Deterrence

"Yaoguang?" Hearing Lin Xia's words, Su Yaoyu felt a swarm of question marks pop up in her mind. Did she even hear what she was saying? The soon-to-be-reorganized Supreme Council, which would decide the future course of Dayu, was going to be headed by Yaoguang as Speaker? Su Yaoyu stared intently at Lin Xia for quite a while before finally saying, rendered speechless, "Don't joke about things like this. Figures of that caliber—members of the Supreme Council—aren't people we can casually gossip about. Never mind the Speaker, even if Grandfather stepped up and strove for another eight or ten years, he wouldn't necessarily become one of the nine council members. Yaoguang becoming the Speaker?" She shook her head. "How could that be possible?" "It's true." Lin Xia wasn't in the least surprised by Su Yaoyu's reaction. After all... When Su Chiming had first called her and she learned the truth, her own reaction had been hardly better than Su Yaoyu's. For over a decade, however, she had been Su Chiming's right hand. More often than not, whatever Su Chiming came into contact with, she would come into contact with as well. After several days of confirmation, even if she couldn't fathom how the Su family had pulled off a quadruple leap—vaulting straight from a clan that wasn't even an aristocratic family into a powerhouse that replaced the royal Liao family—it had genuinely happened. She had no choice but to believe it. Furthermore, in the past few days, word that Yaoguang had achieved the realm of Martial Saint had begun to spread. A nineteen-year-old Martial Saint! Upon learning this, she understood, more or less, how the Su family had taken that seat. When one man attains the Tao, even his poultry and dogs ascend to heaven—there was no better description than this. The Su family had ridden completely on Yaoguang's coattails, soaring to meteoric heights. She had anticipated this day would come. Yet she had thought it would be ten or twenty years down the road. She had never expected... It would come so quickly. "Director Su Huaigu is already scouting out a new headquarters for Buzhou Group in the royal capital," Lin Xia explained, her enunciation clear and measured. "Barring any unforeseen developments, Buzhou Group should relocate to the royal capital within the next few months to facilitate the nationwide rollout and expansion. Meanwhile, Xingyu Center here in Tiannan... will serve as the headquarters for the Tiannan Province branch." Su Yaoyu stared at Lin Xia's solemn expression. After a long moment, the reality finally seemed to dawn on her. So... "What you're saying... is real?" Lin Xia gave a slight nod. A dazed, bewildered expression appeared on Su Yaoyu's face. So... Had the Su family truly skyrocketed from not even making the nation's top one hundred all the way into the top ten greatest clans in the entire country?! And had they even replaced the royal Liao family to become one of the foremost aristocratic families? This news... She desperately needed time to digest it. Before long, a commotion came from outside. Hearing the sound, Su Yaoyu snapped out of her daze a bit. "It's Yaoxue and Yaoshuang." She quickly said, "Let them in." Lin Xia nodded and notified the staff. Soon, the doors to the chairman's office swung open, and Su Yaoxue and Su Yaoshuang came walking in hurriedly. "Is the news real?! Not only has our Su family finally risen to become an aristocratic family, but we've even replaced the royal Liao family as Dayu's foremost aristocratic family?!" The moment Su Yaoxue entered, she asked impatiently. Su Yaoyu was taken aback. She herself had only just learned this news. How was it that Su Yaoxue... seemed to know even earlier than she did? "Where did you hear this news?" "Something was off about Buzhou Group's expansion over a month ago. Green lights across every sector, even reaching into critical industries like electric power, water conservancy, and gas. Such anomalies caught my attention, so of course I investigated and kept a close watch. What's more, starting a month ago, business at my own company began to turn... strange..." As Su Yaoxue spoke, her expression grew peculiar. "Scores of industry players went out of their way trying to do business with me... Or rather, it couldn't even be called business. It was more like they were begging to hand me money under the guise of doing business. And those companies weren't just local firms from Tiannan, but businesses from other provinces as well..." She glanced at Su Yaoyu. "When something like that happens, anyone can tell there's an issue. I deliberately followed the trail and pressed the person in charge of a company owned by the Yue family. Thanks to his veiled hints, I managed to uncover the Liao family's delegation of royal authority from over a month ago. And the one who forced the Liao family to relinquish that power was none other than our Su family." Su Yaoyu looked at Su Yaoxue... feeling rather ashamed. Acting in Grandfather's stead to oversee Buzhou Group and possessing far superior information channels, she had only noticed something was amiss today and learned the truth from Lin Xia. Yet Su Yaoxue... with less status, position, access, and resources than her, had relied purely on sharp instincts to catch wind of the news ahead of time. From that alone, her own competence... was noticeably inferior to her younger sister's. "I couldn't be certain either. It was only when I asked Lin Xia today that..." Su Yaoyu began. Before she could finish, Su Yaoxue cut her off. "Wait, let me guess!" She turned to Lin Xia. "Su Yaoguang... has broken through to Martial Saint, hasn't he?" Lin Xia was somewhat surprised. Even so, faced with her question, she nodded. "It really is true..." Su Yaoxue's eyes widened in disbelief. She had learned after the fact that Yaoguang was a Grandmaster. However... While a nineteen-year-old Grandmaster commanded remarkable influence, that was still far from enough to rally the nine aristocratic families and force the Liao family to yield royal authority. Thus, she had made a bold deduction: Yaoguang, blessed with peerless natural talent, had achieved the realm of Martial Saint at the age of nineteen. Only a nineteen-year-old Martial Saint, full of potential to tread even further along the Martial Path in the future, could compel the nine aristocratic families to stake their fortunes on him and rally around him. That was the only rational explanation for how the Su family could become Dayu's foremost aristocratic family. She hadn't anticipated... that her guess would actually be right! "The political reform of Dayu has already been creating quite a stir lately. The separation of powers has shifted from three equal branches to one primary and two auxiliary. Regional governments and the Supreme Procuratorate will all have to act in alignment with the administrative guidelines formulated by the Supreme Council. In other words, from now on, the members of the Supreme Council will be the true decision-makers of Dayu. And among the ten seats on the Supreme Council... Young Master Yaoguang holds one, and it is the most weighty position of all: the Speaker." Lin Xia gave a slight nod. "We don't know what agreement Young Master Yaoguang reached with the nine aristocratic families, but from now on, Dayu will almost certainly build a political order centered around Young Master Yaoguang." "Speaker..." Hearing Lin Xia's explanation, Su Yaoxue felt the world around her take on a surreal quality. "Does a Martial Saint... really possess such enormous influence?" Su Yaoyu, who was not a member of the martial world, found it hard to believe. "Miss Yaoyu should really read up more on this subject," Lin Xia said. "No matter how technology advances, no matter how mighty a nation's military becomes or how prosperous its economy grows, the fundamental building blocks of factions, nations, and society are ultimately human beings. And a Martial Saint... already represents the pinnacle of humanity." A martial artist had no need to fight against the entire world. As long as he possessed the power to defeat any individual, the human world would naturally revolve around him. "So..." At that moment, Su Yaoshuang, who had been listening along on the side to join in the excitement, chimed in, "From now on, should our Su family... be called the Dayu royal family? Are we... princes and princesses?" "Dayu... will likely no longer maintain a constitutional monarchy," Lin Xia said with a faint smile. "Though if you were to call yourselves that from now on, it wouldn't exactly be unwarranted." "In other words, I can take vicious revenge on those women from the Ye family now?" Su Yaoshuang's eyes lit up. "Yaoshuang!" Su Yaoyu scolded her immediately. "No matter how good our situation is now, that's no excuse for you to act arrogant and domineering." "Why shouldn't I?" Su Yaoshuang retorted indignantly. "I'm just an ordinary person. Now that I have the status and the power, why shouldn't I bully back the people who bullied us in the first place?" She shot a look at Su Yaoxue. "Don't tell me you don't want to get justice for Second Sister?" Su Yaoyu frowned, only speaking after a brief pause: "The situation clearly hasn't fully stabilized yet. Don't go causing trouble for Grandfather and Yaoguang." "I know, I know," Su Yaoshuang nodded obediently. "Keep your head down when you have to, and hold it high when you can. I won't do anything for now. Once things settle down, it won't be too late to wipe away the humiliation. The Ye family, and every single person who spread rumors about me—I've got them all written down in my little notebook." Seeing this, Su Yaoyu felt utterly helpless. This little sister of hers... If she didn't properly guide her, she really might turn into a spoiled, profligate heiress. Meanwhile, Su Yaoxue, standing by their side, hadn't registered a word of Su Yaoshuang's talk about getting revenge on the Ye family. At this moment, she was completely absorbed in the staggering power commanded by a "Martial Saint." Martial arts! She practiced them too! She had even obtained a Martial Artist certificate. Yet her original motive for practicing martial arts had merely been to possess some self-defense capability in times of danger. Her true time and energy had always been poured into running businesses. Furthermore, through her grit, shrewdness, and foresight, she had multiplied her assets tenfold in a very short span of time. Yet now, seeing how Yaoguang, upon attaining the level of Martial Saint, had effortlessly turned the tides—not only lifting the beleaguered Su family out of their dire straits, but carrying them to the rank of Dayu's foremost aristocratic family in just a few months... This capability, this deterrence, this influence... outstripped doing business by countless orders of magnitude. Even though she knew that a genius like Yaoguang defied common sense and might only appear once in decades or centuries... His achievement pointed out a glorious, wide-open road. It made her truly realize what it took to truly master her own destiny, and what it took to truly protect herself and those close to her! "Martial Saint!" Mulling over those two words, Su Yaoxue cast aside her company and the vendetta with the Ye family, harboring only a single conviction in her heart! "I must practice martial arts!" ... Yaoguang paid little heed to the happenings in Tiannan. Mount Yuhuang. After completing initial treatment and management, he recondensed his Life Force Field. Once his Life Force Field was restored, the efficiency of recuperating from his injuries surged dramatically. With almost every passing day, he moved one step closer to full recovery. In just a single week, his physical condition was seventy to eighty percent recovered. Moreover, tempered by the mortal struggle of that battle, which had honed his mind and will, his spirit intent cultivation had finally borne fruit, marking his entry into the realm of spirit intent. With his body restored, Yaoguang had no intention of continuing to play riddles with the Rebirth Society. He went straight to Zong Yan. "Have the people who can truly make the decisions in the Jishi Society come see me. We need to find out why this world has become what it is today."