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The blueprints, the required formations, and the tortoiseshells were all ready. The only thing left was the building materials.

More than a month had passed, but the demand was simply too great. The building-material manufacturers within Hufang Province were unable to meet it, so Liu Yunan had also sought out suppliers from other cities.

At the same time, the Artifact Refining Hall had been taking time whenever possible to refine materials for some of the core components, such as the main beams, walls, and pillars.

However, the Artifact Refining Hall still had its monthly production quotas to fulfill. Even when they worked on the construction materials in their spare time, they could not produce them very quickly. As a result, the matter of building the city had temporarily stalled.

Fortunately, Lin Xiao would not need much time to use the synthesis function later on, so delaying things here for a while was no issue.

After putting away the blueprints, Lin Xiao was about to return to his cultivation when he noticed snowflakes suddenly beginning to drift down outside.

It was snowing.

Lin Xiao calculated the date and realized that there were only ten days left until New Year’s Eve.

The New Year was almost here.

He used his lock ring to contact Liu Yunan.

“Yunan, I have some additional arrangements to make for the New Year this year. Over the next few days, prepare some things according to my instructions.”

…

The next day, Lingxian Sect unexpectedly received a voice transmission talisman.

What made this so surprising was that the talisman had not come from Lingxian Sect.

It had been used by the Sect Leader of Qinghe Sect and was probably an old one that had been saved from who knew when.

Although the three major sects had earned far more spirit stones than before over the past two years, they still followed the principle of spending their spirit stones only where they mattered most.

Voice transmission talismans were not essential to cultivation. Moreover, they had not appeared on the three major sects’ procurement lists at all in the past two years. Thus, everyone in Lingxian Sect guessed that this talisman must have been part of Qinghe Sect’s own stockpile.

This was the first time Lingxian Sect had received a voice transmission talisman from a sect other than their own.

After all, in the past, whether they were communicating with Xiushui Village at the foot of the mountain, the governor of Liaju Prefecture, or the Li imperial clan, they had always used the voice transmission talismans they themselves had sent out.

The first part of the message in the talisman sounded like an ordinary New Year’s greeting.

At first, Lin Xiao assumed it was because the Sect Leader of Qinghe Sect had a daughter in Lingxian Sect. But when he heard the latter part, he finally understood the reason for this sudden voice transmission.

“We have long heard of your esteemed sect’s illustrious reputation, as well as its unfathomable strength. It is our good fortune to share the same land with your esteemed sect, and for my daughter to have the opportunity to enter Lingxian Sect and cultivate profound Dao techniques. This is truly a matter of fate. I, Han Shangyi, as the Sect Leader of Qinghe Sect, hereby represent our sect in expressing our hope that we may establish a brotherly relationship with Lingxian Sect. From this day forward, may we watch over and assist one another as we pursue the Great Dao together.”

Although Han Shangyi’s words were rather tactful, Lin Xiao could still tell that while he spoke of becoming brother sects, his tone clearly implied that Qinghe Sect was willing to acknowledge Lingxian Sect as the superior.

Lin Xiao guessed that Han Weishu must have told her father something.

This was precisely what he had expected. Otherwise, he would not have opened recruitment to people of all backgrounds.

“Sys, if I accept Qinghe Sect’s proposal, does that count as completing one-tenth of my mission?” he asked the system.

【That will depend on the actual status of your sect in relation to the other party after you accept the proposal. Only then can it be determined.】

Lin Xiao smiled and did not continue speaking with the system.

Instead, he turned to look at the elders gathered in the sect’s main hall.

“What does everyone think?”

Since this was the first time they had received a voice transmission talisman from another sect, and since the sender was the leader of a sect discussing a matter concerning the sects themselves, Liu Yunan had informed all of Lingxian Sect’s elders and summoned them to the main hall for a discussion.

However, as this was not a major sect matter, no one had been required to attend. Thus, only those who happened to have some free time were present, such as Mo Yuanjiao and Yang Jinshu.

Mo Yuanjiao had previously helped Lin Xiao create the formations needed for the trade center. After completing the formation orders for external sale that month, he had nothing else to do. The moment he heard that something interesting was happening, he had rushed over to join in.

Yang Jinshu, meanwhile, was there because the disciples of Qingyun Peak were all exceptionally obedient. Her Enforcement Hall could genuinely be called the most idle place in the entire sect.

She rarely stayed in her own Enforcement Hall these days and spent most of her time helping out in other departments.

There were also people who were busy, but whose work was closely related to the matter at hand, so they had come as well—for example, Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe.

As for the others, Lin Quan, the Spirit Field Elder and Lin Xiao’s grandfather, had refused to come as soon as he heard that the matter had nothing to do with farming. He merely told them to find more fresh seeds for the spirit fields whenever they had time, and to notify him if they came across any new tools related to agriculture.

Sun Yigao was busy teaching classes as well.

Liao Pantu had still failed to emerge from seclusion, and Sun Yigao was currently the person with the highest cultivation in the sect apart from Lin Xiao. Thus, he had temporarily taken over Liao Pantu’s morning and evening lessons. He was also responsible for regularly visiting Qingyun Peak to answer the disciples’ questions outside class.

Tuantuan stayed by his side to assist him.

As a result, there were only five people in the main hall at present.

“Brother Xiao, does Sect Leader Han mean that he wants to… form an alliance with us?” Liu Yunan asked with a slight frown. He pondered for a moment, unable to think of a suitable term, before cautiously settling on “alliance.”

Yang Jinshu, however, said, “Among mortals, similar situations are common in merchant families. When a weaker family wishes to expand its business and achieve better development, it may submit to a powerful and promising clan in the hope that the latter will support and guide it. Generally speaking, we call this ‘seeking protection’ or ‘attaching oneself to a stronger power.’”

“I believe that is what Sect Leader Han means.”

Upon hearing this, Mo Yuanjiao’s eyes lit up as he looked at Lin Xiao.

“Senior Brother Sect Master, are we getting ourselves a little brother?”

Lin Xiao raised the voice transmission talisman in his hand.

“We’re discussing that right now. What’s your opinion?”

Sitting on his cushion, Mo Yuanjiao leaned forward with both hands braced on his knees, looking thrilled.

“I’m completely in favor! The cultivation world has always looked down on our mortal world, hasn’t it? In the future, we’ll bring all the sects in the mortal world under our banner and help them develop together. We’ll make sure every one of them surpasses the sects of the cultivation world and leave those people green with envy! Let’s see if they still dare look down on the mortal world then!”

Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan both looked at him in surprise.

What surprised them was that Mo Yuanjiao’s thoughts happened to coincide with Lin Xiao’s own ideas from earlier.

Qin Jianghe also spoke up.

“Yuanjiao is right. Our sect already intends to expand externally, and Qinghe Sect has always maintained a fairly good relationship with us. They have treated us well, and we have never heard of any serious problems with their conduct. Since they have now taken the initiative to lower their stance and make this proposal, I believe we can discuss the matter further with Qinghe Sect.”

Liu Yunan and Yang Jinshu agreed as well. Thus, the decision to establish further contact and negotiations with Qinghe Sect was settled.

However, since they had all gathered in the sect’s main hall for a meeting, it was naturally impossible to discuss only this one matter.

With the New Year approaching, they happened to have several other recent affairs that could be brought up and discussed at the same time.