Chapter 159: Furiously Enraged

Jinguo Province, Hetang County, Liu Clan.

The Liu Clan was a powerful family in Hetang County. The Clan Leader was the deputy head of the Administrative Department in Hetang County, a fifth-grade sixth-tier civil servant wielding considerable authority. He ranked among the highest individuals in the county-level cities of the Shenxia Alliance.

Hetang County was one of the largest counties in Jinguo Province, even surpassing many city-level urban areas. The top officials of Hetang County were already preparing to elevate the county into a city. It covered a vast area, surrounded by mountains, and was situated in the central basin with excellent environmental conditions. It also contained many famous scenic spots renowned throughout the Shenxia Alliance.

Besides Clan Leader Liu Juwei, who served as the deputy head of the Administrative Department, many members of the Liu Clan held positions in key departments across Hetang County, covertly controlling one-third of the county’s power.

With the backing of these high-ranking members, the younger generation of the Liu Clan established the Liu Group, venturing into businesses like Yuan Crystal trade and real estate development. Their ventures prospered rapidly, and within just a few decades, the Liu Group grew into one of the top ten major companies in Hetang County, with assets worth billions.

Excelling in both business and politics, the Liu Clan was among the elite families of Hetang County. Without such status, the clan could not have nurtured a large number of Primordial Warriors in the Bone Training Realm, as the consumption of Yuan Crystal resources alone would have been too heavy a burden for ordinary families.

Thus, in Hetang County, the Liu Clan was a true behemoth, possessing terrifying, overwhelming power. With such immense authority and wealth, even members of the Liu Clan themselves would not believe that their family had never done anything against the law.

Therefore, after arriving in Hetang County, Jiang Xincheng did not recklessly rely on his formidable strength to rampage through the Liu Clan compound. Although he had the ability to do so, such actions would break the law and provoke the wrath of the Flourishing Tang Empire, which would hinder his future promotions and progress.

After all, the Shenxia Alliance was a parliamentary superpower, and acts like annihilating entire families or committing murder and arson publicly were highly taboo, especially when Jiang Xincheng’s actions stemmed from personal grudges.

After considering carefully, Jiang Xincheng thought of a method that could achieve multiple goals at once: not only would it allow him to take revenge, but it would also bring him substantial rewards from the incident.

After killing Liu Kaipeng, Jiang Xincheng immediately took a flight to Hetang County and checked into the Golden Dragon Hotel near the Purple Cauldron Garden, the main residence of the powerful Liu Clan. He waited until nightfall.

As night fell, Jiang Xincheng left the Golden Dragon Hotel, changed his clothes, put on a mask, and stealthily infiltrated the Purple Cauldron Garden.

Although the Purple Cauldron Garden had patrol guards, it was far less secure compared to the heavily guarded Autumn Moon Manor. Thus, Jiang Xincheng easily slipped into the Purple Cauldron Garden in search of what he needed.

The Purple Cauldron Garden was one of the most upscale villa areas in Hetang County. It contained eighteen villas, housing the high-ranking members of the Liu Clan who held most of the clan’s power, including Clan Leader Liu Juwei.

If there was any place likely to hold evidence of the Liu Clan’s crimes, the Purple Cauldron Garden was undoubtedly the prime candidate. Therefore, Jiang Xincheng immediately infiltrated the garden and searched through the villas one by one.

However, to Jiang Xincheng’s surprise, many villas seemed unoccupied, with only patrolling guards and their families present. The villa owners—the high-ranking members of the Liu Clan—were nowhere to be found.

It was already midnight. Why were so many high-ranking members of the Liu Clan not sleeping at home? Could they be in a meeting? But holding a meeting so late seemed odd, or perhaps the clan was dealing with some urgent matter.

While Jiang Xincheng was puzzled, he overheard a mother and daughter in one villa whispering. They mentioned that their man had hurried off to a meeting at Villa No. 1 over two hours ago and had not yet returned. They wondered if something major had happened to the Liu Clan.

Jiang Xincheng finally learned where these people were and immediately headed to Villa No. 1 in the Purple Cauldron Garden. There, inside a heavily guarded meeting room, he found all the owners of the eighteen villas—the eighteen high-ranking members of the Liu Clan.

Hidden on a grape trellis about ten meters away from the meeting room, Jiang Xincheng extended his spiritual sense from the General Realm and clearly detected everything happening inside.

On the electronic screen at the front of the meeting room was the image of a severely bloated corpse, yet the identity was still recognizable—it was Liu Kaipeng, whom Jiang Xincheng had recently killed.

The Liu Clan members in the meeting room stared at the corpse on the screen in disbelief, scarcely able to accept what they were seeing. At the front of the room sat a man in his fifties or sixties, who appeared quite spirited with hair half black and half white. His face was filled with grief and anger as he pointed at the image on the screen and shouted furiously at all the clan’s high-ranking members below.

“My brothers and descendants, our Liu Clan is now facing its most critical moment. Kaipeng is dead—our clan’s new Guardian Deity is gone. Our hopes of dominating Hetang County and advancing to a city-level status have been dashed. There’s a seventy to eighty percent chance that Kaipeng was killed by Jiang Xincheng, using some underhanded tactics that allowed him to defeat Kaipeng despite the level difference. You’ve all seen the photos of Kaipeng’s body. Our clan is about to face revenge from that despicable and shameless villain, Jiang Xincheng.”

This elderly man was Clan Leader Liu Juwei. Pausing briefly, he continued with a sorrowful expression, “We’ve all analyzed Jiang Xincheng’s character—he is by no means someone who repays kindness for evil. He definitely won’t let our Liu Clan off. The only reason he hasn’t come after us before was because he lacked the strength. But now that he’s capable of killing even Kaipeng, it’s clear he has sufficient power. It might be in a few months, tomorrow, or even the very next moment that he strikes against our clan.”

“He is a Leader of Ten in the Flourishing Tang Empire, a position almost on par with mine. Once he targets our Liu Clan, given the loose ends we’ve left in Hetang County, he will surely seize upon them. Using the power of the Flourishing Tang Empire, he could deliver a fatal blow to our Liu Clan.”

Watching Liu Juwei’s furious speech, Jiang Xincheng rolled his eyes. The old man certainly understood him well, instantly guessing how Jiang Xincheng would deal with the Liu Clan. This only confirmed Jiang Xincheng’s suspicion that the clan was guilty.

Moreover, the information he had already gathered from several villas gave him a fair understanding of the Liu Clan’s situation.

Just as Jiang Xincheng was about to leave and ignore the group of old men meeting late at night to plot against him, he heard Liu Juwei say something that infuriated him beyond measure.