Upon receiving Meng Zhang’s promise and sensing his sincerity, An Xiaoran’s face showed a relieved smile. Meng Zhang and An Xiaoran agreed that when he left, he would take her and her younger brother with him. As for Huang Ping, An Xiaoran had prepared an explanation. She would tell Huang Ping that Meng Zhang and her grandfather were old friends, and her grandfather had spoken highly of Meng Zhang during his lifetime, hoping that she and her brother could join the Taiyi Sect.
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Now that Meng Zhang had arrived at the Gui Xiang Oasis and coincidentally encountered An Xiaoran and her brother, they were ready to fulfill their grandfather’s wish and leave together, heading to the Taiyi Sect. After discussing their plan, An Xiaoran left to find Huang Ping.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Meng Zhang meditated for a while to calm his emotions. When it was about to dawn, Lao Jian, along with several disciples from the Flying Swan Sect, returned from chasing the White Sand Pirates. Lao Jian seemed frustrated, feeling like he had lost face.
Seeing Huang Ping and Meng Zhang coming towards him, his expression improved a bit. Without waiting for them to inquire, Lao Jian recounted all the details of their operation, explaining how he obtained information from the captured White Sand Pirates about their hideout, and how they had tried to catch them but arrived a step too late.
The White Sand Pirates had already moved their base when they arrived. Despite their diligent search around the area, they had found nothing. Disheartened, Lao Jian returned empty-handed. Huang Ping asserted that the pirates must have left the oasis as soon as they got wind of their pursuit.
Huang Ping comforted Lao Jian, saying that capturing thieves was not an urgent matter and that with the strength of the Flying Swan Sect, the thieves would eventually be caught. Lao Jian smiled wryly at the reassurance. However, he chose not to reveal some of the internal affairs of the Flying Swan Sect to Huang Ping, despite their good friendship.
After a night of hard work, the members of the Flying Swan Sect rested at the Gui Xiang Oasis. As a Foundation Building stage cultivator, Lao Jian didn’t feel tired. He chatted with An Xiaoran and Meng Zhang briefly before finding an excuse to talk privately with Meng Zhang.
As a member of the Lao family and an Inner-Sect Disciple of the Flying Swan Sect, Lao Jian was considered trustworthy. Meng Zhang activated his Mind Reading Divine Ability to secretly probe Lao Jian’s thoughts, though he was aware that cultivators like Lao Jian might have some resistance to mind-reading abilities due to their cultivation techniques.
Meng Zhang’s cultivation base was slightly higher, but he couldn’t access Lao Jian’s thoughts in great detail. However, through subtle cues, Meng Zhang could unmistakably sense that Lao Jian meant to ally with him rather than harbor ill intentions.
It appeared that despite Taiyi Sect being a small faction, it held some value in the eyes of Gold Core sects like Flying Swan Sect. Since there was a potential for mutual benefit, things became easier.
During their conversation, both of them cautiously probed each other. Lao Jian openly expressed Flying Swan Sect’s goodwill, making no secret of his intentions to win over Meng Zhang. On the other hand, Meng Zhang vaguely conveyed some dissatisfaction with Forest Spring Watch and hoped to align more closely with Flying Swan Sect.
Thanks to his innate Divine Ability, Mind Reading, Meng Zhang gained more insights and gradually took the lead in the conversation. He began to lament to Lao Jian about the lack of access to Foundation Building Pills, which made it difficult for the junior disciples of Taiyi Sect to achieve Foundation Building. If this continued, the sect’s future would be at risk of discontinuation.
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Lao Jian understood that Meng Zhang was laying out his conditions for alliance. To win over Taiyi Sect, Flying Swan Sect would undoubtedly need to offer something in return. However, the allocation of Foundation Building Pills was in the hands of higher-ups in the sect, and Lao Jian couldn’t make decisions independently. 𝖋𝔯𝖊𝖊𝖜𝔢𝖇𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔢𝖑.𝖈𝔬𝖒
Nonetheless, he promised to do his best to advocate for Taiyi Sect and convince the higher-ups to support them with Foundation Building Pills. Lao Jian’s practical and realistic approach reassured Meng Zhang.
Of course, the request for Foundation Building Pills was just one of the conditions put forward by Meng Zhang. Binding Taiyi Sect to Flying Swan Sect’s cause involved several steps and negotiations. Meng Zhang not only wanted to extract enough benefits from Flying Swan Sect but also needed to understand the sect’s capabilities to deal with the changing situation in the Endless Sea of Sand.
Meng Zhang wouldn’t board the Flying Swan Sect’s ship without verifying their strength. While Flying Swan Sect had ruled over the Endless Sea of Sand for years and possessed hidden cards, Meng Zhang’s three opponents, except for Northern Desert Qi Family, were merely Foundation Building sects with only one Gold Core Daoist Master each, lacking the depth and accumulation that Flying Swan Sect had.
From his heart, Meng Zhang was more inclined to believe that Flying Swan Sect was the stronger force.
Lao Jian was merely testing Meng Zhang’s attitude and didn’t have much authority in negotiations. He invited Meng Zhang to travel together to Flying Swan Sect, as there was no need to proceed to the Lau family’s place since they had already met Lao Jian here.
Meng Zhang, prepared to take An Xiaoran back to Taiyi Sect, didn’t wish to delay outside for too long and agreed to Lao Jian’s request.
Meanwhile, An Xiaoran used the excuse they had discussed with Meng Zhang to inform Huang Ping that they, the siblings, would accompany Meng Zhang and leave together.
As someone with experience in the martial world, Huang Ping naturally understood that An Xiaoran’s words were not entirely true. However, since An Xiaoran willingly wanted to leave, and Meng Zhang was the lord of a sect and acquainted with Lao Jian, he believed they could be trusted.
Huang Ping honored his late friend An Lei’s trust by accommodating An Xiaoran and them. Since they desired to leave, he respected their wishes.
After resting for half a day, Lao Jian set out with Meng Zhang. Leaving all the disciples of Flying Swan Sect behind, he took Meng Zhang ahead. Before departing, Meng Zhang requested An Xiaoran and her brother to accompany them, and Lao Jian had no objections to that.
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