Chapter 2386: Dominance
At the same time, due to reports from w.a.n.g Zheng, Bai Qi, and various others, the four ruling powers became interested in the various fighting methods employed by the Fifth Mainland. Additionally, the wireless jincans also drew their attention. Finally, after two months pa.s.sed, the four ruling powers sent someone to the Fifth Mainland to visit the Heavens Sect and attempt to negotiate various deals. Bai Qi was sent, as she had never been involved in pursuing or attacking any of the Lu family’s va.s.sals.
Furthermore, she did not have any prejudice towards the Fifth Mainland, which meant that she was the perfect candidate to speak with the Heavens Sect. She was accompanied by w.a.n.g Zheng.
Unfortunately, the visit did not proceed very well. Bai Qi first met with Lu Buzheng, but the person responsible for the negotiations was actually Qiong Xi"er.
When it came to the most skilled business mind in the Fifth Mainland, there was no denying that it was Qiong Xi"er. She had once been regarded as one of the three most intelligent people in the Outerverse, ranked right next to w.a.n.g Wen and Wei Rong.
w.a.n.g Wen excelled at manipulating the overall situation, while Wei Rong focused on details and subtle scheming. As for Qiong Xi"er, she manipulated the entire economy.
The Heavens Sect had successfully united the entire Fifth Mainland not just because Lu Yin was able to access Progenitor Chen"s power and suppress the entire universe. Absolute power might be able to scare people into not fighting back, but it could not force the entire Fifth Mainland to cooperate and unite.
Out of everyone, Qiong Xi"er had contributed tremendously towards these efforts. If not for her, the Fifth Mainland"s economy would have collapsed, and the consequences of that would have been unimaginable.
Her role was in no way inferior to that of w.a.n.g Wen and Wei Rong.
Negotiating with Qiong Xi’er let Bai Qi feel the horror of dealing with a businessman for the first time in her life. A large number of unnecessary details were thrown onto the Perennial World, and while w.a.n.g Zheng was slightly better off than Bai Qi, he was still out of his depth. In regards to business, the two people were mere Sentinels, while Qiong Xi"er might as well be a Progenitor.
The two returned to the Perennial World with no success after their first visit to the Fifth Mainland, and they were also loaded down with a great number of unnecessary things from the Fifth Mainland that had been traded for resources that the Fifth Mainland desperately needed.
Still, while the results were quite bad for Bai Qi and the four ruling powers, it was undeniable that the first round of negotiations had been successfully carried out. It had opened a path for trade between the Perennial World and the Fifth Mainland.
Another month pa.s.sed before Bai Qi and w.a.n.g Zheng returned, but this time, they were accompanied by a middle-aged man with a big belly and a persistent smile that covered his face. The moment Qiong Xi’er laid eyes on the man, she knew that the situation was not good. This man looked like an old fox, and he was definitely a wily old businessman.
Qiong Xi’er was absolutely right. The four ruling powers were not stupid. Bai Qi had been sent first to establish trading precedent between the Fifth Mainland and the Perennial World. After that, the business geniuses would step in.
The negotiations that played out between the man and Qiong Xi"er truly opened Bai Qi and w.a.n.g Zheng’s eyes, and they finally understood how helpless they had been against Qiong Xi"er.
For each transaction, from the very beginning to the final discussion of prices, the two tested each other. They continued to test each other for three entire days, and during that time, neither addressed any specifics regarding the trade negotiations. The entire time was spent testing each other and checking the contents of the negotiations.
In the end, while the four ruling powers still failed to get what they wanted most, they were able to benefit from the negotiations. Ultimately, they could trade with the Fifth Mainland for wireless jincans, but nothing else that they wanted was available for sale.
After leaving the Heavens Sect, the middle-aged man turned back with a look of admiration. "That woman has shocking business ac.u.men, given her young age. This Forsaken Land truly gives birth to geniuses."
"What do you mean?" Bai Qi felt quite puzzled. She had not been able to understand anything that had happened in the negotiations.
The middle-aged man answered in a respectful tone, "This Forsaken Land has never even considered conducting open trade with us."
The man hesitated for a moment to better organize his explanation. "Rather, I should say that the Heavens Sect never considered openly trading with the four ruling powers."
"What do you mean by that?" Bai Qi"s expression fell, and w.a.n.g Zheng"s eyes flickered.
The middle-aged man continued, "Although it was never addressed clearly, I believe that, given what was said, they likely hope to find one or two organizations in the Perennial World with which to trade with. However, those organizations absolutely will not be affiliated with the four ruling powers."
"Who would that be?" Bai Qi frowned.
The middle-aged man shook his head. "This lowly one can only guess at certain things, but as for whom they hope to work with, that is not something that I can consider."
Finding a trade partner in the Perennial World while avoiding the four ruling powers was playing a game that involved the top powers of the Fifth Mainland and the Perennial World. Such things were no longer considered purely business matters, and the middle-aged man did not qualify to know about such things.
w.a.n.g Zheng turned to stare at the Heavens Sect. This place followed Lu Xiaoxuan"s will, and he would never agree to strengthen the four ruling powers himself. What he desired, the entire Fifth Mainland saw carried out.
An ability to unite people like this was beyond terrifying.
Bai Qi thought of the same thing, and her face was sullen as they returned to the Perennial World.
In the main hall of the Heavens Sect, Qiong Xi"er stood and stretched, revealing her beautiful curves. "I"m so tired! That horrible man is unbelievable! He nearly caught me a few times."
Lu Yin stepped out with a laugh. "But weren’t you able to stick to your bottom line throughout the negotiations?"
Qiong Xi"er rolled her eyes. "Why did you have to put it in this way, Dao Chosen? As if I’m going to let something go if my bottom line is breached."
Lu Yin looked towards the Technocracy. "They definitely won"t give up."
Qiong Xi"er shrugged. "Then things will depend on w.a.n.g Wen. It’s going to be hard to find a trade partner, and they’re going to face tremendous pressure."
Lu Yin said nothing further, and he instead returned to seclusion.
Even if he referred to his time as secluded training, it was more like time for Lu Yin to rest. He did not spend all of his time training or cultivating, nor was he constantly rolling his die.
Being overly focused was not always a good thing, and there were times when it was important to relax a bit.
More than a month pa.s.sed. Bai Qi was not willing to accept the trade agreement that had been negotiated. The middle-aged man returned as well, but w.a.n.g Zheng did not.
However, the results were no different from before; Qiong Xi"er was utterly exhausted by the negotiations.
It was critical that trade connect the Fifth Mainland and the Perennial World. If not for that, Qiong Xi"er would have never even met with the four ruling powers’ representatives.
Lu Yin was fishing in a lake that lay beside the Heavens Sect. He found joy in his seclusion, and the only thing that disrupted him was Zhao Ran occasionally delivering some herbal teas that she had developed over the years. While each one was truly delicious, it was emotionally scarring to ingest the horrifying concoctions.
At the moment, Lu Yin was most excited about Sapling.
Sapling had spent its time absorbing stellular energy, and it had absorbed an unbelievable amount when the strange droplets had disappeared half a year ago. Sapling had to have absorbed an astronomical amount of stellular energy during the initial outpouring, and it had likely condensed a great deal of stellular liquid.
Lu Yin was a four-tribulation Envoy, and he could trigger his fifth tribulation at any moment. As for his sixth stellular tribulation, he would need to rely on Sapling for that.
The sixth stellular tribulation was another threshold. The tribulation for surpa.s.sing a power level of a million was one that even Lu Yin was wary of, as it would be far, far more dangerous than any of the previous tribulations.
It was actually the threat of the sixth stellular tribulation that made Lu Yin in no rush to face his fifth tribulation. He preferred to have a bit of a buffer.
Regardless of whether Lu Yin was training, time pa.s.sed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, half a year had already pa.s.sed.
Lu Yin had already spent a full year in the Fifth Mainland now.
During this year, the Perennial World had enjoyed a time of peace. Well, the four ruling powers enjoyed a time of peace, but the same was not true of the Middle Realm or the Lower Realm.
The tremendous number of people who had flooded into the Perennial World from the Fifth Mainland had created waves throughout the entire Perennial World.
People of the Perennial World looked down on the Fifth Mainland cultivators, but the people who qualified to travel from the Fifth Mainland to the Perennial World were not easy targets. War had never broken out, but little skirmishes had never stopped.
It was quite possible that the four ruling powers were behind the discord.
However, the Fifth Mainland cultivators did not actually suffer much. They united, and given the presence of some of the more powerful people from the Fifth Mainland, the Fifth Mainland cultivators did not suffer excessively even though they were in the Perennial World. Certain people grew more and more famous as time pa.s.sed, such as Highsage Shenwei. After leaving the w.a.n.g family’s territory and being delivered to the Middle Realm, Highsage Shenwei had confronted the forces of some family, and he had even destroyed an entire family.
Another example was Yang Ji, the master of Light World, one of the hidden worlds from the Honor Zone. He had also gone to the Perennial World, as had many other people. Among them was Ya Mavis, who hoped to find traces of the Mavis family in the Perennial World. Another example was…
More and more of the Fifth Mainland’s powerhouses arrived in the Perennial World, and while various conflicts constantly broke out, people were not stupid. The Fifth Mainland cultivators did not confront super powers like the four ruling powers, as doing so could easily bring the wrath of a Semi-Progenitor down upon them.
A beautiful woman stood in mid air in the Middle Realm. She was constantly searching for something. After a short while, she stared at a place in the gra.s.slands below her where the ground was cracked. "Found it."
A blade warped the void with its pa.s.sage, and it shrouded the entire gra.s.slands. The ground was shattered, and the blade stretched out further and further. It soon covered hundreds of miles, beneath which not a single blade of gra.s.s continued to grow.
After delivering a single stab, the woman stared at the ground. The smoke cleared, and she frowned. "It"s useless?"
She stabbed again, but after examining the results, her efforts still proved useless. Her blade stabbed into the ground again and again after that.
A transparent coffin lay quietly in the cracks in the ground of the gra.s.sland. There was a person curled up inside it, sleeping soundly. No matter how the woman attacked, the transparent coffin remained completely unharmed. In fact, there was not a single scratch on it.
After half an hour, the woman was panting heavily. She stared in disbelief. Just how could there be such a ridiculous coffin? Why could she not cut it?
She was a forty-cycle Enlighter, and her information had clearly stated that this person was likely not even an Enlighter. Why would he have such powerful protection? Did he expect to be attacked by Envoys?
After spending a bit of time thinking, the woman landed on the ground and approached the transparent coffin. She stared at the man sleeping inside and then took a deep breath. She straightened her clothes, made sure her shapely shoulders were exposed, took another breath, and schooled her expression. Once there was a slight smile on her face, she raised a hand and knocked on the coffin as though it were a door.
Inside the coffin, w.a.n.g Wen opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. "Is it morning?"
He caught a bit of movement outside of the coffin, and a lovely face entered his view. w.a.n.g Wen shot to his feet, and slammed his head against the top of the coffin, nearly knocking himself back unconscious. He clutched his head due to the pain and slowly laid back down. "Ow, ow, ow."
"Hey, are you alright?" The woman looked at w.a.n.g Wen oddly. If he had stood up just a bit faster, would her task have been completed?
w.a.n.g Wen waved a hand. "I’m fine, it"s okay."
He rubbed his head vigorously. "I nearly shattered my brilliant and mighty brain."
The woman silently stared at the man, concern and curiosity filling her eyes.
"Why are you in a coffin?" she asked.
w.a.n.g Wen finally calmed down, and he sat back down in the coffin and stared at the woman. "Sleeping."
"But only the dead sleep in coffins." The woman felt terribly confused.
w.a.n.g Wen blinked. "Do the dead even sleep?"
The woman chuckled. "You"re funny! It is already morning, so do you want to keep sleeping?"