Liu Hui was startled. He stepped forward and wiped at Xiao Hei’s forehead, only to find the skull insignia could not be removed at all.

“No way? Could this Gu Yuezi be some key figure in the Maoshan Sect? Wasn’t he expelled? Why does he have something on him resembling the Papal Lineage Spirit Tablet? That thing can place a mark on any enemy one kills, allowing their people to seek revenge later.” Liu Hui muttered to himself. The skull mark was clearly a tracker, which immediately struck him as troublesome.

But in the next moment, Liu Hui relaxed. Even if the Maoshan Sect sought vengeance, they would never find Xiao Hei. Xiao Hei usually hid in the deep-sea trench, rarely showing itself, so those Maoshan disciples wouldn't find it unless they ventured into the ocean. He also secretly felt fortunate that Xiao Hei was the one who ultimately killed Gu Yuezi. If he had killed him, the mark would be on him. Though he didn't fear Maoshan seeking revenge, it would still be a massive hassle.

Liu Hui, holding the two halves of Gu Yuezi’s bisected corpse with both hands, returned to the site of the recent battle. He searched Gu Yuezi hopefully, but found nothing, leading to a moment of disappointment. Liu Hui had seen Gu Yuezi constantly pulling talismans from his robes during the fight and assumed he was stuffed with them, but there were only a few, and they were all used up. Even the talisman stuck to Gu Yuezi’s shoe had completely lost its luster, its energy depleted, leaving nothing but scrap paper.

The only thing Liu Hui obtained was the longbow Gu Yuezi had used to shoot the Armor-Piercing Arrows, but no matter how he examined it, the longbow appeared to be just an ordinary weapon. Without the Armor-Piercing Arrows, the longbow served no purpose.

Liu Hui was somewhat disappointed, but his eyes suddenly lit up as he thought of the coffin Gu Yuezi had been carrying on his back.

Liu Hui opened the lid of the coffin; the stench inside was still overpowering. He held his breath and carefully rummaged through the contents. Inside, he only discovered a small satchel and a piece of coarse linen used to wrap the Silver Armored Jiangshi. Other than those items, the coffin was empty.

Liu Hui opened the small satchel and found an ancient book and several bank cards. He picked up the ancient book; the title inscribed on it in Seal script read Maoshan Corpse Refining Art. Fortunately, Liu Hui had studied Seal script and could barely make out the characters. He opened the book and found that whatever material it was made from was incredibly tough, as if it had been preserved for a very long time.

The book meticulously detailed the methods for refining Jiangshi for combat, and it also classified the different types of Jiangshi. According to the text, the most formidable among the Jiangshi family was the Gold Armored Jiangshi, followed by the Silver Armored Jiangshi, and then sequentially the Bronze Armored, Iron Armored, Black Armored Jiangshi, and so forth.

Liu Hui glanced through it briefly before tucking the Maoshan Corpse Refining Art away. As for the bank cards, they were undoubtedly Gu Yuezi’s savings, but regrettably, there were no passwords or related information. Liu Hui wasn't lacking money now, so he tossed the bank cards back into the coffin, then placed Gu Yuezi’s corpse and the longbow inside as well.

Xiao Hei had smashed the Silver Armored Jiangshi to pieces against the reef. Its head was split open, all its bones were broken, and its internal organs were spilled out. The talisman attached to its body had shattered, signifying its true death. Fighting back nausea, Liu Hui placed the Silver Armored Jiangshi’s remains and the spilled organs into the large coffin, then closed the lid.

Xiao Hei dug a large pit in the ground, and Liu Hui lowered the large coffin into it. He then dragged over the branches that had been snapped by the struggle between Xiao Hei and the Silver Armored Jiangshi and piled them next to the coffin.

“Daoist Master Gu Yuezi, carrying a coffin around all day—you probably anticipated it being used to hold you after you were killed. But since you are dead now, the enmity between us is settled. I will now cremate you and your Silver Armored Jiangshi together, allowing you to rest in peace. If you have an afterlife, remember not to cross paths with me again.” Liu Hui spoke toward the large coffin, then launched a Fireball at it. The Fireball exploded, igniting the coffin and the surrounding branches, starting a fierce blaze. Fueled by the fire energy from the Blazing Fire Array, the fire burned exceptionally fast. Before long, the coffin and branches were entirely consumed, everything within turned to ash.

After the great fire subsided, Liu Hui inspected the scene, confirming that everything inside the coffin had turned to ash. Only then did he have Xiao Hei fill the pit with earth. He re-examined the site of the confrontation, tidied up any traces of the battle between the two sides, and ensured no clues were left behind before departing the combat zone. Xiao Hei also returned to the sea.

This battle location was extremely remote, and the hour was late. Despite the violent explosions and fighting sounds, no one noticed. After Liu Hui cleaned up the scene, only an expert would realize that a world-shaking battle had just taken place here, let alone any witnesses.

In a dim little room at the Jidong Maoshan Sect, two elders were meditating. Hanging before them were over a dozen jade tablets. Suddenly, one of the jade tablets exploded, and a plume of black energy rushed out, coiling ceaselessly in the air.

“This… this is Gu Yuezi’s tablet. Has he died? How is this possible?” One elder opened his eyes and immediately saw Gu Yuezi’s tablet had exploded, causing him great shock.

The other elder also opened his eyes. He examined it closely, sighed, and said, “This is indeed Gu Yuezi’s tablet. Gu Yuezi is dead. We should report this to the Sect Leader quickly; the Leader will naturally decide what to do.”

The first elder spoke with regret, “Gu Yuezi was a rare genius in our Maoshan Sect in a thousand years. Although he temporarily left the sect, as the Sect Leader’s only son, he was bound to return sooner or later to inherit our Maoshan lineage. His sudden, untimely death is a great pity.”

The other elder replied, “Gu Yuezi became entangled with his stepmother, and after the Sect Leader discovered it, he was cast out. However, the Sect Leader still cared for him greatly, later specifically asking us to deliver the Maoshan Sect’s only Silver Armored Jiangshi to him, along with the sect’s treasured possession—the Maoshan Armor-Piercing Arrow. Know that our Maoshan Sect possesses only three such divine arrows in total. Coupled with his protective talismans and some supreme-grade talismans, his power was immense; he should have been able to walk the world unhindered and certainly keep himself alive.”

The first elder nodded, “Gu Yuezi’s strength was formidable; he certainly should have been able to preserve his life. To name someone capable of killing him one-on-one, apart from the Yan family of Shuzhou, I truly cannot think of anyone else with that capability.”

The other elder said, “Precisely. Within Huaxia, only our Maoshan Sect and the Yan family of Shuzhou still hold cultivation legacies. Their Yan family’s Boundless Snow Sea is indeed a formidable opponent to our Maoshan Taoist arts. However, the Yan family and we have always kept to ourselves, minding our own business; they wouldn't attack a Maoshan disciple without reason. Other than them, no one in this world could kill Gu Yuezi.”

The first elder sighed, “It’s a pity that both our cultivation legacies and the Yan family’s have hit a snag; our cultivation can only hover around the initial stage, unable to progress further. It truly dishonors our ancestors. Otherwise, even if Gu Yuezi had been surrounded by the army, he could still have escaped safely and not been killed on the spot.”

The other elder shook his head, “Guessing wildly here achieves nothing. Let’s report to the Sect Leader immediately. With the Maoshan Sect’s Soul-Chasing Art, we can naturally track down the enemy’s whereabouts; even if the person is at the ends of the earth, they cannot escape our pursuit. I worry now how the Sect Leader, being old, will bear the blow of losing his son.”

The first elder nodded, and the two left the room to report to the Sect Leader.

Liu Hui fabricated a simple excuse for the security personnel protecting him and returned home. At home, he studied the book, Maoshan Corpse Refining Art. The text imposed no restrictions on practicing the manual; one only needed to be able to resonate and communicate with a corpse. Liu Hui couldn't find a suitable corpse right now, and besides, the decaying body was sickening, making communication out of the question. Thus, he gave up the idea of practicing the Maoshan Corpse Refining Art. Although the resulting Jiangshi would be incredibly powerful, the thought that refining one took thousands of years made Liu Hui decisively abandon the pursuit.

Although Liu Hui won the recent fight against Gu Yuezi, the process had been extremely perilous. Had he not possessed more hidden trump cards, he might have capsized in the ditch tonight and been finished off by Gu Yuezi. Recalling it now made Liu Hui break out in a cold sweat. Experts abound in this world; even among the common folk, there are hidden dragons and serpents. He had been too careless; he must not underestimate any hero in the world. With this realization, he suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired. He skipped his usual routine of cultivation and searching for coordinates on the dimensional trading device, and fell into a deep sleep.

Liu Hui slept until he naturally awoke. He felt completely refreshed, all the slight discomfort from the previous night gone, his entire body buzzing with energy.

Liu Hui left his room only to find his parents had gone out and were not home. He paused, then quickly checked the time—it was already 10:30 AM.

“Damn, I have a meeting this morning! I told them nine sharp. I’m already late!” Liu Hui exclaimed. He was usually energetic, maintained a strict sleep schedule, and was always punctual for work; he had never been late. He hadn't expected that a battle the night before would cause him to sleep until now, missing the meeting.

“Mom and Dad too, why didn’t they wake me up?” Liu Hui grumbled, quickly washing up and rushing toward the company.

Liu Hui had scheduled this meeting earlier to address the current problems and challenges facing the company. The attendees included all the senior executives. Now that he was late, he wondered how they would view him.

Liu Hui hurried to the conference room. The attendant sitting by the door saw him approaching and was about to call out, but Liu Hui quickly made a “shh” sound, signaling the attendant to remain quiet.

Liu Hui took a few steps forward, straightened his attire, and was just about to enter the room when he heard voices inside. He hesitated, not pushing the door open, and stood outside to listen carefully.

“The Boss has been busy lately and wasn’t feeling well, which is why he is late. However, as company employees, we must learn to share the Boss’s burdens and resolve difficulties, not rely on him for everything,” said Hu Xian’er’s voice.

“Assistant Hu, these matters are difficult to handle; they require the Boss’s personal decision. Perhaps we should wait until the Boss arrives,” Jiang Lu replied.

“Manager Jiang, all our high-level management are here, so we might as well discuss these issues first and try to come up with good solutions. When the Boss arrives, we can present these solutions to him; having reference points will help him resolve these problems better. This way, we improve work efficiency and reduce the Boss’s workload,” Hu Xian’er explained.

“Alright, then all you managers present your issues first, and let’s discuss how to proceed,” Jiang Lu agreed.

Liu Hui smiled, pulled up a chair from the side, and sat down outside the door, listening intently to their meeting.

Li Zhi spoke first, “Let me start. A few days ago, our general agent in the US gave me some intelligence: someone in America is coveting the massive profits from our ‘Starlight Myopia Cure.’ They hinted to the US agent that we should pay hush money, or they would sue us for monopolistic practices. If that happens, it will severely impact our product sales in the American market. What do you all think we should do?”

Silence followed as no one spoke, each finding the problem incredibly difficult to manage.

Seeing no response, Hu Xian’er said, “I suspect there’s an issue with this general agent. Our company has an agreement signed with them that explicitly states the agent must maintain good public relations within their territory. This situation likely means the agent is envious of our profits, colluding with some American forces, and planning to extort us.”

Li Zhi agreed, “I feel the same way, but I’m not sure how to handle it.”

Hu Xian’er sneered, “Starry Sky Group is a super-corporation; we will never submit to anyone’s extortion. If they want to sue us for monopoly, let them try, but we’ll see if the American patients agree. Manager Li, send a fax to the US general agent as soon as you leave, stating that due to insufficient production, we are temporarily halting product supply to the American market and hope they understand.”

Jiang Lu asked, “Won't this offend our distributors?”

Hu Xian’er retorted, “If a distributor is genuinely cooperating with us, we will certainly protect their interests. But if an agent is making money with us while simultaneously being two-faced and ready to betray our company’s interests, they must be decisively suppressed. If we yield in this situation, all distributors worldwide might rise up and try to blackmail us. Remember, our product is a scarce resource, always in demand, and a necessity for the common people; we don't need to worry about it not selling. As long as we control the supply, we control the entire market. Those who want to play by our rules stay; those who don’t can leave. Now isn't the time for us to fear offending distributors; it’s the distributors who fear offending us, especially given the immense profits and control over channels this product brings, which they cannot refuse. As for the monopoly lawsuit, ignore it. If we cut off the supply to that market, consumers will naturally petition their government to intervene—that’s the benefit of exclusive operation.”

“Isn’t that a bit too aggressive?” asked Zhao Yuanhua.

“If we aren't aggressive, others will be. We must do this. Furthermore, we cannot let the US general agent off the hook. We must be proactive, gather evidence of them colluding with outsiders to extort us, and then publicize that evidence to completely ruin their reputation, leaving them with lifelong shame. This will also serve as a warning to other distributors—a case of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys,” Hu Xian’er concluded.

Since no one else spoke, Jiang Lu said, “Let’s record this for now and wait for the Boss’s final ruling. Let’s move to the next topic.”

Wang Ichiro stood up and said, “The Boss wants to relocate the submarine manufacturing plant to Budiao. We are negotiating land acquisition with the local fishermen, but some are making outrageous demands, and progress has stalled. What should we do?”

Yin Shunli suggested, “Shouldn’t I let my legal consultancy company sue them? That should resolve the matter.”

Hu Xian’er replied, “Litigation is one option, but it takes too long. The Boss wants the submarine plant moved quickly; we can’t afford delays. Here’s what we do: Manager Wang, first sign the agreements with the fishermen who agree to relocate and finalize their compensation. This will divide and dismantle the fishermen’s alliance. Then, shift focus to the holdouts. By the way, Manager Wang, what is your compensation standard?”

Wang Ichiro explained, “Our compensation standard is very high. Converted, they could actually buy similarly sized properties in Repulse Bay and still have money left over. The key point is that we’ve promised them jobs at Starry Sky Group, so they won't have to worry about their livelihood even if they can’t fish anymore.”

Hu Xian’er nodded, “That standard is sufficient. We first divide and conquer the fishermen, uniting the majority against the minority. If that fails, we find the Hong Kong triad societies to handle it. While they might not match our mainland’s official forces in demolition work, they are still unrivaled and the top fighters in Hong Kong. Did you notice any unfamiliar faces among the fishermen?”

Wang Ichiro recalled, “Now that you mention it, I did see a few strangers among the fishermen; they were speaking Mandarin from the mainland.”

Hu Xian’er paused, then immediately said, “Could it be that outsiders are involved in this matter, trying to target us?”

Mei Peng stated, “That’s possible. The Boss has made many enemies, and their forces are significant, all having reasons to act this way. It seems we need to be cautious this time.”