Yin & Yang Pleasures of Cultivation

Chapter 201: Alliance Proposal

At the Ice Nine Tails Sect. 

Inside the Kitsui Faction side of the sect, their side holds a protective region for their most prosperous geniuses. At this region, it was essentially a Qi Haven for geniuses.

There was a unique formation laid out deep underground in this region, which continually purifies the Qi here. The purified Qi is far easier for youths to comprehend and absorb compared to the regular Qi on the outside.

This region has a gray mixed snowy path that led to various geniuses' vast snowy courtyard houses.

And at the far end of this gray mixed snowy path was the most isolated part of this region. Compared to most other places in the whole Ice Nine Tails Sect, this area is entirely calm and tranquil.

There wasn't any noisy bustling of young Sect members or busy Elders or any high-level figures. 

The only thing here in this tranquil quiet area was one lone snowy courtyard house. This Courtyard house belongs to the Kitsui Faction, one of several prosperous geniuses, Kasai Ktsui.

Inside Kasai's courtyard house, he could be seen sitting in a lotus position inside a spacious living room. 

His living room design fit Kasai's quiet and calm personality. There wasn't much furniture and mostly shelves of various books and scrolls.

Kasai was serenely cultivating, ensuring he was at his absolute best for the various essential tasks he had coming up. 

Coming out of his waist were four fluffy blue foxtails. Each of Kasai's foxtails curved upwards, and at the tip of each of his foxtails were tiny wisps of blue flames. 

The tiny wisps of blue flames gently whirled in a mesmeric pattern. 

Kasai's control of the Element of Fire was excellent as the wisps of blue flames showed no sign of going uncontrolled.

To spawn multiple wisps of flames and have each of them be perfectly controlled is no easy task at all. At most cultivators who are linked to the Element of Fire can only control one batch of flames at early realms.

And Kasai went beyond that, showcasing his future prospects in Fire Comprehension. 

While he cultivated, Kasai's seventh level Heavenly Transformation aura languidly whirled around his living room. 

And unlike how the power of a Heavenly aura can cause a mess of any environment it's in, Kasai's aura was extremely calm.

Kasai almost moved his Heavenly aura in an elegant fashion. 

His long gorgeous black hair elegantly swayed from his Heavenly aura, creating a beautiful scene of him cultivating. 

If anybody were to see this, they would've thought it was pure fair fox maiden cultivating her divine power. It wouldn't be a mistake to take him for a beautiful woman in this scene.

Cultivation was going smoothly for Kasai as per usual. That is until he abruptly stopped swirling his Heavenly aura.

The tiny wisps of blue flames on his foxtails vanished, letting his foxtails slowly swayed down to the ground. Kasai slowly opened his eyes as he sensed someone arriving right in front of his house.

Before he got up to meet the uninvited guest, Kasai carefully inspected who had come. And after a second, his eyebrows twitch in the slightest of displeasures. 

Truthfully, Kasai was half attempted to ignore who came.

But a low sigh escaped his lips at the idea. 'Haah.it's more troublesome to not meet him anyways.' 

Kasai just had to suck it up as the person outside his door could be annoyingly persistent when they wanted to be.

Shaking his head, Kasai stood up, slowly strolled towards the door. As he walked up, Kasai heard the person knock several times on his door. 

Kasai hesitated for a moment on whether or not this possible headache was worth it.

Ultimately Kasai got rid of his hesitation and gently opened up his door. 

The person standing behind the door wasn't some intimidating-looking or even mischievous-looking person.

It was a handsome boy who had a natural friendly-looking face. The boy's eyes were soft and kind, showing no hint of any edge or sharpness; youths around his age tended to develop.

The boy had a welcoming, charming smile as he greeted Kasai. 

And while Kasai can generate a calm vibe around him, this boy seemingly had a warm, inviting vibe that makes it easy for anyone to talk to him.

But a bit similar to Kasai was the fact this boy was a seventh-level Heavenly Transformation genius. The difference would be that this boy only had three blue foxtails compared to Kasai's four foxtails.

As soon as Kasai had opened the door, the friendly-looking boy promptly began talking. "Kasai, buddy! So you were the one chosen for this year's Mercenary event, eh? May I come in?"

The boy's tone was easygoing, almost relaxing to listen to. 

In Kasai's place, not many people would be able to reject a trustworthy face like his. 

But Kasai wasn't having any of it.

He was utterly indifferent to the boy's charming attitude. His eyes seemingly saw right through the boy and all his tricks. 

But Kasai didn't reach much, only nodding to the boy and saying,  "Yes, I am going. Is there something you need, Zhaun?" 

Kasai didn't move a single inch from his spot. His soft voice carried a certain firmness that explained to Zhaun he wasn't in the mood.

Zhaun, however, wasn't affected by Kasai's unwelcoming attitude. He casually shrugged like he's been through this scenario numerous times already.

"One of these days, you'll need to improve your hospitality. Ah well.so let's down to business."

Zhaun's tone turned a bit more serious, and his eyes narrowed a bit. 

But surprisingly enough, he still managed to keep up a friendly disposition even when getting serious. "You're always the straight man Kasai, so I'll get to the point. I'm here to offer us to form an alliance for this year's Mercenary Event." 

For the first time since they began talking, Kasai finally had a change in expression. One of Kasai's eyebrows slightly raised, and his eyes narrowed just a bit. 

"You want an alliance? Why?" 

Kasai knows Zhaun hails from the Koizma faction. And Kasai knows for sure that the Koizma faction has the infamous reputation for not working well at all with the other factions.

Zhaun wasn't upset at Kasai's suspicion. He clearly knows just how much of an infamous rep his Faction built up. 

But this didn't dissuade Zhaun a single bit. He kept his smile up, telling Kasai, "Why? Well, it should be obvious, no? It's all because of the Koduka Faction. I'm sure you heard all about the rumors on how Kato is so close to a breakthrough. And Cui was the one chosen in her Faction to go to this year's event."

Kasai's eyebrows furrowed even further. He really couldn't see how those two events correlate to each other, so he asked, "Your point is? Those two things aren't adding up with each other."

Zhaun's smile broadens as at least Kasai seems willing to listen now. 

He continued his point, explaining to him, "Look, we're going to need everything we get from this year's event to even stand a fight chance for this year's younger generation meeting. But you know how Cui is so....just so close to Kato? Not only is Cui at a deeper level of Fire Comprehension than both of us, but she's also far more crafty than us. And if she ends up getting a plethora more resources than us, then she'll surely give most if not all to Kato."

Kasai thought about it but didn't really believe Zhaun too much. He asked, "Isn't that a bit too much of paranoid behavior. Who's to say she simply won't use the resources for herself."

Zhaun's smile turned wryly. He began shaking his head, saying with a slight mock expression, "Ahh.despite having better looks than most of the beautiful women in our sects, you're still so naive to matters of the heart."

"Just get to the point." Kasai snappily responded without missing a beat. 

His expression remained indifferent, but Zhaun knew comments like those certainly got to him. 

Zhaun's smile turned back to being friendly as he jokingly held his hands up. 

"Take it easy, just a bit of a joke. But seriously, Cui's feelings for Kato run so deep that she really will just give nearly all of her resources to him. It's not even a secret that she has deep feelings for him. And if Kato manages to break through to the ninth level.well, we can just kiss our chances goodbye."

"....So what exactly do you have in mind in this alliance?" Kasai decided to hear out Zhaun's words since he couldn't really deny them. 

"I already have it planned out. It's very simple, actually. All we need to do is simply work together to gather up all the resources and make Cato barely get any. No matter how troublesome she is, she can't stand against a two v one situation. And in the end, we'll split the rewards between us. What'd you say?"

As Zhaun finished explaining, Kasai could notice a slight shift in his demeanor. 

That warm, welcoming smile he had begun to turn a bit devious. The devious smile directly contrasted Zhaun's friendly-looking face.

Kasai didn't actually immediately deny his request. He began mulling over the past history of the Younger Generation Meetings. 

And for numerous years now, the Koduka faction had always reigned supreme at being number one at each event.

Moreover, the Koduka Faction is often seen as the strongest in the Ice Nine Tail Sect by nearly everyone in their Province. People would even go so far as to say that Kiduka Faction is the Ice Nine Tail Sect's pride.

Because of their high tail fame and glory, any other achievements, whether it was from the Koizma Faction or their own Kitsui Faction, their feats would be dismissed because the Koduka Faction could do better.

However, despite how tempting it was for Kasai to crush on the Koduka's Faction pride, he wasn't foolish enough to blindly trust Zhaun. 

Moreover, he also has other vital matters swirling in his head.

Kasai told Zhaun after a moment's pause, "I'll.think about it." 

Despite the uncertainty in his answers, Zhaun's smile broadens. "At least you have the seeds of doubt in your mind. So it's a start. Look, I'll just give you my contact ring if you decide to change your mind."

Zhaun took out a blue ring with his initial Z sign on it. 

Kasai looked over the ring and, after a moment of hesitation, took the ring off his hand. 

"Well then, I know how much you hate people overstaying their welcome." Zhaun began turning around already while talking. 

He gave one brief last look at Kasai, saying to him, "Later. Hopefully, you'll see my point." And with that, Zhaun flew off into the distant sky.

Kasai brought his gaze back down to the contact ring. He shoved it into his pocket as other various issues popped into his mind then. 

And the main issue that took priority over everything was finding Masami Kitsui.

But, at the same time, Kasai also wants to improve his own strength and strive to win in the Younger Generation Meeting. Not only to gain pride for himself but to also show that his so-called weakest Faction isn't what everyone thinks it is.

'Then again.it is her. And she's well.' Kasai fathoms that if Masami is there at New Branch City, she won't be troublesome at all to get. 

He also believed the tales that Masami's talent isn't so great at all.

And Kasai just knew there would be no way for her to break through to the Heavenly Transformation realm in such a short amount of time. 

At most, Kasai guessed it would just take a bit of his time to return Masami Kitsui home. With various thoughts like this swirling in his mind, Kasai went back into his house to ponder on everything. 

And several miles into the sky, hidden from everyone's view, one lone hooded robe figure had watched that entire exchange go down.