CHAPTER : THREE
Chu Yan hadn't slept.
The cell's stone floor had left bruises on his knees, and his fingers were black with charcoal dust. Seventeen hours of auditing had reduced Elder Feng's entire financial history to a single parchment covered in lines—a spiderweb of corruption with one fat spider at the center.
[System: Macro-Vision Unlocked]
[New Skill: Physical objects now display estimated liquidation value]
Chu Yan looked around his cell. Numbers flickered into existence over every surface like price tags in a liquidation sale.
[Null-Stone Wall: 5,000 Stones (Seized Asset Potential)]
[Iron Shackles: 200 Stones (Resale Value)]
[Broken Gruel Bowl: 0.01 Stones]
Everything has a price, Chu Yan thought. Even my prison.
When Zhao returned with the morning meal, he didn't kick the bowl through the bars. He knelt and slid it carefully across the floor. His hands were shaking.
"My brother works in the Third Vault," Zhao whispered, glancing over his shoulder. "He said the crates you asked about... they weren't spirit stones. They were Void-Iron ore. Sold to the Demonic Cult in secret."
Chu Yan's eyes sharpened. Void-Iron was a restricted resource. Selling it wasn't just embezzlement; it was high treason. And high profit.
"System, cross-reference Void-Iron market prices with Elder Feng's private grotto construction costs."
[Market Price (Void-Iron): 1.2 Million Stones]
[Construction Cost (Hidden Valley Grotto): 800,000 Stones]
[Discrepancy: 400,000 Stones unaccounted for]
Chu Yan smiled. That missing four hundred thousand wasn't hidden; it was liquid. Feng had kept it accessible for bribes or escape funds. He didn't need to dig for buried treasure; he just needed to freeze the accounts.
---
The Council of Elders met in the Hall of Absolute Judgment—a vast chamber where the air itself felt heavy with centuries of verdicts. Chu Yan was dragged in by two guards, his shackles scraping against the jade floor. He was filthy, exhausted, and smelled like a dungeon.
He walked like he owned the room.
Cang Jue sat on the high dais, his fingers steepled, his expression a mask of cold interest. The Elders sat in a semicircle below him—twelve men and women in silk robes, their faces ranging from curious to contemptuous.
Elder Feng stood at the front, arms crossed. He was a bulldog of a man with a face that had never smiled. When he saw Chu Yan, he sneered. "Sovereign, why do we waste time? This thief has no proof. He's stalling the blade."
"I don't need a blade to kill a career, Elder Feng," Chu Yan said, holding up his parchment. "I just need the receipts."
Chu Yan unrolled the parchment.
"Elder Feng reported an annual salary of twelve thousand spirit stones," Chu Yan began, his voice clinical. "But his daughter's wedding three months ago cost forty thousand. His 'meditation retreat' in the Hidden Valley required eight hundred thousand stones in materials. And last Tuesday, he authorized the sale of six tons of Void-Iron ore to an 'anonymous buyer' for one point two million stones."
He looked up, eyes cold. "Where did the money go, Elder Feng?"
Feng's jaw clenched. "That grotto was built with personal savings—"
"Your reported savings total eighteen thousand stones," Chu Yan interrupted. "Unless you've discovered alchemy, the math doesn't work. But the Void-Iron sale does. One point two million in revenue. Eight hundred thousand in construction. Four hundred thousand unaccounted for." He turned to Cang Jue. "That's not embezzlement, Sovereign. That's high treason with a profit margin."
The room went silent. The other Elders shifted in their seats, some looking horrified, others calculating—wondering how much Feng knew about their own side deals.
"This is slander," Feng said, his voice dropping to a dangerous rumble. His hand moved to his storage ring. "Sovereign, this mortal has fabricated evidence. I demand a spiritual oath to prove my innocence—"
"Then open your storage ring," Chu Yan said.
The room froze. Feng's hand stopped mid-motion.
"System," Chu Yan thought. "Execute Asset Freeze protocol on Elder Feng's primary storage ring."
[Warning: Forced liquidation will cost 500 debt points. Confirm: Y/N]
Worth it.
[Command Accepted]
A pulse of cold, blue light erupted from Chu Yan's chest—invisible to everyone except Feng, whose eyes went wide. His storage ring began to vibrate, the spiritual seals crackling like ice under pressure.
"What—what are you—" Feng staggered back.
The ring shattered.
Four hundred thousand spirit stones cascaded onto the jade floor in a glittering avalanche. The sound was deafening—like a dam breaking, like a fortune collapsing.
The Elders gasped. Cang Jue stood.
"This is a trick—" Feng lunged for Chu Yan.
He didn't make it three steps. Cang Jue moved—not fast, but inevitable. His hand closed around Feng's throat, lifting the Elder off the ground.
"You stole my iron," Cang Jue said, his voice soft and terrible. "You sold my Sect's future. And you built a garden with the profits."
"Zhao," Cang Jue said, not looking away from Feng's bulging eyes. "Take the Elder to the Shadow-Cell. It seems we have a vacancy."
Chu Yan felt the System ding.
[Debt Updated: 8,998 Points.]
[Reward: Macro-Vision fully integrated.]
Cang Jue descended from the dais, his boots crunching over the scattered stones. He stopped in front of Chu Yan. Chu Yan swayed; he'd been standing for an hour on legs that hadn't rested in two days. His vision blurred.
Cang Jue reached out and grabbed the chain between Chu Yan's shackles, steadying him. He pulled Chu Yan closer until they were chest to chest. His thumb traced the hollow of Chu Yan's throat.
"That was four hundred thousand," Cang Jue said. "You promised me a million. Where's the rest?"
Chu Yan met his eyes. "Elder Mei. She's been laundering Feng's profits. Give me access to the discipleship rolls and I'll show you where she hid it."
Cang Jue stared at him. His grip on the chain tightened. "You're not going back to the cell," he said softly. It was a claim, not a reward. "You're moving to the Pavilion. My guards will watch you. My servants will feed you. And if you try to run... I'll hunt you through every realm. Understood?"
Chu Yan smiled. It was the smile of a man who had just closed a merger. "Then you'd better clear my schedule, Sovereign. I'm just getting started."
Cang Jue's eyes narrowed. For a moment, something flickered in them. Not fascination. Hunger.
[System Update]
[Debt: 8,998 Points]
[New Location: Sovereign's Pavilion]
[Warning: Proximity to High-Level Entity increases risk of Emotional Compromise]
[Survival Probability: 24%]