Cao Yun inspected Shaxin for quite some time. Although his eyes were on the old man, his senses were examining everyone. There was clearly some killing intent, but it wasn't directed at him. After just arriving here, Cao Yun couldn't understand everything, but he could still tell there was a power struggle. Apparently, this old man was the one coming out on top at the moment. Since he seemed sincere in his desire to negotiate, Cao Yun had no reason to intervene.
"The Ancient Obsidian tribe has brought emissaries to discuss terms with your Raging Volcano tribe. There is no reason that your tribe cannot survive and even prosper. Lead the way."
Shaxin led Cao Yun and the emissaries of the Ancient Obsidian tribe into a large building. Clearly, this was Rong Shan's war council. Only a handful of ministers were there, accompanied by several scholars who were ready to work on documents. In fact, they had already been working on interesting documents. Despite their attempts to hide them, Cao Yun could tell that they had been drafting a condemnation of the Ancient Obsidian tribe. They had planned to denounce them as traitors of all the Flameborns. Of course, Cao Yun wasn't surprised in the slightest.
If the Raging Volcano tribe could get the support of the Fire Thearch, many other tribes could come to their rescue and crush the Ancient Obsidian tribe for them. Honestly, so long as Cao Yun was in the Ancient Obsidian tribe, this wasn't a problem at all, as he could literally obliterate any Flameborn there. Besides, the Flameborns were limited in their cultivation, so they truly had no chance at all. Before the Sun-Severing Spear, their understanding of the Dao of Fire would be useless to them. At least, unless they were able to break free from the Broken Fire World, they couldn't surpass the Sun-Severing Spear. And not a single one could.
Unfortunately, Cao Yun didn't want to remain in the Ancient Obsidian tribe for a very long time.
For a moment, Cao Yun wondered if it was a good idea to send this condemnation. After all, it would bring all the most aggressive tribes to the doorstep of their own slaughter. However, Cao Yun hadn't come here with the prospect of eradicating thousands if not millions of Flameborns. Moreover, they wouldn't all come at the same time. If Cao Yun started slaughtering them all when they entered the Ancient Obsidian tribe's territory, they could simply lay siege to the tribe, and things would quickly go out of hand.
As long as it was possible to solve problems through diplomacy, Cao Yun would attempt it. For that, he couldn't look weak, though. Thankfully, the politicians with Cao Yun were competent.
It took four days.
During the negotiations, Cao Yun was mostly a figurehead, here to show his strength and domineering presence. However, he also tried to erase his presence as much as he could without literally disappearing before the Raging Volcano tribe. Unless it was necessary, Cao Yun was almost transparent. Indeed, he didn't want to become a hindrance for the negotiations as an outsider. He let the Flameborns negotiate.
As it turned out, Cao Yun was quite impressed with Shaxin. Although Cao Yun was not an expert at politics, he had still learned quite a lot as a sect leader. The terms weren't very good for the Raging Volcano tribe, but Shaxin had been able to discreetly put in a few clauses that would help his tribe tremendously. At the end of the four days, the Raging Volcano tribe wasn't in any good position, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Moreover, Shaxin had been able to save the future of his tribe. What truly impressed Cao Yun was that Shaxin had clearly bet on the success of the Ancient Obsidian tribe. He had intertwined his tribe's prosperity with that of the Ancient Obsidian tribe.
The Raging Volcano tribe had lost ownership over large areas of its territory, not just the territory it had tried to steal from the Ancient Obsidian tribe. However, Shaxin had been able to retain many rights to a lot of those lands. Even now, the Raging Volcano tribe could come and go as they pleased on those lands without paying any major tribute. That wasn't very good for Shaxin's tribe, but that also meant that the Ancient Obsidian tribe would fight to protect those lands. Shaxin had also tried to give them lands that bordered other tribes. Most likely, he wanted to instigate problems, but the emissaries of the Ancient Obsidian tribe were always able to spot it and reject it. What they didn't realize was that all those were just diversions to distract them from other clauses Shaxin was able to add.
The Raging Volcano tribe had been able to save most of its autonomy, but it would go to battle to protect the Ancient Obsidian tribe. In return, the Ancient Obsidian tribe would also fight for the Raging Volcano tribe if they were attacked without being the aggressors themselves. Currently, it clearly benefited the weaker tribe, but it might change rather fast. Along those terms, the Raging Volcano tribe would send warriors and hunters to help the Ancient Obsidian tribe train the warriors and prepare their tribe. Shaxin was able to make sure that it applied in both directions. Shaxin would send men and resources to help maintain the Ancient Obsidian tribe and its forces. However, the opposite might also happen in specific circumstances.
Honestly, it was subtle at first, but Shaxin pushed and pushed. Sometimes he diverted the attention of the emissaries with other matters in order to obtain what he wanted. Although he had not known them, Shaxin was able to figure out the emissaries very quickly. Even Cao Yun was impressed by it. To be fair, most of his clauses didn't bother the Ancient Obsidian tribe emissaries because they didn't even think that their tribe would be powerful enough to actually support Shaxin's tribe one day. As such, Shaxin had more faith in Cao Yun and the Ancient Obsidian tribe than the very emissaries of the tribe.
Only twice did Cao Yun have to intervene. Each time he was very subtle.
Shaxin became too emboldened. As he tried to obtain something that was far too excessive after hours and hours of negotiations, he suddenly felt a terrifying force over his entire body. A cold sensation froze his mind. Even though it only lasted an instant, he felt as though he had spent an eternity in ice. It was as if he had been naked with a freezing wind threatening to blow away his life fire. This was genuinely terrifying. No one else even noticed, but Shaxin knew for a fact that Cao Yun was behind it. The young-looking man was clearly an old monster from fairy tales. Ironically, these two instances made Shaxin try to bind the fate of his Raging Volcano tribe to the Ancient Obsidian tribe even more.
Finally, they got to a point that truly interested Cao Yun: the spots for the Pillar of the End of the World. If somehow the Fire Thearch gave any number of spots to either the Ancient Obsidian tribe or the Raging Volcano tribe, the very first spot would go to the Ancient Obsidian tribe. Then, the other spots would be equally distributed among the two tribes. Unfortunately, there was very little chance of that happening.
The Fire Thearch would choose tribes to receive five spots, so that the spots didn't all go to the four major tribes. He could also give two spots to specific individuals within those tribes or completely different tribes. Technically, those two spots could be given to absolutely anyone, even demons, for that matter. Obviously, the Fire Thearch would never do that. Besides, he tried to spread the spots around and to make sure all the tribes could have a chance of winning a spot from time to time. From Cao Yun's perception, the Fire Thearch tried to be fair in order to maintain the cohesion of the Flameborns.
If somehow the Raging Volcano tribe or the Ancient Obsidian tribe obtained such a spot, Cao Yun would be able to use it. But he was currently aiming for the strength competition. At the same time, he wanted Yanzhen to join the Dao of Fire competition.
When the negotiations were over, the emissaries and the ministers alongside Shaxin all swore on their life fire. On the document, they put their personal seals using their very life fire. The conditions were now officially binding under the authority of the Fire Thearch. If anyone violated the terms of those documents, the other party could formally ask the Fire Thearch for justice. In that case, the Fire Thearch would publicly condemn the other tribe. Although he had no forces of his own, the major tribes, and all other tribes for that matter, would do everything to please him. They could literally subjugate any other tribe who disobeyed. The Fire Thearch had no power on his own, but his symbolic authority was powerful enough to move all the Flameborns in one direction without giving them any order.
-
Once the negotiations were done, Shaxin had to make the Raging Volcano tribe accept them. There was no doubt in Cao Yun's mind that it would not happen without violence. In fact, during the negotiations themselves, Cao Yun had sensed a few assassinations. Shaxin was conniving and ruthless. In the following weeks or months, there would clearly be tensions between both tribes. It wouldn't be surprising if Raging Volcano tribesmen even attacked Ancient Obsidian tribesmen. After all, without proof in the wilderness, a murder might as well be an accident. It wasn't easy to tell the difference between a Flameborn killed by a fire beast or by another Flameborn. However, Cao Yun was confident that Shaxin would do everything he could to control his tribe. And, honestly, Cao Yun wasn't worried. Shaxin knew what he was doing. Indeed, if he squeezed too hard, the tribe might rebel against him.
Cao Yun didn't want civil wars or any more conflicts. At the moment, Shaxin seemed to be the perfect candidate to maintain a semblance of peace and stability. In the long term, though, Shaxin might literally devour the Ancient Obsidian tribe from within. Sincerely, Cao Yun didn't really care. To be fair, the Ancient Obsidian tribe was mostly a stranger to him, apart from the few people he had taken a liking to. If the leadership were to change, it wouldn't really matter so long as the people weren't slaughtered for no reason. Cao Yun had given them an opportunity. Through Yanzhen and even the twins, he was going to give them more. But he wouldn't stay here to protect the tribe. After all, he had literally left his brothers behind, he certainly wouldn't stay here for those strangers.
After everything was done, Cao Yun wanted to go to the Weeping Summits, but it wasn't time yet. Thus, he decided to train with Yanzhen some more. Cao Yun walked around the Raging Volcano tribe using his 'Ashen Feather Seal'. No one was able to detect him at all. He studied the people, the warriors, the hunters. He literally read every book he could find and memorized all the movements, martial arts, and cultivation methods he could.
Although it was very interesting, it still felt very strange. There were contradictions between some methods. Even personal diaries about the Dao of Fire didn't agree with one another. Of course, the study of the Dao was a personal journey, but the differences were much more fundamental. At first, Cao Yun wondered if they were just caused by a lack of understanding of the various writers. However, it didn't seem to be the case.
Some wrote that the Dao of Fire was life itself, while others claimed that it was absolute destruction. Another expert presented Fire as peace and warmth while another described it as a hurricane of ferocity and savagery.
Each author had a different system. Sometimes, an author even changed systems while he was writing his diary. Studying the Dao, even just an aspect of the Dao, was obviously a very difficult endeavor. Honestly, Cao Yun was starting to doubt whether he would be able to understand the Dao of Fire, considering that even many Flameborns had a hard time comprehending it. More and more, Cao Yun understood why Red Calm had simplified the Dao of Fire. He had tried to create a system allowing him to master the foundations of the Dao of Fire without losing hope.
Cao Yun spent his time comparing notes and studying books. From time to time, he would also cultivate and spar with Yanzhen to test his ideas.
At last, he found an obscure book from a woman who had obtained a spot for the Pillar of the End of the World. Sadly, her diary was so old that many words had been lost and the ink itself had damaged the pages. It had been a long time since a member of the Raging Volcano tribe had obtained a spot. Or, at the very least, since someone had written about it. Thinking about it, it was taboo, so it wasn't surprising that someone hid their diary afterward.
Anyway, she didn't talk about her actual experiences in the Pillar of the End of the World except to say that it had been eye-opening and a miracle. The text was old enough that she mentioned how awestruck she had been by the expert from the Ancient Obsidian tribe she had seen there. She explained that she had seen several natures of the Fire. The Fire was formless and flowed like water. Like water, it could be calm and favor life at one moment, but then lash out and annihilate with intense ferocity the next. Fire and Water were two fundamental concepts of nature, very similar to Yin and Yang.
As she talked, the woman explained that she had met an expert from the Floating Ocean World. In her diary, she quickly explained their exchanges. Ironically, having a bit of understanding of the Dao of Water helped her improve her comprehension of Fire.