Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion-Chapter 92: The War Ceases

Hearing of Huo Hu’s actions, a single thought surfaced in Fang Qingyuan’s mind. He wasn’t marveling at Huo Hu’s courage, but at the truth that age and cunning go hand in hand. ’That Wei Tong is a true master of manipulation, to have a cultivator scion like Huo Hu wrapped so tightly around his finger.’

’It wasn’t enough for Huo Hu to risk his life once, and now he’s eagerly running back for more. I have no idea what kind of magic potion Wei Tong fed him.’

’Did this Huo Hu only grow his cultivation base and not his intellect? Did he train so hard he fried his own brain?’

Fang Qingyuan suppressed his internal monologue and continued listening to Zhang Yuan spill the latest news.

Zhang Yuan continued.

"The situation has become such that the Artifact Talisman Alliance is in a real bind. It’s mainly because Huo Hu is just too fierce, and he’s helping Wei Tong with everything he’s got. Huo Hu’s combat strength is so great that not a single one of the Artifact Talisman Alliance’s Golden Cores dares to face him alone. But if they ganged up on him, they’d have to worry about the Huo Family stepping in. A Golden Core Cultivator fighting a Foundation Establishment Cultivator is already a shameless affair. If a group of them did it, the Huo Family would absolutely refuse to accept it."

As he said this, Zhang Yuan couldn’t hide his admiration for Huo Hu. For their own sect to produce such a figure—a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who could intimidate Golden Core Cultivators into refusing a fight—was an immense source of pride.

Then, Zhang Yuan began to list Huo Hu’s achievements in battle:

"Fifteen days ago, Huo Hu single-handedly ambushed a patrol from the Artifact Talisman Alliance, killing one Foundation Establishment Cultivator and five Qi Refining Cultivators."

"Seven days ago, Wei Xuan and Huo Hu launched a surprise attack on the home mountain of the Lu Family—the family of the Artifact Talisman Alliance’s Golden Core Cultivator, Lu Shiluo. They killed three Foundation Establishment Cultivators and seventeen Qi Refining Cultivators, and then set fire to the mountain."

"Two days ago, the two sides clashed in a major battle at Celestial Attraction Mountain. There were deaths and injuries on both sides, and Lu Shiluo was gravely wounded!"

"There have been countless other small-scale skirmishes, with wins and losses about evenly split..."

Fang Qingyuan hadn’t realized how brutal the front lines at Celestial Attraction Mountain had become. Some of these developments he had heard about, but others were new to him. As Zhang Yuan recounted them one by one, he understood that behind each casually spoken sentence were rivers of blood.

’If they keep taking losses at this rate,’ Fang Qingyuan wondered, ’are the Wei Family and the Artifact Talisman Alliance truly prepared to fight to the last drop of blood?’

Why had the Wei Family attacked Celestial Attraction Mountain in the first place, anyway? Fang Qingyuan thought about it for a moment and realized he no longer much cared about the initial cause.

Oh, right, now he remembered. It started when the sects of White Mountain suspected Wei Tong of stealing a Nascent Soul. They’d joined forces to search his mountain, causing Wei Tong a great loss of face. Later, when the Artifact Talisman Alliance’s Golden Core Cultivators were driven into the woods by Gao Guangsheng, leaving a power vacuum, Wei Tong had seized the opportunity. He led his forces to attack the nearest vassal of the Alliance, the Celestial Attraction Sect, hoping to win back some prestige.

From there, it escalated into this: a massive free-for-all involving ten Golden Core Cultivators. Dozens of Foundation Establishment Cultivators had died, along with several hundred Qi Refining Cultivators.

’I wonder,’ Fang Qingyuan mused, ’when Wei Tong is alone, does he ever regret his decision to attack Celestial Attraction Mountain?’

As these thoughts drifted through Fang Qingyuan’s mind, Zhang Yuan, unaware of his reflections, shared the latest news:

"Yesterday, the Vast Collection Pavilion stepped in to make a proposal. They’ve invited the Lianshui Alliance, the Spirit Wood Alliance, and the Nanchu Sect to bear witness, and they’ve summoned the leaders of the three warring families for peace talks at Black River Square in fifteen days!"

Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan breathed an immediate sigh of relief. With the three major powers negotiating peace, Southern White Mountain, which had been in turmoil for over a year, was finally about to find stability.

The Artifact Talisman Alliance, the Wei Family, and the ever-slacking Luo Family. As long as these three reached an agreement, the war would be over.

As for the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, they weren’t included in the negotiations. When Lechuan had chosen to help the Wei Family, he had deliberately not done so under his sect’s banner; otherwise, he would have been dragged into this conflict too.

’The war is finally ending,’ Fang Qingyuan thought. ’That means I can get back to my trade routes and earn Spirit Stones again. This past year has really held things up.’

After relaying the news to Fang Qingyuan, Zhang Yuan departed in a hurry. He was still a patrolling Steward, and with a major shift on the horizon, morale in the Military Array Great Stronghold was unsettled. He couldn’t afford to be away from his duties for too long.

After Zhang Yuan left, Fang Qingyuan let out a few laughs. He then turned to look at Jinbao, only to find the little guy still lounging on a chair, munching on dried fruit. A wave of exasperation washed over Fang Qingyuan. He walked over, gently pinched Jinbao’s ear, and said:

"You could take breaks forever, couldn’t you? Get back to training."

Jinbao reluctantly set down the dried fruit. Even with Fang Qingyuan pinching its ear, it stubbornly craned its neck to gulp down a bowl of tea before finally trotting slowly toward the training dummy.

Watching Jinbao resume its practice of magical arts, Fang Qingyuan settled back into his lounge chair. He took a sip of Spirit Tea and let out a sound of pure contentment. ’Ah, the good days are here again.’

.....

「Half a month later.」

The peace talks began as scheduled. With the Vast Collection Pavilion acting as the guarantor, no one dared to pull any tricks.

But at the negotiation table, the two main factions argued endlessly. The Lianshui Alliance and the Spirit Wood Alliance naturally favored the Artifact Talisman Alliance, while the Nanchu Sect remained neutral. If the incessant fighting in White Mountain hadn’t been hurting their business, they wouldn’t have bothered dealing with this pack of White Mountain Barbarians.

The Southern Border Beast Taming Sect also attended. Though officially only there as witnesses, everyone knew they had come to show support for the Wei Family.

The conference lasted for three consecutive days. The gathering of nearly twenty Golden Core Cultivators in one place was itself a grand spectacle, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in years. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Strangely, however, the Golden Core Ancestor of the Luo Family failed to make an appearance at the conference. For him to be absent from such a critical event made people wonder if he had met with some misfortune.

In response, numerous rumors began to circulate from the Luo Family’s camp. Some claimed the Golden Core Ancestor had been missing for a long time; others whispered that he had perished in a battle far from home, and the family was keeping his death a secret.

These rumors intensified. They might have been dismissed as baseless gossip, but with the continued absence of the Luo Family’s ancestor, outsiders couldn’t help but lend credence to the speculation.

When Fang Qingyuan heard this, he finally understood. ’No wonder the Luo Family Cultivators have just been going through the motions for the past half-year,’ he thought. ’They never dared to fight seriously and even betrayed the Sen Family that sought refuge with them, all out of fear of angering Lechuan. It’s because their ancestor is gone—they have no backbone!’

But the Luo Family’s absence didn’t affect the negotiations among the nearly twenty Golden Cores. In the end, Wei Tong paid a hefty price in treasures and Spirit Stones to, in effect, purchase Celestial Attraction Mountain and convince the Artifact Talisman Alliance to stand down.

The Artifact Talisman Alliance was primarily composed of merchant Cultivators, so many of them accepted this result. The few hot-blooded members who disagreed found their objections quickly "handled" internally.

Finally, witnessed by all the sects, Wei Tong, two Golden Core Cultivators from the Artifact Talisman Alliance, and a late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Luo Family all signed a Soul Contract together.

The Soul Contract was a common form of agreement used by Cultivators in this world. Anyone who signed it was incapable of violating its terms, lest they suffer a fatal backlash. Its binding was so powerful that it could even constrain a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Of course, such a miraculous item was exceedingly rare and precious; it was typically reserved for matters of great importance.

Furthermore, for the contract to be valid, all signatories had to sign of their own free will. If anyone was coerced, the contract would be rendered void, wasting a precious Contract Scroll.

Thus, in this world, swearing an oath to the heavens was unreliable. Only signing a Soul Contract was a truly foolproof guarantee.

Once the contract was signed, the allied forces of the Artifact Talisman Alliance withdrew. The Wei Family, in turn, dismissed its various vassal families. The Luo Family, however, remained unchanged; having slacked off for the entire war, there was little about their situation that needed to be altered.

When Zhao Liangde gave the order for the Military Array Great Stronghold to break camp and return to Celestial Gate Mountain, Fang Qingyuan felt it in his bones: the Second War for Celestial Attraction Mountain, which had raged for more than a year, was finally over.