The grand administrative chamber of the City Lord's mansion, a sprawling room constructed entirely from polished white jade and heavy deep-sea ironwood, was designed to project absolute authority. For centuries, it had served as the rigid, unyielding heart of Abyssal Pearl City, the very place where Hai Kuo had dictated the economic flow of the surrounding oceans and ordered the executions of rival sect elders.
Today, the heavy, imposing ironwood desk in the center of the room was completely cleared of its usual orderly stacks of bamboo scrolls and jade ledger slips. Instead, those priceless records of commerce were scattered haphazardly across the stone floorboards, pushed aside by the sheer, violent physical momentum of the two bodies currently occupying the massive desk.
Lin Wanyue, the newly ascended City Lord and a formidable Late Stage Core Formation expert, was bent forcefully backward over the polished dark wood.
