Free Web NovelChapter 154: Chapter 153: Compromise
SPURT!!
Scalding blood spurted from Huang Minggao’s neck. His skin and flesh, made abnormally tough by a covering of Qi Surge, had been sliced open in an instant by Hua Jingcheng’s bare hand!
Multiple experts at the Five Qi Tongxuan level were present, yet none could discern Hua Jingcheng’s trajectory or his method of Force Release. All they perceived was an instantaneous burst of power. He appeared impossibly light and unhurried, but his figure flashed by in an instant, as if using the Shrinking Inches technique.
He was like a single, drifting feather, its flight containing an immense and terrifying power.
Huang Minggao was a genuine Five Qi Tongxuan expert, yet the arteries in his throat had been severed in a single instant.
A single, fatal blow!!
A chill ran down everyone’s spines.
"Guh..."
A look of utter disbelief filled Huang Minggao’s eyes. He abruptly clutched the wound on his throat, instantly tensing his muscles to stanch the bleeding. He could never have imagined he wouldn’t last a single move against this man from Neon. ’What in the world was that attack?!’
"Wound Medicine! Quick! The Wound Medicine!"
A director and a Martial Artist, snapping out of their shock, immediately yelled at the middle-aged director who was still in a daze.
"Right! Right!"
The middle-aged director frantically fumbled through his clothes, pulling out a palm-sized Jade Bottle. He wanted to take it to Huang Minggao, but a flicker of fear made him glance toward Hua Jingcheng.
Hua Jingcheng’s expression was placid. His gaze didn’t linger on the middle-aged director for even a moment, instead sweeping over the others. Perhaps in his eyes, whether someone of Huang Minggao’s caliber lived or died was of no consequence. He couldn’t have cared less.
Seeing this, the middle-aged director finally took a deep breath. He rushed over, helped Huang Minggao aside, and uncorked the Jade Bottle to dispense the Jade Liquid inside. For people of their status, especially in these chaotic times, they would never leave home unprepared.
Although the artery in Huang Minggao’s neck had been severed, he was a Five Qi Tongxuan expert, after all. His life force was immense, and having achieved Heart Tongxuan, his control over his Qi and Blood was exceptionally strong. With the help of a sacred healing medicine like the Jade Liquid, his life was saved.
Of course, he was well aware that this opportunity only existed because his opponent saw him as less than dirt. Had this happened anywhere else, he would already be dead.
’Just what kind of expert is this?!’
"I am a man of my word. I’ve already said it: if you do not agree to this matter, no one will leave this courtyard today. If you don’t believe me, you are welcome to test that. There are six Five Qi Tongxuan Martial Artists present. With Huang Minggao down, that leaves five. If you’re feeling confident, you can all attack me at once. I don’t mind. But I cannot guarantee you will all be as fortunate as Huang Minggao and live to be saved." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"Frankly, this isn’t difficult. If you all die here, we can just prop up new people to take your places. It’s all the same to us."
Hua Jingcheng spoke lightly as a terrifying killing intent erupted from him, so potent it felt as if the very air around them was about to freeze.
The five remaining Martial Artists felt a mountainous pressure weighing on their hearts. They exchanged glances. Perhaps due to Huang Minggao’s cautionary example, not a single one dared to make a move.
"Mr. Wei, must you really take things this far?"
Finally, amid the silence, one of the directors spoke to Wei Zonglong.
"Gentlemen, times are changing. Now is the time to make a choice. If you can’t choose, then I will have to choose for you. Rest assured, as long as you all agree to my request and sign this agreement, I guarantee the shares you receive in the future will be double what you have now."
Wei Zonglong said lightly, giving a subtle glance to the subordinate at his side. The man turned and beckoned, and several people immediately walked over carrying stacks of documents, which they distributed to each of the directors.
As they opened the documents and read them, their expressions grew increasingly conflicted. It wasn’t just because the agreement’s contents would bind them completely to Wei Zonglong—or rather, the Neon Empire. It was also because of the immense profits revealed in certain clauses.
Threats alone are rarely enough to achieve the desired outcome. To truly win people over, one must also offer tangible benefits.
The carrot and the stick are most effective only when used together. freewebnσvel.cѳm
The directors glanced from the stone-faced Hua Jingcheng, standing motionless, to the smiling Wei Zonglong, and all fell silent.
At the end of the day, their businesses were already deeply entangled with the various foreign concessions. None of them could be described as having backbones of steel.
"I’ll sign."
Once the first director gave in to the pressure and temptation and signed the agreement, the others could no longer hold out. Ultimately, they all signed.
"Thank you all for your support. At the directors’ meeting in one week, I will be counting on all of you."
Wei Zonglong collected the agreements, checking each one to confirm they were in order. Only then did he address the crowd with a beaming smile.
Hearing his words, the directors felt as if they had been granted amnesty. Drenched in cold sweat, they rose one by one and took their leave.
Only after everyone had left the courtyard did the smile on Wei Zonglong’s face slowly fade.
"Mr. Hua Jing, how confident are you when it comes to Yan Shuntao’s man, Zhao Xuanqi? He’s the expert who defeated the successor of the Western Border Wu Family—not someone these mediocre fools can compare to."
Wei Zonglong asked Hua Jingcheng in a grave tone.
"Zhao Xuanqi... The man does have some skill. He is on our watchlist. During his battle with Wu Yin, the successor of the Western Border Wu Family, he was at the realm of Internal Organs Resonating. The Secret Transmission he cultivates is quite mysterious. At full power, he can unleash Gang Qi Transformation. To be able to do so at the Internal Organs Resonating realm means he is indeed incomparable to that rabble from just now."
"However, whether it’s Wu Yin or Zhao Xuanqi, they are nothing more than small-timers to me. If it were the now-famous Seven General Stars of Jinmen, they might actually give me pause. And then there’s..."
Hua Jingcheng spoke lightly. Suddenly, Wei Zonglong felt a chill flash past him.
CRASH!!
In an instant, the tea table before him shattered into more than a dozen pieces and collapsed with a bang. By then, Hua Jingcheng had already turned around. With a single, seemingly weightless step, he appeared ten meters away, heading out of the courtyard. His voice drifted back from the distance, "The next time I hear you question me, it won’t be just this stone table that shatters."
Watching Hua Jingcheng’s phantom-like figure disappear in a few flickers, a look of deep fear flashed in Wei Zonglong’s eyes.
’An expert of this caliber is like a Ghost God. Even if I surrounded myself with an inescapable dragnet, I couldn’t stop him.’
’Is a single expert sent by the Neon Nation truly this terrifying?’
’Thank goodness I made the right choice back then.’
’With his help, Yan Shuntao is nothing to worry about.’
