Undercurrents Beneath the Surface

Xia Pingyun froze at his words, then instinctively looked at Ye Xiu before him.

"Would you be willing to witness this battle, sir?"

Though profit had clouded his mind, he was not truly a fool.

Now that Ye Xiu had stepped forward, continuing to question Ji Ye was purely an attempt to seize this chance to make a name for himself.

Strictly speaking, did Xia Pingyun truly care that much about the resources Ji Ye had taken?

He cared, but not quite that much.

The resources gathered by a city as vast as Heyang City were staggering. Those who had never truly worked within the Alliance and handled such matters could not possibly imagine the immense dividends brought by such an enormous population.

This wave of public opinion targeting Ji Ye appeared, on the surface, to be about that batch of Alliance-approved cultivation resources. In truth, what they were fighting over was their right to speak within the organization.

The cultivators who had newly joined the Alliance possessed sufficient talent, sufficient strength, and sufficient influence. To them, Heyang City was a place to realize their ambitions, not the peaceful haven recognized by the Alliance's old guard.

To put it more coldly, their goal was to establish sects and aristocratic clans. Naturally, they did not approve of the current tendency to distribute surplus benefits as widely as possible in order to maintain Heyang City's long-term and distant development.

But thoughts were one thing. To truly make these people brave the wrath of the world and alter Heyang City's current policies, they did not have the courage for it.

Qi He, their leader, was now in the prime of life and at the height of his ascent after newly taking office. The communities of shared interest tied to him had obtained what