Liu Yun who had been silent all this while, ruminating on what he had heard seemed to have arrived at a huge decision as the wrinkles on his forehead straightened and the pensive look on his face calmed.
"I would also like to make a deal with the Yellow lotus sect, sect master Han Qingling," said Liu Yun.
This drew curious gazes all around the courtroom as all had assumed once the Yellow lotus sect agreed to make their payment his grievance would have already been resolved and his part in the case, done.
"Please speak your mind pavilion owner Liu Yun," Sect master Han Qingling said as he cupped his fist. He had a favorable impression of Liu Yun considering how he maintained his conduct despite the unbecoming treatment the Yellow lotus sect showed him throughout the ruse.
"The Mountain spring pavilion is also willing to lend a hand to your sect but we need something in particular in return," Liu Yun solemnly said.
His bearing was much more serious than when he was asking for his payment back. Yang Qing couldn't help but be curious about what would be so important to Liu Yun that he would be ready to risk his life along with the Mountain spring pavilion and get into a battle that they needn't get involved in.
"Why?" Sect master Han Qingling couldn't help but ask.
"There is a reason why despite the Mountain spring pavilion having 3 leaders I'm the only one people have ever met. The reason for this is that our eldest brother got injured before the Iron thorn kingdom got liberated and transformed into the now Green Bud kingdom.
We were part of a revolutionary organization that was filled with nobles and commoners alike and our eldest brother was one of its commanders. We got betrayed and during one of the royal family purging raids, they ambushed one of our secret hideouts.
Our eldest brother sacrificed himself to hold them off and even managed to luckily escape but he suffered grievous injuries in the process. He got infected by an insidious technique used by the royal family which caused his internal organs, qi, and his body to gradually rust.
It was because of his injuries that we decided to form the Mountain spring pavilion to try and find the means and resources to cure him as it was impossible to do so in the kingdom since there are many just like us who have someone suffering from that same technique.
The royal family may be gone but their fangs still torment us even now." Liu Yun paused as he clenched his fists in anger.
"After countless sacrifices and effort, we finally found a way to cure him but even with our resources, it's impossible to afford it. What we need to cure our eldest brother Wen Song is the lightning aurora sunflower, a lower-grade monarch rank herb.
Despite our many efforts, it has been hard to locate it let alone afford it and our channels are not that widespread seeing how young our foundations are. It's, for this reason, my second senior brother Wu Aiguo risks his life in the Millions treasure ocean to try his luck and find something that we can barter with or maybe get lucky enough to spot the herb there.
If the Yellow lotus sect can help us locate that herb we are willing to sacrifice everything to help you. In fact, the odds may get better for you as just before my senior brother was injured he was already a half-step palace realm cultivator just a few steps away from completely breaking through to the palace stage. As long as his injuries are dealt with, he has the confidence of breaking through to the palace realm," Liu Yun said.
His senior brother had a few years at most before his whole body got corrupted with the technique. At that point even if they found the lightning aurora sunflower the damage would be too severe and it would leave hidden dangers that may result in the complete loss of his cultivation. The sooner they cured him of the ailment the better and taking a gamble on the Yellow lotus sect was well worth the risk.
The Yellow lotus sect had existed for 20,000 years so its foundations were not shallow and the evidence of that was there, seeing how the sect still remained standing despite losing their palace stage cultivators for a few centuries. Their foundation was something that even their enemies couldn't overlook which had been why they had remained cautious even now, not attacking their headquarters despite having palace stage experts.
Liu Yun was willing to bank on the sect's resources no matter how depleted it seemed. In his eyes, the Yellow lotus sect would have much better odds than them in their search. A starving camel was still bigger than a horse.
Despite making the suggestion he knew his position was more desperate compared to the Yellow lotus sect. Without Deng Chao's involvement, he knew his odds of striking a deal with the Yellow lotus sect were high but now he wasn't so sure. With Deng Chao's involvement the sect's preservation timeline could be extended by at least ten years and that timeframe gave Han Qingling the time he would need to break through to the palace realm.
The revelation about Han Qingling having a gold core had startled him beyond measure. He may have not had much interaction with the outside world for long but he had picked up a few things here and there in addition to the knowledge he already had from before their kingdom's rebirth. His senior brother had a quasi-blue core, not even a true one but with it, he displayed enough power to escape the encirclement of twenty late core stage experts alive. What about a gold core expert? He shuddered to even think about the damage a gold core expert could exert.
His biggest worry at the moment was their help wouldn't be needed as with Han Qingling and Deng Chao's cooperation they would be able to easily resolve the current predicament. He only hoped Han Qingling had a prudent personality to want to increase his odds by adding another potential palace stage expert to his team and two peak core formation experts.
"You showed understanding and kindness despite how we treated you which made me admire and trust your character enough that I was willing to entrust our core disciple to you.
We don't have the lightning aurora sunflower in our treasury but one of our elders has an acquaintance from a rank 3 alchemy organization. With her help, it won't be hard to gain information about the herb and purchase it.
We have a deal Owner Liu Yun, I will have to impose on you and the Mountain spring pavilion when the time comes," Sect master Han Qingling said as he smiled.
He had been thinking of a way to make it up to Liu Yun all this time as just using spirit stones as an apology didn't seem like enough reparations for what he put them through. In addition, he also hoped to build a connection with them. It was rare to find people of virtue like Liu Yun, those you could trust that even in times of trouble wouldn't betray you.
The current predicament had taught him one thing, a sect can't stand alone no matter how powerful it may seem. It needs allies everywhere to increase its odds of survival or it needs to have insurmountable strength the kind that will extinguish any villainous thought from its enemies. But alliances can only be formed with those whom you can trust and in this duplicitous world where self-interests came above everything else it was a hard thing to find.
Meeting people like Liu Yun was rare. So when the moment presented itself he jumped at the opportunity to form a connection with Liu Yun and the Mountain spring pavilion. Gaining the assistance of a half-step palace expert just a hair's breadth away from breaking through was just an added bonus.
..
Liu Yun was surprised at how fast Sect master Han Qingling had agreed to his suggestion that it left him out of sorts. He was partly relieved, partly worried that this was a sham. He couldn't be blamed for being worried considering the Yellow sect's prior actions.
"Well then, it seems everyone here has come to an agreement without even the court doing anything," Yang Qing said with a cheerful smile. He didn't expect things to resolve themselves this easily.
"If you want, the court can stand as a witness to your agreement and do the binding seals for you if you all agree. Though even if you don't it's okay," said Yang Qing.
Deng Chao looked to Zhao Qi who nodded back in agreement.
"I am willing to accept the court as a witness to the agreement," Sect master Han Qingling solemnly said as he gently bowed to Yang Qing.
"I agree too," said Liu Yun as he too bowed.
"Zhao Qi and I agree too," Deng Chao said as he cupped his fists while Zhao Qi bowed.
"Alright then, Supervisor Lei Weiyuan if you would please," Yang Qing said as he cupped his fist in request to Lei Weiyuan.
Ordinarily, he would have been the one to create the contract but the presence of Deng Chao complicated matters. At his level, his contract would not have any effect on someone in the domain realm even with the assistance of the court's treasures. He could only entrust the formation of that contract to someone in the domain realm.
"I'm sorry to intrude la.. I mean little genius Yang Qing. I humbly request the court to let me do it if you don't mind Lei Weiyuan," a slow friendly calming voice echoed in everybody's ears around the courtroom as Lei Weiyuan smiled while cupping his fists in greeting.
"I had a feeling you would show up senior Meng Chao."
