On the night the banquet concluded, Lu Chenyuan issued the next phase of attack orders.
The targets were several media outlets and online troll farms under Li Xiujian's control in North America.
These were the mouthpieces Li Xiujian had cultivated for years, the very tools he used to manipulate public opinion and incite financial panic.
The intelligence division of Yuanlong Technologies, armed with the financial flow charts provided by Mo Qingli, executed the operation with surgical precision.
…………
North American time, early morning.
A targeted cyberattack unfolded silently.
The core servers of several media companies were infected with an irremovable data virus.
All historical articles, user data, and internal communication records were encrypted and locked in an instant.
Shortly after, detailed investigative reports were anonymously sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Tax Bureau.
The reports directly accused these companies of stock price manipulation, financial fraud, and large-scale money laundering.
The evidence was airtight, leaving no room for rebuttal.
By dawn, the stock prices of these companies had collapsed in pre-market trading.
Regulatory investigation notices were delivered to their doorsteps.
Overnight, Li Xiujian's overseas propaganda machine was silenced.
He didn’t even have time to react.
……
Li Xiujian stared at the encrypted report in his inbox, his face ashen.
Severed.
His meticulously nurtured overseas media arsenal—built over a decade—had been cleanly dismantled.
He hadn’t even glimpsed his opponent’s shadow.
But he knew who was behind it.
Lu Chenyuan.
No one else had both the capability and the motive.
He had lost the battle of public opinion. The financial war, too.
His chess pieces were being plucked off the board, one by one.
His cash flow, strained by relentless assaults and desperate rescues, was tightening further.
For the first time, he felt suffocated.
A slow, inescapable tightening—like a net closing around him.
“Lu Chenyuan…”
The name hissed through Li Xiujian’s clenched teeth.
The cold calculation in his eyes twisted into something darker, more desperate.
He wasn’t finished yet.
……
Yuanlong Technologies, top-floor office.
Zhang Qi placed a fresh analysis report in front of Lu Chenyuan.
“Boss Lu, our team and Mo Qingli’s group have reviewed all of Li Xiujian’s counterattacks.”
Zhang Qi’s expression was grave.
“We’ve identified a pattern.”
“Every time his cash flow hits a critical gap, or a key asset faces regulatory scrutiny, a mysterious force intervenes.”
“This force can suddenly expedite bank approvals or suppress high-level investigations without explanation.”
Lu Chenyuan’s gaze settled on the report’s key nodes.
All of them pointed to the same place: the Xia National Financial Regulatory Bureau.
A name appeared at the document’s end: Wang Chen.
Former head of the Market Supervision Office, now deputy director.
Li Xiujian’s invisible protector had finally surfaced.
Lu Chenyuan tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.
“Wang Chen is a seasoned player in the financial system. Attacking him directly with old cases would backfire—insufficient evidence would only alert him.”
“And it would force him and Li Xiujian into an unbreakable alliance.”
To catch a hidden predator, one didn’t cast a line.
One wove a net so vast, the prey had no choice but to blunder into it.
……
Three days later.
Yuanlong Technologies held another press conference.
This one dwarfed all previous events.
Not only were tech and financial media present, but key leaders of Jingzhou’s municipal government also attended.
On stage, Lu Chenyuan unveiled a plan that stunned the audience.
“Yuanlong Technologies, in partnership with the Mo Group, will launch the ‘Jingzhou·Future City’ initiative.”
Behind him, the screen displayed breathtaking CGI animations of the envisioned city.
Autonomous shuttle buses glided through a multi-layered transportation network.
Smart robots handled logistics and urban maintenance.
Every household’s energy, health, and security would be managed by a unified “City Brain.”
“We will invest 100 billion into the smart infrastructure of this pilot zone.”
“Covering intelligent transit, energy grids, data centers, security systems, and more.”
“This is an open platform. We welcome all qualified enterprises to participate in the bidding process.”
Lu Chenyuan’s voice, broadcast live, echoed across Xia.
A 100-billion-yuan smart-city project.
This wasn’t just a commercial venture—it was a government-backed urban development flagship.
Capital surged at the news. Everyone recognized the monumental opportunity.
……
Li Xiujian watched the broadcast, his eyes dark with fury.
That young man on screen, radiating confidence—how had Lu Chenyuan amassed such power?
100 billion.
His CFO paled beside him.
“Boss, once this project begins, Yuanlong and the Mo Group will be inseparable from the Jingzhou government. Their dominance here will be unshakable for a decade.”
Li Xiujian remained silent.
His gaze locked onto the project’s fine print, his mind racing.
He needed a crack—a vulnerability to exploit.
Then his pupils constricted.
There. A tiny, almost invisible clause. But lethal.
At the heart of the “Future City” plan was the “City Brain” data center.
And buried in the bidding requirements:
“Qualified enterprises must possess the ‘highest security clearance’ for cross-border data safety, as certified by financial regulators.”
An exceptionally high bar.
Fewer than five companies in Xia held this certification—all with ties to Lu Chenyuan or the Mo family.
It effectively barred all competitors.
But Li Xiujian knew who held the final authority over this certification.
Wang Chen.
His pulse quickened.
Lu Chenyuan’s arrogance had exposed a flaw.
He assumed this clause would reserve the juiciest contract for his allies.
But it was a trapdoor.
If Li Xiujian could secure the same clearance for one of his shell companies…
He could bid for the data center.
Winning it wouldn’t just salvage his finances—it would put him in control of the entire project’s lifeline.
Lu Chenyuan had handed him the knife.
Now he could plunge it back into Lu Chenyuan’s heart.
A tantalizing bait.
A deadly gamble.
Li Xiujian understood.
Playing Wang Chen now meant staking his last card.
Win, and he’d reverse his fortunes in one move.
Lose, and it was over.
The office echoed with his ragged breathing.
Finally, he reached for a long-dormant encrypted phone.
He dialed the number he had saved twenty years ago and never used since.
The phone rang three times before it was answered.
"It's me." Li Xiujian's voice was hoarse.
On the other end of the line, Wang Chen's tone remained as steady as ever. "I thought you'd never make this call."
"I need clearance." Li Xiujian cut straight to the point.
Wang Chen fell silent.
He knew exactly what Li Xiujian was referring to.
"This project runs deep," Wang Chen said slowly. "Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli aren’t like the opponents from twenty years ago."
"I know," Li Xiujian replied. "But this is my only chance."
"And my chance to fall into the abyss," Wang Chen's voice turned cold.
"You don’t have a choice." Li Xiujian’s tone grew icy. "The documents you signed twenty years ago are enough to keep you behind bars for life. Did you really think I didn’t keep copies?"
Another long silence stretched between them.
It was a battle of wills, fought in stillness.
Finally, Wang Chen let out a sigh.
"Send me the company files."
"Pleasure doing business," Li Xiujian said.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
