82: Chapter 82 Wanling Mountain

Everyone immediately looked in unison toward the high platform in the center of the square.

A man in white robes was seen walking slowly onto the high platform with his hands behind his back.

The man had a refined appearance and restrained aura, yet between his brows, there was an air of authority typical of those long accustomed to high positions.

He walked to the center of the high platform, swept his gaze indifferently across the crowd, a flash of unconcealable impatience crossing his eyes.

No one dared to be negligent, and they immediately cupped their fists in salute one after another: "Greetings, Envoy Zhang!"

Envoy Zhang raised his hand casually, and the noisy scene instantly fell silent.

He cleared his throat and began: "I will not go into detail about the specifics of this Demon Suppression Alliance."

"It is the same old rules: for the Level 3 Demon Suppression Order, only Disciples below the Golden Core Stage may be dispatched; no Sect may have Golden Core Cultivators participate."

"Ultimately, Alliance point rewards will be distributed according to the merits of each Sect."

Alliance meetings like this happened almost every month; it was either suppressing this Sect or suppressing that Family.

Sometimes, to resolve internal conflicts, they would even "suppress" themselves within the Alliance.

At the end of the day, it was just to resolve some territorial disputes or uneven distribution of spoils.

But whether internal or external, there was an unwritten rule in the Eastern Region: every Rank of dispute had a corresponding method of resolution.

And this "Level 3 Demon Suppression Order" was the lowest Rank; it only allowed the dispatch of Disciples below the Golden Core Stage, with the main force being Foundation Establishment and Qi practitioners.

The Tiansha Valley side also knew this clearly and would absolutely not send out Golden Core Disciples.

Because once a Golden Core Cultivator entered the fray, it would no longer be a simple dispute, but a life-or-death battle of annihilation.

Everyone would send out Golden Core Elders, or even Nascent Soul level old monsters.

Once an old monster of that level made a move, mountains would collapse and the earth would split; it would easily implicate the innocent and drag all forces into this quagmire.

Therefore, this tacit understanding had become the bottom line jointly maintained by all Sects.

It was precisely because this kind of minor squabbling was truly uninteresting that such an expression of impatience appeared in Envoy Zhang's eyes.

But this Demon Suppression Assembly could not be skipped; if the Alliance did not "stretch its muscles" for a long time, it would lose its deterrent power and sooner or later become a mere decoration.

The Sect representatives nodded one after another, and subsequently, someone could not contain themselves and asked loudly.

"Envoy Zhang, we have heard that this time, the Demon Suppression points can be used to directly deduct Alliance membership fees? And… the first place also gets a Heaven Rank Magical Artifact?"

Envoy Zhang nodded and announced in a flat tone: "Correct."

"The Alliance Master, out of sympathy for the situation and hardships of the various Sects in our Eastern Region, has decided that from now on, for all Level 3 Demon Suppression missions, the merits obtained by each Sect can be converted into Alliance points, which can offset up to half of the Alliance membership fees."

"Whoa——"

As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar immediately broke out in the square, and the eyes of all the Sect representatives lit up!

This so-called "Alliance membership fee," to put it bluntly, was paying protection money; it was the head tax that supported this massive organization.

Every Sect had to pay a significant amount of Spirit Stones every ten years to maintain the operation of the Alliance.

How much one paid depended entirely on the Sect's territory and influence.

For Sects like theirs, it was at least five million Spirit Stones as a base; for those top-tier Sects with vast territories, it was often hundreds of millions.

If any Sect was bullied, they could report it, and the Alliance would step in to uphold justice.

If conflicts arose between Sects, the Alliance would also send people to mediate.

Now, since these merit points could actually be used to deduct membership fees, it was undoubtedly saving all the Sects a huge amount of real money!

Before everyone could digest this good news, Envoy Zhang continued: "The final reward for first place this time is a Heaven Rank Low Grade Magical Artifact named [Fire Spirit Sword]."

"As well as a reward of 5 million Spirit Stones!"

"Many thanks, Envoy Zhang!"

"This matter is thanks to the Envoy speaking well of us before the Alliance Master!"

"The Envoy is righteous, we admire you!"

For a moment, all sorts of flattery poured in like a tide; those Sect representatives who were just talking about other people's wives a moment ago had now all turned into the most loyal supporters.

Hearing this flattery, Envoy Zhang's tightened expression finally softened a little.

"Enough…"

He waved his hand, stopped wasting words, and immediately began making targeted deployments based on the intelligence the Alliance had on Tiansha Valley.

…

Meanwhile, on the Flying Vessel, Chun Xiaobai had been waiting so long he was practically growing mold.

"Damn it, does holding a crappy meeting take this long?"

Just as he was scratching his ears and cheeks in impatience, Lu Qingshan finally arrived, floating down from the mountain top square with eight Elders, all looking jubilant, and landed steadily on the deck.

The middle-aged Elder behind Lu Qingshan immediately stepped forward, preparing to give instructions.

This person was an executive Elder of the Inner Sect's Mission Hall named Ma Wei; when it came to mission arrangements, that was his specialty.

He raised his hand, took out a scroll, cleared his throat, and immediately began the deployment.

"For this Demon Suppression, our Qingyun Sect has a total of over twelve thousand Inner and Outer Sect Disciples!"

"You may form teams freely, but the final Sect rewards will be distributed on a per-team basis!"

"First place, the Sect rewards one million Spirit Stones! One Earth Rank Magical Artifact! Ten bottles of Second Rank High Grade Peiyuan Pills!"

"Second place, a reward of five hundred thousand Spirit Stones, one Profound Rank High Grade Magical Artifact, and five bottles of Peiyuan Pills!"

"Third place…"

This time, in order to motivate the Disciples, Qingyun Sect maxed out the rewards, making the Disciples on the deck red-eyed and heavy-breathing.

They were rubbing their fists and wiping their palms, wishing they could rush onto the battlefield right now to hack a few Devil Heads.

Fang Yuan, Bai Jiner, and Li Xuanfeng beside Chun Xiaobai were also listening with rapid breathing, their eyes filled with fantasies.

"Bang!"

Chun Xiaobai kicked Fang Yuan directly on the butt. "Listen to this nonsense just for the sake of it! Have some ambition! This Great King will lead you to make an even bigger fortune!"

He was somewhat skeptical that the Sect could be this generous.

It was likely that the Alliance gave even more rewards, and they had pocketed the lion's share!

"Yes, yes!" Fang Yuan stumbled from the kick and chuckled foolishly.

Wu Liang and the others also gave a silly smile; what kind of big fortune could be more than this mission?

They just took it as Chun Xiaobai bragging.

However, with only ten people in their team, it was indeed unlikely they could take first place.

Everyone instantly sobered up and put away those unrealistic dreams.

The executive Elder Ma Wei finished reading the rewards, and seeing the Disciples' high morale, he nodded with satisfaction before beginning to arrange the actual mission.

"The core location for this Demon Suppression is 'Wanling Mountain'!"

"Wanling Mountain?"

Hearing this name, the Disciples on the deck were stunned for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, a chorus of gasps echoed, and everyone's eyes became fanatical.

That was no ordinary strategic location, but a blessed land left over from the ancient era!

Because it had been occupied by Tiansha Valley all along, outsiders had no chance to enter.

And the reason Tiansha Valley could vaguely hold the top position among the ten thousand Sects was precisely because they relied on the various Heaven And Earth Treasures left over from ancient times within this blessed land!

"El-Elder… this… does this mean we are going to fight for this territory?" a Disciple asked, stuttering.