...
The guard cast a cold glance at him and said indifferently, "Wait."
A moment later, a maid walked out from inside the door.
"Elder Yu, please follow me."
The maid did not waste any words and directly turned around to lead the way.
Yu Tianci and the others hurriedly followed, carrying heavy chests as they cautiously walked into the world-renowned Moon Pavilion.
The luxury and elegance inside Moon Pavilion secretly shocked Yu Tianci and the others.
The maid brought Yu Tianci and the others to an extremely spacious and luxurious reception room on the top floor.
"Please wait a moment, Your Excellency and Madam will arrive shortly."
After having someone serve fine tea, the maid withdrew and closed the door behind her.
Only Yu Tianci and his four attendants were left inside the reception room.
The room was frighteningly quiet.
Yu Tianci sat on the soft sofa, but felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles.
He picked up the teacup, wanting to drink some water to moisten his dry throat, only to find that his hand was trembling violently and the tea almost spilled out.
A few minutes felt longer than several centuries to Yu Tianci.
In his mind, he repeatedly rehearsed what he should say when he met Luo Nan later, how to bargain, and how to preserve the final dignity of the Sect.
"Creak——"
The door of the reception room was slowly pushed open from the outside.
Accompanied by steady and powerful footsteps, two figures walked into the room.
Luo Nan and Tang Yuehua had arrived.
Upon seeing these two people, Yu Tianci's heart suddenly tightened.
"Swish!"
Yu Tianci sprang up from the sofa almost like a conditioned reflex.
The four attendants behind him were so frightened that their whole bodies trembled, hurriedly standing up as well, lowering their heads without daring to even breathe heavily.
"This old man, Third Elder of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, Yu Tianci, greets Your Excellency Luo Nan and Lady Tang."
Yu Tianci forced out a smile uglier than crying, cupped his hands, and bowed deeply toward Luo Nan and Tang Yuehua.
With this bow, he bent very low, almost completely trampling the dignity of an Upper Three Sects Elder under his feet.
Luo Nan walked to the main seat and sat down aggressively, while Tang Yuehua gracefully sat beside him.
Luo Nan did not immediately tell Yu Tianci to dispense with the courtesy, but instead looked up and down at the subservient old man.
After a full dozen seconds, until fine beads of sweat had seeped out on Yu Tianci's forehead, Luo Nan slowly spoke, "Elder Yu, sit."
"Thank you, Your Excellency."
As if granted amnesty, Yu Tianci straightened his body and cautiously sat on the edge of the sofa with only half his buttocks, appearing extremely restrained.
"I wonder what brings Elder Yu to my humble Moon Pavilion today?"
Luo Nan picked up the teacup on the table, gently blew on the floating tea leaves, and asked in a casual tone.
Yu Tianci swallowed a mouthful of saliva, hurriedly pointed to the heavy chests behind him, and said with a flattering smile,
"Your Excellency is joking. Moon Pavilion is world-renowned; how could it be a humble place?"
"This old man has come today specifically bringing some local specialties from within the territory of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect to visit Your Excellency and Madam."
"It is just a meager gift, not showing our full respect. I hope Your Excellency will graciously accept it."
As he spoke, Yu Tianci gave a wink, and several attendants hurriedly stepped forward to open the chests one by one.
Inside were packed extremely rare ten-thousand-year Spiritual Plants, rare Ores emitting dense Soul Power fluctuations, and neatly stacked gold coins.
What kind of local specialties were these? They were clearly a fortune sufficient to make most small and medium-sized factions turn green with envy.
As the saying goes, one does not hit a smiling person.
Looking at those priceless local specialties, Luo Nan naturally knew what Yu Tianci's true purpose for coming here today was.
The Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, Sect Master Yu Xiaolie, was still in Luo Nan's hands. With Yu Tianci bringing such a heavy gift to his door, what else could he be doing besides coming to negotiate terms to ransom someone?
However, Luo Nan deliberately refused to bring it into the open himself.
The art of negotiation lies in the fact that whoever loses their composure first loses their bottom line.
Luo Nan wanted to watch this Elder of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect bit by bit lay down all his dignity in front of him and voluntarily stretch his neck beneath his blade.
"Oh? Local specialties of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect really are extraordinary."
Luo Nan put down his teacup, looking at Yu Tianci with a half-smile, a hint of banter in his tone.
"Elder Yu is truly thoughtful. Since they are local specialties, I will accept them without courtesy."
The maids walked in silently and carried away all these priceless local specialties.
However, after taking the items, Luo Nan still did not speak.
He just leaned quietly against the back of the spacious sofa chair, toying with an exquisite white jade teacup in his hand.
Then, from time to time, he glanced twice at Yu Tianci.
Tang Yuehua at the side sat quietly, gracefully adding tea for Luo Nan, as if the powerful Elder of the Upper Three Sects before her did not exist at all.
Time ticked away second by second. This suffocating silence was more terrifying than any stern reprimand.
Yu Tianci only felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles. Layers of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, sliding down his aged cheeks and dripping onto his luxurious lapels.
He could even clearly hear his own heartbeat sounding like a beating drum.
Luo Nan's gaze was like an invisible blade, peeling away his disguised composure bit by bit and piercing straight into the deepest fear in his heart.
"We cannot drag this out any longer..."
Yu Tianci cried out bitterly in his heart.
He knew that Luo Nan was deliberately wearing him down to completely shatter his psychological defense line.
If he still didn't speak, today's negotiation probably wouldn't even have a chance to begin.
Thinking of this, Yu Tianci suddenly clenched his teeth, his hands tightly forming fists as his nails sank deep into his palms.
He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the humiliation and fear in his heart, and decided to stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point.
"Your Excellency Luo Nan..."
Yu Tianci's voice was a bit dry, even carrying a trace of trembling.
"Aside from presenting these meager gifts, this old man has actually... actually come today for an extremely important matter that I wish to explain clearly to Your Excellency in person."
"Speak."
Yu Tianci swallowed a mouthful of saliva and braced himself to say,
"Some time ago, an extremely vile incident occurred within our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect."
"We only recently learned that Sect Master Sect Master Yu Xiaolie... he actually became bewitched and privately led people to rob the caravan of the Moon Pavilion!"
Speaking to this point, Yu Tianci deliberately put on a heart-broken and chest-beating expression, continuing with tears streaming down his old face:
"Upon learning of this matter, everyone in our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect was extremely shocked and heartbroken!"
"We never could have imagined that Sect Master Yu Xiaolie, as a Sect Master, could actually do such an absurd and despicable thing!"
"This completely throws away the face of our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, and is even an extreme offense to Moon Pavilion and to Your Excellency!"
...
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