At this point, Lu Zhenghun's face was extremely gloomy.
Zhou Kuangtian was his prey; he originally didn't need anyone to interfere, yet Zhou Kuangtian ended up dying at the hands of an outsider.
Though Zhou Kuangtian's death meant he no longer had to struggle with his Heart Demon, it also wasted an opportunity for self-tempering.
Having reached his level of cultivation, it's rare to encounter a worthy opponent. Every Heart Demon is a good chance for self-improvement, and now losing one without a cause, how could he not be angry?
However, in this world, it's hard to distinguish what's good and what's bad.
Though he lost an opponent, he gained an opportunity. If handled properly, Xiang Island could become his Forbidden Land from now on.
The Eastern Forest Kingdom is ultimately too small. If he wants to advance further, he must venture to a broader world.
And as Xiang Island is a peripheral area of Dragon Country, it can fully serve as his battlefield, gradually expanding the Chinese world with Xiang Island as the center.
To outsiders, Xiang Island might just be a financial metropolis, but to him, this city represents much more.
"Master, if you want to seize control of Xiang Island, you must deal with Lin Beichen."
As Lu Zhenghun's most capable disciple, despite being somewhat reckless, Bone Spirit Tiger is far from a fool. After analyzing the pros and cons, he immediately identified a key figure, Lin Beichen.
If Lin Beichen is not resolved, no plan can be executed.
Lu Zhenghun nodded, a trace of pride flickering in his eyes.
"Although this person has broken through to the Mystic Sect, I am not necessarily afraid of his methods. My curse techniques were inherited from ancient divine techniques centuries ago.
In terms of heritage duration and divine techniques, even Zhou Kuangtian is no match for me. Otherwise, why didn't Zhou Kuangtian kill me back then? Do you really think Zhou Kuangtian is a magnanimous person?"
As he spoke, a fierce glint flashed in Lu Zhenghun's eyes.
Back then, during his battle with Zhou Kuangtian, he inadvertently discovered a secret.
Over the years, those who sparred with Zhou Kuangtian, whether numbering in hundreds or numerous dozens, vanished for various reasons in the subsequent years.
Some due to injuries and illnesses, others due to disputes, some ostensibly immigrated to places outside Xiang Island, but regardless, these people seemed to disappear without a trace in the subsequent years, leaving no clues or traces.
At first, he didn't give it much thought, but after facing Zhou Kuangtian, he suddenly discovered someone secretly tracking him.
Even at that time, Lu Zhenghun's cultivation was not as advanced as today, but he was not someone an ordinary person could track.
After some analysis, he immediately concluded that the stalker was Zhou Kuangtian.
A Grandmaster who could move openly yet chose to sneak around, clearly harbored malicious intent.
Two hunches and Lu Zhenghun immediately realized an astonishing fact.
It was not solely Zhou Kuangtian's tremendous innate talent that allowed him to master the various divine techniques of the southern Feng Shui school, but perhaps also his mastery of a particular divine technique, the Heaven-Swallowing Star Technique.
After practicing this technique, one could gradually refine others' divine techniques onto oneself.
Though after refinement, only less than a tenth of the other's power remains, for Zhou Kuangtian, it was more than enough.
Zhou Kuangtian had the entire southern Feng Shui school supporting him; so long as he overcame the most challenging initial phase, he could continuously nourish himself with these vast resources.
With his own immense talent, what would take ordinary people decades to cultivate, he could achieve in years or even just a year.
Now that Zhou Kuangtian is dead, this special cultivation technique is nowhere to be found, perhaps hidden on Lin Beichen.
Even just for this cultivation technique, he must make a trip to Xiang Island.
Meanwhile, as Lu Zhenghun engaged with the Xiang Island financial conglomerates, Lin Beichen had already arrived at an office.
In the spacious office were dozens of desks, each laden with numerous documents.
These documents detailed years of information from major Xiang Island conglomerates, involving financial reports, personnel upheavals, and even organizational structures and sponsorship fund exchanges.
Though Lin Beichen only deployed two delegates, the Zheng Clan had just suffered a great disaster; even barely recovered, they had little strength to assist Lin Beichen.
Lin Beichen didn't rush Zheng Xinxi and others but first took a few days to straighten things out himself.
The various families of Xiang Island have always been adept performers. The more respectful they act before him, the more it shows they're harboring ill intentions.
With Zhou Kuangtian's demise, the Feng Shui Association has completely realigned towards him; only by doing so can they barely survive the pressure from various major families.
Previously protected by Zhou Kuangtian, now with his death, the protector role has shifted to Lin Beichen.
Without Lin Beichen needing to say much, the Feng Shui Association, under the instructions of Master Wang and Mr. Gao, collected all information about each family and provided it to Lin Beichen in an organized manner.
These documents on the table are top-secret intelligence. If leaked, each word would be worth its weight in gold.
The stock market is a battle of information; whoever possesses more internal information can toy with others.
And Lin Beichen's primary focus was on the Long Clan.
Among the families that annexed the Zheng Clan's assets, the Long Clan was the foremost, obtaining the largest share.
They believed they were clever, transferring these shares to several small families to avoid attention, underestimating the Feng Shui Association's collection capabilities.
Through the powerful gathering ability of the Feng Shui Association, Lin Beichen quickly identified the problem with this family.
This Long Clan has a rather peculiar trait; although they are a commercial family, a significant portion of their annual transactions involve cultivation clans.
A commercial family naturally holds a weaker position; even if they wish to align with cultivation clans, they'd still fall short.
Yet this family persisted for 30 years, consistently feeding benefits to the Eastern Forest Kingdom, providing assets worth billions over these three decades.
For a commercial family to suddenly engage in altruism without expecting return, what could be the reason?
Shortly after Zhou Kuangtian's death, the Long Clan abruptly dispatched a delegation to the Eastern Forest Kingdom.
Officially, this delegation is to purchase large quantities of timber and agricultural products, supposedly to construct an international trade port in the Eastern Forest Kingdom; however, the leader of the group is intriguing.
This person previously served in the Feng Shui Association and, according to investigations, was one of Zhou Kuangtian's nominal disciples.
Sending such a disciple to conduct commercial trade abroad, no matter how you look at it, is peculiar.
Post Zhou Kuangtian's death, his nominal disciples usually faced abandonment. Even to avoid suspicion, such disciples had to be sidelined, yet the Long Clan uniquely chose to utilize this one.
Either the Long Clan is insane or the Eastern Forest Kingdom harbors a secret.
A secret related to cultivators.
Could it be related to myself?
Lin Beichen pondered silently, a cold smile gradually appearing at his lips.
Originally, he didn't intend to trouble the families of Xiang Island, but looking at the current situation, these families have already become unreliable after just a few days.
In that case, before leaving Xiang Island, he must do something to awe these families.
Otherwise, after he leaves, the Zheng Xinxi siblings might not survive.
Some people think they're too important, believing others can die, the Zheng Clan can perish, but they need not.
What Lin Beichen intends to do is to show them mercilessly that in this world, affairs are fair to everyone.
If they dare to offend him, even the most powerful figures must start counting their days, seeing how many they have left to live.
The Long Clan is still unaware they've been discovered.
Outside the room, Zheng Xinxi attended cautiously, with a book in hand, unaware of the impending significant event.
At this moment, his biggest headache is the upcoming academic evaluation.