Chapter 292 The b.l.o.o.d.y Age

After they got off the freeway, Li Tianlan drove the car; the red sports car went straight toward the downtown area.

It wasn’t the direction to East Emperor Palace or the Sky Academy.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ was a bit curious where Li Tianlan would take her.

“We’ll have dinner at my sister’s tonight.”

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ said softly.

Dongcheng Qiuchi had been working in Huating; she was considered the main force from Giant Group that infiltrated Huating. In the past few years, all the groups were quietly scheming and watching internally and externally. In the mid-term change of members.h.i.+p, the promotion of Dongcheng Wudi was considered the biggest gain of the Giant Group, but they had a lot of small gains; Giant Group had placed some important p.a.w.ns in Huating again.

Dongcheng Qiuchi’s status had become more and more stable because of that.

Knowing her little sister and brother-in-law would go to Huating, Dongcheng Qiuchi called them and invited them over for dinner.

“We’ll make it,”

Li Tianlan said.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ nodded and said no more.

She looked at her legs quietly.

Her legs were still white and tender, but there was an obvious hand print on her thigh after he pinched her.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s face turned red; she reached her hand to pull down the shorts, trying to cover the hand print.

The shorts were very short.

So the hand print was still there.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ stared at the hand print that showed he had just taken advantage of her, then pressed her red lips together for a second and started to zone out.

The sports car drove from the outer ring to the middle ring; it kept driving after getting off the roundabout’s inner ring.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ looked outside the window for longer and longer periods of time.

Her sister Dongcheng Qiuchi was a member of the council, the leader of Wudong New Area. Plus there would be maneuvers of both Sky Academy and Deep-sea Academy every year.

So Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ wasn’t completely unfamiliar with Huating.

That direction led to Puxi.

Looking over across the running Huangpu River, she could see the tall buildings in Wudong New Area clearly.

The car drove into the Anning Area.

It finally stopped in front of a grey building.

The building had twelve stories. It was very big and wide; it made people feel serious and solemn. But judging from the height, that was the inconspicuous one among the surrounding buildings.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ looked at the tall buildings in front of her.

The signboard was s.h.i.+ning under the afternoon sunlight.

Blue Sky Group.

“Here?”

She looked at Li Tianlan and said with uncertainty.

In recent years, there wasn’t any local tyrant in Huating; all the superpowers were involved in that, making the place peaceful and yet chaotic.

When many people focused on the juicy Wudong New Area and tussled with the High-level officials of Huating, only the Special Warfare Group had taken over some areas in Puxi.

The Anning Area was one of them.

Blue Sky Group.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ thought about it quietly. She was pretty separate from the outside world, but she knew faintly that it was the fastest-growing power group from the Special Warfare Group in Huating in the past three years.

“Should it be?”

Li Tianlan looked outside the window with uncertainty.

What was the Blue Sky Group?

In his impression, the place belonged to a logistics company on the surface three years ago.

“Let’s get out and have a look.”

Li Tianlan opened the car door.

It started to get hot in the afternoon of an early summer.

The air was dry.

But as if it were an illusion.

The moment Li Tianlan opened the car door, Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ felt a cold wind blowing in the air.

There seemed to be snow in the cold wind; it rushed into the car violently.

It came suddenly and left suddenly, leaving no trace.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s body shook subconsciously, then she followed Li Tianlan in the back.

They walked straight to the big gate of the Blue Sky Group.

There were serious-looking guards standing at the gate.

There were two security guards standing in front of the hall.

Li Tianlan walked straight forward, into the hall through the gate.

The security guards stood still.

The employees of the Blue Sky Group kept coming and going.

The people kept walking past Li Tianlan and Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+.

They followed a middle-aged man that looked like a high-level official into a special purpose lift.

The middle-aged man pressed the b.u.t.ton of the ninth floor, then stared at the rising number with boredom on his face.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ and Li Tianlan stood behind him.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ seemed to realize something; she looked at Li Tianlan, wanting to say something but didn’t.

“He can’t see us.”

Li Tianlan said calmly, “Or hear us.”

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ looked at Li Tianlan.

She wasn’t surprised that Li Tianlan could do something like that.

Twisting air to completely block ordinary people’s eyesight; any superior of the Thunder-shocking Realm could do that.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ could also do that.

But that was completely different from being invisible.

That method used strength to tear and twist the surrounding air, and turned it into the vague state.

It was hard for ordinary people to find out about that.

But once they got too close to them, true superiors would always find something wrong.

So that kind of technique sounded pretty nice, but in fact it was kind of useless.

Right then, Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ stood beside Li Tianlan.

But she couldn’t notice anything different.

Judging from only that, Li Tianlan was much more powerful than she was.

Even when Li Tianlan started everything over.

Even when Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ had entered the Thunder-shocking Realm.

The lift went all the way up and stopped at the ninth floor.

The high-level official of the Blue Sky Group that didn’t find anything wrong all along walked out of the lift and into the Chairman’s office.

Li Tianlan and Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ followed him into the office quietly.

The office of a hundred square meters was decorated in a very luxurious style.

The s.h.i.+ning light silver wallpaper, wooden floor, custom made couch and bar table, the huge book shelf that didn’t have many books on it, all kinds of fancy antiques and jade pieces. A middle-aged man who was dressed casually sat behind an office desk that smelled like sandalwood. Hearing someone enter, the middle-aged man looked up for a second and said blandly, “What’s the matter?”

Li Tianlan took a look at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man seemed to be in his mid-fifties, had average appearance and steady eyes, with vague elegance and seriousness. He didn’t look any different from other people.

Li Tianlan knew he had found the right place.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s clear eyes finally looked confused; she kept a close eye on the middle-aged man behind the office desk.

“Boss Liu, I think we should reconsider our cooperation with the Flouris.h.i.+ng Age Fund. On this matter, we will actually suffer losses,”

The high-level official of the group that had gotten into the office said carefully.

“No losses.”

Boss Liu waved his hand. “We won’t get the expected benefit, but there’s still benefit in it for us. The Flouris.h.i.+ng Age Fund was one of our biggest investors a few years ago. The Blue Sky Group was able to develop this fast, we owe them a favor. This matter is settled. You go talk to the Flouris.h.i.+ng Age Fund and sign the contract on behalf of me.”

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ looked at Boss Liu in front of her.

“I know him.”

She suddenly said softly, “This is Director Liu.”

Her voice was crisp and soft, Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ could feel it herself.

Nothing happened in the air.

Boss Liu was still talking to his subordinate.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ suddenly turned her head and looked at a casual and careless Li Tianlan. “Which realm are you in right now? The Invincible Realm?”

Her tone sounded beyond comprehension.

A twenty-two-year-old superior of Invincible Realm?

There was no such thing in the history of Zhongzhou State, and even in the Dark World.

Li Tianlan just shook his head. Looking at Boss Liu in front of him, he said with a smile, “This is my dog, he’s the right one to go to when I want to get some information.”

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s eyes looked complicated.

That was also the shocking part for her.

She knew that Boss Liu, so she knew what was actually happening.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ almost met that Boss Liu every year for the past two years.

Two years ago, he was still in the Sky Academy.

He was the former deputy director of teaching of the Sky Academy, Liu Xiuyuan!

In the maneuvers of the two academies in the past two years, Liu Xiuyuan was one of the leaders of the Sky Academy team.

Liu Xiuyuan, the Liu family in Huating, Li Tianlan’s dog.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ felt there was a lot going on in that sentence.

The Liu family in Huating was an important part of the peripheral forces of Kunlun City. Li Tianlan came to Huating and the Liu family was the first one to form grudges with him.

Liu Xiuwei, who was killed by him in the entrance maneuver, was Liu Xiuyuan’s blood brother.

But currently, Liu Xiuyuan was Li Tianlan’s dog?

She looked at Boss Liu who didn’t even know he was being approached, and felt ridiculous.

Liu Xiuyuan was already a superior that had gotten close to the peak of the Thunder-shocking Realm.

But right then he was so ignorant.

She and Li Tianlan were right in front of him, and talking; he didn’t even notice.

The surrounding s.p.a.ce was calm and quiet like always.

To appear near a superior that was close to the peak of the Thunder-shocking Realm without him noticing.

That wasn’t something that could be done by just twisting s.p.a.ce.

That was domain!

That was the domain of the Invincible Realm!

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ looked at Li Tianlan. A smile climbed onto her clear eyes, like ripples on the calm lake surface caused by mild breeze; soft and graceful, beautiful and unique.

She grabbed Li Tianlan’s hand and held it.

“What do you mean?”

Li Tianlan looked at her with confusion.

“I don’t know.”

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s crisp voice echoed in that small, nearly independent s.p.a.ce. “I just want to hold your hand.”

She was happy.

Because right then Li Tianlan was so powerful.

Li Tianlan had peeked at her and patted her leg.

He could be sure that Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s master had meant no harm to him.

Maybe that kind of feeling wasn’t love, but it had turned into instinct that she couldn’t refuse.

But Li Tianlan couldn’t be sure whether her other side was good or evil.

Two completely independent separate personalities were absolutely the hardest to figure out.

Li Tianlan wanted to know what Dongcheng Yueshen wanted to do.

So he brought Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ to the Blue Sky Group.

Dongcheng Yueshen didn’t show up.

But Li Tianlan knew that she could see it.

She could see the real standpoint of the Liu family; she could see the part of strength that Li Tianlan hid from him.

Li Tianlan believed that those were all very valuable.

If Dongcheng Yueshen really wanted to kill him, the relations.h.i.+p between the Liu family and him, his hazy strength would be spread around the whole Zhongzhou State.

As for what would happen to the Liu family by then, that was none of Li Tianlan’s concern.

The Liu family was his dog.

But he didn’t really care about that dog, at least he couldn’t compare to the Golden Retriever that had accompanied him for three years.

If the Liu family were exposed.

Then they could go to h.e.l.l.

If he could use the Liu family to test Dongcheng Yueshen’s real att.i.tude to him, Li Tianlan felt that was worthwhile.

Looking at Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s pretty smiling face, Li Tianlan felt absent-minded.

He knew there was another pair of eyes staring at him behind her beauty; he wondered whether those pair of eyes were soft or cruel.

The high-level official of the Blue Sky Group that came into the office to do briefing had finally left.

Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+ was carefully feeling the s.p.a.ce around her.

The s.p.a.ce was as usual.

Li Tianlan said directly, “The Blue Sky Group seems to work out this well?”

“Who’s that?!”

Liu Xiuyuan, who was concentrating on something in his mind, suddenly jumped up from the couch. Hearing Li Tianlan’s voice, Liu Xiuyuan felt terrified and let out a sharp scream.

Li Tianlan didn’t say anything, he was just staring at Liu Xiuyuan with a faint smile.

Liu Xiuyuan saw Li Tianlan as well.

His brain suddenly turned blank, he stared at the face with a faint smile while being dumbfounded.

That face was clear and yet blurry.

In the past three years, the Zhongzhou State Special Warfare Group grew stronger and stronger; the Liu family in Huating was also growing rapidly. As the Special Warfare Group developed, the Liu family also received all kinds of cooperation and investment offers.

Liu Xiuyuan resigned from the position in the Sky Academy a year ago and went back to the newly established Blue Sky Group, where he could be in charge of the best intelligence organization in Huating: the Curtain.

The Liu family grew stronger and stronger with all the help and support.

Liu Xiuyuan really felt free and unrestrained from all the obstacles in the world.

But the moment he saw Li Tianlan, he suddenly felt shackles around him.

A shackle that was around his neck, and his whole family’s neck.

Because that young man knew the deepest secret of the Liu family.

Because that young man had grown so much stronger after three years.

Liu Xiuyuan had no idea when Li Tianlan had gotten in.

His heart was jumping up and down; fear, along with coldness and desperation were filling his mind and spreading to his limbs.

Li Tianlan was a different man.

Three years ago, Li Tianlan gave off a peaceful vibe, but there was still restlessness in his peace.

Even on the night when Li Tianlan could have decided on the life and death of the Liu family, Liu Xiuyuan didn’t feel desperation from Li Tianlan’s power.

But right at that moment…

No feelings.

Liu Xiuyuan could feel nothing.

Li Tianlan sat there, he was right in his sight, but he didn’t make him feel anything.

He was like the perfect illusion.

He seemed to be real and also fake; he was so faint that it felt like he didn’t even exist.

The beautiful young woman next to him.

The couch that he sat down on.

The plants placed on the tea table in front of the couch.

The tea cups next to the plants.

Even the dust on the floor.

Anything in the room felt more real than Li Tianlan.

Li Tianlan was right there, but it felt like he didn’t exist.

The muscle on Liu Xiuyuan’s face kept shaking. In the past three years, Li Tianlan had gone missing. The member of East Emperor Palace got back to Sky Academy, the Liu family didn’t do anything to hurt Li Tianlan, but right at that moment, he couldn’t control his fear.

He had no idea how powerful Li Tianlan was right then.

But at least at the moment, he stood in front of Li Tianlan with an authentic feeling that he was a nonent.i.ty.

He took two steps forward and bowed at Li Tianlan deeply, then said with a shaky voice, “Your Highness.”

“Long time no see.”

Li Tianlan waved his hand casually. “Have a seat.”

Liu Xiuyuan subconsciously walked over and sat down. The moment he bent down, he took a side glance at Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s long legs below the shorts.

He saw the big red hand print on Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+’s thigh.

Liu Xiuyuan’s face froze, turning around instantly.

He had met Dongcheng Rus.h.i.+, the genius girl from the Deep-sea Academy.

But he didn’t know what he was doing with that mistress from the Dongcheng Clan before they went there.

No matter what they were doing, Liu Xiuyuan felt that everything was a mess.

“Blue Sky Group…”

Li Tianlan read it silently and said after a soft laugh, “What’s this? Did the Liu family change the business?”

“We expanded.”

Liu Xiuyuan answered carefully. His eyes were fixed on Li Tianlan; he didn’t dare to look away.

Because once he looked away, Li Tianlan would disappear completely from his perception. While his voice came from all directions, his s.p.a.cey voice terrified him.

The real illusion was nonexistent and yet everywhere.

“The group…well, Kunlun City has been developing rapidly in recent years. The Liu family is considered the representative power of Kunlun City in Huating to the outside world, so a lot of people came to us for cooperation, even for investment. Flouris.h.i.+ng Age Fund, Beihai Group, Jiuzhou Group… A lot of people offered big investments.”

Liu Xiuyuan said carefully, “The Liu family has been growing really fast, right now we cover many industries besides logistics. So we had a discussion and then established the Blue Sky Group.”

“What about the Curtain?”

Li Tianlan asked. He had no specific concept about the power of money. To him, the value of the Liu family had mostly focused on the intelligence organization the Curtain, which he valued the most.

“Not bad.”

Liu Xiuyuan said uncomfortably, his eyes were hiding from Li Tianlan subconsciously.

“Not bad?”

Li Tianlan narrowed his eyes and asked softly.

Liu Xiuyuan stood up, feeling uneasy. The whole Liu family was Li Tianlan’s dog, so the business and power of the Liu family naturally belonged to Li Tianlan.

“In this respect, I’m incompetent.”

Liu Xiuyuan gritted his teeth and said against his will, “The Jiangnan Society officially entered Huating three years ago, under the pressure, the Curtain was pressed down after many confrontations. In recent years, the w.a.n.g family of Beihai had conflicts with Kunlun City, but in general, they are cooperating. Gu Qianchuan called and told us to restrain ourselves and save some s.p.a.ce for the Jiangnan Society.”

Li Tianlan looked at Liu Xiuyuan with a straight face.

“Your Highness, ever since you left, the Dark World is very chaotic. In this situation, most of the people want to see the cooperation between the w.a.n.g family of Beihai and Kunlun City, so we didn’t try very hard to fight against the Jiangnan Society.”

“Jiangnan Society…”

Li Tianlan suddenly said, “Is their header Liu Shuanghua?”

Liu Xiuyuan froze, then confirmed the fact.

Li Tianlan changed the subject casually. “How’s everything in the Dark World?”

“Chaotic.”

Liu Xiuyuan thought about it seriously.

Two, three years was not a long time, but a lot had happened in the Dark World; everything felt like the aftermath of the final battle in Heaven Capital. But in fact that was a collective outbreak of years of conflicts in the Dark World. Behind the flouris.h.i.+ng surface, the Dark World was always in a chaotic era. But compared to the past, the situation was the worst in the past two years.

“In the very beginning, it was Zhongzhou State and the Samsara Palace…”

Liu Xiuyuan chose his words carefully. “Not long after Your Highness left, it is said that Gu Xingyun went to Lonely Mountain himself. Then the elites from the w.a.n.g family of Beihai and Kunlun City left Zhongzhou State and declared war against the Samsara Palace.”

“Gu Xingyun failed when he tried to snipe the Master of Samsara Palace. Not long after that, the Jiang family of South America got involved, too…”

Li Tianlan’s eyes turned cold.

Liu Xiuyuan looked at his face and continued. “In the beginning, it was said that the Jiang family of South America was negotiating with the Samsara Palace. But after the Master of Samsara Palace killed a few superiors, the Jiang family of South America changed their standpoint. They asked the Samsara Palace to give them Qin Weibai and the Legend of Qin, or the Blue Sky Underworld in exchange. The Second Master of the Jiang family of South America worked with Gu Xingyun and caused the Master of Samsara Palace a serious injury. Things were very heated at that time; the 12 Super Masters of Samsara all got involved with the battle, which spread from Europe to South America. Everybody was a loser in that battle.”

Li Tianlan sat still, listening.

“Then Purgatory of Heaven Capital made the first move, Your Highness should know about Annan State?”

Liu Xiuyuan asked.

Li Tianlan nodded.

“In the battle of the border three years ago, Border Praetorian Corps went straight into Annan State for eight hundred miles. After the battle, Annan State wanted to get the land back. Annan State reported to the United Nations a few times; Zhongzhou State’s excuse was they were helping Annan State to calm the rebel force, they didn’t leave until the second spring since Your Highness left Huating.”

“Of course, leaving was just an excuse, they left what they should have left there. Twenty thousand elites from Border Control Corps Thunderbolt Battalion took off their military uniforms and stayed there. Those people were led by the powerful superior of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai, Dijiang. On the surface, they had nothing to do with Zhongzhou State; they were considered their own nation, but in fact they took orders from Zhongzhou State.”

“They were actually the rebel force in Annan State, they had a few fights with them. At that time, Purgatory of Heaven Capital came to Annan State and said that they could get the land back for them.”

Li Tianlan kept processing the information he got in his brain, without saying anything.

Liu Xiuyuan’s voice kept ringing. “Daybreak and Dawn from Purgatory of Heaven Capital caused Dijiang serious injuries and took a part of the land without owner. w.a.n.g Tianzong went there himself, but he met G.o.d of Lands there; they fought to a standoff.”

“Zhongzhou State had retreated their army on the surface, so in order to make themselves look clean, the w.a.n.g family of Beihai had to take care of the South land. The Heaven Punishment Troop went South, the masters of Senluo, Life-prolonging and Athanasy from Purgatory of Heaven Capital stayed there. The two parties kept fighting. Right now the w.a.n.g family of Beihai is on the advantageous side, but they can’t do anything to Purgatory of Heaven Capital at the moment.”

“The previously hunted Samsara Palace also found their ally. Dark Knights helped the Samsara Palace to stop the Jiang family of South America. The murderous weapon Dark Saint Spear was fired and hurt the Second Master of the Jiang family of South America, Jiang Qiannian, a year and a half ago.”

“And with Dark Knights getting involved, Knights Templars declared war on Dark Knights in the name of wiping out the heterodoxy. It was said that the Vatican and Aresis were very interested in the Samsara Palace. Aresis had showed up twice in the battles among all the superpowers.”

“Samsara Palace stayed in the Star State for a long time. The War G.o.d of Star State Castrot wasn’t very upset about Gu Xingyun, who stayed in the Star State for a long time. Star State elite banished superiors of Kunlun City in the name of the FBI. Fantasy World from North America also stated their standpoint; they followed Castrot and fought all the foreign forces. The Jiang family of South America brought a very powerful black superior from Africa. While their black superior used to threaten a few European countries when they were trying to explore Africa, the European Union got involved.”

Liu Xiuyuan kept talking; he felt dry in his mouth.

Li Tianlan was already dumbfounded.

The w.a.n.g family of Beihai, the Jiang family of South America, Purgatory of Heaven Capital, Samsara Palace, Dark Knights, Knights Templars, Fantasy World…

Currently, those were all the most powerful dark power groups in the Dark World.

Kunlun City, Castrot who was called the War G.o.d of Star State, and some countries from European Union, they all represented the official power of their countries in the Dark World. Those forces seldom showed themselves, even in the final battle of Heaven Capital.

Apart from all that, there was a black superior from Africa?

“All in all, the Dark World has completely lost its order right now; a lot of the independent superiors were involved in this against their will. There are more and more battles of superiors of Invincible Realm. Battles almost happened every day. They couldn’t tell who was ally and who was enemy anymore, everyone killing randomly. Right now, there’s no sign that this will stop soon.”

“Is this considered a World War?”

Li Tianlan suddenly asked.

“Yes.”

Liu Xiuyuan nodded without hesitation. “It’s a World War in the Dark World, and the broadest one.”

“What about Snow Country?”

Li Tianlan realized something and asked suddenly, “Any news from the Polar Ground Alliance?”

“The Polar Ground Alliance has gotten into an internal fight a long time ago, they’re messy enough inside to pay attention to the outside world.”

Liu Xiuyuan shook his head.

Li Tianlan felt strange.

The independent forces and the official forces in the Dark World, a huge number of superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm, more than ten and even more superiors of Invincible Realm.

They were all killing one another randomly.

They had even forgotten their initial goals.

All the superpowers were involved, what a great scene!

Liu Xiuyuan said it showed no signs that the war would end soon.

Li Tianlan understood the pattern.

To that extent, it wasn’t that the people didn’t want to stop; the war itself had become unstoppable.

The situation was completely out of control. Whoever wanted to stop would die!

Under the peaceful surface of the flouris.h.i.+ng society, that was a dark and b.l.o.o.d.y age.

People as powerful as superiors of Invincible Realm, were just dancers dancing on a wire.

If they took one wrong step, they would be doomed.

But there would be consequences for the war after all.

After the war, what would the Dark World be like?

Li Tianlan stayed silent.

The general trend that was so much more complicated than the final battle of Heaven Capital was right in front of him.

In front of the general trend, superiors of Invincible Realm were like nonent.i.ties. The destiny of a country was also irrelevant.

Li Tianlan still couldn’t move back from that.

Because the Samsara Palace was involved in that.

Qin Weibai was in Samsara Palace.

How could he run away?

He felt the suffocating pressure again.

The path ahead was a hard one.

He took a deep breath and said softly, “How are my brothers doing right now?”

“The ones from East Emperor Palace are doing fine.”

Liu Xiuyuan hesitated for a while. “Right now Yu Qingyan has the lowest realm, the stabilization phase of Fire-flaming Realm. Li Baitian has the highest, he’s about to enter the stabilization phase of the Thunder-shocking Realm. At the moment, East Emperor Palace has become one of the most powerful forces in the Sky Academy.”

“Oh, yes, Your Highness, I have one more thing about Li Baitian.”

Liu Xiuyuan looked at Li Tianlan and said, “Li Baitian will have a final battle tomorrow, Your Highness can go and have a look.”

“Final battle?”

Li Tianlan raised his eyebrows. “With who?”

“It’s the closed-door disciple of the First Elder of Kunlun City, Gu Qianchuan. Jilei Mountain, Gu Youlan.”

Liu Xiuyuan said softly.