The lord of Wanyi City, Ji Geng, had been nursing a headache these past few days.
The uninvited guests from Undying Heaven had shattered the long-standing peace of Wanyi City.
Wanyi City was merely a lower-domain border town, but because it bordered the Glazed Glass Kingdom's territory, the place had always been rather prosperous, and the city itself was quite large.
As a result, the lord of Wanyi City, though technically subordinate to a certain lower domain, lived extremely comfortably. The power in his hands and the profits he skimmed were quite generous — not at all inferior to many large cities under the middle domains.
Ji Geng had always enjoyed this lifestyle.
Although he was neighbors with the Glazed Glass Kingdom's territory, the Kingdom, for all its domineering reputation, never bullied others with its power. On top of that, Ji Geng had always been quite smooth-tongued, and his relations with the border forces of the Glazed Glass Kingdom were on decent terms.
These were days even immortals wouldn't trade away.
However, half a month ago, a group had arrived at the Glazed Glass Kingdom, and their leader turned out to be none other than a Saint Law King from Undying Heaven — a formidable powerhouse at the peak of the eighth level of the Imperial Realm, just one step away from the ninth.
Such strength left Ji Geng, who was only at the early stage of the Imperial Realm, feeling enormously pressured.
Though the lower domain they belonged to had no ties whatsoever with Undying Heaven, no lower domain dared ignore a first-rank sect of the Upper Eight Domains. If there was an opportunity to curry favor, one naturally would take it.
But Undying Heaven's demands this time had clearly crossed the line. They had directly proposed to take control of Wanyi City's northern gate for one year.
Wanyi City's northern gate was the sole route to the Glazed Glass Kingdom. It was also the city's busiest gate and the one that brought in the most profit.
The Glazed Glass Kingdom was a jewel of the Divine Abyss Continent, hailed as a land of freedom. It was also one of the most powerful forces among the Upper Eight Domains.
In a single year, who knew how many powerhouses would pass through Wanyi City on their way to the Glazed Glass Kingdom.
And the tolls Wanyi City collected from them were staggering.
So, faced with this unreasonable demand from Undying Heaven, the lord of Wanyi City's instinct was to refuse.
Fortunately, though Undying Heaven was domineering, they weren't entirely without reason. They offered a massive compensation — one that even exceeded the revenue the northern gate could generate in a year.
If the lord of Wanyi City were short-sighted and cared only about money, such generous compensation would naturally leave him no reason to refuse.
Yet, even when tempted by such enormous profit, he still did not agree rashly.
As the lord of a city, how could he not know about the grudges between Undying Heaven and the Myriad Phenomena Domain over the past half year?
The news that the expedition led by Undying Heaven's Gong Wuji had been completely annihilated was not something the lord of Wanyi City could have failed to hear.
As the lord of a city, he had no desire to pass judgment on the grudges between Undying Heaven and the Myriad Phenomena Domain, and even less desire to get involved for no reason.
Had this been before Gong Wuji's annihilation, he would have agreed without hesitation.
But after Gong Wuji's annihilation, anyone paying attention now knew that Undying Heaven had suffered a devastating blow at the hands of Jiang Chen.
That monstrous genius from the Myriad Phenomena Domain had the power to destroy even Gong Wuji — a mere Wanyi City had no ability to involve itself.
Besides, this kind of matter was nothing but thankless labor.
If he ended up offending that Jiang Chen, the consequences could be endless.
Having grown accustomed to a life of comfort, the lord of Wanyi City, Ji Geng, was naturally unwilling to be dragged into such a conflict.
But Ji Geng had clearly underestimated Undying Heaven's determination. When Ji Geng showed signs of reluctance, the Saint Law King from Undying Heaven tripled the compensation once more.
The implication was clear: if the lord of Wanyi City refused, he would be making an enemy of Undying Heaven.
This coercive approach left the lord of Wanyi City with no other choice. He could only agree with a grimace, but he made it clear that Wanyi City would absolutely not become involved in the matter.
Moreover, Undying Heaven had to make it publicly known that Wanyi City had handed over control of the northern gate under duress, and had absolutely not cooperated with Undying Heaven of its own volition.
The Undying Heaven side understood that Wanyi City was trying to distance itself. Though displeased, they didn't want to create further complications, so they agreed to the lord's terms.
And so, though reluctant, the lord of Wanyi City handed over control of the northern gate.
However, now that he had cleared his name of involvement, what Undying Heaven did with it was their affair. He no longer needed to worry about Jiang Chen's retaliation, nor about upsetting the Glazed Glass Kingdom down the line.
After all, this northern gate led to the Glazed Glass Kingdom.
Handing the northern gate over to Undying Heaven's people was, to some degree, a provocation toward the Glazed Glass Kingdom.
If the Glazed Glass Kingdom chose to take issue with it, it would become quite the affair.
……
That day, Jiang Chen arrived at Wanyi City's southern gate. Entering through the south and exiting through the north would put him on Glazed Glass Kingdom territory.
In his view, Wanyi City should have been under heavy lockdown by now.
Yet, after passing through the southern gate, he noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The gate guards merely asked a few perfunctory questions before letting them through.
There was none of the tight security he had imagined. This was a completely different situation from his encounter outside Taia City.
"Could it be that I was overthinking this?" Jiang Chen found it hard to believe.