Chapter 39: Coalition Meeting (1)

The months and seasons flew by. In the blink of an eye, another year had passed. The weather was still beautiful.

In the Origin Qi Scholar era, Origin Energy was everything.

Anyone who controlled unnatural power could control the temperature, ensuring favorable weather for crops year after year.

Commoners could only endure the oppression by Origin Qi Scholars if there were no natural disasters occurring.

Because of this, many important figures would often hold a feast to share their surplus of natural resources during spring.

They would gather together during this time and distribute the resources, assign people to various missions, and analyze and deal with any past situations that had occurred.

In Clear River City, the Coalition Meeting, with the ten Bloodline Nobility Clans at the center of it all, was the replacement for such a feast.

The Wang Clan was responsible for hosting this year’s Coalition Meeting

The Wang Clan’s patriarch, Wang Zhanyu, was already three hundred years old. He was a Light Shaking Realm expert and maintained an excellent physique; without a doubt, he was the Wang Clan’s sturdy, irreplaceable pillar.

Clear River City wasn’t that big of a place. A Light Shaking expert was already rare enough.

With him present, Clear River City’s most powerful individual was on the Bloodline Nobility Clans’ side.

On that day, the many clans and nobility in Clear River City all began to gather in the Wang Clan’s main courtyard, which was near South Willow Lane.

Carriage after carriage and procession after procession gathered on South Willow Lane.

“Old Hong, it’s been a while!”

“Oh, it’s Old Rong! How is everything?”

“Ai, not the greatest. Things have been crazy lately!”

“Isn’t that right.”

The Wang residence was filled with the clamor of people greeting each other.

And within the Wang Clan’s main hall, a small discussion only privy to the highest members of society had begun.

There were a total of ten people in this discussion, representing the ten Bloodline Nobility Clans, who possessed most of the strength belonging to the aristocratic families.

The person sitting in the highest seat was the Wang Clan’s current Patriarch, Wang Peiyuan.

Wang Peiyuan had grown a long, black beard, giving him an extremely dignified appearance.

He sat in his high position and laughed, “We’re all old friends already, so there’s no need to make small talk. Let’s get started.”

Everyone murmured in agreement.

Wang Peiyuan said, “Well, let’s talk about the first matter. Three months ago, our business partners over in the West River Forest mentioned that they wanted to raise their prices. From this year onwards, all of the Origin Skills, furs, and other precious materials that we purchase from them will triple in price.”

“Triple in price? How did they even think of that!” someone snorted.

“They think that their earlier prices were too low. We can turn around the things they sell to us for a hundred times the price, so they think that tripling their selling price isn’t asking too much.”

“What a joke! Those commoners should be happy that they can even earn money, but they still aren’t satisfied! In my opinion, we shouldn’t even be giving them a single cent!”

“You may say that, but those guys in West River Forest seem to have made up their minds. The village there has rallied around them; if we don’t agree to their price increase, they won’t sell to us.”

“Who else can they sell to if they don’t sell to us? We control Clear River City’s businesses.”

“Of course they would sell it to other cities. You know that there are people who are jealous of us buying things from West River.”

“Dammit. I knew those thieving commoners had someone behind them supporting them.”

“That’s right. Someone must be giving them ideas. West River Forest is our source of income, and we cannot let anyone else stick their hands in. I think that if we want to resolve this matter, we cannot agree to the price increases. We should send some competent forces their way and pick out those who are making trouble, and the problem should go away on its own.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

After a brief discussion, everyone agreed that they absolutely couldn’t agree to those thieving commoners’ impolite requests. If those commoners refused to sell to them, then they would have to send some troops and do things the hard way.

“The second matter is that a new group of pirates has appeared near Intersection Three. They are very rude and unreasonable; last month, boats belonging to two of our clans were taken by them. I sent some people to discuss things with them, but it seems like the discussions went nowhere. Unfortunately, we might be forced to resort to force to deal with them. We’ll do it by the same rules; every party will need to send out a few participants.”

Since the Coalition Meeting had been established, a set of complete rules and guidelines had already been developed. Very quickly, a clean-up group was prepared under the suggestions of each clan’s clan leader.

The clans then proceeded to discuss a few more matters.

“Alright, we only have one more issue remaining. Last year, a new Knowledge Executor came to Clear River City. This Knowledge Executor isn’t a simple person; he was able to immediately capture the Young Master and Young Miss of two clans, one of whom is still bedridden and is only alive today because of medicinal supplements. He then killed Sir Liu Wuya and forcefully took over the Origin Bureau, greatly decreasing our control over the government. Finally, he even pulled the Long Clear Gang into the mix. I heard that the Long Clear Gang is still not completely under control yet?”

The last question was directed at Lai Wuyi.

Lai Wuyi’s face reddened. “Wang Wenxin is like an untamable horse. He appears to respect us on the surface, but whenever I tell him to do something, all kinds of sloppiness emerges. If it’s not extremely inefficient, then it’s in complete confusion. The Long Clear Gang was saved by him single-handedly, and his influence within the gang is extremely high. I can’t casually switch him out, so the situation has dragged on until now. But you can all rest assured, sirs, that I will deal with the Long Clear Gang sooner or later.”

Wang Peiyuan nodded. “The Long Clear Gang is the Lai Clan’s problem, and I was just asking out of curiosity. But Knowledge Executor Su is a problem for all of us Bloodline Nobility Clans. It’s obvious that Knowledge Executor Su is siding with our enemies. As such, I propose that he be named an enemy of the coalition.”

“Agreed!”

A thunderous agreement broke out in the hall.

Ever since Su Chen had taken control of the Origin Bureau, he had become an enemy of the ten Bloodline Nobility Clans in Clear River City; this change was just making it official.

“Then, Patriarch Lai and Patriarch Long, why don’t you give us an idea of Su Chen’s background. Don’t tell me that you suffered such huge setbacks yet still don’t even know what kind of person he is.”

Lai Wuyi and Long Qingjiang felt their faces redden.

The two of them glanced at each other before Long Qingjiang said, “If that’s the case, then I can go first. Ever since my son went into his coma, I sent people to the Hidden Dragon Institute to look into this person’s origins. He was a student of Shi Kaihuang’s and delusionally wants to break through the bloodline restrictions, allowing those without bloodlines to ascend. He truly is an enemy of all Bloodline Nobility Clans.”

“Hmph, another arrogant, self-important dreamer,” many of the people in the room commented disdainfully.

“This person was born in the Three Mountains Region in Northface City into one of the bloodline-less clans there. When he was twelve, he lost his vision in some bizarre accident, and his clan gave up on him. However, this guy was extremely stubborn and didn’t give up, continuing his cultivation and claiming first place amongst his peers. Many people wanted him to give way, but they just couldn’t beat him.”

“They couldn’t even beat a blind person? What a trash clan,” everyone mocked.

Long Qingjiang continued, “Yes, they really are just a bunch of trash. After being blind for some years, Su Chen somehow regained his eyesight. However, he chose to hide it and continued to pretend to be blind, which gave him many benefits. In the end, he stunned everyone in the Three Mountains Region entrance exam, reaching the top ten that year.”

“So he is quite patient and cunning.”

Long Qingjiang said, “Also, he was often schemed against because he continued to claim first place in his clan even as a blind person, so he lost all faith in them and cut off his ties. Ever since entering the Hidden Dragon Institute, he basically had no more interactions with them.”

“So there’s no point in using his family against him?”

Even though threatening someone’s family members was taboo even in this world, there were always people who preferred these simple, effective methods.

But against Su Chen, it seemed that this ploy wouldn’t work.

Long Qingjiang said, “It wouldn’t be very effective.”

“What a pity,” everyone sighed.

“So this brat, apart from his lower cultivation base, doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses, whether that’s in relation to his own temperament or to his family situation,” someone said. “No wonder he’s so hard to deal with.”

“There’s one more thing that Patriarch Long seems to have missed,” Lai Wuyi suddenly said.

“What is it?” Long Qingjiang didn’t understand.

Lai Wuyi added, “He is also a recipient of a 2nd-tier Hero’s Medal.”