When Yi Tianyun returned to his room, he found Zi Yuwei and the others already there. They all stared in surprise as they saw him leap up into the room from below.
"Young Master Yi, what in the world happened?"
Zi Yuwei was shocked as she looked at the blood on the floor and the tattered remains of the assassin's clothes.
The attack Yi Tianyun had just unleashed had a radius of a hundred meters. Even with the rooms in the way, quite a few people were instantly Frozen.
When they came to, none of them knew what had happened; they had all been inexplicably frozen solid.
"It was nothing. I just killed an assassin."
Yi Tianyun didn't hide anything, as there was nothing to hide. Besides, with the body right here, he couldn't have hidden it even if he'd wanted to.
"So it really was an assassin. Could the Celestial Phoenix Tower have sent someone!?"
Zi Yuwei's expression darkened. 'They can't beat us, so they send an assassin?' This kind of thing had certainly happened before, but she hadn't expected them to act so quickly.
"I'm not sure about that," Yi Tianyun said nonchalantly.
He didn't reveal the full story. The less trouble, the better, so he kept it to himself.
"Purple Pavilion Master, your security here is abysmal! You didn't even notice an assassin sneaking in! If something had happened to my junior brother, how would your Celestial Rain Tower have taken responsibility?!"
An Ling flew into a rage. A chill ran down her spine as she took in the gruesome scene on the floor.
'If Yi Tianyun had died here, how could I possibly explain it to Shi Xueyun upon my return?'
'Shi Xueyun had sent us out to act as his bodyguards. She hadn't said so explicitly, but given how much she doted on him, it was clear she'd sent us to ensure his safety. Our cultivation is higher than Yi Tianyun's, making us perfectly suited for the role.'
'Protecting him was one part of it; getting to know each other better was another. But I never expected something like this to happen. It scared me so much I broke out in a cold sweat. Thankfully, our junior brother's cultivation isn't weak, or this would've been a disaster.'
Zi Yuwei's expression was grim; she also understood the gravity of the situation.
"I am deeply sorry for this. I can only say that our security was not strong enough. I will immediately dispatch men to reinforce the guards!"
Zi Yuwei apologized sincerely, "As compensation, I am willing to concede another ten percent. On the profit split, you will receive sixty percent, and we will take only forty!"
This was the most direct form of compensation. Offering Elixir Pills or weapons was meaningless; with enough money, one could buy anything here. Therefore, a larger share of the profits was undoubtedly the most appropriate gesture.
"That's not necessary. Even if you posted a few more guards, they wouldn't have been able to stop him. This isn't your fault."
'This was true,' Yi Tianyun thought. 'The assassin's cultivation wasn't particularly high, but his Concealing Ability was exceptionally strong.'
'With the Celestial Rain Tower's power, intercepting him would have been impossible. They would have needed an expert at the eighth or ninth level of the Spirit Refining Stage, or a powerhouse who specialized in breaking through an assassin's Concealing Technique. Otherwise, he would have remained undetected.'
'That was clearly not feasible. Experts at the eighth or ninth level of the Spirit Refining Stage were typically deacon-level figures. Assigning one to act as my guard here was simply out of the question.'
Zi Yuwei felt extremely awkward and guilty. 'If I don't offer some form of compensation and leave a bad impression on Yi Tianyun, won't it be even harder to convince him to stay?' she thought.
Yi Tianyun glanced at her and offered a small smile. "Don't blame yourself. This has nothing to do with you. If the Celestial Phoenix Tower really was behind this, then I'm the one who attracted their trouble. It had nothing to do with you from the very beginning."
'If I hadn't forged so many Spiritual Artifacts, they never would have sent a killer after me.' The logic was simple.
"That may be so, but Young Master Yi is our Honored Guest Elder, and it's a fact that we failed to protect you! The profit split will be as we just discussed. This is the greatest compensation we can offer!"
Although it was just a ten percent increase, it was a staggering sum. They were already providing the raw materials, which weren't cheap. With this split, their profit margin would be even thinner. It was a very sincere offer.
'Of course, Yi Tianyun knew what she was doing. She wanted to leave a good impression on him so he would continue to stay at the Rainy Day Tower.'
'Profit was secondary. The main goal was for him to help her revitalize the Rainy Day Tower; for that, she was willing to give up almost all the profits.'
"Purple Pavilion Master, I appreciate your good intentions, but it's unnecessary. I plan to depart tomorrow, and this has nothing to do with the assassin. Our main purpose in coming here wasn't for this partnership. We just needed to purchase some materials before returning to Merak Palace."
Assassin or no assassin, he had already planned to leave. He had been here long enough; there was no need to stay any longer.
Zi Yuwei's expression changed. This was not good news for her. However, she didn't try to persuade him to stay. She could only let out a deep sigh and say, "Since Young Master Yi's mind is made up, I won't say more. In the future, if you ever need help from us at the Rainy Day Tower, I will certainly provide it!"
Yi Tianyun nodded. He had a rather favorable impression of Zi Yuwei. If he came down from the palace in the future, he would definitely visit the Rainy Day Tower again.
And so, the night's incident came to a close. Although Yi Tianyun had said it was unnecessary, Zi Yuwei still reinforced the guards. It was the only thing she could do.
By the next day, Yi Tianyun had finished selecting and purchasing all the materials he needed. This time, he had earned no less than a million Gold, an absolute fortune. This was far more than he could earn from any quest; their rewards were always trivial by comparison.
'Who ever gets rich doing quests? You always have to kill monsters or sell things to accumulate wealth.'
"Purple Pavilion Master, I'll be taking my leave now," Yi Tianyun said to Zi Yuwei.
"You are welcome back anytime. We will definitely give Young Master Yi a very favorable price," Zi Yuwei said with a calm smile. Thanks to him, their Rainy Day Tower had managed to soundly suppress the Celestial Phoenix Tower for the first time in a long while. She was content with that.
Just as they were preparing to leave, a Guard rushed in from outside, cupped his fist, and reported, "Purple Pavilion Master, the Celestial Phoenix Tower is holding an auction! They're about to auction off a supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact! There are also quite a few high-grade Spiritual Artifacts. Most importantly, they all come from the Divine Forging Sect! A lot of people are rushing over there right now…"
"They've also spread the word that here in Celestial Wind City, any Spiritual Artifact not forged by the Divine Forging Sect is garbage! That includes the ones we just sold—they're calling them garbage too!"
"'From the hands of the Divine Forging Sect…'"
Zi Yuwei's expression changed. "I can't believe the Celestial Phoenix Tower actually managed to get the Divine Forging Sect involved!"
In Celestial Wind City, the Divine Forging Sect was a symbol of authority. They even conducted the Blacksmith examinations and determined the official grades of Spiritual Artifacts here. For them to now declare that the artifacts sold by the tower were garbage was tantamount to saying they were selling fakes.
Yi Tianyun's gaze turned cold. 'A disciple of the Divine Forging Sect… Ma Liangpeng?' He was immediately reminded of the quest he'd accepted upon entering the city. 'To think I'd run into him now!'