Steward Chen was so furious that blood nearly burst from his forehead.

The Celestial Dragon Guard captain looked directly at Steward Chen and said calmly, "This young man has a point. Does your Tianya Commerce Association have any evidence?"

"This..." Steward Chen’s expression froze. ’Does this really need evidence? Any idiot can see that Ye Xuan and his companion must be responsible for my guards acting this way.’

He roared, "Do I really need evidence for this? You think my guards would do something like this on their own?"

Ye Xuan gave him a knowing smile. "You can’t be so sure. I hear the people from your Tianya Commerce Association have some rather... questionable hobbies. With mouths as foul as theirs, it wouldn’t be surprising if they had some perverted tastes, would it?"

"You..."

Steward Chen was on the verge of exploding with rage. He glared at Ye Xuan, looking like he wanted to skin him alive and eat him whole.

"Officers, those two are definitely behind this," Steward Chen said urgently to the members of the Celestial Dragon Guard.

The captain waved a hand dismissively. "I don’t know if they’re behind it or not," he said impatiently. "All I know is that we operate based on evidence. Show me proof, and I’ll arrest them on the spot. If you don’t have any, then stop wasting the Celestial Dragon Guard’s time. We’re busy people."

After speaking, the Celestial Dragon Guard captain pulled out a small notepad, scribbled a few lines, then tore off the page and handed it to Steward Chen. "Remember to stop by the Celestial Dragon Guard headquarters to pay the fine."

"What’s this? A fine?" Steward Chen stared at the slip of paper, nearly coughing up blood from the shock. His eyes widened. "Ten million Profound Coins? This is highway robbery!"

"Hmm?" The Celestial Dragon Guard captain’s gaze turned cold. "Sir, you can eat whatever you please, but you can’t just say whatever you please. Look at your guards. What kind of a mess have they made of the Imperial Capital’s streets? We don’t care about your hobbies, but there’s a time and a place for everything, isn’t there? Who’s responsible for this public disturbance?"

"Furthermore, I suggest your Tianya Commerce Association mend its ways. This is the Sky Empire, a civilized nation. Don’t bring your boorish countryside habits here."

The Celestial Dragon Guard captain finished, "The fine is due by the end of today. For each day it’s late, we’ll add a three percent compound interest penalty. Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

"Alright, nothing more to see here. Everyone, disperse, disperse now."

At the direction of the Celestial Dragon Guard, the crowd quickly scattered.

"Young Master Ye, Patriarch of the Luo family, we must resume our patrol. We’ll be on our way." The Celestial Dragon Guard captain offered Ye Xuan and Luo Min a quick salute before turning and leaving.

’A bunch of robbers.’ Watching the backs of the departing Celestial Dragon Guard, Steward Chen was so angry his heart felt like it might burst.

He shot a venomous glare at Ye Xuan and Luo Min before turning and leading his two dejected guards back into the Tianya Commerce Association headquarters.

Ye Xuan and Luo Min finally turned their attention back to the guards of the Divine Walk Commerce Association.

Before they could even speak, however, one of the guards frantically waved his hands, a look of panic on his face. "My apologies, but our Divine Walk Commerce Association’s steward isn’t here. Please, if you would, come back another time."

"We haven’t said which steward we’re here to see, have we?" Ye Xuan asked with a frown.

"It doesn’t matter which one. None of the stewards are in. Please, we’re just guards. We don’t have the authority to make these decisions. Don’t make things difficult for us."

Having witnessed Ye Xuan’s methods firsthand, the two guards were so scared a chill ran down their spines. Yet, they still didn’t dare let him and his companion inside.

Luo Min forced a smile. "Young Master Ye, you see how it is. The Divine Walk Commerce Association won’t meet with us. We should just go back."

"I don’t believe that," Ye Xuan sneered. He turned to the two guards. "Fine. Just bring out your top person in charge."

"The... the top person in charge?"

Ye Xuan’s words not only stunned the two guards, but even Luo Min was dumbfounded.

’They won’t even let us see a steward, so why would they let us meet the person in charge? Has Young Master Ye gone mad?’

As expected, the two guards looked like they were about to cry. "Sir, please, don’t make this hard for us. If our superior finds out we brought you over, we’ll be in huge trouble. Here in the Imperial Capital, no faction in the Pill business is willing to offend the Qin family."

Knowing they couldn’t stop them, the two guards blurted out the reason.

"Hmph. I heard the Divine Walk Commerce Association is one of the biggest guilds on the Dream Realm Plain, a top-tier power. So why are you taking orders from a single family? I know you’re afraid of offending the Qin family, but as a VIP of your own association, you can’t possibly deny me a meeting with your leader, can you?"

Ye Xuan didn’t bother with further argument. He simply pulled a dark-colored token from his robes and brandished it before the two guards.

"A VIP Token?!"

The two guards froze. They had never seen a VIP Token before, but they knew that such things existed within the association. And sure enough, the dark token Ye Xuan produced bore the association’s insignia.

They exchanged a glance, a silent decision passing between them.

"Sir, if you have a VIP Token, you should have said so from the start! Please, both of you, come inside and have a seat. We’ll inform the Branch Master at once."

The two guards, already looking for a way out since they couldn’t stop Ye Xuan, immediately seized the opportunity. Seeing that he had a VIP Token, they simply went with the flow and ushered the pair inside.

Although the Qin family had forbidden all the major factions from dealing with the Luo family, since their guest possessed a VIP Token, they figured the Branch Master wouldn’t blame them too harshly.

After all, the association couldn’t very well turn away one of its own VIPs just to appease the Qin family, could it?

A moment later, Ye Xuan and Luo Min were escorted to a reception hall. After they were seated, the guard excused himself and left.

Meanwhile, in another part of the building, the Branch Master of the Divine Walk Commerce Association, having received the news, was chewing the guard out mercilessly.

"Did you not hear the association’s order? We’ve already said that if anyone from the Luo family shows up, they are not to be seen under any circumstances! So why did you bring them inside?"

The Branch Master, a man in his fifties wearing a custom-made Divine Walk Commerce Association robe, spoke in a deeply resentful tone.

The guard replied, sounding wronged, "Branch Master Wu Zun, he has one of our Divine Walk Commerce Association’s VIP Tokens! And just before this, he taught a lesson to the guards from the Tianya Commerce Association."

"A VIP Token? Why don’t you use your head? The association has five tiers of VIP Tokens. Given the Luo family’s status, wouldn’t it be perfectly normal for them to have a fourth or fifth-tier token? The real problem here is the Qin family..."

"Sigh... forget it. You’ve already let them in. Where are they now? Take me to them. I just don’t know how I’m going to explain this if the Qin family finds out."

The Branch Master sighed, waving his hands in resignation.

It wasn’t that he had anything against the Luo family personally. But when doing business in the Pill trade within the Sky Empire, the Qin family was a power you absolutely could not afford to cross.

For the past few years, the Divine Walk Commerce Association hadn’t been doing well. The Sky Empire branch, in particular, was struggling to stay afloat. Not long ago, headquarters had even sent an elder to oversee operations, a clear sign of their displeasure with the Imperial Capital branch’s performance.

Offending the Qin family at a time like this would undoubtedly make a bad situation even worse for the Sky Empire branch.

When that happened, he, the Branch Master, would surely be the one to take the blame.

Not long after, Branch Master Wu Zun arrived at the reception hall.

"Haha, what a pleasant surprise. Forgive me for not being here to greet you personally."

As Wu Zun entered the reception hall, he immediately put on a wide smile. Putting on a smiling face for customers was an essential part of business.

"I am Wu Zun, the Branch Master of the Divine Walk Commerce Association’s Sky Empire branch. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit from the Patriarch of the Luo family?"

Wu Zun sat down across from them, smiling.

"So you are Branch Master Wu Zun." Luo Min quickly offered a polite salute in return. Ye Xuan, however, remained seated, calmly sizing up Wu Zun with narrowed eyes.

Yet despite Ye Xuan’s casual posture, not a hint of displeasure showed on Wu Zun’s face. He was clearly a man who knew how to handle people.

In the reception hall, Luo Min and Wu Zun exchanged pleasantries for a moment.

"So, what brings the two of you to my door today?" Although Wu Zun knew perfectly well why they were here, he still asked with a smile.

Ye Xuan had been waiting for this. He immediately got straight to the point. "I’ll handle this. We’re here today to purchase a shipment of materials from you, Branch Master Wu Zun."

"I see." Wu Zun feigned a moment of thought before saying apologetically, "My deepest apologies, but all of our Divine Walk Commerce Association’s recent stock has already been sold. We have no surplus materials whatsoever."

Ye Xuan had anticipated this response and sneered. "I heard the Divine Walk Commerce Association has been struggling lately and that your business in the Sky Empire isn’t going well. How can you be doing so well that you don’t have a single spare material? Besides, we haven’t even told you what we want to buy yet, have we?"

Branch Master Wu Zun gave an awkward laugh; his guilty conscience was showing. But he was a seasoned operator and quickly regained his composure, smiling. "You must be Young Master Ye. My apologies, but our Divine Walk Commerce Association’s materials have, in fact, all been sold. So regardless of what you wish to purchase, we have nothing available. As for the reasons, it is not convenient for me to explain. I hope you can understand, Young Master Ye."

Wu Zun felt he had handled the situation quite well. As far as he was concerned, Ye Xuan and Luo Min should now stand up and bid their farewells.

To his surprise, however, Ye Xuan let out a sudden, cold laugh. "Heh. So, what you’re saying is, the Divine Walk Commerce Association has decided to become the Qin family’s dog?"

Silence. The room was instantly plunged into silence.

CLATTER!

Lost in a daze, the lid of the teacup in Luo Min’s hand slipped from her grasp, falling to the floor and shattering. She stared at Ye Xuan, utterly shocked.

The smile on Wu Zun’s face froze solid.

SLAM!

His face turned livid. He slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, his gaze turning icy. "Young Master Ye," he said in a frigid tone, "what is the meaning of that remark?"

A faint murderous aura began to fill the air.

Luo Min was also stunned. ’Young Master Ye’s negotiation tactics are just too extreme! When he took out the VIP Token, I thought he had some sort of friendly relationship with the Divine Walk Commerce Association. I never imagined he’d say something like this. Isn’t he just making an enemy of them for good?’