"The meeting ends here. Yaozhu, you stay behind. I'll explain the details about working with the Dragon Phoenix Hall." Qian Gu Dongfeng said.
The others all left, and only Qian Gu Dongfeng and Leng Yaozhu remained in the conference room.
"Is there something you want to instruct me about?" Leng Yaozhu asked.
"When you negotiate with them, remember to emphasize these points…" Qian Gu Dongfeng laid out the negotiation keynotes.
After giving his instructions, Qian Gu Dongfeng returned to his office, heavy-hearted. Sitting down in his chair, he opened the video that had been sent to him.
The footage was exactly what had been captured earlier inside the Spirit Ascension Platform: Yunze's phoenix devouring the magma lord's flames.
Qian Gu Dongfeng replayed the scene several times. After watching, he fell into silence.
"What terrifying control of fire… he was able to forcibly absorb the magma lord's flame energy." Qian Gu Dongfeng could see the essence of what happened.
"Six years old, at the Soul Elder stage, and he even successfully absorbed an Unyielding Spirit…" All of this assaulted Qian Gu Dongfeng's nerves.
He sat dazed in his chair for several minutes. Then, with a twist of his hand, the office door locked automatically.
At the same time, his spiritual power spread out over the whole room, ensuring there was no one spying. Only then did he dial the soul communication line.
"What is it?" A voice answered impatiently, followed by a sharp scream and faint splattering of blood.
Hearing that, Qian Gu Dongfeng frowned. He realized the person must have been in the middle of killing someone, and his call had ruined their mood. Hence the displeasure.
"Yunze from the Dragon Phoenix Hall is already at Soul Elder level. He doesn't seem to be even seven years old yet," Qian Gu Dongfeng said.
"Not even seven years old… and already Soul Elder? That powerful?" The voice on the other end sounded surprised— and faintly… excited.
"He is indeed powerful. At this rate of growth, he could become a Titled Douluo before he's twenty. Reaching the Extreme Douluo stage by thirty isn't impossible."
Qian Gu Dongfeng said this without exaggeration. Yunze's talent truly gave him a sense of crisis.
"That's only if he doesn't die young. If he happens to run into an 'accident' and dies suddenly, then what 'Extreme Douluo' are you talking about?" The voice on the other end grew icy.
"Let's hope he does die young then. If you need help, call me. I can provide you some… assistance." Qian Gu Dongfeng said meaningfully.
"You old fox. You want Yunze dead, but you're trying to use our hands to do it. You sure play this 'borrow the knife to kill' game well."
Qian Gu Dongfeng chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't call it that. His death would benefit both of us."
"Besides, we've helped you plenty. As for the location of that item, I've already uncovered it. I'm working on smoothing things out right now."
"Really?" The voice on the other end instantly grew excited—clearly very concerned about this matter.
"Perhaps." Qian Gu Dongfeng didn't give a definite answer. With that, he hung up.
In a remote town with only a hundred households, blood flowed like a river. The stench of blood filled the air.
A man stood atop a corpse, holding his communicator. After a few unanswered greetings, he scowled.
"That old bastard dared to hang up on me?" His first impulse was to crush the communicator, but after a moment's squeeze, he released it. He hadn't lost all reason.
"Hmph. When you're no longer useful, I'll show you what happens."
"Yunze, Dragon Phoenix Hall… we of the Holy Spirit Sect don't kill just anyone— but if we decide to kill, no one escapes." The man licked the blood at the corner of his mouth, his gaze cruel.
Mingdu, inside a finely decorated room in the local Spirit Pagoda branch. Gu Yue Na was elegantly eating, several plates beside her already empty.
Yunze sat across from her, finished with his meal. Ditian sat nearby; upon receiving the news, he had come here immediately.
The room contained only the three of them, ensuring privacy.
Knock knock…
"Come in." Yunze, Gu Yue Na, and Ditian all looked at the door.
The branch master Meng Yang entered, carrying a soul communicator. He walked forward and handed it to Yunze.
"Vice Tower Master Leng Yaozhu is calling."
Yunze took the phone and greeted politely, "Hello."
After passing over the phone, Wei Yang left the room, clearly not intending to eavesdrop.
Gu Yue Na put down her chopsticks, dabbed her lips with a napkin, and slid her chair over to Yunze's side to listen in.
Truthfully, she didn't need to sit so close. Yunze had already put the call on speaker; she could have heard from her original spot.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Leng Yaozhu got straight to the point, stressing the seriousness of the matter and especially emphasizing how important the Unyielding Spirit was to the Spirit Pagoda .
Yunze listened quietly. He understood clearly: she was deliberately exaggerating the situation to wring more benefits out of him.
"Although the Unyielding Spirit is vital to us, considering your relationship with Nana, I did intervene on your behalf," she said earnestly.
"The Tower Master, for my sake, made a huge concession—not only waiving your enormous compensation fine, but also agreeing to form a long-term partnership with Dragon Phoenix Hall."
"To demonstrate our sincerity, we plan to purchase fifty Supreme Foundation Establishment Pills and Supreme Advancement Pills, as well as five One-Year Longevity Pills."
"If you also have any Hundred-Year Longevity Pills, we'd be interested in buying those too." Leng Yaozhu's words sounded sincere, as if she had gone out of her way to help Yunze.
Yunze's expression remained calm. He knew the Spirit Pagoda wasn't this generous. They clearly had ulterior motives.
Still, he played along. "Thank you, Vice Tower Master Leng. To show my gratitude for your mediation, I'll give you a ten percent discount."
The Tower's order was worth tens of billions. A ten percent discount would save them several billion—no small amount.
Leng Yaozhu was delighted, smiling. "That's wonderful."
"However, you should still explain this to Vice Hall Master Yun Tian, otherwise others might say we tricked you into giving us that discount."
"That won't be an issue," Yunze replied. Then he asked, "By the way, Vice Tower Master Leng, this long-term cooperation you mentioned—what exactly do you mean?"
"Here's the idea: we see enormous potential in Dragon Phoenix Hall's pill business. We're very optimistic about it. So, we want to invest."
"As for the specific cooperation model, I'd better discuss that with Vice Hall Master Yun Tian. Hand him the phone."
Clearly, she felt this wasn't a matter to negotiate with a child. No matter that Yunze was the young hall master—he was far too young to make such big decisions.
Yunze handed the phone to Ditian.
"This is Yun Tian," Ditian said. On the other side, Leng Yaozhu greeted him briefly before getting to the point.
"How do you propose we cooperate?" Ditian asked bluntly after hearing her intention.
Leng Yaozhu smiled faintly. "The cooperation is simple. You provide the pill formulas and techniques, and we of the Spirit Pagoda will handle the promotion and sales."