Chapter 33: Roping In

Su Chen had already been in Clear River City for some time now, and had some understanding of the Bloodline Nobility Clans.

Upon hearing that it was the Lai Clan who had done it, he even knew why they were the ones who had done it.

Of the ten Bloodline Nobility Clans, the most well-regarded and highest-ranking clan was probably the Wang Clan. The Lai Clan was one of the weaker ones, and they hadn’t been in Clear River City for more than a hundred years. For a Bloodline Nobility Clan, that was an extremely short period of time.

The Lai Clan in Clear River City was originally a fragment of the Lai Clan from the Li Province. Their current patriarch, Lai Wuyi, had left the Lai Clan after failing to seize the patriarch’s first wife. He came to Clear River City to establish the Clear River Lai Clan.

The Lai Clan’s Bloodline was the White Phosphorus Snake.

It was a very sly, sneaky lifeform. Its body was covered in dense white scales, and it could transition between being visible and invisible. Apparently, it could go in and out of Hades as it pleased from birth.

Whether that was actually the case, no one knew. However, the White Phosphorus Snake’s vicious poison was a major source of headaches for its opponents.

The White Phosphorus Snake Lai Clan was eventually recognized as a Bloodline Nobility Clan because of this.

Like the majority of Bloodline Nobility Clans with shallow foundations, the Lai Clan hurried to establish their roots here in order to better develop in the future. However, most of the property had already been divvied up, and the Lai Clan had spent nearly a hundred years just to snag a small piece of land for themselves.

When there was a lack of internal opportunities, the best way to resolve that issue would be to expand outward.

As such, the Lai Clan was also the most eager to go against the government.

They desperately thirsted for the businesses, territory, and influence under the City Lord’s name.

Su Chen’s appearance at this time made him, without a doubt, the Lai Clan’s best target.

Just Liu Jiyun?

No, that’s just the beginning.

The Origin Bureau was now under Su Chen’s control, making it a fatty piece of meat that they could divide up.

What Lai Wuyi wanted, without a doubt, was to swallow the Origin Bureau whole.

“Old Lai seems to consider this an opportunity for his own clan,” Su Chen muttered to himself, sitting on his seat of honor in the Origin Bureau’s main hall. “But if he doesn’t do it right, not only will his clan not rise, but I also might need to start digging him a grave.”

“Sir, what should we do next?” Duan Feng asked.

Su Chen sank into deep thought. After a long time, he said, “I’ll need to get an update as detailed as possible on the situation with the Lai Clan. Right, I also want to know about the Long Clear Gang too. If there isn’t enough information, send someone to collect more.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Origin Bureau’s efficiency rate in doing things was quite high.

Three days later, Su Chen had a pile of collected information on his desk. Some of it was well-known information, while the rest had been gathered by the Origin Bureau and Su Chen’s Shadow Servants.

In particular, the Shadow Servants, hiding in the darkness, could utilize their concealment to infiltrate many peoples’ rooms and listen to secret conversations. As such, the information he obtained from them was much more substantial and full.

Su Chen had been poring over these materials for two days. In the meantime, he had also gone to the Long Palace as Doctor Chen, leaving after giving him three vials of medicine to further delay. At least for now, Long Shaoyou was more useful alive than dead to him.

During this period of time, another one of the Origin Bureau’s Origin Qi Scholars was attacked. Thankfully, he was prepared and was able to make a clean getaway at the expensive of a few of the Origin Bureau’s martial artists.

However, rumors began to spread within the Origin Bureau that Su Chen was useless and that he was completely helpless even against the Lai Clan’s pressure.

Su Chen ignored them. He continued to look over the gathered information.

Finally......

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Intoxicating Fragrance Pavilion was a famous brothel within Clear River City. Not only were the women there indescribably beautiful, but many of them had noble backgrounds. Some were even Origin Qi Scholars.

However, goods like those were of the highest quality; no commoners could even dream of touching them.

Even though Wang Wenxin wasn’t a commoner, he could only sigh and gaze at the brothel’s highest levels as long as he wasn’t at the top levels of society in Clear River City.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?” a little flower lying on his bed called out to him flirtatiously.

Wang Wenxin turned around and saw a woman lying in his bed, a blanket covering half of her body as she stared at him provocatively.

“I was just wondering when I will have a chance to go into the Intoxicating Fragrance Pavilion and get a taste of the roses there.”

The little flower covered her mouth and laughed, “Wow, are you really eyeing the pot when you still have food on your plate? It seems like I haven’t made you feel comfortable enough if you still have energy to think about those roses. I’m not convinced! I must have another battle with you.”

As she spoke, she reached out to grab Wang Wenxin.

Wang Wenxin laughed. He reached over to grab the little flower when he suddenly heard a voice say, “Sir Wang, you really are smooth, huh?”

Wang Wenxin’s expression changed drastically. “Who is it?”

As he spoke, he grabbed the little flower by the hand and tossed her behind him as he shot towards the window on the other side of the room.

He did this to try and get the little flower to block a blow for him, giving him just enough time to escape.

However, he hadn’t expected the little flower to not be struck by any attack at all. Instead, he saw a palm suddenly appear right in front of him as he charged out the window.

Wang Wenxin was basically charging right into that palm.

Bang!

Wang Wenxin flew back into the room.

He still wanted to move when suddenly two people appeared from behind, grabbing him by the arms.

“What!?” Wang Wenxin was completely caught off-guard by the appearance of these two people.

A person entered the room through the window.

Even though he had come in through the window, his behavior was confident and his steps leisurely as if he had come in through the front door.

It was Su Chen.

He laughed as he walked, “Sir Wang, why are you in such a hurry to leave? And this pretty little maiden with you, tossing her aside like that - isn’t that too vicious?”

As he spoke, he waved his arm. A formless wave of energy surged from his palming, knocking the little flower over instantly.

“Su...... Chen!” Wang Wenxin squeezed those two characters out from between his teeth.

“It seems like I’m pretty famous these days.” Su Chen sat down on the table and pointed at the seat in front of him. The two Shadow Servants dragged Wang Wenxin over and forced him to sit down.

Su Chen said, “Let’s not beat around the bush. Sir Wang, I came looking for you because I want to discuss something with you.”

“What do you want to discuss?”

“Liu Jiyun and Feng Yuzhen’s attacks were carried out by your Long Clear Gang, right?”

Wang Wenxin laughed coldly, “Oh, Prince Su, I can’t afford to take credit for that.”

“It has nothing to do with whether you can afford to take credit for it or not. Just like if I want to right now, I could turn Sir Wang into a corpse. If those Bloodline Nobility Clans come looking for me, I can pull the same game as you.”

Wang Wenxin continued to be stubborn. “If you want to kill me, then kill me. Do you think I’m afraid of dying?”

“Death? Of course Sir Wang isn’t afraid of dying. When the Long Clear Gang and Evil Tiger Gang went at it, Sir Wang was struck by three different blades, yet you still continued to charge forwards, taking down three experts. In the battle in the Sea-Traversing Pavilion, Sir Wang protected the rear on your own, allowing the former gang leader to escape. You even charged into the River Heart Embankment on your own, further displaying your boldness. How could a person like you be afraid of dying?”

What Su Chen said was precisely what Wang Wenxin was the most proud of. When he heard it, he said arrogantly, “As long as you know.”

“Unfortunately, Sir Wang didn’t die at that point in time.” Su Chen suddenly redirected the conversation. “If Sir Wang were to have passed away then, there probably would have been many people mourning for you. But if you die now, there will probably be a lot of people celebrating, right?”

Wang Wenxin’s expression grew steely. “What are you trying to say?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Sir Wang made great contributions to the Long Clear Gang in the past, but look at yourself now. You aren’t even a deputy gang leader, and the current gang leader views you as a thorn in his side and wants to get rid of you, isn’t that right? No wonder; there are only two Yang Opening Realm cultivators in the Long Clear Gang, and you are one of them. In fact, you’re even a bit stronger than him. How could he not fear you? How could he not be cautious around you? If I were to kill you here, I’ll just be doing exactly what he wants.”

Wang Wenxin understood.

He chuckled darkly, “It feels like Knowledge Executor Su isn’t planning on killing me but is looking for some underlings.”

“‘Helpers’ is more accurate. I’m looking to join forces with people who think like me.”

Wang Wenxin laughed coldly, “It sounds good when you say it, but you must be dreaming if you think that I’m going to sell myself to you just because of a few words!”

“I don’t need you to sell yourself to me.” Su Chen’s reply was outside of Wang Wenxin’s expectations. “I just don’t want my profits to be harvested by someone else.”

“What do you mean?” Wang Wenxin was stunned.

“I mean that I don’t need Sir Wang to do anything to deal with the Long Clear Gang. Rather, it’s the complete opposite; I will deliver the Long Clear Gang right into Sir Wang’s hands. I just don’t know if Sir Wang wants it,” Su Chen replied calmly.

Upon hearing this, Wang Wenxin fell into a long period of silent contemplation.

Su Chen wasn’t in a hurry.

He wasn’t worried about Wang Wenxin’s decision.

This matter wasn’t complicated from the very beginning. The hardest part was finding a suitable target.

As long as the appropriate target was found, the matter was extremely simple.

After a long time, Wang Wenxin finally raised his head. “You want me to follow you? That’s not impossible. However, I, Wang Wenxin, have never liked people who only know how to flap their lips. Everyone does their best to get by on the streets; at the end of the day, we rely on our strength to fill our bellies. You also know that Li Yue is in the Yang Opening Realm, and he has three deputy gang leaders below him who are all in the Blood Boiling Realm. If just the Long Clear Gang has this kind of strength, what about the Lai Clan or even the ten Bloodline Nobility Clans? If you want me to follow you, you need to at least demonstrate that you have some ability, right?”

Su Chen laughed, “So you want to fight? That’s fine. Why not here and now, just me and you?”

“Me and you?” Wang Wenxin was stunned.

You’re in the Blood Boiling Realm, while I’m in the Yang Opening Realm. You want to fight me?

“What? Sir Wang, did you forget who was the one who kept you here earlier?”

“That’s because I didn’t use my full strength!”

“Then use it and let’s go again.” Su Chen flipped his hand. The space in the room suddenly seemed to congeal, and it became incredibly hard to move.

Sumeru Void!