Chapter 409: Business Deal

Tiberius, who originally hailed from the Celestial Empire, stood before a window overlooking Nightshade City. While the capital city of the Tainted Cloud Sect was nothing compared to the cities back home, a storm like no other thundered over the landscape, sending rain trails running down the window and blanketing the land in a cold fog. Large man-made airships loomed just below the clouds, some simply floating while others dipped down to dock with the surface.

"How are the evacuations proceeding?" Tiberius asked those seated behind him without turning around.

"We have been allocated the most airships out of the five cities in the Tainted Cloud Sect, but there is no possible way for us to transport every mortal who has forked over the Yinxi Coins for a ticket to the new lands."

Tiberius closed his eyes to try and calm the rage that brewed in his chest. "And why is that, Sage Advisor?"

"With all due respect, Celestial Warden, it's the same issue we discussed before. This aggressive storm prevents the usage of smaller airships as the turbulent winds—"

"Excuses!" Tiberius roared as he punched the window before him, causing it to crack but not break as the silver light of defensive formations activating danced across its surface. "Those mortals put their trust in us to get them and their families out of here alive. Do I make myself clear?"

"But this duty should fall to the ruling noble families, not us."

"It seems you have forgotten that the ruling family was annihilated by the Ashfallen Sect not too long ago." Tiberius glared over his shoulder at the Sage Advisor, making the old man shrink into his chair. "So the duty falls to us. Now, be honest, it's not that this storm prevents smaller ships. The wind cultivators don't believe it is worth their Qi to protect a smaller ship that can carry fewer people. Right?"

The Sage Advisor gulped before slowly nodding, "I believe that is the reason." His voice was small and timid—truly pathetic.

"I'm putting you personally in charge of getting those ships here. Give those wind cultivators extra pay or threaten them if necessary. I care as little about the mortals as the rest of you, but our reputation is on the line here. Like it or not, the mortals contribute significantly to the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion's realm spanning trade and information network." In frustration, Tiberius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Listen. The beast tide is closing in and fast. If you don't get it done, I will strip you of your position."

The Sage Advisor abruptly stood as if his chair was on fire and bowed so deeply his forehead touched the table. "I will strive not to disappoint you again, Celestial Warden."

"Good. You are dismissed," Tiberius said, returning his focus to the land beyond the window, and waved the man off. He heard the pushing back of a chair and shuffling of feet as the man took his leave. A small sigh escaped Tiberius's lips. The last few days had been mayhem—the storm that blanketed the city had seemed a little intense for a random winter storm at first, but he never would have suspected it was the prelude to the beast tide coming three years earlier than anticipated.

Such a thing had never occurred before, and they weren't prepared for it. Beast tides were predictable and consistent. There was sometimes a deviation of a few months, but three whole years? Something significant had changed on a scale he didn't operate at. All he could do was focus on what he could affect directly, which happened to be anything involving the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion.

"Celestial Warden, a gem pendant holder with a strange spider monster in tow, is waiting in the Jade Sentinel's bounty hunting hall."

Tiberius froze up. Gem pendant holders were incredibly rare, especially out here in the wilderness. A person was only appointed a gem pendant holder if they were or had deep connections to cultivators or organizations that could threaten the Eternal Pursuit Pavilions' existence. Such people were treated as VIPs with the utmost respect, but this one was more unique than the others.

"A spider, you say? Is it silver?"

The attendant who had poked their head in through the door as the Sage Advisor left nodded. "Yes."

"Does it have a crown of horns?"

"And a halo of ash orbiting it." The attendant confirmed.

Then, it can only be one person, Stella Crestfallen. A girl with the backing of a Divine level sect that was willing to wipe out an ancient war family because they hurt her. What is such a person doing here now with her divine-level pet?

"There's one more person with them," the attendant added, "a little girl with white flowers growing in her hair."

"Bring them up here."

"Pardon?"

Tiberius looked at the attendant weirdly, "Did I stutter? Bring the three of them here."

"Oh—yes, sorry. I will get them right away. If you will excuse me," the attendant bowed a few times as they exited and closed the door.

"The rest of you are dismissed," Tiberius said to the other Sage Advisors who had quietly observed the meeting thus far. They all exchanged a strange glance as there were still many important things to discuss and little time to do so. "The meeting is adjourned for now. Take a break, and we will continue it later this evening." RaNo͍ΒЕș

Despite their reluctant expressions, they all stood.

Unlike the attendant, who had been understandably confused about his order, the other Sage Advisors had been there to witness the onesided wipeout of the Lunarshade family, and they had all agreed to raise Stella Crestfallen's authority level within the Pavilion in light of what had happened. It had been a temporary measure at first while they gauged the true strength of the Ashfallen Sect, but if recent reports of the Blood Lotus Sect's situation were anything to go by...

"I have brought the gem pendant holder," the attendant announced as the door swung open. A suffocating presence washed into the room like an encroaching tide, making Tiberius's hair stand on end. He eyed the source, which was unmistakably the silver spider levitating ever so slightly behind the two girls. The halo of ash orbiting his crown of horns lazily spun, and his eyes gleamed with a threatening edge.

Do you think I'm stupid enough to lay a finger on these two? I'm not suicidal. Tiberius thought with a light smile as he gestured to the table. "Why don't you two take a seat—"

"You know I hate meetings," Stella said as she approached the table, cutting him off. Instead of taking the offered seat, she hovered her hand over the table, and with a flash, a decapitated head appeared.

Considering all that, one Yinxi Coin per mortal is a steal. However, there's no way the Empire will care for a few million mortals, and as they say, dead men tell no tales. If our reputation being on the line was the problem, the Celestial Order would simply ask me to kill everyone. I need to find a way to sweeten the deal and give a reason for the Celestial Empire to care and see this as a worthwhile investment.

He glanced at the shifting silver spider floating behind Stella. It didn't take a Monarch Realm cultivator to recognize that this spider was likely at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm or even in the Monarch Realm. Yet such a divine being was simply acting as a guard to this girl from the Ashfallen Sect.

They needed to get on the Ashfallen Sect's good side.

His eyes widened as a sudden idea bloomed in his mind.

"Stella, with the beast tide coming, every sect and city in its path plans to leave. All except the Ashfallen Sect."

"So?" Stella frowned.

"This entire area of the wilderness will become a blind spot for the Pavilion as branches of the Pavilion are abandoned alongside the cities. This is a big problem as we will be unable to monitor the beast tide closely, and while we are gone, more daring organizations may move in and gain control once the beast tide has passed. You see, Vincent Nightrose was the one who originally drove the Pavilion out of the Blood Lotus Sect, but with him dead." His eyes flickered to the decapitated head on the table before returning to Stella, "There's an opportunity for us to expand back into that area."

"I don't think the Ashfallen Sect would be too thrilled to have—"

"Please," Tiberius said with sincerity, "If you let us build a branch of the Pavilion within your sect's domain, I might be able to convince the higher-ups to agree to this deal. I will overlook the new branch personally and ensure it doesn't overstep its boundaries."

"Fine, but you can't set up near us," Stella said adamantly.

"Then where would be possible?"

"Mhm, Nightrose City should be fine." Stella said casually, as if talking about the weather, "We have taken it over and established complete control after wiping out the Nightrose family. It's basically the second capital city of our lands now after Darklight City. Far enough away from us that we are unlikely to have a problem while still being close enough that we can keep an eye on you."

"That could work, I'll ask the Celestial Order what they think." Tiberius rose from his seat.

Stella used telekinesis to turn her chair around and jumped up from it with a skip in her step, "Just send the result of the decision to my pendant." She waved the gem-encrusted artifact that cost tens of thousands of Yinxi Coins over her head as if it were something cheap. "I have some Yinxi Coins to go and spend!" With that, she left. The door closed behind them with a satisfying click, leaving him alone in his expansive office.

Tiberius chuckled, "She's a strange one indeed." Shaking his head, he walked through his office toward his desk as the room flashed every few steps due to the distant lightning. Sitting down, he slotted his pendant into his communication artifact and prepared himself. "Here goes nothing." Inserting his Qi, he was surprised to see the Chairman was the one to answer the call personally.

"I was just about to call you," the Chairman said sternly. "I need you to find and capture a girl named Stella Crestfallen. She has blonde hair and pink eyes. But be careful. Over a dozen of our enforcers died moments after making contact with her."

Tiberius blinked and couldn't help but glance at the closed door on the other side of the room that Stella had just left out of. "Erm, may I ask why you are asking me in particular to hunt down this girl?"

"She was last seen in the Blood Lotus Sect, and you are the nearest Celestial Warden to that location." The Chairman leaned in closer, his face taking up the entire projection, "Find her and quickly. The fate of the Celestial Empire depends on it."

A dozen enforcers died going after her? Tiberius gave himself a mental pat on the back for having the foresight to treat her respectfully. I wonder if the Ashfallen Sect might be even more fearsome than the Celestial Empire?

Tiberius was a man of business and caution. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his fingers and looked deep in thought. He had no plans of exposing his knowledge of Stella. He might have done it a few minutes ago, but their meeting just now had confirmed she wielded far more influence than he could have imagined. She was too important to keep as an ally. So what if the fate of the Celestial Empire depended on it? He couldn't give a rat's ass about the Empire.

What he saw here was a massive opportunity.

"Chairman. While I don't know the exact location of Stella Crestfallen as of now, I was recently offered the opportunity to expand the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion into the heart of the Blood Lotus Sect, Nightrose City."

The usually stoic-faced Chairman showed a hint of surprise, "Really?"

"Yes. As I'm sure you are aware, this is an area of the wilderness that even those scum from The Silent Thorn of Umbraholme haven't managed to venture into."

"Tell me more about this deal." The Chairman seemed very interested. Tiberius knew the man's distaste for those groups operating out of Umbraholme ran deep.

Tiberius smiled wearily. "Well, you see, my contact wants 10 million Yinxi Coins and the entire population of Nightshade City as slaves in return for letting us set up operations in Nightrose City."

"The mortals I don't care for, but 10 million Yinxi Coins? That's absurd!" The Chairman grinded his teeth.

"It will be hard, but I might be able to negotiate down to 8 million at the very minimum. They drove a hard bargain." He said, barely able to contain his smile. 6.5 million for Stella, and another 1.5 million for me. If they ever find out, I will justify it as a service fee for keeping her information secret.

The Chairman cooled his expression. "That's still high, but if that's as low as they will go, then very well. Thank you for your hard work, Tiberius. But make sure to find that girl with everything you have as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Chairman." Tiberius bowed, and the projection cut off. A wide grin spread across his face. "I had been willing to go down as far as needed, but to think the Chairman would agree to such an outrageous sum. He must be desperate to find Stella." Pushing back his chair, he mused under his breath, "So the one to curse my dear Nox was the World Tree's daughter all along. Looks like some interesting times are ahead."