Chapter 40: The Secret Plan Behind Back

The moment Zhen Nantian announced the elimination of the Yuwen family, it instantly ignited the fury of everyone in that family.

“Zhen Nantian, I can’t believe it! The Xiyang Alliance is just a bunch of weaklings—how could they have any real strength? Their bid could never be higher than ours,” Yuwen Ningfei shouted almost furiously.

This outburst immediately enraged the ten members of the Xiyang Alliance.

Zhu Yu stood up, shouting angrily, “Yuwen Ningfei, you underestimate the strength of our Xiyang Alliance and overestimate your own family’s power. This time, we are determined to get the Yulin Mine, so of course we’ll offer a high price.”

Yuwen Ningfei stared at Zhu Yu and yelled, “Zhu Yu, you say your bid is higher than ours? Fine, are you willing to show me your price?”

Hearing this, Zhu Yu became even angrier and retorted harshly, “Yuwen Ningfei, are you stupid? If you saw our bid, your family would immediately know the true strength of our Xiyang Alliance.”

The bids recorded in the jade slips mentioned the quantities of various ores, which naturally reflected the current strength of the Xiyang Alliance.

Yuwen Ningfei was stunned.

Seeing the conflict between the two, Zhen Nantian had to step in. Smiling, he said, “Brother Yuwen Ningfei, I swear by my soul that the Xiyang Alliance’s bid is definitely higher than yours.”

Swearing by one’s soul was a very serious oath in the immortal realm.

Seeing Zhen Nantian’s determination, Yuwen Ningfei had nothing left to say. But he couldn’t just give up. If the Yuwen family failed to obtain the Yulin Mine, he, as their leader, would face severe punishment upon returning.

“Zhen Nantian, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but this is too important—I must confirm it. Wait for me a moment; I’ll be back soon,” Yuwen Ningfei said solemnly.

With that, under the puzzled gazes of everyone, Yuwen Ningfei suddenly flew away, arrived at the Yulin Mine area, captured a miner who was in the later stages of fusion, and brought him before Zhen Nantian.

“Zhen Nantian, have this guy scan the contents of the two jade slips and compare the bids between our Yuwen family and the Xiyang Alliance. After that, erase his memories,” Yuwen Ningfei said seriously.

Only then did everyone understand Yuwen Ningfei’s plan: have an uninformed cultivator scan both bids to determine the result, then erase his memories about the bids. In this way, the true result would be known without revealing any information about either side.

Zhen Nantian was stunned for a moment before looking at Zhu Yu and smiling faintly, “Brother Zhu Yu, look at the current situation…”
“Brother Nantian, I understand your difficulties. Since Yuwen Ningfei isn’t giving up, let’s follow this method,” Zhu Yu replied with a gentle smile.
Zhen Nantian nodded, then pointed at the cultivator in the Convergence stage and said with a smile, “These two jade slabs—one on the left and one on the right. Scan their contents one after another and estimate their value.”
The jade slab on the left contained the offer from the Yuwen family. The one on the right held the offer from the Xiyang Alliance.
Faced with these immortals, the cultivator’s legs trembled so badly they almost gave way as he stood there struggling, carefully scanning the contents of both slabs.
After a while, the cultivator said softly, “The jade slab on the right is more valuable.”
What!
Yuwen Ningfei was so shocked he almost froze in disbelief.
“Die!” Fueled by rage, Yuwen Ningfei suddenly swung his palm, shattering the cultivator in the Convergence stage.
“Yuwen Ningfei!” Zhen Nantian shouted angrily.
At that moment, Yuwen Ningfei threw out a hundred Origin Stones from his space ring and said coldly, “Zhen Nantian, are a hundred Origin Stones enough?”
In the Immortal Realm, cultivators below the Great Vehicle stage were worthless—death meant nothing. The fact that Yuwen Ningfei could provide a hundred Origin Stones somewhat restored Zhen Nantian’s face.
Zhen Nantian’s face was filled with anger as he clenched his fist, ready to strike.
But then…
“Hmph, Tongzhou Hall and Xiyang Alliance, you’re so cunning. This time the Yuwen family has suffered a loss—don’t think you’ll have an easy time on the Xiyang Continent,” Yuwen Ningfei shouted angrily.
Immediately afterward, he threw out a hundred Fire Origin Stones, signaled the other nine members of the Yuwen family, then took out a Starship. The ten of them boarded the ship and flew away.
Zhen Nantian gritted his teeth in fury but didn’t try to stop the Yuwen family members anymore.
The remaining six factions all smiled happily, then turned their attention to Zhen Nantian.
Zhen Nantian calmed himself down and said with a smile, “Everyone, in a year, send someone here with the quantities of minerals mentioned in your offers, and then you can take back the Yulin minerals.”
“Hehe, no problem.”
“Great, let’s settle it this way.”
“Very good. From now on, we’re all friends.” …
Ye Fu, Li Fan, Cheng Jin, Zhan Kai, Murong Mingyuan, and Zhu Yu all replied with smiles.
Zhen Nantian smiled too.
After that, they exchanged a few more words, and each faction left the Lanlin Mountains aboard their Starships.

※※※
After sending the six factions away, Zhen Nantian flew back to the wooden house and went straight to Fire Lord.
“Fire Lord, as you instructed, everything has been taken care of,” Zhen Nantian said with a smile.
It turned out that everything that had happened earlier was actually arranged by Fire Lord.
Fire Lord’s plan was to let the Zhu family and the Yuwen family fight each other on the Xiyang Continent, so that Tongzhou Hall’s development there wouldn’t be hindered by more forces. Of course, Fire Lord’s deeper considerations were not something he would reveal to Zhen Nantian.
Zhen Nantian had listened to Fire Lord’s plan—that by causing conflict between the Zhu family and the Yuwen family, Tongzhou Hall could reap the benefits—and thus followed Fire Lord’s instructions to stage a drama.
No matter what price the Yuwen family offered, the Xiyang Alliance’s bid would always be higher. It turned out that Zhen Nantian had already made secret arrangements with Zhu Bao: any bid from the Xiyang Alliance would be counted as half its actual value in future transactions.
The Yuwen family would surely bid far less than the actual value of the Yulin Mines. Even if the Xiyang Alliance bid an amount equal to the value of the Yulin Mines, they would still profit in future transactions. Naturally, the Xiyang Alliance’s bid would be higher than that of the Yuwen family.
Moreover, Fire Lord had calculated that the Yuwen family would only doubt the Xiyang Alliance and not confront the other five factions, as those five factions were no less powerful than the Yuwen family. Thus, the Yuwen family would only question the Xiyang Alliance, and once they confirmed the bid was correct, they would have nothing left to say.
Fire Lord sat on the wooden bed, smiling faintly at Zhen Nantian. “Fatty, it’s obvious that the Yuwen family will soon engage in fierce battles with the Xiyang Alliance. You go ahead and arrange the next steps. You must already have a plan in mind for how to strengthen our Tongzhou Hall’s power.”
Zhen Nantian chuckled and nodded.
Now, at least six out of the seven major factions on Fangyang Star would no longer pose a threat to Tongzhou Hall. They could start recruiting new disciples and gradually strengthen Tongzhou Hall’s strength, eventually establishing a branch of Tongzhou Hall on Fangyang Star.
Zhen Nantian left the wooden house.
Fire Lord watched him leave, a faint smile on his lips, and murmured to himself, “Gold Lord, Wood Lord, Water Lord, Earth Lord—they’ll surely drive the Yuwen family to ruin. As long as the frame works, that Earth Immortal, Yuwen Tianlan, will have no choice but to confront the Zhu family. Then, when those two great Earth Immortal experts fight, the five of us can take advantage of the situation.”

It turned out that the words Fire Venerable gave to Zhen Nantian were also influenced by Qu Yi’s intentions. Qu Yi wanted to provoke fights among the skilled Earth Immortals, then send his five avatars to ambush those who were severely injured, so as to obtain some treasures and advance their cultivation levels. Qu Yi didn’t want his five avatars to rely solely on the Enlightenment Stele to improve their cultivation; although that would allow them to advance, it would take longer. Not only did Qu Yi want to strengthen his own power, but he also wanted to reach Fire Cloud Star, the core planet of the Fire Cloud Star Region, as soon as possible to seek revenge for Emperor Hao.
※※※
The distribution of the Jade Lin mineral resources was also of interest to various factions on Fang Yang Star. The sudden emergence of the West Central Alliance, which even took away the share belonging to the Yuwen family, quickly spread throughout Fang Yang Star.
“The West Central Alliance—another new major force has appeared! From now on, Fang Yang Star will be ruled by seven major forces.”
“This West Central Alliance appeared out of nowhere and is extremely powerful. It has already overshadowed the Yuwen family.”
“The two core factions of the West Central Alliance are the Zhu family and the Yuanxing Sect. The Zhu family comes from Zhu Yan Star, and one of their members is an Earth Immortal.”
“In the future, our West Central Continent will be quite lively. The West Central Alliance and the Yuwen family will surely engage in fierce competition.”
…
All sorts of voices arose across Fang Yang Star, expressing surprise at the emergence of the West Central Alliance and shock at the Yuwen family’s defeat. Of course, everyone also realized that these two major forces would continue to fight against each other.
While these guesses and exclamations were circulating everywhere, Yu Wen Ningfei had already led nine people straight to the Yuwen family’s headquarters. After a day, Yu Wen Ningfei and the others returned.
“Yu Wen Ningfei, kneel down for me!”
Before Yu Wen Ningfei could even land, the clan leader Yu Wen Qitian flew out of his room and shouted angrily. Ever since Yu Wen Ningfei reported back from the Lan Lin Mountain Range, Yu Wen Qitian had been furious, waiting for him to return so he could impose severe punishment.
Yu Wen Ningfei flew out of the starship without a word and knelt on the ground, head bowed in silence.
“You bastard! You couldn’t even handle such a simple task. You really disappoint me. Kneel here for a day first, then come to my room and explain the situation in detail before I decide your punishment,” Yu Wen Qitian shouted angrily.
Yu Wen Ningfei simply replied, “Yes, clan leader.”
Immediately afterward, Yu Wen Qitian swept his robe and flew back to his room, leaving Yu Wen Ningfei kneeling alone.

Yuwen Ningfei said nothing, but the heavy breathing from his lowered head revealed the anger in his heart. At that moment, an imperceptible speck of dust rose from Yuwen Ningfei’s robes and entered the Yuwen family’s headquarters. The Dimension Ball had attached itself to Yuwen Ningfei as he arrived at the Lanlin Mountains.