Chapter 528: Business

Chapter 528: Business

Between Taiyi Sect and Northern Desert Qi Family, even though there seems to be a faint alliance when facing Flying Swan Sect, they still maintain a high level of caution towards each other. To avoid provoking Flying Swan Sect, the two factions refrain from overt interactions on the surface. In the current state of the Endless Sea of Sand, the possibility of an internal war breaking out is small, so the alliance between Taiyi Sect and Northern Desert Qi Family is more of a precautionary measure.

However, Meng Zhang's primary focus has shifted beyond the Endless Sea of Sand. After the defeat of Fire Cloud Sect and the conclusion of the war, True Monarch Profound Wind, the mastermind behind Fire Cloud Sect, has remained inactive for the time being. Yet, trade between Great Wind City and Endless Sea of Sand has not immediately resumed, and this is certainly not the intention of Great Wind City.

Great Wind City became a major trading hub largely due to its strategic location, situated at the crossroads of the Northern Desert and the core region of Jiuqu League. It faces the vast sea to the west and boundless grasslands to the east. The various special resources produced in the Endless Sea of Sand are mainly exported to Great Wind City, while the city continually supplies a variety of cultivation resources to the Endless Sea of Sand.

Especially after Taiyi Sect took control of a large area in the Demon Wind Gobi, they began acquiring the resources from the region and selling them in Great Wind City. Losing this trade would result in a decline of at least thirty percent in the overall trading scale of Great Wind City. Naturally, Great Wind City is unwilling to permanently lose these benefits. While True Monarch Profound Wind is not someone to be trifled with, the interests at stake cannot be easily abandoned.

During the invasion of Fire Cloud Sect into the Endless Sea of Sand, Great Wind City, according to the will of True Monarch Profound Wind, cut off all trades with the region. Even though the war has now ended, they must still consider the face of Primordial Spirit True Monarch. Great Wind City has not publicly resumed trade with the Endless Sea of Sand, but a large number of smugglers have suddenly emerged in the border areas between the two regions, engaging in secret trade activities.

Between the Demon Wind Gobi and Great Wind City, where the border is not too long, there are also many smuggler caravans appearing. Last time, when Meng Zhang hired many loose cultivators from Great Wind City to participate in the war in the Endless Sea of Sand, they suffered heavy casualties. However, after the war, Meng Zhang honored his promises and generously rewarded those who survived and even distributed the promised rewards to the families and friends of the deceased cultivators as per their wishes.

Though this placed a heavy financial burden on Taiyi Sect, it also brought numerous benefits. Many of the surviving loose cultivators expressed their willingness to continue serving Taiyi Sect. Some of them who were familiar with the situation in Jiuqu League joined the smuggling caravans dispatched by Taiyi Sect.

The envoy was Gu Yue Youlan, an acquaintance of Meng Zhang. She humbly explained the difficulties faced by the family in the past to express the family's remorse. As compensation, Gu Yue Family was willing to reduce a portion of the interest on the large amount of spirit stones borrowed from Taiyi Sect using the resources of the Demon Wind Gobi. They also extended the repayment period and offered more benefits in their business dealings.

For Meng Zhang, Gu Yue Family was vastly different from Taiyi Sect. Although they might not be dependable, he still had to strive to hold onto this valuable connection. With Taiyi Sect occupying a large area in the Demon Wind Gobi and having abundant resources, many families in Great Wind City saw Taiyi Sect as having significant development potential.

Jiuqu League had long been coveting the resources of the Demon Wind Gobi. However, in the past, no force dared to invade due to the association with True Monarch Tian Zhu, who was seen as controlling the Endless Sea of Sand, Demon Wind Gobi, and Deadly Sea of Sand.

The recent events proved that seemingly neutral trade hubs like Great Wind City could not be relied upon in crucial times. Taiyi Sect could not entrust its trade lifeline solely to Great Wind City. The next step for Taiyi Sect was to find ways to open new trade routes, but this task was easier said than done.

To the north was the Deadly Sea of Sand, which had no trade prospects. In the northeast was Northern Desert Qi Family. While they sought to repair their relations with Taiyi Sect, their territory was barren, and they lacked substantial production capacity to be of much help to Taiyi Sect. However, due to Taiyi Sect's strength and the resources of the Demon Wind Gobi, Northern Desert Qi Family still sought trade cooperation.

To the east was Flying Swan Sect, with overlapping resource production, but mutual exchange between the two was minimal. After experiencing significant changes, Flying Swan Sect's production capacity had greatly diminished. The trade with them did not provide much assistance to Taiyi Sect. Further east, there was a boundary with the vast grasslands. Trade with the grasslands was a forbidden area for Flying Swan Sect and not accessible to outsiders.

To the west was the remaining part of the Demon Wind Gobi, still dominated by demonic beasts, including Third Rank ones. Given Taiyi Sect's current strength, it was already challenging enough to defend against those demonic beasts, let alone expand in that direction. Moreover, the current discussion was about the sect's trade issues, not its next expansion direction. There could be no trade with those demonic beasts.

After much discussion, it became evident that Taiyi Sect had to find a way within Jiuqu League to open up new trade routes.

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