"Harsh words? No, Pavilion Master, I actually think you're speaking the truth," Lu Gaosheng said with a faint smile.
The short, gold-robed masked man looked at Lu Gaosheng, increasingly feeling that the man before him was unfathomable.
Lu Gaosheng said, "Your pavilion is worried that I'll go back on my word. I understand, and I also know that Tian Ruo City's underworld territory was originally meant to be a meeting gift for your pavilion. I didn't expect JinWan Pavilion to lend me tens of thousands of taels of silver just because of one city's territory."
The gold-robed masked man bowed slightly and smiled, "JinWan Pavilion is ashamed, ashamed..."
"But what if I said I wanted to give JinWan Pavilion the entire underworld territory of Tian Ruo Prefecture as a gift?"
The eyes of the gold-robed masked man instantly lit up.
But Lu Gaosheng just laughed and said, "It seems the Pavilion Master is tempted, but... please tell your Pavilion Lord that the entire Tian Ruo Prefecture is just a meeting gift from me!"
The gold-robed masked man was not just pleased now, but shocked!
Lu Gaosheng explained, "I want your Pavilion Lord to completely believe in me, Lu Gaosheng. It's not just the territory of one prefecture, but a few words that will make your Pavilion fully support me."
"What words?" Even the Pavilion Master of JinWan Pavilion couldn't figure out Lu Gaosheng anymore.
The territory of a prefecture was less valuable than a few words?
Lu Gaosheng said, "Does your pavilion know that the Prefect of Tian Ge has thirty thousand elite iron cavalry under him, the crack troops of Dawu Country, and also the Prefect's hold over a prefecture?"
"Of course we know."
"But does your pavilion know, over these years, among the five leading cavalry commanders of the thirty thousand iron cavalry, two have already been controlled by the people of Black Heaven Gate?"
"What!!" The gold-robed masked man was completely shocked.
Lu Gaosheng laughed and said, "The old Prefect has received countless benefits from Black Heaven Gate over the years, but he doesn't know that the sharpest blade in his hand has already been touched by Black Heaven Gate."
The gold-robed masked man was silent for a while. With JinWan Pavilion's intelligence capabilities even stronger than Black Heaven Gate's, Lu Gaosheng would be very foolish and meaningless to lie, because with just one lead, and some time, JinWan Pavilion was very confident in finding out the truth of the lead.
So the gold-robed man started thinking about Lu Gaosheng's background and extraordinary abilities that JinWan Pavilion knew of, but the problem now was why Lu Gaosheng wanted to tell them something that touched the biggest bottom line between the underworld and officials.
Because this already involved the underworld's truly reaching into the lifeline of a large prefecture that it should never touch!
Once this news got out, it was likely the courts and underworld of the entire Dawu Country would instantly fall into turmoil.
The gold-robed masked man thought to himself: Does Black Heaven Gate really have such guts!?
But Lu Gaosheng was still relaxed and carefree, smiling and saying, "I'm telling your pavilion this for one reason only, and that's that you don't actually need to worry about me going back on my word. For the underworld, I, Lu Gaosheng, will not sit back and watch one family dominate!"
The gold-robed masked man understood Lu Gaosheng's meaning very well.
One family dominating would only lead to underworld forces like Black Heaven Gate endlessly expanding their ambitions, even reaching into places the underworld should never touch.
But he, Lu Gaosheng, would not be as stupid as the old Prefect, taking money to let others grasp the blade that should be his own.
Seeing the pensive look on the man's face, Lu Gaosheng went on, "But how can we prevent one family from dominating? It's very simple. In my territory, I will find an opponent for Black Heaven Gate. The likes of Black Dragon Hall can never make it aboveboard. What I want is a real opponent that can rival Black Heaven Gate."
The gold-robed masked man asked, "So Sir Lu is looking for us to be Black Heaven Gate's opponent?"
Lu Gaosheng said, "Yes, and I also know your pavilion's overall strength is still a bit weaker than Black Heaven Gate's, but!"
His tone changed, and Lu Gaosheng looked steadily at the man, "Weaker, that's under the premise of your pavilion not having the future Prefect, Lu Gaosheng, assisting you. With my help, my thinking is to split Tian Ge Prefecture's underworld in the future, half belonging to JinWan Pavilion as an expression of my gratitude for your pavilion's support, the remaining half split between Black Heaven Gate and Dark Building."
Half of Tian Ge Prefecture, the territory of three prefectures!
JinWan Pavilion's Pavilion Master was truly tempted now. He even judged that even if the Pavilion Lord himself came, he would likely reach the same conclusion.
Because from Lu Gaosheng's words, it could be completely heard that this person wasn't joking around, and also, this person thoroughly understood the so-called 'balance of power'.
Moreover, even if Lu Gaosheng didn't give half in the end, as long as he became Prefect, with his personality and scheming, Tian Ge Prefecture's future would no longer be, and could not be, dominated by Black Heaven Gate alone. At the very least, JinWan Pavilion would definitely be able to participate and contend for power!
That meant assisting him was completely harmless for JinWan Pavilion, which currently had no foothold at all in Tian Ge Prefecture!
The gold-robed masked man stood up and solemnly stretched out his palm, "JinWan Pavilion is very willing to cooperate with Sir Lu, the true talent of our Dawu Country!"
Lu Gaosheng laughed heartily and shook hands with the gold-robed man, "I also look forward to cooperating with your pavilion. But in the future, don't grasp my blade like Black Heaven Gate does."
The gold-robed masked man laughed, "After witnessing Sir Lu's means and schemes, how would JinWan Pavilion dare, how would we dare! I said earlier that JinWan Pavilion has always only wanted, and only liked, making money."
Lu Gaosheng laughed, "That's natural best. Your pavilion helps me, I help your pavilion, we both win. The money in this world is inexhaustible."
"Good!"
"Good!"
As they were talking, news already came from outside the pavilion.
A gold-robed masked man knelt outside on one knee, saying, "Reporting to Pavilion Master, aside from the Hall Master who we've captured, the rest of Black Dragon Hall has been annihilated! May I ask the Pavilion Master how the Black Dragon Hall Master should be dealt with?"
In just the short time they were speaking, over twenty underworld top experts had been completely wiped out.
JinWan Pavilion, deservedly the third underworld power, had already revealed such astounding might with just a bit of its strength!
But the gold-robed masked man scolded, "Why are you asking me? This is Tian Ruo City, Sir Lu is here, you should be asking Sir Lu!"
Lu Gaosheng glanced at the man, smiling faintly without exposing him.
Lu Gaosheng indifferently said, "Remember how the Black Dragon Hall Master thought I was on the seventh floor earlier, and that I couldn't lightfoot, so he thought he could certainly kill me, Lu Gaosheng? Then we might as well just throw that Hall Master down from the seventh floor. I'm rather curious to see, since that Hall Master has such great lightfoot skill, whether he'll die from the fall, or be shot dead by JinWan Pavilion's archers."
The gold-robed masked man clapped loudly at his side, praising, "Sir Lu truly has a good idea. I'm also curious, so why don't we go watch together, Sir. We can bet on it again, that would be quite good too. I'm confident in our JinWan Pavilion's archers, so I'll bet he gets shot dead."
As they were talking, Lu Gaosheng and the gold-robed masked man walked out together to overlook the highest point of Xing Hai Sect across the way.
Lu Gaosheng said, "Then I'll have no choice but to bet the Hall Master will die from the fall. I hope that Hall Master can perform well, at least not get shot right after falling, that would be very boring."
"Please watch closely, Sir Lu."
The masked man then gave an order, and the nearly dead Black Dragon Hall Master, who had already been beaten to near death, was thrown down from the high tower.
Lu Gaosheng watched this scene with a hint of a smile, and said, "Oh yes Pavilion Master, I also set up a stage play in the city center that should be finishing up about now. After betting here, how about we go take a look?"
The gold-robed masked man agreed, "Accompanying Sir Lu would be my honor, how could I refuse?"
Amidst their carefree chatter...
The Black Dragon Hall Master was completely shot dead by a Jin Sha (Golden Kill) repeating crossbow bolt when he fell to about four stories up.
His corpse was even nailed by the arrow to the eaves of the building.