Chapter 309 - Open Walls and Quiet Calculations

Chapter 309: Chapter 309 - Open Walls and Quiet Calculations

Li Xuanzong allowed the silence around the table to settle before continuing.

The interest directed toward him was difficult to miss.

Zhuge Tianhe had already stopped pretending that he was merely curious, while several of the younger visitors had unconsciously straightened in their seats. Even the elders who had remained quiet throughout most of the banquet were now listening carefully.

The comprehension walls they had seen on the Main Peak were simply too valuable to ignore.

Li Xuanzong took another sip of wine.

"Radiant Sky Sect will allow outsiders to study the comprehension walls."

For several breaths, nobody reacted.

Zhuge Tianhe slowly lowered his cup.

"You are serious?"

"I rarely joke about resources."

"That is exactly why I asked."

A few restrained laughs passed through the hall.

Li Xuanzong ignored them.

"Before anyone becomes too excited, there will be conditions. Radiant Sky Sect will not simply open its gates and allow whoever wishes to enter."

Nobody found that unreasonable.

If anything, some of the visitors appeared relieved. Resources valuable enough to attract even Void-Shattering cultivators should never have been handed out casually.

Han Jianyu looked toward the Sect Master.

"What are you asking in exchange?"

"Anything useful."

That answer caused several expressions to change.

Li Xuanzong continued before anyone misunderstood him.

"We have little interest in collecting more Spirit Stones simply for the sake of filling a treasury. Rare materials, pills, formation resources, useful techniques, unusual treasures, records, intelligence, or anything else Radiant Sky Sect considers valuable may be exchanged for access."

Yan Changkong’s brows rose slightly.

"Even information?"

"Especially information, if it is worth enough."

The atmosphere around the table immediately became more serious.

Information had always been difficult to assign a fixed value. A rare ore could be weighed. A pill could be identified. A technique could be examined and compared with what a sect already possessed.

Useful intelligence was different.

Sometimes a few sentences were worth more than an entire storage ring.

Lian Qingyue studied Li Xuanzong for a moment.

"And who decides that value?"

"I do."

Zhuge Tianhe stared at him.

"That sounds dangerous."

"For you, perhaps."

Another round of quiet laughter moved through the gathering.

Li Xuanzong’s expression remained unchanged.

"If the information concerns something outside my understanding, I will naturally consult the appropriate elders. I have no intention of pretending I know the value of every pill formula, formation component, or forging material in the world."

Several elders seated nearby nodded at that.

The proposal was becoming clearer.

Radiant Sky Sect was not selling entry. It was establishing an exchange.

A faction that possessed something the sect needed could trade its value for an opportunity that Spirit Stones alone could not easily purchase.

Han Jianyu considered the idea before asking the question that mattered most.

"How many people can enter?"

"A small number from each faction."

Li Xuanzong glanced toward the younger cultivators seated farther down the hall.

"You may choose them yourselves. Their age and cultivation will matter less than whether you believe they can actually benefit from what they see."

That answer immediately pleased several elders.

Sending a dozen mediocre disciples merely because their cultivation was higher would be pointless if none of them possessed the comprehension necessary to understand the walls.

Li Xuanzong continued.

"Access will also be limited by time. Radiant Sky Sect’s own disciples will always have priority."

Zhuge Tianhe laughed.

"Naturally."

"The gates will be open to approved visitors two days each week. The remaining five days belong entirely to Radiant Sky Sect."

The laughter disappeared.

More than one younger visitor looked genuinely wounded.

Two days for everyone outside the sect.

Five days for Radiant Sky disciples alone.

A young cultivator seated among one of the visiting delegations stared toward the direction of the Main Peak as though he had suddenly discovered that his own sect had failed him terribly.

Another disciple beside him leaned closer.

"Don’t."

"I haven’t said anything."

"Your face already did."

The elder seated ahead of them turned slightly.

"If either of you asks whether Radiant Sky Sect accepts transfers tonight, I will personally drag you home."

Both disciples immediately lowered their heads.

Unfortunately, that only made several nearby cultivators think about the same possibility.

Zhuge Tianhe noticed and nearly spilled his wine laughing.

Li Xuanzong pretended not to see it.

Han Jianyu remained more practical.

"What does payment guarantee?"

"Entry."

Only one word had been needed for the answer, but Li Xuanzong continued naturally before anyone could attach the wrong meaning to it.

"The exchange purchases the opportunity to study the walls for an approved period. Nothing more."

His gaze swept across the gathering.

"If your disciple stands before a sword scar for a day and understands nothing, Radiant Sky Sect will not refund half a treasure because the child lacks talent."

Several elders laughed this time.

One of the younger cultivators looked away with considerable embarrassment.

Li Xuanzong continued.

"The walls contain techniques, methods, and traces of Intent. They are not masters waiting to force comprehension into someone’s head. Compatibility matters. Talent matters. Understanding matters. Some disciples may gain something within an hour. Others may return repeatedly and learn very little."

Han Jianyu nodded slowly.

"That is fair."

Lian Qingyue agreed.

"No inheritance worth learning has ever guaranteed comprehension."

The atmosphere changed after that.

Whatever caution had remained among the visitors began giving way to interest.

The arrangement was generous enough to tempt them while remaining restrictive enough that Radiant Sky Sect would not surrender control of its own resources.

Even the four Void-Shattering cultivators exchanged glances.

Zhuge Tianhe eventually rubbed his beard.

"I dislike admitting this, Old Li, but this is surprisingly reasonable."

Li Xuanzong looked at him.

"You say that as though you expected me to rob you."

"I still do. I simply expected the robbery to be less elegant."

The hall erupted into laughter.

This time even Li Xuanzong’s mouth moved slightly.

Several discussions immediately broke out between the visiting elders as they considered what their factions could exchange.

Rare ores were mentioned. Pill formulas followed. One elder quietly asked whether maps of newly discovered spirit veins would count as information, while another wondered aloud whether records of unusual demonic movements might be accepted.

Li Xuanzong answered each question without setting rigid prices.

Value would depend on rarity, usefulness, reliability, and whether Radiant Sky Sect already possessed something similar. A treasure that was precious to one sect might be nearly worthless to another, and Li Xuanzong refused to create a fixed table that could be exploited within a month.

The visitors found that reasoning difficult to argue with.

Eventually, Zhuge Tianhe remembered something else.

"What about those of us whose juniors already have... certain connections with your disciple?"

The expressions around the table immediately became strange.

Li Xuanzong looked toward him.

"You mean the Covenant Oath?"

Zhuge Tianhe nodded.

Several factions represented at the banquet had disciples whose relationship with Su Bai had become far more complicated than anyone had expected when they entered Fallen-Star Sanctuary.

Li Xuanzong had already considered that.

"Factions whose disciples formed the Covenant Oath with Martial Nephew Su Bai will receive more favorable terms."

Several eyes brightened immediately.

"The exact benefit will depend on what is exchanged. It may reduce the required contribution, extend the permitted study period, or grant priority when too many factions request the same day."

The four Void-Shattering visitors suddenly looked considerably happier.

Elsewhere in the hall, several elders whose disciples had never entered Fallen-Star Sanctuary quietly sighed.

Li Xuanzong noticed them.

"There is no need to look as though you have already lost."

Those elders immediately looked toward him.

"Radiant Sky Sect has lived beside many of your factions for generations. For the first month after this arrangement begins, neighboring righteous factions represented here tonight will also receive favorable exchange terms."

The change in mood was immediate.

An elder who had looked particularly miserable moments earlier almost smiled.

Li Xuanzong continued discussing the arrangement until the remaining questions had been settled as far as possible without inspecting the actual contributions.

Nothing would begin immediately.

Radiant Sky Sect still needed to establish schedules, decide how many outsiders could safely occupy the Main Peak at once, and determine which walls could be approached without interfering with the sect’s own disciples.

The visitors did not seem bothered by the delay.

They were already thinking about what to bring.

By the time the banquet finally ended, several delegations appeared more impatient to return home than they had been to arrive.

Han Jianyu rose first.

"We should leave before the night grows too late."

Zhuge Tianhe looked at him suspiciously.

"You simply want Myriad Swords Sect to prepare first."

Han Jianyu did not deny it.

Yan Changkong stood as well.

"The battle outside Radiant Sky Sect was not quiet. News will spread quickly."

Lian Qingyue nodded.

"Other factions will come once they learn what happened here."

That was another reason none of them intended to waste time.

The first groups to establish exchange terms with Radiant Sky Sect would naturally have an advantage before the number of interested factions increased.

Li Xuanzong accompanied the visitors from the Grand Hall.

The procession descended Radiant Zenith Peak before gradually separating at the outer routes.

The four Void-Shattering cultivators exchanged a few final words with him before leaving.

The remaining groups followed.

Eventually, the mountain paths became quiet again.

Li Xuanzong remained where he was.

The amusement slowly faded from his face as he watched the final figures disappear beyond the sect.

Everything he had offered tonight had value.

That did not mean profit was the reason he had offered it.

Radiant Sky Sect had already changed too quickly.

The new Sect-Scale Suppression Formation, the comprehension walls, Su Bai’s return from Fallen-Star Sanctuary, and the strange resources quietly appearing inside the sect could not remain disconnected forever in the eyes of outsiders.

Li Xuanzong had no intention of announcing where the inheritances had come from.

He was equally unwilling to pretend Radiant Sky Sect possessed nothing worth coveting.

That kind of secrecy worked only while nobody was looking.

Too many people were already looking.

The return of Fallen-Star Sanctuary had made things worse. The outside world had entered expecting treasures and found large portions of the ancient region empty. Suspicion had already begun spreading between the factions that arrived early and those that came later.

Sooner or later, more factions would look toward Su Bai.

Li Xuanzong had known that from the moment the boy returned.

He could not stop every rumor from forming, but he could make Radiant Sky Sect less profitable to isolate.

The comprehension walls were the safest beginning.

They were valuable enough to attract attention while being impossible to simply carry away. Allowing controlled access gave other righteous factions a reason to maintain friendly relations with Radiant Sky Sect, while every exchange strengthened the sect in return.

More importantly, people who benefited from Radiant Sky Sect’s continued existence would think twice before allowing someone else to destroy it.

Li Xuanzong looked back toward the distant Main Peak.

Su Bai had brought far more from Fallen-Star Sanctuary than the outside world could be allowed to see.

Those treasures could not simply appear in markets one after another.

That would be no different from announcing that Radiant Sky Sect had emptied the Sanctuary itself.

In time, some of the less sensitive items could be released through exchanges, auctions, joint research, or the sect contribution treasury. Each would need a believable path and enough distance from the Sanctuary’s return that no single pattern became obvious.

The dangerous things would remain hidden.

Some treasures were worth more than whatever goodwill their sale could purchase.

Li Xuanzong exhaled slowly.

Radiant Sky Sect had survived its decline.

Its return would be more complicated.

There were factions that had benefited enormously from its fall. Some had occupied positions that once belonged to Radiant Sky Sect. Others had expanded influence into territories where the sect had once been respected.

Not everyone would welcome its rise.

The Sect-Scale Suppression Formation gave Li Xuanzong confidence, although he was not foolish enough to mistake confidence for safety.

Today’s battle had already proved that.

The Formation-Eating Nail had nearly reached one of the hidden nodes despite Shen Youran’s control of the entire formation.

If Su Bai had not recognized another way to interact with it and used that strange Pillar, nobody knew how much damage the Nail could have caused.

A strong formation remained a formation.

Anything created could eventually encounter something designed to break it.

Li Xuanzong’s gaze remained on the empty horizon.

If Radiant Sky Sect could become valuable enough that other factions preferred it standing, that protection would reach farther than any barrier.

He remained there for several breaths before turning back toward the mountain.

Tonight had opened the walls.

If things went well, it had also begun building something much harder to attack.