Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

"Brother, I asked people to put down the details, too. It's inappropriate to leave out the details for the job. Our clan would be put to shame if the families of the victims came and demanded justice," Mui Nuxin said.

"Why must you always act on your own!? Why must you decide everything!? Do you really want to see the downfall of our clan!?" Mui Hua yelled at Mui Nuxin angrily.

The room fell silent. The people of the Dongfang Clan did not say a word.

They were all feeling helpless and ashamed. The fire vein was deadlier than they had imagined. Even their clan, known for their expertise in the Fire Element was struggling to come up with a plan. They could do a good job of excavating the fire vein and refining the ore, but everything was in vain if they could not find a way to clear the tunnel.

"If there's no other choice, we can only choose from among the disciples of our clans. Let's consider it carefully and come up with a list of names. Apart from the successors of the clans, every disciple can volunteer for it. To those who are willing to take part in the operation, we'll take care of their family and pay them a handsome sum, regardless of the outcome. If the operation is a success, the disciples will be promoted to a member of the clan, and be treated as an elder," Mui Shan proposed.

They had no choice but to give it a try. They could not just wait forever. If they could not hire outsiders to do the job, the only option was to do it themselves!

"Mmm," Mui Nuxin agreed with the plan, too.

"I guess that's the only choice we have..." Dongfang Mo sighed.

Both clans agreed to sacrifice their own clan members, in the end.

It was not necessarily sacrificing the clan members; it was voluntary. Their clan members would know how dangerous the situation was. If they were willing to risk their lives to help their clans overcome the troublesome situation, the clans would not mistreat them, either. The clans would not force them either, if they were not willing to take the risk.

"I'll go!" a voice arose.

The crowd turned to the voice. They were eager to see who the courageous disciple was. The people who were invited to the meeting were mostly disciples that were closely related to the clan, including the successors.

"Qi Shan?" Mui Hua looked at the young man in astonishment.

The people of the Mui Clan immediately recognized Qi Shan. He was indeed one of the most reliable candidates for the job. The problem was, most Mages that had achieved his cultivation level were unlikely to volunteer themselves, considering the great risk involved.

"Qi Shan, are you sure about it?" the old clan master asked seriously.

"If it's a success, I'll be promoted to an official member of the clan, am I right?" Qi Shan asked.

"Yes!" Mui Shan nodded.

Mui Nuxin remained silent. She knew her speech had provoked Qi Shan, but she was utterly shocked after hearing Qi Shan's decision. Perhaps Qi Shan could soar even higher into the sky if she was not holding him down.

"I believe many from the clan will be willing to participate in the operation with you in charge," Mui Shan said in relief.

Qi Shan looked at Dongfang Lie, who seemed to know Qi Shan was his rival in love. Dongfang Lie did not look too happy when Qi Shan was appointed as the person in charge of the operation!

"Err, can I go too?" Mo Fan asked.

"Humph, we aren't that desperate to let a nobody join; you can wait until you graduate from Pearl Institute!" Mui Hua grunted. He had recognized Mo Fan as the shady schoolmate who was hanging out with Mui Nujiao the other day.

"Brother, maybe you should learn how to treat a guest properly first!" Mui Nujiao grumbled.

"Since when do you have the right to teach me how to behave myself? You're a representative of the national team, yet you aren't willing to do a single thing for the clan!" Mui Hua exclaimed harshly.

"Brother Mui Hua… he's not a nobody. He's Mo Fan, the strongest participant in the World College Tournament!" Dongfang Lie informed him.

Those words immediately attracted the crowd's attention. Qi Shan stared at Mo Fan in disbelief, along with everybody else.

Meanwhile, Mui Nuxin gasped. She exchanged glances with Mui Nujiao, who quickly explained by whispering in her ear. She immediately blushed, and no longer dared look Mo Fan in the eyes.

"Seriously, what a coincidence it was..." Mui Nuxin was utterly ashamed. She was quite hot-headed before, so she simply used Mo Fan as an example. She never expected him to be present. Mui Nujiao did not make it clear, either. She totally thought their guest was Bai Hongfei!

"You're Mo Fan?" Mui Shan and Dongfang Mo asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, I only came here to congratulate Dongfang Lie. I didn't expect to stumble into your meeting. My primary Element is the Fire Element, and I happen to be looking for a Primitive Soul-grade Seed. I believe the fire vein you mentioned is likely to have a Primitive Soul-grade Seed, so I'm willing to try my luck," Mo Fan said.

"Mui Hua, apologize to Mo Fan at once. Be mindful of your words next time," Mui Shan immediately said sternly.

Mui Hua was so angry that blue veins were twitching on his face, yet he did not dare disobey Mui Shan's order. He apologized stiffly before glaring at Mui Nujiao, as if he was putting the blame on her.

"Either way, Mo Fan is just an outsider. It's our clan's business. We won't allow his Fanxue Mountain to intervene!" Mui Hua said after he was done apologizing.

"I think you all know what I'm capable of, and I have a Flame Belle as my Contracted Beast. If you're willing to let me take part in it, we can discuss the details further. If you don't want me to interfere with your business, I promise I won't mention it to anyone else," Mo Fan answered easily.

"What do you mean by that? You're asking to get a share of the action?" Mui Hua grunted.

"Mui Hua, calm yourself!" Mui Shan warned him again.

Mui Nuxin hesitated for a moment before looking at Dongfang Lie, as if she was asking for his opinion.

Dongfang Lie was overjoyed. He did not expect his soon-to-be-wife would be willing to listen to his words so quickly.

Dongfang Lie was the one who had invited Mo Fan over, and was utterly convinced of Mo Fan's capabilities. He said to Dongfang Mo, "Uncle, Mo Fan was my classmate, and we were also teammates during the World College Tournament. I'm very familiar with his strength. I don't think anyone is a more suitable candidate than him... Besides, Fanxue Mountain is about to become a main district of the Feiniao Headquarters City. I believe we can consider working with them; that way, we won't have to rely on the military so much!"

Even Mo Fan was dumbfounded by Dongfang Lie's words.

Mo Fan was only planning to take part in the operation himself. He did not want to involve Fanxue Mountain, but Dongfang Lie seemed quite willing to cooperate with Fanxue Mountain. It was quite a surprise for him.

"I believe it's necessary to sit down and discuss it," Mui Nuxin said.

"I didn't mean something so complicated..." Mo Fan was about to explain himself when Zhao Manyan stopped him by looking him in the eye. Mo Fan realized what Zhao Manyan was trying to tell him, and immediately shut up.

"How about this? Let's focus on the marriage for today, and you can come to Fanxue Mountain as our guests some other day to have a tour around and check the place out. We don't have to come to an agreement right away, but we can still keep in contact with one another. Fanxue Mountain was established quite recently. We might need the help of renowned clans like yours in many areas... Of course, if you aren't willing to share the fire vein, we won't pry into it either, but I believe Fanxue Mountain is capable enough to take on the job," Zhao Manyan said on behalf of Mo Fan.

"Mm, that's reasonable," Mui Nuxin nodded.

Dongfang Lie nodded in agreement, too.

The elders clearly had to discuss the matter further. They exchanged glances with one another and smiled, agreeing to pay a visit to Fanxue Mountain sometime.

"It's supposed to be a day of celebration. Let's not waste our time on some serious matters. We shall let the young ones go have some fun, and the rest of us will enjoy some tea and have a casual chat here," Mui Shan's wife said.

"That will do!"

"Yeah, it's a good day today."

Mui Nujiao and Mui Nuxin led Mo Fan, Zhao Manyan, Qi Shan, and the others to another hall.

---

Back in the main hall, Mui Shan sat down closer to Dongfang Mo. The two obviously had no intention to leave the topic for another day. They immediately started discussing it again.

Mui Shan was the first to ask, "Brother Dongfang, what do you think?"

"Mo Fan has the extremely rare Flame Belle as his Contracted Beast. I believe the odds of the operation succeeding are extremely low without the Flame Belle's help. Most importantly, Mo Fan is very strong, and the Fire Element is his primary Element! He's even stronger than my nephew Dongfang Lie. Also, you know how reputable he is now. He's even comparable to a Councilman. It's a wise choice to cooperate with him," Dongfang Mo replied thoughtfully.

"I think so too, and Fanxue Mountain is a fleshy piece of meat, too..." Mui Shan exclaimed.

"I'm not too familiar with Fanxue Mountain; you will have to explain it to me," Dongfang Mo said.

"Fanxue Mountain has great potential, and it's a fresh piece of land. It has unlimited opportunities, but they weren't able to find any reliable business partners because of the Mu Clan's intervention. The Mu Clan has been annexing a lot of the smaller clans to drive renowned clans that aren't willing to submit to them, like us, away. We won't have to be worried about what the Mu Clan thinks anymore. Why don't we just cooperate with Fanxue Mountain instead?" Mui Shan said.

"But the Mu Clan..."

"Brother, do you really think the Mu Clan will give up on the thought of annexing us if we compromise?" Mui Shan said.

"They are a bunch of greedy assholes. They are clearly trying to eradicate every potential threat."

"Exactly, if we don't find another way under the current circumstances, we are seriously going to find ourselves heading for a downfall. Besides, the Mu Clan wouldn't dare do anything reckless, considering how reputable Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue are. They would at most trouble Mu Ningxue a little, but they wouldn't dare touch Mo Fan at all. We are working directly with Mo Fan. I won't believe Mu Gong would bother troubling him if it's going to ruin his reputation. Even the Mu Clan's pet dog, the Dali Clan, is about to exceed us; it's time to make a decision!" Mui Shan said.

Dongfang Mo hesitated for quite some time. He finally nodded and said, "I won't let our Dongfang Clan become the Mu Clan's dog!"

"Isn't it the same for our Mui Clan, too?"