Chapter 1449: Even the Academy Master Will Bow Before You

The reunion of long-separated lovers was akin to a drought being ended by a heavenly downpour; their reunion was frenzied, greedy, and passionate.

No one knew how long their "battle" lasted. All that was certain was that every part of their bodies, hands, faces, and skin bore the lingering marks of their fierce "battle."

Several days later, Ye Guan returned to the Guanxuan Academy with Diyi Jingzhao. Before leaving, of course, he stored the entire Tianxu World into the tiny pagoda.

Right now, he had a staggering three hundred twenty-thousand Supreme-grade Immortal Origin Veins, and over a hundred million Immortal Origin Crystals.

He was, without exaggeration, rolling in wealth.

Upon their return to the Guanxuan Universe, Ye Guan didn't hand over full management of the Academy to Diyi Jingzhao. Instead, he chose to continue overseeing things personally. At this point, he had no greater ambition than to govern the Guanxuan Universe well and to transform all faith power here into white.

Only when faith power turned purely white could he say that this universe was truly under his rule.

One had to admit, conquering a realm and managing it were two entirely different beasts.

Governance required handling countless mundane, trivial matters. At first, Ye Guan wasn't used to it.

He found these things petty, insignificant.

Until one day, he realized just how dangerous that line of thinking was. On that day, he returned to the noodle stall where he once ate with Sui Gujin.

For some reason, the stall owner was in the process of packing everything up.

The entire street was eerily quiet.

Ye Guan, confused, walked up. "Boss."

When the stall owner saw him, the worried expression on his face gave way to surprise. "It's you."

"You remember me."

"Young Master, with your air of nobility, you're hard to forget."

Ye Guan chuckled. "So you're shutting down business?"

The stall owner let out a deep sigh, brows furrowed.

Ye Guan was intrigued. "Why?"

"Can't go on anymore."

"What happened? Tell me."

The stall owner wiped his hands clean with his apron, lifted a kettle off the stove, and led Ye Guan to sit nearby. "Here, Young Master. Some hot tea."

He poured Ye Guan a cup and sat down. With another heavy sigh, he said, "Have you heard? The Academy is going to start taxing businesses."

Ye Guan nodded. "I know."

That decision had come from discussions with the temporary inner committee.

When over a hundred Guanxuan cities were in the middle of being established, Sui Gujin's people had offered generous incentives to attract merchants. For instance, those who purchased commercial properties in the cities would enjoy tax exemptions for a hundred years.

That policy had brought in a flood of investment and made it possible for the cities to develop so rapidly.

But now that the hundred-year tax holiday was over, Ye Guan and the inner committee decided to resume taxation at a very modest rate: 5%.

That was far lower than the 35% rate in the Old Lands.

Ye Guan had purposely kept the rate low to avoid burdening common folk.

Yet... clearly, it had still caused a ripple.

Ye Guan refocused and looked at the stall owner. "Go on."

"

Ah!

"

Another deep sigh. The stall owner's face was heavy with worry. "After the tax policy came out, the commercial landlords immediately raised rents. Before, we only paid twelve spiritual crystals per month.

'"Now? Twenty-four. Twenty-four spiritual crystals a month! Young Master, how are we supposed to live? Our net profit was only about ten spiritual crystals a month. Now, we can break our backs but still make basically nothing.

"It's all going to those property owners."

Ye Guan said nothing, but his expression grew cold.

"I also heard rents might go up even more in the future... Young Master, why would the Academy Master suddenly want to tax us? Is the Academy short on money?"

Ye Guan smiled. "What do you think of the Academy Master?"

The stall owner hesitated, then said, "He was good at first. But now... I don't know. I'm just an uneducated old man. I can't say whether this tax is good or bad. All I know is we can't survive like this anymore."

Ye Guan laughed softly. "Then it must be the Academy Master's fault."

The stall owner's expression instantly changed. "Young Master, you mustn't say such things..."

Ye Guan asked, "Are you afraid of the Academy Master?"

The stall owner shook his head. "Not really... It's just, the Academy Master feels very distant from us. These small problems of ours probably seem completely trivial to him."

Ye Guan was silent. He couldn't refute the stall owner's words. To someone at the top, these were trivial matters. But now, he understood what seemed trivial to him could be world-shattering to ordinary people.

One small error from a ruler could become a catastrophe for those at the bottom.

Ye Guan downed his tea and stood. "Boss, don't tear down your stall just yet. I know people at the Academy. I'll go talk to them. Maybe there's still hope."

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The stall owner panicked. "No, Young Master, you mustn't!"

"Why not?"

The owner shook his head fervently. "We commoners can't fight merchants; we can't fight officials... it can't be done."

"It's fine. I'm just going to talk."

He left some money on the table and walked away.

As he strolled down the quiet street, he noticed that only large stores remained open. The smaller ones had mostly shut down.

Ye Guan said calmly, "Men."

A shadowy figure appeared behind him.

Ye Guan said, "The sudden rent doubling is something's off. Investigate this."

The figure vanished.

Soon, he returned. "Academy Master, it's confirmed. The Guanxuan Chamber of Commerce is behind it."

Ye Guan's eyes narrowed. "Guanxuan Chamber of Commerce?"

"Yes. It's a union of powerful merchants across the Guanxuan Universe. They control nearly every major industry here."

Ye Guan asked, "Does the Academy not have any authority over this?"

"There is some... but..."

Ye Guan's face darkened. Clearly, the merchants had already infiltrated the Academy.

He wasn't surprised that Shen Yi and others weren't the first, and wouldn't be the last.

The shadowy figure added, "Academy Master, they're currently holding a major meeting at the Xianyun Pavilion."

Ye Guan shook his head. "No need to act yet."

The figure bowed and stayed silent.

"Does the temporary Inner Committee know?"

"Yes, they await your orders."

Ye Guan said, "Let them keep waiting."

And then, he walked off into the distance. The figure bowed and took his leave.

A while later, Ye Guan arrived at Xianyun Pavilion, a massive commercial hub run by a mysterious figure within the Academy. It was currently the most prosperous commerce hub in the Guanxuan Universe.

Today, the place bustled with activity as the top merchants of the entire universe were in attendance.

Ye Guan forged an invitation and slipped in. The security was tight; he was questioned multiple times and scanned by powerful divine senses from Great Sovereigns before being allowed in.

Ye Guan was led inside by a servant lady, where a lavish grand hall awaited him. Everything glittered with luxury, the scent of wealth thick in the air.

Thousands of rich, well-dressed guests had already gathered, networking, forming alliances. Some approached Ye Guan, but he had altered his appearance slightly, so no one could recognize him.

Everyone was friendly, enthusiastic, and as conversations flowed, seductive young women suddenly filled the hall, dressed in revealing clothes. The lights dimmed to an intimate glow.

Faces that had been refined and courteous suddenly twisted into lecherous smirks. Men freely ogled and commented on the women, their words becoming increasingly crude. All pretense was gone, and primal desire filled their eyes.

So this... is the world of the rich?

Ye Guan thought.

Soon, everyone had a girl in their arms.

"Feeling awkward?" someone asked nearby.

Ye Guan turned and saw a plump man advising a young lad. "Don't be shy. This is how business is done. Drinking and women. If you don't drink or don't touch women, how can you close deals?"

The young man hesitated.

"Remember, if you want to do business, you have to fall into depravity together. Only then will people trust you. Otherwise, why would they partner with you?"

"But... gathering like this... isn't it against the Guanxuan Laws?"

The man laughed uproariously. "Silly boy. Who exactly were the Guanxuan Laws made for if not for us? As long as you have enough money in this world, who cares about the law? Even the Academy Master will bow to you! And if he doesn't bow to you, it means you are too poor!"

In the end, under the plump man's persuasion, the young man gradually began to loosen up. Letting loose for a while felt good, and the young man slowly started to open up.

Once he crossed that mental barrier, the young man became increasingly uninhibited, because it really was fun.

Just then, everyone suddenly quieted down. They all looked up toward the grand hall in the distance, where a young man in white slowly walked up onto the stage. The moment they saw him, everyone stopped what they were doing.

The white-clad youth glanced at the crowd and got straight to the point. "Everyone, the Academy Master actually wants us to pay taxes... pay fucking taxes? He must be fucking dreaming!"

A deathly silence descended.

Not long after, a chorus of roars erupted. "Pay taxes?! Fucking pay taxes?! He must be fucking dreaming!"'