Translator: CinderTL
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Great Shang Nation.
Guangzhou City.
At this moment, Ling Zhi, who had just finished school not long ago, was sitting in a milk tea shop by the street, sipping on her drink.
Without any makeup, her pure and charming appearance naturally drew occasional glances from other customers in the shop.
"Vroom! Vroom!"
Suddenly, the roar of an engine exploded onto the street.
A streamlined yellow sports car sped past, racing towards a high-end villa district a few hundred meters away—an oasis of luxury amidst the bustling city.
"Beautiful! A Golden Phantom Flash! Only 22 of these were sold nationwide, with an on-road price exceeding six million yuan—a fortune that an ordinary person couldn't earn in a lifetime! I never expected to see one in Guangzhou!"
One of the customers, familiar with luxury cars, couldn't help but marvel.
"That's Jin Haoxuan's car, the young master of the Jin Corporation! But this isn't even his only luxury car. I've heard that the Jin family owns at least ten cars worth over five million each."
Another person at the same table spoke with envy.
"Cars are nothing! Houses are the real deal! We commoners work ourselves to the bone our whole lives just to save up a million or two for a house. Do you know how many properties the Jin family owns? Let me tell you—at least a thousand, if not more! And that's not even counting their storefronts and commercial buildings!"
Someone else chimed in, their tone laced with deep jealousy and frustration.
"The Jin Corporation is worth tens of billions—do you think this is a joke? Money alone isn't everything; they have power and influence too. In all of Guangzhou, there's nothing they can't settle."
Another young man added, "Just a month ago, that same Jin Haoxuan bullied a girl working at a barbecue restaurant. The uproar online was massive—it even trended to the number one spot! Everyone was outraged, but what happened? The girl's brother, the one who exposed it online, was arrested for 'provoking trouble' and thrown into jail. When he was finally released, he got into a mysterious car accident. Do I even need to say how that happened?"
He sighed, "And now? The young master of the Jin family is still living it up—driving his luxury cars, partying in bars, and flirting with girls. But what about that family? Are they even alive? No one knows. The internet has been wiped clean—every post deleted."
Hearing this, the people at his table couldn't help but feel a sense of helpless dread.
"The Jin family isn't even a true financial conglomerate, yet they already wield this much power. They can practically cover the sky with one hand! What hope do small folk like us have if we ever run into trouble?"
"No one does anything about this? If the local authorities are corrupt, take it to the capital! I don't believe they have connections there too!"
One of them flushed red with anger.
"Even the capital won't help."
At this moment, Ling Zhi, unable to hold back, spoke up crisply, "Jin Zhiya of the Jin family possesses a spiritual root and has been accepted into the Chiyang Academy. It's said she has already passed an evaluation and has become a registered disciple of the Chiyang Sword Sect. Against cultivators, what can those officials do besides helping them oppress us?"
"Spiritual root?"
"Someone from the Jin family joined Chiyang Sect?"
"That... that means they can become an immortal cultivator!?"
Her words sent a wave of shock through the listeners.
Immediately after, the entire shop fell into silence.
For a wealthy local family like the Jin clan, people still dared to comment on their misdeeds.
But cultivators...
Every single one of them was a monster wielding unfathomable power.
Thirty years ago, cultivators descended upon the world from beyond the void.
When a single Nascent Soul cultivator crushed the world's reigning superpower and effortlessly intercepted over a thousand nuclear missiles, the spine of every nation on Earth was broken.
Within half a month, the remaining governments obediently cooperated with the cultivation sects, allowing them to carve up the world as they pleased.
The Great Shang, home to over 160 million people, was assigned to the Chiyang Sword Sect.
From that moment on, it became an unspoken rule that cultivators stood above the law.
Even the most arrogant and powerful financial groups in Great Shang dared not openly commit murder. But cultivators...
If one slaughtered someone in the streets, the victim could only consider themselves unlucky—no authority would dare to question it.
In fact, local officials would even work to suppress the news and prevent the situation from escalating.
For a long moment, the milk tea shop was drowned in oppressive silence.
Just as the suffocating atmosphere reached its peak, the door swung open.
Three students, around Ling Zhi's age and wearing the uniform of Guangzhou Advanced High School, walked inside.
"Xiao Bai, Qin Chuan, you're here."
Ling Zhi stood up and asked, "Shall we go now?"
"We..."
The boy called Xiao Bai hesitated, saying, "We're not going."
"Not going?"
Ling Zhi froze for a moment, then looked at the other boy, "Qin Chuan, you're not going either? You only managed to get into the top ten in the entire school because of Chun Jun's tutoring. You're not going?"
Qin Chuan tilted his head slightly, but didn't respond.
It was Xiao Bai who softly added, "I heard someone say that Li Chunjun got injured because he was going to the capital to report the Jin family, so they had someone crush his legs."
He then added, "The hospital didn't dare to treat him and rushed him out of there."
Ling Zhi didn't say anything, just staring at him with her beautiful big eyes.
After a long while, she finally spoke, "So, you're not going either?"
"We're just classmates, after all..."
"Classmates? With your rapid improvement, have you forgotten who helped you?"
"But... he taught us to review and consolidate what we've learned. Also, he himself said that we were just NPCs in his 'Blue Star OL' game, so clearly his attitude towards us wasn't very respectful..."
Xiao Bai's voice grew quieter.
"You believe such a joke..."
Ling Zhi was about to refute him, but then he said, "I just got news that the school expelled him."
He spoke in a cryptic manner, but the meaning was already clear.
They were afraid.
They didn't dare to cause trouble.
Even... simply as a good friend, they didn't dare to visit him after his injury.
"Expelled!?"
Ling Zhi felt a rush of anger, but mostly pity for Li Chunjun, "Chun Jun always came first in every exam, and even in the city-wide tests, he was always in the top ten. The teachers and principal used to treat him like a treasure. Now, he's expelled? What did he do wrong to deserve this?"
The boy didn't respond.
But his silence spoke volumes.
The principal of Guangzhou High School, who was sycophantic and dared not offend the Jin family, wouldn't have stood up for him.
After a long while, Ling Zhi's anger began to subside, replaced by a deep sense of helplessness. "Is there really no justice in this world?"
"We were just afraid you'd be waiting for a long time, so we came to tell you. After that, we'll leave. You should go home early too."
Qin Chuan spoke softly, then he and Xiao Bai left the milk tea shop together.
Ling Zhi watched her three closest friends leave. She bit her lip, wanting to call them back, but the words stuck in her throat, and she couldn't bring herself to speak.
She sat down, her mind filled with the memories of her desk mate Li Chunjun over the years—his dedication to studying, his willingness to help others, and his respect for teachers.
Though abandoned by both of his divorced parents since childhood, it didn't affect his optimism.
He was always so radiant.
She truly believed that someone like Li Chunjun, excellent in academics, friendly, and kind-hearted, would certainly be admitted to the capital's university and go on to become the most successful social elite in the class.
But...
Who would have known that just one accident, where he was the victim, would utterly ruin a brilliant young man who should have had a bright future ahead?
There was no place for justice.
He was expelled from school.
His body crippled.
This...
Ling Zhi raised her head and glanced towards the upscale villa area, which was several hundred meters away.
Her bright eyes flashed with anger and a sense of shared enmity.
But in the end, all the emotions were drowned in a deep sense of powerlessness and guilt, which turned into a long sigh.
...
In the upscale villa area, several hundred meters away.
In a villa covering 2,000 square meters, including a garden, a golden phantom car slowly entered and parked in the spacious garage.
The car door opened, and Jin Haoxuan, with a hint of drunkenness on his face, leisurely got out of the car and walked into the house.
However, when he entered the living room, he noticed that, in addition to his father, Jin Guangming, the general manager of the Samsung Property Service Company, Shen Zhengxian, who was in charge of doing the dirty work for their family, was also present.
Upon seeing Jin Haoxuan enter, Jin Guangming furrowed his brow. However, considering his daughter's indulgence toward this nephew, he didn't say anything. He continued speaking to Shen Zhengxian, "After a month, the heat has died down, and I leave the rest to you. We must eradicate the root, or it will grow back with the spring breeze."
"Rest assured, Chairman. My men are already there. One is disabled, and the other is a little girl. Crushing them will be no harder than crushing two ants."
Shen Zhengxian confidently promised, "It was also you who asked me to be a bit more restrained. Otherwise, we would've killed them back at the detention center."
"Make it clean. Even though it doesn't matter if it's discovered, we still need to give Director Mo of the security office a bit of face."
"There won't be any traces left. This isn't thirty years ago when there were cameras everywhere. The noble cultivators really hate such things."
Shen Zhengxian laughed and seemed in a very relaxed mood.
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang. Looking at the number, he said, "It's Xiao Hei calling."
"Answer it."
Jin Guangming replied.
Xiao Hei, Shen Zhengxian's trusted subordinate, a martial artist with strength.
As Shen Zhengxian answered the phone, the expected news came through: "President Shen, the people are blocked. Both of them are inside. If you have no other instructions, should we handle them now?"
Jin Haoxuan, who was half-drunk, immediately brightened up when he heard the news: "Both of them are there? That bitch Li Wanqing is there too?"
"Young Master Xuan? Yes, she's hiding in the bedroom, crying, thinking that a wooden door can stop us. Should we leave her for you to play with? She even said she wanted to protect her disabled brother, so this kind of threat is definitely something Young Master Xuan would enjoy."
"Leave them alive..."
Jin Haoxuan was about to speak when he was shot a glare by Jin Guangming.
"Leave no one alive, handle it quickly."
He said to Shen Zhengxian.
Shen Zhengxian nodded, gave Jin Haoxuan a helpless look, and then gave the order into the phone: "Handle them."
"Understood, we'll..."
Just as Hei Bao was about to respond, a loud bang interrupted.
Soon, various surprised exclamations rang out.
"You little beast, you dare to fight back!?"
"Wasn't he crippled? How is this...?"
"Ah! Liu Zi, be careful!"
The voices in the phone became chaotic.
There were even some swear words like "What the hell" mixed in.
Less than ten seconds later...
"Bang!"
The sound of the phone dropping to the ground.
"Beep, beep, beep!"
Signal lost.
Something had happened.
Looking at the screen of the phone, Shen Zhengxian's face became ugly.
Just a moment ago, he had confidently promised there would be no accidents, and now he was slapped in the face so quickly.
Seeing Jin Guangming's displeased gaze, Shen Zhengxian quickly put away the phone, saying, "Chairman, I'll go there personally to take a look."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
Jin Guangming coldly said, "If you can't handle it, don't come back!"
(End of the Chapter)
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