Chapter 140: Chapter 8: Old Yan, Oh Old Yan, You’ve Caused Me So Much Trouble

“Attention all departments, attention all departments. A public relations crisis of the highest magnitude has occurred. I repeat, a public relations crisis of the highest magnitude has occurred. All department personnel are to return to their posts immediately!”

The warning blared three times in a row, throwing the entire building into chaos.

Moments later, the Director-General of the Public Opinion Research Department rushed into the main control room, demanding in a stern voice:

“What happened? Who sounded the alarm?”

“I did!”

The staff member looked tense. He performed a series of operations on the main console, pulling up data and intelligence to display on the large screen.

“Just now, a firestorm of public opinion erupted online. Of the 370 billion net-citizens online globally, 1.7 percent have already joined the discussion!”

The Director-General’s expression changed drastically. 1.7%… It sounded small, but proportionally, that was already over 6.2 billion people!

The staff member continued to pull up information:

“The source is in Wutong City. A total of 38,000 live streams and over a million videos have emerged, and those numbers are still climbing rapidly!”

“What in the world happened?!” the Director-General demanded in a heavy tone.

The staff member didn’t answer, silently pulling up a brief report and the feed from a live stream.

The report documented the mighty, celestial voice that had spread throughout Wutong City. Words like ’Evil Cult,’ ’Great Sacrifice,’ and ’Sakata Heavy Industries’ made the Director-General’s eyelids twitch. He had a very bad feeling.

But the image on the live stream made his expression change completely.

On the screen, twelve Celestial Humans from Sakata Heavy Industries could be seen attacking a Great Sun in the clouds. Within the Great Sun was a blurry figure, shrouded in scorching brilliance and impossible to see clearly.

However, the blurry figure remained motionless in the clouds. With just a flip of its palm, the Great Suns that had soared into the sky began to fall, one after another!

In just a moment, all twelve Great Suns had fallen and been extinguished, signifying the fall and death of twelve Celestial Humans!

That wasn’t all.

The blurry figure didn’t stop. It sat cross-legged in the clouds, raised a hand, and then pressed down.

Before the Director-General’s horrified eyes, the skyscraper bearing the massive Sakata Heavy Industries logo… collapsed with a deafening ROAR!!

His mind went blank, a chill running up his spine… This was a catastrophe!

How many years had it been? Someone had once again openly attacked a Super Conglomerate, and—and even exposed matters like the Great Sacrifice and the Evil Cult to the public…

A catastrophe!

The Director-General jolted and barked out orders:

“Cut off Wutong City’s regional network immediately! Mobilize the Public Opinion Departments and Bureaus from every Province and city to control the web, delete all related videos, and shut down all related live streams…”

“It failed!”

A staff member cried out in alarm.

“All commands have been intercepted! We’re tracing the interceptor’s IP address… Found it. It’s at…”

The staff member froze.

“Where?” The Director-General’s expression was terrifyingly grim. He foresaw a massive storm—a massive storm forged from the fury of public opinion!

The staff member swallowed hard and said, trembling:

“In… in the building across from us.”

The Director-General of the Public Opinion Research Department was slightly stunned. He instinctively looked out the window toward the skyscraper across the street, which bore a huge logo.

Longque Technology.

The Director-General’s face stiffened.

…….

“Not bad,” Yan Huang said, his eyes glued to the data from all sides. “What’s Sakata Heavy Industries’ reaction?”

“Chairman, over ten directors and one great director from Sakata Heavy Industries have disappeared. We speculate with over ninety percent certainty that they’re heading to Wutong City… Who exactly is that person in Wutong City?”

Yan Huang glanced at the blurry figure on the screen. A name flashed through his mind, but he immediately dismissed it.

’That kid, Lu Xuan, certainly gave me a scare before. Becoming a Celestial Human in such a short time, with such a terrifyingly powerful background… But…’

’At the very least, this blurry figure who wiped out Sakata Heavy Industries’ branch and slayed twelve Celestial Humans couldn’t possibly be that kid, Xiaoxuan.’

’After all, Xiaoxuan has only just entered the Celestial Human Level and is still at the Celestial Human First Celestial Realm. How could he possibly have such power? It must be someone backing him, right?’

After a moment of contemplation, Yan Huang gave calm instructions:

“Sakata Heavy Industries’ attention has been temporarily diverted. Send someone to warn the Public Opinion Research Department not to interfere with this public opinion storm by any means. Also, have Nan Ming take a few directors and try to obstruct Sakata Heavy Industries’ movements.”

Nan Ming was one of Longque Technology’s two great directors, a True Immortal.

He paused for a moment before continuing:

“No matter who that person is, do what you can to stall Sakata Heavy Industries for him, give him a chance to escape… Also, bring Jiang Xue over from Central Plains Province, then contact all media outlets and tell them I’m holding an emergency press conference!”

As he spoke, a brilliant light shone in Yan Huang’s eyes. He realized this was a golden opportunity.

’Sakata Heavy Industries’ attention is fixed on Wutong City. They must be furious right now, and they probably still think the written order is over there…’

’And what I need to do now is to produce that written order and detonate this tide of public opinion, which has already taken shape but lacks the crucial evidence to be definitive!’

’This time, Sakata Heavy Industries is probably going to suffer a huge loss!’

The commands were executed quickly. All departments within Longque Technology sprang into action, and streams of information flowed in, which Yan Huang processed in an orderly fashion.

“The number of people discussing the incident online has reached 7.9 billion!”

“Sakata Heavy Industries has begun damage control. They must be desperate—they’ve dumped all the dirt on the celebrities from their subsidiary entertainment companies online.”

“Great Director Nan Ming has already engaged with Sakata Heavy Industries’ great director, but he couldn’t hold them back. We estimate that Sakata Heavy Industries’ people will arrive in the Wutong City area around dusk!”

Time ticked by, until one of the staff members let out a cry of surprise and confusion.

“Wait, why hasn’t the mysterious person in Wutong City left yet?”

Yan Huang was taken aback. He looked at a satellite image and saw the blurry figure, still shrouded in the brilliance of the Great Sun, speeding toward the Kongtong Mountain Range. Although it quickly hid itself within the mountains and disappeared from view, there was no way it could hide from the senses of a True Immortal.

Under the sweep of a Divine Sense, even if he were hiding under the shade of a tree or deep in the forest, he would definitely be discovered.

He frowned, thought for a moment, and made a phone call.

…….

「Dusk was already approaching.」

Lu Xuan sped through the mountains, not retracting the brilliance of his Great Sun. He deliberately allowed the dozens of satellites in the Celestial Vault to capture his image.

He specifically skirted Gouxian Town, entering the Kongtong Mountain Range from the other side. Once he felt he had gone far enough, he finally concealed his brilliance, hid his form, and vanished among the layered mountains.

“This should be about right.”

Lu Xuan muttered to himself with a frown. If nothing unexpected happened, the true upper echelon of Sakata Heavy Industries should be arriving soon. The direction he had flown in was toward Central Plains Province, which should serve as a misdirection.

’As for now…’

He hid his figure in the shade of the forest, speeding through the shadows of one mountain after another as he changed direction and hurried back toward Gouxian Town.

Although Gouxian Town was small and removed from the secular world, its location on the edge of the Kongtong Mountain Range actually made it quite conspicuous.

’However, it’s a case of hiding in plain sight. Precisely because it’s so conspicuous, if I sneak back now and disguise myself as a towns-person, I should be able to evade any subsequent searches.’

Originally, Lu Xuan had wanted to go directly to Guangcheng Palace. But Guangcheng Palace was different from Gouxian Town. If he was actually found in Gouxian Town, he could just run again at worst.

But if it were Guangcheng Palace, that Daoist Palace would most likely choose to protect him.

In that case, Guangcheng Palace would be drawn into a direct conflict with Sakata Heavy Industries, and things would get complicated… Although the Qing He Daoist once said that Guangcheng Palace was actually extremely strong, not much weaker than Dragon Tiger Mountain, Lu Xuan wasn’t willing to take that gamble.

If he lost that bet, it would bring a terrible disaster upon Guangcheng Palace!

Gouxian Town, on the other hand, didn’t matter. He could just leave. Everyone’s focus would be solely on him; they wouldn’t bother a perfectly ordinary, unremarkable little town.

Soon, Lu Xuan returned to Gouxian Town. By now, the town had returned to its usual tranquility. Brawny men carried loads on poles, old farmers tilled their fields—everything was peaceful and serene.

After muttering a few apologies in his heart, Lu Xuan changed his face. He then found a few old, fitting clothes on a clothesline, put them on, and transformed into a grimy-faced man. Finding a large bluestone, he sat down and began to leisurely sunbathe.

By now, dusk had begun to fall. A vast and mighty pressure surged from the horizon like a tide. One by one, Celestial Humans from Sakata Heavy Industries appeared above the small town. After scanning the area a few times without noticing anything, they were about to leave, speeding off in the direction of Central Plains Province.

Lu Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, the sound of a cell phone suddenly rang out.

RING RING RING!

In the sky, the Celestial Humans who were just about to leave paused. The expression on Lu Xuan’s face froze.

He silently glanced at his phone. The caller ID… Old Yan.

’Great, just great… Perfect timing!’

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