Immortal Venerable of the Beast Race
Chapter 635 - 544 Vein Conflict (No More Today)_1

Chapter 635: 544 Vein Conflict (No More Today)_1

Shen Long offered a faint smile, "Then I’ll take Taoist Friend Yang’s auspicious words to heart."

"Taoist Friend Shen, do you have any Enlightening Pills? I’d like to trade something for them," Du Xiang asked, her face full of anticipation.

Shen Long shook his head, "I don’t, but if I had some Enlightening Fruit, I’d be confident in concocting Enlightening Pills."

"I saw Enlightening Fruit at the auction, but it was exchanged by another cultivator."

With a sigh, Du Xiang spoke.

"The growth cycle of the Enlightening Fruit reaches nine thousand years, and each time it bears fruit, at most a little over a hundred. If the growth is poor, there are only dozens, making Enlightening Pills exceedingly precious," Yang Tianshan said with a bitter smile.

The Enlightening Fruit might help spirit beasts and spirit birds with a purity of bloodline reaching four to awaken their spiritual intelligence, and hence it’s widely sought after by cultivators, with supply never meeting demand.

Shen Long nodded, "Indeed! Some of our Qianling Sect’s elders and senior fellow cultivators have planted Enlightening Fruit trees to nurture spirit beasts and birds."

Some of the Qianling Sect’s Void Refining Cultivators cultivated Enlightening Fruit trees, rarely selling them outright.

After more than two hours of casual conversation, Xu Qinghuai suggested exchanging cultivation resources, and neither Shen Long nor the others refused.

As the host, Yang Tianshan was the first to initiate the exchange, presenting over a hundred items including Spiritual Medicine, ores, Demon Cores, Spirit Wood, and so forth.

Shen Long quickly glanced over the items, uninterested, for he had seen much of the world already.

"I’ll trade for materials that can weaken Thunder Method, or equivalent materials."

Yang Tianshan said.

Xu Qinghuai and the others sequentially sent voice transmissions to Yang Tianshan, taking out items for his inspection.

Yang Tianshan exchanged a dozen or so items. After he finished, it was Yang Yiqing’s turn, who also presented dozens of materials for exchange.

Each person took their turn presenting items for trade, but Shen Long found nothing of interest. Compared to the Li Family’s Soul Transformation Cultivators, the possessions of Yang Tianshan and the others were far inferior.

After a short while, Shen Long stood up, revealing dozens of items, mostly Elixirs, but also including Demon Cores and millennia-old Soul Nourishing Wood.

"Millennia-old Soul Nourishing Wood!"

Surprised, Du Xiang sent a voice transmission to Shen Long, "Taoist Friend Shen, I’ll exchange a fifth-grade Wood Demon Crystal Core for that piece of millennia-old Soul Nourishing Wood, what do you say?"

She took out a green jade box and handed it to Shen Long.

Upon opening it, Shen Long saw a cyan-gold Crystal Core exuding pure fluctuations of Wood Spirit Power.

After inspecting the items of Xu Qinghuai and others, he agreed to the exchange with Du Xiang.

Most of the items Shen Long brought were exchanged.

Yang Tianshan produced a Law Disk shimmering with Spiritual Light, his expression turning quite grim.

"What’s happened, Ancestor Tianshan?"

Yang Yiqing asked.

"The Jiang Family has taken over three of our fifth-grade mines, and we’ve lost four Soul Transformation Stage members of our clan."

Yang Tianshan’s face showed a deep sorrow.

On the very occasion of his two-thousandth birthday, the Jiang Family had dispatched forces to take over two of the Yang Family’s mines.

"What! They took over three of our fifth-grade mines? What about the fifth-grade Formation? Couldn’t it even defend?"

Yang Yiqing asked in confusion.

"They probably have a fifth-grade Formation-breaking Talisman or a treasure for breaking Formations," Xu Qinghuai speculated.

Yang Tianshan turned to Shen Long, earnestly saying, "Taoist Friend Shen, could you lend us a hand in repelling the Jiang Family? Should you succeed, our Yang Family’s treasury will be open to you to choose any three items."

The Jiang Family’s aggressive approach, the casualties from ghostly disturbances in the Profound Yin Mine Vein, and the sudden loss of four more Soul Transformation Cultivators dealt a significant blow to the Yang Family.

"Taoist Friend Yang, with the strength of your Yang Family, you can’t repel the Jiang Family? One more person like me won’t change the tide of battle!"

Shen Long voiced his skepticism.

"Taoist Friend Shen, counting the Soul Transformation Stage clan members who died at the mines, we’ve lost seven Soul Transformation Cultivators. We still need Soul Transformation Cultivators to guard our two remaining fifth-grade mines and to oversee the Funiu Peak Range, not to mention those who are traveling and have yet to return. Relying solely on our own strength, we don’t have much confidence in repelling the Jiang Family. Aside from you, we also plan to contact the Lin Family and other allies. Should we succeed, you will be able to choose any five items from our family treasury," Yang Tianshan explained through a voice transmission.

True to Shen Long’s words, a single individual like him couldn’t change the course of the conflict. Yang Tianshan hoped to use this opportunity for mutual benefit.

Shen Long was willing to step forward this time, and the next time the Yang Family encountered trouble, they could also request Shen Long’s help.

Besides that, with Shen Long intervening, the Jiang Family probably would not escalate the conflict. The Yang Family, having lost seven Divinity Transformation Cultivators, had yet to recover their vitality and were incapable of waging a protracted war.

Shen Long’s face showed a contemplative expression. In principle, whether to help or not was up to him personally—helping would be right and proper, but not helping would not be odd either.

Conflicts between the subordinate forces of the Qianling Sect and the Yinluo Sect were endless, and such situations were all too common.

"Taoist Friend Shen, I promise to get you a bottle of fifth-order Demon Ape essence blood with a Mountain Giant Ape lineage within a thousand years. How about that?"

Yang Tianshan communicated through a voice transmission. This was an increased offer, as well as a deep binding of interests.

With this relationship in place, the better the Yang Family developed, the more help they could offer Shen Long.

"They didn’t deploy any Void Refining Cultivators, did they?"

Shen Long asked.

"They probably wouldn’t. Where would the Jiang Family get the capability to hire Void Refining Cultivators to charge into battle for them? If they could get Void Refining Cultivators to help, wouldn’t it be easier for them to just attack the Funiu Peak Range directly?"

Yang Tianshan analyzed.

"That’s true. Alright then! I’ll lend you a hand. Which mine veins did they attack? Where are they located?"

Shen Long asked.

Yang Tianshan promptly took out a map and began pointing out the locations on it.

"I’ll make a trip to the Lihuo Mountain Range and help you recapture that Lihuo mine vein!"

Shen Long said.

"Taoist Friend Shen, allow me to lend you a hand."

Yang Yiqing volunteered.

"No need, I’m enough on my own. You go and take back the other mine veins!"

Shen Long said.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Taoist Friend Shen."

Yang Tianshan said gratefully.

"You should quickly dispatch troops to recapture the other two mine veins! I will head to the Lihuo Mountain Range now."

Having said this, Shen Long transformed into an Escape Light and soared into the sky, leaving the place.

...

The Qingxu Mountain Range stretched for millions of miles, the birthplace of the Jiang Family’s clan.

During the peak of the Jiang Family, they had a Void Refining Cultivator, but the Void Refining Cultivator died in a great clan war, and currently, they had no Void Refining Cultivator.

Deep within the Qingxu Mountain Range, one could see a majestic fortress emblazoned with three golden characters: "Jiang Family Fortress."

The Qingxu Pavilion, a vital area for the Jiang Family.

A burly, silver-robed elder sat in the main seat with an imposing gaze, while a full-figured woman in a purple dress was reporting to him.

"To dispel any suspicions from the Yang Family, we captured several mine veins. If the Yang Family organizes a counterattack, we will fully defend one of the veins and will surely make it our own."

The woman in the purple dress reported.

Jiang Yueshang, at the early stage of Divinity Transformation, was the head of the Jiang Family.

"Why the rush to act? Couldn’t we wait until Qingchen advances into the Refinement Void Phase before making a move?"

The silver-robed elder frowned as he spoke.

Jiang Yihao, at the late stage of Divinity Transformation, was the Great Elder of the Jiang Family.

"We secretly sent people to investigate. The entrance has loosened significantly, and the formation won’t be able to hold much longer. If we wait any later, the entrance might be exposed, and by then, the Yang Family will have discovered that place. Besides, according to our investigation, the Yang Family’s Profound Yin Mine Vein was attacked by a ghost creature at the Divinity Transformation Stage, resulting in many casualties among their Divinity Transformation Cultivators. Now is the best time to act, an opportunity not to be missed."

Jiang Yueshang explained.

"For safety’s sake, I will personally make a trip! You send someone to contact our relatives and allies to escalate the conflict. The Yang Family will definitely seek reinforcements from their allied families, and without their full support, the Yang Family will not cede that place to us."

Jiang Yihao ordered.

"Yes, Ancestor Yihao."

Jiang Yueshang complied.