Chapter 61: The Elders of the Eight Great Alliances Make Their Move

Good grief! This damn system only shows up now. It had been playing dead all this time, which left Liao Chen wondering why there were no rewards after he subjugated three imperial-level mercenary corps. As it turned out, the damn system was waiting for him to wipe out the Phoenix Mercenary Corp so it could settle all accounts at once. That being said, the system's rewards this time were truly generous. Not only did they include a massive amount of cultivation experience points, but also Ultimate Imperial Weapons. And not just one, but a total of four! Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly, praising the system for its immense generosity.

Next, Liao Chen asked if there was a cross-continent teleportation array available. The system replied, "Host, purchasing a cross-continent teleportation array requires ten billion cultivation experience points. Would you like to proceed with the purchase?"

Upon hearing that a cross-continent teleportation array cost a staggering ten billion experience points, Liao Chen felt a sudden throbbing headache. However, realizing this array connected to the Qianyuan Continent, its activation would not only strengthen the ties between the two regions but also allow him to collect teleportation tolls. It didn't seem like a bad deal after all. Gritting his teeth and stamping his foot in a moment of reckless resolve, he stubbornly purchased the set of teleportation arrays.

Before Liao Chen could install the array, He Chengfeng suddenly hurried over.

"My Lord, the Elder Council of the Mercenary Alliance has arrived!"

"Alliance Elders? Are they strong?"

"Reporting to my Lord, every single Elder in the Alliance has attained a cultivation level above the first-tier Emperor Realm, while the Alliance Leader has reached the third-tier Emperor Realm, possessing unfathomable strength. More importantly, each Elder represents an ancient immortal family: the Zhao family, the Qian family, the Sun family, the Li family, the Mo family, the Wang family, the Jiang family, and the Lu family. Among them, the Wang family is the most powerful, and the position of Alliance Leader has always been monopolized by them. Corps like ours merely survive by clinging to these eight ancient families."

"Oh? In that case, let's go meet these eight ancient families together!"

With that, the two of them arrived at the main reception hall of the Phoenix Corp. Liao Chen saw the Alliance Leader from the Wang family sitting high on the main seat, with the other Elders seated in order along both sides.

He Chengfeng cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Alliance Leader; greetings, esteemed Elders. Allow me to introduce our newly appointed Lord, the Invincible Patriarch, who is also the Master of the Morning Light Sect."

"My Lord, the one sitting at the head is our Alliance Leader, Wang Yunxiao. This is Elder Zhao Feng of the Zhao family, Elder Qian Wenyu of the Qian family, Elder Sun Wuji of the Sun family, Elder Li Moyuan of the Li family, Elder Mo Shiqing of the Mo family, Elder Jiang Tianhe of the Jiang family, and Elder Lü Liangshan of the Lü family."

Liao Chen nodded slightly, then cupped his hands in greeting to the group, saying, "Invincible greets all you senior predecessors!"

Wang Yunxiao sneered, "You still know we are your seniors? You led your forces to annihilate the Phoenix Corp without even sending a courtesy notice to the Alliance Elders?"

The other side was clearly attempting to suppress him with sheer authority, sending a formidable wave of spiritual pressure crashing directly onto Liao Chen. However, Liao Chen remained completely unfazed. He let out a chuckle and said, "Wang Yunxiao, am I giving you too much face? Just a moment ago, seeing that you were older, I respectfully called you a senior. But it now appears I don't need to show you any courtesy at all. In my eyes, all of you are nothing but trash. Trying to gang up on me in numbers? I'm afraid your calculations are going to fail today!"

With that, Liao Chen summoned the damn system and instructed it to synthesize the summoning cards. Eliminating the Phoenix Corp this time had yielded a total of twenty-six Great Sage Realm summoning cards. Combined with the twenty-seven Great Sage Realm summoning cards from previously taking on disciples, the two totals came to fifty-three Great Sage Realm summoning cards. The system asked Liao Chen if he wanted to synthesize Emperor Realm summoning cards. Without a moment's hesitation, Liao Chen chose to synthesize them. Soon, five Emperor Realm summoning cards were successfully formed.

The system reported: "The host has synthesized five Emperor Realm summoning cards this time. Combined with previous rewards, the host now possesses a total of fifteen Emperor Realm summoning cards. Does the host wish to summon Emperor Realm experts to arrive?"

Liao Chen did not hesitate in the slightest and replied, "Summon six of them!"

Shortly after, six Emperor Realm powerhouses were summoned to the scene. Among these six experts, three were at the third-tier Emperor Realm, and the remaining three were at the second-tier Emperor Realm.

A terrifying surge of spiritual pressure instantly enveloped the entire conference hall. The eight Alliance Patriarchs watched in shock as these six individuals immediately dropped to one knee before Liao Chen in unison.

"Hong Tao, Zhao Wuji, Qin Feng, Wang Tianze, Liu Ruyan, and Ni Shang pay respects to my Lord!"

"Esteemed Elders, you may all rise!"

"At your command, my Lord!"

"Esteemed Elders, these people sitting here are the Elders of the Mercenary Alliance. Relying on their numbers, they intended to do me harm. Tell me, what should we do with them?"

Hong Tao's expression shifted, and a powerful wave of spiritual pressure instantly locked onto the eight Alliance Elders seated before them. He then said in a cold voice, "How bold of you! Who gave you the audacity to bully our Lord?"

Wang Yunxiao no longer maintained his previous composure. Setting aside the anomalous Liao Chen, Hong Tao, Zhao Wuji, and Qin Feng alone were enough to suppress him completely. These three were genuine third-tier Emperor Realm mighty figures. Judging by their auras, Wang Yunxiao could tell their strength was likely not inferior to his own. Any one of them could fight him to a standstill, and if all three attacked together, he would undoubtedly suffer severe injuries if not death.

Of course, even if Wang Yunxiao could manage to escape, what would happen to the rest of the Wang family? In the City of Sin, without an Emperor Realm expert holding down the fort, a clan would be wiped out in no time. Naturally, Wang Yunxiao was not the sole Emperor Realm expert in the entire Wang family; rumor had it that the clan possessed three such experts. Although the other two had not broken through via legitimate methods, relying instead on medicinal pills for a forced breakthrough, the fact remained that they did possess three Emperor Realm experts.

"Fellow Daoist Invincible, I believe there has been some misunderstanding between us. Our arrival today was never intended to reproach Fellow Daoist, but rather to discuss how to properly handle the aftermath concerning the Phoenix Corp. After all, the Phoenix Corp previously managed an entire street in this city. With them gone, turmoil is bound to erupt in their former territory."

Seeing the other side soften their stance, Liao Chen sneered, "Alliance Leader Wang, didn't you come here earlier demanding an explanation from me? Could it be that you came merely to harvest the fruits of someone else's labor?"

Wang Yunxiao hurriedly waved his hands and protested, "Impossible! How could that be? Since the former leader of the Phoenix Corp has perished and all its members have been wiped out, the entire Phoenix Corp territory naturally belongs under Fellow Daoist Invincible's jurisdiction. I wonder if Fellow Daoist is satisfied with such an arrangement?"

Without immediately answering, Liao Chen turned to He Chengfeng and asked, "Chengfeng, what were the territories previously controlled by the Phoenix Corp? Tell me about them."

He Chengfeng nodded and replied, "Reporting to my Lord, the Phoenix Corp previously controlled three major streets: Fengtou, Fengwei, and Fengzhong. If we add Lihuo Street, which was controlled by Yao Tianba, the Yao brothers controlled a total of four streets. In addition, the Yao brothers also controlled ten mineral veins and a marine cargo terminal. These constituted their primary sources of income."

Liao Chen smiled faintly and said, "Very well. From this day forward, the territory conquered by the Yao brothers is all ours."

Turning his gaze toward the eight ancient families, he continued, "Since esteemed Elders are so deeply concerned about us, having each family gift us a street shouldn't be too excessive, right? Oh, and given our vast household and heavy expenses, having each of you present us with three mineral veins and a marine cargo terminal shouldn't be asking too much either, correct?"

Before Wang Yunxiao could respond, Elder Zhao Feng of the Zhao family jumped to his feet in immediate objection, "Preposterous! Why don't you just rob us outright? At most, we will give you one street and one mineral vein. As for the marine cargo terminal, don't even dream about it!"

Before Zhao Feng's voice had even faded, Liao Chen instructed Hong Tao, "Elder Hong, this Zhao family Elder refuses to comply. What do you think we should do?"

Hong Tao's expression turned cold as his spiritual pressure pressed directly onto Zhao Feng. In that instant, Zhao Feng found himself unable to draw a breath. He tried to speak, but discovered he could not utter a single sound.

"How can this be? How is he this strong? Even when facing Wang Yunxiao, I never felt my breathing constricted to this extent!" Terror flooded Zhao Feng's face. He never imagined that this suddenly appeared Hong Tao would be so overwhelmingly tyrannical.

Wang Yunxiao perceived Zhao Feng's predicament; if he did not step in now, Zhao Feng would likely be executed on the spot.

"Fellow Daoist, please stay your hand. We agree to Fellow Daoist Invincible's terms. I ask that you give me some face and spare Fellow Daoist Zhao."

Hong Tao let out a cold snort. "And who do you think you are? Without my Lord's command, nobody else's words carry any weight here!"

Wang Yunxiao had not expected Hong Tao to show him such utter disrespect. He turned to Liao Chen and said, "Fellow Daoist Invincible, please grant this old man a shred of courtesy. We are willing to satisfy all your conditions."

Liao Chen chuckled softly, "Very well. Since Alliance Leader Wang has spoken, I will grant you this bit of face. However, Elder Zhao seems quite dissatisfied with my previous proposal. In that case, the Zhao family shall present us with two major streets instead. I am not a greedy person, and I have very firm principles."

Zhao Feng was burning with rage inside, but utterly incapable of speaking, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and agree. Seeing this, the rest of the Alliance Elders dared not utter another word of nonsense and hastily stood up to take their leave.

As soon as his freedom was restored, Zhao Feng dared not linger a moment longer and instantly teleported away. The Zhao family had suffered a massive loss today, and they would undoubtedly plot their revenge. However, Liao Chen cared little about that, simply instructing He Chengfeng and the others to prepare for taking over the tributes from the eight ancient families.