Ashcort Mines

"Get back to mining!" a loud shout boomed out. The sound of a whip cracking sounded out shortly after, followed by a pained cry.

After coaxing the slave to get back to mining, the man turned around and began to walk through the mining field. This was the Aderite Mines, located in the Harel Mountain Range. Dozens of mining pits could be seen in the near distance, as thousands of slaves, both mortals and cultivators, went to work on mining Aderite Ore.

??

Aderite Ore was quite peculiar in its mining methods, as brute force would often destroy it to unusable levels. As such, delicacy was needed, resulting in the large-scale need for mortal miners.

The mining fields stretched over several miles, and were located at the base of the mountains to nearly half way up them. A constant flow of caravans streamed in and out of the mountain range, transporting the recently mined Aderite Ore.

After inspecting that all the mining pits were at full production, the man climbed up one of the mountains overlooking the mining fields. The mountain was several thousand yards tall, and housed a large building at the top of it.

He walked in, and was greeted by one of the servants of the building, who bowed slightly to him before speaking out.

"Sir, you have a guest waiting for you in the main hall," the servant said to him.

"Guest? Which guest?" the man asked with a scowl on his face. He was extremely busy running the mining fields, and he didn't have time to waste it on meeting random people.

"It's...its the leader of Whitecrest city, as well as the Patriarch," the servant instructed.

The man's scowl quickly disappeared as he heard the status of his guests. Not only was the leader of Whitecrest city here, but also his very one Patriarch of the Ashcort Clan. The man was an Ashcort Clan member himself, and was ranked quite highly. He was not a direct descendant of the Patriarchs lineage, but his high cultivation, at the Late Core Formation Realm, earned him an important position within the clan.

He was assigned to oversee the entire mining operations of the clan, which was one of its main sources of wealth.

The man quickly hurried towards the main hall, not wanting to keep his important guests waiting. Because the mining fields were located in the middle between Whitecrest City and the Ashcort Clan, it was often used as a meeting location for the two powers.

"For both leaders to gather together, it must be quite important. I just hope its nothing too troublesome," the man grumbled as he strode towards the main hall.

Two large doors were pushed aside, revealing a large sprawling hall. In the very center of the hall was a large, wooden table. Seated on opposite sides of the table were the two leaders the servant had mentioned.

The man inspected them both, trying to gauge their moods. The man on the left had long brown hair, a light beard, and appeared to be in his forties. He wore a white robe, and was the leader of Whitecrest City. He appeared to be in a good mood, as a small smile hung on his face.

Next to the Whitecrest City Leader was another man, his assistant, who had a cultivation in the Late Core Formation Realm.

The man on the right was the Patriarch of the Ashcort Clan, who had long silver hair, a sign of his age. He appeared to be in his sixties, and a unhappy frown was plastered on his face.

The Patriarch noticed the doors open, and looked towards the man who had just entered.

"Crant, you're finally here. Sit down, and we can begin our discussions," the Patriarch instructed.

Crant nodded his head, and took a seat next to the Patriarch.

"Now, lets begin," the Patriarch spoke up.

"I would hope so," the Whitecrest Leader spoke up. "You sent me a sound transmission, urging my immediate presence for a meeting. I left some important matters to come here, so it better be worth it," the man continued.

The Patriarch frowned at the Whitecrest Leader's tone, but didn't say anything about it.

"It will be more than worth your time," the Patriarch replied. "This matter regards your biggest target, Aderite City."

The Whitecrest City Leader's eyebrows raised slightly as he heard this, and an expectant expression appeared on his face.

The relationship between Whitecrest City and Aderite City was antagonistic, and both wanted to cannibalize the other and bring it under its rulership. There had been small scuffles in the past, but neither side could win out as their powers were quite even with each other. They both dealt in the slave trade, as well as Aderite mining, and so both had strong desires to eliminate, or control the other side.

"Oh? Do go on," the Whitecrest City Leader replied.

"I will take you up on your previous offer that you gave me all those years ago. I will go to war with you against Aderite City, and crush them into the earth," the Patriarch replied, his face slightly angered.

The Whitecrest City Leader once again raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had offered an alliance with the Ashcort Patriarch many years ago to ally against Aderite City and crush it with their combined strength, but the Ashcort Patriarch had refused at the time.

"Oh? What made you change your mind and accept my offer after all this time?" the Whitecrest City Leader asked in an amused yet happy tone.

The Patriarch frowned in anger as he replied. "I just received a sound transmission from a clan member stationed in Aderite City. It appears that a new person has taken charge of Aderite City, and has slain the previous City Leader," the Patriarch explained.

"Oh? Such a thing happened? Just how strong is this newcomer? Is he in the Meridian Forging Realm?" the Whitecrest Leader asked?

"No, the reports are that he is in the Late Core Formation Realm, and used some trickery to kill the previous leader," the Patriarch replied.

The Whitecrest Leader frowned slightly as he heard this. "This shouldn't be enough for you to want to destroy the city and the new leader," the Whitecrest Leader replied. "What made you change your mind?"

The Patriarch paused for a moment before replying. "In his dealings with the previous city leader, the newcomer also slaughtered my precious second son. Such a thing is intolerable, and he must be destroyed," the Patriarch replied angrily while slamming his fist down on the table.

A loud boom echoed out in the main hall, before silence descended on it. A small smile crept up on the Whitecrest City Leaders face.

"I apologize for your loss, but I will happily go to war with you and bring Aderite City to its knees."