241: Is there any possibility of reconciliation in Chapter 241?

"We will take the bodies of our fallen companions and no longer meddle in the affairs here, nor will we touch the things beneath the ground." The other party's tone was weary but resolute. "What you two sides want to do is your business; we will not participate, nor do we know anything about it."

In truth, they were all heavily injured. If a battle truly broke out, they would likely all be left here. After all, the group across from them was clearly waiting at their ease.

Su Chengyuan fell silent for a few breaths after hearing this.

The other party was determined to leave, and it was impossible to force them to stay. With the five major forces combined, there were still about twenty people and nine at the Foundation Establishment Peak; turning hostile would only make things more complicated.

As for silencing them—silencing five different forces? That was even more of a pipe dream.

Fortunately, they were all wearing Disguise Talismans, so their faces and auras were all fake; the other party would not be able to find them.

Su Chengyuan felt somewhat regretful at this moment. Perhaps he should have waited a bit longer, until the fight inside became more intense and both sides had completely lost their combat effectiveness before making a move.

But things had already reached this point, and regret was useless; now, he could only settle the matter quickly.

"Fine." Su Chengyuan nodded. "Then please, Fellow Daoists, take your people and leave first."

The five major forces said no more. They turned and called their people to support each other, gathering their casualties.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the allied forces had completely withdrawn from the Ten Thousand Snakes Valley, taking the Storage Pouches of both the living and the dead with them.

As the leader passed by Su Chengyuan, a very faint Divine Sense transmission reached Su Chengyuan's ears.

"Fellow Daoist, the Xuanyin Sect is a demonic Sect; they are vengeful and cruel in their methods. You must be careful!"

Su Chengyuan watched the other's retreating back, his lips pursing slightly.

Whether these words were a kind warning or an attempt to kill with a borrowed knife—or perhaps both—it didn't matter anymore.

Only two groups of people remained at the bottom of the valley.

There were seventeen people on Su Chengyuan's side and eleven on Tao Qianfang's side.

Tao Qianfang watched the retreating backs of the allied forces and then looked up at Su Chengyuan, his expression remaining calm from beginning to end.

Su Chengyuan and the others flew down from the heights on their swords, landing on the valley floor.

With only the two groups left confronting each other at the bottom of the valley, the atmosphere was heavy.

Su Chengyuan looked at Tao Qianfang for a few breaths and then asked a question.

"Is there a possibility of reconciliation?"

Tao Qianfang was stunned for a moment, but he did not become arrogant because of the other party's seemingly soft stance.

He did not bring up the name of his Sect to pressure them again. He had already said those words before; bringing them up and repeating them now would instead be a poor move.

Since the other party had asked this question, it meant the path was not yet blocked.

He swallowed the blood in his mouth and said in a calm tone.

"There is. If you turn and leave now without touching the things underground, we will act as if today's events never happened.

Regarding the four Junior Brothers who died, I will report to the Sect that they perished during an attack by a high-level Yao Beast in the Ten Thousand Snakes Valley. It is common to have casualties while performing missions outside the Sect; with our testimony, the Sect will not investigate further.

You go your way, and we do our work; there will be no further connection between us."

He spoke very sincerely, at least in a tone that one could not find fault with.

Su Chengyuan did not answer immediately, his brow slightly furrowed as he seriously considered these words.

Li Shi's Divine Sense transmission came through first: "Mr. Su, the other party is a Core Disciple of a Nascent Soul demonic Sect; if we can reconcile, let's reconcile. We are using Disguise Talismans, so they don't know our true faces. As long as we don't become mortal enemies, and since we aren't from the same prefecture, there will be no way for them to investigate in the future."

Zhao Shan's transmission followed immediately: "Mr. Su, I feel that Vice President Li is right. If we fight, it becomes a life-and-death struggle; if we don't, everyone has a way out."

Zheng Bei and Ma Qian did not send transmissions, but they stepped back half a pace, their attitudes speaking for themselves.

As for those Foundation Establishment Guards who were recruited temporarily, there was even less to say; the faces of the few people standing in the back row were pale. The words 'Nascent Soul Great Sect' had frightened them considerably.

But since they had already come and participated, turning tail and running now would mean offending both sides to death. They could only steel themselves and stand their ground, looking expectantly at Su Chengyuan to make the decision.

Su Chengyuan remained silent for a long time, repeatedly weighing the credibility of Tao Qianfang's words in his mind.

Just then, several Junior Brothers behind Tao Qianfang sent Divine Sense transmissions over.

"Third Senior Brother! They killed four of Senior Brother Liu's group, and we're just going to let them go?" A young Cultivator at Foundation Establishment Mid-stage stared at Su Chengyuan's side, a strange fierce light in his eyes.

"Senior Brother Liu entered the Sect with me; we ate and lived together for fifty-eight years..." The Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator beside him followed with a transmission, also glancing toward Su Chengyuan and the others from time to time.

"Shut up, all of you restrain yourselves. Is now the time to be saying such things?" Tao Qianfang also replied angrily via transmission.

But the young Cultivator couldn't hold back and added another sentence: "On what grounds? Just because they have more people? The deaths of our four Senior Brothers will just be forgotten like that?"

They were using Divine Sense transmissions, so their voices couldn't be heard by outsiders, but the expressions on their faces were thought-provoking.

Tao Qianfang's face darkened, and he wanted to suppress them again, but these Junior Brothers had been out with him for nearly two years. They had lived and faced death together; four people were gone just like that, and no one could easily swallow that resentment.

The reason they dared to transmit these words at this critical juncture was also because they saw signs of hesitation on Su Chengyuan's side. The fact that the other party was seriously considering reconciliation meant they were also getting cold feet; hardening their posture now might force the other party to yield more.

Although Su Chengyuan was thinking, his Divine Sense had been on the other party the whole time, taking all of this in.

He couldn't hear the content of their transmissions, but he wasn't blind.

The looks in those people's eyes, their expressions, the way they gripped their Magical Artifacts, and the glances they threw over from time to time—those were not the looks of people letting go; they were definitely nursing a grudge.

A cold light flashed in Su Chengyuan's eyes.

If this group was already like this after losing four fellow Disciples, then if he let them go today, would this resentment dissipate after they returned to their Sect?

Even if they promised not to pursue it now, would they be able to hold back after returning to their master's Sect?

But did the other party's answer make sense? Yes.

Losing a few people while on a mission outside the Sect and reporting a Yao Beast attack—it was indeed unlikely the Sect would investigate deeply.

Furthermore, they were using Disguise Talismans, so their faces and auras were all fake.

Su Chengyuan glanced at the dark red patterns still flickering beneath his feet and asked, "What exactly is beneath the ground?"

Tao Qianfang was silent for two breaths before answering without concealment.

"A third-rank strange fire. An Elder of our Sect has been planning this for decades, from searching for the vein, locating the spot, setting the array, to catalysis; it took a full fifty years to reach this final step."

As expected, Su Chengyuan's heart skipped a beat.

This was exactly what his son, Su Cheng, needed.

At this moment, Su Chengyuan thought it over and over in his mind. This trip from the Prefecture City to Luoxia City, encountering the matter of the Heavenly Sun Sect in Tongbao City in between, and then making his way from Luoxia City into the Ten Thousand Snakes Valley—how many days had he spent, how many Spirit Stones had he used, and how much risk had he taken, all to find out what was here.

Now that the item was just dozens of yards deep beneath his feet, was he just going to turn around and leave?

However, the Xuanyin Sect was a demonic Sect and one of the four major Nascent Soul Sects in Taining Province; but the good thing was that it wasn't a power from Tianlan Province.

(It seems like there's no problem whether they leave or kill, as long as they return to Tianlan Province City, the other party won't have the ability to do anything to them. After all, Su Cheng is also a Disciple of a Nascent Soul Great Sect and has a very good relationship with several Golden Core Elders; protecting them shouldn't be an issue. But what kind of person is Su Chengyuan? Is he the type to be timid and shrinking?! If he truly shrank back, then this long stretch of the plot would be garbage, having achieved nothing.)

(Although the plot looks a bit smooth, it's also a matter of taking things step-by-step with skill, having made full preparations beforehand.)

(A little bit of a spoiler for tomorrow's content, but there will be more twists later!)