"City Lord Zhou, you have to understand that it's not that we want to break off our relationship with the Cheng Family, but that the Cheng Family is not giving us a way out.
We have already retreated again and again. If the Cheng Family continues to force us, perhaps we will really have to fight with our swords! "City Lord Wu was infuriated when he saw City Lord Zhou still being so domineering.
City Lord Zhou obviously felt that the Cheng Family was too powerful, so they could not do anything to him. Therefore, he did not give them any way out!
"If you really want to fight with your swords, then you have to think it through carefully. Once some things have been done, there may be no turning back! "City Lord Zhou was still unmoved and said calmly.
After all, to him, even if these people really wanted to solve the problem with force, there was nothing for him to be afraid of.
He was a Tribulation Passing Expert. If they really dared to fight against a group of Great Vehicle Stage cultivators, they would definitely regret it.
Hearing City Lord Zhou's nonchalant words, everyone's faces turned extremely ugly.
City Lord Zhou was an expert at the Tribulation Stage. Many people present knew about this.
Facing a Tribulation Passing Expert, they really had no confidence at all.
Moreover, City Lord Zhou was only one of the many Tribulation Passing Experts of the Cheng Family.
If they had an army here, they might not be so worried. However, if they fought now, they would definitely not be a match for City Lord Zhou.
Of course, what they were most worried about was that if there was a conflict with the Cheng Family, their alliance might be attacked by the Cheng Family. It was difficult for them not to worry about this.
Under such circumstances, the City Lords had no choice but to discuss together.
City Lord Zhou did not care about them. He quietly drank his tea as if all this had nothing to do with him.
"City Lord Zhou, we've already discussed it. We can take a step back and allow those who have accepted the Cheng Family's mission and those who have gone to the Cheng Family to submit their mission freely. However, we must collect a certain amount of tax from the others. This is our final bottom line," City Lord Wu said on behalf of everyone.
"This is your bottom line, but it is not the bottom line of the Cheng Family. I have made it very clear just now. The bottom line of the Cheng Family is for you to open all the gates and not collect money from anyone! "City Lord Zhou put down his teacup and emphasized again.
"City Lord Zhou, if you put it like that, it's really meaningless. We've been giving in to the Cheng family time and time again, so we can be said to be very sincere.
But we don't see any sincerity from your Cheng Family at all. How are we supposed to continue negotiating? "Hai City Lord said with dissatisfaction.
"Negotiate? I think you might be mistaken. The reason why I asked Qinghe City Lord to bring you here is not to negotiate with you, but to inform you to open all the gates! "City Lord Zhou said with a faint smile.
"This is impossible! If the Cheng Family doesn't take a step back, then we won't take another step back either. We've made it very clear just now. This is our bottom line. At most, we'll fight to the death! "City Lord Wu directly refused.
If all the gates were opened, wouldn't they be back to the way they were before?
But now, they absolutely didn't want to return to their previous state, especially now that the White City Alliance had submitted to the Cheng Clan, and the Cheng Clan's territory in the Cultivation World was expanding.
In the past, there might have been the White City Alliance in the middle, but now, the White City Alliance had become the Cheng Clan's territory, which meant that their territory was completely adjacent to the Cheng Clan's territory. There wasn't even a place to ease the tension.
Now that the White City Alliance was constantly giving out missions, it became much easier for people to go to the White City Alliance, which was the Cheng Clan's people.
The White City Alliance was right next to them. Although they were neighbors, the White City Alliance was more attractive to them. Moreover, they could accept the Cheng Clan's missions and earn a lot of resources.
Under these circumstances, there was no one who wouldn't want to leave their alliance and join the White City Alliance or the Cheng Clan.
If they collected a certain amount of taxes from the people entering and leaving the Cheng Clan, they could make up for a lot of their losses.
Moreover, the more people entering and leaving the Cheng Clan, the more they would receive. Even if they gave free passage to those who accepted the Cheng Clan's missions, there were still so many people who didn't receive the missions.
Therefore, they could still collect a lot of resources.
Now that the Cheng Clan didn't take a step back, it meant that they wanted the alliance to completely collapse.
Since the Cheng Clan had done this, they naturally had no reason to give in, or else they would have to give up the entire alliance.
"Is that what you all think?" City Lord Zhou asked nonchalantly as he looked at the City Lords below.
"This … this …" Seeing City Lord Zhou's expression, the City Lords hesitated and felt quite nervous.
This was not a joke; none of them was a match for City Lord Zhou.
If City Lord Zhou attacked them without saying a word, they would not know how to deal with him. As such, how could they not feel nervous?
"You all need to understand that with our Cheng Clan's strength, if we really wanted to make things difficult for you, we wouldn't even have to tell you.
However, our family leader didn't do that. Instead, he asked me to come and explain things to you all. This is giving you all face and showing our Cheng Clan's greatest sincerity.
Otherwise, once our Cheng Family's army comes out, do you think any of your alliances will be able to withstand it? "City Lord Zhou reminded them out of goodwill when he saw that no one dared to speak up.
"City Lord Zhou, what you're doing right now is no different from directly attacking us.
Once we open up all of the cities, our alliance will lose a lot of people. In just a few years, we won't be able to hold on.
As such, it's only a matter of time! "Yunlai City Lord said.
"Then are you willing to let our Cheng Family directly take down your Alliance right now, turning your territory into our Cheng Family's territory, and then let our Cheng Family open the gates ourselves?
Or do you want to go back and open up these gates yourselves?
Even though the situation might be the same as what you said, at least your alliance will be able to hold on for a while.
No one knows what will happen in the future. Perhaps you will find a way to solve this problem.
However, if our Cheng Family were to take action, then you will truly have no chance at all, "City Lord Zhou said.
"We …" Everyone felt quite startled. Faced with this choice, everyone would choose the second option.
However, even the second choice wasn't their original intention, because they didn't wish for only these two answers.
It was a pity that City Lord Zhou did not give them a third option.
"I can tell you clearly that our Cheng Clan will not accept the method you just used.
It doesn't matter if you allow the people who accepted the mission to pass through the gates or if you want to collect customs taxes from others, it is impossible.
You should know that the Cheng Clan's Alliance is not the only alliance that leads to our Cheng Clan. The cultivation world is so big. Putting aside the Cheng Clan's other new cities, even the Yungui New City that I am in charge of has at least hundreds of passages.
Who knows how many alliances and cities are involved in this. If we allow you to do this, will the other alliances not do the same?
If one or two, or a dozen or twenty passages are blocked, it won't be a big loss. However, if all the passages leading to our Cheng Clan are blocked, the impact on our Cheng Clan will be huge. I don't need to say it. You should be able to imagine it, right?
So, it's not that our Cheng Clan is not willing to take a step back, but that we cannot! I've said it before. There is no such thing as fairness in this world.
If you are strong enough, our Cheng Clan will naturally not be able to force you. Even if you want to collect customs taxes from everyone, our Cheng Clan won't be able to stop you.
The sad thing is that you don't have the strength to stop the Cheng Clan. So, you can only bear the losses yourselves, not our Cheng Clan. The reason is that simple. Think about it carefully. "City Lord Zhou's tone was no longer as cold as before. Instead, it was more humane.
However, when these humane words were spoken, everyone present felt despair.
They had to admit that City Lord Zhou's words were very reasonable. It was just that the reality was too cruel and they could not accept it.
The various City Lords looked at each other. They did not seem to have the confidence to continue arguing with City Lord Zhou.
After all, City Lord Zhou had already made it very clear that the Cheng Clan would not give in on this matter.
Because he was right. Once they did this, all the other passages leading to the Cheng Clan would do the same.
This way, all the passages leading to the Cheng Clan would be blocked. The impact on the Cheng Clan would be too great.
So, the Cheng Clan would definitely not give in.
"Sigh! City Lord Zhou, I choose to give up on this matter! "The Clear River City Lord had not said a word since the beginning. However, he was the first to express his stance.
As the first person to come into contact with City Lord Zhou, he knew that there was no way to change the situation now that it had developed to this point.
Since there was no way to change the situation, he could only choose to accept it.
Since all the passages leading to the Clear River Alliance were open, he might as well do them a favor at little cost.
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