The air explosion was deafening.
The fear and oppressive force Hai Shengxiang faced from this move was no less than an ordinary person encountering a fully loaded tractor-trailer roaring toward them on a midnight highway.
It represented running red lights, represented flying low to the ground, represented an unyielding exterior, represented the Great Han style of drawing and striking in one motion.
Half of Hai Shengxiang's body shattered into fragments, and this was the best outcome she could achieve after making preparations in advance and maintaining vigilance against Lu Ding's potential sudden attack.
The force was so tremendous that she didn't even get the chance to be sent flying before half her body was destroyed.
She stood frozen in place, the black pupils in her eyes rapidly dilating to more than twice their original size.
Then suddenly constricting to the size of needle points.
The pain didn't arrive as imagined.
Instead, there was numbness—a hollow, terrifying numbness.
Only at this point did Hai Shengxiang's reflex arc finally transmit information to her brain, which then issued the command to look toward Lu Ding's position.
But all of this was far too late.
The movement of her vision was accompanied by Lu Ding's voice, the kind that only appears before an enemy's death.
"Heavenly Perception Second Layer is fucking useless. Yes, what you said makes sense—Kim Gyeong-joo and Kim Yeon-ju are neither first nor second."
"But what does that matter?"
Lu Ding reached out and grabbed her face that had just turned toward him.
It was still stained with Hai Shengxiang's own warm blood.
He pulled her violently toward himself.
Lu Ding continued: "The first and second places here are just as laughable as your Heavenly Perception Second Layer cultivation—utterly worthless."
"Only the first and second places in the entire third circle have real value! Great Han, White Eagle—this kind of first and second place is what! truly! matters!"
He lifted her by the face, reached in and ripped out her heart, crushing it on the spot.
Then Lu Ding threw Hai Shengxiang's corpse heavily to the ground like trash.
The already shattered ground suffered another devastating blow.
The assembly hall shook several times.
Lu Ding looked at Kim Nam-won, whose expression had now turned somewhat unpleasant.
"Supporting Kim Gyeong-joo, supporting Kim Yeon-ju, destroying Diancang Sect, pacifying Pingshou Prefecture, delivering results—these are all courtesies we extend to Tianxing Group!!!"
"Tianxing Group deserves it, they qualify!!!"
Kim Nam-won's expression improved somewhat, and he even felt a strange sense of pride.
He hadn't felt this kind of vanity in a long time.
Of course, the reason was that in Wei Gao, no one could make him feel vanity with mere words.
Because in Wei Gao, no one held such status.
But Lu Ding was different—he was White Eagle's 'officer' and came from significant origins!!!
When someone like him spoke such words, they carried real weight.
Lu Ding extended his blood-stained finger, which resembled some bewitching blood-soaked jade, and pointed it at everyone present.
"But what exactly are you people?!"
"Can't recognize your proper place—do you think you're Tianxing Group? Or do you imagine you're Mr. Kim Nam-won?!"
"You're not worthy!!!"
"Kim Gyeong-joo and Kim Yeon-ju's achievements are for Tianxing Group to see, for Mr. Kim Nam-won to see! Until he speaks, every glance, every movement, every word from you is a provocation against my great nation's dignity!!"
"At this negotiation table, only we and Mr. Kim Nam-won are seated—the rest of you are just dogs beneath the table."
"Don't think you can come to the table just because you're shown some kindness!!"
Praising one while belittling others, diverting contradictions, expanding ideologies, plus the distinct performance of playing both good cop and bad cop.
All backed by the status of White Eagle as one of the third circle's dominant powers, reinforcing the psychology that successful people's farts smell good and the worship of strength.
It left these people utterly disoriented.
It coaxed Kim Nam-won into acting like a child.
At this moment, he completely failed to notice that not only had Lu Ding played the bad cop role, but he had also subtly pushed Kim Nam-won into the position where he must play the good cop.
But this good cop role was somewhat different—he was only temporarily the good guy.
After the bullets had flown and these people had time to reflect, when their temporary anger faded.
They would only feel that Lu Ding's words reflected reality—crude but truthful. They might even think Lu Ding was quite sincere.
At least sincere toward Tianxing Group.
If they were Tianxing Group, or if they were also on the cooperating side, then Lu Ding would show them the same sincerity.
While Kim Nam-won, as the host, was the real bastard!!!
A group of people came to his place and couldn't even guarantee their safety.
What's more, he still had to come out and play peacemaker as the good guy.
Back at the construction site where they excavated the Nanshan Stubborn Stone, Lu Ding had used this very tactic.
Just not as brutally.
Kim Nam-won suppressed the pride and satisfaction in his heart, struggling not to let a smile show, and began to play the good cop role without even realizing it.
Pressing his hands downward: "Alright, alright, everyone listen to me. Today's incident happened for a reason."
Then he nodded kindly toward Lu Ding.
A classic case of being sold out yet still helping count the money.
In his heart, he truly thought Lu Ding was fucking great.
Looked down on everyone, but looked up to him!
The concern about scarcity versus inequality has two sides—for the majority who suffer unfairness, there's anger.
But for the minority who benefit, even small advantages become magnified by this disparity, displaying values far beyond their actual worth.
Kim Nam-won continued: "So let's all calm down."
"Of course, I bear some responsibility for what happened today—I blame myself for not speaking plainly beforehand."
At this point, Kim Nam-won's voice turned serious: "Now, let me tell everyone what I haven't said yet!"
"The decision-making power for Tianxing Group's successor lies with us at Tianxing Group! Whoever we want to put forward, that's who will advance!!!"
This statement almost explicitly said he agreed with Lu Ding and An Wuyang's demands, and that he stood on their side.
The bigger reason was that he had seen Lu Ding's 'sincerity'
Only by cooperating with someone could Tianxing Group reach broader horizons!!!
As Kim Nam-won's words landed.
No one dared voice any further objections.
Even Hua Qizheng, who was previously one of only two supporting Heavenly Perception members and now the only one, stepped forward and said: "Anyway, I support Kim Gyeong-joo and Kim Yeon-ju for the successor positions."
The world moves for profit, the world gathers for gain.
When Hai Shengxiang was still alive, he and Lu Ding might have been half-enemies with conflicting interests.
But now that Hai Shengxiang was dead, he and Lu Ding could be considered half-allies.
With three spots available, Lu Ding wanted two—the remaining one shouldn't need much explanation, right?
After all, he was now the only Heavenly Perception member present besides Tianxing Group and Lu Ding's faction.
Well, Tianxing Group expressed their stance implicitly, while Hua Qizheng from Heavenly Perception expressed his stance explicitly.
With Lu Ding still holding the executioner's blade suspended above their necks, who would dare have any objections? Content orıginally comes from novel※fire.net