The sun began its descent, casting long, accusing shadows across Floating Cloud City. The news of the Luo force's visit to the Liu compound had spread, adding another layer of surreal terror to the day's events. The Liu, once a proud and aggressive family, had capitulated without a fight. Their remaining elders, seeing the fanatical strength in the Luo clansmen's eyes and hearing the detailed, horrifying description of their patriarch's fate, had chosen fealty over annihilation. The Liu name was effectively erased, absorbed into the Luo banner. The transfer of assets—deeds, account ledgers, control of businesses—was underway, overseen by a stern and newly powerful Luo Cheng.
In the Su Family manor, a storm was brewing. The messenger had returned, white-faced and stammering, delivering Luo Zhen's audacious demands verbatim. The main hall of the Su compound, usually a place of refined discussion, echoed with Patriarch Su Heng's furious bellows.
"He dares?! That little bastard! That demon-spawn! He demands I come to him? Like a servant? And to bring Mei'er as a... a gift?!" Su Heng slammed his fist on a rosewood table, splintering it. "I will see his compound burned to the ground and his bones ground to dust first!"
The Su elders murmured their agreement, though their eyes held a fear that their patriarch's rage could not mask. They had all felt the residual, oppressive aura that still hung over the city from the morning's confrontation.
"Father, please, calm yourself," a calm voice cut through the anger. It was Su Mei'er's older brother, Su Chang, a young man of twenty known for his cool head and cultivation talent, currently at the eighth level of Pulse Condensation. "This Luo Zhen is clearly not the fool we thought he was. He has power. Terrifying, unnatural power. To defy him outright is to invite the same fate as the Liu."
"And what would you have me do, Chang? Grovel at his feet?" Su Heng spat.
"I would have you be smart," Su Chang replied evenly. "He did not outright refuse. He issued a challenge. A test. He wants to see if we are wise enough to recognize the new hierarchy. Going to him is not an admission of weakness; it is a demonstration of political acumen. And as for Mei'er..." He glanced at his seething sister. "...it is not necessarily a bad thing."
Su Mei'er's head snapped towards him. "Brother! How can you say that?!"
"Think, Mei'er," Su Chang said, his voice dropping. "This Luo Zhen, whatever he has become, is now the most powerful force in Floating Cloud City. Perhaps in the entire region. Allying with him, closely, is the safest, and most profitable, path for our family. If you were to become his woman... your status would be unparalleled."
The words were cold, calculating, and utterly pragmatic. They silenced the room. Su Mei'er stared at her brother, betrayal warring with the dawning, horrifying logic of his words.
Su Heng's rage subsided, replaced by a grim calculation. He looked at his beautiful daughter, not as his child, but as a strategic asset. "Chang is right," he said finally, his voice heavy. "The world has changed in a day. We must change with it. We will go. And we will bring a gift worthy of a... a sovereign."
Su Mei'er felt a cold knot form in her stomach. Her fate, it seemed, had been decided by pragmatism.
---
Back in the Luo compound, the atmosphere was one of industrious terror. The clansmen, empowered and fiercely loyal, were fortifying the walls, drilling with new intensity, and managing the influx of resources from the Liu holdings. The compound, once a place of despair, now hummed with a dangerous energy.
Luo Zhen stood in the ancestral shrine, but he was not looking at the tablets. He was examining his own hands, feeling the thrum of power within his Demonic Foundation. The first level was stable, but he needed more. So much more. The energy required to advance in the Foundation Establishment realm was exponentially greater than Pulse Condensation. The entire treasury of the Liu and Wang families combined might only push him to the second level.
He needed a more potent source. He needed battle. He needed powerful enemies to devour.
His demonic senses, sharper than any hawk's, picked up on two approaching energy signatures. One was the familiar, oily aura of Magistrate Hong, laced with fear and a new, sycophantic greed. The other was a stranger, a colder, more disciplined energy, carrying the faint metallic tang of someone who dealt in death and information.
The City Lord's man, and another... interesting, Luo Zhen thought. He had expected the Su to come crawling eventually, but this was a different thread.
He walked out to the main courtyard just as Magistrate Hong and his companion were admitted through the gate. The magistrate was wringing his hands, offering a simpering smile. The man beside him was tall and lean, dressed in simple grey robes that did nothing to hide the coiled strength within. He had a sharp, angular face and eyes that missed nothing. A silver badge in the shape of a star and crescent moon was pinned to his chest.
"L-Lord Luo!" Magistrate Hong bowed deeply. "May I present Envoy Zhao of the Starlight Pavilion."
Luo Zhen's eyes narrowed infinitesimally. The Starlight Pavilion. The name was known to him from the original Luo Zhen's memories. They were a mysterious, powerful organization that acted as neutral arbiters, information brokers, and sometimes executioners across the continent. They were rumored to have branches in every major city and connections to the great sects. Their appearance here, so quickly, was telling.
Envoy Zhao gave a slight, perfunctory bow, no more than necessary. His eyes scanned Luo Zhen, and a flicker of surprise crossed his stoic features. He could sense the Foundation Establishment cultivation, but it was like nothing he had ever felt—an abyssal, hungry darkness rather than a solid foundation of spiritual light.
"Young Master Luo," Envoy Zhao's voice was crisp and devoid of emotion. "The Starlight Pavilion takes note of significant shifts in regional power. Your... rapid ascent has been flagged. We are here to observe and to offer our services. For a price, of course."
Luo Zhen smiled, a cold, thin expression. "The Starlight Pavilion sells information. What information could you possibly have that would be of value to me?"
"We know the source of the City Lord's concern," Zhao said smoothly. "There are historical records. Tales of a vile heresy known as the Blood Devouring Demonic Sect, whose cultivators could drain the strength of others. The orthodox world does not look kindly on such... techniques."
It was a veiled threat. A warning that his methods had attracted the attention of powers far beyond Floating Cloud City.
Luo Zhen actually laughed, a short, harsh sound that held no mirth. "Orthodox? Heresy?" He took a step forward, and the pressure around them intensified. "You speak to me of the judgments of ants. The Starlight Pavilion may be a big fish in a small pond, but I am the leviathan that will swallow the pond whole. Your 'observation' is permitted. Your threats are not. Remember your place, messenger."
Envoy Zhao's face remained impassive, but a muscle in his jaw twitched. The sheer, arrogant power radiating from the youth was staggering. He had faced Foundation Establishment experts before, but this was different. This was primordial.
"Understood," Zhao said after a moment, conceding the point without admitting defeat. "The Pavilion merely seeks to understand. Perhaps there are opportunities for mutual benefit. We have information on the surrounding powers, the strengths of the Wang and Su families, the deployment of the City Lord's guards... even the movements of the nearby Iron Sword Sect."
Luo Zhen's interest was piqued, though he showed nothing. The Iron Sword Sect was the first major power outside the city, a place where true cultivation began. It was his next logical stepping stone.
"Your information may prove useful," Luo Zhen allowed. "You may stay. Observe. And when I have a need for your... services, I will call for you."
It was a dismissal, and a clear statement that he was the one in control. Envoy Zhao bowed slightly again, deeper this time, and withdrew with Magistrate Hong scuttling after him.
No sooner had they left than a new commotion was heard at the gate. Luo Zhen's smile returned. The main event had arrived.
Patriarch Su Heng, his face a mask of forced calm, walked through the gates of the Luo compound. Behind him, four servants carried an ornate, heavy chest. And beside him, her head held high but her eyes flashing with a mixture of fury and terror, was Su Mei'er, dressed in her finest silks, looking every bit the priceless treasure she was supposed to be.
The Luo clansmen stopped their work, watching the scene with cold, predatory eyes. The contrast was stark: the refined, elegant Su Patriarch and his daughter in the dusty, now fortified courtyard of their former inferiors.
Su Heng's eyes swept the compound, taking in the changes, the new strength in the Luo disciples, and his heart sank further. The rumors were true. He stopped a respectful distance from Luo Zhen, who hadn't moved from the center of the courtyard.
"Young Master Luo," Su Heng began, his voice tight. "We have come, as you... requested."
Luo Zhen didn't acknowledge him. His gaze was fixed solely on Su Mei'er. He looked her up and down with the appraisal of a connoisseur examining a new acquisition. The intensity of his gaze, the raw, undisguised possession in it, made her skin crawl. She wanted to look away, to defy him, but a deeper instinct warned her that any sign of weakness would be fatal.
"Su Mei'er," Luo Zhen said, her name a whisper that carried across the silent yard. "You came. Good."
He finally shifted his gaze to Su Heng. "And you brought a gift. Let's see if it is worthy."
Su Heng gestured, and the servants opened the chest. Inside, nestled on velvet, was a magnificent longsword. The blade was made of shimmering Frost Iron, and the hilt was carved from the bone of a Sky-Swallowing Whale, inlaid with spirit gems that glowed with a soft blue light. It was a high-grade spirit weapon, a treasure of the Su Family for generations.
"This is the Frostbone Blade," Su Heng said, a hint of pride breaking through his tension. "A high-grade spirit weapon. It can channel ice-attribute energy with unparalleled efficiency. A gift, to celebrate your rise, Young Master Luo."
Luo Zhen walked over to the chest. He didn't pick up the sword. He placed a finger on the blade. The black smoke of the Nine Profound Heavens Demonic Art coiled around his finger and touched the sword.
The spirit gems flickered violently. The Frost Iron blade groaned, then cracked with a sound like a dying glacier. The energy within the sword, its precious ice-attribute spirit, was violently sucked out through Luo Zhen's finger. The blade turned dull grey, then black, before crumbling into a pile of metallic dust.
The Su servants gasped. Su Heng's face went white with horror. That sword was an heirloom! It was priceless!
"A mediocre toy," Luo Zhen stated, brushing the dust from his fingers. "Its energy was passable. Your gift is accepted, but its form was lacking."
He turned his full attention back to Su Heng. The pressure in the courtyard became crushing. "You offered me an engagement once, then sought to have it stolen back through thugs. You looked down on the Luo Clan. You thought us trash."
He took a step closer. Su Heng took an involuntary step back.
"That debt remains," Luo Zhen's voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "The blade was interest. The principal is still owed."
Su Mei'er found her voice, though it trembled. "What... what more do you want? We have humbled ourselves! We have come to you!"
Luo Zhen's crimson-starred eyes slid to her. "I want what I always wanted. But the terms have changed."
He looked back at Su Heng. "The engagement is null and void. I do not engage with your family. I own it."
He let the words hang in the air, letting their horrifying meaning sink in.
"Su Mei'er will remain here. In the Luo Compound. As my personal attendant," he declared. "The Su Family will swear fealty to the Luo Clan. You will hand over control of your three largest spirit stone shops and your jade mine. In return, you will be allowed to maintain the rest of your operations and exist under my protection. These are my terms. There will be no negotiation."
Su Heng felt the world spin. Personal attendant? A glorified servant? A maid? For his daughter, the jewel of Floating Cloud City? And to hand over their most profitable assets... it was ruinous! It was humiliation beyond imagining!
"Y-You can't be serious!" Su Heng sputtered.
Luo Zhen's eyes glowed. "Do I look like I jest?"
The killing intent focused on Su Heng, a palpable weight that threatened to crush his soul. He saw his life flash before his eyes. He saw the withered form of Liu Bang. He saw the dust of the Frostbone Blade.
He fell to his knees. The proud Patriarch of the Su Family knelt in the dirt of the Luo courtyard.
"The... the Su Family... accepts your terms, Lord Luo," he choked out, the words tasting like ash.
"Father, no!" Su Mei'er cried, tears of humiliation finally springing to her eyes.
"Silence!" Su Heng snapped, not out of anger at her, but out of sheer, survivalist fear. "You will obey Lord Luo's command!"
Luo Zhen looked at Su Mei'er's tear-streaked face. A flicker of something—amusement, satisfaction—crossed his features. "Welcome to your new home, Mei'er. Luo Bo will show you to your quarters. They will be... modest."
He then turned his back on them, a final, ultimate dismissal. "The details of the asset transfer will be discussed with my steward. You may go, Patriarch Su. Your audience is over."
Su Heng rose on shaky legs, not daring to look at his daughter. He turned and walked out of the compound, a broken man, his family's future traded for their survival.
Su Mei'er stood alone in the courtyard, surrounded by hostile faces, her future shattered, now the personal servant of the demon who had destroyed it. The first true jewel in Luo Zhen's collection had been acquired. And he hadn't even had to lift a finger to take her.
The game was indeed moving quickly. And Luo Zhen was winning every hand.