9: Chapter 9 Master-Level Martial Arts and Fifty Million

Inside the Treasure Pavilion, the deathly silence was shattered by a rough roar.

"Thirty million! I'll pay thirty million!"

A fat man in a gold-threaded Tang suit, dripping with sweat, pushed through the crowd, his eyes glued to the piece of Imperial Green jade as if he wanted to swallow the stone whole.

"Old Li, you're being unreasonable. You want to buy such a large piece of glass-species Imperial Green for thirty million? You're dreaming!"

Another middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses adjusted his frames and looked directly at Chen Fan, speaking rapidly: "Young man, I am the Jiangcheng District manager for Zhou's Jewelry. I offer thirty-eight million for this piece! Just nod, and my finance department will transfer the money immediately, no delays!"

Thirty-eight million!

This number was like a thunderclap, making the scalps of the onlookers tingle.

Zhang Wei, who had just been mocking Chen Fan, now had his mouth open wide enough to fit a lightbulb, his expression incredibly vivid. That was thirty-eight million! His father's company couldn't make that much net profit even after ten years of desperate hard work!

Sun Li was so jealous her eyes turned red; she wanted to rush up and accept the offer on Chen Fan's behalf.

Chen Fan stood in the center of the crowd, his expression calm.

He had no interest in jade; he was only interested in money.

"Deal."

Chen Fan was concise, directly pulling out his bank card and handing it over.

The manager from Zhou's Jewelry was overjoyed; fearing Chen Fan might change his mind, he immediately called his finance department to process the transaction on the spot.

In less than two minutes.

"Ding!"

A text message notification sounded, sounding exceptionally crisp in the quiet shop.

Chen Fan took out his phone and glanced at it.

【Your savings account ending in 9527 received a deposit of 38,000,000.00 RMB on October 24th at 10:35, current balance...】

A long string of zeros.

Chen Fan put away his phone, and his back, which had been hunched from years of delivering food, straightened completely at this moment.

With this money, plus his previous earnings, his cash flow had exceeded sixty million. In Jiangcheng, this was enough to cross the threshold into the ranks of the wealthy.

【Ding! Congratulations to the Host for completing the random investment task: Intercept the destiny of the Child of Destiny.】

【Task evaluation: Perfect.】

【Distributing rewards...】

【Reward one: Combat Mastery (Grandmaster level) has been injected.】

【Reward two: Fifty million in startup capital has been transferred to an offshore account and laundered; it is ready for use.】

Boom!

A massive surge of heat poured into his crown without warning, instantly flowing through his entire body.

Chen Fan felt every muscle in his body tighten and reorganize at that moment. His mind was flooded with countless pieces of knowledge regarding human anatomy, force application techniques, and finishing moves. Those previously vague muscle memories became incredibly clear, as if he had been practicing martial arts for fifty years.

He clenched his fist.

His knuckles emitted a crisp "crack" sound.

This sense of power was intoxicating.

Now, even if a bull stood in front of him, he was confident he could kill it with a single punch.

"Friend."

A low voice interrupted Chen Fan's experience.

Long Aotian had walked over at some point. The gloom on his face had receded, replaced by an inscrutable expression.

He pulled a gold-embossed business card from his pocket, held it between two fingers, and extended it toward Chen Fan.

"Good eye. In Jiangcheng, there aren't many people who can snatch food from Long Aotian's hands, and you are the first."

Long Aotian.

The Crown Prince of the Jiangcheng underworld and a future business tycoon.

Chen Fan looked at the business card but didn't reach out to take it, simply stating his name calmly: "Chen Fan."

Long Aotian narrowed his eyes; his hand remained suspended in mid-air, but he didn't seem embarrassed, casually tucking the card into the pocket of Chen Fan's delivery uniform.

"Chen Fan. Good, I'll remember that."

Long Aotian gave him a deep look, then turned and strode away with his bodyguards.

There was no anger in those eyes, only the coldness and playfulness of a hunter discovering prey.

Chen Fan patted the business card in his pocket, his gaze calm.

If he had been targeted by someone like this in the past, he might have been too terrified to sleep. But now?

He was even a little excited.

"Move aside, move aside! Why are you all crowding around!"

Chen Fan parted the crowd and strode outside.

Zhang Wei and Sun Li cowered behind the crowd, not daring to make a peep, terrified that Chen Fan might see them.

Stepping out of the antique street, the sunlight outside was a bit blinding.

"zero." Chen Fan lowered his voice.

"Host, two mice have been following you the whole way. Ever since you cut out the Imperial Green, they have been tracking you."

zero's cold voice came through the earpiece.

Chen Fan didn't need to look back; relying on his Grandmaster-level perception, he could clearly hear the two sets of intentionally light footsteps and rapid breathing twenty meters behind him.

That was the sound of greed.

"Perfect."

Chen Fan stretched his neck, the sound of grinding bones making one's teeth ache, "I just got a reward and was worrying about where to test it out."

He didn't head for the crowded main road; instead, he turned and ducked into a dead-end alley filled with debris.

The alley was dark and damp, reeking of rotting garbage.

Chen Fan walked to the end of the alley, stopped, and with his back to the entrance, slowly and deliberately pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

The footsteps drew near.

Two thugs wearing floral shirts with tattooed arms blocked the entrance.

One of them, with dyed yellow hair, was playing with a switchblade, the blade glinting coldly in the dim light.

"Yo, old man, you've wandered into quite a remote path."

The yellow-haired thug sneered and stepped closer, "You were pretty impressive back at the Treasure Pavilion, weren't you? Handling millions like it was nothing. My brothers and I are a bit tight on cash lately; how about lending us some?"

The other thug was holding a steel pipe, tapping it against the wall while letting out a weird laugh, "If you're smart, hand over your mobile banking password. Otherwise, in this desolate place, if you end up missing an arm or a leg, no one will know."

Chen Fan slowly turned around.

Amidst the swirling smoke, his expression held no fear; instead, it carried an excitement that the two thugs couldn't understand.

It was like a starving wolf seeing meat delivered to its doorstep.

"Lend money?"

Chen Fan took a drag of his cigarette and flicked the butt toward the yellow-haired thug.

The spark drew a red line through the air.

"Sure," Chen Fan grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, "as long as you have the life to take it."

The yellow-haired thug was burned by the cigarette butt and flew into a rage: "Damn! You don't know what's good for you! Get him!"

Before the words left his mouth, the yellow-haired thug raised his switchblade and viciously stabbed toward Chen Fan's stomach.

This strike was fast and ruthless; he was clearly a habitual offender.

In the past, Chen Fan's old bones would definitely not have been able to dodge this.

But in the eyes of the current Chen Fan, the yellow-haired thug's movements were as slow as a slideshow. He was full of openings; it was practically an insult to the word "fighting."

Chen Fan moved.

There were no flashy moves, just a single step forward.

This single step was like folding space!

"Crack!"

A crisp sound of bone breaking exploded in the deathly silent alley.