RETURN OF THE DRAGON: Made 100 Trillon in A Day

Chapter 2: The 5-Star Ghost

The Grand Hanhai Hotel pulsed with the rhythm of the elite. Crystal chandeliers threw fractured light over men in five-figure suits and women draped in silk. At the center of the ballroom, the air smelled of vintage Bollinger and betrayal.

"To the future," Chu Haoran said, raising his flute. His eyes sparked with a newfound predatory sharpness—the direct result of my stolen blood. "To the Chu Corporation's expansion and the end of all... dead weight."

Lin Xiaoran—no, Xinyi, as she preferred her high-society friends to call her—clinked her glass against his. Her smile was a razor blade. "To the ocean for keeping our secrets so well. I feel lighter already, Haoran. Like a parasite has finally been scrubbed off my skin."

"You look radiant tonight, Xinyi. That's the Sky Realm energy working through you. Imagine what we’ll achieve by next year."

"I don't have to imagine," she purred. "I just have to enjoy it. Poor Qin Ming. At least he died on our anniversary. It makes the 'grieving widow' story so much more believable for the press."

Outside, the calm of the night shattered.

The screech of high-performance tires tore through the music. One. Ten. Thirty. Thirty black, armored SUVs—beasts of steel and reinforced glass—slid into a perfect formation, blocking the entire entrance to the Grand Hanhai. The valet didn't move; he couldn't. The sheer pressure radiating from the convoy turned the air into lead.

The doors of the lead vehicle opened.

The velvet ropes at the entrance didn't just fall; they disintegrated as I walked past. The laws of physics felt optional now. Every step I took sent a vibration through the marble floors that rattled the champagne towers inside.

I didn't look like the "trash" husband anymore. My tattered rags were gone, replaced by a suit tailored from shadows and starlight, a billion-coin purchase from the System’s celestial wardrobe.

I pushed the double doors of the ballroom open. The sound was like a thunderclap.

"Who the hell is that?" a voice whispered.

"Is that a Prince from the Capital?" another gasped.

I ignored them. My eyes were locked on the elevated platform where the two vipers sat.

"Haoran, look," Xinyi whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "That man... he looks remarkably like—"

"Don't be ridiculous," Haoran snapped, though he stood up, his hand twitching. "He’s at the bottom of the Atlantic. This is just some high-level cultivator making an entrance."

I walked through the crowd. People parted like the Red Sea. I wasn't just walking; I was reclaiming space.

"The music is a bit dull for a celebration, don't you think?" I called out. My voice didn't need a microphone; it resonated in the very marrow of everyone present.

Haoran stepped to the edge of the platform. "This is a private event, sir. I don't care how many SUVs you have outside, you can't just—"

He stopped. His jaw hit his chest.

I stepped into the light of the central chandelier. The golden hue of my skin, the faint hum of power radiating from my chest—the 'God-Body' was impossible to ignore.

Xinyi’s champagne glass slipped from her fingers. It hit the floor, shattering into a thousand diamonds of glass, the liquid soaking into her white gown.

"Ming?" she breathed, her face turning the color of ash. "You're... you're alive?"

The room went silent. The "dead weight" was standing in the center of their empire, and I was just getting started.

"Surprised, Xinyi?" I smiled, and it was the most dangerous thing in the room. "I told you the ocean was deep. I just forgot to mention that I’m the one who owns the bottom."

"This is impossible!" Haoran roared, his Sky Realm aura flaring up in a desperate attempt to intimidate me. "I saw the bullets hit! I saw you fall!"

"You saw what I let you see," I lied, stepping closer. The pressure I released forced the nearest guests to the floor. "And now, I’ve come to audit the accounts. You owe me a lot of blood, Haoran. And I’ve come to collect the interest."

"Security!" Xinyi screamed, her voice cracking. "Kill him! Someone kill him again!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said, looking at the fifty armed guards rushing in. "Each of their lives costs ten million to end. I’ve got a hundred trillion in the bank. Do you really want to see how fast I can spend it?"

[System: 50 High-Level Mercenaries detected. Spend 500 Million Spirit Coins to 'Erase' their weapons?]

Do it.

The guards raised their rifles. In a flash of golden light, the metal turned to sand, pouring through their fingers onto the expensive carpet.

Xinyi backed away until she hit the wall. "What... what are you?"

"I'm the ghost you couldn't bury," I said, looking her dead in the eye. "And tonight is our real anniversary."

[: As the room descends into chaos, a red light begins to blink on the System screen. A new prompt appears: 'Critical Threat Detected: The Lin Family Ancestor has awakened. Would you like to spend 10 Billion to activate the 'God-Slayer' Protocol?']

[System: Warning! Your ex-wife is hiding a detonator. She doesn't plan on letting you leave alive twice.]