Sage immediately mentioned the first rate powers that controlled the provinces to the northwest and northeast, respectively. It was a not so subtle threat that showed them he meant business. The 9th Elder’s fury seemed to grow and Sage even sensed a hint of killing intent. The man’s eyes grew cold as they stared at him. Sage fixed his golden eyes on those of the slim 9th Elder and stared back without a shred of fear. He was isolated in this room with 7 other Nascent Souls, many of which were at a higher stage than him, yet he showed no fear at all, even going so far as to indirectly threaten them.

Song Lu Tian was slightly surprised, but then he smiled and secretly gave Sage a thumbs up while a few of the other Elders were rapidly passing messages back and forth. How could a friend of Song Lu Tian not be fierce?

It was at this point that Wan Ling stepped forward, breaking up the secret arguments with a sweet, yet commanding voice, “I have always had faith in the Elders of the Mount Song Sword Sect. I am sure they will be able to treat the Prosperity Company with fairness. When the terms of a deal are not satisfactory, then both parties should take a step back and continue negotiations. There’s no need to be concerned. I’m sure we can come to an amicable solution.”

“Well said, Miss Wan. I’m sure we can figure out a way to handle this situation that will satisfy everyone.”

Elder Meng took the opportunity to step in and help smooth the feathers Sage ruffled. Wan Ling opened negotiations again and Sage was happy to take a step back and let her figure out how many benefits they could get out of this situation. He felt his demands were pretty fair, at least if the Mount Song Sword Sect wanted the place to be unsealed. Since they didn’t, it felt like throwing fuel onto a fire.

After some time discussing options and alternatives, they finally came to an agreement.

Sage would remove the poison miasma, and then create a new one. As they were discussing how they could possibly protect the area without a heavy investment and thinking about what sort of arrays to use, Sage chimed in with the origin of the poison miasma.

“A Demon Core from a Zhenniao? That miasma has no physical presence. The Zhenniao is not known for such a thing.”

“The core is used along with a special array that transforms it into its current state, and another to distribute it. The Spirit Vein is the power source.”

That’s when the 4th Elder had a sudden idea. Her eyes seemed to brighten, “Green Fanged Toad Core!”

The 5th Elder seemed to catch on immediately, and the old man laughed, “Ah! Great idea!”

There was some confusion on a couple of the other Elder’s faces, so the woman explained, “We have the Demonic Core from a variant Green Fanged Toad in the Sect Vault. The beast it came from poisoned a Sect member many years ago, and a famous Doctor was called in to develop an antidote. We still have the prescription as well. If we use that core to build a new poison miasma, we should be able to modify the antidote to be at least somewhat effective.”

There was further discussion and they finally found a favorable solution to this difficult situation. The venom of a Poisonfeather Bird was always completely unique and individual, so the power of the current poison miasma finally had a reasonable explanation. At that point, Wan Ling continued the negotiations and Sage got the benefits he was looking for, though with much smaller margins than he’d tried to get. If there was a Spirit Stone Lode the Prosperity Company would only receive one part in thirty, that is three and a third percent, as their finders fee. As for the Pool of Eternal Tears, they would get a smaller distribution, only having one chance out of every hundred, with the stipulation that they could cut in line for the first two. Finally, the Mount Song Sword Sect gets control of Icefire Valley and any other resources within it. Sage has up to one year to make good on this agreement, or the whole deal becomes null and void. So he has to change out the miasma within this period or the Prosperity Company will be facing huge problems.

There was no telling what other sorts of treasures there might be beneath Icefire Valley. Due to the limited time it was open, and the danger level, Nascent Souls barely had the time and energy to get through the miasma and the strange ice field to reach the core. The other powers had tried sending expeditions down into the large cracks, but they faced many powerful Demonic Beasts and had to retreat before the miasma strengthened again. The lure of unknown treasures and many future geniuses eventually led to the Mount Song Sword Sect giving in.

With a less deadly poison that they had the antidote for, they could defend Icefire Valley much easier. Once they finished their explorations, they would only need to station one or two Elders along with some Sect defending formations to completely control Icefire Valley. When the meeting was complete, some of the Elders seemed a bit sour over the whole exchange, but the majority were pleased. They gained a new and extremely talented young elder, and now a possible Spirit Stone Lode and a training ground that pertained to a law! They were already fantasizing about the great changes it might usher into their Sect in the future.

As for Sage he was already on the way back to the Tiankong Clan’s peak with Wan Ling. She seemed unusually pleased by the situation, but Sage didn’t seem to realize why. He didn’t dwell on it. They greeted the other Tiankongs and then Sage said his farewells, causing Wan Ling to turn and walk away with a huff.

What did I do? I have to go and make good on the deal as soon as possible.

Oblivious to his faux pas, he left the Mount Song Sword Sect, retracing his steps to return to the Icefire Valley as quickly as possible. One of the Elders would be heading to Icefire Valley to bring him the variant Green Fanged Toad Core as well as testing the effectiveness of the antidote. The trip was much easier on the way back, as he’d already cleared out the beasts large enough to want to pick a fight with his giant spider body a few days ago. After reaching the Icefire Valley, Sage stopped to ponder.

I can start clearing up the miasma now, or go down and try to explore the ice crevasses. If I go before the miasma is gone, I can technically keep everything I find.

He thought about it for a while before giving up on the idea. He’d already made a deal for everything to belong to the Mount Song Sword Sect, and while he could hunt for treasure first, he also wasn’t sure how long it would take to remove all of the poison miasma. If he estimated wrongly, he could miss the deadline and cause a real problem with the Sect. There was also the fact that the place was highly unexplored and he would be by himself. If he got in over his head he would be in big trouble. Nobody else could even enter Icefire Valley, so he’d need to reveal the Universe Ring or Inner World to bring them in first.

Without any discrete benefits to be gained, he chose to make good on his deal with the Mount Song Sword Sect. There was a whole world of unexplored lands out there, he could afford to give one up.