"The Taixu Realm has actually opened?"
Inside the grand hall, Qiaoqiao Celestial Lord listened to the Earth Spirit Grounds Venerable's report, his face filled with undisguised shock. The other Kaiyuan Realm cultivators were similarly stunned.
The Taixu Realm was an extraordinarily mystical place. Although many had heard of its existence, entering it required tremendous fortune. Even if one managed to get in, whether they could make it out alive was another matter entirely. What awaited inside was not just opportunity, but enormous peril.
Wei Hua nodded. "That's exactly what Chen Tianfei said."
The woman Venerable from the Yin Spirit Grounds asked, "In Senior Brother Wei's opinion, is what Red Star says the truth or a lie?"
Wei Hua slowly shook his head. "Whether it's true or false, we'll need to investigate thoroughly before we can confirm it. However, judging from Chen Tianfei's expression, he didn't seem to be lying. Moreover, a matter of this magnitude will spread sooner or later—they wouldn't shoot themselves in the foot by fabricating something like this."
Qiaoqiao Celestial Lord nodded. "That's right. The opening of the Taixu Realm is a major event. No one could keep it hidden."
Wei Hua continued, "Their star market happened to be swallowed by the Taixu Realm, so they're currently homeless. When they emerged from the Realm, they happened to be nearby. Chen Tianfei recognized the Celestial Lord and decided to come to our Qiaoqiao Grounds to rest and recuperate for a while."
"So that's how it is!" Qiaoqiao Celestial Lord nodded lightly.
He had been wondering why people from Red Star would travel all the way to his territory. Now that the Taixu Realm was involved, everything made sense.
The Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable's eyes suddenly lit up. "Celestial Lord, if that's truly the case, we might be able to recruit these people from Red Star. They're homeless now. If we could get them to stay in the Qiaoqiao Grounds, our strength would increase enormously, and we wouldn't need to fear Yu Xiushan anymore."
The Wood Spirit Grounds Venerable snorted coldly. "Daydreaming! Chen Tianfei is one thing—only a fourth-rank Kaiyuan cultivator. But Zhao Baichuan is fifth-rank, comparable to the Celestial Lord himself. Putting aside whether we could recruit them, even if we did, how could we guarantee they wouldn't have designs of their own?"
The Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable had to admit there was merit to that. Zhao Baichuan was fifth-rank—bringing him into the Qiaoqiao Grounds would pose a thorny problem of arrangement. Asking him to rank below the Celestial Lord was something he might not accept. Furthermore, Red Star had lost its star market and desperately needed a place to settle. Would they not covet the Qiaoqiao Grounds themselves? Doing this could very well be inviting a wolf into the house.
After a moment's thought, the Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable said, "We don't have to recruit them. But we could hire them!"
Qiaoqiao Celestial Lord looked at him. "You mean..."
The Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable smiled. "Since Red Star is homeless and has nowhere to go, and Chen Tianfei already has ties with the Celestial Lord, if we offer sufficient compensation, we might be able to move them into working for us. A fifth-rank cultivator and a fourth-rank cultivator—if used properly, we could very well drive the Flying Smoke Hall to extinction!"
The Wood Spirit Grounds Venerable snorted again. "You're oversimplifying things."
These two Venerables seemed to be naturally antagonistic toward each other. When the Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable saw his counterpart objecting again, his face darkened. He turned to glare. "Then what brilliant insight do you have?"
The Wood Spirit Grounds Venerable said, "They've just come out of the Taixu Realm. Although none of us have been there, we've all heard the rumors. There is danger, yes, but also tremendous opportunity. Anyone who makes it out alive will have reaped enormous gains. Now that they've returned alive—I don't know what they obtained, but it certainly wasn't meager. So what could our Qiaoqiao Grounds possibly offer that would move them enough to work for us? Too little profit, and they'll scoff at it. Too much, and we'll be the ones losing out."
The Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable countered, "But the Celestial Lord has a prior relationship with Chen Tianfei. If the Celestial Lord were to make the offer personally—"
"Have you cultivated your brain into mush?" The Wood Spirit Grounds Venerable delivered the insult without a shred of politeness. "Setting aside whether Chen Tianfei would honor old ties and wade into this mess, Red Star isn't run by Chen Tianfei—it's Zhao Baichuan who calls the shots! If the Celestial Lord extends an offer and gets rejected, where would our Qiaoqiao Grounds' face be?"
The Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable was fuming, but he had to admit this bastard had a point. He found himself at a loss for words.
Qiaoqiao Celestial Lord sat in the seat of honor, watching his two key subordinates bicker back and forth with cold eyes. Only now did he speak. "Miao Yue, since you've shot down everyone else's ideas, you must have a plan of your own. Let's hear it."
Miao Yue was the name of the Wood Spirit Grounds Venerable.
The Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable perked up, watching Miao Yue with schadenfreude, practically itching to see him humiliate himself before the Celestial Lord.
But Miao Yue simply smiled, looking thoroughly confident. "Allow me to explain, Celestial Lord. I do indeed have a notion. If this works, not only will our Qiaoqiao Grounds be able to bring Red Star on as an outside ally without spending a single resource, but we'll also have an opportunity to eliminate the looming threat of Yu Xiushan. However, this plan requires the Celestial Lord himself to take action—it is the only way to demonstrate our sincerity."
The Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable glared. "Bragging!"
But Qiaoqiao Celestial Lord had grown interested. "Go on."
Miao Yue laid out his proposal. As he spoke, every person in the grand hall found their eyes lighting up with excitement. Even the Yang Spirit Grounds Venerable, despite his disgruntlement, couldn't help but admire how quickly this fellow's mind worked—secretly kicking himself for not thinking of something so simple, and cursing that Miao Yue had stolen the spotlight.
Upon hearing the plan, Qiaoqiao Celestial Lord broke into hearty laughter. "Well done, Miao Yue! Driving the wolf to swallow the tiger—what a splendid stratagem! And an open one at that. Even if the people at Red Star see through it, they won't be able to resist! Excellent, excellent, excellent! If this succeeds, Miao Yue, you shall be credited with a great merit!"