Chapter 426: To Get Into University, You Built a Lithography Machine?
'What to do? What to do? What to do?'
Long Hao's face was ashen, and he was drenched in sweat, his clothes quickly soaked.
In this situation, the Black Jade Qilin Pendant hanging around his neck also felt particularly uncomfortable.
A flash of inspiration struck Long Hao, and he raised the Black Jade Qilin Pendant, saying to Shen Anyu, "Shen Anyu, no, Young Master Shen, this Black Jade Qilin Pendant is the Long Family of Sichuan's ancestral treasure. It was passed down to me by my father's father's father, at least a hundred years old. How about using this to ask for your leniency?"
A predatory smile flickered in the depths of Shen Anyu's eyes. As predicted. The cornered rat was now offering up its most precious possession. Long Hao had indeed used the Black Jade Qilin Pendant as his final bargaining chip.
'How predictable,' Shen Anyu mused, his expression unreadable. 'In his eyes, this pendant, while a valuable antique, is ultimately just a physical object. How could it possibly compare to the future-defining intelligence his rebirth has granted him?'
The irony was delicious.
In reality, this so-called ancestral treasure was far more than a simple heirloom. It was a genuine spiritual artifact, a life-saving talisman of incredible power. Shen Anyu had been coveting it from the moment he laid eyes on it.
His Heavenly Secret Observation Technique never lied. Earlier, when he had allowed a sliver of genuine killing intent to leak towards Long Hao, he'd watched the man's fate-line closely. The vibrant green qi representing Long Hao's life force, which should have flickered and dimmed under his pressure, remained stubbornly unshakeable, shielded by an invisible force. It was only when he channeled the overwhelming power borrowed from Susan through the Super God Sharing—a power that brushed against the world of a Land Immortal—that he saw the green qi finally waver, trembling like a candle flame in a hurricane.
The source of that protection was, without a doubt, the unassuming black jade pendant hanging around Long Hao's neck. It was a treasure capable of resisting a strike from a Heavenly Human expert, even when worn by a mere Inner Strength martial artist. To call it priceless wasn't an exaggeration; it was a simple statement of fact. And now, before Shen Anyu even had to formulate a plan to seize it, Long Hao was offering it up on a silver platter. The fool was trading his life-saving shield for a chance to flee.
However, the game wasn't over yet. It was always more satisfying to make them give it up willingly, to make them think it was their own brilliant idea.
Shen Anyu let out a soft, dismissive chuckle. He raised his chin slightly, his gaze sweeping over Long Hao with a casual disdain that cut deeper than any blade.
"Long Hao," he said, his voice smooth as silk yet laced with ice, "do you really think I, Shen Anyu, would care about a trinket like this?"
The words hung in the air, each one a hammer blow to Long Hao's desperate hope. He was rendered utterly speechless.
'He's right... he's absolutely right.' The thought crashed through Long Hao's mind, extinguishing the tiny spark of optimism he'd managed to kindle. This was Shen Anyu, the heir to the thousand-year-old Yanxia Shen Family. A man whose wealth could probably buy a small country. What rare treasure hadn't he seen? What priceless artifact couldn't he obtain with a snap of his fingers?
From Long Hao's perspective, while the Black Jade Qilin Pendant was exquisitely carved from the finest jade, a masterpiece that could easily fetch tens of millions, it was still just a piece of jewelry. For an ordinary person, it was a fortune. For a man like Shen Anyu, it was likely little more than a paperweight.
As this crushing realization set in, Long Hao watched the smile on Shen Anyu's devastatingly handsome face widen, transforming from amused contempt into something far more dangerous. A primal fear, cold and sharp, seized him. His entire body trembled. He couldn't afford to play games anymore. He had to offer something Shen Anyu couldn't possibly refuse.
"Shen Anyu!" he blurted out, his voice cracking. "As long as you let me go, I'll give you an important piece of information! A secret… a secret worth over a trillion yuan in the future!"
The moment the words left his lips, a collective gasp echoed through the room. The surrounding staff and even the usually composed Xu sisters stared in astonishment.
Information worth over a trillion? Was he insane?
Only Shen Anyu's expression remained unchanged. That predatory smile still played on his lips as he regarded the groveling man before him. "I'm all ears," he drawled, his tone deceptively casual. "But if you're trying to fool me... hehe, you know what will happen."
'Know my ass,' Long Hao screamed internally, his heart bleeding with a pain so intense it was almost physical. 'That secret! It was one of my trump cards, a cornerstone of the financial empire I planned to build. My dream of achieving absolute financial freedom, of looking down on the world from a throne of wealth, was tied to that information.'
But he had no choice. His life was on the line. Against the suffocating pressure of Shen Anyu's presence, future riches meant nothing.
'Damn you, Shen Anyu! Damn you to hell!' he swore silently, a venomous promise forming in the depths of his soul. 'I'll get this back. I'll take back everything you've taken from me, with interest. Just you wait!'
On the outside, however, his face was a mask of fawning desperation. He forced a pathetic, awkward smile. "It's definitely not false, Young Master Shen. Absolutely true."
He scrambled to explain, his words tumbling out in a rush. "When I was traveling in Hangzhou before, I… I unexpectedly met a genius vocational student."
"This student is named Wei Yunteng. He's a prodigy, Young Master Shen, a true monster of our era! As brilliant as Einstein, Newton, Tesla, and Edison all rolled into one!"
"And to… to upgrade from his junior college to a proper university, he's currently building a lithography machine. Based on my calculations, he's not far from success!"
He leaned forward, his eyes wide with a manic sincerity. "Think about it! A lithography machine, the key to the entire chip industry! Isn't that technology worth over a trillion yuan?"
Of course, the story of meeting him while traveling was a complete fabrication, a flimsy cover for the knowledge he'd gained from his rebirth. He remembered the shockwave it had sent through the world in his past life. At the time, Long Hao himself had scoffed at the news. A vocational student, a slacker from a third-rate college, single-handedly creating a cutting-edge lithography machine? It was the most absurd joke he had ever heard. The greatest scientific minds in Yanxia, backed by billions in government funding, couldn't achieve it. Even on the international stage, it required the collaborative effort of multiple global superpowers.
A single country couldn't do it alone.
Yet a vocational student, motivated by a desire to get into a better university, had managed to build a machine twenty years ahead of the most advanced models in the world? Who would ever believe such a fairy tale?
But it happened. Just over a month from now, on the eve of the new school semester, the news broke. Hangzhou, then Yanxia, then the entire world, erupted in an uproar. The genius vocational student Wei Yunteng was instantly plucked from obscurity and inducted into the Yanxia Academy of Sciences, his name becoming legendary overnight.
And that was just the beginning. Long Hao knew that a mere two and a half years later, the same Wei Yunteng would develop controllable nuclear fusion, laying the groundwork for humanity to build bases on other planets. Einstein, Newton, and all the rest combined couldn't hold a candle to that level of genius.
"To get into a university, he's working on a lithography machine?"
Shen Anyu repeated the words slowly, savoring them like a fine wine. The expression on his face became profoundly intriguing.
A vocational student building a world-changing device out of a simple, almost comical motivation. The sheer, unadulterated absurdity of it all was a glaring sign. This Wei Yunteng was undoubtedly another Child of Destiny. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in his mind. If he was wrong, Shen Anyu would... well, he certainly wouldn't eat excrement, but he was confident he was right.
He had already decided. He would have his people quietly investigate this Wei Yunteng and see what kind of protagonist plot was brewing.
"You didn't really believe him, did you?" Xu Ruoshui murmured, her gaze fixed on Shen Anyu's contemplative expression. She couldn't help but feel a mixture of amusement and concern. A vocational student creating a lithography machine by himself? It was beyond impossible. It sounded like a desperate lie from a cornered man.
Beside her, Xu Ruoxue's beautiful eyes grew colder, a glacial frost settling within their depths as she stared at Long Hao.
'Brother-in-law is too kind, too trusting,' she thought, her fingers twitching almost imperceptibly. 'This man is a fountain of lies, spewing nonsense to save his own skin. He absolutely cannot be trusted.'
Her mind, sharpened by years as the head of intelligence for the Blood Skull Mercenary Group, began connecting dots others couldn't see.
'He infiltrated Zhenxiu Pavilion as a common waiter... Why? He must harbor malicious intent towards brother-in-law. Perhaps... perhaps it was an assassination attempt!'
At the mere thought of someone posing a threat to Shen Anyu, a chilling, murderous intent flared within Xu Ruoxue. Her hands had been stained with blood before, and she would not hesitate to stain them again to protect the man who owned her heart and soul.
Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Shen Anyu waved a dismissive hand. "Forget it," he said with a lazy smile. "I'm in a good mood today, so I'll tentatively believe him. Besides, if Long Hao dares to lie to me, I'll just have him castrated. It's simple."
At the word "castrated," Long Hao instinctively clamped his legs together, a jolt of cold terror shooting up his spine. He managed another weak, fawning smile while cursing Shen Anyu's entire lineage in his mind. "I would never lie to you, Young Master Shen! Never! So... can I leave now?"
Shen Anyu gave a gentle, almost benevolent nod. "You can..."
Hearing those words was like receiving a divine pardon. Long Hao felt a wave of dizzying relief wash over him. He scrambled up from the floor, his limbs clumsy and weak, ready to flee this nightmare.
He had just turned to leave when Shen Anyu's voice, calm and unhurried, echoed from behind him once more.
"Stop."
Long Hao froze, every muscle in his body tensing. He shivered violently, turning his head with a mournful, pleading expression. "Young Master Shen," he whimpered, "isn't the information about the lithography machine and the chip industry enough?"
Shen Anyu's smile was a work of art, beautiful and utterly merciless. "Who knows if you were lying to me?" he mused. "That jade pendant of yours... leave it here first. Consider it collateral, in case you decide to disappear after fooling me."
A sigh of relief escaped Long Hao's lips. The pendant! Just the pendant! Although the Black Jade Qilin Pendant was a priceless family heirloom, it was ultimately just an object. It was nothing compared to the safety of his 'Little Brother'.
'Hmph, it doesn't matter,' he consoled himself. 'With my reborn foresight and the Investment Return System, I'll be soaring in no time. When that day comes, I'll take it back from Shen Anyu myself!'
With newfound resolve, he reached up and unfastened the cord, lifting the Black Jade Qilin Pendant from his neck.
However, just as Long Hao was about to hand the pendant over, a strange and powerful reluctance seized him. An inexplicable, gut-wrenching feeling washed over him, as if he were about to sever a part of his own soul, giving away something profoundly important and inseparable from himself.
And at that very moment, Shen Anyu's eyes flickered with a faint golden light, so fleeting it was almost imaginary. He saw it clearly. The vibrant green qi of destiny above Long Hao's head, which had been shielded and stable just moments ago, began to violently boil and churn...
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