Chapter 4128: Ghost Clan, Han Family

"I've long heard of the renowned Green Lotus Immortals. While I haven't met True Immortal Taihao, it's still good to meet Fairy Tianqin." A black-robed old woman, emanating an ominous aura, said with a smile.

The black-robed old woman had some black spiritual markings on her body, her eyes faintly glowed green, and her physique was considerably larger than a human's. A Ghost Tribe member! The Ghost Tribe excels at concealment techniques and is skilled in cultivating yin-attribute immortal herbs and medicines.

"How should I address you, fellow Daoist?" Wang Ruyan asked politely. The Dark Hall had gathered intelligence on the major Profound Cities under Yunlang City, including the influential forces and their top experts.

"This old woman is Ming Yun of the Ghost Tribe. I was active in the rear regions until recently, when I arrived on the Chaos Continent. It seems we will be neighbors with the Wang family from now on." The black-robed old woman introduced herself with a smile.

After the Chaos Beast Tide, many Profound Cities became vacant. To secure these cities, the Cao family attracted emerging forces from the rear by offering them control of the Profound Cities. Cultivation resources in the rear were limited compared to the Chaos Continent. Many forces, once they reached a certain level of development, would move to the Chaos Continent to gain more cultivation resources. The Murong family, for instance, also moved to the Chaos Continent once they became powerful enough.

"That's wonderful! I've long heard of the Ghost Tribe's great reputation. You are masters of concealment and excel at tracking enemies," Wang Ruyan said with a smile.

Ming Yun smiled and nodded, saying, "If I have time another day, I will certainly visit Profound Jade City."

"I, Han, have long heard of the Green Lotus Immortals' great name and have wished to meet you. It's truly a pleasure to meet Madam Wang today, and we should definitely share a few drinks," A burly man in a black shirt said with a booming laugh.

The black-shirted man had a flushed face, a black gourd tied to his waist, smelled strongly of alcohol, and exuded a powerful aura of malevolence.

"And you are?" Wang Ruyan asked politely.

"I am Han Tiangang. Like Madam Ming, I was developing in the rear and came to the Chaos Continent at the invitation of fellow Daoist Cao. I hear your Wang family excels in artifact refining, so I hope to receive much guidance in the future." The black-shirted man's voice was hearty.

"Madam Wang, your Wang family truly has a widespread reputation! It's delightful and very commendable!" Yu Weiwei said with a beaming smile.

In terms of cultivation, Yu Weiwei and Murong Yilong were superior to Wang Ruyan; they were both veteran Golden Immortals. Yet, at this meeting, other Golden Immortal cultivators only spoke with Wang Ruyan, completely disregarding them.

There was no helping it; the Wang family sold Chaos Armor, Immortal-Slaying Arrows, and Immortal-Slaying Cannons. Simply because of this, other forces naturally sought to maintain good relations with them. Other forces could also refine Chaos Armor and Immortal-Slaying Cannons, but their success rate was low, and they rarely sold them externally. The Wang family, however, sold all three strategic resources to outsiders, and one could even pre-order mid-grade Chaos Armor by exchanging rare materials. Whether the exchange was successful depended on the rarity of the materials offered.

"Indeed! At the rate the Wang family is developing, it's quite possible the Green Lotus Immortals will advance to Grand Unity Golden Immortals in the future, at which point they'll be on equal footing with the Cao family," Murong Yilong said with a smile.

This was a subtle attempt to flatter her to her detriment.

"If it were that easy to advance to Grand Unity Golden Immortal, there wouldn't be so few of them, and we wouldn't be constantly on the defensive," Wang Ruyan calmly replied.

"That's right! Even with one Grand Unity Golden Immortal, it's not guaranteed one would be on equal footing with the Cao family. I heard the Cao family recently gained another Grand Unity Golden Immortal," Ming Yun said, helping Wang Ruyan out of an awkward situation.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist Cao!" Wang Ruyan congratulated Cao Yuanxing.

Cao Yuanxing smiled and nodded. He was accustomed to the tit-for-tat exchanges among Yu Weiwei and the others. While the Wang family's development was indeed swift, achieving true parity with the Cao family would not be easy. The Cao family had gained another Grand Unity Golden Immortal, bringing their total to three. Had Cao Mingxue not perished, the Cao family would have had four Grand Unity Golden Immortals, making them even stronger.

"The purpose of inviting all of you fellow Daoists here today is to discuss the allocation of Profound Cities. Our Cao family currently controls sixty-five Profound Cities, with thirty-three of them vacant. Here are the cultivation resources for these thirty-three cities for your review. If interested, you may claim multiple cities. Our family has implemented a new policy: no cultivation resources need to be submitted for the first 30,000 years, and for the next 300,000 years, only fifty percent of the original cultivation resources are required." Cao Yuanxing said slowly.

Cao Jingxia took out over a dozen golden, shimmering dharma plates and handed them to Wang Ruyan and the others.

Within 50,000 years, three Chaos Beast Tides had erupted, causing heavy losses to various forces and leaving many Profound Cities vacant. The Cao family alone could not manage so many cities, so they had to introduce preferential policies to attract other forces to guard them.

Wang Ruyan and the others took the golden dharma plates and examined them carefully.

The cultivation resources of each Profound City varied; most were second-tier immortal mines, but some also had immortal water. Various terrains were present, including volcanoes, glaciers, swamps, and grasslands. Strictly speaking, a Profound City is an area enclosed to establish a city and set up formations, making it convenient for Immortals to mine immortal ores, cultivate immortal medicines, raise spirit beasts, and grow immortal trees.

"Fellow Daoist Cao, the cultivation resources in these Profound Cities are indeed excellent, but with three Chaos Beast Tides erupting within 50,000 years, our losses have been severe. We simply don't have the strength to guard them! We have the will, but not the power," Murong Yilong sighed, looking troubled.

According to Fairy Luoshui's divination, even more brutal wars were expected. Murong Yilong naturally had no intention of expanding his territory; that would be seeking death.

"Indeed! If a larger-scale Chaos Beast Tide erupts, we won't be able to withstand it," Ming Yun echoed.

Other Golden Immortal cultivators agreed, all sharing this concern. Despite the Cao family's generous terms, another larger Chaos Beast Tide would spell disaster for them.

"For four Profound Cities, our Cao family can provide one mid-grade Immortal-Slaying Arrow, two mid-grade Immortal-Slaying Cannons, and one mid-grade Chaos Armor. These would be exchanged for Golden Immortal-level Chaos Beast core crystals or other rare materials," Cao Yuanxing stated.

He knew what these forces feared and what they needed. Naturally, the Cao family had to offer valuable items to put them at ease, but they would not give them away for free.

Upon hearing this, Murong Yilong and the others were somewhat tempted, but Wang Ruyan remained unmoved. The Wang family was not lacking in such items. During their journey to the Nine-Star Immortal Domain, they had slain many Golden Immortal-level Chaos Beasts. What they needed now were Primordial Stones, used to refine mid-grade Chaos Armor.

"Four Profound Cities—isn't that too many? If Chaos Beasts attack, we would struggle to defend them," Murong Yilong said, frowning. Mid-grade Chaos Armor and mid-grade Immortal-Slaying Arrows were indeed precious items for the Murong family. "Fellow Daoist Murong, these three items are not ordinary. If acquiring them only required two or three Profound Cities, our Cao family would simply guard them ourselves," Cao Yuanxing replied.

"Furthermore, our Cao family will also offer Seven-Star Golden Splendor Pills for exchange," Cao Jingxia added, stating that the Cao family had successfully refined the Seven-Star Golden Splendor Pills.

At this, Murong Yilong and the others grew even more tempted.

"How many Seven-Star Golden Splendor Pills will be offered?" Murong Yilong pressed.