Chapter 742: Careless Pretense

Translator:

Abyssruler

Editor:

Lucas

“Is t.i.ta Star a fun place? I heard that the natural scenery there is beautiful, and there are also dwarves who hunt a variety of monsters there.”

Ai Xiaolu asked out of curiosity.

“Don’t call them dwarves – they are known as the wise ones. Watch what you’re saying, I have friends around me that can hear what you’re saying. I have to discuss business with them.”

“Business, oh wow. Snow, De Fulei and I are all really bored right now. We’ll come visit you on t.i.ta Star and discuss some business on the side as well. I won’t take no for answer!”

Ai Xiaolu had begun to act shamelessly again. However, this was the trump card of many girls after all. w.a.n.g Zheng could not help but nod in reply. After all, he still had to stay on t.i.ta Star for quite some time in order to help Rara Durai form his elite squad.

Jasper and Gabre exchanged looks with one another as if to confirm what they heard things right. Did w.a.n.g Zheng just mention the name Ai Xiaolu? Yep, that had to be right, it was Ai Xiaolu indeed.

“Sorry about that, had to talk to a friend of mine. Where were we at?”

Jasper smiled. He was thick-skinned after all. “Brother Zheng, sorry for being such a busybody, but was the Ai Xiaolu that you were just talking to THE Ai Xiaolu from the Hail Cloud Alliance’s Ai s.h.i.+ Financial Group?

w.a.n.g Zheng was surprised, “Do you all know her?”

Jasper’s face turned bright red, “Oh gosh. We know of her, but it’s unlikely that she knows us as well.

Gabre got excited as well. “Ai Xiaolu is really famous. She became a genius trader when she was only twelve years old, yet in recent years she seemed to have vanished from the public eye. Apparently she took up an even higher-level role. The Ai s.h.i.+ Financial Group is one of the premier money-lenders within the Milky Way Alliance. Having their support is equivalent to giving your business a new lease on life.”

No matter how large your corporation is, there would always be situations where cash-flow problems persisted. There was always the chance of being sniped by your compet.i.tors as well, so maintaining good relations with other financial groups was very much a necessity.

w.a.n.g Zheng was stunned. He would never have imagined that Ai Xiaolu actually had such a glorious background. It was just in a different domain altogether.

While it was true that she was the Ai s.h.i.+ Financial Group’s only possible successor of direct descent, she had demonstrated actual ability as well. Since she was twenty years old, she had been holding a key position in the investments arm of the group. The few big moves that she made so far had all been met with resounding success. Some countries even used the investments she had been involved in as case studies for their teaching materials.

Among the rich and famous of the Milky Way Alliance, Jasper and the others idolized Ai Xiaolu, yet the heiress of the Ai s.h.i.+ Financial Group clearly had no interest in them whatsoever.

While Jasper was the vice-president of Tadinger Group in name, in actuality this was just a fancy t.i.tle. The power he held in the group was equivalent to that of a branch manager. His family was a major stockholder of Tadinger Group, so they held some power when it came to negotiations and making suggestions. However, they did not really have much say in determining the group’s policies.

In short, he was just in Tadinger Group for the fancy t.i.tle and perhaps to gain a little experience there. This was all about saving face. He was able to handle small matters, but there was no way he would be allowed to handle bigger projects.

Was his life really going to be lived in this way?

Jasper was unwilling to accept such a fate, which made him come to t.i.ta Star in the first place. Now that he had forged a relations.h.i.+p with Yan Xiaosu, he would try his best to obtain whatever opportunities he could.

As such, it was important that he had heard Ai Xiaolu talk to w.a.n.g Zheng over the Skylink. If he was not mistaken, it even seemed like she was flirting with him as well. Even more importantly, she had volunteered to do business with him!

When was the last time that the Ai s.h.i.+ Financial Group had to seek out new business on their own?

Wasn’t it usually others who go knocking on their doors instead?

However, it seemed like this boss in front of him did not seem too happy about it.

Would you believe that?

Things really turned out this way, so there was no choice but to believe it.

Gabre was stunned as well. “Brother w.a.n.g, Jasper’s previous words match up to what I was about to say. I want to invest more in the t.i.ta Star project as well.”

He had no choice but to follow in the footsteps of this man that was able to make Yan Xiaosu so proactive. If he did not do so, he might as well return home to become a good-for-nothing instead.

Yan Xiaosu was the most stunned of all. He spent so much time mulling over how to placate Jasper and Gabre, but that one Skylink call was enough to bring these two idiots to their knees.

Tsk, w.a.n.g Zheng was the boss indeed – he had to give it to him.

“Brothers, let’s crack upon a red wine to celebrate!” Yan Xiaosu pretentiously suggested.

After all the hustle and bustle, w.a.n.g Zheng still decided to meet Lie Xin and Achilles on his own. He originally a.s.sumed that they would enjoy being in such a lively crowd, but in order to enjoy the crowd you need to be familiar with it first. Lie Xin and Achilles preferred to understand more about t.i.ta Star, so the two of them were busier than w.a.n.g Zheng.

“I really have to thank you all this time.” w.a.n.g Zheng expressed his heartfelt thanks.

Lie Xin’s mood seemed to have gotten better – at least on the surface. The distance of this place from Mars enabled her to temporarily forget about some of her troubles.

“We can’t just rely on your words alone, w.a.n.g Zheng. Why don’t you show how grateful you are through your actions? t.i.ta Star’s development is of great interest to the Lie family as well.” Lie Xin replied. Her personality had always been this straightforward.

w.a.n.g Zheng nodded. “You are definitely welcome to partic.i.p.ate. Achilles, how about you?”

Achilles let out a faint smile, “We seem to have some sort of a debt going now. Fine, if it’s not too much to ask, let me in on this as well.”

w.a.n.g Zheng had heard about the death from Achilles. It was no surprise that Lie Xin’s mood swings had been rather drastic. Honestly speaking, w.a.n.g Zheng was really startled when he heard the news. He could not really put his feelings in words. Human life was such a fragile thing. Not long ago they were both on the same s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p returning to the Solar System, yet they would regrettably never see each other again ever again. This incident definitely had the biggest impact on Lie Xin. w.a.n.g Zheng did not know whether Lie Xin and Achilles viewed him as their adversary or their friend, but up until now, w.a.n.g Zheng had always treated them as his friends. As such, he sincerely hoped that Lie Xin was able to forget about her troubles by being on t.i.ta Star.

“You all should stay a little longer if you have nothing better to do. t.i.ta Star is abundant in Yuan Qi and is definitely a suitable place for training. As for the business side of things, just get your families to send people over to manage things. I’ll let the people of t.i.ta know.”

w.a.n.g Zheng replied. The partners.h.i.+p between t.i.ta Star and the Solar System was a good thing after all. Regardless of how much the Solar System had declined, it was still a veteran permanent member of the Milky Way Council after all. In comparison, other empires would not be too jealous either as a result.

“w.a.n.g Zheng, once you’ve fully recovered, let’s compare our skills.” Lie Xin’s challenge was straight to the point. She did not really seem to care about much now.

w.a.n.g Zheng nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll entertain you anytime.”

“In my opinion, the Yuan Qi of t.i.ta Star will be rather beneficial for the cultivation of our powers. The only problem is that the wood element is too prevalent here, so when it comes to the cultivation of Ability X, it would be definitely be more suitable for people of this type.” Achilles commented. The key difference between them and the average elite school academy student was in their cultivation techniques. This was the core of their strength. For instance, Lie Xin’s Ability X actually depended solely on her Lie Flame Technique.

“Your Heavenly King Arts should be aligned with wind and thunder powers. This place will definitely suit you.” Lie Xin replied. Since they both belonged to ancient families, there was no chance that Lie Xin did not understand Achilles.

Achilles stroked his nose. Lie Xin had been getting more and more direct recently. “It’s true that it will help my Heavenly King Arts quite a bit, so before school starts I’m thinking of getting quite some practice here.”

“w.a.n.g Zheng, what exactly is your special technique? Don’t tell me you don’t have any.” Lie Xin suddenly asked.

w.a.n.g Zheng shrugged his shoulders. He did not intend to keep it a secret after all. In fact he wanted to learn more about it. “The Primordial Regression Technique.”

Primordial Regression Technique?

Lie Xin and Achilles looked at each other in confusion. They both had not heard of it.

“My master was a nameless old man. He probably wasn’t from an ancient family like you all. When it comes to my special technique I only have a half-baked understanding of it. Since your techniques have been pa.s.sed down for so long, you all probably know much more, right?

There was n.o.body more knowledgeable than these two among w.a.n.g Zheng’s acquaintances. It was just that it used to be rather awkward to ask about these things. Since they were the ones who asked first this time, w.a.n.g Zheng wanted to take the opportunity to obtain some inside information.

So many things happened one after another, but until now he had not truly understood the situation.

Lie Xin looked to Achilles, “The Moon people have a better understanding of these matters.”

Achilles smiled, “Around a few hundred years ago, before mankind embarked on the Great Interstellar Voyage and when Earth, the Moon and Mars were still the three major planets that ruled the world, cultivation techniques were still prevalent. The development of mankind’s special technique was also parallel to the development of our technology. After our encounters with the Zerg later on, mankind’s special technique flourished. In particular, Heavenly King Arts, Lie Family Technique and Lear’s Ares Art were probably the most well-known. However, after some other events, these cultivation techniques started to fade away. This was not what we hoped for, and we were just hiding our techniques away. With the spread of the Great Interstellar Voyage, I’m sure that Arbiter definitely controlled a really strong special technique and disseminated it very well too. The Van family would not have been able to attain so much power otherwise.”

“The decline of cultivation techniques seemed inevitable during that time. Even without the ability to tap into the strengths of our surroundings, only relying on your own body to react would enough one to become physically strong. However, with the recent re-emergence of cultivation techniques, I’m certain that in no time at all the various powerful empires will start to value them more.” Lie Xin explained.

Achilles nodded in agreement. “However, when I went back to look at historical records, our strength now can’t really be held to the same standards as that of the past. Times have changed, and the strongest option now is to use our cultivation techniques synergistically with our Ability X. w.a.n.g Zheng, how did you defeat Heaven?”

The two of them had wanted to ask this question for the longest time, but they just did not have an opportunity to do so.

w.a.n.g Zheng bitter laughed, “Actually I didn’t really defeat him. At most I would say that both sides suffered. In fact, I felt like Heaven did not really have a strong intention to murder. He seemed to have come from Elite Academy X as well and only joined the Earth Grade experts after realising the disparity in power between them and others. Honestly speaking, I just went in with the intention to risk it all.”

Achilles and Lie Xin knowingly smiled. w.a.n.g Zheng was telling the truth here.

“It’s rare for the three of us to have an opportunity to get together in such a frank and open manner. Honestly speaking, we may eventually become opponents or even enemies due to various reasons. At the present moment we’re still friends though, so shouldn’t we try our best to improve by learning from one another?” Achilles suddenly suggested.

w.a.n.g Zheng nooded, “This was what I wanted to suggest as well. Lie Xin, what say you?”

“This old lady’s mood hasn’t been great lately, so you all don’t have to pull any punches when it comes to me. I certainly won’t go easy on you all either!”

Lie Xin had already started swearing, but the two men did not really mind. This was a rare opportunity for all of them. They all had similar levels of skill and had different strengths and weaknesses. A mutual exchange in order to improve would probably be one of the most valuable things that they could do.

When it came to improving one’s skill, building a cart behind closed doors was always the inefficient option.

The training facilities were all provided for by the Lan family. At the same time, Rara Durai was actively enlisting t.i.ta warriors as well. The large-scale recruitment this time was a grand event, and he wanted to take advantage of the fact that w.a.n.g Zheng was still here to borrow his expertise in picking out the best giants.

w.a.n.g Zheng was necessary in this process, because he would be able to identify giants that were better suited for receiving cultivation techniques. No matter how strong they were, those that were unable to accept these techniques and those that did not have the right const.i.tution for the techniques would be weaker simply due to their disparity in potential alone.