Chapter 1458 - Traitor

Even Xu Lingxue and the others had no idea what Liu Wuxie truly planned. They only focused on their assigned tasks. Lan Yu immersed himself in refining array runes, Hu Shi concentrated on blacksmithing runes, and Song Ling devoted himself to talisman runes.

With their manpower still limited, they had no choice but to shoulder the bulk of the workload themselves.

As for the newly recruited disciples, they still fumbled through the basics, and even the most talented among them would need at least six months before they became useful.

Luo Hai took charge of all affairs in Mount Dragon City and received hundreds of visitors in a single day. Mu Tianli handled every negotiation, while Luo Hai, now at the fourth-level Earth Immortal Realm, mainly served as a deterrent to keep troublemakers at bay.

When it came to judgement and finesse, he still couldn't compare to Mu Tianli.

The Heavenly Dao Society's headquarters had the Universal Gourd sitting at its core, so security was hardly a concern. With the Heavenly Dragon Sect so close by, no force dared casually stir up trouble there.

That night, Liu Wuxie left the Heavenly Dao Society alone. Instead of returning to the Heavenly Dragon Sect, he stepped into Mount Dragon City and vanished within the teleportation array.

A day later, he appeared alone at the gates of the Nine Dragon Palace. His decision to come by himself was nothing short of audacious, bordering on reckless.

If the Nine Dragon Palace chose to turn hostile, he would never walk out of this place alive.

When news of Liu Wuxie's visit arrived, the Nine Dragon Palace's palace lord personally came out to greet him. The two were not strangers; they had already met during the apprenticeship ceremony.

Inside the audience hall, many elders had gathered alongside the palace lord, and Liu Wuxie's feats in Nightmare City had long spread across the world.

However, not every elder had seen Liu Wuxie in person, and they now studied him with open curiosity, wondering whether this unassuming young man truly possessed the power the rumors claimed.

"Junior Liu Wuxie pays his respect to the palace lord and all the elders," Liu Wuxie said as he entered the hall, cupping his hands in greeting.

"Young Master Liu, please have a seat," said the Nine Dragon Palace's palace lord, not treating him like a junior at all.

Let alone the fact that Liu Wuxie was Hua Feiyu's disciple—his recent achievements alone had left many of the older generation in shame and earned him the right to sit here as an equal.

"Thank you, palace lord," Liu Wuxie said, taking his seat on the left side, while the elders sat lined up on the right.

"Young Master Liu, may I know why you've come to the Nine Dragon Palace?" the palace lord asked. He knew Liu Wuxie wouldn't have come without a reason and saw no need for unnecessary pleasantries.

"To be honest, I've come to propose a collaboration with the Nine Dragon Palace," Liu Wuxie said, going straight to the point as he revealed his purpose.

The elders immediately began murmuring among themselves. They had heard that Liu Wuxie possessed a Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart and that every move he made carried a deeper intent.

"Young Master Liu, how do you want to cooperate?" The palace lord genuinely felt pleased that Liu Wuxie had approached the Nine Dragon Palace first. He already knew that many sects had sent envoys to the Heavenly Dao Society's branch in Mount Dragon City, which only proved that Liu Wuxie held the Nine Dragon Palace in high regard.

"I want to purchase all the spiritual herbs in the Nine Dragon Palace," Liu Wuxie said, making it clear he intended to monopolize the entire supply produced by the Nine Dragon Palace.

The Divine Alchemy Sect obtained its spiritual herbs from the Nine Dragon Palace, and so did many other sects. Most forces in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain sourced their herbs from here.

The Nine Dragon Palace controlled several large planets, using them as herbal fields, and even kept ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs in stock. More than seventy percent of the spiritual herbs circulating in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain had originated from the Nine Dragon Palace.

"Young Master Liu, that's a pretty big tone. Do you know how many spiritual herbs my Nine Dragon Palace produces in a year?" the palace master asked. He wasn't belittling Liu Wuxie, but he didn't believe the Heavenly Dao Society could consume the entire supply.

If the Nine Dragon Palace sold all its spiritual herbs exclusively to the Heavenly Dao Society, they would effectively offend every other sect they had partnered with.

"Last year, the Nine Dragon Palace sold three hundred thousand spiritual herbs, and you've sold over two hundred thousand this year, valued at about three billion astral stones," Liu Wuxie said, reciting the figures as if he were reading from their internal ledgers. Very few outsiders knew these numbers.

That was why Liu Wuxie had instructed Luo Hai to investigate the operational data of various forces in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.

Most of these figures were secrets that sects guarded closely, but during the months Liu Wuxie had been away at the Myriad Race Ceremony, Luo Hai had bribed many people to obtain them.

"Very impressive that you can even obtain the secrets of our sect," the palace lord said, casting a long, meaningful look at Liu Wuxie. He realized that he had still underestimated this youth.

Half a year ago, Liu Wuxie had already started putting his plan into motion. With the year drawing to a close, the Nine Dragon Palace ought to have sold close to three hundred thousand spiritual herbs by now.

Liu Wuxie didn't know why they had only moved about two hundred thousand, and that was precisely why he had come personally to discuss things with them.

"I have no intention of prying into your sect's secrets. I have come with sincere intent, hoping to achieve cooperation with the Nine Dragon Hall," Liu Wuxie said, cupping his fists again. He hadn't investigated their sales out of malice but out of necessity, and he held similar information on other sects as well.

"We can work together with the Heavenly Dao Society, but we can only sell you ten thousand spiritual herbs at most in a year," said the palace master. He had never looked down on Liu Wuxie from the very beginning.

After the Myriad Race Ceremony ended, many people had begun paying close attention to Liu Wuxie, but they hadn't expected his rise to be this fast. In just half a year, he now stood on equal footing with many veterans.

However, ten thousand spiritual herbs a year amounted to little more than a drop in the ocean for the Heavenly Dao Society.

Even if they added what they could purchase elsewhere, they would only refine about ten thousand pills a year at best.

That alone would never be enough to sustain their sales, let alone support the whole operation of the Heavenly Dao Society.

"Liu Wuxie, if you truly wish to cooperate, ten thousand spiritual herbs is a decent number. After all, we also have long-term contracts with other sects, and we can't tear them up overnight," said an elder of the Nine Dragon Palace.

He was the one who had led their group to Nightmare City and held a favorable impression of Liu Wuxie.

He spoke the truth. The Nine Dragon Palace had business ties with many forces, and it simply wasn't realistic to offend them all for the Heavenly Dao Society's sake.

Then again, Liu Wuxie had already taken this into account when he proposed that the Heavenly Dao Society buy out all of the Nine Dragon Palace's spiritual herbs. In his mind, securing half of their production would already count as a success.

If anyone else had dared to make such a demand, they would have been thrown out of the Nine Dragon Palace long ago. The only reason they were still at the negotiating table was that the person asking was Liu Wuxie.

"Ten thousand isn't enough. You all should know the Heavenly Dao Society's situation, and we have to produce two hundred thousand pills in six months, so we need at least a hundred thousand spiritual herbs," Liu Wuxie said with a frown.

By his earlier estimates, the Nine Dragon Palace ought to be able to provide at least seventy to eighty thousand herbs. He planned to use the Heavenly Dragon Sect's connections to gather the rest elsewhere.

"Young Master Liu, you're not an outsider. If it had been the past, a hundred thousand spiritual herbs wouldn't have been an issue for us to gather, but this year..." The palace lord sighed, treating Liu Wuxie more like a junior than a mere guest.

He even wanted to poach Liu Wuxie from Hua Feiyu and bring him into the Nine Dragon Palace. If Liu Wuxie became a disciple of the Nine Dragon Palace, he would not hesitate to pour all the sect's resources into nurturing him.

However, he couldn't understand the Heavenly Dragon Sect's approach. Instead of raising Liu Wuxie with meticulous guidance, they seemed content to let him resolve everything on his own, and even Hua Feiyu seldom gave him direct instruction.

In reality, the Nine Dragon Palace's spiritual herb production increased every year, but the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain's annual demand hovered around three hundred thousand.

If they tightened control over other buyers and dug into their stored reserves, gathering a hundred thousand herbs ordinarily wouldn't be difficult.

Moreover, Liu Wuxie hadn't thrown that number out randomly. He had his reasons. Since the Nine Dragon Palace had only sold around two hundred thousand herbs this year, they ought to have about a hundred thousand still in stock.

"Did something happen to your herbal fields?" Liu Wuxie asked, immediately catching the implication behind the palace lord's words.

According to his information, the Divine Alchemy Sect had also complained of a shortage of spiritual herbs, even though they commonly purchased around 150,000 herbs annually from the Nine Dragon Palace.

"Yeah. The production has dropped sharply this year, and many spiritual herbs died for no apparent reason," the palace lord said.

The Nine Dragon Palace wasn't trying to make things difficult for Liu Wuxie—they did not have that many spiritual herbs to spare. Everyone could see the Heavenly Dao Society's terrifying potential, and cooperating with them could only bring benefits, not harm.

"What's the problem? Can you describe it?" Liu Wuxie asked, his brows knitting together. If the Nine Dragon Palace couldn't provide a hundred thousand herbs, the Heavenly Dao Society's orders would face serious trouble.

That was the last thing he wanted, as gathering that much stock in a short time was impossible.

The Heavenly Dragon Sect could contribute some herbs, but it would still amount to only a drop in the ocean. No sect stockpiled over a hundred thousand spiritual herbs; at most, they kept tens of thousands on hand. Liu Wuxie also didn't have enough time left to buy from the Spirit Martial Astral Domain.

If the Heavenly Dao Society failed to fulfill its orders, it would immediately face serious consequences.

"The leaves dried and withered up. They appear to be lacking in water, but even though we watered them with spiritual liquid, it wasn't that effective," the palace lord said, taking out a spiritual herb and placing it before Liu Wuxie.

When Liu Wuxie received the herb, he activated Ghost Eye and peered into it, his frown deepening. Very few problems in this world could make his expression turn that grim.

The palace lord's gaze stayed fixed on Liu Wuxie, clinging to a faint hope for a miracle.

A full minute later, Liu Wuxie finally raised his head to look at the palace lord and said, "Palace Lord, I'd like to speak with you alone."

Liu Wuxie had requested a private talk with the palace lord to avoid eavesdroppers.

"You may all leave," said the palace lord. Realizing the seriousness of the matter, he dismissed the elders and planned to summon them again if necessary.

Over ten elders cast Liu Wuxie meaningful looks as they left, and one of them even let a sinister gleam flash across his eyes. Before long, they exited the hall, leaving only Liu Wuxie and the palace lord behind.

"Young Master Liu, there's no one else now. You can say whatever you need," the palace lord said.

"Palace Lord, these spiritual herbs have been tampered with. If I'm not mistaken, the first to wither should be the herbs that are over a hundred years old, and the problem gradually spreads to the lower-grade spiritual herbs," Liu Wuxie said after taking a deep breath.

The palace lord's body trembled, and he appeared before Liu Wuxie in a flash, startling him.

"Say that again!" the palace lord urged, almost reaching out to grab Liu Wuxie by the collar.

"These spiritual herbs have been tampered with. Someone did this on purpose for them to wither and die," Liu Wuxie said, choosing his words carefully so the palace lord could grasp the situation clearly.

"Are you certain about it?" The palace lord forced himself to calm down, his tone low and heavy.

"I'm certain," Liu Wuxie replied. Others could fail to spot it, but he could see the problem clearly with Ghost Pupil, and even without that, his own analysis would have exposed the issue.

"Is there a way to salvage them?" the palace lord asked. Right now, his priority wasn't identifying the traitor but finding a way to save the spiritual herbs and, by extension, the Nine Dragon Palace.

Spiritual herbs formed the very foundation of the Nine Dragon Palace, and if they lost the ability to produce them, their status would plummet overnight.