“This is a bit strange,” the Spirit Devil Patriarch commented as a frown formed between his brows. “Are you certain only five of them came?”

“Yes, Patriarch, this subordinate is certain!” the hall master replied respectfully.

The Ice Lion Sacred Land’s Zhang Pei sneered, “The Cangqiong Sacred Palace’s people really look highly upon themselves. Are they relying on Yang Shangchen or Golden Snake Sacred Land behind Yang Shangchen?” 

“In that case, I’m afraid that Cangqiong Sacred Land and Golden Snake Sacred Land have reached some kind of agreement,” The Spirit Devil Patriarch expressed his opinion.

Zhang Pei shook his head and said, “Would Golden Snake Sacred Land make any agreement with a small sacred land like the Cangqiong Sacred Land? Most likely, Cangqiong Sacred Land and Yang Shangchen must have reached some sort of agreement,” he snickered derisively and went on, “However, this kind of agreement is usually built on benefits and profits. When I speak with Yang Shangchen and give him some benefits, he definitely won’t interfere in your matters anymore!” 

“Who knows, maybe Yang Shangchen would turn around and cooperate with us instead!” 

“I will send Yang Shangchen a message now!” Zhang Pei said as he took out his communication symbol, and contacted Yang Shangchen.

As Yang Shangchen followed behind Huang Xiaolong to the Ice Lion City, his mind was filled with thoughts of Duan Feng being an inner disciple of Divination Creed, whereas Long Jianfei being an inner disciple of Dragon Fish Creed, with a Dragon Fish Creed’s vice hall master being his Master. That’s when he suddenly received a message. His mind went blank after reading the message from Zhang Pei.

There was a strange expression on Yang Shangchen’s face.

“What is it?” Huang Xiaolong asked when he noticed Yang Shangchen’s strange expression. 

Yang Shangchen respectfully offered the communication symbol in his hand to Huang Xiaolong.

When Huang Xiaolong saw the message, a chuckle escaped his lips. He then passed the communication talisman to Cangqiong Old Man, and the others, so they could read it as well. 

“Is Zhang Pei from Ice Lion Sacred Land? He’s inviting you over to discuss something… Interesting! It looks like he’s the appointed lobbyist,” Huang Xiaolong laughed as he said to Yang Shangchen.

Yang Shangchen laughed albeit a bit awkwardly.

“Yes, Young Lord. Zhang Pei is the Ice Lion Sacred Land’s Logistics Hall’s vice hall master, but we’ve merely met a few times. Should I reject him?” Yang Shangchen asked. 

“No!” Huang Xiaolong waved his hand. “Since he invited you, it means that he still doesn’t know the extent of your connection with Cangqiong Sacred Land. In that case, just head over and talk with him. Talk peacefully because I want to know what he wants with you.”

In truth, all of them knew the reason why Zhang Pei was looking for Yang Shangchen.

Since it was like that, Huang Xiaolong decided to go along with it.

Yang Shangchen understood Huang Xiaolong’s intention, and he complied respectfully, “Yes, Young Lord, I will reply to him right away.” And he did exactly that.

In his reply, Yang Shangchen portrayed that he was delighted at Zhang Pei’s invitation. 

Zhang Pei’s reply came quickly, stating that he was awaiting Yang Shangchen’s arrival at the Ice Lion City’s residence. Naturally, he was waiting for Yang Shangchen alone. 

Cangqiong Old Man chuckled and said to Huang Xiaolong, “It looks like the Spirit Devil Patriarch and this Zhang Pei has a friendship based on benefits.”

Huang Xiaolong nodded. If the Spirit Devil Patriarch had a connection with the Ice Lion Sacred Land, it wouldn’t have been Zhang Pei, a vice hall master, who would have contacted Yang Shangchen.

This worked better for Huang Xiaolong as he would have no scruples to resolve with the Spirit Devil Patriarch and his group when the time came.

Huang Xiaolong’s group finally reached the Ice Lion City several days later.

The whole Ice Lion Continent was covered by icy snow, and the Ice Lion City resembled a city built by crystal ice. The air’s coldness penetrated deep into one’s bones.

Huang Xiaolong could see that this was because there were several hundred ice-attributed spiritual veins under the entire Ice Lion Continent, and all of them were peak grade spiritual veins, even better than the dragon flaming spiritual veins under Cangqiong City.

Most of the Ice Lion Sacred Land’s disciples had an ice-attributed bloodline, and they cultivated ice-attributed techniques. Hence, these ice-attributed spiritual veins were extremely beneficial to them.

A moment later, Huang Xiaolong and the others walked into the Ice Lion City.

Disciples from various other sacred lands were coming in and out of the Ice Lion City, and there were numerous caravan teams as well. Calling the Ice Lion City prosperous was an understatement. The Hongxuan Sacred Land was divided into ten super continents with ten main cities, and within each main city was a big trading market.

Huang Xiaolong, Cangqiong Old Man, and the others walked around leisurely.

“Looks like the Spirit Devil Patriarch couldn’t be bothered to receive us at this point,” Duan Feng sneered. 

The Spirit Devil Patriarch’s invitation had said that he sincerely invited Cangqiong Old Man to Hongxuan Sacred Land to discuss peaceful coexistence, but when Huang Xiaolong’s group arrived, no one came to welcome them. There was no doubt that the Spirit Devil Patriarch already knew of their movements, but up to their arrival at the Ice Lion City, no one from the Spirit Devil Patriarch’s side appeared.

This was called sincerity? Yet Huang Xiaolong looked calm. Ever since they had arrived at the Ice Lion Continent, there had been people secretly following them. Needless to ask, these people were Spirit Devil Sacred Land’s disciples. However, Huang Xiaolong did not resolve these disciples, letting them follow the entire way.

Several hours later, Huang Xiaolong’s group seemed to have strolled enough of Ice Lion City, and they soon found a comfortable inn and rested. 

There were still four days until the day of the discussion set by the Spirit Devil Patriarch.

In the next four days, Huang Xiaolong would take a stroll around the city with Cangqiong Old Man, and most of the time, their destination was the Ice Lion City’s trading markets or black markets. They seemed completely unconcerned about the discussion coming up in a few days.

In most sacred lands, there were trading houses on the surface, as well as underground black markets. At times, items that couldn’t be purchased in the shops could be found in the black markets. 

But to Huang Xiaolong’s disappointment, after a round through the Ice Lion City’s shops and black markets, he did not find any of the innate treasures he needed.

Therefore, Huang Xiaolong decided to make a trip to the Saint Devil Continent’s Saint Devil City after the Spirit Devil Patriarch was resolved. According to Yang Shangchen, the Hongxuan Sacred Land’s Saint Devil City’s trading market was a lot bigger than the Ice Lion City’s. Huang Xiaolong had a better chance of finding one of the things he needed there.

The Spirit Devil Patriarch continued to send people to monitor Huang Xiaolong, Cangqiong Old Man, and the others. When he learned that Huang Xiaolong and Cangqiong Old Man had been idly playing around the city, he couldn’t help sneering in mockery.

“This Cangqiong Old Man is really carefree, he has been doing nothing but visiting various shops ever since he arrived at Ice Lion City.” The Floating Petals Patriarch ridiculed, “One hour later, he probably won’t know how he died.” 

An hour later was the time scheduled for their talk.

“It seems like only the five of them came for real,” the Spirit Devil Patriarch stressed the matter again.

When they had heard of Tang Long, Han Mo, and Chu Yifan’s capture, the Spirit Devil Patriarch and the others had suspected that there was an Eighth Resurrection, or maybe even a Ninth Resurrection Primal Ancestor expert at Cangqiong Sacred Land. They were worried that this expert would accompany Cangqiong Old Man’s group to the Ice Lion City as well. Judging from the situation now, there were really only the five of them. 

Another reason why they were so certain was because the Ice Lion City had activated the grand formation, and had a Cangqiong Sacred Land’s Eighth or Ninth Resurrection Primal Ancestor expert sneaked in, they would have discovered it. 

“Cangqiong Old Man’s group is here, right?” the Spirit Devil Patriarch asked the hall master beside him.

“Yes, they set off a few minutes ago, so they should be here in about half an hour,” the hall master replied respectfully.

After confirming that Cangqiong Old Man's group would arrive in half an hour, the Spirit Devil Patriarch ordered some simple dishes and wine to be prepared. Although Cangqiong Old Man and the others were about to meet their makers, they were still guests from afar, and some things needed to be prepared as a courtesy.

Chapter 8/14

Editor: A.Lily

p/s: Typos? Please ping autumnlily on Discord.

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