An Unbreakable Open Strategy

The elders took several long minutes to fully digest Jiang Che's words.

It was utterly shocking!

No wonder Jiang Che was so brazen and unafraid. It turned out he had a transcendent immortal standing behind him!

And not just that, this immortal had even taken him as a disciple. While there were quite a few immortals clinging to life in the Nine Heavens, those who had truly transcended and become one with heaven and earth were exceedingly few. They were incredibly mysterious, not having shown themselves for hundreds of thousands of years, always maintaining an aura of being aloof from worldly affairs.

"W-well... alright! Since you have that existence backing you, we can rest easy..." the Fourth Elder said slowly, though he couldn't shake a feeling that something was off, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"In that case, Elders... please convey a message to the other top powers of the Nine Heavens. I will prove to them that I possess the capability to resist the Otherworldly Evil Demons, but they have to pay up!"

"Uh... and how exactly do you plan to charge them?" Thankfully, they were already familiar with Jiang Che's true colors.

"Not a huge amount. Just collect a modest fee from each region. After all, this mortal realm I'm in is essentially the front gate to the Nine Heavens. If it falls, you'll either have to abandon any future hope of the Immortal Realm descending or face a massive invasion by the evil spirits... Your call!"

[Ding! Host has scammed the myriad races of the Nine Heavens... 5 billion points obtained!]

Hmm~ Jiang Che nodded slightly. It seemed he had hit a ceiling!

This move of his had directly scammed the myriad races of the Nine Heavens. He wouldn't say it made them hemorrhage resources, but it would certainly make them feel the pinch. Yet, even so... with so many powerful clans and families across the Nine Heavens and Myriad Worlds, it only yielded 5 billion points. This was most likely the system's point threshold.

Even if he lured all the Otherworldly Evil Demons into the Nine Heavens later and scammed everyone there thoroughly, he probably wouldn't be able to exceed 5 billion points.

And based on Jiang Che's understanding of his system, after making the myriad races cough up so many points this time, he likely wouldn't be able to extract any more points from them for a long while.

......

"What? That Jiang Clan's Imperial Son wants to face the Otherworldly Evil Demons alone? Is he out of his mind?"

"Damn it! And he wants us to give him cultivation resources? Is he joking?"

The news quickly reached the ears of the various races in the Nine Heavens.

"Patriarch, it's true! The Jiang Clan has notified all sects and immortal clans within the Nine Heavens that possess a Great Emperor or higher. Any force ranked third-rate or above must contribute some cultivation resources. They openly claim... that their Imperial Son is doing this for the sake of all living beings under heaven, not for personal gain!"

"What a load of bullshit!!!" another immortal sect elder couldn't help but curse.

"Everyone in the Nine Heavens knows Jiang Che's character by now! 'For the sake of the common people'? You believe he won't take the resources and vanish in the blink of an eye?"

"Sect Master, please calm your anger. It seems the Jiang Clan's demand isn't actually that high. Third-rate forces only need to contribute 10 top-grade spirit stones or resources of equivalent value. Second-rate forces need 100 top-grade spirit stones or equivalent heavenly treasures and earthly wonders. First-rate forces need 10 saint-grade spirit stones or equivalents. And top-tier forces like ours only need to contribute one immortal-grade spirit stone..."

The power hierarchy in the Nine Heavens was strictly defined.

Ranked as unrated, fourth-rate, third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, and top-tier.

Forces without a Creation Realm or higher expert were collectively called unrated!

Having one Quasi-Emperor or higher expert made one fourth-rate!

Having one Great Emperor made one third-rate!

Having three or more Great Emperors, or one Three-Life Emperor Realm or higher expert, made one second-rate!

Having ten Great Emperors, or a Crippled Immortal/Quasi-Immortal, made one first-rate. The Jialan Clan was a first-rate force.

"Sect Master, looking at it this way, what the Jiang Clan is asking for isn't much. Our Myriad Swords Immortal Sect has a reserve of over a hundred immortal-grade spirit stones. What's giving them one?"

The Myriad Swords Immortal Sect was a top-ten top-tier force in the Central Imperial Heaven. To be a top force in a fiercely competitive heaven like the Central Imperial Heaven meant their strength was unfathomable!

"Are you an idiot? Yes... the resources our sect would give aren't much on their own. But have you considered... there are dozens of top-tier forces across the entire Nine Heavens!!!"

The Sect Master of the Myriad Swords Immortal Sect was a white-bearded old man, currently so angry his beard was puffing.

"Come on, let me calculate for you, old man! There are 81 registered top-tier forces in the Nine Heavens, 972 first-rate forces, over thirteen thousand second-rate forces, and more than a hundred thousand third-rate forces! Have you thought about how many spirit stones the Jiang Clan could rake in from this?"

These words startled everyone present.

One particularly dense fellow even started counting on his fingers, "81 immortal-grade spirit stones, 9,720 saint-grade spirit stones, and... and several million top-grade spirit stones???"

Terrifying!

The resources the Jiang Clan demanded from each individual force were indeed not much, but when combined... it was downright frightening!

"This... this is enough to start a spirit stone manor!"

Some small to medium-sized spirit stone manors in the Nine Heavens couldn't even produce this many stones. Hundreds of immortal-grade spirit stones... the mere thought was mind-boggling!

It was like the old fantasy: if everyone in the world gave me just one cent, I'd be a billionaire. Now, that fantasy was on the verge of becoming reality.

"No! We absolutely cannot give it!"

"But the mortal realm only has that Jiang Clan Imperial Son with any real capability. After all, he's the unprecedented Four Immortal Physiques. The master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion tried to calculate his fate, but died the very next day... and that was a One-Tribulation Immortal! Perhaps Jiang Che really does have the power to stop the evil spirit invasion."

So... should they pay? Or not?

If they don't pay, are they just supposed to watch the mortal realm be invaded by the strange? Or completely sever the mortal realm?

Completely sealing off the mortal realm was absolutely out of the question! These immortals were still counting on the descent of the Immortal Realm to obtain their immortal fate.

A true dilemma!

Damn it all! The Jiang Clan is clearly doing this on purpose. It's a blatant conspiracy!!!

At the same time, not just the Myriad Swords Immortal Sect, but many forces understood the Jiang Clan's blatant scheme.

And it was unsolvable!

The mortal realm was now an extremely tricky problem. Faced with the power of the evil spirits... everyone was afraid. Only an existence with an extremely high fate could confront the evil spirits, like the Human Emperor of old!

And this existence with an extremely high fate... was Jiang Che alone!

Because he possessed the Four Immortal Physiques, even more formidable than the Human Emperor of old. He was undoubtedly chosen by the Heavenly Dao... no, the Great Dao! A Chosen One born in response to the calamity, sent down by the Great Dao!

"I... I'm going to the Fatebearer Association. The Fatebearer Association must know a lot. Those maniacs spend all day researching fortune and status. I want to see... what they make of this Jiang Che!"