Apotheosis

Zen entered the building with Michael Mo, trailing behind him. Once he was inside, it dawned on him how completely different the inside was from the outside. The branch of the World Commercial Alliance was luxuriously decorated. There wasn't a single area that looked ordinary inside. 'This place is exquisite, ' Zen thought, feeling impressed.

The World Commercial Alliance was a commercial organization and had survived for many years. In spite of its current prosperity, it was believed that it might decline one day. Thus, it clearly had to keep a low profile if it wished to do high profile jobs.

For the World Commercial Alliance, Zen was an important guest, so Michael welcomed him in person. To be sure, such a warm welcome was given to Zen because they learnt about his identity.

Earlier, Lasseter had submitted a portfolio containing all seven rune works of Zen. The prolific works left everyone, including those people from the headquarters of the World Commercial Alliance, shocked. All members of this alliance were well aware about the value of a runic expert who was excellent at Perfect Brushwork. Therefore, the World Commercial Alliance had decided to ingratiate Zen at all costs.

Although Zen was a member of Cloud Hall, the World Commercial Alliance generally didn't get itself involved in the struggles among sects. Since Zen was a runic expert, it was concluded that there would be a lot of room for cooperation with this guy.

After Zen took a seat, Michael clapped his hands. In a blink of an eye, two beautiful maids appeared and served them tea. The tea brought a wonderful fragrance to the atmosphere.

"Zen, do you come here to purchase materials or to sell runes?" Michael asked, without wasting anytime. He wanted to get to the gist of the matter.

"I do sell runes. But my visit here is mainly made to buy certain materials and some news," Zen replied curtly.

Michael nodded, taking out a square nameplate. The entire nameplate was inlaid with gold and jade. In the center of the nameplate, "Zen Luo" was inscribed. The nameplate looked really exquisite. "Zen, our sub-alliance has exclusively made this nameplate for you. With this nameplate, you are entitled to get discounts from the branch of the World Commercial Alliance located in any area. You are now considered as our most respectful customer. In addition, we can sell our materials to you at a 20% discount. Moreover, we intend to buy your runes at a price a little higher than the market price,"

Michael stated in a professional manner. Zen reached for that exquisite nameplate as a smile crept on his face. 'People of the World Commercial Alliance are really astute! They apparently have made this nameplate for quite a long period. People here seem to be really generous. They have offered me such a privilege without imposing any condition!' he thought.

People of the World Commercial Alliance were not fools and everyone knew that. Moreover, no merchant would sell hens on a rainy day. It was beyond doubt that they expected something in return from Zen. However, Zen couldn't help but feel impressed with their conducts which were so pleasing.

'It is always a pleasure to deal with clever people. Besides, I am really on the lookout for a channel

because he enjoyed walking there on foot. Instead, he was compelled to do it. His flying chariot brutally crashed half a month ago. And in the Western Region, it was extremely difficult to buy a galloping horse. Thus, he had no choice but to tire himself by walking on foot.

He sprinted all the way towards the west, feeling all his energy getting drained out of his body.

The Western Region was a vast territory with sparse population. In general, no one was seen over hundreds of miles. Now, a small town came into Zen's view. Beside the road, a small plaque was set up. On that plaque, Everest Town could be seen.

As soon as Zen arrived at this town, he rushed into a tavern.

A waiter of the tavern, wearing a braid, came over to Zen. He behaved cordially and spoke with a rather strong accent, "Sir, this way please!"

Feeling a little out of breath, Zen nodded and followed the waiter's lead upstairs.

As soon as he reached the second floor, he felt something was amiss. To begin with, there were very few guests. And when he made his way, he found all waiters and the manager were looking in his direction. He felt that they had malicious intentions.

'Why are they glancing in my direction? What do they want?' he wondered, feeling bewildered. However, once he sat down, his thoughts went back to food. His stomach was growling with hunger.

The waiter with the braid came over to Zen with a menu. In the most friendly tone, he asked, "Sir, these are special dishes at our tavern. Would you like to have some?"

Zen swiftly scanned through the menu. Placing the menu back, he nodded and said, "Yes, go ahead and serve me all special dishes!" Traveling outside, Zen was open to experimenting different tastes. He was never hypercritical about wine, meat or food.

The waiter shortly replied, looked back and made a gesture to the manager. Afterwards, the waiters exchanged glances with each other. They seemed to be communicating with each other using their eyes.

However, Zen sat calmly, not bothering to ask what the matter was. But in the pit of his stomach, he had a bad feeling. He assumed that his meal was going to be a disappointing one.