The Alliance

Alliance

In the end, Xu Fan did not accept the fifty Spirit Stones. He merely welcomed Pang Fu into his small sitting room.

"Senior Brother Pang, if you have something to say, just say it." Xu Fan spoke as he brewed tea.

"Senior Brother Xu, us Outer Sect Disciples have no one to rely on in the Heavenly Gate Sect. Every year, we only obtain that tiny bit of resources from completing missions."

"If we want to achieve the immortal path, who knew how long it will take? So I wanted to unite us Outer Sect Disciples who have no one to depend on."

"We can trade resources we have no use for, share information, or post small missions and the like."

"At the very least, it would give us Outer Sect Disciples one more path forward, wouldn't it?"

Pang Fu accepted the tea Xu Fan handed him and drained it in one gulp. A flash of surprise passed through his eyes. This was Spirit Tea.

Looking at Pang Fu, who wanted to make something of himself, Xu Fan recalled this Senior Brother's background. Pang Fu had originally been the direct descendant of a wealthy merchant family in a major mortal kingdom. Describing his family as possessing ten thousand fortunes and wealth rivaling a nation would not have been an exaggeration.

Back when Xu Fan had been begging in his early days, he had received kindness from that clan. That was why he paid Pang Fu a little more attention.

"Senior Brother Pang Fu is hardly without anyone to rely on. The richest merchant of the Qu Yang Kingdom is even more formidable than an ordinary Cultivation Family." Xu Fan teased.

Unlike those wealthy merchants who were rich but heartless, the Pang Family was a typical example of conducting business throughout the world through benevolence and righteousness.

"How does Junior Brother Xu know my identity?" A trace of astonishment flashed through Pang Fu's eyes. Not many people in the Outer Sect knew who he was.

"When we entered the sect, I was fortunate enough to witness Young Master Pang's grand display." Xu Fan joked.

"Alright, let's talk business first. Senior Brother Pang Fu wants to form an alliance."

The Heavenly Gate Sect had more than two hundred thousand Outer Sect members alone, like a small society. Under such conditions, it was hardly difficult for all kinds of alliances to emerge in pursuit of profit.

Some of these alliances existed to complete missions together, some to share information, but most were for mutual aid and trade.

"I wouldn't dare call it an alliance. I just want to gather the more than one thousand brothers from our intake together. It is better than struggling silently alone." Pang Fu spoke patiently.

If Xu Fan had merely been an ordinary disciple, he would have sent a lackey over directly.

But Xu Fan had already reached the standard for entering Spirit Pill Peak. He had no choice but to make the trip himself. A future Pill Refiner had to be brought into the fold.

There was an old saying in the Cultivation World: behind every great power stood a passionate Pill Refining Master as a brother.

"Interesting. What can this alliance bring me, and what do I have to give?" Xu Fan asked with interest. Though he kept a low profile, it was not as if he could never show off before others once in a while.

"What you can gain is firsthand information from within the sect at all times, connections, and countless Junior Brothers in the alliance willing to run errands for a future Pill Refining Master."

"What you need to give is simply a little convenience in Pill Refining for the Martial Siblings within the alliance."

"Once Junior Brother becomes a Pill Refining Master in the future, all the Martial Siblings in the alliance will be willing to follow your lead."

"At present, the alliance has more than forty Martial Siblings preparing for the War Hall, two who have hopes of becoming Basic Pill Refiners, and one Artifact Refining Apprentice."

"With the addition of a prospective Pill Refiner like Junior Brother, I believe our alliance will surely grow in the future."

Pang Fu spoke with surging passion, while inwardly thinking that if he had not made inquiries, he might never have known that someone from the same intake as him had actually entered the Spirit Pill Hall.

Xu Fan began to ponder, weighing the pros and cons.

Pang Fu said nothing and quietly waited for Xu Fan's response. He was confident that this Elixir genius would agree.

"I'll join." Xu Fan said. He had thought it through. Keeping too low a profile was starting to suppress his true nature too much. Who wasn't a Mortal, after all?

"Good, I knew it." Pang Fu said happily. Then he took out a simple round Magic Artifact and handed it to Xu Fan.

"This is a communication Magic Artifact?" Xu Fan asked in slight surprise.

"An alliance should look like an alliance. This is the work of that Artifact Refining Apprentice." Pang Fu said with a smile. His alliance finally had a prospective Pill Refiner. In a few years, he would become a first-rank Pill Refiner.

"Impressive." Xu Fan sighed.

"This Magic Artifact receives the alliance's latest news and trade information every day. Occasionally, someone will also post missions."

Pang Fu took out a Jade Slip and a Token, handed them to Xu Fan, then bade him farewell.

Xu Fan had just seen Pang Fu out when he ran into someone he had recently become somewhat unwilling to see.

"Junior Brother Xu, did you just finish receiving a guest?" Sha Yan asked with narrowed eyes.

Xu Fan looked at Sha Yan's crescent-moon eyes and instantly crumbled.

"Mm-hm. A Senior Brother came to visit."

Xu Fan did not fuss over her wording about receiving guests.

"Junior Brother, won't you invite me in to sit for a while?" Sha Yan said with a smile.

In the Pavilion, the two sat facing each other. Xu Fan handed the freshly brewed tea to Sha Yan.

"Junior Brother, why are you unwilling to join the Spirit Herb Hall?"

"Let me put it another way. Why are you unwilling to take my father as your master?"

Sha Yan stared at Xu Fan. She had already confirmed his talent in Pill Refining. Her father wanted to take him as a disciple and had asked her to sound out Xu Fan's intentions, only for Xu Fan to politely decline.

Xu Fan looked at the beautiful Senior Sister and thought, Can I tell you that I'm not that interested in Pill Refining? Artifact Refining is what I truly love.

"Senior Sister, I'm used to being free and unrestrained on my own. I don't want to be bound by restraints. Pill Refining is only my side profession." Xu Fan said helplessly, trying to find a reason to brush her off.

Sha Yan looked at Xu Fan strangely. She did not understand why this Junior Brother before her did not cherish an opportunity that others dreamed of.

"But Junior Brother, your talent in Pill Refining is so outstanding. Without proper guidance, won't your talent be wasted for nothing?"

"The path of Pill Refining is vast as the sea. It is also a way to ascend to immortality. So long as one becomes a Top-Level Pill Refining Master, being guided to the Immortal World would not be a problem." Sha Yan persuaded him. Those who reached the pinnacle of the pill path had far greater odds of ascension than ordinary cultivators.

Xu Fan looked at the beautiful Senior Sister with a headache. If he took a Pill Refining Master as his master, would not his early plans for Artifact Refining go down the drain?

It seemed he had to speak some truth.

"Senior Sister, have you ever been aboard our sect's Floating Sky Vessel?" Xu Fan asked.

"I have. I went out once with the Floating Sky Vessel. Why?" Sha Yan asked doubtfully.

"Senior Sister, from the very first moment I saw the Floating Sky Vessel, I swore that in this life, I would forge a Sky Floating Giant Vessel like that."

"Pill Refining is merely a way for me to gather Spirit Stones in the early stages. The reason I am unwilling to take Teacher Jingtian as my master is because I am afraid I would wrong Teacher Jingtian in the future." Xu Fan spoke half-truthfully.

Sha Yan stared blankly at Xu Fan. He reminded her of her Big Brother, who had broken with their father at Artifact Refining Peak.

She still remembered what her Big Brother had said before leaving.

"I, Sha Diao, will definitely become the number one Artifact Refining Master of the Heavenly Gate Sect!"