Quote of the Day: "A monopoly is a target. A duopoly is a partnership. But a truly open market is a battlefield where the best general does not fire a single shot."
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The "Open Dao" Initiative spread through the Blue Spirit Region like a benevolent virus. Scrolls containing the Serene Heart Standard for resource management and spiritual logistics were copied, debated, and implemented by minor sects and merchant guilds desperate for an edge. Efficiency, a concept they had understood only vaguely, became a quantifiable god they could worship. Yields increased. Waste decreased. A nascent, decentralized network, perfectly compatible with Lin Feng's core systems, began to form without him having to lift a finger.
The Karma-Backed Bonds were oversubscribed within a week. Spirit Stones flowed into the Serene Heart Sanctum's coffers from sects that had once viewed Blue Spirit City as a provincial backwater. They weren't just investing in Lin Feng; they were investing in stability, in predictable growth. The [Conglomerate Core] in his dantian hummed with satisfied power, its efficiency rating climbing with every bond sold.
But a rising tide does not lift all boats equally. It drowns those stubbornly anchored to the old seabed.
The first major resistance came not from a sword, but from a ledger.
The Jade Flame Sanctuary, an orthodox sect nestled in the volcanic mountains to the north, had watched Lin Feng's ascent with mounting horror. Their power was built on tradition, on the slow, revered mastery of alchemy and the absolute loyalty of their disciples. They saw the Serene Heart Standard not as enlightenment, but as spiritual prostitution—the reduction of the sacred Dao of alchemy to mere supply-chain management.
They did not declare war. They filed an injunction.
A formal missive, sealed with the burning sigil of the Jade Flame Sanctuary, arrived via a procession of stern-faced disciples. It was addressed to "The Entity known as the Serene Heart Conglomerate." It did not recognize Lin Feng as a person, but as a corporate entity, a clever and insulting legalistic maneuver.
The scroll accused the Conglomerate of "Spiritual Market Manipulation" and "Intentional Deformation of Dao Hearts" through the promotion of "shallow, profit-driven cultivation practices." It demanded the immediate cessation of the Open Dao Initiative, the recall of all Karma-Backed Bonds, and the submission of the Conglomerate to an audit by a council of orthodox elders.
It was, in essence, a hostile takeover bid by the old guard.
Elder Bai handled the initial reception, his face grave. "Patriarch, they have the support of the Silver Peak Sword Palace and the Whispering Willow Sect. This is a coalition. They mean to regulate us out of existence."
Lin Feng read the scroll, his [Dao Insight] dissecting the subtext. Beneath the flowery language and righteous indignation, he felt the true emotions: fear, and a desperate, clawing greed for the resource stream he now controlled.
"This is not an attack," Lin Feng stated, placing the scroll aside. "It is a negotiation. They are stating their opening position."
His response was not a rebuttal. It was a corporate action.
1. Poison Pill: He announced a new class of "Founder's Shares" for the Karma-Backed Bonds, granting existing bondholders—the very sects the Jade Flame Sanctuary was trying to rally against him—voting rights and preferential dividends. To side with the Sanctuary was to financially sabotage themselves.
2. White Knight: He had Chu Yue, as the representative of the Void-Severing Pavilion—a respected, if feared, orthodox power—issue a statement. It praised the "innovative spirit" of the Conglomerate and warned that "stifling progress benefits only the stagnant."
3. Proxy Fight: He used the Open Dao network itself. He sent a targeted [Karmic Echo], a pulse of pure data that illustrated the profit increases and spiritual stability enjoyed by every minor sect that had adopted his standards. He framed the Jade Flame Sanctuary not as protectors of tradition, but as monopolists trying to crush competition to maintain their inflated prices.
The battlefield was the collective consciousness of the region's cultivators.
The Jade Flame Sanctuary's leader, Elder Wu, a man whose beard was literally smoking with controlled fire Qi, arrived in Blue Spirit City for the "negotiations." He expected to find a arrogant young upstart. He found a sovereign.
They met not in a sect hall, but in the neutral ground of the Commerce Guild. Lin Feng did not bring an entourage. He brought a single, interactive formation slate designed by Master Yi, which displayed the real-time economic data of the region.
"Your… 'Conglomerate,'" Elder Wu began, his voice like grinding stone, "spreads a sickness. It teaches disciples to value Spirit Stones over spiritual depth. You are creating a generation of merchants, not cultivators!"
Lin Feng didn't look at him. He manipulated the slate, pulling up a graph. "Elder Wu, the Jade Flame Sanctuary's market share in mid-grade Fire-Aspected pills has decreased by eighteen percent in the last six months. Your operational costs, however, have remained constant. Your efficiency rating is 31%. Ours," he tapped the slate, and the Serene Heart Sanctum's data appeared, a vertical line shooting into the stratosphere, "is 89%. The sickness you diagnose is your own inefficiency. My methods are the cure."
Elder Wu sputtered, the temperature in the room rising. "You dare reduce the sacred art of alchemy to… to numbers on a screen?!"
"Is a pill's quality not defined by its efficacy?" Lin Feng asked, his tone one of genuine curiosity. "And is efficacy not measurable? Your rejection of data is not a defense of tradition; it is an admission of your inability to compete in a market that now values proof over pedigree."
He had reframed the entire debate. It was no longer about morality or tradition. It was about performance metrics.
The Sanctuary's coalition began to fray. The minor sects, now holding Founder's Shares and enjoying unprecedented profits, remained silent. The Silver Peak Sword Palace, whose disciples relied on affordable, high-quality pills for their training, began to question the Sanctuary's motives.
Elder Wu left, defeated not by force, but by an inescapable, humiliating logic. The injunction was quietly withdrawn.
But as the old man departed, Lin Feng felt a new, sharp shift in the regional Karma. The Jade Flame Sanctuary's thread didn't just retreat; it coiled, turning a venomous, resentful black. They would not try regulation again. Their next move would be less civilized.
The notification in his mind was grim.
[New Major Antagonist Identified: Jade Flame Sanctuary. Hostility Level: 9/10.]
[Regional Stability: Slightly Decreased.]
[Conglomerate Core Efficiency: -3% (Temporary, due to market uncertainty).]
He had won the first corporate raid. But he had made his first true, bitter enemy. The Sanctum's walls were strong, but the Jade Flame Sanctuary had been refining fire for a thousand years. They understood that some things couldn't be bought or negotiated.
They understood destruction.
Lin Feng looked at the data slate, the numbers now telling a new story—one of rising risk and potential volatility. The peaceful expansion was over. The next phase would be contested.
He had turned the world into a marketplace. Now, he had to learn to defend his stall in a brawl.