Charlie was well aware that this time, he wasn't searching for Fleur herself, but rather for the place she intended to go. When he released the portrait of Marcius, Fleur immediately silenced the Qing Eliminating Society, proving her intense fear. However, the more fearful she was, the more she stealthily came to Oskia alone and went to Mount Tason. This indicated her urgency.Charlie speculated that she was probably searching for the secrets left behind by Marcius and perhaps the ‘secret to longevity’ mentioned by Mr. Chardon earlier. So, after Fleur left Mount Tason, he planned to enter and search for it. Regardless of whether he found anything, at the very least, he wouldn't be risking danger unnecessarily.Meanwhile, in Mount Tason, Fleur was like a heroine from a martial arts film as she swiftly moved through the dense forests between the mountains, almost as if the steep mountains and deep forests were nothing before her. Although she ventured deeper into the mountains, her p
Moreover, these stone pillars were numerous and placed in a disorderly manner, resembling a stone forest. Upon seeing these seemingly randomly placed stone pillars, Fleur did not look surprised at all. Instead, she touched them somewhat emotionally and murmured, “Master, Elijah, I’m back.”With that said, she stepped into the stone forest and navigated through it according to a specific pattern.This stone forest was the Nine Palace Formation set up by her master, Marcius, before his death. The brilliance of this formation lay in the fact that without knowing the method to break the formation, it was impossible to find a real exit from any position within the stone forest.The only way for outsiders to break the formation was to destroy all the stone pillars, leaving none behind. However, this formation was originally set up by Marcius to protect his secret dwelling. According to his plan, as soon as someone forcefully intruded, he would be informed immediately even before the int
Fleur, who was doubtful, promptly stepped toward the inner stone chamber.Initially, Marcius's stone chamber only had this outer chamber. Marcius, in his second five hundred years of cultivation, had already achieved fasting, spending his days in meditation without the need for sleep, food, or even bathroom breaks.After bringing Fleur and Elijah back to his cave, Marcius used his sword to create two bedrooms for them as well as a kitchen and a toilet. In order to ensure his own cultivation wasn't disturbed, he also carved out another stone chamber for himself.Therefore, there were now five stone chambers here. Fleur inspected the first four chambers, and when she reached the location of the fifth, there was no sign of the fifth stone chamber. The entrance to the original fifth chamber was now a smooth, unmarked stone wall.As Fleur felt the smooth stone wall, she spoke up and said, “Master, when your end approached years ago, you called me and Elijah here to entrust matters to us
She suspiciously pondered, “That old man has reached the end of his thousand-year lifespan, so he's definitely dead. This is probably a formation he left behind to stop others from finding his chamber and discovering his corpse as his end approaches!”She immediately turned around, retrieved the sword that had been knocked away, and thought coldly, ‘Hmph! Since it's a formation, no matter how strong its abilities are, they will eventually be exhausted. I will break this stone wall today and uncover the truth!’With that in mind, Fleur swung the sword with her left hand, once again yielding her powerful Reiki, and struck the stone wall with all her might!In a flash, there was a loud bang, and before Fleur could react, she felt a tremendous force in her left hand, causing it to go numb. The sword she tightly gripped was knocked away again.The force of the rebound this time was no weaker than the previous one, leaving Fleur with a look of shock on her face. She could understand a fo
Upon hearing those words, Fleur felt a chill run from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. She had never felt this helpless and terrified since Marcius had saved her by chance over three hundred years ago on Mount Tason.The last time she had felt this panicked was when she stumbled upon Marcius' image online. But now, she suddenly realized that her master, who was supposed to have passed away over three hundred years ago, might still be alive.This realization hit her like a ton of bricks.Fleur couldn't contain her fear, and her voice trembled as she said, “Master, I… I know that I was wrong…” At that moment, a furious shout echoed in Fleur's ears. Marcius's voice was filled with extreme coldness as he rebuked, “Get out now!”This rebuke struck Fleur's heart like a thunderbolt. She dared not hesitate any longer and quickly got up, trembling as she bowed toward the stone wall and said, “Master, forgive me. I… I will leave…”With that said, she turned around eagerly, dr
Vera shook her head. “I'm not sure either.”Just then, on the screen, Fleur flagged down a passing van here and had a brief conversation with the driver. The driver waved her off, seeming to refuse her request. Fleur looked a bit anxious, hastily pulled out a stack of red bills, and handed them to the driver, who took the money, and Fleur then quickly stepped into the van and sat in the back of the van.Charlie was even more puzzled, “Where is Fleur going?”Vera replied, “Young Master, I can't understand it either.”Charlie suggested, “Let's keep an eye on her and see where this van is headed.”“Okay.”In the underdeveloped mountainous town, surveillance mainly focused on the roads, so Vera could track the van's movements by continuously switching surveillance feeds of the roads. Soon, the van left the town and headed toward the entrance of the highway.At this moment, inside the drafty van, Fleur was eager to leave Oskia as soon as possible. So, she messaged her crew to quickly
Based solely on Fleur's return behavior, it was challenging for Charlie and Vera to determine her intentions. Vera was especially worried that Fleur's departure might not be a genuine exit from Mount Tason but rather a need to change her destination. So, she said to Charlie, “Young Master, my father once mentioned that when Master Marcius left on his crane, his stone chamber later vanished without a trace. He speculated that Master Marcius must have used great supernatural powers to hide or move the chamber elsewhere. Fleur's visit to Mount Tason this time was probably to find the whereabouts of that chamber.”Charlie nodded and replied, “I also think Fleur is unlikely to leave Mount Tason so quickly. Perhaps she has already found some new clues.”Vera, with a worried expression, said, “If Fleur can really find a way to become stronger from the relics left by Master Marcius or if she finds some useful elixirs and artifacts, wouldn't her strength increase significantly?”Charlie sa
The reason why Charlie didn't hide anymore was because he felt that there was no need to worry that Fleur would find out. At this moment, Fleur had already passed through security and customs with an Oskian passport she had prepared long ago. She sat in the VIP lounge, feeling nervous and uneasy while waiting for her flight.Her anxiety and panic caused her leg muscles to twitch even now. In her mind, Marcius' deafening words, ‘Get lost now!’, kept repeating, enveloping her soul in immense fear.She couldn't help but replay the whole situation in her mind as she tried hard to analyze the possibility of Marcius still being alive. She recalled every detail of her and Elijah’s apprenticeship under Marcius, silently reflecting, “Actually, now that I think about it, Master never really valued me and Elijah. If it weren't for us being pursued by the Qing army, Master probably wouldn't have shown up in front of us…”“Now that I think about it, Master taking us as disciples was partly to le
Holding up a thumb at Charlie, Julien exclaimed in approval, "You're right, my friend! That's far more exciting than having him jailed!"Just hearing that he would be sent to a kennel, Jimmy knew nothing would come of it—even if he didn't know the details, it was so obvious that Julien was thrilled by the very idea!Turning nervously toward Charlie, he was sobbing as he asked, "Mr. Wade…? What's this about a kennel…?"Julien chuckled coolly even before Charlie said a word. "A kennel is where you keep dogs, of course. Though there are literal dogs and metaphorical dogs, and you are the latter."Oh, don't worry. It's a really nice place where you get your own cage, and you'll be fed every day. You don't even have to work, so just sit tight and keep eating until the day you die."Jimmy's soul left his body in that instant.He was going to be locked in a cage?! That was way worse than being locked up and sent to jail! Where was the humanity around here?!Even as the thought struck h
Matilda was actually caught off guard by Jimmy's pleas, and even Paul found it hard to watch.Turning to Charlie, he said, "Please, Mr. Wade—my uncle can be a little despicable, but he is my father's brother. Please, let him have a chance to turn over a new leaf, seeing that he's earnestly repenting."While Paul spoke with Charlie, Jimmy was still confused and wondered why Paul would plead his case with Charlie instead of Julien. If there was anyone Paul should ask, it was Yolden since he was Julien's friend. So, why would he ask some young man instead of Yolden?That was when Charlie asked in curiosity, "You want to let him off? After he tried to take away your parents' legacy?"Paul smiled awkwardly. "I mean, I know the guy. He made sure to travel all this way to make a scene because he had nothing legal that could help him claim Smith Group Corporate Law from us. Otherwise, he'd have already filed the lawsuit in the States. Sure, it's a dirty move, but that's basically a des
As Julien finished, he realized something was wrong and turned toward Charlie before he knew it.Charlie held his gaze in turn, his expression quizzical and amused.Julien cleared his throat right then. "See, there are people who can order me around, but they have my utmost respect. However, a third-rate lawyer like you? Who do you think you are?"That was when Julien's butler called, and he reported respectfully as soon as the call was answered, "Sir, I've spoken with Nate Ellis, the owner of Ares LLC. He has since agreed to fire Jimmy Smith right away as well as disbar him nationwide."Julien asked, "Good. Anything else?""Well, Mr. Ellis also delivered some documents that can be used as evidence against Jimmy Smith, which he claims is enough for a lifetime sentence. If you deem it necessary, we can have it sent to the FBI.""Yes, let's go with that!" Julien replied, his tone satisfied. "And ask the director to handle it personally—I want this prick to never set foot stateside
Jimmy was sweating profusely in fear, but he argued back before he knew it, "That's impossible! Everything you say is bullshit! Gaiman simply thought he had a fair chance of winning and didn't want to pay Ares that much, and I have no idea who he partnered with, and I'm certainly not involved. Don't you try to slander me!"Nate chuckled. "Come on, Jimmy. We're all adults here, so there are things we shouldn't have to be so direct about. Mills Gaiman and your old classmate met in private many times, not to mention the private conferences you three had in secret, discussing your overall strategy and decisive points. Just so you know, Gaiman recorded every conversation, and I have the tapes with me."Jimmy's heart was left pounding as he blurted, "B-Bullshit! That's impossible!""Grow up, Jimmy," Mr.Goodman chuckled. "Every partner in every law firm always strives to rise higher, so I'm going to need as much leverage as I can. Otherwise, I'm not about to let them advance any further, e
Although the ringtone and vibration frequency were the ones Jimmy always used, this call somehow felt more urgent, leaving him exceedingly uneasy.When it abruptly stopped and left a missed call on his log, Nate Ellis soon sent a text: [Answer your damn phone this instant!]Just seeing the text left Jimmy feeling like his throat had gone dry, and as he gulped, it felt like his throat was being ripped, leaving him hurting.Still, he couldn't care less as his boss called again.Having seen the text, Jimmy didn't hesitate this time and promptly answered, watching Julien's smug face as he started tentatively, "Y-Yes, boss...?"Nate immediately yelled at him hysterically, "What the hell did you do?! Why did the Rothschilds call to complain about you?! And the complaint was from their heir apparent, at that! I worked hard for them and always toed the line for years, and I still haven't gotten a chance to meet the man, so how the fuck did you upset him?!"Jimmy's heart sank to rock bott
Fuming, Jimmy snapped at Julien, "If you insist on playing it like that, I will call my boss, and you can talk to him yourself!"Julien chuckled. "That's unnecessary. I've never met him. He would never recognize my voice."Jimmy laughed and nodded despite himself. "Impressive—you can really come up with anything! You don't have his number because he's beneath you, you refuse to call him because he's beneath you, and when I say I'll call him for you, you say he won't recognize your voice. Well, how do you suppose we should sort this out? At least prove you're a Rothschild, or anyone could claim that they are—"Julien held up a hand to stop him. "Then, how about this? I'll ask my butler to talk to your boss."Jimmy laughed even more loudly as if it were the best joke ever. "Hahaha!!! Butler, you say?! You really know how to talk! Alright, I'll wait and see what your 'butler' can do… I mean, what you can do. We'll see whether my boss calls me!"Julien ignored him and whipped out his
Naturally, Jimmy couldn't care less about Julien's suggestion, even looking at him pointedly from head to toe while smirking in contempt, "What, do you think I'd just do what any nutjob tells me to do just because they're claiming to be the Rothschilds' heir apparent?"Julien nodded, still smiling. "Good point, but don't worry—it's the same whether you call him or he calls you."Jimmy laughed. "I was offering you a way out, but you want to keep pressing your luck? Since you don't care to back off, let's see how you're going to finish this fight."Then, he shrugged while pointing at Yolden. "Well, it's the perfect chance to measure Matilda's husband, I guess."Based on what he saw of Yolden, there was no way he would buy Julien's claims, and thus labeled him an impostor in his mind.An ordinary lecturer in Aurous Hill, being friends with the Rothschilds' heir apparent? Not to mention that there had been plenty of fraudulent cases outside the States where the Rothschild name was use
Jimmy was taken aback since he didn't recognize Julien at all, mainly because the Rothschilds had always kept out of the public eye.In fact, it was basically impossible to gather genuine information about the Rothschilds online, as it was a mix of press releases and gossip. Most online biographies would only be about the older generations or certain frivolous figures. Any information about key members like Steve would never be searchable online.Matilda was confused as well, not quite understanding who Julien was since he wasn't on the list of guests invited.Seeing that she was confused, Julien turned and smiled at Yolden, "So, Professor, shouldn't you introduce me to the bride?"Yolden finally remembered that and quickly nodded, "Sorry, it slipped my mind."Turning toward Matilda, he smiled, "Darling, this is Julien Rothschild… A friend of mine from the states…"Julien's full name left everyone within earshot gaping as the Rothschild name was way too famous across the globe.
Seeing that Jimmy was getting a little nervous, Charlie smiled and assured him, "Please, you have nothing to worry about. No one's going to do anything to you, but if you feel threatened in any way, you can call the cops. The Oskian emergency hotline is 110, by the way."Jimmy was slightly relieved as he could see that Charlie really wasn't trying to make things awkward for him, and he straightened his collar as he said, "Actually, I didn't mean to cause trouble—I'm pleased that Matilda has found true love once more, and if we can be friends, I can set aside my claim and stay for the rest of this wedding, offering the newlyweds our best wishes as a representative of my family."Still, his expression showed contempt as he turned toward Yolden. "Also, I'm really curious and looking forward to seeing what connections Professor Hart might have that you say could be better than Bill.""You'll see soon enough," Charlie smiled and nodded.Jimmy remained skeptical and scoffed, "I really do