Chapter 588: Each with their schemes Translator: ChibiGeneral Editor: ChibiGeneral Ma Ying Jie heard the summons and quickly hurried to pay a visit. As Hei tribe’s greatest opponent — Ma tribe had suffered disastrous losses in the decisive battle. Ma tribe’s experts were almost completely annihilated, but the young tribe leader Ma Ying Jie was luckily rescued and bravely rose to take the great responsibility of a tribe leader. His original plan had been to hole up in warm pond valley and recover as much as possible. But Hei Lou Lan brought his army to the valley and forcibly annexed Ma tribe. Thus, Ma tribe had not alternative but to follow Hei tribe to Imperial Court blessed land. Ma Ying Jie had thought Hei Lou Lan wanted to get rid of Ma tribe’s name and completely swallow Ma tribe. For this reason, he expended great effort and even accepted outsiders, giving them the surname ’Ma’. But the situation he had anticipated never happened. Not only this, Ma tribe did not receive any severe duties from Hei Lou Lan’s side even after arriving at Imperial Court blessed land, instead they were treated without discrimination. Hei Lou Lan selflessly opened up Eighty-Eight True Yang Building to the public from where Ma tribe had obtained many gains. Right now, the whole of Ma tribe was able to recover favorably and the tribe’s forces were prospering day by day. However, there was no free lunch in the world, Ma Ying Jie had been on tenterhooks because of this. With Hei Lou Lan’s sudden summons, the unease in his heart immediately increased several times, reaching the extreme limit. Hei Lou Lan smiled when he looked at Ma Ying Jie: "Ma tribe leader, has Ma tribe been well these days?" Ma Ying Jie was on guard inwardly and immediately replied: "It is good. We must thank you, lord tribe leader, for disregarding previous enmity and being magnanimous. Ma tribe was on its last breath, but now has recovered some vitality." "If I am not wrong, Ma tribe received help from Snowy Mountain blessed land’s demonic path immortal Xue Song Zi in this contest, right?" Hei Lou Lan asked amiably. Ma Ying Jie was tongue-tied, cold sweat started flowing down from his body, and he was not able to speak a word. Ma tribe, who possessed Huang Jin bloodline, privately joined hands with a demonic path Gu Immortal, this undoubtedly broke the rules Ancestor Giant Sun had set. ’Is Hei Lou Lan looking to settle the score at this time? Damn it, right now, he holds the knife while I am the fish, he only needs to casually say a sentence and Ma tribe would be finished!" Ma Ying Jie was very nervous, revitalizing Ma tribe was his wish, Ma tribe was what he cherished most in his life. "Hahaha." Hei Lou Lan laughed heartily, his laughter resounding in the study, "Ma tribe leader, no need to worry, as long as you cooperate obediently, glory and riches will come gushing forth." "Tribe leader, please explain." Ma Ying Jie gnashed his teeth. A wise man submits to circumstances; with such a pressing situation, he had no choice but to lower his head. "What?" However, Hei Lou Lan’s next words shocked Ma Ying Jie, his dumbstruck expression frozen like a statue. ... Snowy Mountain blessed land. The lofty Snowy Mountain peaked through the clouds. The clear blue sky shone with dazzling brilliance. On the fifth branch peak of the mountain range. Within the Ice Lake Palace, a negotiation was reaching its end. Xue Song Zi’s expression was worried as he looked at Demon Lord Long Dan, saying impatiently: "Demon Lord, don’t forget who it was that lent you immortal essence stones and settled your debt during your emergency. It was me! Now I have some small troubles and am asking you for help, but you are using all sorts of excuses, isn’t this too disappointing? Is the grand Demon Lord Long Dan such a petty person?" Demon Lord Long Dan sipped his tea with a smile, his tone calm: "Lord Song Zi, please speak cautiously. The friendship from before, I still remember and have not forgotten even a little. But this time, Lord Song Zi, your troubles are not small. If I helped you, it would be offending Hei tribe’s Gu Immortals. My business at treasure yellow heaven has just recently taken somewhat of a turn for the better, it cannot endure such an attack." Xue Song Zi made a living out of selling snowmen and had made a lot of wealth. But in these recent months, his business at treasure yellow heaven was intensely impacted by Hei tribe. Hei tribe’s Gu Immortals wantonly hunted snowmen and sold them at low prices, destroying the established standards and benefits of selling snowmen slaves. This was an unconventional confrontation and would implicate extensively on him. Xue Song Zi could only take up the challenge to protect his source of revenue, and was barely able to draw a stalemate against Hei tribe’s Gu Immortals. Although he had riches, but he was after all only a lone force. To a super force like Hei tribe which had been engaging in business over thousands of years, he paled by comparison. Thus, he was gradually unable to bear it and began to request help from the surrounding Gu Immortals. Demon Lord Long Dan’s calm appearance made Xue Song Zi angry and anxious: "Demon Lord, don’t beat around the bush, speak up, how can I make you take action?" Demon Lord Long Dan laughed heartily, his bright eyes stared at Xue Song Zi: "Lord Song Zi, I know you have a hundred year lifespan Gu in your possession. As long as you give it to me, I will definitely use all my strength to help you!" Xue Song Zi immediately stood up from the seat and pointed at Demon Lord Long Dan: "Do you feel no shame in making such a request?" Demon Lord Long Dan raised his brows and said with a gloomy voice: "Why would I feel shame? Who would make a move without good cause? Xue Song Zi, I persuade you to not be impulsive, if you point your finger at me again, I will start to get angry." "Hmph." Xue Song Zi knew he was not Demon Lord Long Dan’s match and lowered his finger with a snort, then he flicked his sleeve and left. Demon Lord Long Dan also did not make him stay, looking darkly at his receding figure before letting out a snort. He had already disliked Xue Song Zi for his ordinarily arrogant attitude whilst holding plenty of spare wealth. Back then, when he asked for immortal essence stones from Xue Song Zi, Xue Song Zi actually dared to lend at an exorbitant rate of interest. Demon Lord Long Dan had suffered a big loss and had always been keeping it in his mind. Xue Song Zi returned to his seventh branch peak with an ashen expression. He sat on a mat, and with no others present, his tight expression finally relaxed as he heaved a deep sigh. "If I had known this before, I would not have meddled in the Imperial Court contest." He regretted it deeply. Winner takes all. Previously, he had invested a lot in the Imperial Court contest, but received no gains. Now, Hei tribe’s Gu Immortals were making it difficult for him, and he was not even able to guard his own financial source which was the basis of his status. "In the end, it is still the righteous path who are united while demonic path has separated minds. Snowy Mountain blessed land has so many demonic path Gu Immortals, but I cannot obtain the help from even one. In contrast, Hei tribe’s Gu Immortals involve the assistance of many forces and are suppressing me together." "Sigh, in this battle, my many years of accumulation have all been used up, resulting in serious losses to me. The water in the Imperial Court contest runs too deep, it is not something I can tread upon. So many demonic path Gu Immortals had involved themselves in Imperial Court contest before, but how many obtained a good ending? Sigh, I got greedy because of wooden chicken Gu and thought that since I had already offended Hei tribe’s Gu Immortals, I might as well directly go further and meddle. But I did not know how many demonic path Gu Immortals were mocking me behind my back. Sigh, it is time to reflect upon myself!" Xue Song Zi kept on sighing and just when he was going to finish pondering his painful experience in attempting to learn from it, a letter Gu travelled through space and appeared in front of him. "Eh, isn’t this the letter Gu I gave to Ma tribe to contact me?" Xue Song Zi was baffled. He held the letter Gu and searched it with his mind before immediately revealing an astonished expression: "What, what does this mean? Hei Lou Lan actually wants to cooperate with me?" Xue Song Zi scoffed in disdain: "Using wooden chicken Gu as the bait, do you think I will be fooled? Maybe this is another scheme of Hei tribe! Huh, wait a moment, this actually....does Hei Lou Lan really want to work with me? Interesting, hahahaha, interesting!!" After over half a month.... "Mother! Mother!!" Hei Lou Lan suddenly woke up on the bed. He was panting and his body was soaked with cold sweat. A good while later, his eyes gradually recovered their focus. The nightmare once again. Since long ago, this nightmare had been tormenting him. This nightmare was like a pile of firewood that ignited the fire of revenge in his heart, every time it occured. Recovering his breath, Hei Lou Lan got up from the bed. His body was obese like a black bear. His triangular eyes began flickering with terrifying sharp light. Only his face had the expression of heavy exhaustion. But by the time he pushed open the window, this exhaustion was already concealed by him, replaced by a savage and tyrannical aura. He gazed up at Eighty-Eight True Yang Building while pondering over the cooperation with Xue Song Zi. In the letter, he had taken great risk, speaking his greatest secret, and delivering crucial Gu worms as a pledge, before he was able to obtain Xue Song Zi’s trust. Now, the thirty-ninth floor had already been formed for quite some time. The cooperation between him and Xue Song Zi was progressing very well. Benefitting from this demonic path Gu Immortal’s help, Hei Lou Lan was able to smoothly break through the rounds in the thirty-ninth floor. His action was betraying Hei tribe. Hei tribe’s Gu Immortals would absolutely not let him go. Hei Lou Lan did not even have the confidence of being able to conceal this matter for long. But he knew clearly, he was safe as long as he was within Imperial Court blessed land. Imperial Court blessed land prohibited the entry of Gu Immortals. At this stage, he was no longer able to turn back and could only move forward until his death. But the most crucial thing in Hei Lou Lan’s plan, the strength path Immortal Gu which could change the whole situation, was yet to appear. He could only continue to wait. ... Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, seventh floor. Ninetieth round. "Chang Ji You pays respects to Lord Supreme Elder." Chang Ji You kneeled down with an ashamed expression. "Do you know why I called you?" Fang Yuan stood in front of him, and said in an indifferent tone. "I am ashamed, I failed to live up to Lord Supreme Elder’s trust. I am extremely incompetent, letting the killer get away with it to this day, muffled thuds sounded out as his forehead smashed on the ground. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢 Soon, blood could be seen on his forehead. Fang Yuan snorted: "You know yourself and know your incompetence. Don’t kowtow anymore, stand up and answer." "Subordinate, subordinate does not dare." "Get up." Fang Yuan emphasized once again, his tone was calm but it was filled with a will that could not be disobeyed. Chang Ji You stood up with his head lowered, blood slowly flowed down his cheeks, making him look very miserable. "Sigh." Fang Yuan sighed softly before touching the wound on Chang Ji You’s forehead. White light appeared, and under the power of a healing gu, Chang Ji You’s wound rapidly healed without even leaving a scar. Chang Ji You’s body trembled, his eyes couldn’t help but release two flowing lines of warm tears. Ever since the "father and son" had met, this was the first time Chang Shan Yin had done such an intimate action to his son Chang Ji You.