Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 146 Alliance Proposal
As time approaches the end of June, the weather in Bianxia Town becomes increasingly hotter. At the same time, the already tense situation escalates again.

For unknown reasons, disciples of the Rising Sun Sect and monks from Mount Qixia started fighting outside the Nanyuan Market, resulting in one death and three injuries. Both sides accused the other of deliberate provocation.

This was like lighting the fuse of a powder keg, making the tense and confrontational relationship between the two sides volatile, with the situation tense as if an arrow was on the string.

At the gate of Qingyuan Sect, in the spacious and bright hall, the leaders of the four sects gathered together again.

"Qixia Mountain has already taken action. This is their test. It is urgent to form an alliance. If we delay any further, they will become more and more aggressive. By then, not to mention the resource territory of Yunfeng Trading Company that we have occupied, even our lives may not be saved." Mao Jie spoke first with a serious expression.

"Master Ding, Sect Leader Song, what do you think?" Hu Yingquan sat in the main seat and looked at the two of them.

Ding Wenxiang pondered and said, "An alliance is inevitable, but whether or not to establish an alliance headquarters is still under discussion."

He has had many rounds of negotiations with Qingyuan Sect in recent days. Although Qingyuan Sect has made certain concessions, there is still a gap between them and the conditions he proposed.

Setting up the alliance headquarters in Lingyun Mountain is obviously most beneficial to Qingyuan Sect. The one that the Loose Cultivator Alliance fears and resents the most is Qingyuan Sect, because it was the mastermind in the attack on Lingyun Mountain, and the other three were only assisting.

In addition, after destroying Yunfeng Trading Company, it was Qingyuan Sect that gained the most and greatest benefits.

No matter how ambitious the Loose Cultivator Alliance is, they dare not attack the mountain gate. At most, they can take over the resources and territory of the former Yunfeng Trading Company. The resources and territory obtained by the other three companies combined are not as much as those obtained by the Qingyuan Sect, so the Qingyuan Sect is the most worried.

He took advantage of this mentality and kept pushing the issue during the negotiation process to gain more benefits for his family.

But he didn't expect this to happen suddenly. Of course, he was unwilling to compromise easily, so he gave an ambiguous answer.

"Without an alliance headquarters, what kind of alliance is that? It's just lip service. When the time comes, each party will have to deal with its own problems."

Before Hu Yingquan could say anything, Mao Jie took the lead and said, "Palace Master Ding, don't think that just because the loose cultivator alliance is targeting our sect, your palace can sit back and relax and watch the fight. If they attack our disciples today, they will attack yours tomorrow."

"I definitely don't mean that, Master Mao, please don't misunderstand me." Ding Wenxiang just wanted to use this incident to gain more benefits for himself and did not want to offend the Rising Sun Sect. When he heard Mao Jie say this, he hurried to explain.

"Our sect has had little business in recent years and relies entirely on trade. If we send all our disciples to the Alliance headquarters and support them for free, we're afraid we won't be able to sustain our financial resources."

This is another old saying. Mao Jie knew that Ding Wenxiang wanted to make conditions, so he said nothing more.

Hu Yingquan didn't answer him. Seeing that Song Xian remained silent, his eyes fixed on his nose and his mind wandering, as if he was not involved in the matter, he turned his gaze to him and said, "Master Song, why are you silent? Do you have any objections to our alliance?"

These words had a subtle sense of oppression, but Song Xian remained calm and replied, "As long as the three of you agree, I will obey your orders."

"Alright." Hu Yingquan took over without waiting for anyone else to speak. "Since everyone agrees on the alliance, let's finalize the specific plan today."

"I still use the same plan as last time. The Xu Ri Sect and Qing Yuan Sect will each send fifteen disciples, and the Hun Yuan Sect will send ten disciples. Lingyun Mountain will be the alliance headquarters."

"A second-level magic array has been built on Lingyun Mountain. It is sufficiently safe. All defense costs will be covered by our sect without any contribution from the three of you."

"In addition, our sect is willing to provide half of the training rooms on Lingyun Mountain for the use of the three fellow Taoist disciples."

"What do you three fellow Taoists think?"

This condition is much more concessionary than the last time. During the celebration banquet, Qingyuan Sect was only willing to cover the defense costs, and this time they added the right to use a training room.

The training room is of vital importance to cultivators. For example, the Hunyuan Sect only has three first-level low-grade training rooms, which are not enough to meet the daily training needs of the sect's disciples.

Qingyuan Sect is willing to give up half of the training rooms in Lingyun Mountain. The conditions are quite good and at least it shows sincerity.

Song Xian guessed that this must have been a promise made during the many negotiations with the Ding family and the Rising Sun Sect.

The last time he visited Ding Wenxiang, he said that the bottom line was that Qingyuan Sect should be responsible for the salaries of the stationed disciples and provide a certain number of training rooms.

The Qingyuan Sect only mentioned the training room but did not propose the disciples' salaries, which shows that the two sides have not reached a complete agreement. This can also be seen from Ding Wenxiang's words just now.

Hu Yingquan's words merely confirmed this point. "I agree with Sect Leader Hu's proposal and am willing to send fifteen disciples to Lingyun Mountain," Mao Jie responded first.

Ding Wenxiang pondered in silence.

Song Xian looked at Mao Jie and Hu Yingquan. The former had a blank expression on his face, while the latter had a smile on his face, as if he was confident.

A thought suddenly occurred to him: could this conflict between the Rising Sun Sect and Qixia Mountain be a play orchestrated by the Qingyuan Sect, with the Rising Sun Sect cooperating? Their purpose was to force the Ding family and the Hunyuan Sect to agree to this condition.

Establishing an alliance would bring the greatest benefits to the Qingyuan Sect, and he had every reason to do so. Because he could not accept the Ding family's request to be responsible for the salaries of the three families' stationed disciples, he joined forces with the Xuri Sect and directed and acted in this drama himself.

As for the Xu Ri Sect, it may have received benefits from the Qing Yuan Sect, or received some promises from Hu Yingquan.

Mao Jie's attitude last time was the same as Ding Wenxiang's, but this time he made a 180-degree reversal.

To others, it might seem that they were angered and threatened by Qixia Mountain, but if this was all part of their plan, then it would be completely logical.

"If Palace Master Ding and Sect Leader Song are still not satisfied with this plan, that's fine. You can make suggestions. No matter where the coalition headquarters is located, our sect agrees and is willing to pay part of the defense costs." Seeing that the two were silent, Hu Yingquan did not urge them, but spoke very reasonably.

This tactic of retreating to advance really caught Ding Wenxiang off guard. Hu Yingquan's hidden meaning was very clear: Qingyuan Sect would not make any further concessions. If they did not accept this condition, then the decision to set up the alliance headquarters in Lingyun Mountain would be cancelled, and they would be allowed to choose the location.

But in this case, the four companies will need to share the cost of defending the headquarters.

Ding Wenxiang glanced at Mao Jie.

"Master Hu has been very sincere. Not only is he willing to pay for the defense, but he has also given us half of his training rooms. Setting up the coalition headquarters in Lingyun Mountain will benefit everyone. On the contrary, there are pros and cons. What else can Lord Ding think about? The Loose Cultivator Alliance has already bullied us. Today they are just testing the waters. Tomorrow they may attack our resource-rich areas or even ambush and kill us. It will be too late to regret by then!" Mao Jie met his gaze and said sincerely.

Ding Wenxiang was a little shaken and looked at Song Xian again.

At this time, Song Xian sat there like a colleague or a stranger, looking at the ground.

Ding Wenxiang frowned, and the atmosphere became very subtle for a moment.

Hu Yingquan looked at him with a smile, while Mao Jie looked sincere, both waiting for his statement.

He wanted to gain more benefits, but he felt it was difficult to do it alone. After thinking for a while, he nodded and said, "Okay! I agree with Master Hu's proposal."

Hu Yingquan smiled, and this time it was a smile from the heart. Now that he had dealt with Ding Wenxiang, Song Xian was naturally no problem.

The alliance was established and its headquarters was in his territory, so he could naturally issue orders and carry out his long-planned plan to dominate Bianxia Town.

"Master Song, do you have any objections?"

"Since the three of you have agreed to use Lingyun Mountain as the headquarters of the coalition forces, I naturally have no objection."

"Then..." After hearing this, Hu Yingquan was about to make a summary speech, but Song Xian interrupted him.

"However, our sect does have difficulties. As I said at the celebration banquet, our sect only has a dozen disciples. It is really difficult to allocate ten people to garrison Lingyun Mountain."

"What does Sect Leader Song mean by this?" Hu Yingquan's smile instantly faded, his face darkening as he stared at him coldly, his tone as chilling as a knife. "Since Sect Leader Song agrees to the alliance proposal, but doesn't want to send anyone, is he trying to trick us?"

Hu Yingquan was furious that the Hunyuan Sect, a sect with only a dozen members, had repeatedly disrupted the situation. He had always looked down on the Hunyuan Sect, but only showed respect to them for the sake of the overall situation.

At the last celebration banquet, Song Xian spoke out against his proposal, which had already made him very dissatisfied, and now he jumped out again.

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PS: (I've been feeling a bit exhausted lately and need to adjust. Starting tomorrow, I'll update once a day, with each update no less than 4,000 words.)
(End of this chapter)