Chapter 1469: Hidden Danger

Could it be the power of the Yan Wang avatar at work?

Thinking of this possibility, Lin Feng suddenly felt a cold sweat trickling down his back.

Lin Feng distinctly remembered how Mage Hong Yi had warned him: after being possessed by the energy of the Sixth Heaven powerhouse, your cultivation speed might increase significantly. However, there’s one crucial issue to be wary of… You might become another avatar of the King of Hell after being assimilated by that powerful energy!

“The King of Hell’s true form is thousands of miles away; there couldn’t possibly be such a chance…” Lin Feng contemplated for a moment, feeling a bit unnerved, and when he looked at his own hands again, he felt no more excitement and thrill from breaking through his cultivation, only a hint of worry and confusion.

At this point, Lin Feng’s eyes noticed the dragon-shaped jade stone placed on the bed, and instinctively, he reached out to pick up the ancient jade…

As Lin Feng’s hands touched the dragon-shaped jade stone, an unexpected event occurred!

Lin Feng was astonished to discover a faint stream of black, thread-like mist slowly seeping from his fingertips, much like silk, and gently drifting towards the dragon-shaped jade stone…

“Is this… toxic gas?” Lin Feng widened his eyes, surprised at the dark mist oozing from his fingertips. He gently rubbed his fingers, noticing no pain or itch where the black mist was exuding, just a slight chill as it flowed out.

This chilling sensation seemed somewhat similar to the power left behind after the Yan Wang avatar perished… Could it be that the dragon-shaped jade stone could also help remove the hidden threats within my body?!

Lin Feng felt a bit thrilled; he knew the dragon-shaped jade stone could absorb toxic gas, but he hadn’t expected it to possess such an effect.

Suddenly, Lin Feng felt the gloom in his heart disappear; he immediately resumed meditation, clutching the dragon-shaped jade stone to cultivate, intending for the jade to fully extract the black mist from his body.

…

While Lin Feng was striving to expel the vexing black gas from his system, in the most expensive Tianzi private room at the Shunfa KTV Club in Jiangzhou City’s high-tech zone, several gallant men were having drinks and chatting.

“Lord Liu… to be honest, among all the brothers who are leaders in the Hong Sect, the person I admire most is you. That little brat Lin Feng, I really don’t care about him… he’s just a pretty boy who climbed the ranks by relying on Old Man Xu. He actually dares to be arrogant in front of us brothers, what does he think he is?! He’s not even officially the Sect Leader yet, and he boasts about removing my position as leader, extremely arrogant!” The speaker was Jiang Gang, the eleventh leader of the Hong Sect whom Lin Feng drove away at the Longfeng Martial Hall annual meeting. He toasted to Liu Shouyi, sitting opposite him, while casually speaking. Sitting beside him were other leaders and elders of the Hong Sect, including Gong Sunyi, Ye Liangdao, Liu Hongtao, and others who shared a discord with Lin Feng.

“Jiang Gang, you’re very right!” Liu Shouyi spoke, his face somewhat sullen, and lowered his head slightly, staring at his wine glass. After a moment of silence, he suddenly raised his head and drained his glass of wine, saying in a deep voice, “Hong Sect isn’t about one or two people! Old Xu has already promoted Mr. Bai to be the Sect Leader, and he allowed both Lin Feng and Wang Bing to ascend as leaders; that’s enough to give the brothers of Hong Sect face! As for the new Sect Leader position, we shouldn’t consider Old Xu’s thoughts anymore!”

“Indeed…” Jiang Gang showed an excited expression, “Lord Liu, you’re right, the position of Sect Leader in Hong Sect should be decided by us brothers of the Hong Sect. Old Xu and Mr. Bai are already semi-retired, their opinions naturally don’t count!”

“That’s not entirely true…” Liu Shouyi suddenly smiled and lifted his head, laughing heartily at Jiang Gang, “Our brothers in Hong Sect still respect the elders; if what they’ve said is correct, we should still listen! However, since the elders are getting on in years, many of their ideas are out of touch with the times. We need to remind them that the rules for choosing a Sect Leader seem a bit outdated and might need changing!”

Sitting to the side, Gong Sunyi, Ye Liangdao, Liu Hongtao, upon hearing Liu Shouyi’s bold words, couldn’t help but brighten their eyes… Indeed, the rules of the Hong Sect are quite outdated, it really needs revising!

“Brothers, I’m not specifically targeting Lin Feng when I say this, but regarding qualifications and ranking, in any case, Lin Feng doesn’t deserve to be the Sect Leader! As far as I know, among the Hong Sect leaders, there are at least seven or eight who don’t accept Lin Feng as the Sect Leader, not to mention ordinary brothers, which accounts for over eighty percent…” Jiang Gang spoke eloquently to the others, “I believe even if we don’t actively stand out, Lin Feng will eventually be overthrown by the disgruntled brothers… In the end, prolonged internal conflict will cause the Hong Sect to fall apart, and no one wants to see that scene! It’s better to end the pain quickly and resolve this issue once and for all!”

“How do we resolve it once and for all?” Liu Shouyi and the others curiously eyed Jiang Gang. They knew Jiang Gang might not be the most powerful among the dozen leaders of Hong Sect, but he certainly had one of the most agile minds. They were truly curious about his plans.

“Under routine, during the Hong Sect’s annual meeting, Lin Feng, the new ‘Sect Leader’, collects the previous year’s profits from each hall and deposits them into the headquarters’ accounts. This ritual is meant to establish the new Sect Leader’s status. But, imagine if Lin Feng, as the newly appointed leader, didn’t receive a cent that day; wouldn’t that make things quite interesting?” Jiang Gang grinned sinisterly.

Hearing Jiang Gang’s suggestion, Liu Shouyi and the others looked at him with peculiar expressions, somewhat admiring Jiang Gang… This idea is indeed quite ruthless!

According to the rules, every hall in Hong Sect needs to submit half of their profits annually to the headquarters for allocation. But this proportion is just an approximation, and the leaders of each hall have the right to slightly adjust the amount submitted.

For instance, if a hall earns twenty million annually, and its leader claims ten million was used for expanding operations, they’d submit fifty percent of the remaining ten million as profit, simply giving five million as a gesture. This is permissible because unless the headquarters has evidence proving false financial reporting by a hall leader, they can’t arbitrarily audit the halls’ accounts… As punishment, the headquarters can at most halve or cancel the year’s dividends for that particular hall!

If one or two halls claim reduced income at the meeting, it won’t significantly impact Hong Sect, and no one would notice anything unusual. However, if ten halls… no, just seven or eight halls claim zero profits for the year, then the situation is clearly not as simple as a loss of money or face for the headquarters and the Sect Leader!