In the office, Gu Xiqiao had finished watching Bai Enterprise’s declaration. “Little system, I always thought that for the Bai family to reach this heights, Bai Ting couldn’t possibly an idiotic person, and wasn’t someone you could afford to underestimate.”

And now? The system was feeling a pang of sympathy towards Bai Ting.

“I’ve overestimated him too much.” Gu Xiqiao sighed.

The blame couldn’t really be put on Bai Ting, she supposed. If there were shortcuts to be taken, why would he need to waste so much time and effort in using his brains?

The Bai family had been using the same methods all the while to deal with the people who got in their way, killing them off without any visible presence, and then pretending to be all innocent and good in front of the public masses. Who would have known that the Bai family actually had so much blood on their hands?

“The financial analysts in our team are ready to go anytime.” Luo Wenlang closed the laptop with a ‘clack’, now there was news circulating on the internet that Nine Heavens would be bankrupt soon. He glanced at Gu Xiqiao, his gaze piercing. “Should we give them a chance to find their foothold back?”

Since the Bai family had announced the hiring of their financial analyst, they had been trying to dominate the stock market of Nine Heavens, as though they could force Nine Heavens into bankruptcy if they had that one chance. These people seemed to have forgotten the last investment portfolio that had attracted a good many numbers of veteran financial analysts as well as top students into their folds.

The mentioned financial analysts and top students have already read through the investment portfolios in Nine Heavens, and realized that a lot of them were not in circulation yet. If just one of them were to be circulated out, it would definitely attract thousands of investors no matter which one of it got out.

In fact, Luo Wenlang didn’t understand this part. Gu Xiqiao had written out so many investment portfolios, but all of them were basically gathering dust in the office. If they were publicly known, it would cause another wave of turmoil out there.

He had also asked the question to Gu Xiqiao, but all she said was that it wasn’t time yet. If now wasn’t time, then when would it be?

Luo Wenlang had spent a long time looking over the company’s development plans in the long term, and he still couldn’t figure out what Gu Xiqiao was thinking.

“Let them test waters with the Bai family first.” Gu Xiqiao stood up, seeing that Xixi was circling the secretary, she stretched out two fingers to smack the bird away. She looked towards the windows, her voice holding a hint of steel underneath it, “After that, take in any of the Bai people that can be used, and focus on developing the financial products. Uncle Mu will also be coming over by then, right?”

Mu Zong had stayed behind in N City to handle the matters with the Gu family, since the matter was already almost at its end, Mu Zong will be able to hand over the entire thing to someone else who was capable.

Once he arrived in the Imperial Capital, Luo Wenlang would then have less worries and could focus his entire person on bringing up the financial shares of Nine Heavens. He would also need to attend his classes later on, the education standard in A University was still top-notch after all.

Hearing Gu Xiqiao finally intending to enter that industry, Luo Wenlang almost knocked over the laptop in front of him. He had been interested for a very long time, and it wasn’t only him. The entire group of financial analysts in the company were all internationally renowned figures who had a deeper insight into finance, and they were waiting in anticipation to show off their skills and knowledge.

***

Back at Bai Enterprise, Norbert was leaning back on his chair, his sharp gaze fixed on the precise numbers on the computer screen as he took a sip of his coffee. One last step, just one more last step before he would be able to instantly bankrupt the entire Nine Heavens. His eyes were filled with arrogance and contempt as he scoffed. “Stupid Chinese people.”

Beauty Qiao, this guy is calling you stupid. The system spirit made a transparent panel materialize in front of her to let her see the scene live.

Gu Xiqiao’s eyes narrowed, a vindictive smile appearing on her delicate, porcelain face. The light reflected on her face then, making it hard for people to take their eyes off her. “Don’t you think he’s digging his own grave impatiently?”

…

The system had also not met anyone as stupid as this, everything was going so smoothly, in fact, too smoothly. Didn’t this Mr. Norbert feels any doubts about the entire thing at all?

“Let our financial gurus loose then,” Gu Xiqiao said as she glanced out to the busy traffic down on the road from the window, sighing slightly after saying that. After so many years, it was time to step into the international spotlight once again.

***

Share traders and investors had their eyes fixed on the big board of the stock market index, where there were red and green lines running across it. The lines that represented the shares of Nine Heavens had been consistently dropping over the past few days.

Countless people have sold the shares in their hands the moment the Bai family had announced the news, and the stock market seemed to be filled with those who had painstakingly acquired the shares, and were now selling it out without second thoughts.

Most of the people also sold their shares once they managed to reach the breakeven point.

It wasn’t expected for a share that was at its peak just a few days ago to be plunged down to the bottom in just a few days. With just one sentence, the entire stock market now seemed to be an unusually high-risk venture, and the investors were extremely cautious with their investments.

“Young people shouldn’t stubbornly hold onto the shares in their hands, take advantage of those old fools who are willing to buy Nine Heaven’s shares and just quickly dispose of them.” The stock market was full of veteran share traders, and they were all familiar with each other. Seeing a young man holding onto the shares of Nine Heavens stubbornly, they couldn’t help but try to talk some sense into him.

The young man looked at the big screen, where it was still displaying the content of trades from yesterday afternoon. The stock market didn’t open until 9.30 a.m, and it was now only 9.25 a.m..

“Thank you for the advice, uncle.” He glanced at the older men around him, giving them his thanks. However, he didn’t sell the shares in his hands, and his eyes were still on the board.

The clock struck 9.30 a.m..

The screen started to change.

The stock market today wasn’t good, basically all the lines were falling slightly, and there wasn’t much increase. But the line that had consistently been in the limit down1 over the past days had hit the limit up2 once it was opened today, and it wasn’t a gradual change either.

Hitting the limit up in the stock market made all opportunity for arbitrage3 to be lost instantly, and those people had no chance to react at all. Nine Heavens didn’t seem to be interested in giving these people any chance to arbitrage again.

In the end, only those who had held onto the shares of Nine Heavens all the way from the beginning had were left with the ownership of the shares that were now a rare sight in the market.

***

News of Nine Heavens resuming trading in the stock market swept through the city so quickly that even Norbert didn’t get the chance to react to it.

“Mr. Norbert, didn’t you say that the shares of Nine Heavens would plummet?! Why have they resumed trading as usual?!” Bai Ting had burst through the doors, his words holding an aggressive tone.

Norbert glanced at the rising lines on his screen, and he was caught off guard for a moment before he smiled lightly. “They’re fighting a losing battle here, don’t worry so much about it.”

Bai Ting was convinced with Norbert’s words, and taking it as reassurance that everything was still going well, he walked into the conference room to appease his business partners.

The Li family is one of the people who were in cooperation with Bai Ting, but he was harboring a huge amount of doubt in his heart. He didn’t know why, but he felt that something was seriously wrong with the entire situation. With the anxiety running through him, he returned to his own office and dismissed his secretary with a wave of his hand.

He closed and locked the doors of his office, pulling out his phone as he intended to make a call to the Xu family who was also working with him.

“Boss Li.” The large chair with its back towards him suddenly turned, revealing a young, beautiful face with a melodious voice and a gentle smile.

Boss Li looked like he had seen a ghost as all the blood drained from his face as he stuttered, “Wh, who, who are you?! Why are you here?!”

Gu Xiqiao’s smile remained on her face. “Don’t worry, Boss Li. I’m just here to show you something.” She turned the screen of the computer beside her towards Boss Li.

Bai Ting could be seen on the screen, and he was in a sealed room in some hut. His face was completely different than the gentle and polite one he had normally. He looked extremely terrifying, as well as slightly mad. “After this is all done, I will make sure the Li family, Xu family, and every single one of those useless idiots die!”

There were many videos played, including how Bai Ting intended to kill the Li family.

“Boss Li, inside here you will find some documents. Whether to withdraw from the cooperation with the Bai family at this time, it’s entirely up to you. Otherwise, we wouldn’t mind ruining years of your blood, sweat and tears.” Gu Xiqiao stood up, pushing a document towards him.

She then left the room. Those who were working outside didn’t seem to notice the strange girl that walked out right in front of their eyes.

Boss Li was still feeling the shock coursing through his body, but he took the documents that she had left and flipped through them. As he read them, the expression on his face changed. Not even bothered to think about why the girl had appeared here in the first place, he immediately made a call to the Xu family.

And so, that was how the smuggling incidents of the Bai family were revealed.

As a big family, how could they have committed no crimes at all? But what they didn’t expect was those crimes that they had hidden so well would suddenly be revealed to the public in an instant!

With the shares of Nine Heavens at limit up, Bai Ting couldn’t keep it in anymore. Norbert, who was looking at the screen at the side, was still studying it as he comforted Bai Ting, “President Bai, please believe in me. Nine Heavens will soon be bankrupt, and at that time, they will be crying and begging you to have mercy on them.”

As soon as he said that, the finance director came through the door in a hurry after a hasty knock on the door. “President Bai, the finance staff have just recalculated and there is a massive loophole in our finances!”

The secretary also hurried in soon after. “Bai Enterprise’s stock has dropped to the limit down, the Li family and some others have also completely withdrawn their fundings. What do we do now, President Bai?”

“…”

The bad news kept coming in, breeding like flies, and it threw the entire Bai Enterprise building into chaos.

Norbert was much smarter than Bai Ting, and he immediately came to a realization that while Bai Enterprise was trying to conquer the finances of Nine Heavens and trying to annex them, their opponent had already penetrated into the core of Bai Enterprise, and was destroying them from all directions!

It was ridiculous how arrogant and proud he was for being ahead of them, and his face reddened with anger. “Chinese people are really sinister after all!”

The Bai family was a prosperous wealthy family that was well renowned in the Imperial Capital, with such a turmoil, the economic shock to the Imperial Capital was not small at all. When news broke out, it seemed that almost all the companies in the Imperial City received the news first hand: There was no saving the Bai family from this economic crisis that they had landed themselves in.

Just that morning, Bai Ting had vowed that Nine Heavens would disappear from the Imperial Capital, and he had even passed this declaration onto all the major media in the Imperial Capital.

In the morning news, Bai Ting’s face had occupied more than half the screen. Not a few hours later, what the h*ll had happened? Bai Enterprise was in an economical crisis? This was the Bai family, how could they have an economic crisis?!

Knowing that something was obviously wrong, Bai Ting didn’t bother holding any shareholders or management meeting at the news, but immediately returned to Bai Villa instead.

In that secret hut, there were still some Soul Extinguishing Seals left behind by the Taoist priest. During these years, when he had encountered any problems, he would unconsciously rely on the power of the priest.

There were still five talismans left, and his face was grave as he engraved the name ‘Nine Heavens’ onto it meticulously.

***

“Do you know what’s a rebound?” Gu Xiqiao stopped at a red light.

The system spirit was there, as always. Of course.

“Hm, well, let’s do it then,” Gu Xiqiao said lightly.

The system spirit shuddered in pity. Five unlucky talismans, it really felt sympathy for Bai Ting.

***

Half an hour later, Bai Xinran saw Bai Ting being carried into the hospital. She looked at Bai Ting, who was unconscious and lying on the bed, she heard that his entire person had fallen into the sewers. Her face was full of tears, she had not been able to sleep a wink since last night, constantly keeping up with the news. After worrying so long, this had happened so quickly in the end.

At the same time, after waiting for news of Bai Enterprise’s bankruptcy, the entire secular world was in an uproar.

When the Chen family had been destroyed the last time, it hadn’t caused this big of an impact or chaos. The Chen family was born into the underworld after all; money laundering, bribery, drugs and a lot more unethical matters, being caught and called out by Nine Heavens was nothing big.

But this time it was the Bai family, who was a first-class tyrant in the Imperial Capital. They had countless people who looked up to their existence, and they went bankrupt, just like that?!

All the other tyrants in the Imperial Capital were lost in their thoughts, they just couldn’t believe it. After repeatedly confirming the news, they were forced to believe that it was all truth. The Bai family’s bankruptcy was a done deal in the industry, and they were done in by a newly emerging company.

Some were panicked, if they really could kill off the Bai family, then what about smaller business like them?

What would Nine Heaven’s next step be? Would they be aiming to sit at the top of the Imperial Capital?

That was impossible, right? But now, even the Bai family had been defeated… was Nine Heavens really going to ascend to the heavens?

The last time, they were guessing whether Nine Heavens would emerge and rise in power, and not even a month later, Nine Heavens had indeed done so, and not only that, they had also cast a shadow over the hearts of the large companies in the Imperial Capital. With such a tyrannical and cruel explosive power, who would dare to mess with them?

***

“How devious of them, if they had such strength, why didn’t they come out from the beginning? Why did they wait until the last minute when they were already backed into a corner before revealing everything and cleaning out the Bai family in one fell swoop? How could they have endured it all the way till then?”

Seeing his friend in such a state, the financial predator couldn’t help but smile. “And that’s what I meant by giving help at the right time. Since you didn’t listen to me, I can’t do anything about that.”

“…” How was he to know that in just a month, Nine Heavens could be so cunning. If there was ever a next time, he will make sure to extend help in the right time to avoid such a loss of opportunity!

At a glance, it seemed that everyone and anyone was trying to guess what the next step for Nine Heavens was. Were they planning to conquer the peak of the Imperial Capital?

As mysterious as ever, no one in Nine Heavens came forward to offer any word of explanation, and continued to maintain their low-key profile, not cooperating with any companies.

If Luo Wenlang, who was now preparing to develop their financial products, were to come out to offer any explanation, it would just be to say that their boss had found something new to play with, and was preparing to invest in movies, and was not bothered with the running of Nine Heavens.

Even if he said all that, not a single person would believe him anyway, right?

***

‘Little system, hurry up and find me a better movie.’

The omnnipotent system that was being used like a sledgehammer to crack a nut, scoured the entire internet on earth with a reluctant look on its face, using a calculated speed of one hundred million a second to find a script for a certain someone.

As Gu Xiqiao talked with the system, she walked towards Studio City, and the set of ‘Empire Under Siege’. Just as she reached the set, she bumped into Tang Qingqiu.

“Big4… Cough, hello.” Tang Qingqiu greeted her stiffly.

Big? What was this ‘big’ about?

1 T

/N: A limit down is the opposite to a limit up, and it sets the maximum amount that the price of a stock will be allowed to decrease in a single trading session.

2 T

/N: A limit up is the maximum amount that the price of a stock will be allowed to increase in a single trading session.

3 T

/N: Market arbitrage refers to the simultaneous buying and selling of the same security in different markets to take advantage of a price difference.

4 possibly big sister