The Alliance cultivators moved as though this were business as usual. Though their slightly trembling palms still betrayed their excitement, the discipline accumulated over the years allowed this group of law enforcers to carry on with their work as normal.
The cultivators watching from the outskirts were nowhere near so composed.
Quite a few even forgot the rules, channeling spiritual power as they rushed toward Ye Xiu, who stood upon the level clearing.
"Sir, what kind of method was that?"
"Sir, did you come here specifically for this? Could someone have set some danger beneath this earth vein?"
"I heard that Sir will still hold a post at the new academy. Is that true?"
"Is this where the future academy will be built?"
The clamor of voices surged in like a tide. Everyone spoke over one another with questions, so excited they seemed ready to faint on the spot.
This was also a rare spectacle that could only be seen within the territories of these several provinces under the Alliance.
The Alliance had risen from among independent cultivators. To ensure that Heyang City's core would not fall apart, the Alliance naturally could not put on airs like those great sects and command people through an explicit hierarchy.
To put it more officially, everything the Alliance did was for the future of Heyang City, this city of independent cultivators, to become even better. Since they accepted the offerings of the city's cultivators, they naturally had the corresponding duty to protect them.
Rather than a clearly defined superior-subordinate relationship, the bond between the two sides was more one of mutually beneficial cooperation.
Since they were partners on the same side, what was there to fear or revere?
So long as they followed the rules, Alliance cultivators could openly and honestly face the