Ji Xiuran sat down in the courtyard and picked up a cla.s.sic text again, slowly reading it. On the other hand, Worriless Nie was sitting next to Ji Xiuran, occasionally looking at him.

"Is the book that interesting?" Worriless Nie asked.

"It can't match up to one ten-thousandth of you," Ji Xiuran casually responded.

Before the girl could say anything else, Ji Xiuran set the book down. "The proceedings of the Fearless Alliance don't seem to be going smoothly."

The girl was silent.

Indeed, the Fearless Alliance was facing a great hurdle and had crossed some long-established major factions, so they were literally surviving in the cracks.

"It's nothing. Things are going rather smoothly, actually." The girl forced a smile.

"Mm, as long as things are going well." Ji Xiuran nodded gently.

…

After Worriless Nie left:

"Skeleton," Ji Xiuran called.

A thin man appeared.

Ji Xiuran didn't take his eyes off of his book and kept reading as he ordered, "Eliminate every ent.i.ty that threatens the Fearless Alliance. Withhold all mercy."

"Yes." Skeleton took his leave a second later.

"Young Master…"

Ji Yue looked at Ji Xiuran. "Our situation right now isn't optimistic either. The Tong family and the remnants of the Zhou family teamed up with the previous leader of the underground empire. We should avoid trouble."

However, Ji Xiuran didn't look up and replied detachedly, "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

"Young Master… Sigh, alright." Ji Yue was exasperated.

Had his young master gone mad? This next period of time was most vital for the young master. Whether he could rule the entire underground empire or not would depend on this. Furthermore, the Tong and Zhou families were attentively watching Ji Xiuran, wanting to eliminate Ji Xiuran first so the others would collapse. Yet, he was dispatching Skeleton and his group to help that ridiculous Fearless Alliance.

…

Late at night, at the headquarters of a major faction:

Several higher-ups were facing off against a great enemy. These people actually managed to covertly infiltrate their headquarters and successfully avoided all detection, catching them completely off guard. Just how did they do it?!

Skeleton grimly stood next to a man.

The man wore an overcoat and leather gloves.

"I heard you guys schemed and injured Bai Feng of the Fearless Alliance." The man, Ji Xiuran, had a faint smile on his lips but it sent onlookers s.h.i.+vering.

Skeleton looked at his master. This smile was a true sign that this man was genuinely angry—a rare occasion.

"Bai Feng?"

A higher-up snorted. "I was wondering who you were! So you're from the Fearless Alliance! What did you think you could do by sneaking inside our headquarters? I'm telling you—we've set up an elaborate trap around this place! All of you will die!"

"We've disabled your elaborate trap already. How else do you think we entered?" Ji Yue interjected coldly.

"What?!"

The expressions of several managers changed at once. What kind of joke were they playing?

"What should we do with them, Emperor Ji?" Skeleton asked.

"Emperor Ji?!"

Everyone was stunned when they discovered the ident.i.ty of this man. This man was… E-emperor Ji?!

"Emperor Ji… Could it be you're… Ji Xiuran… of the Ji family?!"

A manager shuddered. Impossible! How could Ji Xiuran have any connection to the Fearless Alliance and that Bai Feng?! That was absolutely impossible!

Who was Ji Xiuran? Although he rarely made appearances in the Independent State and very few people had ever seen Ji Xiuran's true appearance, his ferocious name… had reverberated through the Independent State since he was young!

"From now on, you'll be struck off from the Independent State," Ji Xiuran aloofly said.

…

Soon, a raging flame started to take over the headquarters, swallowing it whole.

He wouldn't forgive any ent.i.ty that harmed her. He would only destroy and erase their existence.

Perhaps feeling a bit chilly, the man wrapped his overcoat around him more tightly. Then he led his group away without looking back.