Desolate Era Book 10, Chapter 13 - The Humble Xue Hongyi

Within the private room. Ji Ning, Mu Northson, Yu Wei, Ninelotus, Adept Vastriver, the Whitewater Hound, and Little Qing were all staring towards Xue Hongyi.
The allure of an Immortal-ranked magic artifact was incomparably great. Although Adept Vastriver had been a Loose Immortal in his past life, he had never acquired an Immortal-ranked magic treasure… for the sake of such a treasure, even the annihilation of entire clans and sects was not uncommon.
“Why don’t we kill them, then take the Immortal-ranked magic treasure to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and trade it for liquefied elemental essence? We can split it evenly,” Adept Vastriver sent mentally, a hint of coldness in his eyes.
“Kill?”
“Should we kill?”
They were all hesitating, but the most determined one was Adept Vastriver.
Ning and Xue Hongyi weren’t exactly on good terms; in the past, Xue Hongyi had even intended to try and capture Ning. Fortunately, Northmont Baiwei had stopped him. Ning didn’t feel any compunctions against killing Xue Hongyi… but they had entered this Immortal estate together. And, when they had done so, Youngflame Nong had already given them a strongly worded warning.
“What are you planning on doing?” Xue Hongyi shouted, “Previously, when we arrived at this Witchriver Immortal Estate, young master Youngflame said on the warship that we were forbidden from fighting against each other!”
Xue Hongyi was mentally panicking as well. Although Youngflame Nong had issued this warning, the reality was that at this point in time, these five disciples of the Black-White College were definitely more important to Youngflame Nong than Xue Hongyi was. If they really were to kill Xue Hongyi, most likely Youngflame Nong wouldn’t be too upset about it.
Ning and the others all exchanged glances.
Previously, Youngflame Nong had said these words: “After we enter the Witchriver Immortal Estate, we have to be of one mind and work together. We cannot fight internally. If anyone causes chaos inside, then don’t blame me, Youngflame Nong, for becoming cruel and unfeeling.”
“What is there to fear? We five disciples of the Black-White College are more important to Youngflame Nong,” Adept Vastriver sent mentally. “After we kill Xue Hongyi, Youngflame Nong definitely wouldn’t act against us; that would be like breaking his own arms.”
“He won’t act against us now, but after he binds this Immortal estate, we won’t be of use to him and he’ll be able to act against us,” Ninelotus sent.
“Act against us? We aren’t so easily dealt with. What’s more, you, Ninelotus, are the next leader of the Dongyan clan. Youngflame Nong won’t dare to act too rashly; after all, he’s currently just an ordinary disciple of the Youngflame clan who has a high chance of becoming the next Godplume Duke; he’s not the actual Godplume Duke yet. If he dares to act against you… his inheritance might actually be seized and stolen by another,” Adept Vastriver said.
“He won’t act against senior apprentice-sister Ninelotus, but he would act against us,” Yu Wei sent mentally. “If we don’t kill Xue Hongyi, then he won’t have an excuse to attack us, because he previously gave us a promise. But once we actually kill Xue Hongyi, then we’ll have given him an excuse.”
Whether or not an excuse was created was of great importance.
In all matters, one needed to occupy the moral high ground. After all, behind Ning and the others were powerful forces such as the Black-White College and the Dongyan clan. If Ning and the others were extremely weak and without much influence, then simply killing them might not matter. But because they did have backgrounds… in all matters , there was a need to occupy the moral high ground before dealing with them!
“We cannot give him an excuse. After all, that Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, is far more powerful than us,” Yu Wei said. “As for Xue Hongyi… after we leave, we can find another chance to get rid of him.”
“I agree with senior apprentice-sister Yu Wei.” Ning expressed his opinion mentally as well.
Adept Vastriver frowned. Of the five of them, himself, Ning, and Yu Wei were the most powerful. With Ning and Yu Wei disagreeing… while Vastriver was capable of defeating Xue Hongyi, he wasn’t certain of being able to kill him.
“Hmph.” Adept Vastriver turned his head and left. Ning and the others exchanged a glance, then all left as well. The only one left in the room was Xue Hongyi, who finally let out a sigh of relief.
“In the end, I was able to rely on Youngflame Nong to scare them off,” Xue Hongyi mused to himself. “After we leave the Witchriver Immortal Estate, I need to immediately stick very close to young master Youngflame, and then find a chance to use a Lesser Teleportation Dao-seal and flee.”
He understood that successfully escaping might be difficult. But he had to take the risk; for the sake of this Immortal-ranked magic treasure, he had to!
In fact, he didn’t even dare trust the three Primal Daoists of Snowdragon Mountain. In the Immortal path, it was not rare for disciples to kill their masters and ancestors, and it was even more common for masters to kill disciples. For the sake of acquiring an Immortal-ranked magic treasure… anything might happen.
Ning and the others all spread out, once more continuing to search through the palace for treasures. After all, this was the Vault of Treasures of a Celestial Immortal; any random treasure would be worth more than the entire holdings of an ordinary Wanxiang Adept.
They carefully searched for another hour. Each of them had completely searched the entire palace. They all believed that it might be possible that the others might have missed searching a spot.
“I’m finished. Master, I don’t have anything, not even a single magic treasure.” The distant Little Qing was chatting mentally with Ning.
“Not a single magic treasure? That’s so sad!” Ning teased.
“Ask Uncle White and see if he found any treasures,” Little Qing sent back through their spirit-link.
“Alright, I’ll ask.” Ning sent spiritually to the Whitewater Hound, “Uncle White, have you finished your search?”
“I’m finished.” The Whitewater Hound’s mental voice seemed quite delighted. “My luck wasn’t bad. I discovered a corpse, which had a magic robe and some other treasures near it. I don’t know if it was left behind by a Loose Immortal or a Primal Diremonsters, but all the treasures are excellent. I’m not able to bind them; they should be Heaven-ranked magic treasures.”
Ning was instantly delighted.
This Vault of Treasures actually could be said to be the most important of the five palaces. It had the most treasures, and thus it was normally guarded by monstrous experts that were at least at the Primal or Loose Immortal levels.
Even Loose Immortals generally wouldn’t have access to an Immortal-ranked magic treasure, and so it was quite hard to judge from magic treasures alone if they were left behind by a Loose Immortal or a Primal Diremonster. Only after binding the storage items and seeing how many treasures were inside it would one know.
“Master, Master, how did Uncle White do? Did he also find nothing?” Little Qing sent spiritually.
“Uncle White’s luck was better than yours; he acquired the treasures from a skeletal corpse.”
“A corpse? His luck was actually better than mine? I’m an Azure Skyserpent; it’s as easy for me to encounter a stroke of luck as it is to eat rice. I’m surrounded by good fortune… but his luck was better than mine? Master, what about you? Did you find any treasures?”
“I acquired… even more than Uncle White,” Ning replied.
“Even more?! How can this be?!”
……
Within the largest hall in the palace. Youngflame Nong remained seated in the lotus position on the jade bed, continuing to bind it, while Xiangliu Fang stood to one side. Ning and the others had all regrouped here together.
“This is the Vault of Treasures. It should be the place within the Witchriver Immortal Estate which was meant for the storage of treasures, and the place with the most treasures. By the looks of it, you have all gained quite a bit.” Youngflame Nong sat above them, smiling. “And just now, I could sense some ripples; it should have been an Immortal-ranked magic treasure emerging. I wonder which of you was so lucky as to acquire the Immortal-ranked treasure.”
Ji Ning and the others all turned their heads, looking towards Xue Hongyi in unison. Xue Hongyi was stunned.
“Oh, so it was you, Xue Hongyi?” Youngflame Nong raised an eyebrow. Earlier, when trapped within the formation, Xue Hongyi had hid far away and abandoned Youngflame Nong. This caused Youngflame Nong to feel ill-will towards him.
“Young master Youngflame, I am willing to offer this Immortal-ranked magic treasure to you,” Xue Hongyi said hurriedly. Against Ji Ning’s group, he was willing to threaten them and struggle against them, but young master Youngflame was simply too powerful. In terms of both background and political power, Youngflame Nong could completely crush him. In terms of personal power, that Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang, could probably annihilate him with one blow.
Ning and the others all looked over with surprise. Offering it to young master Youngflame?
“Treasures should go to the worthy!” Xue Hongyi said hurriedly. “I, Xue Hongyi, acknowledge that I am lacking in worthiness; a treasure like this, to me, is a disaster, not a blessing. It is better for me to offer it to you, young master Youngflame. It is only natural and reasonable that someone as exalted as you, young master Younglame, be the possessor of this treasure.”
Youngflame Nong laughed.
He liked those who knew how to flatter, especially when the flatterer was a fairly powerful genius. Ji Ning and the others were from the Black-White College; all of them were proud by nature, and there was no way they could debase themselves to flatter in this way. Xue Hongyi, however, had lowered his head and bent his waist, truly humbling himself.
“I’ve already promised, in the name of my Youngflame clan, that the treasures you acquire will belong to you. I absolutely will not fight with you for them, or ask you to offer them,” Youngflame Nong said.
“This isn’t fighting with me, nor is it asking me to offer it up… this is a normal trade,” Xue Hongyi said hurriedly. “This Immortal-ranked magic treasure, the Azuresilk Godfire Lamp, isn’t very useful to me. I’m willing to trade it to you, young master Youngflame, for some other treasures. You can just give me some random Heaven-ranked magic treasures and it would suffice.”
“You are over-thinking things.” Youngflame Nong shook his head. “No matter what, I will not accept this Immortal-ranked magic treasure.”
Only now did Xue Hongyi let out a mental sigh of relief. He had proactively offered the treasure, but young master Youngflame had declined. Now, he was calm.
“Xue Hongyi is quite the clever fellow,” Youngflame Nong mused secretly to himself. “I can’t accept it now. If I did, the hearts of Ji Ning and his group would turn cold! They are still very useful to me. After I bind the immortal estate… at that point, I can have Xue Hongyi offer it to me again. If necessary, I can just bestow a few treasures upon him in exchange.”
After two full hours later, Youngflame Nong finally completed binding the jade bed.
“Haha, the binding is finally complete.” Youngflame Nong walked down from the jade bed, a smile on his face.
“Young master,” the nearby Xiangliu Fang said with a frown, “Right now, the two most powerful monstrous forces in the entire Immortal estate world are waiting outside. As soon as we emerge, we will most likely suffer their immediate attack.
“The two most powerful monstrous forces?” Ning and the others were all startled. The titanic wave formed from more than ten thousand Dao-soldiers, and the giant Yaksha Dao-soldier formation formed by the Witchriver clan? Those were capable of completely suppressing even the Fiendgod, Xiangliu Fang; he had been forced to rely on his astonishing recuperative abilities and evasive techniques in order to escape with his life. He hadn’t been able to fight back at all.
“I can stay alive, but I am not confident in being able to protect the young master.” This was Xiangliu Fang’s worry.
“Oh?” Youngflame Nong frowned slightly. “You say they are waiting outside?”
“Right. They’ve been waiting outside the entire time,” Xiangliu Fang growled. “They’ve been trapped for countless years within this Immortal estate world; every generation has always dreamed of leaving and going to the vast Grand Xia Empire. Thus, they will definitely stop at nothing and be willing to pay any price in order to seize the key to the Immortal estate you hold, young master.”
Youngflame Nong nodded. He could understand the powerful desire and urge these two monstrous forces had to leave. It was a desire to see the greater world, a desire that would lead them to use all their might in acting against Youngflame Nong.
“This will be trouble.” Youngflame Nong gritted his teeth. Ning and the others all stood there, racking their brains. What to do?