The three authorities suddenly found the constraints of space holding them in position vanishing.
"Hong, you-you've broken through?!" Jill Rodney exclaimed.
Hong Tianqi smiled without answering the question. "I hope you'll all take my words to heart."
"No! No! No! Hong, this is unfair! You have to maintain order on Earth!" Wilson Peters shouted, and Gresham Anderson nodded in agreement.
"That's right, Hong! If we handle this inappropriately, it's possible that Earth might become enmeshed in conflic—"
"Enough. Whether or not there ends up being internal conflict will depend on you, not me. I appreciate that you have all reached out to me beforehand, but China won't be threatened by the likes of you. If you'd like to cooperate, I hope you'll be able to come up with terms that are satisfactory to all of us. My attitude won't change, not now, nor in the future.
"Nuo, see the guests out!"
Thus ended the meeting between the four authorities of Earth. Wilson Peters, Gresham Anderson, and Jill Rodney glanced at each other, then walked out of Hong Tianqi's estate. They hadn't expected to be able to strongarm him into submission, but this level of resistance was beyond them.
Hong Tianqi had broken through—he had become the second person in the entirety of the world federation to pass over that vaunted boundary. At this point, China had nothing to fear, not even if the heads of the world federation stepped in.
In the end, the authorities did nothing. The future development of this research would depend on the reaction and behavior of the world leaders back on Earth.
In Team Zenith's suite, everyone stood at attention as they faced a holographic projection of Hong Tianqi.
"I've dealt with the other three authorities, Yan Long. I doubt they'll do something reckless."
.
"Yes, Authority!" Even Yan Long was deferent in front of Hong Tianqi, let alone the hunters of Team Zenith. The others might not know just who Yan Long was speaking to, but Zhang Lie was certain that this was the strongest hunter of China, even of Earth—Hong Tianqi, martial sage!
"Very good. I'll leave the rest to you, then. You'll likely be forced to release at least part of the research, but try to keep the core of it hidden."
"Yes, Authority!"
Hong Tianqi then turned to Zhang Lie and eyed him somewhat appraisingly. "Are you Zhang Lie?"
"Yessir!"
"Do you have any objections to this plan?"
"No, sir!"
Zhang Lie truly respected Hong Tianqi from the bottom of his heart. In his past life, Hong Tianqi had perished to stop the Ming invasion, sacrificing himself to kill the god-emperor of Ming in the cold depths of space. In this life, he had been a tremendous help in relieving the pressure that Zhang Lie would otherwise face.
"Very good. I was nowhere near as talented as you in my youth, so I'm looking forward to your future. May I have a bottle of your Potion #1?"
Everyone's eyes widened.
"O-Of course!" Zhang Lie replied with a stammer.
"Don't worry—I don't intend to take it from you for nothing. Tomorrow, after the Void Cup's over, have Yan Long take you to my personal treasury."
Yan Long and Su Feng's eyes bulged, neither of them expecting that Hong Tianqi would be so generous.
"Yes, Authority!" Zhang Lie replied. He didn't know much about this treasury, but given Yan Long and Su Feng's reactions, he could tell that this deal was weighted heavily in his favor.
"Well, that's all from me. Grow up quick, won't you?" The holographic projection turned off, and Hong Tianqi's figure vanished.
The hunters all heaved a sigh of relief and slumped.
"Even his projection was stressful to face—I didn't even dare move my fingers!" Chu Feng exclaimed, walking toward a nearby sofa.
The others all did the same, rubbing their shoulders and thighs as though they had stood still for quite some time, despite the fact that the conversation had only lasted five minutes at the most.
All the hunters present were capped-out first-realm hunters, and fatigue from standing was hardly a thing any of them had to worry about. More important was the mental pressure they faced.
When Hong Tianqi appeared, it was as though space had frozen all around them.
Zhang Lie turned to Su Feng. "Commander Su, what was this treasury that was mentioned? Both you and Commander Yan seemed to be very shocked, so..."
"Brat, you don't know just how lucky you are! That treasur—"
"Su Feng! Tell him about this later—he'll know once he sees it," Yan Long interrupted. "What we need to discuss is how to handle the other countries' requests regarding Zhang Lie's research.
The authority made this quite clear—it's impossible to keep the whole thing under wraps, so we have to reveal at least a little, but what should we reveal, and how? Zhang Lie! Do you have any idea?"
Zhang Lie thought for a moment, then smiled. "Isn't that straightforward? If everyone wants these potions, then we'll hand them over. After the Void Cup ends today, hand them this list of herbs."
He passed a list over to Yan Long, then added, "I'll be happy to exchange one potion for ten sprigs of each herb on that list."
It was obvious that Zhang Lie was treating this opportunity as free labor to acquire various herbs in great quantities. Of course, these countries would be experimenting with these herbs immediately in order to discover the formulation for themselves, but doing so in the short term wouldn't be possible.
Not only would this curb their cries for fair treatment, Zhang Lie would also make a killing from the transaction. Even an amateur like him knew that brewing one such potion wouldn't require a thousand sprigs of herbs, and he had to admire Zhang Lie's ingenuity.
However, he would still need to check that the recipe couldn't be reconstructed from this list of ingredients so easily. After all, several of the strongest countries would quickly be able to obtain a few potions for themselves, and if they managed to acquire the recipe...
Yan Long hesitated for a moment after looking at the ingredients, but Zhang Lie reassured him,
"Don't worry. They won't be able to reconstruct it in the short term, and by the time they do, the recipe will be worthless." Zhang Lie smiled devilishly.
"In that case, we'll go with your suggestion."
All that remained was for the hosts of the various countries to come over to beg the Chinese delegation for these potions. At present, they were speaking with their own authorities.
Wilson Peters' face appeared on a holographic projection facing Hill, who was looking at him with a hopeful expression on his face. Peters had bragged that he would easily be able to force China to cooperate, but given how the situation had evolved...
"Commandant Wilson, has the Chinese authority agreed to release the information?" contemporary romance
Hill had prepared for the worst the moment he saw the commandant's expression, but the affair was so important that he had no choice but to ask regardless.
Wilson shook his head, frustrated. "No. China's authority has recently broken through, and none of the three of us were able to do anything about him. However, he did promise not to interfere, and that you would be able to trade for the information."
"Trade for the information? How?" General Hill asked again.
"How should I know? Go ask the Chinese delegation!" Commandant Wilson hung up in exasperation before General Hill could respond.
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