Chapter 299: The Consortium's Countermeasures

"Everyone is already aware of the content recently published in the Justice Weekly. Do you junior brothers have any good countermeasures?" Patriarch Yuan Qing scanned the crowd, his gaze pausing briefly on Visionary Eagle as he asked.

"Lin Bai's many clauses are entirely aimed at the Seven Righteous Sects. The members he has absorbed are mostly the pawns we have planted over these years; he is truly a scoundrel," Yuan Hao said. "Lin Bai relies on the Magpie Bridge to connect the world and buy people's hearts. If we let him continue to develop, I fear he will become too big to control."

"Junior Brother Yuan Hao, these are all clichés; there is no benefit in saying them." Patriarch Yuan Qing looked at Yuan Hao and said, "We traded stability for compromise precisely to better deal with Lin Bai. It is not appropriate to start a war again. Moreover, Lin Bai's influence is already established; if we are not certain of killing him in one blow, it will leave endless trouble. What I want to know is how to curb the development of the Justice Alliance and his Fazhe Zhidao under the current circumstances, without provoking Lin Bai."

Once these words were spoken.

It stumped everyone.

For a long time, they had been accustomed to speaking with their fists; whoever did not listen would be beaten, and whoever did not listen would be crushed to death.

The Cultivation World had been peaceful for many years, and the relationships between sects were relatively simple. Even though most of these cultivators had experienced trials in the mortal world, when encountering difficulties, they would either rely on their backers or use force stronger than that of mortals to solve them. They had formed an inherent set of rules that were always effective.

Suddenly asking them to give up force and use their brains to solve problems was truly quite difficult.

Previously.

Visionary Eagle had proposed a plan to them, asking them to go head-to-head with Lin Bai, but when it came to the crunch, these people turned cowardly; no one was willing to be the one to stick their neck out.

"Senior Brother, it is simply impossible to curb his development without angering Lin Bai." Daoist Haishan looked up at Yuan Qing. "Originally, the reason the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects formed a balanced situation was because they had experienced several Great Wars of Gods and Demons, and Lin Bai is an anomaly. His laws are something no one can..."

Sigh!

Compared to Lin Bai, this was just a group of uncivilized apes!

Visionary Eagle shook his head secretly, too lazy to listen to their "high insights," and spoke up: "Sect Master, esteemed patriarchs, I do have a few strategies."

Strategies?

And there are a few of them?

Are we really that bad?

Patriarch Yuan Qing looked at his junior brothers with disappointment, then turned to Visionary Eagle and said, "Please speak."

"Perhaps the Sect Master believes that the rules suddenly established by Lin Bai's Justice Alliance are aimed at you," Visionary Eagle said. "But in my eyes, the rules he established are actually restricting himself. It is hardest to deal with someone when there are no rules, but once there are rules, one can always find loopholes in them."

A flash of inspiration struck Patriarch Yuan Qing's mind, as if he had realized something, and he signaled for him to continue.

"On the matter of Lin Bai, the Sect Master is too cautious." Visionary Eagle shook his head and said, "Our deduction is not wrong; the foundation of the Justice Alliance is unstable, and Lin Bai also needs to develop. Therefore, although he spoke threatening words, he is mostly buying time for himself.

The Justice Alliance should be more afraid of falling into the quagmire of war than we are.

The Seven Righteous Sects compromised this time not because they were afraid of Lin Bai, but because they did not want to suffer more losses and disrupt Lin Bai's rhythm. Therefore, the rules that should be established must be established, and the force that should be displayed must be displayed. Since we said we would suppress the scope of the Justice Alliance to the Taiyi Kingdom, we cannot let his hands reach beyond the national borders; this is the bottom line and cannot be retreated from."

Several Great Vehicle Realm cultivators of the Heavenly Dao Sect nodded one after another, highly agreeing with Visionary Eagle's remarks.

If they retreated again and again, they would eventually have nowhere left to retreat to; in that case, it would be better to just have a fight!

Their strength was not weaker than the Justice Alliance's.

Yuan Hao asked: "How should we handle the Magpie Bridges in countries like Taichu and Taihao?"

"The Magpie Bridges within the Taiyi Kingdom are controlled by the Justice Alliance," Visionary Eagle said. "Outside the Taiyi Kingdom, we can share the profits of the Magpie Bridges with the Justice Alliance. But the supervisors must be our own people. The Justice Alliance can promote their rules to the outside world through press conferences, and we can do the same. Whoever's territory it is, their rules are followed."

"That makes sense." Daoist Honghai clapped his hands and said, "By establishing our own rules, we will firmly restrict the Justice Alliance within the Taiyi Kingdom."

"The Justice Alliance uses our pill formulas and secret manuals to collect patent fees," Visionary Eagle continued. "Outside the Taiyi Kingdom, we can collect distribution fees for his 'Justice Weekly' and 'Heavenly Dao Review', bringing everyone who practices the Law of Cultivation under supervision. When necessary, we can levy a Law Cultivation tax on those who practice the Law of Cultivation..."

"..." The people of the Heavenly Dao Sect.

Patriarch Yuan Qing frowned: "Is doing this too excessive? And won't it further lose the hearts of the people?"

"How could it?" Visionary Eagle said. "Sect Master, you must have already realized the power of public opinion. Through public opinion, we can let the people know the consequences of the laws spinning out of control. If everyone practices the laws, the result will surely be that farmers won't farm and workers won't work, harming the country and the people. Bringing them under supervision is a normal measure.

At the same time, we can also do as Lin Bai does and bring cultivation into the civilian population. For example, in the name of the Heavenly Dao Sect, we can open cultivation schools in towns, establish Pill Refining Workshops and Artifact Refining Workshops, and let the common people receive tangible benefits. We can even invite the common people to visit the Heavenly Dao Sect's sect grounds.

On one hand, this can clear the name of the Heavenly Dao Sect, and on the other, it can resist the Justice Alliance's ideological erosion of the people. Curbing an industry does not necessarily have to rely on force."

"This is wrong; most common people have no aptitude, and teaching them to cultivate is equivalent to a futile effort," Yuan Hao frowned and said.

"Lin Bai's laws are also a futile effort for most people, but Lin Bai relied on constant promotion of the laws to possess the great reputation he has today." Visionary Eagle looked at Yuan Hao with a smile. "Daoist, not everything needs to be useful to be worth doing.

If the disciples recruited by the cultivation schools cannot cultivate, can't we find some martial arts masters to teach them martial arts, or find private tutors to teach them knowledge? These can also bring a good reputation to the Heavenly Dao Sect. Once we find a genius among them, we can promote them extensively through the 'Heavenly Dao Journal', and we will make a huge profit. When that time comes, why worry about not having a reputation?"

"Good, with just this one step, we will be ahead of the Justice Alliance," Patriarch Yuan Qing couldn't help but praise.

"Therefore, the rules established by the Justice Alliance seem domineering, but in reality, they are trapping themselves," Visionary Eagle said. "When rules are everywhere, whoever breaks the rules first will be pushed to the side of the villain. At that time, by using the mouth of public opinion, we can also crush him to death.

We take the lead in establishing rules, and the other sects and the Demonic Five Sects will surely follow suit.

When that time comes, we will establish a new alliance, targeting weapon refinement, culinary arts, pill refinement, and even environmental protection, creating a new set of alliances and standards to be implemented within our control.

Through various means, we will exclude the Taiyi Kingdom. If the Taiyi Kingdom wants to join, they must act according to the rules we have set. That will be the time for us to make things difficult for him.

Throughout history, rules have always been the most powerful means, no weaker than the laws at all."

"Is doing this useful?" Honghai asked suspiciously.

"Naturally, it is useful. The Taiyi Kingdom rose by borrowing the Magpie Bridge and the Justice Alliance." Visionary Eagle said. "We Heavenly Descended also have many practical machines. These machines are assembled from various precise parts and have great use in agriculture, industry, and even manufacturing. They can greatly promote people's livelihoods and make the lives of the common people better.

The Magpie Bridge is only beneficial for transportation, while everything we do is beneficial to all walks of life. Once these machines are laid out, they will surely greatly increase social productivity and benefit the people's livelihood.

These machines involve more small parts. We set unified standards for these parts, and production requires our authorization. Different parts cannot be installed on our machinery.

We will promote the same standards outside the Taiyi Kingdom. When the standards are unified, the people of the Taiyi Kingdom will surely be obstructed everywhere if they want to follow our footsteps, and they will inevitably develop grievances against the Justice Alliance. Over time, Lin Bai's control over the Taiyi Kingdom will surely loosen..."

Yuan Qing and the others looked at each other, all with blank expressions. The plan Visionary Eagle described had already exceeded their scope of understanding.

Seeing their confused eyes, Visionary Eagle smiled and stopped the topic: "This involves economics, sociology, and many other disciplines, which have long been popularized in our world. If the Sect Master is not familiar with them, you can leave the operation to us. It won't take long before we surely make Lin Bai and his Justice Alliance collapse, and then firmly grasp the Justice Alliance in our hands for our own use. Defeating a strong person by killing him is actually the lowest-level method."

Patriarch Yuan Qing was lost in thought.

The things Visionary Eagle said were very tempting, but to him, these remarks were like listening to a heavenly book.

Moreover, the growth rate of the Heavenly Descended was very fast, and he worried that in the end, it would not just be the Justice Alliance that was controlled, but also them...

"You can provide a detailed explanation of everything you have said. After we, the several sects, discuss it, we will make a decision." Patriarch Yuan Qing said, "Lin Bai is not a person who stays quiet. Once his Fazhe Zhidao goes a step further, he will certainly not be limited to a small Taiyi Kingdom. Perhaps he will deliberately provoke incidents and expand outward. What I need are the current means to curb him."

Visionary Eagle did not think he could convince the Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Sect with just one sentence, and he was not afraid of these people discussing it.

Xinlong, Jingda, and several other consortiums had already reached an agreement in private to first stabilize the players' status in the game, and then divide the cake after standing firm.

Therefore, at present, the strategies of all consortiums were unified.

If the sect masters of all parties sought advice from the players, the answers they received would be much the same. Once a breakthrough was found, the era led by the players would arrive.

After all.

The Seven Orthodox Sects and the Demonic Five Sects have been locked in infighting for so many years that their opinions are far from unified; otherwise, Lin Bai and his Justice Alliance would have been crushed long ago.

Lin Bai can exploit this point, and they can do the same, yet they will not make the mistake of the Seven Orthodox Sects and the Demonic Five Sects by fighting each other.

A few days into the game.

The consortium's players are racing against time to verify whether outside technology can work in this world; as long as they produce one or two results, it will be much easier to persuade the Seven Orthodox Sects and the Demonic Five Sects.

It is said.

This time, the national team has entered, but the consortium has not received accurate information; perhaps the people from the national team are hiding among them, not wanting to be detected by the Game Company.

But those are matters for another time.

The state is the main body, and the consortium must rely on the state to survive; having the state secretly supporting them brings only benefits and no harm.

After all.

The consortium's foundation in technology is ultimately not as deep as the state's.

Furthermore.

No one knows what is hidden behind the game world; all they can do is establish a foothold in this world as quickly as possible and subsequently control it.

Now, he has successfully infiltrated the upper echelons of the Heavenly Dao Sect and can influence their decisions; this point is much more favorable than the situation Shan Lu was in at the time.

……

"Current methods to contain Lin Bai?" 【Visionary Eagle】 pondered for a moment and said, "Just go against him. In the latest issue of his *Justice Weekly*, Lin Bai issued a statement prohibiting civilians from promoting the Love God Dao for him and forbidding the construction of temples for him. We shall encourage the public to build temples, thoroughly pinning Lin Bai to the position of Love God."

"I have thought of that. But the supernatural powers of the Love God Dao are stronger than the last, and they can be mastered immediately, allowing Lin Bai to further refine his cultivation of the Love God Dao, which is also disadvantageous to us," said Ancestor Yuan Qing.

"The supernatural powers of the Love Dao do not harm people!" said 【Visionary Eagle】. "Moon Chase, Binding Immortal, or even Heavenly River, all have methods to be broken. But the Heavenly Dao's 'words follow the law'—once successful, the rules governing the world will be set by him. At that time, dealing with you might just be a matter of a single sentence.

Whether it is the Heavenly Descended or you, all will be fish on the chopping block, left for him to dispose of, with no power to resist. Therefore, Lin Bai becoming the Love God is more beneficial to us. Especially since the rules of the Heavenly Dao and the Love God conflict; perhaps it will lead to him being unable to attend to both, eventually being surpassed by outsiders..."

"That makes a great deal of sense," Yuan Hao nodded and said.

"Sect Master, our interests are aligned when it comes to opposing Lin Bai," 【Visionary Eagle】 laughed.

"If we do this so blatantly, will it anger Lin Bai?" Ancestor Yuan Qing asked.

"How could it? Spontaneous behavior by the public—what does that have to do with us!" 【Visionary Eagle】 said. "Besides, the *Justice Alliance* just spoke of freedom of speech and freedom of the press; they can't turn around and slap their own faces, can they!"

"Sir's words are very true," Ancestor Yuan Qing was stunned for a moment, then suddenly enlightened. "Apart from this, are there any other countermeasures?"

"Establish an idol for the Heavenly Dao Sect," 【Visionary Eagle】 said. "Lin Bai's Fazhe Zhidao is related to prestige; we can use this to launch a spokesperson for the Heavenly Dao Sect to compete with Lin Bai in the world. The Dao Child's image is quite good; it is very suitable for packaging and promoting to the public."

"How to promote?" the Dao Child opened his eyes and asked.

"Packaging, hype," 【Visionary Eagle】 looked at the handsome Dao Child and said. "Appear on the front page of the *Heavenly Dao Journal* every day, interact with the spokespeople pushed out by the *Poison Journal* and *Blood Publication*, whether it's slaying demons or hosting ranking tournaments. Then find some people to act as fans, either praising or slandering, and it won't take long to establish a persona. We are also good at this; we can't just let Lin Bai have a fan club!"

Involving an unfamiliar field, Ancestor Yuan Qing frowned again.

The Dao Child looked at 【Visionary Eagle】, then at his master, and stepped forward: "Master, this disciple is willing to try. In recent days, this disciple has had another epiphany in the path of cultivation and will break through to the Great Vehicle Realm in a few days.

But in the Fazhe Zhidao, there has been no progress; perhaps it is related to the prestige Lin Bai spoke of.

In the Fazhe Zhidao, we cannot let Lin Bai have all the glory; this disciple wants to test whether the Fazhe Zhidao is viable. If successful, the Heavenly Dao Sect will no longer need to fear Lin Bai."

"Trying it is fine," Ancestor Yuan Qing looked at his disciple with eyes full of doting, and smiled gently, "If you sense something is wrong, just withdraw in time."

Once you become a traffic star, it's not so easy to withdraw! 【Visionary Eagle】 thought in Belly-Defamation.

Turning the Dao Child into another virtual idol was precisely one of his goals; he had looked into the Dao Child's past.

This fellow had strange phenomena at birth, and having been in contact with cultivation for only a little over ten years, he was already in the Void Refinement Realm.

Along the way, he had encountered almost no obstacles or bottlenecks, and his cultivation was even smoother than the players'; he was simply a designated BOSS template. Perhaps he was specifically pushed out by the game to deal with Lin Bai, and most importantly, the Dao Child's image was very handsome.

The Beggar Sect players could rise by relying on Lin Bai; perhaps they could also borrow the Dao Child's radiance...

Actually, creating some player stars would be more beneficial to them.

After all, the law might truly be linked to prestige.

But at this stage, Lin Bai was like a sun, casting others into dimness, and the Seven Orthodox Sects were wary of them at every turn; making players into stars was too difficult, so they still had to take a roundabout way.

(End of chapter)