txolops Chapter 43 New Rules
Chapter 43 New Rules
Li Ping's gaze swept over the other six people.
Under his gaze, Zhang Tie was slightly stunned, Gu Musheng forced himself to remain calm, Cheng Yao was confused, Qi Hanmo seemed thoughtful, Teng Feng looked slightly surprised, and Bai Qing was full of astonishment.
The six people had different expressions, which represented their reactions to Gu Musheng's contribution of 100 spirit stones.
Zhang Tie hadn't figured out Gu Musheng's purpose in doing all this, while Gu Musheng was worried that Li Ping would favor Zhang Tie, so he directly stopped him.
Cheng Yao, Qi Hanmo, and the other three understood Gu Musheng's intentions, but they were surprised and puzzled by his actions.
……
To be honest, among the remaining six siblings, Li Ping was indeed closest to Zhang Tie in terms of their relationship.
Zhang Tie was honest and kind, and trusted his elder brother implicitly. He had silently contributed to his elder brother's foundation building for nearly twenty years.
Gu Musheng had always harbored his own ulterior motives, and Li Ping could tell that he wasn't entirely convinced of his abilities.
If he had to choose only one of the two, Li Ping would undoubtedly choose Zhang Tie.
However, in dealing with Gu Musheng's case, he could not simply favor Zhang Tie.
Not to mention that Gu Musheng's contribution of 100 spirit stones would speed up the fundraising for the Foundation Building Fund, allowing them to achieve the Tongzhou Association's goal of "joint Foundation Building" sooner and freeing Li Ping from his vow.
Preventing him would only dampen everyone's enthusiasm for contributing, making the progress of the Fellowship's "Building a Foundation Together" goal even more distant.
This is undoubtedly most disadvantageous to Li Ping himself.
Furthermore, Gu Musheng's actions did not violate the rules set by Li Ping, and Li Ping had no reason not to let him contribute more spirit stones.
After all, the Tongzhou Association doesn't belong to him and Zhang Tie alone, but to all seven people present. If he insists on disregarding the rules and favoring Zhang Tie, he would be breaking his oath!
Thinking of this, Li Ping couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Although he had many reasons to convince himself, he could not simply ignore Gu Musheng's actions.
His actions were in accordance with the rules, but unreasonable, and they also affected the sibling relationships among the members of the Fellowship!
Gu Musheng can cut in line for Foundation Establishment just because his family has a lot of spirit stones. What will others think?
Qi Hanmo possesses the skills of a first-class superior musician, so he will inevitably earn spirit stones faster than Cheng Yao in the future. Will he follow suit and try to cut in line?
Bai Qing comes from the Bai family, a family of cultivators. Could he try to gain support from the Bai family through hints in order to seize the qualification for Foundation Establishment?
What worries Li Ping even more is that if others can't compete with them, will they take risks and embark on the evil path of cultivation to earn more spirit stones?
In fact, the fight for the first Foundation Establishment spot has escalated to the point of mutual destruction, bloodshed, and even violence.
This is entirely possible. For example, in mortal dynasties, it is common for people to kill their fathers, brothers, and sons in the struggle for the throne, resulting in rivers of blood.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator's status is many times more noble than that of an emperor in a mortal dynasty.
What does a little bit of sworn brotherhood matter when it comes to building a foundation? Who would care?
But they might not care, but Li Ping does.
After all, if things end up like this, can his vow still be considered fulfilled?
……
Many thoughts flashed through Li Ping's mind, but he had already made up his mind.
First of all, he will not stop Gu Musheng's actions.
However, if he insists on doing so, Li Ping will make him pay a certain price, which can be regarded as patching a hole in the rules of the association.
……
Because Li Ping didn't speak, there was a moment of silence in the room.
When Li Ping's gaze swept over the crowd again, he saw that they had all returned to calm, except for Zhang Tie, who seemed to have only just understood Gu Musheng's intention.
His expression was slightly aggrieved, his lips trembled slightly, but in the end he didn't say anything.
Seeing this, Li Ping sighed inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged. He looked at Gu Musheng and smiled, saying, "I fully agree with Musheng's willingness to contribute more to the Foundation Building Fund."
Upon hearing Li Ping's words, Zhang Tie's expression darkened, but Gu Musheng's face showed little joy.
Because he could clearly sense that Li Ping hadn't finished speaking, and there should be more to come.
"I understand everyone's eagerness to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, but..."
As he spoke, Li Ping looked at Gu Musheng again, which made Gu Musheng's heart skip a beat, and he thought to himself, "Here they come."
Li Ping continued, "Considering that you are all Qi Refining cultivators, your own cultivation consumes a lot of resources, while your income may not be stable. Take Mu Sheng, for example. You can earn over a hundred spirit stones this year, but the cultivation world is ever-changing and unpredictable. If the environment of Immortal City changes next year, your income may drop significantly. Am I right?"
Faced with Li Ping's question, Gu Musheng nodded quickly, indicating that his elder brother was right.
"Under these circumstances, if you were to contribute even more spirit stones, I'm worried it would affect your own cultivation."
Li Ping scanned the crowd, noticing their varied expressions, before speaking his thoughts: "I hadn't considered the 'Contribution to the Foundation Establishment Fund' matter thoroughly before. Now I propose adding a rule: once you've contributed spirit stones, the amount cannot be reduced; you must contribute the same amount thereafter!"
He smiled and said, "The purpose of this suggestion is mainly to remind everyone to act within their capabilities and not to be impatient for quick success in order to reach the Foundation Establishment stage!"
"After I finish speaking, who agrees and who disagrees? If anyone has any opinions, please raise them now."
……
Li Ping's meaning was simple: he wouldn't object to Gu Musheng contributing 100 spirit stones. However, Gu Musheng's annual contribution amount could not be lower than that.
In other words, the amount contributed by an individual's foundation fund can only increase and cannot decrease.
Even if he fails to establish his foundation after obtaining the opportunity, and is unable to become a foundation cultivator, he still has to continue to contribute 100 spirit stones every year!
Li Ping would never allow someone to take the benefits and then run away!
The same applies to others; if they want to increase their contribution amount and jump the queue, they should first consider whether they can sustain that contribution amount indefinitely!
After Li Ping finished speaking, the other six people fell into deep thought.
A moment later, to Li Ping's surprise, it was Gu Musheng who spoke first. It should be noted that Li Ping's impromptu proposal of this rule was actually subtly aimed at him.
Gu Musheng said, "I completely agree with your suggestion, brother, but I am confident in my future income, so I am prepared to contribute 100 spirit stones."
For Gu Musheng, his biggest worry was that Li Ping would break the rules and forcibly protect Zhang Tie, in which case there would be nothing he could do.
Now, although the new rules proposed by Li Ping seem to be somewhat targeted at him, they are still within his expectations.
He was confident he could earn 100 spirit stones a year.
Upon hearing Gu Musheng's agreement, Cheng Yao, Qi Hanmo, and Bai Qing also chimed in with their own. After a moment's hesitation, Teng Feng finally voiced his agreement as well.
Zhang Tie, though he agreed, was not very enthusiastic.
He understood that this was not his eldest brother's fault, but his own. He was not as capable as his third brother and did not earn as many spirit stones as he did.
Next, after jointly swearing an oath to establish the rules, Gu Musheng had to hand over the contribution spirit stones.
Li Ping stopped him, saying, "Since the contribution rules have changed, everyone should go back and think it over. We'll have another meeting in ten days to decide on our contribution amounts then."
No one had any objections to this.