Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Things looked like two elephants fighting; any stomp from either one of them was like squashing an ant.
That was how brutal reality was.
All the power and money they held was worth nothing in the face of real combat prowess.
It was only then that they came to truly realize why even governments were wary of the cultivators.
That was because common people still had a certain measure of control over cultivators when cultivators were willing to comply with the rules of common people. Yet, when things got ugly, the rules were quickly cast aside.
Or rather, they would simply resort to doing it in the way of the world of cultivators—the rules stating that might made right, and that true prowess reigned over all.
“You dare to kill someone right here?” Song Shijie was stunned right away.
It was not that he had not seen anyone killed before. He had his fair share of killing others himself.
As the few direct descendants of the Holy Dragon Corporation that the conglomerate invested in heavily, there was no way Song Shijie had lived a sheltered life.
However, killing people as soon as things did not go his way and getting killed because things did not go the other party’s way were still two completely different concepts, after all.
Lu Xuan had just killed Wen Ziteng—the best fighter he had working under him—without care. Fear struck his mind right away.
Song Shijie was able to just go about killing people without a care, because he looked down on the common folk, while Lu Xuan’s killing was even simpler than that.
Song Shijie’s emotional state changed when he killed people, yet Lu Xuan no longer had such emotional changes, to begin with. He reigned supreme back in his past life, and he killed countless powerful enemies to achieve that. The likes of Wen Ziteng were far too insignificant to move him emotionally.
Lin Miaoyi, who was witnessing these events from the side, kept shaking her head. It was only then that she finally believed that Lu Xuan was truly that legendary Mr. Lu everyone spoke of.
The Mr. Lu that she heard about when she was training in isolation was about just as forceful with his approaches. It was not a simple feat to earn recognition from the many forces in Min Province and to be acknowledged by all to be the number one in Min Province, after all.
There was no such thing as number one in the literary scene, and there was no such thing as being second place in the martial arts scene. Nobody without absolute power would be able to make all yield to them, and no one doubted what Lu Xuan was capable of.
Be it the Special Task Force managing the world of cultivators in the province, the Southern Shaolin Temple, which was the supreme cultivation force of the province, or even the Chen Clan and the Seven Invincible Sect that reigned supreme all over the province, none thought anything was wrong with acknowledging Lu Xuan as number one in all of the province.
It was not that the cultivators of the province were averse to conflict or that they had so little desire for fame and wealth that they did what they did.
She turned around to look at Song Shijie, whose head was shaking in an even more pronounced manner.
That man had been the center of attention before Lu Xuan showed up, and he could have even been considered the sun that dimmed all stars around it.
However, all that thunder was stolen right beneath his feet when Lu Xuan showed up.
It was as if the nature of him being a paper tiger was revealed for all to see right there and then.
But then again, Lin Miaoyi, nonetheless, knew something about Song Shijie that was oblivious to many, so she knew that it had nothing to do with Song Shijie’s apparent ineptitude.
Song Shijie contributed considerably to the Song Clan, and he had played extremely important roles in furthering the Holy Dragon Corporation’s expansion overseas.
He would not have been the one sent to consolidate the cultivation forces all over Min Province otherwise.
Such endeavors were considered of supremely high importance to groups and conglomerates of such sizes, and no common man would have been allowed to undertake such endeavors.
Anyone found within such circles was definitely an elite instead of someone common.
Yet, such elites were nothing before Lu Xuan all the same.
That was due to both sides having great fundamental differences to begin with. The might that Song Shijie commanded came from the formidable powers that the Song Clan and the Holy Dragon Corporation wielded.
If the other party were to be wary of the Holy Dragon Corporation and of the Song Clan, there was no doubt he would have had his way with things. It was just like how things had been before, where he was able to make most of the tycoons present submit without doing much, making them part of his power.
However, when faced with someone like Lu Xuan, who played against conventions, the huge gap between him and Lu Xuan was exposed right away.
Song Shijie was but a fox who threw his weight around because he was backed by a tiger, yet Lu Xuan was, without a doubt, the tiger behind the fox.
Song Shijie’s power came from the Song Clan and the Holy Dragon Corporation, while Lu Xuan’s power came all from himself. He alone was a force of nature.
Lin Miaoyi was unable to help but shake her head. The superiority of goods was derived from the competition between goods, and likewise, the superiority of people was derived from such competition between people.
“So what if I killed someone?” Lu Xuan smirked faintly and continued, “Do you really think I’m here to negotiate with you in peace, to look for a solution benefiting both of us?”
Everyone was stunned by what Lu Xuan just said. That was a blatant display of forcefulness and supremacy.
Song Shijie gritted his teeth, and his face was flushed red. However, he dared not do anything rash. The fact that Lu Xuan chopped off Wen Ziteng’s head without breaking a sweat had completely put him on the defensive.
He had no doubt been able to command Wen Ziteng as if the latter was his dog—a dog of National Guardian caliber.
Yet, he was able to do so because he was backed by the Song Clan and the Holy Dragon Corporation. Wen Ziteng dared not act against such gigantic forces, and he was even eager to join them.
Otherwise, a National Guardian would have made short work of him for barking orders to them like that.
The difference in power between both sides was simply too great.
However, that did not mean that he was unaware of what kind of feats that National Guardians were capable of. Such figures would have been able to easily steer the fate and direction of a small nation single-handedly, after all.
Their powers were immeasurable.
Yet, such figures ended up dead by a single swing of the blade before Lu Xuan all the same.
The shock to Song Shijie was profound. Lu Xuan was not known as the number one in Min Province for no reason, after all.
“I’d have held nothing against you and the Holy Dragon Corporation for wanting to make a foothold here in Min Province, but you made a grave mistake on stepping on my head to do so.” Lu Xuan grinned and continued, “Who the f*ck do you think you are? Know your place, damn it. You are what you are because of that old fart Song Lingfeng, and even that old fart Song Lingfeng means nothing to me. Yet, you think you’re somebody, huh?”
A hint of indifference was seen in Lu Xuan’s eyes.
“You… you know of the Great Ancestor?” A hint of shock was seen in Song Shijie’s eyes.
The man named Song Lingfeng that Lu Xuan just mentioned was the true backing and trump card that the lineage of the Song Clan in the Holy Dragon Corporation relied on.
That Great Ancestor was one of the founders of the Holy Dragon Corporation, who enjoyed a very esteemed status in the conglomerate.
It was just that said Great Ancestor had been shutting himself in, training in isolation for many years as of late, and he would not be venturing outside without good reason. No one outside would have known of that old man, and Song Shijie was puzzled as to how Lu Xuan learned about this matter.
Lu Xuan snorted indifferently. He definitely knew Song Lingfeng. He had been on Song Shijie’s hit list back in his past life, and his successful kill of Song Shijie lured one such old monster of the Song Clan out.
Although Lu Xuan had not been able to fight toe-to-toe against Song Lingfeng back then and had to lay low for a time, he had, nonetheless, finally been able to get rid of Song Lingfeng after making a frightening progress in his cultivation.
“You really think you can throw your weight around just because you have Song Lingfeng behind you?” Lu Xuan continued coldly, “I’ll tell you this much, Song Lingfeng will end up dead all the same, even if he were to show up here himself.
“I heard that someone said something about forming a coalition or an alliance or something in the province earlier. I think that is quite a good idea. I’d like to see who agrees and who objects.”
Lu Xuan scanned the crowd with his very pointed gaze.
