Who Gave You the Courage to Be Arrogant in Front of Me?

As one of Ordinary Alliance's higher-ups, Wang Chen was responsible for this branch of the Ordinary Alliance, as well as all personnel, strongholds, and businesses in the surrounding area...

Each year, after meeting the minimum quota, he received thirty percent of the net profit, while the remaining seventy percent was handed over to Ordinary Alliance headquarters. Of course, authority and benefits came with corresponding responsibilities.

Ordinary matters could be handled by stewards at the Soul King or Soul Emperor level, but major incidents required him, a high-ranking official, to deal with them personally.

As for why he had joined the Ordinary Alliance, it was naturally because Wang Chen needed manpower.

As a high-ranking member of the Ordinary Alliance, Wang Chen was much like a regional lord. Within the territory under his jurisdiction, he wielded tremendous authority.

Using that authority, Wang Chen had secretly recruited quite a few criminals from Mingdu's underworld to work for him. These people did not know who their superior was; all contact was conducted through a single line.

In other words, Wang Chen knew them, but they did not know Wang Chen.

The purpose was to prevent anyone from tracing the trail back to Wang Chen after the news that Crown Prince Xu Tianran was impotent was exposed in the future.

Even Wang Chen's identity and name within the Ordinary Alliance were fake, entirely fabricated. His true appearance had also been altered through techniques such as facial muscle control, making him look exceptionally vicious and ferocious.

Even if someone truly managed to uncover Wang Chen's false identity through scattered clues in the future, it would be useless.

By then, Wang Chen would have long since fled.

Over these three years, Wang Chen had already prepared himself to deal with the family crisis, whether in terms of strength or influence...

Wang Chen rose from the chair in his office and injected his Soul Power into the Golden Soul Tool Ring on his right hand.

The next moment, Wang Chen looked at the six black Soul Rings around his body, which had become seven normal Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, and black—and nodded in satisfaction.

This Golden Soul Tool Ring possessed neither offensive nor defensive capabilities. Its sole function was to create false images, making it easier for Wang Chen to conceal himself.

Then, Wang Chen straightened his black robe, adjusted the mask on his face, and walked out of the office.

After leaving the office, Wang Chen saw a beautiful female steward with a slender figure who appeared to be around thirty.

The beautiful steward saw Wang Chen and immediately said anxiously, "Sir, the Xishui Alliance has come looking for trouble again. This time, their branch chief, the Soul Sage Zhang Ming, came personally.

"He's blocking the entrance to our branch and demanding an explanation.

"He says all of the Xishui Alliance's customers have come here instead, so we must compensate him for his losses. And he's making an outrageous demand—five million Gold Soul Coins the moment he opens his mouth."

Wang Chen's expression immediately darkened after hearing that. Did Zhang Ming think he was easy to bully? Five million Gold Soul Coins was roughly this Ordinary Alliance branch's annual profit.

At present, Mingdu's three major underground factions—the Ordinary Alliance, the Aodu Merchant Guild, and the Xishui Alliance—stood in a three-way balance.

Behind the Ordinary Alliance stood Mingdu's great nobles, behind the Aodu Merchant Guild stood the Sun and Moon Empire military, and behind the Xishui Alliance stood the Holy Spirit Cult.

Among them, the Xishui Alliance had only emerged in recent years. It was the strongest and the most aggressive, constantly swallowing up small and mid-sized underground factions.

Thus, the Ordinary Alliance and the Aodu Merchant Guild had tacitly joined forces to resist the Xishui Alliance.

Though dissatisfied with the joint resistance of the Ordinary Alliance and Aodu Merchant Guild, the Xishui Alliance had no particularly good way to deal with it.

Although the Xishui Alliance's masters were the immensely powerful Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult, the Sun and Moon Empire's great nobles and military were also extremely formidable.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit Cult was currently operating within the Sun and Moon Empire, and the two had a cooperative relationship. Completely offending the great nobles and military would also be a huge headache.

Therefore, the Holy Spirit Cult, the great nobles, and the military all tacitly kept the conflicts between their lackeys—no, the three major underground factions of Mingdu—within a certain range.

They fought, but not to the death. They competed, but did not engage in malicious competition, tacitly dividing the cake among themselves.

Therefore, Wang Chen was not afraid of the Xishui Alliance. As long as things did not get too out of hand, the people behind them would not interfere.

Wang Chen said to the female steward, "An explanation? Is Zhang Ming even worthy of one? He lacks the ability to make money himself, so he came here to throw his weight around. How laughable."

The beautiful steward wore a worried expression and said softly, "Sir, Zhang Ming is extremely powerful. Even the previous branch chief was no match for him. Please be careful."

Wang Chen said coldly, "Then I'd like to see just how capable he is."

With that, Wang Chen strode forward, and the beautiful steward hurriedly followed.

Upon reaching the branch entrance, they saw a tall, lean middle-aged man blocking the way with a group of subordinates dressed in white robes, all looking menacing.

When Zhang Ming saw Wang Chen emerge, his eyes narrowed.

This newly appointed Ordinary Alliance branch chief, Song Yu—Wang Chen's fabricated identity—had come up with many new ideas and made the Ordinary Alliance's business in this region flourish.

Meanwhile, Zhang Ming's own business had become bleak, with all the customers going to spend their money at Song Yu's place instead.

It truly made him both furious and jealous. Of course, that was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that, as the Xishui Alliance branch chief, he had to hand over a substantial amount of revenue to headquarters every year.

If the amount he handed over was insufficient, he would be punished.

Whenever Zhang Ming thought of those unreasonable, mentally twisted, and cruel Evil Soul Masters behind him, he could not help but feel uncomfortable all over.

If those Evil Soul Masters had not planted a restriction in his soul when he was young, he would have run away long ago.

But since he could not run, he could only do everything possible to live well.

A friendly smile appeared on Zhang Ming's face. "You must be Song Yu, the Ordinary Alliance branch chief. I came today to reason things out with you.

"Though we belong to different factions, we all operate in the same area and see each other all the time. You've taken all the money for yourself—how are we supposed to explain that?"

Just as Zhang Ming was about to continue speaking—

Wang Chen had no time to listen to Zhang Ming's nonsense and cut him off directly. "Zhang Ming, don't waste your breath on meaningless words. You just want money, don't you? If you can defeat me, I'll hand over five million Gold Soul Coins with both hands! But if you lose, I want every Soul Tool on your body!"

Upon hearing Wang Chen's words, Zhang Ming's expression turned solemn. As a Soul Sage, every Soul Tool on his body was exceedingly valuable.

Even the cheapest ones cost several hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, while the most valuable item was worth a full million Gold Soul Coins. If he lost, he would be taking a massive loss.

Seeing Zhang Ming's hesitation, Wang Chen said disdainfully, "If you're scared, then hurry up and get lost. Stop being an eyesore here."

Wang Chen's words instantly filled Zhang Ming with rage.

He was fucking wary of the Evil Soul Master behind him—did that mean he was afraid of some obscure Ordinary Alliance branch president like Wang Chen?

He knew all the top Soul Sages in Mingdu. An unknown nobody like Wang Chen was most likely a newly promoted Soul Sage. Zhang Ming had tried to speak nicely to him, and this bastard was actually putting on airs?

Zhang Ming's Soul Power had reached level seventy-six, placing him among the stronger Soul Sages. Among those at the same level, aside from those bizarre and evil Evil Soul Masters—

those with top-tier martial souls, or the foremost geniuses among Soul Engineers, there was no one he feared.

Who gave you the nerve to act so arrogant in front of me?