Under One Person: The End of Technique, Company Building

The van drove smoothly on the Beijing-Tianjin Expressway, and the scenery outside the window gradually transitioned from rural fields to urban buildings.

The atmosphere inside the car was somewhat awkward.

Ma Hong sat in the passenger seat, his burly body filling the seat completely, occasionally stealing a glance at the back row through the rearview mirror.

Jiang Bai and Meng Xiaoxiao sat in the middle row, their gazes somewhat unfocused, clearly not yet fully recovered from the crushing battle they had just fought.

In the back seat, Zhuge Qi sat by the car window, his eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses slightly narrowed, as if he were resting.

Liu Yanyan sat beside him, the young girl with her hands handcuffed, her head down, not uttering a sound.

In the last row were Shen Chong, Xia He, and Lü Liang, whose Qi had been sealed by the Qi-sealing needles. They were all obediently huddled in their seats, showing no intention of resisting.

The car was quiet for a while, with only the low rumble of the engine and the rustling of the tires on the road.

Zhuge Qi suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at Liu Yanyan beside him.

The girl looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. She had long, dyed brown hair and heavy makeup. She was still wearing the old man's clothes she was using as a disguise, and she looked both disheveled and stubborn.

Her lips were pressed tightly together, and her chin was slightly raised, giving her an expression that said, "I admit defeat, but I won't back down."

Zhuge Qi smiled as he looked at it.

He was all too familiar with that expression.

Just like when Hakimi was breathing heavily, he was clearly terrified inside, but on the surface he had to pretend to be fearless.

"Liu Yanyan." Zhuge Qi spoke, his voice not loud, carrying the casualness of an elder addressing a junior.

Liu Yanyan stiffened slightly, but without looking up, she replied in a muffled voice, "What?"

Ma Hong turned around from the front row and glared at her: "How dare you talk to the section chief like that?"

Zhuge Qi waved his hand, indicating that everything was alright.

"The Liu family of Xiangxi. Old Master Liu was quite a figure in the world of supernatural beings back then. Although he doesn't travel much in the martial arts world now, the Liu family's reputation still stands."

Zhuge Qi spoke casually, his tone unhurried, "Your Liu family's corpse-driving and bone-shrinking transformation techniques are unique in the world of supernatural beings."

Liu Yanyan finally raised her head, her eyes filled with wariness: "Why are you mentioning the Liu family? I'm no longer with the Liu family."

Zhuge Qi smiled but did not answer directly.

"There aren't many families in the Xiangxi area that have connections with the company, and the Liu family is one of them. Your grandfather's contact information is stored in the company's archives."

Zhuge Qi pushed up his glasses. "You think you can just leave the Liu family because you're no longer here? Do you think it's so easy to sever ties with a family of extraordinary individuals?"

Liu Yanyan bit her lip and didn't say anything.

She was actually a little flustered.

When she ran away from home, she was determined to never have any contact with her family again.

She hated that old-fashioned and conservative home, hated all the formalities, hated the tedious techniques she had been forced to practice since childhood, yet she couldn't show them off in front of others.

She wanted freedom, wanted to do what she wanted, and wanted to become that cool, unapproachable person.

So she found Quanxing.

According to the legends she had heard, the Quanxing were unruly, did whatever they pleased, and did whatever they wanted.

Isn't this exactly what she wanted?

The results of it?

The contact said she had to complete a task before she could officially join, which was to dig up that old man's grave. Although she felt a little disgusted, she did as she was told.

After all, when you're in the underworld, you have to give some kind of pledge of loyalty.

But now that the mission is complete, before I could even officially join, I was caught by this guy with glasses.

This is absolutely terrible luck.

"Don't you feel wronged?" Zhuge Qi asked suddenly, as if he could read her mind.

Liu Yanyan was taken aback, and subconsciously retorted, "I don't feel wronged at all!"

"So you think you're unlucky and died before you even got started?" Zhuge Qi's smile deepened.

Liu Yanyan opened her mouth, but realized that she did indeed think that way. She was speechless for a moment, so she simply turned her head away and remained silent.

Zhuge Qi shook his head, his tone becoming more serious: "Do you know what the Quanxing is?"

Liu Yanyan muttered, "Isn't it just a sect in the world of supernatural beings? I heard that the people there are quite powerful, they don't follow those stupid rules, and they can do whatever they want."

"Sect?" Zhuge Qi repeated the word, then laughed out loud. "Who told you that Quanxing is a sect?"

Liu Yanyan frowned: "Isn't that right?"

"Quanxing is not a sect; it is an organization, or rather, a hodgepodge of madmen."

Zhuge Qi spoke calmly, but every word was firm and resounding. "This organization has a long history, dating back to the Yang Zhu school of thought during the Hundred Schools of Thought period. You should have heard of the idea that 'you would not pluck a single hair to benefit the world.'"

Liu Yanyan blinked. She had indeed heard this phrase somewhere before, but she had long forgotten what it meant.

"Later, this concept was inherited by some people in the world of supernatural beings, and it evolved into the Quanxing organization we know today," Zhuge Qi continued. "Their creed is very simple—preserve authenticity and do not be bound by material possessions. In layman's terms, it means do whatever you want without any constraints."

"Isn't that freedom?" Liu Yanyan couldn't help but say.

Zhuge Qi glanced at her, his eyes filled with the knowing look of someone who had been through it all.

"Freedom?" He laughed. "Then let me ask you, what do you want to do after joining the Quanxing?"

Liu Yanyan thought for a moment: "I want to... become powerful, so that no one dares to mess with me, and I can go wherever I want without having to listen to anyone."

"So you think Quanxing will help you achieve this goal?"

"Isn't that right? The Quanxing Sect is so powerful, wouldn't joining give you a powerful backer?"

Zhuge Qi didn't rush to refute, but slowly said, "Let me ask you a question. Do you know those three people who were with you today, Shen Chong, Xia He, and Lü Liang?"

Liu Yanyan nodded: "Yes, I know them. They're the ones who were there to meet me."

"Do you know their identity within the All-Sex Society?"

Liu Yanyan was taken aback for a moment: "...I'm not quite sure, I only know that they seem to be quite powerful."

"Shen Chong, nicknamed 'The Root of Calamity,' is one of the 'Four Madmen' of Quanxing. Xia He is also one of the 'Four Madmen.' As for Lü Liang, he is a traitor to the Lü family, one of the four families."

Zhuge Qi spoke these words in a calm tone, but Liu Yanyan's face had already turned somewhat pale.

"Why...why are you saying all this?"

"What I want to say is that Quanxing is not a reliable support; it's a quagmire."

Those so-called powerful figures you see are just people who've been soaking in this quagmire for a long time and are covered in mud.

Zhuge Qi turned his head, looking directly into Liu Yanyan's eyes. "You think joining All-Star will make you powerful, but have you considered what you'll offer in exchange for that power?"