Lu Mingshi’s face flushed crimson as he screamed hysterically at his secretary and the gathered executives:
"Investigate! Find out which bastard is spreading these rumors! And the PR department—are you all dead? Issue a statement immediately! Deny everything! Sue them—take every damn media outlet spouting nonsense to court!"
His response was the same old arrogant "might makes right" logic he always relied on.
Yet, this feeble denial, in the face of detailed exposés and a panicked market, seemed utterly laughable.
Far from calming the storm, it was interpreted as "guilt" and "a desperate cover-up," only accelerating the stock’s plunge.
Lu Mingshi stared at the glaring red numbers on the screen, his heart twisting in his chest.
He had fought so hard to claim this position, barely warming the seat before disaster struck.
Why? Everything should have been smooth sailing. How had it come to this?
Barging into the boardroom, he faced the ashen-faced elders and directors, his voice a brittle roar:
"What are you all gawking at? This is just some underhanded scheme to short our stock! Panicking now? Hold steady! Anyone who dares sell shares at this time is declaring war on me, Lu Mingshi, and the entire Lu Corporation!"
But no one paid his bluster any heed.
When real money was at stake, familial loyalty and the chairman’s authority meant nothing.
The infighting erupted in full force.
"Mingshi! What the hell is going on with your brother? The rumors are everywhere—give us a straight answer!"
"Exactly! Since you took over as chairman, Lu Corporation has been in chaos! First, Lu Chenyuan walked out with his team, now this scandal! Are you even capable?"
"The stock’s lost half its value! Our investments aren’t charity! Lu Mingshi, you will answer for this!"
Cornered, Lu Mingshi lashed out:
"How is this my fault? Blame my worthless brother for not keeping his pants on! Blame his wife for airing dirty laundry! Go take it up with them if you’re so brave!"
Lu Corporation descended into utter bedlam.
......
At the Western Hills ancestral estate, Lu Chengsi hurled a blue-and-white porcelain teacup to the floor, shattering it.
"Disgrace! You’re all a disgrace!"
He pointed a trembling finger at Lu Mingye, who knelt before him, face drained of color.
"I told you to keep it quiet! How did you fail so miserably?!"
"Father... I... I didn’t... I never said a word..." Lu Mingye’s weak protest was barely audible.
"You didn’t? Then did the rumors fall from the sky?" Lu Chengsi struck his back with a cane.
"A century of our family’s reputation—destroyed by your incompetence!"
After punishing Lu Mingye, he dialed Lu Mingshi, unleashing his fury the moment the call connected:
"Lu Mingshi! What kind of CEO are you? A crisis hits, and all you do is issue a useless statement? Look at the state of the company! Do you even care about the stock price?"
Already seething, Lu Mingshi snapped back:
"Father! This isn’t on me! Eldest Brother caused this mess! I’m drowning here, and instead of support, you berate me? If you’re so capable, why not summon Lu Chenyuan to clean it up?"
"You—!"
Lu Chengsi nearly collapsed, vision darkening with rage.
Hanging up, he slumped into his chair, breathing heavily.
It was over.
The family’s unity was shattered. The house was crumbling.
The second son was arrogant and inept; the eldest, a reckless fool; the third and fourth only watched and fanned the flames.
Not one among them could salvage this disaster.
No—there was one.
The thought rose unbidden in his mind.
Lu Chenyuan.
Only his exiled grandson had the skill and ruthlessness to quell this storm.
But...
The humiliation of begging him back after everything—after his own silence, after Lu Mingshi’s betrayal—
Lu Chengsi’s heart churned with shame, regret, and defiance.
He had never bowed to anyone in his life.
......
At Yuanlong Technologies’ top-floor office, sunlight streamed through spotless windows. The quiet hum of the air conditioning was the only sound.
A world apart from Lu Corporation’s chaos.
Lu Chenyuan calmly reviewed a report on the future development of the "Integrated Sciences" program—a document he intended to deliver personally to Professor Chen Jingzhi.
Zhang Qi entered, barely containing his excitement.
"President Lu, everything is proceeding as predicted."
He handed over a tablet displaying Lu Corporation’s nosediving stock chart and media deep-dives into the scandal.
"The divorce leak triggered market panic. Lu Mingshi’s blunders worsened the infighting. Their market cap has dropped 40% since your departure, and the decline continues."
Lu Chenyuan’s gaze skimmed the data, unmoved, as if reviewing a stranger’s financials.
"Second Uncle’s competence barely suffices in peacetime. Facing a crisis, he might as well douse a fire with gasoline," he remarked mildly.
"Then... when do we detonate the ‘Shengtian Real Estate’ bomb?" Zhang Qi asked, eager to see Lu Mingshi and Li Xiujian’s reactions when their secret ledgers went public.
"Not yet." Lu Chenyuan turned to the floor-to-ceiling windows, surveying the city he meant to conquer.
"A downpour alone won’t break a dam. But what if, after the rain, comes an earthquake?"
His voice was quiet, deliberate.
"Grandfather’s resolve will crack soon. He’ll come to me. But I don’t want a salvage operation. I want Lu Corporation broken, abandoned by all, ripe for my terms."
"As for Shengtian—that’s the final straw. It will explode when the Lu family is most desperate, shattering their last delusions."
He spoke to Zhang Qi, yet also to himself.
His goal was never destruction.
It was rebirth—by cutting out every trace of rot, no matter how painful, until the family emerged unshackled from its bloody power struggles.
Outside, storm clouds gathered. The tempest was just beginning.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
