221: Chapter 221 Establishing an Alliance, The Winds of Resurgence

Navigator Academy.

Deep night.

In the cultivation area behind the Martial Dao Institute, an ice-blue Source Array room was constantly overflowing with cold air.

The ground was covered with dense ice patterns.

The temperature warning on the wall had already dropped to minus seventy degrees.

If an ordinary Meridian Opening Realm practitioner stood inside, their Qi and blood would be frozen to the point of sluggishness.

Yet Su Wan sat in the center, her expression calm.

Behind her, a huge ice-blue Soul Map slowly unfolded.

Within the Soul Map, there were glaciers, a throne, and a blurry figure of an emperor.

That imperial shadow lowered its gaze.

In an instant, the entire cultivation room seemed to be dragged into the depths of extreme cold.

Crack.

Crack, crack.

Ice patterns spread from beneath Su Wan's feet to the surroundings, and the detector outside the Source Array room jumped wildly.

[Ice Emperor Soul Map compatibility increased]

[Soul Map mastery level: Major Achievement]

Su Wan slowly opened her eyes.

Deep within her pupils, a flash of ice-blue light flickered.

The cold air around her instantly retracted.

That huge Ice Emperor Soul Map also sank into her back bit by bit, finally turning into a tiny ice pattern that landed on the center of her brow.

She stood up.

She raised her hand.

With a light tap of her fingertip, thirty-six tiny ice crystals appeared in the air.

The ice crystals did not explode, nor did they scatter; they just floated quietly, like a group of soldiers awaiting orders.

Su Wan looked at these ice crystals, her eyes still calm.

"Finally, Major Achievement."

She had originally thought that this step would take at least another half a month.

But during this time, the pressure brought by Lu Cheng was too great.

There were two weeks left until the next System battle; at that time, let alone winning against Lu Cheng, it would be good enough just to block two of his moves.

Su Wan knew this very clearly.

If she kept following her original plan and took it slow, by the time they met again, she might not even have the qualifications to stand by Lu Cheng's side...

The academy was very safe, with sufficient resources, responsible teachers, and a stable cultivation route.

But precisely because it was too stable, there was ultimately a limit to the growth speed.

Her original plan was to secure one of the twenty-four fragments after entering the academy, and then slowly advance her subsequent layout.

But looking at it now, the plan needed to be adapted.

Her growth speed was also faster than she had imagined.

The Ice Emperor Soul Map had reached Major Achievement ahead of schedule.

Then she could also go to some more dangerous places ahead of schedule.

Su Wan walked out of the cultivation room and opened her terminal.

The task hall page refreshed.

Soon, a red task caught her eye.

[Frontier Battlefield Support Task]

[Region: Northwest Cold Wind Defense Line]

[Task Rank: S Rank]

[Suggested Realm: Late Stage Meridian Opening Realm or above, priority given to those with extreme cold environment adaptation]

[Task Description: The Cold Wind Defense Line has recently shown signs of a strange beast tide, with multiple pollution rifts becoming active. The Military District is requesting major academies to dispatch elite students to participate in the outer defense line support.]

Su Wan looked at this task, her eyes moving slightly. In her past life, at this time, a strange space rift appeared at the northwest border...

Although this kind of space rift was dangerous... however... the rewards were equally generous...

And the cold region of the Northwest was just right for her.

Her fingertip paused on the application button.

After a moment, she clicked it lightly.

[Application submitted]

Su Wan put away the terminal and turned to look out the window.

In the night, Navigator Academy was brightly lit.

She said softly:

"Lu Cheng."

"It is time for me to move forward too."

...

On the other side.

Bashu Tang Family.

For the next two days, Lu Cheng stayed at the Tang Family.

The news about the Tang Family and Qin Boyuan was not deliberately concealed.

To be precise, Tang Fuyuan never intended to hide it at all.

Qin Family War King Realm expert Qin Boyuan stepped into the Tang Family and was captured on the spot by the Tang Family.

The Tang Family subsequently restored cooperation with the Qian Family Chamber of Commerce, the Navigator Academy affiliated chamber of commerce, and the Martial Dao Association's Southwest Resource Office.

As soon as these two pieces of news spread, the entire Southwest Family circle was shaken.

The first reaction of many people was that the Tang Family had gone crazy.

The second reaction was that the Tang Family had found a new backer.

The third reaction was to want to come and see if this new boat was stable enough.

Consequently, the Tang Family's threshold was almost trampled flat.

On the morning of the first day, three small families came.

By the second day, Family representatives arriving from around Bashu were already lined up to the outer courtyard.

Some brought gifts, some brought resource lists, and some brought evidence of being suppressed by the Qin Family faction.

Others were simply here to test the wind.

However, in a big forest, there are all kinds of birds.

Not everyone truly wanted to join them.

Some wanted to hedge their bets.

Some wanted to use Lu Cheng's reputation to scare their enemies.

Others brought probing missions from the Qin Family side; they spoke of cooperation, but their hearts were full of schemes.

Lu Cheng sat in the small courtyard next to the Tang Family's main hall, drinking tea and watching batch after batch of people come in.

Tang Fuyuan arranged for people to receive them one by one.

Tang Zhiwei was responsible for introducing the situation of each Family on the side.

"This is a small Family on the edge of the Qin Family faction, a fence-sitter."

"This one can be talked to; their Family has had three medicinal material lines cut off and can no longer hold on."

"Don't believe this one; his son just married the daughter of a Qin Family branch."

"This one is interesting, people from the Bai Family. Their foundation is very solid, but they have had constant conflicts with the Qin Family in recent years."

Lu Cheng listened while using Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck to filter them.

After two days, Lu Cheng's head was almost spinning from all the various Family relationships.

Bashu, Nanling, Southwest border regions, chambers of commerce, adventure teams, material channels, medicinal material production lines, Source Array transport...

Lu Cheng rubbed his temples.

"No way."

"If I handle this alone, I will die."

Lu Cheng contacted the academy directly.

Half a day later, Qian Shuying and Li Huayi were arranged to come to the Tang Family.

When Qian Shuying arrived, she was wearing a simple combat suit, her eyes sharp.

The moment she stepped off the shuttle, she glanced at Tang Zhiwei.

Tang Zhiwei smiled and said:

"Young Miss Qian, long time no see."

Qian Shuying said indifferently:

"Not that long. The last time we met should have been when I was six years old. My father brought me to Bashu to participate in the chamber of commerce; we met then..."

Their gazes touched lightly in the air.

Lu Cheng inexplicably felt the surrounding temperature drop a bit.

He immediately shoved the documents over.

"You came just in time."

"Leave these to you."

Qian Shuying lowered her head and flipped through the list, quickly getting into the zone.

The Qian Family was originally a chamber of commerce Family, extremely sensitive to interest chains, supply channels, and cooperation risks.

Li Huayi was responsible for documents, contracts, information archiving, and the subsequent Alliance framework.

She usually didn't have the strongest presence in the Shengwu Society, but when dealing with these meticulous matters, her efficiency was terrifyingly high.

After one afternoon, the originally chaotic list of visitors was divided into four categories by them.

Can cooperate.

Wait and observe.

Refuse contact.

Focus on vigilance.

Lu Cheng was responsible for the final screening.

Once Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck was activated, a batch of names was directly slashed from the list.

Tang Fuyuan watched with alarm.

This screening method was simply outrageous.

Some people the Tang Family originally wanted to contact, but after Lu Cheng crossed them off, it wasn't long before it was discovered that the other party had secret connections with the Qin Family.

Later on, the Elder in charge of intelligence within the Tang Family felt a little creeped out when looking at Lu Cheng.

A week passed quickly.

The Tang Family, Qian Family, and Zhou Family acted as the core, initially setting up a new Alliance framework.

A total of twenty-six large and small families signed cooperation contracts.

Among them, the Tang Family was responsible for Bashu toxic Materials, hidden weapons, and medicinal material processing.

The Qian Family was responsible for chamber of commerce circulation, capital revitalization, and channel layout.

The Zhou Family was responsible for several adventure routes in the Southwest and partial border transport.

The remaining small families were assigned positions according to their respective resources.

This Alliance did not formally declare to the outside world that it was going to confront the Qin Family.

But everyone knew.

Its existence itself was a banner.

Those who had been crushed until they couldn't breathe by the Qin Family faction finally saw a new path.

Another Monday, Tang Family guest courtyard.

After Lu Cheng finished a night of Cultivate, the System prompt sounded on time.

[New week's Hextech has refreshed]

[Wind of Revival (Gold): Once per day, can restore 60% of the lost state of all friendly targets within a 10-meter radius.]