Chapter 73: Boss, It Seems the Company Is About to Be Forcibly Liquidated

The success of the “Strive Forward Bravely” Tunnel-Digging Friendship Competition was like a potent stimulant, injected into every corner of the Heishan Mining Area.

Zhao Wuji finally let go of all restraints.

“Monthly Outstanding Employee,” “Safety Production Model Worker,” “Gold Medal Slogan King”… all sorts of absurd titles that even he found ridiculous were solemnly established and tightly bound with real benefits such as KPIs, bonuses, and contribution points.

The entire mining area came alive.

When the miners swung their pickaxes, what came from their mouths were no longer venting shouts, but roars of “For the honor of the Champion Team!”

The looks they gave their immediate superiors were no longer filled with fear, but rather a kind of scrutiny that said, “How much bonus you’ll get this month depends on the brothers’ mood.”

Even the cafeteria hung up a red banner — “Eat Well, Drink Well, Achieve More, Help the Steward Sprint for the S-Rank KPI!”

The Ascension Group, this clockwork machine wound by Chu Feng, had every gear slicked with the lubricant called “Performance,” spinning at a near-manic speed.

Everything appeared to be thriving.

Yet beneath this fiery facade, deep within Qingyun Sect, a power capable of overturning the chessboard was awakening.

Back Mountain Forbidden Area.

The spiritual energy here was so dense it turned into tangible mist that shrouded the area all year round.

This was the foundation of Qingyun Sect, the resting place of generations of ancestors.

Any disciple who dared step within a hundred miles would be pulverized into dust by the invisible grand formation.

At the deepest part of the forbidden land lay an unremarkable stone cave dwelling.

Inside, a figure had been sitting cross-legged for a hundred years.

His hair and beard were completely white, his Daoist robe covered in dust. His aura was so weak it seemed fused with the stone bed beneath him.

Qingyun Sect’s one and only stabilizing pillar — a Nascent Soul Stage grand cultivator, True Lord Xuantian.

A hundred years ago, he failed to break through to mid-Nascent Soul, his foundation nearly collapsing. He had no choice but to enter death seclusion, seeking a sliver of life.

A century passed in the blink of an eye.

Today.

The thick layer of dust covering his eyelids suddenly, silently cracked open a thin line.

The eyelids, like stone carvings, trembled slightly.

A thread of incomparably pure spiritual energy seeped from the crown of his head, like a drop of water falling into a calm oil pan.

Buzz—

The entire spiritual energy network of Qingyun Sect quaked violently at that moment.

Disciplinary Hall.

Wang Xuanfu was reviewing a report on the “Ascension Group Mission Outsourcing Platform Taxation Regulations” when he suddenly felt a soul-deep tremor of dread.

Clatter.

The jade slip in his hand slipped to the ground.

He abruptly raised his head, his gaze piercing through walls, locked firmly toward the forbidden land behind the mountain. Blood vessels instantly spread across his eyes.

“An… Ancestor?”

CFO Office.

Liu Changqing sat cross-legged, happily clicking his jade abacus, calculating this month’s “shareholder dividends,” the fat on his face blooming like a chrysanthemum.

Suddenly, his entire body of flesh trembled violently. It was as if he’d been drenched from head to toe in icy water.

A terror like being stared at by a prehistoric beast awakening from slumber made every hair on his body stand on end.

“Mother of—! What the hell? Did those bastards from Heavenheart Holy Land come knocking?!”

Far away in the Heishan Mining Area.

Zhao Wuji held a voice-amplifying artifact, passionately conducting a “Corporate Culture Construction Seminar,” when his voice abruptly stopped.

As a Golden Core cultivator, he was most sensitive to this kind of pressure that transcended the level of life itself.

It wasn’t power—it was the feeling that the heavens were about to collapse.

“Na… Nascent Soul!”

Zhao Wuji’s face went deathly pale, his lips trembling uncontrollably, unable to form a complete sentence.

He couldn’t fathom how a backwater like Qingyun Sect could possibly hide a Nascent Soul old monster!

At that moment, every cultivator above the Golden Core stage, no matter where they were, all simultaneously felt the terrifying majesty that ruled over heaven and earth.

And at the center of this storm, Chu Feng knew nothing of it.

Inside his secret chamber.

Chu Feng was staring intently at a pill, eyes gleaming.

The pill was only the size of a thumb, entirely crimson, with faint traces of lightning crawling serpent-like across its surface.

【Foundation Establishment Pill (Clinical Trial Edition) V0.1】

“Good stuff—truly my little treasure!”

He could clearly feel the violent energy compressed within this tiny pill.

It was at least ten times stronger than all the Qi Nourishing Pills he’d taken combined!

“As expected of my CPO. Such execution power—reward her with a flying sword!”

Chu Feng was extremely satisfied with Leng Yanran’s efficiency and had already mapped out the next phase of his marketing plan.

Establish an “Elite Beta Testing Group,” selecting the most loyal Qi Refining Ninth Level “family members” for trial use.

It would be both a welfare perk and a perfect marketing event.

As long as one person successfully established their foundation, the ripple effect would be on the scale of a tsunami.

“Then we’ll follow up with ‘Foundation Dream Loans,’ ‘Spirit Stone P2P’… These leeks grow faster than I do—would be a shame not to harvest them!”

Chu Feng’s mental abacus crackled as his expression turned into that of a capitalist watching a K-line chart shoot straight up.

He carefully stored away the precious sample, sat cross-legged, and began consolidating his cultivation.

The goal was clear—rush to the peak of Qi Refining Ninth Level as soon as possible and become the “Chief Product Experience Officer” of his new product.

But just as he closed his eyes—

Boom—!

A spiritual energy fluctuation a hundred times stronger than before erupted violently from the direction of the forbidden land, like a volcano bursting after millennia of suppression!

A pillar of spiritual energy, visible to the naked eye, pierced through the sky, tearing a colossal hole in the clouds above!

For a thousand miles around, heaven and earth’s spiritual energy seemed summoned by an emperor, transforming into surging torrents that poured madly into that enormous vortex!

Heaven and earth lost all color in an instant.

The wind and clouds reversed their course!

An indescribable, vast, ancient, and unquestionable pressure descended like a bursting heavenly river, flooding every corner of Qingyun Sect!

The mountains groaned under the unbearable weight.

All beasts lay prone, trembling, defecating and urinating in terror.

Every disciple of Qingyun Sect, no matter what they were doing, felt at that instant their very souls gripped by an invisible hand that slowly tightened.

Thud!

Thud! Thud!

Hundreds upon thousands of disciples’ legs gave way simultaneously. They dropped to their knees, faces pale, blood seeping from their seven orifices.

“Hea… Heaven’s Might!”

“Help! I can’t breathe!”

“The end… the end is here!”

Panic and despair spread like a plague, drowning the entire sect.

Chu Feng’s secret chamber shook violently under the oppressive force. Cracks spread like spiderwebs across the stone walls, debris falling everywhere.

He abruptly opened his eyes.

Operating his Qi Refining Seventh Level cultivation at full force, he barely resisted the overwhelming urge to kneel. A sweetness rose in his throat, and a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.

He stared fixedly in the direction of the forbidden land, for the first time showing true shock in his eyes.

This wasn’t Golden Core.

This was… Nascent Soul!

And not just any Nascent Soul — the kind that could crush every Golden Core he’d ever met with a single finger!

Damn it!

How could a newbie village like Qingyun Sect spawn the final boss of the version?!

For a moment, Chu Feng’s heart sank completely.

But his “reaper” brain started racing at 0.01 seconds.

Risk Assessment: S-Rank, irresistible force.

Available Resources: Funds, manpower, low-grade pills, production lines… all ineffective.

Breakthrough Point: …

Computation Result: Blank.

For the first time, Chu Feng realized all his proud methods were as fragile as paper before absolute power.

A player who didn’t play by “business rules” had just flipped the table.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep