Chapter 93
Chapter 93
Jiang Xiu sat on the top seat in the Bayview Pavilion. All the big shots from Jiang City were accompanying him. Today, they were able to watch the river tides, and also witness a battle between Demigods with their own eyes. It had indeed broadened their worldview.
"Mr. Jiang, the people from the Wang family have arrived."
"Let them come over," replied Jiang Xiu.
After receiving Jiang Xiu's pardon, the Wang family didn't dare to tarry and immediately returned to prepare the assets. They didn't hold back anything this time as it could result in the extermination of their entire family if they did.
The group of a few Wang family children was headed by Wang Xueli. Old Madame Wang hadn't accompanied them. He spoke in a deferential tone, "Mr. Jiang, this is all of my Wang family's assets. A total of 113.2 billion."
The others were astonished.
In the year '08, just having assets worth 100 million was enough to enter the high-class circle, while 2-3 billion was enough to rank among the top. Even the nominal richest person of Jiangnan didn't have assets worth over 20 billion.
From the number of assets they had amassed, it clearly showed that they were worthy of being called a family with a heritage of 200 years.
This was the exceptional thing about martial arts families. They don't take risks by gambling with businesses like the families who have roots in officialdom or commerce. Thus, their assets keep accumulating.
Naturally, this was also related to the property that the Wang Ancestor had left behind for the family. In those days, the Wang family had over 10,000 troops, so the amount of wealth they had plundered was quite difficult to imagine.
Wang Xueli handed over the box containing the property documents while trembling, "Old Madame wanted to personally deliver them, but her body had taken ill. Hence, she could only send me to deliver them to Mr. Jiang."
"The Old Madame said she'll move to the Wang family's retirement house and live in seclusion until her last breath."
Jiang Xiu nodded.
Old Madame Wang understood thoroughly that the Wang family had come to an end. There was no meaning for her to control the Wang family now.
"Looks like she has realized it."
Jiang Xiu's slender fingers dropped on top of the early 19th-century era brocade box, moving his fingers past it lightly. His gaze swept past the Wang family children present there, "Who handles the Wang family's businesses usually?"
"It's this humble one!"
A middle-aged man walked out. This person looked around 50-years-old and appeared different from the other Wang family members. He wore a suit as well as a necktie of a luxurious style and also seemed quite astute.
"This humble one is known as Wang Xuetang."
He made a great effort to keep his calm while speaking but his face was pale while his body trembled. It was clear that he was quite afraid.
"Which industry can make the most money in the future?" asked Jiang Xiu.
"Real estate," Wang Xuetang blurted out without even thinking.
The next decade was for the real estate and internet. Especially real estate as it would boom in the following years. Jiang Xiu had experienced this personally in the previous timeline, and this also revealed the foresight Wang Xuetang possessed to have predicted it.
"How has the Wang family dabbled in the real estate business?"
Wang Xuetang replied with a hardened expression, "We haven't got involved in it."
"Why didn't you do so if you already knew about it?"
"That's…"
Long ago, the family had sent Wang Xuetang abroad to study. But after returning home, he discovered that it was all futile since the elders stuck to their old ideologies and refused to listen to him even if he said something. They weren't willing to pick up the interest by placing the wealth in the bank and instead bought shop fronts to rent them out. Currently, there was quite the minimal investment in commerce, let alone amassing a venture capital.
The Wang family wasn't to blame as money came to them too quickly. There were plenty of people who wished to ask for their help and exchange all their life savings in return. This brought in a tremendous amount of money. The Wang family had more money than they could spend, and since they were a family with a martial arts heritage, they didn't attach much importance to money.
However, this was akin to a nightmare for Wang Xuetang. His skills unused, forced to work part-time for others to be able to display his talent, it was quite a hard time for him.
"You didn't learn martial arts?"
Jiang Xiu discovered that Wang Xuetang didn't even have inner strength. It was quite difficult to imagine that the Wang family had such a person in his age group.
"To answer Mr. Jiang's question, my body wasn't suitable for martial arts. I also didn't have any interest in it, so I never learned it." In fact, these weren't Wang Xuetang's true feelings. He believed that the world would head towards a peaceful era so the importance of martial arts would reduce drastically. Even if someone had achieved high cultivation, they couldn't do anything against a gun. On the contrary, he was very interested towards commerce.
Jiang Xiu pushed the brocade box towards him, "From now on, you'll have the final say in the Wang family."
"What?!"
Wang Xuetang couldn't believe his ears.
"You're the family head now. You're allowed to control the funds here arbitrarily and venture into the business you want. I hope you don't disappoint this Deity."
The Wang family had already lost their patron, so it was impossible for them to continue thriving as a martial arts-based family. They need to change, and commerce was the way to go.
"Thank you, Mr. Jiang. Thank you…"
This was akin to a meat pie falling from the sky to him.
The Wang family's great catastrophe had turned out as a boon for him.
An unremarkable little shopkeeper who didn't even have a say in the family had directly become the family head.
"That girl behind you, who's she to you?"
Jiang Xiu noticed Wang Xintong hiding behind Wang Xuetang at this moment. Her beautiful eyes peeked at him with fear and rancor. She was the one who brought Jiang Xiu to the Wang family and thus felt quite guilty, feeling she had led the wolf into the house. Since the family was now at a delicate juncture, she had explicitly come to support them.
"She's my daughter!"
Jiang Xiu glanced at her. Didn't you used to say that this Deity was coming to ask your Wang family for help? Look who's asking who now.
"We shall take our leave then…"
The darkness of the night approached slowly. Jiang Xiu stood at the edge of the Bayview Platform after the feast ended. The Qian River appeared pitch-black under the night scene and matched well with the serenity. It was quite spooky though as the people didn't dare to go downstream during night time. They didn't even dare to enter their own swimming pools at this time. One reason was that the water was too cold at night and the other due to the feeling that something was inside the water.
This time, Jiang Xiu didn't need to use the lantern for directions since he remembered the location.
He arrived at the location Wang Jianzhi was staying.
Jiang Xiu found the stone he was searched for. Though his vision in the water blurred after entering, he could vaguely see that the stone was merely the tip of the iceberg. It was actually a huge rock.
Moss had grown all over the rock, and more than half of it was buried under the mud. It was as if a 10 storied building had fallen into the Qian River then turned into ruins. Moreover, this location was a curve in the river, so it was quite easy for a torrential current to form underneath.
"Hmm?"
This rock's material was quite strange and seemed to resemble a statue yet also looked like that of an animal's form.
"T-This is…"
Jiang Xiu stared at it with his eyes wide open.
"River Swallowing Toad?"
There was mention of the River Swallowing Toad in the Immortal Martial Continent's Record of Monsters. The River Swallowing Toad is as enormous as a mountain and very slothful. It would sleep for a duration of 10 to 100 years in one go, and the first thing it would do after waking up was to drink water. It would suck the entire river water dry and thus got the moniker of River Swallowing Toad.
"How can a River Swallowing Toad exist on Earth?"
Jiang Xiu thought it was a sculpture, but his inference was overthrown immediately as it wouldn't be easy to carve such a colossal statue meant for offering prayers. He felt it with his hand, noticing that its sides and corners were accurate to the minute details. Even the veins on its skin were vivid and lifelike. It wasn't possible to chisel out such things. After considering all the facts, he came to a judgment that this was a fossil.
A River Swallowing Toad's fossil.
"According to the legends, the River Swallowing Toad likes to hoard treasures. I wonder if there are any here."
Jiang Xiu tried to push out the River Swallowing Toad from the mud, but it was too large. He couldn't move it even by using all his strength.
He got tired in the end and could only manage to take out the River Swallowing Toad's face, revealing half its mouth outside.
Its mouth was slightly open, and there was nothing there, leading directly to the abdomen. Jiang Xiu was definite now that this wasn't a statue but rather a fossil as no one possessed the technology to carve out internal organs.
"If it's indeed a fossil, I wonder whether there's an inner core present?"
It'd be a significant gain for him if he could find an inner core.
Jiang Xiu entered the River Swallowing Toad's abdomen.
He was greeted by a pale and gentle light after reaching the abdomen. Jiang Xiu was overjoyed that there was indeed an inner core present inside. He speculated that the reason Wang Jianzhi had chosen to cultivate at this location was due to this inner core as it should have increased his cultivation speed, but he couldn't figure out the reason.
Jiang Xiu grabbed it and rejoiced.
"Hahahaha…"
He was expecting for the number of Divine Regalia on his arm to grow by using this inner core.
He impatiently returned back to the resort and entered his villa, only to discover someone inside the house. It was… Wang Xintong.