Hao Shun had to find a way to ditch the guards appointed to him somehow if he ever wanted to see Yao Lei about the problem.
However, no matter how much he tried, the guards wouldn't leave him. He decided to visit his friend with the guards in tow.
"Gentlemen, could you give me and my friend some space?"
The stubborn-looking guard outright rejected the idea.
"We can't do that Sir. This is for your safety." it was not. They wanted to keep an eye on the kid so the other faction wouldn't get to him and ruin everything.
They watched patiently as the two played childish games like stick sword fights and thumb wrestling.
Two boys sat on a rock. They were having a normal conversation with their mouths but sticks in their hand were having a different conversation. They were writing the actual conversation they were having on the ground.
Yao Lei started the conversation. "Hey, Shun, have you noticed those peculiar glowing mushrooms near the foot of the mountain? They seem to emit different colors now and then. I once saw them turn from blue to purple right before my eyes. It was mesmerizing!"
He moved the stick on the ground. and pointed at what was written there.
"What's the matter?
Hao Shun chuckled. "I wonder if they are edible."
He wrote, "Every disciple of the sect leader gets a vote on the important matters. Two different people have threatened me to vote a certain way. No matter how I vote, I might get killed by the other. I'm in danger."
Yao Lei laughed heartily. "How many times do I have to tell you, man, Don't go eating everything you see."
The guards couldn't help but smile at the innocent kids.
Yao Lei's stick wrote the plan on the ground. Hao Shun was filled with hope. This might work.
Hao Shun hugged Yao Lei and left. His debts to his friend kept mounting. Hao Shun promised himself he would pay Yao Lei back someday.
Since then, Hao Shun was free to do whatever he wanted. He chose to cultivate as much as he could handle. Soon after, his Chaos Energy reserves hit the ideal volume. The ideal volume for Chaos Energy is when Chaos Energy times the degradation rate of the Chaos Energy is almost equal to the maximum Qi meridians could handle.
The Five Elements Qi coursing through his spiritual veins are balancing and restraining each other.
That component of Chaos Energy was self-regulating and smooth to cultivate. Compared to that, since Hao Shun cannot turn Yin energies into Yin Qi, He uses Yang Qi to cleanse his spiritual body of any remaining Yin Energy that might be lingering in his body, making that part of his cultivation harder to manage.
Time passed and the day for the sect assembly arrived.
Gao and Gong clan members entered the hall with their heads held high, each assured of their clan's victory.
Gong Guoyin and Gao Nuan strode into the room accompanied by the entourage supplied by their respective clans. The sect leader sat on the throne elevated by three steps of stairs.
His face was still a mystery to Hao Shun. Every time he tried to gaze upon it, he would fail. He would get overpowered by a sudden urge to look away. Hao Shun looked around. No one else was trying to look the sect leader in the face.
Hao Shun breathed in and screamed at the top of his lungs.
"I'm selling my votes to the highest bidder!"
Both Gao Nuan and Gong Guoyin looked at Hao Shun, jaws clenched and eyes wide.
Gong Guoyin protested, disappointed in his brother-in-cause.
"Brother Shun! how could you? Didn't we agree on stopping the Gao clan dead in their tracks?"
Gao Nuan was equally disturbed. What did happen to the world? Didn't this brat sympathize with her crying face? How come he didn't come to her aid like a little hero just now? Why did this lad suddenly choose benefits over saving a damsel in distress? Did she fail to cry convincingly? Or is this brat way too cruel for that to work? Her beautiful lips quivered with emotion, cursing the cruel world.
"Brother Shun! Have you got no shame? Did greed cloud your eyes? Do you even know what you are doing? All will be lost because of you!"
Gong Guoyin trembled with intense emotion where he stood. The young master of the Gong clan snapped his fan close.
These young nobles found it unfathomable that anyone lower than them could fail to think of what they thought as important as important.
Hao Shun's vote was the tiebreaker vote, making him the person who decides the owner of Xianming Mine. He is now in the unique position to demand anything cheaper than Xianming mine from the two sides.
At the same time, Hao Shun wasn't strong enough to hold any of his gains outside of this room.
"Shame? Face? I can't afford to have any face! Both of you, with the edge of the knife, made it very clear that you want this vote. Badly at that. Pay up or shut up."
Hao Shun smirked. For the first time, he walked into the inner sect, he controlled a room he was in. All thanks to his friend Yao Lei. He could only do this because the sect leader implicitly kept peace in this environment. If Hao Shun tried this anywhere else, he would be beaten black and blue until he relented.
Gao Nuan was the first one to try and bribe Hao Shun. Fortune favors the bold after all. Seeing that, Gong Guoyin unlocked his special treasures to put spirit stones on Hao Shun's desk.
These esteemed and noble sons and daughters of heaven were shamelessly bribing a ten-year-old in front of everyone. Spirit stones and spiritual artifacts are stacked on the desk in front of him like a mountain.
Halfway into unloading the treasures, Hao Shun screamed.
"Aaahhhh."
He flipped the table and glittering riches dramatically scattered onto the floor. They didn't know why but Gao Nuan and Gong Guoyin felt insulted by the act. Before they could scold Hao Shun, the ground cracked.
"CEASE!"
They were openly being corrupt in front of the sect master. Sect master, thrice exalted, Holy light venerable had to intervene to save his face. He wasn't really angry, not much could shake the cold and calculating god-king of this mountain. Instead, he performed the role of "Angry father figure." This is what owning a sect dictated.
"You have turned my court into a circus! I give the management rights to the Wu clan."
He looked at the boy who set the stage for this theatre and smiled. He didn't expect this boy to perform a slick political maneuver.
The hall fell into a stunned silence as the sect master's words echoed. Gao Nuan and Gong Guoyin, who were moments away from securing Hao Shun's vote, were now left empty-handed. The atmosphere shifted from tension to bewilderment as the Wu clan, unexpected beneficiaries of Hao Shun's chaotic intervention, rose to accept the management rights.
Although looked like a childish tantrum, Hao Shun's every move was calculated. He requested a bribe to rob his rejection to vote for any malice against two factions.
He hoped for the two clans to agree to pay Hao Shun nothing and take him out of the equation. That way he could achieve his goal of cultivating safely. Since Gao and Gong clans failed to meet his expectations, he switched to plan B.
He rejected the bribe. That was because he couldn't enjoy the riches he gained outside of the room. He also couldn't survive taking a side in a faction war. Hao Shun was simply too weak. By flipping the table and causing drama, he forced the sect leader into the matter.
He painted the two clans as corrupt people, and by refusing the bribe, he had proven that he wasn't corrupt. As the leader of the sect, Holy Light venerable couldn't condone bribery while a ten-year-old child stood up against it. Doing so was bad for his image.
The bomb called "People's ire" blew squarely on the faces of young masters of two noble clans. In shame, with the opportunity to take hold of the Xianming mine lost, two retreated to their abodes. Now, they had to plot against the far weaker Wu clan.
They couldn't hurt Hao Shun now because the blame would fall on them.
Gao Nuan became red with anger thinking about it. The snotty little hick had outplayed her! However, she gained a bit of respect for the brat. He too was a son of heaven after all. She might have to fight back-to-back with him in the future.
Holy light Venerable threw sticks on the ground and divined about any outside connections Hao Shun might have. He didn't want to let a demon sect infiltrator into the inner circle. After the divination, he suddenly appeared above a certain familiar rock and blew glittering sand into the air. The glittering sands recreated a scene from the past. It was the conversation Hao Shun had with Yao Lei
He turned toward formations and artificer's hall and smiled.