Sure enough, after Li Lu finished speaking, he laid out his terms.
"This arrangent is a win-win for everyone. However, as it stands, the Liu Family’s territory will go to the Ding Family, which ans the Ding Family will have to spend silver taels to purchase it. There are no objections to this, are there? After all, we were the ones who took down the Liu Family’s territory."
As he spoke, Li Lu looked toward Ding Wu.
Ding Wu nodded. "None."
This was precisely his purpose for coming tonight.
"Good." Li Lu smiled. "Patriarch Ding is straightforward. As for the territories of the He and Lu Families, they will be jointly taken by our Celestial Break Gang and the Cheng Family. Patriarch Xu, the northern district will be yours—also to be purchased with silver taels. I trust there’s no problem with that?"
After a mont of contemplation, Xu Tieshan turned to Qiu Fengxing instead. "I can give my original territory to your Qiu Family, but you’ll have to cover half the cost for the northern district. Any problem with that?"
Qiu Fengxing was taken aback for a second, but he understood imdiately. "That’s acceptable."
The situation was effectively that each family was spending money to buy the territories of the three ousted families, only to then swap those territories among themselves.
Xu Tieshan looked at Li Lu. "Alright. What’s the price?"
But Li Lu shook his head slightly. "Not so fast. The money is just one part of it. There’s sothing else."
With that, he handed the two remaining beast-skin scrolls on the table to the Xu and Qiu Families. "Take a look at these. Patriarch Ding has already seen them and has agreed to the terms."
The representatives from the two families imdiately began to read.
After Qiu Fengxing finished reading, he handed the scroll to his daughter.
Xu Tieshan read it carefully, then fell into thought, in no hurry to respond.
Li Lu was in no hurry either. This was all part of Cheng Zongyang’s plan.
Keeping He Shujun alive until now served two purposes. Besides the restrictions of their previous agreent, the main goal was to use him as a threat against the other families. This would compel them to co to the table, creating the perfect opportunity to force them into a new cooperative agreent.
Even if He Shujun hadn’t broken through, they could have used the prospect of cooperation to force the other families into an alliance, which would have created its own pressure. But with He Shujun having broken through, his value as a pawn was far greater.
By acting now, they could also smoothly sell off the territories to the three families.
As soon as the agreents were signed and the money was in hand, Cheng Zongyang would wait for the specified ti in the contract to pass, then kill He Shujun. Or cripple him.
After all, he had never seen the corpse of a Sixth Grade Martial Artist before. He had to save the Soul Crystal Stone for his own use.
Once He Shujun was eliminated, the He Family would essentially be finished.
"I can agree," Xu Tieshan finally said. "And I have no problem with the price of thirty thousand taels."
The price for each territory was written in the agreent, which was frad almost entirely as a comrcial partnership. So terms were a bit unfair to the Xu Family, but compared to the territory they would gain, the cost—in money, comrcial channels, and future cooperation—was not an issue.
’Although that "Soul Returns to the Wilderness" clause in the agreent is a bit confusing, it probably just ans sothing like "to die without a proper burial." Nothing to worry about.’
"Excellent!" Li Lu nodded. "Since you agree, please sign and leave a blood fingerprint."
As he spoke, Li Lu had soone bring over ink and a brush.
After receiving a nod from his daughter, Qiu Fengxing also indicated that he had no objections.
’In a situation like this, even if there were problems, he had to pretend there weren’t. With both the Xu and Ding Families having already agreed, the Qiu Family was in no position to object.’
’Agree, and they get territory and a partnership. Disagree, and they’d be sent ho to stay put and not make any trouble. That was it.’
’But if they disagreed, they would lose out on the territory, and the Qiu Family’s power would only be slowly squeezed out. Faced with that predictable outco, it was far better to agree.’
As the three families smoothly signed their agreents, the smile on Li Lu’s face grew wider.
’I’ve successfully handled the matter Cheng Zongyang entrusted to . Next up is dealing with He Shujun.’
At that mont, Li Lu chose the right ti to offer a reminder:
"Everyone, we trust in your reputations. However, I must give you one word of warning: do not, under any circumstances, violate a single clause of this agreent. Otherwise, should any... ’accidents’ occur, you’ll have only yourselves to bla.
"Of course, this isn’t a threat. rely a reminder.
"The Cheng Family and the Celestial Break Gang only wish for stable developnt; we don’t want to stir up trouble. So, moving forward, I hope we can all cooperate seamlessly. You can send the money over later. There’s no rush."
Hearing this, they all assured him they wouldn’t. Afterward, they each took their leave. However, the money from the Qiu and Ding families was already waiting at the entrance, so Li Lu accepted it on the spot, planning to have it sent to the Cheng Family’s warehouse later.
The Xu Family stated their money would be delivered the next morning, to which Li Lu naturally agreed.
After they departed, Li Lu took the three agreents and headed for the Seclusion Room.
The gang’s headquarters was originally the large compound of a famous Martial Arts Hall. Within it was a particular room that contained a secret underground chamber. This room later beca Cheng Zongyang’s personal quarters, and the chamber his private Seclusion Room for Cultivation.
Of course, that was just the official story. In reality, it was the place Cheng Zongyang used to freely co and go from the Wilderness World.
Ma Yue and Xu Dong stood guard at the door to the room. Seeing Li Lu approach, they cupped their fists in salute. "Gang Leader Li."
Li Lu gave a slight nod. "Is Brother Cheng still in seclusion? Has any food been sent in?"
Xu Dong nodded. "He is. But he has the Five Grains Inner Replenishing Pills, so the Master has no need for food or drink. He instructed us not to disturb him tonight."
"Understood." Li Lu nodded. Without another word, he turned and left with the three beast-skin agreents.
Cheng Zongyang had entered seclusion at midnight, trusting him completely to handle matters.
The Celestial Break Gang was not worried about an attack from He Shujun. With two Geomagnetic Stones, specially made Confusing Smoke, and the help of a Divine Weapon, they were confident they could hold him off.
After all, He Shujun had only just broken through. His True Qi was just a re sliver, not nearly enough to let him completely ignore the effects of the Geomagnetic Stones.
Still, the power difference was undeniable. Li Lu and his n couldn’t kill He Shujun in a direct confrontation with just these tools. Not unless they resorted to a sneak attack or so other dirty trick.
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