Chapter 226: No Need To Pull Your Punches

Fu Xuejun waited until all the major shareholders left before she went over to the office.

Inside the office sat Fu Wei, who was watching the screen on the opposite side of his desk intently. Fu Xuejun rapped her knuckles on the door for quite a few times before he realized that someone was at the door. Subsequently, he signaled for her to come in.

The TV screen was showing an entertainment news story. The female protagonist in this story was someone whom Fu Xuejun was well-acquainted with—Gu Xiqiao.

She did not expect her father to be watching news about her, and with eyes full of admiration too. Fu Xuejun inhaled deeply before taking a seat next to Fu Wei with a gleeful smile on her face. She hugged his arm and asked, “Daddy, I came up with a plan. Would you like to look at it?”

Fu Wei shifted his gaze away from the TV screen and onto his own daughter. “Let me take a look.”

Fu Xuejun was pleasantly surprised when Fu Wei finally acknowledged her presence. Because of the incident from before, it has been a handful of days since they both met each other.

After all, the Fu family was still under Fu Wei’s firm grasp. If his response was not positive, there was nothing much she could do. As long as Fu Wei still cared about her, hope still existed. Fu Xuejun hastily ordered her secretary to bring her proposition over to her father.

Fu Wei studied the proposition carefully. Nervously, Fu Xuejun kept her eyes glued onto his face in an attempt to detect any sudden changes in his facial expression. She has the Fu family and her ingenious mind on her side. As such, she was rather clear about which aspects she triumphed over Gu Xiqiao. If she managed to seize control over the Fu family and grow it to match the size of Nine Heavens, there would be nothing left to make her fearful of Gu Xiqiao.

This proposition of hers was exceptional. To have such achievements under her belt at such a young age would undoubtedly earn her Fu Wei’s respect, if she had submitted this document ten days earlier.

However, Fu Wei had already seen how terrifyingly foolproof the plan Nine Heavens offered to him was. Their policy was to minimize losses at all costs whilst simultaneously maximizing the benefits they would reap.

The most crucial thing was that their plan included alternate pathways for every possibility that might play out in the future. Of course, these pathways were written down in ink. When he initially received it, Fu Wei was so fascinated by it that he read and re-read it multiple times, unwilling to set it down. Nine Heavens was one hundred percent earnest about working together with him and this plan was the perfect proof of that.

Too bad the contract was unilaterally canceled by Nine Heavens. As if to add insult to injury, it occurred on the same day as when Fu Xuejun had screwed up. That alone prompted Fu Wei to start pondering about it.

Fu Xuejun stared at Fu Wei with eyes brimming with anticipation.

Fu Wei’s expression remained unchanged. He finally peered up at her.

“What do you think about this plan of yours?”

Instead of receiving a compliment, what Fu Xuejun got was a question. Fu Xuejun froze up and was unable to react to the question in time. What did she think about her plan? Why, it’s the best of course! Even the major shareholders were thoroughly impressed by it, so much so that they sang nothing but praises for her. Confidence was oozing out of Fu Xuejun but she refrained from projecting her emotions for Fu Wei to see. Still, there was a conceited and arrogant look on her face.

Fu Wei stayed silent. He picked up a document on his desk, a document which he had researched on and read countless times over the past couple of days.

“I want you to take a look at this.”

Fu Xuejun patiently flipped through the pages upon receiving it. A stunned expression surfaced on her face a short while later.

It didn’t take her too long to finish reading the entire set of papers. And by the time she did so, her face was flushed bright red.

It was only a couple of minutes ago that she thought her plan was seamless, perfect, and unsurmountable. Despite these two sets of documents having the same end goal, even she could make out the huge disparity in quality between them. The time it took to make one step in her plan took the other plan only one-hundredth of that time.

There was so much difference between these two plans that one was incomparable to the other!

Looking up, Fu Xuejun met Fu Wei’s immovable gaze. Here she thought that she’d be able to get his attention through her proposition. How laughable. At that moment, she wanted nothing else but to hide in some unknown crevice.

“This is the project which the big cheese at Nine Heavens offered to me.” Fu Wei picked up the document set. “Though, considering your age, what you’ve come up with is fairly impressive. Setting that aside, no one comes close to the solutions Nine Heavens offers.”

There was only a single Nine Heavens in this world after all.

It’s just that no matter how talented Fu Xuejun was, there was nothing she could do to pique Fu Wei’s interest. In comparison, he had begun to show more interest in Fu Dongyi, who was undergoing an internship at Nine Heavens. He was really curious about how much Fu Dongyi had grown under the guidance of such a spectacular leader.

He wasn’t asking for a lot; he just hoped that Fu Dongyi would take the reins someday.

Fu Xuejun picked up her own project plan and left the office. Thinking back to the scene, she was so embarrassed that her face remained as red as a tomato. Her intent was to expand the Fu family’s domain to challenge Nine Heavens’. Deep down in her heart however, she understood that no matter how hard she tries, she would never be able to pull that off.

Thus, she vowed to put much more effort into her work. Using the project plan which Fu Wei had shown her as a frame of reference, she started amending parts of her own plan. Step by step, she strived towards achieving perfection. This took the shareholders of the Fu family corporate empire by storm. They did not expect her plan to reach such heights.

As her reputation within the clan rose, Fu Dongyi labored on, trying to capture more precious knowledge.

That was until he stumbled upon a document which he failed to understand no matter how many times he studied it. Passing it over to Luo Wenlang, he asked, “Wenlang, what does this mean?” On the project plan were multiple circles. His mind was spinning. Also, why did this scene feel so inexplicably familiar to him?

Luo Wenlang started off reading it casually before he suddenly looked up with surprise in his eyes. He stared directly at Yin Shaoyuan who was in the middle of a conversation with Gu Xiqiao. With a face devoid of emotions, he yelled out, “Boss Gu!” As much as he was surprised, he had already grown used to such situations.

After all, Gu Xiqiao was able to come up with physics-defying items such as the Time Artifact. In comparison to that, this project plan was nothing out of the ordinary.

And yet, Luo Wenlang could not contain his amazement. Well, he does specialize in this subject and he was well aware of the degree to which Gu Xiqiao has already mastered the art of finances; outsider evaluations of Nine Heavens were all surprisingly high.

Gu Xiqiao ended her conversation with Yin Shaoyuan before walking over. “What’s the matter?”

Luo Wenlang shoved the document into her hand as he kept his eyes glued onto her.

Her slender fingers nimbly flipped through the pages and she instantly recognized just what this thing was. She cleared her throat as she put away the document. “Apologies, it seems like I have misplaced this item. No worries, go on with your work.”

Luo Wenlang glanced at her.

“…”

How could one possibly misplace a plan that involved wiping out the Fu family completely, especially with Fu Dongyi around? Are you really not trying to trigger him?

“…”

Gu Xiqiao too, went silent.

The inability to annihilate the Fu family was one of the most painful experiences she has ever had in her life. Was there something wrong with writing out a hypothetical plan just for the fun of it?

As expected, Fu Dongyi was captured by the document the moment he laid eyes on it. He was so fixated on it that he had even forgotten about lunch. Luo Wenlang was reminded of the researchers employed by Nine Heavens, especially those working under Yu Ning. Unsurprisingly, their department was the most passionate when it came to work.

“Let me take a look at that thing.” Upon confirming Fu Dongyi wasn’t looking in their direction, he asked for the document so that he could take a good look at its contents. “Sowing distrust, chain of rings, and all that, just how much do you despise the Fu family?”

Gu Xiqiao placed the document into Luo Wenlang’s hands before whipping out her phone. “If I don’t go to the extremities, how could I let off steam?”

The cave was a self-contained space; it was impossible for one within to make contact with the outside world. Luo Wenlang grabbed his phone and said document before heading outside to give the Finances and Economic Department of Nine Heavens a phone call.

“Boss Gu has come up with something interesting. I’ll pass it on to you guys later on…”

Gu Xiqiao paced around in circles within the cave. Countless tiny pieces of jade appeared in her hand, all of which were antiques gifted to her by Big Boss Bai.

“Beauty Qiao, you’re thinking about turning this place into a training ground?” The system popped up in front of her. Watching her footwork gave it some clues as to which formation she was trying to create.

Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes and searched her mind for a moment. Entering the virtual arena, she asked for some assistance.

“Little system, hurry up and look up tell me which formations are suited to this place!”

The system entered the virtual arena right after she said that.

Countless books floated in the air around them.

Thinking hard, Gu Xiqiao suddenly looked up with shining eyes. “I’ve got an idea!”

“What?” The system seemed to have gotten dizzy from information overload.

“Remember the Trial Tower of the ancient martial arts world we saw on The Forum? I heard that it’s the largest training center there. Wouldn’t it be easy if we just modeled this place after that one?” Gu Xiqiao stood up and returned to reality.

“…”

‘If the people of the ancient martial arts were to overhear this conversation, they’d definitely go bonkers. Replicating their Trial Tower, what a terrific idea,’ thought the system.

The levels 1-10 would be allocated for Beginner ancient martial artists.

11-20 would be for Chi Induction.

Then comes the levels for Bone Refinement, Tendon Forging, Fleet Foot, Tongmai, Xiantian, Houtian, and Enlightenment. As for the final threshold between 90-100, no one had ever stepped foot in this place before. After all, it was a transcendent level.

So far, the highest level the youth of the ancient martial arts world had ever gone was level 70, which was achieved by Jiang Shuxuan. He had successfully gone past Xiantian and was a step away from reaching Houtian. This was according to reports from five years ago. No one knew how much he had grown since then.

Following close behind him was the little demon girl, Jiang Tong, who upon receiving some sort of stimulation, was able to break through the 61st level.

Most people from the ancient martial arts world would stagnate around level 30; the aforementioned two were the exceptions to this.

The training one would receive at the trial tower was straightforward. You only had to fight constantly and the difficulty of each level corresponds to one’s ability. As soon as you step foot into the venue, a virtual opponent would materialize. Only after you have defeated said opponent can you proceed to the next level.

In the ancient martial arts world, the level which you belong to was a much more accurate gauge of your abilities than any other method.

Some of the more boastful ones would claim that they have reached the stage of Bone Refinement when in reality, they could not even break through the 10th level at the trial tower.

Breakthroughs at the trial tower were usually achieved in rapid succession. Some would opt to fight back-to-back with their opponents with no rest in between. This approach enabled one to cultivate skills at a much higher rate than normal training.

The rest was incredibly simple; the only thing that Gu Xiqiao has to consider now was the virtual opponent.

“Yao Jiamu.” Gu Xiqiao approached Yao Jiamu. “Did the Peace Squad encounter anything today?”

Yao Jiamu sheathed the longsword he was holding as she shook his head. “Apart from rounding up dozens of thuds, nothing out of the ordinary was encountered.”

“Good to know.” Gu Xiqiao picked out ten equally-sized jade pieces. “Assign one of these to each squad leader. From now on, every squad leader that is dispatched must put this on. As of late, you are bound to stumble upon some troublemakers.” According to what Jiang Shuxuan said, the elders of the ancient martial arts world have already made their decision.

“Troublemakers?” A curious look appeared on Yao Jiamu’s face.

“Their strength should be no higher than yours.” Gu Xiqiao grinned. “Tell the peacekeepers to not pull their punches should they encounter these goons.”

Yao Jiamu was shocked. Licking his lips, there was not an ounce of fear or delay in his eyes. With a burning fighting spirit, he responded, “Of course!” After training for so long, finally, they could let loose their fists! He was looking forward to it!

Gu Xiqiao was satisfied by his gung-ho response. “Well then, it’s time for me to leave. I’ve already thought about the changes to come. But I do need a few days to do some research before then.”

Noticing that Gu Xiqiao was about to leave, Yin Shaoyuan sent her off at the door.

“What are you thinking about?” Yin Shaoyuan couldn’t stop himself from asking when he saw the look on Gu Xiqiao’s face.

Gu Xiqiao smiled.

“About how I’d transform this cave.”

Yin Shaoyuan thought that she was talking about the exterior of this cave and so, he did not delve further into the topic. He instead started talking to Gu Xiqiao about other matters.

If he were to know about her plans for this cave and that she was going to drop by the Trial Tower tonight, he would definitely drop onto the ground from sheer shock!

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