Chapter 787: You Are Not Even Willing to Call Me CEO Chu (II)

Chu Liang's acquisition of Starhold Island wasn't something that could be settled in a single day. Chu Liang and Hong Jufeng discussed a rough framework, then Hong Jufeng was sent back to Starhold Island to make the preparations for the acquisition.

As for the rest of his men, most of them remained behind as miners on the quarrying archipelago, serving as both laborers and hostages. If Hong Jufeng were to suddenly have a change of heart and run to the Penglai Supreme Sect to get help in seeking revenge, then his sect would be doomed, regardless of whether he could capture Grand Ancestor Fuyou.

As per their negotiations, it would be announced to the public that Starhold Island had reclaimed the spirit mines of the quarrying archipelago and was intensifying its mining operations. The Fuyao Kingdom had no objections to that. After all, Chu Liang was paying both sides. They were all just putting on a show for the Penglai Supreme Sect.

Moving forward, Starhold Island would secretly collaborate with Red Cotton Peak, all while maintaining its relationship with the Penglai Supreme Sect. As for whether Hong Jufeng could successfully play out this balancing act, that remained to be seen.

Nevertheless, even if his acting was poor, it didn't really matter. After all, Chu Liang was acquiring Starhold Island mainly for its spirit mines that were filled with Mountain-Suppressing Rock. As long as there was a steady flow of spirit ore, the Mount Shu Sect's Hall of Construction could operate at full capacity, taking on even the grandest construction projects without hesitation.

Upon returning to Red Cotton Peak, Chu Liang wanted to arrange for someone to handle those matters. However, before he could do that, he heard some major pieces of news.

The first piece of news was that the Ice Soul Sword Sect had nearly wiped out the Xuantian Monastery. The Ice Soul Sword Sect had gone over to the Xuantian Monastery and claimed one of their female disciples, Ling Xingzhu, had eloped with a young monk from the Xuantian Monastery, Tongwen. The Xuantian Monastery's abbot used his skill Searching the Heavens and Earth to search for the pair, only to find that the female disciple in question was actually inside the monastery.

Without a word more, Han Qinglin, the sect leader of the Ice Soul Sword Sect, led her people straight into the hidden realm, wreaking havoc in the sanctuary the Xuantian Monastery had painstakingly safeguarded for years.

If someone were to carefully analyze this situation, they would realize there was something rather odd about it. If Ling Xingzhu's disappearance was indeed the work of the Xuantian Monastery and that Abbot Chiyue had indeed known about it, then why did he search his own hidden realm?

If he hadn't known, then that meant it had simply been the actions of Tongwen alone. In that case, the normal course of action would have been for the Xuantian Monastery to punish that offending disciple and offer the Ice Soul Sword Sect some form of compensation as an apology.

No matter what, it shouldn't have escalated into an all-out battle. The Ice Soul Sword Sect's extreme reaction likely had something to do with the upcoming Terrestrial Ten's Sect Selection.

Both sects were competitors in the selection, so the Ice Soul Sword Sect had likely gone to the Xuantian Monastery with the intention to do more than just rescue its disciple. It also saw this as an opportunity to inflict serious damage on a competitor.

The Ice Soul Sword Sect had indeed achieved its goal. Now, the Xuantian Monastery was being publicly condemned as a sect that aided and abetted wicked deeds. Its reputation was in shambles, and its monks had suffered a brutal beating. The monastery's long-standing tranquility had been utterly shattered.

Abbot Chiyue had already ordered for the doors of the hidden realm to be shut, placing the entire monastery into an indefinite state of closed-door cultivation. It appeared they would be withdrawing from the selection.

Just like that, one competitor was eliminated.

Han Qinglin had been truly ruthless, exploiting the situation to her sect's advantage. The sect leader of the Ice Soul Sword Sect was certainly a decisive person.

The second piece of news was that War Tomb Mountain had been beaten down as well. The trigger was an unknown Confucian cultivator. He had defeated a few of War Tomb Mountain's disciples and even thrown out some threats before leaving.

The hot-blooded esteemed heroes of War Tomb Mountain donned their armor, mounted their beasts, and set off on a grand expedition to the Yushan Academy for revenge. Nonetheless, when they arrived, they found the academy's cultivators had vanished without a trace. The only people left there were a group of children who were studying.

The esteemed heroes exchanged awkward glances. No matter how ferocious they were, they weren't about to lay a hand on children.

One of their wiser members suggested, "We should just wait here. Surely, the members of the Yushan Academy would come back eventually. Even if they abandoned the academy, they wouldn't abandon their students, right?"

However, it turned out that the people they waited for weren't members of the Yushan Academy. Instead, it was the Ascending Dragon Academy's Vice Headmaster Shentu Yang.

It was obvious what happened next. If the children had not been present, the fight would have been ten times bloodier and more brutal.

Shentu Yang beat the War Tomb Mountain's forces until they were bruised, battered, and a total mess. That was when someone finally called over an eighth-realm Eminent One from the Great Astral Sect to put an end to the fight. Nevertheless, the two masters of the Heavenly Origin weren't mortal enemies, so they were unwilling to engage in a physical fight.

Shentu Yang merely exchanged a few rounds of verbal sparring with the Eminent One from the Great Astral Sect. Then both parties went their separate ways.

War Tomb Mountain gained nothing from the battle. Rather, they suffered an even more humiliating defeat. It was unlikely they would let this slide so easily.

Nevertheless, given their level of intelligence, it wasn't hard to predict the outcome.

Of course, it didn't matter to Chu Liang how badly the members of War Tomb Mountain had been beaten up. He was just listening for the entertainment.

Chu Liang had no interest in which sect would be selected for the Terrestrial Ten. He was far more interested in Silver Sword Peak's new member.

...

The iron-eating beast fell asleep, and the crowd finally broke up.

Chu Liang pondered whether he should start charging an entry fee the next day. It was not because he cared about getting the money though. The reason was that Silver Sword Peak wasn't particularly large to begin with, and the sheer number of visitors was making the peak way too crowded.

By the next day, little creature had almost fully recovered from her injuries. As expected of a descendant of the Jiuli Demon God's mount—a species that had survived the great calamity of ancient times. Iron-eating beasts had a truly remarkable regeneration ability and physical resilience.

When Chu Liang approached the iron-eating beast, it stirred and looked at him groggily. It blinked in confusion, seemingly failing to recognize him at first. It stared at him for a long while before its mind gradually cleared, and its face broke into an adorable smile.

"

Hehe.

" Chu Liang chuckled, reaching out to rub the iron-eating beast's small fluffy head. "Where did you come from? How about we go take a look today?"

"

Wuu...

" the iron-eating beast bleated softly, seemingly in agreement.

Chu Liang secured the iron-eating beast's small medicine basket onto its back and let it take the lead.

The little creature staggered forward with wobbly steps, sniffing the air to find the way. It led Chu Liang to the fruit garden, and when they passed by a spirit plant, it stopped in its tracks and turned to look at Chu Liang.

It raised a paw and pointed at the treasure of nature. Then it looked back at Chu Liang with a small grin.

Chu Liang was surprised to see a fawning smile on the face of a iron-eating beast.

He waved his hand helplessly. "Fine, fine, take it."

What can you do with a shameless iron-eating beast? You can only let it eat.

However, the iron-eating beast didn't devour the spirit plant right away. Instead, it carefully plucked the spirit plant and placed it into the small medicine basket on its back. Then it continued on its way to that familiar gap in the mountain wall.

The iron-eating beast resumed walking on all fours for a bit, then it shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

Whoosh!

As it picked up speed, it truly resembled a mini whirlwind. It was impossible to imagine how her four stubby legs could move so fast.

Nevertheless, Chu Liang had no trouble keeping up with her. He transformed into a gust of wind and followed closely behind her. Just as he expected, the iron-eating beast dashed downward, heading for the vast forest beneath the sea of clouds.

The forest was teeming with spirit birds and exotic beasts, but the moment they sensed the iron-eating beast's whirlwind-like presence approach, they fled. It seemed that despite the iron-eating beast's cute and dopey appearance, the little creature was known to be quite fearsome beneath the sea of clouds.

The iron-eating beast moved at lightning speed until it was about to step out of the Mount Shu Sect's territory. It skidded to a halt at the edge of the forest, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

There was a cave up ahead. Its entrance was covered with vines.

Chu Liang thought,

Could it be that this is where the iron-eating beast's family lives?

If I could bring back a few more iron-eating beasts, that would be freaking awesome!

Granted, some of these ancient vicious beasts might be dangerous, but Mount Shu managed to raise my esteemed teacher... Surely, a few adorable beasts would be nothing to worry about?

Filled with anticipation, Chu Liang followed the iron-eating beast into the cave.

"

Wuu!

" the iron-eating beast cried out and rushed deeper inside.

However, instead of the iron-eating beast's kin, the being lying in the depths of the cave was a human!

The person was an elderly man, dressed in robes adorned with strange patterns. He was severely injured, and his breathing was labored and uneven.

His skin was withered, and his qi and blood were nearly depleted. A bloody hole marred the left side of his chest. Strange spiritual qi clung to the wound, preventing it from healing.

Around the wound were bits of spirit herbs and faint traces of what seemed to be the spirit plant that had gone missing from Silver Sword Peak.

Chu Liang realized,

So, the iron-eating beast didn't steal the spirit plant to eat it but to treat this elderly man's injuries?

The iron-eating beast approached the elderly man and gently licked his hand, whimpering softly.

Feeling the rough tongue on his hand, the elderly man put in great effort to open his eyes. When he finally registered that there was another person in the cave, he turned his head toward Chu Liang.

However, he did not appear surprised in the slightest. In a very tranquil tone, he asked a strange question, "High God Jiuli, have you finally come to take me away?"