Cultural Strategy

"Captain, a straightforward approach saves time and effort, but it may not necessarily get the job done."

"After all, we're outsiders. The local factions know little about us. They can't possibly choose to trust us just because we're powerful. That's unlikely."

"Second, we're the guests and they're the hosts. Guests should follow their hosts' lead. We can't expect them to come running eagerly just because we propose cooperation... In private, they'll all weigh the pros and cons."

"Of course, cooperating with us would bring them tremendous benefits, so they have no reason to object. But nothing is absolute. The major factions of the Xuan Qing Plane are riddled with conflicts that are hard to reconcile. They might be willing to cooperate with us individually, but getting everyone to sit together and work jointly would be very, very difficult. After all, many would rather give up enormous benefits than cooperate with their enemies."

"Finally, if we go from door to door discussing cooperation, we'll inevitably become embroiled in the conflicts between the various sects. We may even have to take on tasks to mediate their disputes. In the end, things would only become more complicated and troublesome, while we'd be left in an extremely passive position, causing the cooperation to fall through entirely."

"So the best approach is to avoid getting involved in their conflicts as much as possible. We should make them come to us for cooperation, rather than begging them. Only by taking the absolute initiative will we have a chance to accomplish something significant."

"Besides, as long as we successfully win over more than five major sects and gather most of the factions together, we'll basically have succeeded. The remaining factions, if they don't want their interests damaged or their share of the pie divided up completely, will