Chapter 916: New Saint Emperor of the Holy Domain
Dongfang Xiu and Qin Wushang, who had been hiding in the most remote corner, suddenly heard Yun Che's words and were so startled they almost jumped up together.
What did the Black Moon Merchant Guild represent?
Even if you added up the wealth of all six kingdoms of Tian Xuan except the Shenhuang Kingdom, it would still absolutely not match the Black Moon Merchant Guild. The guild's status in the Tian Xuan Continent and its historical foundations were far beyond comparison.
What did thirty percent of the Black Moon Merchant Guild's annual revenue mean... It was an astronomical figure that even Dongfang Xiu and Qin Wushang couldn't imagine.
Moreover, Yun Che had said "tribute"—pure offerings. The Cangfeng Imperial Clan didn't need to provide any conditions or labor, not even participating in management. They would receive it completely for free! And it was as much as thirty percent... This was not just skinning the Black Moon Merchant Guild alive; it was chopping off flesh, and every year at that.
This was absolutely the most ruthless empty-handed trick in the history of the Tian Xuan Continent.
If the Cangfeng Kingdom could obtain such a massive amount of resource wealth every year, its national power would soar at an incredible pace.
"This... this..." The Black Moon Merchant Guild represented the life's work of Zi Ji; it was as important to him as his own life. At the same time, it was the lifeline supporting the Supreme Sea Palace. Having thirty percent stripped away every year was undoubtedly like cutting a chunk out of his heart, and also like severing thirty percent of the Supreme Sea Palace's lifeline.
"Palace Master Yun, can... can we perhaps negotiate this? How about twenty percent? Twenty percent, how about it?" Zi Ji's face was full of pain, whether from the ravages of the demon poison or from having to part with the thing he treasured most in his life. And as a businessman, he almost instinctively tried to reduce the loss.
"Oh... it seems Mr. Zi is not satisfied with this deal." Yun Che laughed lowly. "Very well, then. I'll make a slight concession. From now on... hand over forty percent!!"
"Wh... what?" Zi Ji's whole body jolted.
Dongfang Xiu and Qin Wushang also trembled all over.
"Oh? Could it be that Mr. Zi is still dissatisfied?" Yun Che smiled slightly.
"No... n-no, no!" Zi Ji waved his hands in panic. "Forty percent, then forty percent!"
Zi Ji's heart was bleeding, and he hated himself for his first instinct being to haggle... actually trying to haggle with Yun Che!
"Very good." Yun Che nodded with satisfaction. "It's only forty percent, not seventy or eighty percent. I, Yun Che, still can't bring myself to be the kind of person who takes advantage of a situation to make exorbitant demands. Since the words have been spoken, let it be."
Zi Ji: "!~@#$%^..." (Mmp)
As Yun Che finished speaking, he extended his left hand, and an emerald purification light enveloped all those in the Sea Palace who were afflicted with demon poison. In just a few breaths, all the demon poison was completely cleansed.
The pain of corrosion throughout their bodies immediately eased significantly, then gradually disappeared. However, having been eroded by the demon poison for so long, it would still take them considerable time to fully recover.
"Thank you, Palace Master Yun, for saving us." The several venerables leading the Supreme Sea Palace stood up and bowed. Although they had paid a great price, at least they had escaped the nightmare of pain and death, and the Sea Palace had been preserved as well.
Moreover, unlike Zi Ji, they did not have a very clear or intuitive understanding of what forty percent of the Black Moon Merchant Guild's annual revenue meant.
"This Sea Palace has suffered a great calamity and has been quite severely damaged," Yun Che said blandly. "If you wish to continue staying here on this vast ocean, take your time repairing it. If not... in the southern Slay Moon Demon Cave, the source of black energy has already disappeared. That protective barrier could have been removed long ago. There is no need for you to continue guarding it."
The venerables exchanged glances, and the lead Zi venerable raised his hand and said, "This matter... thank you, Palace Master Yun, for informing us."
Zi Ji, now free of the demon poison, took several heavy breaths. He stood up, holding the dying Qu Fengyi in his arms, his expression desolate: "Palace Master Yun, I know I have no face to ask for your forgiveness for the Sea Emperor's wrongs, but she... her fate is nearly exhausted, and there is no saving her. Please allow me to take my leave temporarily and bring her to a quiet place..."
At this moment, Qu Fengyi curled up in Zi Ji's arms, her body covered in blood, her breath as faint as a thread. Gone was her usual intimidating presence and the aura that made people's hearts tremble; she almost no longer had any trace of profound energy...
Xuanyuan Wentian's vicious demonic aura had almost completely crippled Qu Fengyi's profound veins.
This was perhaps the weakest and most helpless moment of Qu Fengyi's life... But at least at this moment, there was a man holding her tightly in his arms, never letting go for a single moment, even as he himself suffered greatly from the demon poison.
Even the Sea Palace's strong ones only now clearly remembered that they were still a married couple.
Zi Ji held Qu Fengyi, his face stiff, and walked away slowly, his back exuding an indescribable desolation. Yun Che turned around, and in his mind flashed the memory of the despair he felt when he held Ling'er back then. He finally took a deep breath and said, "If I could save her, what would you trade with me?"
Zi Ji's footsteps stopped, then suddenly froze. Abruptly, he spun around and heavily knelt before Yun Che, his voice trembling violently: "My life... my life! As long as you are willing to save her, no matter what... my old life... everything I have... I will give you whatever you ask... I beg... I beg Palace Master Yun to show mercy, for your great kindness and virtue, I, Zi Ji, cannot repay in this life; in the next life, I am willing to be your servant forever... I beg Palace Master Yun to grant mercy and save her..."
In his arms, Qu Fengyi's lips moved slightly, and two tear streaks slowly trailed down from the corners of her eyes.
"..." Yun Che turned his face away and took a deep breath. Back then, if there had been someone who said they could save Ling'er, he too would have been willing to kneel before them, offering everything he had in exchange, begging...
He loathed Qu Fengyi, but Zi Ji's kneeling struck a deep chord in the softest part of his heart. He stepped forward, reached out his hand, and said calmly, "Senior Zi, please rise. After all, I am just a junior; I cannot accept such a grand bow from you... Put her down. I will save her."
Zi Ji opened his mouth, then quickly swallowed the words that were about to come out. Trembling and carefully, he laid Qu Fengyi on the ground. Yun Che crouched down and placed his palm over the fatal wound on her chest. Focusing his mind, a dense and pure breath of heaven and earth gathered and swirled in his hand, then was all channeled into Qu Fengyi's body.
Soon, all the remaining demonic aura within her was dispersed, and her nearly depleted life force began to recover rapidly.
And Zi Ji was the one who felt this most acutely. His eyes trembled more and more violently, his hands gripping the ground tightly. Even as he was stirred to the extreme, he dared not make a single sound.
A full half-hour passed. Yun Che moved his palm away from Qu Fengyi's chest and let out a slight breath. Qu Fengyi had fallen into a deep sleep, but her complexion had clearly gained a touch of rosiness.
"She is out of immediate danger for now," Yun Che said very calmly. "With the foundations of your Sea Palace, the rest no longer requires me. However, her profound veins have suffered severe damage. Even if she fully recovers, her profound strength will likely drop below the Overlord Xuan realm, and even if she continues to cultivate, her progress will be several times slower than before."
Feeling how much smoother and more stable Qu Fengyi's aura was compared to before, Zi Ji raised his hands and gave a deep bow: "Thank..."
"You don't need to thank me, nor do I need anything from you." Yun Che turned around and said, "I saved her not for you, nor for her, but for myself. You should now take her to a place suitable for quiet recuperation."
Zi Ji picked up Qu Fengyi and spoke deeply to Yun Che's back: "Palace Master Yun, this great kindness, I, Zi Ji... will never forget it in this life!"
With that, he did not linger and hurried away with Qu Fengyi in his arms. If he had still harbored resentment against Yun Che's ruthlessness and extortionate demands earlier, now he felt nothing but endless gratitude.
All the members of the Supreme Sea Palace felt the same.
"He gave a heavy blow, and immediately followed it with a great favor... Yun Che is not only powerful in profound strength, but also knows how to control people's hearts." Dongfang Xiu sighed deeply. But he did not know that Yun Che's reason for saving Qu Fengyi was merely to slightly fill a void in his heart, not at all to manipulate people.
The people of the Supreme Sea Palace were all safe, and Yun Che had even mercifully saved Qu Fengyi, who had twice tried to harm him. Meanwhile, the Huangji Sacred Domain was still trapped in the nightmare of demon poison. After Zi Ji left, they turned their eager and hopeful gazes to Yun Che, pleading earnestly: "Palace Master Yun, please also show mercy and detoxify us."
Yun Che turned around and said coldly, "The Supreme Sea Palace had no reason for me to detoxify them for free, and neither do you, Huangji Sacred Domain. As you just saw, if you want me to detoxify you, produce sufficient conditions. At the very least, something that matches the value of so many of your lives."
Jiu Tan Zhenren said hoarsely: "If Palace Master Yun ever has need of our Holy Domain in the future... we will certainly... never refuse..."
"There's no need for that." Yun Che rejected without a second thought. "Whatever the Holy Domain can do, I can definitely do. What I cannot do, you certainly cannot do either. I really can't think of any future situation where I would have to ask for your help."
"Cough, cough..." Huangji Wuyu moved his body forward, but even such a simple action caused him to cough up two large mouthfuls of blood. He said weakly: "I, Huangji Wuyu, know I have no face to face you, and am not qualified to beg anything from you. If it can dispel Palace Master Yun's anger, I am willing to end myself right now, only asking Palace Master Yun to show leniency to my Holy Domain..."
"Heh, whether you want to kill yourself is your own business. Please go ahead." Yun Che turned his face away indifferently. "As for showing leniency, I completely don't understand. The demon poison you all contracted came from Xuanyuan Wentian; it has nothing to do with me. Yet you speak as if I were the one who inflicted it."
"Brother-in-law," Xia Yuanba came over and also pleaded, "Although they have done many wrong things, especially to you, things that are hard to forgive, but after all... after all... they are all, like Master, very righteous people. At least I have never seen them commit evil deeds. The Saint Emperor's actions regarding the Lunhui Jing... that is the only, and the most wrong, thing I have ever seen him do..."
"Enough, Yuanba." Yun Che patted his shoulder and said, "Senior Gu Cang is your master, so it's only natural for me to save him. But these people, although they are from the same Holy Domain, are neither your master nor your disciples. Moreover, they nearly forced me into a dead end before. I have no obligation to save them."
"But... but..." Xia Yuanba became anxious, not knowing what to say.
At this moment, Huangji Wuyu's eyes suddenly moved. Summoning all his strength, he struggled to sit up and waved to Xia Yuanba: "Yuanba, come here."
Xia Yuanba obeyed and walked over. As soon as he approached, Huangji Wuyu's expression turned stern, and he said solemnly: "Holy Domain disciple Xia Yuanba, kneel and receive the order!"
"Saint Emperor." Xia Yuanba was stunned and quickly knelt, not knowing what was happening.
Everyone in the Holy Domain looked over, their eyes trembling. In an instant, they realized what was coming.
Huangji Wuyu picked up the Hunyuan Heaven Ruler with his left hand and took out a golden token with his right, an unusually ancient aura emanating from the golden token. He presented the Hunyuan Heaven Ruler and the golden token before Xia Yuanba, enduring the corrosion of the demon poison, and said with utmost gravity: "Huangji Wuyu, the thirteenth generation Saint Emperor of the Huangji Sacred Domain, hereby passes the Saint Emperor Seal and the Hunyuan Heaven Ruler to the Holy Domain disciple Xia Yuanba. From this day forth, Xia Yuanba shall be the fourteenth generation Saint Emperor of our Huangji Sacred Domain."
"Yuanba, accept the seal and ruler!"
Xia Yuanba's mouth fell wide open, his whole person completely dumbfounded: "I..."
Yun Che slapped Xia Yuanba on the back: "If you're told to accept, then accept!"
Xia Yuanba stumbled forward and instinctively caught the Hunyuan Heaven Ruler and the Saint Emperor Seal presented before him. In that instant, everyone in the Huangji Sacred Domain bowed deeply, including his master Gu Cang Zhenren, who also prostrated himself, all shouting in unison:
"Greetings, Saint Emperor!"