Knowing there was no point in staying any longer, Azure Owl rose and cupped his hands toward Nian.
"Then I apologize for the intrusion, Lord Nian. I shall take my leave."
With that, he left the tavern without looking back.
Watching Azure Owl's retreating figure, Nian could not help curling his lips into a cold smile. Though he was not the first Nian, as a Great Demon of the Heaven Peering realm, he knew perfectly well that as long as either the Demon Sage or the Great Sage remained, the Demon Dynasty's order could not be overturned.
Even if the Great Sage did not emerge from seclusion, once Humankind's position as the leading race of heaven and earth was established, the Demon Sage's confinement would end. If the Demon Sage then chose to settle accounts with the great clans that had stabbed the Demon Dynasty in the back at this critical juncture, their foundations already severed by the Heavenly Dao, they could only die-perhaps even have both body and soul annihilated. By then, however, the Demon Race might have lost even its reserves, left to eke out an existence under the Demon Sage's protection.
At that thought, Nian once again recalled that figure clad in white, the figure who intended to defy heaven and change his fate.
The Southern Capital Prefect's Residence
Although his objective for the trip had fallen through, Azure Owl was not annoyed. As the true ruler of the Southern Continent, he possessed considerable composure.
Seated in the seat of honor, Azure Owl kept his eyes closed and tapped his fingers rhythmically against the armrest, seemingly pondering something.
Before long, the steward of the Governor's Residence came before Azure Owl and asked quietly,
"Governor, it is time to issue the salaries."
Azure Owl did not open