Gu Ming was deep in thought. This was indeed a problem, but not a big one. He would just shift the blame to the Jade-Faced Young Master.
Thus, he immediately pulled a long face and said in a heavy tone, “Qianqian, raise the bounty for the Jade-Faced Young Master to 10 million high-grade spirit stones.”
“T-Ten… 10 million?!!”
Mu Qianqian was completely stunned upon hearing this.
She looked anxious as she asked, “Brother, do we really need to set the bounty that high?”
Currently, the tax revenue of Gu Ming’s territory, combined with the spirit stone mines, amounted to about 300 million high-grade spirit stones per year.
However, Gu Ming had only been appointed as a Heavenly King for just over 1 month. At the start, the territory only had 100 million high-grade spirit stones in construction funds provided by the Sect Leader.
To develop the land, Gu Ming had dug into his own savings, pulling out 50 million high-grade spirit stones. Combined with the initial 100 million, the territory’s starting capital was 150 million high-grade spirit stones.
While 150 million seemed like a lot, it actually wasn’t.
After deducting labor costs, weapon maintenance, repairs for the palace and other buildings, and daily living expenses—plus the fact that Gu Ming had purchased a large number of formations, magic treasures, and weapons right at the beginning…
That startup capital had long since been exhausted. It wasn’t even close to enough to cover the costs of those formations, treasures, and weapons.
Because of this, Gu Ming had borrowed a total of 300 million high-grade spirit stones from the Sect Leader and the other Heavenly Kings just to maintain the territory’s daily operations.
At the time of the borrowing, Mu Qianqian had strongly opposed it. She felt that those formations, treasures, and weapons were optional.
However, Gu Ming had comforted her, saying there was no need to worry. If you owed a little, they would treat you like a grandson and come knocking for money every few days. But if you owed a lot, they would treat you like a lord and serve you, terrified that something might happen to you and prevent you from paying them back.
Mu Qianqian couldn’t win the argument, so she had no choice but to agree.
Now, the liquid capital on the territory’s accounts was only 700,000 high-grade spirit stones, yet Gu Ming wanted to increase the Jade-Faced Young Master’s bounty…
Just hearing it gave Mu Qianqian a headache. She truly didn’t know how to manage these accounts anymore.
Gu Ming saw her difficulty and patted her head, saying with a smile, “Don’t worry about the spirit stones. If worst comes to worst, I’ll just borrow more from the Sect Leader and the other Heavenly Kings. They have plenty. I’m not afraid they won’t lend it; if I go bankrupt, all the stones they lent me will go down the drain. Hahaha.”
“Brother, do you even know what people are saying about you?” Mu Qianqian wrinkled her nose and said displeasurably, “Behind your back, they call you the Loan Heavenly King.”
“The Loan Heavenly King?”
Gu Ming was startled for a moment before laughing heartily, clearly unbothered.
To be honest, he had no intention of ever paying it all back. However, he couldn’t pay back nothing at all. He had to pay a little bit every now and then. Every time he made a small payment, they would see hope. As long as they had hope, they wouldn’t turn on him.
If he didn’t pay back a single cent, they might actually flip the table and go for a “break the pot” scorched-earth strategy.
Gu Ming understood this logic perfectly.
Mu Qianqian didn’t understand, so her face was full of unhappiness. She crossed her arms and turned her face away, huffing in anger.
She couldn’t stand hearing others speak ill of Gu Ming, even if Gu Ming himself didn’t care.
Seeing her unhappy expression, Gu Ming couldn’t resist scratching the tip of her cute nose. He teased, “Look at you. You’ve been in the Demon Cult for so long, but why do you still act like those from the Righteous Factions? You don’t look like you’re on the Demonic Path at all.”
“I never said I wanted to join the Demon Cult. I’m just your person.”
After saying that, a blush swept across Mu Qianqian’s cheeks, and she explained in a panic, “I mean—that’s not what I meant! Brother, believe me!”
Gu Ming pulled her into his arms and said softly, “I know. That’s why I’m setting the bounty on him for 10 million high-grade spirit stones.”
Being held by Gu Ming, Mu Qianqian’s body softened as if she were melting. But hearing him mention the bounty again, she looked up at him with a confused expression.
Gu Ming said with a serious face, “The Jade-Faced Young Master killed nearly 10,000 of my soldiers and even used a sword formation to trap you, leaving you in such a pathetic state. Plus, he assisted the Divine Maiden of the Divine Maiden Palace in her escape… A bounty of 10 million isn’t excessive.”
Hearing this, Mu Qianqian fell silent for a long while before finally nodding with a serious expression.
Initially, she had only seen the territory’s financial distress and didn’t immediately realize that the Jade-Faced Young Master’s actions were already a severe provocation to Gu Ming’s status as the Fifth Heavenly King.
Gu Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, aside from feeling some guilt toward Mu Qianqian, he didn’t feel any heartache for those soldiers at all.
After all, he hadn’t raised them himself; they were forced upon him by the Sect Leader. They were the Sect Leader’s people, so the Sect Leader should be the one feeling the loss.
Speaking of soldiers…
Gu Ming gave another instruction to Mu Qianqian. “Qianqian, since we lost so many men this time, our territory needs to be replenished. Go out and recruit more troops in a bit.”
“…”
“What is it? Not enough money? If there’s not enough money, I’ll go borrow some right now.”
Mu Qianqian hurriedly shook her head and said, “No need to borrow. I’ll find a way to deal with the money.”
As she spoke, she quickly broke free from Gu Ming’s embrace and ran toward the Royal City, terrified that Gu Ming would mention more expensive projects that would make life difficult for her as the head manager.
As she left, she tossed a sentence back: “Brother, I’m going to get busy then!”
Watching Mu Qianqian’s hurried departure, Gu Ming became thoughtful.
He was wondering if he should find a helper for Qianqian…
Mu Qianqian was too busy now. Almost all the territory’s affairs were brought to her for resolution, and she managed all the territorial accounts.
Just as Gu Ming was pondering, a subordinate arrived to report.
“Lord Heavenly King, the Sect Leader has sent word. A temporary Heavenly King Meeting will be held in 1 hour.”
Gu Ming frowned. ‘That was fast. Their information network is certainly efficient…’
Maintaining a calm expression, he said, “I understand.”
***
The Heavenly King Meeting was the highest-level meeting of the Demon Cult.
Those who attended this meeting were, without exception, the top leaders of the Demon Cult: the five Heavenly Kings, including Gu Ming, and the Sect Leader.
Normally, the theme of a Heavenly King Meeting concerned the future direction of the Demon Cult or other extremely important matters.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, a Heavenly King Meeting was announced 1 or 2 months, or even half a year, in advance.
A situation as urgent as this was a first.
It was clear what the Divine Maiden of the Divine Maiden Palace meant to the Sect Leader.
Gu Ming stiffened his expression. This Heavenly King Meeting was clearly being held because of him, and it would undoubtedly involve a fierce war of words.
Gu Ming sighed inwardly.
He had just returned from the Aphrodisiac Valley and was already being pulled into a meeting. He hadn’t even had time to rest.
‘I hope everything goes smoothly,’ he said to himself.
Since the participants of the Heavenly King Meeting were the absolute elite of the Demon Cult, the meeting was generally conducted using Projection Crystals.
Unless the Sect Leader had a specific requirement, these Heavenly King-level figures would not leave their respective territories.
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