Chapter 486
He tapped his fingers on the table, and the stacks of documents before him fluttered like white doves, landing in the hands of the sect leaders.
The head of the Qingmu Sect opened one of the documents:
"**The Mutual Assistance Pact**"
With just a glance, he understood.
"No mutual killings."
"If there are disputes, we can discuss them at the Jiushan Realm."
"United against external threats."
These were the fundamental principles.
There were also many detailed regulations, such as summoning all the Yuanying (Nascent Soul) cultivators for training in the celestial formations, and so on.
This was quite easy to comprehend.
Zheng Fa was consolidating power—henceforth, these sect leaders could no longer incite internal strife within the Baixian Alliance, nor could they stand idly by as the Jiushan Sect faced the threat of the Great Freedom Demon Cult as they had in the past.
Of course, they would also receive protection from the Jiushan Sect.
This point made the sect leaders hesitate.
While the pact had its benefits, it also stripped them of many freedoms.
At the very least, it was much stricter than what Tongming Shangren had imposed.
The leaders exchanged glances, and when they looked back at Tongming Shangren, their eyes began to show a hint of nostalgia...
Their expressions made Tongming Shangren feel a bit smug—now you know I was the better option?
But the heads of the Qingmu Sect knew that since Zheng Fa had laid down the terms, he was unlikely to change them.
At this moment, they were in a weak position—they were essentially seeking the protection of the Jiushan Realm.
With a sense of oppression, the head of the Qingmu Sect opened the second document: "**The Tariff Alliance Treaty**."
He glanced at it and suddenly exclaimed:
"Zheng Zhangmen, you don’t require tribute?"
"We just need to join this Tariff Alliance?"
Zheng Fa smiled and nodded gently.
The Yuanying cultivators in the hall stirred, murmuring among themselves, their expressions brightening considerably.
Power is power, but cultivators care most about their cultivation levels, which naturally relate to resources—after all, the tribute that Tongming Mountain had previously demanded was quite substantial.
Now, Zheng Fa was being exceedingly generous!
Moreover, this indicated that Zheng Fa had no intention of swallowing up these smaller sects!
How could that not put their minds at ease?
Seeing their reactions, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. To him, the sects of the Baixian Alliance were not particularly appealing; in fact, at the beginning, he preferred to communicate in a relatively detached manner.
There were many secrets within the Jiushan Realm that couldn’t be disclosed to outsiders.
What attracted him were the resources of these sects and... the market!
He glanced at the Tariff Alliance Treaty beside him, then at the smiles on their faces, and thought about the calculations made by Senior Sister Zhang...
Who said that not collecting tribute meant he couldn’t exploit these sects?
The disparity between labor and capital, anyone?
...
The heads of the Qingmu Sect and others were unaware of the internal developments within the Jiushan Realm, nor did they understand the industrial and agricultural aspects. Now, they were signing treaties with great excitement.
After signing their names, they looked up and saw Tongming Shangren again.
This time, their expressions showed a hint of resentment towards him—clearly, their faces read:
"Oh? You’re still here?"
(End of this chapter)
---
**Chapter 379: The Dao Fruit Experiment, Haori's Discovery**
After sending off the members of the Baixian Alliance who had signed the agreement, Zheng Fa turned around to find Elder Tou and the others grinning at him, their expressions quite animated. Clearly, becoming the leader of the Baixian Alliance held significant meaning for them.
Especially for Uncle Pang, who was busy sending message talismans one after another, looking quite occupied.
It was unclear who he was chatting with.
Uncle Pang seemed to sense Zheng Fa's confusion and smirked, a hint of pride in his demeanor.
"These are all old acquaintances from my time in the Baixian Alliance."
He paused and added, "Superficial acquaintances."
"When we withdrew from the Baixian Alliance back then, many relationships faded, and they stopped contacting me."
"Now, hey!"
Uncle Pang didn’t need to finish his sentence; just looking at how many message talismans he was receiving made it clear that he was now a big shot in the Baixian Alliance!
At this moment, his face practically screamed, "Don’t underestimate Jiushan’s poverty!"
After all, Zheng Fa's master, Elder Tou, was a homebody, while Senior Sister Zhang's master, Huang Zhenren, was a live wire.
Uncle Pang, the social butterfly of Jiushan, was indeed the only person many could connect with within the Jiushan Sect.
"What are they saying?"
"New ruler, new subjects," Uncle Pang replied, adding, "These people can’t figure out our Jiushan Sect’s ways, and now they’re scrambling to find out."
This was quite normal.
The Jiushan Sect had always kept its distance from the affairs of the immortal sects unless there were genuine interests at stake, like the perverse Great Freedom Demon Ancestor who had been fixated on them. Zheng Fa generally stayed out of other matters.
The members of the Baixian Alliance certainly couldn’t grasp Zheng Fa’s thoughts.
The agreements they signed were just those two, which felt overly simplistic to them.
They signed happily, thinking that Jiushan wouldn’t demand tribute...
But once the ink dried, doubts began to creep in.
Zheng Fa’s thoughts were actually quite straightforward—he didn’t think much of the current Baixian Alliance, but he did see value in the resources under its jurisdiction.
On the other hand, the current scientific development in the Jiushan Realm had not yet translated into wealth. Zheng Fa pondered and concluded that the market was simply too small.
After all, the Baixian Alliance dared to call itself the Sixth of Xuanwei, with vast territories and abundant resources.
Despite having suffered from the calamity of the Great Freedom Demon Cult, they still had nearly twenty Yuanying, over a hundred Jindan (Golden Core), and countless low-level cultivators.
Adding in the scattered cultivators within the region, the market was much larger than that of the Jiushan Sect.
Ultimately, Zheng Fa still viewed the Jiushan Realm as his foundation, while the sects of the Baixian Alliance were seen as allied forces, or rather, various feudal lords, with their importance ranked below that of the Jiushan Realm itself.
He could tolerate these people going about their own business.
After hearing Zheng Fa’s explanation, Uncle Pang stroked his chin and smiled, "Now I know how to put these folks at ease."
As for the market, it wasn’t that the members of the Baixian Alliance lacked market awareness; every sect had its own business and understood the importance of this matter—however, they truly hadn’t considered what kind of monster was being nurtured within the Jiushan Realm!
Senior Sister Zhang shot Zheng Fa a glance, recalling what he had said when they discussed this earlier:
Once the members of the Baixian Alliance became accustomed to the cheap goods brought by the Jiushan Realm and integrated into the economic system of the Baixian Alliance, the little schemes of these sect leaders would naturally become irrelevant.
She didn’t know that Zheng Fa didn’t have so many thoughts; he was merely contemplating the future, yet she felt that the future he described was not without possibilities.
Those sect leaders hadn’t misjudged him:
Zheng Fa was an extremely cautious person with a strong desire for control.
Yet his approach to accomplishing this task was subtle, allowing them to lower their guard.
The two of them, along with Senior Sister Yuan, headed towards University Island. Suddenly, Senior Sister Zhang asked, "Weren’t you worried about the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor when you gave up the two states of land?"
Zheng Fa fell silent for a moment, then displayed a clear understanding of the situation:
"Whatever I do now, the Great Freedom Demon Emperor won’t spare me..."
Senior Sister Zhang was momentarily speechless. Looking at Senior Sister Yuan and the little Jinwu clinging to Zheng Fa, her expression became quite interesting:
She thought for a moment; if she were the Great Freedom Demon Emperor, given her temperament, she would have probably killed her junior brother long ago.
The Great Freedom Demon Emperor hadn’t come; her patience was quite remarkable...
...
The two of them arrived outside a classroom on University Island. Senior Sister Yuan’s expression, usually filled with charm, suddenly turned clear, and she stopped, preparing to take her leave.
Zheng Fa was astonished: had this slacker’s aversion to classrooms truly overcome her biological instincts?
Senior Sister Yuan had always been a bit slow on the uptake, and Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang indulged her, thinking that a bird’s smaller brain capacity was just fine.
Previously, Senior Sister Yuan had attended classes.
Later, she simply stopped going to those she couldn’t understand—she had probably skipped about eighty percent of her classes.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to learn; it was mainly due to her idol persona: as the current number one streamer in the Jiushan Realm, she had many fans, and embarrassing herself in class could easily lead to losing followers.
Zheng Fa didn’t push her.
On one hand, Senior Sister Yuan not attending classes didn’t occupy other resources; she was happily enjoying her streamer salary, and no one had any objections.
On the other hand, she was an art student... did she really need to meet so many demands?
It would be a bit like animal cruelty.
But this time, Zheng Fa held onto Senior Sister Yuan!
She tugged at her arm, but couldn’t break free. Turning her head, she saw Zheng Fa gripping her sleeve tightly, pointing at the classroom.
"…"
Senior Sister Yuan panicked, trying to retreat desperately, but out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a figure emerging from behind, blocking her path.
She turned back, glaring, and found Senior Sister Zhang looking at her with a blank expression...
With Zheng Fa in front and Senior Sister Zhang behind, the poor little bird, Senior Sister Yuan, hung her head in defeat and entered the classroom.
Seeing her sit at her desk with a vacant expression, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but chuckle:
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