Everyone"s discussions became louder and louder. In the beginning, only a few people were shouting for Hong Dali to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion. Subsequently, this emotion spread like a pandemic. Everyone started shouting loudly, "Hong Dali! Hong Dali!" "Ask Hong Dali to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion. Strongly advocate for Hong Dali to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion!"
"If Hong Dali doesn"t partic.i.p.ate, the compet.i.tion will become boring!"
Everyone echoed these requests. It appeared as if Hong Dali was the actual first place…
"Hong Dali!" Silver Frost clenched his fists. He was deeply dispirited.
I"m the first place! Not him! Not Hong Dali! However, why does it seem like Hong Dali is in first now?! I can"t accept it!
"Dean Fergos." All the mentors present looked at Dean Fergos. McCarron was the most worried one. "You have to get Hong Dali to attend the compet.i.tion no matter what. If he doesn"t, what purpose will the compet.i.tion still hold?"
Initially, Fergos really wanted Hong Dali to come back to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion. However, after Hong Dali forfeited, he carefully thought for a while and realized suddenly that Hong Dali sitting the compet.i.tion out might be the best choice. Hence, he was a little hesitant now.
Think about it. What compet.i.tion was about to follow next? A compet.i.tion focused on raw strength.
What did raw strength mean? A team"s pure combat capability. In the first stage, Hong Dali could reasonably utilize the props available on the battlefield. As for the second stage? Tactics were pointless. The only useful thing was the team"s actual combat capability.
The Shenglong Astral Team was the only team in the top ten without any Chosen Ones. If they really partic.i.p.ated, it would be best if they maintained or even improved their position. However, they would not have a great chance to do so. After all, it was more likely for their ranking to drop significantly instead. If they really fell to tenth place, how embarra.s.sing would that be? This was a good point to stop. If they did not partic.i.p.ate in any more compet.i.tions, the Shenglong Astral Team would remain in third place forever. At least in everyone"s hearts, that would be the common perception.
"Please allow us to discuss this." Fergos looked angry, but he was secretly thinking of ways to resolve this situation.
"Dean Fergos, you must try hard." McCarron anxiously said, "If Hong Dali doesn"t partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion, it will become meaningless."
"I know, I know." Fergos touched his beard and put on a worried face. "I will try my best. Definitely."
The a.n.a.lysis of tactics was concluded here. All the mentors followed Fergos back into the conference room as they discussed how they could get Hong Dali to continue partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion…
At this time, in s.p.a.ce, the members of the Shenglong Astral Team all surrounded Hong Dali and laughed. "Dali, you"re amazing. You forfeited this compet.i.tion just like that. Not everyone has that kind of courage."
"What courage does this need?" Hong Dali twitched his lips. "It"s just a lame compet.i.tion. There"s no need for any courage. Oh right, what were we talking about?"
"You were about to tell us what we"re doing this time," a cla.s.smate replied. "Big Bro Dali, what are we doing next?"
"Right, right, right. Big Bro Dali, what are we doing out here?"
"Yea, yea, you were interrupted here just now."
"Us? We"re going to one of my planets. I have a great idea for squandering!" Hong Dali was feeling great. How could compet.i.tions match squandering in terms of fun? He turned around and looked at Ling Xiaoyi. "Oh right, Xiaoyi, you kept saying that you had something to report before we left. What is it?"
Ling Xiaoyi mentioned about reporting something just now. He was in a rush, so he forgot about it…
"Yes, Young Master, here"s the thing." Ling Xiaoyi smiled and explained to Hong Dali. "As you won third place in the Astral Genius Battle, the head of the family is extremely pleased. He has transferred 200 billion Shenglong Dollars into your account. He also said that if that"s not enough, there"s still some left."
"Oh, 200 billion…" Hong Dali sniffled. He was about to say something like "that"s mediocre". However, he actually heard the number this time. "Wait, how much?!"
"200 billion," Ling Xiaoyi replied.
"What the heck. So much?!" Hong Dali"s eyes widened. "I remember that the prize money for the Astral Genius Battle isn"t that much. My great-grandfather awarded me with so much money?!"
200 billion. There was a long string of 0"s behind, right?
Even Hong Dali"s cla.s.smates were stunned.
"G.o.d, did you hear that? 200 billion! 200 billion Shenglong Dollars! Big Bro Dali is on pace to explode, he got 200 billion dollars in one shot…"
"That"s right. It"s hard for me to ask for just a few million usually. Look at him, you can"t compare to him!"
"Big Bro Dali, please adopt me!"
"Awarded 200 billion just for a third-place?" Hong Dali touched his chin and mumbled. "Then, should I still attend the compet.i.tion later?" He thought for a while before smacking his lips. "Forget it. I won"t attend it. Money has to be spent before it can be called money. Otherwise, it"s just a string of numbers. Hehe, let"s spend money first. We"ll talk after we spend everything."
Everyone"s jaws dropped to the floor. What is this? 200 billion Shenglong Dollars, spend everything, and talk later?
"Xiaoyi." Hong Dali expressed that 200 billion dollars were enough to spend for a while. Hence, he was in no rush. He then turned to look at Ling Xiaoyi. "How far away are we from the destination?"
"Young Master, we"re very close now." Ling Xiaoyi reported. "We"ll reach in an hour. However, before we arrive, I recommend contacting them first in order to avoid scaring people."
"Of course." Hong Dali nodded. "You can make the appropriate arrangements."
…
Hong Dali was having fun in some unknown place. In the meantime, on Shenglong Star, the Hong Family was very lively.
"Head of the Tong Family, Tong Qusha, requests for an audience with Congratulatory Gifts. 500 billion Shenglong Dollars and 10 top-grade energy gems!"
"Head of the Han Family, Han Xiongfei, requests for an audience with Congratulatory Gifts. 400 billion Shenglong Dollars and 20 purple-level top-grade equipment!"
"Head of the Zhang Family, Zhang Qingchuan, requests for an audience with Congratulatory Gifts. 500 billion Shenglong Dollars and 10 top-grade mineral planets!"
These announcements were continuous. They had not stopped since Hong Xingyu and Hua Yueling returned to the Hong Family. There was no other way. News about Hong Dali attaining the third place at the Astral Genius Battle had spread. That was a real and indisputable result. Furthermore, his tactics were so strange and unique. n.o.body wished to offend such a genius in battles.
Since they could not afford to offend him, there was only one other option—get closer to the big tree that was the Hong Family. This was the only way to ensure that they could develop well in the future. As long as Hong Dali was in the Hong Family, the Hong Family could definitely grow at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed.
In the Hong Family"s Big Meeting Room.
"Haha, congratulations, Master." Ye Wuyou sat next to Hong Xingyu with a bright smile and genuinely congratulated him. "Master Hong, with such a genius in Hong Dali, the Hong Family doesn"t need to worry about its future anymore. Haha."
"Hahaha, Wuyou." Hong Xingyu laughed, incredibly satisfied with Hong Dali as well. "You were the first to form an alliance with our Hong Family. Hm, I didn"t have an opportunity to thank you. Today will do. As our earliest ally, we cannot mistreat your Ye Family. How about this. All the congratulatory gifts today belong to you."
All the congratulatory gifts today belonged to Ye Wuyou. Even though Ye Wuyou had been the head of his family for over a hundred years, he was still completely stunned. He furiously shook his head. "No, no. How can that be? These congratulatory gifts are worth at least 500 billion dollars. I can"t accept such a huge fortune. Master, please don"t scare me."
"Haha, look at yourself." Hua Yueling smiled and said, "Today is actually just an appetizer. We received news that, in a few days, the Royal Families from the different Astrals will all be rus.h.i.+ng here. The trade deals we are about to negotiate will easily be worth thousands of billions of dollars. Money is just a number. As long as you genuinely and honestly want to form an alliance with our Hong Family, we won"t mistreat our allies."
"That"s right, Wuyou, just accept it." Hong Xingyu directly settled things. "If we have any suitable cooperation opportunities, we promise not to leave you out."
"Then… alright." Ye Wuyou was not an indecisive person. He instantly nodded.
Soon, the chief butler walked in and said in a low voice, "Master, the head of the Tong Family, Tong Qusha, head of the Han Family, Han Xiongfei, head of the Zhang Family, Zhang Qingchuan are all here and waiting outside for you. Without your orders, n.o.body will dare to come in."
"Those three imbeciles are all here?" Hong Xingyu smiled coldly. "They chose the Bei Family previously. What amazing foresight. Let them wait. We"ll talk to them when we"re free after dinner."
Ye Wuyou subconsciously checked the time after hearing Hong Xingyu—hm, it was 9 AM right now. Seems like these three have a good wait ahead of them…
As he said that, suddenly, a commotion could be heard at the entrance. Then, a shadow rushed forward and leaped at Hong Xingyu. He knelt on the floor and hugged Hong Xingyu"s thigh. "Old Master Hong, I was wrong. I was blind. It"s all my fault. Please forgive me…"
"Hm?" Hong Xingyu glanced carefully at the person hugging his thigh. When he finally got a good look, he smiled coldly. "Aiya, I was wondering who it was. Isn"t this the top lackey under Bei Mingxuan, the head of the Liu Family, Liu Mingyi? Why? What wind has blown you here? Is this a sign that you want to hug our Hong Family"s thigh from now on?"
The person in front of him was the head of the Liu Family, Liu Mingyi!
When the Hong Family and Zhu Family signed the Marriage Annulment Challenge, Liu Mingyi was the first to stand with the Bei Family and Zhu Family. He secretly did plenty of their bidding.
Now that Hong Dali obtained third place in the Astral Genius Battle, the result instantly received many Astrals" attention. Next, when the Hong Family negotiated large trade deals with the other Astrals, they could easily turn into deals worth hundreds or thousands of billions of dollars. The Hong Family"s strength would rise exponentially. After that, their enemies like Liu Mingyi would suffer the worst consequences.
Hence, Liu Mingyi could not care about his own face anymore. He rushed over as soon as possible to hug their thighs.