Due to pressure from Suppressing Second Hall, the School of Blue Jade did indeed have difficulty allowing their subordinates enter the fray and directly assist Yang Qing. However, the agreement that the Sect Master had with Yang Qing, back when he was readying his troops in Mount Shaotai, was primarily for the third grade transcendent artifact. Should Yang Qing find himself caught in a pinch in future, he could borrow the third grade transcendent artifact from the School of Blue Jade whenever he wished.
The Sect Master had agreed to allow Hong Changhai to use that transcendent artifact to pressure Yang Qing at critical junctures. However, what the Sect Master had in mind was—while they had yet to seize control of South Edict Manor, the terms of the partnership were not to be broken. Yang Qing still needed to be protected, otherwise it would be against the interest of the School of Blue Jade after helping him lay claim South Edict Manor. Thus, all they needed to do was bluff Yang Qing for a while in the off-chance that he might just cave under the pressure, and agree to their demands. If Yang Qing didn’t agree, then the transcendent artifact was still to be loaned to Yang Qing regardless.
However, Hong Changhai had taken matters into his own hands. When he saw that Yang Qing hadn’t agreed to his demands, he had hoped to force Yang Qing to the edge where he would eventually have to agree. Unexpectedly, he got himself burnt playing with fire. Yang Qing actually had another trick up his sleeve, and took Zhang Decheng down with a burst of morale.
In light of that, it would mean that the School of Blue Jade had violated the terms of their partnership first—now it was Yang Qing’s turn to disregard the terms. Hong Changhai knew that this time, he had made a grave mistake.
If nothing out of the ordinary occurred, then the elders who acted as mediators between the School of Blue Jade and South Edict Manor, would be driven out of South Edict Manor.
Without these old men overseeing and fighting for the rights of the School of Blue Jade disciples that had already joined South Edict Manor, those disciples would likely have to keep their heads down and obediently heed orders. Otherwise, Yang Qing could kick them out of the system at any time.
Yet would he still want to take this opportunity to squeeze about four hundred of those School of Blue Jade disciples into South Edict Manor?
Now, even if the School of Blue Jade were allowed to squeeze those four hundred disciples into South Edict Manor, it wouldn’t have the courage to.
The reason was quite simple. Without the elders stationed in South Edict Manor acting as internal mediators, and limiting Yang Qing’s powers to allow for a just partnership; ensuring that disciples from the School of Blue Jade would be duly rewarded for their contributions, and not unjustly punished without reason; the disciples would surely be suppressed by Yang Qing. There would be very little opportunity for promotion, and in the event of any disobedience, Yang Qing would even be able to kick them out of the system. It would be fine if it were just being kicked out of the system, but what if Yang Qing were to slowly torment you—would you still date to run?
Squeezing the School of Blue Jade disciples into South Edict Manor would mean that he was pointlessly offering his men to Yang Qing.
Right now, the School of Blue Jade disciples that had already joined South Edict Manor were likely the most helpless. Unfortunately, once you’ve entered in the system, it wasn’t up to you when you wished to enter, and when to leave. Should they heed Yang Qing, or the School of Blue Jade’s orders from now on?
They surely knew that once the partnership agreement between both parties were severed, the School of Blue Jade’s control over them would be drastically reduced. Consequently, the one that would hold reign over them now was Yang Qing.
There were some who pondered on whether they should just work under Yang Qing from now on, but they were unsure if they could earn Yang Qing’s trust and recognition with their background in the School of Blue Jade.
Standing atop the mountain ridge, Elder Hong didn’t even know how he should report to the Sect Master. He had been confident that Yang Qing would agree in the face of a life and death situation, which was why he had done as he did. Unexpectedly, Yang Qing still had another hand to play.
As he looked down towards the bodies being brought to the side and buried after having fallen in battle, Elder Hong felt a pang. There were many School of Blue Jade disciples among them. The ones that were still alive, likely wouldn’t have any relations with the School of Blue Jade in the future.
The School of Blue Jade’s plans for controlling South Edict Manor had effectively gone up in smoke on this day. One wrong move had ultimately placed them in a checkmate.
In this unpredictable battle, there was only one winner. In the end, the one who had launched a preemptive strike, Zhang Decheng, was defeated miserably; Liu Jingtian was manipulated and was still oblivious; and the School of Blue Jade would have difficulty meddling into South Edict Manor’s affairs again after violating their agreement. Only Yang Qing had managed to force an unfavorable situation around on the brink of disaster—Yang Qing was the biggest winner.
Yang Qing didn’t pay heed to the hundreds of School of Blue Jade disciples atop the ridge. After bidding goodbye to Liu Jingtian and burying all of the dead on the spot, he brought away the living captives; not letting Liu Jingtian have a single person who he could question regarding the cause of events.
The snow had ceased, and the sun began to shine with a brilliance.
The large army didn’t stay overlong in Thriving Ten-Thousand Manor’s territory, and left straight for South Edict Manor.
Elder Hong’s expression darkened as he led the hundreds of School of Blue Jade disciples alongside them on the mountain ridge. It seemed like he still wanted to negotiate with Yang Qing.
Even Miao Yi could tell that negotiations had fully broken down between South Edict Manor and the School of Blue Jade, but he still could not make heads or tails of the hidden implications. This was mostly because he always had a poor relationship with his Mountain Chieftain Qin Weiwei, and also because there was no one to tell him of these sort of matters. Furthermore, the School of Blue Jade disciples under him had either been killed by him, or brought along to the Sea of Constellations and killed by demonic spirits.
The way he saw it, there was nothing special about the men from the School of Blue Jade. It would be ideal if he could recruit them as his subordinates and order them around; if they disobeyed, he could just get rid of them—it was a simple as that.
He always had the men from the School of Blue Jade obeying his every word regardless, and never had difficulty in controlling the School of Blue Jade disciples.
Seeing such a large number of troops just standing there, Miao Yi felt a little glum. If he still didn’t get any new hands assigned to him, it was likely that the East Arrival Cave Master himself would have to do the daily chores and duties. When that happened, even if he had enough Orbs of Will, he wouldn’t have the time to refine them.
But he didn’t feel it was his place to ask Yang Qing for more men. After all, he wasn’t the only one that lacked troops—even his superior, Qin Weiwei, would soon become a general without an army. Furthermore, the subordinates previously under him hadn’t perished in this battle; they had been sent to their deaths by him bringing them out for some alternative income—he didn’t have any confidence in asking for more.
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