NOVEL NEXT Ch. 36
Chapter 36: Revival Amidst Ruins, the Aotian Alliance Collapses!
At the Martial Arena, instead of dispersing, the crowd surged madly in one direction.
At the center of that direction stood the Ascension Group’s temporary recruitment stage.
“I want to sign up! President Chu, I’m your loyal fan!”
“One hundred spirit stones, right? Here! This is my entire fortune—President, please accept my ‘pledge of loyalty’!”
“Don’t push! Line up! Can’t you see Director Wu is maintaining order here? Don’t you know the Group’s rules!”
Wu Hao stood behind a temporary wooden desk, shouting himself hoarse.
Behind him, several senior members of the Ascension Group busily collected spirit stones and registered names.
Every face was filled with a near-dreamlike excitement.
Once, they had been the most looked-down-upon existence within the Sect—menial workers and outer disciples no one respected.
Yet now, they had become the focus of countless people’s envy and admiration.
Those Inner Sect disciples who had once ordered them around now stood humbly in line, smiling flatteringly, just to earn a chance at an interview.
All of this change stemmed from one man—
Chu Feng.
At this moment, Chu Feng was not standing at the front of the stage basking in attention.
He simply stood quietly in the corner, watching the blazing scene before him. His expression was calm—like a composed hunter admiring the trap he had set, as it caught its first prey.
“President, look—quickly, look at this!”
Elder Liu Changqing came over, his hands trembling with excitement. He pointed at the mountain of spirit stones before Wu Hao, his voice quivering,
“We’re rich! We’re rich! It’s been less than a single incense stick’s time, and just from this ‘registration fee,’ we’ve collected nearly ten thousand spirit stones! This is faster than some of the Sect’s industries earn in a whole year!”
The way Liu Changqing looked at Chu Feng now could no longer be described as admiration—it was devotion, almost worship.
What was a business prodigy?
This was a business prodigy!
No—this was no prodigy.
This was the reincarnation of the God of Wealth himself!
“Elder Liu, calm down.”
Chu Feng patted his shoulder with a smile. “This is only the beginning of our ‘primitive capital accumulation.’ A mere drizzle. Our true wealth lies in these ‘premium human assets’ who are about to join our Group.”
“Yes, yes, the President is right!”
Liu Changqing nodded repeatedly. He didn’t quite understand what “human assets” meant, but as long as it made money, anything Chu Feng said was right.
At that moment, a stir arose within the crowd.
A figure stepped resolutely out from the gloomy corner belonging to the Aotian Alliance. He pushed through the throng and strode straight toward the Ascension Group’s recruitment stage.
“It’s Senior Brother Wang Teng!”
“He’s one of the Aotian Alliance’s core members—an Inner Sect expert second only to Li Aotian himself!”
“He… he’s joining the Ascension Group too?”
All eyes focused on the young man named Wang Teng.
His face showed struggle and humiliation—but above all, a determination as if burning his boats behind him.
He stopped before the stage, and under Wu Hao’s astonished gaze, took out a hundred low-grade spirit stones from his storage pouch and slapped them onto the table.
“I, Wang Teng, apply to join the Ascension Group.”
His voice was hoarse, but each word was clear.
Wu Hao froze for a moment, instinctively turning to look at Chu Feng in the distance.
Chu Feng gave him a faint smile and a nod.
Wu Hao instantly understood. His expression turned formal, and after clearing his throat, he said to Wang Teng,
“This Senior Brother, per President Chu’s instruction, you are classified as a ‘special talent.’ You may skip the line and proceed directly to the ‘executive interview channel.’ Please follow me.”
“Whoa——”
The crowd erupted once again!
Executive interview channel!
Those four words sent a jolt through everyone’s nerves.
It meant that the Ascension Group already had a clear hierarchy established!
It meant that, as long as one had ability, they could soar in one step and become a manager in this rising power!
Wang Teng’s move was like pouring cold water into boiling oil—it set off an explosive reaction.
“Even Senior Brother Wang Teng went…”
“The Aotian Alliance—it’s really finished this time…”
“A wise bird chooses the right tree to nest in, doesn’t it? Following a leader who coughed blood and fainted—how could that compare to following President Chu?”
Among the crowd, several of the Aotian Alliance’s core members, who had still been hesitating, saw Wang Teng’s action—and the last wall in their hearts finally crumbled.
The second, the third…
One after another, the Inner Sect elites who had once strutted arrogantly by Li Aotian’s side now hung their heads like defeated roosters and silently walked toward the Ascension Group’s recruitment stage.
The scene was dramatically symbolic.
On one side—bustling crowds, prosperity, countless people scrambling to join a rising force.
On the other—desolate emptiness, disheartened hearts, core members defecting one after another as the once-dominant faction crumbled to pieces.
No killing, no bloodshed.
With just one competition, one open strategy, Chu Feng had dismantled the Sect’s former number-one Inner Sect faction.
This kind of bloodless conquest sent chills down the spines of every onlooker.
Li Aotian—the once-proud genius—still lay unconscious in the infirmary.
He could never have imagined that when he woke up, his self-founded Aotian Alliance would already be in ruins—nothing but an empty shell.
An hour later, the crowd before the recruitment stage finally began to thin.
Wu Hao, holding a heavy storage bag, ran excitedly to Chu Feng.
“President! We’re rich! Today we received a total of one thousand three hundred twenty-seven membership applications! Just from the registration fee alone, we collected one hundred thirty-two thousand seven hundred low-grade spirit stones!”
The number made every old member of the Ascension Group gasp in shock.
One hundred thirty thousand!
That was enough to buy a fine magic treasure!
Yet Chu Feng’s expression remained calm.
He took the bag, weighed it casually, and said lightly, “Money is merely a tool. People are the true goal.”
“Pass the word—tonight we’ll hold the Ascension Group’s first ‘Executive Selection Interview Meeting.’”
Chu Feng’s gaze swept across the stack of “resumes” bearing names and cultivation levels, before finally landing on the one that read “Wang Teng.”
The corners of his mouth curved upward in a meaningful smile.
It was time to guide these lost lambs onto a brand-new—Ascension path.