Chapter 66: The Might of a Single Word

Early the next morning, at the Zihu Chamber of Commerce Building.

Chen Ziping walked into the office beaming with joy.

“Good morning, Supervisor Chen.” A receptionist greeted him in passing, then asked curiously, “I heard you recently bought a Spirit Beast?”

“Just a First-Tier Low-Grade Spirit Beast, nothing worth mentioning.”

Chen Ziping smiled, pulling out a contract beast from his pocket that looked lively and cute, resembling a squirrel.

“A two-year-old Pine-Resonance Mouse. Its tail resembles an ink-dipped pinecone and can enhance the quality of medicinal herbs. It sells for 1,500 Spirit Yuan on the Immortal Alliance Official Website. But my cousin has connections, so I only paid 888 Spirit Yuan.”

“So cute!”

“That tail looks powerful.”

“With a Pine-Resonance Mouse as a Contract Beast, Supervisor Chen might break through to the Ninth Level of Qi Refining.”

The Chamber of Commerce staff in the office were all mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators who were well-versed in Companion Beasts and often discussed them.

However, Spirit Beasts sold on the Immortal Alliance Official Website were far too expensive. Their meager salaries weren’t enough to afford them.

So, despite knowing all the Spirit Beast details, all they could do was admire pictures and fantasize.

Now that there was a Spirit Beast to observe up close, they couldn’t resist crowding around it.

“Nothing special,” Chen Ziping waved his hand, sitting at his desk in a self-satisfied mood.

Clearly, his subordinates’ flattery had him in high spirits.

He opened the Q-Pet chat software and frowned, turning to glance at a subordinate nearby with displeasure. “Didn’t you send a message to that influencer yesterday?”

“I did. I even placed the Vein-Eroding Needle at his doorstep.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Ziping scrolled through his Q-Pet messages again, a trace of contempt flashing in his eyes.

Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit—yet another stubborn fool unwilling to submit.

To do business, one needed influence and background. And a measly brat at the Seventh Level of Qi Refining dared reject his offer?

It seemed he needed to teach that brat a lesson. Only then would he understand the cruelty of reality.

Just then, the receptionist saw two executives walking into the office from the direction of the elevator.

“Chairman Yu!”

“Director Li.”

She greeted them with a radiant smile. Behind her, all the Chamber of Commerce staff rose and saluted.

Chen Ziping took a deep breath, quickly walking up to the two higher-ups with a proper smile, trying to make an impression.

Yu Yong’an gave a slight nod, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. He spoke calmly, “Who here is Chen Ziping?”

Hearing this, a flash of delight appeared in Chen Ziping’s eyes. He thought to himself, “Could it be about my promotion?”

Recently, he had spent a large amount of Spirit Yuan to pull strings, all in hopes of escaping the position of Sales Supervisor and becoming the Sales Department Manager with real authority.

He stepped forward and bowed respectfully. “Chairman Yu, I am Chen Ziping.”

Yu Yong’an glanced at him and said in a deep voice, “Good. You may leave now.”

Chen Ziping froze, his mind going blank. Instinctively, he asked, “Go where?”

Yu Yong’an ignored him and turned to leave amidst the respectful gazes of the staff.

Director Li remained where he was, waving dismissively with disdain. “You can’t even understand Chairman Yu’s words? It’s simple. You’re fired. Pack up your stuff and get out.”

Hearing this, Chen Ziping’s expression twisted wildly, and cold sweat soaked his back.

What kind of joke was this? To secure that promotion, he had even gone so far as to take out an Immortal Loan.

Now they were telling him he was fired? Based on what?

“Why?” Chen Ziping asked in resentment.

“Because you stepped into the Chamber with your left foot this morning. Is that reason enough?” Director Li’s gaze was icy.

He had worked diligently for years to barely climb to the position of Director, and now this short-sighted subordinate nearly got him dragged down.

If he didn’t deal with Chen Ziping severely, he might have ended up being reprimanded and kicked out of the Zihu Chamber of Commerce Building himself.

In the next instant, under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Chen Ziping suddenly lost control, madly grabbing Director Li’s sleeve, spittle flying.

“Why?! Tell me why!”

So what if he didn’t get the Sales Department Manager position? He could’ve still embezzled a bit to barely repay that Immortal Loan.

But if he got fired by the Zihu Chamber of Commerce, he wouldn’t be able to repay the massive loan and would eventually die at the hands of debt collectors.

Director Li remained calm. He leaned close and whispered in Chen Ziping’s ear, “There’s no why. Blame yourself for being careless and offending someone you shouldn’t have. I can’t protect you. Chairman Yu can’t protect you.”

Hearing this, a storm rose in Chen Ziping’s mind as he recalled what he had done yesterday.

He had been working diligently recently, doing nothing questionable. The only possible offense he had committed involved one person.

“Just because of a streaming influencer who sells goods…”

Before he could finish, Director Li’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Splurt!” A wound burst open in Chen Ziping’s chest.

Under the horrified gazes of the staff, a wooden arm with five fingers like steel cones pierced through Chen Ziping’s chest, crushing the Pine-Resonance Mouse that everyone had just admired.

“Fool. To attack a pseudo-Foundation Establishment cultivator in public—under the laws of the Immortal Alliance, that’s punishable by death,” Director Li straightened his tie and turned calmly to head for the elevator.

Behind him, a bizarre Spirit Beast the size of a palm, its entire body covered in dark brown bark and shaped like a wooden doll, sneered and retracted its absurdly large right arm, which accounted for two-thirds of its height.

“Thud.”

Chen Ziping collapsed to the ground, his eyes full of unwillingness.

The receptionist who had witnessed it all covered her mouth with her left hand, not daring to make a sound, afraid that bizarre Spirit Beast might kill her next.

“The floor’s dirty. What are you all standing around for? Clean it up.” A staff member quickly spoke up.

He didn’t understand the Chamber’s internal power struggles, but he knew this was his chance to make an impression.

…

Meanwhile, Chen Beiwu was scribbling furiously, revising the sales plan for the Yellow-Tailed Dendrobium while checking for any possible flaws.

He needed to organize every part of the sales process meticulously, leaving no gaps—lest those gaps become weaknesses that the Zihu Chamber of Commerce could exploit.

“Ding dong!” The doorbell rang downstairs.

Chen Beiwu rose and opened the door, only to be met with a stranger he had never seen before—a middle-aged man with a powerful presence.

The man wore a dark patterned suit with the Zihu Chamber of Commerce emblem embroidered in silver silkworm thread on his lapel. A mutton-fat jade pen tucked into his collar shimmered with spiritual light, clearly a valuable Second-Tier Spiritual Artifact.

“Mr. Chen, I apologize for disturbing you.” Director Li placed his right hand over his chest and gave a gentleman’s bow.

“You are?” Chen Beiwu’s pupils contracted.

He could clearly feel a dangerous aura from the man.

But it wasn’t a deliberate release—it was the oppressive difference in life levels.

A Qi Refining cultivator’s instinctive awe when facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

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