A deal

"You!" Seeing that Xiao Yan had no intention of letting her leave, Ye Xiaolian was clearly bewildered. She could not help asking, "You've already got what you wanted. What more do you want?"

"Have you misunderstood something? This map of yours, which doesn't even tell us where the place is, wasn't my goal. It's merely my payment for dealing with those fellows from the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect for you. We haven't settled our own account yet." Xiao Yan smiled as he toyed with the map dagger he had just confiscated.

"What else do you want?" Ye Xiaolian hurriedly clutched her clothes and quietly backed away. She was already close to the entrance and needed only a few more steps to escape the tent, but just then, a mass of purple-black flames suddenly flared at the entrance, cutting off her retreat.

Xiao Yan casually put the dagger away and said slowly, "I'd like to make a deal with you."

"I have nothing worth making a deal with you over." Ye Xiaolian rejected him outright. She knew perfectly well that cooperating with someone like Xiao Yan was no different from bargaining with a tiger for its skin. Even if she achieved her goal, she would inevitably have to pay an enormous price in the end.

"You're a member of the Chu Yun Empire's Imperial Family, aren't you?" Xiao Yan smiled slightly. "And quite a highly placed one at that. If I'm not mistaken, you should be a princess, right?"

"So what if I am?" Ye Xiaolian snorted. Among the questions Xiao Yan had asked during his interrogation were questions about her background, yet this fellow claimed he had guessed it. He really was utterly shameless...

"If I remember correctly, things haven't been going very well for your Chu Yun Imperial Family lately, have they?" Xiao Yan said with a broad smile. "Especially for your father. Though he's the ruler of an empire, he has to obey the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect in everything. An emperor in name, a puppet in truth. Being an emperor like that must be terribly stifling..."

At Xiao Yan's mocking words, Ye Xiaolian's expression dimmed. His words were ugly, but they were the truth. Everyone in the Chu Yun Empire knew that their so-called Imperial Family had long since existed in name alone. Even the succession of emperors was controlled by the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect, let alone anything else.

"Can you change that?" Ye Xiaolian took a deep breath and asked, "Can you get rid of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect?"

"Getting rid of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect isn't difficult for me, but that would be rather boring." Xiao Yan chuckled. "Besides, if I really did that, I'd only be treating the symptoms, not the root. Your Imperial Family would still have no power to protect itself. Then any sect could become a second Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect."

"You mean..."

"Don't you want to become the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect yourselves?" Staring into Ye Xiaolian's eyes, Xiao Yan cast out his real bait.

Though she knew full well that she should not believe this fellow's honeyed words, Ye Xiaolian's heart still gave an involuntary thump when she heard what Xiao Yan said. If their Imperial Family truly possessed power like the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect's, they would never have to live with their hearts in their mouths again, and no one within the Chu Yun Empire would dare challenge their authority!

"You can make us as powerful as the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect?" Ye Xiaolian could not help asking.

"I think that, for a high-level Alchemist, building up one faction is much easier than destroying another." Xiao Yan flicked his fingers lightly, and a wisp of purple-black flame immediately appeared at his fingertips.

The purple-black flame startled Ye Xiaolian. Though her strength was meager, she could sense that this flame was far stronger than those of the Alchemists retained by their Imperial Family. In other words, this fellow's alchemy rank could very well far surpass that of the Chu Yun Imperial Family's Alchemists.

Ye Xiaolian had guessed correctly on that point. In fact, Xiao Yan's current attainments as an Alchemist were enough for him to reign supreme throughout the Chu Yun Empire. After all, Poison Masters were still the dominant profession there. Though Alchemists held lofty status, they were far too rare, and high-level Alchemists were rarer still. The highest-ranked Alchemists in the entire Chu Yun Empire were only fifth rank, clearly falling well short of those in the Jia Ma Empire.

With Xiao Yan's current ability, refining ordinary fifth-grade pills was already no challenge. If he could obtain a better Medicine Cauldron, he could even attempt to refine sixth-grade pills. With such ability, calling him the Chu Yun Empire's foremost Alchemist would be no exaggeration. If he truly threw his full support behind a faction, its rise would be inevitable.

Of course, there was absolutely no chance he would do so without slipping in a few tricks.

"Then what is this deal you mentioned? What do you want?" Once her initial excitement passed, Ye Xiaolian quickly calmed down. She knew that if Xiao Yan's words were true, the Chu Yun Imperial Family really did have a chance to rise. But Xiao Yan was clearly not someone who would help others for free, and his fee would certainly be steep.

"My deal is simple. I'll help your Chu Yun Imperial Family rise, and in return, you must obey my commands unconditionally," Xiao Yan said with a smile.

"How does that make you any different from a second Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect?" Ye Xiaolian sneered. This fellow had finally shown his fox's tail. All he wanted was to control the Chu Yun Imperial Family, just like the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect.

"Of course there's a difference. I have no interest whatsoever in your imperial power." Xiao Yan shook his head. "You can still maintain the Imperial Family's supreme authority within the Chu Yun Empire. You'll merely need to handle a few things for me whenever I ask you to. I won't interfere in anything else."

"...Is everything you're saying true?" After hearing Xiao Yan's explanation, Ye Xiaolian could not help feeling tempted. Even though she knew that the fellow before her was certainly no saint, the benefits he could bring the Chu Yun Empire were unprecedented. If he truly kept his word, there would be nothing wrong with having the Chu Yun Empire lend him a hand.

"My greatest virtue is that I never lie." The Demon Fury Sage, a habitual liar, adopted an utterly sincere manner. "If I deceive you, I'll spell my name, Yan Xiao, backward. How's that?"

It had to be said that Xiao Yan's harmless appearance was far too deceptive. Thus, even though she had witnessed his brutality firsthand and had even been personally threatened by him, she still chose to believe him.

"I agree, but I have one more condition." Ye Xiaolian gritted her teeth, then spoke earnestly.

"What condition?" Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows slightly and asked.

"I want to become the empress of the Chu Yun Empire." Ye Xiaolian looked straight at Xiao Yan. "If you can help me achieve that, the Chu Yun Empire will be yours to command from then on."

"Interesting. I never imagined a little girl like you would have such ambition. You really can't judge a person by their appearance." Xiao Yan smiled slightly. "All right. If you want to be empress, then I'll make you empress. It makes no difference to me anyway."