His words caused the room to fall silent.

After a long pause, Serafina hesitantly raised her hand, her voice soft and uncertain. "What if... we just let it go?"

Sarah let out a cold laugh, the sound sharp enough to cut through the tension. "Are you dreaming?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"If we ignore this, others will take it as an invitation to trample over the dignity of the Talisman Association."

She leaned forward slightly, her tone turning colder. "No... it would be better to teach this girl a proper lesson."

They were already certain of her identity.

From the live stream comments, one name kept appearing repeatedly.

Lana the Great.

Combined with the IP address they had traced, they confirmed that she was none other than the so-called fake daughter of the Almond family.

In their eyes, that only made things clearer.

"She’s probably just a pawn," Boris muttered, his voice filled with disdain. "A tool being used by some hidden practitioner."

The room buzzed with agreement.

After a moment of silence, someone suggested, "How about this... we extend an olive branch first and try to recruit her?"

Amin shook his head instantly. "Even if we do that, there’s no guarantee she’ll agree."

Giovanni rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"If that’s the case... then we need to create a situation where she has no choice but to join."

Sarah’s eyes suddenly lit up, a dangerous glint flashing within them.

A slow smile formed on her lips as she said, "I have an idea."

Everyone turned to look at her.

Meanwhile, completely unaware of the storm gathering against her, Lana continued her work with a bright, carefree smile. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

She had already unlocked nearly all intermediate talismans, along with several new variations that even she found fascinating.

At this point, she could finally say it with confidence.

’I’m getting closer... Very soon... I’ll reach the next stage. The stage I’ve been aiming for all along.’

In the next stage, the next level of her cultivation, Zephyr would guide her to craft jade pendants on which she could engrave intricate talisman inscriptions, turning them into powerful amulet.

’Once I master that...’ her eyes gleamed faintly, ’I’ll be able to earn millions in just a few minutes.’

The idea quickly spiraled into a vivid daydream.

She imagined stacks of wealth piling up effortlessly.

’When I have that kind of money...’ she mused, a small smile tugging at her lips, ’I won’t limit myself to just Hedge city anymore.’

At present, her investments were heavily concentrated in her Hedge city, which had already developed way before he should have.

However there was one problem.

’If anything goes wrong... everything I’ve built could collapse in one place,’ she thought, her brows knitting slightly. ’I need to expand... diversify... spread my influence.’

By now, she had sold over five thousand talismans.

Her income had skyrocketed to five hundred million dollars.

The number itself felt surreal.

A soft laugh escaped her lips as she leaned back, her heart racing.

"At this rate... I’ll have more than enough to reinvest soon," she murmured, her voice filled with anticipation.

Just as she was savoring that thought, a notification popped up on her website.

Her expression shifted slightly.

At first, she intended to ignore it.

After all, her comment section had been flooded with all kinds of messages lately.

Some people had noticed her interactions with Sean and assumed they could approach her casually.

"You should collaborate with us for free," some had written shamelessly.

Others went even further. "We’re poor, so you should cover all the costs. We’ll repay you in the future."

Lana had long since seen through such nonsense.

With her enhanced cultivation, her perception had sharpened to an extraordinary degree.

Even without meeting them in person, she could glimpse fragments of their intentions, tiny flashes of possible futures that revealed their true nature.

’Scammers... every single one of them,’ she thought coldly.

In some of those glimpses, she could even see their faces as they typed those messages... smug smiles, greedy eyes, expressions filled with calculation rather than desperation.

Not a single one of them looked sincere.

So she ignored them all.

However, when she finally glanced at this particular message, her brows furrowed slightly.

It was from the Talisman Association.

"They’re asking... for taxes?" she murmured, her tone laced with disbelief.

According to the message, since she was selling talismans, she was required to pay taxes on each one.

Lana immediately opened her browser and began searching. Within minutes, she found the relevant information.

The Talisman Association held authority in such matters.

If they determined that someone had learned from them, even indirectly, such as borrowing a book, they had the right to impose a tax of up to ten percent.

"That’s reasonable... to some extent," she muttered under her breath.

But then her eyes narrowed.

"They’re demanding twenty percent?" she whispered, her tone turning colder.

And that wasn’t all.

Since she didn’t possess an official license as a talisman practitioner, they were adding an additional ten percent tax.

Thirty percent in total.

Lana leaned back slowly, her gaze darkening as realization dawned on her. ’So this is their move...’ A faint, cold smile formed on her lips. ’They’re trying to corner me.’

She didn’t panic.

Instead, she calmly contacted Axel and laid everything out before him.

After listening carefully, Axel nodded. "Leave it to me," he said, his voice steady.

Two days later, he returned with the results.

The situation was far more complicated than it initially appeared.

"You could argue that you never borrowed anything from them," Axel said, his tone serious, "but it won’t matter."

Lana frowned slightly.

"The association has always been a model taxpayer," he continued. "The government favors them heavily. If they target you, the government will benefit from the taxes collected. They have no reason to side with you."

A heavy silence filled the room.

Lana’s brows slowly knitted together as she absorbed his words.

"So in other words..." she murmured softly, her gaze sharpening, "they’re using the system against me."