Quote of the Day: "The best defense is a good offense. But the most profitable defense is making your opponent's victory more expensive than your defeat."
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The fourth day dawned with a metallic taste in the air. Lin Feng's capital had swelled to 612 Spirit Stones, a number that was both staggering and insufficient. The franchise model was a success, but it was a river filling a lake; the debt was an ocean. Team Gamma had yet to report back, a variable that introduced an unacceptable risk. Hope was not a strategy.
He stood in the center of the teahouse, now a bustling command center. Su Ling was tending to a new batch of herbs, her movements confident. Elder Bai, instead of despairing, was meticulously updating a physical ledger, his old-managerial instincts re-awoken by the flood of data. The transformation was undeniable.
So was the threat.
Steward Wang arrived not with enforcers, but with a single, thick scroll and a smirk of finality. He was done playing. Behind him, lurking in the crowd like a shark, Lin Feng could sense Chu Yue's presence. She was here to witness the conclusion.
"Lin Feng," Wang announced, his voice dripping with faux regret. "The deadline for the Void-Severing Pavilion's debt recall is tomorrow. As you have failed to produce the full five hundred Spirit Stones, I am here to perform the asset seizure and inventory assessment." He unrolled the scroll, a detailed list of everything in the teahouse, down to the splinters in the floorboards. "Beginning with the formation core and the contents of that jar."
He reached for the clay jar of catalytic solution.
"Touch that," Lin Feng said, his voice quiet but carrying the sharpness of a honed blade, "and you void the contract."
Wang froze, his hand hovering. "What nonsense is this? The debt is clear. The assets are forfeit."
"The debt is for the teahouse," Lin Feng corrected, not moving from his spot. "The business. The brand. The physical building. This," he tapped the jar, "is not a business asset. It is my personal, intellectual property. It was developed after the debt was incurred. Seizing it would be theft, a violation of the Pavilion's own commercial codes, section 7, paragraph 3, regarding the separation of personal inventor property from business liabilities."
He was bluffing. He had no idea if such a code existed. But Wang was a bureaucrat. Bureaucrats lived and died by procedure. The uncertainty was a weapon.
Wang's smirk vanished, replaced by confusion and anger. "You... you can't just—"
"Furthermore," Lin Feng continued, his gaze shifting past Wang to where he knew Chu Yue was listening, "by seizing the teahouse, you are not acquiring this formula. You are acquiring a building. The real value walks out the door with me. And then I will take my formula to a rival consortium. Or, I will open a new shop across the street and systematically dismantle your market share in low-tier alchemical supplies by selling a better, cheaper product."
It was the nuclear option. Mutually assured destruction. If he couldn't have the teahouse, he would burn the entire market down around the Pavilion's ears.
Wang sputtered, "You wouldn't dare! You have no capital!"
"I have 612 Spirit Stones in liquid capital," Lin Feng stated, the number hitting the room like a physical blow. Wang's eyes bulged. "And a functioning, scalable franchise network that requires no physical storefront. I am no longer a teahouse owner, Steward Wang. I am a system. And systems are very, very difficult to kill."
He had changed the game. He wasn't defending a shop; he was threatening a corporation.
From the doorway, Chu Yue finally spoke, her voice cutting through the tension. "He is correct, Steward Wang."
She stepped inside, her presence causing Wang to flinch. "A preliminary assessment by the Strategy Division values the 'Serene Heart' operational model and its associated intellectual property at approximately two thousand Spirit Stones. Seizing the building for a five-hundred-stone debt and losing the IP would be a net loss of fifteen hundred stones for the Pavilion. A catastrophic failure for your department."
Wang looked like he'd been stabbed. The ground had shifted beneath his feet. He was no longer a collector; he was a liability.
Lin Feng looked at Chu Yue, then back at Wang. He played his final card, a move of sheer, ruthless audacity.
"However, I am a reasonable man," Lin Feng said, his tone becoming almost conversational. "I acknowledge the debt. And I have a counter-proposal for the Void-Severing Pavilion."
He picked up the jar. "I will not sell you the formula. But I will grant you an exclusive, limited license for its use in your high-end alchemical divisions. The license fee will be one thousand Spirit Stones. Paid upfront."
The silence was absolute. Elder Bai stopped writing. Su Ling held her breath.
Lin Feng was using the debt as a wedge to force the Pavilion to invest in him. He was turning their weapon into his funding round.
"You are insane!" Wang whispered.
"The license fee," Lin Feng continued, as if he hadn't heard, "will be used to clear the teahouse's debt, with five hundred stones remaining as working capital for the Serene Heart Conglomerate. In return, the Pavilion gets a strategic advantage. You get to keep your market share. And Steward Wang here," Lin Feng gave the man a icy smile, "gets to report a one-thousand-stone licensing deal instead of a five-hundred-stone seizure. A significant win for his department."
It was a masterpiece of corporate jujitsu. He was offering Wang a path to glory instead of disgrace, and the Pavilion a way to profit instead of lose. All by reframing the entire conflict.
Chu Yue was looking at Lin Feng with something beyond appraisal. It was raw, undisguised fascination. He had not just resisted the takeover; he had orchestrated a hostile investment.
Wang, defeated and outmaneuvered, could only nod weakly, his will broken. The details would be hammered out by people far above his pay grade. Lin Feng had won.
As Wang scurried away to report this shocking turn of events, Chu Yue remained.
"You understand this makes you a vendor to the Pavilion," she said. "You are now inside the beast. It has its own dangers."
"It also means I bill you for the license quarterly," Lin Feng replied. "And my next innovation will cost you more."
A genuine laugh, short and surprised, escaped her lips. She shook her head. "Until next time, Lin Feng."
When they were alone, the System interface bloomed in Lin Feng's vision, not with a simple notification, but with a cascade of light.
[PRIMARY QUEST UPDATED: THE PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES - COMPLETE.]
[Capital Score: 1112/1000. (Exceeded)]
[Karma Score: 65/100. (Stability Achieved)]
[Reward: System Synchronization Initiated.]
A wave of pure, unadulterated power flooded his meridians. It was not the gentle trickle of before, but a roaring river. His dantian expanded, the spiritual sea within it churning and deepening. The weak, unstable Qi Condensation Level 1 base shattered.
[Breakthrough Achieved: Qi Condensation Level 5.]
[Physique Enhanced: Mortal Grade -> Earth Grade.]
[System Integration: 10%. New functions unlocked.]
The world sharpened. His senses reached out, he could feel the individual Qi signatures of the herbs, of Su Ling, of Elder Bai. The weakness that had plagued his body was scoured away, replaced by a resilient, potent strength.
But the greatest reward was not the power. It was the final notification.
[New Primary Quest: The Heavenly Dao Conglomerate.]
[Objective: Establish a multi-sector spiritual enterprise recognized across the Blue Spirit Region.]
[Secondary Objective: Achieve Foundation Establishment Realm.]
The teahouse was saved. The first battle was won. But as Lin Feng felt the new, formidable energy coursing through him, he knew the war had just begun. He was no longer a debtor. He was a competitor. And the Void-Severing Pavilion had just been forced to bankroll its own greatest threat.
He looked at his hands, then at the now-quiet teahouse. The quote of the day echoed in his mind. He hadn't just built a good defense. He had made his victory more profitable than his opponent's. The balance sheet of power had permanently shifted.