Zhou Xuan curled two fingers and rapped hard on the floating screen of light. Two crisp knocks interrupted the Dragon-Robed Elder's sigh.
"Alliance Leader, since that official hundred-year contract has become scrap paper, let's play a different game."
Zhou Xuan pulled over a chair and sat down, Taiyi Divine Power coiling around his fingertips.
"Business. Understand?"
The Dragon-Robed Elder's brows knotted together. So furious that he laughed, his voice made the screen buzz.
"Business? That old ghost Grand Hua has practically put a knife to your throat, and you're talking business with me? Do you think this is some mortal marketplace where haggling can save your life?"
"What else? Should I expect you to bring those dozen-odd surviving veins across worlds to help me fight Grand Hua? Would you dare come? Could you afford to?"
Zhou Xuan spread his hands, utterly relaxed.
The elder choked on his words, his face livid. For a long while, he could not force out a reply.
Zhou Xuan raised a finger and pointed at the screen.
"You know perfectly well what position you're in. Great Hua painted a grand feast in the air and duped everyone into leaving. You stayed because you didn't dare gamble, or couldn't afford to. But your immortal veins are still drying up. Every day, you're waiting to die. You need a way out even more than I do."
"I have no resources left to trade with you."
The elder gritted his teeth, his voice thick with the frustration of an aging hero past his prime.
"Who said I wanted the scrap metal in your Treasure Vault? I want your Central Province market."
Zhou Xuan leaned forward, fixing the screen with an aggressive stare.
The elder froze, unable to process it for a moment.
Zhou Xuan continued.
"You Central Province