The Idea of a Discount Day

With just this one move, the eight sect leaders realized that Tian Baoqi had been hiding his true strength all along; his real power was far greater than his outward reputation suggested.

However, all of this was meaningless in the face of Si Ming's fist.

He had already recovered 20% of his Cultivation Body, and now, with the help of the Divine Sight Illusory Observation Art, his power doubled to 60%. He used this to activate the Wild Ball Fist, which he had cultivated to perfection. His punch was ordinary and unremarkable, without any force or wind, or any unusual phenomena. It was just like an ordinary punch thrown by an ordinary person.

But after that punch landed, the dragon phenomenon instantly collapsed. Tian Baoqi caught it with both palms, and his whole body exploded like stir-fried green beans, as if every Root Bone had cracked. With a "whoosh," Tian Baoqi spat out blood, his body flew backward, crashed into a pillar, and landed on the ground, never to get up again.

Before the eight sect leaders could even react, Si Ming had already sat back down in his armchair and sighed, "Chief Miao's cultivation is too weak. He can't even withstand a single punch. With strength like this, no one will listen to you. You should spend more time practicing martial arts and less time on your eloquence."

Then, he turned his gaze to the eight sect leaders and said, "Are you all here to reason with me?"

The eight sect leaders quickly shook their heads. The last one who tried to reason with them had fallen right in front of them, unable to even withstand a single punch. They knew their cultivation was inferior to Tian Baoqi's. If Tian Baoqi only suffered half-death after taking a punch, they would likely be turned into mincemeat.

The owner of the Dragon and Tiger School pleaded, "I originally intended to join the Heavenly Martial Alliance, but Tian Baoqi forced me to support him. The Three Rivers Gang is powerful, with tens of thousands of members, while our hall only has about a hundred. I had no choice."

The other sect leaders chimed in, "That's right, that's right, we were all forced into this. It was Tian Baoqi who insisted on bringing us here."

Among them, Linghu Sect Leader Linghu of the Spirit Fox Sect, was particularly eager to give a signal, because before Tian Baoqi came to "force the emperor to abdicate," he had secretly sent his disciples to inform the Heavenly Martial Alliance. He was undoubtedly a meritorious official and should be rewarded with more contribution points.

"You bunch of... opportunists, and the Heavenly Martial Alliance, don't think you're so great just because you have high martial arts skills. Tens of thousands of brothers from my Three Rivers Gang will not let you get away with this!" Tian Baoqi raised his head with difficulty, coughing up blood as he threatened.

The eight sect leaders' expressions changed instantly, while Si Ming yawned again and asked, "Do you call the shots in the Three Rivers Gang?"

"Of course, I am the leader of the Three Rivers Gang..."

Before Tian Baoqi could finish speaking, a middle-aged man with a goatee barged in and interrupted, "The Three Rivers Gang belongs to all the brothers, not just you, Three Rivers Gang Tian Baoqi. You don't represent tens of thousands of gang members."

"Song Yuliang, it's you!"

When Tian Baoqi saw the person's face clearly, he knew he had been tricked.

The man with the goatee cupped his hands to the crowd, and bowed slightly when facing Si Ming, saying, "I am Song Yuliang, the vice leader of the Three Rivers Gang. Our entire gang unanimously agrees to joining the Heavenly Martial Alliance; not a single member objects. We especially admire the Alliance Leader's public exchange of martial arts techniques, considering it Da Zhuang that benefits the country, the people, and the martial arts world. After joining the Heavenly Martial Alliance, our gang will undoubtedly follow the Ming Cult's lead and strictly abide by the alliance's rules. Any violation will be met with appropriate punishment."

Si Ming raised his eyes and said, "Your gang leader doesn't seem to think that way."

Song Yuliang said righteously, "Gang leader Tian Baoqi, for his own selfish desires, has acted perversely and recklessly in the name of the gang, violating the code of chivalry and arousing the wrath of both gods and men. We urge the Alliance Leader to return this man to our gang, and our gang will certainly give the Alliance Leader a satisfactory explanation."

Tian Baoqi angrily said, "Song Yuliang, how dare you!"

Song Yuliang was too lazy to answer him, and only cast a pitying glance at him.

Even if a cripple who has lost all his martial arts skills doesn't take action, no one will let him continue to sit in the position of gang leader. Although the gang leader doesn't necessarily have to be the most skilled in martial arts, he still needs to have the strength to keep things in order. Being too incompetent will only make the gang look down on by outsiders.

Si Ming waved his hand and said, "Do as you please. Even if you join the Heavenly Martial Alliance, the alliance will not interfere in the internal affairs of any gang."

Thank you for your understanding, Alliance Leader.

The eight sect leaders, as if waking from a dream, all said, "Our sect requests to join the Heavenly Martial Alliance, and we are willing to take the Ming Cult as our leader and follow the Alliance Leader's lead."

As for the Aristocratic Clan families that Tian Baoqi had previously used to threaten, they no longer took them seriously.

What a joke! Do any of those Aristocratic Clan clans have a master who could withstand that punch? Even if a fight breaks out, the Heavenly Martial Alliance wouldn't be the one to suffer annihilation. Who else would they cling to if not such a powerful ally?

Si Ming nodded, knowing it was time to offer a little incentive, and said, "I believe you are all familiar with the three rules of the Heavenly Martial Alliance. Joining requires a guarantor, and you will each have your own guarantor. Of course, given your status, you cannot be compared to ordinary members. Therefore, each of the eight sect leaders will have fifty recommendation slots, while the Three Rivers Gang will have five hundred slots."

Free things are often not valued; scarcity marketing is needed to increase their perceived value.

Song Yuliang pleaded, "Alliance Leader, our Three Rivers Gang tens of thousands of brothers, and five hundred slots are simply too many monks and too few porridge."

Si Ming said, "The five hundred spots I just mentioned were for the Three Rivers Gang. However, Chief Song is Bo Yuntian, a man who would go to great lengths for his brothers. He is truly a first-rate hero in the martial arts world. Therefore, the Heavenly Martial Alliance has prepared an additional three hundred spots for Chief Song."

Upon hearing the Tian Baoqi, who was lying on the ground, coughed up a mouthful of blood and fainted.

Song Liangyu checked the person's breath; he wasn't dead, so that was good.

Eight hundred spots in total were still too few for the Three Rivers Gang, but the scarcity of spots made them all the more precious. Song Yuliang immediately realized that with these three hundred spots, he could truly become the leader of the Song Gang. The opportunity to learn Higher Vehicle martial arts was something more tempting than opium for people at the bottom of the martial arts world.

In addition, the alliance leader has promised to give him an extra 4,000 contribution points in private, enough to exchange for a decent mid-grade martial art, and he has already set his sights on an internal Internal Cultivation method.

Even though doing so might harm the gang's interests, who cares!

Song Liangyu immediately lowered her posture, bowed, and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Alliance Leader!"

Chapter 342 Ideas about Discount Day

After the Three Rivers Gang and its eight subordinate sects announced their joining the Heavenly Martial Alliance, other Jianghu sects in Pingyuan Commandery also chose to join. This was because joining the Heavenly Martial Alliance did not require paying dues or any obligations. The leader of the Heavenly Martial Alliance also declared that he would not interfere in the internal affairs of other sects. In fact, the Ming Cult, as the leader, only had six members so far, so how could it have the spare capacity to interfere in the affairs of other sects?

The remaining sects, which were more suspicious and believed that the Heavenly Martial Alliance harbored treacherous schemes and had grand ambitions, had no choice but to join after observing for a while. This was because the other sects that had joined the Heavenly Martial Alliance were making rapid progress in strength. If they did not keep up with the group, not only would they be unable to defeat others, but their disciples would probably all defect.

In less than two months, the Heavenly Martial Alliance unified all the martial arts sects in Pingyuan Commandery and continued to expand outwards.

It seems that Si Ming did not gain any benefit from this. At least from the perspective of the rules and regulations, as the leader of the alliance, he did not have the power to give orders to the members, unlike Zuo Lengchan's subordinates who could cause chaos in the other four factions by holding a Five Mountains Command Flag. It seems that the title of leader of the alliance is just an honorary title.

In reality, this is not the case. After the introduction of the martial arts exchange system, alliance contribution points have become more precious than gold. In addition, since they cannot be traded or exchanged and are only held in an individual's name, how to earn more contribution points has become the hottest topic in Pingyuan Commandery. Walking on the street or sitting in a restaurant, you can hear martial arts practitioners discussing this topic anytime and anywhere.

In this situation, if Si Ming were to use contribution points as rewards to get others to help with tasks, everyone would be scrambling to do it, and organizing a martial arts tournament would be a piece of cake.

What, then, is contribution value?

It's just a string of numbers. Adding or adding a zero is just a matter of drawing a circle with a pen for Si Ming. He suffers no loss because martial arts manuals, Soul Intent Diagram, or even his own guidance are not consumables, but things that can be reused repeatedly.

This is similar to playing an online game. No matter how exciting or high-tech the game is, even if it attracts players all over the world and even if the protagonist is reborn to play it, to the game developers, the characters, skills, and equipment are just a string of data. They can modify it to create the strongest character in a minute, and if they are not afraid of breaking the balance, they can even add an invincible attribute.

Those players who dominate the game and are adored by many, thinking they're living the high life, are nothing more than money-making tools in the eyes of game developers. Of course, game developers won't be foolish enough to point this out; that would be turning down money.

Si Ming wouldn't arbitrarily tamper with the data, as that would cause the Heavenly Martial Alliance to lose its authority and needlessly damage its prestige. However, within the rules, using public resources for private purposes is not a big deal.

Currently, the Heavenly Martial Alliance has announced five ways to obtain contribution points in its missions.