Chapter 665: Open Conspiracy

"Imagine this—you've accomplished some grand heroic feat of slaying evil, defending your Dao, and upholding justice. You want to announce it to the world immediately..."

Chu Liang smiled at the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten delegations seated in the front rows, then he shifted his gaze toward those in the back rows.

"Envision being in the same circle as the elites of the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten and being able to immediately see what they're saying and find out what they're doing within the first moments of them sharing the news...

"Perhaps you admire a young man, and you want to meet up with him, but you're too shy to ask about his location... Or you're fond of a young woman, and you want to ask her out on a date, but you don't know what she likes..."

"You can resolve all of those issues within the Circle of Immortal Friends," Chu Liang said in a very inviting tone. "In our first batch, we have tokens for several thousand members, but the tokens won't be sold to the general public. These will be gifted exclusively to our friends in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten.

"However, today I've brought one hundred tokens for the auction. My dear family of cultivators, this is my gift of consideration for you! For just one hundred sword coins, you can gain access to the Circle of Immortal Friends...

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! How many of you are interested? Raise your hand and let me see. If more than one hundred hands go up, we'll start the bidding!"

Chu Liang totally took over the stage with his enticing words. Everyone present felt tempted, already envisioning the wonderful scenes of being part of Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten's inner circle.

"The Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten..." Huyan Bin muttered. "When the time comes, let's boycott this thing together."

"It's pointless," Yang Yuhu replied, shaking his head. "Chu Liang has extensive connections. Many of his friends are now key figures in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten. He'll be able to gather the support of most of those sects. If you boycott ignorantly, you'll just end up excluding yourself from the circle."

"So we just let him spread this thing around?" Huyan Bin understood Yang Yuhu's reasoning, but he viewed the issue from a different perspective. "If this spreads, it will be even harder for us to compete with Red Cotton Peak."

"Shouldn't you be figuring out how to create something similar... or even better?" Yang Yuhu replied. "No matter who controls it, having a messaging enchanted tool that is capable of accommodating thousands of people is a massive advantage."

Huyan Bin fell silent.

He's right. Why haven't I done the same?

Was it because Huyan Bin didn't want to? No, it was because he couldn't.

Messaging enchanted tools were derived from divine arts involving the soul domain. The righteous immortal sects lagged behind the Dark King Sect in this area. However, the Dark King Sect was a diabolical sect after all. That was probably why they were able to experiment more freely, resulting in such rapid progress.

Chu Liang and his group had utilized the Dark King Sect's advancements and made their own improvements on the enchanted tool, placing them far ahead of the competition. As for how they got their hands on the Dark King Sect's messaging enchanted tool—well, that was a long story...

In any case, much of what made Red Cotton Peak a leader in the commercial industry were the business models they used. Business models could be copied easily, but this new innovation was something with technical barriers. It wasn't something that could be replicated at the drop of a hat.

Nevertheless, Yang Yuhu didn't feel anxious about that. He fiddled with the token that was vibrating constantly in his hand.

Then he smiled and remarked, "This thing is pretty interesting."

Chu Liang spent quite a while taking in bids for the Circle of Immortal Friends Tokens, eventually selling all one hundred of them. There was little competition for the tokens at the start, but as the available tokens dwindled, the bidding war intensified.

In the end, the one hundred tokens sold for nearly thirty thousand sword coins—a considerable sum. On average, each token fetched over two hundred sword coins—enough to buy a decent flying sword.

If Chu Liang had owned such a sword back then, he might not have been so eager to make money. Then, perhaps there might not even be a Red Cotton Peak today.

...

After Chu Liang returned to his seat, a few sects from the Divine Nine took their turns on the platform. The treasures they presented were quite good as well, but none of the winning bids for those items surpassed the final price for Chu Liang's tokens.

It couldn't be helped. If every item in the auction cost tens of thousands of spirit-stone coins, only a few sects would be able to afford them.

The next person to go up the platform was an elder from the Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals.

He produced a small porcelain bottle and spoke with an air of mystery. "This item can truly save the disaster victims."

His words immediately piqued the interest of the crowd. "Oh?"

The elder continued, "A hundred years ago, an elder from our mountain entered the Divine Ruins and brought back a variety of seeds. Most of them had lost their spiritual energy and died, but a small portion of them could still be planted, and they produced unusual spirit plant roots. Among them, there was one plant that resembled a rice seedling. Its fruit contained no spiritual energy and grew to the size of a fist. It was thick, sticky, and had an unpleasant taste.

"So, the elders dumped the rest of the seeds in the storehouse, deeming them useless. But recently, a disciple was cleaning the storehouse and found that the seeds had sprouted in a small patch in a corner, producing the same fruit. Upon tasting it, the disciple discovered that while the fruit of the plant had no appealing qualities, it had one key advantage. It is easy to grow and very filling."

At this point, everyone in attendance understood why the elder said his item could truly save the disaster victims.

As cultivators, they could use their power to protect and spare much of the common folk from the physical damage that natural disasters could wreak. However, those natural disasters ruined crops and left fields barren, leading to food shortages. Ultimately, the aftermath of the natural disasters was even deadlier than the disasters themselves.

The greatest issue plaguing the nine provinces now was famine. If this crop could grow easily and fill bellies, it could help disaster victims survive for the next year or two, allowing them to slowly rebuild their lives. This was indeed a treasure that could save countless people!

The elder said, "Our sect leader named this crop the Immortals' Rice and intends to cultivate it on a large scale. However, the Fog-Hidden Mountain lies far across the sea, making it quite a difficult feat. Thus, any sect with the ambition to spread this rice may take the seeds."

The starting bid for the bottle of seeds was ten thousand Vermillion-Bird coins. That wasn't an expensive price at all for something that could achieve the meritorious deed of saving countless lives. Whoever bought the seeds wouldn't simply be buying seeds—they would be winning the hearts of the people.

Chu Liang quickly figured out why Su Qian was there.

The imperial court had likely gotten information ahead of time that the seeds were going to be put up for auction. They couldn't allow such a thing to fall into the hands of a single sect. The imperial court had to be the one to distribute the seeds.

Of course, the immortal sect delegations present knew the imperial court was better suited for such matters, so none of them intended to bid.

Nevertheless, just then, Daoist Xuan Lu raised his hand. "One hundred thousand."

Chu Liang glanced over. "Penglai..."

He had indeed forgotten about them.

They had a close relationship with the Fuyao Kingdom. If the seeds were to fall into the Penglai Supreme Sect's hands, they would probably give the seeds to the Fuyao Kingdom. If the Fuyao Kingdom used it to attract disaster victims to move there, the manpower and strength of the kingdom would increase rapidly. By then, many citizens of the Yu Dynasty might just cross the sea to join them.

The Yu Dynasty could never allow such a thing to happen.

As expected, Chancellor Su Qian raised his hand without hesitation. "Five hundred thousand!"

Daoist Xuan Lu raised his hand again. "Seven hundred thousand,"

"Eight hundred thousand!" Su Qian countered.

The two men aggressively raised their bids, neither one pausing to consider before putting in the next bid.

The imperial court wielded great influence, but they lacked an abundance of spirit-stone coins. Their recent prosperity stemmed largely from the Sixth Princess managing the Immortals' Square so well.

Hang on...

Chu Liang glanced at Daoist Xuan Lu. He had figured out the real reason the Penglai Supreme Sect was bidding for the seeds.

Even if the Penglai Supreme Sect did not exactly have a great relationship with the Yu Dynasty, there was no need for them to go this far for the Fuyao Kingdom. The way Daoist Xuan Lu was bidding for the seeds mirrored how he had pushed Chu Liang to raise his bids for the Demon-Slaying Sword earlier.

It appeared that Daoist Xuan Lu merely sought to drain the funds of Red Cotton Peak and the Immortals' Square by forcing them to put in higher bids for items they could not pass up. They had fallen into his trap... This was surely a calculated scheme.

It had only been a few days ago that the Buddhist Cloud Monastery announced they would be holding a charity auction. The auction items hadn't been kept confidential, but that did not mean it was easy to gather so much information so quickly and even come up with a plan. Chu Liang was truly impressed by the Penglai Supreme Sect.

This was all a ploy to weaken Taotie City's competitors. After the banquet, Red Cotton Peak and the Immortals' Square would lack the funds to compete with Taotie City.

This is clearly an open conspiracy. The Penglai Supreme Sect and Taotie City are colluding more closely than I expected!

Noticing Chu Liang's look of realization, Huyan Bin smirked. The events of the past years flashed vividly in his mind.

Huyan Bin was one of Chu Liang's benefactors, but Chu Liang was his greatest rival. Business decisions should not be based on feelings of enmity or gratitude, but it was hard for Huyan Bin to suppress the feelings of injustice he felt.

Taotie City had become a vassal of the Penglai Supreme Sect, no different from the Thunderbolt Stronghold. All of this stemmed from the rise of Red Cotton Peak and the Immortals' Square, forcing them to burn their bridges in desperation.

"Chu Liang..." Huyan Bin muttered. "Since you've returned, watch with your own eyes as the tower you built crumbles to the ground."

...

Rumble!

A massive waterspout rose from the sea floor, blocking a colossal sea demon that was larger than a mountain. A dark figure glowed as he swam swiftly through the sea, fleeing through the rapid currents.

The eight-armed sea demon swung out a long tentacle. The man raised his saber in defense, but the difference in power was too great. He not only failed to sever the tentacle, but the impact from the collision sent him flying.

Wham.

He slammed into the bottom of the sea, leaving only his pitch-black face visible. His eyes were filled with exhaustion. Confronted by such an immensely powerful sea demon, he wanted to shut his eyes in surrender.

However, at that moment, a shout rang out in the distance. "

Yaaaaah!

"

A tiny figure suddenly appeared. It seized one of the sea demon's tentacles and swung the sea demon around, stirring up half the sea!

After several spins, the tiny figure hurled the colossal sea demon far away.

In the blink of an eye, the sea demon vanished from sight.

Booooooom!

The tiny figure soared over and landed in front of the man embedded in the sea floor.

He said, "Du Wuhen, you really are useless."

The man embedded in the sea floor was none other than Du Wuhen, the eldest disciple who had transferred from the Thunderbolt Stronghold to the Penglai Supreme Sect. Previously, Daoist Xuan Lu had instructed him to train in a certain place and then tossed him into the Sea of Demons.

He was in a deep underwater trench bordering two southeastern seas. The air pressure there was so immense that ordinary humans and even common demonic beasts would be crushed in an instant.

Nonetheless, the spiritual energy there was an exuberant amount of spiritual qi there, and the intense pressure allowed the spiritual qi to enter the corporeal bodies of those that could withstand it. As a result, the demonic beasts that managed to survive were extremely powerful.

Despite being at the peak of the sixth realm, Du Wuhen was suffering constantly just trying to stay alive. Moments ago, he felt so exhausted and broken that he wished for death.

The monstrously powerful person standing before him was a seemingly vicious and obstinate youth. He looked like he was seventeen or eighteen at most.

There was a sinister grin on his face as he stared at Du Wuhen.

"Qi Lin'er..." Du Wuhen pulled himself from the sea floor. "You're here too."

"Of course I am. I've been living here for a few years now," Qi Lin'er replied with a grin. "I quite like this place, but I'm leaving soon."

He gazed upward at the light shimmering on the surface of the water. "I heard... Chu Liang is back."