Chapter 192: Songyang Clan, Zhang Yu's Threat

A few days ago.

Songyang High School.

Inside the school's cultivation meditation room.

As the current student council president, the top student in the third year, and an outstanding descendant of the Zhou family, Zhou Chechen had spent a great deal of time, energy, and money, only to find that he simply could not uncover who the investor behind Zhang Yu was.

Upon hearing Zhou Chechen's result, Lan Ling's eyes flickered with hatred and immediately said, "Forget about investigating. Just have someone ram him and cripple him!"

"Just hire the fastest courier in Songyang City, have the courier run him over and cripple him during a delivery, and then drag out the compensation for as long as possible."

"Anyway, couriers hitting and killing people happens every year; hitting a high school student is nothing unusual..."

Seeing Lan Ling's impulsive look, Zhou Chechen sighed and said, "Sigh, can't you stop being so impulsive?"

"It's just that they carved words on you, and made me vomit from a beating, and caused the whole school to secretly mock us, isn't it?"

Lan Ling looked at Zhou Chechen incredulously: "This is nothing? This is a colossal humiliation! If I have to endure this, I might as well switch my cultivation method and practice the Desolate Bull Soul-Calming Heart Technique!"

Zhou Chechen said, "Sigh, it's after you started cultivating that Overlord Heart Technique that your temper has become more and more irritable."

"But a person should master the heart technique, not be mastered by it."

"Many times, rather than doing something to... make the heart technique run smoothly, it's better to figure it out yourself."

Zhou Chechen pointed at his own head and said, "Once you figure it out yourself, you don't have to spend a single cent—isn't that more cost-effective?"

"For instance, at the scene, I was indeed very angry, but a person can't stay angry forever, right? Think about it—after you go to college, graduate, and get a job... who will still talk about these things?"

"Many things seem very infuriating and important at the time... but after a few years, looking back, they're just a bit of wind and frost."

"We study hard, get into university—isn't our future prospects much broader than those two poor bastards'?"

"Every year in Songyang City, poor geniuses make a name for themselves, but in the end, how many of them actually make waves? This world is ultimately the world of powerful clans, the world of the rich..."

But Lan Ling didn't want to listen any longer and said urgently, "Just endure it like this? President! The GIF of you getting beaten and vomiting has spread to the normal high schools! Do you know what people are calling you and me now? The Vomit King of Songyang and the College Student of Songyang!"

"And you endure this? You weren't like this before!"

Zhou Chechen's cheek twitched, and he gave a helpless smile: "Lan Ling, if it were a student from Class 10 of the second year who offended you, I wouldn't say a word—I'd go with you right now and pin their whole class to the ground."

"But regarding Zhang Yu, for now I can only advise you to bear with it. After all, the most important thing for a person is to look forward..."

"Why?" Lan Ling stared deeply at Zhou Chechen, as if looking at a stranger: "President! You're not the kind of person who swallows his pride, especially when facing two poor losers. Tell me exactly why?"

Zhou Chechen said calmly: "You also know that Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are two poor losers. Then do you think that after Zhang Pianpian left, if no one was backing them, they could have continued to grow to their current level?"

"There must be someone behind them."

"But we can't find out who."

"Not being able to find out—that's what's most terrifying."

"It shows that the other side's power is completely above ours."

"That's why I'm advising you now."

"We're already in the third year—there are only ten months left until the college entrance exam. It's not worth spending money and energy on this."

That's what Zhou Chechen thought, that's how he advised Lan Ling, and that's what he intended to do.

But that evening, the appearance of a family elder completely disrupted his plans.

Along with a fluctuation of divine power, a divine power projection directly appeared in front of Zhou Chechen.

Zhou Chechen's heart paused: "This is... a projection talisman?"

Appearing along with the projection was a young man who looked somewhat similar to Zhou Chechen, but with an even more sinister expression.

And the most eye-catching thing about the young man was the five golden characters shining above his head—Purple-Gold Merit Master.

"Purple-Gold Merit Master..."

Zhou Chechen deeply understood the weight of those five characters—it was a venerable believer who spent hundreds of millions of dollars annually on orthodox deity faith, raising their faith level to a full Level 3.

And displaying the title of Purple-Gold Merit Master in real time, even forcibly displaying it before others so that even closing one's eyes cannot remove it... this was one of the privileges of a Purple-Gold Merit Master.

Seeing the person before him, Zhou Chechen immediately stood up and said respectfully, "Uncle."

The person who appeared before him was Zhou Yang, an elder of the Zhou family.

Zhou Yang himself was not responsible for the Zhou family's corpse business; instead, he had joined the Wanxing Group and become a high-level executive of the company.

And Songyang High School was affiliated with the Wanxing Education Group.

This was also a common situation among the powerful families of Songyang City—family members were scattered throughout various companies, with interests intertwined in a complex web, serving as key nodes for the companies' local operations.

Standing before Zhou Yang, Zhou Chechen felt how insignificant he, the so-called high school top student and student council president, truly was.

After all, there were only a few high-level executives of the Wanxing Group in Songyang City, while new top students appeared at Songyang High School every year. Zhou Yang looked at him, flicked his fingertip, and a talisman naturally formed, transforming into a sound barrier that enveloped the surroundings.

Watching this, Zhou Chechen sighed inwardly. Reaching the faith level of Purple-Gold Merit Master, even after projection, he could still conjure all kinds of talismans at will. To many, such methods were already… very much like a god.

Zhou Yang only said indifferently, "The family has some matters that need you to handle."

Hearing this, Zhou Chechen tensed up slightly, already sensing a bad premonition.

Zhou Yang, unconcerned with Zhou Chechen's emotions, continued coolly, "Suppress Zhang Yu. Since you have personal grudges and conflicting interests with him, do it in your own name—don't use the family's name."

"Zhang Yu?" Zhou Chechen was momentarily stunned, not expecting it to be about this.

Then Zhou Yang went on, "You need to be careful with the specifics."

"The goal is not to crush him to death, but to force him into a corner within the rules, to push him into seeking help from others…"

Hearing these words, Zhou Chechen's heart stirred, and he asked, "Force Zhang Yu to seek help? Is the family targeting someone behind Zhang Yu?"

Zhou Yang didn't answer, only saying, "You just follow our instructions and keep Zhang Yu pinned down. The rest is not your concern."

Zhou Chechen sighed inwardly, feeling the depth of this situation was unfathomable.

No error, first release, content here, take a look!

At that moment, he felt that he and Zhang Yu were like two pieces on a chessboard, and that the real players were the person behind Zhang Yu and the Zhou family behind him.

Although the Zhou family ranked low among the Sixteen Great Families of Songyang, Zhou Chechen, being a part of it, understood just how terrifyingly massive it was.

And now this massive entity was going after the person behind Zhang Yu, which meant that the force behind Zhang Yu was not to be underestimated either.

But precisely because these two behemoths were locked in conflict, he and Zhang Yu had been swept up in this raging tide, and a single misstep would lead to total destruction.

Zhou Chechen sighed in his heart, but he knew that having been raised by the family all this time, he could no longer disobey any of the family's orders. So he simply said, "I understand."

Zhou Yang's projection slowly faded, leaving only his voice echoing in Zhou Chechen's ears.

"Don't worry, whether it's people or money, the family will support you."

"Go ahead and do it, Zhou Chechen."

…

At the same time.

Inside an apartment on the 333rd floor of Central Tower.

Zhou Yang lay on a hospital bed, the lower half of his body completely gone, only his upper body connected to various tubes, quietly overlooking the city nightscape outside the window.

He thought to himself, "A new Evil God incident has occurred; the Patrol Team has finally extended its reach elsewhere."

Ever since the Evil God accidentally revealed its traces at Songyang High School, key figures from Songyang High School, the Wanxing Group, and even the Zhou family had almost all been targeted by the Patrol Team, forcing them to lie low and dare not use any power of the Evil God.

Yes… the Evil God—that was the original reason the Zhou family's ancestors had been able to rise.

It was also, after generations of management, how they had monopolized most of the corpse business in Songyang City, gradually infiltrated the companies, and become one of the pillars of the Sixteen Great Families.

But the Zhou family had always been very cautious in using the Evil God's power, only hoping to borrow its strength to make the family stronger.

So the Zhou family ancestors laid down some rules.

For example, Zhou family members who performed the Evil God ritual were not allowed to go to the second layer, to prevent the ritual's power from being discovered there, and more importantly, to prevent the Evil God's tentacles from extending to the second layer.

Therefore, successive generations of Zhou family seed members preparing for university entrance exams had never undergone the ritual and had never known of the Evil God's existence.

As he looked at the extremely prosperous city center under the night sky, surging images flooded Zhou Yang's mind—the pressure the Zhou family now faced under the tide of the times.

Scenes from Songyang City's past flashed through his mind—the rise and fall of various powerful families, all symbolizing the changes of the era.

Wealth was constantly converging, and the tentacles of the powerful families were continuously extending into every industry.

But with the tides of the times and the development of immortal cultivation technology, the number of powerful clans at the top of Songyang was gradually decreasing.

Those fallen clans became nourishment, allowing the surviving clans to grow stronger and stronger, accumulating increasingly astonishing energy in Songyang City.

Yet which clan did not wish to stand forever and eternally above the sky of Songyang City, watching the thousands upon thousands of people below contribute their value, working for their families generation after generation.

Zhou Yang thought to himself: "If the Zhou family wants to continue standing at the peak of Songyang and not be eliminated by the tide of this era, the most important thing now... is to master even stronger Evil God power."

"Zhang Yu... I never expected that a spare organ would become an Evil God cultist."

"It's a pity that Zhou Tianyi, that fool, failed in his previous action; otherwise we wouldn't have to wait until now..."

As for Zhang Yu as an individual, Zhou Yang naturally did not take him seriously; with just a thought, he had far too many ways to destroy him.

What he cared more about was the Evil God behind Zhang Yu.

He did not intend to force Zhang Yu to death; instead, he would continuously oppress him in the name of Zhou Chechen, forcing the other party to have no choice but to actively contact the Evil God and seek help from the Evil God under his subsequent surveillance, and then find that Evil God.