[Celestial Court], [Mengwei] City.
Lu Yang and Banshan descended into the city center together.
However, at that very moment, a furious shout suddenly exploded between heaven and earth, followed by a second, a third... crashing down heavily upon Lu Yang.
"What demon dares to offend my Unorthodox Alliance?"
"Who is it? Courting death!"
Amidst the words, figures emerged one after another, each carrying the stature of a perfected lord, causing the universe to shake for a moment.
Quite a few of them...
Lu Yang was somewhat surprised. If he included Banshan, this small [Mengwei] City actually had a full seven Unorthodox perfected lords. Even placed in the Immortal Nexus, this force couldn't be underestimated.
After all, seven Unorthodox perfected lords joining forces, even if they were all fifth-grade perfected lords, would be enough to repel [Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde]. After all, when quantity occupied an absolute advantage, insufficient quality was a fatal flaw. So if a fight really broke out, the latter would even face a certain degree of life-threatening danger.
Of course, if it were me, there would be no problem. Lu Yang thought to himself.
Mere unorthodox cultivators... never mind seven, even if there were seventy or seven hundred more, they would still be crushed to death by his stature, the kind of trash he could kill like chopping melons and vegetables.
However, on the surface, Lu Yang still showed a look of panic:
"This... This is... Fellow Daoists want to kill me?"
Seeing him like this, whether it was Banshan or the crowd of unorthodox perfected lords who had actually received news long ago but pretended not to know, they all instantly burst into joy.
Dumbfounded, right? Didn't expect this, right?
We just love seeing you filthy outer heaven people come to the [Celestial Court] begging for food. If we don't bully you fiercely, we've wasted all these years mingling in the [Celestial Court]!
Of course, a display of dominance was one thing, but they couldn't really scare the person into a stress reaction.
Therefore, Banshan quickly took the initiative to step forward and say:
"Fellow Daoists, it's a misunderstanding... This Fellow Daoist Ming He is just like us before, a refugee who fled here. He also intends to join our Unorthodox Alliance..."
Banshan gave a lengthy explanation, speaking with utter sincerity.
Under his persuasion, the expressions of the other six Unorthodox perfected lords looked much better, and the originally tense atmosphere relaxed as a result.
However, Lu Yang watched with an amused look.
Playing this game with me?
When did I say I wanted to join the Unorthodox Alliance? One playing the good cop, one playing the bad cop... trying to make it a fait accompli and bully me because I'm an outsider?
If it were someone else who hadn't seen the world, perhaps they would really be bluffed, thinking Banshan was on their side and even feeling grateful to him. But in Lu Yang's eyes, this method seemed somewhat clumsy. Back in that wretched place, even a qi refining cultivator could probably see through it.
In the next second, Banshan turned his head:
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Ming He, it's fine now. Just a misunderstanding; it's good that it's cleared up. After all, from now on, everyone is a fellow daoist of the Unorthodox Alliance."
Swish swish swish—!
As Banshan's voice fell, Lu Yang immediately felt the gazes of the other six Unorthodox perfected lords, invisibly forming an oppressive atmosphere.
Rough. Too rough.
In the end, they still use power to pressure people, making the act just now seem too affected. The professional level of this Unorthodox Alliance doesn't seem very high!
But he couldn't blame them.
After all, they were unorthodox. Just being able to touch the edge of the words "perfected lord" wasn't easy. Since they hadn't undergone advanced studies in the Immortal Nexus, it was normal for their level to be a bit lower.
Lu Yang shook his head internally, but on the surface, he nodded decisively:
"Exactly, exactly. Since we are all unorthodox perfected lords, we should naturally help each other."
"Hahaha, good!"
Banshan laughed loudly, patting Lu Yang on the shoulder. Then he took out a jade slip and handed it to Lu Yang: "This is the great dao contract for joining the alliance."
"Since Fellow Daoist wants to join my Unorthodox Alliance, hurry up and sign it."
"...Contract?"
Lu Yang's eyebrow twitched slightly. Then he looked at the jade slip in front of him titled [One Heart Unorthodox Alliance Membership Contract] and swept it roughly with his divine sense.
The content of the contract instantly became clear in his mind.
Just like the [User Agreement] of the [Great Dao Immortal Talisman], it uses a lot of convoluted language. But if one extracts the central idea, it's actually just a few sentences.
[I, Ming He, voluntarily authorize my spiritual power and aura to the One Heart Unorthodox Alliance, allowing the Unorthodox Alliance to use this to take loans from the Heaven and Earth Immortal Bank. All debts incurred shall be borne by me personally; the Unorthodox Alliance bears no consequences. Furthermore, if I sell my own dao fruit, the Unorthodox Alliance has the right of the first purchase.]
Bastard!
Lu Yang's eyes twitched as he read. Although it was just the lowest level of contract fraud, it still made him feel a deep malice and utter helplessness.
Damn it, there isn't a single good place!
Lu Yang was already in despair about the wretched place. What happened to the promised orthodox cultivation world? In the vast outer heaven light sea, why is every single one of them so bad!
"...Fellow Daoist? What's wrong? Sign it quickly."
Seeing that Lu Yang actually read the contract very seriously, Banshan's expression gradually changed, and the smile on his face slowly faded.
This filthy outsider is actually quite cautious.
Makes sense. After all, he escaped from that hellhole, the Immortal Nexus. It's normal to be a bit cautious; the dim-witted ones were probably eaten clean long ago.
Pity. What use is seeing through it?
Since you followed me here and entered [Mengwei] City, what happens next isn't up to you! You have to sign this great dao contract whether you want to or not!
Banshan was very confident. After all, everyone was an unorthodox perfected lord, and the numerical difference was seven to one. No matter how you looked at it, the advantage was mine.
First force him to sign the contract, then take the contract to the Heaven and Earth Immortal Bank to borrow a high-interest loan, setting the karma in stone. Make it so he can't make ends meet just paying the interest, until all the good stuff on him is squeezed out. Finally, when he can't pay back, his dao fruit will be stripped, and we will pool funds to buy it...
Back and forth, the dao fruit would be in hand.
After all, how could a perfected lord from the outer heavens, even if willing to join the Unorthodox Alliance, be as reliable as a perfected lord cultivated by the Unorthodox Alliance itself?
This was also the main reason Banshan brought Lu Yang here without much inspection.
While the people from the Heaven and Earth Immortal Bank haven't come to register him yet, sign the contract with this person first. Only then can we legally acquire the dao fruit on him!
Thinking of this, Banshan felt a little excited:
Adding this one, we have eight perfected lords. If we get one more to make nine, we can officially submit an application to go to the sixth layer...
"Fellow Daoist, don't dawdle."
Banshan urged sternly, his tone adding a hint of threat. "Or could it be that Fellow Daoist doesn't dare to sign because you actually harbor malicious intentions and plan to harm my [Celestial Court]?"
"The Tax Envoy from the Heaven and Earth Immortal Bank will be here soon. Trespassing into a world realm is already a great crime. If you don't have our Unorthodox Alliance to vouch for you, Lord Tax Envoy won't show any mercy. By then, I fear it won't be as simple as body and soul being destroyed. Fellow Daoist doesn't want to die, right?"
At this point, Banshan became even more solemn:
"Fellow Daoist had better not harbor any wishful thinking. Otherwise, when Lord Tax Envoy arrives, I will say that Fellow Daoist is a demon sent by the Immortal Nexus."
"You! Shameless..."
Lu Yang looked grief-stricken and indignant. "To slander a good person like this!"
"Idiot." Banshan looked indifferent. "Those demons from the Immortal Nexus are so powerful; they must have some redeeming qualities. We are merely learning a thing or two from them."
However, in the next second, Lu Yang shook his head furiously:
"Don't think you can coerce me. I won't sign!"
"In broad daylight, under the bright sky, I don't believe you can invert black and white. An upright body fears no slanted shadow. At worst, I'll just let that Tax Envoy investigate!"
As soon as these words came out, Banshan immediately frowned, cursing his bad luck inwardly.
This filthy outsider looks stubborn and only recognizes 'dead principles'. He actually wasn't bluffed by my words. could he really be from the Righteous Dao?