Treat Me to a Meal

After hoodwinking Salas and finalizing the profit-sharing for the protection fees, Nan Feng carried Tang Yuehua out of Salas's office area and returned to his own Elder reception area.

"Five hundred thousand in stable annual income... not enough!"

Nan Feng was quite dissatisfied with this amount of capital.

Money is meant to be in circulation. The so-called claim that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect controlled nearly half the wealth of the entire continent didn't mean they had that much cash on hand; it meant that nearly half of the continent's economy was held in the hands of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!

Damn! That's impressive!

If not for the inherent flaw in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul, the faction most likely to unify the Douluo Continent shouldn't have been Star Luo, nor the Martial Soul Hall—it should have been the damn Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!

The world isn't just about fighting and killing; it's about human relationships and worldly wisdom!

Whether they are Spirit Masters or ordinary people, everyone has to make a living. Violence is ultimately unsustainable, and excessive violence is equivalent to cutting off one's own future. The reason Qian Daoliu had been so hesitant to exercise his subjective initiative as a Level 99 Peerless Douluo was precisely because of this fear.

It would be simple for Qian Daoliu to rely on his own strength to kill until no one dared to speak, but what about after that?

After being appointed as an Honorary Elder of the Martial Soul Hall, he had been able to access some of the Martial Soul Hall's past records through the solicitation of Golden Crocodile.

One point among them was crucial: not every Grand Priest could reach Level 99!

While God Trials were essentially a cheat code, you had to actually pass the trials to receive the rewards!

Moreover, God Trials carried risks. The possibility of dying during the trials was not non-existent.

Qian Daoliu was the most outstanding Grand Priest the Martial Soul Hall had seen in a thousand years. If he really played dirty and secretly wiped out all the high-end combat power of the major sects, unifying the Martial Soul Hall's voice in the Spirit Master world, then without the interference of these major Spirit Master forces, it would be quite feasible for the Martial Soul Hall to forcibly approach the Two Great Empires, have them declare the Hall as the state religion, and then slowly take control.

The problem was that this method carried a risk.

A grudge spanning a hundred generations can still be avenged!

By looking at the Clear Sky Sect after they lost Tang Chen, one could guess Qian Daoliu's concerns.

He certainly had the ability to play a "speedrun," but speedruns carry risks.

What if the descendants of the Qian family were incompetent?

What if, during the era of that incompetent descendant, a genius with talent as peerless as Tang Chen appeared?

Then the Martial Soul Hall would be in for a world of hurt.

The strength of one person can only bring about temporary glory; only the strength of an organization can sustain brilliance for longer.

The reason the Martial Soul Hall could develop into the power it was today didn't rely on how awesome the Grand Priest was, but on the fact that they had been winning over other Spirit Masters from the very beginning.

Violence is a good thing, but it shouldn't be used recklessly.

"Miss Yuehua, are you hungry?" Nan Feng asked.

Little Rabbit Tang Yuehua lay listlessly on the table, offering no response.

Seeing this, Nan Feng patted the Little Rabbit on the head. A flash of light flickered, and Tang Yuehua transformed back into her human form.

Whatever posture the rabbit had been in on the table, that was exactly the posture Tang Yuehua was in now.

"Nice figure," Nan Feng complimented.

It had to be the figure of a grown woman. The body of a brat like Hu Liena was completely uninteresting; cuteness was not worth mentioning in the face of sexiness.

Tang Yuehua snapped back to her senses, scrambling and tumbling off the table. Always cold and refined, she truly wanted to curse someone right now.

Bastard!!

Even though she had been turned into a rabbit, all of her senses had remained normal!

This guy had been stroking her head one moment, her back the next, and then reaching his hands toward her chest!!

"If you want to curse, just let it out. No need to hold it in," Nan Feng said.

"It's not worth it to hurt yourself by bottling it up."

"Beast!!" Tang Yuehua turned around in shame and anger, facing away from Nan Feng.

"Tsk." Nan Feng shook his head.

A lady of noble birth is still a lady of noble birth; even her cursing was light and airy, lacking even a shred of lethality.

Nothing like those shrews he had seen in the past.

If he were to put their audio online, it would probably be censored from start to finish!

"Are you hungry?" Nan Feng asked again.

"If you're hungry, let's go eat together. If you're not..."

"You should treat me to a meal; I'm hungry."

Tang Yuehua, who was just about to refuse, froze. "I treat you?"

No, where do you even get the nerve?!

"What, you're unwilling?" Nan Feng raised an eyebrow.

Tang Yuehua's expression stiffened. "I'm willing!"

She gritted her teeth!

"As long as you're willing." Nan Feng stood up and walked straight ahead.

"I'm sure you saw it just now; I'm a person who doesn't like to force others. If you aren't willing, just say so boldly."

"Really?"

"You can try."

"..." Tang Yuehua.

Shameless bastard!!

Seven Treasure Pavilion.

As the name suggests, this is a property under the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and is also the most high-end dining establishment in Heaven Dou City.

"How is the food here?" Nan Feng asked, following behind Tang Yuehua.

"I'm not quite sure, but it should be good," Tang Yuehua said without looking back.

"When the Moonlight Pavilion was first 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's it used for?"

Tang Yuehua recalled for a moment. "It seems it offers discounts and some other perks. I'm not entirely sure; I've never used it."

As they spoke, a beautiful older woman, who appeared to be the manager, walked toward the two of them.

"Welcome, Pavilion Master Yuehua. Please forgive our lack of a proper reception," the female manager said with a beaming smile.

"Please, follow me."

Tang Yuehua nodded without saying much and followed her.

As a country boy who hadn't seen much of the world, Nan Feng naturally didn't say much either.

Before long, the female manager led the two of them to a high-end private room upstairs.

"Please wait a moment." The female manager waved her hand, and several waitresses who had followed them at some point entered the room and began serving tea and water.

Tang Yuehua waved her hand, and the female manager left the room with the waitresses.

"Aren't we going to order?" Nan Feng asked.

"It's already been ordered." Tang Yuehua didn't really want to engage with Nan Feng.

"When?" Nan Feng asked, puzzled.

Tang Yuehua picked up her tea and took a small sip. "Just now."

Seeing that Tang Yuehua didn't want to talk, Nan Feng stopped asking. He picked up his tea and took a sip. "Hm? This tea tastes... absolutely insane!"

Tang Yuehua's eyelid twitched. "This pot of tea sells for ten Gold Soul Coins outside."

"Ten Gold Soul Coins?" Nan Feng looked dumbfounded.

This single pot of tea was worth an entire month's subsidy for Yu Xiaogang!

"Then how much does a meal cost?" Nan Feng asked curiously.

"It depends on the standard. Here, we use the highest standard. A meal... starts at a thousand," Tang Yuehua said.

"But this place isn't for eating."

"Could it be for underground dealings?" Nan Feng asked.

"Something like that." Tang Yuehua subconsciously refilled Nan Feng's cup with hot tea.

"Thanks." Nan Feng nodded.

Tang Yuehua's eyelid twitched again.

This bastard is surprisingly polite.

"This place is for business negotiations," Tang Yuehua said.

"Within the Heaven Dou Empire, transactions between the Eight Great Families and various major soul master factions are basically negotiated here."

"Because here, with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect acting as a guarantor, no one dares to welch on a deal, and everyone feels at ease."

"So, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has high credibility, then?" Nan Feng said.

Tang Yuehua nodded. "In terms of commerce, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect possesses credibility that surpasses the Eight Great Families and the two great empires."

"What about Martial Soul Hall?" Nan Feng asked.

Tang Yuehua looked at Nan Feng with confusion. "It seems you don't know much about Martial Soul Hall if you're asking a question like that."

"What do you mean?" Nan Feng asked, puzzled.

"Martial Soul Hall has almost zero credibility when it comes to business," Tang Yuehua said.

"For example, regarding how much this pot of tea sells for, how the profits are split, or how a contract is written when dealing with other factions—it's all done as agreed, with both sides benefiting and the relationship lasting long-term."

"But if you deal with Martial Soul Hall, what is discussed is one thing, what is actually done is another, and when it comes time to settle the accounts afterward, it's a completely different story."

Nan Feng's eyelid twitched. "They're that crooked?"

Tang Yuehua gave him a strange look. "You really didn't know?"

The overbearing nature of Martial Soul Hall—wasn't that common knowledge?