"The Secluded Mountain and Xia Country are of the same ancestry and cannot do without each other. For this Yuan Wu Conference, we must stand together to prevent anyone who might try to act against us!"
Xie Lingyun's voice was soothing and gentle, and in front of Fang Yuan, she expressed her intentions with grief. "This time... If you, as the prefecture master would like to start a country on your own, the Xia Country would give our fullest support!"
"Has the situation reached such a stage?"
Fang Yuan was troubled.
To start a country... Who would have thought that a small issue at the beginning would escalate to such a stage?
And at the next moment, he saw through the weakness of the Xia royal family.
Even with the protection of Daoist Mu Li and another Wu Zong, the Xia Country was still extremely weak.
After all, the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was forcefully separated from the Xia Country, and the Summer Sun Prefecture was left war-torn. It was a matter of months before the country could recover fully from all these setbacks.
"Other than official affairs, I have a personal issue..."
Xie Lingyun looked at Fang Yuan's disciples and asked him, "I've heard that you have taken in two disciples? Are you interested in taking in another one?"
"Oh?"
Fang Yuan laughed. "Is this the royal family's decision?"
Never would he have thought that in this situation, the Xia Country would still be willing to trust him.
After all, his progress would be a hindrance to Yuan, Wu and the other countries.
"I have thought through it carefully. In this tumultuous times, if the Xia Country wants to progress, the only way is to take this gamble!"
Xie Lingyun bowed respectfully. "Lingyun is useless. May I invite Prefecture Master Fang to take up the appointment as the Xia Country Advisor! Please accept the future fate of this country as payment. From now on, we will stick together till death! As a gift, we will accede to anything that you might request from the Xia Country's treasury and the royal family's private collection!"
'Is this them showing their utmost sincerity to me?'
Fang Yuan's heart wavered. "Finally, the princess's true colours!"
After pondering for a while, he continued. "I'll agree to take in another disciple. Where is he?"
"Right here!"
Xie Lingyun smiled cheekily. "What do you think of me, prefecture master? Do I have the potential?"
The leaves were rustling in the breeze.
On the plains, a group of cavalry were cheering as they chased after a prey.
Among the group, the leader was a 20-year-old young man, who was wearing a golden crown but had a brute appearance. Two bodyguards on their horses accompanied him by his side, and they appeared majestic.
At this moment, they had spotted a yellow goat. Stretching his bow, the young man then released an arrow.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow was like a meteor, gliding through mid-air. It went straight into its left eye and came out from its right eye, without touching any of its furs.
"Wonderful! Eighth Prince, your archery skill is amazing!"
The surrounding troops cheered heartily. Seeing the opportunity, they react quickly and carried the prey before showing it off to everyone in the vicinity.
"During the autumn season, before these animals enter their hibernation, they will stuff themselves with food. This is the best opportunity to hunt!"
The Eighth Prince smiled and tossed his bow on the ground. "What's so great about a yellow goat? Why not catch a wolf or leopard, that'll be more interesting..."
This Eighth Prince was the youngest son of the Yuan King. Since the independence of Yuan country, there was a law that the youngest son would take over his position.
This was because in the past, out in the plains, the mortality rate was high. After the father and a few older brothers had died in the war, the youngest child who would've just matured would take over the household, and this was a common practice.
Although the current king had been in his position for many years, he was still very used to having a lot of power. Thus, many would view the Eight Prince as the heir to the throne, which gained him a lot of admiration.
"The fun has ended for today..."
After galloping for a while, the Eighth Prince pulled the halter and gazed towards the South. "Who would know when would horses be able to gallop up the Southern Mountain! By then, we will be able to hunt anywhere we want! This is what men should be doing!"
Everyone's eyes glittered.
In the history of the Yuan Wu Conference, countries would have slight conflicts with one another, especially between the Yuan and Wu Countries.
Before this year's conference, the Wu Country had a small setback, which made the Yuan Country have thoughts on how to take advantage of them.
"What a pity... The previous time Wu Country was defeated, it was Second Brother who was leading the troops..."
The Eighth Prince shook his head and sighed. "Father was happy and rewarded Second Brother with many gifts. He even added more troops and calvaries to his original battalion….."
This was one of his reasons for planning to attack the South.
The Eighth Prince knew that even though the traditional law gave him the advantage of being the rightful heir to become king, it still could not guarantee him the throne.
Needless to say, his father, the king, was at his prime age. The Eighth Prince's few younger brothers were growing up incredibly quick and were about to reach the age of maturity. By then, his position would become very awkward.
In order to protect and assure himself to become the king, the Eighth Prince had to have some form of accomplishments to back himself up, in order for the entire Yuan Country to be willing to accept him as king.
What else can compare to taking over the entire Southern Mountain?
"The upcoming Yuan Wu Conference would be my chance! Among the southern people, the Wu Country is the strongest. Judging from the size of their military, they can no longer compare to us. Next up would be to see whose side is stronger!"
The Eighth Prince waved his hand and ordered for a person whom he could trust. "In the upcoming Yuan Wu Conference, all the country's kings, newly promoted spiritual knights and Wu Zongs would all come together. In this period of time, were there any noticeable ones?"
This person was dressed in black robes. He had a spiritual drum tied around his waist. His appearance was blood-red and felt like he had a bloodied vibe. The handle of the drum appeared pale, as though it was made from a real bone.
He was a spiritual knight from the plains, but the Yuan country preferred to call him a shaman.
"The countries in the south are all in chaos. Recently in the past six months, there was an uprising in a strong country, the Xia Country! They went through a separation, and an entire prefecture was separated out from the country!"
This shaman's voice was high pitched, as though a piece of metal was scratching against another. "The new Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master is called Fang Yuan. He is highly skilled in a shaman's spell techniques, and is a strong warrior!"
"Rumour has it... His spiritual techniques allow him to control spiritual plants, which gives him the ability to transform an entire city into a demonic plant hell. With this, his plants swallowed tens of thousands of the Wu Country's soldiers!"
"Furthermore, he is extremely skilled in martial arts, and is on par with the strongest warrior we have in Yuan Country!"
It was obvious that this shaman had his spies in the south. Even though he was always in the plains, he could still continuously report his findings of Fang Yuan.
"Fang Yuan?"
The Eighth Prince froze, before continuing. "Who would have thought that there would be such an outstanding person from the people of the South. He is our greatest enemy! We must observe him at the upcoming conference."
"Not just that... I've heard from the Wu Country that they want to get rid of this person as well. We might be able to work with them! If there's a need, their country advisors Wu Wudao and General Fei Long might be able to help us secretly!"
If Fang Yuan had heard this conversation, he would have been speechless.
Wu Country and Yuan Country were bitter enemies and had once fought aggressively on the plains.
However, they might form an alliance just to deal with him.
"Haha... Let's work with them! Why not?"
Eighth Prince laughed. "This is how the people from the South are! Even at their demise, they are still against each other, killing amongst themselves! Wasn't Xie Daoling like that too?"
"That's true!"
The shaman, who was at one side, was nodding his head. "The people from the South like to fight among their own people. If they could come together and unite, only then would we feel threatened and need to hide in the depths of the plains. But now, this is our best chance! This time, the king has the intention to allow Eighth Prince to represent Yuan Country, and this is the best opportunity for us to observe the other countries!"
"That's right! That's right!"
Eighth Prince nodded his head.
"Report!"
At this moment, a black dot appeared on the horizon. It was speeding towards them on horses.
"Your Highness!"
A huge number of calvaries and troops rushed and approached, before stopping in front of him. The chaotic scene turned into silence.
A soldier leapt down from his horse and bowed. "The First Prince has attacked the Sunset Division and returned victorious!"
"Big brother is back!"
Eighth Prince sighed as he felt a little depressed.
They had already sorted out the issue of who should be the rightful heir. However, the return of the First Prince meant that he also knew the importance of the Yuan Wu Conference!
"Could he be thinking of replacing my rights of representing our country?"
Eighth Prince squinted his eyes and glared.
"Also... the First Prince had presented a female saint to the king, the pearl of the plains - Purple Dream Princess! I've heard that when she arrived, the entire palace was smitten. The king was elated and rewarded him handsomely..."
"This big brother of mine..."
The Eighth Prince was speechless. He had yet another worry in his mind.
In fighting to become the crown prince, he could not take a step back. After all, there were too many people who placed their hopes and their reputation on him.
Wu Country.
"Soldiers, let's move out!"
As the command was given, ten thousand soldiers formed a rectangular formation, and it was impressive.
Even though the Wu Country had suffered a defeat before, their confidence and strength were still there. These ten thousand soldiers were the best of the best, the elites. Every single one of them was at least a platoon commander.
Needless to say, among these ten thousand elite soldiers, there were another thousand calvaries!
"Good! Looking sharp, appearing strong!"
General Fei Long patrolled around and noticed the calvaries. He nodded his head in satisfaction. "With such strong soldiers, we can escort the king safely if anything were to happen!"
He was clear that they only had the chance if his own calvaries were on par with Yuan Country's calvaries.
"Congratulations on General's return!"
Wu Wudao was smiling at one side. "Our country governor trust you enough to pick you for this conference!"
"A general who loses his war, what more can I say?"
General Fei Long slowly looked around and to the direction of Xia Country. "This time, we might be able to see the Xia royal family and that Secluded Mountain Prefecture Master at the conference."
"Fang Yuan!"
At the mention of his name, Wu Wudao's face became pale, and he was filled with hatred. "Since we want to deal with him, we need a foolproof plan. Contacting Yuan Country is only part of the plan. We still need to obtain information about him. As the saying goes, know yourself well, and know the enemy well..."
"This of course!"
General Fei Long nodded his head. "I have sent people to investigate on that person's spiritual flower and spiritual grass array. It is indeed powerful! However, it has a major weakness. It is extremely strong in defence, but it cannot be used in attack! It will be rendered useless at the upcoming conference!"
A spiritual knight's ability was mysterious and could appear in many forms. They had obviously taken Fang Yuan's skill in botany as a specific spiritual knight spiritual technique.
"That's good news!"
Wu Wudao squinted his eyes. "In this conference, either we do nothing, or we strike hard! We cannot give them any more chances!"