The night was as dark as ink. On the second floor of the villa, Ian Song sat cross-legged on the bed, calmly refining the zhenyuan within his body.
The closer you get to a breakthrough, the more you must remain calm.
Suddenly, his half-closed eyes snapped open, and a meaningful, cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Just as Ian opened his eyes, a black figure silently slipped into the villa.
Soon, the sound of qi force exploding rang out—it was Victor Tang, who lived downstairs, clashing with the intruder.
The intruder wasn't weak, having reached War King level, but he was still a notch below Victor Tang. In Ian's estimation, it would take at most fifty moves for Victor to capture him.
Sure enough, after fifty moves, the intruder's aura faltered. Victor pressed in, landing several palm strikes in quick succession, and the intruder collapsed to the floor with a muffled groan.
"Brother Tang, who is he?"
Ian switched on the living room lights and walked down from upstairs.
Victor Tang studied the intruder for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know either, but he shouldn't be from the Thunder Regiment."
"No way, is he really here for me?" Ian said in surprise, then walked up to the intruder, asking in a peculiar tone, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"Brother Lu, people like him definitely won't tell the truth," Victor reminded Ian with a wry smile after hearing the question.
But to Victor's surprise, the intruder spoke in a hoarse voice: "My codename is Lone Mountain. My purpose here is to capture Landon Lu."
"Who sent you?" Ian continued.
"I'm a member of Blue Blood. Capturing Landon Lu is an order from above," the intruder replied again.
"Do you know why they're after me?" Ian asked with a frown.
"No idea," the intruder shook his head.
Victor Tang was dumbfounded. "Brother Lu, how did you do that? Why is he cooperating with you so easily?"
"Because I hypnotized him!" Ian explained with a smile.
"You're a Psychic Adept?" Victor instinctively took a step back.
"You mean you don't know, Brother Tang?" Ian looked at him curiously.
"Brother Lu, what level Psychic Adept are you?" Victor asked again.
"Two-star."
"No way, how could a two-star Psychic Adept hypnotize a War King-level expert?" Victor said skeptically.
"My hypnosis technique is rather special. As long as their mental strength isn't higher than mine, I can hypnotize them!"
Ian explained.
For a moment, Victor had a look of caution in his eyes.
"By the way, Brother Lu, how do you plan to deal with this guy?" Victor asked, looking at the intruder on the floor.
"You caught him, Brother Tang, so it's up to you to decide!" Ian said nonchalantly.
"Alright then!" Victor picked up the intruder and floated out of the living room. He returned after about half a quarter of an hour. Ian didn't ask how Victor dealt with him, and Victor didn't explain.
Back in his room, Ian frowned slightly—not because he feared Blue Blood, but because the organization had set its sights on him. Their influence was vast, and they had countless powerful experts at their disposal.
Early the next morning, Ian got up, changed into loose clothes, and practiced a simple boxing routine in the villa's yard.
At some point, Victor appeared nearby, watching Ian practice with serious attention.
After finishing the set, Ian was drenched in sweat.
"You're up, Brother Tang. Why not sleep a bit longer?" Ian picked up a towel and wiped away his sweat.
Victor smiled. "That boxing set was pretty refined, Brother Lu. It's a pity you don't have a heart method to go with it—it's just empty form."
"Is that so?" Ian replied with a casual smile.
"If you don't mind, Brother Lu, I could teach you a heart method," Victor offered.
Ian was stunned. From what he knew, people on this planet guarded their cultivation manuals fiercely. Victor's offer was surely to repay his life-saving favor—though Victor had no idea Ian's Immortal-Dao methods were far superior.
"Are you sure it's okay to teach me? Heart methods aren't supposed to be shared lightly, right?" Ian asked.
Victor waved his hand. "Don't worry, Brother Lu. My core heart method can't be taught to anyone, but the one I'm giving you is something I picked up by chance. It can't reach the most profound realms, but it's enough to train someone to Ninth-Level War General in your Federation Empire."
"Thank you so much, Brother Tang." Ian deliberately put on a grateful expression.
"No need to be polite." As he spoke, Victor pulled out a yellowed booklet and handed it to Ian. "Here, Brother Lu, take a look at this heart method. If you have any questions, just ask me!"
The text was written in the local script, but that was no problem—Ian's phone had a translation function.
He photographed the manual with his phone, and soon the translation app converted the entire heart method into Federation standard characters.
After reading through the translated heart method, Ian realized it was genuinely good. If sold, it would fetch at least a million Federation Credits.
Unfortunately, even at full mastery, this heart method could only take someone to about Ninth-Level War General.
So next, Ian pretended to ask Victor a few questions, then sat cross-legged on the lawn and began cultivating.
The planet's ambient energy was quite abundant. As Ian cultivated, the surrounding heaven-and-earth vitality swirled and poured into his body.
Victor was dumbstruck by the sight. How could someone cause such a huge energy disturbance on their very first try?
Soon, under Victor's gaze, Ian completed the first layer of the heart method, forming a mass of internal power in his dantian.
"How does it feel?"
As soon as Ian finished cultivating, Victor couldn't wait to ask.
"Not bad, I've already produced inner strength!"
"No way!"
Victor exclaimed, grabbing Ian's wrist and sending a wisp of inner strength into his body to check. Instantly, his face showed utter shock—this Landon Lu was born with naturally clear meridians and an enormous dantian. No wonder he could cultivate inner strength so quickly.
With such talent, he was a once-in-a-millennium genius. It was a pity, Victor thought, that Ian was an outsider—otherwise, he'd beg his master to accept him as a disciple.
"Is my body alright, Brother Tang?" Ian's question snapped Victor out of his thoughts.
"Not only is it alright, it's excellent! Brother Lu, your cultivation talent is truly enviable!" Victor sighed, though his eyes held a hint of regret.
"Really? That's good to hear. Well, I'll go make breakfast!"
Ian smiled and headed to the kitchen. Soon, two servings of delicious breakfast were ready.
As Victor ate the incredibly tasty breakfast, his feelings were complicated. Once he left here, he knew he'd never taste such food again.