Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation-Chapter 117 - 106: Negotiations Break Down, Turning Hostile
The talks were initiated by the Bai Family’s Patriarch, who arranged for the upper echelons of the Yuan Family and Yu Long Island to visit the Ling Family on the same day.
This move was, of course, to bolster their own presence and add weight to their negotiations.
After all, the Ling Family Patriarch’s cultivation was currently the strongest. Even the combined high-ranking members of the three families would struggle to contend with her, so banding together was the only logical outcome.
If they didn’t, this resource-rich new territory, the Changqing Continent, would be swallowed whole by the Ling Family, and they wouldn’t even get to sip the soup.
In the Council Hall.
Ling Qiyue, clad in an ink-black Feather Cloak, cold yet alluringly beautiful, sat in the main seat. Tang Qiu Yao and Ling Changqing sat at her side, along with many of the Ling Family’s Core Elders.
The Patriarch of the Bai Family from the Moonlight Islands, Bai Yunhe, was a handsome and distinguished middle-aged man with a black beard. He currently had a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation.
Accompanying him were Core Elder Bai Tinglan and three other Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Bai Family.
The Yuan Family of the Langshan Islands was led by their Patriarch, Yuan Junlin. This white-robed elder, with silver hair that fell to his shoulders and a long, flowing beard, had already reached the Pseudo Core master Realm.
At his side were two men and two women, all Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Yuan Family.
Yu Long Island was not a family, but a Sect with twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Its territory contained two large Third Grade Spirit Veins, and it had once been considered the most powerful force in the Feiyu Sea Region.
Yu Long Island itself was a massive island, over thirteen thousand miles in circumference, and was considered the largest in the Feiyu Sea Region.
It, along with a series of surrounding subsidiary islands, had been occupied and managed by the current Sect for over a thousand years.
Previously, there were no publicly known Pseudo Core masters in the Feiyu Sea Region. The highest openly acknowledged combat power was the Foundation Establishment Peak.
Now, however, forced by the circumstances, every major power had revealed its hidden trump cards.
Island Master Gong Qingya was a graceful and mature woman, as beautiful as a painting, with a slender and elegant figure. She wore a thin, translucent, snow-white dress that left even her red undergarments faintly visible. Her makeup was exquisite, and she was currently at the Pseudo Core master Realm.
By this bold and beautiful woman’s side were five Foundation Establishment Cultivators—three men and two women—three of whom had Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation.
"...The map of the New Continent has been fully surveyed and has been named the Changqing Continent by the Ling Family,"
stated Tang Qiu Yao in a deep voice. She was dressed in a complex and gorgeous, bright red gown, her demeanor dignified yet charming, and her every move filled with grace.
"Therefore, according to past conventions, this territory already belongs to our Ling Family. If you intend to contest it, you are declaring war on our family!"
It was a convention in the Cultivation Realm: whoever first mapped an unclaimed land and sent people to occupy it, owned it.
The Ling Family had already established multiple temporary garrisons and observation posts on the Changqing Continent, and with a preliminarily completed map, they had already met the prerequisites.
The cool-faced Bai Tinglan’s willow-like eyebrows knitted together, but she remained silent. Beside her, Bai Yunhe spoke in a cold voice:
"This New Continent is located in the center of the Feiyu Sea Region, and its Spirit Vein resources are abundant. Its significance is extraordinary. Does your Ling Family truly think you can swallow it all? Can you even stomach it?"
Yuan Junlin tapped the arm of his chair and said evenly:
"Fellow Daoist Ling should understand. Although you are a Golden Core Master whose cultivation is unrivaled in the Feiyu Sea Region, our three families all have our own networks and resources.
If need be, it is not impossible for us to invite another Golden Core Master from the outside to lend a hand!"
The curvaceous and enchanting Gong Qingya, a bewitching smile on her lips, lifted a delicate hand. She smoothed down her ink-black hair and said softly:
"Fellow Daoist Ling Qiyue, besides you, their Patriarch, the combat strength of the Ling Family’s remaining Foundation Establishment Cultivators is not worth mentioning. If our three families were to join forces and besiege you in the future, do you think you could hold out?"
This was a critical moment. In order to suppress the Ling Family, these two were no longer mincing their words.
They were deliberately reminding the Ling Family’s upper echelon that if a war truly broke out, the Ling Family’s current foundations were insufficient to withstand the pressure from three families.
To put it another way, even if the Ling Family managed to win in the end, it would undoubtedly be a pyrrhic victory. Whether they would still have the strength to hold onto the Changqing Continent afterward was not even a question.
Ling Qiyue’s tone was calm. "It seems you’ve all coordinated beforehand. You’ve joined forces to advance and retreat as one, and now you’re betting we won’t dare to tear off all pretenses and go to war, is that it?"
"Not going to war is the most pragmatic choice for all of us!"
Bai Yunhe said in a low voice, "This New Continent is large enough to accommodate the needs of all four of our families’ clansmen to live and cultivate!
"As long as our four families join forces, we can eliminate all other competitors and occupy this land together. Isn’t that so?"
Gong Qingya added with a musical laugh, "And in the future, all matters in the Feiyu Sea Region, big or small, will be decided by our four families. Wouldn’t that be a beneficial outcome for everyone?"
According to the plan conceived by the three families’ leaders, the goal was to persuade the Ling Family’s upper echelon to accept their proposal: divide the Changqing Continent into four parts, with each family occupying one.
Once this was agreed upon, using the abundant resources of the Changqing Continent, the Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators of their three families should soon be able to gather enough resources for more than one attempt at Core Formation.
As long as each of the three families produced one or even several Pseudo Core or True Pill Cultivators, the Ling Family’s unilateral strength advantage would cease to exist.
At that point, they could go even further, suppressing and marginalizing the Ling Family, and perhaps even swallow the family’s entire foundation.
Ling Qiyue shook her head, her expression cold. "The Changqing Continent is the inherent territory of the Ling Family. Not one inch of it will be permitted to fall into outsiders’ hands. You should all give up on that idea!
"As for war? That’s no big deal! I’d like to see just how many of your clansmen’s lives you’re willing to throw away!"
