Little Sorcerer, Divine Doctor

Yun Canglang couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on behalf of Zong Ren.

He knew all too well that the real puppet master behind Zong Ren was his own niece, Yun Sheng.

Sheng'er actually dared to bargain with the Emperor of Great Zhou, vying for the dividends of the Purple Gold Mine?

This girl had quite some nerve.

If Yun Bahe knew about this, he wouldn't be able to avoid spitting out a few mouthfuls of blood in fury.

Back when the Purple Gold Mine was discovered, Yun Canglang had also taken part in its exploration.

He remembered clearly that the verified Purple Gold Mine produced high-grade Purple Gold, and the vein was long with an abundant foundation.

Fifty percent of the Purple Gold was already enough to buy several Yujing Cities.

Zong Ren had seemingly anticipated the Emperor Zhou's wrath and calmly let the Dragon Claw Bat King fly a circle around the palace. "Do you think, without my help, you could have discovered that Purple Gold Mine? Even if you had, would you have been able to contain the news? Do you have the confidence to go against Hou Qin and the men from Tang Yuan?"

Zong Ren did not take Emperor Zhou seriously at all.

In his eyes, the man who could produce a useless son like Ye Beilian was nothing more than a good-for-nothing.

Besides, Emperor Zhou did nothing but rebuke and did not summon his guards, which showed that there was still room for negotiation on this matter.

Caught off guard by such a question, Emperor Zhou's face turned a mix of green and red.

If he sent the army, he would have to break the truce that had been agreed upon by the three nations initially, giving Hou Qin and Tang Yuan a justified excuse.

But even if he sought outside Hunter Corps, it might not be able to compete with the Sky Expedition Hunter Corps reorganized from the Yun Family Army—especially with Yun Canglang present, the Hunter Corps was essentially the Great Zhou Army.

If Zong Ren were gone, he could not manage to move those few old monsters who guarded the Royal Family, and then even if the Purple Gold Mine were to be hollowed out, he would be helpless.

The Emperor of Great Zhou felt helpless inside, but he did not want to let Zong Ren take fifty percent of the Purple Gold Vein so easily. "A forty-sixths split," he countered.

"Fifty-fifty, and if there's any more bargaining, I'll leave immediately," Zong Ren said with a calm face, certain that Emperor Zhou had no way to deal with him.

And so, after half an hour of tense negotiation, Yun Canglang smoothly resigned from his official position.

Yun Sheng also managed to secure fifty percent of the profits from the Purple Gold Mine.

"Sheng'er? Are you really planning to have the brothers from Sky Expedition go to the Southern Border together?" Yun Canglang was still somewhat worried; the situation in the Southern Border was complicated, and a hasty visit might result in significant casualties.

"No, before heading to the Southern Border, we need to make some preparations," Yun Sheng already had a plan in mind.

What Yun Sheng called "preparations" was to have Zhou Quan lead the hunters from the Sky Expedition Hunter Corps to the Daoye Mountain Hunting Soldier Guard City for a month-long Hunter Soldier Competition.

She needed an elite Hunter Soldier Team.

After Yun Canglang and the others left, the Emperor of Great Zhou pondered for a moment and immediately summoned the Heroic Marquis of Great Zhou to the Imperial Palace for an audience.

"Your servant greets Your Majesty. Has Yun Canglang's hands truly healed?" the Heroic Marquis had not yet seen Yun Canglang, but the news of his hand recovery had already spread throughout the Dazhou Imperial Palace.

"Wuwei, haven't you promised me before that as long as I held back my troops, the people from Dihong City would find a way to cripple Yun Canglang's hands, and his fighting spirit wouldn't see recovery any day soon?" Emperor Zhou's face darkened.

Nobody knew that the Emperor of Great Zhou, who seemed to care a great deal for the Martial Saint General Mansion in the imperial court, was actually an emperor who was constantly concerned about the possibility of Martial Saint General Mansion rebelling against him.

Ten years ago, the name of Martial Saint Yun Bahe from the Martial Saint General Mansion shook the world.

Among his children, his eldest son Yun Canghai, despite his young age, had already broken through to become a Sky Mage, emerging as a leading figure in the Great Zhou's Mage World.

His son Yun Canglang also had illustrious military achievements; barely over twenty years old, he had already broken through to the Marquis realm.

At that time, both within and outside of Great Zhou, it was highly acclaimed that within the next ten years, the Martial Saint General Mansion would inevitably produce another expert of Martial Saint Level.

As for the Great Zhou Yun Residence, having two Martial Saints from a single family, their reputation was even greater than that of the Emperor of Great Zhou.

The Emperor of Great Zhou at that time, who had ascended to the throne not long ago, felt apprehensive about the increasingly strong Yun Residence and entertained thoughts of suppressing the General Mansion while deliberating in the court.

Nevertheless, the Yun Residence, ever since the founding of their ancestors, had been unwaveringly loyal, and many had even died for the Great Zhou Dynasty on the battlefield.

Thus, the Emperor of Great Zhou could not find any pretext to trouble the Martial Saint General Mansion.

It was perhaps the mischief of fate that at that time, the eldest son of the Yun Residence, Yun Canghai, due to a female Summoner wanted by the Summoning Court, betrayed his family and was pursued by them.

The eldest son, Yun Canghai, along with his wife, fled Yujing.

Yun Bahe was infuriated to the point of distraction and lost interest in further expeditions.

It was precisely during that time, a rare Purple Gold Vein was discovered at the Southern Border of Great Zhou, and the Emperor commanded the second son of the Yun Family, Yun Canglang, to secretly inspect the authenticity of that Purple Gold Vein under the pretext of border patrol.

Though it was an external assignment, the spies of the Emperor closely followed Yun Canglang all along.

Every action of Yun Canglang was reported to the Imperial Study Room of the Emperor of Great Zhou the next day.

However, it was there that Yun Canglang by chance encountered Yuan Shahu, the noble family's daughter from Dihong City who was traveling out of the city.

After learning about Yuan Shahu's identity, the Emperor of Great Zhou did not remind Yun Canglang in time.

A year later, as the affection between Yuan Sha and Yun Canglang grew deep and inseparable, the Emperor of Great Zhou was secretly pleased because he knew that according to the customs of Dihong City, Yun Canglang's demise was inevitable.

As long as Yun Canglang perished, with one son of the Martial Saint General Mansion missing and the other dead, even with an old Yun Bahe remaining, they could no longer pose any threat to Great Zhou.

On the other hand, he also followed the arrangements of the Magic Temple, promoting the establishment of Magic Academies within the territory of Dazhou to nurture Mage talents.

Only with the coexistence of Martial Artists and Mages could he feel his imperial throne becoming increasingly secure.

Just as the Emperor of Great Zhou had anticipated, upon Yuan Shahu's return to Dihong City, it caused an uproar.

The envoys from Dihong City even bypassed Marquis Weiyuan, directly signing a secret agreement with the Emperor of Great Zhou. If Dihong City besieged the Southern Border of Great Zhou and the Emperor refrained from sending troops to rescue, Dihong City would in turn provide a considerable reward.

The Emperor of Great Zhou gladly accepted the reward, but he had not anticipated the tenacious resistance of Yun Canglang, who with just over a thousand men from the Yun Family Army, ultimately withstood the surprise attack from Dihong City.

Yun Bahe, relying on his incredibly strong cultivation, forced the powerhouses of Dihong City to retreat from the borders of Great Zhou.

However, what infuriated the Emperor of Great Zhou was that the location of that Purple Gold mine became unknown as a result.

"Dihong City is just so-so. Back then, I agreed to let Dihong City deal with Yun Canglang out of consideration for that Summon Emperor powerhouse from Dihong City. Unexpectedly, the power backing Yun Canglang is not weak either," the Emperor of Great Zhou said with a displeased face.

The implication was that he was no longer willing to cooperate with Dihong City.

Seeing the Emperor of Great Zhou's sudden change of mind, Marquis Weiyuan had no choice but to secretly send out the news of Yun Canglang's upcoming trip to the Southern Territory.