Mu Baiyi paid no attention to Lu Yang’s gaze, nor dared he care about it.
Lu Yang’s three questions came as a revelation to him.
"Does Young Sect Master Lu mean that our Jiuyou Sect can collaborate with the Yaoyang Sect to open a barbecue shop?"
"Not a barbecue shop, it’s a solar energy technology development association, one of whose industries involves barbecue," Lu Yang corrected.
If it were just a barbecue shop, where would the tax incentives come from? Only by changing the nature of the business could they enjoy tax benefits.
To avoid being thrown into prison and following in his master’s footsteps, Lu Yang had studied laws and policies diligently, and only he knew the effort it had taken.
"Right, right, right, it’s a solar energy technology development association," Mu Baiyi nodded repeatedly, admitting Young Sect Master Lu indeed had a sharp mind.
Isn’t this the "internal alliance with Yaoyang, ruthlessness with the secondary sects" from the strategic plan Young Sect Master Lu gave for conquering the world?
Perhaps Young Sect Master Lu had anticipated today’s situation long ago.
What an astonishing display of wit.
If he had Young Sect Master Lu’s brain, why would he need to masquerade as a believer to take out loans?
He’d have built several Fengdus by now!
To say nothing of being a sect leader, the believers would worship him as the founder of the faith!
Great Xia has always encouraged innovation; whether it was Lu Yang’s invention of the flying car or Tao Yaoye’s Dream Mirage, both had enjoyed tax incentives.
Moreover, since spiritual energy is fundamentally a strategic resource, Great Xia encourages the use of alternative energy sources, which led to the series of tax policies discussed by Lu Yang.
In Lu Yang’s view, to have an industrial revolution in the Cultivation World, there was no need to follow the progression of his previous life step by step – from steam to electricity. They could take a leap straight to clean energy with solar power.
It was something he thought of while perusing the Yaoyang Sect’s materials; he just hadn’t figured out how to guide the Yaoyang Sect in this direction when the opportunity presented itself.
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"Joining to establish an association and developing new solar technologies, Great Xia will strongly support the association; with such support, the barbecue shop’s taxes will be a non-issue."
"Additionally, barbecue requires continuous infusion of spiritual essence into True Fire to maintain it; if the Yaoyang Sect can produce results in their research, they could use solar energy to sustain True Fire. In such a case, the Dynasty would not only cut taxes but might also provide subsidies."
The future Lu Yang described made Mu Baiyi’s eyes shine; recognizing the Heavenly Court Sect had been the best decision of his life.
Seeing Chie Guantian deep in thought, Lu Yang smiled and said, "Chie Guantian, I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering if the Yaoyang Sect can research solar energy on their own, without needing to collaborate with the Jiuyou Sect, right?"
"No, no, not at all," Chie Guantian denied vehemently, though that was exactly what he had been thinking.
"It’s okay, humans are drawn to benefits; I understand," Lu Yang said.
"But please, Chie Guantian, consider carefully that the first requirement to establish a solar energy technology development association is a clean identity."
"Registering such a large-scale association has strict requirements on the identity of the registrant and the spirit stones needed; at the very least, it requires to be in the Body Integration Realm."
"If I’m not mistaken, aren’t you the only one in your sect at the Body Integration Realm who has not been placed on a wanted list?"
"Is Chie Guantian planning to use his identity as a great inventor to register the association, then use his record of being jailed seven times for tax evasion to make the government office scrutinize the association as a key suspect?"
Chie Guantian broke out in cold sweat, not expecting the other party to have investigated his identity so thoroughly.
In fact, he had always used two faces: one was Chie Guantian, the inventor of the telescope, his true face; the other was the master of the Yaoyang Sect, his false face.
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The purpose was to let other members of the demonic sect recognize him and secretly report on him.
He had not anticipated that the other side would see through his disguise.
It wasn’t Lu Yang who had seen through Chie Guantian’s disguise, but Eldest Senior Sister.
After their last meeting, Eldest Senior Sister had recognized Young Sect Master Chie’s true identity.
"On the other hand, looking at the Jiuyou Sect, the owner of the barbecue shop, Shi Huagu, has been commended by the Dynasty multiple times and has completely earned the trust of the Dynasty. With him establishing the chamber of commerce, it will surely save a lot of trouble."
Meng Jingzhou slammed his hand down on the table and shouted, "This shop takes sixty percent of the barbecue shop’s profits, so are you saying, Young Sect Master Chie, that you are unwilling to involve our sect in the matters of the chamber of commerce?"
Although Meng Jingzhou was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, his words sounded like a threat from someone in the Transcendance Tribulation Stage to Young Sect Master Chie.
It was then that Young Sect Master Chie remembered that while the barbecue shop was ostensibly an asset of the Jiuyou Sect, in reality, it was the Heavenly Court Sect that held the majority stake!
This was not a union of two sects forming the chamber of commerce, but three!
What had he been thinking about, wanting to go solo, cutting off the financial avenues of the Heavenly Court Sect? Was he tired of living?
This was precisely the opportunity to cling to the Heavenly Court Sect’s coattails!
Young Sect Master Chie forced a smile, "Young Master Lu, Dragon Saint Heir, I was only joking. Heavenly Venerate Dou above, I truly had no intention of going at it alone."
"Is that so, then that’s good," Lu Yang smiled, as though what he had said before had been a joke all along, and patted Meng Jingzhou on the back.
"Old Dragon, calm down. Look, Young Sect Master Chie has no such intentions."
"That’s more like it," Meng Jingzhou snorted coldly, unwilling to talk more with these people.
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou stood up and raised their tea cups, and the two sect masters also hastily stood up and raised their cups.
"Then, let’s toast to our three sects’ friendship lasting forever, to our master."
"To Heavenly Venerate Dou."
"To Heavenly Venerate Dou."
"To Heavenly Venerate Dou."
The four drained their cups, showing their reverence for Heavenly Venerate Dou.
Heavenly Venerate Dou, watching in the Spiritual Space, was very satisfied with the four’s attitudes towards him.
"Do you two have any other matters?" Lu Yang stretched himself.
"No more, no more, many thanks to Young Master Lu for the reminder."
"I am slow-witted. In the future, I will still need Young Master Lu to enlighten me more," said Chie.
After Lu Yang had dangled benefits and threats, the two sect masters truly admired him from the bottom of their hearts, recognizing him as an ally not to be crossed.
After the Heavenly Court Sect took its leave, the Young Sect Master and the Saint Heir left with the four Heavenly Kings.
The two sect masters had profound cultivation levels, and their hearing was stronger than that of the average person in the Body Integration Realm. Even from a great distance, they could faintly hear the conversation between Young Master Lu and the Dragon Saint Heir.
"Why bother telling them all this? If they have troubles, let them solve it themselves. What can they do for us if you help them? Are we in need of that little money, or do you think they’ll be able to help when we fight the Four Ancient Immortals?"
"After all, in the past, Jiuyou had a good relationship with us, and there is also a position of the Sun God in the Heavenly Court, so there is some affinity. Seeing them in such a pitiful state, helping out a bit where we can wouldn’t hurt."
"It’s like we’re begging them to join the chamber of commerce; who cares about that? It’s not like we want to study solar energy to replace candles so we can continue to show them the way forward. Without us, would the Yaoyang Sect even know what to do next? They don’t recognize goodwill!"
"Alright, Old Dragon, everyone has their difficulties; there’s no need to let them know our considerations," Lu Yang said.
Eventually, the dialogue faded into the wind and was no longer audible.
Hearing this, the two sect masters were deeply ashamed. If it weren’t for the Heavenly Court Sect’s remembrance of past relations, they wouldn’t even have had the chance to grab onto the Heavenly Court Sect’s coattails.