Wind Rises, Clouds Surge

Since Zhang Xingfeng massacred the Li Family's gambling den, nothing major has happened in the Nine Provinces. The attack between the Li Family and Zhang Xingfeng that the major powers were looking forward to has not occurred. It seems that the Li Family has accepted the bitter pill.

Zhang Xingfeng has been back at the Star Peak Manor for three months now. These three months have been the most relaxed three months of Zhang Xingfeng life. He spends his days reading books, enjoying the scenery, and guiding the Star Peak Guard in their cultivation.

"Big Brother!" Zhang Xingfeng raised an eyebrow, his eyes lit up, and he immediately put down the book in his hand. He looked at the person in front of him with great joy.

Lang Feng smiled slightly, a rare occurrence, and said, "Oh dear, second brother, I've been constantly on the move while you're enjoying yourself here. It's really too much."

Zhang Xingfeng smiled slightly and asked, "How have you been these past few days, brother?"

A hint of pride appeared on Lang Feng's face as he said, "Just look at the income of Tianfeng Casino these past few days, and you'll know. I've been busy the whole time! I haven't slacked off."

Zhang Xingfeng knew that his strategy of having Lang Feng do things to temporarily forget about his emotional issues had been successful. Looking at the smiling Lang Feng, Zhang Xingfeng asked, "I still don't know how much income our Tianfeng Casino has been making lately. Tell me, how is it?"

A hint of excitement flickered in Lang Feng's eyes as he said, "In the past two months, we've completely caught up with the Li Family in the gambling business, earning an astonishing 15 million taels a month. It truly lives up to its reputation as a highly profitable industry." Zhang Xingfeng nodded in agreement. 15 million taels a month—the profit margin was indeed enormous. The nine Dragon Soaring Jade Shop combined only amounted to 20 million taels a year. It seemed the claim of "highly profitable industry" was no exaggeration.

Lang Feng paused for a moment, then continued, "The Li Family is still a force to be reckoned with, even in its weakened state. Despite our fierce attack, they managed to arrange for another group of people to continue working within a single day. They have regular customers, and in some towns, gambling dens are indeed better than casinos. Casinos have too high costs, and our profits in towns don't compete with theirs at all. In fact, we haven't even established casinos in small towns, giving all the profits to them. So the Li Family's gambling dens also have half the profits."

Zhang Xingfeng nodded and said, "Yes, it's already very good. We can't rush things. The Li Family has been operating for a long time. We were able to push the Li Family out of their dominant position so easily because our gambling house is better than our gambling den. But the Li Family's foundation is something we can't compare to. So what we need now is to consolidate our position."

Lang Feng nodded.

Zhang Xingfeng suddenly smiled and said, "Brother, why don't you go back to your room and rest? You must be tired these past few days!"

Lang Feng nodded and turned to go back, but just as he turned, he suddenly stopped, as if frozen in place. After a long while, he turned back to look at Zhang Xingfeng, stared at her for a long time, and finally managed to utter a sentence: "Is she alright?"

Zhang Xingfeng was taken aback, then gave a wry smile: it seemed his method hadn't been very effective. Looking at Lang Feng, Zhang Xingfeng's expression remained unchanged as he said, "She's alright!"

"Oh!" Lang Feng responded, then turned and left without saying anything more.

Zhang Xingfeng felt a surge of frustration. It seemed that his brother was completely trapped by love and unlikely to break free.

"Big brother..." Zhang Xingfeng felt a pang of sadness as he watched Lang Feng's retreating figure.

"Call out!"

A flash of blue light appeared.

A glint flashed in Zhang Xingfeng's eyes, and with a slight gesture of his right hand, blue light appeared in his palm. Zhang Xingfeng felt a slight tension in his heart. Why?

Because this blue light is actually a message, a message from Tianyu Tower. Tianyu Tower's messages are divided into red light level and purple light level, representing general events and important events respectively, while this blue light level represents extremely important events.

Tianyu Tower probably won't release a Blu-ray-level message even once in ten years.

What news could possibly warrant Tianyu Tower's Blu-ray quality?

Zhang Xingfeng opened his palm and gently pulled the note out of the blue tube with his left hand.

"Blue Light Level: Wind and Rain Pass has just been breached by the Yuan Mongolia!" Zhang Xingfeng was shocked upon seeing this. There hadn't been any major battles between nations for over a century. Wind and Rain Pass was always known as the most dangerous pass in the world, so how could this have happened? And why was there no prior warning?

Zhang Xingfeng continued reading.

"The elite strategy employed by the Yuan Mongolia Kingdom this time involved sending nearly 10,000 warriors, mostly from the Yuan Mongolia army, disguised as ordinary Yuan Mongolia, into Wind and Rain Pass in batches. Later, the Yuan Mongolia's most powerful 100,000 iron cavalry launched a lightning attack on Wind and Rain Pass, carrying only one day's worth of rations. The warriors inside Wind and Rain Pass and those outside the city worked together to capture the Wind and Rain Pass in half an hour. However, almost all of the Yuan Mongolia warriors inside the city perished in the attack!"

Seeing this, Zhang Xingfeng secretly admired Yuan Mongolia's courage in cutting off his own arm.

There was only a narrow passage less than 100 meters wide in front of Wind and Rain Pass. This was the only gap in the Tianya Mountain Range and the only passage between the Yuan Mongolia and the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty stationed 100,000 troops in the far north of Wind and Rain Pass, where they were stationed. Therefore, even if the Yuan Mongolia entered, the Ming Dynasty wasn't worried about collusion from within, as the far north was a restricted area; anyone approaching would be attacked. In this way, the Ming Dynasty effectively sealed off this hundred-meter passage.

However, the Yuan Mongolia Kingdom went all out this time, relying on most of its warriors and nearly ten thousand experts to infiltrate Wind and Rain Pass at different times and launch a sudden attack on the far north region.

The 100,000 iron cavalry charged to the front of Wind and Rain Pass with lightning speed and launched an attack, giving the 100,000 warriors of Wind and Rain Pass no rest at all.

The entire elite force of the Yuan Mongolia, fighting desperately and coordinating from within and without, finally breached Wind and Rain Pass after losing 10,000 elite soldiers within the city. Once the Wind and Rain Pass was breached, the Yuan Mongolia's elite forces, whose offensive power was inherently stronger than the guards of Wind and Rain Pass, were naturally victorious!

This brief battle also claimed the lives of many elite Yuan Mongolia, but their objective was achieved: they captured Wind and Rain Pass. This was the wish of all the Yuan Mongolia. In their hearts, the great achievement of Temujin Khan Tian Temujin, who swept across the six kingdoms and unified the world, was something they, the Yuan Mongolia, should always strive to emulate.

"What changes will occur in this war?" Zhang Xingfeng sighed inwardly. "Opportunity!" Zhang Xingfeng glanced at the note in his hand, a sudden thought struck him, and he couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Qiu Zhi!" Zhang Xingfeng shouted outside.

Qiu Zhi, who was playing in the lake, immediately ran over when she heard Zhang Xingfeng's shout and asked, "Young Master, what's wrong?"

Zhang Xingfeng smiled slightly and said, "Go and call Brother Wang over. I have something to arrange."

"Okay!" Qiu Zhi replied and immediately ran outside.

"Young Master, what brings you here?" Brother Wang walked in from outside. Brother Wang seemed more elegant than before, perhaps a result of reaching the Golden Core Stage and becoming a true cultivator.

"Take a look!" Zhang Xingfeng smiled slightly and handed over the note in his hand.

Brother Wang stared at the note, his expression one of utter shock, but he quickly frowned and looked at Zhang Xingfeng, saying, "Young Master, what is this...?"

Zhang Xingfeng's expression suddenly turned solemn as he said, "Brother Wang, I'm going to give you a task now."

Brother Wang immediately swallowed his previous question, looked at Zhang Xingfeng, and waited for Zhang Xingfeng's order.

A cold glint flashed in Zhang Xingfeng's eyes as he said, "Jizhou Prefecture has already begun to suffer from war. Although it's only at Wind and Rain Pass now, it will soon affect the entire Jizhou Prefecture. The war will displace people, and your responsibility is to take in refugees. This is the best time for us to expand our power. Don't worry about the silver. Just collect it!"

Zhang Xingfeng an aura of dominance. With hundreds of millions of taels of gold, why would he worry about supporting the refugees? Besides, the refugees would soon become self-reliant. The best time to gain power is during times of chaos like this. Other powers will likely do the same.

Brother Wang instantly understood Zhang Xingfeng's meaning, and there was a hint of fanaticism in his eyes as he looked at Zhang Xingfeng.

"Alright, you can go now. It's important to do this as soon as possible. Because of Tianyu Tower, we were the first to know this news, so the opportunity is in our hands. Also, stop all business in Jizhou Prefecture immediately! Okay, you can go now!"

"Yes!" Brother Wang immediately turned and left. He was filled with immense motivation and could already foresee a glorious future.

As Zhang Xingfeng watched Brother Wang's retreating figure, a slight flow of Chaos Power caused the note to disappear, or rather, to turn into invisible fragments.

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