Yes, utterly relaxed.

Everything was within his grasp.

A myriad of expressions flickered across Sun Tiangang's face before he finally lowered his head. "I concede." These three words sounded like a pillar collapsing. Indeed, he had no choice but to concede. If this matter were brought before the Elder Council, it would not only disgrace the Clear Sound Sword Immortal, Sun Qingyi, but also incur significant reparations. It was better to just admit defeat right here.

The moment he uttered, "I concede," Li Fang was ecstatic. A wide grin split Li Fang's face, and he nearly burst out laughing. So, Sun Tiangang actually had a moment where he conceded! For years, Sun Tiangang had been lording over him. Not long ago, Sun Tiangang had even inflicted severe injuries upon him. Li Fang had thought it might take an unknown number of years to exact revenge.

Yet now, Sun Tiangang himself had said the words, "I concede." How could this not delight Li Fang?

Li Fang then realized the Young Master’s brilliance. After dealing with the Sun Family's Thirteen Eagles and capturing them at the Li Family Estate, the Young Master hadn't rushed to act. Instead, he had leisurely enjoyed fine cuisine. The true reason was to wait for Sun Tiangang to take the bait. When Sun Tiangang stormed the Li Family Estate demanding a fight, he had merely added another charge to his list of crimes.

The Young Master is formidable!

Lu Yuan nodded. "Very well, then we can settle the accounts."

"First, the initial account: everything you previously occupied from the mines of Xiangshan must be handed over. Before, if there was no evidence, you could have bluffed that we gave it up willingly. Now, we have concrete proof," Lu Yuan stated.

Sun Tiangang agreed to this; he had no other option.

"Second, our personnel suffered severe losses during this occupation of the mines—many were injured. This is clearly recorded in the lodestone, you haven't forgotten, have you?" Lu Yuan continued. "The compensation for those individuals should be settled, right? We won't ask for too much. Ten Spirit Stones for each person who was injured and fell, and three Spirit Stones for each person who wasn't knocked down but still sustained injuries." This was no small sum; if fully paid, it would likely amount to over a hundred lower-grade Spirit Stones. But what choice did he have? If this truly went to the Elder Council, the punishment would be slightly lighter, but the face of the Clear Sound Sword Immortal—the Sword Immortal’s honor—was worth far more than that.

Thus, Sun Tiangang could only agree again. At this point, Sun Tiangang felt utterly tragic. In terms of injury severity, he and his Thirteen Eagles were definitively worse off, having had their hand tendons severed. Even though his own men were also injured, no compensation was offered to them. Yet, there was nothing he could do.

"Third, I exerted myself to come here; my hands are somewhat sore. There should be a fee for the effort, shouldn't there? If there is no exertion fee, then perhaps I might accidentally sever the tendons in both of your legs. That would fall within the normal scope of things, wouldn't it?" Yes, this was a blatant threat. If the first two points adhered somewhat to propriety, this third point was completely out of line.

But Lu Yuan was openly threatening him now: comply, or your leg tendons get cut.

"And the fourth point: the damage done to our Li Family Estate when you broke in and made trouble. That must naturally be compensated. Let me calculate... the losses are substantial; it should amount to at least fifty Spirit Stones." This was utterly absurd. The things he damaged weren't worth a single Spirit Stone, yet Lu Yuan was demanding fifty.

This was simply too much.

And so, the haggling began between the two parties.

However, Lu Yuan, doing the haggling, sat there leisurely, having all the time in the world to argue.

On the other side, his hands were still bleeding, and with every moment of debate, his energy waned further.

...

By the end, Sun Tiangang was haggled into a daze. When the final tally was complete, he found he owed Lu Yuan two hundred and eighty Spirit Stones. Heavens above, he hadn't amassed this much Spirit Stone wealth even after decades of managing his affairs here. He would likely have to siphon some from the tribute slated for his superiors to cover the debt.

But there was no alternative; Lu Yuan was too shrewd.

If this incident had been brought before the Elder Council, the penalty would have been over a hundred Spirit Stones, plus the complete loss of face for the Clear Sound Sword Immortal.

If he paid now, the Clear Sound Sword Immortal’s reputation would remain intact, but he would overpay by more than a hundred Spirit Stones.

This was precisely the maximum range Sun Tiangang could accept.

Lu Yuan's shrewdness lay in calculating Sun Tiangang's maximum acceptable threshold and extracting the greatest possible benefit directly.

—————— Only when the Sun family representatives delivered the two hundred and eighty Spirit Stones did Lu Yuan wave his hand, allowing Sun Tiangang and the captured Thirteen Eagles to leave. Their hand tendons had been severed, meaning they would likely be unable to fight for a considerable time. For at least several months, they would be effectively disabled, and without spiritual medicine, the period of disability would be even longer.

At the Li Family Estate, there was jubilation everywhere.

Never mind the last two years, even looking back ten or twenty years, such good fortune had never befallen them. To sustain severe injuries in a fight earned ten Spirit Stones in compensation; minor injuries earned three. A single Spirit Stone was incredibly precious; they usually earned only one or two per year, and even with extra tasks, perhaps two at most.

Basically, those with minor injuries earned what they would have in the past year, and those with severe injuries earned what they would have in several years. These injuries were worth sustaining!

As for the state of affairs over the last two years, back then, receiving some injury poultices after an injury was considered fortunate.

Such was the desolation of the Li Family Estate during the past two years.

Thankfully, the Young Master had arrived now. The Young Master’s arrival and his swift subjugation of Sun Tiangang—forcing such an arrogant man to obediently hand over Spirit Stones, and such a large sum at that—proved that following the Young Master meant a bright future.

"The Young Master is mighty!"

"Long live the Young Master!" Cheers echoed from every corner of the Li Family Estate.

Lu Yuan sat in his private chamber, listening to the commotion outside shouting "Long live the Young Master," and he couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. He could have killed Sun Tiangang this time, but remembering his Master’s declining health, he knew that confronting Sun Qingyi, the Clear Sound Sword Immortal, now would be a difficult victory and would only bring trouble to his Master. Thus, he chose to play the game according to the rules of the Five Great Immortal Sects and the Elder Council.

He had used the rules of the Five Great Immortal Sects and the Elder Council.

If they wished to retaliate in the future, they would also have to operate within these rules.

The Elder Council was never to be trifled with.

Whoever breaks the Elder Council's rules first will be the one who suffers the consequences.

With a slight movement of his hand, he withdrew a low-grade Spirit Stone from his Asura Pouch. This stone was semi-translucent, not perfectly spherical. This time, he had truly profited immensely. After compensating his subordinates with one hundred Spirit Stones, he still had one hundred and eighty Spirit Stones left over.

This was equivalent to the income he had earned in his eighteen years as a true disciple—a colossal sum.

He profited.

Lu Yuan toyed with the low-grade Spirit Stone in his hand. The Five Great Immortal Sects had their rules, and the Elder Council had its regulations. He had leveraged the inherent system to play a game and earned a substantial fortune. Combined with the fifty remaining low-grade Spirit Stones from selling the dual-snake vessel, a water-attribute magic artifact, previously, he now possessed two hundred and thirty low-grade Spirit Stones.

His assets were considerable now. It was just a shame that he was currently stalled at the peak of the Eighth Layer, the Subtle Meridian Refinement, not due to a lack of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, but because he needed a breakthrough that pure accumulation of mana alone could not achieve.

Of course, if he could break through to the Ninth Layer, the Great Heavenly Cycle of Qi Refining, the enhancement he would gain would be enormous.