Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Just like that, the free coin gradually finished the process of monetization after a hundred years. It was on par with the crystal coin of the Imperium in many fields, if not above it.

That was why the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors was capable of supporting the reformists in their cry for reform and sending tremendous capitals to the central worlds right under the nose of the four families, and the four families could do nothing about it.

On the surface, it was the competition between the reformists and the four families, but actually, it was the competition between the free coin and the crystal coin. That was the mainline of the splendid battles in the past hundred years.

Of course, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors would never confess everything dutifully. The conclusions above were come up with by gathering the broken information including the theories of Di Feiwen who used to be the deputy commander of the Black Wind Fleet, Li Yao’s communication with Jin Yuyan who was the director of the magical equipment in the past, Queen Li Linghai’s public declarations, Boss Bai’s deep understanding about the space pirates of the Imperium, as well as Xiaoming, Wenwen, and the Fist King’s understanding about the free coin.

It was safe to say that not a single person inside the Imperium except Li Yao could get the firsthand information in so many aspects, making it possible to figure out the general picture of everything.

The leadership of the four families might know that the free coin was scary, but they couldn’t have known that it was that scary. People who overly worshipped violence would always underestimate the power of money.

Even Li Yao realized that he had been tricked after sorting everything through. Back then, Di Feiwen did not tell the truth to him at all. The man’s claims, including that the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors was just a harmless organization of a bunch of small merchants at the edge of the Imperium who were struggling to survive, and that the Imperium had been exploiting and threatening them, were all bulls*it!

The Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors a hundred years ago had already monopolized the logistics and trade network in the peripheral worlds of the Imperium and won the support of the billions of people there. They were also preparing to launch a critical strike on the ruling class of the Imperium with the free coin.

The Black Wind Fleet’s rampage at the central area of the Imperium after the debacle and their “expedition” after blackmailing abundant compensations had a lot to do with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors too, because the organization at that time was in dire need of a new economic crisis!

Furthermore, was the collapse of the Black Wind Fleet really inevitable? The five worlds including the Black Wind Fleet that had been safe for nine hundred years might not have been forever unassailable, but they must’ve been heavily guarded. How on earth were they broken through by the Covenant Alliance unstoppably? Was there more to the incident?

Those things had already been buried in the dust of history, but they still reminded Li Yao that the Immortal Cultivators of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors were also Immortal Cultivators, who were even more sleazy and cunning. A simple and dutiful Cultivator like Li Yao must be very cautious when dealing with them. One moment of carelessness, and he would be tricked and even counting money for them when he had been sold by them!

Li Yao secretly felt lucky that he resisted the temptation when he just arrived at the Imperium and did not reach out to the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors in his most difficult time.

If he had truly been 100% convinced by Di Feiwen and went to the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, confessing everything frankly, it was true that the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors might’ve helped him, but he would’ve also been a chess piece for the organization and a slave of money.

Cooperation was certainly an option, but Li Yao must be the leader of it, and the boundaries of the Cultivators must be respected. It was the unshakeable, fundamental principle.

“All in all, this is about the situation right now. While the Imperium’s twenty years of counterattacks on the Covenant Alliance have secured a glorious triumph, a new economic crisis is brewing too, and it may be detonated by a random spark. At this moment, the credit of the crystal coin is already entirely gone. The only thing that supports it is violence, the violence that declares the invincibility of the four families.”

Making gestures, Li Yao explained to Li Jialing, “That’s why Blackstar the Great attacked the capital at great risks!

“The lackluster capital of the Imperium today seems far worse than the heart of the Imperium five hundred years ago. In terms of military and economy, it is not a big deal to lose it.

“However, from the perspective of economy and confidence, the fall of the capital is like an earthquake that shatters the illusion that the four families are invincible.

“The only reason why the economy in the territory of the four families hasn’t collapsed, and why the people still accept the crystal coin in their deals, is the absolute violence that the four families control, but right now, the absolute violence has been greatly challenged, and people’s faith in it has been seriously destroyed.

“Do you understand? Wuying Qi does not need to attack the territory of the four families at all. All he needs to do is defend the capital and show his power. The longer the reformists occupy the capital, the less credit the four families will have. By the time their credit is entirely gone, they won’t be able to pay wages. Will it help at all however many experts in the Nascent Soul Stage and the Divinity Transformation Stage they have? The Immortal Cultivators at the bottom will rebel, and the social order will fall out. The weight of the four families themselves will collapse them.

“Naturally, the great experts in the four families would not just wait to be killed. However, destruction is always easier than construction. It takes only several days to destroy the credit of a currency, but it will take forever and too many approaches to reestablish people’s faith in the crystal coin.

“The most direct approach is naturally to take back the capital and to annihilate the ‘illegitimate Reform Committee of the Council of Elders’. However, the four families do not dare to take the risk yet. It’s certainly not a joke to jump from the outside world and attack such a dangerous place as the capital. If they suffer another failure in their carelessness, losing face in front of the whole universe, the reign of the four families would be completely doomed.

“Therefore, while postponing under the excuse that the new emperor is about to ascend to the throne, the four families have gathered their troops to attack the Seven Seas Grand Market, the nest of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the heart of the free coin!

“Since it’s impossible to reestablish people’s faith in the crystal coin soon, they can simply blow the free coin into waste. As long as the business routes of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors at the edge of the Imperium are destroyed, making it impossible for people to purchase the air, water, and food that they live on however many free coins they have, too many people will die of hunger, thirst, and suffocation with free coins in their hands. When the news is out, will the free coin be used by anyone at all?

“This is the whole background of the battle of Seven Seas and the strategic significance of it. So, don’t just consider the battle as an overture to the conquest of the capital; it’s really a battle that will decide the future of the country!”

Li Yao drank up the iced juice and looked at the twisted universe outside through the glass cup.

The shining stars outside seemed to have become glittering coins.

Money was truly something much more loveable than Divinity Transformation Stage experts. After all, money could be exchanged for food, water, and everything else that people lived on, while the Divinity Transformation Stage experts could bring nothing except slaughter and destruction in most cases.

“Although Brother Yao talked about so many advantages of the free coin, which sounded very nice, I still feel that it isn’t right…”

Frowning for a long time, Li Jialing shook his head and said slowly, “How should I put it? I still don’t like the free coin, intuitively. I think it is an abnormal monster that cannot be counted as a real currency in any case.

“The most crucial problem is that it is absolutely untraceable and cannot be monitored. Every trade procedure is completely invisible. This is too horrible. It is very easy—no, it is destined to be taken advantage of by the bad guys. Even the good guys will be tempted to become bad guys!

“It is an interesting claim that using the free coin can avoid the redundant taxes of the Imperium, but isn’t it justifiable for the country to levy taxes? If nobody pays their taxes, how can the government function, who will be responsible for the massive public infrastructure, where does the military fees come from, and what about the compulsory education and public medication? When the Covenant Alliance or other alien species attack us, where will the money be to defend our civilization?

“Despite all the bad things the authorities of the Imperium have done, they at least resisted the aggression of the Covenant Alliance in the past thousand years. Every cannonball shot at the Covenant Alliance is built by the taxes paid by thousands of people. If everybody uses the free coin and does not pay their taxes, will there be such cannonballs at all?

“Hehe. Absolute freedom will only lead to absolute chaos. I don’t like the untraceable virtual currency at all.”

“You are much smarter now!”

Li Yao remarked in amazement, “Even you cannot tolerate the fatal flaw of the free coin. How can such a great man of the time like Blackstar the Great, who is determined to be an eternal emperor, accept that the foundation of the country is out of his control?

“Therefore, Wuying Qi can’t be supporting the free coin for free. He is only using it to undermine the four families.

“On the other hand, Jin Yuyan is the firmest endorser and preacher for the free coin. He was even nominated as the director of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors because of his contribution to the promotion of the free coin. The free coin is the source of his power and where his belief lies. I believe that he would rather die before he changes his persistence on the free coin.

“Judging from the development of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the free coin in the past hundred years, it can be easily seen that Jin Yuyan is really a tough person. When I got in touch with him before, he struck me as a plain, friendly businessman. I didn’t know that he was such a sophisticated expert. Even Queen Li Linghai is some sort of puppet to him.

“However, Jin Yuyan couldn’t have foreseen that there would be such an experienced player as Blackstar the Great in the dangerous game. Li Linghai is his puppet on the face, but in fact, she was Wuying Qi’s puppet. However, Wuying Qi does not want to end on bad terms with Jin Yuyan yet because he hasn’t finished the final preparations.

“Jin Yuyan is as determined as Blackstar the Great is. Their beliefs are highly incompatible, except that they have a mutual enemy that is the four families for now. That’s why I’m confident in persuading Jin Yuyan!”