The patriarch of the Black Bones sect said with a gloomy tone, "Your offer is tempting. I will take it and stop fighting as long as you give me one of you."
The leader of the Red and Blue Fire sect asked with a frown, "What do you mean, one of us?"
The zombie avatar narrowed its eyes and said, "I mean one of you six. I want a nascent soul cultivator of your sect."
He pointed to the newest patriarch among them and said, "Give me that weak one. You won't miss her absence."
The faces of the six patriarchs of the Red and Blue Fire sect fell when they heard what the zombie said. Their leader replied swiftly, "No. We are not going to give up one of us."
The zombie said, "What if I promise to help you fight the Purple Flower sect and claim their secret realm?"
The leader replied curtly, "Still no."
The zombie thought about it and changed its request. It said, "Fine, give me one at the peak of the fourth mortal coil. You have more than 50, so you won't miss the loss of one. If you give it to me, I won't oppose you anymore."
What he asked for was not outrageous anymore. But the leader still said, "No. We will not give up the lives of any of us. Our offer was to prevent the loss of lives, not to facilitate it."
He made this decision because if word got out that they sold one of their golden core juniors for the secret realm, the morale of their people would take a hit, and their reputation as a sect would be ruined. Besides, there was the matter of pride.
They don't want to give up anyone to a group of people that they could defeat. They were only making the offer to buy the Purple Flower sect's secret realm in order not to waste time and to avoid bloodshed, not because they were afraid.
And finally, they didn't want to give the patriarch of the Black Bones sect the opportunity to gain access and control of their Red and Blue Life Fire. They don't know if it is possible for a corpse to wield the Life Fire, but they are not going to risk it.
The zombie didn't like that he was rejected. But he only sneered and said, "Be that way. Choose to be difficult even though it will do you no good. I'll still want what I want at the end of the day. Let us see how you will protect every golden core cultivator of your sect when we fight."
When the old patriarch of the Sword Way sect saw that the patriarch of the Black Bones had failed to secure a deal and was hell bent on fighting, he sighed and said, "What a shame."
He was sighing because three of the five of them now oppose the deal. This means that the deal can't go through anymore. He is not like the patriarch of the Black Bones sect, who can disregard his whole sect and turn on his neighbors just to get a corpse of the Red and Blue Fire sect.
He is old and will die soon. What he wants to do now is secure the future of his sect, not endanger it. So if three of his neighbors want to fight, he will have to fight.
The old patriarch of the Beast Bones sect also recognized this reality. So he said, "It seems that we have to fight."
The leader of the Red and Blue Fire sect didn't try to persuade them at all. His face was stern as he said, "Indeed. It seems we must fight."
He had made an offer in good faith and sincerity. It was certain to him that his sect would win this war and get the secret realm. But he didn't want to offend his neighbors too much during the process.
He wanted to start off on the right foot with bus neighbors. But they chewed up his offer and spat it right in his face.
He has been insulted and disrespected by many people in his life. For many of those insults, he had to bear them quietly. But no country bumpkin has ever disrespected him and lived to tell the tale. And today won't be the day for it.
He turned around with a scoff and said to the other five, "Let's go. We shouldn't have come here to offer them a deal at all. It is like throwing gems at swine."
He could have been silent with what he said, but he made sure to say it loudly for the people of the Five Veins region to hear. He was clearly very angry at the outcome of the negotiation.
The patriarchs of the Red and Blue Fire sect left in an angry huff. This meant that the war was truly going to happen. The patriarchs of the five sects quickly informed their people to be ready for fighting to begin at any moment.
The war began with the people of the Red and Blue Fire sect bringing out various armored vehicles equipped with ranged weapons. These armored vehicles possessed artillery such as mortars, cannons, rapidly firing guns, and even rockets.
The armored vehicles themselves were large metal objects the size of houses. They had many floors, with each floor holding several types of artillery.
The one at the front had ten floors. So it was more of a fortress on wheels than a vehicle. And the amount of guns and their variety made Arthur's eyes sparkle in awe.
These mobile fortresses were carrying troops that would be deployed as infantry and scouts. The mobile fortresses also carried other troops whose job was to operate the guns, defend the fortress from being hijacked, and maintain the operation of the fortress.
So not only were the fortresses mobile gun warships, but they were also troop carriers. To top things off, some of them were also aircraft carriers.