Once the Demon-Suppression Regulations were issued, the negotiation table turned into a scene of signing indentured servitude contracts.

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the rustling of turning pages was even more piercing than the cold winter wind.

Every sect master and family head who received the Preliminary Charter of the Fiend-Quelling Co-Lord Alliance saw their faces turn green, then black, and finally a deep, livid purple at a visible rate.

How was this an alliance charter? This was clearly a wholly-owned acquisition prospectus of the Great Wasteland Joint Co., Ltd. tailor-made by Wang Hao for the entire Eastern Wasteland!

Article 1: The Alliance headquarters shall be established in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, with the Emperor of Great Zhou serving as the first Supreme Alliance Lord.

Article 2: The exclusive intelligence of all sects and noble families in the world must be unconditionally and monthly submitted to the Great Zhou's Fiend-Quelling Pavilion for unified archiving. Those who conceal information shall be punished for the crime of treason against the human race.

Article 3: A Supreme Alliance Council shall be established to resolve the allocation of large-scale resources across the world. The council consists of twenty seats, with the Avengers Alliance occupying ten seats, and Great Zhou possessing one veto vote.

Article 4: Under wartime conditions, the armed forces composed of elders and core disciples from various sects and families shall be uniformly commanded by the Grand Marshal of the Alliance's Fiend-Quelling Army, the Emperor of Great Zhou, Wang Hao. Violators shall be executed.

Article 5: The Heaven's Pride Ranking and the Fiend-Quelling Contribution Ranking shall serve as the sole basis for the Alliance's personnel appointments, promotions, and resource distribution...

Looking at these clauses, those usually aloof and high-and-mighty sect bigwigs were trembling with anger.

Absurd! This is absolutely preposterous!

A hot-tempered Valley Master of the Fire Cloud Valley finally could not hold back. With a slap, he threw the charter onto the ground, pointing at Wang Hao on the dragon throne and roaring:

Wang Hao! Do not push us too far! We are willing to contribute manpower and effort to fight against the Nightmares, but this charter is clearly an excuse to swallow up the foundations of our sects! You, the Emperor of Great Zhou, have such a huge appetite. Are you not afraid of choking to death?!

With him taking the lead, the emotions below were instantly ignited.

That is right! We will never sign such a slave contract!

Do you really think we are made of mud? At worst, we will each seal off our mountains and defend our sect's grand arrays to the death!

The crowd in the grand hall was infuriated. Nearly a hundred sect master experts at the peak of the Astral Qi Realm, or even the half-step Sky-Soaring Realm, released their auras simultaneously. The terrifying pressure surged within the hall, causing even the air to emit overwhelmed popping sounds.

The young heaven's prides sitting in the back row, such as Xiao Chen and Ye Guyun, turned pale under the pressure of this imposing aura. They stared fixedly at Wang Hao, wanting to see how this insufferably arrogant tyrant would wrap this up.

Facing this situation that was about to spiral out of control, Wang Hao did not get angry, nor did he back down.

He merely leaned lazily against the dragon throne, a mocking smile hanging on the corners of his lips.

Pushing you too far? Wang Hao softly spat out these words, then raised his hand and casually snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The moment the snap echoed out.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...

The folding screen at the back of the hall shattered with a loud bang! Thirty extremely terrifying auras, like thirty awakening ancient ferocious beasts, descended upon the Hall of Supreme Harmony without any reservation!

What kind of concept was this?

Thirty foundation ancestors of the Avengers Alliance, led by the Great Zhou royal family! All of them were in the Sky-Soaring Realm, and five of them were even true Demigod mighty figures!

Some of them wore ancient-styled grand emperor robes, their faces withered but their vitality soaring to the heavens, forming a half-moon shape to completely block the exit of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Others wore the exclusive robes of hidden noble families. Among them, the old master of the Ren family even blinked at his precious great-granddaughter, Ren Mingyue, as if asking if she had taken down the little emperor yet, causing Ren Mingyue to roll her eyes.

Thirty streams of materialized killing intent intertwined into a massive net, firmly pinning the various bigwigs who had just been clamoring to their spots.

The... the protector ancestors of Great Zhou! The ancestors of Great Zhou's ally, the Avengers Alliance? Cold sweat instantly poured down the Fire Cloud Valley Master's face. The aura he had just erupted with was forced back into his stomach, and even breathing became difficult.

However, this was not the most terrifying part.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Wang Hao narrowed his eyes slightly. With a thought, he triggered a trace of the aura from the Martial God Realm One-Day Experience Card in his system space.

Just a mere trace!

Buzz—!

A supreme pressure that transcended the laws of heaven and earth and stood above all living beings swept across the entire hall with Wang Hao at the center! Although this aura flashed and disappeared in an instant, that trembling originating from the depths of their souls made everyone present go weak in the knees uncontrollably.

Mar... Martial God?

At this moment, even Shen Xue and Yun Meng in the VIP seats abruptly stood up, their beautiful eyes filled with disbelief and extreme shock.

The Eastern Wasteland had actually produced a Martial God? And it belonged to the Dog Emperor? How was this possible?

The grand hall was dead silent. The sect masters and family heads who were so arrogant just a moment ago were now shrinking their necks like quails, trembling all over.

Did I give you too much face? Wang Hao's voice was not loud, but every word pierced their hearts.

Seal off your mountains? Defend to the death? Do you think your broken arrays can last a few days against that level of pollution? I am telling you, I proposed this charter not to beg you, but to give you a chance to live!

After a strike with a stick, it was time to offer a sweet date. Wang Hao played this extreme pressure negotiation technique to perfection.

Wang Hao withdrew that trace of Martial God aura and waved his hand. The thirty ancestors immediately restrained their auras and retreated into the shadows.

Only then did the crowd in the hall gasp heavily for breath, as if they had just taken a trip to the gates of hell.

Of course, I am not an unreasonable tyrant. Wang Hao shifted his style, his tone becoming gentle. If everyone has opinions on the charter, you can bring them up. I am very democratic.

The crowd cursed wildly in their hearts: You had thirty ancestors hold knives to our necks and even leaked a Martial God aura, and you call this democratic?

But circumstances were stronger than men, and no one dared to flip the table anymore.

A slightly more tactful family head said in a trembling voice, Your... Your Majesty... Regarding this third article, with twenty seats in the council, the Avengers Alliance taking five seats, and Great Zhou still having a veto vote, this... this truly makes it difficult for us to answer to our clans.

Oh, this. Wang Hao waved his hand with extreme magnanimity. Alright! I will take a step back! Great Zhou will no longer want the veto vote; it will be changed to 'major resolutions require the sovereign's final signature to take effect.' Moreover, the twenty seats will be increased to twenty-two for you, and the Avengers Alliance will only occupy ten seats. How about that? That gives you enough face, right?

That family head was taken aback, subconsciously feeling as if Great Zhou had made a concession, and repeatedly said, Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty!

But he did not think it through carefully. 'Requires the sovereign's signature to take effect'—did that not still mean Great Zhou had the final say?!

There is also the fourth article, the wartime command rights... an elder of the Purple Heaven Sect also mustered the courage to speak. The disciples of our respective sects only cultivate Daoist arts and do not practice battle formations. If they are directly placed under the command of the Great Zhou's commander, I am afraid it will cause a mutiny. Can you let us lead our own troops?

Makes sense. Wang Hao once again readily accepted good advice. Then how about this: the various sects will retain their nominally independent formations, establishing Alliance Guest Elder Corps. However, in order to unify our pace, the logistics and supplies, mission assignments, and battle merit calculations of each corps must be uniformly managed by the Great Zhou's Fiend-Quelling Pavilion. Those who do not obey orders will have all supplies of pills and spirit stones cut off. This should be fine, right?

"Okay, okay..." The elder of the Purple Heaven Sect wiped his sweat. At least he had preserved the sect's name and status. As for having their logistics throttled... it was better than being outright annexed.

In the back row, Ren Mingyue watched this scene unfold. As the eldest daughter of the Ren family, she was well-versed in the art of business negotiation. Watching Wang Hao's maneuvering now, she only felt a chill run down her spine.

"Ask for the sky, settle for the earth," Ren Mingyue exclaimed inwardly. "He deliberately made the initial charter extremely outrageous just so he could make concessions now! What he gave up were all superficial things and empty titles, but the absolute core—intelligence, financial approval, and logistical control—he hasn't let go of a single one!"

"These old fools have been bombarded by his martial prowess and fear. Now, as long as they can maintain their nominal independence, they are already shedding tears of gratitude. In reality, they've just signed a contract selling themselves into slavery!"

An hour later.

Under Wang Hao's "gentle and mild" democratic consultation, the representatives of the major factions, carrying a bizarre sense of satisfaction of "having suffered a loss but still securing their bottom line," stepped up one by one to press their blood-soaked thumbprints onto the Charter of the Demon-Suppressing Co-Lord Alliance (Revised Edition).

Sitting in the corner, Xiao Chen watched those usually aloof and untouchable bigwigs lining up to sign and press their fingerprints. A profound sense of absurdity rose in his heart.

Scheming—this was true, top-tier scheming. Using the general trend of the world to crush people, using absolute martial strength as a safety net, and playing all the experts of the world in the palm of his hand.

He touched the Chief Walker token in his robes and suddenly felt less stifled. After all, even the sect masters and family heads of these major factions had dog leashes slapped onto them. His was just a slightly more ornate little leash.

"Excellent! Now that the charter is set, from this day forth, the human race of the Eastern Wasteland is a single entity!" Wang Hao looked with satisfaction at the thick stack of signed agreements in his hand, a gleam of triumph flashing in his eyes.

How was this a Demon-Suppressing Alliance? This was Wang Hao's super money-printing machine to squeeze dry all the resources of the Eastern Wasteland!

However, just as the meeting was about to conclude perfectly and Wang Hao was preparing to announce a grand banquet—

"Report—!"

Outside the hall, an operative of the Eastern Depot stumbled and crawled into the Hall of Supreme Harmony. He held a secret memorial high in his hands, his expression terrified to the extreme.

"Reporting to Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened!"

"The Heavenly Dao Alliance... The Heavenly Dao Alliance has made their move!"

The operative knelt on the ground, his voice trembling. "An hour ago, the Heavenly Dao Alliance simultaneously distributed a hundred thousand copies of a Call to Arms Against Zhou across the Nine Provinces of the Eastern Wasteland! They bitterly denounce the Great Zhou Emperor for fabricating anomalies and using the guise of suppressing demons to annex the world!"

"The manifesto claims that the Heavenly Dao Alliance has already mastered the method to break the Nightmares using Heavenly Dao Divine Crystals. They are calling upon all cultivators in the world who refuse to be slaves of Great Zhou to gather at Heavenly Dao Mountain in the Western Regions to form an alliance and jointly slay the tyrant!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which had just calmed down, was instantly detonated!

The eyes of the various bigwigs who had just signed their slavery contracts instantly changed. The Heavenly Dao Alliance? That incredibly well-hidden, super rebel organization whose strength was no less than that of Great Zhou, was actually intervening at a time like this? And they even had a countermeasure?

The smile on Wang Hao's face slowly faded. He narrowed his eyes, and a trace of ultimate, icy killing intent flashed through their depths.

"Heavenly Dao Alliance..."

Wang Hao sneered. With a fierce squeeze of his hand, the secret memorial was instantly crushed into fine powder.

"You want to snatch my prize? I'm just afraid you'll shatter your teeth trying!"