No matter what, this is still the territory of the Central Plains. So what if he has a team backing him? Even if he's incredibly powerful, what does it matter? He's still destined to be crushed under the heel of the Central Plains Division.

Yet they completely failed to understand that Chen Zheng had long since forgotten about them. As far as he was concerned, they weren't even worthy of being remembered.

At this moment, the many bigwigs couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. They had thought a monumental figure had emerged, heralding a bright future, but it turned out to be just another completely insignificant character!

This is the Central Plains region, after all. How could they possibly let an outsider run rampant? As long as the Central Plains Wolves exist, this place will never fall into chaos!

"Director Xu, I never expected you to have such a close relationship with the Central Plains Division. This is truly wonderful!"

"Yes, Director Xu, from now on, Jiangnan will be counting on you!"

"That's absolutely right. As long as Director Xu is here, the Central Plains will never fall into chaos!"

At this, many of the powerful figures hurried over and began to furiously brown-nose. The situation had completely reverted to how it was before. As long as they had the Central Plains Division as their greatest support, Xu Ronghua would remain the top figure in the region.

"Feng the Finance God…" Xu Ronghua sneered, turning to mock Feng Jingsheng. "Do you understand now what true power is? Surely you don't still believe you made the right choice, do you?"

"After all, we are just businessmen. We should all understand how important it is to cut our losses!

"It's always easier to get things done with a powerful backer. If you merge your company into the Alliance Group now, I might just agree to it.

"As for what happened before, I can pretend none of it ever occurred. You can still keep your wealth and status!"

"You are wrong... completely and utterly wrong!" Feng Jingsheng said, slowly shaking his head, his expression unchanging. "I have never lost, and that's because my spirit is strong.

"If I were to switch sides now, it would be a betrayal of Mr. Chen. For me, that would mean abandoning my integrity and my most basic principles as a person.

"If I did that, how would I be any different from you?

"Betraying a good friend… How does that make one any different from an animal?

"We are not the same kind of people!"

Having said this, Feng Jingsheng turned and walked straight toward the exit. Feng Yueyue, Sun Doudou, and the others also left with cold smiles, shooting Xu Ronghua a look of utter disdain as they departed.

"Director Xu... You had better think this through!" Gao Feng said before leaving with his people.

Now that the Alliance had been completely eradicated by Chen Zheng, as long as the Association existed, Jiangnan would hold Chen Zheng in the highest regard. At least, that was how things worked in the martial world.

Despite Xu Ronghua having the backing of the Central Plains Division, everyone knew their organization had extremely strict rules. They would never get involved in secular affairs unless a particularly major incident occurred.

So what if he was lucky enough to escape this disaster? Could he really reclaim his former glory?

"You little..." Xu Ronghua's eyes narrowed, and a cold sneer appeared on his face. "I'll let you run wild for a few more days. Sooner or later, I'll make you realize you're worse than a stink bug!"

"Feng Jingsheng," he added, "sooner or later, you'll learn the consequences of looking down on me!"

The great storm in Jiangnan didn't subside with the conclusion of the martial arts tournament. Instead, the situation became even more murky.

Liu Changyun was dead. With his death, the Jiangnan Alliance collapsed, like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

However, the newly established Alliance Group wasn't affected in the slightest; it was completely taken over by Xu Ronghua. Before this, the Jiangnan Alliance Group had been formed by merging the groups of the Fan and Zheng families with Xu Ronghua's own forces. Now, combined with the legacy and strength left behind by the former Alliance, the Alliance Group was once again an invincible power in the Jiangnan region.

At the same time, the Jingsheng Group proved to be equally formidable, announcing a partnership with the Sun and Liu families.

As a result, in terms of sheer strength, the two groups were now on equal footing. Everyone knew a battle between them was inevitable, and it would be a fight to the death.

Around this time, rumors of a very secret matter began to circulate, eventually reaching as far as Jiangnan.

The rumors spoke of strange phenomena in Yanzhou. The weather, which should have been frigid in the dead of winter, had become unbearably hot, even exceeding forty degrees Celsius. Many people were hospitalized from the scorching heat, and the weather forced numerous local industries to halt operations.

After the news began to spread, it was quickly suppressed, leaving most people unaware of the true situation. The official story claimed it was merely a climate anomaly that would soon return to normal and posed no significant threat.

Only a few high-level individuals knew the truth: an Earth Demon had appeared in Yanzhou.

The responsibility for eliminating this creature naturally fell upon Chen Zheng. After all, he had made a military pledge to Wang Yuanchang to destroy the beast within one month.

Chen Zheng had just finished breakfast when Zhao Feng approached to report respectfully. "God of War, the Earth Demon has been trapped near Mount Tai. The Central Plains Wolf has assigned Long Tianyun's troops directly to us for this operation. They already departed for Yanzhou this morning!"

"Good," Chen Zheng said, issuing his orders directly. "We can set off now. Go and make the preparations. Leave some men to watch that Ma Wen Yuan. If he tries to escape, kill him on the spot!"

This incident already proves that the person backing Ma Wen Yuan is beginning to make their move. For their influence to reach as high as the Safety Bureau... it's easy to see how immense their power is.

But Chen Zheng felt no fear. He had never been afraid of anyone.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder. Those words spoken on the rooftop by Li Tai, Ma Wen Yuan's body double who was now lying in the villa—were they true or false? And if they were true, how much of it was real? Was his father's death and downfall really connected to his rival's family? Or perhaps... was his own mother's family also involved?

Ma Wen Yuan, you'd better stay alive for me. When I get back, I'm going to make you spit out the entire truth! A cold light flickered in Chen Zheng's eyes. His decision to spare Ma Wen Yuan for now was only temporary.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.