“Of course, we must be careful, just in case,” the old man chuckled. “It’s good that you’re considering all of this, Feng Yan. That means you’re much more mature than before. You’re a peak sixth rank now and stand a great chance of entering seventh rank. It’s normal that you begin to build your own faction at some point.”

Feng Yan’s eyes widened.

“Don’t worry and don’t misunderstand me,” laughed the old man. “Phoenix major world is not your final stop! If you can enter seventh rank...” His lips curved meaningfully. “Then you will certainly exceed your mother in the future!”

The Dragon master’s daughter, a prosperous dance between dragons and phoenixes. She was already a peak sixth rank!

Once she set foot into seventh rank and combined her two bloodlines, she would even have a chance of inheriting the Dragon master’s grand enterprise!

Of course, the Dragon master would never die, but Feng Yan was much more exemplary than some of the Dragon master’s current offspring. Her mother had been carefully nurturing her all this time.

Meanwhile, the dragonlings in Dragon major world didn’t have many chances to showcase their abilities due to the number of powerhouses in that world. They were much more sheltered than Feng Yan being raised off world.

“If a fifth rank’s foundations are good, then entering sixth rank won’t be that hard,” the old man continued, “It will be well worth it for you to recruit sixth ranks from other races before you enter seventh rank.”

As for the sixth ranks of Phoenix major world, they were part of the Phoenix master’s banner and not Feng Yan’s. The old man thought further, that phoenixes would not possibly occupy too many positions of strength in Dragon major world.

Hence, he wished more to see Feng Yan recruit some outsiders to her command. Otherwise, if she brought only phoenixes with her to Dragon major world, she might be heavily ostracized!

The Phoenix princess smiled when she received the old man’s approval. “Then I understand. Feng Yan knows what to do now!”

“Mmhmm,” the old man nodded. “You can notify me before you sign the dao treaty. I’ll be in attendance, just in case! A dao agreement cannot be taken lightly, but recruiting a fifth rank is well worth the cause.

“Just be careful of potential loopholes. Someone as strong as the eighth rank Red Moon master suffered greatly from the dao alliance he entered.”

The old man laughed with great amusement when he mentioned the human. Now that had been someone entirely overconfident and too self-satisfied. He’d brashly signed a dao agreement and brought along the Orchid Forest master for the ride.

What happened after that?

The Orchid Forest master brought about Red Moon’s doom, and not only that, but death to four seventh ranks and three seventh rank worlds!

Only one wandering eighth rank was left of all the powerhouses in the four worlds after one battle. They wouldn’t have suffered so much if not for the dao alliance.

“Feng Yan is aware,” nodded the princess. She’d come to meet the draconic powerhouse partially to probe what the dragons thought of Phoenix major world recurring powerhouses, and partially because she was worried that she might have overlooked something.

A dao agreement hadn’t been a topic of concern before, but what’d happened to Red Moon Region had been a shock to the entire chaos universe.

With this veteran draconic seventh rank in residence, however, there was nothing for her to worry about.

......

Li Hao waited for more than a day. The princess seemed to be dragging her heels and didn’t reappear until the third day.

“The dao master has left the world and is yet to return,” Feng Yan said apologetically. “Regretfully, our hospitality has been lacking these days! Thankfully, I have spoken to our elders and obtained everyone’s approval for our agreement. However, there are a few additional terms that the fellow daoist might wish to consider.”

“What are they?” rumbled Li Hao. “Please speak freely.

“First... some elders of my world wish to spar with the fellow daoist. They are all fifth rank.”

Li Hao thought over the request without responding. “What else?”

“Second, the fellow daoist says you nurture a fifth rank world. Are there exalted emperors within it? My elders wish to examine it. Of course, I know that this is an imposition, so do not worry, my elders will simply probe it from outside.

“They are mostly worried of potential powerhouses hiding within the world...” Feng Yan looked apologetic. “This has always been our custom. Any exalted emperor who comes with a world must undergo such an examination. We are not singling out the fellow daoist.”

“Examination?” Li Hao repeated with dissatisfaction. “The world is mine and has always been in my stomach, who is able to sneak into it? You might as well say that I’m the enemy! The world is not a secret, but if I permit an outsider to investigate it, then you will poke your noses into everything about me! Are cultivators still cultivators if they don’t have some secrets to themselves?”

“I know this isn’t a very appropriate request... but this is our custom!” Feng Yan did not back up. “Don’t worry, fellow daoist. All we wish to check is whether there is the presence of a dao universe.

“So long as there isn’t, that means there will not be any powerhouses from other worlds hiding within the world. That is enough. We won’t go any further.”

I knew it, Li Hao cursed to himself. And the key is, my world really does have a dao universe. Isn’t that the worst? This is so annoying!

“It’s not out of the question... he said after a while. “But I won’t allow a powerhouse... It can only be... be fifth rank at most!

“Even a first rank will be enough!” Li Hao groused. “You’re just checking for the presence of the dao universe. Otherwise, I’m putting my life in your hands if a powerhouse enters my stomach. I won’t be able to fight back at all...”

“That can be arranged!” Feng Yan nodded. There was no problem with that so long as Black Dog agreed. Although it wasn’t likely that he carried a powerful world with him, they needed to be careful.

Regardless, a fifth rank wouldn’t be able to haul along a seventh rank world in their stomach.

“Third, we can sign the dao treaty and allocate a portion of territory to the fellow daoist, but the fellow daoist is not permitted to devour any of the worlds or venture deep into them. You can extract tributes from them, but tributes are not to exceed twenty percent of the world’s resources. Otherwise, not only will Phoenix take you to account for that action, but so will Dragon major world.

“Fourth, the fellow daoist is not to attack any Phoenix cultivator, including ones of the Chaos Alliance...” 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“Am I supposed to sit on the sidelines if Phoenix one day declares war on an allied world?” Li Hao retorted. “Or am I supposed to let powerhouses beat me to death instead? Is Fellow Daoist Feng Yan that certain that you won’t clash with any of the other worlds in the alliance for thirty thousand years?”

“......” That was... true enough. Feng Yan smiled and nodded. “The fellow daoist’s concerns are logical. Then this term will be limited only to Phoenix cultivators...”

“That will not do either!” Li Hao shook his head. “I am here to serve powerhouses, not weaklings! I will only promise to not attack sixth or seventh ranks. Am I supposed to grin and bear it if a weakling provokes me? I’m here to join the strong in exchange for resources, not to be a slave!

“We can forget about all of this if that is unacceptable. In the same vein, it is too easy for seventh ranks to kill me, so I don’t dare make any promises in that regard. There’s no meaning to it! But if any sixth rank in Phoenix, apart from the princess, makes a move against me, then they also need to be punished by the chaos tribulation!

“Of course, we can just set a sixth rank tribulation for these terms. It’s just intimidation, not to actually kill people. This is only for self protection!”

“So the fellow daoist means that if anyone apart from me or seventh ranks attacks the fellow daoist, or if the fellow daoist attacks a sixth rank, the chaos tribulation will descend...” frowned the princess.

“That’s correct!” Li Hao said in a muffled voice. “I am a fifth rank at the end of the day and here to strengthen myself, not to sell myself into indentured servitude! If that’s the case, why should I join Phoenix major world?

“What is the difference between Phoenix and other worlds if the terms are so stringent? They say that Phoenix is welcoming to all comers, but the princess’ earlier terms were overly strict. If this continues, then I can only give up this opportunity...”

Feng Yan briefly considered the response. It was her first time leading the recruitment of a fifth rank, so now that she thought more about it, she was indeed being too harsh.

She’d also looked into the fifth ranks that they’d previously recruited and found that... some didn’t even sign dao agreements. If they did, the terms were nowhere near this harsh.

Granted, she was taking such a hard tack because she was worried that this fellow would have something to do with New Martial...

After some thought, it would be fine to limit it to seventh ranks and herself.

“The fellow daoist makes sense and Phoenix major world is not a harsh place. It’s just that the chaos has not been quiet lately, therefore...”

“I understand!” Li Hao nodded. “Does the fellow daoist have other conditions?”

“One more,” chuckled the princess. Although she was a bit embarrassed, she soldiered onward. “Our term is set at thirty thousand years. If the fellow daoist makes it to seventh rank during this time, then the term needs to be extended to one hundred thousand years!”

“If I can make it to seventh rank during this time, I can do even five hundred thousand years!” Li Hao responded uncaringly. “And here I thought this would be as bad as the others...”

“And if the fellow daoist becomes a seventh rank, then the penalty will rise to an eighth rank tribulation!” added the princess. She fixed her stare on Li Hao—this was the crux of their discussion.

If you really are the Heavenly Dog, then don’t think that you’ll be fine facing the chaos tribulation after you become a seventh rank. You can fight seventh ranks while being a peak sixth rank. You won’t fear a seventh rank tribulation after you reach seventh rank!

In that case, we’ll up the ante!

Li Hao still didn’t care. I’m only fifth rank and I’ll have difficulty setting foot into sixth rank, much less seventh rank. If I really do make it to seventh rank, I’ll have nothing to fear from eighth rank tribulations!

“I can do that!” he readily agreed.

The princess heaved a sigh of relief. There would be no problems now that they’d agreed on this point.

“Since the fellow daoist has raised your terms, I have a few small ones in return,” Li Hao picked up the conversation. “I hope the fellow daoist can consider them.”

“Please go ahead.” The princess didn’t mind. Her terms had been stringent indeed, so it was normal that the other pushed back.