The Strongest Are Those with Nothing Left to Lose

After leaving the underground treasury, with no one watching him anymore, Ji Qingyan could no longer keep up her haughty expression.

Her ramrod-straight back slumped, and embarrassment flooded her cool, proud face. Her legs had gone weak, so she had to lean against the wall, not caring whether the dust dirtied her moon-white palace dress.

It had already been dirtied earlier, anyway.

Remembering what she had done not long ago, Ji Qingyan felt her ears burning.

She had never imagined she could do something so bold, something that even seemed to cheapen herself.

But in that moment, alone with Lin Ze in the cramped underground chamber, breathing in his scent, all the emotions she had suppressed burst forth at once and overpowered her reason. She had wanted nothing but to have the man beside her.

Now that she had calmed down, Ji Qingyan did not regret her decision.

"Cultivation is also cultivation of the heart. Your thoughts should flow freely. If you keep suppressing your emotions, your mind will twist sooner or later, and you'll go mad from cultivation."

Feeling her spirit begin to grow at a rapid pace, Ji Qingyan's heart settled completely.

The next day, Lin Ze saw Ji Qingyan again in the underground treasury.

But unlike the day before, when they had been alone together, the place was now bustling with people.

Employees of the Zhi Yuan Gold Bank under Lin Ze were counting copper coins with coin counters. Meanwhile, Ji Qingyan's subordinates were packing the counted coins, carrying them out of the underground treasury, through Fengping County—now under strict curfew—and onto a large ship moored at the dock.

A coin counter was a simple slot. Fill it with copper coins, and it held exactly one hundred wen. That made the counting process extremely fast.

At that point, Ji Qingyan greeted him with a smile. "Zi Yi, these copper coins of yours are excellent quality. I expect Imperial Brother will agree to what you discussed with me last time."

She was referring to Lin Ze's plan to buy large quantities of gold and silver from the Great Zhou Imperial Family with copper coins.

If Lin Ze provided copper coins of this quality, it would indeed benefit the Great Zhou Imperial Family. They could save a great deal on minting costs every year.

Their interaction was no different from before. They were simply the best of business partners, without a trace of personal affection.

Looking at Ji Qingyan in her white palace dress, cool and dignified as a fairy from the moon palace, Lin Ze couldn't connect her with the passionate, proactive woman from the night before. It was as if yesterday had been a dream.

So he said, "Your Highness, your subordinates can handle things here. I have some newly made pastries at home. Would you care to try them with me?"

Ji Qingyan naturally nodded in agreement.

And so, in the spacious guest room, the two ate pastries and naturally slipped back into that state of being intimately familiar with every part of one another.

For the next several days, the copper coins continued to be transported.

Ji Qingyan maintained her business-partner attitude. Their discussions were always about serious matters concerning the Railway Company or the Cement Factory. But whenever Lin Ze invited her to be alone with him, she never refused. She simply never brought up the nature of their relationship.

She neither interfered with his life or business because they had grown closer, nor made any unreasonable demands of him.

She was a princess, and could never become anyone's concubine.

If she wanted to marry Lin Ze, who was already married, he would first have to return to being single.

She had no confidence that Lin Ze would agree to divorce his wife and marry her, leaving his original wife and concubines without even a proper title, as mistresses.

But she also didn't want to maintain the lukewarm business-partner relationship they had before. So the only choice was to let things continue as they were now.

Lin Ze gradually understood Ji Qingyan's thinking, and their interactions became more natural. In public during the day, they discussed only business. Only when they were alone in private did he admire the captivating side of her that she never showed to others.

This kind of relationship was uncommon in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but it was very common in the Main World.

If one word could precisely describe their relationship, it would be fellow cultivators!

On April 7, Lin Ze saw Ji Qingyan off at the dock.

Compared with before, Ji Qingyan's cool aura was even stronger now. It was a sign that her spiritual realm, the Cold Moon Sword Intent, had advanced further.

In recent days, she had finally cut down the demon of longing for what she could not have.

"Come to Fufeng County when you have time. You should pay more attention to your business."

Ji Qingyan spoke in a calm, indifferent tone as they parted.

In his mind, Lin Ze automatically translated her words as: "Come visit me in Fufeng County when you get the chance."

He smiled. "Don't worry. I will."

After a pause, he added, "Your Highness, if you have time, you're welcome to come to Fengping County. The place has been developing rapidly lately, with all kinds of talent and wealth flowing in. You may discover new business opportunities and industries here, and reap great benefits."

Hearing that, Ji Qingyan nodded in satisfaction. With that excuse, her next visit to Fengping County wouldn't seem out of the blue.

Then she turned and boarded the ship.

Lin Ze watched the large ship disappear into the distance. As soon as he returned to his study, several familiar figures appeared beside him.

They were Yue Sheng, a Heavenly Man expert of the Longevity Palace, and three Peerless Experts under his command: Ning Heng, Lu Lu, and Jiang Wen.

"Greetings, Great Elder. Please, have a seat."

Lin Ze smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, inviting Yue Sheng to sit.

As for the other three, a nod was enough to count as a greeting.

Lin Ze wasn't surprised by their arrival. If his guess was right, they had come to collect their money. After all, he had promised to give them ten billion copper coins—ten million taels of silver—as payment for obtaining the Longevity Palace's longevity technique.

By his reckoning, they should have finished making their preparations and come to collect the money by now.

Unfortunately, Lin Ze no longer had ten billion copper coins on hand.

It had only been about twenty days since Lin Ze had agreed to lend money to Ji Qingyan. Even with the Copper Coins Factory in the Main World running at full capacity, it had minted only 2.4 billion copper coins so far.

He could make up the difference with silver, but Lin Ze didn't want to.

After all, those bastards from the Longevity Palace had played dirty. They had given him a longevity technique while also trying to control him.

He hadn't turned against them on the spot only because of the Heavenly Material Earthly Treasures and the Qi Consumption Method secret art they had given him.

"I'm sorry to have come unannounced, Zi Yi."

Yue Sheng didn't get straight to business. Instead, he apologized first.

After all, according to proper etiquette, they should have sent word before coming in. As it was, they had barged in like unwelcome guests.

But their identities had to remain secret. At the very least, they couldn't openly have too much contact with Lin Ze, so this was their only option.

"No problem. Next time, you can use the name of the Three Yang Sword Sect. Send a letter to arrange a meeting somewhere discreet."

"After all, you'll be my business partners from now on. It's only natural for us to keep in touch. You don't need to be so hung up on your covert identities."

Lin Ze said.

At that point, Yue Sheng asked, "Zi Yi, why haven't you used the Longevity Seed yet? It'll lose its effect in half a month."

Lin Ze replied calmly, "I'm still young. I don't need to extend my life yet."

Hearing that, Yue Sheng frowned slightly. He had been about to persuade Lin Ze that using the Longevity Seed would strengthen his vital essence and aid his cultivation.

But when he saw Lin Ze's calm expression, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Then he recalled Lin Ze's words: you're my business partners, not members of the same organization. He immediately realized that Lin Ze had discovered the problem with the Longevity Seed and didn't want to use it because doing so would let others control him.

So Yue Sheng stopped trying to persuade him. If he pressed further, they would fall out.

What good would that do them?

They would offend a Heavenly Man-level combatant and push him straight into the Great Zhou Imperial Family's camp. They would also lose the benefits Lin Ze had promised them, and the Heavenly Material Earthly Treasures and secret art they had invested in him would go to waste.

After all, Lin Ze was a genuine expert. They had no way to deal with him.

Besides, Lin Ze might refuse to use it now, but would he still refuse in a hundred or two hundred years, when his lifespan was nearly exhausted?

He had plenty of time left. There was no need to fight over a momentary gain or loss.

For now, they could just treat it as though they had spent Heavenly Material Earthly Treasures and secret arts worth over a million to befriend Lin Ze, receive a hundred billion copper coins from him, and become his business partners.

Thinking of this, Yue Sheng dropped the subject and smiled. "Zi Yi, we came this time to collect the money you promised the organization. We also need to discuss some details about opening restaurants."

Seeing that Yue Sheng knew when to back off, Lin Ze said, "You've seen for yourselves that I just supplied the Great Zhou Imperial Family with a large amount of money. My reserves are low now. I have only 2.5 billion copper coins left. If you're willing to wait, you can come back in another three months, once I've gathered the funds."

"If you can't wait, you can take these 2.5 billion copper coins now."

The plan of transporting money during the curfew could fool almost anyone, but not these high-flying experts.

However, Ji Qingyan had many experts guarding her, and they were all aboard the transport ship at the moment. Their forces were concentrated, unlike during the previous transports, when they had needed to protect many areas. So there was little risk of a handful of exceptional experts trying to rob them.

Yue Sheng smiled. "Then we'll take the 2.5 billion copper coins for now. The organization needs a lot of startup capital to open restaurants and pharmacies."

Lin Ze nodded, picked up a scroll from his desk, and handed it to Ning Heng beside him. "This is the business plan and menu for opening a restaurant. I'll send you the secret seasoning later. Then you can carry out the plan as written."

"Open the first restaurant here in Fengping County. Once you've finished preparing, I'll inspect it. If it passes, you can officially open, then replicate the successful model across the country."

Lin Ze had asked Shi Hongxue, president of the Delicious Forest restaurant group in the Main World, to prepare this plan under the pretext of summarizing the group's success.

Next, the people of World No. 2 simply had to recreate it using World No. 1's advanced restaurant experience.

And since World No. 2 was less respectful of human rights, perhaps they could provide even better service.

That concluded their discussion.

After making a few preparations, Lin Ze's subordinates and those nominally belonging to the Pacifying Escort Agency began the handover, delivering the 2.5 billion copper coins Lin Ze had promised.

Several days later, everything was finally taken care of.

Yue Sheng and the others left Fengping County and began their return journey.

A large cargo ship belonging to the Longevity Palace sailed down the river. Yue Sheng and the others sat in a more comfortable passenger boat close behind it, protecting the money.

Yue Sheng contemplated the wondrous state of Heaven and Man United as One. The water beneath the boat flowed of its own accord, propelling it forward.

In the quiet cabin, Jiang Wen spoke through voice transmission. "Chief, Lin Ze didn't use the Longevity Seed, so he isn't one of us. We can't easily control him. Now that we've gotten what we wanted, shouldn't we deal with him?"

They had seemed deferential to Lin Ze, but they had concealed this crucial, deadly information from him.

Beside him, Lu Lu nodded and joined the conversation.

"Exactly! His wife, concubines, and business are all in Fengping County. We could just send a Peerless Expert near the end of his lifespan. I think my great-grandfather is almost dead anyway. We can kidnap Lin Ze's family, and he'll have no choice but to obey."

If Lin Ze were brought to heel, she wouldn't have to repay the IOU for two hundred thousand taels. She could even ask him for more money.

"You two want to die? Don't drag me down with you."

Ning Heng joined the conversation, but the first thing he did was scold them.

Seeing the discontent on their faces, Ning Heng said coldly,

"Lin Ze only left the mountain a few months ago. He acquired his businesses, wife, and concubines during those few months. Do you really think those things matter that much to him? If you provoke him but fail to capture him, who do you think he'll go after for revenge?"

"Most importantly, he's still young, with a long life ahead of him."

"If things go well, we might be able to hide our identities and lie low for the rest of our lives. If they don't, he'll kill us on the spot."

Yue Sheng hadn't paid any attention to them from beginning to end.

He had already seen all of this clearly.

For hundreds or thousands of years, why had no one chosen to make a Peerless Expert, or even a Heavenly Man expert, their mortal enemy by killing their loved ones when they had other options?

It was because everyone had something to lose.

If you flipped the table, did you think the other person wouldn't flip it too?

The strongest were those with nothing left to lose.

If you took away everything someone cared about, they would enter an invincible state, without any ties holding them back.

Unless you could kill them with greater force, you had no way to restrain them. Until then, they could take revenge on everything you cared about, making you suffer the same pain they did.

That was exactly their situation now. They were completely helpless against Lin Ze himself.

"Hm?"

Just then, Yue Sheng suddenly felt a sharp pain between his brows.

A powerful sense of danger surged through him.

He instinctively used his movement technique, smashed through the cabin, and appeared several hundred meters away, standing on the river.

A thunderous explosion rang out.

A wave of heat swept over him. Yue Sheng turned to look and saw that the passenger boat he had been on had been blown to smithereens. Only a few mangled limbs and pieces of the vessel floated on the river, burning fiercely in the flames.

At some point, Lin Ze had appeared on the riverbank.

Behind him floated a heavy cannon, its black muzzle now trained on the passenger boat.

Judging by their auras, of the three Peerless Experts he had brought with him, one was dead, one was on the verge of death, and one was gravely wounded.

If they hadn't been the only ones aboard the passenger boat, they would probably all have died as well.