Qin Jingzhou could personally slap Lu Zhentong to death. Doing so before Lu Zhentong could even get close, let alone offer up any “sword trafficking,” would be a clear case of bullying the weak—extremely bad form. The World Will had summoned him in hopes that he would resolve problems within the established rules, not act as he pleased without restraint.
After completing several assignments in a row—especially the most recent ones—Qin Jingzhou had received the World Will’s sincere blessing. He’d basically confirmed one thing: the blessing from the World Will on his person helped other World Wills trust him more, and also increased the likelihood he would receive special favor from the Spiritual Realm’s World Will when the time came for his ascension.
The Spiritual Realm’s World Will could be considered the big brother among the World Wills of several multiverses.
It wasn’t about obsequious flattery, but a little goodwill never hurt. So what if he was on the verge of ascending? He still had to eke out a living under their authority.
Back to the point, the most rule-abiding approach was to nurture Fate’s Sons, letting them battle head-on in fair combat... That’s right. As injuries healed and psychological knots untied, as he began Qi gathering and started learning how to handle medicinal herbs from his own father, Lu Jiuxiao’s fortune not only recovered but actually grew considerably.
Though he had not yet reached the same level as Lu Zhentong, who had swallowed most of Gu Su’s fortune, he was now even more of a threat than before.
In Qin Jingzhou’s eyes, the Demon Lord must have realized something was off and made a special trip to investigate, to see what lay beneath the surface here.
Qin Jingzhou couldn’t lay a hand on Lu Zhentong, but he could certainly teach the Demon Lord a lesson.
The Demon Lord, after spinning in place two and a half times, suddenly returned to full awareness. Far from flying into a rage at being slapped, he instantly... understood why he had just acted so idiotically!
Names flashed through his mind: Lu Zhentong, Xiang Feng, Xiang Feng’s relative at the Gu martial association, Old Master Lu, Gu Su, and—right in front of him—Lu Jiuxiao, watching with a hint of amusement. The Demon Lord cupped his fists at Qin Jingzhou. “I was out of line! I’ll apologize to you properly later!” That said, he turned and left at once.
Lu Jiuxiao, who had been eagerly watching in hopes of seeing the Demon Lord get hit again, watched him flee and was rather disappointed. “He’s not even going to fight back?”
Qin Er was mashing medicine. She frowned at this. “He spun in place two and a half times already. How’s he supposed to fight back? Should they each take turns spinning two and a half times?”
Assistant Li blinked but said nothing.
Xu Chen let out a soft laugh, then plucked up his courage to ask, “Boss, the Demon Lord didn’t seem quite right just now, did he? Isn’t the magic path always all about instinct? He knew full well he couldn’t win against you... So why did he have the guts to pick a fight?”
Qin Jingzhou smiled too. “You don’t have to copy your buddy’s way of talking. It doesn’t suit you.” Then, answering their question, he said, “Gu Su’s golden finger can indeed affect their emotions to a certain degree. But nothing comes without a price.”
Xu Chen caught on immediately. “Intelligence goes down!”
Lu Jiuxiao, who had long suspected what Gu Su had done to him, spoke even more bluntly, “And the longer the contact, the dumber you get!” The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. “Damn it! Lu Zhentong and Xiang Feng and I must have been hit by Gu Su’s tricks one after the other... So why did Lu Zhentong stay clear-headed so much longer than me?”
Qin Er, hands now free, patted Lu Jiuxiao’s upper arm. “Hey, at least Xiang Feng’s got it worse than you.”
Lu Jiuxiao gave her a withering look. “Thanks for reminding me at just the right moment.”
Despite their banter, the atmosphere among Lu Jiuxiao, Qin Er, and Xu Chen was quite relaxed—only Assistant Li seemed worried.
Qin Jingzhou kindly reminded him, “Now that the Demon Lord has personally experienced the downside of the golden finger, he’ll speed up his movements. Has the association reached a consensus? I heard from a patient that some of the older members of the association are extremely discontented, all because Lin Baiming stood up for my son and openly challenged the Lu Corporation.”
Assistant Li went silent for a while, his face reddening as he finally decided to answer honestly, “No...”
Lu Jiuxiao turned to look at him. “So what’s wrong with changing out the old blood?”
Assistant Li fell silent again.
Qin Er spoke too. “If it weren’t just that you’re worried and muddled, and your position isn’t fundamentally problematic, Uncle Cheng would have crippled your internal force and kicked you back home long ago.”
Xu Chen added, “The association has been rationing Yunling Grass for years. They should be ready for the magic path to come charging in after gathering strength. As far as I know, Yunling Grass harvests have never been too steady, but everyone knows the old guys in the association line their own pockets, using excess Yunling Grass to prolong their lives—it’s no secret. The struggle between the magic path and the association isn’t about principles at all...” He paused and looked seriously at his boss—and Master—“We walk the medical path.”
Qin Jingzhou picked up his teacup, eyes crinkling as he smiled at the three young men, pride written clear across his face.
Assistant Li took some time to process all this, then abruptly raised a hand to rub his face. When he’d steadied himself, he stood and thanked Xu Chen, “Thank you for the lesson.”
This was also the last chance Qin Jingzhou gave him. If this kid still couldn’t figure things out, he really would fire him.
Meanwhile, the Demon Lord rushed back to his lair. Once he’d composed himself, he fished that tiny earring out of his pocket. “I underestimated you. If you don’t bind to me, I’ll lose intelligence as soon as I wield the Huiwu. And when you were bound to Gu Su, she didn’t exactly stay sharp either... Should I thank you for forcing my hand, so I could clearly see your true nature?”
The earring didn’t move, but it was certainly full of inner thoughts: the Demon Lord was already halfway through his natural lifespan and, compared to his realm, his fortune was utterly ordinary. What right did he have to compare to a Fate’s Son like Lu Zhentong?
From the beginning, it had only ever intended Lu Zhentong as its host. Unfortunately, Lu Zhentong had always been deeply wary of it—he’d even sold it off to the Demon Lord without hesitation! As a spirit tool that fed on negative human emotions, even if it did bind to Lu Zhentong, it would only nibble a bit of his fortune. Compared to Lu Zhentong’s direct devouring of most of Gu Su’s fortune, it was practically gentle.
Lost in thought, the earring’s mood was clearly perceptible to the Demon Lord.
He’d known from the start this earring was capable of communication. Yet after waiting patiently, it still refused to respond. He gave a cold laugh. “So you really look down on me? Fine, I’ll oblige you.”
The earring quivered in the Demon Lord’s palm.
The Demon Lord didn’t hesitate and altered his original plan: he would sacrifice both the Fate’s Son and the evil earring that loved the Fate’s Son so dearly.
Things passed peacefully for a while—or at the very least, Qin Jingzhou’s clinic was up and running smoothly, and the hit product, the “Convenient Waist Patch” that helped him earn money and build a reputation, had also launched to rave reviews and was in such demand that supply couldn’t keep up.
Even though his main business was the Extraordinaries’ clinic, most calls coming to Li Assistant were from people asking about a possible IPO... Though everyone knew he was no pushover, these capitalists still worked up the nerve to ask again and again. You had to admit, they were gutsy.
Just as Lu Jiuxiao achieved the Houtian Middle Stage and could walk on his own two feet, the Demon Lord seized the right moment to strike.
The cause: a ruined site of an ancient sect was dug up by a construction company owned by the Lu Corporation.
This sect was almost on par with half a Dan Sect—quite prestigious.
Moreover, many of the association’s legacies, especially most knowledge about Yunling Grass cultivation and medicine recipes, originally came from this very sect.
Once the ancient site was unearthed, even though from the photos and videos it seemed more like a villa or secondary palace than the main sect, all those old-timers in the association—on the verge of exhausting their natural lifespans—decided they would obtain it at any cost.
That plot of land belonged to the Lu Corporation.
At that time, the Lu Corporation was already in a panic because of the thousands of pages of documents submitted by Lin Baiming.
Frankly, Old Master Lu and the rest never expected things to get this bad. They hadn’t imagined Lin Baiming would dig so deep and lay bare the whole truth: the corporation had not only committed massive tax evasion, but had also repeatedly colluded with foreign forces to traffic various... contraband.
The first family member forced to come clean was the eldest son, who had always lived as a pampered young master. He crumbled at the police station and confessed everything the very next day. The Lu family was enormous, with many children and grandchildren, and honestly, there were a few who wouldn’t be missed if they “ate peanuts”.
Hearing all this, Old Master Lu slumped in despair, thinking just one thing: the Lu Corporation was about to change hands.
As his sons and daughters were taken away one by one, and even the resourceful Lu Liu was detained at the airport, Old Master Lu grew more and more anxious—he checked himself into the hospital himself.
It was at that critical moment that Lu Zhentong advised the old man from his sickbed: send people to dig up that old plot of land they’d been hoarding.
As soon as the construction company started operations, guided by a mysterious insider, they really did unearth the ancient site.
That very day, the Gu Martial Association sent people to take control. Their team was well-trained and came in with such force there was no room for argument.
The association’s most senior elder personally came to Old Master Lu’s bedside, praised Lu Zhentong for watching over him, then got down to business, “What do you want?”
After all, as a member of the association, they couldn’t just seize things by force out in the open.
Old Master Lu was decisive. “Let my family off.”
The other party was just as blunt. “That’s beyond my power.” Even if the association was an official organization, the Lu Corporation was too deeply enmeshed—he couldn’t just say one word and have the officials “show leniency.”
Old Master Lu’s eyes reddened as he pressed on, “Destroy Lin Baiming and Cheng Jingzhou.”
The reply was plain and direct, “That’s even harder than the last request.”
Lu Zhentong lowered his eyes and clutched the earring he just couldn’t throw away, thinking to himself: It’s you that’s making Grandpa dumber...
The earring sounded especially innocent. “But you keep getting stronger.”
Maybe so. Lu Zhentong still had a bad feeling about all of this, but didn’t want to tip off the Gu martial master at his side. Taking a deep breath, he gripped the old man’s hand tightly.
Old Master Lu suddenly understood. “At the very least I must be protected... Me and my great-grandson Zhentong, and don’t let Cheng Jingzhou and Lu Jiuxiao have it easy!”
The reply came swiftly. “I can promise the first part, for the latter I can only try.”
So, the ownership of that land and the underground ruins was decided right then and there.
The association elder left content.
Old Master Lu leaned back against the head of the bed and whispered to his great-grandson, “You really think we could... wipe them all out?”
Lu Zhentong nodded firmly.
Old Master Lu clenched his fist. “If I can’t have it easy, neither can they!”
Lu Zhentong smiled. “With my master here, they’re all nothing but fertilizer for our family.” To be exact, his fertilizer. No “our” about it.