"Jin Lia, do you understand the crime that you have committed against my sworn brother?"
His calm voice immediately caused the already-kneeling Jin Lia to lower her head even further until her forehead nearly touched the cold floor.
After taking several trembling breaths, Jin Lia finally gathered enough courage to answer the young lord standing before her.
"Young Lord, I understand that I have committed an unforgivable offense by failing to protect Lord Canming."
"He died because my Jin Family was too weak to protect him during that journey."
"Regardless of who the actual culprit was, my family must also bear responsibility for his death."
"We knew that the journey carried certain dangers, yet we still failed to prevent the attack against Lord Canming."
"We also failed to detect the sudden attack before it was already too late."
"Finally, I shamelessly returned alive after allowing Lord Canming to die while travelling alongside me."
"Therefore, I, Jin Lia, acknowledge that I deserve whatever punishment Young Lord deems appropriate."
After hearing those words, Wuchen slightly raised his eyebrows while looking down at the kneeling woman.
He had originally expected Jin Lia to desperately deny every responsibility connected to Lian Canming's death.
Instead, she had immediately acknowledged what she considered to be her own unforgivable failures.
'Hmm, she is probably trying to protect her family from becoming involved in this mess.'
Wuchen's eyes narrowed slightly as he continued observing her trembling figure.
"Since you understand your responsibility, then answer another question for me."
"How do you think I should punish you for these numerous failures?"
Jin Lia's heart immediately tightened after hearing the strangely calm question from the young lord.
"I understand that my insignificant life can never compensate for the life of Lord Canming."
"However, I humbly beg the Young Lord to spare the Jin Family and allow me to face the entire punishment alone."
"The members of my Jin Family did not participate in that journey, so killing them would only tarnish the Young Lord's reputation."
"Therefore, if punishment must be given, then please punish Jin Lia instead of involving my family."
The enormous hall once again became completely silent after her desperate declaration.
Wuchen slowly rose from his throne before beginning his measured descent toward the kneeling Jin Lia.
Each step he took echoed throughout the enormous hall with unusual clarity and terrifying consistency.
The sound of his footsteps seemed to strike directly against Jin Lia's already weakened heart.
Finally, Wuchen stopped directly in front of the trembling young woman.
He looked down at Jin Lia with an indifferent expression that revealed absolutely no emotion.
"You claim that annihilating the Jin Clan would tarnish my reputation, so I should punish only you."
"However, do you genuinely believe that your life could compensate for my sworn brother's death?"
Jin Lia immediately became pale after hearing those coldly spoken words.
For the first time, genuine despair completely filled her heart.
'Does this young master, Lian Wuchen, truly intend to annihilate the entire Jin Clan?'
She understood that her own life might not be enough to satisfy this terrifying young lord, but she could not imagine what else she could possibly offer him.
If this had been anyone else, she would have offered the Jin Family's wealth and resources as compensation.
However, the person standing before her was the Young Master of the Lian Clan.
The Jin Family was certainly powerful throughout the Northern Region of the Great Immortal Phoenix Empire.
But how could the Jin Family possibly compare with the ancient Lian Clan, whose influence extended throughout the entire empire?
And even the Lian Clan's status was not the end of Wuchen's terrifying background.
He was also the Twelfth Prince of the Great Immortal Phoenix Empire, making his position even more extraordinary.
What could she, or her insignificant Jin Family, possibly offer that could truly calm him down?
Just as complete despair began filling every corner of Jin Lia's heart, Wuchen suddenly spoke again.
"However, your proposal has given me a rather interesting idea."
"I am not an unreasonable person who punishes everyone without making any distinction."
"Since you understand and acknowledge your responsibility for my sworn brother's death, then you should naturally take responsibility."
Wuchen's gaze gradually became strangely profound as he looked directly into Jin Lia's frightened eyes.
"Since you lost the person who was once closest to me, you will take his place beside me."
"From this moment onward, you will become new Canming."
"And for us to close the gap and develop our relation. We would sleep together."
Jin Lia froze completely after hearing his unexpected declaration.
Even within her strangest dreams, she had never imagined receiving such an answer from the terrifying young lord before her.
She had prepared herself to die, yet Wuchen had instead given her an entirely different kind of punishment.
The sudden demand of having to sleep with the Young Master of the Lian Clan left her mind completely blank.
Even Wuchen himself understood how unreasonable his demand sounded from an outside perspective.
However, did he actually care about whether his demand was reasonable?
Not in the slightest.
After all, he was not trying to fulfill anyone's expectations of fairness.
He was a villain. why should he care about playing fair? His only goal was to farm as much plunder points as he can.
And Jin Lia, a Fairy of Destiny was perfect target for that.
Wuchen's lips slowly curved upward as he remembered villain novels from his previous life.
In those novels, heroines of son of destiny were most reliable and largest source for farming points and draining son of destiny's luck.
'If I want to farm Plunder Points, then this seems most convenient place to begin.'
'After all, the system itself has already identified Jin Lia as connected to Lu Yan.'
'Now let's see how much I can milk this cash cow..'