Chapter 136: Restless to Make a Move

The construction of the Gong Clan Immortal Village had run into some trouble.

Although the cultivators suppressed the matter, preventing it from spreading openly, there were many shrewd warriors within the village. Despite having sufficient manpower, the pace of construction was painfully slow. Anyone with a bit of sense could see that the island’s supply of spirit wood was running low. The City Lord had been sending out cultivators as envoys frequently, no doubt to address this crisis. At the docks of the Gong Clan Immortal Village, many laborers were whispering and speculating, and the morale of the people was becoming unstable.

Gong Yi glanced at the burly warrior and said, "Tell them not to gossip in private. The City Lord has been in a foul mood lately; don't provoke his wrath."

"Understood, sir," the burly warrior replied, his expression turning solemn.

Warriors held little status; in the eyes of the cultivators, their lives were entirely at the mercy of their superiors. Gong Yi shook his head and headed into the village.

The Gong Clan Immortal Village was quite large, built on the flatlands of the island and covering over ten miles. Compared to Ye Mo’s small valley, which spanned only two or three miles, the layout of the Gong Clan Immortal Village was undoubtedly much grander. However, it was not without its flaws. The spirit wood walls were unfinished, and there were only a few scattered arrow towers at the main entrance. The only completed spirit wood structure within the entire village was the sprawling City Lord’s Mansion. Everywhere else, buildings were either half-finished or stood as bare, empty plots. In many areas, work had ground to a halt as they waited for more spirit wood.

Just as Gong Yi reached the entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion, a cultivator in green robes hurried toward him. Seeing Gong Yi, he quickly asked, "Brother Yi, what was the response from the Ye Clan Immortal Village?"

Gong Yi shook his head with a bitter smile. "City Lord Ye did not agree. He said they need a large amount of spirit wood to build sea vessels and produce refined charcoal, so they have none to spare for sale. City Lord Ye even suggested that we scale down our project and build a smaller settlement first, expanding gradually later."

The cultivator in green sank into a grim expression. "He’s not even willing to sell us a portion, claiming he needs it for ships and charcoal? It seems he’s eager to see our village project fail. Let’s go inside; the City Lord has been waiting impatiently." The cultivator flicked his sleeves and stormed inside, not waiting for Gong Yi.

Gong Yi watched him go, a cold sneer forming in his heart. He had once advised the City Lord not to be so eager for quick success. Instead, this cultivator in green had pandered to the City Lord’s vanity, suggesting they build a massive village to become the premier settlement of the Aolai Archipelago. They had rushed into construction without carefully calculating if they had enough spirit wood. If not for that, the Gong village would not have ended up in such a dire state. Still, he walked slowly, deciding to wait for the City Lord’s anger to subside.

"Bang!"

As he entered the mansion, Gong Yi heard the sound of objects shattering inside the study. He stopped in his tracks, standing expressionless outside the room, unwilling to walk in and invite trouble.

"Ye Mo of the Qingyun Immortal Academy—a mere rogue cultivator—actually dares to mock me! I will build however I please; what right does he have to dictate to me? The ignorant fool! Once I recover from this, I will make him pay!" Inside the study, a young man in red brocade robes was shouting in a rage, his voice carrying far. All the servants and cultivators in the mansion stood as silent as cicadas, terrified to make a sound.

"Bang! Bang!"

A few more things shattered. The fact that Ye Mo was a City Lord who had emerged as a rogue cultivator from the Qingyun Immortal Academy had long been confirmed by neighboring lords. Information about students from the major academies was not top secret, and it was not hard to investigate. This only made City Lord Gong feel even more humiliated.

"City Lord, please calm your anger. Since this Ye Mo has no background and still dares to offend our Gong Clan Immortal Village, he must be arrogant and blind. We will seize the first opportunity to pay him back," the green-robed cultivator said insidiously.

"Hmph, those fellows at the Qingyun Immortal Academy are all incompetent if they can’t even suppress a rogue cultivator. This spirit wood issue must be solved quickly, or we’ll be in deep trouble," City Lord Gong grumbled, finally suppressing his rage and furrowing his brows. "By the way, didn't we send several envoys to other villages to buy spirit wood? What is the status?"

"They all refused to sell."

"Hmph, as I expected. Which of these City Lords would be willing to sell me spirit wood? They are probably all waiting to see me make a fool of myself."

"City Lord, we must prepare for two possibilities. We will continue to seek out more distant villages to acquire wood. Additionally, a batch has already been purchased from the Main City and is being shipped by sea; it should arrive in about a month and a half," the green-robed cultivator suggested, watching the City Lord’s face.

"A month and a half? I hope there are no demonic beast tides in the near future." City Lord Gong sat down in the study, looking distressed. He noticed Gong Yi walking in and, without waiting for him to offer a formal greeting, waved his hand. "Your trip was difficult. You may go." Having calmed down, City Lord Gong did not vent his anger on Gong Yi.

Just as Gong Yi was about to bow and withdraw, an excited voice came from outside. "City Lord, good news!"

The three men in the study froze. City Lord Gong, who had just sat down, stood up immediately and strode to the door. Outside, a tall, thin cultivator was rushing toward them. The green-robed cultivator followed closely behind.

"City Lord, your subordinate visited City Lord Min Cong of the Fiery Immortal Academy. He has a surplus of spirit wood and is willing to sell us a batch for our construction. City Lord Min said he would personally lead a ship to deliver a large quantity of spirit wood to us tomorrow!" the tall, thin cultivator exclaimed, his face full of joy.

"Min Cong of the Fiery Immortal Academy?"

"The City Lords of the Qingyun and Fiery Academies were the first two groups to arrive at the Aolai Archipelago. City Lord Min occupies several subsidiary islands that are rich in spirit wood. His own village is already complete, so his consumption is low, and he has plenty to spare. After I made the request, he agreed readily. He also said he would like to speak with you in person to discuss further cooperation."

"I have no prior connection or friendship with him; why would he be willing to help me through this crisis?" City Lord Gong was suspicious, but it was good news nonetheless, and he began to laugh. "Never mind that. As long as he is willing to sell, everything is negotiable. Finally, the Gong Clan Immortal Village can proceed with construction. If this Min helps me out of this, I will surely reward him well. Gong Ziyong, you have done well. Take this; this bottle of Yuanqi Pills is your reward."

"Thank you, City Lord!" Gong Ziyong accepted the bottle, overjoyed. The green-robed cultivator and Gong Yi looked on with envy, secretly cursing their bad luck for not being the ones sent to the Min Clan Immortal Village.

***

At the Min Clan Immortal Village, City Lord Min was listening to his subordinate's report.

"City Lord, over the past half-month, the Ye Clan Immortal Village has had minor conflicts with several nearby villages. In particular, they have captured over a dozen warriors from the Gong Clan Immortal Village and turned them into slaves. So far, the Ye Village has not suffered any losses." Min Zhong held a dossier of intelligence, flipping through it as he spoke.

"The Ye Village has had friction with all the surrounding villages? And they’ve never suffered a loss?" City Lord Min sneered. "They have some talent. But no matter how skilled they are, I don't believe they can defeat me."

Not long ago, one of his sea vessels had been sent to the bottom of the ocean by Ye Mo’s spirit eagles and fire-oil tactics. He had returned in defeat, forced to pay 10,000 spirit stones, and had many of his warriors captured as mining slaves. He still held that grudge.

"The Ye Village's greatest assets are those three spirit eagles. However, if we are careful, we can deal with them." Min Zhong nodded. "The Gong Clan Immortal Village, which just came to buy spirit wood, has also had friction with the Ye Clan's spirit island. They are facing a shortage of spirit wood and cannot complete their village; your support is a timely help. I hear City Lord Gong is a man who always repays his grudges."

"Always repays his grudges?" City Lord Min smiled. "Very good. I am the same. It seems he and I share a common goal."

The next day, City Lord Min arrived at the Gong Clan Immortal Village, personally transporting a ship full of spirit wood. He and City Lord Gong held a secret meeting. With spirit wood as the foundation of their communication and Ye Mo as their common enemy, the two struck a deal, deciding to teach Ye Mo a lesson and seize the six subsidiary islands of the Ye Village.

However, the two of them alone were not enough. The Min village had already been forced by Ye Mo to sign an agreement not to offend the Ye Clan Immortal Village, and the Gong Clan Immortal Village had little manpower to spare. After leaving the Gong Clan, City Lord Min sailed to other villages within a radius of five or six hundred miles, visiting the new City Lords to recruit allies to deal with the Ye Clan Immortal Village.

On this day, City Lord Min went to visit the Hong Clan Immortal Village, meeting the red-clad City Lord Hong in the main hall of the mansion.

"Brother Hong comes from the Red Sand Immortal Academy. In a sense, you have deep roots with my Fiery Immortal Academy. Now that we are building cities in the neighboring Aolai sea, we should grow closer in the future," City Lord Min said with a beaming smile.

"Brother Min is right. My Red Sand Immortal City is also famous for fire-type arts, and we are considered among the best in fire-type cultivation among the thirty-six cities. I also enjoy making friends, and I am honored to know you, Brother Min," City Lord Hong said, holding a cup of spirit tea and smiling faintly.

After they exchanged a few pleasantries, City Lord Min suddenly changed the subject. "I heard that you keep a Snow Eagle, Brother Hong. It is a rare snow-type spirit bird. Would you be willing to let me see it?"

City Lord Hong’s expression changed momentarily before returning to calm. He said nonchalantly, "I'm afraid I must disappoint you, Brother Min. Before I chose my spirit island, an accident occurred, and the Snow Eagle was injured. It is currently recuperating, so it is inconvenient for you to see it."

"Such a thing happened? The Snow Eagle is a fierce breed among spirit birds. Whatever could have injured it must not be an ordinary creature, right?" City Lord Min looked surprised, then pondered for a moment before saying, "I heard you once passed by the Ye Clan Immortal Village, Brother Hong? The Ye Village keeps three golden eagles. Could it have been injured by them?"

City Lord Hong chuckled, giving City Lord Min a meaningful look. "After all this beating around the bush, Brother Min, you finally get to the point. I have also heard that your sea vessel was burned by City Lord Ye, leaving you to return in defeat with heavy losses. I have heard that you have been visiting nearby villages frequently these past few days. Surely you aren't trying to recruit me to help you take on the Ye Village, are you?"