Thinking carefully for a long time, Li Jialing said creepily, "It's a good deal? That's too sordid! If I were a bottom-level Immortal Cultivator of the Li family, wouldn't I have to hope that the family would be defeated after I took such 'long-term benefits'? Only when the family is defeated and the elders are dead can my 'long-term benefits' be fulfilled!
"If a thousand, or even ten thousand, bottom-level Immortal Cultivators all secretly purchase the 'long-term benefits', how … how can the war be won?"
"You're quite right."
Li Yao said, "Buying such 'long-term benefits' is equal to cutting the flesh of the elders of the family and leaving their real names. Naturally, it is very risky. Should the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors fail, the data of the secret purchase agreements will fall into the hands of the leadership of the four families, and the bottom-level Immortal Cultivators will all die a miserable death. Therefore, I estimate that 99% of the bottom-level Immortal Cultivators do not dare to take such an advantage.
"But the Immortal Cultivators are never short of those who are desperate for gambling. As long as the 1% of the ambitious, ferocious Immortal Cultivators are bold enough to take the shares that belong to the leadership, they will be bound to the tank of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists. What kind of performance will they have in the war, and who they will help exactly?
"What you and I are seeing right now is just the tip of the iceberg. According to Zuo Tianying, the manager of the Blue Sky Market, the rights that are really valuable will not be sold on the public market at all. Instead, they will be given to the frustrated middle-level Immortal Cultivators who have certain power in the four families but can't rise any higher. For the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists, none of the rights in the mines, farmlands, ranches, or factories belong to them at all. There is absolutely no cost. It would be a waste if they don't give them away. As long as the frustrated middle-level Immortal Cultivators are bold enough to accept them, they will have to work hard for the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists and steal the big shots of their own families!"
After a brief silence, Li Jialing mumbled, "How many middle-level Immortal Cultivators of the four families have accepted such options?"
"There are far more than you can imagine."
Li Yao said, "It must be noted that it was not the first day that the middle class of the four families dealt with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. They had made a 'friendly relationship' with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors decades ago. It was with the offerings of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors that they struggled to climb up in the family. In other words, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors had long grasped the evidence that they accepted tremendous bribes and colluded in secret.
"Under normal circumstances, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors certainly wouldn't kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. It's easy to throw out the evidence as a threat, but who would dare cooperate with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors in the future after such a thing happened?
"However, if the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors is truly doomed, who will care so much? He had to drag a few people down with him!
"Considering the gory internal conflicts of the four families, once someone is proved to be in collusion with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, will he be able to survive? Would his family still be able to survive?
"Now that there is no way to survive, they might as well go all the way. Why wouldn't they take the free options that they could take?
"Just like that, from the bottom-level to the middle class, countless Immortal Cultivators of the four families were dragged into the mess step by step. By the time they realized what was going on, it was already too late for them to turn back!"
Li Jialing sighed after hearing that. "Do the leadership of the four families know that their subordinates have been corrupted to such an extent?"
"What can they do even if they do? Can they drag all the subordinates out and execute them? Not just execution, a great war is about to break out, and 'unity and sincerity' is exactly what is needed. Even the investigation of a specific case will make everybody feel insecure and uneasy, which will greatly damage the morale. How can we fight the war in the future? "
Li Yao sneered. "You have the Crystal Suit, and I have money. You have a starship, and I have options. You have a Colossus, and I will knock down your entire maintenance team of the Colossus with sugar-coated cannonballs and dig them over. That is the military strategy of Jin Yuyan, the director of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors!"
Thinking for a long time, Li Jialing could not help but admire Jin Yuyan's ruthlessness and sharpness. He said, "I didn't know until today that the non-battle-type experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage can be so terrifying!"
"The Immortal Cultivators emphasize the survival of the fittest too much, to the point that pure physical strength is elevated to the highest level. The battle-type Immortal Cultivators often think that they are invincible and despise the non-battle-type Immortal Cultivators."
Li Yao said, "Little do they know that the civilization of mankind has entered an era of highly detailed division of labor and cooperation today. There are plenty of forces that are more powerful than pure physical strength, but it is barely possible for them to show up under the system of the true path of immortality. Once such forces surface, the valiant warriors who only know how to wave their fists often do not know how to deal with them.
"Let's go. The inspection has been completed. We can enter the grand market now."
Li Yao patted Li Jialing's shoulder, hinting that it was time for him to get down to business.
The two of them went to say goodbye to Huo Dongling. Naturally, they did not forget to ask about the goods on Little Bear. The crude minerals brought by Little Bear were not of high value and could not have been sold at a high price, but they were bold enough to cross the blockade and come to the Seven Seas Grand Market in such a chaotic time. Therefore, the staff of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors said that even if the minerals were not expensive enough to purchase enough assets, they could still give them a batch of necessities on credit and ask them to take them back to help the South Spirit Planet tide over the difficulties for now.
It was quite a 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 expressing their gratitude, they promised that they would certainly spread the news to the other colonized planets around the South Spirit Planet, letting everybody know how "benevolent" the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors was and that it was the four Kurfürst families and the wretched grand nobles who were really going to cut off everybody's livelihood.
Knowing that Little Bear would return with a full load, Li Yao and Li Jialing were both reassured when they saw Huo Dongling's smile that was like a blossoming flower.
The two of them bid farewell to the girl and left the port, officially entering the Seven Seas Grand Market.
The Seven Seas Grand Market was divided into two zones, the inner zone and the outer zone. Since "absolute freedom" was advocated, the inspection was not too strict. Nobody cared about their identity and purpose. The warriors of the Business Alliance only roughly checked the weapons that they brought to see if there was any magical equipment of mass destruction. They even ignored their fake names and the obvious masks of light and shadow. Then, they were given two crystal cards with dynamic changing passwords before they waved their hands and let them go.
Li Yao and Li Jialing were mixed in a bunch of merchants, mercenaries, assassins, and fugitives. Almost everybody was wearing colorful masks that looked like butterflies and covered in long and short hooded robes as they squeezed into the enormous transparent capsules inside the vacuum tubes.
Gudu! Gudu! Gudu! Gudu!
Below the transparent capsules, a thick liquid that was slightly diluted than gel flowed up and enshrouded all the passengers.
Hum!
When the thick liquid passed above the passengers' heads, everybody felt that their eardrums were slightly vibrating, and the light and shadow around them were dragged into colorful lines.
They marched toward the depths of the Seven Seas Grand Market as fast as lightning. After no more than ten minutes of rushing, the port and the sea of stars were left far, far behind their heads. They entered the colorful internal organs of the behemoth of money that never slept.
When Li Yao and Li Jialing finally broke free from the thick liquid inside the transparent capsules, they discovered that their bodies were dry and comfortable. Even their hair was not wet at all.
Before they had the chance to marvel, they were deeply awed by the glamorous view made of ten thousand colors before their eyes.
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 occupied by all kinds of signboards that were eye-catching and loud. Below the signboards were the adventurers from all over the Imperium in all kinds of bizarre clothes. Even Li Jialing, who looked like a black panther, was not eye-catching at all in the crowd. Some of them were a hundred times weirder than him.
What a great Seven Seas Grand Market. He really didn't know whether to describe it as' endless streams of horses and carriages, shoulder to shoulder, 'or' foul atmosphere, a jumble of fish and dragons. '
All in all, in Li Yao's memory, Fish Dragon City at the periphery of the Xing Yao Federation would look like the Seven Seas Grand Market if it were a hundred times larger and a hundred times more chaotic.
Even though the coalition fleet of the four families was approaching and a life-and-death war was about to break out, the Seven Seas Grand Market still did not smell much smoke. The horses were still running, the dancers were still dancing, and the lights were still shining.
It was only the public announcements that echoed in the entire enclosed space that told people that it was a 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. They are trying to annihilate all of us! Citizens of the peripheral worlds 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 nine Southern Sky Sectors have officially signed the 'Southern Sky Mutual Protection Agreement' recently, responding to the demand of the four Kurfürst families that they are forced to march — 'This is a random order, and we will not obey it'! All the fleets of the nine Southern Sky Sectors have separated themselves from the coalition fleet of the four families. They will be strictly neutral in the war in the next phase! "
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