Dual Cultivation God Returns

Chapter 693  "Least threatening"

"He sure takes his time", Madam Liang spoke, puffing a cloud of herbal smoke into the air, reclining on a not-so-comfortable sofa of the small room they were escorted to.

"Well, he doesn't know who he's meeting", Zhao Xieren smiled, quite accurately gauging the expectations of the man they were about to meet.

"That makes sense", Liang Yuhan drew on her smoking pipe once more, narrowing her eyes in thought, and then turning to Wu Long "Still, for such a careful approach at first, you sure came openly"

"We had two debilitating factors before. Lack of information, and the lack of manpower who could move", Wu Long shrugged his shoulders.

While he was still cautious even now that those factors were mitigated, it did not mean he had to be afraid to make any moves at all.

"Speaking of information, do we know who that man was working for?" Madam Liang spoke remembering the man who so generously shared his knowledge with them.

"Mm, they're called the Ember Palm Pavilion, it is one of the larger Sects around these regions of the Boundless World, which is likely to be one of the contenders for dominance over this place", Wu Long nodded.

The emerald green eyes of the beauty widened at his answer.

"That Celestial Fox sure is powerful…", she spoke with a hint of being slightly dumbfounded.

"Isn't that something you can do as well?" Zhao Xieren asked with a bit of surprise at that reaction.

Liang Yuhan chuckled with a bit of self-deprecation, "Not at all, at least not in that short of a time and definitely not when the target is in captivity. Things you want to hide are very sensitive, and thus naturally heighten alertness when probed even on the subconscious level. It might be not a problem to get superficial information from a man with illusions, but to get anything related to such sensitive topics is a tall order"

"Don't be too hard on yourself", Wu Long interjected with a smile, "Fen Baihu's powers are uniquely predisposed in this regard, and thus even in her current weakened state she can extract such things with relative ease. She just has to let that man believe that everything goes as he wants it to go"

"Hah, by now he probably believes that he's already back in his organization", Liang Yuhan chuckled, shaking her head.

"He's coming", Wu Long turned to the door, through which Yu Zhen came in after a few minutes.

The Sect Elder's gaze carefully studied his visitors, quite surprised to see two Transcendents, who seemingly were not belonging to any main faction. The beauty of the lady with the smoking pipe momentarily stunned him, but he quickly gathered himself by reminding himself of the circumstances.

"I assume you are the one named Wu Long", he then turned to Zhao Xieren, assuming the owner of the only name he heard would have the highest cultivation.

"That would be me", Wu Long chuckled, and then turning to the old man next to him added "Allow me to introduce the one seeking to meet you, Zhao Xieren"

Yu Zhen quickly caught on to the fact that the main person in a delegation might not speak directly to the gatekeepers, and nodding, turned to the old man "May I know where do you know my name from, and what business you have with me?"

"Your name is not hard to learn in the city, after all you always ensure the interests of this Sect in any affairs happening within the region", Old Man Zhao replied in a neutral tone, "And the business we have is cooperation"

"You will have to go through the proper procedure then", Yu Zhen's brows furrowed as he understood that they more or less used his name as a bait to get through the gates.

He then pondered how to politely finish this conversation, as he did not want to offend an older man who also held a formidable cultivation level.

"Is anyone here other than you interested in competing with the Iron Claw Group over the World Stone? Fuu~, it seems this old man made all this way in vain. I guess we'll have to go to the neighboring Sect then…", however, Zhao Xieren's subsequent words stopped Yu Zhen in his tracks.

Yi Pong, his subordinate, turned his narrowed eyes toward the old man, and then turning back to Yu Zhen slowly shook his head from side to side with a look of concern and caution.

However, not heeding that warning, Yu Zhen decided to engage, his gaze becoming piercing as if he tried to peer through the intention of the old man.

"That doesn't seem like something you can do lightly", he finally replied with disbelief seeping through in his voice. Madam Liang smiled, puffing a cloud of smoke in the air. She could see how inexperienced this man was at hiding his emotions. Even through that suspicion that he intentionally did not bother to hide, a very clear interest which he was trying to cover up, was showing through.

"You can decide that after hearing out this old man, but if you decide that before doing so, you will never know", Zhao Xieren chuckled, in a relaxed tone. It was not acting, as when he got his briefing from Wu Long, it was explained that it was completely fine to leave without this Sect's cooperation. The same, however, was not true for Yu Zhen.

He hesitated for a moment, and then made a polite gesture toward the door, "This place is not appropriate for such a sensitive discussion, let's switch the venue"

Old Man Zhao nodded with a smile, as Yi Pong narrowed his eyes at the three who stood up and moved toward the door.

Some time later, as Yu Zhen sat opposite the three visitors in his personal office, cups of steaming tea on the small table in between them, and Yi Pong standing behind him, he finally approached the topic once more. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"So, how exactly are you planning to take control over the World Stone?", Yu Zhen asked leaning slightly forward, his hands locked together.

"By taking control over the only other World Stone that no one is currently paying attention to", Old Man Zhao explained with a smile.

"You mean the one leading to the Great Wilderness?", Yu Zhen raised his eyebrow.

"Yes"

"Nonsense!", Yi Pong interjected, "There is a swarm of Giant Reaper Ants on the other end. If you tamper with the seal on the World Stone you will get us all killed!"

"Not to mention that the seal is overseen by guardians", Yu Zhen nodded, already slightly regretting prolonging this conversation.

"Who said we'll be tampering with the Seal in any way?", Zhao Xieren shrugged his shoulders.

"You mean…"

"We only need other people to think that there is value in that World Stone. After the revival of this one, it would be easy to believe the other one is reviving too", Old Man nodded with a smile, a light laughter in his tone.

"But… how does that give us advantage?", Yu Zhen made a confused expression.

"Because we know which target is real, while the attention of everyone else would be divided. Besides, if you create an alliance with the Tiebi Mountain Sect that already holds the World Stone within their territory you will effectively be in a dominant position because of the mutually protective alliance. In fact it is the alliance that this old man wanted to propose to you and then broker it with the other side" Old Man Zhao chuckled, causing both Yu Zhen and Yi Pong behind him to lower their heads in thought.

Wu Long did not miss the former, giving a quick inquiring look to the latter behind him, who was more cautious and still shook his head.

Yu Zhen locked his hands under his nose in a pondering pose, visibly hesitating. This old man was awfully forthcoming about the plan he had, but not on any specifics.

"And what is your benefit in all this?", Yi Pong narrowed his eyes.

"The Soaring Feather Trading Group whose interests I currently represent will be the main trading partner of the alliance ", Zhao Xieren chuckled.

'Hah! A merchant', Yu Zhen thought to himself slightly relaxing, while Yi Pong became even more cautious.

"That is all for today then", Zhao Xieren then abruptly stood up followed by both Wu Long and Liang Yuhan, adding "This is no matter where you can be hasty, so there's not much we can discuss now. This old man will come back in two weeks to hear your answer"

The group bid their farewells, leaving Yu Zhen alone with Yi Pong.

A heavy silence hang in the air for some time, before Yu Zhen finally broke it, "What do you think?"

"I don't trust them, especially them being merchants. That old man's behavior and mannerisms are those of someone with authority, the lady is too provocative, to the point you might accidentally dismiss her as not important and thus stop paying attention to what she is doing, and the young man… is dangerous"

"Dangerous? He's the least threatening of the three?", Yu Zhen raised his eyebrow.

"Call it intuition", Yi Pong shrugged his shoulders, not sure how to explain the feeling of dread he felt from Wu Long.

Hehe ^^