Chapter 66: Transaction

Merely a few hundred years ago, the previous dynasty entered the pass, launched widespread literary inquisitions, and extinguished the heritage of the Han people.

Originally, the military strategists had already been suppressed during the Song dynasty, and subsequently the Great Yuan destroyed the Song, dealing a devastating blow to the military strategists. Added to this was the Ming dynasty, during which military generals were so heavily suppressed by civil officials in the later period that even the blood-qi battle arts of the military strategists were lost.

Even if a few fragments remained, they were hunted down and burned by the previous dynasty. Due to various reasons, the military strategists—once one of the Three Teachings and One Family—were truly and utterly annihilated.

If the current generation were truly allowed to awaken the blood-shā qi of the military strategists, let alone the immortals of the Northeast, which faction in the entire superhuman community would not have to obediently fall in line?

Anyone daring to disobey would be utterly crushed. This was precisely why ancient superhumans were unwilling to become entangled with imperial dynasties.

Back in the Song dynasty, Grand Marshal Hong released the boy destiny sealed and suppressed beneath the Subduing Demon Hall of Mount Longhu, thereby triggering a tribulation of destined killings.

Yet even though the one hundred and eight superhumans were hailed as the reincarnations of ominous stellar calamities, they still had to rely on secret Daoist schemes and transmitted heavenly books of the military strategists in order to contend with the imperial court. If you tried to charge into a military formation relying solely on personal strength, it would be no different from throwing an egg against a rock.

Grandma Hu San had cultivated for over a millennium and had personally experienced, witnessed, and seen those events back then. To be honest, she truly dared not provoke a trouble-maker like Meng Fan.

However, trading their immortal heritage in exchange for Meng Fan's condition to eliminate the three great demonic immortals did indeed feel somewhat like a loss to them.

Why had Liu Kunsheng lingered by Mount Changbai all this time? Was it not because a wisp of thin dragon qi still lingered there, solely so that one day he might transform into a true dragon lineage?

The cultivation dojos of the other four immortals also possessed, to varying degrees, the effect of gathering the qi of heaven and earth, resembling a geomantic qi formation. For instance, the fox cave where Grandma Hu San resided, though seemingly extending in all directions, was actually excavated according to the geological and geomantic flow of the mountain range, possessing the effect of broadly gathering the blessings of heaven and earth.

Although it could not compare to the naturally crafted blessed lands of the Daoists, it was nonetheless a rare and precious dojo.

In short, human civilization now flourished greatly, and the Five Great Immortal Families were unwilling to accept the current status quo, wishing to make changes. Yet these changes could only conform to the grand trend of the era and integrate into it.

Meng Fan's arrival made the Five Immortals see a glimmer of hope and opportunity, but right from the beginning, their choice of approach had been wrong.

All living creatures are inherently self-serving. The Five Great Immortal Families attempted to secretly take advantage of Meng Fan and plot against him, which naturally earned them nothing but Meng Fan's rejection.

Had they approached him with pleasant manners from the very beginning, Meng Fan might have been in a good mood and bestowed some benefits upon them. After all, what is given to you is truly yours; what I do not give you, you cannot seize by force.

The current predicament, from a certain perspective, was entirely brought upon themselves by the Five Great Immortal Families.

Accustomed to being high-and-mighty senior immortals, they were unaccustomed to lowering their pride to make friends, and thus they missed their opportunity. Sometimes fate is truly wondrous: clearly an opportunity has arrived, yet due to a momentary ripple of selfish calculation, it slips away in the blink of an eye.

"Well, have you considered?" Meng Fan asked the Five Great Immortal Families, frowning slightly.

Grandma Hu San nodded, just about to speak and agree.

"Third Sister Hu..."

Gray Immortal Fourth Master Gray wore a look of heartache and desperately wanted to stop her, but Grandfather Huang the Second by his side patted him and shook his head: "When people are under low eaves, they have no choice but to lower their heads. The situation is stronger than the beasts right now."

Liu Kunsheng, however, was clearly the most unwilling of them all. Just as he was about to make a move, he was blocked by the sharp spikes emerging from Old Mother Bai's body.

White Immortal Xian'er earnestly advised, "Old Fifth, if you make a move, you really will be tearing down all pretense of civility. Don't blame us brothers and sisters for turning around to deal with you then. At the very least, this kid cannot come to any harm while he is with us."

Liu Kunsheng let out a resentful hiss, and the matter went no further.

Seeing this, Grandma Hu San sighed and nodded. Then, she gently exhaled a breath of auspicious mist from her mouth, within which floated a crimson vermilion document. It was wreathed in the qi of incense, reflecting a radiant, five-colored golden light.

Meng Fan signaled Gao Dazhuang to step forward and receive it, then smiled, "I must thank the five of you for your generosity."

"Just don't forget your promise. A word of reminder: the Mountain Lord, the Black Bear, and the Gyrfalcon—those three demonic immortals are not easy to deal with," Grandma Hu San said solemnly.

"I am well aware. I wonder if the five of you intend to watch from the sidelines when the time comes, or step into the arena yourselves?"

"Hmph, aren't you quite capable? If you have the ability, solve it yourself and stop bothering us," Liu Kunsheng said with a sour expression.

Meng Fan seemingly paid it no mind, but chuckled aloud and said, "If you don't go, how are we supposed to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys?"

"Five of you, for the sake of this heritage, let me offer a kind piece of advice. As I said before, the times have changed. If you still stubbornly cling to the old ways, you are destined to be eliminated by the era."

"Conforming to the surging torrent is the correct choice. You made a mistake once just now; do not repeat it and make error upon error!"

"Dazhuang, let's go!"

With that, Meng Fan turned and left, taking Gao Dazhuang with him.

"Such an ill-mannered little brat!" Old Mother Bai remarked blandly at this moment.

"Politeness is based on one's own strength. You all underestimated him too much. Even if Old Fifth Liu had made a move just now, I'm afraid he might not have been able to subdue him," Grandma Hu San said with a grave expression.

"Third Sister, surely not?" Fourth Master Gray wore a look of utter disbelief.

Grandma Hu San let out a cold snort. "This little brat is full of schemes. I refuse to believe you didn't sense the three strange wisps of qi on him just now."

"Hah, those three wisps of qi, what's so great about them? I'd swallow them straight down," Liu Kunsheng clamored.

"What if I told you there was yet another hidden trace of qi?" A sharp glint appeared in Grandma Hu San's fox-like eyes, and she said with lingering palpitations, "Just now, a sudden premonition struck me—that thing is an unprecedented ominous entity, and we cannot beat it."

Liu Kunsheng said incredulously, "Heh, why build up others' prestige and destroy our own spirit?"

"Old Fifth Liu, you're not going to listen to me, are you?"

Liu Kunsheng hissed unconvincingly a few times and stopped refuting. Though he spoke defiantly, in his heart he actually understood that when it came to discerning the numbers of fortune and misfortune in heaven and earth, Grandma Hu San truly had her own unique methods.

He could refuse to submit in words, but he could not afford not to believe her.

"Furthermore, Old Fifth Liu, those three demonic immortals are right under your nose. Over all these years, you haven't noticed a single trace of movement?"

Liu Kunsheng's snake-like pupils narrowed. "This matter was my miscalculation. I originally thought they had fled long ago, never expecting the three of them to play a trick of hiding in plain sight right under the lamp.

"Adding to that, I've spent most of my time in recent years immersed in hibernation, absorbing the dragon qi of the earthly veins, so I truly let my guard down.

"However, come to think of it, the unexhausted pristine and auspicious qi of the Northern Dragon vein in Mount Changbai is indeed the best assistance for those three demonic immortals to recover.

"If it is truly as Third Sister says, and that little brat is not someone to be trifled with, then those three demonic immortals are about to meet their misfortune.

"Didn't he say he wanted to kill a chicken to warn us? Then we might as well go and see what methods he actually has!"