Wei Chen let out a sigh before producing a large barbecued grilled drumstick from a bird spirit beast he had hunted along the way. The sauce was made by improvising with various seasonings he had taken from the Nascent Soul group and with herbs he picked up along the way.
Catching the fragrance of the drumstick, Max’s nose twitched immediately. It quickly regained its strength and bit into the meat.
"Don’t tell me you were just acting because you wanted some early pay, you sly dog," Wei Chen muttered under his breath, pursing his lips as he looked at Max as if seeing through its act.
Max, relishing the barbecue grilled drumstick, suddenly paused and looked in a certain direction.
Seeing this, Wei Chen also grew alert, turning to face the same direction his dog was watching.
After a brief moment, a silhouette emerged from the shadows. She wore light clothing, unlike during the day when she had been clad in soft armor. The part of her face visible outside the mask that only covered her eyes revealed striking beauty.
Wei Chen was stunned. Her appearance could easily rival that of a fashion model. Even with her eyes hidden, he could still sense a stoic and valiant air surrounding her.
She carried a large sword strapped to her back, still wrapped in a leather-like protective covering, and looked at Wei Chen in silence.
"You..." she uttered upon seeing him. Then she shifted her stance slightly, as if wary of the giant red husky that was still staring at her.
"Who are you?" Wei Chen asked, standing up. "Are you one of the Sword Manor disciples?"
"No..."
"You’re not? Then who are you?" he asked again, but the woman didn’t answer. Instead, she glanced at Max and then back at Wei Chen.
"Is this your pet?" she asked.
Wei Chen looked at Max. "Something like that."
No, I’m definitely not your pet, Max retorted within its mind.
The woman didn’t reply. She only nodded, then turned her back to him. "Follow me..."
"Huh?" Wei Chen was puzzled. What’s wrong with this woman?
He then looked at Max, and Max looked back at him. Man and dog seemed to share an unspoken understanding.
You’ve arrived. I’ll go on my way then, was what Max thought in his mind.
"Awww... you want to come with me? You’re a good boy, aren’t you? C’mon, give me your paw. Who’s a good boy!" Wei Chen said with a smile, reaching out his hand.
Max snorted in disdain before dashing away, leaving Wei Chen behind.
Seeing this, Wei Chen chuckled and followed Yin Lan back to Sword Manor.
At Sword Manor, several disciples were waiting at the border of the estate.
With Yin Lan leading the way, and some disciples recognizing Wei Chen’s face, there was no stupid misunderstanding scenario happen.
The bodyguard led Wei Chen toward the main hall, then quietly returned to her young miss without another word.
Wei Chen met with Jian Ganglie. They exchanged pleasantries and chatted for a while before Jian Ganglie instructed his disciples to lead Wei Chen to one of the guest houses to rest.
— Mo Xingyao guest house —
At the guest house where Mo Xingyao was staying with her bodyguard, Yin Lan returned from scouting.
"What happened, Sister Lan? What made you run off like that?" Mo Xingyao asked.
"I sensed a strong presence just outside, not far from the manor grounds, Young Miss," Yin Lan replied promptly as she placed her sword back in its usual spot, leaning it against the wall.
"A strong presence? What’s that?" Mo Xingyao asked.
"It’s a Heavenly Fire Wolf," Yin Lan answered.
"Heavenly Fire Wolf!? Why is it here!?" Mo Xingyao was startled.
One must know that the Heavenly Fire Wolf is not a simple spirit beast. Its bloodline is said to descend from the Heaven Devourer Wolf of the upper realm. This makes the Heavenly Fire Wolf extremely formidable in combat, able to easily trounce any foe within the same realm.
"Wei Chen, the man in the screen, brought it here as a mount. Now it seems to have run back into the wilderness."
"That guy can subdue a Heavenly Fire Wolf!?" Mo Xingyao asked, shocked by the revelation.
The bodyguard nodded.
Hearing this news, Mo Xingyao felt slightly impressed. From what she knew, even cultivators with stronger cultivation could not easily subdue a Heavenly Fire Wolf. The beast was far too proud, unless something had shaken its understanding and made it believe that submission was better than resistance.
With that thought, Mo Xingyao began to look forward to tomorrow’s meeting with this man. She wondered what he would bring to the table.
— Morning —
In the morning, after Wei Chen had freshened up, he went to meet with Jian Ganglie. As the sect leader here, he needed to... "give face" to the landlord where he was staying, right?
But contrary to his expectations, Jian Ganglie, aside from sitting in the sect leader’s seat, seemed far more polite toward a youthful girl with two cute buns on her head, who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old.
He also noticed a woman with a massive sword standing behind the girl, acting like a simple bodyguard. But this time, instead of a visor-like mask, she wore a full mask and a bamboo hat, even while standing inside the building.
"Hello, Sect Leader Jian, shall we start the meeting? I have a proposal that you might find both interesting and beneficial to your sect," Wei Chen began.
"Huh?" Jian Ganglie turned toward Wei Chen, who had just walked into the main hall.
"Don’t you want to wait for the Azure Sky Elder?" he asked.
Wei Chen was confused.
"But this is the third day of the three-day appointment. I mean... this is the last day we should be talking. I don’t think we should wait for someone who arrived late," Wei Chen said.
Hearing this, Jian Ganglie made a face as if he had just heard someone claim the sun had risen in the west.
"But... the Azure Sky Elder still hasn’t arrived yet," Jian Ganglie stated.
"I clearly said we would meet within three days, and today is the third day, the appointment time. The one who didn’t arrive on time is in the wrong," Wei Chen replied matter-of-factly.
"Yes... I know that. But... usually, people would wait for them, and I don’t think the Azure Sky Elder would be unaware of such a simple fact," Jian Ganglie said, stating the obvious.
Listening to this, Wei Chen smiled as if he had just heard something ridiculous.
"Then this is bullsh*t. If they know this fact and still deliberately come late, that means they’re just a bunch of egotistical idiots trying to pull a power-play shit on people because they think the universe revolves around them."
"I’d rather not talk with them. If at the very first business meeting they pull crap like this, do you really think people like that would honor their promises?" Wei Chen asked, still finding it ridiculous that this was considered the norm here.
"Well... this..." Jian Ganglie was speechless. What Wei Chen said made far too much sense.
He had heard of many cases where the Azure Sky Conglomerate failed to honor their promises, especially toward people or forces they perceived as far weaker than themselves.
The Azure Sky Conglomerate was indeed the largest conglomerate in the Azure River Province, that was a fact. But to do business with them, one needed matching strength to ensure they wouldn’t pull the wool over anyone’s eyes.
"Hahahaha! What you said is so true, and your curses are so satisfying!" Mo Xingyao laughed out loud after listening to Wei Chen’s words.
Mo Xingyao stood up and cupped her fist toward Wei Chen.
"I’m Mo Xingyao, also known as the Little Wealthy Demon in what you called the chat room. I’m the leader of the Thousand Treasure Pavilion," Mo Xingyao introduced herself.
"Wei Chen, a simple vagabond and adventurer," Wei Chen introduced himself in turn.
Seeing that Wei Chen and Mo Xingyao seemed to hit it off, Jian Ganglie, as the humble sect leader of a small sect, didn’t want to offend them. He decided to join in and gloss over the fact that the Azure Sky Elder still hadn’t arrived.
In truth, he didn’t like the Azure Sky Conglomerate much. As a small sect, they had been taken advantage of by the conglomerate on many occasions, so he decided to follow Wei Chen’s lead.
"Jian Ganglie, Sect leader of the Sword Manor." Jian Ganglie formally introduce himself.
— Meanwhile - Azure River City —
Azure Sky Elder was reviewing the ledger in his office. He had no intention of hurrying to a small sect like Sword Manor. As one of the Five Supreme Elders of the Azure Sky Conglomerate, he had his own considerations.
It wasn’t just a simple power play. His very presence there was supposed to be seen as an honor. How dare that man, Wei Chen, tell him to go to such a place for a meeting!?
Did Sword Manor really have that much face?
Of course not. At best, Sword Manor was nothing more than a minor sect in a middling province like Azure River Province. There were even provinces weaker than this one.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was that they needed to remember their place.
That was why he didn’t bother to hurry toward that small sect. They had to learn to wait for him. Everyone needed to wait for him, even if they didn’t want to.
On another note, there should also be people from Sky-Severing Demon Valley. But no matter who they are, could they possibly have more influence than the Azure Sky Conglomerate?
Besides, if that man Wei Chen knows what’s good for him, he would avoid associating with people from the demonic path.
The Azure Sky Elder looked up at the sky and judged that the timing was right. Traveling leisurely aboard the conglomerate’s flying ark toward Sword Manor, he should arrive there by tomorrow morning.
"Maybe I’ve given them too much face, but no matter. Let’s set off now."
With those words, the Azure Sky Elder finally departed for the meeting.