Chapter 52: Did You Really Think You're the Only Awakened One?

In the afternoon, Gu Changqing returned to Chongming in a new red sedan, a car twice as expensive as his previous one—eight hundred thousand. He thought red suited him better: it was eye-catching, and now the most dazzling car in all of the Chongming headquarters courtyard belonged to him.

Carrying a glass of juice back to his office, Gu Changqing opened the forum Meng Xi had given him. The forum was called Awakening Chronicle, divided into sections like Videos, Information, and a Chatter Area.

Gu Changqing first clicked on the Video section and immediately saw a slew of posts titled things like “Calamity-Class Mountain-Backed Ghost of Qichao East Ridge,” “Calamity-Class Phantom Monk Appears in Snow Mountain Temple,” and “Feather-Class Puppet Master of Angang, Southern Chu.”

He went straight into the post about the Feather-Class Puppet Master in Angang and, as expected, saw that particularly intimidating silhouette. There weren’t many replies—mainly because the forum was too new, and too many videos had been released, including several high-profile ones. For posts like this on the Angang Puppet Master, naturally, there were fewer responses. Besides, puppet masters were typically shrouded in Root Mist, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.

Gu Changqing proceeded to watch other videos one by one.

There were quite a few kinds of sinister entities; at least forty types had been discovered so far, though only thirteen had appeared in Southern Chu. Of these thirteen, the most common were Blood-Flesh Thralls, Puppet Masters, Rot Earth Worms, Ghost Hounds, and Demon Eyes.

Yet, the forum contained all sorts. When Gu Changqing opened the Mountain-Backed Ghost video, he instantly felt hungry.

On screen was a giant humanoid creature, dozens of meters tall, its back appearing to carry an entire mountain. In truth, it was a mountain—a mountain of corpses. Countless bodies twisted together formed a massive sphere, borne on its back. As dozens of tanks fired simultaneously, the creature’s body was barely marked, but the mountain of corpses was mostly destroyed. The Mountain-Backed Ghost then opened its mouth and spat a mouthful of dark green liquid. The tank at the very front was instantly melted.

Gu Changqing estimated this footage was from quite some time ago; nowadays, almost no one would use purely technological weapons against such entities.

Nevertheless, the Mountain-Backed Ghost fascinated him. With a creature that large, its blood energy must be immense.

He promptly cast aside his “Eight Wastelands Fist” training, spending the rest of the afternoon watching videos of sinister entities and high-level Awakeners.

Among these was a post titled “Qi Wuyang of Angang Pursues Spiritfire Hong Tao.”

Qi Wuyang was the commander of the Sentinels in the Angang region, a Level-Six Lightning Awakener. Spiritfire was an Awakener organization composed of wanted criminals, mainly active around Yongzhou and Angang.

Gu Changqing opened the video, which was shot from the rooftop of a building near the harbor. All that could be seen was bolt after bolt of lightning striking down as a man in his thirties darted rapidly around the port. When cornered, he suddenly drew his blade and slashed at the sky.

This man was Hong Tao of Spiritfire.

Even through the screen, that slash sent a chill down one’s neck.

The lightning itself was split apart by his blade. Yet, as several more bolts struck, Hong Tao was blasted into the air and then leapt into the sea.

Watching the battle, Gu Changqing felt a thrilling rush, his adrenaline surging. This must have been the fight he’d glimpsed at the nightclub.

He could guess where this video had come from.

He called Tan Li over to help him access the internal Chongming forum and, sure enough, found the video there.

After browsing for a while, Gu Changqing noticed a problem: while he could roughly understand ordinary news thanks to his literacy, half the slang and jargon on the forum left him lost. Clearly, he had a long way to go in his studies!

…

That night, Gu Changqing was throwing punches in his room; the wind from his fists howled, making the whole space feel as if a gale were sweeping through.

Suddenly, he realized a serious issue.

This apartment was fine for living, but utterly unsuitable for martial practice or anything else. If he wanted to train, or perhaps one day learn cultivator techniques, he’d have to use the headquarters’ training rooms—or buy a villa.

As soon as the idea occurred to him, he didn’t hesitate: he would buy a villa.

He did a quick calculation—he had about five million left, not enough for anything too extravagant. The property Meng Xi had liked earlier cost thirteen thousand per square meter. There were plenty of villas along the Qing River in the city, but their prices were much steeper.

Gu Changqing realized he couldn’t just sit and watch his savings dwindle. He needed new sources of income.

Mulling it over, he dressed and headed downstairs, driving straight to the southern district.

The southern district had originally harbored eight gangs, but now only seven remained. After Jin Manfu’s death, the remnants of the Sea Gang and their territory were swallowed up by the others.

The largest was the Dragon Soaring Gang, which controlled the most territory and manpower.

Gu Changqing went straight to their stronghold—a financial services company. It was past seven in the evening, but the office was still bustling.

Everyone was neatly dressed, looking more like white-collar employees than gangsters—if you ignored the rowdy noise.

“I’m telling you, if you don’t pay up, tomorrow your wife and daughter are going to the bathhouse!” someone shouted.

“Can’t pay? Don’t you still have kidneys? If you can’t pay, sell a kidney—I’ll even find you a buyer! You’ve got three days!” said another.

As soon as Gu Changqing stepped in, he was greeted by a cacophony of threats and abuse.

Someone got up to ask, “Who are you? What do you want?”

Gu Changqing answered with a backhanded slap. Even holding back, his blow sent the man flying more than three meters, blood and teeth spraying from his mouth as he crashed into a table.

The thunderous slap and the crash silenced the room—then chaos erupted.

“Damn, someone’s here to cause trouble!”

More than twenty people drew machetes from under their desks and charged at Gu Changqing.

A few seconds later, the floor was littered with bodies.

A Dragon Soaring Gang member, his face covered in blood and eyes full of fear, stared at Gu Changqing and tried to crawl away. “What do you want from us?” he stammered.

To him, Gu Changqing seemed more monster than man. He hadn’t said a word since entering—just started laying everyone out.

Still, no one had any idea why he was there.

Gu Changqing walked over, glanced down, and lightly stepped on the man’s ankle.

Crack.

The gangster clutched his leg, wailing in agony and on the verge of collapse. “What do you want? Is this revenge or what? At least say something! Just tell us!”

Gu Changqing finally dragged over a chair and sat down. “Call your boss here.”

The leader of the Dragon Soaring Gang was Ding Lizhi, a man in his forties with a lean frame, dressed in a cross-collared jacket that looked a bit like a Tang suit.

After receiving the call, Ding Lizhi arrived with more than thirty men. He took in the bodies on the floor with a single glance, then fixed his eyes on Gu Changqing in the center.

Ding Lizhi stepped forward; his men immediately drew guns and trained them on Gu Changqing.

“How should I address you, brother?” Ding Lizhi asked calmly.

Gu Changqing smiled at the group. In an instant, the chair beneath him exploded and he shot into their midst like a cannonball.

The men in front were knocked aside, bones snapping. Gu Changqing seized two guns and emptied their magazines into the gang members.

When you have overwhelming strength, it’s best to beat them down first—then negotiations go far more smoothly.

But just then, Gu Changqing caught a blur from the corner of his eye. Ding Lizhi’s body suddenly expanded, swelling like a savage bear as he charged.

“Did you think you were the only Awakener here?” Ding Lizhi sneered, a touch of menace on his face.