“Don’t think you’re so special just because you’ve been to Yellow Springs. If it wasn’t for the old ancestor’s favoritism, how could you get so ahead of us? You were only rank four when you came out of the training camp, what difference was there?”
Song Zining shook his head. “The gap is so big that it can’t be remedied. You guys only see a person’s rank, but you don’t know that the true purpose of Yellow Springs is to stimulate one’s potential by having them toe the line between life and death. It trained us to maximally utilize our resources and grasp every small opportunity. These things have long since become second nature by the time we were out from Yellow Springs. So, all the chances you missed were akin to golden opportunities for me. It’s the same in the business world, and that is the reason why your business and mine are so different despite having started at the same time.”
Song Zian was livid. He was actually quite intelligent and could grasp the logic in Song Zining’s words. But that was exactly what made it so difficult for him to accept. Opportunity never knocks twice, and it was too late now since he didn’t go to Yellow Springs back then. Besides, his parents had sent him there because he wasn’t favored in the family and that was his only chance. Song Zining had been the laughingstock of the family for many years, up until the Song family examination.
Song Zian sneered, “What use did Yellow Spring have? Aren’t you in my hands right now? Seventh Brother, the mantis stalks the cicada unaware of the oriole behind. You enjoyed a period of glory back then, but you didn’t think you’d fall into this situation, did you?”
Song Zining shrugged. “I suffered a small accident a couple of days ago and lost my divination powers. That’s how I ended up staying here for a couple of days, but this is just a small setback and I’ll naturally recover after a short while.”
Song Zian suddenly struck Song Zining in the abdomen! This punch was extremely heavy. With his origin power sealed, Song Zining had no origin power defenses at all—he curled up like a shrimp and couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
Not yet satisfied, Song Zian delivered numerous kicks to Song Zining’s face until it was all bloody.
Heaving and huffing, he laughed neurotically. “Ha! Now let’s see who wants to marry you! Haha, haha! Isn’t the seventh young noble so elegant and romantic? Is that how it is?”
After the blows had stopped, Song Zining slowly got up and wiped the blood away from his face. Although his face was swollen and his nose had been fractured, there was still an unperturbed smile on his face.
The more that was the case, the fiercer Song Zian’s anger burnt. He grabbed Song Zining by the collar and roared, “What’s with that look? Speak! Why are you looking at me like that? Speak quickly or I’ll beat you to death!”
There was some pity in Song Zining’s eyes at first, but it soon turned into cold indifference. “Song Zian, it’s time you got on with your business. I’ll let you beat me up as you wish right now, you won’t have the chance later on.”
Startled, Song Zian was quickly drenched in cold sweat, but he became furious soon afterward. “Trying to frighten me, eh? You don’t even have your divination powers, how will you know what I’m going to do?”
Song Zining simply kept quiet.
Song Zian replied, “Fine! I’ll give you a chance. I’ll let you live if you hand over your Ningyuan command token and all technical schematics.”
Song Zining sighed. “As expected, there’s no progress at all despite the passage of the years. Is Ningyuan all you want? What can you do even if I give it to you?”
“Ningyuan Heavy Industries will be better managed in my hands! I won’t have to fear Song Zicheng at that point, and the clan lord position will be mine for the taking. You were never focused on your business, how could you ever have the time to manage it seriously? And you dare say no one helped you. Besides, Ningyuan isn’t even yours. It’s the Song clan’s since the old ancestor paid for it!”
Song Zining said indifferently, “To set your mind at rest, I’ll tell you once more, Ningyuan Heavy Industries has never taken a dime of the Song clan’s money. And letting you beat me up has nothing to do with you. I did certain things and thus have to pay the price for it. It’ll be someone else if not you.”
Song Zian sensed a surge of restlessness. “What are you trying to say?”
Song Zining said in a carefree manner, “Simple, you’re really not as important as you think you are. Even now, there’s no difference whether or not you’re here.”
Song Zian lifted Song Zining by the throat, saying, “No difference? Will there be a difference if I strangle you to death?”
It was at this time that Song Zian’s body tensed up. A sharp intent pierced into his spine and deprived him of the ability to move.
A werewolf in shaman clothing walked inside and brushed away Song Zian’s hands.
Song Zining’s face was bright red at this point, and he only recovered after coughing for a good while. From this, it was obvious just how ruthless the attack was just now.
The werewolf shaman said, “Young Noble Song, you can leave now. Please follow me.”
“Wait!” Song Zining stopped the werewolf shaman. “Do you have a mirror or anything, lend it to me.”
How could there be any mirror in a dungeon? But the Shaman reacted flexibly, passing Song Zining his dagger instead. The blade was shiny, reflective, and could be easily used as a mirror.
Song Zining checked his swollen face in the reflection and said in satisfaction, “Not bad, not bad!”
Seeing Song Zining and the shaman about to leave the prison, the immobile Song Zian cried out, “Wait! Are you going to let him go just like that!? You’ve already made a promise to me!”
The werewolf shaman shot the man a cold glance. “Someone paid more.”
Song Zian was shocked out of his wits. “No, how can you guys act this way? This is a deal, how can you go back on your words?”
“A deal? I don’t know anything about that, neither does the Wolf King,” the Shaman said coldly.
“No, no! I’ll pay more. How much did they pay? I’ll match their price or even raise it. I’ll raise it by half, no, double!”
The werewolf shaman halted his steps. “That means you’re quite rich.”
Song Zian nodded. “Yes, yes, our Song clan might not have other things, but we have a lot of money!”
Song Zining sighed all of a sudden. The shaman said thoughtfully, “That means we can get even more money by capturing you?”
Song Zian was shocked. “I’m just a small character in the Song clan, sent here to negotiate. I’m really not worth that much.”
The shaman seemed convinced—he sized Song Zian up from head to toe without a word.
Song Zian felt relieved. “Sire Shaman, are we not going to continue our deal?”
The shaman said coldly, “We can’t. You cannot match the other party’s offer.”
“What will it take then?” Song Zian probed.
A flash of impatience appeared in the Shaman’s eyes. “According to your standards, we can discuss things if you have a divine champion who’s not afraid of dying.”
Song Zian became embarrassed. The only divine champion among the direct line was Duchess An. The old lady indeed possessed powerful cultivation, but she was already old and needed to stay alive to prop up the entire clan. There was no way she could fight anyone at this point. All characters at that level were major characters; how could they be lacking in money? What they needed were rare cultivation resources, and even the Song clan didn’t have such items in excess.
Hence, it was inherently hard to hire a divine champion, let alone one who would fight with their life on the line. Speaking quite frankly, someone of Song Zian’s position would find it difficult to even befriend a divine champion.
Song Zian wasn’t willing to give up. He pointed at Song Zining and asked, “Don’t tell me there’s a divine champion willing to fight to the death for him? Seriously?”
Unexpectedly, the Shaman replied, “Oh that divine champion isn’t fighting to the death, he’s here to suppress us. We have no choice but to agree, you understand?
Song Zian was dazed momentarily. He pondered momentarily before realizing the meaning of these words. Suppressing Totemic Castle meant suppressing the Wolf King! Song Zian more or less understood what kind of power the Wolf King was. Yet the other party could suppress him!
Such a character wasn’t someone Song Zian could provoke, even with his Song clan background. Such a person was enough to contend with the old ancestor, a true tyrant. His death would be meaningless if he were to provoke the other party because the Song clan wouldn’t make such an enemy for him.
Such a character was willing to stand up for Song Zining!
For a moment, Song Zian felt both jealous and hateful but, at the same time, terrified. In his urgency, he channeled his origin power to break his bindings and recover his movements. He pulled on the shaman’s sleeve, saying, “I won’t ask for my money back. I only have one request, cripple his origin power. How’s that? Just one request!”
Song Zining sighed lightly, not bothering to say anything.
The shaman revealed a disdainful expression. “You humans are so sinister that you’ll even harm your own brother. No wonder Evernight has you on your dying gasp.”
Song Zian didn’t find this embarrassing at all. He simply looked on at the shaman with a frantic expression, waiting for his reply. Meanwhile, Song Zining said with a serious expression, “The Great Qin Empire has stood for thousands of years, producing talented heroes and expanding its territory with every generation. We’ve already conquered four continents and now we’re fighting for the void continent, poised to go even further upward. Humph, even the orthodox werewolves don’t dare utter such insolence! Even this young master can beat up your forces with just a band of rag-tag soldiers, not to mention there are countless experts in the empire more powerful than I am. The nerve of you!”
The merciless words caused the werewolf Shaman’s eyes to spew fire. Song Zian felt secretly delighted as he wanted nothing more than for the Shaman to act up and cripple Song Zining. As for the empire’s glory, that was too far of a matter. Nothing was more important than the business at hand.
…
