Chapter 41: Schemes

Inside a villa spanning more than a thousand square meters, Zhang Yushu, the second director of the Buzhou Group, listened to the news Wei Bolai brought, amusement filling his eyes.

"So, has the right opportunity arrived?" Zhang Yushu asked.

"Yes. We checked. The Su family owns plenty of assets, but their liquid funds amount to only four to five hundred million. Any more, and they would have to draw from the group. But Su Chiming placed an order worth three hundred million in medicinal ingredients at White Jade Pavilion and contacted the Myriad Arts Merchant Guild to acquire their level 5A combat suit. In short, the Su family spent all their liquid funds in one breath," Wei Bolai said with a smile. "It is even possible they already used group funds. Their methods might simply be hidden too well for us to detect."

"Three hundred million in medicinal ingredients. He really is willing to spend. And they are all fierce, potent medicines for strengthening the organs. Plus the Myriad Arts Merchant Guild's level 5A combat suit... I can already guess his intention," Zhang Yushu said.

"He wants to take a gamble and force out a grandmaster," Wei Bolai said firmly. "If Leng Jun can be pushed into the realm of organ-strengthening using those potent medicines, he may suffer an injury, but as long as he breaks through, the Su family gains a grandmaster. With the performance of a level 5A combat suit on top of that, who would dare target them with underhanded methods? For the next ten years or more, the Su family will sleep soundly."

Zhang Yushu nodded. If Su Chiming succeeded, he could indeed carve out a decade of stability amidst their disadvantage. With ten years of stable development, who knew what changes the Buzhou Group might produce?

"That old man truly has resolve," Zhang Yushu said with a soft laugh.

"He has no other choice. Too many organizations want their share of the Buzhou Group's profits. But in the shareholders' eyes, that all becomes Su Chiming's mismanagement. With a little guidance from us, it will easily become a problem that the whole board will focus on. With Su Huaifeng's reputation as a playboy also affecting Su Chixin and Su Huaigu, we'll manage to make it look like the Su family is at fault. They are almost guaranteed to lose Su Huaifeng's board seat," Wei Bolai said with a pleased expression. "And once that seat is gone, the Su family will only have three left. The next chairman of the board has pretty much already been decided."

Zhang Yushu nodded again. The Su family truly had been forced into a corner where they could only gamble desperately.

"Breaking into the grandmaster tier cannot be achieved just by taking strong medicine," another middle-aged man said.

This man was Qi Qingsong, a top-tier martial master whose path in the martial world had long reached its limit. Unless he advanced to the realm of organ strengthening, the mastery stage of tendon-and-bone tempering would remain his peak. But internal refinement was perilous. He had attempted it several times and ended up bedridden for months each time, nearly dying once. That experience eroded his courage, and he shifted toward pursuing status and influence instead.

Zhang Yushu, who counted as half a member of the Martial Dao circle, sought to befriend him, and Qi Qingsong readily accepted. Within two years, he gained both reputation and profit, earning the title of one of the Ten Tigers of Tiannan and earning over a hundred million annually. With wealth came the desire for greater social influence.

At that time, Zhang Yushu and several others planned to unite and scheme against the Su family's Buzhou Group. To prevent the Su family from taking extreme measures, they needed strong martial support. Both sides found their interests aligned and entered a deeper cooperation. Having faced the dangers of the grandmaster-tier breakthrough, Qi Qingsong's words carried great weight.

"I understand that much. The internal organs are something where even the slightest mistake leads to death. When martial masters attempt the breakthrough, they either rely on exceptional talent and sensitivity to every subtle change in their body or rely on top-tier ingredients and immense spending to increase their space for mistakes..." Zhang Yushu said.

He had once cultivated martial arts. Although he could not endure tendon-and-bone tempering and only obtained his level 4 martial master certification after treating Martial Dao Association officials to several meals, he still understood Martial Dao cultivation deeply.

"The Su family has accumulated plenty of wealth, and they have several martial masters. If they go all out and actually produce a grandmaster, it introduces new complications," Qi Qingsong said.

"So Director Zhang intends to intercept the medicinal ingredients?" he asked.

"Intercept? If we intercept them, wouldn't we waste this opportunity?" Zhang Yushu said, his tone layered with meaning. "A man who reaches desperation tends to stake everything. The more difficult his situation, the stronger his urge to gamble."

He leaned back on the sofa and crossed his legs. "Not only should we help him complete the purchase of these medicinal ingredients, but we should also find a way to make White Jade Pavilion provide him with a bottle of Snow Ginseng Pill."

"Snow Ginseng Pill!?" Qi Qingsong's expression tightened. That pill was the Zhao family's signature creation in the royal capital, and it was extremely effective for internal refinement. Even grandmasters found it beneficial. Whenever a bottle appeared, it was immediately seized. For martial masters, it had no drawback except its cost.

"Director Zhang, you have the connections?" Qi Qingsong asked.

"No need for connections. We only need to leak the news and draw the Su family in," Zhang Yushu said. "A single Snow Ginseng Pill sells for around one billion. Since the Su family already decided to gamble, the moment White Jade Pavilion releases word that one bottle is available, they will seize the chance. At that time, we can require them to pay several hundred million as a deposit."

He said with complete confidence, "Buying these medicinal ingredients and the combat suit has already drained their liquid funds. If we do not give them time to sell assets to raise money, they will have no choice but to draw several hundred million from the group. Once that money is gone, we only need to monitor carefully. As soon as we find a problem, we'll launch joint investigations from all departments. Su Chiming will lose the chairmanship, and if everything goes well, he might spend the rest of his life in prison."

"White Jade Pavilion must fully cooperate. This concerns their century-old reputation..." Wei Bolai said.

"I have my own way of convincing them," Zhang Yushu said with a faint smile.

"Then it's settled," Wei Bolai said.

"Not enough! We must continue applying pressure and force him to become a true gambler, betting everything on Leng Jun's slim chance of becoming a grandmaster. Then we stir up further trouble. Su Huaifeng is already incapable of fulfilling his duties. If we convene the board meeting early, a useless man like him will likely be removed," Zhang Yushu said.

"I will contact Director Yan and Director Liu. The Buzhou Group has suffered under the Su family long enough," Wei Bolai said with a nod.

***

At Deyue Tower, over the course of the meal, Yaoguang could be said to have met several relatives.

But meeting them was as far as it went.

Although Su Yaoxue, Su Yaoshuang, and Su Yaoqin showed some curiosity toward him, he simply did not have much time to chat with them. After a polite meal, he followed Lei Yun straight to Yuyuan Estate.

Yuyuan Estate's Villa No.49 was not in a prime position, but it was undeniably spacious. When he chose this villa, all the daily necessities had already been arranged under Lin Xia's instructions. He could move in immediately.

Once they arrived, Yaoguang gave a direct order. "Collect voice samples of all high-ranking personnel in Tiannan Province."

"Yes," Lei Yun replied without asking a single unnecessary question.

After briefly inspecting the villa, Yaoguang nodded with satisfaction. He could have lived in a small rented apartment, but had he not trained so hard just to live better? Since he now had the ability to keep himself comfortable, why squeeze himself into an old, cramped place?

After touring the villa, he entered the entertainment room and turned on the computer that had already been set up. At the same time, he replayed in his mind the voice he had heard in You Long's office, as well as the one stored in the bead's memory.

Both voices belonged to the same person. In other words, the mastermind behind Yulong International and the daemon who came to kill him were both from the same organization. That alone made them far more dangerous than the daemons he had slain previously.

"Even if it is only a voice... It is enough!" With voice comparison, he could quickly narrow down a list of suitable targets. Then, using his Perception secret technique to sense them one by one, he would soon be able to drag the mastermind out of the shadows.