Chapter 35: Alliance

The central plaza of the Blessed Cultivation Academy.

Upon hearing Lin Fan's words, the crowd at the banquet began to discuss animatedly!

Ye Qingxuan, however, felt somewhat dazed. Looking at the figures of Li Xuan and Zhu Dafu, he realized they matched the two youthful figures in his memory perfectly. He thought to himself

"So it was them."

When Ye Qingxuan first entered the Xuantian Sect, he had crossed paths with Li Xuan and Zhu Dafu.

At that time, they were all twelve-year-old youths.

Back then, he had even been involved in a conflict with a friend of Li Xuan and Zhu Dafu, a fellow named Long Tian.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the fellow named Long Tian had failed to pass the Xuantian Sect's assessment.

Recalling the information Long Tian had revealed back then, it seemed that before Li Xuan and Zhu Dafu had officially joined the Xuantian Sect while they were still in the Reception Academy, they had already recruited quite a few Blessed Cultivators, hadn't they?

With this thought, Ye Qingxuan scanned the crowd, casting a meaningful glance at the three men—Lin Fan, Li Xuan, and Zhu Dafu—standing at the center of the plaza.

It seemed they had come prepared!

Sure enough, after the banquet fell silent for only a moment, many people stood up and said with smiles

"Hahaha, Senior Brother Lin, you are clearly helping us! With the existence of this alliance, we won't have to waste our energy dealing with these trivial matters in the future."

"That's right! Since we won't be able to leave our Blessed Lands anyway, it would be better to hand over the resources produced by the lands to the alliance to help us exchange them for spirit stones."

"Hehe, that makes sense. Senior Brother Lin is truly kind!"

Hearing the crowd's words, many disciples from the outer edges of the banquet also showed signs of interest on their faces.

Li Xuan, who had remained silent while observing the entire scene, saw this and knew the time was ripe. He signaled Lin Fan with his eyes.

Sensing Li Xuan's gaze, Lin Fan immediately understood. Taking advantage of the support from several friends in the crowd, he seized the momentum, produced a contract, and said loudly

"Since there are no objections, then we—"

"Wait a moment!"

At that moment, a young man with a square face from the outer edge of the banquet interrupted Lin Fan. He stood up and sneered

"Then may I ask, Senior Brother Lin, what rules must we follow after joining the alliance?"

Hearing this, the people in the crowd who had been wavering began to show hesitation!

Seeing the situation change, Lin Fan hurriedly explained

"Junior Brother Xiao Feng, rest assured! There aren't many rules to follow. You only need to decide what spiritual items to plant in your Blessed Lands based on the market statistics compiled by the alliance."

"So you mean that in the future, the alliance will decide what spiritual items everyone cultivates in their Blessed Lands? Hah, I'm leaving!"

The square-faced youth named Xiao Feng pointed directly to the crux of the issue after hearing Lin Fan's words, then turned and left the banquet plaza without hesitation.

Seeing Xiao Feng leave, the others in the outer area also began to take their leave, making excuses to exit the plaza

"Senior Brother Lin! I have things to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

"Yes, Senior Brother Lin, I also have urgent business. Please forgive me, I must go!"

Lin Fan's expression changed, and he spoke up again to guarantee

"Everyone, please rest assured. The categories of spiritual items compiled by the alliance will definitely be the highest in value; we won't let anyone suffer a loss! Please trust me, junior brothers!"

However, Lin Fan's words did not have much effect.

Nevertheless, because of the secret groundwork and recruitment efforts previously laid by Li Xuan and Zhu Dafu, thirty or so people ultimately chose to stay and sign the contract to join the alliance, accounting for half of the current Blessed Cultivation Academy disciples.

Seeing that things had reached this point, Li Xuan finally spoke

"Junior Brother Lin, having thirty or so people join the alliance in the early stages is enough. If the others are unwilling, there is no need to force them!"

If they were unwilling to follow their arrangements regarding the cultivation of spiritual items, then there was no point in forming this Blessed Cultivation Alliance for them.

Acquiring spiritual items at market prices was not difficult within the Xuantian Sect.

What they wanted was simply to pool the strength of many Blessed Cultivators to monopolize the market for a specific low-grade spiritual item.

In the beginning, thirty-odd Blessed Cultivators would be sufficient.

Hearing Li Xuan speak, Lin Fan stopped his attempt to continue recruiting.

Watching the Blessed Cultivation Academy disciples leave one by one, a hint of regret appeared in Lin Fan's eyes.

The reason he had agreed to let Li Xuan and Zhu Dafu lead the formation of this alliance was because they had promised him forty percent of the alliance's profits.

The Blessed Land slot he had inherited was a second-tier Blessed Land.

Although its rank was not high, his future prospects were much broader than those Blessed Cultivators who directly contracted first-tier spiritual lands.

After all, a second-tier Blessed Land far surpassed a first-tier one in terms of both the speed of growing Blessed Cultivation spiritual roots and the benefits it brought.

If he could further use the massive resources obtained from the alliance to cultivate the Blessed Land to the third tier, he might still have a glimmer of hope for his future.

Therefore, Lin Fan was very dedicated to the establishment of this Blessed Cultivation Alliance.

Ye Qingxuan, sitting in a corner at the outer edge of the banquet.

Seeing that the performance had ended, he stood up on his own, let out a burp, and prepared to leave the plaza.

Not long after leaving the plaza, as he was preparing to fly back to his small courtyard on his sword, the little chubby boy who had been sitting next to him caught up and asked curiously

"Why didn't everyone want to join the alliance? I thought it seemed okay?"

Ye Qingxuan glanced at the little boy and asked in return

"You think it's okay, so why are you leaving?"

Hearing Ye Qingxuan's words, the little boy chuckled

"Hehe, I only left because I saw everyone else leaving! My mother told me that if you don't know which path to take, just follow everyone else. Even if you won't get a great harvest, at least it's much safer!"

Looking at the grinning little boy, Ye Qingxuan felt a stir in his heart and asked curiously

"Then why are you so insistent on exchanging contact marks with everyone?"

"My mother said I should make more friends in the future. More friends mean more paths."

"And what about your mother?"

The smile on the little boy's face suddenly froze. He stopped walking, his expression turning somber

"My mother passed away!"

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan also stopped and looked at the boy, saying apologetically

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. My mother told me to be happy in the future. I'm not sad anymore, hehe!"

The little boy shook his head, his face returning to a grinning expression.

"By the way, you still haven't told me why everyone was unwilling to join the alliance?"

Seeing the boy ask again, Ye Qingxuan spoke

"What do you think people crave most after becoming Blessed Cultivators?"

Hearing this, the little boy shook his head in confusion

"I don't know!"

Seeing this, Ye Qingxuan looked toward the high sky and said

"Freedom!"

"Freedom?"

"Yes, that's right. Freedom!"

Having said that, Ye Qingxuan flew away alone on his sword.

For most ordinary people, once they became Blessed Cultivators, they could no longer see any hope for the future. They might not place much importance on things like profit.

The reason people were unwilling to join the alliance was simply that they did not want to put on another layer of restraint after already bearing the shackles brought by the Blessed Lands.

The reason many others were still willing to stay and join the so-called alliance was merely that these people had not yet officially become Blessed Cultivators and had not yet realized this.