The agreement still lay on the table.
Neither of them had signed it.
The percentages had already been decided.
Only one question remained unanswered.
Su Meilan held one of the scrolls Adrian had brought.
It wasn't a contract.
It was a list.
Suppliers.
Routes.
Delivery times.
Costs.
Inventory.
She read through it for the third time before looking up.
"Do you really believe this will work?"
There was no mockery in her voice.
It was a sincere question.
Adrian smiled.
Not smugly.
With enthusiasm.
Like someone who had just been asked about his favorite subject.
"No."
Su Meilan blinked.
"No?"
"This alone won't."
He took the scroll and pointed to one column.
"A reliable supplier doesn't change a market."
His finger moved.
"Neither does an efficient warehouse."
Another column.
"Or a better transportation route."
With the tip of his brush, he connected the columns one by one.
"But once all the pieces begin working together..."
He looked up.
His eyes were shining.
"...they stop being pieces."
He drew a small circle around the diagram.
"They become a system."
Su Meilan remained silent.
Adrian continued, completely absorbed.
"Look."
He picked up another blank scroll.
He drew four circles.
Inside them he wrote:
Herbs.
Alchemy.
Warehouse.
Distribution.
Then he connected them all with lines.
"Now imagine one of them fails."
He pointed at Herbs.
"If one supplier disappears..."
His brush moved.
"...another immediately takes its place."
He pointed to the warehouse.
"If demand suddenly rises..."
Another line.
"...inventory is already waiting."
He pointed back at the diagram.
"Every part protects the others."
Su Meilan watched without interrupting.
This wasn't an improvised explanation.
It was a way of thinking.
Adrian smiled as he continued drawing.
"Do you know the biggest mistake most merchants make?"
She shook her head.
"They think they're selling products."
A brief pause.
"They're not."
He gently tapped the center of the diagram.
"What they're really selling..."
"...is the ability to keep a promise."
The room fell silent.
Adrian didn't even seem to notice.
He continued speaking with the ease of someone who genuinely enjoyed sharing an idea.
"If someone asks me for ten pills tomorrow, anyone can supply them."
He smiled.
"If they ask for ten thousand..."
He lifted the scroll.
"That no longer depends on an alchemist."
"It depends on the system."
A chill ran down Su Meilan's spine.
Not because it was brilliant.
Because it was obvious.
And yet...
She had never looked at it that way.
She had grown up inside Tianxu's greatest commercial pavilion.
Since childhood, she had accompanied her father during negotiations.
She had learned accounting.
Trade routes.
Auctions.
Contracts.
But never...
Never had she heard someone stop talking about merchandise...
And begin talking about structures.
She looked at the drawing again.
It didn't seem complicated.
It was almost childish.
Which was precisely what made it unsettling.
Slowly, she raised her head.
"Who taught you to think like this?"
Adrian thought for a few seconds.
Then smiled with quiet nostalgia.
"I suppose..."
"...a lot of mistakes."
He chuckled softly.
"Business has something interesting about it."
"When a company fails, it's almost never because of one enormous mistake."
He leaned over the drawing.
"It's usually twenty small mistakes..."
"...that all choose to fail on the same day."
Su Meilan smiled as well.
For the first time during the entire conversation.
Not because she had heard some profound quote.
But because she had just realized something.
This man wasn't repeating theories.
He had lived this way of thinking.
And for the first time in many years, she experienced a feeling she never expected to have toward someone his age.
She didn't want to hire him.
She didn't want to defeat him.
She wanted to keep asking him questions.
The following day was Lin Yue's birthday.
As she prepared herself, she picked up the cheapest comb resting on her table.
It wasn't the most elegant gift.
Nor the most extraordinary.
It didn't even possess a trace of rarity.
But to Lin Yue, it carried a different meaning.
In the past, Adrian had always given her extravagant gifts.
Unique treasures worth fortunes.
Items that defied common sense.
Lately...
His presents had become simpler.
Humbler.
Perhaps, she thought, he had finally realized that extravagance would never win her heart.
A faint smile appeared on her face as she wondered what this year's gift would be.
Meanwhile, Adrian Valmont sat comfortably in his custom-made ergonomic leather chair.
His desk held no cauldrons.
No talismans.
No complicated rituals.
Only a jade abacus, several contracts, and three cups of coffee—a botanical crop that had already become another profitable side business.
A secretary entered carrying a stack of reports.
"Mr. Valmont, the morning production report."
"Numbers."
"No epic speeches," Adrian replied without looking up.
"Four thousand Basic Stability Pills."
"We reduced production costs by one point five percent after optimizing the Frozen Marrow Extract synthesis inside Sector C's alchemical reactor."
At that moment, the System vibrated softly.
[Mission: Deliver a gift to Lin Yue, provoke the Hero, accept humiliation.]
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
His gaze fell upon the pile of pills resting on his desk.
None of them held any personal value.
"This one will do."
He casually picked up one of the latest batches.
Without realizing it...
He was about to make a monumental mistake.
The sect's central courtyard had been decorated with jade lanterns and silk banners embroidered with silver thread.
Disciples stood in perfect rows, bowing respectfully as Lin Yue walked past with the calm grace of the woman destined to become the sect's future Second-in-Command.
A gentle breeze swayed the banners while the scent of incense mixed with fresh flowers.
It was a day of absolute solemnity.
The Saint's birthday.
Ye Chen knelt before her, breathing heavily.
His robes were stained with mud and blood.
In his hands rested a bouquet of Blood Lotus Flowers, gathered at the cost of nearly losing his life.
His eyes shone with pride...
And desperation.
"Happy birthday, Yue," he said hoarsely.
"These flowers only bloom within the Abyss of Oblivion."
"I almost died..."
"But it was worth it."
Lin Yue smiled politely.
But her eyes searched for someone else.
Among the lanterns and the crowd...
Adrian Valmont finally appeared.
He walked with the calm demeanor of a man reviewing financial reports.
His steps were measured.
Indifferent.
As though the ceremony itself were little more than paperwork.
He stopped before her.
Reached into his robe.
Pulled out a small recycled cardboard box.
"Oh."
"Right."
"Happy birthday."
"Here."
His voice was completely flat.
Inside the box rested nothing more than a single Basic Stability Pill.
One of the four thousand produced that very morning.
No divine radiance.
No overwhelming spiritual aura.
Only efficiency.
Ye Chen couldn't hold himself back.
"...A basic pill?!"
The disciples' whispers rose into a crescendo as Ye Chen nudged the box toward Lin Yue with a challenging smile.
"Open it, Yue."
He lowered his voice.
"Come on."
"I'd like to see what kind of present this... 'Valmont' brings."
Some disciples applauded eagerly.
Others encouraged her in hushed whispers.
Lin Yue hesitated before accepting the box.
Ye Chen stepped back, fists clenched.
The anticipation thickened.
To everyone present...
It was merely an ordinary pill.
A worthless present.
Perhaps even an insult.
But the instant Lin Yue lifted the lid...
The lantern light itself seemed to change.
The elders watching from the elevated platforms unconsciously stepped back.
Their expressions grew solemn.
"...Is that...?"
one elder whispered.
Ye Chen frowned.
His heart skipped a beat.
He recognized it immediately.
The very same Stability Pill he had painstakingly refined weeks ago.
The pill that had allowed him to break through.
The pill that...
That loser...
Now possessed.
"Impossible..."
Ye Chen muttered.
"How..."
"...does he have one?"
The courtyard fell silent.
Even the disciples who had urged Lin Yue to open the gift stopped breathing.
It has to be his grandfather, Ye Chen thought angrily.
There's no other explanation.
No one else could have given him access to something like this.
As for Adrian...
He never even looked up.
His usual expression of detached indifference never changed.
In reality...
He had completely forgotten how rare the pill he had just handed over actually was.
To him...
It was just another product.
One of the four thousand manufactured that morning.
His thoughts were occupied elsewhere.
Complete the System's mission.
Provoke the Hero.
Create controlled chaos.
Continue optimizing his empire.
He had no idea...
That the elders...
Ye Chen...
And every disciple present...
Would instantly recognize its true value.
What was utterly ordinary to him...
Was a treasure that appeared at public auctions only once every hundred years.
A wave of astonished whispers spread across the courtyard as Lin Yue held the pill.
The disciples crowded closer.
The elders remained silent.
Adrian merely smiled faintly.
Completely unaware of the earthquake his carelessness had just unleashed.
The System vibrated.
[Secondary Mission Activated: Provoke the Hero]
Required Action: Be defeated, but not eliminated.
Adrian spat onto the ground.
He slowly raised his head.
An expression of boundless arrogance spread across his face.
"How dare you..."
"...a mere peasant..."
"...compare yourself to me?"
Ye Chen needed no further explanation.
His Qi exploded.
Humiliation flooded his heart.
He charged.
The collision was immediate.
Fists tore through the air.
Spiritual energy shook the courtyard.
Blows split Adrian's eyebrow.
Blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
Eventually...
He fell to one knee.
Bleeding.
Yet wearing the faintest smile.
Satisfied.
Because the fight had never truly mattered.
Adrian had never intended to defeat Ye Chen.
That had never been the objective.
His mission was to provoke him.
To expose him.
To force the Hero to reveal the loss of control hidden beneath his composure.
While Adrian himself remained calculating.
Almost detached from the chaos.
Every punch he received was an investment.
Blood in exchange for information.
Pain in exchange for strategic advantage.
"Enough."
Lin Yue stepped between them.
Her calm authority was enough to stop storms with a single gesture.
Her presence became an invisible wall.
Even the Hero couldn't force his way through it.
"No more."
Ye Chen froze.
Panting.
His fists trembled.
Unable to ignore the silent warning emanating from the Saint.
Adrian casually wiped the blood from his face.
He looked at Lin Yue with his usual unshakable calm.
As though everyone else were simply following a script...
One he had already read long ago.
"What an annoying System..."
"It keeps getting more annoying."
He muttered the words to himself.
Without looking back...
He walked away.
Leaving behind a furious Ye Chen...
And a courtyard full of speechless disciples.
Silence descended over the sect.
Even the elders slowly nodded.