After bluffing Salas and settling the split for the protection fees going forward, Nan Feng carried Tang Yuehua out of Salas's office area and back to his elder reception room.
"Five hundred thousand a year in steady income... Not enough!"
Nan Feng was far from satisfied with that amount.
Money was always in circulation. When people said the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect controlled nearly half the wealth on the continent, they didn't mean it had that much cash on hand. Rather, nearly half of the continent's economy was under its control!
Damn! That was impressive!
If not for the flaw in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's Martial Soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect should have been the one with the greatest hope of unifying Douluo Continent—not Star Luo, and not Spirit Hall!
The jianghu wasn't about fighting and killing. It was all about human relationships and social conventions!
Whether Soul Masters or ordinary people, everyone had to make a living. Violence could never last, and excessive violence was tantamount to cutting off your own descendants. That was why Qian Daoliu had never dared to fully exercise the initiative his Peerless Douluo rank of ninety-nine gave him. This was what he feared.
It would have been easy for Qian Daoliu to rely on his strength to kill until nobody dared to speak. But what about afterward?
After becoming an Honorary Elder of Spirit Hall, he had been able to look into some of its history thanks to Golden Crocodile's help.
One point was crucial: not every Grand Priest had reached level ninety-nine!
Divine trials might let you cheat the system, but you had to pass them to get the rewards!
And divine trials were dangerous. It wasn't impossible to die while taking one.
Qian Daoliu was the most outstanding Grand Priest Spirit Hall had had in a thousand years. If he had truly wanted to use underhanded tactics, he could have secretly wiped out the top fighters of all the major sects and consolidated Spirit Hall's authority in the Spirit Master World. Without those powerful Soul Master factions interfering, Spirit Hall could have forced its way into the Two Great Empires, demanded to be enshrined as their state religion, and then gradually taken control. It was entirely feasible.
The problem was that this approach carried a risk.
Even a century-old grudge could still be avenged!
Just look at the Clear Sky Sect after losing Tang Chen, and it was easy to understand Qian Daoliu's concerns.
He really did have the ability to speedrun it, but there were risks to speedrunning.
What if the Qian family's descendants turned out to be useless?
What if, during the reign of one such useless descendant, a genius as talented as Tang Chen appeared?
Then Spirit Hall would be in for a world of pain.
One person's strength could bring only temporary glory. Only the strength of an organization could sustain that glory for longer.
Spirit Hall had grown as powerful as it was not because its Grand Priests were so mighty, but because it had been winning over other Soul Masters from the very beginning.
Violence was a useful tool, but you couldn't just go around using it recklessly.
"Pavilion Master Yuehua, are you hungry?" Nan Feng asked.
Little Rabbit Tang Yuehua lay sprawled across the table, dazed, and didn't respond.
Seeing that, Nan Feng patted Little Rabbit's head. A flash of light passed, and Tang Yuehua returned to human form.
Tang Yuehua was now in exactly the same position the rabbit had been in, sprawled across the table.
"Not bad," Nan Feng complimented her figure.
A grown woman's figure was what he wanted. A little kid like Hu Liena had no appeal at all. Cuteness couldn't hold a candle to sexiness.
Tang Yuehua suddenly snapped back to her senses and scrambled off the table. Usually cool and polite, she truly wanted to curse him out right then.
Bastard!!
Although she had been turned into a rabbit, all her senses had remained normal!
This guy had petted her head, then her back, and even reached his hand into her arms!!
"If you want to curse me out, just do it. You don't have to hold back," Nan Feng said.
"It's not worth hurting yourself by bottling it up."
"Beast!" Tang Yuehua turned away in shame and anger, facing away from Nan Feng.
"Hmm." Nan Feng shook his head.
A proper young lady really was a proper young lady. Even her insults were so mild they barely had any bite.
Nothing like the shrews he'd seen before.
If you put their audio online, they'd probably bleep from start to finish!
"Are you hungry?" Nan Feng asked again.
"If you are, let's go eat together. If you aren't..."
"You're taking me out to eat. I'm hungry."
Tang Yuehua had just been about to refuse when she froze. "I'm taking you?"
Seriously, where did he get the nerve?!
"What, you don't want to?" Nan Feng raised an eyebrow.
Tang Yuehua's expression stiffened. "I do!"
Through gritted teeth!
"Good." Nan Feng stood up and headed straight for the door.
"You saw for yourself just now, I'm not the kind of person who likes forcing people. If you don't want to, just say so."
"Really?"
"You can try."
"..." Tang Yuehua.
You shameless bastard!!
Seven Treasure Pavilion.
As the name suggested, this was an establishment owned by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. It was also the most luxurious place to dine in Heaven Dou City.
"How does the food here taste?" Nan Feng asked, following behind Tang Yuehua.
"I'm not sure. It should be good," Tang Yuehua replied without turning around.
"When Moonlight Pavilion had just been built, Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect gave me a VIP card for this place. But I've never been here."
"A VIP card?" Nan Feng raised an eyebrow.
"What does it do?"
Tang Yuehua thought for a moment. "I think you get a discount, along with some other perks. I'm not sure. I've never used it."
As they spoke, a pretty woman who seemed to be the manager came over to them.
"Pavilion Master Yuehua, forgive us for not welcoming you sooner," the manager said with a smile.
"Please, follow me."
Tang Yuehua nodded without saying much and followed her.
Having never seen the world, Nan Feng, a country bumpkin, naturally didn't say much either.
Before long, the manager led them to an upscale private room upstairs.
"Please wait a moment." The manager gestured, and several maids who had somehow followed her into the room began serving tea and water.
Tang Yuehua waved her hand, and the manager led the maids out of the room.
"Aren't we going to order?" Nan Feng asked.
"I already did." Tang Yuehua didn't really want to talk to him.
"When?" Nan Feng asked, puzzled.
Tang Yuehua lifted her tea and took a small sip. "Just now."
Seeing that Tang Yuehua didn't want to talk, Nan Feng stopped asking questions. He picked up his tea and tried a sip. "Hmm? This tea tastes... damn good!"
Tang Yuehua's eye twitched slightly. "A pot of this tea would sell for ten Gold Soul Coins outside."
"Ten Gold Soul Coins?" Nan Feng stared at her in disbelief.
A pot of this tea cost as much as Yu Xiaogang's monthly allowance!
"How much would a meal cost?" Nan Feng asked curiously.
"That depends on the level. We're at the highest level here, so a meal starts at... one thousand," Tang Yuehua said.
"But this place isn't meant for dining."
"Then is it for underground deals?" Nan Feng asked.
"More or less." Tang Yuehua automatically topped up Nan Feng's tea.
"Thanks." Nan Feng nodded.
Tang Yuehua's eye twitched.
The bastard was surprisingly polite.
"This place is for doing business," Tang Yuehua said.
"Deals between the Eight Great Families and the major Soul Master factions in the Heaven Dou Empire are usually negotiated here."
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect guarantees them, so nobody dares to renege, and everyone feels secure."
"So the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has a lot of credibility?" Nan Feng said.
Tang Yuehua nodded. "In business, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has more credibility than the Eight Great Families and the Two Great Empires."
"What about Spirit Hall?" Nan Feng asked.
Tang Yuehua glanced at him, puzzled. "You must not know much about Spirit Hall if you can even ask that."
"What do you mean?" Nan Feng asked, confused.
"Spirit Hall has practically no credibility in business," Tang Yuehua said.
"For example, if this pot of tea has a certain price and profit split, then when you trade with other factions, the deal goes exactly as written in the contract. Both sides benefit, and the arrangement can last."
"But if you're dealing with Spirit Hall, what you agree on is one thing, what actually happens is another, and when it comes time to settle the accounts, it's something else entirely."
Nan Feng's eye twitched. "They're that crooked?"
Tang Yuehua gave him a strange look. "You really didn't know?"
Spirit Hall's domineering ways were common knowledge, weren't they?
Before you continue