Time ticked by, and Zi Wentian was tortured by the Jiujie Jiuduan Suigudan for a full half hour. He was barely clinging to life, with more air going out than coming in.
Zi Lingling watched impassively from the beginning to the end, without a trace of pity.
The Spiritualists of the Zi family at the Saint King realm initially wanted to rush onto the arena, but in the end, all were filled with fear and trepidation.
From this moment on, no one in the Azure Dragon Empire dared to provoke Zi Lingling, because no one knew what consequences they would face if they failed.
Zi Lingling stepped off the arena, and the onlookers voluntarily cleared a path.
She walked down this path, exuding a commanding aura and a stern presence.
The city of Dongfang was unusually quiet, with not a sound to be heard except for Zi Lingling's footsteps.
She returned to the Yuelai Inn at a leisurely pace.
Upon entering, she saw a scene of disarray, the aftermath of her earlier fight with Zi Wentian.
Although the innkeeper was heartbroken, he did not dare to approach Zi Lingling, let alone demand compensation.
Zi Lingling paused, frowned, and then took out ten low-grade spirit stones, levitating them with spiritual power and placing them on the counter.
"This is for the accommodation fees for the past few days, and the rest is for your compensation."
With that, she turned and left.
The Yuelai Inn was no longer habitable, so she naturally had to find another place to stay.
A moment later, Zi Lingling stood at the entrance of the Fengyu Tower.
Fengyu Tower was the secret stronghold of the Ye Chi and Ye Mei organizations in the Azure Dragon Empire.
The head of the Ye Chi organization was named Fan Chou, and the head of the Ye Mei organization was named Xue Jing. Both were confidantes of Ye Lingyuan.
Before Ye Lingyuan departed for the Dark Abyss, he had already given Zi Lingling the contact methods for both organizations.
Zi Lingling entered the Fengyu Tower, and the innkeeper was startled, then greeted her with a smile.
"Patriarch Zi's esteemed presence graces Fengyu Tower, bringing radiance to our establishment!"
He was an outer member of the Ye Chi organization and had no knowledge of Zi Lingling's true identity, so he could only address her as Patriarch Zi.
Zi Lingling smiled faintly and asked, "Are there any rooms available?"
Since the other party was unaware, she did not elaborate.
"Yes, Sky-tier Room Two. Do you find it satisfactory, Patriarch Zi?"
Although the innkeeper was somewhat intimidated by the young girl who had just killed Zi Wentian in such a brutal manner, his demeanor remained neither servile nor overbearing.
Despite being only an outer member of the Ye Chi organization, he was protected by them, which was the basis of his confidence and his refusal to fawn over anyone.
Zi Lingling looked at the innkeeper with a hint of admiration and said, "Excellent! But I would be even more satisfied with Sky-tier Room One."
The innkeeper paused for a moment, then chuckled, "I am most sorry! Sky-tier Room One is already occupied. I beg Patriarch Zi not to make things difficult for this humble servant!"
In reality, Sky-tier Room One was reserved for Ye Lingyuan.
Zi Lingling smiled, "It's fine, I was just saying. Since it's occupied, I won't trouble the innkeeper!"
The innkeeper breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you for your understanding, Patriarch Zi. Please follow me!"
He had truly feared that this formidable woman would be unreasonable.
After all, Sky-tier Room One had always been his master's designated room, and exceptions were never made.
If Zi Lingling had insisted, he would not have known how to handle the situation.
Little did he know that his master's master was Zi Lingling, and thus the room naturally belonged to Zi Lingling as well.
Zi Lingling nodded and followed the innkeeper up to the third floor, turning into the second room at the end of the right corridor.
The innkeeper pushed open the door and said with a smile, "Please enter, Patriarch Zi!"
Zi Lingling stepped inside and looked around.
The room was luxuriously decorated, with red and yellow as the main colors, and inlaid with hundreds of high-grade spirit stones.
This meant that staying in such a room, even while sleeping, one would be bathed in extremely dense spiritual energy.
If Sky-tier Room Two was already so lavish, then Sky-tier Room One must be even more so, surely?
Zi Lingling was very curious about who occupied Sky-tier Room One.
However, despite her curiosity, she had no intention of investigating.
After all, everyone had their own way of life, and as long as it did not infringe on her interests, Zi Lingling was too lazy to interfere.
As she had said before, she disliked trouble.
"Is Patriarch Zi satisfied?"
A hint of pride flickered in the innkeeper's eyes.
After all, Fengyu Tower was a leading establishment across the Four Great Empires.
Zi Lingling nodded and said, "It is indeed excellent! As for the advance payment for the room, when I leave, any excess will be refunded and any deficit will be settled!"
As she spoke, she took out a thousand high-grade spirit stones and handed them to the innkeeper.
The innkeeper was overjoyed. He had initially thought he would need to persuade her, as the cost of Sky-tier Room Two was not something ordinary people could afford.
But he had not expected Zi Lingling to pay for ten days of accommodation without batting an eyelid.
"In that case, Patriarch Zi, please rest for a while. I will bring you our Fengyu Tower's signature dishes later!"
The innkeeper said, and then turned to go downstairs.
Zi Lingling smiled and said, "In that case, bring me a portion of 'Azure Dragon Crossing the River'!"
The innkeeper's departing steps halted, and he looked at Zi Lingling in shock.
Because Zi Lingling's words were not an order for food, but a code phrase from their Ye Chi organization.
He collected his thoughts and said, "I apologize, 'Azure Dragon Crossing the River' is not available, even if ordered. However, we do have 'White Tiger Suppressing the Local Serpent'. Would you like a portion?"
The innkeeper's response was the second half of the code phrase.
Zi Lingling shook her head and said, "That's fine, just add plenty of minced garlic and cilantro!"
As soon as she said this, the innkeeper was too shocked to speak.
After a long moment, he finally recovered and said, "Patriarch Zi, please wait a moment, I will go and invite Lord Fan Chou!"
With that, the innkeeper hurried away.
Zi Lingling casually sat on a chair and chuckled, "Fan Chou? That's not a very good name!"
A short while later, the innkeeper returned with a cold and arrogant man.
When the man saw Zi Lingling, he immediately knelt down and respectfully said, "Your subordinate, Fan Chou, greets you, my King... Master!"
Master?
The innkeeper was stunned!
Could this incredibly fierce Patriarch Zi before him be his master?
Of course, the innkeeper did not know that his true master was Ye Lingyuan.
And Zi Lingling, due to her relationship with Ye Lingyuan, had also become a master of the Ye Chi organization.
"Plop!"
The innkeeper fell to his knees.
Zi Lingling said calmly, "Both of you, rise!"
"Thank you, Master!" Fan Chou replied neither servile nor overbearing and stood up.
"Thank... Thank you... Thank you, Master!"
The innkeeper said tremblingly.
He had already been apprehensive of Zi Lingling, and his display of neither servile nor overbearing demeanor was because the Ye Mei organization was his backing.
Now, his backing had become a joke, so he faced Zi Lingling with a voice that trembled.