When Yang Su returned outside after leading his mother inside, he notice that the atmosphere of the group was strange. He looked at Xi Shen questioningly but Xi Shen only shook his head as if to say it was nothing.
Bai Xiaofung who had time to calm down finally noticed the change in Yang Su’s aura, and asked curiously, “Brother Su, how come you seem so different. Did something happen to you? It feels like you have become stronger.”
When Fang Chen and Fei Yin heard Bai Xiaofung’s words, they looked at each other before turning their gazes to Xi Shen.
Bai Xiaofung was some distance away in the village so he wasn’t able to see what they had witnessed, Yang Su challenging the Heavenly Tribulation.
They looked to Xi Shen as they wondered if this was something that Bai Xiaofung should know about. After all, he wasn’t like them that would be under Xi Shen’s command in the future, he was the second son of the Bai Clan Leader, and the Bai Clan itself might still be under the Li Clan’s rule but they were still one of the Seven Major Clan’s on the Maple Continent. Their interest might aline with the current rulers of the Continent, but that’s the thing, they’re a type of entity that would listen to the power who was stronger.
If the Li Clan was revealed to be weaker than the Ming Clan, then to survive they probably wouldn’t hesitate to switch sides.
All the other Seven Major Clans aside from the top three were somewhat of the same mindset. As for them combining their forces, it wasn’t that easy for Seven Major Clans to join forces. They all had their differing interest and agendas, plus the lower level Major Clans was unwilling to provoke the Li Clan by joining forces, as that could be seen as a sign of rebellion.
What Bai Luo was doing by joining in a marriage alliance with the Lin Clan was a big risk on his part, and was definitely pushing the boundary on what was acceptable by the Royal Family and even the Noble families. However, right now, the entire upper echelon of the Bai Clan was in a panic as the bargaining chip to have the Lin Clan agree to the marriage alliance was gone, and they had even discovered that someone knew about their plans. It was frightening to think about the consequences that could occur if the news of this spreads. If it did, the Bai Clan would be on their own, instead of them and the Lin Clan bearing the brunt of the marriage alliance backlash.
In a secret chamber of the Bai Clan, Bai Luo was gripping at his disheveled hair as about a dozen old men below him were in an uproar. One side was arguing that they shouldn’t have tried to extort the Lin Clan as now even they were hounding them for the pill furnace, while the other side was saying they had no other choice as their Bai Clan was on the verge of falling as one of the Major Clans.
It was pure madness in that chamber as these old men's spittle flew everywhere. It was also kinda amusing to watch such high-level cultivators and seniors of the older generation slowly lose their bearings and devolved into an incoherent mess of childish banter. Throwing insults and words fill with incomprehensible old-timers vulgarity at one another...
Xi Shen saw the look Fang Chen and Fei Yin was giving him and knew what they were thinking.
‘I had specifically sent Bai Xiaofung away from the volcano, as I knew something strange would happen that I didn't want him or that person to see. Ever since we left the Celestial Academy, Tai and Little Snow mentioned someone was following us, or more specifically Bai Xiaofung. So I had been careful until now how I acted, as I don’t want to lose the perception of me being weak as yet, I still need a bit more time to form my Faction. I even had to endure that slap to my face from Ling Tian because of that, but I’ll make him regret it in the future no doubt about that. But the problem now is that the Heavenly Tribulation had surely alerted a few people, Yang Su’s village is between the territory of the Bai Clan and the Celestial Academy, I can’t have any of them coming here searching around. The seal Demonic Qi is still here after all.’
Xi Shen went over a few things in his mind as quick as lightning, before he opened his mouth ready to say something, but Bai Xiaofung suddenly said again to the dumbfoundment of everyone, “Ahh! This aura, has brother Su entered the Sea Expansion Realm already?! No wonder you felt so different from before, congratulations brother Su!”
After saying that, Bai Xiaofung suddenly had a thought appear in his mind and he asked confused, “Oh, brother Shen, what exactly happened at the volcano? I suddenly saw dark clouds gathering in the sky above it and flashes of colorful light lighting up the night. Wasn’t that a Heavenly Tribulation I had read about in the clan? It was weaker than I had imagined, but it was absolutely mortifying to watch! Could it be that there was an expert going through a breakthrough up there? What are the odds?”
As Bai Xiaofung rambled on, Fang Chen and Fei Yin's expressions twitched a bit when they heard him, and they couldn’t help but think this Bai Xiaofung was very dense!
It was strange that he didn’t link Yang Su’s breakthrough with the Heavenly Tribulation, though it wasn’t that obvious, he should have at least held some suspicions. But he didn’t seem to have even considered the possibility!
Xi Shen was thinking the same thing as well, he knew Bai Xiaofung was dense from the moment they met, but to be this dense?
‘Well, this is convenient as well. My perception isn’t as developed as a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator’s but I could still faintly detect Bai Xiaofung’s Dao Protector. From my guess, I suspect that he went after those Demonic Disciples as I haven’t sensed his presence around the area. That means he didn’t witness Yang Su going through the Heavenly Tribulation. This is good, although nothing much would come of it, I still prefer the Bai Clan didn’t know this information ’
Coughing a little, Xi Shen then said, “Yes, it was really bizarre to have witnessed such a Heavenly phenomenon from up close.”
Fang Chen and Fei Yin looked to Xi Shen, realizing he wasn’t going to tell Bai Xiaofung and was just going along with what he said.
Xi Shen continued to say, “However, let's not talk about that for now, I want to focus on the Divine Fire Spirit Stone Vein I found in the volcano.”
Bai Xiaofung was taken aback by the mention of Divine Fire Spirit Stones, as well as Fei Yin and Fang Chen. Yang Su was in deep thought as hearing that made him finally realize why those stones looked so familiar, they were Divine Fire Spirit Stone he had read about in the Techniques Library.
With eyes shining brightly, Bai Xiaofung said, “Brother Shen, what a discovery of such good fortune! Even a small Divine Fire Spirit Stone vein is worth an astronomical price!”
Seeing Bai Xiaofung’s excitement, Xi Shen nodded and said, “Yes, and the vein has quite a bit of Divine Fire Spirit Stone so it’s worth a small fortune.”
Hearing Xi Shen describing the Divine Fire Spirit Stones amount as “quite a bit,” and it was worth a “small fortune,” Yang Su couldn’t help but become bewildered. The amount of Divine Fire Spirit Stones he saw in that volcano was more than a bit. It had covered almost the entire interior of the volcano! Not to mention the purer ones in the lake of lava, the ones embedded in the walls are at least of a mid to high-grade quality!
Yang Su looked to his now Master and thoughts of him being a greedy miser couldn’t help but surface in his mind. Though he just let those thoughts pass, as maybe his master has his reasons to keep the true worth of the volcano hidden. After all, he had also seen that shocking arm as well.
Xi Shen then continued to say, “I know that brother Fung would find these stones useful during the concoction of medicinal pills. So I will...”
Xi Shen didn't get to finish though as Bai Xiaofung nodded his head at Xi Shen’s first sentence and said, “Indeed brother Shen, these stones would be useful to me, but more importantly it would be very beneficial to my Clan.”
“Huh?” Xi Shen said as he looked at Bai Xiaofung confused.
“Hm brother Shen, I have to thank you for finding such a treasure trove, my Bai Clan is sure to thank you.”
Bai Xiaofung cupped his fist towards Xi Shen, but the latter had question marks appearing above his head. Xi Shen was asking himself what the heck this Bai Xiaofung was talking about.
After bowing, Bai Xiaofung then excitedly said, “Brother Shen, I can’t wait any longer, I’m going to go see for myself the Divine Fire Spirit Stone Vein, I’ll contact my family and have some people come to excavate the Vein. I will surely reward Brother Shen with a portion of the Divine Fire Spirit Stones.”
The more Bai Xiaofung spoke, the more Xi Shen's face contorted into an ugly expression.
‘Huh. Huh? Huh?! Huh?!!! Why the fuck is this bastard talking as if this Vein is his Bai Clan’s?!’
Bai Xiaofung excitedly move to head for the volcano, but Xi Shen suddenly stopped him and said, “Whoa, whoa, wait, I never said I was handing over the Divine Fire Spirit Stone Vein, in fact, I was simply offering to share a portion of it with you brother Fung. Consider it a gift from me.”
Xi Shen said with a really, really forced smile.
Now it was Bai Xiaofung’s turn to have question marks over his head, and he looked to Xi Shen and said rather displeased, “But brother Shen, this territory is somewhat part of my Bai Clan. Even though the Celestial Academy is nearby as well, we are closer to it so we have more say in who has ownership of the Divine Fire Spirit Stone Vein.”
Xi Shen gave Bai Xiaofung a sideways glance before he took out a jade slip that only someone from the Li Imperial Family could have.
After taking out the golden jade slip, he turned to Yang Su and while holding the jade slip towards him said, “Place a drop of your blood onto it.”
Seeing Xi Shen’s serious expression, Yang Su followed without question and lifted his index finger to his lips and bit it to draw blood. After which he leaned his finger over the jade slip and let a drop of blood fall onto it.
Everyone was watching as the jade slip absorb the drop of blood before it began to shine.
Although puzzled expressions appeared on Fei Yin, Fan Chen, and Bai Xiaofung's face when they saw Xi Shen only placing the jade slip back into his storage ring.
Seeing everyone’s confused expressions, Xi Shen nonchalantly commented, “With my authority as the second prince of the Li Imperial Family, I Hereby appoint Yang Su as Baron, and I declare this village along with the land within a two-kilometer radius of it as his own property to pass onto his descendants.”
*******
Word Count: 1943
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺