PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Unable to resist his curiosity Miao Taolong had to give an exasperated sigh as he realized that he had completely lost control of the conversation before replying: ” although it pains me to admit it, the prospect of marriage with my daughter pales in comparison to what you offer... but it seems that that is not all you have ”

Although it was Mei Fei Long’s turn to interfere in the conversation: “Sect Master with all due respect, I’m afraid you’re wrong.”

Directing his attention to this woman who was affectionately holding her daughter’s hand, Miao Taolong looked forward to the next words that would come from the lips of Mei Fei Long whom he had previously investigated.

“Miao Xiauyue is worth a thousand of those alchemy books,” Mei said proudly causing Xiauyue to blush up to her cheeks.

Desmond on the other hand had a very similar reaction to Miao Taolong’s father, both men rolled their eyes and directly ignored this couple of people in love, and continued their conversation.

Taking the sheet of paper in his hand and placing it on the table, Desmond revealed a fairly well-mapped hand-made map showing the landscape of the mountainous region of a thousand beasts.

The map was quite detailed and showed certain regions of the mountain range better defined than the rest showing that the person who made the map had not had the opportunity to fully explore the mountainous region.

But Miao Taolong noticed more than the map-making skills involved in the sheet of paper, as four quite conspicuous marks pointing to four points on the map that curiously was in the vicinity of four of the five sects that bordered the huge mountain range.

.....

Unfortunately, that was all that Miao Taolong could say about the map as he lacked other signs or descriptions to inform him of the meaning of the marks so he could only resort to asking the man with the mocking smile in front of him.

“Do you really have to make me ask?” Exasperated Miao Taolong asked.

Noticing Miao Taolong’s annoying tone, Desmond didn′t dare to continue playing and explained: “What we have here can be considered a backup insurance or an incentive, on this map the location of four mineral veins quite rich in resources is detailed.”

Looking at the map again, Miao Taolong noticed the enormous extent of the so-called mineral veins indicated on the map and if Desmond was right, the value of any of these mineral veins was enough to give a huge boost to the resources of any sect.

That was precisely the problem, with only the alchemy manual on the table, there was already enough material to negotiate with the sects so that it would put the marriage issue aside without incurring their anger, hence the fact of putting another object like this on the table, it hinted that Desmond hoped to use it for something else.

Unable to intuit Desmond’s intentions by showing the map, Miao Taolong fell silent, refusing to ask about it, not wanting to see the mocking smile on Desmond’s face.

Little did he know that Desmond had no intention of continuing to be mysterious and instead kept silent due to his injuries causing him quite a bit of discomfort when speaking so he was trying to maintain a carefree expression as he tried to overcome this spike in pain before he speaks.

“Of course, this map does not come without a price and the price is quite related to the number of mineral veins” Desmond explained with his expression just showing a slight hint of discomfort that confused Miao Taolong.

Ignoring the brief lapse in Desmond’s expression, Miao Taolong focused on the detail mentioned by the young man in front of him.

“The number of mineral veins... the location of the mineral veins... there is no mineral vein found near the bloody scorpion sect... the same sect you plan to use as a scapegoat for the murder of Feng Sho... insurance and incentive ... An incentive... wait... you can’t be serious? ” Miao Taolong slowly analyzed the information that he had obtained from Desmond so far but by the time it came to the end Miao Taolong was unable to believe that that was Desmond’s plan.

“Isn’t this the perfect opportunity? Many of its high-level members are currently within the confines of our sect, with the right pretext and incentives the other sects will not hesitate to help us deal with them; then the war will come. I doubt that with its main leaders dead, the bloody scorpion sect will be able to give a great fight against the four sects together, the rest will be to share the benefits of the war. “As if it were the simplest thing in the world Desmond pronounced the word war leaving Xiauyue and Mei wide-mouthed in disbelief.

“I understand that we need a scapegoat as a pretext to make a move against my second brother’s faction, but I’ve long wondered why to involve the bloody scorpion sect in all of this and now go as far as starting a war.” Understanding Desmond’s reasoning, Miao Taolong was forced to voice his doubts.

But the one who answered was not Desmond but Mei Fei Long who looked briefly at Miao Taolong before looking at Desmond with complicated emotions: “He probably does it for me, isn’t it?”

Looking back at Mei Fei Long, the sect master asked directly with a slightly commanding tone that he didn′t use when speaking to Desmond: “What do you mean?”

Not entirely affected by the tone used by the sect master, Mei responded with a respectful tone that did little to hide the emotions reflected on the honest personality girl’s face: “The bloody scorpion sect is responsible for the extermination. of my clan, something that I recently discovered, Desmond is probably trying to use our sect and anything at his disposal to help me complete my revenge; probably as a parting gift... isn’t it? ”

Showing a wry smile Desmond replied with a helpless expression: “Did you notice?”

Mei Fei Long replied, “Of course I realized, it’s the way you’ve been behaving lately, the way you talk, and what you’re doing right now; you get ready to leave ”

Mei Fei Long’s words not only caused a look of interest to arise at Miao Taolong but also caused Miao Xiauyue to look in surprise in Desmond’s direction upon learning that the latter was planning to leave.

Not wanting to talk about the issue at hand Desmond interrupted the flow of the conversation by continuing his explanation of his motives for attacking involving the bloody scorpions: “Mei Fei Long is not wrong, my main reason for starting a war against those idiots is As revenge for the annihilation of the Long clan, but it is also a matter of convenience, the martial arts tournament organized to compete for Miao Xiauyue’s hand turns out to be one of the few occasions when the rest of the sects are held close on friendly terms and it also turns out to be the perfect opportunity to participate in an alliance... with such a good opportunity, it would be a shame not to start a war ”

Needless to say, everyone in the room was speechless as Desmond spoke so nonchalantly about starting a war as if it were something he did on a whim.

But Miao Taolong saw beyond that, as nonchalant as Desmond’s speech might seem, nothing in it was taken lightly, from the excuse to the scapegoat, it didn’t matter if any of these were full of inconsistencies or flaws, with the things Desmond was using as insurance, it hardly took any reason for various sects to go to war.

After all, war was something quite common in this world, and sometimes very little was needed to start a war, Desmond knew it, and perhaps the only reason he bothered with such an elaborate plan to start a war was to avoid unexpected variables in later stages and to secure an alliance with the rest of the sects to attack the bloody scorpion sect altogether.

Miao Taolong understood that, he understood that with the things promised by Desmond the rest of the sects would not hesitate to go to war, especially if it was a war whose victory was assured and the rewards would be abundant; it was just as Desmond had said... This was such a perfect opportunity to start a war that it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.

As for his second brother’s faction? Once all this started, Miao Taolong would have the reasons and the backing on his side and it would be no problem dealing with this troublesome brother of him.

Unfortunately, there was still a problem that had not been solved by Desmond’s plans and that was the fact that the martial arts tournament by Xiauyue’s hand had been made public so he could not simply cancel it or it would tarnish Miao′s family as well as Miao Xiauyue’s name.

And to Miao Taolong’s annoyance, when he expressed his doubts to Desmond, the latter looked at him as if he were the most stupid person in the world when he said with a slightly annoyed tone: “In that case, you just have to carry out the tournament while you argue and conspire with the rest of the sects to attack the bloody scorpion sect; the tournament will, of course, be won by Mei Fei Long ”

Resisting the urge to slap the man in front of him, Miao Taolong looked at the girl who was still holding her daughter’s hand and asked with deadly seriousness, “Do you think you can win?”