Wen Moyuan didn't seem to register what his student had just said. He continued showing his enthusiastic self to both Mo Xingyao and Wei Chen.

Seeing the old man's excitement, Wei Chen couldn't help glancing at Mo Xingyao. He then took her hand and placed it on his lap.

Mo Xingyao was startled by his sudden initiative. She glared at him, her face slightly flushed, and secretly twisted the soft part of his upper leg.

Wei Chen gritted his teeth but forced himself to endure it as he quietly wrote on her hand:

{Follow the plan, don't be too greedy.}

Mo Xingyao snorted and ignored Wei Chen. She began speaking to Wen Moyuan in a polite tone.

"Senior Wen, what kind of price could you offer at the highest without hurting our relationship? May this junior hear it?" Mo Xingyao tested the waters. She didn't expect a direct answer. This was only to gauge Wen Moyuan's expression and see where his bottom line might lie.

Wen Moyuan thought hard, then a flash of determination passed through his eyes. Wei Chen immediately had a bad feeling.

"As the Grand Elder of the Unity Sage's Archive, I can grant you a spirit stone mine! No, a spirit stone mine and the right to enter the forbidden archive!" Wen Moyuan offered excitedly.

"Teacher!" The student quickly tried to nudge his teacher. This was too much. What Wen Moyuan offered was the entire bottom line the sect had agreed on. And he had revealed everything in the very first sentence. Who begins negotiations like this?

"It's a dea…!" Before Mo Xingyao could finish the word "deal," Wei Chen quickly covered her mouth with his hand. And he instantly paid the price.

"Awww aw aw awaw aw! Don't! Don't bite! Damn it! Were you born under the dog zodiac!?" Wei Chen cried out in pain before rushing to calm Mo Xingyao down.

If she agreed too quickly, the negotiation would start on the wrong foot, and the plan they had discussed would be ruined.

After a few minutes of calming both sides, Wei Chen and Wen Moyuan's student finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Ahem…" Mo Xingyao cleared her throat, trying to pull herself together after almost agreeing to that bottom line without thinking.

She also knew that if she started negotiations at that point, her goal of gaining more allies for the Sky-Severing Demon Valley would be ruined. But it couldn't be helped. The offer was extremely tempting. Fortunately, she stopped herself in time.

Wei Chen glanced at the money-grubbing girl from time to time, hoping she could get her act together.

Mo Xingyao gave a faint smile before she began. "Senior Wen, we appreciate your trust and dedication, but we don't need that much compensation."

Wen Moyuan's student side-eyed Mo Xingyao. If this money-grubbing demoness hadn't lost her cool a moment ago, this sentence would have been more believable.

Mo Xingyao noticed the side-eye but ignored it. If her face wasn't thick enough, she wouldn't be able to handle all the business and merchants she dealt with.

"We only need a few agreements from your side, and we will let you research the site with our support," Mo Xingyao said.

"Agreements?" Wen Moyuan repeated. He felt a bit nervous about the request. The Unity Sage's Archive held many secret records, including lost alchemy recipes and notes that even great alchemists could not replicate.

Was this girl going to ask for access to the archive? Or something even more forbidden? Wen Moyuan wondered nervously.

"First, you need to hire the local mortals to help at the site. There are 108 rooms, and each room records a different topic and history. We also need you to share your research with us. As for any artifacts you may find in the ruin, you may have the right to research them. We will lend them to you for no more than five years. You will also need to fill in the request forms for each artifact…" Mo Xingyao began her long string of requests.

These requests were based on how Earth handled ancient ruins. Researchers often hired local workers to help support the local economy. There would be more details later, such as how many members of the research team must be locals.

Then there was the use of artifacts, the shared research agreement, and similar policies.

When these ideas were implemented in this world, they sounded like lenient and benevolent policies. Every request Mo Xingyao made was aimed at nurturing a long-term partnership between the Sky-Severing Demon Valley and the Unity Sage's Archive.

There was even a long-term roadmap, such as turning the place into a tourist attraction, but that would require more research on its feasibility.

After all, this primordial ruin was not an acropolis. Unexpected things might happen.

The more realistic concern was whether the ruin could provide epiphanies to cultivators after research progressed.

If so, this ruin target customer could be said to be only cultivator and not mortal. And what cultivator in thsi world represent?

It's represent a top 1% elite population even if the poorest cultivator, a single spirit stone would have cost around 10 tael of gold if convert into mortal currency.

After hearing Mo Xingyao's requests, Wen Moyuan could hardly believe his ears. This money-grubbing girl only wanted them to hire locals, and all the other requests, such as sharing research results and borrowing artifacts, were extremely lenient toward their sect.

It was lenient to the point that Wen Moyuan wondered if there was a trap hidden somewhere in these clauses. But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't find any.

"Are you sure you only want this? We can also provide some monetary compensation during the research period. We just want to have a happy cooperation between us. We don't want to take advantage of you," Wen Moyuan said, unsure if he heard correctly.

This time, Wen Moyuan's student also agreed. Too many good conditions sounded suspicious. The deal seemed so favorable that it felt like a trap.

Mo Xingyao smiled. "In fact, there is more, but that will depend on the findings. We only hope to turn this place into a site others can visit. However, if your people discover that the records contain forbidden knowledge, we may need to make changes and renegotiate the terms."

"Of course, even then, the renegotiated terms will still favor the Unity Sage's Archive," Mo Xingyao concluded.

After listening to her explanation, Wen Moyuan found it very reasonable. Since the first clause required them to share their research with the Thousand Treasure Pavilion and the Sky-Severing Demon Valley, those two forces would naturally learn how the ruin worked and understand the risks of opening it to the public.

Since they were not experts in this field, it was better to let the Unity Sage's Archive handle the ruin and then share the research results with them later.

After giving it some thought, Wen Moyuan agreed.

"If that is the case, then we accept the requests of the Thousand Treasure Pavilion," Wen Moyuan said with a smile.

And with this, the first cooperation between the demonic path, the Sky-Severing Demon Valley, and the righteous path, the Unity Sage's Archive, began.

Even though the Unity Sage's Archive was not a sect known for combat, they held a vast amount of information and ancient records that most sects relied on them to decipher and preserve.

In truth, they were more like a group of researchers in the modern world than cultivators who killed and robbed for resources while walking a bloody path to the apex.

The two signed the contract and sealed their blood essence on it, and with that, the agreement was set in stone.

Each of them took their own copy of the contract. This time, Wen Moyuan was pleasantly surprised. Mo Xingyao's money-grubbing nature was well known, and he had come fully expecting to be taken advantage of. After all, they were the ones who had discovered the first-ever primordial ruin.

With the business concluded, Wen Moyuan could no longer contain his excitement. Even his students were thrilled by this opportunity. They quickly said their goodbyes to Mo Xingyao and hurried away, eager to bring this good news back to their sect.

…

After Wen Moyuan left, Mo Xingyao said to Wei Chen, "I hope your plan works and bears fruit. You don't know how hard it was for me to ignore that spirit stone mine. It's a spirit stone mine, you hear? Our Sky-Severing Demon Sect doesn't even have one under our control!" She complained, now regretting a little that she had refused the offer.

"C'mon, don't be like that. Control yourself a bit more. This will be better for you in the long run. At least, when there is a conflict between you and the righteous path, one of the righteous sects might help you. Even if they can't, at least they won't make things difficult for you."

"Hmph. I hope you're right." Mo Xingyao snorted.

Then her expression suddenly soured, and she looked at Wei Chen as if he were a scumbag.

Wei Chen frowned. What was wrong with this girl now?

"What?" he asked, confused at Mo Xingyao glare.

"Hmph, scumbag…" Mo Xingyao muttered before she quickly left the room, leaving Wei Chen alone in her study.

Wei Chen was confused. What was wrong with this girl this time?

He shrugged, and just as he was about to leave the study and return to his own room, he noticed a crumpled piece of paper in the small garbage bin. The strange thing was that the paper had a very pleasant fragrance on it, which drew his attention toward it.

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