"The Thousand Rocks Sect..." Xu Anchang muttered, then narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "If that's really the case, they must belong to the other two veins."
Shi Chun said nothing for the moment, leaving him and You Mu to mull it over.
After a long wait, Xu Anchang glanced at You Mu's reaction and abruptly remarked, "The road is as wide as the sky; we can each take our own side. As long as they don't get in our way, we won't get in theirs."
Shi Chun froze, almost thinking he had misheard. "What do you mean?"
Xu Anchang said, "Exactly that. We leave each other alone."
Shi Chun stared for a moment, then said, "Oh. So we can abandon the mission our superiors gave us?"
Abandon it? The others, Wu Jinliang included, all turned to look at him.
"Now, Brother Chun, don't misunderstand," Xu Anchang said. "That isn't what I meant."
Shi Chun said, "The other two veins didn't come in here to play. We want first place, and so do they. You think they won't get in our way?"
Xu Anchang sighed. "It isn't what you think. How should I put this? The three veins have a pact. We can only compete fairly, not slaughter one another anymore. If anyone is found to have broken the pact, all three veins will pass judgment together."
There were things he could not easily say aloud. Though human effort could shape events, he knew the three factions had exceedingly slim chances of taking first place. The Demonic Path had little room to exercise its abilities here; any truly effective contest would probably have to take place outside the Divine Fire Domain. Fighting the other two factions here was entirely unnecessary.
Shi Chun said, "I know the three veins have a