Chapter 729: The First Day of Missing Huyan Bin (II)

Lackey A wiped the grin off his face and gave a report to Chu Liang. "Head Disciple Ye and Young Heroine Zhang from the Celestial Pivot Pavilion have arrived. They are here representing

The Seven Stars Gazette

to discuss a collaboration."

"They actually sent two young people," Chu Liang muttered with a smile.

He had expected, at the very least, Zhou Yijian, the master of the Wind-Catching Hall, to handle the negotiations. It seemed the Celestial Pivot Pavilion still valued their status greatly and sent young disciples in Chu Liang's generation instead. However, considering that Chu Liang represented the Red Cotton Peak, Celestial Pivot Pavilion's actions seemed rather petty.

Hearing what Chu Liang said and then seeing his expression, Lackey A could tell what he was thinking.

Lackey A promptly explained, "Head Disciple Ye has acquired a lot of power in the Celestial Pivot Pavilion the past few years. Enlightened Wu Lou has been having him handle everything. It seems he is grooming Head Disciple Ye to be his successor. So, sending him to negotiate this collaboration isn't a sign of disrespect."

Chu Liang nodded. "I see."

After all, six years had passed, and his peers had experienced a lot during that time. Ye Yongxing had always been calm and exceptionally clever, but he had a bit of social anxiety. It made sense that Enlightened Wu Lou would want him to gain more experience in social interactions by having him handle negotiations like this.

In any case, they were all old friends, so Chu Liang got up and went out to warmly welcome Ye Yongxing and Zhang Xiaohan inside.

Ye Yongxing's appearance hadn't changed much; he still seemed like a quiet, refined, and shy young man. He would also still avert his gaze slightly away from the gazes of others. However, when he saw Chu Liang, he showed a normal expression.

Zhang Xiaohan was there because she was fairly well-acquainted with Chu Liang. Additionally, she was more talkative than Ye Yongxing, so she complemented him well. The once delicate and naive young lady now seemed much more mature. Chu Liang had even heard that her writing style had changed; it was no longer as flamboyant as before.

"It's been a long time," Chu Liang said with a big smile. "It's really great to see both of you again."

Ye Yongxing gave a slight nod. "Yes, we've been worrying about you all these years."

Zhang Xiaohan smiled back. "We couldn't find you for so long that Esteemed Senior Feng was pretty close to demolishing our sect. Fortunately, you're back."

"Indeed, my teacher loves me very dearly..." Chu Liang replied, chuckling embarrassedly.

He gestured for them to sit down.

This time, they were there to discuss a deep collaboration between the Circle of Immortal Friends and

The Seven Stars Gazette

.

Chu Liang had initiated this meeting, but the party that was more in need of this collaboration was definitely the Celestial Pivot Pavilion.

Since the launch of the Circle of Immortal Friends Tokens, the use of the tokens had quickly become widespread, expanding from the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten to all the immortal sects. It greatly reduced everyone's reliance on

The Seven Stars Gazette

for information.

The Seven Stars Gazette

still had a large readership, and the immortal sects would still keep a copy of the monthly releases. However, with all information being released late, it was just a matter of time before the gazette was abandoned entirely.

This was inevitable; news just spread too quickly in the Circle of Immortal Friends. Users of the Circle of Immortal Friends could receive information and news within fifteen minutes of an event occurring. What was the point of waiting a month to buy

The Seven Stars Gazette

?

While the immortal cultivation world benefited from the emergence of the Circle of Immortal Friends, the members of the Celestial Pivot Pavilion were sweating and staying up all night trying to figure out how to save their sect from this situation.

Fortunately, at this time, Chu Liang took the initiative and sent them an invitation to collaborate. The Celestial Pivot Pavilion was on board with having the meeting, ready to listen to whatever ideas he might have.

Chu Liang smiled, his eyes narrowing into slits as he opened up the negotiation. "I'm sure the Celestial Pivot Pavilion has noticed that the Circle of Immortal Friends we launched at Red Cotton Peak overlaps with the functions of

The Seven Stars Gazette

, which could negatively affect both sides."

Ye Yongxing and Zhang Xiaohan smiled as well.

You're being too polite; how is this going to negatively affect Red Cotton Peak? You've one-sidedly left us in tears.

"So, rather than letting both parties suffer, why don't we start collaborating before that happens?" Chu Liang said. "Perhaps we can achieve a win-win result."

"Oh? Young Hero Chu, What kind of collaboration are you suggesting?" Zhang Xiaohan asked.

Chu Liang explained slowly, "We're currently considering launching a project called 'Circle of Immortal Friends Influencers,' which would provide dedicated soul domains for high-quality content creators to release information. When users enter your exclusive soul domain, their replies will only appear under the information you release. This model can help attract more attention to your content.

"I plan to create an exclusive soul domain for your sect and give you the number one spot among the sects in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten, placing you ahead of even my sect. I wonder if you're satisfied with this arrangement?"

The Mount Shu Sect currently had the upper hand over the Celestial Pivot Pavilion, the long-standing content provider. Nevertheless, they still held a great deal of respect for the Celestial Pivot Pavilion.

There were several reasons for that.

The Seven Stars Gazette

still had a vast readership across the nine provinces—a level of reach that was impossible for the Circle of Immortal Friends to achieve, as it was only being used by cultivators. Moreover, the Celestial Pivot Pavilion was a top-tier immortal sect with the legendary Seven-Star Sword. In other words, it was not an easy target to push out of the competition. Lastly, the Mount Shu Sect had always had a good relationship with the Celestial Pivot Pavilion, so the Celestial Pivot Pavilion couldn't be seen as simply a competitor.

That was why Chu Liang came up with this solution.

"Number one?" Ye Yongxing blinked. "That sounds great."

"As for

The Seven Stars Gazette

, I think you can make some appropriate adjustments," Chu Liang said. "The original sections can be kept, but the contents can be more detailed, focusing more on in-depth investigations and interviews to distinguish them from the surface-level information in the Circle of Immortal Friends. This way,

The Seven Stars Gazette

and the Circle of Immortal Friends can complement each other."

Ye Yongxin and Zhang Xiaohan nodded in unison. This indeed coincided with the plan Celestial Pivot Pavilion had in mind.

"Lastly..." Chu Liang hesitated for a moment. "If your sect is still worried about the development of the Circle of Immortal Friends and how it might negatively affect

The Seven Stars Gazette

, I have a solution that works for both sides, which is..."

He slowly uttered one word, "Investment."

"Investment?"

Ye Yongxing and Zhang Xiaohan looked at him a bit strangely.

Chu Liang explained with a sincere smile, "It means that you can invest a certain amount of money to purchase thirty to fifty percent of the shares for the Circle of Immortal Friends. All the profits from our operations will be shared with you accordingly. Whether it's

The Seven Stars Gazette

or the Circle of Immortal Friends, they will both be considered part of the Celestial Pivot Pavilion's enterprises. This way, you don't need to worry about competition, and we can focus on collaborating."

Indeed, the dagger revealed itself once the map was fully drawn. This had been his goal all along.

Red Cotton Peak was facing serious financial issues. After the fall of Taotie City, it had left a massive gap in the market. Nevertheless, for Red Cotton Peak to expand and claim that portion of the market, it needed to acquire resources, and for that, it needed money. Furthermore, Red Cotton Peak still had yet to make a return on the funds that had been invested in the Hall of Construction.

Red Cotton Peak had been stuck in this situation of only having an outflow of funds for an extended period. Why else would Chu Liang have invited the Celestial Pivot Pavilion to collaborate when Red Cotton Peak was clearly winning with the Circle of Immortal Friends?

It was all because Red Cotton Peak was in dire straits, like when even the grain reserves of a wealthy landlord's household had run empty.

Seeing Ye Yongxing's and Zhang Xiaohan's expressions become even stranger, Chu Liang put on an awkward smile, feeling a little guilty. "This... If either of you have any doubts, feel free to bring them up, and I'll explain in more detail."

Ye Yongxing and Zhang Xiaohan were actually quite knowledgeable about investment models. As an established media outlet with access to first-hand information, the people behind

The Seven Stars Gazette

were well aware of the previous cooperation between Taotie City and Red Cotton Peak.

Of course, Ye Yongxing and Zhang Xiaohan were among them, and that's why they looked so conflicted.

"Actually, we don't have any objections to the investment model. We don't think it's bad, but..." Zhang Xiao said meekly. "Young Hero Chu, if our information is correct, the first person to invest in Red Cotton Peak was someone named Hu Yanbin, right?"

...

After a long while, Chu Liang was left alone in his office. He massaged his forehead and picked up the United Hearts Jade.

[Chu]: "As I expected, It's not that easy."

[Chu]: "I kind of miss Brother Huyan Bin."