Panxi is Gone?

Time flowed, but space remained eternally silent. Chen Qing had sat inside the spaceship for nearly ten years!

Thirty-six water ripples drifted around Chen Qing, sometimes merging, sometimes separating, finally swaying like lotus petals at his side.

Suddenly the ship's lights flicked on. The surrounding lotuses trembled, then slowly contracted, vanishing into Chen Qing's body.

"I can't comprehend any further. I've already figured out the essence of water. If I keep going, I'll be acknowledged by the laws!"

Chen Qing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The Green Lotus was incredibly effective. Even though it was still developing and couldn't comprehend the laws on its own like a clone, its roots were constantly connected to the Origin Land, allowing it to directly sense the fluctuations of the laws. If he added the guidance of the Chaos Stele, the feeling would definitely be wonderful.

"Spirit Butterfly, what's the situation?"

Chen Qing stood up to stretch his body while asking his intelligent assistant.

"Master, the detector has found that the target just left the asteroid cluster!"

"Left!"

Chen Qing's heart skipped a beat, then quickly relaxed. Ever since the last incident with greeting someone, he felt he'd become a bit sensitive.

His genes hadn't changed, and Quake Seal hadn't improved much. He was only at Domain Lord level five. Even with the amplification from the laws, he still didn't have enough confidence.

On the lawn of the Nine Star Bay estate, Chen Qing lay on the ground, holding Jiang Fang and Yao Rao in his arms, quietly enjoying a peaceful moment.

Over the years, because of the Green Lotus's effect, Chen Qing had only woken up a few times, so their time together was naturally limited.

Fortunately, the two women weren't the type to throw petty tantrums. Sister Fang was always the understanding older sister, and Yao Rao's occasional coquettishness was mostly just teasing him.

Most of the time, the three lay together, sharing what had happened around them or discussing new insights.

From the two women, Chen Qing learned about the recent situation. The first few years had been fine—they hadn't made many moves while waiting for Luo Hua's plan.

But a few years ago, he and his two brothers had acted frequently, causing heavy losses to the Fire Phoenix's slave trade. Many people thought a powerful expert was targeting the Fire Phoenix Organization.

Rumors flew everywhere, and many followed behind to take advantage of the chaos, which also made things much easier for Luo Hua.

Especially after Krachi found the Pinghai Company, no one knew what hints he'd received, but Fire Phoenix itself joined the uproar. Now all kinds of shady characters had crawled out.

It seemed Panxi was also involved. But as long as he wasn't running away, Chen Qing wouldn't care too much. From the development of the Fire Phoenix Organization, Panxi wasn't the type to admit defeat quickly!

Finance was Luo Hua's battlefield, not closely related to Chen Qing and the others. They only needed to focus on cultivation.

Hong and Thor were still at the fourth and sixth layers, but their progress in the laws was considerable.

Unfortunately, both were focusing on the upper-level laws, taking the hardest path without guidance from secret techniques. It was hard to say how far they'd get.

Jiang Fang and Yao Rao were similar, both stuck at the second layer. The good news was that they'd mastered the seventh form of Foundation, but their domains still felt slightly lacking.

Still, there was plenty of time. Neither felt pressured—they could just take it slow.

"Old Four, why are you like Third Brother, disappearing for years at a time!"

Before he even entered, Thor's loud voice rang out. The others quickly got up to greet him.

"Don't even mention it. I woke up and found the prey had left. I was afraid you guys might suffer a loss, so I hurried over to let you know."

Thor curled his lip. "I didn't see you rushing over. Don't think I don't know when Yao Rao and the others logged on!"

Chen Qing grinned. "Panxi only just set out. There's still plenty of time."

He turned to Hong, who was watching the show. "Big Brother, how do you want to handle it?"

"Since he's coming, let him come. Luo Hua has already reaped once. Now that the market is chaotic, we can do some low-buy high-sell operations. We should also take a break and sum up our gains. But once the chaos settles, we can't drag it out too long!"

Chen Qing felt reassured. Sister Fang had mentioned this earlier too, but Luo Hua estimated this chaos wouldn't ease for at least ten or twenty years.

Mainly because Fire Phoenix was too tempting a piece of meat. Many were fishing in troubled waters. Panxi would probably be quite busy this time.

Once he stabilized Fire Phoenix, he'd likely want to vent. That would be when his guard was down.

Calculating it this way, Chen Qing had at least ten years. But he couldn't wait any longer. Plans couldn't keep up with changes—who knew what surprises might come!

Drip Water Planet. This was the territory of Li from the Fire Phoenix Organization, and a famous den of vice in the Cuilang Star Sector. Only the wealthy and powerful came here.

Countless bones were buried beneath it, and the air was thick with the scent of desire.

"Li, what's the situation now?"

In a luxurious meeting room sat eighteen people of various forms—the directors of the Fire Phoenix Organization.

Li, as the head of business, quickly stood up when he heard his boss's question.

"Boss, our slave trade has taken a big hit. But from our probes, the attacks are mainly targeting four Universe Level experts!

Unfortunately, the information we get back is sparse. We only know it's two men and two women. Their race and appearance are unknown.

But from their reaction speed, they probably have many people working for them. It might not be a grudge—hiring is more likely."

"What about other aspects?"

"The rest is fine. Taking advantage of this turbulence and the greed of those World Lord factions, our trade finally has a chance to expand."

From now on, the organization's surface industries will expand, but the risks are considerable. If things go wrong, not only will our efforts be wasted, but the resources we've invested will take a heavy hit."

"Hmph! As long as we keep the slave trade going, no one knows who'll swallow who yet! A lot of people have forgotten the bloodbath back then!"

Panxi didn't care. It was just more killing. His progress had been slowing down these years anyway—a chance to stretch his limbs.

"It's been this long. Can't you dig up anything behind those mercenaries?"

Buffen glanced cautiously at the boss. He'd been stationed on Cuilang Planet for ages, and this kind of thing usually fell on him. Looked like he couldn't dodge it.

"Boss, the situation's a mess right now. We can only rule out the major powers. Everyone else is deliberately feeding us false leads. We've come up empty on every investigation, so we had to ask you to take charge!"

"Useless!"

Seeing Buffen flinch, Panxi was pleased with his own authority, but he didn't press further.

"What about the Seventh Prince?"

"Boss, the Seventh Prince was sent out a few years ago. No telling when he'll be back."

Buffen answered even more carefully, afraid the boss might suddenly lash out.

"But I asked around with his attendants. It's just a routine visit—there's historical precedent. Not likely it's aimed at us!"

Panxi nodded without a word, swept his gaze around the room, and landed on another person.

"Krachi, what's the deal with that Virtual Universe branch?"

Krachi let out a confident laugh. "Don't worry, boss. The bait's been laid out thick. They just don't want to deal with us for reputation's sake. For now, financial matters are keeping them busy enough!"

Good. Panxi nodded, then rose like a lion. "Then let's give these jackals a proper cleaning."