Chapter 17 Fourteen Years of Servitude

Radiant Sky took his seat opposite Aiden, his voice a solemn rumble as he declared, "I stand in dire need of five hundred thousand divine sources."

Aiden inclined his head in assent and replied, "Such a quantity I possess."

Fortuitously, Miss Aqing had previously bartered for a million divine sources, a sum that now sufficed for this particular trade. Were it not for this windfall, Aiden would surely have found himself bereft of the means to meet Radiant Sky's demand.

"What price must I pay in recompense?" Radiant Sky inquired, his guard firmly in place.

He was loath to part with his own talent.

Though ignorant of Aiden's motives for coveting talent, one truth was self-evident. In the transaction between Tyrone Zhou and Aiden, it was plain to see that Tyrone Zhou had emerged the poorer.

Had Aiden been privy to Radiant Sky's musings, he would surely have scoffed and apprised him that his talent was rather pedestrian. Seraphina's silence on the matter was testament enough to its ordinariness.

"Five hundred thousand divine sources shall serve as a panacea for your present affliction, kindling a glimmer of hope within you. Without this bounty, you shall find yourself inexorably enfeebled by the slow march of time." Aiden's discerning gaze pierced through Radiant Sky's façade, laying bare his predicament with brutal candor.

Radiant Sky's visage shifted, darkening with a tinge of dismay. He had not anticipated Aiden's perspicacity.

Aiden continued in a measured tone, "The worth of aught is mutable, varying as the beholder changes."

"Your current plight has driven you to this very seat, in desperate pursuit of these five hundred thousand divine sources. I can indeed furnish you with this boon, yet in return, the cost you must bear is..." Aiden's words hung in the air, pregnant with portent.

Radiant Sky fixed Aiden with an unwavering stare. "Pray tell, what is this price that I must pay?"

As Aiden had so astutely observed, the leader of the Heavenly Dao Sect had choked off Radiant Sky's access to divine sources, confining him to the bounds of White Emperor City. Could it be that the once-mighty White Emperor was doomed to be whittled away by the inexorable passage of time?

Such a fate was anathema to Radiant Sky, a bitter pill he could not swallow.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Aiden's mouth as he pronounced, "I require your service as a bondservant for a span of fourteen years."

Radiant Sky's countenance contorted in shock. He sprang to his feet with a violent lurch, his eyes wide with incredulity and rage as he bellowed, "Preposterous!"

He was an esteemed elder of the Heavenly Dao Sect, a figure of renown throughout the Great Departure Land. Known far and wide as the White Emperor, his martial prowess was peerless, and his pride, unyielding. To demand that he stoop to the ignominy of servitude for fourteen years was an affront beyond measure.

Outrageous!

White Emperor Radiant Sky fixed Aiden with a baleful glare, his anger boiling over.

Aiden remained unruffled, motioning for Seraphina to ready a contract. Pen in hand, he remarked, "Spare me your bravado. Regardless of the lofty reputation you once boasted, time is a remorseless tide that erodes all in its path. Were you truly as indignant as you feign, you would have long since overturned the table and stormed out."

Radiant Sky's face flushed a livid shade of purple. He stood before Aiden, mute with suppressed fury.

Aiden had struck a nerve, hitting upon the very heart of his vulnerability.

Radiant Sky had indeed basked in the glow of a formidable reputation, his pride a towering edifice. Yet before the inexorable march of time, these were but fragile constructs, liable to crumble at a touch.

Were he five hundred years younger, Radiant Sky would have flung aside all restraint, overturning the table and departing without a backward glance.

But now, his resolve wavered, shackled by the weight of his circumstances.

"Fourteen years?" Radiant Sky's expression was a study in bitter resignation. Was he truly fated to endure fourteen years of servitude?

Aiden nodded sagely and said, "Fourteen years, a trifling span in exchange for a golden opportunity. With these five hundred thousand divine sources in your grasp, you shall possess the wherewithal to assail the threshold of the next realm. Should you breach that barrier, a millennium of life shall unfurl before you, affording you the chance to reignite the embers of your former glory."

The contract lay before them, its terms inscribed in stark black and white.

Radiant Sky lapsed into a brooding silence. The choice before him was a crucible of torment.

"Upon signing this contract, I shall dispatch you forth to lend aid to one of my envoys. Together, you shall labor to establish the Heaven and Earth Bank throughout the Great Departure Land. For fourteen years, you shall be at his beck and call. Once this period has elapsed, you shall reclaim your freedom, unfettered and at liberty to roam as you please." Aiden's voice was a soft murmur, yet it carried the weight of implacable resolve.

In truth, he sought a guardian for himself. To wander the wilds without a stalwart protector by one's side was to court peril at every turn.

"Merely fourteen years?" Radiant Sky ruminated long and hard before voicing his query once more, seeking confirmation.

Aiden extended a finger and intoned, "The Heaven and Earth Bank adheres to the strictures of the contract with unwavering fidelity. The terms are etched in clarity: thou shalt not shed innocent blood nor transgress the bounds of morality. Yet, should you renege on this covenant, I shall mete out a dire punishment. Your life shall be forfeit, your body retrieved and consigned to eternal ice."

Radiant Sky perused the contract with painstaking care. Satisfied that all was in order, he steeled himself and with a heavy heart, inscribed his name.

The moment his signature marred the parchment, the contract sprang to life, its power binding. Aiden regarded it with a satisfied eye and with a graceful wave of his hand, summoned Seraphina.

She appeared, bearing a cache of five hundred thousand divine sources, which she proffered to Radiant Sky.

Radiant Sky accepted the offering and surveyed it with a mixture of relief and resignation. At long last, the divine sources were his. Yet the price, fourteen years of freedom and self-esteem, left him in a quandary. Was it a loss or a gain?

For this was a path he had no choice but to tread.

"From this moment henceforth, I am bound to serve for fourteen years." Radiant Sky's voice was a monotone, devoid of emotion.

"Not I, but my envoy shall be your master. He awaits you without. Seek him out." Aiden swept his sleeve with a flourish, and Radiant Sky was sent hurtling outwards, powerless to resist.

Boom!

Amidst the Hundred Thousand Mountains of the Sacred Land of Spiritual Void, Aiden divested himself of his obsidian robe and dark gold mask, revealing his true self. Standing atop the mountain peak, he surveyed the ever-shifting panorama of clouds and the celestial dance of the sun, moon, and stars.

Presently, Radiant Sky materialized behind Aiden, his eyes a welter of doubt and astonishment as he beheld him.

Aiden, bereft of any discernible cultivation, could scarcely be the envoy of the Heaven and Earth Bank, or so it seemed.

Aiden turned on his heel and regarded Radiant Sky, asking, "Are you the protector that my master has procured for me?"

Radiant Sky regarded Aiden with a look of chagrin. Well, being a protector was marginally more palatable than the ignominious title of bondservant.

"Aye, I am." Radiant Sky's tone was flat, yet within his breast, a simmering discontent roiled. He had anticipated that the envoy would be a paragon of martial might, not this young stripling bereft of cultivation.

He, the august White Emperor, reduced to the role of protector for an ordinary youth lacking even the most rudimentary cultivation.

The very thought was a humiliation, a stain upon his honor.

Yet the contract, that inescapable shackle, bound him fast, leaving him powerless to resist.

"Is this the Sacred Land of Spiritual Void?" Radiant Sky's gaze swept the surroundings, recognition dawning as he realized the familiarity of the terrain. Surely, this was the erstwhile domain of the Sacred Land of Spiritual Void.

"This is now the fiefdom of my Heaven and Earth Bank, the Hundred Thousand Mountains. The Sacred Land of Spiritual Void? It has been consigned to oblivion." Aiden clasped his hands behind his back. His robes billowed in the fierce wind, yet he stood as an immovable pillar, his voice a soft declaration.

"The Sacred Land of Spiritual Void has been disbanded?" Radiant Sky's eyes widened in disbelief, his gaze fixed upon Aiden as if seeking confirmation of this astonishing revelation.

"The Sacred Land of Spiritual Void boasted an immortal weapon. How could it have been so summarily dissolved?" Radiant Sky queried, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Its immortal weapon belongs to my Heaven and Earth Bank. Ten thousand years ago, it signed a contract and borrowed the Emperor's Pen but then refused to return it. So this time I'm here to collect the debt." Aiden turned and entered the Golden Tripod Hall.

Radiant Sky followed behind. In his heart, he was still quite shocked. Had the Sacred Land of Spiritual Void really been disbanded like this?

Even now, he still felt a bit unreal.

Just what kind of a powerful entity was this Heaven and Earth Bank?

It was actually so terrifying?

"What do you need me to do?" Radiant Sky asked Aiden.

Aiden thought for a while and said, "There's nothing for you to do for now. You can go back to White Emperor City and focus on making a breakthrough. If you can break through, it will also be of great help to me. I'll give you time."

Radiant Sky was surprised and said, "You're letting me go back just like that? If I manage to break through in one go and fourteen years pass, then the time will be offset."

"It doesn't matter. Being a servant for fourteen years is not a humiliation for you but an opportunity instead. The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths are so vast. My Heaven and Earth Bank is in urgent need of manpower right now. If you can't seize the opportunity, you won't be able to rise to prominence. If you can stay in seclusion for fourteen years in one go, the one who loses the most will be you." Aiden said indifferently.

If he had enough pocket watches.,did he still need a so-called White Emperor as a thug?