I Can Control Resources

"..." Zhang Hongying was speechless.

If she could, she would just sing a song right now. "The north wind blows, the snowflakes fall, the snowflakes fall and fall... the new year is here..."

’So am I the landlord Huang Shiren, or am I Xi’Er?’

Seeing Zhang Hongying’s silence, Wu Qingjing frowned. He thought for a moment before adding, "Hong Ying, the Alliance specifically transferred you to the Underground City to be an instructor. It wasn’t so you could play the good guy. When it’s time to act, you must be decisive. Don’t have any reservations, understand?"

"Un...derstood!" Zhang Hongying snapped out of it, then subconsciously glanced at Gao Neng. "Did you hear Speaker Wu? A Tier Seven Genetic Weapon isn’t something you can just play around with! What if you break it? This thing is worth tens of billions. We couldn’t afford it even if we sold you!"

"Don’t worry, I already spent eighty million to buy it." Gao Neng shrugged. This genetic weapon was now his private property.

’Break it?’

’Not a chance!’

’I can play with it however I want.’

"Eigh... eighty million?! To buy a... a genetic weapon?!" Zhang Hongying choked again, her gaze shifting to Wu Qingjing.

"Ahem, what Gao Neng said is true. However, this matter is very complicated. I’ll explain it to you later when I have the chance." Wu Qingjing’s expression darkened slightly.

’I told you to suppress him, not to use the genetic weapon as leverage against him.’

’When it comes to this, probably no one in the entire Alliance can keep Gao Neng in check. Hong Ying, you need to be more forward-thinking!’

Wu Qingjing sighed inwardly. Then, his gaze shifted, and he looked at Gao Neng with a smile. "Gao Neng, the site for the genetic weapon laboratory has been selected. Do you want to go take a look?"

"Where is it?" Gao Neng asked.

"Not far, about a kilometer from here." Wu Qingjing replied cautiously. For some reason, whenever the topic of genetic weapons came up, he always felt like he was Gao Neng’s little assistant and found it impossible to speak with any authority.

"That far? I’ll go tomorrow. I just broke through to the Tier Six Mid Stage today, so I need to stabilize my power!" Gao Neng thought for a moment and decided not to go for now.

"Tomorrow? Okay, then it’s a date!" A smile finally appeared on Wu Qingjing’s face. He then looked at Zhang Hongying. "Hong Ying, come with me for a moment."

"Yes!" Zhang Hongying nodded, but her eyes flickered between Gao Neng and Wu Qingjing, feeling utterly speechless inside.

’Didn’t you tell me to suppress him?’

’Speaker Wu, what are you doing yourself?!’

Of course, she couldn’t say this out loud. After all, Wu Qingjing was the Speaker of the Alliance Supreme Council. No matter what, he had to maintain some face in front of others.

"Hahaha, Gao Neng, my boy, not bad! You’ve got personality!" Yutian rarely saw Wu Qingjing speak to a junior with such a tone, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

Meanwhile, Shaximo and the others nearby all had complicated expressions.

They had witnessed the entire exchange. If they weren’t mistaken, Zhang Hongying’s face must be stinging badly right now.

Yi Qinglian’s expression was also quite complicated at the moment.

She looked at Gao Neng, then at Zhang Hongying and Wu Qingjing who were about to leave. Biting her lip, she couldn’t help but mutter, "Isn’t anyone going to do anything about Gao Neng peeping on me while I was bathing?"

"Eh? Gao Neng, you were peeping on a lady in her bath just now?" Yutian’s ears twitched, and he quickly caught Yi Qinglian’s words.

"I did not! Yi Qinglian, you claim I was peeping on you. Then tell everyone, what time were you bathing?" Hearing Yutian’s question, an idea suddenly struck Gao Neng.

"Fifteen minutes... no, twenty minutes ago!" Yi Qinglian said through gritted teeth.

"Perfect. Governor Yun is my witness then. Where was I twenty minutes ago? Governor Yun can vouch for me!" Gao Neng immediately looked at Yutian.

"Twenty minutes ago? Oh, I can indeed vouch for Gao Neng on that. Twenty minutes ago, he was at the entrance to the Underground City. I saw him with my own eyes." Yutian nodded.

"Did you hear that?" Gao Neng looked at Yi Qinglian.

"It wasn’t you? This..." Yi Qinglian was stunned. She knew Yutian’s identity, so she naturally knew he wouldn’t lie for Gao Neng.

But the fact was, that Spiritual Power Long Saber was undoubtedly Gao Neng’s. Why, then, was he at the entrance twenty minutes ago?

’Could it be that I saw a ghost?’

"Maybe it was Shaximo. He ran the fastest as soon as you shouted, so he must have been hiding somewhere." Gao Neng looked toward Shaximo.

"Great Sun Buddha, I, Shaximo, would never peep!" Shaximo’s expression changed slightly as he immediately retorted.

"Alright, Yi Qinglian, since Governor Yun has vouched for Gao Neng, let’s drop this for now. We’ll investigate later if any evidence turns up." Zhang Hongying really didn’t want to stay here a moment longer.

"Hmph, Gao Neng, I’ll definitely find some dirt on you!" Yi Qinglian snorted and fell silent, but her chest heaved with anger.

Gao Neng wasn’t too concerned.

’My dirt...’

’As if I’d let you find it.’

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly felt an extremely sharp aura from above, as if a peerless longsword was about to fall from the sky.

"Hm?!" It wasn’t just Gao Neng who sensed this aura; Yutian felt it too. His gaze turned to the sky, and he soon spotted a figure.

It was an old man.

His clothes were quite ordinary.

In fact, everything from his clothes and style to his facial features was so plain he was unmemorable. But the old man’s gaze was as sharp as a sword.

SWISH!

The old man landed.

He landed right next to Gao Neng.

Gao Neng subconsciously tensed up. He recognized this elder—it was the same one from the giant hole who had tried to cut him down with a single sword strike.

’The old man left the giant hole?’

’He couldn’t be here to... capture me, could he?!’

"Sword Elder!" Upon getting a clear look at the newcomer, Yutian immediately took a step forward and respectfully bowed to the old man who had landed.

"Wu Qingjing greets the Sword Elder!" Wu Qingjing’s expression also changed upon seeing the old man, and he immediately walked up and bowed.

"Oh? Little Qingjing is here too?" The Sword Elder’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn’t stop Yutian and Wu Qingjing from bowing.

When Shaximo, Lin Ying, and the others standing nearby heard what Yutian and Wu Qingjing called the old man, a certain person suddenly came to all of their minds.

The Human Alliance had a total of twenty Strongest.

But not all of these twenty Strongest were "retired" like Li Tiannan. Some of them had permanent assignments.

And the Sword Elder’s assignment was here in the Underground City.

As for the Sword Elder’s real name, not everyone dared to use it. Thus, people outside addressed him by his title.

This was a testament to the elder’s status within the Alliance.

Shaximo and the others were astonished to see the Sword Elder, because their masters had all told them some information about the Alliance’s Strongest.

The Sword Elder’s name was among them.

The Alliance’s Number One Sword!

He was the only existence in the entire Human Alliance who could rival that one sword from the foreign races.

Of course, a powerhouse of this caliber was not someone that they, who were several generations younger, could approach. So, although Shaximo and the others had guessed the Sword Elder’s identity, they all stood quietly to the side, none daring to step forward and greet him.

"Sword Elder, why did you leave the restri—" Being called "Little Qingjing" by the Sword Elder made Wu Qingjing’s scalp tingle, but more importantly, he didn’t dare say much more.

"Stretching my legs. And I wanted to ask Little Yun Tian something." The Sword Elder waved his hand dismissively, then looked at Yutian. "Little Yun Tian, it’s been five years. You’ve improved quite a bit. You dare to receive my sword now?"

"Receive your sword? What do you mean by that, Sword Elder... Hmm? Are you saying that you were the one who struck with that sword twenty minutes ago?" Yutian was about to deny it when something suddenly occurred to him.

"Mm," the Sword Elder nodded.

"No wonder. I was just wondering who in the Underground City could unleash such a sharp sword strike. If Luna and the others hadn’t been there at the time, I might have been killed by your strike, Sword Elder," Yutian immediately replied.

"Let’s not talk about that for now. Tell me, who just came to the Underground City?" The Sword Elder waved his hand again, asking the question on his mind.

"Just now? No one," Yutian said, confused.

"Impossible. You moved to help him block my sword strike. Are you telling me you don’t even know who he is? Besides, this person’s Spiritual Power is incredibly strong, at least Tier Nine or above, possibly even on par with my own. There’s no way you didn’t sense it!" the Sword Elder said with certainty.

"Uh, Tier Nine or above? On par with you... That’s impossible, isn’t it? If you’re talking about someone who used Spiritual Power just now, it couldn’t have been anyone else but..." Yutian’s gaze suddenly shot toward Gao Neng.

’Could it be that the person the Sword Elder is talking about is Gao Neng?’

’But that’s impossible, right?’

’Gao Neng just broke through to the Tier Six Mid Stage. No matter how much of a genius he is, his Spiritual Power couldn’t possibly be Tier Nine or above, let alone on par with the Sword Elder’s.’

’It must be a misunderstanding, right?’

"But who?" The Sword Elder’s gaze sharpened.

"It was Gao Neng, but... that’s impossible. There’s no way Gao Neng’s Spiritual Power is Tier Nine or above, much less on par with yours, Sword Elder. There must be some kind of..."

"Who is Gao Neng?" the Sword Elder interrupted before Yutian could finish.

"..." Gao Neng.

’It’s me!’

’I am Gao Neng!’

’But the more important question right now is, should I run?!’

’Dammit, can’t you give a guy a little time to prepare? You just exchange a few words back and forth and the whole truth comes out?’

’In a normal story, there should at least be some buffer, right?’

’At least investigate for a few days first.’

’How am I supposed to get out of a plot where I get caught red-handed after just a few sentences? There’s no way to run now!’

"It’s him! He’s Gao Neng!" Yi Qinglian immediately pointed at Gao Neng.

"Hm? You’re Gao Neng? Were you the one who used Spiritual Power to spy on Restricted Area No. 2? And you even traded a blow with me?" Hearing Yi Qinglian, the Sword Elder’s gaze shot toward Gao Neng beside him.