Chapter 851: Joint Effort

"So, you originally just intended to go to the Fire Pavilion to warn Zhou Yuan, but it ended up with our Forest Pavilion joining forces with the Wind Pavilion to take down the Fire Pavilion and Mountain Pavilion?"

On the lush green Wooden Island, Mu Qingyan stood with her arms crossed, glaring sideways at Mu Liu, who wore an embarrassed smile.

Mu Liu awkwardly replied, "Qingyan, choose your words more carefully. It doesn't sound very graceful coming from such a pretty young lady."

Mu Qingyan jabbed her slender finger firmly into Mu Liu's chest and retorted angrily, "Don't try to change the subject! Are you an idiot? You just let Zhou Yuan fool you so easily, and now you're planning to team up with him to take out the Fire and Mountain Pavilions?"

Beside them, the tower-like Jiang Man let out a simple-minded laugh, saying, "Sounds quite exciting."

"Shut up."

Mu Qingyan glared at him, then turned to Mu Liu, "Our Forest Pavilion's strength is, at best, on par with the Mountain Pavilion. Even if I'm at the Transformation Spirit stage, they have someone at that stage too."

"Zhou Yuan said the Fire Pavilion would be handled by their Wind Pavilion, but do you know how many Reality Spirit stage cultivators the Fire Pavilion has? Over five hundred! And the Wind Pavilion? Two hundred. They're nearly three times outnumbered. In this situation, even a Transformation Spirit stage cultivator won't make much difference."

"Besides, the Wind Pavilion's foundation is terrible! Haven't you heard? Their previous Spirit training results were absolutely dreadful!"

"Tell me, how is the Wind Pavilion supposed to compete with the Fire Pavilion at the Heavenly Flame Festival?"

Mu Qingyan was fuming slightly. Mu Liu had originally said he was just going to warn Zhou Yuan, but who would have thought he'd bring back such shocking news?

She believed Mu Liu had definitely been conned by Zhou Yuan! And thoroughly conned at that!

But Zhou Yuan was truly too sly. Wasn't he just pushing their Forest Pavilion into a fire pit? What if the Fire Pavilion quickly dealt with the Wind Pavilion? What would their Forest Pavilion do then? Although the Fire Pavilion was overbearing in the past, they had never pushed the Forest Pavilion too hard, trying to maintain appearances. But if the Forest Pavilion chose to help the Wind Pavilion this time, Lu Xiao would have all the reason he needed.

Mu Liu chuckled dryly, "You can't really say that. That kid is quite uncanny. For example, who knew he could take down Chen Beifeng before? And now, even Fang Ao has fallen into his hands."

"Zhou Yuan's abilities are indeed remarkable, but this time is different from before. The Heavenly Flame Festival is a collective effort. You can't possibly tell me that Zhou Yuan alone can defeat the entire Fire Pavilion, can you?!" Mu Qingyan said, exasperated.

Mu Liu smiled, "Whether he can defeat the Fire Pavilion or not, you know that even if I didn't cooperate with him, I wouldn't likely accept Lu Xiao's proposal either. What does he think? That I'll just come running if he throws a bone? What does he take me for?"

Mu Qingyan paused, slightly stunned. Despite Mu Liu's constant cheerful demeanor, she knew his heart was full of pride. Even someone as powerful as Lu Xiao couldn't make him submit.

"I think Boss is right," Jiang Man muttered from the side. "Lu Xiao seems to be offering our Forest Pavilion some benefits, but I believe if we accept them just once, our Forest Pavilion's integrity will be compromised. In the future, our brothers in the Forest Pavilion will feel inferior when they face people from the Fire Pavilion."

Mu Qingyan pursed her lips, her expression gradually softening. "So, according to you, that scoundrel Lu Xiao truly has malicious intentions."

She thought for a moment, then finally gritted her teeth. "Fine, since you've made up your mind, let's join forces with the Wind Pavilion. I just hope Zhou Yuan isn't simply conning us to help the Wind Pavilion out of a tough spot..."

Seeing Mu Qingyan nod, Mu Liu breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was the Pavilion Master of the Forest Pavilion, Mu Qingyan was their most popular member. If she objected, many members would indeed side with her. And most importantly, the Forest Pavilion's participation in this Heavenly Flame Festival would rely on Mu Qingyan's command. If she simply refused to participate, it would genuinely be a headache.

"Still, Zhou Yuan wasn't completely misleading me," Mu Liu said with a smile. "At the very least, he promised that regardless of the outcome, he would produce three hundred high-quality Four-Mother Runes for our Forest Pavilion every month, at the standard price."

At these words, both Mu Qingyan and Jiang Man's eyes lit up.

"The Four-Mother Runes that boost effectiveness by fifty percent?"

They had long coveted these high-quality Four-Mother Runes that could boost effectiveness by fifty percent. However, such items were extremely rare, available only to some high-ranking members of the Wind Pavilion. Any that occasionally appeared on the market were immediately snatched up at high prices.

Consequently, news about these high-quality Four-Mother Runes had been the hottest topic among the four pavilions recently.

Naturally, Mu Qingyan and the others greatly desired them, but they had no access. They never expected Zhou Yuan to promise three hundred of them to their Forest Pavilion every month from now on!

This was indeed a pleasant surprise.

"Looking at it this way, that guy does have some sincerity," Mu Qingyan said.

If they could obtain three hundred high-quality Four-Mother Runes every month from now on, then even if the Heavenly Flame Festival ended in failure this time, it would somewhat offset their losses.

Nevertheless, Mu Qingyan still shook her head internally at Zhou Yuan's claim that he would lead the Wind Pavilion in an all-out confrontation with the Fire Pavilion. She clearly didn't have high hopes, as the overall gap between the two sides was simply too vast.

Even though Zhou Yuan was striving to revitalize and transform the Wind Pavilion, he had only been there for a few months. The Fire Pavilion's significant advantages had been accumulated over several years, step by step. How easy would it be for Zhou Yuan to catch up?

She just hoped they wouldn't lose too badly this time, otherwise, it would be quite embarrassing.

Oh well, if they lost, they lost. She would just consider it playing along with a rich patron!

Mu Qingyan consoled herself with these thoughts.

"Pavilion Master, someone from the Forest Pavilion came and rejected our proposal for an alliance," Zhu Lian said, looking at Lu Xiao's back on Fire Island.

Hearing this, Lu Xiao turned around and said flatly, "That's quite disappointing, then."

Zhu Lian whispered, "Our informants in the Forest Pavilion report that Mu Liu might have chosen to cooperate with Zhou Yuan."

"A cooperation between the weak?"

Lu Xiao shook his head. "Since when did Mu Liu become so unwise? Never mind, I originally intended to give the Forest Pavilion some benefits, but it seems they're not destined for them now."

He showed no anger at the Forest Pavilion's decision, as they didn't hold a significant position in his plans. If he hadn't wanted to thoroughly crush the Wind Pavilion this time, he wouldn't even have approached the Forest Pavilion.

However, it was somewhat surprising to him that Mu Liu had chosen the latter between him and Zhou Yuan.

"Never mind, let him do as he pleases."

"Since he's chosen to stand against our Fire Pavilion, then he can't blame me for being ruthless," Lu Xiao said, turning his head to gaze into the distance. In past Heavenly Flame Festivals, he had always shown the Forest Pavilion some courtesy, allowing them to benefit. But he hadn't expected his benevolence to be met with disingenuousness.

Since that was the case, he wouldn't hold back anymore.

"Zhu Lian, how are our preparations coming along?" Lu Xiao asked blandly.

Zhu Lian nodded confidently. "Everything is ready. And as per your instructions, Pavilion Master, I even made a special trip back to the Heavenly Soul Manor. I just think you're overestimating Zhou Yuan a bit, Pavilion Master. Our Fire Pavilion already holds an absolute advantage, and now with such a powerful trump card, it's like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken."

Lu Xiao clasped his hands behind his back and said, "Having learned from my previous mistakes, I won't make the same error again. Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit."

"This time, I want Zhou Yuan to feel true despair!"

At the same time, he would make the Forest Pavilion realize just how foolish their choice had been.

"They're just looking for death by striking a stone with an egg."