Chapter 9: The Web of the CEO

The chilling truth of the CEO card had transformed Ao Yetian's goals from mere survival into cold, calculated dominance.

Forty-eight hours of stability was nothing. He needed a sustainable, industrial-scale solution for the demonic energy, and a permanent, high-purity anchor to stop the drain on his precious Profound Core.

He would achieve both using the two things this world valued most: knowledge and women.

Phase One: Automation and Expansion (The Money Trap)
The first step was to leverage the fifty million Spirit Coins from the Alchemist Association.

Ao Yetian couldn't afford to waste time building arrays by hand; he needed an automated supply chain.

He returned to the city, not as a wealthy client, but as a shadow investor.

He targeted several small, failing artisan guilds and inscription workshops.

These were run by ambitious but financially struggling craftsmen who possessed the skill to etch the complex Black Iron frameworks he needed, but lacked the resources to operate independently.

Using his middleman, he began a relentless, discreet acquisition campaign.

He bought the workshops outright, injecting funds and promising unprecedented, stable income.

The catch?

They were to only craft objects based on his complex, segmented diagrams—fragments of his Spiritual Extraction Array that, on their own, seemed like esoteric, high-grade magical furniture or tools.

They had no idea they were assembling a demonic energy siphon.

Within a single day, he had five workshops working under heavy security, churning out the components he needed.

He also secured tons of raw Black Iron Ore and a fortune in Demon Crystal Shards, using them as a shield against inflation and suspicion.

My inscription knowledge is now currency, he mused, watching his money move like a wave through the city's economy.

But money can be stolen. Resources are power.

He also initiated the construction of four more Extraction Arrays in remote, geographically advantageous locations across the mountain range.

His system would soon process Silver and Gold Rank beasts as efficiently as an oil refinery processes crude.

His wealth and his fuel supply were guaranteed to skyrocket.

Phase Two: The Lure of the Genius (The Anchor Trap)

With the logistics of his fuel sorted, Ao Yetian turned his attention to the core problem: the permanent anchor.

The card required high-purity, stable spiritual energy.

He had realized that the most powerful, main female characters of the TDG series, those with unique bloodlines and dedicated cultivation paths, possessed this purity.

They were the perfect, long-term human batteries.

His first target was the City Lord’s daughter, Ye Ziyun.

He knew Ye Ziyun was a pure, compassionate soul trapped by her family's tradition and her own frail health.

Her energy, though not as rare as Ning'er's Dragon Bloodline, was of the highest Snow Wind purity—stable, vast, and capable of enduring the card's low-level drain for extended periods.

Ao Yetian couldn't approach her with threats or mere secrets. He needed an emotional lock.

He arranged a seemingly chance encounter at the Holy Orchid Institute’s library, a place Ye Ziyun frequented to escape the pressures of the City Lord’s Mansion.

"You are reading the Ancient Text on Spiritual Formations,"

Ao Yetian noted, stepping out of the shadows.

He was dressed in high-quality, discreet silk now, the clothes of a rising, mysterious young noble—a far cry from the shabby orphan.

Ye Ziyun jumped, recognizing him instantly as the unnerving new genius who had caused a stir.

However she couldn't remember his name.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I am Ao Yetian. I am here to tell you that the cultivation technique your family gave you is incomplete."

He spoke of her inherited Snow Wind Spiritual Root, detailing exactly why her current technique was stifling her potential.

He didn't just offer an upgrade; he offered her salvation from mediocrity.

"Your father, the City Lord, fears your potential,"

Ao Yetian said softly, his voice full of false empathy.

"He does not want you to rely on anything outside his control. He wants a quiet daughter, not a Legend Rank expert."

This was the lie—the emotional key. Ye Ziyun’s lifelong struggle was being acknowledged and validated.

Ao Yetian then offered the irresistible bait: he would teach her a Supreme Snow Wind Technique, a method far beyond Glory City's scope, that would stabilize her health and make her the true inheritor of her family's power.

"In exchange, I require your aid in a project of spiritual stabilization—a simple, periodic energy transfer to an artifact that protects this city from powers you cannot imagine. It is a shared burden,"

He finished, his expression conveying noble sacrifice.

Ye Ziyun, seeing her deepest desire and her father's subtle emotional neglect confirmed, was hooked.

Her desire for strength and her innate sense of duty made her the perfect anchor.

She agreed, albeit with stern conditions echoing Ning'er’s.

Phase Three: Capturing the Alchemist (The Financial Anchor)

Ao Yetian's final target was the Head of the Alchemist Association, Yang Xin.

She was older, wiser, and guarded.

She wasn't motivated by youthful desires or family drama, but by unparalleled ambition and scientific curiosity.

Yetian summoned her to a clandestine meeting using the leverage of the forty million Spirit Coins still pending transfer.

"Head Yang Xin, your association is soon to be the wealthiest in the world, thanks to my inscription,"

Ao Yetian stated in the dim light of his hidden office.

"But your cultivation, for all your knowledge, is stagnant. It is unworthy of your potential."

He then revealed his latest, most devastating move: multiversal market.

He didn't show her clearly, but he described the resources he could procure—Alchemical Herbs that hadn't grown in this realm for millennia, Refining Techniques that turned common iron into spiritual steel, and Cultivation Manuals that contained the secrets of the world.

"I can offer you the key to becoming a Legend Rank master, the true, immortal power you desire,"

He promised.

"I can give you the secret to multiversal trade—a monopoly on resources that will make Glory City the only power left standing after the horde."

In exchange for this unimaginable knowledge, Ao Yetian made his demand:

"I need you to act as an anchor for this artifact—to monitor and manage its energy transactions, providing your highly refined, stable Soul Force to the system periodically, justifying it as 'high-level research' to the world."

Ao Yang Xin’s eyes glowed with a terrifying mix of avarice and fascination.

The chance to wield cosmic financial power and bypass her cultivation limits was irresistible.

She was the most dangerous ally, but the most capable.

She saw Ao Yetian not as a boss, but as a temporary tool to access the stars.

She accepted the pact with a chilling smile.

Ao Yetian leaned back in his chair, the weight of his vast, interconnected scheme settling on his shoulders.

He had successfully lured in the most beautiful, capable women of Glory City: Xiao Ning'er for her raw bloodline, Ye Ziyun for her pure spiritual essence, and Yang Xin for her refined Soul Force and financial genius.

He had three human anchors, a network of workshops churning out fuel arrays, and a ticking clock.

His CEO card had demanded an empire, and now he was building it, one powerful woman and one billion Spirit Coins at a time.

His journey home was not just about survival; it was about building a harem of influence to sustain his ascension.

The protagonist of this world, Nie Li, may have sought friendship, Ao Yetian mused. But I seek partners in power.