitely better to have someone who's an expert manage the spiritual farm than someone who's not. Wei Lian is a professional spiritual planter, and with his careful cultivation, the harvest will surely be higher than Yunfeng Trading Company's. Since he's willing to rent the spiritual farm for 1,100 spirit stones a year, he's sure to make more money."

"He himself said that if he were to manage it, the annual income would be about 1,500 spirit stones."

"This is probably a conservative estimate. I think it should be more than that. It's a pity that our sect doesn't have any disciples who understand spiritual plants. If we send one of our own, the harvest would probably be no more than 1,100 spirit stones."

Song Xian knew that he still disagreed with the decision to rent the spiritual fields to outsiders, so he smiled and said, "Even if there are dedicated spiritual plant masters, they won't devote their full attention to the work if it's not their own. The former manager of Yunfeng Trading Company might not be someone who is not proficient in spiritual plants. Aren't the spiritual plants managed by Qingyun Sect all specially selected spiritual plant masters?"

Zhong Wenyuan was speechless and remained silent.

"I heard that Senior Brother Ning Yuan has recruited a cultivator who has already come to the sect. I believe Senior Brother Wen Yuan has met this person!"

Zhong Wenyuan said calmly, "It's a casual cultivator named Zhou Ren. He has a complicated background, and I don't agree to recruit him into the sect."

"Complex background? How do you say that?"

"This man once raised red mandarin ducks, the hybrid offspring of blue-winged birds, and had a feud with Puqing Valley in Bianxi City. When I spoke with him, he was clearly indignant and resentful of Puqing Valley. The situation in Bianxia Town is so tense right now, and our sect already faces enough potential threats. Not only are the independent cultivators in Bianxia Town eager to make a move, they could also launch an action against us at any time."

"We've already formed a feud with the Yuyuan Sect. If we recruit this person and offend Puqinggu, it will do more harm than good to the sect."

(End of this chapter)