Chen Jianjun had planned to fleece the other party from the start.
How could he possibly relax his conditions?
Chen Jianjun's expression was perfectly calm, not a ripple in his eyes. "If you find this difficult, Sect Master Ning, the door is right over there!"
He pointed toward the door. Chen Jianjun no longer wanted to talk.
Seeing this, Ning Buqun struggled to calm himself.
"In that case, Your Eminence, would you allow us some time to consider?" Ning Buqun couldn't let himself be discourteous, and his tone had turned exceedingly mild.
But who was Chen Jianjun? How could he fail to see through him?
He spoke lightly. "Certainly."
Ning Buqun and his party rose to their feet. "Then we thank Your Eminence."
"We have troubled you greatly today. Please forgive us."
Chen Jianjun didn't take it to heart. He disliked all these fussy formalities, so he waved them off and paid them no further attention.
Only after Ning Buqun and the others had left did Chen Jianjun smile.
"Xin'er, Xin'er. It seems I was right to let you follow that boy."
Chen Jianjun was glad he had hesitated earlier. Otherwise, Chen Xin wouldn't have become who he was now.
To overpower a Soul Elder without even using his Martial Soul—his son had certainly made something of himself.
"Since you've made your move, I, your father, naturally have to lend a hand. The faction you've taken a liking to—I'll protect it for you."
"Two and a half years from now, I hope you don't disappoint me, Xu Xiao."
"Otherwise, you won't be able to withstand my wrath."
Chen Jianjun muttered to himself as he looked toward the door. It wasn't that he was arrogant; he had the strength to back it up.
Ning Buqun and his party left the Chen Family's territory, all of them wearing dark faces. No one dared to speak on the way back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Clearly, Ning Buqun had accepted defeat. He no longer planned to do anything about the proposed marriage alliance with the Chen Family.
The Ye Family would have to wait. For now, he could only put that matter aside.
Ning Buqun was out of options.
As for joining forces with the Clear Sky Sect? He would never invite a wolf into his home.
The Clear Sky Sect was far more difficult to deal with than the Chen Family. By then, who knew if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would even still exist?
They might end up as the fifth subordinate sect—the Ning Sect!
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? It wasn't much different from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Ning Buqun hadn't even considered them.
The Heaven Dou Empire was the same. Just see if they dared to take a single sword strike from Chen Jianjun.
Xu Xiao and the others knew nothing about the matter between the Chen Family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Even Chen Xin, one of the people involved, knew nothing about it.
At that moment, the three brothers, Xu Xiao and the others, were in Star Dou Forest, near the outskirts close to where Shrek Academy stood in the original story.
"Big Brother, why didn't we head straight into the depths? Why come here instead?"
Gui Mei didn't understand. They could have gone straight over there, so why take such a long detour?
"We came here to try our luck."
Xu Xiao didn't hide it. They were simply here to test their luck.
They had plenty of time right now, so Xu Xiao naturally wanted to collect every resource he could, without letting a single one slip by.
"Luck? Big Brother, Second Brother, the three of us have never had good luck."
"Back at school, we were always on our own, and every rotten thing that could happen happened to us."
Yue Guan genuinely thought he had bad luck. He wasn't just being pessimistic.
Xu Xiao thought so too. Just look at all the other transmigrators—weren't they all cultivating at lightning speed and finding Soul Bones whenever they ran into Soul Beasts?
Unlike him. He'd already killed two, and still hadn't found a single Soul Bone.
His luck really was a little poor.
"It's fine, Third Brother. It's not like we have to find one, right?"
"The main goal is a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast."
Xu Xiao was in good spirits and wasn't making too much of it. At worst, he could come back and sweep the place clean once he was strong enough.
"Big Brother's right. If I get it, it's my good fortune; if I don't, it's fate. We can't force it."
"Third Brother, we're lucky. Otherwise, how would we have met Big Brother?"
Gui Mei explained it to Yue Guan, who burst out laughing. "That's right, that's right. Meeting Big Brother is the greatest stroke of luck there is."
"Our luck as brothers isn't bad at all!"
Xu Xiao laughed too. With brothers like these, this life was worth living.
The three of them stopped chatting and began searching.
"Big Brother, watch this."
As Gui Mei spoke, two Soul Rings lit up beneath his feet, one purple and one black.
"Second Soul Skill: Human Is Not Ghost, Ghost Is Not Soul—Human Ghost Shadow Soul!"
As Gui Mei activated his Soul Skill, two black figures emerged from the shadows of Xu Xiao and Yue Guan.
The figures were exactly the same size as Xu Xiao and Yue Guan.
Xu Xiao and Yue Guan had never asked about Gui Mei's Soul Skills. A week ago, while they were on the road, Xu Xiao had added Gui Mei's Second Soul Ring.
They had been busy hurrying along then, so Xu Xiao hadn't asked.
"Second Brother, why is your Soul Skill exactly the same as mine? Only the color's different."
Yue Guan curiously touched his shadow. It didn't feel any different.
Gui Mei explained, "Big Brother, Third Brother, my Second Soul Skill can summon figures identical to you from your shadows."
"But these figures only have ten percent of your strength."
"Now that I'm a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster, I can only summon two."
Xu Xiao asked, "Second Brother, can the shadows' abilities improve as your strength increases?"
Gui Mei shook his head. "No, Big Brother. They only have ten percent of the original's strength."
Xu Xiao thought it was a little regrettable. They had only ten percent. It would've been great if their strength increased as his did.
But Gui Mei said, "Big Brother, even if they only have ten percent of your strength, I control them. Put them in black clothes and they're perfect for robbing homes and looting. They can even take a hit for us if we can't win!"
Xu Xiao smiled. "That's true."
Yue Guan asked, "Second Brother, can your Soul Skill only summon human shadows?"
Gui Mei shook his head. "Of course not. It works on humans and Soul Beasts."
"They only have their strength, though. They can't offer themselves up or anything like that. They're basically just extra thugs."
The two nodded. That made sense. If Soul Beasts could offer themselves up too, wouldn't that be ridiculously overpowered?
Gui Mei could get the shadow of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, then control it to offer itself up. Even ten percent of a hundred thousand years would still be ten thousand years.
That would be a huge windfall.
But that wasn't possible. The shadow could only serve as a thug, a puppet.
There was nothing else to it.
"Big Brother, just tell me—which Soul Beast are we looking for?"
"I'll send these two figures to search while we head somewhere else."
Gui Mei thumped his chest. He could finally help Big Brother. Before this, Third Brother had always been the one helping, while he just kept watch.
Now that he had this Soul Skill, there was more he could do.
Xu Xiao smiled. "We're looking for a Man Faced Demon Spider—and a woman who's no spring chicken."
A woman...?
"Big Brother, I can understand looking for a Man Faced Demon Spider."
"But why are you looking for a woman? Are you trying to find us a sister-in-law?"
"That sounds great! Second Brother, hurry up!"