Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Chapter 138 Weekly Salary Increase, Daisy Goes Out with Her

When Xilun pushed open the slightly chipped wooden door of the Golden Rooster Hotel, the lobby on the first floor was filled with the mixed smell of cheap ale and roasted potatoes.

The hotel owner, Morrie, was standing behind the bar, vigorously wiping the wooden countertop with a dirty rag.

Seeing Celen walk in, Morrie stopped what he was doing and shouted, "Hey, Celen! Two letters for you. Damn, what kind of good luck have you been having lately? Why are important people always writing to you?"

Xilun walked to the bar, a faint smile playing on his lips: "Looks like I'm doing pretty well with people lately."

He took the two letters from Morrie and quickly scanned the envelopes with his eyes.

Judging from the marks on the outer packaging and the sealing wax, one of the envelopes had the Brotherhood's unique secret mark, and the paper was rough and thick; while the other envelope exuded an extremely delicate violet fragrance, and the material of the envelope was delicate and smooth, clearly made by nobles or the wealthy.

Xilun tucked the letter into the inside pocket of his coat and, as he walked up the creaking wooden stairs, deftly pried open the sealing wax on the first letter with his fingers.

This is a letter from Lord Wall. The letter is not long; apart from a few encouraging daily greetings, it conveys only one thing: the payment of weekly wages.

Xilun raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at the striking number on the letter.

Four pounds. In his letter, Wall explicitly stated that, based on his exceptional combat prowess and calm judgment demonstrated in the previous two escort missions, the Brotherhood had decided to raise his base weekly wage to four pounds, adding the comment, "Keep up the good work, the Brotherhood will not mistreat a true blade."

Xilun nodded slightly and folded the letter away.

In an era when lowly laborers toiled to the bone for a week and couldn't even earn a few shillings, a weekly wage of four pounds was enough for him to live an extremely comfortable life in the lower city.

He pushed open the door to room 302 and locked it behind him.

He walked to the bedside and took out the second letter, which had a pleasant fragrance.

The handwriting on the letter was delicate yet sharp, and the content was extremely brief: "Meet me tomorrow morning at nine o'clock at the East End train station in the Lower City. — Daisy"

Xilun thoughtfully placed the letter on the table. Was this a request for him to fulfill his promise and accompany her as her bodyguard when she went out to collect occult materials?

Xilun was quite curious about the actions of this senior mystic, after all, his knowledge of the mysticism field was currently only at the level of rote memorization of theory, and those special spells that required going deep into dangerous and perilous places were completely unknown to him.

He pulled the money bag containing his four pounds of weekly wages from his pocket, the heavy clanging of the metal sounding particularly pleasant in the quiet room.

Xilun walked to the bedside table, opened the hidden compartment in the bottom drawer, and carefully hid the money bag inside.

After doing all this, he stood up and looked around the cramped room, which was only a dozen square meters.

Some of the paint on the walls was peeling off, and the single bed took up most of the space. In the corner were his changes of clothes and several thick books of occultism.

Xilun frowned slightly, his eyes revealing an undisguised disdain.

When he was studying the "Dorok Dark Claw Technique," he didn't have high space requirements, and this room was barely adequate.

But now, ever since he started practicing the "Berello Kick Technique," he has increasingly felt the constraint of this cramped environment.

The execution of leg techniques requires a wide-open space and an extremely stable ground to support explosive power. This room, where even turning around felt cramped, made him feel uncomfortable even when lying down.

"Anyway, my salary is decent now, and with my previous savings, it's time to move into a big house that's truly my own."

Xilun pondered to himself.

He walked to the window, looked at the gray street outside, and began to sketch out a blueprint for his new house.

It must be a detached house located in a safe neighborhood.

Besides the spacious and bright living room, the most essential element must be a huge practice room.

Inside, the hardest ironwood flooring is laid, and various specially made equipment for resistance training is placed around the room. Whether practicing thunderous leg techniques or vicious claw techniques, one can use them without any scruples.

In addition, a second room is needed.

That would be his private forbidden zone, used to store his growing collection, extraordinary relics, obscure ancient books, and most importantly—a refining room dedicated to concocting extraordinary materials.

Combining several rare and potent ingredients into the auxiliary ointment needed for the "Berello Kick Technique" is by no means a simple task.

If not handled carefully, a clash of materials could trigger severe toxicity or an explosion.

Xilun snapped out of her thoughts and placed the purchased materials one by one on the table.

He lit an alcohol lamp, opened the rolled-up parchment book, and stared intently at each step.

He took a deep breath and began to carefully process the powders and liquids that emitted a pungent odor, following the instructions in the booklet.

After several perilous trials and errors, Xilun, with his superhumanly steady hands and keen sense of smell, finally managed to grasp the key to blending.

When the last blue powder was added to the boiling dark brown liquid, the liquid instantly turned into a pool of viscous ointment that emitted a strange medicinal fragrance.

Xilun took off his trousers and applied the hot ointment evenly to the muscles of his legs.

A sharp, burning pain surged through him instantly, as if countless red-hot steel needles were frantically piercing his pores.

Xilun gritted his teeth and didn't let out a single groan.

He forced himself to relax his muscles, guiding the Qi and blood of the "Great Sea Whale Guiding Technique" to actively devour the violent medicinal power.

As the medicine took effect, he slowly lay down on the narrow single bed, and amidst the pain and pleasure of muscle tearing and rebuilding, he closed his eyes deeply.

At 8:30 a.m. the next day, the cold rain in the lower city had just stopped, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of coal smoke and engine oil.

Xilun arrived on time at the East District train station in the Lower City.

This is one of only two large hubs in the Lower City. Under the huge steel dome, the roar of steam locomotives is deafening, and white steam rolls like clouds.

He changed into a navy blue casual suit of excellent quality, with a pure white shirt underneath, the collar slightly open.

His right hand casually rested on the custom-made bulletproof black umbrella, while the "Resentful Revolver," exuding a dangerous aura, lay quietly in the holster at his waist, and the trophy knight's short sword was discreetly worn on his left side.

Siren stood quietly at the edge of the platform, his posture as upright as a pine tree.

His sharply defined, cold-looking face, paired with his imposing yet dignified attire, made him stand out among the low-income laborers in their tattered overalls.

It attracted passersby, especially several women in long skirts who frequently turned their heads to watch, which was quite pleasing to the eye.

He ignored the gazes around him, his eyes slightly closed, his chest rising and falling in an extremely slow and deep rhythm as he slowly inhaled and exhaled his internal energy, maintaining his peak combat state.

About ten minutes later, a series of hurried and slightly chaotic footsteps pierced through the roar of steam and reached Xilun's ears.

He opened his eyes and saw Daisy leading Susie, who was wearing a gray cloak, walking briskly towards him.

Daisy was wearing a dark trench coat that allowed her to move around easily, and sturdy leather ankle boots. Her delicate face had a slight flush from traveling.

Behind them followed closely a burly man carrying two heavy leather suitcases.

The three of them stopped in front of Xilun.

Xilun's gaze swept over the man carrying the luggage, and he keenly sensed a not-so-weak fluctuation of qi and blood hidden within the man's body.

"Hurry up and buy the tickets, the train is about to arrive," Siren said calmly. "Where are we headed?"

Daisy pulled a few coins from her pocket and said as she walked toward the ticket window, "To the woods near St. Albans."

Xiren pondered for a moment. He had seen this place name on the club's map before; it was located on the outskirts of Saint Laurent.

"Is there anything special about that place that makes it worth the trip?"

Daisy lowered her voice and explained, "The potion I'm making requires some extremely rare mutated biological materials."

These materials are produced in very few places, and the St. Albans Wild Forest happens to be one of them.

For us occult scholars, that place was one that required extensive visits and exploration in the early stages.

The four of them bought their tickets at the window one by one.

Just as they were about to turn and head towards the ticket gate, the man who had been silently carrying the luggage suddenly stepped forward and blocked Daisy's side.

He looked at Daisy and said in a serious tone, "Miss, I must remind you that we can only stay in that awful place for one day."

Regardless of how well the collection goes, we must return to a hotel in the city center for the night; we absolutely must not stay overnight in the wild forests outside the city.

The man's gaze swept around, and he lowered his voice even further: "St. Albans is not a peaceful place. Besides the local gangs that kill without blinking an eye, there are some wild alien species active deep in the forest, not to mention those desperate bandits who frequently roam around committing crimes."

Xilun was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

He turned to look at the man: "There are wild mutants too?"

The man turned his head and looked at Xilun with a condescending and somewhat scrutinizing gaze, then said coldly, "In the outer areas, there are usually only some large, ordinary beasts."

However, if you delve a little deeper, you are very likely to encounter lower-level alien species that have survived the cleansing process.

Without the escort of several first-tier extraordinary individuals, ordinary people going in would simply be committing suicide. Therefore, we must avoid taking any risks as much as possible.

.

With a piercing whistle, a black steam train slowly pulled into the station. The four people followed the flow of people and boarded the carriage.

This is a slightly old but fairly clean carriage.

They found their seats—four facing seats on the left side of the train.

Susie plopped down in seat number 11 by the window without any hesitation, while Daisy sat next to her in seat number 12, the middle seat of the three-seater.

As Celen was about to sit down in seat number 13 on the outer edge of the opposite seat, the man who had come with Daisy to protect her, the one holding ticket number 14, suddenly reached out and stopped Celen.

Based on Xilun's blood and qi perception, this man should be a first-order extraordinary being who has completed baptism, but his aura is far less profound than that of Xislow.

The man glanced at the seats and said to Siren in an unquestionable tone, "Sir, could you please switch seats with me? I need to sit on the outermost side so I can respond to any emergencies and protect Miss Daisy's safety."

Xilun stopped what she was doing and looked at him calmly: "I can protect her safety just as well as I do sitting here."

Upon hearing this, the man frowned immediately.

He clearly did not trust the seemingly refined young man in front of him, who even carried an umbrella.

He lowered his voice, somewhat annoyed, and said, "Miss's safety is of utmost importance; this is no joke. You should change seats and go sit inside."

Xilun didn't want to waste his breath arguing with this arrogant guy. He ignored the man's obstruction, sat down in seat number 13, rested the black umbrella against his leg, and said calmly, "I'm more capable of protecting her than you are."

This remark completely enraged the man.

He was personally appointed by Daisy's father to protect the young lady as a high-paid family bodyguard.

Now, however, he is being looked down upon by some greenhorn who appeared out of nowhere.

"You'd better understand what I'm saying!"

The man immediately stretched out his large hand and pressed it heavily on Siren's shoulder, his fingers exerting force as he attempted to use the baptized man's strength to lift Siren directly from his seat. "You'd better sit inside!"

Just as the man's fingers were about to tighten around Xilun's collarbone, Xilun slowly raised his head, his dark and cold eyes, like an abyss, giving him a cold look.

That one glance sent a shiver down the man's spine for no apparent reason, and his hands involuntarily paused for half a second.

In that half-second of pause, Xilun suddenly raised his right hand.

He didn't use any martial arts techniques; he simply relied on the terrifying physical strength granted by the "Great Sea Whale Guiding Technique" to grab the man's wrist, which was pressed against his shoulder.

Immediately afterwards, Xilun's arm muscles tensed up, and an overwhelming force erupted instantly.

He casually brushed aside a tree branch blocking his way, forcefully pulling the burly man to the side and shoving him into seat number 14 next to him.

boom!

The man's body slammed heavily onto the wooden chair with a dull thud.

He stared in horror, trying to struggle to his feet, only to find that the hand that was pressing on his wrist was like a hydraulic clamp made of high-quality steel.

That power was so domineering that he felt as if he were being crushed by a mountain, and he even had to use all his strength to fight back desperately in order to barely keep his hand bones from being crushed.

A layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on the man's forehead.

He stared intently at Xilun's expressionless face, his initial contempt vanishing instantly, replaced by extreme shock and apprehension.

"How is this possible—could he be an extraordinary individual who specializes in physical cultivation?"

The man inwardly gasped in shock, no longer daring to act rashly. He could only sit stiffly in seat number 14, panting heavily.