"Can you tell me, Mr. Mars, how did a bandit group take over your precious heritage site and even one of your keys?" Yontu asked. According to Abbot, this Kingdom used to be part of neighboring Kingdoms. The Capital was the best trade market the Violet Kingdom had and the bandit leader took it from that Kingdom by kidnapping the son of the Violet Kingdom's King.
"At the time, we had internal conflicts in our sect, thus were not able to help the war happening over here. The bandit leader killed the mayor of the city and confiscated the key. You may also ask, despite being this powerful, why haven't we taken the keys yet. They cannot be taken outside of this city." Taro Mars explained.
"I will not return the key, Mr. Mars," Yontu said as he looked at the man. The man listened calmly, but Yontu could see veins on his face were getting visible, "I instead will send my champion to the domain."
"That… can be arranged," Taro said after some thinking. "Master Yontu, forgive my bluntness but the heritage can only be taken by the king's blood. Even if your champion collects all the keys at the site of heritage, it will not respond to him."
"That is not important, Mr. Mars. I hardly care about thousands of years old relics. I just owe some people and want to use this opportunity to pay back. Although those people do not mean anything to me, to their ancestors I owe a debt." Yontu said dismissively. "But have you ever thought why the aides were hellbent on not returning the key?"
The question caught Taro flat-footed. He always thought they were somehow searching for a way to acquire the heritage without the blood, but what if it wasn't? Yontu himself didn't know that, he still wanted to sow discord among others.
"Has there been an incident where a prince or princess has gone missing in all these thousands of years?" He asked with a smirk. The seed of doubt wasn't a plant, it was a weed. It didn't need watering. It would suck its nutrition from its host and would grow bigger and bigger every day unless it was unrooted.
He only needed that. Taro was the strongest man in the Kingdom at the moment, and he would be forced to look into this. In return, the three remaining sects would be displeased with the treatment and fight against the palace. In the chaos, the one who would profit most would be no one else but him.
"Master Yontu, the domain is dangerous and anything can happen anytime. I beseech you to understand, whoever your champions are, they might get hurt or worse in there." Taro said with a serious face.
"That is fine. I will use it to pay an old debt and if they can't make it, then it means they are not cut for it." Yontu said with a smile. Old debts must be paid fully, he always believed in that. Since he owed them, he would do his best to pay.
"Master Yontu, the letters you have, would you be willing to exchange them?" Taro asked ambiguously again.
"Don't worry, Mr. Mars. I've already told you that I have no interest in politics. The Fifth Prince's abduction and commence is not something I am interested in." Yontu said with a slight smile.
Taro looked at the old man and took out a box from his ring. The box was ornated with jewels but it was also able to keep the aura of the item inside of it locked.
"This is something I found in a domain," Taro said as he opened the box. Inside, there was a mushroom. Although he didn't know what it was, the just Qi inside the plant was enough to rejuvenate his whole body. For a second, Yontu felt like he lost control of his cultivation and he was going to break through.
It would be suicide for him to break through at that moment because Taro would see through his realm immediately. Then, he could only wait to die. Luckily he controlled his Qi and held back.
"This is a token of my appreciation, Master Yontu. Please accept it." Taro said as he pushed the box.
"Since you are so sincere, I will not stand on ceremony," Yontu said and with a touch, the chest disappeared. Taro nodded in gratitude.
"Master Yontu, thank you for your time." Taro stood up and bowed.
"Hmm." Yontu nodded and grinned slightly.
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"What are you old goats doing here?" The Sect Leader of Demeter's Blessing, Qiu Tu, said with a slight in her voice. She was looking at the other two as if she was looking at animals instead of humans.
"Obviously the same reason as you, old witch." The Sect Leader of the Prometheus's Suffering, Cai Wei, hissed between his teeth. Clearly, he didn't like this old woman.
"No need to escalate things, right?" Li Long, the Sect Leader of Zeus's Fury said in a soothing manner, "If we all try to outbid each other, it will only get more expensive. Let this old man get it, and then we can talk about the details."
"You wish, old goat." Qiu Tu said with disgust. "I will talk to Master Yontu and he will understand we deserve it most."
"Hah! Fat chance." Cai Wei laughed his head off. "If you were 1000 years younger, maybe you could charm him, but as you are now, he would be even ashamed to look at you."
"How rude." Li Long said as he approached the old woman, "Tu'er, let's kill this old fart and be done with it."
"Who do you call Tu'er you shameless goat!" Qiu Tu said with a grimace as he took a step back.
While they were arguing, the Jiang Duo was watching them with red faces. They wanted to laugh but they also didn't want to disrespect the three Sect Leaders. Yontu delivered them a message 10 minutes ago via telepathy. They were sitting on this information to watch their quarrel. It was so fun to watch these prestigious old people act like street beggars.
Jiang Yong, who couldn't take it anymore, coughed to hide her laughter. All of a sudden, three Sect Leaders turn to look at the girl but Jiang Kang timely intervened. "Master Yontu wanted me to notify you, Elders, that he will have his champion join the expedition and the champion will hold onto the key."
The trio looked at each other, and with no other choice they left the shop. They wanted to get the key so they could get ahead of others but seemed like it wouldn't work. Instead, now they had a fiercer opponent.