Ritz felt exceeding guilt because he now knew that he had offended someone that they shouldn’t have. He could only kneel and face the ground as he was being apprehended by the Thundercloud Guards. He laughed at himself because he, who was the Young Master of a Grand Clan, would now be imprisoned for the crimes he committed.

Although he did not want to think about it, but him being proven to commit these crimes, meant that his clan would most likely disown him to avoid it’s​ reputation being tarnished and say excuses that they were unable to guide him well to the righteous path or any statement similar to it.

His accomplices were all facing the same situations. They will be disowned by their families in order to preserve its prestige and let them rot in their cells. Some felt indignant about this matters as they yelled and pleaded for their freedom.

“NOOOO!!!”

“Please don’t imprisoned me! I’m still a child after all!! Waaah!”

“I don’t want to go to jail!!! Nooo!!”

“Mommy, Daddy, save me!!! I don’t want to be imprisoned!! MOOOMMMYY!!!”

….

‘Have I lost.. everything? It was him! He was the one who took away my everything!!’ But instead of lamenting and admitting defeat, he blamed everything to Dylan! His regret was washed away by anger. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to compensate in his current state anyways so he thought that he might as well bear a grudge to Dylan!

“You really think that everything would be alright after getting rid of me?! Hahaha, your plight has just begun, Dylan Ford! Hahaha!” Ritz maniacally laughed but was then silenced when the guards placed locks even on his mouth. Despite his mouth being locked, he still laughed and looked intently at Dylan but it sounded strange as it felt both restrained and sinister at the same time.

Ritz, together with his accessories, were all dragged to the prison carriage of the Thundercloud Guards. Some were crying and some had lost expressions. If they were given the chance to repeat this day, they would have never joined with Ritz’s little prank.

“I would gladly accept any challenge that comes in my way.” Dylan et these words as his farewell to the crazed Ritz.

Dylan knew that he had to put up a strong front and be domineering when he does things or else others would simply take him to be easily bullied and his employees would be also harmed as well due to their relation to him.

“Sir Dylan!!!” Dylan was then met by a barrage of hugs by his employees and fell down from the sudden increase of wait as the momentum of those who hugged him caused him to fall on his butt.

“Easy there, guys. Get off of me first. You’re all strangling me with your hands and suffocating me with your hugs.” Dylan uttered with a bit of difficulty.

“Hahaha, sorry sir, Dylan.”

“Sir Dylan was really amazing!”

“That’s sir Dylan for you!”

The employees praised him nonstop and looked at him with gazes of respect and admiration.

“Okay, enough to with the praises. Go and clean up the mess they made and close the shop. We’ll be going​ back home afterwards​.” Dylan commanded with a smile.

“Yes, sir!” The employees replied with respect as they answered in unison. The employees immediately went to the store and brought some cleaning tools for cleaning the outside of the store.

…

Dylan watched the Thundercloud Guards leave after the captains bid their farewells to him and to be more precise, to Allen. He knew that he still was an ant to the eyes of those captain ranked officers but he also believed that it would only take him just a little bit more time to make everyone in this city acknowledge him and his business because he had confidence on the success​ rate of his plans.

Dylan then turned to Allen Kindleheart and thanked him for aiding him. Otherwise, Dylan would have taken the long route around by convincing them through verbal spar.

“Thank you for lending us your assistance, sir Allen. I will see to it that I will repay this debt.” Dylan spoke in a gratified tone.

“It’s a small matter, Young Dylan. Since we are already business partners, then it should just be out duty to protect our brother sect.” Allen smiled brightly as a reply.

“This lowly one does not deserve this term of being termed as the brother sect of Premier Hall. But before we could independently soar on our own, we will trouble you for being an additional burden to protect. But, I do promise that I will repay this favor by contributing my best to the prestigious Premier Hall.” Dylan courteously said.

“Hahaha, you might think that you are unworthy but in this old man’s eyes, your talent for both business and cultivation are superb! Having invest on you will ensure us to have a great favored son of the heavens and be a giant in the business world!” Allen praised him as he laughed.

“Sir Allen is praising me too much.” Dylan similarly laughed

“I shall be taking my leaving now, Young Dylan.” Allen waved his hand and surprisingly flew! One has to know that in order to achieve the power of flight a person must at least be able a Mortal Severing Realm expert!

Dylan marvelled at the sight of Allen flying and murmured softly, ” One day, I’ll reach that level as well.”

…

After closing the shop, Dylan and his employees returned to their residence and got some well-deserved sleep. The next morning, the first shift employees told what happened yesterday to the other employees. The rest​ of the employees were burning from rage when they heard what despicable deeds the group of nobles did to their store but it was soon replaced with awe when they heard how Dylan foiled Ritz’s foolish attempt of getting the sympathy of the crowds by contacting the Premier Hall and asking help from it.

“But, how was sir Dylan able to make the Premier Hall send a high-ranked officer such as Allen Kindleheart? Did sir Dylan come in contact with the Premier Hall prior to the incident?” Arnold suddenly asked after hearing the story of the first shift.

The employees subsequently rotated their heads and faced Dylan with eyes sparkling with curiousity. Evidently, they wished to know the answer to Arnold’s question.

“You rascals, unfortunately, I can’t tell it to you for now since it’s​ a crucial step in my plans for the rise of our Soaring Garden Herbal Store. I’ll eventually tell you in the​ future. But for now, let’s​ just say that the Premier Hall values me greatly.” Dylan deliberately acted mysterious and smiled right after his words.

“Yes, sir!” The employees replied with cheerful attitudes​. Although Dylan did not tell them right now, they had faith in Dylan’s words because they knew he was only doing this for the betterment of the store. They knew how much he trusted them because he even disclosed to them the matter of his origins and even risked his life just to buy them enough time to fellow during the battle at Gardenford. Thus, their fedility for Dylan was unshakeable because it was even able to withstand the weathering of the hardships that came to them yet it still stood strong.

Dylan was beyond satisfied by the character and the attitude of his employees. He felt really blessed to have them as his aid. He tasked the others to do the house chores before training while the second shift would be coming with Dylan and go to the restaurant to open it.

The second day went surprisingly well as the customers started coming to there restaurant. The number of the customers was approximately 100! This number mildly surprised Dylan since he was only expecting 80-90 customers to come to their store and he was already taking in account that the population of the Thunder Clouds City was about 5 times more than the Soaring Cloud City. But now, it seemed like he was still underestimating the number of customers within the city.

They were able to earn 910 gold coins from the second day since the prices of the Mid Spirit Rank Herbs were about 1-5 gold coins while it was around 10-12 gold coins for the High Spirit Rank Herbs.

Dylan was also able to gain 100 more primal stones, 10, Deca-Stones and 1 Centurial Stones. He was very satisfied with the income for the first day. By his estimation, it would take about 25 Deca-Stones to advance to the next realm so he still had to wait for two or three days of rewards before attempting to breakthrough!

On the third day, they still had barely reached 90 people who entered the store who came but it couldn’t be blamed to them as Dylan’s brand was still a new and fresh face for the buyers of the Lighting Boulevard.

….

Panther Grand​ Clan Residence.

Insids mess hall of one of the most extravagant clan residence in the city., a long table capable of accommodating 22 individuals that would be able to properly sit and eat in comfort with its size. The table and chair set were both made from the luxurious wood of the Mid Earth Ranked Verdant Steel Tree and we’re both adorned and designed intricately. The table was being occupied with countless of extravagant foods and beverages accompanied with treasure plates and eating utensils.

There were 19 old men that were dining while showing elegance and proper manners. The 19 old men were seated at the sides of the table with 10 in the left and 9 in the right. These 19 old men were all the patriarchs and matriarchs of famous and powerful Great Clans within the city. They were conversing with the man who seemed to be the owner of the residence and calmly ate. He was the father of Ritz Panther, Gayolei Panther and the current head of the Grand Clan, Panther Clan.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for accepting my invitation and helped me to gather you all here​ today.” Gayolei Panther finished his meal and said.

“Don’t worry, brother Gayolei. We are brothers after all, hahaha!” An old man with gray hair and strands of white hair, laughed.

“That’s right. What are brothers for? Hahaha.” Another stout man commented.

“Hahaha, brother Snape and brother Jansen​ are right. Since all of you are here, I would like to propose something! I’m pretty sure that​ you, my brethren, have already guessed what it is. It is to crush an arrogantt insect named Dylan Ford who disregard the prestige of all of our families and made our dear sons and daughters suffer at his hands to the extent of causing their imprisonment! He has damaged the prestige of our clans and robbed our children of their ideal periods to cultivate! He must pay for this grudge ten times over!!” Gayolei’s words were filled with hate and rage especially when he mentioned the name of Dylan Ford.

The clan heads faces wore dark expressions as they could only tolerate and do as what their Elder Councils have said that to let their sons and daughters be imprisoned because the sentence was only set for 10 years due to them only being accomplices while Ritz was sentenced 50 years of imprisonment​. Although their lifespans granted them longer longevity than mortals, they would be wasting their best years for cultivation since the prison would not provide them the same resources they would enjoy in their daily lives.

“I know that all of you bear a similar grudge to that brat, Dylan Ford! That is why I want you all to help me use your business to pressure his newly started business to a state worse than being an old abandoned shop! After grinding his business to dust, we will shatter his heart by letting him feel what the feeling of being abandoned by his employees will be! Then, when he tries to commit suicide from depression, we will secretly capture him and cripple his cultivation while slowly torturing him! I’m sure that the Premier Hall will not invest to a cripple who can’t even make his business rise!” Gayolei spoke his grand scheme which incited grins and evil smile among the Great Clan Heads because that would be the greatest payback they could do for such an arrogant brat like him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep