Jiang Nan reached out and seized Wan Dongchen’s head, then drove a knee strike forward.
Wan Dongchen’s entire body shattered into fragments, leaving only a blackened, carved head.
Yao Hong’s eyes shone as she gazed at Jiang Nan.
Just two days earlier, Wan Dongchen had towered over everyone, arrogant and untouchable. She had been forced to swallow his bullying in silence.
She had even entertained the thought of sacrificing herself to protect Dandelion.
Yet everything had changed because of the man standing before her.
No matter what methods Jiang Nan had used, the fact remained unchanged: Wan Dongchen had been reduced to slag.
Jiang Nan picked up Wan Dongchen’s head and walked over to Pikapi.
He faced the camera and grinned. “Everyone, Wan Dongchen is dead. I won’t touch the rest of the Blood Alliance branches.”
“I’m taking the meat, but surely you all deserve at least some soup, right?”
“Dandelion is here now, so please look after us.”
As he spoke, he held Wan Dongchen’s blackened head up to the lens.
With a squeeze of his hand, he crushed it to dust.
The stream ended.
In that moment, a chill ran through the hearts of many underground bosses across the country.
Jiang Nan’s move was both a warning and a threat.
Anyone who touched Dandelion would end up like the Blood Alliance.
Yet the moment the stream cut off, every underground faction in the country erupted into action.
Leaders from Raksha, Heroes Assembly, and countless other organisations mobilised their people.
What for? Naturally, to carve up the Blood Alliance branches.
With Wan Dongchen dead, the Blood Alliance was leaderless. This was the perfect moment to feast.
It was also the favour Jiang Nan had handed out to the underground world, clearing the path for Dandelion’s operations in the country.
…
Yao Hong sighed with emotion. “You can already see it. In less than a day, the Blood Alliance will be history.”
“You really did what you promised.”
Her ruby-like eyes fixed on Jiang Nan’s face. “This time, I think I understand why everyone calls you South God.”
Jiang Nan looked profound, gazing into the distance.
“With a mortal body, standing shoulder to shoulder with gods. That’s probably talking about me.”
…
Three hours later, at the Dandelion branch in Kyoto.
Jiang Nan’s eyes were red-rimmed, his mouth turned down as if he were about to cry.
The dimensional gate stood wide open while Dandelion members carried out the treasures looted from the Blood Alliance.
Box after box, not leaving a single scrap for Jiang Nan.
Yao Hong bit her lip, barely holding back laughter. “Oh dear, why does our god look ready to cry?”
Jiang Nan rubbed his eyes. “Did you hear that?”
Yao Hong blinked. “Hear what?”
“The sound of my heart breaking. Did I raid the Blood Alliance just to come back empty-handed?”
He had worked so hard, yet the entire Blood Alliance treasury had gone straight into Dandelion’s project funds.
Yao Hong giggled and nudged his shoulder. “Don’t cry. You’re our boss. They all adore you.”
Every girl carrying treasures away looked at him with shining eyes.
“South God, we all saw it just now. You were so cool.”
“Yes, especially that final move against Wan Dongchen. It gave me goosebumps.”
“Ahhh, the South God is actually our boss. I wouldn’t dare dream of it.”
Jiang Nan folded his hands behind his back and put on a stern face. “Mm, mm. Keep working hard.”
If no one was watching, he would already be squatting on the ground sobbing.
Yao Hong watched him trying to maintain dignity while looking on the verge of tears, and found it utterly adorable.
She stepped forward and took his arm. “No crying, okay? The good days are still ahead. Once the website is up and running, all the money we earn will be yours.”
Jiang Nan perked up a little. “How much are we short?”
“With yours, plus what we took from the Blood Alliance, and mine, we have about 1.4 billion altogether. Still short 600 million.”
“But we can start already. My side has begun work.”
Jiang Nan stroked his chin. “Still 600 million short? The Sakura Group still owes me a billion US dollars, but that idiot Chimoto Sakura still hasn’t paid up.”
“If I could travel abroad freely, I would have gone knocking on their door long ago.”
Yao Hong’s eyes widened. The Sakura Group?
Such a huge organisation.
How on earth had he made them owe him a billion dollars?
Jiang Nan scratched his head. “I’ll figure out the remaining 600 million. See if there’s another chance to hit someone big.”
“Oh, right. Keep an eye on the black market for spatial spirit beads. I still haven’t found my platinum-level spirit skill.”
“If you spot one, get it at any cost.”
Yao Hong nodded firmly. “Got it. Once things settle down here, I’ll go to Abyss Nevernight City myself to oversee the project.”
“If you can’t buy it in Nevernight City, you can’t buy it anywhere.”
Jiang Nan looked curious. “You’ve mentioned it several times. What is Nevernight City?”
Yao Hong smiled. “A miracle of human history. A city built on the first layer of the Abyss Spirit Ruins. You’ll understand when you see it one day.”
Jiang Nan paused, suddenly remembering the ruined An City inside the toy house.
The pioneer migrants to the spirit ruins had clearly tried, and failed.
Yet what was this Abyss Nevernight City?
He quickly pushed the thought aside. “Dandelion should be safe domestically now, but my reputation abroad is pretty bad. Be careful.”
“Get to Star Shine level soon. Your current level is a bit low. Here, take these. Don’t tell anyone. I’m heading back to teach my students.”
He grabbed Yao Hong’s hand, pressed five marrow-cleansing fruits into it, and vanished in a flash.
Yao Hong looked at the five little persimmon-like fruits and laughed. “Rewarding me with snacks? How sweet.”
She popped one into her mouth.
The next instant, her eyes flew wide, her face filled with shock. She could no longer laugh.
She felt her talent grade rise from A+ to S.
Her spirit energy absorption speed surged.
She drew a sharp breath. What kind of divine fruit was this? It could actually raise talent grade?
Talent grades were supposed to be fixed. This thing…
Yao Hong’s expression turned gravely serious, her eyes soft with tenderness.
He had revealed such an important secret to her, then brushed it off lightly with one sentence.
Yao Hong knew that Jiang Nan truly saw her as one of his own.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you down.”
…
Back at Kyoto Spirit University, it was already afternoon. Jiang Nan was still worrying about the 600 million.
Who should he rob?
If he tried to earn it honestly by selling underwear at his stall, he would have to sell enough pants to circle the Earth ten times over.
The moment he walked into the training room, the noisy hall fell silent.
The trainees turned burning, reverent gazes on him.
Jiang Nan: (｡˘•～•˘｡)
“Why… why are you all looking at me like that?”
“I’m telling you, I took leave to uphold justice. Definitely not slacking off or anything.”
“So my pay and everything must be paid in full.”
Zhong Yingxue hid a smile. This morning he had told her he was going to do something bad.
Yet the trainees suddenly swarmed around him, faces excited, eyes full of worship.
“South God, you were insanely cool. Live-streaming the takedown of the Blood Alliance on the dark web was just too awesome.”
“Can you tell us what the underground world is like? I’m so curious.”
“Why did some foreigners in the chat say you’re a man who brings natural disasters?”
“South God, next time something like this happens, can you take us along to see the world?”
To the academy trainees, the underground world was mysterious and fascinating.
Now every trainee felt only admiration for Jiang Nan.
He was even younger than most of them, yet his reach already extended into the underground world.
While they were still confined to the academy…
In that moment, they finally understood that true strength never came from nowhere.
Jiang Nan was utterly confused. How did they know he had raided the Blood Alliance?
Xia Yao grinned and explained. Jiang Nan’s face drained of colour.
Old Master Ye knew he had appeared on camera?
He was done for.
He definitely could not visit the Ye family for a while, or he would be beaten into a Pikapong.
Seeing the trainees’ eager faces, Jiang Nan flashed a bright smile.
“You all want to come with me to uphold justice?”
The trainees nodded frantically. “Yes! We want to!”
Jiang Nan nodded. “Fine, but you must at least reach my minimum standard.”
“It’s still early today, so are you ready?”
The trainees shivered, smiling bitterly. They knew they were about to get beaten again.
High-intensity training continued for about a week.
Because of the Blood Alliance incident, more and more trainees came under Jiang Nan’s command.
Many began sharing the burden of Wang Zhan and Xiang Zu’s loving iron fists.
After a week of brutal training, the trainees could barely get out of bed. Peeing blood was the least of it.
It was the weekend, so Demon Jiang gave everyone two days off to recover.
Jiang Nan had not been idle either. Every day he ran to the Kyoto Spirit University field to sell underwear and supplement his income.
He planned to work hard over the two days off, but early in the morning he was woken by knocking.
Seven girls, led by Ye Xingxuan, stood at the door looking nervous, each carrying a small backpack.
Jiang Nan blinked. “You lot are so dedicated. Coming on a rest day for extra lessons?”
The moment he spoke, all seven girls turned pale.
He Jia burst into tears. “Waaah! Sister Xingxuan, I told you we shouldn’t have come!”
[Resentment +1000 from Siamese!]
[Resentment +1000 from White Garfield!]
[Resentment +1000 from Xu Ragdoll!]
