Returning from the Immortal World

The existence of the exquisite pagoda was an absolute secret that only six people in the entire Everlasting Feast Hall knew about. Aside from Gu Yan’er and the loyal Ji Chimei, only he and Gu Yan’er’s three disciples knew of its existence.

Therefore, even though Chi Nan was a core member of the Everlasting Feast Hall and also loyal to him, he still couldn’t tell her the existence of the exquisite pagoda, or at least not now.

Chi Nan’s smiling face vanished, replaced by a bit of veneration as she replied in a low voice, “Your subordinate accepts her mistake, Boss.”

“Knowing and admitting one’s own mistakes is the best way to improve oneself, Chi Nan. And the warning I gave you is for your own good,” said Tang Xiu faintly. “We’ll face a lot more problems in the future and the more you know, the more you’ll expose yourself to dangers. The most important thing for you is to cultivate with seriousness. Only by becoming stronger will you have the qualification to make me value you highly in the future.”

“This subordinate has just broken through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment and won’t be someone that can be neglected in the future. I’m sure I’m at the top of the list among all the core members of our Everlasting Feast Hall,” said Chi Nan hurriedly.

At her reply, a strange expression appeared on Tang Xiu’s face as a look of sarcasm flashed in his eyes. Then, he said indifferently, “Hearing from your tone, you seem to think that reaching the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment is great? You think you’re now among the best of all members, huh?”

“This subordinate doesn’t dare think so,” said Chi Nan quickly.

“Out of responsibility I have to remind you, among the less than 200 core members of the Everlasting Feast Hall at present, three of them have broken through the Golden Core Stage with two at the mid-stage of Golden Core, 19 have reached the late-stage of Foundation Establishment, and 46 others are at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. You just broke through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment and just barely entered the list of the 46 people in this realm. Do you think you can regard yourself as one of the best among less than 200 people?”

‘What?’ With disbelief evident on her face, Chi Nan gaped and was unable to utter anything for a long time. ‘I’m placed at 46th?’

She had been spending most of her time cultivating aside from her work and spent quite a fortune to buy a lot of cultivation resources from the Everlasting Feast Hall. She had done all she could and yet was still ranked at 46th?

‘This… how is this possible?’

As Tang Xiu walked toward outside, he spoke again, “What you just heard is the truth. You’re ranked at 46th even at your cultivation stage among nearly 200 core members of the Everlasting Feast Hall. Combat experience and battle efficiency-wise, you can’t even be ranked at 46th. Cultivation realm is not a measure of one’s strength, for only those who frequent the edge of life and death and battle the best experts can be called true powerhouses. Aside from those who are in Nine Dragons Island and some who stayed in Jingmen Island, many others have experienced brutal battles and even some of our core members have fallen.”

As of now, Chi Nan had been completely shaken, for she never thought that enemies had appeared on Nine Dragons Island and even engaged in a frantic battle with her other comrades. It also never occurred to her that some of her brothers and sisters had died in battle.

What exactly happened there?

Only then did she feel embarrassed to be that conceited just because she had advanced to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. It turned out that rest had also been improving and many of them were likely more hardworking than her.

“I was wrong, Boss,” said Chi Nan with an ashamed look as she lowered her head.

Tang Xiu stopped walking and turned to look at her. Then, he lightly said, “We are relatively close since you have more contact with me, so you must remember that there’s always someone better than you. The ultimate result of arrogance and conceitedness is finding yourself to keep being surpassed by others. In actuality, I think highly of you, and you will still have great achievements in the future as long as you’re willing to work hard.”

“I’ll definitely work harder for that, Boss,” replied Chi Nan firmly.

Tang Xiu no longer talked. After they came to the parking long, he just sat in the back seat as he looked at Chi Nan in the driver seat and said, “Also, investigate a woman named Yang Yan. She’s a fashion designer and has her own studio…”

“Understood!” replied Chi Nan. She then started the car and headed towards the Everlasting Feast Hall headquarters.

****

Paradise Club of Jingmen Island.

The super-luxury cruise ship had quietly docked at the port. It was late at night, yet a lot of visitors still entered and exited the ship. Most of them were well-dressed with the bearing of successful people. Eight middle-aged men dressed in black suits were seen standing on both sides of the passage as they carefully examined all the guests entering and exiting.

Donning a red evening gown and wearing a sparkling platinum necklace on her neck was Ouyang Yun. A charming smile was on her face as she checked the membership card of the guests coming in.

“Hello, could you please show me your membership card?”

Still smiling, she looked at the female whose eyes always looked evasive and seemed to be in a tight corner.

The female whose name was Yang Yan touched the corner of her dress with her fingers. She hesitated for a moment and then asked, “Dining in the Paradise Club needs a membership card? I know a waiter here; he’s my brother. Could you let me pass? I need to see him.”

Ouyang Yun slightly knitted her brows and faintly said, “I’m sorry. I can’t let you in if you don’t have a membership card. If you want to find your brother, you can call him. Tell him to come outside to see you.”

“I already called him, but my call didn’t get through,” replied Yang Yan quickly.

“What’s your brother’s name?” asked Ouyang Yun.

“Yang Fei,” answered Yang Yan.

Ouyang Yun looked at the middle-aged man on the side and said in a deep voice, “Go inside and ask whether we have a waiter named Yang Fein in our club. Bring him here if there is.”

“Alright.” The sturdy middle-aged man replied and strode towards the luxury liner.

A few minutes later, he came back with a sleepy young man. When they arrived at the entrance the youth looked surprised as he strode towards Yang Yan and said, “Why are you here, Sis? Didn’t I tell you that you can’t come to disturb me at work unless there’s something important?”

Yang Yan shot a glance at Ouyang Yun and seemed to hesitate to speak.

Ouyang Yun, who had just checked the membership of several guests, noticed Yang Yan’s expression and immediately said, “You can go to a farther place if your conversation is inconvenient for outsiders. However, the liner will set sail in half an hour and I don’t want any personal matters interferes with your work here as a waiter.”

“I understand, General Manager,” replied Yang Fei quickly.

After a short while, Yang Yan and Yang Fei came to a spot ten meters away from the entrance. The latter wore a curious look and asked in a low voice, “What’s the matter, Sis? Why did you come here?”

“Little Fei, you have to hurry and quit your work here,” said Yang Yan bitterly. “We must immediately leave for Beijing. I’ve called my classmate. We’ll stay in her place for some time while making our plans.”

“Why must we go to the capital, Sis?” asked Yang Fei, looking confused.

“I just offended someone and he’s a powerful man in Jingmen Island. They are chasing me now and they should be here soon to get me through you,” explained Yang Yan. “That’s why we must leave Jingmen Island first. We must stay in Beijing for some time until things have cooled down. We’ll come back in secret later to sell our property since this place is no longer suitable for us to live.”

Yang Fei’s complexion turned pale and he quickly asked, “Who is it you’ve offended, Sis? What exactly happened? Please tell me clearly.”

“I offended the stud farm’s owner in the countryside in order to save my close friend,” said Yang Yan with a bitter smile. “You and I used to go to that racecourse for horseriding, so you should know the owner, Gu Fugui. He’s a powerful man here. Even if his palm can’t cover the heaven, it’s easy for him to deal with people like us. Also, there’s still someone behind Guo Fugui who is likely much bigger than him. That’s why we must run away to Beijing to lie low until things cool down.”

The sudden news scared Yang Fei so much that a chill ran down his back. He naturally knew who Guo Fugui was. What he knew about this man was even more than his sister.

On the surface, Guo Fugui was just a countryside stud farm’s owner. However, he controlled more than ten casinos, a few five-star hotels, and was one of the major money laundering players in Jingmen Island.

To think that his sister had caused such big trouble by offending this man was something Yang Fei could not imagine. Guo Fugui was infamous for being an extremely ruthless man in Jingmen Island and those who offended him hardly ended up in a good ending. And yet there was still a much powerful person behind him? This… this was simply a disaster for life!

“Wait here for me, Sis. I’ll see the manager and tell her that I’m resigning. We’ll then leave Jingmen Island as fast as possible,” said Yang Fei in a deep voice.

Yang Yan nodded wordlessly and watched the back of his brother walking into the distance while guilt filled her heart. Their parents passed away five years ago and they had been living and sharing hardship together since. Although she worked to meet ends meet and support her younger brother until he graduated from university, he never asked her a dime since and often bought her gifts with his salary.

And yet, he got implicated by her this time.

Yang Fei strode to the ship’s boarding entrance. As he saw Ouyang Yun, he hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth. “I want to resign, General Manager.”

“And your reason?” asked Ouyang Yun indifferently.

“My older sister has offended someone, so we must leave Jingmen Island immediately,” answered Yang Fei with a bitter face.

A look of surprise was cast on Ouyang Yun’s face and she asked again, “Offended someone? Can you tell me who the person is?”

Yang Fei also knew the Paradise Club’s background and the identity of Ouyang Yun. After thinking deeply for a short while, he whispered, “It’s Guo Fugui.”