Chapter 1952: Chapter 1898-1899: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

“The days of the Top Immortal Sects aren’t easy either!”

This is the lament of a mighty figure who prefers to remain anonymous, expressed when others envy the abundant resources of the Top Immortal Sects.

Many powerful individuals believe that the Top Immortal Sects have access to extensive resources and must be thriving, with resources beyond their need.

In reality, apart from the Shenxiao Sect, which has recently emerged as a Top Immortal Sect with few disciples but abundant resources, the other Top Immortal Sects, while appearing to have ample resources, actually have many disciples and therefore need more resources.

Moreover, besides the Taoist Academy, the affiliated immortal sects under the Shenxiao Sect enjoy laissez-faire governance and are not overly demanding, meaning they only provide occasional resources and protection without needing extensive binding of interests.

However, other Top Immortal Sects have quite a number of dependents; these affiliates, while part of their sphere of influence and helpful for various tasks, require support with some resources.

Take the Canglang Palace under the Xuantian Sect, for instance. While it’s beneficial that Canglang Palace hands over some materials in exchange for protection, the Xuantian Sect needs to provide compensation when requiring Canglang Palace’s services, not entirely free of charge.

This leads to the fact that even as a Top Immortal Sect, the Xuantian Sect doesn’t hold plentiful resources, especially since they aspire to restore their past prestige and influence, requiring them to recruit more people and expend more resources.

So when the Heterodox Alliance sought through Bai Xiaosheng to purchase the sixth generation warship, they responded readily; aside from fueling the flames of war, they sought more resources to enhance their combat power.

Originally, they wished to seize this opportunity to sell the sixth generation warship technology and acquire sufficient resources to build new warships for the Xuantian Sect, or to offset the material support similar to what was given to Canglang Palace.

Unfortunately, because the Heterodox Alliance insisted on the finished sixth generation warship, the transaction ultimately failed, allowing Shenxiao Sect to intercept and complete the deal.

Initially, the Xuantian Sect didn’t feel disappointed, as one of their objectives was met; there were willing supporters for the Heterodox Alliance to confront Buddhism School, continuing to bleed the Buddhists.

Especially under current circumstances, not only do they avoid direct confrontation with Buddhism, but they also have Shenxiao Sect, with a stronger foundation, likely producing more stellar results.

Nonetheless, when they received detailed information about the transaction, particularly pertaining to the transaction price between the two parties, the Xuantian Sect deeply regretted it, feeling somewhat defensive.

“You didn’t mention offering such a high price beforehand, did you?”

“Even if I said no to selling the finished sixth generation warship, you should have stated your price; had I known, I definitely would have sold it!”

This remorse reflects the sentiments of many strong individuals within the Xuantian Sect.

Although their sixth generation warship might have some flaws compared to that of Shenxiao Sect, the gap is certainly not huge; without competitors, they could likely sell at such prices.

Some of the forces within the Xuantian Sect roughly calculated that, considering the transaction price between the two parties, a finished sixth generation warship, plus the technology and consultancy fees for helping the other party build the sixth generation warship, would accumulate almost enough resources to build two additional sixth generation warships.

If the transaction had succeeded, their combat strength would have enhanced significantly instead of diminished.

But there’s no remedy for regret; once the Heterodox Alliance purchased the finished sixth generation warship, they wouldn’t offer the same price again, not even when Shenxiao Sect sold a second warship at a lower price than the first.

Although they didn’t manage to sell the sixth generation warship, acquiring resources, the hefty price paid by the Heterodox Alliance proved their determination to fight Buddhism to the end.

Therefore, the Xuantian Sect shifted their approach; since there’s no purchase of the sixth generation warship, why not offer the fourth and fifth generation warships?

Even though they haven’t suffered losses yet when traversing Buddhist territories, continuous battles would inevitably damage these warships, reducing their actual power.

Although the Heterodox Alliance has the capability to build fifth and sixth generation warships, their production speed cannot match the wear-down pace, especially as many of their Refining Masters must learn to construct new sixth generation warships, unable to spare time to manufacture new fourth and fifth generation warships.

Thus, the Xuantian Sect actively marketed their fifth and fourth generation warships, hoping to gain some resources, even if selling the old ones to build new ones remains a form of enhancement.

Faced with repeated sales pitches from the Xuantian Sect, Tie Qianshan pondered for a moment before decisively agreeing.

One reason being that indeed, the fleets of Vajra Sect Leader and Zi Tianxiong, despite successive victories, suffered significant damage, urgently requiring updates and maintenance, while they lacked capacity to forge new warships.