Free Web NovelChapter 326: Chapter 322: Peace Treaty Signed, a Perfect Conclusion
The Battle of Spider Demon Island was over.
On the deck of the Ghostly Flood Dragon, the Spirit Control Sect and Nanyaoguang Corporation signed a peace treaty.
The Spirit Control Sect admitted defeat in the war and fully agreed to the terms of the peace treaty proposed by Nanyaoguang Corporation.
Total reparations amounted to 8,394,350 Spirit Stones. In addition, six marketplace islands, including Xingyue, Feng Yuan, and Yuanxi, were to be opened to Nanyaoguang Corporation.
On these islands, Nanyaoguang Corporation would establish special trade zones and station consuls to implement the treaty’s contents, such as treaty tariffs and extraterritoriality...
Additionally, there were detailed provisions regarding the release of prisoners, Spiritual Ships, compensation for civilian losses, a scheduled military withdrawal, and military passage rights...
Through the rights granted by these treaties, Nanyaoguang Corporation could legally extract immense profits from the Spirit Control Sect and gradually spread its influence like roots deep into the Spirit Realm Sea Region.
At the same time, Su Ye had deliberately used this war to flex Nanyaoguang Corporation’s muscles and boost its fame.
It was foreseeable that this would bring Su Ye even more benefits... oh, perhaps it wasn’t just foreseeable. The first payment from the reparations agreement had already been partially fulfilled.
In the first month after the war ended, the Spirit Control Sect made its first reparation payment at the end of the month: a total of three million Spirit Stones, including two supreme-grade Spirit Stones.
The number of supreme-grade Spirit Stones in Su Ye’s possession now reached four.
’With my proficiency in the Dao of Arrays, maybe... I can install one more supreme-grade Spirit Stone on the Ghostly Flood Dragon?’ Su Ye’s eyes gleamed as he gazed at the pile of supreme-grade Spirit Stones, inspiration striking him.
Compared to when his proficiency in the Dao of Arrays had just entered the third tier, he was now a Tier Three Mid Stage Array Master.
After several days of tinkering, Su Ye achieved an unexpectedly great success.
He successfully installed two more supreme-grade Spirit Stones on the Ghostly Flood Dragon.
This meant...
--Two more small Spiritual Furnaces!
For a Spiritual Ship, the more Spiritual Furnaces, the better.
’Stronger bombardments, more powerful propulsion, more stable endurance... Even Jiaojiao seems to have gotten a little bigger?’
Su Ye mused.
Based on his observations, Jiaojiao’s height had increased by a centimeter?!
’Maybe... her hair is just fluffier?’
"Jiaojiao, come here," Su Ye called out.
"Eh?" Jiaojiao turned around, a hint of confusion in her ruby-like eyes.
She tilted her head. Her small, pale, bare feet tapped lightly on the deck, and her figure glided like a phantom, floating before Su Ye.
"Master?"
Su Ye reached out, smoothed down Jiaojiao’s thick black hair, and patted her small head, remarking in surprise, "You really did get taller..."
"Mmm-mmm..."
Jiaojiao shook her head like a little lion cub, complaining.
"You’re messing up my hair~"
"Ha..."
Su Ye chuckled, amused. After pinching Jiaojiao’s small, round cheeks, he let her go off to play on her own.
Jiaojiao shook herself like a fluffy animal, her hair twitching back into place. Then, she seemed to spot an interesting new toy.
VWOOM!
With a flicker, her figure vanished.
"*Yawn...*"
Ziyuan was yawning.
She was climbing the stairs, about to step onto the deck for some fresh air.
But suddenly, her vision blurred. When she came to her senses, she saw...
--Jiaojiao!
"Hey, hey, hey... Don’t you come near me!"
Her light purple eyes trembled unnaturally.
"Eh?"
Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin playing on her lips.
And then, Ziyuan’s flustered shriek echoed across the deck.
"Get away from me... you little brat!"
"*Bleh~*"
Jiaojiao stuck out her tongue.
And made a face.
’They get along so well... ’
Su Ye glanced over but paid them no more mind.
Ziyuan was currently under a state of semi-house arrest, confined to the Ghostly Flood Dragon.
--Her power was simply too great, and with an ability like the Kiss of Annihilation, if she were to leave Su Ye’s side, an ordinary Crystallization Realm cultivator would likely be killed instantly, unable to even activate any restrictive countermeasures in time.
Thus, she had to be confined here.
During this time, Su Ye had noticed that Jiaojiao seemed to really enjoy teasing Ziyuan...
’Maybe...’
’This is her way of showing friendship?’
Su Ye guessed.
「...」
The treaty was signed, and Ziyuan was confined.
Beyond that...
During this period, Nanyaoguang Corporation had also signed a secret pact with the Spirit Control Sect.
The purpose of this secret pact was quite simple.
--The Far South Continent.
After all, the Spirit Control Sect knew of the Far South Continent’s existence.
Moreover, they had even tried to dispatch cultivators across the gray wall to the Far South Continent to conduct preliminary explorations.
This was the very root of the conflict between Nanyaoguang Corporation and the Spirit Control Sect.
And if not for Su Ye’s transoceanic expedition...
Following the normal course of events, the Cyan Profound Sea Region and the Spirit Realm Sea Region would have inevitably entered into fierce competition over the development of the new continent.
Perhaps one side would have gained the upper hand, or perhaps both would have suffered heavy losses, allowing the Central Sea Region to pick up the scraps. In an even more humiliating scenario, they might have been crushed by the natives...
All of these were possibilities.
But now, with the victory in the war, some of the most unfavorable outcomes had been nipped in the bud.
However, the post-war handling of the Spirit Control Sect still required careful consideration.
After all.
’According to our personnel’s recent tests and analysis, the South Sea Region controlled by the Spirit Control Sect is closer to the Far South Continent, and the Mist Sea’s density and the gray wall’s strength there... are all lower than in the Southeast Sea Region.’
’This means that for every ton of supplies shipped to the Far South Continent from the South Sea Region, the cost in Spirit Stones will be twenty-four less than shipping from the Southeast Sea Region.’
’This cost advantage makes it imperative for Nanyaoguang Corporation’s next phase of development in the Far South Continent to be based in the South Sea Region...’
Su Ye analyzed calmly.
Therefore, bypassing the Spirit Control Sect was impossible.
Even Britain and France, at the height of their power, had to provide a small portion of the rental income from the Suez Canal to Egypt.
Furthermore, in terms of sheer strength, excluding Su Ye himself, the Spirit Control Sect alone... was stronger than the Cyan Profound Sect and Weiyuan Immortal City combined.
Thus, accepting the Spirit Control Sect to jointly develop the Far South Continent was the optimal solution.
Su Ye had decided on this strategic choice even before the war.
The secret pact was signed precisely to formalize this arrangement.
According to the secret pact, the Spirit Control Sect was required to pay an additional three million Spirit Stones—or their equivalent in Spiritual Objects, manpower, or technology—on top of the reparations, in order to purchase shares in Nanyaoguang Corporation.
In return, they would be formally integrated into Nanyaoguang Corporation’s system, with a status only slightly below that of the Cyan Profound Sect.
After the secret pact was concluded, the Spirit Control Sect accepted the reality of the situation, and various collaborations began to unfold.
For example:
A new generation of Weiyuan-class Spiritual Ships, incorporating technology from the Spirit Control Sect, was now in the research and design phase.
Of the Spirit Four Shadows, Jueying, Chengying, and Wuying were permanently stationed at the gray wall, serving as transporters alongside Qinghe, which greatly accelerated transport efficiency.
At the same time, the fleet blockade stretching across the Southeast and South Sea Regions was officially established.
For at least the next ten years, Nanyaoguang Corporation would hold a monopoly over the Far South Continent.
In short...
Su Ye’s transoceanic expedition had come to a perfect conclusion.
