The aderite ore mining fields were located in the very center between the Ashcort Clan, Whitecrest City, and Aderite City. At the top of one of the mountains, the Whitecrest City Leader and the Ashcort Patriarch were still carrying out their discussions.
"Given that the new city leader killed the old city leader quite easily, we must assume that his strength is above that of the previous city leader," the Whitecrest Leader spoke out. "However…" the man paused as he inspected the Ashcort Patriarch. "I don't think that will be a problem. I see you have made progress in your cultivation recently."
The Ashcort Patriarch smiled as he heard this.
"Indeed I have. After three hundred years, I have finally reached the Meridian Forging Realm," the Patriarch replied.
The Whitecrest City Leader's cultivation was at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, and he was nearly ready to break through to the Meridian Forging Realm as well.
"It appears that soon, I won't be the only one in the Meridian Forging Realm," the Ashcort Patriarch replied as he inspected his counterpart. He could tell that the Leader of Whitecrest City had an incredible firm cultivation at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, and was just about to break through.
"Indeed," the Whitecrest City Leader replied with a smile on his face. "In a few weeks, or at most a few months, I should be able to ascend to Meridian Forging as well."
The Patriarch waved his hand to a nearby servant who was standing by. The servant walked towards the table, with a small jug in hand.
"Please, accept some of my wine," the Patriarch said as the servant began to pour some wine.
The Whitecrest City Leader frowned for a moment as he inspected the wine. His actions caused the Patriarch to smile in amusement at the man's caution.
"Inspect it all you want, it's not poisoned."
After a brief inspection, the Whitecrest City Leader confirmed as much, and grabbed the cup of wine.
"With our new ascensions in power, I propose a new alliance between our two powers," the Ashcort Patriarch spoke out.
The Whitecrest Leader's eyebrows raised, as an intrigued look appeared on his face. "An alliance? Go on."
"Too long have we been forced to live near the border lands due to our weak power. We get the least amount of natural Qi in these areas, as well as other resources. We were pushed out here because we could not fight back, but now things have changed. I propose an alliance between our two powers, so that we may conquer some of the surrounding powers and expand our domain," the Ashcort Patriarch proposed.
The Whitecrest Leader's face lit up as he heard this. He relished in war and conquest, but unfortunately was too weak to do so. However, with both him and the Ashcort Patriarch in the Meridian Forging Realm, their power would be enough to dominate the nearby powers and assume control over them.
The stronger sects and clans, such as the Bloodfiend Sect, turned a blind eye to such activities. As long as the conflicts between the weaker powers did not interfere with their supply chains, such as the aderite ore exports, they wouldn't care how many wars were breaking out in their lands. In fact, they encouraged it, as in their eyes, war would only serve to strengthen the strong and eliminate the weak.
"I accept," the Whitecrest Leader replied quickly. He raised his cup of wine towards the Ashcort Patriarch, "To our new alliance. May our conquests be swift and brutal."
The Ashcort Patriarch smiled and raised his wine cup towards his counterpart. They both then downed their wine, a sign of the alliance forged.
The Ashcort Patriarch set his winecup down, and spoke out once more.
"Our first order of business is to kill the Aderite City Leader and bring the city into our fold. Based on your history with the city, I will allow you to assume leadership of it, and my clan will take over the next power we conquer" the Ashcort Patriarch said. "However, killing the Aderite City leader will be left to me. I want to watch the man who killed my son suffer before he dies."
"Deal," the Whitecrest Leader replied with a smile. This deal was more than he could have hoped for, and dreams of expanding his domain already swelled within the Whitecrest Leader's mind.
The Ashcort Patriarch turned to Crant at his side. "Begin the logistical preparations for our plans."
Crant nodded his head, and was about to stand when...
Boom!
A loud boom suddenly sounded out from outside the building, as the building began to slightly shake.
"What's going on?" the Ashcort Patriarch spoke out with a frown.
"Its most likely one of the idiot miners have triggered an Aderite explosion," Crant replied with an angry tone.
Aderite was quite sensitive to Qi, and would explode when coming into contact with too much of it. This was the reason why primitive mining methods were used for aderite ore.
"I'll go handle it," Crant stated.
Boom!
Another explosion rocked the mountainside, causing the Patriarch and Whitecrest Leader to frown. They detected the Qi signature of an attack in that last explosion.
"Who would dare to attack my Ashcort Clan?" the Patriarch raged out loud as he stood up and strode out of the main hall. The Whitecrest City Leader followed behind closely, ready to help his new forged ally.
The group strode out of the building, and noticed two new craters formed into the mountainside below, clearly the result of an attack. They scanned the area with their divine senses, and their heads quickly turned upwards to the sky.
Several hundred yards above them, two men stood in the sky. One was a middle aged man, and the other a young boy with blonde hair, clad in a blood red robe. The boy looked down on the group with a smile.
"It seems as if the intel I received was correct. I've run into both the Ashcort Patriarch, as well as the Leader of Whitecrest City in the same location. This will save me quite a bit of time," John spoke out in an amused tone.
"What is the meaning of this? Why would a Bloodfiend Disciple attack my clan?" the Ashcort Patriarch asked in an angered tone.
He instantly recognized the robes as belonging to the Bloodfiend Sect, and a bad premonition crept into his mind. However, the cultivation of the youth before him was at the Late Core Formation Realm, and so he did not have to fear the youth himself, only the sect standing behind him.
However, the sect was thousands and thousands of miles away, and wouldn't most likely not do anything to aid a single disciple so far away.
John smiled as he heard this, and quickly replied.
"What am I doing? I'm here to reclaim the aderite mines that belong to my Aderite City."