Chapter 537: No Step Back

With the successive revival of the Artifact Saint Palace ruins—the Artifact Refining Workshop in the southern region of the capital and the Alchemy Saint Hall ruins—the Medical Department in the eastern region, the spatial terrain had expanded and stretched, leaving the former capital of Great Jin utterly transformed and unrecognizable.

Nowadays, when people mention the capital, the first thing that comes to mind is no longer the imperial palace but the Celestial Department, which represents the Central Sacred Ground.

The center of power had shifted silently and imperceptibly.

The Celestial Department.

At the first glimmer of dawn, just as Wei Zhenjie finished his cultivation and walked out of the training chamber, a personal guard came to report that representatives from the Four Sacred Grounds had arrived.

"What a headache…"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhenjie's face was full of helplessness.

Yesterday, Lingguang Hall had replied regarding cultivation in the Nether Soul Realm, and afterward, his mental communication device had been vibrating nonstop, receiving countless messages criticizing Lingguang Hall for demanding an exorbitant price.

At this moment, he sincerely hoped that the Xuanfu Estate would appear soon, so that the Central Sacred Ground wouldn't have to step in to govern and coordinate the various human factions.

Wei Zhenjie dawdled his way to the main hall, and looking at the representatives of the Four Sacred Grounds, he greeted them with a forced smile: "Morning."

The elder of the Array Sage Sect ignored his casual attitude and cut straight to the point: "Director Wei, what do you think of the conditions Lingguang Hall has set forth?"

Wei Zhenjie spread his hands, looking utterly indifferent: "I'll take them as they come."

The elder of the Artifact Saint Palace looked helpless: "Director Wei, we're discussing serious matters. Could you be a bit more serious?"

Wei Zhenjie sighed, restrained his smile a little, and also showed some helplessness: "The initiative is in the hands of the Lingguang Hall Master. Naturally, whatever she says goes. What else can we do?"

The elder of the Array Sage Sect stared at him with sharp eyes: "You actually plan to hand over the hard-earned assets that the Demon Suppression Army fought for with their lives?"

"Otherwise?" Wei Zhenjie retorted. "Do you happen to have any good ideas?"

The elder of the Rune Sage Pavilion spoke up: "The Lingguang Hall Master ventured deep into the Nether Abyss to obtain the Nether Firewood—that wasn't easy. We acknowledge this point."

"To gain the cultivation opportunity in the Soul Entry Realm, it's not unreasonable for us to pay some price."

"But what the Lingguang Hall Master is asking for is too much!"

From the Alchemy Saint Hall, Xia Zhen had come, and he also added: "I've heard that for some sects and clans, Lingguang Hall is asking for secret realms, ruins, spiritual mines, and the like."

"To put it bluntly, the Lingguang Hall Master's behavior is nothing short of taking advantage of the situation to loot."

Wei Zhenjie looked over and said in a deep tone: "Yes, I also think the Lingguang Hall Master is being a bit outrageous. But you can't just focus on the price you have to pay; you also have to think about the gains."

"Many Spirit Platform realm cultivators are stuck because their divine sense can't advance, causing their cultivation level to stagnate. When they enter the Soul Entry Realm for cultivation, they start at the Spirit Platform realm, but when they come out, they might very well be in the Divine Condensation realm."

"The further a cultivator's realm goes, the harder it is to improve. What an additional Divine Condensation realm cultivator means for humanity and for all the various factions—I don't need to spell that out."

Upon hearing this, the people from the Four Sacred Grounds fell silent.

After a while, the elder of the Artifact Saint Palace spoke again: "The Nether Soul Realm concerns the high-end combat power of human cultivators. With the Lingguang Hall Master asking such a high price, I'm afraid there aren't many factions that can come up with the corresponding resources."

Wei Zhenjie smiled: "You're underestimating those clans and sects too much."

To be honest, he wasn't really bothered by the Lingguang Hall Master's bold move this time; in fact, he almost felt like applauding it.

Those noble cultivation clans, having learned about the spiritual energy revival ahead of time, had frantically seized and monopolized cultivation resources. Although they had trained quite a few cultivators, their ultimate goal was to expand their own power.

Rather than letting those factions enrich themselves for their own benefit, it would be better to use the resources on the Vermilion Bird Army.

Elder of the Artifact Saint Palace: "Even if they can come up with it, it's the family fortune painstakingly saved over several generations. The Lingguang Hall Master obtained the Nether Firewood, which is a great merit for humanity. But by demanding such a huge price and stripping them of their family assets, she's likely to offend all the various factions."

Wei Zhenjie looked at these representatives who wore expressions of deep grievance, didn't want to get entangled with them, and so offered a suggestion.

"We want to cultivate in the Nether Soul Realm, and Lingguang Hall wants to charge a fee—at its core, this is a business transaction."

"Since it's a business transaction, they set a price, and we counteroffer—that's all there is to it."

"If you ask me, each of you should first make a counteroffer and see how Lingguang Hall reacts."

"In business, there's always a process of bargaining. In the end, everyone can settle on terms acceptable to both sides."

The representatives of the Four Sacred Grounds exchanged glances. Seeing that Wei Zhenjie didn't want to take the lead, they had no choice but to reluctantly accept this proposal.

"We'll have to do it this way for now."

Watching the people from the Four Sacred Grounds leave, Wei Zhenjie had just breathed a sigh of relief when his communication device vibrated again. He picked it up and immediately sneered coldly.

Chu Junyi, leading Meng Ziyu and the other three, had just returned from the Nether Abyss when they saw Wei Zhenjie with a cold sneer on his face: "Master, what's wrong?"

Wei Zhenjie looked over and, seeing it was his own disciple, immediately snorted, "The major families and sects think the Master of Lingguang Hall is asking too much, and they want to unite to force her to lower her demands."

Chu Junyi frowned upon hearing this.

Meng Ziyu interjected, "The Master of Lingguang Hall is strong and domineering, but one can't fight four hands alone. With all forces applying pressure together, the Master of Lingguang Hall probably won't be able to hold her ground."

Wei Zhenjie let out a scoffing laugh, "That's not necessarily true."

This tactic might work on others, but against Hua Changxi, it likely won't have much effect, and might even backfire.

Back when the Dan Sacred Hall revived, all the factions joined forces to threaten her, but in the end, Hua Changxi emerged triumphant.

Now, with one hundred thousand Vermilion Bird troops backing her, her confidence is only stronger.

After hearing this, Chu Junyi and the others exchanged glances, their eyes showing the same expression—their master (minister) had high hopes for the Master of Lingguang Hall.

Lingguang Hall.

Yunyou had received replies from various factions one after another, and after reviewing their counteroffers, his expression remained somber.

Su Yu: "What, none of them agreed?"

Yunyou nodded: "For our conditions, the Four Holy Lands cut them in half directly, and some families and sects cut them by ninety percent."

Having said that, he began sending a message to Hua Changxi.

Hua Changxi was not in Lingguang Hall; she was inspecting the remaining blessed lands.

Blazing Flame Mountain, Fire Rock Grotto, Fire Cloud Cave, Suiren Bone, Nirvana Pool...

Based on her past experience with occupying blessed lands, she could sense a fair amount from them. But for these five, except for Blazing Flame Mountain, the other four—aside from spatial fluctuations—she had no awareness at all of the internal conditions within the blessed lands.

Was her ability insufficient, or did these four blessed lands hold some hidden mystery?

"Hum~"

The Yiniantong vibrated, interrupting Hua Changxi's train of thought.

After reading the message Yunyou sent, she wasn't surprised, and simply replied, "Lingguang Hall's terms are non-negotiable."