An Conghao looked calmly at Shi Qingtong. If this were in the past and he was cursed at like this, he would have long since exploded in rage.
Now, however, he looked at Shi Qingtong with a hint of pity. The master next to him was certainly no gentle soul.
Sure enough, Jiang Yan's speech was interrupted. His gaze darkened as he looked down at Shi Qingtong, who was embracing his female companion.
Shi Qingtong looked back at him provocatively.
Jiang Yan curled his lip into a cold smile: "I will now let you experience whether the Awakened Ones truly exist."
As his words fell, the Ghost Buddha, who had returned to his side, looked kindly upon the attendees, and a surge of mental energy appeared.
It then rapidly spread throughout the entire venue. The spectators suddenly realized their bodies couldn't move, and their eyes shrank in disbelief.
During the banquet, Jiang Yan specifically chose not to immobilize Shi Qingtong and his female companion.
Shi Qingtong quickly realized something was wrong. The people around him seemed to have suddenly frozen in place.
"What's wrong with you guys? Why did you suddenly stop moving!" His expression changed slightly as he reached out and pushed the person next to him.
The person merely swayed slightly and ignored him, causing his expression to gradually turn to horror.
In the slightly darkened environment, everyone suddenly stopped moving, maintaining their previous postures, creating an extremely eerie sight.
The female companion in his arms turned pale and clung tightly to him: "Darling, what on earth is going on?"
Shi Qingtong showed fear, but he seemed to recall something, managing to suppress it, and abruptly looked up at the stage.
He saw An Conghao and the other man watching him. He also noticed the slight swaying of their bodies.
"It's you! Did you do something to them!" Shi Qingtong pointed at Jiang Yan, his voice trembling slightly.
Clap! Clap!
Jiang Yan looked at him with icy eyes, clapped his hands, and said coldly, "Clean up the trash."
Thump! Thump! Thump! As his voice fell, a rapid sound of footsteps immediately echoed from the darkness.
Hearing the footsteps, Shi Qingtong immediately turned his head and saw a rugged-looking young man in a black suit with messy hair rushing toward him.
"Trash belongs in the landfill, not here acting like a clown." Wei Gaocheng sneered, pulling a dagger from his cuff and plunging it directly into the chest of the turning Shi Qingtong.
Pfft! Shi Qingtong stared at the dagger plunged into his heart, an expression of disbelief on his face.
He couldn't believe that he, a major businessman worth tens of billions, would be stabbed at a banquet with so many people present!
"Ahhh!" His female companion screamed at the sight, unconsciously stumbling backward.
Wei Gaocheng ignored what he might be thinking, pulled the dagger out of his hand, and stabbed again.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
He didn't stop until Shi Qingtong finally collapsed.
Next, he walked over to the screaming woman and slit her throat with a single strike of the dagger.
Blood flowed everywhere. The others near Shi Qingtong and the woman, watching this scene out of the corner of their eyes, were nearly scared senseless.
They felt they might be stabbed at any moment. Fortunately, the messy-haired man merely nodded toward the stage after finishing the deed and quickly left.
At the banquet hall entrance, the Bodyguards Shi Qingtong brought were also tied up by a group of people and escorted toward a pre-prepared bus.
Jiang Yan looked down and said calmly, "I hate screaming the most. When I release the control, anyone who screams will meet the same fate as them."
As his words fell, with a single thought from Jiang Yan, the controlled crowd felt their bodies relax and were able to move.
They looked at Shi Qingtong lying in a pool of blood, and then at Jiang Yan on the stage.
Some women quickly covered their mouths, afraid they might scream uncontrollably and be taken away.
Chen Yeliu watched the scene, then looked toward the hall entrance, where over a dozen fierce-looking Bodyguards were standing, clearly unwilling to let them leave easily.
"Is this what the Awakened Ones are like? It feels like we've been invited to a Hongmen Banquet." A Wen, standing beside her, looked pale as he gazed at Jiang Yan on the stage.
Chen Xingwen, however, showed little change in expression, stating calmly: "Killing a businessman worth over ten billion just like that—they either have the confidence to suppress the resulting public opinion, or they are lunatics who don't consider the consequences."
On the stage, Jiang Yan's expression returned to normal as he spoke: "I imagine that after what you've just experienced, none of you have any doubts about the Awakened Ones anymore."
No one below dared to respond to Jiang Yan's words, but judging by their stunned expressions, they seemed to have accepted it.
Jiang Yan ignored them and spoke confidently: "I came here this time because I want to lead everyone to become Awakened Ones. I believe that after experiencing the state of being unable to move, none of you want to go through that again. The only way to counter such a thing is to become an Awakened One."
When the crowd below heard this, their initial fear immediately turned into something else.
Lei Xiangchen's eyes lit up as he looked at Jiang Yan.
Even the aged Chen Xingwen became interested. He looked at Mr. Jiang and asked respectfully, "Mr. Jiang, how can one become an Awakened One?"
The rest of the people also looked at Jiang Yan with anticipation. The method Jiang Yan used earlier to freeze the entire venue was nothing short of shocking and terrifying to them.
Hearing that they, too, could possess this kind of power, the turmoil in their hearts was naturally immense.
Jiang Yan looked at the elderly man and waved his hand toward the Bodyguards in the surrounding darkness: "Bring this old gentleman a buddha crystal."
Immediately, a Bodyguard walked over and handed a crystal to Chen Xingwen.
"What is this?" Chen Xingwen asked curiously, looking at the transparent crystal in his hand, inside which black energy was flowing.
Chen Yeliu and the others also stared at the crystal, wondering what it was.
Jiang Yan spoke from the stage: "This is a buddha crystal. Once used, you can gain fifteen minutes of enhancement without any side effects. Imagine devouring it, absorbing it!"
"That magical?" Chen Yeliu said, looking at the buddha crystal in Chen Xingwen's hand.
Chen Xingwen heard Jiang Yan's words, and with a shift of his mind, he began to do as Jiang Yan instructed.
The lights in the main hall brightened again, allowing everyone to clearly see the scene about to unfold.
The crystal emitted a burst of black light, and the black energy surged toward Chen Xingwen's hand.
The next moment, under everyone's gaze, Chen Xingwen's originally aged body, which was only about 1.6 meters tall, swelled and became upright.
Tear! His traditional Tang suit was ripped apart by his rapidly expanding physique. Because his muscles were bulging, his wrinkled skin stretched, making him look significantly younger.
"Hiss!" The surrounding people gasped in shock at the sight.
Chen Yeliu watched in astonishment as her grandfather transformed from a 1.6-meter elderly man into a strong, 1.8-meter robust older man: "This is truly unbelievable!"
Chen Xingwen reached out and felt his muscles, his face beaming with uncontrollable surprise. Originally, he suffered from physical decline, diminished strength, and low spirits due to aging.
Now, after using the buddha crystal, all those problems were gone. He only felt his mind become extremely sharp—it was truly awesome!
He looked at the crowd watching him and suddenly reached out and grabbed A Wen, the chubby man.
"Old man, what are you doing!" A Wen's expression changed to panic.
Chen Xingwen showed excitement: "Hahaha, don't worry, this old man is just testing his strength."
Using strength in one hand, he lifted the chubby A Wen straight up.
"Hahaha, good, good, good! This feeling is absolutely fantastic!" Chen Xingwen laughed heartily while dangling A Wen with one hand.
If this state could be maintained forever, he felt he could easily live for several more decades.
Jiang Yan watched the scene silently, a smile on his face.
This was the best form of persuasion: a ninety-year-old 'young man' single-handedly lifting a chubby kid weighing nearly two hundred pounds.
Jiang Yan waited while Chen Xingwen continued to test his body. After a few minutes, he resumed speaking: "Do you see? What this old gentleman used is one of our products. We are already conducting experiments to create permanent Awakened Ones, and I believe we will have results very soon."