The speaker was none other than Zhao Guizhen's wife and Zhao Yueling's mother, Li Zhu.
"My dear, what brings you here?" Zhao Guizhen asked in surprise when he saw Li Zhu arrive.
"To resolve your troubles." Li Zhu walked to the seat beside Zhao Guizhen and sat down.
"A son-in-law? You want to marry our daughter into the Tianyuan Holy Land? A marriage alliance?" Zhao Guizhen asked to confirm.
"What other choice do we have? If things continue like this, sooner or later, our Eastern Pole Holy Land will be squeezed until we have no room left to survive."
"Besides, the Tianyuan Young Master saved Yueling's life. Offering herself in marriage would be perfectly justified." Li Zhu gave her opinion.
"But our daughter..." Zhao Guizhen did not want to force Zhao Yueling to sacrifice herself for the Lineage.
"I heard from Yu Hao that ever since Yueling woke up, she's been asking him about the Tianyuan Young Master. She seems quite taken with him. I don't think she would refuse."
"Besides, rumor has it that the Tianyuan Holy Lord has already entered seclusion to break through and become a Great Emperor. You should know very well what it would mean if he truly succeeded, shouldn't you?"
"..." Faced with Li Zhu's question, Zhao Guizhen fell into a long silence.
He finally made up his mind to ask his daughter what she thought.
Just then, someone hurried inside. "Holy Lord, an elder from the Five Poisons Holy Land requests an audience!"
"The Five Poisons Holy Land? What are they here for?" Li Zhu asked, puzzled.
"What else? They must have come because of the Tianyuan Holy Land. They want an alliance with us." Zhao Guizhen knew without even thinking.
He then told the disciple, "Let him in."
The visitor was an envoy from a holy land, after all. He deserved at least the most basic courtesy.
"Yes."
A short while later, an old man in a dark blue-black robe entered the great hall, a large crimson snake coiled around his neck.
A sinister aura radiated from his entire body.
If he had any choice, Zhao Guizhen truly did not want to deal with this bunch of poison practitioners.
"Huo Ke of the Five Poisons Holy Land pays his respects to the Eastern Pole Holy Lord." The elder cupped his hands.
"What brings you to my Eastern Pole Holy Land, Elder Huo?" Zhao Guizhen asked, cutting straight to the point.
"I've mainly come to convey my Holy Lord's wishes. He wishes to form an alliance with you to oppose the Tianyuan Holy Land together." Huo Ke concealed nothing and spoke truthfully.
"An alliance? Oppose them?" Zhao Guizhen smiled bitterly at the man's naïveté. "The Tianyuan Holy Land is now like the sun at its zenith. Neither of us knows how deep its reserves run, much less how to assess them. How are we supposed to oppose it?"
"Yes, things are exactly as you say. But if we do nothing and let the Tianyuan Holy Land remain like the sun at its zenith, both the Five Poisons Holy Land and your Eastern Pole Holy Land will disappear from the Southern Region."
"To tell you the truth, our ancestor is attempting to break through to the Great Emperor Realm. As long as we can hinder Chen Tianlin's breakthrough and let our ancestor become a Great Emperor first, then combine the strength of our two holy lands, we won't be entirely without a chance of victory against the Tianyuan Holy Land." Huo Ke laid everything bare.
What! Even the Five Poisons Holy Land is attempting a breakthrough to become a Great Emperor?
Zhao Guizhen's brows furrowed slightly.
"What do you think, Holy Lord? Once we succeed, we'll divide all of the Tianyuan Holy Land's cultivation resources equally, including those miraculous pills rumored to extend one's lifespan." Huo Ke struck while the iron was hot.
He believed he had offered enough bargaining chips. Zhao Guizhen had no reason to refuse.
Even setting Chen Tianlin aside, there was the Tianyuan Young Master, whose cultivation speed was absurdly fast and whose talents in cultivation and pill refining were each more outrageous than the last.
How could anyone rest easy unless that boy was eliminated?
Their Five Poisons Holy Land would never willingly become someone else's puppet and swear submission.
They had to snuff him out while he was still weak, before he grew powerful!
Or they could simply use the Five Poisons Holy Land's secret art to refine him into a Corpse Puppet and put him to their own use...
"I appreciate the Five Poisons Holy Lord's regard, but my Eastern Pole Holy Land has no intention of becoming Tianyuan's enemy and betraying its trust!" Zhao Guizhen refused.
"Holy—"
"My mind is made up. Say no more!" Zhao Guizhen raised his hand, denying Huo Ke even the chance to speak. "Someone, see our guest out!"
"In that case, I won't trouble you any further. Farewell." As Huo Ke turned, a venomous look flashed through his eyes and vanished.
The venomous snake coiled around his neck had the same cold, vicious gleam in its eyes.
"I don't think they'll let this go so easily," Li Zhu offered.
"They probably won't dare make any reckless moves for now. Tell the disciples to be more careful about their food, clothing, lodgings, and travel, lest someone secretly poison them."
Zhao Guizhen did not believe a single word Huo Ke had said.
Especially the claim that they would divide the Tianyuan Holy Land equally.
Once the Tianyuan Holy Land fell, the Five Poisons Holy Land's venomous fangs would immediately turn toward Eastern Pole.
One mountain could not hold two tigers. If the Five Poisons Holy Land had a chance to dominate the Southern Region alone, how could it willingly share with the Eastern Pole Holy Land?
"Should we inform the Tianyuan Holy Land about this?" Li Zhu asked again.
"We only need to watch from the sidelines. We shouldn't get involved at all." Zhao Guizhen shook his head.
"All right." Li Zhu acknowledged his answer, respecting Zhao Guizhen's decision.
The Five Poisons Holy Land.
Huo Ke recounted his visit to Eastern Pole and his conversation with Zhao Guizhen in full, leaving out not a single word.
"What an Eastern Pole Holy Land! What a Zhao Guizhen! Our willingness to cooperate was a blessing they could only earn through a hundred lifetimes, yet they dared refuse. They truly don't know their place!"
"So what should we do now? Should we teach the Eastern Pole Holy Land a lesson first?"
"There's no need. Right now, we should focus all our attention on the Tianyuan Holy Land, not concern ourselves with a mere Eastern Pole."
"Speaking of which, the struggle for Great Dao Fortune between our ancestor and Chen Tianlin is growing fiercer!"
Rumble!
They stepped outside the gate and looked up at the chaotic sky, where lightning flashed and thunder roared. Their faces were graver than the next.
It was not hard to sense that Great Dao Fortune favored the Tianyuan Holy Land more.
"No! This can't continue. If it does, we'll all be finished once Chen Tianlin becomes a Great Emperor!"
"Come on, let's find the Holy Lord!"
The rear mountain.
Purple poisonous mist shrouded this place all year round, so thick that one could not see one's own outstretched hand.
Never mind ordinary living creatures or demonic beasts—even disciples of the Five Poisons Holy Land who lacked sufficient strength would die on the spot after inhaling a single breath of poisonous mist, their flesh rotting away to expose their entire stark-white skeletons.
As elders, however, they had long since grown accustomed to it and were no longer surprised.
Not only did the poisonous mist fail to harm them, it made their entire bodies feel comfortable and could increase their strength.
After walking several hundred meters, they finally saw the Five Poisons Holy Lord, Huo Yicheng, standing guard before a cave abode.
"Oh! What brings you here?" Hearing their footsteps, Huo Yicheng turned to look.
"Holy Lord..." They told him about the Eastern Pole Holy Land's refusal to form an alliance.
"I see. So they refused." Huo Yicheng did not seem surprised, reacting as though it were only natural.
He seemed never to have placed any hope in it.
"Holy Lord, we request that we depart at once to punish Tianyuan, stop Chen Tianlin from absorbing Great Dao Fortune, and help our ancestor attain the Dao of a Great Emperor!"
They all dropped to their knees and spoke in unison.
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