A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 84 Reaching the Highest Heaven

Inside the Tao Zhu Mansion, Gu Daoyuan, Hu Buxi, and the others left with ashen faces after meeting Fan Buchou.

They were each surrounded by a team of people who were closely guarding them. However, these people were not all their own. Most of them were assigned by Fan Buchou. The meaning was clear: they were to rest at home for a while.

Fan Buchou did not directly strip them of too many industries, but he removed some of the core businesses from their numerous channels.

The remaining businesses still appear to be large in scale, but in reality, anyone who controls the core operations can easily disrupt their financial chains and have their modified warriors and gunmen reassigned to various locations.

The tall buildings are majestic, and their glass curtain walls are cleaned regularly every week, keeping them spotless and translucent.

Fan Buchou sat in his office chair and said quietly, "This matter is now settled. You will be in charge of handling Yun Youbai's funeral arrangements. It doesn't need to be too grand, but don't lose face either."

Liu Jingtang stood opposite the desk, quite a distance from Fan Buchou, and nodded expressionlessly.

Fan Buchou continued, "I heard that the outcome was decided so quickly this time because of a young man named Guan Luoyang, whom Minzhi recently recruited. You met him once and heard you even exchanged a move. What was your impression of him?"

"My encounter with him was brief and didn't really count as a fight. In fact, by the time I got there, it was already too late."

Liu Jingtang's expression shifted slightly as he asked, "As for my impression of him... what is his background?"

Liu Jingtang has lived a secluded life for years. Apart from people like Fan Buchou who come to visit him, he rarely takes the initiative to care about outside affairs. Guan Luoyang's fame has only risen in the last month or two, and it hasn't really reached his ears yet.

Fan Buchou, however, seemed to have anticipated this, and said, "His background will greatly influence your assessment?"

Liu Jingtang's expression remained unchanged as he calmly stated, "If he joined Minzhi's forces alone, then I want your permission to have Minzhi set a trap, dispatch men to me, and assassinate him immediately."

Fan Buchou asked curiously, "Why? Just because he killed Youbai? You should know that this was Minzhi's idea, and tracing back to the source, it can be said to be my instruction."

Liu Jingtang shook his head: "That's not entirely the reason. It's just that he's too sharp, while Minzhi, although he's well-read, is still immature and can't control him."

Fan Buchou nodded, picked up a folder and tossed it lightly to Liu Jingtang, saying, "He can't be considered a lone wolf who has joined us. This young man is also ambitious and greedy. He first rose through the ranks among those low-level gangs, then used ruthless methods to conquer all sides, and even eliminated Yan Du's men, before he came into Minzhi's sights."

Liu Jingtang flipped through the documents, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"Heh, no one can predict where Gu Jue's blade will strike, but once he has ambition, power, and subordinates, his weaknesses will only increase. This person is not as dangerous as you think."

Fan Buchou, confident of his success, joked, "Besides, although I've relinquished power, I'm not dead. Even if Minzhi is incompetent, how many years do you think I can keep him in check?"

Liu Jingtang closed the document and said, "Judging from his style and purpose based on this information, the Tao Zhu Group can indeed suppress him and even control him. But I still think you'd better include the plan to kill him in your records and make thorough preparations."

Fan Buchou's smile faded slightly: "What do you mean?"

"You still haven't found out his exact background, but one thing is clear: he's young enough."

A hint of reminiscence flickered in Liu Jingtang's eyes. His slightly bluish eyebrows weren't much older than Fan Minzhi's. "He can already take down Yun Lao Er, so his talent goes without saying. Then who can accurately predict the rate of a genius's progress?"

"Back then, the old lady hope Tan of the Black Spire Society also thought she could control Yan Du, but when Yan Du was twenty-seven years old, she killed her and successfully took over. A lesson from the past should guide future generations."

Fan Buchou looked thoughtful, nodded slightly, and said, "That makes sense. I'll consider it carefully. Well, you can go ahead and get back to work."

Liu Jingtang placed the documents on the table and left. His low-heeled black leather boots made only a light, almost imperceptible sound as they stepped onto the office floor, leaving no trace of dirt.

Fan Buchou looked at the floorboards he had stepped on, and with a side glance, he could see several rows of wet, muddy footprints next to them.

It had rained outside a while ago, and Fan Buchou was sitting here, listening to the sound of rain hitting the glass. When Gu Daoyuan and Hu Buxi came, they were still wet, and their feet were covered in mud from Bukit Po.

They didn't have a chance to change their clothes, but Liu Jingtang's clothes were already dry.

Click!

The office door closed behind him, and Liu Jingtang left.

Fan Buchou's eyes flickered, and he muttered to himself, "Are you saying that Tao Zhu's group can suppress Guan Yu in Luoyang, not that I am? Heh. If even a genius with outstanding martial prowess cannot be controlled, how could you be my son-in-law?"

If in this era where true spirit machines are gradually becoming high-end mainstream, and geniuses with outstanding martial arts skills are truly uncontrollable, then if Minzhi were to face that unforeseen situation in the future, who would he rely on to balance his brother-in-law?

Fan Buchou picked up the dedicated phone on his desk and gave some instructions to the secretary he had assigned to Fan Minzhi.

"Continue investigating his background, find out if he has any relatives or friends... then probe his preferences, power, reputation, women... control his contact with people specializing in bionic surgery, especially identify experts related to bionic machinery..."

"Also, have someone estimate the data of the world's most advanced bionic machines, and how much damage they would suffer after all the battles Guan Luoyang has fought since his debut..."

In just over twenty minutes, Fan Buchou gave nearly thirty instructions, including those concerning Guan Luoyang, as well as some messages about Fan Minzhi and Lang Feiyan, which he had his secretary relay.

After hanging up the phone, Fan Buchou interlaced his fingers and placed them on his abdomen, leaned back comfortably in his chair, and closed his eyes.

"At least, Guan Luoyang is more greedy than you..."

………………

The day after killing Yun Youbai, Guan Luoyang had just come out of the basement when he heard some bad news.

"President, the expert we contacted earlier was having too much fun the other day and injured his hand. He won't be able to perform high-intensity mechanical modification surgery for at least fifty days."

Guan Luoyang said unhappily, "Didn't you contact an entire hospital before? Is he the only one in the entire hospital who can perform this kind of surgery?"

Old An sighed helplessly: "For a mechanical modification surgery, there is only one chief surgeon, but there are twenty or thirty assistants. These people are not ordinary talents. It is remarkable for a hospital to have such a team. Otherwise, how could they be so valuable?"

He added, "The other companies in Singapore and Malaysia, even with our current scale, could actually have a say, but they are all fully booked, and the earliest we can wait is two months."

Guan Luoyang keenly sensed that something was amiss, but if this was indeed someone deliberately targeting him, what would be the next move?

Are we suggesting we send him a batch of modified martial artists to infiltrate the Divine Land Brotherhood Society?

Because of this slight doubt, Guan Luoyang was not at all surprised when he received a call from Lang Feiyan a few hours later.

"...Haha, Director Lang's information network is really good. It's true."

"Don't get me wrong, I didn't mix any sand with your stuff. We're both people who want to do legitimate business."

Lang Feiyan laughed and said, "However, I also have investments in some clinics and hospitals in private. Dr. Song's fall has had some impact on my income. I looked him up and found your appointment."

Guan Luoyang made a nasal sound, seemingly realizing something: "Director Lang has a lot of connections in this area?"

"I'd say so. What, are you in such a hurry to reform your subordinates?"

From Lang Feiyan's side came the sound of papers turning. After a moment, she said, "It's not impossible. I can help you arrange one next month, but the number of people might be limited. How about five to start?"

Guan Luoyang laughed and said, "Five would be fine too. The main problem is that I'm currently short of funds. Having five would at least fill the gaps."

Lang Feiyan laughed and said, "Alright, Minzhi sent someone to talk to you about some of Yun Lao Er's business. I'll add this item to their list, and then someone under your command can discuss it with them in detail later."

After thanking him, Guan Luoyang hung up the phone, a cold smile on his face.

In the days that followed, the Shenzhou Brotherhood Society was once again busy with business and manpower. After gaining enough fame, people came to them for job opportunities in droves.

Many talented and experienced young and middle-aged elites have switched jobs here directly from their original industries.

They occupy a large market, but their original staff is simply not enough to handle the workload. Many job seekers aim for management positions.

With Lao An's talent, he's more than capable of handling his own accounting work, but he's definitely not an expert in other areas, and he can't even make an accurate assessment of their abilities.

Guan Luoyang stepped in and directly borrowed a group of interviewers from Tao Zhu Group from Fan Minzhi and his team.

Guan Luoyang didn't care how many of these people were genuinely seeking employment or how many were acting as informants under orders from others. What he cared about was whether their backgrounds were clean.

In Singapore and Malaysia, dealing with gangs is a common occurrence, and this cannot be used as a standard for recruitment.

The so-called "cleanliness" means lowering the bar to a very low level, requiring only that they themselves have not committed any crimes punishable by heavy penalties.

This investigation was naturally carried out by a group of people whom Guan Luoyang trusted most. However, the purpose of such a large-scale investigation into the backgrounds of a large number of people was to cover up some smaller actions.

In those dark corners, records of things that were already old news, things that people had become accustomed to and ignored, things that had been dealt with and no longer cared about, were compiled into Guan Luoyang's hands.

The basement was freezing cold, with temperatures at zero degrees Celsius.

On the low bed, Guan Luoyang flipped through the printed documents, old newspapers, and discarded files one by one.

The shocking and bloody incidents, one after another, are displayed on the printed paper, and there are even handwritten filler words with ballpoint pens.

There is a young woman's first-person account in it.

That happened five or six years ago. Her father published a report about the sale of human organs, wanting to seek justice for those who died from ignorance or were forced to have their organs removed. As a result, he was targeted by gang members.

The thorns woven from steel wire bound her father's body. A child, barely ten years old, took a knife and, on the dirty concrete bank, cut open her father's stomach, letting the hot blood flow into the sea, and then drove her father to run towards their home.

The gang leader viewed this as a random choice to train his son.

All of this was filmed on videotape and sent to her home. Just by reading the text, one can imagine her heartbroken grief and furious hatred at the time.

Such a cruel tragedy would be enough to make her take any action.

But several years have passed, and what her family has left behind is probably just this large part of the notebook that ended up in Guan Luoyang's hands.

Guan Luoyang spent a long time reading this short, mostly-half-page note before continuing to flip through it.

He had long suspected that almost everyone in the upper echelons of the Tao Zhu Group deserved to die, but he was, after all, just an ordinary man.

The murderous intent arising from speculation and inference is ultimately quite different from the anger that burns from the very marrow of one's bones after seeing concrete records.

The killer's identity is actually quite easy to guess.

With all the clues in hand, each one can directly point to a high-ranking figure in the Tao Zhu Group: Fan Buchou, Fan Minzhi, Yun Youbai, Gu Daoyuan... and even those in lower positions. This single document can cover hundreds of people.

The Shenzhou Brotherhood Society is already quite large, but it's not exactly huge either. What Guan Luoyang was able to find out is definitely not all of their actions; saying it's only one-tenth is an exaggeration.

This southwestern community, home to nearly a million people, appears to be lush with greenery, with unobstructed roads, high walls, and orderly cars.

But after Guan Luoyang finished reading the document in his hand, it was as if he had glimpsed a magnificent and enormous nest from a deep and dark cave.

He vaguely felt that perhaps outside this basement, instead of the steel jungle and the bustling city, lay a distorted iron cage in the shadows, and bloodstains pressed into the ground.

Powerless to change the situation, people can only cling to their last glimmer of hope for survival and struggle through the darkness.

And above them, layer upon layer, gold was squeezed out of the blood and filth, and gems were pulled out of the bones, layer upon layer adorning the magnificent enjoyment of the higher places.

On the high platform, where only half a mask was worn, the demons raised their splendidly decorated goblets, awaiting the next celebration.

In a city of people, the devil dwells high above.

Such decay and terror were no less than that of a corner of the late Qing Dynasty.

In fact, Guan Luoyang now knows even more.

With his mouth closed, his teeth, capable of cutting through steel, snapped together, producing a sound like blades clashing with the slightest movement, not even a millimeter.

He gradually closed his eyes, concealing his gaze and suppressing his anger.

Some things shouldn't be vented in this basement, in this cold, innocent air.

The burning rage was restrained, gathered, and awaited by Guan Luoyang.

The power of intention, like a ferocious beast eager to break free of its cage, stimulates the body and clashes with vital energy.

The hesitation and difficulty in choosing between "leveraging all forces" stemmed from Guan Luoyang's inability to figure out what kind of force he truly desired to experience most deeply.

However, this feeling of resentment prevented him from thinking things through slowly. He crushed his hesitation and his Azure Bird energy was violently impacted and surged.

Thus, the residue from deeper layers was extracted through calcination.

Within the primordial energy, a fragmented and sharp halo of light emerged, freely traversing layers of flesh and blood, and ascending into the brain.

The fragments of the Azure Bird's True Form, worn down over a thousand years, are so damaged that they can no longer be used to complete a full cultivation process.

But these remnants have now become the best raw materials, unconsciously forged by Guan Luoyang's persistent cultivation into the most suitable form for him.

That was the new framework of the cultivation method, and it also concerned Luoyang's determination, his decision at this moment, and his momentum.

—If demons and evil spirits dwell high in the sky, then I will rise from the most ordinary and vast expanse of dust…

"Go! To the ends of the earth!!!"

(End of this chapter)