Chapter 99: Invitation

“How much did we make in total this time?”

After sending Li Jiahao and the other guests away, Zhou Tian said nothing else. He called his squad into his study at once and, once they had assembled, immediately began asking about the proceeds of the auction.

In truth, everyone in Zhou Tian’s squad, not just Zhou Tian himself, wanted to know exactly how much they had earned. So when he spoke, all eyes turned instantly to Mike and the tally.

With so many eyes on him, Mike was visibly rattled. He glanced down at his ledger and, in a voice trembling with both tension and excitement, reported to Zhou Tian, “This auction yielded a total of two hundred fifty-six million eight hundred twenty thousand gold coins!”

“How much did you say?”

“Two hundred fifty-six million eight hundred twenty thousand gold coins!”

At Mike’s firm reply, everyone in the room, Zhou Tian included, practically leapt up in excitement.

“Over two hundred and fifty-six million? That’s far more than I expected!”

After the cheering settled, Zhou Tian sat heavily in his chair as if calm and, with a broad sweep of his hand, announced, “Of this haul, two hundred million gold coins go straight to buying beast cores. Another fifty million go to expanding the Capital. As for the remaining few million, we’ll distribute that immediately as bonuses by rank.”

“Long live!”

“We’d follow the captain to our deaths.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Though Zhou Tian had set aside most of the money, even the amount he was distributing was a fortune to everyone present. The room exploded with even louder cheers. In the middle of the chaos, someone suddenly leaned forward and planted a hard kiss on Zhou Tian’s cheek.

He touched his kissed face in disbelief, then, while everyone still cheered, clapped once on the table to quiet them. “Quiet. I’m not going to argue about how you divide this money, but those two hundred million must be converted into beast cores at the fastest possible speed. I have an urgent use for them.”

“We’ll make it happen.”

The task was hardly difficult, and the mood was still high from the windfall; no one protested. Everyone answered at once.

Buying beast cores from the Beastwild, a land rich in them, had always been easy. Before, they had to stop purchasing after a batch because funding ran dry and their supply of spiritual energy had been cut off. Now, with two hundred million gold coins as backing, Zhou Tian figured that for a long time to come, cores from their area would hardly leave their territory at all.

Even as the Capital kept expanding, Zhou Tian’s own spiritual-aura reserves were slowly growing. After a month of purchasing, he finally resolved to spend spiritual energy to strengthen himself.

He spent three million spiritual energy to obtain a Divine Dragon lineage, ten million to buy the demon-cultivator manual *The Secret Scripture of the True Dragon*, and one million for a piece of Cloud-Weave Immortal Armor. Those three purchases alone nearly emptied his entire spiritual store.

He had spent much, yes, but gained much more. The Divine Dragon lineage did not make him a divine dragon overnight, but with it, from now on until he reached the Divine Dragon ascension, he would face no more bottlenecks. In other words, if he accumulated enough experience, he could now raise himself straight to the Third Ascension without worrying about the usual barriers.

The *True Dragon Scripture* was technically a demon-cultivator manual, yet it was almost certainly designed for beastborn disciples with draconic bloodlines like Zhou Tian’s. With it, he could cultivate much faster, and even some of its recorded spells were now within his reach to attempt.

As for the Cloud-Weave Immortal Armor, its function hardly needed explanation: besides improving his defense and keeping him alive longer, it offered few other obvious benefits.

In the short term the effects were not dramatic, but after this round of transactions Zhou Tian was already entering a period of rapid development. If nothing went wrong, his strength would climb swiftly before long.

But he had barely finished a month of quiet downtime when an invitation card arrived and upended his plans.

“Why us? Why has an invitation to the Empress’s birthday been delivered here?” Vivian said as soon as she glanced at it. “What concern is that of ours?”

After listening, Zhou Tian only shrugged helplessly. “How odd is it really? I’m a bishop, and right now I’m settled on their lands. If they’ve sent us a card for an occasion like this, there’s nothing surprising about it.”

“Do you have to go?”

He sighed, looked toward the imperial direction, and said, “Of course I do. We’ll be living on their ground from now on. We need to keep on good terms. They sent a formal invitation—if I refuse, we’d be giving them open disrespect.”

“It is true. Then go,” Vivian conceded after a beat, then added, “You may go, but you’re bringing Afra with you.”

“Why on earth should I bring her?”

“And why should I go with her?” Aphra shot back at the same time.

They both spoke as if in unison, each refusing.

Seeing their reactions, Vivian did not bother to accept their objection. She merely shrugged and ordered, “I know there probably won’t be danger, but it only takes one bad moment. If you bring Afra along, then if anything happens you’ll at least have each other to rely on.”

“Not needed,” Mike said, striking a boastful, sailor-like pose. “My strength is plenty.”

Then Anna stepped in with, “You have no right to speak that way after being saved by someone.”

The remark hit him so hard that Zhou Tian dropped to the ground in an exaggerated kneeling pose, folded like a fallen figure, and retreated to the side, pretending to draw circles in the air. In the end, unwilling as he and Afra both were, they had to obey Vivian’s decision and board the teleport array to the Yanhuang Empire’s Imperial Capital together.

“This is the Capital of the Yanhuang Empire! So ordinary—our Bright Holy City is far grander than this,” Aphra said with a sneer that made Zhou Tian cringe.

He clamped his hand over her mouth and, ignoring her struggling, hurried her away beneath the disapproving eyes of the others.

“Villain, do you mean to get me killed?”

As soon as he released her, Aphra drew in several deep breaths and turned on him.

“I am speaking on their territory. You just blurted that out. Do you realize how many people you offended? You have no control over your tongue—can’t you rein in that filthy mouth of yours?”

“Villain, what do you mean? I do as I please. By what right do you tell me what to say?”

“Because I am the bishop and you are just a believer. Because I am the captain and you are only one of the squad.”

“I…”

Angry and frustrated, Aphra spun around and ran off in the opposite direction.

Zhou Tian, already burning with irritation at her brazen behavior, did nothing to stop her. He watched her leave in cold silence.

“She should be safe enough?”

“She’s strong. If she got into trouble, she’ll probably handle it herself. For now I have to decide what gift to bring for the Empress of Yanhuang. As for that Afra, unless she apologizes, I will not coddle her again.”

Though he worried a little, Zhou Tian’s sense of pride and other concerns kept him from chasing after her. After a few moments of restless thought, he turned his attention fully to choosing a gift for the Empress.

So it was that after Aphra stormed off in anger, she never came looking for him again. By the time the Empress’s birthday arrived, and with so many obligations pressing on him, Zhou Tian had all but forgotten about her.