"Hengsheng, everything is ready," Xiaorong said as he gazed at the back of Lan Hengsheng, whose face turned toward the wall, eyeing a painting of a mountain and a river.
Hengsheng turned slightly and smirked before he replied.
"Let me bid farewell to this place for a moment."
A vein bulged on Xiaorong's forehead in anger. This bastard's action triggered him—posture, expression, or word—whatever the reason that made him angry, it was just frustrating!
Noticing his temper rise, he immediately performed a secret technique. With a light inhale, his aura and expression grew calmer, the vein on his forehead faded, and all negative emotions were expelled from his mind. It was a technique he himself had invented, specialized for dealing with provocation from this bastard.
Sensing the shift, Hengsheng turned toward Xiaorong and was surprised to see his calm expression. Soon after, he realized Xiaorong was circulating Qi, performing a technique.
A veiled smile curved Hengsheng's lips.
"You seem to have improved, but you're still very immature," Hengsheng said, flicking his hand and sending a wisp of Qi at him.
"What the…" Xiaorong noticed too late.
The wisp of Qi had already gone inside his body. He quickly examined what bastard had done to him, but he found the foreign Qi was already gone, nowhere to be found inside him.
Suddenly, Xiaorong's inner Qi turned chaotic; this caused his technique to fail, but this was not all.
His eyes widened as he felt something. One more time, a vein bulged on Xiaorong's forehead, and he was sweating.
"YOU!!!" Xiaorong roared as he pointed at Hengsheng with anger, not expecting the other party to do something so dirty.
"Hurry up. If not, this place may turn dirty," Hengsheng replied with a smirk.
Xiaorong swallowed his anger. He quickly flew out of the chamber and shot into the forest, desperately trying to resist the strange pressure on his stomach.
Seeing Xiaorong leave, Hengsheng felt sorry for him. He had once again gone too far with a prank.
He shook his head, cast away his guilt, and walked toward the chamber's gate. The gate slowly cracked open as he got closer. Once he stepped outside, he saw everyone already waiting for him.
Before him, there were thousands of core members of the Endless Wealth Company, both human and demon, who had permission to live on this Endless Wealth Peak, all now gathered together.
He swept his gaze across the crowd. Most hadn't noticed him, their attention fixed on the direction Xiaorong had gone and whispering.
A few noticed his silent entrance; their faces paled, and they hurried to warn their comrades of his arrival.
Among them, he spotted Yunsu, standing at the front of the demons and demon beasts. The moment her eyes met his, she quickly turned away, still sulking.
Hengsheng's heart ached at seeing her reaction. The cat hadn't spoken to him for a week now, since our simulation battle.
Though his heart ached, he revealed nothing before the crowd, maintaining a calm and emotionless expression, which created a mysterious atmosphere around him.
…
Soon, Xiaorong appeared on the horizon, returning with an angry expression.
Even though he was angry, he didn't dare challenge Hengsheng in front of the crowd, since it would end up embarrassing himself. He quietly blended into the Lan Clan group, who stood on the side.
Baixing, seeing his brother return, quickly welcomed him.
"Brother Xiaorong, where did you go just now?" he asked, curious.
"Shut up!" Xiaorong shouted, his expression turning red. He hadn't done anything like this since becoming a cultivator—it was a total mess! He would never let everyone know what just happened!
"Alright! Please calm down…" Baixing replied. He didn't expect Xiaorong to yell at him; he was just asking…
Xuanyan pokes from behind and says. "Baixing… Big Brother Hengsheng is here…"
Baixing felt a chill. He quickly turned, seeing Lan Hengsheng already standing at the front of the auditorium's gate. He shut his mouth and began to warn others as well.
Shortly, the place turned silent as everyone noticed the Chairman's presence.
…
Hengsheng observed his faction members; their expressions were various. Except for people who had been with him from the start of this faction and a few others, most were seeing him in person for the first time, and they seemed curious about him; to be more accurate, they were curious about his capabilities.
The corner of his lip curved slightly. With every eye on him, he began his speech with a loud and imposing tone.
"All of you have done well. Your dedication has strengthened this peak, and your unity has kept it prosperous. Your contributions have proven invaluable. Because of you, our mission is accomplished."
He paused, then declared.
"Now, it's time to claim our reward…" With those words, he lifted his hand, and the entire mountain obeyed, shifting at his command.
RUMMMBLEEEE..
A deep rumble echoed beneath the ground, growing into a thunderous roar as the mountain lifted.
The newly joined core members observed the whole scene with wide eyes and mouths. They had heard that the mysterious chairman was incredibly powerful, but they didn't expect him to be this strong—to be able to move this massive mountain with a slight lift of his hand!
Hengsheng looked at those who had doubted his capabilities. He smirked at their reactions, feeling satisfied.
'See how great your chairman is!' he thought.
And he wasn't done yet.
Raising both hands, he unleashed the full might of his Dimensional Shift ability.
The sky above the mountain trembled. Clouds twisted chaotically, thunder roared, and lightning flashed, forming a swirling current as if a massive storm had erupted.
A massive purple vortex opened at the eye of the storm, beginning to swallow everything in its path.
The scene was no different from the end of the world for an ordinary mortal. Even for a cultivator, this scene was still terrifying.
…
As Endless Wealth Peak rose from the ground, it did not go unnoticed.
The earthquake could be sensed across the entire region of the South Sea Kingdom. The cultivators rose from the ground and gazed at the middle of the South Sea Gulf. They saw a mysterious mountain appear out of nowhere; it rose toward the strange vortex in the sky.
That's the Immortal Mountain!" Some remembered the rumor from many years ago.
Connecting it immediately, they quickly flew toward the mountain, hoping to reap some treasure without fear of the danger that might lie ahead.
One after another, cultivators appeared in the sky; they all had the same thought. They wanted to take their chance at the unknown mountain, which they assumed to be the Legendary Immortal Mountain.
Even the expert from the Gu Dynasty also showed up; his eyes narrowed as he saw the mountain. Who would have thought such a massive mountain was hidden within their territory?
From his observation, the mountain was about to leave; waiting for the Dynasty forces to explore it would be futile. He quickly reported the news to the Gu Palace before flying toward it alone.
On the other hand, King Xiyuan watched the chaos unfold with a grim expression. Chairman Lan had warned him about this event days ago, but he had never imagined the situation would escalate like this.
Only now did he discover that the Immortal Mountain belonged to the Endless Wealth Company—and that knowledge made the matter perilous, both for him and for his dynasty.
This whole situation with the Endless Wealth Company relocating its headquarters left him uneasy. Without their close presence, his dynasty's reign would be shaken. Even though the other party had promised continued support, who could truly guarantee such a thing?
Find another backing?
That was an unreliable idea.
What he needed was more time for his dynasty to grow stronger.
Why!
Why did they leave too early?!
Resentment toward the Endless Wealth Company silently rose in his heart, but he quickly suppressed it as he thought about the mysterious chairman. It would be stupid for him to make an enemy of that man.
There was nothing he could do about the situation; he was powerless.
The only thing he could do now was go with the flow. Thinking this, he immediately shot into the sky, pretending to chase after the departing Immortal Mountain like others.
As he drew closer to the massive mountain, he saw numerous cultivators unleashing their techniques, attacking it. Yet all of their strikes were blocked by an invisible barrier.
He paused, thinking: should he join the attack? Would this be considered an offense against Chairman Lan?
While he was pondering, a figure appeared before him. Upon recognizing who it was, he respectfully greeted,
"Greetings, Elder Gu Fei." King Xiyuan slightly bowed. This man was an expert of the Gu Dynasty who, by chance, was staying in his kingdom at this time.
"King Xiyuan, do you know anything about this mountain?" Gu Fei asked, his eyes narrowed, ready to catch any signal.
King Xiyuan broke out in a cold sweat. Telling the truth about the Endless Wealth Company was a death wish, and lying was far too risky. This expert was one major cultivation realm above him—he would definitely know if he was lying.
"I have heard rumors, but nothing confirmed…" King Xiyuan intended to tell half the truth, but before he could, a change in the sky occurred that drew everyone's attention, saving him from saying anything further that might have risked his life.
The Immortal Mountain was swallowed by the purple vortex above the clouds, disappearing into its shadow.
Some attempted to follow it into the vortex, but they disappeared without a trace, leaving those watching pending. Others, fearful of the unknown beyond the vortex, gave up and left.
Gu Fei did not wait for King Xiyuan's full answer and flew toward the vortex, disappearing.
Shortly after, the purple vortex faded, and the sky returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.