Squelch!Squelch!
After a dozen quick strikes, those few protectors who had lusted after power and status were left half-crippled. Fu Ye, ever the "kind" soul, noticed they were clenching their teeth and enduring the pain without screaming, so he didn't bother taking their lives. The ground around them was slick with blood, a stark contrast to the pristine marble of the hall.
Meanwhile, Emperor Xue Ye was still kowtowing frantically at the front. It had been over two minutes since Fu Ye started punishing the protectors, and the sound of the Emperor's forehead hitting the floor had become a steady, rhythmic thud.
This old man is quite sincere, Fu Ye thought with a trace of amusement. He decided on the spot to be "magnanimous" and let Xue Ye live for his full three years.
"Your sincerity is acceptable. Stop the kowtowing for now. Let's talk about how you're going to pay me the five billion Gold Spirit Coins you owe me."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Xue Ye seemed to have entered a trance, his head hitting the floor as if he hadn't heard a word. Perhaps the fear had finally short-circuited his brain.
Slap!
Fu Ye didn't hold back. A resounding slap landed squarely on Xue Ye's wrinkled face, sending him reeling. The Emperor's crown, already crooked, finally clattered away across the floor.
"I said, stop. We're talking about the compensation. Understand?"
Xue Ye snapped out of his daze, his cheek stinging and swelling instantly. Around them, the ministers—still pinned to the ground by Fu Ye's aura—trembled in terror. This was a man who slapped the Emperor of a great empire as easily as one would swat a mosquito. If he wanted them dead, it would take no more than a passing thought.
"I understand! I understand! I understand!" Xue Ye gasped, pressing his face back to the floor, his entire body shaking. The sheer gap in power was beyond anything he had ever imagined.
Outside the palace doors, the imperial guards could hear the commotion, but without a direct order from the Emperor, they dared not enter. They stood outside with their spears trembling, unaware that their "sovereign" was currently begging for his life like a common thief.
"I'll give you half an hour," Fu Ye said, casually walking up the steps and sitting down on the Dragon Throne.
The throne was cold and hard—nothing like the warmth of Zhu Zhuqing's embrace or the soft, playful energy of Xiao Wu. He leaned back, resting his chin on his hand. Why do people fight over this uncomfortable chair? he mused. My girls back at the hotel are a thousand times more interesting than this hunk of gold.
"If the compensation isn't enough, I'll take imperial heads to make up the difference. I won't bully you; one head is worth a hundred thousand Gold Spirit Coins. I suggest your men move quickly."
{Author's Note: (Do not think that five billion is a lot for the Heaven Dou Empire. Remember, this is a powerful nation that has prospered for thousands of years. While the original story claims the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is the wealthiest, that is logically inconsistent. They've only risen in the last few centuries. How can a sect compare to empires like Heaven Dou or Star Luo that have gathered wealth for millennia? As the famous strategist MacArthur once said: You can say the Heaven Dou Empire is weak, but you cannot say it is poor. Do you think an empire that supports a million-man army has no money? Try asking the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to support a million soldiers.
However, five billion is definitely enough to make old man Xue Ye bleed. It might even empty the private coffers of these nobles. Also, don't underestimate the purchasing power of gold coins. In the Soul Land 2 era, a 100,000-year spirit beast embryo only sold for 150 million. For a nation that has prospered for thousands of years, having a reserve of five billion is normal. If they save 100 million every ten years, that's 1 billion in a century, and 10 billion in a millennium, and so on.)}
After calculating the costs of maintaining an army, Fu Ye estimated that five billion was exactly the amount needed to hollow out the empire's surplus reserves.
"Your... Your Excellency, please follow me to the national treasury. You can take whatever you wish!" Xue Ye crawled on the ground, completely broken.
"One hundred million." "Five hundred million." "One billion." "Three and a half billion."
Fu Ye stood in the center of the massive treasury, watching as his system effortlessly "vacuumed" up mountains of gold. When the tally hit 3.5 billion, the once-overflowing vaults were suddenly, eerily empty. Fu Ye turned to look at the Emperor, his eyes cold.
"Tsk. You're short by 1.5 billion. You have ten minutes to think of what else you can use to pay off the debt."
Fu Ye never took things from people for no reason—unless they provoked him. And since the Emperor had struck first, paying up was only fair. In his previous life, if someone hit you, you got a new car or a down payment on a house. Here in the Douluo Continent, the rules were the same, provided you had the fist to back them up.
This isn't a robbery, Fu Ye reminded himself righteously. This is a 'mental distress' fee! My girls back at the Tianshui team were very stressed by those annoying nobles. I need this money to buy them some nice spiritual herbs and jewelry.
Xue Ye was sweating buckets. Two minutes later, he shakily opened a secret compartment in the wall. Inside sat a four-sided, crystalline diamond-shaped object that emitted a faint, pulsing blue light.
The moment he saw it, Fu Ye knew exactly what it was: the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, also known as the Heart of the Sea!
"Your Excellency... this is our national treasure, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. It is... it is said to be an item related to the Gods." Xue Ye's hands were shaking so hard the crystal nearly fell. This was his last hope, his most precious heirloom.
"Hmm? The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud? Gods?" Fu Ye looked at him like he was an idiot. "Do you take me for a fool? Just because you say it's related to a God doesn't mean it is. I could say I'm a God walking the earth; would you believe me?"
Actually, the Shroud was worth far more than 1.5 billion, but why would Fu Ye tell him that? In the hands of an average person, this thing was a death sentence.
Fu Ye casually tossed it into his system warehouse, then gave Xue Ye a "fair" price.
"It'll cover five hundred million. Whether it's truly a divine item remains to be seen. I can't take your word for it."
The national treasury of his Heaven Dou Empire had been completely hollowed out by the other party, and now even the national treasure, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, had been taken away; at this moment, Xue Ye only felt his heart bleeding.