(Thanks to simcitychabz for the gift.)
"I still think this is not a good idea."
Everyone looked at the person who suddenly destroyed the momentum of this assembly, and it was an Insurgent from the Origin Rune Palace.
"Our actions are based on the premise that other planes will attack or intervene in our world. But nothing has happened yet, so why the need to act?" explained Formation One.
Everyone looked at him, wondering why he would disagree with something that was obviously beneficial to the entire world. Some people speculated it was something to do with the resource discussion since it would take an extremely high amount of resources to keep these formations activated until the Heaven Will Battle.
These people's speculations were correct. Formation One knew the Origin Rune Palace was in a precarious situation. As the founder of Array Dao in the Myriad Emperor World, they had a high status and respect. Unfortunately, it did not change the fact their sect only had 2 Great Emperors.
So, regarding resource allocations, he feared being treated as one of the top Emperor Lineages with five or more Emperors.
"Your objection means nothing since the majority has agreed," announced Wang Wei.
"The Juniors in this generation seem to have massive egos," replied Formation One. Wang Wei was calm while everyone watched with intrigue, waiting for his response.
"D you want a beating?" asked Origin One with a fierce light in his eyes. "If you do, I won't hesitate to break into your sect and give you."
Formation One almost choked with anger after hearing this. He took a deep breath to calm down. "Does your Dao Opening Sect want to use its power to force people? I've made a good point, and I'm sure some people feel the same way."
"It's not about using our power," rebutted Origin One. "It's about not giving the title of [Sect Master] of our sect any respect. So, watch your words and tone."
"Fine, I admit I went out of line," admitted Formation One. "But my point is valid: nothing has yet to occur, and we might be overreacting."
"It's fine f you don't want to participate," Wang Wei interjected. "Your sect will not be included in the protection area of the formation." He then addressed everyone else.
"The same goes for all of you. If you don't want to participate, it's fine with me. As the holder of the Human Destiny Sword, I can activate the array only to protect the Dao Opening Sect when dangers arrive on our doorstep."
"That's not how the array works," rebutted Formation One. "It's connected to the luck of the human race and must protect us humans, not the Dao Opening Sect." He had lived through the rise of the Great Qin Dynasty and the creation of the array.
"I can still make the Dao Opening Sect the array's center. Furthermore, I can use my title as a Son of an Era to convince Heavenly Dao and the array that anyone who voted against this assembly is detrimental to the safety of the human race and not worth its protection."
Can the Era Son do this? No one knew for sure. A few appear throughout the world's history, but none were complete Son of Era, where Heavenly Dao gave them all destinies without any competition.
"It would be pointless for some of us not to participate. That would be counterproductive to our objectives," commented the Five Elements Palace Sect Leader. If the array did not protect some factions, the foreign threats could use them to enter the Myriad Emperor World.
"Sect Master Wang Wei, you must have considered the issue of resources allocations?" he continued asking.
"I have," replied Wang Wei before sending them a spreadsheet analyzing the resources each faction needs to pay to maintain the formation.
"The number is based on the amount of territory you occupied and the publicly available business or resource gathering spots that each of factions has."
"The number appeared a little high."
"As I said, it's only an estimate based on the resources you publicly display. If you consider the hidden ones, it's nothing much."
No faction would publicly display all its wealth and resources. And taking into account that the burden will be shared with so many people, it is not much in the grand scheme of things.
"I only have some issues with the Demon and Sea Race," continued Wang Wei. "I know the demon don't have many resources despite having such large domains. So, the Dao Opening Sect will help you bear the burden until our cooperation bears fruit and you can stand on your own."
"We will gladly accept your aid," said the Golden Lion Chieftess. "And we promise to one day repay the Dao Opening Sect."
"That's fine." Wang Wei knew the demon race still had pride and accepted their promise of repaying him. Anyway, he would not refuse to get his money back. Furthermore, he understood he needed to give them a certain autonomy or dignity to ensure a proper alliance between the two factions.
"As for the Sea Race, it was hard for me to get a good overview of your finances. So, you might have to modify it amongst yourselves." The Sleepers did not pay much attention to the Sea Race like everybody else. So, even after taking over their operation, Wang Wei was still lacking compared to the surface world.
"Wouldn't it be better for each race to be responsible for their arrays," finally spoke the Teng She Matriarch.
"Indeed," agreed the representative from the Myriad Spirit Mountain, the most powerful Spirit Race faction of the Myriad Emperor World with 5 Great Emperors. They only had accepted members of the Spirit Race in their sect.
The Spirit Race had the lowest population, and if they only paid for their race's array, it would be cheaper for them. So, they agreed with this statement.
"I've considered this. But if that were done, it would result in us humans paying too much and the demons not being able to pay at all."
"And what's wrong with that?" asked the Panlong Patriarch.
"To prevent resentment and inability for the assembly to succeed. So, the best method is to consider the cost of all the arrays. That way, we are paying for the other races' array, and we are paying for yours.
"It's all about compromise."
Even after Wang Wei said these words, the meeting did not immediately end. A few factions began negotiating the price they needed to pay, resulting in more people arguing. Ultimately, the assembly took another month of ongoing discussion before everyone reached a satisfactory conclusion.
Even then, the Sea Race asked for more time to figure things out and deal with the issue of their arrays. However, they only had two weeks at Wang Wei's insistence and pressure from the human race.
The Origin Rune Palace also had to pay more than they were willing. And the main reason was their sect often used their status to occupy resources that their overall strength should not be able to hold.
The Devil Cultivators in the West tried to cause some problems during the negotiation. But the Di Clan placed their foot down and even threatened Emperor Dao War to eradicate and suppress as many of them as possible.
Besides the Dao Opening Sect, their factions had the highest stake in this assembly. With Di Tian, they had the highest chance of winning the Heaven Will Battle in this generation and did not want anything to intervene.
Finally, everything proceeded smoothly, and the assembly ended.
"Whew," exhaled Wang Wei out loud.
"You did a great job. You knew when to compromise, take a loss, and be firm."
"Basic diplomatic tactics."
"You are like Qiyuan when he was young. He always believes in talking first before using force. In fact, it was one of his flaws in his early years. Luckily, the Sword Empress and Battle Baniac were with him; they would act as his iron fist when he hesitated to take action."
"They seem like the perfect trio," commented Wang Wei.
"Indeed. Qiyuan can be too passive. Sword Empress was too aggressive, and Battle Maniac was the voice of reason, the perfect balance between the two," added Origin One as he reminisced on the past.
"I must warn you," said Origin One after regaining his bearing. "I understand your plans require you to have some level of objectiveness and fairness for all races and factions. But you must remember you're from the Dao Opening Sect."
"I know. Plus, I only need to appear fair. But the sect will always be my main priority."
"As long as you understand. I know it might be annoying to be constantly nagged by us old man. But our wisdom and cautiousness are the most valuable things we have to offer."
Wang Wei nodded, as he would never dismiss the advice of somehow who has lived so much longer than him and experienced so many things. So, after briefly chatting and reassuring Origin One, he contacted the demon race to finalize their cooperation.
