Persuading the Crowd with Clever Words

Persuading the Crowd with Clever Words

Although Sun Zhang had chosen to avoid seeing him, Li Fan would not give up so easily.

From how he had been unable to resist speaking words of comfort to Su Changyu that day, this man was, at the very least, not wicked. The reason he had kept such a cold face before was likely only because he did not wish to become too entangled with the mortals of the Immortal Forsaken Land.

Compared to strangers, Li Fan preferred dealing with people whose background he knew something about.

Thus, Li Fan turned back and once again arrived before the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

"Why are you back again, brat? Are you looking to die?" The burly man in black at the entrance watched Li Fan warily and spoke viciously.

Li Fan smiled faintly. "I came to discuss business with your Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. You are driving me away without even hearing me out. Is this how your Heavenly Treasure Pavilion treats its guests?"

Li Fan deliberately raised his voice, drawing the attention of those around him.

"You..." The man flew into a rage and was about to step forward and beat him, but the person beside him stopped him.

After going back to ask for instructions, the man led Li Fan inside with an unwilling expression.

Once seated in a guest room, a maid served him a cup of tea.

Li Fan unhurriedly took a sip. As the tea entered his stomach, he immediately felt a warm current flow from his belly throughout his body.

In mere moments, Li Fan felt as if he had basked in the winter sun for half a shichen. His entire body was warm, even somewhat hot.

"Fine tea!" Li Fan could not help but praise it.

"Da Yu Flame Dragon grows around the submarine volcanic vents near Da Yu Island. There are only a dozen or so plants in all. Now that Da Yu Island has been destroyed, this Da Yu Flame Dragon has temporarily become an unsurpassed rarity." A smiling man walked in and spoke slowly. It was Sun Zhang.

"Then I have benefited from Elder Sun's generosity." Li Fan did not stand on ceremony and drained the remaining tea in one gulp.

Only after Li Fan set down his teacup did Sun Zhang narrow his eyes and slowly ask, "The matter of Great Li is already settled. There should have been no more entanglement between you and me. Why have you come looking for me again?"

Sun Zhang's tone was far from courteous, and a murderous intent lay hidden in his gaze, as if he would kill Li Fan on the spot should his answer fail to satisfy him.

Li Fan paid no heed to Sun Zhang's questioning and replied with a smile, "Elder Sun, you misunderstand. I truly came to discuss a business deal."

"Business? You?" Sun Zhang was first stunned, then snickered as he sized Li Fan up.

Li Fan's expression did not change. He merely smiled without speaking.

Seeing this, Sun Zhang gradually grew serious. "What business?"

"I wonder whether the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion has any interest in a quota for an ocean-going fleet," Li Fan said slowly.

"Each time a fleet puts to sea, leaving aside the occasional treasures it salvages, the Liuli Fish alone, along with other specialties of the sea, are enough to make one's coffers overflow. It would be impossible for our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion to have no interest."

"But Steward Qian holds the fleet quotas tightly in his grasp. Forget our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion—even Steward Zhao would find it extremely difficult to secure one more. You are a newcomer. What ability do you have to dare set your sights on it?" Sun Zhang stared fixedly at Li Fan, as though trying to see something from his face.

"If you let me meet Steward Zhao, I naturally have a way to persuade him." Li Fan spoke with complete confidence.

Seeing how certain Li Fan was, Sun Zhang was temporarily unable to make up his mind.

"Let him meet Steward Zhao. It is no difficult matter. If it fails, chop him into pieces and toss him into the sea to feed the fish." At that moment, a somewhat languid voice came from outside the room.

Li Fan's gaze sharpened. He saw a woman in pale yellow robes and a veil walk in.

Judging from her voice, the woman was only seventeen or eighteen, yet her curvaceous figure exuded a mature and alluring air.

"Greetings, Proprietor." Upon seeing the woman in yellow, Sun Zhang immediately stood and greeted her respectfully.

"Then I shall thank you first, Proprietor." Li Fan's expression remained calm as he cupped his hands.

"You seem to have some confidence. You do not look like someone spouting grand words." Sitting opposite Li Fan, the woman in yellow tilted her head and regarded him with curiosity.

"I have always treated a promise as worth a thousand pieces of gold. What I say is what I do," Li Fan replied frankly.

The woman in yellow gave a soft chuckle.

"If this truly succeeds, our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion will take its proper share of the benefits."

"According to the island's rules, thirty percent of each voyage's gains may be retained. I want none of those thirty percent. Half will go to Steward Zhao, and the other half to your Heavenly Treasure Pavilion." Li Fan nodded in agreement, speaking words that stunned everyone.

The woman in yellow froze.

She scrutinized Li Fan several more times. "That is strange. If so, after going through all this trouble, what is it that you want?"

"I only want a quota to enter the Purification Spirit Pool, which opens once every three years," Li Fan said honestly.

"Eh..." The woman was truly shocked this time. She looked at Li Fan several times, as if confirming that she had not misheard him.

Li Fan met her gaze, his eyes unwavering.

"Hahahaha..." As if she had heard an especially amusing joke, the woman in yellow burst out laughing.

"Please, Uncle, at your age, you still want to imitate others and cultivate immortality?" After laughing for quite a while, she struggled to stop herself. After barely getting those words out, she could not help but laugh again.

Sun Zhang looked at Li Fan with a face full of disbelief as well.

Li Fan simply watched the woman in yellow in silence.

Her laughter gradually grew quieter.

"Ha... ha..."

In the end, she gave an awkward dry laugh and sheepishly returned to normal.

"In pursuit of immortality, even death brings no regret," Li Fan said indifferently.

The woman in yellow was silent for a long time.

"Fine. I agree to this matter." At last, she made the decision. "Once a date has been arranged, I will send someone to notify you."

"Then it is settled. I live in House Number Seven, Sixth Row, outside the city. You may find me there." Li Fan cupped his hands, turned, and departed.

Only the woman in yellow and Sun Zhang remained in the room.

After a long silence, Sun Zhang could not help but say, "Proprietor, that Purification Spirit Pool quota..."

"Although the Purification Spirit Pool quotas are fiercely contested on the island every year, it is not as though our Heavenly Treasure Pavilion lacks the strength to vie for one. Besides, if he truly manages to secure an ocean-going fleet, then in only about five years, the profits brought by the fleet will barely equal the value of one quota. This deal guarantees profit without loss." The woman in yellow did not think much of it.

"But..." She furrowed her lovely brows and stared in the direction Li Fan had left, muttering to herself.

"What?" Sun Zhang could not help asking.

"That man's eyes looked so frightening..." The woman in yellow patted her chest, seeming somewhat shaken.

Sun Zhang was utterly dumbfounded.

On the way back, Li Fan stopped by a medicine shop and bought the "Profound Yellow Heart Cleansing Mantra" and the medicinal ingredients that went with it.

Even if everything went smoothly, there were still two years before the Purification Spirit Pool opened.

Such a long stretch of time could not be wasted.

He might as well cultivate the "Profound Yellow Heart Cleansing Mantra" first and see its effects. Perhaps Li Fan possessed astonishing talent and could rid himself of the miasma in his body without waiting two years?

Over the following days, Li Fan remained at home cultivating as he waited to meet Steward Zhao.

Who would have thought that before he even met Steward Zhao, Li Fan would hear news that greatly shocked him.

Su Changyu was dead.