That was probably how it got its name.

The girl riding the Flowing Cloud Rainbow b.u.t.terfly could simply ride in one of the helicopters behind her, or take a personal vehicle, but the fact that she didn"t was to show off her mastery over her Magical Beast. Like Zhu Jiao, who owned Little Gold the Kirin, Song Ting Yu was one of those superbly skilled martial artists with enough strength, talent and fortune to tame a Magical Beast to be their familiars or pets.

In other words, the girl was making a statement of her strength and pedigree. Even if she didn"t, Luo Zhi Chang recognized her and knew of her highly revered status.

Even so, as a formality, the girl politely introduced herself.

"I am Song Ting Yu of the Martial Arts Alliance, and I request a meeting. Greetings to the elders of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. please allow me to enter your city for a discussion." The girl"s voice was soothing and pleasant, and despite being soft, was heard by everyone in the vicinity. They subconsciously relaxed when they heard her gentle tone.

Many of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect disciples, including Di Xuan, Tian Jian Hao and most males, looked as if they had been charmed, blushing uncontrollably and grinning just from listening to Song Ting Yu"s pleasant voice.
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"Song Ting Yu of the Martial Arts Alliance…" Luo Zhi Chang nodded heavily, having already recognized her. "Is your father, Alliance Chief Song Yu, doing well?"

"Many thanks for your concern. Father is doing well." Song Ting Yu offered a polite response.

"We have contacted our sect leader, and he will be with you shortly. For now, please follow us to the main hall."

Luo Zhi Chang glanced at Jing Wei, and the Blood Blades sentries backed off at their leader"s gesture. The First Great Elder then beckoned for Song Ting Yu to follow him. The girl disembarked from her Flowing Cloud Rainbow b.u.t.terfly gracefully and landed in the midst of the mesmerized outer sect disciples, who continued to ogle her.

"This way please."

"You are too kind."

As the beautiful figure of Song Ting Yu strolled across the courtyard of the broken main sect grounds, everyone stiffened. Particularly the men of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, their minds slipping into a haze of desire.

The girl had an excellent figure, and her face was so beautiful that it brought to mind legends of those women who brought entire countries to ruin. Never mind the inner sect and outer sect disciples, even the Great Elder and the six inner sect elders fell into a daze when they caught sight of her. Their faces reddening, they couldn"t help but be infatuated with her.

"The Martial Arts Alliance was at fault for allowing this to happen. We should have kept a closer eye and better control over our subordinate sects, and prevented this tragedy from ever occurring." Song Ting Yu bowed humbly, and for some reason all the men surrounding her suddenly felt a desire to protect her. "I have come personally to apologize, and to offer sufficient compensation and reparations for your losses. I also hope for your forgiveness."

"Perhaps you will be forgiven, but I hope you understand that we will find it hard to trust the Martial Arts Alliance from now on."

This time, it was Zi Shou De who spoke. He had descended partially from Flame Volcano to meet Song Ting Yu and her entourage halfway. The guards had already rappelled down from their helicopters to form some sort of honor guard behind her.

Zi Shou De was accompanied by his wife and a troop of Blood Blades martial artists. Unlike the other men in the courtyard, he seemed unaffected by Song Ting Yu"s charm. Probably because of Zi Da Ji"s presence and the fact that he was already married, but more likely because he had reached a high level of cultivation and could resist her otherworldly powers.

"Welcome to our Nine-Taiiled Fox Sect." Zi Shou De smiled bitterly. "I apologize for the lack of decorum, but as you"ve undoubtedly already observed, our sect is in pretty bad shape."

Song Ting Yu glanced at the ma.s.sive crater at the foot of Flame Volcano, which was slowly being filled by construction teams and imperial engineers, and then returned her gaze to Zi Shou De with a somber nod.

"Indeed. I apologize for the damage that your sect has received. If we were aware of the greediness and corruption that had spread through our subordinate sects…"

"Spare me the theatrics," Zi Shou De interrupted flatly as he returned to the main hall and took a seat. He gestured for Song Ting Yu to take a seat opposite him, and she complied. As her honor guard rearranged themselves to stand behind her, the sect leader of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect continued. "You know as well as I do that the truth is that someone ordered those subordinate sects to invade us. Instead of dancing around with lies and indulging in deception, why don"t you get straight to the point?"

"…" Song Ting Yu hesitated for a moment, taken aback. Then she regained her composure and smiled, lowering her head slightly. "Of course. I apologize for my rudeness. But I was telling the truth when I said that the Martial Arts Alliance would like to extend their apologies and offer reparations." She retrieved a tablet from her pink dress and offered it to Zi Shou De. "The Martial Arts Alliance is willing to pay two hundred million gold coins. If Nine-Tailed Fox Sect does not believe this to be sufficient, then we can negotiate further."

"Two hundred million gold coins!?" Di Xuan exclaimed in shock.

The expressions of Tian Jian Hao and the other outer sect discples also transformed, and their eyes gleamed excitedly. Even the Great Elder and six inner sect elders were taken aback by the tremendous amount, for two hundred million gold coins was practically equal to the annual Gross National Product of a small kingdom. Even if Nine-Tailed Fox Sect wasn"t lacking in wealth, that was still quite a substantial amount they couldn"t ignore.

The reparations offered by Martial Arts Alliance had clearly exceeded the imagination of Luo Zhi Chang and the others, and they were gaping at Song Ting Yu, not just because of her beauty but also the promises of unprecedented wealth.

Only Zi Shou De and his wife were not moved. They exchanged a glance, obviously suspicious of this overly generous offer.

"I a.s.sume that the Martial Arts Alliance will want something from us in return?" the sect leader of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect asked carefully. "Such as…returning to becoming a member? If that is the case, then no matter how much you offer us…"

"No, of course not. We understand that we have broken your trust because of the…incident previously." Song Ting Yu kept her head lowered and smiled in what seemed like a compliant manner. "All we ask is that you continue business with the Martial Arts Alliance as per normal…before that tragedy. My Martial Arts Alliance plans to order more products and weapons from Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Of course, these would be paid for separately."

"That goes without saying. It would be shortsighted of us to cut off all business relationships with the Martial Arts Alliance." Zi Shou De"s voice was somewhat tight, as if he was silently saying, "But that doesn"t mean we will trust you."

"I thank you for that." Song Ting Yu closed her eyes briefly, maintaining that submissive posture, before she finally raised her head. "There is one item we wish to purchase in particular."

"I knew it," Zi Da Ji muttered under her breath. Zi Shou De glanced at his wife, then nodded, as if to agree. The couple must have already discussed this before Song Ting Yu"s arrival. They knew this was inevitable.

Even so, Zi Shou De still had to go through the formalities. At least he wasn"t shouting lightly like the idiotic characters in Spirit Realm.

"And what item do you have in mind?"

"…the object called the Sunburst bomb." Song Ting Yu finally revealed her true intentions. "We are willing to pay ten thousand gold coins for each one. We will buy as many as you can produce." She smiled. "I trust you find this price reasonable?"

Everyone in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect snapped out of their stupor and exchanged wary looks with each other. From Song Ting Yu"s statement, they realized the real reason why Song Ting Yu had personally visited the sect. They also understood why the Martial Arts Alliance was so generous with their offers of compensation.

They wanted the Sunburst bombs. Any faction that possessed such a terrifying weapon would become a force to be reckoned with. Very few would possess the courage to challenge a faction capable of obliterating them with a single explosion.

"If we"re just talking about the price, then yes…your offer is probably reasonable." Zi Shou De nodded, and then he smiled in a sinister manner. "But the issue is that we are not willing to sell the Sunburst bombs."

Song Ting Yu momentarily lost her smile. However, she managed to maintain a calm façade, and nodded.

"Can I ask why?" she asked softly. "The demonic sects have become very active recently, and they are on the move. The Tian Sha Sect, in particular, is moving toward this region. A war with the demonic sects and evil martial artists is inevitable. The Sunburst bomb is a weapon that can turn the tides in our favor."

The Sunburst bombs had decimated ninety percent of the thirteen sects who came to invade us. And that was only with seven of them. Imagine if we had more…we could probably totally annihilate all the demonic sects who were rising up at this time of crisis. Not only that, we would probably stand on equal footing with the other nations and countries from overseas.

When they discovered that Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was currently the only one who possessed such a horrifying weapon, the Martial Arts Alliance had decided to obtain the Sunburst bombs at any cost. Of course, they originally intended to attain the method of manufacturing the Sunburst bombs, but Song Ting Yu was highly intelligent and knew that Nine-Tailed Fox Sect would never hand over the blueprint and a.s.sembly methods.

As such, she had avoided mentioning buying the blueprint and methods totally and instead chose a more diplomatic path. In this aspect, she was a diplomat par excellence and completely unrivaled in all of the Martial Arts Alliance.

Unfortunately, she did not expect to be rejected so forthrightly by Sect Leader Zi.

"You are right," Zi Shou De admitted. "The Sunburst weapon is a potent weapon." He smiled. "We will of course offer our a.s.sistance and deploy it at the request of the Martial Arts Alliance if you deem such a weapon necessary to fight the demonic sects."

"I am gratified to hear that, but I"m sure you"ll agree that everyone would rest easier if such a weapon is not monopolized by a single sect."

"Ah, of course. But it"s not the matter of the sect wanting to sell or monopolize it, you see." Zi Shou De chuckled. "The patent does not belong to us."

Song Ting Yu blinked at the unexpected development, but as intelligent as she was, she quickly caught on.

"That is correct." She nodded, recalling from the research she did. "I see…the patent belongs to the creator."

In other words, me.

Song Ting Yu straightened herself and steeled her gaze.

"So if I want to purchase the Sunburst bombs for the Martial Arts Alliance, the person I have to convince is the inventor of the Sunburst bombs…Fei Wu, correct? Then, do you mind if I speak to him directly?"

"If you think you can convince him, please go ahead and try."

Zi Shou De"s tone was flat and flippant. Except Zi Da Ji, all the members of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect – especially the male members – all turned to stare at him in astonishment.

They were thinking that as long as Song Ting Yu spoke face-to-face with someone, there existed no one in this world who could refuse her. Except that Zi Shou De had quite blatantly refused her, unaffected by her charm, so that wasn"t true.

Their concerns were valid, though. I was a guy, and I wasn"t Zi Shou De. I was weaker than him and less experienced, and thus I was more vulnerable to Song Ting Yu"s feminine charms. It was impossible for a guy like me to refuse her. Furthermore, the Martial Arts Alliance had offered a staggering sum of money, which would allow me and my family to be set for life, and still have a large fortune left over. For the sect, no doubt.

Everyone was probably right to think that way.

But for some reason, Zi Shou De didn"t seem to be concerned that I would fall for this beautiful girl"s honey trap. He merely smiled.

"Sect Leader Zi." Song Ting Yu bowed humbly once more. "I request permission to meet Fei Wu. Can you please tell me where he is?"

"You don"t need my permission to speak to Fei Wu." Zi Shou De chuckled. "Fei Wu is free to speak to anyone who wishes to speak to him. Of course, if he doesn"t want to talk to you…"

"…I understand." Song Ting Yu took a deep breath, and glanced around. "May I ask, where is he right now?"

"How would I know?" Zi Shou De shrugged nonchalantly. "The boy is ent.i.tled his privacy. It"s not like he has to report to me whenever he wants to go somewhere. I"m not even his dad."

Song Ting Yu blinked again, and then she nodded calmly. "In that case, do you mind if I wait here until he returns?"

"Sure. Do whatever you want." Zi Shou De rose from his seat, and he beckoned for one of the staff members. "Nan Gong Guan Jia, please see to it that our guests are accommodated."

"This servant obeys." A smartly dressed butler in a tuxedo with an eyegla.s.s placed a hand on his chest and bowed. He then led a squad of maids toward Song Ting Yu and her bodyguards. "This way, Miss. If there"s anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask us."

"Sure." Song Ting Yu smiled brilliantly, turning the charm on the gray-haired old man. "Telling me where Fei Wu is will be a start."

"I"m afraid I do not know," Nan Gong Guan Jia replied gamely. "Young Master Fei Wu is always busy and running about."

Song Ting Yu held back a small sigh. "Then please inform me when he returns."

"You"ll be among the first to know," Nan Gong Guan Jia a.s.sured her.

*

Unfortunately, I had no intention of returning to Nine-Tailed Fox Sect anytime soon. I was preparing for a mission for Wu Ling Academy, and had a bunch of stuff to do – which included catching up on my schoolwork.

The academic aspect of my school life was easy. I was always better with theory than I was with practical, which was why I always screwed up blacksmithing. I could remember Spirit Engraving theories, and fared better at that area, but when it came to actually forging a Spirit Artifact, I would screw up pretty badly.

"Ugh…"

After returning to my dormitory room, I began the arduous process of completing my homework. I was always a fast worker when it came to theory, though, so it didn"t take me too much time to complete my a.s.signments.

Right when I thought I could finally relax, I suddenly received a phone call.

"Elder Zhao?"

When I saw the phone number in my smartphone screen, I frowned and wondered what he wanted at this time of the night. Swiping my finger across the screen, I picked up the call and brought the phone to my ear.

"h.e.l.lo? Elder Zhao?"

"Fei Wu? Good, the call got through."

There was no reason for the call not to get through, unless for some reason I couldn"t receive any signal in my dorm room. I paused for a moment, listening to the tense voice on the other side of the phone.

"Do you need me for anything?"

"Ah, yes. Apparently the Martial Arts Alliance"s Song Ting Yu is looking for you. She is currently residing in the main sect grounds."

"Song Ting Yu? Who"s that?" my frown deepened. "And what does she want?"

"They want your Sunburst bombs." Elder Zhao quickly filled me in on what had transpired while I was at school. He included all the tempting deals that the Martial Arts Alliance offered. "They are willing to pay a high price for your invention."

"…I see." Unfortunately, I was not interested in money. That was why this story was not locked under Premium, and why the existences beyond the fourth wall could continue reading it for free without purchasing Spirit Stones. And also why I couldn"t be bothered with a *******. As hard as it might be for some of those more cynical readers to believe, not everything in this world had to be about money. As long as I earned enough, there was no need for me to greedily and desperately grab at every chance to obtain millions.

"Sect Leader"s stance is that the decision will be entirely up to you," Elder Zhao informed me solemnly.

"My stance has not changed," I replied. "I will not hand the Sunburst bombs over to the other sects, especially to people who just attacked us. We are not that naïve or stupid to give our most powerful weapon to a potential enemy. Plus these Sunburst bombs are probably the only thing giving us an advantage over the other sects and factions."

If I could see Elder Zhao right now, I would have seen him nodding. "I concur. But if we monopolize the Sunburst bombs, there will be an issue where the other sects will distrust us and suspect us of harboring sinister intentions."

"As long as we promise to help them fight the demonic sects and deploy the Sunburst bombs against a common enemy, they should have no complaints." I grinned. "And if they want to attack us with the excuse of us monopolizing weapons of ma.s.s destruction again…they are welcome to try."

"…heh." Elder Zhao chuckled. "All right then. I"ll let Sect Leader know, though he probably already antic.i.p.ated this."

Zi Shou De probably knew me too well. So did Zi Da Ji.

"All right. I"ll be counting on you then."

"One more thing." Elder Zhao stopped me before I could hang up. "Are you going to meet Song Ting Yu and tell her that directly? She"s right here, in the main sect grounds."

"Nah…" I shook my head, forgetting that Elder Zhao couldn"t see me. "There"s no need for me to meet her. Just convey to her my intentions. I"m busy at the moment, and I"m about to leave for a mission in a couple of days. I don"t have the time." I pondered for a moment. "Oh, and a.s.sure her that I will cooperate with the Martial Arts Alliance in the war against the demonic sects. With Sect Leader"s permission, of course."

"Consider it done."

As Elder Zhao hung up, I lowered my smartphone and sighed. Studying it for a moment, I snorted and tossed it on a bed.

"I knew it. The call was bugged."

From the very beginning, I had sensed the third presence eavesdropping on our conversation. Elder Zhao probably didn"t notice, but with my Heaven and Earth senses, I detected a slight aberration in the qi used to connect our calls together.

Someone had bugged Nine-Tailed Fox Sect"s line. And judging from the unfamiliar qi signature, I was highly certain that it belonged to this Song Ting Yu that Elder Zhao had mentioned. Also because I had read Spirit Realm and could somewhat guess what was going to happen.

Now it was only a matter of time before she figured out where I was, and come to Wu Ling Academy to pay me a visit…