With that thought in mind, Fleur’s thoughts instantly wandered back to the year 1650, which was more than three hundred years ago.There was an inaccessible and forbidden place on Mount Tason. There were no residents at all within a hundred miles, and the reason was that there had been a bizarre miasma here since hundreds of years ago. The miasma lingered without dispersing, and anyone who entered would suffer from headaches, nausea, and disorientation. No matter which direction they went, they would eventually end up outside the miasma. Moreover, those who inhaled the miasma would suffer from severe headaches and nausea for several months, enduring extreme suffering. Some foolhardy individuals were even determined to explore the center of the miasma, and they ended up dying inside.As a result, over time, the people around the mountain kept their distance from this place and considered it an absolutely forbidden place.However, these people did not know that the center of this
So, the two followed Marcius into his stone chamber. Marcius pointed to two cushions in front of him and said to them, “Sit down.”When the two saw this, they sat with their legs crossed in front of him respectfully. Marcius then spoke up and said, “Although our fate is shallow, we are still master and disciples, after all. You both harbor the ambition to resist the Qing army, and as a fellow Oskian, I hope you can persevere in this cause and restore the glory of Oskia…”With that said, he took out two pills from his pocket and placed them on the stone table in front of the two. He then said calmly, “These two pills are the Eternal Pills that I mentioned to you before. Taking these pills can extend your lifespan to five hundred years. With these pills, I hope you can fulfill the cause of eliminating the Qing army.”Fleur was thrilled to hear that the pills in front of her were actually the Eternal Pill that could grant five hundred years of life. She thanked Marcius repeatedly, sa
“My destiny is not enough?!” When Fleur heard these words, she frowned and blurted out, “Master, what do you mean by 'my destiny is not enough'?”Marcius replied calmly, “You have not been on the path of cultivation long enough. There are many things that cultivators need to understand that you still do not comprehend. In the future, when you understand the Book of Changes and the Eight Diagrams, you will realize that people have various destinies, and destiny is the key to everything.”Fleur was surprised and asked, “Master, what is destiny?”Marcius explained, “Destiny is the foundation of a person. The specific destiny could be represented by heavenly stems, earthly branches, birds, or animals. Most people's destinies are represented by heavenly stems and earthly branches. Even the king was at best a polar fate going against fate, but in order to go against one’s destiny, one would need to have at least the fate of the tiger or python.”“Furthermore, there are higher destinies l
She knew that there was another meaning behind her master's words. He was implying that her character was not upright and righteous enough compared to Elijah, and there was still a big gap between them. This made her even more displeased.However, Elijah did not intend to accept the ring. He quickly refused, saying, “Master, you have already helped me too much. I cannot accept this ring…”Marcius smiled lightly and tossed the ring at Elijah. The ring suddenly disappeared in midair and appeared on Elijah’s finger the next second.Before Elijah could understand what had happened, Marcius spoke up and said, “Elijah, the ring has recognized you as its master. Keep it well. This ring might save your life if you encounter any unexpected events in the future.”After Marcius was done speaking, two cranes raised by him walked in. They stood on both sides of Marcius and constantly rubbed their necks against him as they made whimpering sounds.Marcius reached out his hand to stroke the two c
Fleur was also filled with anger, so she said coldly, “Elijah, you don't need to defend that old man anymore. Since he's already dead, you and I should take this Eternal Pill and improve our cultivation quickly. We should find the treasures he hid as soon as possible!”Elijah was extremely disappointed. “Fleur, from today onward, I am no longer your senior, and you are no longer my junior. From today onward, you are just a Griffin family member to me. I only acknowledge Flynn, and I have no more connection with anyone else at all!”Fleur immediately became anxious and blurted out, “Elijah, why are you so obtuse?! That old man lived for a thousand years, so why did he only give us pills to live for five hundred years? He's clearly holding something back from us and it’s something extremely significant!”Elijah waved his hand and said, “Forget it, Fleur. Our relationship ends today. I will stay here and mourn our master for three years, so you can leave on your own.”Fleur stomped he
Fleur was extremely shocked when Elijah disappeared in an instant.At first, she could not understand why Elijah had vanished into thin air. It took her a while to realize that the ring must have teleported Elijah to another place. This made her furious. She clenched her teeth angrily and exclaimed, “You old coot, you're so biased! You said that Elijah and I weren't qualified to inherit your legacy, but you gave him a treasure that can teleport instantly. Why don't I have one? Why not! Tell me! Tell me!!!”Only Fleur remained at the cave where her Master rested and where Elijah disappeared, and her hysterical screams echoed through the valley.After a long time, Fleur wiped the blood off her sword with an expressionless face, sheathed the sword back in her waist, and said coldly, “Elijah, from today onward, you and I are enemies!”With that said, she walked away without looking back and headed down the mountain. More than ten days later, when she rushed to Yorkshire Hill withou
Meanwhile, in the luxurious Champs Elys hot spring villa in Aurous Hill, the Ackers waited anxiously the entire day but did not see Charlie at all.They could not eat or drink all day, only wanting to see Charlie as soon as possible to confirm with their own eyes that he was indeed safe and sound.During dinner time, Albert and a few others arrived and entered the house. After coming in, Albert said to Christian, who came to open the door, “Mr. Christian, I have prepared some exquisite dishes for you all. These are all specially prepared by the chefs from The Heaven Springs. I personally supervised the ingredients and watched over them while they cooked. I asked them to make an additional small portion, and I've already tested it for poison. It's safe to eat!”Christian didn't expect that this middle-aged man, Albert, could be so meticulous in his work. He couldn't help but feel surprised and quickly expressed his gratitude, “Thank you so much for going through all this trouble, Mr.
The Acker family members were all extremely happy when they found out that Charlie was coming for dinner. They were all overjoyed, almost as if they were celebrating the New Year.Lady Acker instructed her children to tidy up the dining table and arrange the dishes brought by Albert’s subordinates neatly. Lord Acker kept muttering to himself, “It’s a good day today. No matter what it is, I'm going to have a few drinks later when Charlie comes!”Lulu, who was aside, hurriedly said, “Dad, you've just started to recover a little, so you shouldn't be drinking.”“Nonsense!” Lord Acker replied without hesitation, “Isn’t the purpose of my recovery just for this day? It wouldn’t make sense for me not to drink on such an important occasion!”Lady Acker smiled and said, “You should let your dad drink if he wants to. We've been hoping for our grandson to come back for twenty years. Not to mention him, even I want to have a couple of drinks as well.”Christian quickly suggested, “Mom, why d
When Jacob came to his senses, he was already in tears. The student presumed he was unwell and asked, "Mr. Wilson, do you want me to call your wife to pick you up?" Elaine's sarcastic face immediately popped up in his mind, and he trembled with fear. He quickly wiped away his tears and stammered, "D-don't bother... I... I just got something in my eyes..." The student obviously didn't believe him and asked worriedly, "Why don't you call your wife? Or I'll call a cab for you." "No, no." Jacob waved his hand and said, "I'll call my son-in-law to pick me up. He has just returned to Aurous Hill, so it shouldn't be a problem." After that, he quickly took out his phone and called Charlie. Just a few minutes ago, Charlie had left the cafe and was about to walk Yolden to his car. When he saw Yolden walking straight toward a domestic new energy vehicle, he asked curiously, "I don't think you were driving this model before, were you?" "I just bought it," Yolden replied with a smil
If Matilda still had feelings for Jacob, his nostalgic strategy would definitely have a strong impact. However, Matilda had already decided to move on, so Jacob's suggestion did not stir any emotions in her at all. With an apologetic smile, she said, "Sorry, Jacob, Yolden is downstairs waiting for me. We have something to discuss. How about another day? We can have dinner together, and I'll treat you." Jacob didn't expect the nostalgia strategy to fall flat. His original plan was to use nostalgia to get Matilda to go with him to eat near the school, then take the opportunity to revisit old places and subtly reignite their past memories. After all, revisiting old places was the best way to rekindle old feelings, no exceptions. It was like drinking the pasta water after cooking the pasta. However, he never imagined that Matilda's expression wouldn't change in the slightest. There was no shyness, no hesitation, no nervousness, and certainly no fluttering heart. She simply and
Matilda had been listening attentively before, but now, she was lowering her head, fiddling with her phone, and her expression even carried a hint of shyness and happiness, like that of a young girl. Jacob felt a pang of jealousy. While doing the presentation, he couldn't help but resentfully think to himself, "What has Matilda been chatting about with that Yolden guy? She's so happy..." At that moment, Matilda had just received a message from Yolden. In the message, Yolden informed her of the outcome of his conversation with Charlie and expressed his desire to have the wedding as soon as possible. Seeing how eager her beloved was to marry her, Matilda naturally felt very touched. At that moment, she had completely fallen into Yolden's love. For this man, who had a similar background, education, values, and even lifestyle to her own, she could find no fault with him. She felt that he was perfectly tailor-made for her by heaven itself, almost as if everything about him perfectly m
Charlie's worries were not unfounded. He had long known that Jacob had not completely given up on Matilda despite her relationship with Yolden. After returning from the cultural exchange in Korea, Jacob had been more dejected than ever before—something he hadn't even displayed when his family had gone bankrupt. If there was still a chance to salvage the relationship when one's beloved was merely dating someone else, their marriage was tantamount to a death sentence. Furthermore, considering the high intellectual backgrounds of Matilda and Yolden as well as their age and life experience, their decision to marry at this stage of life undoubtedly signaled their intention to build a long-term future together. This left Jacob with absolutely no chance at all. At this moment, Jacob was blissfully unaware of the devastating news and was busy conducting a calligraphy and painting workshop at Senior University. The so-called workshop was essentially a few slides showcasing classic
After that, Charlie asked with a bit of curiosity, "When did you and Matilda decide to get married?" Yolden smiled sheepishly and explained, "Remember when the city organized our cultural exchange trip to South Korea? I confessed to Matilda during that trip, and she accepted. After spending some time together, we both felt we were a great match. Considering our age, we didn't want to delay such an important decision any longer, so we decided to take the next step and build a family together." He continued, "Last month, we went to Lambonear for a few days. I bought a ring and proposed to her by the seaside, and she said yes. We also sought the opinion of our respective children—Autumn and Paul—and they were both very supportive. Both kids are exceptional and independent, so they urged us to have the wedding as soon as possible. I wanted to wait until you returned so I could check your schedule. For our wedding, we'd like to ask you to be our officiant." "What? Me as the officiant?
Charlie said without hesitation, "Sure. When is it convenient for you? Send me the address, and I'll go meet you." Charlie had always respected Yolden not only because he was a nice and talented man but also because he and his mother went way back and went to the same school. Yolden said hastily, "I've just come from Senior University. It's the weekend, and I don't have classes today. Why don't you send me the address and I'll meet you?" Charlie gave it some thought. It was a little past 3 p.m., so Yolden had likely already had lunch, and there were still a few hours until dinner. Inviting him to The Heaven Springs didn't seem ideal for a discussion. Considering that he had lived in the United States for many years and probably had a habit of having coffee in the afternoon, Charlie said, "How about this? There's a Starbucks not far south of the university. Let's meet there for a cup of coffee." "Perfect!" Yolden said with a smile. "I was just thinking you could give me an addre
On the way back to The Heaven Springs, Julien was in a much better mood than when he had arrived. Initially, he was filled with anxiety, unsure of what Charlie had planned. But now, everything had become clear. The troublesome matter of Salem and Edmund was no longer his concern. All he had to do was wait for the video from the ship to be released and then head back home. Charlie noticed his improved mood and smiled as he asked, "Julien, you've resolved the most critical matter right after landing in Aurous Hill. You must be feeling pretty happy, right?" Julien chuckled and said, "To be honest, before coming here, I was worried that I'd end up going back empty-handed and being secretly mocked by others. But now, it's different. Once your video is released, no one can blame me for not doing my job. If anything, they can only blame their family for missing their chance. After all, so much time has passed, and it's their fault Salem and Edmund were moved to the Middle East." As he
"Good." With a light nod, Charlie turned to Jiro and spoke up, "Jiro, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself." "Okay, Mr. Wade!" Jiro beamed excitedly. "Please tell me what to do! I promise I will do my best to serve you." Charlie smiled and said, "Once the ship is ready, you'll board it together with them. Your only task is to keep a close watch on them the entire time. Don't let them pull any tricks. If you succeed, you'll be a free man here. You'll get a basic monthly salary and can ask for anything you like within reason—so long as it's not contraband, it will be yours." Hearing this, Jiro was so thrilled that he trembled all over. His current treatment was already decent, but he was still only a semi-free man. He didn't dare casually set foot on the ground outside. If he could become a truly free man, he would be able to enjoy the sunlight outdoors freely. More importantly, from then on, he would have a salary. Although he couldn't personally go out shopping, having a sa
Julien had uncovered Charlie's true identity quite some time ago and investigated Charlie's background. He was well aware that Charlie had become the head of the Wade family and that the Acker family fully supported him. Although the outside world believed that Ten Thousand Armies had subdued the Wade family, Julien had witnessed Charlie's methods firsthand. Even the top two figures of the Rothschild family had been toyed with by Charlie, so how could Ten Thousand Armies possibly make him surrender? Thus, Julien deduced that Ten Thousand Armies was undoubtedly Charlie's covert tool. Considering the combined strength of the Wade family, the Acker family, and Charlie's personally cultivated forces, it was evident that Charlie even had the power to contend with the entire Rothschild family. Moreover, with the life-extending pill in his possession and the life of the Rothschild family head in his hands, Charlie's chances of prevailing in a confrontation against the Rothschilds were e