Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

It turned out that many people had been hiding around the snowy lake.

Since they had been hiding, it naturally meant that they had arrived a long time ago.

These people were from Gaoyang Village, Xunyang City, the Mount Song Army Headquarters, Hanqiu City, and even the capital. All of them were experts.

But they were only attendants to the truly important figures.

These important figures had been standing in the darkness of the mountain range this entire time.

Tianhai Zhanyi was dressed in a thin gown, and whenever snowflakes fell upon it, they would float away. He looked very elegant.

Youths always enjoyed using various ways to display their grace and flaunt their strength, but Zhu Ye, as master of the Zhu clan, did not need to do any of this. He was dressed in a fur coat, while Divine General Ning Shiwei was still wearing a full suit of armor in this cold weather, making him seem especially stern. As Ning Shiwei surveyed the mist-covered valley below and that almost fairy-like courtyard, he wrinkled his brow and he said, "This place is so remote and extremely close to demon territory, and yet they were able to build such a place"

"Just who owns this place isn't important. What's important is who will be able to possess this person after tonight."

Tianhai Zhanyi glanced at the pine forest across from him, making no attempts to conceal his ridicule and contempt.

Even the stupidest of people could understand that the enigmatic individual that was able to refine such a wondrous treasure as the Cinnabar Pill was certainly no ordinary person.

But they represented the Zhu clan, the Tianhai clan, and the Prince of Xiang, essentially half of the Great Zhou Dynasty. What they needed to consider was not how to snatch away that precious recipe and the person who had developed it, but how to prevent other people from snatching these things away.

Those people were in the pine forest across from them.

The Tang Seventeenth Master smirked at them and said, "I truly did not expect that someone dares to steal the products of my Wenshui Tang clan."

From the look of it, the Tang clan had already lost control over tonight's situation. Regardless of the preparations that the Seventeenth Master had made, he probably had not expected that the important personages of the Imperial Court would so highly value the pill recipe and that person. Despite the statuses of Zhu Ye and Ning Shiwei, they had managed to silently make their way to this obscure mountain range.

Tianhai Zhanyi looked at the Tang clan experts standing at the Seventeenth Master's side and jeered, "If your Tang clan had continued to obediently distribute the Cinnabar Pill, it truly could have remained your product, but since you've now also begun to crave this treasure, do you still have the face to stop others? To steal what's entrusted to youis a somewhat more unpleasant way of putting it."

The Tang Seventeenth Master's smile faded. "I am representing the Tang clan in speaking with you."

From the moment they had met in this snowy mountain range, Zhu Ye had had a faint smile hanging about his face, but at these words, his smile suddenly flourished. "Wait until your second brother kills your eldest brother and then enters the ancestral hall to kill pitiful little Thirty-Six. When that day comes, it won't be too late to say that you represent the Tang clan."

Upon hearing these words which were seemingly ordinary, but actually extremely pointed and filled with contempt, the Tang Seventeenth Master took a deep breath and his gaze turned cold. This place was Tianliang County, and he was not the First Master or the Second Master, perhaps even lower in status than Tang Tang. As a result, he could only accept these words, and yet

At this moment, Ning Shiwei suddenly turned to the courtyard in the snowy valley below and snorted, "Want to leave?"

Before his voice had faded away, his fist punched out like a cold spear, slamming against the cliff. With a boom, a chunk of the mountain was sent flying down into the valley.

Faint sounds of snapping and breaking could be heard and the lake seemed to ripple. Just like that, the wooden bridge was broken.

"Let's go and meet with that place's master."

Ning Shiwei began walking to the lake, not even glancing at the Tang Seventeenth Master.

But the Tang Seventeenth Master knew that this iron fist had been meant for him to see. It was a warning and an expression of resolve.

Tianhai Zhanyi, his face full of scorn, shook his head and walked past the Tang Seventeenth Master.

Zhu Ye calmly nodded in farewell and followed.

The former bishop of the Hall of Illustrious Persons glanced in concern and confusion at the Tang Seventeenth Master, who had remained unmoving this entire time.

As he watched the torches light up along the lake shore, watched the mist over the lake grow thicker from the turbulence, the Tang Seventeenth Master suddenly frowned.

.

.

The boulder had shattered the wooden bridge, startling the waters of the lake and stirring up a heavy mist. The courtyard in which all four seasons had been displayed was enveloped in the mist. The dusky light of the torches was scattered to produce an extremely dream-like scene, increasing the fairy-like quality of the landscape. Of course, to someone in a different mood, one could say that it added to the strangeness of the scene.

Tianhai Zhanyi stood on the shore of the lake and looked at the two indistinct figures standing on the broken bridge. Arching his brows, he said, "Sire is naturally an extraordinary individual, strolling about with the clouds and storks, a noble person who lives apart from the world, buthow can one truly live without eating the food of the mundane world? Since one has to stain oneself with the red dust of the mortal world eventually, why not travel together with us?"

He thought these words to be extremely elegant and was quite pleased with them, yet the answer that came back through the mist showed that they had had none of the effect that he desired.

The black-clothed girl's voice was just as emotionless as herself, but it so easily riled his emotions. "Are you a demi-human? Do you not know how to speak human words?"

Tianhai Zhanyi was absolutely infuriated at this response. With a light snort, he prepared to respond, but was stymied by a glance from Zhu Ye.

"To put it more simply, no matter what you might think, since you've been exposed to the sun, there is no more chance of returning to the darkness."

Zhu Ye calmly said to the two people within the mist, "No person can misappropriate the Cinnabar Pill. The Tang clan cannot, nor can I or anybody else. It belongs to the Imperial Court, and all we want is the merit of being the first to offer it. As for your reward, not one bit will be kept from you. There is even a chance that you will receive the gratitude of the venerable master of the Dao."

The mist was quiet for a very long time.

The young man spoke.

"This is mine."

Zhu Ye revealed a warm smile, playing the part of an elder patiently explaining things to a junior. "When I said that no one can misappropriate the Cinnabar Pill, you were included."

In the mist, the young man asked, "What sort of principle is this?"

Zhu Ye solemnly intoned, "Since it is the most precious treasure of the world, it should belong to the entire world."

The mist fell silent once more.

Tianhai Zhanyi sneered, "If one holds a precious treasure but is not willing to share it with the world, then one should hide oneself better, or else they will just be seeking death."

Whether it was said elegantly, tactfully, or patiently, the argument of these important figures was evident.

The Cinnabar Pill was one of the most precious treasures of the world. If one did not have the appropriate strength or authority, one did not have the right to keep it. If one wanted forcefully to keep it, they could only die.

The black-clothed girl's voice rose from the mist again, responding to Tianhai Zhanyi's words. "Ah! Are you really a demi-human?"

She was still referring to the fact that he didn't know how to properly speak human words. Tianhai Zhanyi was enraged and retorted, "Hand over the pill recipe and your life will be spared!"

As he spoke, he made a few furtive gestures behind his back.

He had no intentions of waiting for an answer. What he wanted was a surprise attack.

Zhu Ye and Ning Shiwei both saw it, and though their brows were raised, they did not stop him. They wanted to see what would happen. Even just a few probing assaults would produce some response.

An expert of the Tianhai clan silently lunged across the surface of the lake, strangely vanishing into the mist.

And thenhe just vanished.

Nothing happened. No sound rose from the fog.

Time slowly passed, but the fog remained quiet, no response rising from it.

Everyone felt things to be truly odd.

Tianhai Zhanyi's complexion was abnormally unpleasant.

Zhu Ye and Ning Shiwei had both grown more solemn.

There was a sudden splash of water. The lotuses in the mist gently moved as the corpse of the Tianhai clan expert drifted out of the mist.

It was like a boat, and as it made its way through the lake, the waters were dyed a striking red.