The Phantom's Gambit - Chapter 48: Crossroads

He was tired of being broke. Tired of pretending. Tired of watching others win a game he didn't even understand.But when a failed job interview leads Alex into the world of a mysterious millionaire, he’s thrown into a hidden war, one where money isn't just earned… it's engineered.Guided by Uncle Raymond, a man with a dark past and deep wisdom, Alex begins to discover the suppressed history and secret systems behind money, from cowries to crypto, banks, black markets, and so on. He learns that wealth isn't something you chase... it's something you attract by understanding value.But then, Alex stumbles upon The Sovereign Circle, a group of elite powerbrokers who don't just make money... they control its very definition and rig the system for profit. Raymond? He’s unknowingly tied to them.Being torn between exposing the truth and protecting the man who changed his life, Alex faces a final test: Will he play the game like everyone else or will he rewrite the rules?***This is a story for anyone who has ever asked, “Is there more to money than making it?”

Zou Yue jumped to the side, dodging an extended claw of a growling zombie.

A pair of warm hands gripped his small waist from behind and pulled him over to a sturdy chest. The same pair of hands slowly groped his chest.

“Brother fan w—what are you doing?!” Zou carefully looked up at him.

Fan Xui smirked mysteriously at him and removed the huge shades stylishly. A clear pair of eyes met Zou’s challengingly. “since I saved you just now, why don’t you give me a kiss?”

“you… you can see!!! Aren’t you blind!!!” Zou Yue glanced in shock. He pushed himself for of his body.

Fan Xui laughed out loud, gently caressing Zou’s long black hair. “are you gonna leave me now?,” he continued groping his barely their chest through his girly tank top.

“Fuck yeah!! Let go you poser.” he pushed him away and started shooting the zombies outside with renewed passion. Fan suddenly caught his wrist. “You bastard, what are you doing, let go of my hand. The zombies are coming!!!”

“Hmm okay,” Fan Xui let go. He swiftly snapped a fluffy handcuff snugly on his wrist, tying them both together. “Now we are tied together for live and death,”

“FAN. XUI!! Get this off of me!” Zou growled at him, but the young man just laughed happily.

“Sigh, you are beautiful even when you are angry, dear,” Fan Xui whispered and pulled him up for a passionate kiss. He gently bit those soft lips and moaned. “Delicious,”

Letting go, he slowly waved his hand towards the upcoming zombies and they are reduced to ashes.

Meet Gu Yu—a college dropout and a talented incense maker, and at the same time, the rather stoic protagonist of this story. Despite his somewhat introverted manner, he has a tendency to make sarcastic remarks in his thoughts. One day, after saving a squirrel, a windfall (metaphorically and literally) dropped into his lap. Stumbling into the cultivation world with little help, he was not turned into Superman overnight (as he would like). Apparently, becoming a cultivator would not make your life easier, at least in the beginning.

After two-hundred years of diligent cultivation, Xie Jiuniang successfully achieved Core Formation, yet on that very night, she was killed by her dual-cultivation partner Lin Wangchen.However, Xie Jiuniang was reborn... and she accidentally discovered a great secret.It turned out that in her previous life, she was a child deeply favored by the Heavenly Dao, watched over by some top forces who secretly stole her opportunities time and again, fattening up the esteemed talents of the Cultivation World, with that scum being just one of them.The weak, pitiable, and helpless Xie Jiuniang decided to first become a dark horse, secretly sweeping away all the opportunities.And so...The favored talents were dumbfounded, “Where did my opportunity go?”Her scumbag ex-husband felt wronged, “ ...She didn't like me.”Her cousin with the Heavenly Spiritual Root was shocked, “What happened to the supposedly weak talent, how is her cultivation speed faster than mine?”The big shots behind the scenes also started cursing, where was the great opportunity for the child of the Heavenly Dao to ascend? Something is not right!Opportunities?I've taken them, all of them!His, yours, they are all mine, Xie Jiuniang's!Before she knew it, she had trampled over all the privileged talents, challenged all the big shots, becoming the most formidable name, and rolled up into the number one person in the Cultivation World!