Chapter 196: The Grand Meeting and The Master Plan Revealed ( Bonus GT - XIV )

Chapter 196: The Grand Meeting and The Master Plan Revealed ( Bonus GT Chapter XIV )

After three days of an endless, city shaking shopping spree, the storm of wealth that swept through the Outer City finally began to settle.

Inside the most luxurious VIP room of the Heaven’s Table, Yu Liang sat comfortably on a soft spiritual beast skin sofa. He took a sip of the fragrant spiritual tea poured by his Mei Hua, his expression was one of relaxed and satisfied.

The frantic purchasing from every single shop in the city was finally over.

Mei Hua gracefully placed the teapot down and sat beside him. She gently leaned her head on his shoulder, her beautiful eyes looked up at him with a mix of admiration and playful teasing.

"Husband," Mei Hua said with a faint smile. "You spent over such a huge amount of Spiritual Stones in just three days, emptying out every single shop from the largest pavilions to the smallest street stalls. Don’t tell me you did all this just because you want to eat the whole Outer City at once?"

Hearing her words, Yu Liang chuckled softly. He wrapped his arm around her slender waist and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead affectionately.

"My wife is truly perceptive," Yu Liang smiled as his eyes flashed with a thoughtful light. "Yes, that is the entire reason. I didn’t just go on a shopping spree to spoil you, although that was the Main Priority but The purchases were just a means to an end."

Mei Hua’s eyes sparkled brightly. As the manager of the Heaven’s Table, she was naturally sharp in business. "So, your upcoming plan is to completely monopolize and take over all the commercial businesses in the Outer City? But wouldn’t they resist? Even with your Honorary Disciple title, forcing hundreds of shop owners to sell would cause a lot of friction."

"That is exactly why I had to do the shopping spree first," Yu Liang explained with calm voice but filled with absolute confidence. "There are two main reasons for my actions."

He held up one finger. "First, to prove that I have sufficient, inexhaustible wealth. In the cultivation world, people only submit to absolute power and absolute wealth. By spending Trillions without blinking, I have crushed their will to resist even in the slightest. Then when I officially propose my upcoming plan to merge and manage all their shops under my banner, they won’t dare to haggle or refuse, because they know I can crush them financially and physically."

He held up a second finger with a smirk appearing on his face. "Secondly, to expose my background. I knew that if I just used force, people would eventually dig into my past to cause trouble. But by spending recklessly without any family elders coming to stop me, I naturally gave away a statement that my backing is an unfathomable, hidden ancient clan. This mysterious background is an unexpected bonus for them as It saves me the trouble of having to beat up some arrogant young masters just to prove my status. Now, they are too terrified to even investigate me."

As Mei Hua continued to listened, her beautiful eyes filled with adoration. Her husband’s schemes were always so thorough and ruthless, yet perfectly calculated. "You are truly amazing, Husband. With this move, the entire Outer City’s economy will be in your hands."

"Exactly," Yu Liang smiled as he sat up straight and his expression turned slightly more serious. "Now, it is time to harvest the fruits. Mei Hua, use the Heaven’s Table’s communication arrays. Send out a formal invitation to every single shop owner, big or small, in the Outer City. Tell them that I, Yu Liang, am calling a grand meeting. They must all be present here at the Heaven’s Table in exactly two days. Be sure to tell that Attendance is Mandatory."

"Understood, Husband," Mei Hua nodded and she immediately stood up and went to activate the transmission array of the restaurant.

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Within a few hours, thousands of golden invitation talismans flew out of the Heaven’s Table like a swarm of golden bees, dispersing into every corner of the Outer City.

The moment the shop owners received the invitations, the entire Outer City exploded into a frenzy of panic and anxiety.

In a secret underground meeting room, several of the most powerful merchants in the Outer City had hastily gathered. There was Manager Wang of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Boss Li of the Green Wood Herb Garden, and several other heavyweights. Their faces were pale, and their hands were trembling as they held the golden talismans.

"Everyone, we need to discuss this!" Manager Wang said, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. "Young Master Yu is calling a meeting for all of us. What is his intention? Is he going to force us? Or is he planning something entirely different? I-I’m totally confused, s-should we... should we unite and scheme against him?"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Boss Li roared, slamming his hand on the table, his face twisted in fear and anger. "Scheme against him? Do you want to court death?! If we scheme against him, his hidden ancient clan will descend and exterminate our nine generations! NINE GENERATIONS!"

"I... I was just saying!" Manager Wang stammered, his legs went weak. "Then what do we do? We can’t just wait to be slaughtered!"

"Who said we are going to be slaughtered?" an old merchant at the corner spoke up, his voice too trembled slightly but his eyes were resolute.

"Think about it. He didn’t send the Cloudwater Sect’s enforcement elders to arrest us. He sent invitations. This means he wants to do business, not massacre us. Our only goal now is to figure out how to present ourselves in the right manner!"

The room fell silent as the truth of his words sank in. They weren’t gathering to plot a rebellion, they were gathering to figure out how to appear properly infront of Yu Liang.

"Exactly," Boss Li nodded heavily. "We need to prepare the most precious gifts we have. We must practice our speech and body language. When we enter the Heaven’s Table, we must keep our heads lowered, our eyes on the floor, and not even dare to breathe too loudly. We must show absolute submission!"

"But what about the Cloudwater Sect?" Manager Wang asked weakly. "Young Master Yu is an Honorary Disciple. If he monopolizes the Outer City, won’t the Sect interfere? The Sect usually doesn’t allow a single disciple to control a city’s economy after all Jade City is the heart of the Sect."

"Fool!" Boss Li sneered. "The Sect won’t interfere! Don’t you understand the situation? With a background that can casually throw away trillions of spiritual stones, do you think the Cloudwater Sect would dare to offend him? The Sect Master should probably be praying that Young Master Yu is in a good mood! The Sect wouldn’t dare to interfere even if he bought the entire Inner City!"

The other merchants nodded in agreement. The terrifying reality was that Yu Liang’s fabricated background had become an absolute shield.

And no one dared to use the rules of the sect against him either after Zhao Family example.

"Then let’s prepare," Manager Wang sighed with his spirit completely broken. "Let’s go back and gather all of our family’s treasures. We must not offend him."

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Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

The atmosphere outside the Heaven’s Table was incredibly solemn. The usually bustling street in front of the restaurant was completely cleared out.

Hundreds of cultivators, all of them were wealthy and influential shop owners, merchants, and guild leaders of the Outer City, were standing neatly in lines outside the grand doors. There was no chitter chatter, arrogance and balant display of bravado. Every single one of them had their heads lowered and their hands clasped in front of them with their expressions filled with deep respect and fear.

They brought boxes filled with rare spiritual herbs, High Grade Artifacts and Precious Essence as greeting gifts.

As the sun reached its zenith, the doors of the Heaven’s Table slowly opened with a creak.

Xiaoxiao, dressed in a stunning, elegant phoenix robe made from Top Tier spiritual silk, stepped out. She looked at the hundreds of trembling merchants and spoke in a clear voice that echoed in the everyone’s ear.

"Young Master Yu Liang has arrived. All of you may enter and take your seats."

Without a single word of protest, the most powerful merchants of the Outer City bowed deeply and entered into the Heaven’s Table, walking like obedient sheep into the den of the dragon.