"So 20% is the lowest you can go?" Gaya asked.

"If it was up to me completely I would not even take a cut considering what you're doing to Olivia. However, the merchant guild rules are pretty strict, I have to convince those old muckers to invoke the golden opportunity rule to get you this 20%. I have to call in every favor"

"20% will do then" Michael knew Reginald was doing his best. The man did not seem like swindling Michael but genuinely trying to get him the best deal possible.

"20% for you, 10% for House Bradley. You said you can sell a potion or pill for the price of an average of 80,000. Hmm, 600 into 80,000 is 48million. Minusing the cuts, 14.4 million. We'll get 33.6 million"

Michael was really surprised to see her mathematical skills. She was like a human calculator. She didn't even blink doing the calculations.

"Since our income will surpass 10million, we need to pay the bloody taxes. What's the going tax rate of the kingdoms?"

It took Reginald a couple of seconds to answer as he was stunned by the girl's skills in numbers. Only girls coming from royal families or prominent noble families received such high education. This meant, the girl obviously either a lady of a powerful noble family or a princess. According to Olivia, they knew nothing about both of their origins. Reginald however now narrowed down into two possible options for Aelia's origins.

"5% in Bredia, 8% in Kethen, 10% in Royal land, 7 in Dradel and 10 in Thusia"

"Fuck" Gaya punched the sofa's arm,

"We need to give 40%?!"

"Relax, there might be some ways to reduce or even get a waiver from tax from the kings' ' Michael patted her on the shoulder to calm her down.

"It's impossible Master Ghost" Michael turned to see Reginald shaking his head,

"The royal families alone won't fix the tax rate, they discuss with the noble families and agree on a tax rate together. To change the tax rate, all of them had to be on board. They won't make an exception for you because if they did, there might be several other important figures who would start to ask for tax reduction. This will complicate things, so no matter the situation, they won't change the tax rate for a single person. It's either tax rate increases or decreases for the kingdom as a whole. Trust me, it's better to pay the taxes. Besides, tax evasion is a serious crime in the eyes of the Guardian Guild"

Michael sighed inside. The bloody Guardian guild was in every step of his path to greatness. Although 40% of his income was a huge chunk, he knew it was better to pay the tax as Reginald suggested.

"40% tax 30% cuts, that means we'll get only 14.4million. If we take into the maintenance of our herbal garden, we'll roughly get 14.2 million a month"

"That's more than many noble families make a month Master Ghost. The Rainshade will take care of paying the taxes and everything. You just need to sign an agreement and give us a payment method to put the gold each month"

Gaya nodded before turning her head to look at Michael,

"It's time we get a paycube from the Grand spire bank"

Michael let Gaya handle the negotiations while he opened the letter given to him by the Kane family Elders.

"Come to Kane Family compound in Royal land before the championship tournament begins" Michael read the words written on the letter in his mind.

It was obvious that the Kane family needs him to do something for them before they agree to offer their protection. He kinda expected this. After all, there was no such thing as freebies in this world.

***************************************

"The lights are out, get ready" There were three figures hiding in the forest surrounding Claire's manor. Due to the darkness, one could not see them except for several glistening stones in their hands. The stones were in a perfect diamond shape, radiating a faint navy blue light.

"They have a dragon and a Soul Refiner. We don't need to wake either of them. Everything must be in place before the young master arrives"

The figures were talking in husky voices as they continued to hide the stones in the bushes, under the tree roos, and on top of the branches. They continued to place several stones deeper into the forest while keeping an eye on Claire's manor.

"It's done, we just need to lure him out somehow. Remember we only need him"

"The sound sucking array in place"

"Good. The Young Master said he'd be asleep after dinner. We need to do something to wake him up and come to us"

"What kind of cultivator sleeps every day like a commoner?"

"Apparently he is"

"How do we wake him up without the others?"

"Shh, something's moving"

The three figures suddenly went silent as they heard a rustling sound coming from the forest.

"Have you three idiots done everything I ordered you to?"

Regardless of the Cat's eye potion they drank, they could barely see what's in front of them. Yet, they immediately recognized the person as their young master after hearing the voice.

"Yes, young master. We were just thinking about how to wake him up and make him come to us"

"That's beyond the limit of your brains," the young master said. The three servants waited for him to see how their young master was going to wake Ghost up. Instead of doing what they were expecting, the young master walked towards a tree. He placed his hand on the tree as a symbol of a tortoise appeared on the tree. It glowed in gold color for a few seconds before fading away into the tree.

He continued to place the runes in a large circle. Each time he placed a rune on the tree, it glowed brighter and brighter. The glow of the runes helped the servants see their young master clearly. He wore dark brown armor made of what looked like a magical beast skin. One of the servants who saw the armor had a look of utter shock on his face.

"Young...Young Master...is that the Blackwing Saurus armor?"

"Hmm, surprisingly you're correct. Get thousand gold in my name" the young master's words made the servant's heart jump out in joy. This was why they worshipped him no matter how many times he cursed or beat the crap out of them. End of the day, the young master always took care of them.

"Young master look" suddenly another servant pointed at Claire's manor. Thanks to the cat's eye potion, they could see a figure walking out of the house.

"Well well well, the prey has come outside" Unlike the servants, the young master drank a high-quality Cat's eye potion. He couldn't help smiling thinking that he was stalking the person who brewed the potion in the first place, Ghost.

"Are the recording stones well hidden?"

"Yes young master"

"Good, I want to record his every single move. Now get out of here" the servants quickly ran away from the place leaving the young master alone.

After seeing his servants retreat to a safe distance, he flicked his wrist as a longbow appeared in his hand.

The young master raised the bow as an arrow made of sparkling silver energy materialized out of thin air. Taking a long breath to steady his aim, he released the arrow.

Whoosh!

The arrow pierced through the air at extreme speed. Just when the arrow was about to hit its target, the young master saw Ghost catch the arrow in the mid-air. The arrow shattered in his hand.

"Take the bait" the young master grinned, seeing Ghost look in the direction where the arrow came from.

As the young master calculated when he studied Ghost, he used the speed spell. It took him only a couple of seconds before hearing the cracking noise of the lightning bolts.

The young master's bow disappeared from his hand. He remained calmly expecting his target to arrive. Suddenly, the runes he previously placed glowed brighter and brighter, producing a faint whistling sound.

Following the glowing runes, a faint dome of blue energy appeared around in a five-meter radius. Inside the dome, the lightning bolts disappeared to reveal his target, Ghost. The light produced by the golden rune revealed one to another. The young master was covered from head to toe with body-fitting black wing Saurus armor and a thick mask covering his face. Only his eyes remained uncovered.

On the other side, Ghost stood there without a shred of fear or confusion in his eyes. He was calm despite the sudden ambush. His reaction somewhat confused the young master.

"Do you have a reason for trying to kill me?" Ghost asked,

"Trying to kill you? Nah Nah Nah. I just want to become a better, stronger fighter. And you're gonna help me"

"How am I gonna do that?"

"By fighting me, how else?" the young master leaped at Ghost like a panther. Sharp silver claws began to grow from his fingers while the adrenaline-filled his body, making him excited.

"Where do you clowns come from?" The young master saw Ghost shake his head. Despite being called a clown, the young master remained calm. He was trained to control his emotions during a battle. Therefore, Ghost's technique of making his opponents mad wouldn't work on him.

"Ghost, meet your exorcist" as the words escaped the young master's mouth, the battle between them finally started.