Chapter 147 Annexation

Chen Xian's words rang out like a great bronze bell, echoing all around in an eerie, unending resonance that shook the soul.

Instantly, the dazed members of the Wu and Ke families snapped back to reality.

"He... he is a grandmaster of both martial arts and sorcery! I am willing to surrender to you, Master!"

"I am willing to surrender too!"

"We..."

Many dropped to their knees, bowing toward Chen Xian and kowtowing incessantly.

An ordinary grandmaster was already a true dragon among men, rarely seen and practically a legendary figure.

Let alone a grandmaster proficient in both magic and martial arts; such individuals were far more powerful than peers of the same rank, fully capable of sweeping across their level.

The young man before them was precisely such a dual-path grandmaster, a fact the head of the Wu family had uttered just before drawing his final breath.

In mere seconds, the members of the Wu and Ke families knelt in a dark, sprawling mass across the ground. Even those initially reluctant eventually had no choice but to kneel and yield.

Now, none felt more awkward or regretful than the traitors of the Fang family, such as Fang Daihe...

They stood frozen in place, not knowing whether to kneel or not!

Chen Xian glanced at the Fang family traitors, then shifted his gaze to Fang Yilong and said, "Elder Fang, handle these traitors however you see fit."

"Many thanks, Grandmaster Chen," Fang Yilong said respectfully.

Without hesitation, he personally crippled Fang Daihe's cultivation, followed by all the other traitors, stripping them of their martial prowess while sparing their lives, casting them out of the Fang family to live henceforth as ordinary mortals.

In doing so, Fang Yilong aimed to purge the clan of internal rot and send a stern warning to anyone else harboring rebellious thoughts against the family.

Seeing Fang Daihe and the others crippled, the loyal family members felt a surge of deep satisfaction.

They loathed traitors above all else!

Seeing that matters within the Fang family were mostly settled, Chen Xian walked over to Fang Jing, pulling the beautiful woman into his embrace. A gentle smile touched the corners of his mouth as he said, "Jing, this business is concluded for now, so I must take my leave. We can stay in touch by phone."

"Mm!" Fang Jing nodded obediently, giving a soft reply.

Knowing that Chen Xian, as a dual-path grandmaster, undoubtedly possessed vast influences behind him and countless matters awaiting his attention, she did not press him to stay.

The younger women of the Fang family looked at Fang Jing with eyes brimming with intense envy.

To win the favor of a dual-path grandmaster—what supreme fortune was this!

Especially since Grandmaster Chen Xian was still so young!

Having bid farewell to his girlfriend, Chen Xian walked over to the members of the Wu and Ke families, saying coldly, "All of you, return to your respective clans now and await my people to take over your families. If anyone attempts to flee with the family funds, this shall be your fate!"

As his words fell, the crowd watched in horror a scene they would never forget in this lifetime.

They saw Chen Xian's hands trace trajectories filled with boundless and profound mystery, condensing two swirling vortexes in his palms. The vortexes spun slowly, emanating a mysterious pulling force.

Instantly, the corpses of the half-step grandmasters Wu Dingtian and Ke Xueyi began to spin as well, emitting a sizzling sound and rapidly dissolving...

A few minutes later.

The two corpses of the half-step grandmasters had completely melted away.

Seeing this, the members of the three major families present felt a primal terror from the bottom of their hearts—this was a terrifying entity akin to a demon!

From between Chen Xian's brows, two rays of red light, visible only to him, shot forth and landed respectively on a martial artist of the peak Dark Realm from the Wu family and another from the Ke family.

These were two parasitic mind-stealing insects.

Although Chen Xian knew he had thoroughly cowed the scoundrels of the Wu and Ke families, for the sake of absolute prudence, he still left these insects within the bodies of the two families' experts to monitor their every move at all times.

If these people truly dared to act rashly, he would not hesitate to raise his butcher's knife.

Having finished all this, Chen Xian lifted his stride, walking step by step toward the Rolls-Royce Phantom parked outside.

Fang Jing watched her boyfriend's receding figure with boundless tenderness in her beautiful eyes. To others he was a demon, but in her eyes, he was her eternal beloved and the gentlest existence of all!

"All members of the Fang family, kneel and send off Grandmaster Chen!" At this moment, Fang Yilong's aged voice rang out.

Thud!

With that, he was the first to drop to his knees before Chen Xian, and seeing this, the rest of the Fang family members followed suit, kneeling in unison.

They felt a heartfelt gratitude toward Chen Xian; if not for his appearance today, the Fang family would have been torn apart by the Wu and Ke families.

Without looking back, Chen Xian walked up to the Rolls-Royce Phantom. The chauffeur respectfully opened the door, and he climbed inside.

"Grandmaster Chen, where shall we head next?" the driver inquired.

Chen Xian replied, "To Jinxiu Residential Area first."

He needed to station himself in City H. In the unlikely event that the Wu and Ke families acted up, he could suppress them at a moment's notice.

With that, Chen Xian took out his phone and called Ma Tian, instructing him to personally lead the family's elite forces to City H to take over the martial arts families of Wu and Ke.

Hearing this over the phone, Ma Tian was thrilled, assuring Chen Xian that he would immediately muster the elite troops and set out.

After issuing his instructions, Chen Xian closed his eyes to rest and meditate.

Half an hour later, he returned to Townhouse 101 in Jinxiu Residential Area. Entering the house, he retrieved three pieces of spiritual jade, including the jade disk carved by Tong Yin.

Now that Fang Jing's affairs were settled, it was time for Chen Xian to consider setting up the minor golden thunder array.

At Spirit Mountain, relying solely on the Spirit Cat and Tong Yin was insufficient to contend with a martial artist at the mid-stage (Minor Completion) of the Grandmaster realm; Chen Xian needed to provide Spirit Mountain with an even stronger layer of defense.

Chen Xian cast his gaze over the three pieces of jade, feeling conflicted about the jade disk: if he used it as the core of the minor golden thunder array, the array's power would be compromised; if he didn't, he lacked any other spiritual jade to replace it.

"I wonder if the Wu and Ke families possess any jade containing spiritual energy?" Chen Xian recalled the two major families he had forcibly subjugated.

Thinking of this, he decided to wait until he had searched the Wu and Ke estates before carving the array core for the minor golden thunder array. If he found spiritual jade, that would be ideal; if not, he would simply have to use the spiritual jade disk engraved with array patterns by Tong Yin.

Chen Xian reached out with his senses to the two mind-stealing insects lurking within the bodies of the experts from the Wu and Ke families to check if there were any abnormal movements among the members of those two clans.

Soon, Chen Xian received the messages relayed by the two insects. The members of both martial arts families were behaving themselves properly and showed no unusual actions.

"It seems they have been thoroughly subdued!" Chen Xian said to himself inwardly.

Following that, he took out his phone and called Ma Tian, telling him to bring back all the jade artifacts, as well as precious traditional Chinese medicinal herbs such as ginseng and ganoderma aged over several decades from both the Wu and Ke households.

The next day arrived.

Ma Tian, accompanied by two subordinates, arrived at Jinxiu Residential Area to report to Chen Xian, bringing along a large sack of jade artifacts, ginseng, and ganoderma.

Chen Xian asked Ma Tian about several matters, and the latter reported that the annexation of the Wu and Ke families was proceeding smoothly. The members of both families were fully cooperative without making any trouble, and within another week at most, all fixed assets and cash of the two families would be entirely absorbed under the Ma Group.

The total assets of the Wu and Ke families were roughly estimated to reach 140 billion, with the Wu family holding 80 billion and the Ke family 60 billion.

After listening to the report, Chen Xian instructed Ma Tian to continue overseeing the annexation process.

As for himself, he opened up the large sack of jade artifacts...