The headquarters of the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce soared a thousand feet into the sky across nineteen stories, its highest floors wreathed in clouds and mist.
As the headquarters of a merchant guild, it seemed almost excessively grand. Yet viewing it as the financial nerve center of an entire empire made its sheer scale far more reasonable.
The main hall on the first floor boasted a soaring ceiling of over two hundred feet, where twelve towering, ornately carved pillars supported a colossal dome. People streamed through in no small numbers, yet the hall remained remarkably hushed. The awe inspired by such architectural majesty compelled most visiting merchants and patrons to keep their voices down and soften their steps—Xu Yuan and Bai Muxi included.
Xu Yuan walked in front, while Bai Muxi followed silently behind him with her head lowered.
The two walked in unbroken silence.
The atmosphere hung heavy and suffocating. Xu Yuan's earlier words had truly been harsh; though meant as a reprimand, they had bordered on an outright threat.
Xu Yuan had not wanted to act this way, but he had had no choice.
Their relationship might ostensibly be master and maidservant, but more importantly, they were the heir of the Prime Minister's Manor and the Chief Arbiter of the underground palace.
Though each was only one person, the underlying weight of what they said differed drastically depending on which identity spoke.
In casual everyday banter as master and maid, Xu Yuan could turn a blind eye to whatever Xiao Bai did. Whether she relied on her demure, manipulative wiles to tempt him or used those same tricks to tease Tianyan, he did not care in the slightest.
But if Bai Muxi spoke as the Chief Arbiter of the underground palace, Xu Yuan had to take her seriously. And what she had said just now had clearly come from her position as Chief Arbiter.
It came down to that same old truth:
Loyalty bought with profit would ultimately return to profit.
Bai Muxi constantly spoke of gratitude, and though Xu Yuan had never denied it, he understood the reality all too well.
Gratitude was worthless. It was far too abstract.
Whether it was repaid, and how it was repaid, depended entirely on the moral character of the recipient.
And so, back when they struck their agreement in the underground palace, Xu Yuan had set the tone for the transaction from the start.
This was not an act of grace; it was an exchange of mutual benefit.
The Prime Minister's Manor would expend the effort to rescue the remnants of the underground palace, and in return, those remnants would pledge their lives in service to the manor.
As a maid, Xiao Bai played the coy innocent, but as the Chief Arbiter of the underground palace, Bai Muxi possessed remarkable political acumen.
Over the past several months, drawing upon information from the Prime Minister's Manor, she had absorbed an enormous amount of knowledge about the surface world like a sponge.
She had come to realize the immense value her people held for the manor today, which was why she wanted to alter their "contract" and secure greater benefits for them.
After all, the gap in status and profit between being subjugated "Pals" serving as the manor's beasts of burden and being equal partners of the manor was anything but negligible.
Much like Lou Ji's Black Prison, the Tian'an headquarters was divided into three sectors: Heaven, Earth, and Mortal. Unlike the prison, however, each sector within the headquarters was further subdivided into four grades—Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. Each grade covered a myriad of merchandise categories, with the floors ascending in accordance with the scale of business.
Carrying a Heaven-grade Jia token, the two climbed in silence until they reached the seventeenth floor, which housed the Heaven-grade Jia level. When they attempted to take the stairs further up, a gentle force pushed them back.
It was an array.
The eighteenth floor housed the Pavilion of Seeking Treasures, the most secretive place in the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce. It was normally closed to visitors, opening only to holders of Heaven-grade Jia tokens during the biennial Heavenly Secret Auction.
Pondering for a moment, Xu Yuan attempted to use the soul key from the manor's inner courtyard to commune with the array. When he stepped forward again, the gentle resistance had vanished.
Just as he thought.
The soul key of the Prime Minister's Manor inner court granted unimpeded passage not only through the Black Prison, but also here in the Tian'an headquarters.
Smiling faintly, Xu Yuan had taken only a few paces up the stairs when a quiet voice transmission finally reached his ear:
"Young Master... Muxi knows her wrong."
Pausing mid-step, Xu Yuan let out a soft scoff and replied, "You kept quiet for so long, this young master thought our dear Chief Arbiter was throwing a tantrum. But come to think of it, anyone would be unhappy facing that kind of threat."
Continuing up the stairs, Bai Muxi's voice came very quietly:
"...Muxi would not dare."
Xu Yuan snorted lightly, glancing back at Xiao Bai beside him, and murmured, "What is there not to dare? I know what you're thinking. Strictly speaking, your demands are actually quite reasonable. After all, the remnants of the underground palace are indeed of great value to our manor.
"However, Bai Muxi, not every reasonable demand in this world can be granted."
Bai Muxi peered up at Xu Yuan cautiously, but seeing his gaze fixed on her, she immediately lowered her eyes once more.
"Muxi is willing to follow Young Master's arrangements in all things..."
"You don't need to put on false pretenses with me."
Xu Yuan cut her off bluntly, speaking with utter clarity.
"I'll lay it bare for you. The agreement we struck in the underground palace can be amended, but there is zero possibility of that happening within the next thirty years. During this time, the remnants of the underground palace must unconditionally obey any and all orders from the Prime Minister's Manor."
After a brief silence, Bai Muxi asked in a whisper, "Does Young Master truly mean that?"
"Thirty years is only the minimum baseline."
Xu Yuan looked straight at Bai Muxi and smiled. "Rescuing you from that sunless underground palace in exchange for a single generation's servitude—that's still a very good deal, wouldn't you say?"
"..."
Bai Muxi did not reply, maintaining her silence.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan's brow furrowed slightly. He chuckled softly.
"You don't seem very willing?"
Bai Muxi drew a deep breath and looked up.
"Young Master, Muxi has already studied the situation in Great Yan. Given Lord Chancellor's recent arrangements, war is all but inevitable, and the majority of my people will surely become frontline infantry. If that happens..."
"Yet without my intervention, the handful of cultivators in your underground palace wouldn't even be enough to take down a single Transcendent Realm aberrant ghost. Within a few decades, all of you would have been devoured until not a single living soul remained."
"..." Bai Muxi remained silent.
Reaching the eighteenth floor, they continued upward.
Seeing that Bai Muxi remained silent, Xu Yuan took a deep breath. Suddenly, he halted his steps, turned around to face her, and whispered softly,
"It seems I'm still a bit too gentle."
Hearing those words, Bai Muxi shuddered violently.
Seeing her reaction, Xu Yuan patted her shoulder gently and said in a low voice, "Don't be afraid. I'm not angry. But you know me—I've never had much patience."
"Young Master..." Bai Muxi pursed her red lips.
"Shut up."
Xu Yuan's tone dropped slightly.
"I'm already getting annoyed, and I don't really want to deal with your underground palace's affairs anymore. So let me give you a choice.
"First, obey obediently.
"Second, I hand this entire matter over to my father and let him negotiate with you."
Xu Yuan stared into her eyes and murmured softly, "My father already knows of the underground palace's situation. He wanted to intervene earlier, but I fended him off for the time being."
"..."
Bai Muxi's eyes widened slightly, a flurry of emotions flickering across them.
Xu Yuan slowly withdrew his hand and spoke gently:
"You might think my demands are unreasonable, but that's only because you haven't seen my father's methods. Muxi, compared to that venerable elder, I have truly been merciful to you.
"I can tell you exactly what will happen once he takes over.
"Your few leaders and mid-level officers will be placed under total control or straight-up executed.
"The hundreds of thousands of palace remnants will be broken up into hundreds, even thousands, of family units of varying sizes and scattered across Great Yan. Those capable of cultivation will be reorganized into the Black Qilin Army and systematically brainwashed.
"When that time comes, most of your people will indeed survive, but within twenty years, the Prime Minister's Manor will have broken them apart, chewed them up, swallowed them whole, and digested them until they become nothing more than history."
At this point, Xu Yuan chuckled softly, as if an amusing thought had crossed his mind:
"Of course, you could also try rebelling against him. You could try reaching out to other factions in Great Yan and seeking refuge with them... assuming you can pull that off right under his nose."
Chapter 539