Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 592 - Negotiation

Since the founding of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, the disciples had sold their pills through collaboration with other shops, and no one had dared to open shops themselves to compete with the sect directly. Even if they worked with other shops, they earned barely enough to cover their expenses.

Even the Lesser Blade Association was restricted to selling its pills on the black market, where profits were modest at best. Opening one’s own shop was a bold—and perilous—move that few dared to attempt.

“Are there any sect rules that forbid it?” Liu Wuxie asked with a smile. He had already anticipated that the sect would try to stop him from opening his own shop. After all, he would be at odds with the sect once he did, and he didn’t want to take that move for now.

After all, the sect showed him kindness, especially in how Mu Yueying helped him in many ways. Fan Zhen and others had their foundation in the sect, and he wouldn’t do anything that would betray the sect or put him at odds with the sect as long as it didn’t cross his bottom line.

“Liu Wuxie, you should know the consequences of opening your own shop, and I hope you can think it through. The sect will consider your conditions as long as they’re not too unreasonable,” Elder He said firmly.

Elder He’s conditions were clear: any requests could be negotiated as long as Liu Wuxie gave up the idea of opening a shop of his own, provided that Liu Wuxie could fix the negative impact on the sect that he had caused. If he couldn’t resolve this issue, nothing else mattered.

He believed Liu Wuxie knew exactly what he meant with everything laid transparent on the table.

“Only one condition: ten percent of the revenue,” Liu Wuxie said, laying his terms down.

“That’s impossible! Ten percent is too high!” Elder He refused immediately. The sect had dozens of shops in Treasure City to maintain the expenses of hundreds of thousands of people. It was too high for Liu Wuxie to take ten percent for himself.

Liu Wuxie calculated briefly that a single shop could generate hundreds of millions of spirit stones every month, and ten percent was tens of millions—a passive income with no effort on his part.

“That’s my final offer,” Liu Wuxie said firmly, standing adamantly about receiving one-tenth of the net revenue. Tens of millions might be astronomical to others, but not to him. With the desolate world to support, the resources he consumed far outnumbered others.

“You’re really asking for a lot. Aren’t you worried you’ll choke on it? We can only give you five percent every month.” Elder He refused firmly as well.

Five percent was equivalent to millions of revenue each month. In addition to their collaboration on the Spirit Restoration Pill, it was already a substantial sum. But if the sales of talismans took off as well, Elder He would definitely regret giving Liu Wuxie five percent.

“I will accept five percent, but under one condition!” Liu Wuxie said, agreeing to Elder He’s condition. Pills were just a side venture to him to disrupt the Lesser Blade Association’s income.

Just the revenue from the Spirit Restoration Pill alone was enough to support the development of the Heavenly Dao Society. As for him, ordinary mid-grade spirit stones would soon be insufficient to sustain his needs.

“What’s your condition?” Elder He asked cautiously, fearing another outrageous demand from Liu Wuxie.

“Eliminate these people and save the innocent civilians. That’s my condition,” Liu Wuxie said as he took out the Memory Talisman from Bai Lin.

Elder He looked at the Memory Talisman carefully before he looked at Liu Wuxie with a complex expression. In a baffled tone, he asked, “You want to give up an additional five percent to rescue these people? I might have agreed to your terms if you had pushed harder?”

Elder He was puzzled because the lives of mortals held no weight to him, and the sect’s upper echelons had been aware of the Lesser Blade Association’s actions all along. They hadn’t intervened because the lives of mortals meant nothing to them.

It wasn’t hard to tell from Elder He’s eyes that he didn’t understand Liu Wuxie’s decision. Giving up millions of spirit stones monthly to do something that brought no personal gain was hard to fathom.

“Elder He, weren’t you once a mere mortal as well?” Liu Wuxie asked, and his words left Elder He frozen in place.

What Liu Wuxie said held truth, for no one was born powerful; every immortal had once been a mere mortal. Upon reaching their current level, they had long abandoned their seven emotions and six desires, entirely fixated on the pursuit of immortality.

“You’re right. We were all once mortals, but you should know that the lives of mortals mean nothing to us after reaching our height,” Elder He sighed. He had even forgotten how he looked when he was a mortal.

“Power comes from respect, and we can only stand firmly in heaven and earth by keeping a clear conscience,” Liu Wuxie declared, his words resonating with power that sounded like the declaration of heavenly dao itself, shaking Elder He’s eardrums.

The Heavenly Dao Book unfurled, unleashing a dazzling brilliance of gold that enveloped Liu Wuxie, making him seem like a deity at this moment.

This filled Elder He with an overwhelming urge to kneel and worship Liu Wuxie. The aura radiating from the latter was too powerful, and even he couldn’t withstand it as someone in the pinnacle of the Nascent Transformation Realm.

“Okay, I agree to your terms!” Elder He said, unable to reject Liu Wuxie’s terms.

At this moment, Liu Wuxie was the embodiment of heavenly dao’s will, and defying him meant defying the heavens.

Next, they proceeded to discuss the details of their cooperation, in which Liu Wuxie planned to open a new shop. The current shops were too simplistic, offering a limited variety of pills at rigid prices. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was lacking compared to the Azure Crimson Gate.

In addition to the Demon Purging Pill, Liu Wuxie also gifted the sect two pill formulas. The two pills were seventh-grade pills, unavailable in the market. Together, they could restore the sect’s reputation.

This meant pills like Earth Origin Pills could gradually be phased out of the market. They were too expensive to produce, and few could afford them.

After all, Liu Wuxie had promised that the pills found in the shops he opened would be thirty percent cheaper than those on the market.

As the discussion progressed, Elder He’s attitude toward Liu Wuxie shifted to one of approval. He had anticipated a grueling negotiation, yet things had flowed far more smoothly than expected.

Liu Wuxie was smarter than Elder He had imagined, knowing when to press forward and when to take a step back. He had chosen to advance by retreating, giving up a small portion of resources to secure the Lesser Blade Association’s elimination in the human trafficking operation—a win-win situation. This also bolstered the development of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, enhanced the sect master’s reputation, and ensured that everyone walked away with something to gain.

With the introduction of the two pills, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion would become more competitive against the Azure Crimson Gate. While Liu Wuxie could gain a steady flow of resources, he also struck a fatal blow to the Lesser Blade Association.

His grudge with the Azure Crimson Gate was already formed, and his only solution was to help the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion grow. His vision was broader than anyone else’s—he wasn’t focused on short-term profits but was planning for the future.

“What does the sect plan to do with those alchemists?” Liu Wuxie asked. The issue with the Earth Origin Pills was an internal issue of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. Even if Liu Wuxie hadn’t exposed the problem, it would have erupted in a matter of time.

“Uproot them entirely!” Elder He said with a flash of ruthlessness gleaming in his eyes. This proved that he was ruthless, or it would have been impossible for him to become the sect master’s confidant.

Liu Wuxie was satisfied with the answer because the Treasure Pill Peak’s alchemists would all be replaced with his men, and Bi Gongyu would rise to become the chief alchemist.

“You’ve gotten lucky this time. The sect yielding to you doesn’t mean the sect is afraid of you. I hope you won’t disappoint the sect master’s hopes for you,” Elder He said earnestly as he rose to leave.

Even though it looked like the sect had made concessions to Liu Wuxie, the sect was the biggest winner in the end. Liu Wuxie even helped the sect eliminate the underlying threat.

Liu Wuxie, however, didn’t point it out. He knew the Elder. He wanted him to be grateful to the sect master and to the sect.

After sending Elder He off, Liu Wuxie finally looked relaxed at the inn’s entrance. He no longer had to worry about the pills and only had to make an appearance at the shop’s opening. The sect would handle everything else.

Fan Zhen and Bai Lin finally came in after Elder He left. They were frightened when Elder He released his aura in the Nascent Transformation Realm, and they had nearly barged into the room under the impression that there was an invader. They finally relaxed when they realized it was a negotiation between Liu Wuxie and the sect.

“Wuxie, how did the negotiation go?” Fan Zhen asked. After such a long discussion and the satisfied smile on Liu Wuxie’s lips, he could already tell the negotiation went smoothly.

“Everything is moving in the direction we’ve anticipated,” Liu Wuxie said and returned to the inn.

“Junior Brother Liu, what about the matter I mentioned last night? What’s your consideration? The longer we delay, the more innocent people will die,” Bai Lin asked, catching up to Liu Wuxie.

“It has been taken care of,” Liu Wuxie said, simply waving his hand as he walked away.

Bai Lin and Fan Zhen were stunned. They thought the talk between Liu Wuxie and Elder He was only about pills and nothing else. After all, Liu Wuxie hadn’t kept them in the dark about what happened in the black market.

“That’s great!” Bai Lin waved his fist and finally felt relieved.

......

When Elder He returned to the sect, Mu Tianli was still in the grand hall, looking into the distance.

“Greetings, Sect Master!” Elder He bowed when he entered.

“Elder He, there’s no need to be so formal,” Mu Tianli said as he waved his hand, gesturing for Elder He to sit down.

“Sect Master, this young man is no ordinary person,” Elder He said.

There was no change in Mu Tianli’s expression as if he had already known.

“Tell me, what’s the outcome of the discussion?” Mu Tianli smiled.

Elder He didn’t hide anything from the sect master and recounted every conversation detail. When Mu Tianli heard that Liu Wuxie was willing to give up five percent of the profits, he was surprised.

The maximum limit for compromising he had given Elder He was twenty percent, and they would have agreed if Liu Wuxie had pushed hard on ten. Thus, he was surprised to hear that Liu Wuxie was willing to take a cut of his share.

“Do you think he only wanted five percent without other conditions?” Elder He said mysteriously. His attitude towards Liu Wuxie wasn’t great yesterday, but it had changed after the meeting.