Opening his eyes, Aiden Li stared around in sheer astonishment!
He had been a meek servant of the Zhou family, constantly subjected to humiliation. However, he refused to succumb to fate and clandestinely began to learn the martial arts of the Joyce family. But then he was discovered, and subsequently, the young master of the Joyce family led a group of people to beat him to death and discarded his body in the mass graves outside the city.
This was no mass grave!
It was a magnificent and resplendent palace, and Aiden Li was lying in a chamber of the palace.
"Master, you're awake?" At this very moment, a gentle feminine voice rang out, causing Aiden Li's eyes to widen.
"Who are you?" Aiden Li inquired.
"I'm the steward of the Heaven and Earth Bank, Seraphina!" The soft female voice replied.
"The Heaven and Earth Bank?" Aiden Li knitted his brows as he surveyed his surroundings and caught sight of Seraphina.
A beauty!
An absolute paragon of beauty!
Aiden Li swore that he had never beheld a woman more enchanting than Seraphina.
Seraphina's allure was so ethereal that it seemed almost illusory.
Like a fragile piece of parchment, it could only be gazed upon and not touched. For if it were, it would shatter into a million pieces.
"The Heaven and Earth Bank is the most enigmatic bank in this entire cosmos. During your sojourn in this world, you have become the ninth master of the Heaven and Earth Bank!" Seraphina answered.
"The ninth master? What about the previous eight?" Aiden Li astutely grasped the crux of the question. He was not beguiled by the current circumstances.
"Dead!" Seraphina said with a tinge of regret.
"How did they perish?" Aiden Li promptly asked.
"The cause of their demise remains unknown. I'm merely an auxiliary spirit. Besides the Heaven and Earth Bank, I cannot venture anywhere. I have no inkling about what the previous eight masters did in the outside world." Seraphina replied.
"You're a spirit?" Aiden Li said with a modicum of disappointment. Such a ravishing woman was, in fact, a spirit?
"Yes, I'm a spirit, born within the Heaven and Earth Bank. As long as the Heaven and Earth Bank endures, I shall not vanish." Seraphina nodded.
"Then what does this Heaven and Earth Bank do?" Aiden Li asked in a state of perplexity.
"Of course, a bank is for the purpose of trading. Anything and everything in this world can be bartered. The only variance lies in the cost." Seraphina replied.
"Anything can be exchanged?" Aiden Li's eyes sparkled with interest.
"Yes! Since its inception, the Heaven and Earth Bank has consummated innumerable transactions, conducted fairly and squarely, with written covenants. Once a contract is signed, it becomes binding." Seraphina said with a sense of pride.
"Trading demands capital. What does the Heaven and Earth Bank possess at present?" Aiden Li asked.
Seraphina's smile faltered, and she bowed her head and said, "Owing to the mismanagement of the previous masters, the Heaven and Earth Bank is now bereft of assets. Many of its facilities and locales are sealed. Only this palace remains operational."
"Mismanagement?" Aiden Li frowned.
"That is to say, many debts could not be recovered, leading to defaults. Once a default occurs, the master is liable to be chastised. I suspect the deaths of the previous masters are somehow related to this." Seraphina replied.
"What manner of debts are they? These individuals are truly audacious. It is only just and proper to repay debts." Aiden Li rose to his feet and said with a note of dissatisfaction.
"These are the debt contracts." Seraphina waved her hand in the air, and a voluminous pile of contracts materialized before Aiden Li.
Aiden Li retrieved one and scrutinized it meticulously. His eyes dilated.
[Eternal Immortal King, borrowed an unsurpassed immortal weapon from the Heaven and Earth Bank and was obligated to return two after three thousand years. For every additional one thousand years of delinquency, one more was to be added.]
"Is the Eternal Immortal King the invincible Immortal King renowned throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, who toppled the ruler of the Immortal Realm with his Eternal Immortal Sword?" Aiden Li's voice quivered.
"Yes, he is the one who refuses to discharge his debts!" Seraphina nodded.
"The Eternal Immortal King, a formidable figure who battled from the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands to the Immortal Realm. His weapon, the Eternal Immortal Sword, is a symbol of invincibility. You assert that he is the one who declines to pay his debts?" Aiden Li gulped.
The world into which he had transmigrated was an unfathomably vast universe, spanning from the loftiest Immortal Realm to the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, with a sprawling territory, a teeming population, and a potent atmosphere of cultivation. Everyone yearned to enter the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and subsequently ascend to the Immortal Realm.
Aiden Li was currently ensconced in a corner of the 'Great Departure Land' within the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
However, now Seraphina informed him that the invincible Eternal Immortal King of the Immortal Realm, whom countless individuals venerated, owed the Heaven and Earth Bank and was indebted to him to a prodigious extent?
It seemed preposterous!
How could he possibly reclaim it?
Seraphina corrected Aiden Li and said, "Master, the Eternal Immortal King's Eternal Immortal Sword is not his but belongs to the Heaven and Earth Bank. Now that you are the master of the Heaven and Earth Bank, that implies the Eternal Immortal Sword is yours!"
"It's mine?" Aiden Li's eyes brightened as he murmured.
"That's correct. The Eternal Immortal King is cognizant of the contract but declines to fulfill it. He has long transgressed the terms. According to the contract, every one thousand years, he should recompense with an immortal weapon of equivalent quality. It has been ten thousand years now. That means the Eternal Immortal King owes you, master, ten exceedingly potent immortal weapons!" Seraphina waved her arm and said with resoluteness.
"Ten extremely powerful immortal weapons!" Aiden Li was dumbfounded.
Seraphina also produced two more contracts and said, "This one is from the Cold Moon Fairy, and this one is from the Ancient Venerable. They are both notorious bad debts. When the contract expires and defaults, it is the master's responsibility to retrieve them."
"The Cold Moon Fairy, the fabled number one beauty in the Immortal Realm, with a legion of admirers?"
"The Ancient Venerable, one of the ancient war gods. These are all preeminent experts in the Immortal Realm!" Aiden Li exclaimed.
But now, these individuals all owed him something.
Scrutinizing the contracts intently, Aiden Li's eyes lit up.
[Cold Moon Fairy, borrowed an exquisitely beautiful countenance from the Heaven and Earth Bank and was supposed to return it after ten thousand years. If overdue, her life would be imperiled.]
[Ancient Venerable, borrowed ten thousand years of lifespan from the Heaven and Earth Bank to seek a breakthrough. After the breakthrough, he was obliged to repay one hundred thousand years of lifespan to the Heaven and Earth Bank. If overdue, it would multiply tenfold.]
The Cold Moon Fairy had originally procured the exquisite face from the Heaven and Earth Bank to ascend to the throne of the number one beauty in the Immortal Realm.
And the Ancient Venerable owed the Heaven and Earth Bank one hundred thousand years of lifespan. If overdue, it would escalate tenfold, amounting to one million years of lifespan.
Aiden Li's respiration grew rapid, and he said with fervor, "It is only right and proper to settle debts. Regardless of whether it is an Immortal King, the number one beauty, or an invincible war god. One day, I shall surely compel them all to make restitution."
"I support you, master. There are a multitude of bad debts. Throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, the previous masters lent out a vast array of things. After their deaths, they all metamorphosed into bad debts. Now it is incumbent upon the master to recover them and re-establish the eminence of the Heaven and Earth Bank!" Seraphina said with enthusiasm.