Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 276 Undercurrent
At night, the majestic and spacious hall is brightly lit.

Tall crystal palace lanterns are hung, the blue bricks and stones on the ground are mirror-clear, and the surrounding walls are all decorated with carved beams and painted rafters. The entire hall is magnificent and golden.

There are ten gambling tables in the main hall.

From the entrance to the gambling table, there are two graceful women waiting every five steps, waiting to serve. All guests who enter can enjoy free spiritual wine and spiritual food.

In addition to the gambling tables in the hall, there are also private gambling rooms on the second and third floors of the attic, which are prepared for people with larger chips or status.

This was the gambling house opened by the Hunyuan Sect. Many cultivators flocked in on the first day of its opening. Although it was not overcrowded, it was still quite a sight.

All the caravans and independent cultivators coming and going have been invited to attend the opening ceremony. Now that they are here, many of them flock to the gambling house with the idea of ​​having some fun.

The noisy chattering sounds echoed across the gambling tables. Monks, like ordinary people, had all the same emotions and desires. Once they were at the gambling table, their emotions were unconsciously affected.

Naturally, there are disciples of the Hunyuan Sect who are responsible for maintaining order in the hall. When someone makes trouble or a conflict occurs, they will step forward to stop it.

When a gambler leaves, someone will be responsible for sending him to the inn in the west of the city.

Unlike the market town, some inns in the gambling city are free and are specially provided for monks who come to the gambling house for entertainment.

When someone wants to rest, they can go to these designated inns to rest.

For gambling houses, as long as they can retain customers, it’s enough.

"Master, throughout the day today, there were more than sixty guests entering our gambling house, and nearly four hundred monks flocked to the casino." In the quiet courtyard room, Zhong Wenyuan briefly reported to Song Xian the results of the casino's opening today.

Because it was the opening period, Song Xian stayed here to observe the situation: "More than 400 people, compared to the average gambling house, it's not bad, but considering our scale, it's far from enough. We need to reach at least 1,000 people."

"A thousand people is probably too difficult. The entire Bianxi City and the Dongluo City on the Muhe Grassland have no more than 20,000 cultivators. How can so many people come here every day?"

"So! We must continue to invest in the promotion of the casino in the future. We must spread its fame throughout Xijiang County in order to attract more cultivators."

"Okay, I see."

The two chatted for a while, and then Zhong Wenyuan said goodbye and left.

.........

In Bianxi City, at the Luoyun Sect's mountain gate, in the dim training room, Sect Leader Tao Jinyuan was practicing with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He opened his eyes and waved his hand. The stone door swung open without a breeze. A Luoyun Sect disciple stood outside. He strode into the room and bowed respectfully. "Master, a Foundation Establishment cultivator who calls himself Yunxuan Sect has arrived outside the mountain gate and wants to see you. Elder Jin asked me to report this."

"The foundation-building cultivator of Yun Xuanzong, did he come alone?"

"Yes."

"Did you say what it was about?"

"No."

"Please ask him to wait in the meeting hall."

After the disciple left, Tao Jinyuan frowned.

Of course he had heard about what happened in Xijiang County. This incident was like a tsunami in Xijiang County. Although Mingxuan Sect was not the leading sect in Xijiang County, it was also one of the most powerful forces.

The thousand-year-old sect was captured overnight, causing many people to panic.

Today it is Ming Xuanzong, tomorrow it may be my turn.

According to the information gathered by Luoyun Sect, Qi Yunxuan, the head of Yunxuan Sect, was originally a disciple of Qianqing Sect. He settled in Xijiang County this time and founded Yunxuan Sect. His influence is quite significant.

Not only did he invite two Jindan cultivators to become elders of the Yunxuan Sect, but he also invited nearly a hundred foundation-building cultivators and a large number of Qi-refining cultivators.

Although its power is not as great as that of the Beast Taming Sect, it has already demonstrated the momentum of a local lord.

He was somewhat caught off guard by the sudden visit from Yun Xuanzong. Not to mention Yun Xuanzong, even the previous Ming Xuanzong did not have much dealings with Luoyun Sect.

What’s more, Yun Xuanzong was just established not long ago, so why did he send someone here specifically? What could have happened?

With surprise and suspicion, Tao Jinyuan came to the spacious and bright meeting hall. In addition to the elder Jin Yuanxing, there was also a middle-aged man with a beard, who was sitting on the left side, leaning back in the chair, with his head raised, as if he was the master here, with an arrogant look on his face.

"Master, this is fellow Taoist Hu Ming from Yun Xuanzong." Jin Yuanxing stood up and saluted, then introduced him.

"Master Tao, I have long heard of your great name." The man stood up but did not bow, just nodded to him.

"I'm sorry for not welcoming you, Mr. Hu. I wonder what brings you here?" Although Tao Jinyuan didn't like his arrogant attitude, he couldn't afford to offend the visitor who represented Emperor Yun Xuanzong, so he nodded and then sat down in the main seat.

"Fellow Daoist Tao speaks quickly, so I'll get straight to the point. Our sect wants to cooperate with you in Bianxi City. From now on, our sect will take 20% of the income from the Bianxi City market, and 10% from other markets. In addition, you must pay certain taxes to our sect for other industries. In short, whatever the Beast Taming Sect collects, our sect will take half." The bearded man said casually.

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became very subtle and fell into a brief silence.

Tao Jinyuan looked at him straight, and the man met his eyes without showing any weakness.

Jin Yuanxing, who was standing by, did not expect that this person would make such an impolite request right from the start, and was shocked.

Yun Xuanzong had just arrived in Xijiang County, and to put it bluntly, he hadn't even had time to warm up before he reached out to Bianxi City to demand benefits from them.

"The distribution of interests in the market town has been inherited for many years in Xijiang County, including the taxes and levies on various industries. There are also long-standing regulations. These are the rules set by the Beastmaster Sect. Your sect wants to interfere. I wonder if the Beastmaster Sect will agree?" Seeing that Tao Jinyuan did not answer, Jin Yuanxing knew that he should speak up.

With the strength of Luoyun Sect, it is no match for Yunxuan Sect, so it can only use the name of Beast Taming Sect.

"What does our sect's cooperation with you have to do with the Beast Taming Sect?" The bearded man snorted coldly.

Tao Jinyuan and Jin Yuanxing looked at each other unconsciously, and both saw shock and worry in each other's eyes.

Yun Xuanzong's strength was completely beyond the two's expectations.

On the surface, Yun Xuanzong was asking for benefits from them, but in fact, he was challenging the dominant position of the Beastmaster Sect in Xijiang County.

As the saying goes, there can't be two tigers on one mountain, and only one force can dominate a region.

In Xijiang County, the leading sect is the Beast Taming Sect, and in Bianxi City, the leading sect is the Luoyun Sect.

Giving them a share of profits and paying industrial taxes was a symbolic gesture, signifying that they had the final say in the region. Now Yun Xuanzong was trying to interfere and collect taxes from them, just like the Beast Taming Sect did. This was undoubtedly a provocative act.

If the Beast Taming Sect can tolerate this, then Xijiang County’s position as the leader will be unstable.

In other words, the Yunxuan Sect is very likely to come into conflict with the Beast Taming Sect, both of which are behemoths in Xijiang County.

Although the Yunxuan Sect has only been established for a short time and its power is not as great as that of the Beast Taming Sect, it can be seen from the strong attitude it has shown that it must have come prepared. In addition, Qi Yunxuan himself is from the Qianqing Sect and has a strong background. It is unknown how much support he has behind the scenes. In short, he should not be underestimated.

If a conflict breaks out between the two sides, all forces in Xijiang County will find it difficult to remain unaffected and will inevitably have to choose a side.

This is definitely not a good thing for Luoyun Sect.

The hall fell silent again, and Tao Jinyuan winked at Jin Yuanxing.

As the sect's leader, his words represent the Luoyun Sect's attitude. Of course, he cannot easily express his opinion on such a critical and important matter.

Jin Yuanxing understood and coughed lightly, "Friend Hu, this matter is of great importance and involves many parties. Please give us some time to discuss it."

The bearded man gently patted the armrest of the seat next to him, looking directly at Tao Jinyuan with his head held high. "As far as I know, Sect Leader Tao doesn't hold any title, and the Luoyun Sect has long passed the protection period under the Qianqing Sect's laws, right?"

The threat in these words was obvious, and it was definitely not just a verbal intimidation. If they had the ability to do so, they could have uprooted even the Mingxuan Sect, let alone the Luoyun Sect.

"Brother Daoist Hu, what you mean is that if my sect does not agree to this condition, your sect will treat my sect the same way it treated the Mingxuan Sect?" After all, Tao Jinyuan was the sect leader and had experienced many battles. Although the other party was very aggressive, he was not at all panicked. He was very calm and asked in a neither humble nor arrogant manner.

The bearded man remained silent, looking up at Tao Jinyuan: "The headmaster of this sect is waiting for Fellow Daoist Tao's reply."

Seeing the other party's arrogance, Tao Jinyuan could only suppress his anger: "This matter is not something I can decide alone. I must not only discuss it with the elders of the sect, but also with other sects. Fellow Daoist Hu, please pass on my words to your sect."

"Then Master Tao, please take your time to discuss it! I'm leaving now." The bearded man snorted coldly, stood up and strode out.

"I'll take Fellow Daoist Hu home." Jin Yuanxing said hurriedly and quickly caught up.

"No need, I'll come again." The bearded man walked out of the hall without looking back and turned into a beam of light and disappeared.

His last sentence was obviously a double entendre, and it was unknown whether he meant to come again to inquire about Luoyun Sect’s attitude or to bring people to attack the mountain gate.

Tao Jinyuan clenched his fists tightly, his face instantly darkening. Ever since he became the headmaster, no one had treated him with such disrespect and contempt. Even the core disciples of the Beastmaster Sect were all friendly and respectful.

Yun Xuanzong had just settled in Xijiang County when he was so aggressively sent people to force him, which made him feel very aggrieved.

But these were just small matters. What really made him uneasy was Yun Xuanzong's attitude. This not only concerned his life and property, but also the survival of the sect.

If Yun Xuanzong was able to destroy Ming Xuanzong, then destroying Luo Yunzong would naturally be no problem.

They have the ability and the possibility to do so.

"Master, we must make a decision as soon as possible and give Yun Xuanzong an answer." Jin Yuanxing looked solemn and spoke in a low voice.

He had not expected the situation to become so serious all of a sudden, and the Luoyun Sect was suddenly on the brink of life and death.

"What do you think, Senior Brother Jin?"

"Emperor Yunxuan strikes me as a madman. Logically, they've just taken over the Mingxuan Sect, so they should have laid low for a while. But I didn't expect them to reach out to Bianxi City so quickly, trying to compete with the Beastmaster Sect for influence. Either Qi Yunxuan is a desperate madman, or he has a powerful force behind him."

"I'm worried that Yun Xuanzong might actually send troops to attack our sect to make an example of him. By then, it will be too late to regret."

"Our strength is not enough to fight against Yun Xuanzong. We need to ask the Beastmaster Sect to come forward and make their position clear. If they are ambiguous, then we can only compromise."

.........

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. In the brightly lit house on Qiyuan Mountain, Tao Jinyuan and Jiang Feng sat down as host and guest.

Both of them looked somewhat solemn. After Tao Jinyuan repeated the words of Monk Hu Ming, the Xuanzong monk of Bai Riyun, truthfully, the room fell into silence.

Jiang Feng sat upright, his eyes flickering slightly, and it was obvious that he was a little uneasy.

As early as several months ago, he received a message from the sect asking him to pay close attention to the latest situation in Bianxi City and report in a timely manner if any sect had any contact with Yun Xuanzong.

I didn't expect Yun Xuanzong to come to Luoyun Sect so soon and ask for such a huge amount of money.

"Did Emperor Yun Xuanzong ask your clan to give them a reply within the specified time?" Jiang Feng said after thinking for a while.

"No, I'm just worried that if our sect doesn't agree to their terms, Yun Xuanzong will be furious and send people to attack our sect. They even took down Ming Xuanzong, so how can our sect be a match for them?"

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Tao. I will report this matter to the sect immediately. We will never allow Yun Xuanzong to act recklessly."

Tao Jinyuan said solemnly, "I hope your clan can come forward as soon as possible. If your clan cannot stop Yun Xuanzong, our clan will have no choice but to pay taxes to them. As for the income from the market, we will have to redistribute it."

Jiang Feng naturally understood the meaning of his words. If the Beast Taming Sect could not protect the Luoyun Sect, they could only move closer to the Yunxuan Sect, and part of the Beast Taming Sect's original interests would be divided among the Yunxuan Sect.

"It's not their turn to make the decision in Xijiang County yet."

.........

In the spacious and bright hall of Puqing Peak in Tianshan Mountain, Song Xian walked in from outside. There were two people sitting inside, namely Huang Ye, deputy director of the Supervisory Hall, and Zheng Tong, director of the Intelligence Peak.

Since the restructuring, the Intelligence Peak has become one of the subordinate agencies of the Supervisory Palace. Originally, intelligence affairs were handled by Huang Ye, but now he is the deputy director of the Supervisory Palace, and the director of the Intelligence Peak is his former subordinate Zheng Tong.

But in fact, Huang Ye is still the actual person in charge of the sect's intelligence.

"Master." When the two men saw him enter, they all stood up and saluted respectfully.

"What's the matter?" Song Xian went straight to the main seat and sat down.

"Disciple has just received an important piece of intelligence and has come to report it. It is learned that Yun Xuanzong has approached Luoyun Sect and not only demands a share of the profits in the market of Bianxi City, but also demands that Luoyun Sect pay taxes." Zheng Tong said.

Hearing this, Song Xian's brows immediately furrowed slightly. Of course, he had heard about Yun Xuanzong's capture of Ming Xuanzong, but he didn't expect Yun Xuanzong to be so strong. Before he even had time to warm up his position, he had already extended his hand to Bianxi City. It was simply unbelievable.

"Is the source of this information accurate?"

"This matter has now spread throughout the intelligence circles of Bianxi City. I heard that it was Luoyun Sect who took the initiative to release the news."

(End of this chapter)