All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 979 - 255 Gathering (4200)

Chapter 979: Chapter 255 Gathering (4200)

The earth slowly sank into the night, as if swallowed by a tide of darkness.

But there stands a bright mountain in the plain, the city known as Xuanye, which never truly merges into the night.

Compared to the areas already under a dark curfew, with only scattered lights in the safety zones, Xuanye City always has crowds walking the streets. In the outer city, groups of gang members roam, while in the inner city, numerous cultivators enjoy the nightlife.

Under the dazzling neon lights, a particularly tall building is brilliantly illuminated, with golden coil-like dragon decorations wrapping its surface. They display the bio-cybernetics advertisements of Fenluo Bio-Tech Group. On the 125-story building, every window is a projection device, resonating with the light and shadow on the golden dragon, as if a True Dragon is spiraling around it.

Inside the Junxia Building, there are over ten old-brand restaurants. Huo Qing chose a relatively ancient and possibly more suitable one for An Jing’s taste for a banquet. But ultimately, they were all acquaintances, and some matters don’t need to be too delicate.

"It seems everyone has arrived."

Under the soft golden light, An Jing had already greeted everyone who came to the gathering.

Huo Qing and Nian Quan naturally needed no introduction, as the two were chatting about some martial arts cultivation topics.

Iron Hand and Rusty Feather were also present. They noticed An Jing’s gaze and nodded with a smile.

On another side, Steel Skeleton and Qu Tong had also returned to Xuanye City temporarily from the Ancient Immortal Ruins — under Steel Skeleton’s leadership, the mercenaries had established a small action base in the Ancient Immortal Ruins. Yet, he, the leader, was not as busy and didn’t need to intervene personally unless there was trouble.

Theoretically, Steel Skeleton wasn’t that familiar with Iron Hand and Rusty Feather, so he just greeted them briefly before continuing to sit at a table with Qu Tong.

Apart from these old acquaintances, three people from Third Middle School were also invited.

It wasn’t Principal He or Chairman Chen, but rather classmates Zhang Zhuo Xu Yue and the teacher from the dean’s office, Guang Yueqin — as the three who once went through difficulties together with An Jing and experienced the adventures in the Beihu Swamp Area. During An Jing’s time studying at Third Middle School, they often helped An Jing, and unsurprisingly, from the five-member team that An Jing formed to explore the Ancient Immortal Ruins, besides Huo Qing and Nian Quan, Zhang Zhuo Xu Yue are An Jing’s old teammates.

This was Principal He’s judgment: The true core of this team is An Xuan. The deputy is Nian Quan. Huo Qing and Zhang Zhuo Xu Yue just need to take care of themselves. Most importantly, the teammates must cooperate with An Xuan, so compared to raw power, Zhang Zhuo Xu Yue, who had actually seen An Xuan’s actions and combat capabilities, were the most suitable.

At the very least, they completely trusted every judgment of An Jing and would not doubt any of An Jing’s plans.

And before the gathering began, Iron Hand, Rusty Feather, and Steel Skeleton, among others, exchanged recent activities and future plans with An Jing.

"Next, I will be making substantial purchases of materials related to Evergreen Wood, Puppetry, and medium to low-level talismans. The extent of these purchases will involve a budget exceeding 15 million Good Deeds."

This was what An Jing said to Iron Hand and Rusty Feather. As soon as he spoke, even the seasoned Iron Hand’s eyelids twitched, and Rusty Feather instinctively tidied her hair: "Fifteen million? As far as I know, you just bought a hundred thousand seeds from a forestry company two days ago..."

"Not enough."

An Jing said calmly, with Elder Xi Yi as his support, he didn’t even bother to pretend anymore: "There’s a great demand back home. You can basically consider it as having to rebuild a Spirit Land... As for Puppetry, it’s also for pioneering, manpower is precious, and it should be replaced by Puppetry whenever possible."

"If possible, I’d prefer a production line. The talismans in Xuanye City are indeed useful, although not as good as those in Xuandu, but they are cost-effective. If possible, I’d also like to acquire some technologies related to production lines."

In all honesty, An Jing’s manner of speaking was usually like this, but An Jing was no fool. When lacking strength and confidence, being overly honest is a path to ruin; naturally, he would perform, throw in some lies, blend truth and fiction a bit.

But now, rather than saying An Jing became arrogant, it’s more accurate to say this is his nature: "Do you have any channels?"

"This... we can’t say we have none."

Iron Hand hesitated for a moment. His words ’we can’t say we have none’ actually meant they had access, but it would be exceedingly difficult to obtain production lines from the Righteous Army rather than the Group. Given their capabilities, acquiring production lines from the Righteous Army was practically impossible.

"This is essentially impossible."

And Rusty Feather’s words were more certain: "Seventy or eighty years ago, the Group phased out an old batch of production lines, initially intending for an industrial upgrade in the safety zones, but somehow they ended up in the Righteous Army’s hands. Since then, the Group has become increasingly strict with technology control on that front."

"Information can be provided, but don’t expect the real thing."

"Information is good enough."

An Jing communicated internally with Xiyi Heavenly Monarch, received the ’doesn’t matter, I can manage manually’ response, and shook his head: "The most important thing is speed. In any case, don’t worry about funding."

"As of now," he said as he displayed a meaningful expression to Iron Hand and Rusty Feather, both of whom had an understanding look on their faces: "I have the backing of an entire power."

"It’s not only about money, but even other more rare items could be negotiated."

It sounded like a typical boast, but both knew it implied ’if possible, then the force behind them, which includes the Righteous Army, could make demands too — as long as production lines are available’.