[Perspective: Arya Chen]
"Contracts are paper," Zhao smiled. "We prefer a... permanent arrangement. I have a counter proposal. Would you like to hear it?"
"I am listening," I said.
"We will provide the Chen Family with all the raw materials necessary," Elder Zhao proposed. "In return, the Chen Family will refine those materials into the required pills for the Palace. Free of charge."
I stared at him for a moment, ensuring my expression registered the appropriate level of incredulous disbelief.
"Free of charge," I repeated. "You want my family to become an unpaid labor force for the Verdant River Palace."
"It is a partnership," Zhao corrected.
"It is servitude," I countered, allowing a hint of coldness to enter my voice.
"I assure you," he said. "In return for this service, we offer you a place within the Verdant River Palace. You will become a core disciple of our sect. With your talent, you will receive the finest instruction, access to our deepest archives, and the full protection of our Ancestors."
"So," I said. "You want to take me as a hostage."
"Hostage is such an ugly word," Elder Zhao chided, shaking his head. "We are a righteous sect, Young Master Arya. We are offering you a position of honor. As a loyal disciple, it is only natural that your family would support the sect that nurtures you."
"A righteous sect," I repeated, a cold laugh escaping my lips. "Tell me, Elder Zhao, is there a practical difference between what you are attempting now, and the extortion tactics of a demonic cult?"
Elder Zhao's face darkened instantly.
"Mind your language, boy," Zhao snapped, his Golden Core aura flaring aggressively, pressing against me. "You are in the heart of the Verdant River Palace. You are just a genius in a small pond. We are offering you the ocean. Do not be foolish enough to reject our grace."
"Your grace sounds remarkably like a leash," I observed calmly, ignoring his spiritual pressure.
"It is the reality of the cultivation world," Zhao stated. "The strong dictate the terms to the weak. The Chen Family has overextended itself. You have wealth, but you lack the ultimate power to defend it against a true titan. Accept the offer. It is the only way your family survives the coming storm."
"And if I refuse?" I asked.
Elder Zhao sighed. He slowly stood up from the table.
"Then I am afraid," he said, "that we must insist. You are too valuable an asset to be left wandering the domain unsupervised."
He moved with explosive speed.
He reached across the table, his hand aimed directly at my throat, intending to crush my resistance instantly and drag me into the deeper cells of the sect.
I raised my left hand.
My palm caught his descending wrist with a smack.
My fingers closed around his wrist like a vise of solid steel.
Elder Zhao froze. His eyes bulged in shock.
He pulled, trying to wrench his arm free, but my grip was unyielding. It was like he was chained to a mountain.
"What..." he gasped, his aura fluctuating wildly in confusion. "How..."
"I think," I said, my voice a terrifying whisper that seemed to chill the very air in the pavilion, "that you should indeed change your sect's name. A demonic cult would at least be honest about its intentions."
The aura of a Nascent Soul expert erupted from my body.
The heavy oak table between us groaned and splintered under the invisible weight.
The tea cups shattered. The paper screens of the pavilion tore to shreds, blowing outward as if a hurricane had manifested inside the room.
Elder Zhao was slammed to his knees.
The overwhelming terror of the spiritual pressure crushed the breath from his lungs. His Golden Core aura was snuffed out instantly, like a candle in a blizzard.
He stared up at me, his face devoid of blood, his eyes wide with a terror.
"Na... Nascent Soul?!" he choked out. The man who had been threatening me seconds ago was now trembling like a leaf. "At... at your age?! Impossible!"
"Impossible is a word used by the weak to explain the strong," I stated coldly, looking down at him.
I tightened my grip on his wrist, just enough to make the bones grind together. He whimpered in pain.
"Do you want to continue this negotiation?" I asked. "Do you want to call your Ancestors to capture me now? I would be delighted to meet them."
"No! No, no, no!" Zhao practically screamed. "Please, Senior! It... it was a mistake! A grave misunderstanding!"
"A misunderstanding?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes! It was my idea!" he babbled, sweat pouring down his face. "Only my idea! I thought... I thought I could secure the contract and the formulas for my faction within the sect! The Sect Master knows nothing of this extortion! I swear it on my Dao!"
"So, an Elder of the Inner Court is capable of making unilateral decisions to kidnap the heir of a Great Family and plunge two powers into war." I said, releasing my grip on his wrist and letting him collapse onto the floor. "The Verdant River Palace must have a very... flexible command structure."
"I was blinded by ambition!" he wept, pressing his forehead to the splintered wood. "Please, show mercy!"
I looked at the groveling man. Killing him would be easy, but it would be politically messy.
I slowly reigned in my aura, letting the suffocating pressure dissipate.
Zhao remained on the floor, gasping for air as if he had been drowning.
"In that case," I said, my voice returning to the polite tone of a diplomat, "I will be taking my leave. I do not believe the Chen Family and the Verdant River Palace have any further basis for an agreement anymore."
I turned toward the shattered doors.
"Wait!" Zhao called out, scrambling to his knees. "Senior Chen! I apologize! We... we are willing to buy at full market price!"
I paused at the threshold, looking back at him over my shoulder.
"No need," I said simply.
I stepped out of the ruined pavilion and into the antechamber.
Elder Lin, the welcoming committee, was standing near the entrance with my guards. They had obviously felt the pressure spike, though the localized nature of it meant they hadn't caught the full brunt.
Elder Lin looked at my calm demeanor with a mixture of confusion and dawning alarm.
"Young Master Arya," Elder Lin said, his polite smile looking strained. "Is... is the negotiation concluded?"
I looked at him. I didn't say a word to him.
I turned to the captain. "Go to the stables. Inform the coachman to prepare the carriage. We are leaving."
"At once, Young Master," Captain said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he sensed the tension, but his discipline overriding his curiosity. He bowed and sprinted toward the guest quarters.
I motioned for the rest of my guards to fall in. We turned and began the walk back toward the main gates.
"Young Master!" Elder Lin hurried after us. "What happened? Are you not happy with the terms?"
I stopped and looked at him.
"So," I said, my voice carrying clearly across the quiet courtyard. "Is the 'terms' to make me a hostage here, and force my family to work for free?"
Elder Lin's eyes widened in shock. "What? Hostage? Work for free?"
"Go and ask Elder Zhao," I said, turning my back on him.
I walked out of the Verdant River Palace, my guards forming a protective wedge around me.
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