The three-person elite supervision team ostensibly held oversight authority over the Special Affairs Committee, but what was the reality of it? What good was supervising the Committee? Could one truly supervise those defiant Boundary Masters? The power Gu Xiachen possessed sounded alluring, but in practice, it amounted to zero! This meager authority had absolutely no impact on Federal affairs!

He stared fixedly at Jean Joan, who smiled back at Gu Xiachen.

"Very well, has this proposal passed?" Gu Xiachen suddenly sneered.

"The Federal Executive Presidium has fully approved this proposal. You are now the head of the Special Affairs Committee Supervision Group. You can comprehensively guide and oversee the work of the Committee," Jean Joan beamed smugly. "This is an appointment I fought hard to secure for you. The Special Affairs Committee is one of the most vital departments in the Federation. Every Boundary Master holds extreme significance for Federal strategy. Councilman Gu Xiachen, this is the Federation's trust in you. Your capability is certainly enough to shoulder this burden!"

Biting his teeth hard, Gu Xiachen grinned fiercely. "Alright, I agree to become the head of the Special Affairs Committee Supervision Group. Thank you for the effort you expended on this!"

Slap! The communicator snapped shut. Gu Xiachen kicked open the helicopter's hatch and roared his curses at the clouds overhead: "Jean Joan! May all your sons and grandsons have three anuses! May God bless you, and may you remain impotent your entire life!"

Bore-nyan closed his palms together in reverence. Siren and Mohe Si simply gave a thumbs-up. Probably only Gu Xiachen dared to curse the Federal Chairman like this.

While he was still muttering curses toward the floating clouds, the pilot's voice sounded from the cabin: "Sir, we are approaching the Gu Group Headquarters, the Gu Tower. They've sent a signal requesting we land on the rooftop helipad."

"Understood!" Gu Xiachen replied. Retreating into the cabin, he scrutinized his clothing and features in a mirror inside. Gu Xiachen adjusted the muscles on his face, finally settling on a look of warm amiability, a smile as refreshing as a spring breeze.

The lid of a coffin tucked away in the innermost corner of the cabin was suddenly pushed open. Penghua, clad in a vast black cloak, crawled out lazily. He stretched, yawning toward the heavens, and murmured weakly, "Ugh, it seems I just can't get used to this Western bat routine. Why are their coffins so narrow? They're terribly uncomfortable to sleep in."

Six heavy-duty helicopters, guided by the signal from the Gu Tower, settled smoothly onto the helipad atop the structure.

Gu Xiachen stepped out of the cabin first, closely followed by Siren, Aredia, Penghua, Bore-nyan, and Mohe. From the remaining five helicopters emerged only elite soldiers from the Hardtail Corporation: ten True Innate Fighters and ninety Pseudo Innate Fighters. Everyone was dressed in impeccably uniform black suits, wearing specialized dark glasses integrated with various detection and scanning functions, their armpits and waistlines bulging with full armament.

At the edge of the building's landing zone, Gu Juechen stood silently—his long, flowing hair the color of ash and white, wearing a black robe, enveloped in an aura of killing intent, majestic as a demon god. Behind him, arrayed according to seniority, stood his sons, Bizi, Zhongsha, and other direct descendants, every one holding some position within the Gu Group.

Gu Xiachen approached Gu Juechen with that spring-breeze smile, spreading his arms wide from a distance.

"Hahahaha, Mr. Gu Juechen, it’s wonderful to see you!" Gu Xiachen laughed loudly, as if greeting a long-lost best friend.

"I have absolutely no desire to see you! Why couldn't you just die quietly?" Gu Juechen roared, his voice like thunder from dozens of meters away. "Why couldn't you just perish cleanly? Quietly? Why must you always pop up to make trouble for me?"

"Trouble you?" Gu Xiachen widened his eyes in mock surprise. He lowered his hands and smiled strangely. "We are brothers, after all. We must be loving and caring, mutually supportive, weathering storms together, relying on each other, with a bond stronger than gold and deeper than the sea! How can you speak of causing trouble?"

Striding toward Gu Juechen, two Gu family warriors stepped out from behind him, blocking Gu Xiachen and shouting sternly, "Halt!"

Gu Xiachen slammed his shoulders hard into their chests. With a dull thud, his internal energy erupted like lightning. The clothes on the two men's chests disintegrated into dust, and they spat blood as they flew backward.

Without sparing a glance at the two family fighters writhing on the ground like discarded refuse, Gu Xiachen extended his right hand toward Gu Juechen.

"What do you say? Forgetting old grudges with a smile upon meeting—you know that's impossible. But, I am one of the major shareholders of the Gu Group now; I own eighteen point seven percent of the shares. A handshake should still be in order, shouldn't it?"

His five fingers curved like hooks, his flesh and bone rendered eerily semi-transparent, chilling frost shooting out from his fingertips, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet instantly.

Gu Juechen glared coldly at Gu Xiachen, then slowly extended his own hand, grasping Gu Xiachen's firmly. His hand was rough and hard, like sun-dried wild boar hide, his palm blazing hot as fire. A sphere of reddish light pulsed ceaselessly in his palm, within which several wisps of dark energy could vaguely be seen swirling.

The chill met the heat in a fierce collision. The cold energy was sharp and rigid; the hot energy was savage and mighty. Where their fingers touched, continuous explosive sounds erupted. In the blink of an eye, countless fissures spread across the ground beneath their feet.

Gu Xiachen felt as if a monstrous pair of pincers had clamped down on his hand. His invincible Snow Soul Divine Force gradually melted and disintegrated under the tidal wave of heat surging toward him. The heat, powerful enough to melt metal, shattered the Snow Soul Divine Force condensed in his palm and was about to surge into his hand, flowing up his meridians into his body.

Gu Juechen's cultivation level was far beyond Gu Xiachen's estimation; he was firmly suppressing Gu Xiachen in terms of internal strength cultivation.

"Welcome, welcome! It is the honor of the Gu Group to have Mr. Gu Xiachen attend this shareholder meeting." Gu Juechen squeezed Gu Xiachen with chilling indifference. Suddenly, the pupils of his eyes burst into fierce flames, his eye sockets instantly transforming into a sea of crimson fire. The surrounding temperature shot up rapidly. The clansmen behind Gu Juechen instinctively retreated, and the hair and clothes of a few who reacted too slowly immediately caught fire.

The vortex of energy in the acupoint at his palm began to shrink rapidly as the scorching external divine force continuously destabilized the vortex.

Shooting Gu Juechen a fierce glare, Gu Xiachen reluctantly activated the Ruyi Gloves. His hand became slick like an eel, easily slipping free from Gu Juechen's tight grip.

Shaking his hand, which was stinging from the pressure, Gu Xiachen sneered, "A fine technique. I hadn't expected Mr. Gu Juechen's true strength to be so formidable!"

Gu Juechen returned the sneer. "Overpraising me, overpraising me. Trivial matters, hardly worth mentioning. Oh, right, allow me to introduce my Master to you."

"Your Master?" Gu Xiachen looked at Gu Juechen in surprise. How had he never known Gu Juechen had a Master?

The ground beneath their feet rippled like disturbed water... A tall figure enveloped in ash-white evil energy slowly emerged from beneath the earth.

This person towered a full head over Gu Xiachen. His broad skeletal frame was covered in a thin layer of grey skin, making him look almost no different from a pile of bones. A set of tattered grey Taoist robes fluttered around him. On the front of the robe was embroidered a faint green Taiji symbol, but the two 'eyes' of the Yin-Yang fish were the grinning heads of vicious ghosts. Penghua sucked in a sharp breath: "The Withered Bone Divine Lord! That old bastard!"

"Jie jie jie!" The Withered Bone Divine Lord cackled, two points of green spectral fire flashing in his sunken eye sockets. Penghua flew backward as if shot from a cannon.

"This venerable one holds thirty percent of the Gu Group shares. I, too, am a major shareholder in the Gu Group!"

The Withered Bone Divine Lord chuckled, raising his right palm—as large as a millstone, bony and scaled—and brought it down toward Gu Xiachen's head.

The palm wind roared, a ball of grey lightning swirling in the Withered Bone Divine Lord's palm. The light was moments away from striking Gu Xiachen’s skull.

Again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again...

Has student Gu Juechen found a backer quickly enough?

Money buys backers...