Chapter 226: Friendly Relations

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　Tu Mi was sitting quietly on a tree which was only as thick as a person’s wrist.

　　Her plump body contrasted terrifyingly with the slender branch beneath her buttocks. From afar, it looked almost like a millstone-sized fruit had grown on a small blade of grass. What was most interesting was that she was swaying with the branches in the wind.

　　A dozen people who were dressed in different attires were standing around that small tree. There was a fierce-looking middle-aged strong man who looked like a butcher; a neat, solemn-looking old professor; a quiet young lady with long hair; and also a red-haired ruffian covered in tattoos.

　　From the nearby mountain, the howling of magic weapons could be clearly heard. These people, however, were indifferent to it. They gathered in small groups and were sitting or lying down casually as they chatted softly. They occasionally lifted their head to look at the big mountain as their sharp eyes contained an almost-undetectable anger.

　　The one who lost his patience first was the shrewd-looking professor. He patted his buttocks before standing up and walking to the tree. His wrinkled face was filled with impatience as he bowed to Tu Mi who was swinging with the tree, “Great Master Tu, I don’t understand!”

　　Tu Mi lowered her head and smiled shyly, “Say it.” She was so plump that her body shook in waves when she laughed. The old professor felt as if an oily wave had just crashed loudly onto him.

　　The old professor could not help but take a step back. He hesitated briefly before he gritted his teeth as if he had made a grand decision, “We can’t hit or kill anyone, the sons who encounter the young lad dies, the sons who don’t will continue to run around in the mountains. We had joined the Cloud Heavenly Sect and waited patiently for a thousand years for revenge, not to learn… learn, learn a monkey show!”

　　He had just finished speaking when the ruffian, who looked to be about eighteen years of age, jumped up and scolded, “Great Master Tu’s plan is profound in her own ways, since when are you in charge of us!?”

　　The old professor ignored the ruffian. He remained bowed in front of Tu Mi but his eyes have quickly turned bloodshot. However, this malevolent mannerism vanished as quickly as it appeared from his body.

　　The ruffian was unwilling to show weakness as his right arm blazed into flame with a muffled bang. He glared at the old professor and said, “Old demon, you better put your bloody eyes away or I’ll dig them out!”

　　The others quickly shouted and pulled the two away from each other. They were all tangled up with one another when Tu Mi suddenly let out a sweet greasy sigh and shook her head at them. She said softly, “I’m sorry.”

　　The old professor and the ruffian were astonished. They hastily relaxed their forms and bowed towards the small tree, “We are unworthy to receive such an address from Great Master Tu…”

　　Tu Mi did not wait for them to finish as she straightened her body and leaped from the tree. Her body, which was easily two hundred kilograms, was as light as a fallen leaf as she swayed with the wind and landed gently on the ground after a long while. She then reached out and helped the two of them up. The fat flesh on her face was full of apologies as she chuckled, “I know that everyone is repressing their urge to lash out, the sons are all heroes and great men but they had been dispatched by me into the mountains to make a scene and to be killed. However, this is the difficulty of this errand. If it was easy, the Cloud Heavenly Sect would never have needed to get into this fight!” Tu Mi then shook her head, “We have to accomplish it yet we cannot plant any more grudges! When we get the word from Nine Peaks Mountain, it’ll mean the success of our operation!”

　　The old professor was still unsatisfied, “In the cultivation world, the Five Blessings were the respected ones. We have vowed to kill these small fries and clowns, what grudge do we fear to create?”

　　The ruffian has no intentions to get into trouble with the old professor. He was like the professor and also has a rage within him but had only used the opportunity to express himself. He now nodded in agreement, “We’re not even afraid of the heavens so why should we fear a rock that’s in our way!?”

　　Tu Mi snorted, “Have you heard of the Cat Demon Chang Li?”

　　The ruffian shook his head and was slightly perplexed. The old professor, on the other hand, pondered for a while before he squalled, “The Great Master can’t mean that… Two thousand years ago, the one who had provoked all the cultivators under the heavens by smashing the high lord’s statue and destroying Exquisite Ice…”

　　A scantily-dressed and charming young married woman could not help but interrupt, “She had fought a heaven-shaking battle two thousand years ago but she disappeared after that.”

　　Tu Mi was still smiling but her eyes were filled with cold vigilance, “She has returned a few years ago. Crow Ridge has a deep connection with that cat demon and as for a foe like this, heh.” She took a deep breath and looked at her bunch of henchmen, “Do you still think that we can provoke such a foe?”

　　The group of World Sect elites looked at each other. Two thousand years ago, the cat demon had single-handedly turned the cultivation world upside down. In the end, even the three sword immortals of the Black and White Island and the peerless demon immortal mountain ghost Guo Huan had also been involved. They surrounded the cat demon and fought a heaven-shaking battle. This battle was the legend of legends to even cultivators of the current generation.

　　Tu Mi continued to mutter in her thin voice, “Not only is that Wen youth in the mountain’s cultivation base astonishing, he is also especially close to the cat demon. Our sons who had died in his hands tonight will be regarded as compensation to the cat demon!”

　　No matter how wild and intractable the World Sect was, they also knew that they could not provoke the cat demon. Tu Mi only sighed softly when she saw that the group had remained silent. She wanted to say a few words to comfort her subordinates when a ringtone suddenly sounded from the professor’s body. The professor’s face quickly turned pale the moment he listened to the phone. He then looked at Tu Mi with dumbfounded eyes as he said with a shaking voice, “That… Wen, Wen young lad… Is dead!”

　　A muffled thud was sounded. Behind the fat lady Tu Mi, a huge pit which was a dozen meters wide and eight meters deep had suddenly appeared in the ground. Tu Mi’s fat body shuddered and her reddish face turned whiter than a mothball. She stared at the professor and asked hoarsely, “Impossible! What… Happened!?”

　　“They had an internal conflict…” The professor then repeated his subordinate’s description of Wen Leyang’s death. Finally, he added, “But… He should be dead. There was poison all around him so the sons couldn’t get close to him.”

　　Tu Mi howled shrilly and fiercely. The buttery tone and aura which she gave off suddenly turned into a burning anger which made everyone as silent as cicadas in late autumn. She then said to the others, “Have the sons form up! Wait for my signal and we’ll attack Crow Ridge!” She looked at the professor, “Lead the way!”

　　If Wen Leyang has truly died, they could not leave a single survivor on Crow Ridge.

　　The elites of the World Sect’s Cloud Heavenly Sect received their orders and left. The professor was the only one who was leading Tu Mi towards the depths of Crow Ridge and as swiftly as the wind. The professor ran as he asked Tu Mi in a low voice, “Great Master Tu, could it be that the young lad has faked his death to lure us…”

　　Tu Mi was so angry that she started yelling. She gritted her teeth as she said, “Who dares to wager? We must confirm if he’s dead or alive!” She paused after that and showed a slightly sorrowful smile, “If he’s playing dead, worst comes to worst I’ll throw my life at his feet as the sons have done. At the end of the day, we must keep him here on Crow Ridge.” As she said this, she also took out her cell phone and dialed a number. She then relayed Wen Leyang’s situation to someone on the other end of the phone…

　　Crow Ridge, which had been filled with the sounds of explosions, suddenly quieted down. The World Sect cultivators who had been blasting everything they saw had recalled their magic powers. They then aligned themselves in a prearranged direction and silently lay in wait.

　　Wen Leyang did not move as he lay on the ground. He had released the Poison of Life and Death to make his death seem more realistic but he forgot that it would create an impassable barrier for the World Sect members. He had wanted to jump to his feet when he saw the World Sect member make a phone call but when he saw that they had not left and were keeping guard anxiously instead as if waiting for someone, it made him feel hopeful again. This variable has changed much faster than he had anticipated.

　　While he was feeling uneasy, an extremely fat figure suddenly floated in like a breeze.

　　There was a formal-looking old man beside the fat lady. He wore a suit and leather shoes with a stern and serious expression.

　　When the World Sect members saw the fat lady, they immediately knelt on the ground. Tu Mi sighed and waved her hand lightly, “I don’t blame you guys, get up.”

　　The professor tossed a talisman seal into the liquid Poison of Life and Death to test its toxicity. The talisman had immediately turned into a puff of green smoke with the sound of a bang before it had even touched the liquid. The professor took a cold breath and exclaimed in a low voice, “What poison is this!?”

　　Tu Mi frowned. She naturally had no way to deal with a poison which even Zhui Zi could not handle. She hesitated slightly before she spoke to unmoving Wen Leyang, “If you’re not dead, I’ll apologize to you by giving you my life. Please don’t hold it against us!” She waved her arm in preparation to cast her magic powers to blast the corpse. As expected, Wen Leyang immediately leaped up as he waved his arms frantically and smiled, “Don’t hit me, don’t hit me…”

　　He had not finished speaking when Guo Huan’s sharp voice rang deep within his eardrums, “This fat little girl was prepared to die, get straight to business!”

　　When Tu Mi saw that he was still alive, two starkly different expressions of joy and resoluteness appeared on her fat face at the same time. She then laughed loudly, “So be it, my life is also a token for pardon. I hope that you’ll look upon the hundreds of World Sect member’s lives on your hands and investigate no further…”

　　Wen Leyang’s expression suddenly changed as he yelled in a low voice, “The World Sect’s scheme on Nine Peaks Mountain is related to my Grand Master’s survival! What you’re intending to take is the Wen family’s life-giver, even the lives of everyone under the heavens would not suffice! If you want to die, nobody will stop you but you’ll be dying in vain!”

　　The professor howled with rage, “Then what more do we have to say? You’re staying on Crow Ridge no matter what!” As he said this, he quickly leaped up. His eyes turned into a blood-red color again as he prepared to pounce on Wen Leyang. Unexpectedly, his vision blurred and he did not have the chance to cast his magic powers when Wen Leyang had closed in on him. A punch which was neither light nor heavy hit him squarely on the stomach. The life vitality which he had just gathered and almost released was immediately shattered by this single punch. The professor squalled as he crashed heavily onto the ground. Although he had fallen in an awkward position, when he got back up on his feet, there was no trace of injury on him.

　　Tu Mi was greatly shocked. She had only now understood now why Wen Leyang must be kept here on Crow Ridge. She had only known that Wen Leyang had a profound cultivation base but she had not expected him to be as powerful as this! The professor was amongst one of the best elites of the Cloud Heavenly Sect, his cultivation base even rivaled those of the Five Blessings’ first-class elites. The professor was unable to even take one of his punches and Wen Leyang had not even used his full strength.

　　Wen Leyang broke the professor’s attack and continued to talk to Tu Mi, “I’ve lured you out because I’m sick of all this pretending. Call your men back and cease your struggling. It’s no use.”

　　Tu Mi shook her head, “We can’t stop you but if you’re willing to see the entire Luo family being annihilated, then be my guest and leave.”

　　The secret order from Nine Peaks Mountain was to stall Wen Leyang. If they let him return home, the World Sect members would be unable to do anything against his cultivation base which even rivaled Po Tu’s. To capture the elite within the Red Leaves Forest would be nothing but a joke.

　　Wen Leyang shook his head and he suddenly diverted the topic, “Who are you in the World Sect?” He wants to return home but he also does not want these World Sect people to trouble the Luo family with their life-and-death struggles. The reason why he had lured their leader out was to break this stalemate but ultimately, he still felt at ease knowing that Chang Li held the fort at home. He does not mind spending a little more time with talking.

　　“I’m the Master of Cloud Heavenly Sect, Tu Mi.” Tu Mi was in no hurry either. She would rather die than let Wen Leyang leave so it was in her favor if she could stall for a while longer.

　　Wen Leyang frowned in surprise. The old rabbit demon had told him before that the World Sect was currently divided into the Four Heavenly Sects of Wing, Cloud, Lightning, and Thunder. Tu Mi was the leader of one of the Four Heavenly Sects so she should have a relatively high position within the World Sect.

　　The master was the boss. However, in order to close a deal, would boss would take her own life for this just cause?

　　At this time, Qin Zhui had brought the two foolish uncles and returned with a chuckle. They then stood behind Wen Leyang. Guo Huan laughed rigidly as he spoke to Qin Zhui, “Young lad, show them some skills!”

　　Qin Zhui did not waste any time as he let out a fierce yell and lifted his arm. He charged towards Tu Mi who was standing a distance away from him. Tu Mi felt the world spin as things as large as the surrounding mountains and as small as the pebbles and dried grass beneath her feet surged vigorously towards her with Qin Zhui’s punch. The instant she was about to be submerged, it disappeared with a loud noise and turned into a gentle breeze…

　　As one of the four masters of the World Sect, Tu Mi’s cultivation base was certainly not weak. On a one-on-one battle, she could easily triumph over the Five Blessings’ elites at the level of Taoist Priest Qing Niao. Even if she was to go against the former Jilong Sect’s Supreme Leader Zi Que, she could still hold her own. However, she had no way of parrying Qin Zhui’s punch. She understood in her heart that she was far inferior to Wen Leyang and Qin Zhui.

　　Wen Leyang smiled and spoke enigmatically to Tu Mi, “Do you understand now?”

　　Tu Mi nodded with some difficulty. They had only wanted to stall Wen Leyang. Since he knows that something was going on at Nine Peaks Mountain, he could have let the ugly man rush to the Nine Peaks Mountain first to deal with the problem but these two young men had stayed behind instead.

　　Wen Leyang heaved a long sigh. For the first time in his life, he felt that it was indeed easy to converse with an intelligent person, “Whether we return home or not would not have a big impact on the outcome. Even if all the elites of the Four Heavenly Sects of Wind, Cloud, Lightning, and Thunder of the World Sect were to go to the Nine Peaks Mountain, they would not have any hope of winning.” He then paused before he continued, “The elite who’s guarding my home could crush us with a little finger, let alone you guys!”

　　Tu Mi finally understood. Wen Leyang had not been worried about the situation back home at all. If the World Sect’s scheme on Nine Peaks Mountain had no chance of succeeding, then their sacrifice here on Crow Ridge held no value at all.

　　Wen Leyang continued, “The ‘big flat cake, broken gong, and the dog’ are not the shortcut for you guys to defeat the Righteous Path. Let’s not talk about how you guys have no chance of success on Nine Peaks Mountain, even if you do really capture that person, do you know what the consequences will be?”

　　Guo Huan made some noise from within the jade knife, his voice was cold as he enunciated each word clearly, “The Cat Demon Chang Li; the Divine Beast Ice Cone Nail; the Zombie Hanba; the three families of Wen, Miao, and Luo; the Five Blessings of the Righteous Path; the highland Tibetan Buddhism Sect cultivators; and even the entire government would pour all their resources to annihilate the World Sect! You should ask yourselves which of these peerless demon immortals or the other forces could you guys defeat?”

　　Wen Leyang did not let Tu Mi hesitate as he immediately continued the conversation, “The World Sect had secluded themselves in the world for a thousand years because, ultimately, it was the Five Blessings who had restricted their own forces. When every force is refined into one, would there be anywhere else under the heavens for you guys to establish yourselves? The person whom you guys want to capture isn’t the mascot of the World Sect but your hangman’s noose! The peerless cultivator who had entrusted this task to you is a vile spawn that everyone would be happy to kill!”

　　Tu Mi’s expression was now extremely sour. Finally, she gritted her teeth in contempt as she took out her cell phone and placed it beside her ear. She had not ended the call just now so her conversation with Wen Leyang and the others had been heard by the person on the other end of the phone in its entirety. Her entire person then relaxed as if she had just heard a special pardon. She then spoke softly to Wen Leyang, “One moment please.”

　　In no time at all, a figure swiftly flew into Wen Leyang’s telegnosis range.

　　Wen Leyang scoffed and muttered a curse. He then smiled bitterly as he shook his head at the nearby mountain forest, “What rank are you?”

　　His voice has barely faded when a fat figure emerged from the forest.

　　Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen smiled as they answered, “He’s the eldest, he’s called the Fourth Brother!”

　　The person who had appeared was indeed one of the seven fat Rainbow Brothers. When he heard the two foolish uncles’ voices, he shot them a friendly look but he stopped several meters before Wen Leyang and moved no closer.

　　The two foolish uncles exchanged a puzzled look…

　　The only outsiders on Nine Peaks Mountain were the Rainbow Brothers, Ji Fei, Shui Jing, One Word Palace’s Nineteen, and Gongye from Mount Pan who had come to help them refine the Ning Jiao. Initially, Wen Leyang had suspected that it was Ji Fei and Shui Jing who had instigated the two foolish uncles to pull this prank. However, the World Sect had then shown themselves and they found out that the matter was related to the Red Leaves Forest. If it were Ji Fei and Shui Jing, the great monk would not have told them that they had found the cultivator inside the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death.

　　Gongye had been invited to refine the treasures so they were not under suspicion either. No matter how he looked at it, the only possible culprits left were Nineteen and the Rainbow Brothers.

　　Wen Leyang was not really surprised when the leader of the Rainbow Brothers had shown up.

　　The Rainbow’s leader’s face no longer kept his usual silly look. His expression was grim and serious as he looked at Wen Leyang and said, “I have shown myself. Naturally, you can roughly guess the cause and effect of things. The ones who had instructed the Wind and Rain… Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen, was us. The ones who had plotted against the Red Leaves Forest was also us. But… Since we never harmed even a single plant of the Wen family, I only beg you to tell me one truth: who’s on the Nine Peaks Mountain?”

　　Wen Leyang did not lie as he said two words, “Chang Li.”

　　The Rainbow’s leader’s expression turned cold and he nodded at Wen Leyang, “Please give me one minute!” As he said that, he took out his cell phone. After he dialed the number, he did not hide from them as he said in a low voice, “Chang Li’s on the mountain, cease and plead guilty!”

　　Guo Huan was surprised as he asked with a smile, “Fat man, you believe that it’s Chang Li just because he had said so? Will you be begging for our mercy soon?”

　　Wen Leyang does not know whether to laugh or to cry. Guo Huan was extremely quick at picking up these terrible words.

　　The Rainbow’s leader sighed, “Actually, it’s not much of a difference whether Chang Li is on the mountain or not. We could not even get past the Prohibition Spells in the Red Leaves Forest!”

　　Something clicked for Wen Leyang. He had personally experienced the Prohibition Spell of the Red Leaves Forest so he was very familiar with its effectiveness. It was plenty enough to stop the average cultivator but it would be too weak to stop the Rainbow Brothers.

　　The Rainbow’s leader seemed to guess what Wen Leyang had thought as he rubbed his fat face resentfully, “The elders have already refined the Ning Jiao’s poison and used it in the Prohibition Spell. I made that call because I was worried that if the six of them was to have any intention of harming others out of rage, things will get messy!” He turned and waved at Tu Mi as he said this, “Have the sons retreat!”

　　After the subordinates have retreated, the Rainbow’s leader looked at Wen Leyang again. His mouth opened with a smile, “The ‘big flat cake, broken gong, and the dog’, are these three things truly useless to us?”

　　Wen Leyang nodded, “Not only are they useless, they’ll kill you all!” He then did not hide anything as he roughly told the Rainbow’s leader about Xiang Liu’s true soul. The Rainbow’s leader’s expression turned dark as he listened on. The World Sect had been ordered by Tian Yin to search for these three objects. At the end of the day, they were to find these three treasures so that Tian Yin could defeat the Five Blessings. The only thing they knew about Tian Yin was that he was a cultivator with boundless abilities but they would never have guessed that Tian Yin was Xiang Liu’s true soul. As for what the ‘big flat cake, broken gong, and the dog’ were, they were as confused as Wen Leyang on that matter.

　　Currently, everyone under the heavens was looking for ‘the big flat cake, broken gong, and the dog’. Even top demon immortals like Chang Li and Zhui Zi have involved themselves so it was no longer something which the World Sect could meddle in. It was just as Wen Leyang had said, it was better for the World Sect to not search for these objects because once they have found it, they would not experience a meteoric rise but complete annihilation instead.

　　Wen Leyang roughly laid out the situation to them. He then questioned closely, “Do you guys know who Wei Mo’s Master is in the Red Leaves Forest?”

　　The Rainbow’s leader shook his head unexpectedly, “We don’t but we have a way of telling. As long as we can enter the Red Leaves Forest, this matter will be a piece of cake!”

　　Wen Leyang’s eyes lit up as he smiled, “What way? Pray tell!” He gazed at the fat man and could not recognize that face without its usual silly look and naive look. It seems like it was only just yesterday when they had both been trapped on the side of Mount Emei and had drooled as they chewed on lichen. To Wen Leyang, this friendship brought a sweet aroma each time he thought back on it.

　　The Rainbow’s leader smiled casually, “Damn it! We’ve gone through all this trouble for nothing. If you need the way to find him then we’ll give it to you! However…” He was halfway through his sentence when his smile became embarrassed, “I’m not with the six of them and it’s mainly because I’m worried… That the sons would lose their tempers. They can’t harm you but it wouldn’t do for them to harm the people from the Luo family. This was why I had come here personally.”

　　Wen Leyang looked at him suspiciously. He had not understood his meaning.

　　The Rainbow’s leader saw that Wen Leyang was perplexed and his expression also turned gloomy. He rubbed his hands and continued, “Although the seven of us brothers have some schemes within our hearts, we never had any intentions of crossing the Wen family. We had a splendid time on Nine Peaks Mountain. If anyone was looking for trouble with the Nine Peaks Mountain, us brothers would be the first to counter that…”

　　Wen Leyang was not too stupid after all as he finally understood the Fourth Brother’s words. He could not help but laugh, “Be done with this foolishness. If I had truly regarded you as an opponent, I wouldn’t have wasted my time to talk nonsense with you!”

　　The Rainbow’s leader sighed in relief as he smiled. His expression then resumed its former silly look, “The method is a magic art. I’ll tell you the chant later… However, you won’t do. You can’t learn it unless you have life vitality. We’ll pass it on to whoever you name.”

　　Wen Leyang smiled, “Why should we go through so much trouble when you can always help us find that person when we get back!” The Rainbow’s leader was astonished when he heard this. Wen Leyang continued with a smile, “You now know the process of the whole event. If I had given this person to you for free, would you dare to take it?”

　　After he had finished, Wen Leyang knocked himself on the head, “I’m out of my mind. Maybe by the time I’m back on Nine Peaks Mountain, Grand Elder, Grand Master Chang Li and the others would have already found that obscure cultivator.” All the seven Rainbow Brothers know how to distinguish the obscure cultivator’s magic. They could not fight on Crow Ridge and they have also surrendered on Nine Peaks Mountain. Wen Leyang and the others do not have to rush back home and the people back home would have found the obscure cultivator already.

　　Wen Leyang looked at the Rainbow’s leader, “Will you be coming back with me?”

　　The Rainbow’s leader nodded. His six brothers were still on Nine Peaks Mountain so he had definitely wanted to go back.

　　Wen Leyang was unwilling to waste any more time. He immediately gave Luo Wanggen and Wen Make a call. Once that was done, he left Crow Ridge with his two foolish uncles, Qin Zhui, and the Rainbow’s leader.

　　Wen Make had readied a car. The group then embarked for Nine Peaks Mountain!