Chapter 321: Scheming
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All nine members of the Seven Absolutions Sect who had entered the blessed land had assembled.
Once the nine had gathered, they headed off to the treasure light together. But rather than flying on swords, they sprinted on the ground.
It was a slower method, but it minimized the chances that they would be discovered. After all, flying on swords was a rather showy method of transportation. Even so, after running a certain distance, the students would stop and observe their surroundings before continuing, showing a high level of caution.
As the weakest of the six major sects, the Seven Absolutions Sect found it hard to match the combat power of the other sects. But this was also why they were more cautious and united. After entering the blessed land, rather than finding treasure, the first thing they did was unite.
These nine were all running, and as the treasure light drew closer and closer, the leading student suddenly raised his right arm, upon which the eight others behind him stopped in unison.
The leading student was coarse-skinned, wore a green uniform, and had a bamboo flute on his back. He had the plainness of a farmer and seemed very average and uninteresting, but from how strictly his orders were followed, it was clear that this student had a very high status in the Seven Absolutions Sect.
This person was Mu Yi, the most talented student of the Seven Absolutions Sect and its leading figure in the Immortal Fortune Conference.
It was said that Mu Yi had originally been a shepherd boy for a farming family. A wandering Celestial Heart elder of the Seven Absolutions Sect had discovered his talent in his travels and brought him to the institute.
Where Mu Yi stood out wasn’t in his Jade Gate. In fact, his Jade Gate was only six cycles, not even high aptitude. Where he truly excelled was in his Spiritfire Meridians, which made him a genius in the Dao of Pills. Thus, that elder had brought him back with the hopes that he would become an expert in the Dao of Pills for the Seven Absolutions Sect.
But while in the institute, Mu Yi had displayed jaw-dropping ability. Putting aside the fact that he entered Mortal Shedding in his sixth year despite having only a six-cycle Jade Gate, he had also cultivated the Cyclic Mantra and the Third Secret Transmission, the Music of Animitta. In the institute’s major tournament, he had singlehandedly swept through several dozen students of his class and become an instant celebrity. He was the Seven Absolutions Sect’s most outstanding genius in recent times.
Even in this Immortal Fortune Conference where the six major sects vied for power, Mu Yi had singlehandedly swept aside the reputation of the Seven Absolutions Sect as “the weakest”, overwhelming his opponents and winning five matches in a row. Of course, this also had to do with the fact that he hadn’t run into the elite students from the other sects, but the strength he had displayed had drawn a lot of attention.
As the party of nine stopped, Mu Yi peered into the distance and sternly said, “I don’t know what sect Senior Brother is from, but please come out.”
Laughter came from the forest. “Junior Brother Mu is truly quite cautious. Let alone the nine of you, you alone would be enough to have me running for the hills, but you’re still so cautious. Thankfully, I have no plans to be your opponent.”
Tang Jie emerged from the forest.
Mu Yi was actually a sixth-year, so he had been in school longer than Tang Jie, but he had entered school early, so age-wise, he was actually younger than Tang Jie. Moreover, he had a natural baby face and had a humble personality, calling others “Senior Brother”. As time passed, people grew accustomed to calling him “Junior Brother”, and Tang Jie was just joining them.
Tang Jie stood underneath a tree and grinned. “Gentlemen, I mean no ill will. I just have something to discuss with you.”
“So it was Tang Jie.” The Seven Absolutions Sect students relaxed when they saw him.
One student smiled and said, “Senior Brother Tang, you’re not here to tell us that we can’t go through this road, are you?”
The Seven Absolutions Sect students started to laugh. They had no grudge against the Basking Moon Sect and had the advantage in numbers, so they were very relaxed.
Tang Jie chuckled. “How could I have this ability? It’s impossible for me to stake a claim to this plot of land. I was just waiting here to tell you what’s happened up ahead.”
“Something happened up ahead?”
“Correct. I just came from there. The first treasure to emerge is the Taiyi Profound Clarity Cup, and it’s currently in the hands of Yun Wuji of Godhead Palace. They have five people in all: two from Godhead Palace and three from the Beast Refining Gate.”
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Godhead Palace!
A murderous look flashed across the faces of the Seven Absolutions Sect students.
Just like how the Basking Moon Sect hated the Beast Refining Gate, the Seven Absolutions Sect held a deep grudge against Godhead Palace.
“Since Godhead Palace got the treasure, we have to take it from them,” one student said.
“But can you actually do it?” Tang Jie countered.
The Seven Absolutions Sect students scowled.
Someone angrily said, “Tang Jie, are you making fun of my Seven Absolutions Sect? In terms of individual combat strength, my Seven Absolutions Sect might be inferior, but we have many methods that you don’t know about…”
“I know,” Tang Jie replied. “I have no intention of making fun of you. It’s just that Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate have joined together.”
“Then we can join up with Horizon Ocean Pavilion–”
“They can’t help you,” Tang Jie cut him off. “Yun Wuji took some of their people hostage, and also people from the Thousand Passions Sect and Basking Moon Sect. They will find it hard to make any moves without hurting the hostages.”
Everyone paled. Without the help of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Seven Absolutions Sect was no match for the alliance of two sects.
Only Mu Yi remained unperturbed, calmly saying, “Senior Brother Tang isn’t telling us this just to persuade us to turn back, right?”
Tang Jie chuckled. “Of course not. I’ve just come to make a deal with you.”
“What sort of deal?”
“If you pay me enough, I’ll help you hold off the reinforcements from Godhead and Beast Refining.”
Tang Jie’s intentions were finally revealed. He wanted to use this chance to get some money out of the Seven Absolutions Sect.
Besieging a point to draw out reinforcements was actually a plan that required cooperation. The Seven Absolutions Sect was the main force, while the other sects were primarily there to intercept the enemy forces.
But in Tang Jie’s view, this cooperation didn’t need to be out in the open. It only needed to be cooperation in practice.
Thus, Tang Jie didn’t need to tell Mu Yi, “Let’s work together.” That would only make the Seven Absolutions Sect feel like it was in the bargaining position and perhaps even demand a sky-high price. He wanted to exploit the Seven Absolutions Sect’s desire to get the treasure, and take the role of an assistant.
So long as the Seven Absolutions Sect moved against Godhead Palace, the rest would naturally follow.
And Tang Jie wasn’t worried about the Seven Absolutions Sect getting the treasure because of it. He had planned on giving it up anyway.
In a situation where he couldn’t get all the treasures, his best choice was to choose who got the treasure and who didn’t.
And Tang Jie had chosen Mu Yi to be the one to get the treasure.
The reason was very simple. Mu Yi, while powerful, didn’t have a particularly handsome appearance, and he wasn’t much competition for the hand of the young palace lord.
While young men always grumbled about how girls had various reasons for disliking them, most young girls had yet to be involved in worldly affairs and weren’t thinking too long-term. In this age group, they usually didn’t like a man for a very simple reason: he was too ugly.
Tang Jie didn’t know who that fake young palace lord would ultimately choose, but he knew that the best means of getting rid of the competition was killing off the most handsome.
Lan Yu could not get a treasure.
The same applied to Yun Wuji.
Thus, the Taiyi Profound Clarity Cup could end up in anyone’s hands except theirs.
Tang Jie wasn’t worried that his motives would be guessed at. These students weren’t dumb, but they also weren’t very old and hadn’t involved themselves in worldly affairs too much. As they spent most of their time cultivating, their actual experience was limited, and one had to add onto that the limitations of their era. They had never heard about “choosing winners”, so they couldn’t see through Tang Jie’s motives.
In truth, let alone them, even many of the spectators couldn’t understand what was going on. Some people had to think the matter over several times before they finally got it.
The Seven Absolutions Sect students were truly surprised at Tang Jie’s suggestion. One of them asked, “How can you stop the reinforcements by yourself?”
Sure enough, rather than Tang Jie’s goal, they were more confused about how Tang Jie was going to pull it off.
Tang Jie smiled. “That’s my problem. You don’t need to worry about that, only about the price you’re going to offer.”
They began to think.
The people at Red Plum Ridge could only see the students move around and couldn’t hear them talk. The esteemed masters had their ways to get around this, but they needed to focus on a particular scene to do this.
Tang Jie had put on a good show so far, so most of the people were paying attention to him, and quite a few had noticed what he was saying.
The green-robed scholar from the Seven Absolutions Sect angrily said, “Don’t listen to that bastard! He’ll help you even if you don’t give him anything!”
Alas, just like with Godhead Palace’s Elder Ke, his words couldn’t be heard by his students.
After some thought, Mu Yi replied, “We can give you five bottles of True Essence Pills, but you must promise that once we succeed, the Basking Moon Sect won’t try to take the treasure from us.”
Five bottles of True Essence Pills was close to the value of a low-grade art relic. Of course, the Taiyi Profound Clarity Cup was no low-grade art relic, and besides its inherent value, it was also proof that its bearer held one of the ten spots, making it much more important than a regular art relic. But as the Seven Absolutions Sect still needed to fight for it, this price was reasonable.
Mu Yi was a very honorable and honest person. Another person might have started negotiating from one bottle, but he offered five from the start. However, it would be impossible to get him to add any more.
Tang Jie smiled. “It truly is refreshing to work with Junior Brother Mu. That being the case, I won’t quibble with you. I’ll take it. For five bottles of True Essence Pills, the Taiyi Profound Clarity Cup belongs to your Seven Absolutions Sect.”
Mu Yi waved his hand, and the Seven Absolutions Sect students behind him opened their bags, and really did collect five bottles of True Essence Pills to hand over to Mu Yi.
Mu Yi threw the bottles toward Tang Jie, saying, “If you’re deceiving me…”
Tang Jie caught them. “The Seven Absolutions Sect lives up to its reputation, really managing to put together five bottles of True Essence Pills. Relax. I don’t plan on making enemies with the Seven Absolutions Sect for just a few bottles of pills. I can’t say anything about the others, but I can guarantee that no Godhead or Beast Refining Gate student will get past me.”
Mu Yi nodded. “That’s good enough.”
Tang Jie turned and disappeared into the forest.
That green-robed scholar saw that the deal was done and that Tang Jie really had managed to swindle his students out of five bottles of True Essence Pills. He stomped his feet in fury and pointed at Xie Fengtang. “Such a cunning and despicable student! Truly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!”
Xie Fengtang innocently said, “What does it have to do with me?”
Ming Yekong smiled and nodded. “Not bad, not bad. I’m liking this kid more and more.”
It almost sounded like he wanted to take him as his disciple.
Tang Jie swiftly retreated, and it was only once he was deep in the forest that he said, “Come out.”
The person who emerged was Wei Tianchong, surprisingly. He scratched his head and said, “As expected, I couldn’t hide from you.”
He had encountered Tang Jie after the meeting with Ye Tianshang. After hearing Tang Jie’s plan, he had worked with Tang Jie to intercept people and set up defenses.
Tang Jie replied, “It’s not like you cultivate stealth and concealment, so it’s very normal that you couldn’t hide from me. What’s the situation?”
“We ran into one from the Beast Refining Gate. Senior Brother Peng has already gone off in pursuit of him.”
“Senior Brother Peng is also here?”
“He just got here.” Wei Tianchong grinned. “Other than Shaoming, basically everyone else is here. Senior Brother Deng from the Thousand Passions Sect is also here. That idiot Yun Wuji is still holding his position, not realizing that we’ve completely surrounded him.”
“That’s good.” Tang Jie was very satisfied. “I’ve met up with the Seven Absolutions Sect and finished negotiating with them.”
As time passed and more students arrived and met up, the noose that Tang Jie had drawn around Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate drew tighter and tighter.
Basking Moon, Thousand Passions, and Horizon Ocean each occupied one side of the treasure light area, intercepting the incoming students from Godhead and Beast Refining. At the same time, Mu Yi led his men in an attack on Yun Wuji’s group.
Under Tang Jie’s guidance, the battle became a four versus two, with the defeat of Godhead and Beast Refining being inevitable. Even Elder Ke and Heng Wudi couldn’t help but despair.
In this Immortal Fortune Conference, Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate were bound to be the greatest losers, and their loss was entirely due to Tang Jie.
The two Celestial Heart elders stared at Tang Jie, their eyes brimming with hostility. They both had the same thought: If this kid is allowed to mature, he will become a major foe.
Even though the news from Ten Direction Valley had mostly proved that Tang Jie wasn’t Tang Jiye, his performance today had given new reason for Godhead Palace to pay attention to him, and now, the Beast Refining Gate was with them.
In the forest, Wei Tianchong grew excited after hearing that Tang Jie had settled things with the Seven Absolutions Sect. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
“‘Go’? Go where?” Tang Jie asked.
“To intercept the Godhead Palace and Beast Refining Gate people, of course.” Wei Tianchong gave him a weird look. “Wasn’t this your plan?”
Tang Jie laughed. “In total, Godhead Palace and the Beast Refining Gate sent only twenty-four people into the blessed land. If we take seven off of that, then there can only be seventeen people who can come as reinforcements, but these have to be divided among the Thousand Passions Sect, the Basking Moon Sect, and Horizon Ocean Pavilion. If we divide them evenly, we’ll end up with two of our people for every one of theirs, and this is only if the other side sends everyone. When it really comes down to it, even a 3-to-1 ratio might be too generous. So what’s the point?”
“Huh?” Wei Tianchong was stunned. “So what are you trying to say?”
Tang Jie replied, “The Seven Absolutions Sect’s people have already gone to take the treasure. As it’s nine versus five, Godhead Palace has no chance of victory. Given the relationship between the Seven Absolutions Sect and Godhead Palace, if circumstances permit, the Seven Absolutions Sect would never let Yun Wuji go. With someone else serving as the target of all the hostility, the three from the Beast Refining Gate might try to escape.”
Tang Jie laughed. “We’re going in together with the Seven Absolutions Sect to kill those three guys from the Beast Refining Gate. Wouldn’t that be much better than waiting around like fools? If our luck is good, we could also catch one or two guys who managed to break through our net.”
Wei Tianchong understood. If this was really the case, then it was much more pleasing than waiting around to intercept. Moreover, those people from the Beast Refining Gate would probably be weakened by their escape attempt, so even if they had to go two-versus-three, they would still be able to easily do it.
But after thinking it over some more, he still couldn’t rest easy. “But what if they don’t manage to escape?”
“We make a profit if even one of them manages to escape, so what are you afraid of? Besides, if it’s really no good, we can just help one of them escape.” Tang Jie smiled.
The esteemed masters gathered at Red Plum Ridge all cursed at Tang Jie for his shamelessness.
Even Xie Fengtang shivered. Looking at Ming Yekong, he said, “Isn’t he just a little too cunning?”
Ming Yekong’s face darkened. This kid’s style of calculating everything for maximum value truly was rather frightening. If he were taken as a disciple, it was hard to say that he wouldn’t one day sell Ming Yekong out, and his desire to take Tang Jie as his disciple somewhat faded.
Tang Jie’s a little too devious and utilitarian for his own good.
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