Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Seeing Silen sign, Austin's smile widened, and he said:

"It's getting late. Why don't you stay at the manor tonight and think carefully about your future?"

For example, the clan's treasure vault contains over thirty breathing techniques suitable for second-tier extraordinary individuals. You can select and purchase some of them.

Xilun nodded slightly and carefully put away a copy of the contract.

He asked, "Then I'll go and tell my butler to come pick me up tomorrow."

When Siren left the study, Austin sat in a chair and yawned lazily.

The hidden door on the side of the study was pushed open, and a person shrouded in a black robe stepped out, saying in a low voice:

"Chieftain, by doing this, deliberately keeping Xilun around and giving him such high treatment, you may cause Elder Oin great dissatisfaction."

Upon hearing this, Austin's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling calculation. He sneered:

"Isn't that even better? Isn't he always dissatisfied with my opinions? I'd like to see how long he can tolerate this time."

The man in black hesitated and said, "But this young man from Xilun exudes an evil aura."

If left unchecked, it could become extremely dangerous and spiral out of our control.

Austin's expression completely calmed down. He fiddled with a gold coin in his hand and said calmly:

"What does that have to do with us? In the end, he's just a tool, an outsider."

Austin thought for a moment, tossed the gold coin into the air, caught it, and laughed:

"The more dangerous he is in the North District, the bigger the storm he stirs up, the more advantageous it is for us."

It would be even better if he died by accident.

This gives me a handle to use against him, allowing me to give Oin more room to maneuver in the elders' council and weaken his influence.

As night fell, the Tusol Estate was shrouded in a thin layer of steam and mist.

After sending a message to his butler, Xilun was respectfully led by the servants of the manor to a quiet building at the back of the manor.

This is a detached three-story villa surrounded by evergreen coniferous forests, a tranquil environment that is usually reserved for the most distinguished guests.

Xilun pushed open the door. The room was covered with a thick cashmere carpet, and the charcoal in the fireplace was already burning, emitting a faint scent of pine.

On the large mahogany desk, dozens of parchment-bound booklets were neatly stacked, containing the catalog and introduction of more than thirty second-stage breathing techniques promised by Austin.

He slowly took off his black trench coat, hung it on the coat rack, then walked to the table, picked up a booklet, and started flipping through it.

Meanwhile, on the balcony of another towering building not far from this small villa.

Oro braced his arms on the cold marble railing, his gaze fixed on the lit window where Xiren was.

Bathed in the last rays of the setting sun, he could clearly see that Xilun's slightly silvery hair, under the lamplight, was exceptionally dazzling.

"He was still kept behind." Auro gritted his teeth, turned around, and went back into the house.

The room was dark as the lights were off.

Oro walked to a closed door, knocked gently, and said in a low voice:

"Father, Siron was still brought in."

A moment later, the door creaked open.

Oin walked out, his already cold and hard face now so gloomy it seemed as if it could drip water.

His eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a glint like that of a venomous snake.

"Who did it?" Oin's voice was hoarse and filled with suppressed anger. He quickly thought through his mind, "Was it Austin himself, or one of those other old guys I don't get along with?"

Oro replied in a low voice, "According to those below, it was Chief Austin who personally stopped him in the labyrinth garden, and the two had a private conversation in the study for ten minutes."

"Auston..." Oin sneered, put his hands behind his back, and strode to the edge of the balcony.

Through the cold glass window, his gaze, sharp as a hawk's, pierced the night, staring intently at the lit room in Xilun.

The night wind blew against Oin's robes as he stood there, silent for a long time.

Suddenly, a clear emotion mixed with irritation and murderous intent spread from him.

"It's really annoying to look at." Oin stared at the figure, his tone revealing undisguised disgust and murderous intent. "A bastard from who-knows-where dares to swagger around in the Tusol family's VIP room and choose the resources that belong to our family's children."

On the other side...

Xilun was standing in front of the table, holding a damp cloth, habitually cleaning the dust off the surface—a habit he had developed recently to organize his thoughts.

Suddenly, an extremely faint yet malicious fluctuation touched his senses.

Since advancing his mental abilities to the level of intermediate mystic, Siren's intuition and sensitivity to his surroundings have reached an inhuman level.

Even from hundreds of meters away, that gaze filled with intense emotion was as clear in his mind as a searchlight in the dark.

Xilun stopped what he was doing and looked up out the window.

His gaze pierced through the glass, across the lawn under the night sky, and landed precisely on the balcony of the tall building in the distance.

Their gazes met in the void.

On one side was the family's third elder, who looked down at them with undisguised murderous intent; on the other side was a young knight with deep, calm eyes, like a bottomless abyss.

After staring at each other for a good ten seconds, Xilun turned his head away expressionlessly, calmly shifting his gaze as if he were only looking at a crow in a tree, paying it no further attention.

He walked to the window and with a "whoosh" pulled the heavy curtains shut, completely cutting off any outside prying eyes.

Back at his desk, Xilun rubbed his slightly throbbing temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

"It seems this person has a grudge against me, or even intends to kill me." Xiren quickly reviewed everything that had happened today in his mind.

He silently pondered, "From the moment I walked in, he's relentlessly tried to suppress me. What exactly is he against?"

Xiren looked at the breathing techniques catalog on the table, his fingers unconsciously tapping the surface.

"Does he see me as someone who has accepted nominal funding, thus branding me with Austin's label and turning me into his political adversary?"

"Auston offered to marry his daughter to me, to get me into the family register. He knew perfectly well that I had been making a big splash in the North District these past few days, wiping out the Bonebreaker Gang, and was an extremely destabilizing factor. But he still did it anyway, and deliberately let this Elder named Oin come and cause me trouble."

Siren's eyes turned cold:

"Auston isn't recruiting me; he's using me as a tool to provoke and weaken Oin's faction."

And I, without realizing it, had become the whetstone for their internal power struggle.

Having figured this out, Xilun let out a cold laugh.

"You think I'm a pawn to be manipulated? You've got the wrong person."

Xilun stopped thinking about these petty squabbles.

The most urgent task is to fleece the Tusor family to the extreme, select the most advanced second-tier breathing technique as soon as possible, thoroughly consolidate my newly broken-through second-tier realm, and even push it to an even higher peak.

……

As dusk fell, the fiery clouds on the horizon dyed the sky over the southern district like a sea of ​​blood.

The manor's clock tower struck six times.

Lund returned from the club, his black trench coat still carrying a faint smell of boxing ring sawdust.

He pushed open the side door next to the training ground, glanced around the empty courtyard, but did not see Saiwei.

"I've gone out to run errands," he muttered casually, raising an eyebrow before deciding to begin his cultivation.

Deep within the training ground, a cast iron refrigeration unit stands silently, its copper pipes glistening with frost.

Thick pipes, like blood vessels, coiled around the machine's surface, and the deep roar of the compressor echoed in the empty basement.

Lund took off his coat, revealing his slender body with sharp lines and full, yet unassuming, muscles that seemed to hold gunpowder ready to ignite at any moment.

He walked shirtless into the refrigerator and pressed the button.

"hiss."

A chilling white mist descended from above, enveloping his entire body.

Frost condensed on his shoulders, collarbone, and the back of his hands, only to be melted by the sparks of fire emanating from his body, turning into winding water droplets that rolled down.

Cold and heat achieve a strange balance in him.

Lund closed his eyes and breathed slowly.

His path of cultivation has always been peculiar. He uses extreme cold to suppress scorching heat, and tranquility to tame violence.

A wisp of scorching heat surged from his meridians, which should have been flamboyant and capable of destroying the heavens and the earth, but under the cold seal, it became docile and gentle, and was firmly held in his palm.

Cold, heat, emptiness.

He fell into a state that was almost meditative.

With each breath he took, the surrounding frost began to crackle and pop.

In the dark and cold cabin, faint specks of dark red firelight appeared on the surface of his skin.

The flames were like lava surging beneath the ice, carrying a violent and scorching power.

Fragments of memory drifted through his mind like fallen leaves swept up by a cold wind...

The clock tower of the Violet Noble School, the blue blanket that my mother hung out to dry in the courtyard, my father’s indifferent profile that never looked at me directly, and the never-ending torrential rain!

I don't know how much time passed.

Lund slowly opened his eyes.

When I stepped out of the refrigeration unit, it was already evening.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the stained glass windows of the drill ground, turning the ground into a warm orange hue.

He grabbed a dry towel and started drying his hair, water droplets dripping from the ends onto the marble floor tiles.

He pulled a large garment over his shoulders, completely concealing his tall, muscular figure and the scars covering his body.

There were light footsteps at the door.

"Young Master."

Savi was already standing by the door, his hands hanging respectfully at his sides.

Lund didn't even look up, and asked while drying his hair:

"What's wrong?"

"It's a letter from Mr. Celen."

Lund paused for a moment.

He tossed aside the towel and reached for the envelope. The wax seal bore the fraternity's emblem, and the edge was stained with a little black oil, probably from being hastily pressed when it was mailed.

Lund opened the letter, his eyes quickly scanning the words on it.

These few lines brought a rare smile to his eyes.

"Good lad..." he muttered under his breath, a slight smile playing on his lips. He folded the letter and put it in his pocket. "In seven days, he went from the Extreme Realm to the Rippers, and even wiped out the Shattered Bone Gang."

He looked up at Saiwei, his gaze suddenly sharpening:

"You didn't just go to pick up a letter, did you?"

Savi's Adam's apple bobbed, and he said respectfully:

"Young Master, the information you asked me to investigate... has been found."

Lund's brow furrowed instantly.

"where?"

"The ocean-going port," Saiwei lowered his voice, "I've heard...a little news from there."

Lund was silent for a moment.

He walked to the window, and the twilight light shone through the stained glass onto his face. In the interplay of light and shadow, his handsome and aloof face revealed no emotion.

Ocean Terminal, that name sounds like it's been unearthed from a sealed drawer of the past.

Sarah's tutor, the prestigious school's laboratory, and those "lost" files from back then...

"I understand."

He finally spoke, his voice soft but carrying an undeniable resolve.

"Savi, book me a boat ticket. I'm going to visit my mentor, Sarah, and catch up."

Saiwei was taken aback:

"Leaving tomorrow?"

"The sooner the better."

Lund turned and walked back to his bedroom, rubbing his temples.

He pushed the wardrobe open.

He pulled a badly worn leather backpack from the deepest part of the bed and placed it on the bed.

Then they began loading the weapons one by one: a black dagger, a modified revolver, half a pound of ammunition, a folding, thin-bladed knife, and finally several magazines sealed with a special silver coating.

The metal parts collided with a crisp clanging sound as he precisely inserted each weapon into its groove.

His movements were swift and precise, as if he had repeated them hundreds of times before.

After putting away his weapons, he began to tidy his clothes.

The clothes in the wardrobe are mostly black and white, with several crisp dresses hanging neatly on the outermost side.

He turned to the very back of the wardrobe, his fingertips suddenly stopping.

A blue school uniform was hanging there.

The design is neat, with a violet badge embroidered on the chest, and the cuffs are already somewhat worn.

Lund took it out and examined it under the lamp for a moment.

Violet Noble School.

The year he graduated, he almost didn't even want to keep this school uniform.

In the end, his mother begged him through tears to keep something as a memento.

"Why……"

He shook his head, hung the school uniform back up, and closed the cabinet door.

Savi was already waiting outside the door:

"Young master, we've booked tickets for the 'White Kite' for 6 a.m. tomorrow, which is the last ship to the ocean pier."

"Um."

Lund slung his backpack over his shoulder and took one last look at the bedroom he had lived in for many years.

"Everything at the manor remains the same. If Mother asks, just say I went south to discuss business."

Saiwei bowed his head in agreement.

Lund pushed open the door and stepped out, his tall and elegant figure disappearing into the manor's twilight passageway.

……

The capital city, the Brotherhood headquarters.

As night fell, Yuri rubbed his throbbing temples and looked up from a pile of documents.

He picked up his coffee cup, gulped down a large mouthful of the now-cold, bitter liquid, and muttered a disgusted complaint:

"Today is truly... not a single good news, just bad news everywhere."

The office door was pushed open.

Hevi walked in, holding a thick leather letter in her hands.

When Yuri saw her, his face darkened even more.

"Havie, don't tell me it's another bad news. I've reached my limit for today."

To everyone's surprise, Haivier's expression was extremely strange, a mixture of astonishment, bewilderment, and a hint of unbelievable excitement.