Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 549 Negotiation, Agreement, Conditions
"So, young Lin, what brings you to see me this time?"

The old apothecary's questioning voice rang out from the side, interrupting Lin Yuan's somewhat scattered thoughts and drawing his attention back.

As he spoke, he picked up the teapot on the table and poured Lin Yuan a cup of tea.

The old man's attitude clearly shows that he no longer regards Lin Yuan as a junior, but as a friend of the same generation... In the Dou Qi Continent, where the strong are respected, this is the norm, and a person's seniority is determined by strength and background!
Without the constraints of special relationships such as kinship or teachers, they can generally be divided into four generations:

Senior level – Individuals with great strength or powerful background;

Fellow Daoist Realm – A person whose strength or background is equal to one's own;
The Ant Realm – those who are weak in both strength and background;
Xiaoyoujing – Someone weaker than oneself but with a powerful background.

Although there may be some minor adjustments depending on the specific circumstances and personal character, and there are some variations of "levels" after adding dimensions such as "utility value", "talent potential" and "depth of friendship", the distinction is generally the same.

Lin Yuan and Yao Lao, both mid-level half-saints, addressed each other as "youngster" and "senior" at this moment, but in reality, they were standard "fellow Daoists".

When Elder Yao was entertaining Lin Yuan, he certainly wouldn't put on any airs of seniority.

Lin Yuan picked up the celadon teacup in front of him, took a small sip of the sweet tea, and gently put it down, his expression becoming solemn.

"I am here on behalf of Danta to discuss a collaboration with you, senior!"

"Cooperation? What kind of cooperation?" The old apothecary raised an eyebrow slightly, his eyes becoming more serious—judging from Lin Yuan's attitude, this should be no small matter.

"Our Pill Tower wishes to support you in becoming a banner against the Soul Hall," Lin Yuan said succinctly after a moment's thought. "As for why, how... you can refer to these materials for specific details..."

As he spoke, he took out a stack of notes, placed them on the table, and then slowly pushed them towards the old doctor sitting opposite him.

These notes are cooperation materials that Lin Yuan recently compiled, including intelligence on the Soul Hall, the attitudes of various imperial clans towards the Soul Hall, and cooperation plans with the Pill Tower...

Some of the information was provided by Danta, and some was provided by Lin Yuan personally.

"To become a banner against the Soul Palace?"

Upon hearing Lin Yuan's words, a hint of doubt flashed in Yao Lao's eyes. He then sat up straight and carefully examined the notes that Lin Yuan had compiled.

On the other side, Xiao Yan was also drawn to the words "Soul Palace". He put away the letter in his hand and quickly walked to Yao Lao's side, his gaze shifting between Lin Yuan and Yao Lao.

How many years has he suppressed his hatred for the Soul Palace?

However, the hatred in Xiao Yan's heart did not fade with time; instead, it grew stronger and more deeply rooted.

After all, the Xiao clan was destroyed by the Soul clan; Xiao Zhan was captured by the Soul Palace.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan picked up his teacup, took a small sip of the sweet tea, and pondered, "Brother Xiao, you are the successor of Senior Yao, so this matter is also highly relevant to you. Why don't you take a look at these materials with Senior Yao?"

Xiao Yan nodded, cupped his hands and said "Thank you, Brother Lin," before eagerly picking up a notebook and flipping through it.

Lin Yuan wasn't in a hurry; he sipped his tea and waited patiently.

After a long while, the old apothecary closed the last notebook and placed it on the table.

"The Soul Palace, how dare they?" Taking a deep breath, Yao Lao forcibly suppressed the killing intent in his heart, his eyes flashing with barely concealed anger: "For the sake of one side's selfishness, they actually tried to provoke a war across the entire continent... What do human lives mean to them?"

Beside him, Xiao Yan let out a soft sigh, his expression wavering slightly: "Brother Lin, is this really true? Hundreds of millions of casualties, this is truly..."

He knew the Soul Palace was evil, but he didn't expect it to be this evil.

"Hundreds of millions?" Lin Yuan waved his hand and said calmly, "That statement is both right and wrong!"

"If war breaks out on the mainland, the hundreds of millions mentioned in the data refer to the 'elites' of various countries who will be directly killed or wounded in the war. The number of ordinary people who will die as a result of this chaos should be dozens, or even hundreds of times that number..."

Although the number of powerful individuals in the peripheral regions is far less than that in the Central Plains, the population is far greater.

For example, the Jia Ma Empire, an ordinary second- or third-rate empire, has at least tens of millions of people, even though it only has a handful of Dou Huang level experts.

In the relatively weak Northwest Continent alone, there are nearly a hundred countries whose area is no smaller than that of the Gama Empire. Throughout the entire continent, there are countless empires of all kinds.

Soldiers who can step onto the battlefield must at least be young and strong fighters.

Although such individuals may seem insignificant, they are the best of the best, selected from among the top ten or even the top one in a hundred in various regions, and can be considered grassroots elites in their respective countries.

After all, the hurdle of condensing the Qi of Battle into a Battle Master is not easy to overcome.

Without the fourth-grade elixir "Qi Gathering Powder," even most people who can be considered geniuses have a considerable chance of failing to gather Qi on their own. Once they fail, they will fall to the eighth level of Dou Qi, and if things go wrong, it may even cause serious damage to their bodies.

However, the price of a fourth-grade pill, which costs hundreds of thousands, is an "astronomical sum" that ordinary people on the Dou Qi Continent could never earn in their entire lives.

Relying on luck and making several or even dozens of attempts to break through to the Dou Zhe level is the mainstream practice in the Dou Qi Continent.

Cultivating at the Battle Qi stage is extremely slow; it's common to advance only one level every few years. Repeatedly condensing Qi can cause one to miss the best time for cultivation, leading to a mediocre life.

This is why there are quite a few people who give up on cultivation after failing to condense their power several times.

After all, those who have time to leisurely cultivate are mostly members of a family... Ordinary people have to find ways to make a living long ago!
The level of a minor Dou Zhe is a bottleneck that most people cannot overcome in their lifetime; the level of a Dou Shi can make one a high-ranking member of the three major families in Wutan City; and there are fewer than ten Great Dou Shi powerhouses in Wutan City, which has a population of hundreds of thousands.

During a major war, the massive depletion of elites from various countries often leads to the collapse of order in a region or country, resulting in immense chaos.

When a region descends into chaos, the lives of ordinary people cease to be lives.

Although the Soul Hall will not directly target ordinary people in this operation (the Soul Hall is too lazy to collect souls that are too weak), its spillover effects can cause countless families to be destroyed and people to die.

Lin Yuan naturally had to find a way to intervene in this terrible situation.

After all, Lin Yuan regarded the Dou Qi Continent as his nursery and his testing ground, and planned to harvest the wisdom of all living beings and use them to put his ideas of changing the world into practice. Naturally, he could not let the prodigal sons of the Soul Palace waste it.

If we ignore the actions of the Soul Palace and allow it to wreak havoc on the entire continent, it will take at least several decades to recover... Order is something that is easy to destroy but difficult to rebuild!
It's all a mess over some basic spiritual essence!

Involving the Pill Tower in this matter and strengthening ties with the Borderland Alchemist Guild is a way to counterbalance the Soul Palace and prevent them from acting recklessly—this is a defensive measure.

At the very least, it can help maintain stability after the war and prevent the situation in various countries from deteriorating. Supporting Yao Lao's agent and using him as a banner to fight against the Soul Hall is an offensive tactic—having such an opponent, whose offensive capabilities are far stronger than the Pill Tower, can tie down a considerable portion of the Soul Hall's forces and prevent the Soul Hall from investing too much power outside of Zhongzhou.

The best-case scenario is to completely sever the Soul Palace's power in the border regions to prevent the spillover of the Central Plains' influence from causing unnecessary and enormous damage to the border areas.

The massive population outside of Zhongzhou is a valuable resource for the future!

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan looked at Yao Lao solemnly, organized his thoughts, and then told him more detailed information.

"This plan was jointly devised by me, the three giants, and the Grand Elder of the Little Pill Tower."

"According to the Grand Elder, if Senior Yao agrees to this, there shouldn't be any problems with the Grand Elder Council, and the plan can soon move into the implementation phase."

"And we, Danta, will also begin to invest resources in its operations."

After a moment of contemplation, the old apothecary said quietly, "Young Lin, your intelligence report said that the Hall Master of the Soul Palace is in seclusion to break through... Is this intelligence true?"

“Most likely…that’s right!” Lin Yuan nodded and said seriously.

"During the months I was away from the Pill Tower, I managed to capture some of the Soul Palace Elders, including some Celestial Venerables. Through soul illusion techniques, I extracted a lot of information from them."

"The Lord of the Soul Palace has not appeared in public for about five years."

"Currently, the affairs of the Soul Hall are being handled by the Vice Hall Master. Even the two major conferences that are usually presided over by the Hall Master are being presided over by the Vice Hall Master."

"This situation has happened several times before in the Soul Palace—every time the Soul Palace Master goes into seclusion for one or two decades, his cultivation level increases significantly when he reappears. And judging from past experience, this time, he is most likely breaking through to a higher realm in seclusion as well."

"A few months ago, when I last saw the patriarch, I learned that the Soul Hall Master's cultivation had been stuck at the peak of the four-star Dou Sheng for some years."

Since Yao Lao couldn't find anyone to confront, Lin Yuan fabricated information without restraint.

Upon hearing this, the old apothecary paused slightly, then pondered, "You saw that person? How was that senior's condition? Was he still as usual, still 'experiencing life' everywhere?"

"Ancestor is doing well, and his cultivation has become even stronger!" Lin Yuan waved his hand, briefly informed him, and then changed the subject.

"Based on comprehensive analysis, it is likely true that the Hall Master of the Soul Palace is in seclusion to break through. If he fails in his attempt to become a Five-Star Dou Sheng, he is likely to suffer a severe backlash and need time to recover; if he succeeds, he will also be subject to the restrictions imposed by the ancient race agreement."

"Generally speaking, barring any major unforeseen circumstances, Hun Miesheng will not take any action in the next few years, or even the next ten years!"

"These past few years have been the time when the Soul Hall has acted most recklessly, but also when it is at its weakest."

After all, with Hun Miesheng in seclusion, the Vice Hall Master and Grand Celestial Venerable of the Soul Hall would need to guard the Heavenly Gang Hall. As a result, the Soul Hall's available combat power would be quite limited!

"Our Pill Tower will also contact the ancient clans, asking them to increase pressure on the Soul Clan and restrain the Soul Clan's powerful members, preventing them from supporting the Soul Palace. I imagine the ancient clans won't refuse this—weakening the Soul Palace has always been something the ancient clans are happy to see!"

"With proper planning, we can cut off the Soul Hall's wings and strike at its power... The years that Soul Extinction has been in seclusion should be the most opportune time."

"And the first major thing we need to do is to sever the Soul Palace's tentacles in the border regions."

"In this way, our actions can at least prevent a huge calamity involving billions or tens of billions of people, which is a meritorious deed."

"If Senior Yao can accomplish this task, he will surely gain immense prestige, laying the foundation for the future expansion of the Soul Reversal Hall."

And so, as Lin Yuan eloquently described the scene, a picture of 'everyone is happy, but the Soul Hall is injured' slowly unfolded in the hearts of Yao Lao and Xiao Yan.

Of course, while some of his words were true and some were false, the intelligence was undoubtedly true.

Lin Yuan had obtained precise information about the Soul Palace Master's seclusion through Yuan Tianzun's internal channels, and this information also matched the unique intelligence of transmigrators.

Before the Demon Flame Space opens, the Soul Palace Master will not easily make a move.

Upon hearing Lin Yuan's words, Xiao Yan's eyes sharpened slightly, and an eager look appeared on his face; Yao Lao remained silent for a while, his fingertips lightly tapping the table, his slightly narrowed eyes flashing with a thoughtful light, clearly weighing his options.

After a long while, Yao Lao raised his head, looked at Xiao Yan who was standing to the side with hatred in his eyes, and finally made a decision in his heart, and slowly opened his mouth.

"Young Lin, tell me the truth... how much support can the Pill Tower provide?"

"Hehe!" Lin Yuan chuckled, saying meaningfully, "The Pill Tower will fully support the operation in the initial stage, provided it does not directly intervene."

"The support provided includes, but is not limited to, acting as a go-between, providing intelligence, restraining the Soul Hall's forces, and supplying pills... In addition, the Pill Tower will lift restrictions, and those elders who have grudges against the Soul Hall will not be prevented from participating in the war under a different identity!"

"In view of this, I suggest that the Anti-Soul Hall organization established by Senior Yao should adopt an alliance model that is loose on the outside but tight on the inside, and easy to enter and easy to leave..."

"No need for shared ideals, just a common goal of causing trouble for the Soul Palace."

"In this way, the newly formed organization will be flexible enough to integrate the power of the Anti-Soul Hall to the greatest extent possible."

"When I came to the Star Boundary this time, I changed my aura and fabricated the identity of a senior friend... Let's call him Ancient Flame Saint! Senior can include Ancient Flame Saint in the organization, and when necessary, I will take action under this identity."

"Even if I don't take action, simply acting as an external support, as long as my identity remains hidden, is enough to make the Soul Palace hesitate to act!"

At this point, a sly glint flashed in his eyes as he said, "Furthermore, with a half-saint joining as a starting point, it should make things much easier for you to gather manpower later!"

The old apothecary suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. This is the method you're using. It is indeed a good way... You concealed your identity for this purpose?"

"Since you have planned so meticulously, I will not refuse any longer!" Taking a deep breath, he sat up straight and pondered, "I, Yao Chen, accept the Pill Tower's proposal and will unite all parties to find a way to avert the calamity that the Soul Palace is about to unleash. However..."

After a brief pause, the old doctor changed the subject, his voice becoming more serious: "As a condition, I need the Pill Tower's assistance in something... no, I need your help!"

"Oh? Do you need my help?"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, put down his teacup, and looked at Yao Lao with interest. "Senior, please speak. I will not refuse to help in any way I can."

"Hehe, it's so much easier to talk to straightforward people, thank you!" Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Yao Lao's face also showed a smile, and he solemnly said, "I hope that you can cooperate with me once to refine a ninth-grade pill together..."

(End of this chapter)