Chapter Forty-Two: Negotiations (Shamelessly Seeking Favorites and Votes~)

“How about now? Can we have a proper conversation?” Tang Yi smiled as he looked at the Blood Fiend, who was gradually being enveloped in purple light. At this moment, the Blood Fiend felt an irrepressible urge to cough up blood. This “Purple Aura Rising from the East” was certainly peculiar—it had no offensive power, yet it could entrap both body and divine essence, rendering one incapable of mobilizing any spiritual energy.

“It seems awfully quiet in there,” Li Xianyun murmured, pressing her ear closer to listen.

“What do you expect to hear by doing that?” Lu Changsheng, imitating Tang Yi, conjured a sofa and reclined comfortably inside the Blood Fiend’s cave.

“Hey! Old Lu, aren’t you being a bit selfish? Get out another sofa for me, too—I’d like to sit.” Li Xianyun protested, dissatisfied.

“Well, that’s fine—if you provide the tea leaves and teaware. It’s been ages since we last brewed tea together,” Lu Changsheng replied with a grin, producing another sofa.

“I knew you were coveting my fine tea. This time I’ll let you taste the new spring tea from Cloud Mist Peak!” With that, she produced a tea table and a set of teaware. Li Xianyun, a connoisseur herself, always kept multiple sets of teaware in her ring, frequently adding new teas to her collection.

While Tang Yi battled fiercely with the Blood Fiend inside, if he had known that the two outside were sipping tea and making wagers, he would have been so exasperated he might spit blood himself. No—now it was more than just two. The other sect leaders had arrived, gradually forming a circle and turning the event into a tea gathering. To host a tea party at the entrance of the Blood Fiend’s cave—truly, this was something else.

“My arm’s getting a bit sore from holding it up like this,” Tang Yi muttered to himself. He drew a formation board from the ring on his left hand and set up a new array, conjuring a sofa and a table as well. After settling onto the sofa, he slowly removed the ring that was emitting purple light from his right hand and set it on the table. The ring continued to shine with a steady, purple glow, enveloping the Blood Fiend as though casting a projection, while Tang Yi folded his arms and reclined, as if watching a film.

At last, the Blood Fiend was completely trapped by the purple aura, but he realized that this aura had no offensive properties. In fact, it was almost comfortable inside. Seeing Tang Yi so calm and composed, the Blood Fiend simply sat cross-legged as well.

“To think you possess such abilities. I suspect that even if my original body were here, I would have met the same fate. There is one thing I don’t understand, though—how does this ring automatically emit this purple light? How did you achieve this?” The Blood Fiend, a master craftsman in his own right, was intrigued. The flying shuttle he’d once been ambushed with was his own handiwork, after all. Yet, he had never heard of such an artifact.

“There’s no harm in telling you. I simply inscribed two additional arrays onto the ring, allowing it to operate autonomously like a grand formation. The only difference is that most self-operating arrays draw spiritual energy from the world, whereas this ring is powered by spirit stones inside it,” Tang Yi explained frankly.

“So that’s how it is. It seems I underestimated you. To think your skills in both artifact refinement and formation are so advanced. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d have thought the creator of this ring was some ancient, decrepit old monster,” the Blood Fiend sighed.

“All right, enough digression. Now, I’ll give you three choices. First, I destroy you. Second, I seal you away again for another eight or ten thousand years. Third, I let you go, but you will never set foot in the Milky Way again—oh, the Milky Way is also known as the Celestial River. I’ll send you somewhere else at random,” Tang Yi said seriously.

The Blood Fiend laughed. “Ha! Even though I’m trapped, you claim you can destroy me? Do you truly have the means?”

“Is that so? Then let me show you whether I have the ability or not!” Tang Yi spread his left hand, and a bolt of black lightning shot out, forming a black hole about ten feet away. With a flick of his right hand, he sent a stone the size of a human head into the black hole, where it vanished instantly. Seeing the Blood Fiend’s disdainful expression, Tang Yi kept tossing in larger and larger stones. When the last one was too big for the black hole and was sliced cleanly into a perfect ring by its edge, the Blood Fiend was finally shaken. The stones from the Blood Fiend’s cave could withstand even the core’s molten lava and extreme temperatures, yet this black hole sliced through them like tofu.

“Did you see? I can make anything in this world disappear into that black hole.” Tang Yi then dismissed the black hole. The Blood Fiend simply snorted and closed his eyes, ignoring him.

“Ah, Blood Fiend, are you snorting at me now? Do you want me to destroy you right this instant?” Tang Yi was irritated to see the Blood Fiend resting with his eyes closed.

“If you were truly one hundred percent certain you could erase me, you wouldn’t be wasting words,” the Blood Fiend replied calmly, eyes shut.

“Well, you saw right through me. I admit, I’m sure I could make you vanish—but I’m not a hundred percent certain there won’t be unintended consequences,” Tang Yi conceded, still uneasy about the side effects of the black hole’s power. The Blood Fiend’s energy far surpassed the nuclear plant from last time—not just tenfold or a hundredfold, but by orders of magnitude, enhanced by supernatural powers and cultivation techniques. More importantly, the Blood Fiend was alive. If he failed to absorb the Blood Fiend and instead destroyed the black hole with him, Tang Yi dared not imagine the consequences. A natural black hole might form, and then the sun itself would be doomed.

“So, Blood Fiend, do you want to be sealed away again?” Seeing the Blood Fiend remain silent, Tang Yi pressed on, “You’ve now seen my mastery of formations. Just with this, I could trap you within the Purple Aura for eighteen thousand years, easily, and your power would never grow. Granted, it would cost me a lot of spirit stones, but I could reinforce the seal on this cave as well. With my skills, another two or three thousand years wouldn’t be a problem. But I don’t like dragging things out—I prefer to settle matters cleanly and decisively. That’s why I recommend you take the third option. That way, you’ll be free, I’ll be free, and everyone will be at ease. It’s a win-win for all—why not?”

“Freedom…” the Blood Fiend finally muttered…

“Are all the Grandmasters here having a tea party?” At some point, Tang Yi appeared among the sect leaders’ tea gathering.

“Ah, Daoist Tang! Come, join us. There’s tea, wine, and pastries—occasions like this are rare indeed!” Master Cai Yunshan called out to him. The other sect leaders soon noticed Tang Yi’s arrival. Lu Changsheng asked directly, “Daoist Tang, how did the negotiations go?”

“Not bad. These fruits are quite delicious—what are they called?” Tang Yi replied, dodging the question.