The guests in the courtyard were all seated in a specially arranged venue, as the Su Family had made thorough preparations long in advance.
Here, Su Family head Su Haotian would announce the list of cooperation partners.
This was the result everyone in Cangyang City had been eagerly anticipating.
The Su Family's partnerships this time covered an extremely broad range of fields, and on top of that, they had the Divine Sword Sect backing them up! Who wouldn't want to latch onto such a powerful patron?
Under the guard of a Su Family servant, Ye Wanling sat alone in a corner, while everyone else maintained a wait-and-see attitude.
Not far away, Chu Tingting, Duan Wenting, and several other young gentlemen were discussing this direction amongst themselves.
"Young Master Duan, the Duan Family and the Su Family are old family friends. Among the Su Family's partnerships, the most lucrative money-shop business should undoubtedly be yours for the taking?"
A shrewd-looking young gentleman asked probingly.
Duan Wenting gave a smug smile, yet still feigned modesty: "Until the results are out, anything is possible!"
Though Duan Wenting didn't show it on the surface, he knew very well that the money-shop partnership would definitely belong to the Duan Family!
This was an agreement that the patriarchs of the two families had reached privately long ago.
Hearing this, Chu Tingting simply could not contain her smugness, and she could no longer hold back the chance to put down the Luo Family.
"The Duan Family and the Su Family are old family friends, and both are among the four great families of Cangyang City. If it isn't given to the Duan Family, could it possibly be given to those street rats, the Luo Family?"
"As far as I know, the Luo Family is about to lose even their own ancestral residence, aren't they?"
A chorus of agreement followed. Everyone was well aware of the Luo Family's decline, and they all looked at Chu Tingting with envy. The Chu Family was merely a newly rising second-tier family, yet after dumping Luo Changqing, she had actually managed to latch onto the young master of the Duan Family—she certainly had her ways.
Duan Wenting looked at Chu Tingting with satisfaction. This was why he liked her: she was pretty enough, and she knew how to play along with him in a timely manner to show off, greatly satisfying his vanity.
After all, showing off on one's own wasn't impressive; having a peerless beauty help you show off was the real art of it!
Chu Tingting naturally caught Duan Wenting's gaze and, acting coquettishly, wrapped her arms around him with smug delight: "Brother Ting, can you go find out what Luo Changqing actually went to do? Why would the Saintess herself want to see that good-for-nothing?"
Duan Wenting felt somewhat displeased. Although the Duan Family and the Su Family were old family friends, it was only because they were both among the four great families. Besides, that was the Saintess of the Divine Sword Sect; how could he casually go make inquiries about her?
"Don't worry! Luo Changqing spent three years stuck out in the remote mountains and deep forests, so how could he possibly know the Saintess? Steward Ding probably just found the wrong person!"
Duan Wenting brushed Chu Tingting off with a casual excuse.
"Lingling! Have you been waiting long?" Luo Changqing walked in at that moment and headed straight to where Ye Wanling was staying.
"Brother Changqing, are you alright?" Seeing Luo Changqing appear—having been sitting on pins and needles the whole time—Ye Wanling's eyes lit up. She threw herself into his arms and looked him up and down, terrified that he might have been hurt somewhere.
"Don't worry! The Saintess invited me to discuss matters, not to kill me. What are you panicking about?" Luo Changqing pulled Ye Wanling down to sit beside him while looking at her with an amused smile.
"Brother Changqing, you're bragging again! And here I was, actually worrying about you!" Ye Wanling pouted, glaring at Luo Changqing.
Luo Changqing was about to explain when he was interrupted by Chu Tingting and the others who had crowded around.
The shrewd young man following behind Duan Wenting looked curiously at Luo Changqing: "Young Master Luo, the Saintess asked to discuss matters with you? Could it have something to do with the chamber of commerce partnerships this time?"
"Pfft!" Chu Tingting let out a direct sneer. "You really have no shame, do you? You actually think you're an honored guest of the Saintess? Why don't you just say that all of the Su Family's partnerships belong to your Luo Family!"
"How did you know?" Luo Changqing asked, looking at Chu Tingting in surprise.
Seeing this, everyone else couldn't help but chuckle, shaking their heads one after another.
"And here I actually believed his nonsense earlier, thinking he really got to meet the Saintess."
"All the partnerships given to the Luo Family? He sure knows how to daydream!"
"The Luo Family really has fallen, starting to daydream in broad daylight! I'm afraid they're truly at their wit's end!"
"Hahahaha..."
Everyone looked at Luo Changqing sitting leisurely in his chair and whispered among themselves.
Duan Wenting looked at Luo Changqing with contempt: "Young Master Luo certainly has some impressive tricks. Might as well tell us how you managed to move the Saintess to the point of single-handedly winning all of the Su Family's partnerships?"
"How did I move her? Through violent suppression, of course!"
Luo Changqing glanced lazily at the crowd before him and said.
Meanwhile, in the reception hall, Su Yanran slumped into her chair, looking as though she had just been fished out of the water.
Beside her, an elder was even more shaken; he likewise collapsed into a chair, his face completely drained of color.
"Elder Su! Are you alright?"
Su Yanran looked at him with concern. Earlier, when she questioned Luo Changqing's strength, his response had been simple and brutal.
He had directly made a move, dragging the Su Family head Su Haotian—who had also been standing guard outside the door the entire time—right in by the collar.
That wasn't all; he had gone ahead and given the man a thorough beating, and the scene was extremely violent—a total and utter suppression!
From start to finish, Su Haotian hadn't even had the chance to fight back, and by the end, he had simply given up resisting altogether.
His reason was very simple: this was the person with the highest strength he had laid eyes on in the entire Su Manor thus far!
His cultivation had actually reached Spirit King Grade 3!
And this was Su Yanran's ultimate trump card for this trip!
"I'm fine... Young Master Luo's cultivation is unfathomable, and his medical skills are miraculous. Eldest Miss, we must never make an enemy of him!"
Supported by Su Yanran, Su Haotian stood up. Just moments ago, he had walked right past the gates of hell, yet under a few acupuncture needles from Luo Changqing, he was now completely uninjured.
"Does Elder Su know what his cultivation level is?" Chu Yanran asked cautiously.
"Unfathomable!"
Su Haotian's reply was simple and clear, yet it left Su Yanran greatly astonished.
She was also a cultivator, and a favored daughter of the heavens at that; she was already a Spirit Master Grade 9, merely a single step away from the Spirit King Realm.
Yet just now, facing the terrifying aura emitted by Luo Changqing, she hadn't even been able to move. Hearing it confirmed now from Elder Su's lips, she felt not a shred of surprise.
"As expected of the master of the Immortals' Sect, truly a monstrous talent of a generation!"
Su Yanran couldn't help exclaiming in praise, feeling an even deeper sense of admiration for Luo Changqing in her heart.
"Since the Eldest Miss has come to Cangyang this time, if we can secure Young Master Luo's assistance, it would be an unexpected blessing. I imagine that as long as Young Master Luo is willing to help deal with the Demon Race, there will be nothing left to fear!" Understanding Su Yanran's predicament, Su Haotian sighed with emotion.
Su Yanran smiled knowingly, her heart filled with even greater satisfaction and joy.
"Elder Su, let's go! I'm sure everyone is waiting anxiously! Don't let Sect Master Luo keep them waiting too long!"
Accompanied by Su Family head Su Haotian, Su Yanran stepped onto the high platform. Everyone held their breath, gazing quietly at the woman on the stage who looked like a divine goddess...
She truly was the Saintess of the Divine Sword Sect; she genuinely looked like a celestial maiden descended from the nine heavens!