Assets

Inside the royal palace. Yue Xingzhou was not the only one present; several other members of the Yue family were there as well. Clearly, with the royal palace secured, non-combatants could now enter to take inventory and coordinate the palace's supplies. "This is a preliminary inventory of the assets we've drawn up," Yue Xingzhou said, pointing to the list. "Aside from land, jewels, utensils, palaces, manors, and mineral deposits, the royal family held shares in almost all of the country's top one hundred conglomerates. The only difference is the size of their stakes." Yaoguang took the list and looked it over. The royal family in this world was different from those in his previous world; at its core, it was a super aristocratic family. With their tighter control and greater influence over the country, they had naturally accumulated immense wealth. Going solely by the list in Yue Xingzhou's hands, their apparent assets exceeded six hundred billion Chixing coins. If one factored in their hidden wealth, the Liao family's total assets would surpass one trillion. And that was in Chixing coins. One trillion! That already surpassed the entire annual GDP of Dayu. This alone demonstrated just how staggering the Liao family's fortune was. It was the very definition of wealth rivaling a nation. "In addition, we've stripped the spoils of war from Liao Zhenguo, Bian Liancheng, and the others," Yue Xingzhou said, gesturing toward a platform about a dozen meters away. The most conspicuous items there were a pair of gauntlets and a scimitar. "These are the divine weapons Heavy Star and the Half-Moon Saber," Yue Xingzhou said with envy. "Both are top-tier divine weapons. Heavy Star in particular—years ago, a Spirit Intent Martial Saint offered eight billion for it, but Liao Zhenguo refused to sell." He then added, "Eight billion Chixing coins, that is." "Eight billion Chixing coins." Yaoguang nodded. Although the Shenying Sword in his hand also qualified as a divine weapon, fetching even a billion Chixing coins for it would be considered high. That alone illustrated the gap between the two. "Between divine weapons and combat suits, the equipment on each of these people easily adds up to over a billion." A billion Chixing coins. Perhaps many people felt that such items offered unremarkable performance while carrying absurd price tags. Buying an S-rank combat suit cost more than purchasing several fighter jets. Yet... The value of many things could never be measured that way. An S-rank combat suit meant immunity to firearms; what one bought was peace of mind. "Lord Yaoguang, you'll need to assemble a dedicated team to sort through these assets for you," Yue Xingzhou said with a smile. "I'll make a phone call shortly. Have your people continue coordinating for now and handle the preliminary groundwork," Yaoguang said. "Understood." "Take me to the Liao family's vault," Yaoguang said. Yue Xingzhou hurried ahead to lead the way. Before long, the two arrived before the entrance. Outside, Huang Yan of the Yue family stood guard alongside a dozen elites. "Lord Yaoguang." Huang Yan was already aware of Yaoguang's achievements. The moment he saw him arrive, he saluted in greeting. Through his raised visor, his eyes burned with barely concealed fervor. Using oneself as the blade's edge to breach the royal court; within arm's reach, one man rivaling an entire nation. Such glory was the lifelong pursuit of any martial artist. "We haven't opened the vault doors," Huang Yan said. Yaoguang nodded. Once the vault doors opened, certain things and items would become impossible to account for. With Yaoguang's ascent now glaringly inevitable, the Yue family would never make such a blunder. Yaoguang stepped up to the massive steel door and entered the passcode obtained from Liao Ming, the royal head steward. *Ding!* A green light flashed, and the heavy door slid open. "We'll wait outside for you," Yue Xingzhou said tactfully. Yaoguang nodded. Stepping into the vault, his eyes were greeted by two whole floors stacked to every corner with gold, silver, jewelry, porcelain, and famous paintings. Every piece of gold and silverware that had earned a place here boasted rich historical provenance, and any of the porcelain and calligraphy pieces would be deemed national treasures in some countries. Selling them for several million Chixing coins was a given; with the right buyer, the price could easily soar past ten million. After looking around for a moment, Yaoguang soon walked over to a row of display racks. Each rack immaculately preserved a single implement. Sabers, spears, swords, halberds—everything imaginable was represented. Yaoguang took out his phone, opened the appraisal camera linked to the Jishi Society database, and snapped a few photos. Without exception, these weapons were at least treasure-sword caliber. A handful had even crossed into the realm of divine weapons. These... were the accumulated foundation of the royal family. With a brief calculation, Yaoguang was startled to find that the items stored within this single vault were likely worth no less than one hundred billion Chixing coins. A moment later, he walked over to a fully transparent compartment. Many books were preserved inside, treated with anti-oxidation measures. Yaoguang stepped forward and entered a passcode. Liao Ming, who oversaw the Liao family's finances, had been captured alive by Huang Yan, and anything that needed to be extracted through interrogation had naturally been obtained. Soon, the door opened. Yaoguang entered and began flipping through the books. After a moment, something caught his eye, and he focused intently on a single volume. Only after a dozen minutes did he finally stop turning the pages. "The Great Cataclysm." What was recorded in these notes was an investigation concerning the Great Cataclysm. The history of a millennium ago truly seemed like a severed fault line. The prevailing public explanation was that a superstorm had ushered in an ice age, wiping out the human civilization of that era. Yet some experts had posted videos arguing that an ice age a thousand years ago would not have been enough to bring about the curtain call of human civilization. Perhaps there were unknown reasons behind humanity's ruin. But after all, it had occurred a millennium in the past. These experts could provide no conclusive evidence. Combined with the various nations' propaganda urging people to live in the present and look toward the future, the matter had caused little stir. This volume had not uncovered the truth behind the Great Cataclysm either, but... at the very end, there was a conclusion. The Great Cataclysm was man-made. ... "Artifact Nurturing Realm." Yaoguang muttered the name. The book mentioned another name for their world. And Xia Wuyuan's video had mentioned that very same name. *His information... probably came from the Baisheng Chemical Plant,* Yaoguang surmised. Based on the forces stationed by the Jishi Society in Dayu, the distribution of figures within the Rebirth Society could be roughly deduced. Comparable to high-ranking figures like Zong Yan and Fang Lu... Zhao Sheng was one, and Xie Yusheng was another. The other... was the demon at the Baisheng Chemical Plant that he and Xia Wuyuan had pursued. This alone showed the importance of the Baisheng Chemical Plant as an operational hub. That Xia Wuyuan had obtained various pieces of intelligence there, investigated and verified them step by step, and thereby glimpsed the truth of the world was entirely plausible. "This world... is dangerous." Yaoguang set the book down. A powerful sense of insecurity welled up in his heart once more. It was no less intense than when he had first transmigrated here, seeing in the original host's "memories" how a demon devoured several people's brains. That hair-raising sensation, coursing through his entire body like an electric shock, remained vivid in his mind to this very moment. He wanted to go back. Yet... he could not. Therefore... "Immortal." He pinned his hopes on the ethereal concept of an Immortal. Everlasting life, untethered from the world. And now... he was striving toward that goal, step by step. "To become an immortal," he murmured. He did not seek to become a Divine Immortal who governed cosmic laws and status, nor a Heavenly Immortal who merged with the Heavenly Dao to execute heaven's will, much less a Daluo Golden Immortal who leaped beyond the Three Realms and stood outside the Five Elements. All he sought was to become a Human Immortal who still retained human form and human emotions. Long-lived and enduring, free of calamity and pain, unblemished through myriad tribulations, indestructible before all methods. Nothing more. "Becoming an immortal will ensure my personal safety," Yaoguang said. He did not look through the rest of the books. Most of them consisted of cultivation methods and secret arts. Among them was even a technique capable of cultivating one into a Hunyuan Martial Saint, as well as a Heavenly Being-level combat technique. Yet to him, these held no value. From the information granted to him by the [Martial Path] branch, he could casually pick out dozens of methods far superior to these techniques. After spending over an hour conducting a preliminary inventory of the treasures in the vault, he exited. Huang Yan was still waiting outside. Yaoguang gave him a nod, then pulled out his phone and dialed Su Chiming. It rang for quite a while before Su Chiming picked up. "Did something happen?" he asked solemnly. "Uh..." Yaoguang glanced at the time displayed on his screen. It was already past three in the morning. He had been too busy earlier, and with emergency repairs restoring power across the royal palace, illuminating every corner bright as day, he had completely forgotten the time. Calling Su Chiming at this hour, it was no wonder the man responded with such alarm. Even so... "Something did come up," Yaoguang said. "Arrange a team of professional financial personnel and have them come to the royal palace immediately." He added, "They must be trustworthy—preferably people trained in-house." "Financial personnel? No problem. Ever since our Su family was on the verge of reaching the summit of Tiannan a decade ago, we've deliberately prepared to develop into an aristocratic family. We've trained several cohorts of talent in finance, law, banking, and marketing. How many do you need? I'll dispatch them right away!" Su Chiming replied without hesitation. His immediate willingness to provide whatever people were asked of him fully demonstrated his absolute trust in Yaoguang. "Send them all," Yaoguang said. "There are quite a few things to inventory." After a moment's thought, he added, "Also, if nothing urgent is happening on Buzhou Group's end, come over yourself and bring your team. There are some companies you'll need to interface with." Over the years, the royal family had held shares in a considerable number of conglomerates. The combined value of those shares amounted to hundreds of billions of Chixing coins; taking them over one by one would be no small task. "Bring Buzhou Group's people? Over at Buzhou Group... there's still a lot of local coordination to handle..." "Don't worry about it. Everyone on Tiannan's side is on our side," Yaoguang said. Fighting side by side tonight had proven that the Yue family was trustworthy. "Matters have priorities. Just secure control over the key departments first; the remaining companies can be taken over gradually," he added. "Priorities? Taking control of Tiannan isn't considered the highest priority...?" Su Chiming paused mid-sentence, suddenly recalling the grand scene at the Xingyu Center yesterday, where core figures of the aristocratic families had gathered. His heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help asking, "What did you do?" "Nothing much," Yaoguang replied. "I wiped out the Liao family. Right now, I'm waiting for you to bring your people to take over the Liao family's assets."