Chapter 29: Tragic Ending  

In truth, Zhang Lie didn't regret his purchases at all. He would always be able to amass more points, and he had all sorts of resources with which to do so. Furthermore, a compatible framework or technique would boost his personal strength by several times, and Zhang Lie had found himself enthralled by both techniques.

He hurriedly flipped the manuals open and began to study the techniques in earnest.

Even small inns boasted rooms with environment-modification capabilities, let alone a VIP suite in the best inn in the Blacksteel settlement.

Over the next three days, Zhang Lie dedicated his entire attention to learning the two techniques. He was as dedicated as a high-school student cramming for the gaokao.

And while he might have been able to focus on his techniques in peace, the six clans of the Blacksteel settlement and the Wang clan could not.

The Wang clan had tried all sorts of tactics to vindicate themselves, but Wang Xiaohua's sudden disappearance meant that it was all but impossible for them to do so. After all, Zhang Lie's cunning trap had doomed them to ruin the moment Wang Xiaohua returned to the Blacksteel settlement with him. magic

After five days, not only did they fail to clear their name, they had even given the six clans the mistaken interpretation that the Wang clan was planning another attack against them. As a result, they imposed even harsher sanctions against the Wang clan.

The Wang clan's financial losses had, by that point, broken past tens of billions of dollars.

Not only that, the supervisory position on the interstellar hub situated on the planet Nolan, which the Wang clan had been eyeing, was suddenly filled by another candidate on the strongest recommendation from the six clans. This wasn't something money alone could resolve: the Wang clan had been planning to fill this position with a trusted clan member for three whole years, but right as they were about to succeed, the six clans had ruined their plan!

The Wang clan had no choice but to concede the matter. In the end, Wang Jianxin stepped forward and bore full responsibility for what had happened, and he willingly accepted expulsion to the planet Chaos.

Chaos was where criminals were sent to bear their sentences, with a harsh environment and even harsher inhabitants. Most sent there perished, and none had a chance of returning to Earth ever again.

Furthermore, the Wang clan compensated and apologized to the six clans individually, temporarily stabilizing the situation.

That Wang Jianxin had taken full responsibility meant that the Wang clan was now enemies with the Qin and Zhou clans. Even though the two clans had stopped retaliating at the Wang clan for this supposed crime, there would be no goodwill between them were their hunters to meet in the dimensional world or on Earth.

This unexpected disaster had ruined any hope of the Wang clan expanding its influence further in the short term—and the instigator of this entire affair was just a nameless hunter called Zhang Lie!

No matter how furious they were, there was simply nothing that they could do against Zhang Lie at the moment. And not only were they unable to take revenge on this damned cockroach, they even had to bear the full brunt of the retaliation.

Of course, the Wang clan wasn't the only victim of this affair. The Qin clan was suffering just as much; in fact, they would incur even harsher sanctions and retaliation.

After all, the Wang clan wasn't directly responsible for murdering anyone. It was thus able to settle matters with monetary compensation, with a sincere apology, and with voluntary expulsion from the 'culprit', but the Qin clan had no such recourse.

Because of Zhang Lie's anonymous article, Qin Xiao had become the prime suspect for the murder of Zhou Qian. Yun Bing and Chu Feng had both testified to their innocence, and the Zhou clan had learned the entire truth.

In that sort of situation, if not for Qin Xiao's selfishness, Zhou Qian wouldn't have died, and he wouldn't have needed to die. As a result, Qin Xiao, along with the entire Qin clan, became a target of loathing.

Since the Qin clan wasn't willing to hand over Qin Xiao, the five clans—the Yun and Chu, along with the three great corporations—launched a punitive attack against the Qin clan. More precisely, they began targeting hunters from the Qin clan in the dimensional world. In just two days, half of the Qin scions in the Blacksteel settlement were wounded or even dead, and the Qin clan lost much of its influence.

As for Qin Xiao, he had cloistered himself within the main household, not even daring to step outside.

Even so, the five clans' retaliation wasn't over.

The three corporations aggressively began to take over the markets in which the Qin clan operated, as though they were planning to crush the Qin clan into oblivion.

And while the Yun and Chu clans might have turned a blind eye, Qin Xiao's attempt to implicate Yun Bing and Chu Feng had severely offended both clans. As a result, they too began to pressure the Qin clan.

Faced with an assault on five fronts, the head of the Qin clan began to panic. As the head, he couldn't sacrifice the entire clan's wellbeing just for his son's life.

On the top floor of a certain skyscraper in the city of Liao, the elders and heads of each branch of the Qin clan sat in urgent deliberation.

"Head, you have to make a move! If not, the Qin clan will perish!"

Qin Zongming's face was stormy. "A move? What move should I make? Shall I sacrifice my son to quell their anger? Who's to say that they'll calm down just because they have my son? And even if they do, will we even have any pride left over? How can we maintain control of Liao if we're willing to roll over on the other five clans' command?"

Qin Zongming's words caused an elder seated to his left to start laughing. "In that case, Head, shall we expend all our resources and fight to the death with these five clans? The Zhou clan has good reason to suspect Qin Xiao as the culprit of Zhou Qian's murder, and we can't shield him forever!

"Now that the five clans are cooperating to crush us, Head, there's no chance that we'll be able to fight back. Give up on protecting your son! Reputation this, reputation that—what reputation can we maintain when our clan's being smothered to death?!"

Qin Zongming had no refutation for the accusations being leveled at him. The elder wasn't wrong: if the clan were to fall, no amount of reputation would do them any good.

However, Qin Xiao was his only son! If he were to hand him to the five clans, wouldn't it be equivalent to sentencing him to death? How could he bear to do that to his only son? But if he didn't, the Qin clan would be destroyed...

He might be willing to accept such an outcome, but the rest of the clan certainly could not.

Another elder spoke up. "Head, you need to be decisive! The Yun and Chu clans alone would be enough to destroy us, but they're even working in tandem with the three corporations! As the head of the clan, are you really going to ruin us all just for your son?!

"We've already demonstrated our resilience by protecting Qin Xiao as long as we did, but to shield him further would be the greatest of follies! Head, your decision now will alter our clan's fate! I implore you, think of the big picture!"