Representatives of Various Factions Attend (III)

Hearing this, everyone present looked at him in surprise.

Was there something else?

Only Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe, who clearly knew what was going on, followed the crowd in putting on a look of surprise and confusion.

Seeing that everyone had stopped talking and turned their gazes toward him to wait for his next words, Li Zhouxuan finally spoke:

"I have an order here to purchase talismans. The talismans to be purchased are Calming Talismans, and the purchase price is five spirit stones per Calming Talisman. What do you all think?"

Hearing this, the people from the various sects began to whisper among themselves again.

They knew of the Calming Talisman. It was a very basic talisman that could soothe violent spiritual energy. It could be used on oneself, as well as on others and the external environment.

However, because it was only a low-level basic talisman, its effects were not very strong. For cultivators, it was only suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators, and at most, barely passable for them to use.

But for the cultivators in the mortal realm, although they knew of this kind of talisman, they did not have many in their possession. They only had a very small number that the higher-up sects occasionally forced them to buy along with other necessities.

Moreover, this kind of talisman was like chicken ribs—tasteless but a pity to discard—to them, who were already lacking in cultivation resources. If possible, they would much rather exchange these talismans for other things that were more helpful in improving their cultivation.

It was just that this freedom of choice had never been in their hands.

If this kind of talisman could be exchanged for spirit stones, even though one would only sell for five spirit stones, this price was already much lower than the price the cultivation sects sold it to them for.

If these talismans, which were of little use and unnecessary to them, could recoup some losses for them after being exploited for so long, that would naturally be great.

It was just the price...

Thus, an elder of the Yunyan Sect hesitated before speaking up:

"Although the effect of the Calming Talisman is not very significant for us, the price we paid for them back then was not low. These five spirit stones... are truly a bit too few."

He was putting it mildly. Compared to the price they bought them from the cultivation world sects, it was more than just a bit too few; it was simply way too few.

However, because the imperial family had just provided them with such a favorable channel to purchase supplies, these sect elders, who were usually quite arrogant in front of the imperial family, restrained themselves.

But Li Zhouxuan, sitting at the head, smiled and said:

"Elder Xu has misunderstood. My intention is not to collect the few remaining Calming Talismans in your hands, but rather to have your sects supply them to us on a regular basis in fixed quantities."

Hearing this, Elder Lyu of the Qinghe Sect on the other side immediately spoke up:

"What is the meaning of this?"

Although the Calming Talisman was like chicken ribs and could not play any role in cultivation, its drawing method still required research, study, and inheritance.

But for these sects in the mortal realm, such things that were of little use to cultivation were merely existences that delayed cultivation time and wasted talisman-making resources. Therefore, over time, the inheritance of the drawing method for this kind of talisman was gradually broken.

Between the sects and the imperial family, who had coexisted for so many years, everyone actually tacitly understood that the other party had lost many techniques of the Four Arts of Cultivation that were of little use to cultivation.

Therefore, Elder Lyu and the others were very confused.

They did not understand what the emperor meant by saying this.

He couldn't possibly be dreaming that they would spend a high price to buy them from the higher-up sects and then sell them to him at a low price, right?

Immediately after, he saw Li Zhouxuan, upon hearing his question, feel around in his robes and pull out a small booklet.

"I have the drawing method for the Calming Talisman right here. If your sects are willing to accept this order, this talisman-making method can be considered a free gift for our cooperation. What do you all think?"

Seeing this, the people sitting below were all very surprised, and Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe also cooperatively showed appropriate expressions of surprise.

Li Zhouxuan quietly observed the two of them from the corner of his eye, chuckling inwardly with a twitch of his mouth, but on the surface, he calmly explained to the crowd:

"Of course, to ensure the success of our transaction, if this matter is agreed upon, we still need to sign a contract, which will then require the official seals of your respective sect masters."

The person in charge of the Shangyang Sect hesitated for a moment before asking:

"May I ask if this drawing method for the Calming Talisman is genuine?"

Facing his doubt, Li Zhouxuan replied calmly:

"Naturally, it is genuine. If you don't believe me, I can have a cultivator from our Li clan come out and draw one for you on the spot."

Of course, he was naturally not referring to their ancestor, Li Zhanying, but to other Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Although cultivators were scarce in their Li imperial family, they did not just consist of their ancestor at the Nascent Soul stage and himself at the first level of Qi Condensation.

Hearing this, the crowd already believed him seventy or eighty percent in their hearts, but they did not refuse his offer to have someone draw one on the spot.

After all, this was no trivial matter.

For it to be called an order, and for Li Zhouxuan to solemnly bring it up on this occasion, the required quantity must not be small.

If they signed the contract only to find out that the drawing method for the Calming Talisman was fake, what would they use to fulfill the trade?

Although everyone had coexisted for many years, and there were times of alliance and win-win cooperation, in reality, they had always been in their own camps, always thinking about one side completely overpowering the other.

In this situation, they had to be cautious.

So Li Zhouxuan did not hesitate and immediately sent someone to summon a Foundation Establishment cultivator from their Li clan.

This Foundation Establishment cultivator was a talisman talent cultivated internally by the Li imperial family.

Although constrained by resources, he did not have many opportunities to draw talismans on a daily basis, and he had only rushed to learn this Calming Talisman the night before.

But right now, his talisman was not meant to be sold for use; it was just to prove the drawing method to everyone, so they were not too particular about it.

In the very center of the discussion hall, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the Li clan's Foundation Establishment cultivator swiftly drew a low-quality Calming Talisman.

On such an occasion, no one actually did anything like peeking, secretly learning, or memorizing it. This talisman was of little use to them, and learning it would be useless.

Other than the channel behind the imperial family, who could they sell this talisman to once they made it?

Being unable to sell it was equivalent to wasting talisman-making materials.

Most importantly, before drawing, the cultivator actually set up an isolation array around himself. The quality of this isolation array was quite good, so even if someone wanted to peek and secretly learn, they would have no way to do so.

After the freshly made low-quality Calming Talisman was passed around for everyone to inspect, the matter that everyone had already believed seventy or eighty percent in their hearts had become ninety or even a hundred percent.

Thus, someone spoke up to ask:

"Please, Your Majesty, elaborate on the details of this order."

Seeing that they were beginning to accept it, Li Zhouxuan said:

"As you all know, this Calming Talisman is considered a niche talisman, so the demand for it is naturally not as large as other general-purpose talismans. This order requires a stable purchase of five hundred Calming Talismans every month. If you are interested, you can see how much of a quota you would each like to take on."