Tower of Heaven

That question wasn’t answered immediately.

"Follow me. We can talk in a bit."

Scarlet Fox had a veil covering the lower half of her face, but as it was partially translucent, it didn’t quite hide her features. She glanced at the surroundings, telling him with her expression alone that there were too many ears in the building.

Atlas shut his mouth and followed her. They went up the stairs to the second floor where he got a glimpse of the higher tier market before they moved into another staircase leading to the third floor.

The floors up to the fifth were all part of the market. The lowest level was the most accessible, while the highest level was meant for only the most premium customers. The goods sold there were worth upwards of several billion gold and could only be purchased through exchange. Neither money nor status could guarantee entry to the fifth floor.

However, there were no doors left locked in front of Atlas. Scarlet Fox took him up the first five floors, and when they arrived at the fifth, they entered one of the many private showrooms meant for acquisitions and the most private sales.

Well, that was the purpose of the other showrooms. This one was a bit special.

When Scarlet Fox placed her hand on the wall, the building itself reacted to her qi. Atlas’ eyes widened as the floor changed beneath him. The clean white marble turned black yet maintained its smoothness. The walls faded away, revealing a completely different interior design than the market’s aesthetic.

"The Starfire Merchant Guild, huh?"

The change of scenery was more than enough indication that they’d entered the true face of the merchant guild. Here, the only ears were those owned by Scarlet Fox.

"I know it wasn’t the original plan, but it happened like that. I’ll explain it on the way."

Scarlet Fox maintained her lead. Clearly, she was giving him a minor tour while also leading him to her main office so they could converse freely.

"When you left, we had only been operating for a few months, so I thought following Heaven’s Eye’s strategy was the best method for gaining attention."

Scarlet Fox glanced over, removing the veil covering her face. It was a much more beautiful gesture than she realized.

"After a year passed, I realized I was wrong."

Atlas’ eyes narrowed.

’A year?’

The way she said it made it seem like a single year was short compared to the overall time frame of her story.

’It couldn’t have been so long, could it?’

He couldn’t sense time in Purgatory, but the time he spent in the Underworld itself couldn’t have been more than half a year. In his perception, it had to be around two months at the very most, but he knew that his perception wasn’t entirely trustworthy.

If the time he spent in Purgatory was even somewhat proportional…

"Heaven’s Eye’s influence is too great. When people discovered us and then learned that we were not from Heaven’s Eye, they turned away without considering us."

Atlas’ thoughts were cut off by Scarlet Fox’s words. He decided to save the question and hope the answer was present in her story. Your next chapter awaits on

They walked through the dimly lit halls of the new building they’d entered.

Well, it was still the same building, but it was different enough to call new. It wasn’t so expansive, as it didn’t need to be large in size. There was a corridor wide enough for five people to walk comfortably that was bordered on both sides by walls lined with doors. The ceiling was relatively low as well, giving off the impression that this was a much smaller building.

This was a building made for the exchange of information alone. Ornate decorations had no place here.

"Following Heaven’s Eye and using the same methods that they employ sounds like a good strategy on paper, but it’s too common. Only after trying it myself did I realize why I’d never heard of anyone else trying it."

Everyone who tried to mimic Heaven’s Eye faded into oblivion. In the first place, Heaven’s Eye was only able to operate with such an air of mystery because of its high status. There wasn’t information readily available about how Heaven’s Eye was started, but Scarlet Fox doubted they used such methods.

On one hand, a small information guild didn’t have the reputation to sustain such a business model, and on the other hand, when cultivators saw others trying to copy Heaven’s Eye, they immediately formed negative opinions of those people.

If one wanted to compete in this Tower, one had to find a unique lane to occupy.

"Business wasn’t the original goal, but in the process, I somehow learned that I have a little talent in this aspect."

Atlas nodded. Scarlet Fox had the aura of someone who could do well in the financial domain.

Even cultivation clans needed advisors who could work with numbers and money. Even cultivators needed trading companies and merchant guilds that sold the goods they sought.

Otherwise, wouldn’t everyone be forced to adventure and explore for every little thing? It was far too inconvenient.

Scarlet Fox was one of those people who could fill the gap. She had the technical knowledge, she was sly like a fox, she was charismatic, and she was authoritative. Really, it was a miracle that she never got into business beforehand.

The two of them walked through a long corridor and up five separate staircases. The first five floors were as uniform as could be, creating quite an interesting atmosphere. Those were all meant for customers, while the final floor was meant for administrative work.

It was also the location of Scarlet Fox’s office.

"The Starfire Merchant Guild was actually something I purchased. The name was already decided by the previous owners, and I decided to keep it so the locals didn’t feel like it was unfamiliar. I had the original building demolished and rebuilt into a more pristine-looking establishment, and we started taking our first steps as merchants."

Reaching this point, Scarlet Fox stopped at the door at the end of the hall and turned the knob.

She entered the room and held the door open for Atlas to follow her in. Without focusing too much on the space around them, they both approached the desk near the back wall and took their seats.

"I spent a year building the business. Within a year, we were already renowned within the Market District, and in the years after that, our renown spread to the entirety of the lower floors. The connections I formed at Heaven’s Eye helped a lot."

The rest of the story flowed easily. For years, Scarlet Fox worked as hard as she could and built the Starfire Merchant Guild into a strong influence. At the same time, she built the information guild that was her main goal.

"The organization existed from some time ago, of course, but I regard the moment I realized the Starfire Merchant Guild’s success as the true founding moment. At that point, two years or so after our last meeting, Gaia’s Compass was established."

Gaia’s Compass.

’The only thing that can compete with the eye of the Heavens is a compass controlled by the world itself, is it?’

There wasn’t much Atlas had to say after hearing this much of the story, but there was a comment he had no choice but to make.

"It’s a good name."

It was the name of an influence he could see at the top of the world.

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