Chapter 941: Negotiations in the Sinkhole

Long Hao did not speak. For the past thousand years, the Yin Serpents had always treated humans who strayed into the depths of the archipelago as food. If "food" were to come and pay a visit, what would the Yin Serpents do? Naturally, they would accept it with a smile, at most patting their bellies and saying, "Thanks for the treat."

As for the King of the Yin Serpents, such a terrifying monster naturally held ordinary humans in contempt.

Only when He Lingchuan displayed his own power, directly alarming Long Hao who was lurking on Dragon Spine Island, did the two sides have a chance for an equal dialogue.

Therefore, faced with He Lingchuan’s sophistry, Long Hao was actually at a loss for words for a moment.

It could only get to the core issue as quickly as possible: "What do you want to talk about?"

"The Yangshan Archipelago is now in my possession. Where do you intend to go?"

"What is that supposed to mean!" The King of the Yin Serpents was so angry it laughed: "This archipelago was created by heaven and earth; how did it become your private property?"

"Heavenly blessed lands are occupied by those with virtue." He Lingchuan had heard from Zhu Xiuer that this was the catchphrase ancient immortals used when seizing treasures, and feeling it was quite excellent, he casually adapted it. "Why bother distinguishing who came first?"

The two sides pointed to different things, but in reality, they were talking about the same matter.

He Lingchuan was blunt: "As the master of the archipelago, I have the right to eradicate all scourges that prey on merchants or obstruct shipping routes, such as pirates, or you. Currently, the pirates in these waters have already submitted to me; as for you..."

For every few words he spoke, the King of the Yin Serpents swam a little closer, its form becoming increasingly massive in his field of vision, and the sense of oppression growing stronger.

There was even a faint gray mist emerging from the King of the Yin Serpents' mouth and nose, which was about to swirl around its entire body, but was directly absorbed by the divine bone necklace on He Lingchuan.

So this old fellow could also release and retract Yin malice. He Lingchuan’s heart stirred; no wonder some Yin Serpents were still able to survive.

Zhu Xiuer wanted to step forward to stop it, but He Lingchuan raised a hand to prevent her.

The King of the Yin Serpents swam until it was two zhang in front of He Lingchuan before stopping, looking down at him from above: "Eradicate us? Just by relying on you?"

It released its pressure, and even He Lingchuan felt his ears and eyes stifle. The strength of this big guy seemed to be even above his estimation.

An ordinary person would probably have been trembling and kneeling long ago, but He Lingchuan had seen quite a few ancient spirit creatures, and the bulk of the Zu Ju was even larger than Long Hao’s. Therefore, he even smiled at the other party and said:

"However, Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life, and I do not wish to kill them all. If you can restrain the Yin Serpents from harming people anymore, I can consider designating the cave area at the southwest end of Dragon Spine Island for you to inhabit."

He had originally hoped that the Yin Serpent clan could move to other islands, but seeing the white bone chain on Long Hao, this plan had to be adapted.

The King of the Yin Serpents was startled. Compared to total extermination, He Lingchuan’s request was not too strict, but rather too lenient.

Originally, the places covered by Yin malice were the Yin Serpents' domain of activity. But because Long Hao itself was trapped on Dragon Spine Island, the Yin Serpents' base camp was naturally set on Dragon Spine Island; although its offspring would usually roam everywhere, most still lived on this island.

Dragon Spine Island was very large; even just a corner of the southwest could easily accommodate tens of thousands of Yin Serpents; furthermore, its offspring had already died in large numbers, and those remaining were all strong, but limited in quantity.

The southwest cave area was originally the terrain most suitable for the Yin Serpents to live in.

He Lingchuan continued: "I can take away the Yin malice from all the other islands. To be honest, you don’t have much room for choice."

Without Yin malice, there would naturally be no Yin Serpents.

The King of the Yin Serpents said grimly: "Humans cannot absorb Yin malice; you must have borrowed some kind of magic treasure! I will kill you and take the magic treasure, and the Yin Serpent disaster will be solved on its own!"

"Even if I have a magic treasure, it is not the only one. If you kill me, my companions will naturally collect all the Yin malice on Dragon Spine Island and avenge me!" He Lingchuan dared to come because he had thought through all the stakes.

"Then I will hunt down your companions, killing them as many as come!"

"Is that so?" He Lingchuan had long seen through its bluster. If the King of the Yin Serpents did not intend to make concessions, why would it want to negotiate with him?

At this negotiation table, the chips in both sides' hands were simply not equal. "Do you want to try, at the cost of your clan’s extinction, how many companions I have and how many magic treasures I possess? Try and see whether your clan is wiped out first, or my companions are killed off first?"

No matter how powerful the King of the Yin Serpents was, it was currently bound by the bone chain. What it could command were merely the Yin Serpents that had struggled to survive.

If He Lingchuan had been somewhat uneasy before descending into the sinkhole, he was now completely at ease.

The King of the Yin Serpents stared at him, its mouth making a huffing sound like a giant bellows being pulled. Its neck bulged, as if it were about to spew flames the next second.

No matter what it spewed out, Zhu Xiuer did not think He Lingchuan could easily handle it.

She subconsciously wanted to step forward, but as soon as her hooked claws moved, He Lingchuan’s hand behind his back gestured to her: Don’t move!

"If I wanted to eradicate the Yin Serpents and dig up their roots, I would only need to come and collect the Yin malice the day after the earth veins erupt. If this repeats a few times, how many of your offspring will remain, and how long can you hold out yourself?"

In fact, He Lingchuan had planned it this way from the beginning; what harm was there in getting rid of monsters born from the turbid qi of the earth? It was only until Min Tianxi brought out the Heavenly Integrity Scroll, explaining that the Yin Serpents had intelligence and could communicate with humans, that he changed his plan.

If they could communicate, there was a chance for negotiation.

His words were very sincere and peaceful: "I am offering you a glimmer of survival, but it is fleeting. Please grasp it well, and do not mistake my mercy for weakness."

The King of the Yin Serpents stared at him without blinking, as if trying to see through his thoughts.

No matter how powerful it was, if it could only absorb Yin malice for one day every seven days, and had to struggle through the remaining six, how could such a life be lived?

There were once so many immortals in the world who could move mountains and fill seas; wasn’t it because the spiritual energy declined that they ended in gloom?

Without the nourishment of the Yin malice, how much better could the King of the Yin Serpents be than them? Even if it could survive, what about its offspring? Would they be left alone until death?

This human was not wrong about one thing: if he wanted to exterminate the Yin Serpents, he only needed to come and collect the Yin malice the day after the earth veins erupted; there was no need to risk coming to the island to meet it.

But human hearts are unfathomable; did he really come with good intentions?

He Lingchuan reached into his bosom and took out a brocade box, opening it.

With the help of the daylight, both sides could see white sand placed in the box, and inside the sand were rows of gray-black crystals the size of chestnuts, neat and tidy, at least thirty or forty of them.

The King of the Yin Serpents’ pupils widened; could that be? He Lingchuan placed the box on the ground, and another small Yin Serpent swam over, picked up the box, and held it up in front of the King of the Yin Serpents.

The King of the Yin Serpents grabbed a handful of black crystals and spread them in its palm, the fine sand leaking out from between its fingers.

It observed them carefully without blinking.

These things looked like black glass, but there was a mass of thick ink in the center that was impossible to see through.

"Malice Pearls?" The King of the Yin Serpents’ voice was full of shock, "These were condensed from malice? What kind of divine artifact could accomplish this?"

(End of chapter)