Chapter 285: The Second Boss and the Third Boss

"You're not just underpaying the management fee, are you?" Lu Yang narrowed his eyes. He recalled that the Senior Sister's requirement was for them to pay the management fee and hand over all remaining profits from the barbecue restaurant.

This left a lot of room for manipulation. For example, the barbecue restaurant could collaborate with other businesses, allocating some of their profits to the barbecue restaurant without the Senior Sister's knowledge. Another possibility was using the barbecue restaurant's profits to purchase assets, which wouldn't need to be handed over to the Senior Sister. They could then sell these assets when spirit stones were needed. Lu Yang could easily think of seven or eight ways to circumvent the rules, so he didn't believe the Sect Master couldn't.

The Sect Master's forehead beaded with cold sweat. He hadn't realized his casual remark would reveal a weakness.

"You two can have thirty percent of the barbecue restaurant's profits."

Lu Yang was unmoved. "All profits must be handed over to Senior Sister, not a single penny less. You are already man-eating ghosts, unable to cultivate. What use do you have for spirit stones?" He had the backing of both Senior Sister and Immortal Fairy. Whatever he lacked, Senior Sister would provide. Immortal Fairy also had a significant number of contribution points, and she would give them to Lu Yang if he needed them. He didn't need to profit from the barbecue restaurant. Besides, if all profits were handed over to Senior Sister, who didn't manage accounts, wouldn't they eventually end up back in his hands anyway? As for Meng Jingzhou, there was no need to mention him; as the young master of the Meng family, his only concern was always having too much money.

"If you don't agree to this condition, I will immediately inform Senior Sister about your hidden spirit stones. You can guess what her reaction will be when she finds out."

The Sect Master was dripping with cold sweat. As man-eating ghosts, spirit stones truly had no practical use for them; accumulating them was simply a way to find a purpose. However, the Senior Sister of Wen Dao Sect might not accept that explanation.

Lu Yang leisurely said, "Conversely, if you agree to this condition and close the loopholes, this matter can be overlooked, and Senior Sister won't be informed. I will also persuade Senior Sister to allow you to open branch stores in the outside world."

"How about it? Why not consider it?"

The Sect Master fell silent, pondering the feasibility of Lu Yang's proposal. Man-eating ghosts were still ghosts; if ghosts lived aimlessly without a purpose or spiritual anchor, their consciousness would eventually dissipate and return to the world. As high-ranking members of the Immortal Sect, their spiritual anchor was the Immortal. Since the Immortal had instructed them to open barbecue restaurants in the outside world, spreading throughout the Central Continent, they had to fulfill the Immortal's directives. The Sect Master secretly glanced at the Immortal Fairy out of the corner of his eye. Seeing the Immortal Fairy nod almost imperceptibly, he struggled internally for a moment, then gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

"Alright, I agree to your terms!"

"That's more like it."

"By the way, do you know Qin Haoran, the Sect Master of the Nine Nether Sect?" Lu Yang remembered that the person before him wasn't just a butcher from the slaughterhouse but also the Sect Master of the Immortal Sect.

"Qin Haoran?" The Sect Master was momentarily stunned by the question. "The previous Sect Master of the Nine Nether Sect was named Qin, but I don't know his given name."

Meng Jingzhou wondered, "As fellow demonic sect masters, how could you not know his name?"

The Sect Master explained helplessly, "Honestly, the relationship between our four demonic sects isn't as close as you might imagine. We usually only meet and communicate during joint operations or sparring matches. Moreover, conflicts in our fundamental doctrines make it difficult for us to stand on the same front. For example, the Nine Nether Sect believes in reincarnation and that people go to the Nine Nethers after death. But our Immortal Sect believes in the Immortal, thinking that the Immortal can resurrect from death. This is a vast difference from the Nine Nether Sect's doctrine. And it's not just because we belong to different sects. Even within the same sect, we don't necessarily know much about each other. If Sect Master Qin had a wife and children, would he tell his subordinates? Of course not."

Lu Yang nodded; that made sense. If the Nine Nether Sect had known about Su Yiren's existence, why would there have been no activity for over a decade? Su Yiren's existence was a threat to the Nine Nether Sect. Su Yiren didn't know Qin Haoran's identity or the Nine Nether Sect's location, but would the Nine Nether Sect believe that? It must be that Qin Haoran intentionally concealed Su Yiren's existence.

"However, I do know some things about Sect Master Qin. Without using immortal treasures, the Nine Nether Sect's overall strength is slightly greater than our Immortal Sect's. In fact, Sect Master Qin privately complained to me that he's under a lot of pressure, so I suspect his position as Sect Master isn't as secure as mine, and many people below him are vying for power."

"The Nine Nether Sect doesn't worship an Immortal, so they shouldn't have any immortal treasures." The Sect Master spoke with a hint of pride. Among the four demonic sects, only they worshipped an Immortal and possessed an immortal treasure. It was just a shame they couldn't obtain the immortal treasures from the Immortal Ruins, otherwise their Immortal Sect's strength would rank first among the four demonic sects! "The Nine Nether Sect believes in the existence of the Nine Nethers and that they will go there after death, so they aren't afraid of anything. They've proposed many radical plans, such as building a city to serve as an entrance to the Nine Nethers, declaring war on the Great Xia Dynasty, and so on. All these have been suppressed by Sect Master Qin."

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou gasped in disbelief. To dare propose declaring war on the Great Xia Dynasty—wasn't that like an undercover agent infiltrating the Nine Nether Sect's upper echelons, aiming to wipe out the entire sect? Applied to Lu Yang, it would be akin to him, the Ancestor of the Immortal Sect, declaring war on the Senior Sister. That would be like being possessed by the Immortal Fairy. The Sect Master then gradually shared more information about the Nine Nether Sect, which proved quite valuable to Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

After hearing the intelligence, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou felt there was no longer any need to stay, so they stood up to leave.

"I'll see you both out." The Sect Master was very courteous, escorting Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

"Lu Yang, I have something to discuss with the Immortal," Immortal Fairy said.

"Okay."

A figure slowly floated out from behind Lu Yang. It was a beautiful woman in a goose-yellow dress. She silently appeared before the Immortal, who seemed to have reached the end of his path, feeling immense pressure. The Immortal Dao Fruit was a superior existence to the nascent Immortal Dao Fruit; the latter had no ability to resist.

"Fairy," the Immortal crossed his arms, raising them above his head, and bowed to the Immortal Fairy.

The Immortal Fairy simply hummed faintly. "Since we have a chance to meet today, there's something I need to inform you of."

"Please speak, Fairy."

"This Immortal observes that Lu Yang's character and talent meet my requirements. I have decided that Lu Yang will be the Second-in-Command of the Immortal lineage, and you will be the Third-in-Command. From now on, you must treat Lu Yang with the same respect you show me. Do you understand?"

The Immortal was initially surprised. Even if Lu Yang's character and talent were sufficient, his cultivation level was clearly too low to be a Second-in-Command. Then, as if understanding something, he respectfully replied, "Yes."

Soon, the Immortal Fairy returned to Lu Yang's spiritual space.

"What did you do, Fairy?"

"I'm not telling you."

The Immortal Fairy secretly chuckled. *Lu Yang, you don't want to be the Second-in-Command, so I'll just make everyone believe you are. Then your denials will be useless. I'm so clever.*