The imperial capital of the Great Jin Celestial Dynasty, Chang'an.
In a district of Chang'an's flying port, all sorts of large warships had already gathered.
Several of the more conspicuous ones were the flagships of the Yi, Mi, Tuoba, Lu, Ku, Xiao, and Yao families, seven in total. Wu Tao's flagship was considerably inferior to theirs.
The most powerful and fearsome-looking among them was the Yi family's Moon God battleship.
"It is said that the Yi family's Moon God battleship was built using a celestial spiritual root, the moon laurel tree, that had grown for hundreds of millions of years. The battleship possesses unimaginable might."
"One of the most famous abilities of the Moon God battleship is that its hull can automatically recover from damage. Most terrifyingly, it can also automatically recover damage during combat."
The Mi family's warship this time was shaped like a carriage.
The carriage-shaped warship radiated a brilliance comparable to the sun, resembling a colossal three-legged golden crow.
The sun-like radiance enveloped the warship, making the entire vessel appear majestic.
The warship hovered in the sky like a scorching sun, illuminating all living beings.
The Tuoba family's flagship had a texture like jade bone, and sometimes white mist would rise from its top, as if it were a living being, clearly possessing extraordinary qualities.
The Lu family's flagship was a plate-shaped warship named the Divine Life Plate!
As the wheel turned, its divine might suppressed all under heaven, vast and boundless like the gods of the heavens.
The Ku family's flagship was also a wheel-shaped warship, named the Underworld Wheel of Life and Death.
The Underworld Wheel of Life and Death displayed scenes of ghostly shadows, with countless mysterious ghostly patterns flickering incessantly. Vaguely, a god of ghosts seemed to reside within.
The Xiao family's flagship was a simple and unadorned city-shaped warship, the Chaos Ancient City.
Although it appeared ordinary, the aura of chaos emanating from it made one dare not underestimate it.
The Yao family's flagship was also extremely extraordinary.
It was a colossal warship shaped like a thunder beast.
This thunder beast-shaped warship was covered in fine purple dragon scales, and countless strange lightning flashes danced and flickered.
Compared to the other seven families, Wu Tao's warship was far inferior. It was merely a bit larger, with no other capabilities.
There was no helping it, as Wu Tao's foundation was the weakest among them.
This ship was bought at a great price from another first-class family purely for travel.
In Chang'an, the meeting between the imperial court's central government and the eight great prefectures was underway.
When Wu Tao arrived, four of the eight great prefectures were already seated in their respective positions.
The man on the far left, of plain appearance, held a jade slip and exuded a gentle and refined aura, appearing like a frail scholar.
However, according to the information Wu Tao had gathered through his subordinates, this was an extremely dangerous individual.
He was Lu Xun, the patriarch of the Lu family, a truly terrifying figure.
Beside him, a woman of peerless beauty, Xiao Xiaohong, the only female among the eight great prefectures and the matriarch of the first-class noble family, the Xiao family.
Her strength was unknown for now, but the fact that a mere woman could stand at this position, suppressing countless men, proved she was no ordinary person.
Next to her was an exceptionally robust man.
From his build alone, Wu Tao could tell he was the patriarch of the Tuoba family.
Rumor had it that the Tuoba family possessed some giant bloodline.
He cultivated both body and spirit, capable of withstanding the damage of magical artifacts with his physical body alone. His innate divine abilities were also powerful, possessing formidable strength – this was the outside world's evaluation of him.
In the fourth seat sat a man whose body was alight with crackling lightning, clearly practicing a powerful lightning-attribute cultivation technique.
According to the information, the only one among the eight great prefectures skilled in lightning-attribute attacks was the patriarch of the Yao family, Yao Chen.
Wu Tao casually glanced over, identifying the specific identities of these four, then transformed into a stream of sword light and appeared in the fifth chair.
The display Wu Tao exhibited clearly earned the admiration of the other four. It was an ability requiring profound understanding of the sword dao.
Combined with Wu Tao's experience of starting from scratch, he was, by all accounts, not to be underestimated.
Shortly after Wu Tao sat down, he was assailed by a chilling, ghost-like wind, causing him to frown.
Looking up, he saw the entire conference hall filled with ghostly energy, and that gust of wind was emitted by its master.
Discovering this, Wu Tao made a guess: it should be Ku'erle, the patriarch of the first-class noble family, the Ku family.
A youth radiating ghostly energy, with long hair and sharp fangs exposed at the corners of his mouth, chuckled sinisterly.
"Heh heh heh heh, so this is the Ministry of War's conference hall. I never thought I'd have the chance to come here someday."
Ku'erle stared at the others in the room and said provocatively, "You early birds have taken all the seats, where am I supposed to sit?"
"Hmph, want my seat? Then take a move to earn it."
Ku'erle's actions had clearly angered Xiao Xiaohong.
With a flick of her middle finger, a red thread formed from the power of affection shot towards Ku'erle.
"Heh, so it's the Xiao family matriarch making a move. How interesting."
After Ku'erle finished speaking, he struck out with his palm.
A seal of compressed ghostly energy shattered the red thread composed of the power of affection.
Just as Ku'erle and Xiao Xiaohong were about to escalate their conflict, another voice rang out.
"Heh heh, how interesting. I didn't expect to see two fellow daoists fighting the moment I arrived."
At some point, Mi Qirui, the patriarch of the Mi family, had appeared outside the door.
Upon seeing this, Ku'erle snorted coldly and took the fifth seat.
Xiao Xiaohong's expression soured, but due to the crowd, she did not openly display her displeasure or escalate the fight.
Soon, everyone was drawn to another individual.
A man's figure strode through the entrance of the conference hall, it was none other than Ito Tatsugoro, the patriarch of the Yi family, who had arrived last.
As the patriarch of the most powerful among the eight great prefectures, Ito Tatsugoro held a unique status among them.
Everyone fell silent, including Ku'erle and Xiao Xiaohong, who had just been in conflict.
It wasn't just the arrival of the last of the eight great prefectures that interrupted the machinations, but also because they knew that when the eight great prefectures were all gathered, they would temporarily form a united alliance to formally negotiate with the Liu imperial family and the central court.
"Hahahaha, it seems everyone is getting along well!"
"It's difficult to meet when you're all dispersed in different regions. Please, everyone, take your seats!"
A sudden voice broke the silence.
Wu Tao turned his head upon hearing this and finally saw the other protagonist of today's alliance meeting.
Liu Zhan, the Minister of War, and several other powerful figures from the Ministry of War at the late Nascent Soul stage.
After taking their seats, Minister of War Liu Zhan announced, "Since everyone is present, the true alliance between the eight great prefectures and the central court is now officially established. Let us begin."
"Oh, after waiting so long, we're finally getting to the main topic."
Wu Tao took this opportunity to finally observe the high-ranking officials from the Ministry of War opposite him.
As he looked, Wu Tao realized he recognized some familiar faces among them.
As the host, Liu Zhan first uttered some pleasantries as an opening to the formal discussions.
Following this, Wu Tao and the others from the eight great prefectures began negotiations with Liu Zhan regarding their respective interests.
"The eight fellow daoists are all powerful figures who rule a region, or even several regions. It is due to our central government's plans that we have summoned you here."
"The jade slips previously sent to you were not detailed enough. This new set of jade slips includes supplementary explanations."
"You may review them again and raise any further opinions."
Minister of War Liu Zhan spoke as he handed Wu Tao and the other seven a large stack of jade slips.
The immense volume of information left the unprepared eight somewhat flustered.
Wu Tao and the others hastily scanned the contents of these jade slips.
The complex regulations and associated interests, as well as the rules and systems, caused Wu Tao and the other seven to fall into deep thought.
Ito Tatsugoro, the most powerful among the eight, glanced at the other seven before speaking, "The materials you've brought appear quite formal."
"Of course. Since we have announced these matters to the world, if we do not strive to do them well, then in the end, it will not be your reputation that is lost, but ours!"
"To put it bluntly, you can afford to lose face, but I cannot!"
Liu Zhan, as the convenor of this meeting, explained after Ito Tatsugoro raised his question.
After Liu Zhan finished speaking, Wu Tao and the others opened the jade slips before them. The relevant content within was not dissimilar to legal and order-related matters.
Yao Chen instinctively pulled out a pen and circled the conditions he deemed important.
Ku'erle, sitting beside him, stared at him in disbelief.
Yao Chen said sheepishly, "Haha, sorry, it's just a subconscious habit!"
With Yao Chen setting an example, Wu Tao and the remaining seven also took out pens from their storage bags and circled the conditions they found beneficial, marking them.
Following this, Wu Tao and the other eight engaged in a fierce verbal battle of negotiations with Minister of War Liu Zhan and other influential figures from the Ministry of War.
The intense sounds of negotiation could even be heard outside the conference hall, causing the soldiers stationed outside to chuckle furtively.
Three days passed, from morning to afternoon, then to night. They continued to negotiate like this for three days, yet they had still not reached a consensus.