Chapter 86: Winning Over the Smaller Sects

Chapter 86: Winning Over the Smaller Sects

Wu Leng tried to capture Shen Mo and his companions during the ransom exchange, but ended up being captured by Shen Mo instead. This news quickly spread to both Qingxuan Sect and Heavy Weapon Sect.

The atmosphere at Heavy Weapon Sect was gloomy.

Wu Gangfei was almost furious enough to initiate an all-out war.

Fortunately, he still had some sense left in his mind and remembered his son's words: never start a full-scale war.

On the other hand, the Qingxuan Sect was in a celebratory mood.

After the news spread, the disciples were all discussing the event.

"Have you heard? The Young Sect Master caused a huge commotion at the Thunder Crystal Mine! First, he captured an inner elder from the Heavy Weapon Sect, then he captured the sect master's son and another inner elder!"

"Yeah, I heard. Especially during the ransom exchange, it was amazing! Wu Leng tried to use the underground giant serpent against the Young Sect Master and his group. But when the serpent appeared, it actually showed more affection toward the Young Sect Master. Wu Leng and his people were dumbfounded on the spot!"

"Hilarious! Their proud trump card turned out to be our hidden ace from the start."

In the council hall.

Murong Yue gathered the elders to discuss this matter, and the hall was bustling with activity.

Capturing an inner elder previously wasn't considered a big deal.

But this time, Wu Leng, who is akin to the brain of the Heavy Weapon Sect, was captured.

Capturing him was like blinding and deafening the Heavy Weapon Sect, causing them to be completely disoriented!

"Mo'er sent a message, asking us to discuss this matter," Murong Yue announced loudly.

"He has a suggestion: no matter what we decide, we must not go to war with the Heavy Weapon Sect until Qingxuan Sect is fully grown and surpasses them."

"Moreover, we can release the other two inner elders, but Wu Leng should be kept as long as possible. The longer we hold him, the more disorganized the Heavy Weapon Sect will become."

"Understood!"

...

Shen Mo did not personally involve himself in the ransom negotiations for Wu Leng and the others.

These matters did not require his direct involvement.

As long as the principles of not starting a full-scale war and delaying as much as possible were followed, the rest could be discussed as desired.

He was only interested in the opportunities associated with Wu Leng.

Every day, he would visit the hidden prison at the mine with a smile on his face to check on Wu Leng.

He had already harvested Wu Leng's opportunities several times.

Additionally, he frequently extracted opportunities from Xiao Fan.

Shen Mo was living quite comfortably.

Wu Leng and Xiao Fan were both future prominent figures—one a future master craftsman and the other a future Nascent Soul cultivator.

With these two future big shots serving him, he was having a splendid time.

Murong Yue also wisely executed the suggestions he provided.

No war, delay as much as possible.

Half a month after Wu Leng's capture, Shen Mo visited again.

"Ah? A new opportunity."

[Recent Opportunity: In one month, Wu Gangfei will purchase information on Wu Leng's whereabouts from Liu Yuanfeng and force the surrounding small sects to attack the Thunder Crystal Mine. Wu Gangfei will also send an inner elder from the Heavy Weapon Sect to break the mine's formation using a Golden Lotus Seed, and Wu Leng will be rescued during the chaos.]

Shen Mo's heart stirred.

The Heavy Weapon Sect was indeed making moves.

He had anticipated that with Wu Leng captured, the Heavy Weapon Sect would sooner or later realize his importance and would definitely send someone to rescue him.

However, he didn't expect it to be in this manner.

The Heavy Weapon Sect's leader, Wu Gangfei, obviously remembered his son's warning: if they couldn't completely suppress their opponents, they should never start a war with a sect.

As for the Golden Lotus Seed, it was a seed of the Five-Colored Lotus.

The Wooden Lotus Seed had healing abilities.

The Golden Lotus Seed was incredibly hard and was suitable for forcefully breaking formations.

This item was a top-grade treasure at the profound level, suitable as the foundation for forming a Golden Core.

"Young Sect Master! Elder Li is here." A voice rang out, pulling Shen Mo from his thoughts.

Deacon Zhang Weihu called out loudly.

His injuries had mostly healed, but his missing arm could not regrow, so he could only perform some supervisory tasks now.

Shen Mo nodded and looked toward the entrance of the mine.

Sure enough, it was Elder Li, looking elderly but still energetic.

Before Shen Mo could speak, Elder Li approached quickly with a happy expression, "Young Sect Master! Great news! Our refined crystal spirit artifacts are very popular! Many small sects, after witnessing their power, have decided to abandon the Heavy Weapon Sect and purchase from us instead!"

"Just yesterday alone, five small sects placed orders with us, totaling five hundred yellow-grade refined crystal spirit artifacts!"

Shen Mo nodded with a smile, "Five hundred? I'm afraid we won't be able to complete them within a month."

Although refined crystal spirit artifacts only involved drilling holes and inlaying crystals into ordinary spirit artifacts, it was still very labor-intensive.

Making just one or two was already exhausting.

Moreover, even with Shen Mo's astounding comprehension, he often failed when he first started making refined crystal spirit artifacts.

For ordinary disciples and elders, the success rate of making refined crystal spirit artifacts was even lower.

Failures were commonplace. Producing five hundred in a month was an almost impossible task.

Elder Li laughed heartily, "Yes, yes, the two elders in charge of making the refined crystal spirit artifacts in our sect are complaining all the time."

"The Sect Master discussed it with us and decided to temporarily accept only three orders. Once we have more elders and disciples proficient in refining crystals, we can take on more orders."

Shen Mo's interest was piqued, "What are the names of those five small sects?"

Elder Li immediately handed over a note detailing the five small sects.

"Has the Sect Master decided which three small sects to accept orders from?" Shen Mo asked.

Elder Li nodded, "No, the Sect Master is still pondering over it. These five small sects are relatively large, each having five or six Core Formation cultivators."

Shen Mo circled three sects, "These three."

Elder Li was surprised, "Does the Young Sect Master have any particular reason?"

Shen Mo whispered, "These three small sects have a poor relationship with the Heavy Weapon Sect. They tried to buy refined crystal spirit artifacts from the Heavy Weapon Sect but were overcharged, forcing them to buy at higher prices."

"If we sell our refined crystal spirit artifacts to them, they will be immensely grateful. In the future, if Qingxuan Sect and the Heavy Weapon Sect go to full-scale war, we can ensure they don't side with the Heavy Weapon Sect."

Elder Li nodded in agreement, "Good! I will report this to the Sect Master immediately."

Shen Mo also nodded slightly.

He circled these three sects because they were among those Wu Gangfei was planning to bribe to attack the Thunder Crystal Mine, as revealed on Wu Leng's life panel.

These were the strongest three, with the most Core Formation cultivators.

They had a poor relationship with the Heavy Weapon Sect but needed their refined crystal spirit artifacts. Faced with Wu Gangfei's coercion, they had no choice but to agree.

But now things were different.

Qingxuan Sect could provide better refined crystal spirit artifacts, which would greatly enhance their sects in the long term.

Qingxuan Sect's strength was also growing day by day, no longer weaker than the Heavy Weapon Sect.

Given this, why should they fawn over the Heavy Weapon Sect anymore?

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The two inner elders captured with Shi Fei had already been ransomed back by the Heavy Weapon Sect at a great cost.

For this, the Heavy Weapon Sect paid two thousand top-grade spirit stones and ten thousand pounds of white iron ore.

White iron ore was mainly used to make mining picks.

Thunder crystals were extremely hard, and mining picks were almost consumables, breaking down every ten days to half a month, requiring a large amount of white iron to forge new ones.

Additionally, white iron was one of the materials for inlay fluid.

Thus, Qingxuan Sect needed a large quantity of white iron ore.

Of course, although Shi Fei and the other two were ransomed back, Wu Leng remained detained at the Thunder Crystal Mine.

No matter what ransom the Heavy Weapon Sect offered, Qingxuan Sect simply delayed.

After a month, even if the Core Formation cultivators of the Heavy Weapon Sect were incompetent, they should have realized that Qingxuan Sect had no intention of releasing Wu Leng.

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