“So you originally intended to caution Zhou Yuan but ultimately ended up forging an alliance between our Forest Pavilion and the Wind Pavilion to go f*ck the Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion?”

On a lush, grassy land on the Wood Island, Mu Qingyan’s arms were crossed across her chest as she cast a glance at Mu Liu smiling before her.

Mu Liu awkwardly replied, “Qingyang, please use less crude words. A beautiful young lady like you saying ‘f*ck’ is so unpleasant.”

Mu Qingyan viciously jabbed Mu Liu’s chest with a slender finger as she angrily said, “Don’t try and change the topic. Are you an idiot? I can’t believe you were so easily fooled by that Zhou Yuan, and now you plan to join forces with him to eliminate the Fire Pavilion and the Mountain Pavilion?”

By the side, the metal-tower-like Jiang Man displayed a naive grin as he remarked, “It sounds quite exciting.”

“Shut your trap.”

Mu Qingyan shot a glare at him before turning back to Mu Liu. “Our Forest Pavilion is at best equal in strength to the Mountain Pavilion. Even if my Spirit cultivation has reached the Transformative stage, the Mountain Pavilion also has a Transformative stage expert.

“Zhou Yuan told you their Wind Pavilion will handle the Fire Pavilion, but do you know how many practitioners they have that have reached the Corporeal stage? More than five hundred. What about the Wind Pavilion? Only two hundred. Their opponents have nearly triple their numbers. In such a situation, even a Transformative stage Spirit won’t be able to do much.

“The Wind Pavilion’s foundations are far too weak. Haven’t you heard about the outcome of that Spirit training session they had previously? It was pathetic and shameful!

“So tell me, how will the Wind Pavilion vie with the Fire Pavilion in the Heaven Flame Ritual?”

Mu Qingyan was seething. Mu Liu should have only gone to warn Zhou Yuan. How had it ended with him bringing back such shocking news?

She felt that Mu Liu must have been conned by Zhou Yuan! Moreover, he seemed completely irredeemable!

This was way too cruel of Zhou Yuan. Wasn’t this akin to pushing their Forest Pavilion into the fire? What would happen if the Fire Pavilion easily dispatched the Wind Pavilion and decided to go after their Forest Pavilion next? Although the Fire Pavilion was bossy and unreasonable, they had always given a little face and did not dare to push the Forest Pavilion too far. But if the Forest Pavilion chose to help the Wind Pavilion this time, Lu Xiao would have sufficient reason on his side.

Liu Mu forced a smile as he said, “That may not be so. Zhou Yuan is very strange and unpredictable. For example, who could have expected him to be capable of turning the tables on Chen Beifeng previously? What’s more, even Fang Ao has fallen at his hands.”

Mu Qingyan angrily said, “Zhou Yuan is quite capable, but this is different from before. The Heaven Flame Ritual is a team effort. You can’t tell me that Zhou Yuan will be able to singlehandedly topple the entire Fire Pavilion, right?!”

Mu Liu chuckled. “I don’t know whether he’ll be able to topple the Fire Pavilion, but even if we do not cooperate with him, you know that I can’t possibly accept Lu Xiao’s proposal. Who does he think he is? Does he think I’ll run after any bone he throws? What does he take me for?”

Mu Qingyan was a little taken aback. Though Mu Liu usually put on a friendly, smiling appearance, she knew that his heart was full of pride. Even someone as strong as Lu Xiao could not make him submit.

Jiang Man said in a slightly crestfallen manner, “I feel that the boss is not wrong. Lu Xiao may seem to be giving us some benefits, but if we accept their proposal once, we’ll no longer be able to hold our heads high and will feel shorter whenever we meet any Fire Pavilion members in the future.”

Mu Qingyan pursed her lips as her expression slowly softened. “Now that you guys mention it, that bastard Lu Xiao definitely does not have any good intentions.”

She fell into thought for a while. In the end, she gritted her teeth and declared, “Fine, since you’ve already made the decision, we’ll join forces with the Wind Pavilion. I hope that Zhou Yuan is not conning us purely for the sake of trying to escape from their predicament.”

Upon seeing Mu Qingyan agree, Mu Liu breathed a sigh of relief. He might be the forest pavilion master, but Mu Qingyan was the most popular and influential individual in the Forest Pavilion. If she objected, many members would stand on her side. Most importantly, they had to rely on her leadership for the upcoming Heaven Flame Ritual, and it would truly become problematic if she were to refuse the commander role.

“However, Zhou Yuan is not fully conning me. At the very least, regardless of success or failure, he has promised to provide us three hundred high-grade Mother Runes every month at the price of the normal four Mother Runes.” Mu Liu grinned.

These words made Mu Qingyan’s and Jiang Man’s eyes brighten.

“The 50% effectiveness Mother Runes?”

They had long coveted the high-grade Mother Runes that could increase the effectiveness of gathering Genesis marks by 50%. But it was an extremely scarce product that only some of the high-ranking Wind Pavilion members could receive. The ones that occasionally found their way into the market would immediately be snapped up at very high prices.

Hence, any information regarding them would always be highly sought after.

Mu Qingyan and the others naturally desired these high-grade Mother Runes as well but had no way to obtain them. They never imagined that Zhou Yuan would promise to give them three hundred every month once this affair was concluded.

This was an unexpected surprise.

“It seems that he does have some sincerity,” said Mu Qingyan.

If we can get three hundred high-grade Mother Runes every month, we should be able to make up some of the losses if we fail in the Heaven Flame Ritual.

However, Mu Qingyan still disapproved of Zhou Yuan leading the Wind Pavilion to face the entire Fire Pavilion, and she clearly did not believe he had any chance of succeeding. After all, the gap between both sides was far too great.

Even with Zhou Yuan pouring all of his efforts into transforming the Wind Pavilion, he had far too little time. It had only been a few months since he had joined, whereas the Fire Pavilion’s humongous advantage was the culmination of many years of efforts. How could it be easy for Zhou Yuan to catch up?

She could only pray that they would not lose too badly this time, or it would be a little shameful.

Bah, lose if we have to. I’ll take it as us accompanying them to play!

Mu Qingyan consoled herself with such thoughts.

The Fire Island.

Zhu Lian gazed at Lu Xiao’s back and reported, “Pavilion master, the Forest Pavilion sent someone to reject our proposal.”

Lu Xiao turned his head and nonchalantly said, “How disappointing.”

Zhu Lian said in a low voice, “According to our informants in the Forest Pavilion, Mu Liu has likely chosen to cooperate with Zhou Yuan.”

“An alliance between two weaklings?” Lu Xiao shook his head. “Since when did Mu Liu become so foolish? Never mind, I originally wanted to give their Forest Pavilion some benefit, but it seems that it is not fated.”

He was not the least bit angered by the Forest Pavilion’s decision, because they were not an important part of his plan. He wouldn’t have contacted them, if he did not want to completely crush the Wind Pavilion this time.

However, he was somewhat surprised that Mu Liu had chosen Zhou Yuan over him.

“Never mind, let him do what he wants.

“Since he has decided to stand on the opposing side, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.” Lu Xiao turned his head again and peered into the distance. They had always given the Forest Pavilion a little face in previous Heaven Flame Rituals and had generously given them a little meat to eat. He never expected that his kindness would not be repaid.

Since that was the case, he no longer planned on showing any courtesy.

Lu Xiao indifferently asked, “Zhu Lian, how are our preparations?”

Zhu Lian nodded as he said in a satisfied manner, “Everything is ready. Moreover, I even specially made a trip back to the Heavenly Spirit Hall as per your, the pavilion master’s, request. I only feel that you regard Zhou Yuan far too highly. Our Fire Pavilion already has an enormous advantage and has even prepared such trump cards for the ritual. This is essentially using a cleaver to kill a chicken.”

Lu Xiao placed his hands behind his back as he said, “I do not want to make the same mistake as before. Even a lion should use all its power to slaughter a rabbit.

“This time, I will make Zhou Yuan feel true despair!”

He would also teach the Forest Pavilion how stupid their choice was.

“Trying to shatter a rock with an egg? They’re only courting their own deaths.”