"Uh, the Tao Sect demands to exchange a holy artifact for the captive..." "Our Dragon Abyss Empire only has a few damaged holy artifacts?" "There’s no way to negotiate!" The high-ranking members of the empire were furious. An urgent report arrived. "S-Seven Lustrous City has been breached, all Divine Domain Realm experts have perished, the Seven Lustrous Federation has... already changed hands!" Countless Divine Domain Realm experts were momentarily stunned by the news. An elder of the empire dragged over the Unity Realm informant, "Is the news true?" "Indeed, it’s absolutely true." The Unity Realm informant, trembling under pressure, gasped as he spoke. Considering the delay in the message transmission, from when the Seven Lustrous Federation sought aid until now, it had only been a handful of hours. Looking back further, From when the Dragon Abyss Empire joined forces with the Seven Lustrous Federation to launch a surprise attack on Tao City, it had been less than twenty-four hours! In less than a day’s time, the Seven Lustrous Federation, a top-tier force that had thrived for nearly a hundred thousand years, became history! They couldn’t help but be shocked! If it weren’t for multiple sources corroborating the information, they wouldn’t have believed the intelligence they received! "Yuan Fang, what do you think?" The head of the empire exhaled and asked. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel(ꜰ)ire.net Yuan Fang: "The Tao Sect should not be provoked." In the north, at the Diamond Court. The immortal Diamond King looked fatigued, "The Human Race has risen, the Tao Sect possesses power stronger than ours, they cannot be provoked. We must ease our relations with the Tao Sect." "What about the resources the Tao Sect is demanding?" "Negotiate, try to negotiate." Unlike the Diamond Court and Dragon Abyss Empire, the top-tier force "Heavenly Alliance Commerce" is not a nation. "Heavenly Alliance Commerce" was founded on commerce, it is alliance-based, encompassing numerous well-known merchants on the continent. Its many industries include the "Treasure Pavilion," known for selling extraordinary treasures, which is just one of its pillars. Some have claimed that the Heavenly Alliance Commerce is the wealthiest force on the continent. There have been strongmen, even top-tier forces, who coveted it, but ultimately all attempts were fruitless. Besides its immense wealth, the Heavenly Alliance Commerce also wields power capable of protecting its own wealth. The Treasure Pavilion Master, known as the "Myriad Treasure Mage," is a top-tier strongman famous throughout the continent, with a record of killing Divine Domain Realm experts. But today, this Myriad Treasure Mage was captured. "The Tao Sect wants us to exchange a holy artifact for the Treasure Pavilion Master, that is impossible!" Even in terms of value alone, this near-invincible Myriad Treasure Mage is worth more than three to five ordinary Divine Domain Realm experts, roughly equivalent to a damaged holy artifact. Furthermore, the Heavenly Alliance Commerce, not only owns damaged holy artifacts, but its Chamber of Commerce President also holds a complete holy artifact. However, unlike the Dragon Abyss Empire, the elders of the Heavenly Alliance Commerce are unwilling to pay a hefty price to exchange for the "Myriad Treasure Mage." The commerce chamber is more akin to an alliance, internally divided into multiple factions, with the President and twelve elders at its head, among which the Treasure Pavilion Master is an elder of one faction. "We and the Tao Sect, are long-standing foes, we can never yield." "Right, even if the Treasure Pavilion Master perishes, he would support our decision if he had a spirit in heaven." "Ever since the establishment of the Tao Sect, many of our industries under the Heavenly Alliance Commerce have suffered, now is the time to unite with other forces and, along with the Seven Lustrous Federation, put pressure on the Tao Sect." "Exactly, a mere newborn force, despite having a little strength, should behave properly!" "We’ve just received word, uh, Seven Lustrous City has fallen, several Great Cabinet Elders of the Lustrous Clan have perished, the Seven Lustrous Federation is now history." The Chamber of Commerce President and the Eleven Elders: "..." The news didn’t come early, didn’t come late, just happened to arrive as we were boasting about teaching the Tao Sect a lesson. Several elders looked at the Unity Realm entity with displeased expressions. The president tapped the table, concluding firmly, "The strength of the Tao Sect is beyond our imagination, they are currently at the height of their power, it’s not suitable to become enemies right now. However, we aren’t the only ones eyeing the Tao Sect. Extremes lead to consequences, and being too dominant is not necessarily good..." Several forces connected to the Seven Lustrous Federation got the news first, but the downfall of the Seven Lustrous Federation could not be hidden from other forces. A top-tier force involves too many connections, and the Seven Lustrous Federation is too vast! On the same day, more than half of the cities within the Seven Lustrous Federation erupted in war, impossible to conceal, Tang Yu did not intend to hide it either. Spies of various forces utilized their highest permissions available, layer by layer transmitting the message out. One day to destroy the Seven Lustrous Federation. The continent was shaken!! "What, the Seven Lustrous Federation is gone? How is that possible!" "The Seven Lustrous Federation may lack a truly invincible strongman, but they possess three damaged Holy Artifacts. Even invincible strong ones would temporarily retreat; who can eradicate the Seven Lustrous Federation." "A day, just one day? Quickly investigate thoroughly what exactly happened!" "Immediately, bring me the most detailed intelligence on the Tao Sect!" "Improve the treatment of the Human Race within the Empire, send an envoy to Tao City." The fall of Seven Lustrous City and several Lustrous Clan main cities announced the Seven Lustrous Federation becoming a thing of the past. But the Seven Lustrous Federation’s territory is vast, with thousands of major cities, large cities, and small cities. Even with various Human Race tribes, kingdoms, and other forces, with nearly ten million fresh troops joining, it took a full month to capture the entire territory of the Seven Lustrous Federation. Currently, they are still in the cleanup phase, rebuilding cities, killing off remnants of the Lustrous Clan—not all ordinary members were exterminated, given their large numbers, they were merely stripped of their noble titles, had their properties confiscated, and were relegated to the labor force. The territorial division was efficiently handled on the third day after the complete capture of the Seven Lustrous Federation. The Tao Sect didn’t have to take over this mess; various Human Race forces were delighted to have their land, allowing them to acquire more resources to sustain their people... achieving mutual benefit. How to deal with the Lustrous Clan specifically and develop the cities varies by territory. The Tao Sect doesn’t interfere much, as long as they don’t violate the "Basic Law" set by the Tao Sect. Seven Lustrous City, the Seven Clans’ main cities, and some important resource locations are directly managed by the Tao Sect. Seven Lustrous City is even more bustling than Tao City, after all, it is a city with thousands of years of history, but Tang Yu does not plan to change his original intention, still focusing on building Tao City. The crushing of the Seven Lustrous Federation’s conspiracy and forceful counterattack instantly catapulted the Tao Sect from an emerging power to a top-tier existence none dared to provoke. Several business premises that hadn’t yet been sold were bought up in a matter of days after the fall of the Seven Lustrous Federation by various forces arriving in Tao City. Top-tier forces intend to curry favor, while mid-level forces see Tao City’s development prospects, aiming to attach themselves to the giant Tao Sect. Tang Yu had quietly returned to the Tao Sect. "Have the Divine Domain realm captives been sold?" The person in charge of this matter, Eileen, spoke, "Except for not reaching an agreement with the Heavenly Alliance Commerce, other Divine Domain realm captives have been sold, with each force offering a main material for a Holy Artifact and vast resources... Oh, also, that lone strongman ’Niu Tu’ couldn’t afford the resources for his ransom." "Didn’t you lower the price?" "Indeed." Eileen also felt helpless, "Niu Tu only has a Third Tier Divine Weapon, which was lent to him by the Red Lustrous Great Cabinet Elder during the war; his people are poor. Um, I investigated, and it seems he’s not feigning poverty, he really is poor. It appears that Niu Tu frequently loses his Source Crystals due to various accidents. But Niu Tu is rather straightforward, I’ve arranged for him to mine a precious mineral, which can be used as auxiliary material for Holy Artifacts. The demand is considerable, and its texture is so hard that an ordinary Transcendent holding a Divine Weapon can only leave a white mark. Letting Niu Tu mine it is making the most out of things." Making an invincible strongman mine, truly a rare sight. In a mine that stretches hundreds of miles, one can see speckled brown spots. Niu Tu holds a Third Tier Divine Weapon War Axe, giving a light shout, "Slash!" The enormous axe crashed down, countless Rough Stones with brown spots soared and were crushed into smaller fragments mid-air, revealing chunks of brown mineral. After working all morning, Niu Tu finished and grabbed a barrel of wine, gulping it down. "Even with Divine Domain Divine Weapons at work, there’s not only a salary, but time to rest each night. I, old Niu, am reluctant to leave."