Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Jialing thought for a long time and said, rather creeped out, “It’s not a bargain but a shameless scheme! If I were a bottom-level Immortal Cultivator of the Li family and I got such a ‘long-term benefit’, wouldn’t I be hoping that my family fails? Only if my family fails and the elder is dead can my ‘long-term benefit’ be fulfilled!

“If thousands of bottom-level Immortal Cultivators purchase such ‘long-term interests’ in secret, how exactly can we fight the war?”

“That’s the point.”

Li Yao said, “Purchasing such a ‘long-term benefit’ is the same as cutting the flesh of an elder of your own family. Also, the purchase requires your real name, which equals a declaration of loyalty. It is certainly risky. Should the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors fail and the secret agreements fall to the hands of the leaders of the four families, none of the bottom-level Immortal Cultivators would end well. So, I estimate that 99% of the bottom-level Immortal Cultivators do not dare to take the advantage.

“However, there are always gamblers who are willing to take their chances among the Immortal Cultivators. As long as 1% of the ambitious, ferocious Immortal Cultivators dare to take the shares that belong to the leaders, they will be tied to the tank of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists. Do I need to tell you who they will help and how they will perform in the war?

“What we see right now is just the tip of the iceberg. According to Zuo Tianying, manager of the Blue Sky Market, the really valuable benefits will not be sold in the public market at all. It would be offered for free to the middle class in the four families who are reasonably powerful but who have no hope of being further promoted. For the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists, those mines, farmlands, ranches, and factories are not theirs in the first place, so there isn’t any cost. As long as the hopeless middle-class people are bold enough to take it, they will have to work for the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists and undermine the big shots of their family!”

After a brief silence, Li Jialing mumbled, “How many of the middle class in the four families have accepted such options?”

“More than you think.”

Li Yao said, “This isn’t the first day that those from the middle class of the four families deal with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. They became friends with the organization decades ago, and it was thanks to the gifts from the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors that they struggled to climb upward in their family. In other words, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors has abundant shreds of evidence about their bribery and conspiracies.

“Under normal circumstances, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors will certainly not kill the goose that lays golden eggs. It’s easy to threaten someone with those pieces of evidence, but who will cooperate with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors after that?

“However, if the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors is truly about to die, they won’t care about so many things. Some people have to die with them!

“Considering the brutal internal competition in the four families, once somebody is proved to be associated with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, will there be any chance of survival for them?

“Since their chances of survival are slim, why would they refuse the prosperous options when they have an opportunity to?

“Just like that, from the bottom class to the middle class, too many Immortal Cultivators of the four families have been dragged into the swamp. By the time they realize what’s going on, there is already no turning back!”

Li Jialing sighed. “Do the leaders of the four families know that their subordinates are so corrupt?”

“What can they do even if they know? Can they just shoot all the subordinates who do the actual work? With a war coming near, unity is more needed than ever. The investigation on a single case will make everybody worry about themselves, and the morale will be severely affected. How can the war be fought anymore?”

Li Yao sneered, “You have crystal suits, but I have money. You have starships, but I have options. You have Colossi, but I can beat the whole maintenance team of your Colossi with sugar-coated cannonballs. That is exactly the strategy of Jin Yuyan, the director of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors!”

Li Jialing thought for a long time and was awed by Jin Yuyan’s toughness. “I didn’t know until today that a non-battle-type expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage could be so dreadful too!”

“The Immortal Cultivators attach so much importance to the principle of survival of the fittest that pure strength is prioritized to everything else. The battle-type Immortal Cultivators are often cocky and despise the non-battle-type Immortal Cultivators.”

Li Yao said, “Little do they know that the civilization of mankind has long entered the age of teamwork, cooperation, and division of labor. There are too many forces that are more powerful than pure physical strength, except that they can barely emerge under the system of the true path of immortality. But once such forces surface, the simple warriors who know nothing except their fists and blades can hardly do anything to deal with them.

“Let’s go. The inspection is all done. We can go to the market now.”

Li Yao patted Li Jialing’s shoulder, hinting that it was time for business.

The two of them went to Huo Dongling to bid her farewell. Naturally, they did not forget to ask about the trades of goods on Little Bear. The raw minerals brought by Little Bear were not very valuable and shouldn’t have sold much, but since they were bold enough to cross the blockages to reach the Seven Seas Grand Market in such a time of war, they had set a good example for other people. Therefore, the staff of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors said that even though the minerals were not valuable enough for them to purchase the assets they needed, a batch of life necessities could be sold to them on credit so that they could resolve the crisis on the South Spirit Planet for now.

It was a rather nice move. The people from the South Spirit Planet couldn’t have been more grateful to the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists. After thanking the merchants, they promised that they would spread the news to other colonized planets around the South Spirit Planet, letting everyone know how “benevolent” the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors was and that it was the four Kurfürst families who did not give them a chance of living.

Knowing that Little Bear would return in full loads, Li Yao and Li Jialing were both reassured.

Saying goodbye to the girl, they left the port and officially entered the Seven Seas Grand Market.

The Seven Seas Grand Market was divided into the internal district and the external district. Since “absolute freedom” was honored, the examination wasn’t too thorough. Nobody cared about who they were or why they were here. The guards of the Business Alliance merely checked their weapons roughly to make sure that there was no massively destructive magical equipment. The guards even turned a blind eye to their fake names and their obvious masks. They were given two cards that had dynamic passwords for trades and let through.

Li Yao and Li Jialing found themselves in the middle of a bunch of mercenaries, merchants, assassins, and loose prisoners. Almost everybody was wearing a brilliant mask and a long robe with a hood that covered their entire body. They squeezed into the giant transparent capsules inside the vacuum tube.

From the bottom of the transparent tubes, certain thick fluids bubbled up and enshrouded all the passengers.

Hum!

As the passengers were entirely submerged in the thick fluids, everybody simply felt a minor quake on their eardrums, before the light around them were pulled into colorful lines.

They rushed toward the depths of the Seven Seas Grand Market like lightning. After a journey of only a dozen minutes, the port and the space were already left far behind, and they entered into the bright stomach of the beast of money that never slept.

When Li Yao and Li Jialing finally broke free from the thick fluids inside the transparent capsules, they found that their bodies were dry and comfortable, and even their hair was not drenched by the fluids.

Before they could be amazed by that, they had already been astounded by the glamorous views made of ten thousand colors in front of them.

It was the most prosperous market that the two of them had ever seen. Every inch of space as far as their eyes could reach was crammed with signs in fancy styles and huge noises. Below the signs were the adventurers from the entire Imperium in the most bizarre clothes and shapes. Even Li Jialing’s style that looked like a cheetah was not eye-catching at all in the crowd, because there were people a hundred times more peculiar than him.

All in all, if the “Fist Dragon City”, the establishment outside of the Star Glory Federation, were a hundred times larger and more chaotic, it would almost be what the Seven Seas Grand Market looked like.

Even though the army of the four families was pressing close and the life-and-death battle was about to begin, there was still not much tension in the Seven Seas Grand Market. The horse races and the balls were still on, and the city was still ablaze with lights.

The public broadcast, which echoed in the enclosed space now and then, was the only thing that reminded people that it was the time of war.

“Money is freedom, money is life, money is everything! The four Kurfürst families are trying to steal the money that we have accumulated through hard work for a hundred years and kill each and every one of us! Citizens at the edge of the Imperium, summon your courage and defend your money. Money is sacred and inviolable!

“Breaking news! Breaking news! The nine Sector Masters of the Southern Sky Sectors have recently signed the ‘Cooperative Protection Agreement of the Southern Sky Sectors’, replying to the four Kurfürst families’ demand for them to march that they will not obey the illegitimate order! All the starships of the nine Southern Sky Sectors have exited the coalition fleet of the four families, and they will be neutral in the battle in the next phase!”

“Explosive news! Explosive news just now! General Yun Zhengxin, the highest commander of the fourth battle area of the expedition army just announced that, in light of the chaos in the Imperium, to be prepared for the next round of counterattack from the Covenant Alliance, all the fleets in the four battle area of the expedition army will receive the command of Lei Chenghu, Marquess Liaohai, together. He will also send the most excellent, patriotic soldiers to the capital to discuss the issues of a joint cabinet with the ‘Reform Committee of the Council of Elders’ together with Lei Chenghu’s Astounding Thunder Fleet. The astonishing news has triggered a chain reaction in other battle areas. In the future Imperium, the real, pure, righteous, and patriotic soldiers will certainly play a bigger role!”