"Hiring? When has our Dongfang family ever done anything without profit?" Dongfang Wenqing glared, scolding, "This is the very foundation of our core principles!"

"Ah," haha, Jun Moxie was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.

This truly was a case of, "Birds of a feather flock together."

They actually had the same principles as Brother.

"What are you laughing at?" The three of them glared in unison. "Your grandfather said the same thing back then; don't tell me you..."

"I wasn't laughing at anything; this is only right and proper. Accepting payment in exchange for services rendered—naturally, one must collect remuneration for work done! What's improper about that? Must one only offer services without compensation to be considered honorable? That makes no sense at all," Jun Moxie chuckled slyly. "So, what is the cost for dispatching this time?"

"One hundred thousand taels of silver, and that's one hundred thousand taels per person! The three of us total a grand sum of three hundred thousand silver taels!" Dongfang Wendao proudly stretched out a large hand, flashing five fingers several times. "That's quite a high price, wouldn't you say?"

Jun Moxie was dumbfounded, unable to speak.

"With this hundred thousand taels, once we bring it back, it can sustain the family's material needs for quite a long time," Dongfang Wenqing said somewhat smugly, stroking his beard and narrowing his eyes, looking immensely satisfied.

"Bang!" Jun Moxie stumbled and fell to the ground, his head smashing hard onto a nearby burning candle, instantly extinguishing it, leaving his face smeared with candle grease.

"What, what happened?" The three Dongfang siblings were greatly alarmed and rushed to help him up. Were they shocked by the sheer amount of silver earned from a single operation?

It had to be admitted: Young Master Jun was indeed shocked!

As for the reason for his shock...

"One hundred thousand taels per person, three hundred thousand silver taels in total? How... how is it so cheap?! I drank that amount away in a few jars of wine; how come I never knew that the dignified Divine Profound experts were only valued at the price of common laborers?" Jun Moxie was so thunderstruck he was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. His opening remark made the three Divine Profound uncles nearly ashamed enough to hide underground.

Young Master Jun’s statement was far from baseless. At the previous auction held by the Aristocrat Hall for the "Myriad Gold" fine wine, though expensive, the wine truly lived up to its reputation as a divine elixir. Calling it capable of captivating all beings would not be an exaggeration. Furthermore, since this wine circulated in an extremely narrow sphere, exclusively among the high echelons of Tianxiang, a true delicacy enjoyed only by the nobility, its rarity commanded a high price. Not only within the borders of Tianxiang, but even people from other nations who were fortunate enough to taste it once were instantly captivated.

Therefore, the sky-high price of the "Myriad Gold Fine Wine" had not dropped at all. Moreover, because of this wine, the Aristocrat Hall had announced it would never be sold again, making it a legendary final release. Consequently, only a very small amount appeared on the black market. This was only because wealthy merchants and magnates who had previously acquired the fine wine were selling their stock through auctions. Young Master Jun had learned through Fatty, Hai Chenfeng, and others through various channels that the price of the "Myriad Gold Fine Wine" had soared to an even higher sky-high starting bid of thirty thousand taels per jar!

"Damn it! Is the wine you drink brewed with gold and jade? You spend ten thousand silver taels just drinking wine? Does your family hire laborers for one hundred thousand taels of silver?!" Dongfang Wendao was utterly frustrated, yet he understood that the high-ranking officials in the Tianxiang Empire had always maintained an air of extravagance, with their wealth and status competition leading the continent. Not to mention that Young Master Jun already had a notorious reputation as a wastrel; this matter might not be false.

It must be said that the Dongfang family was originally one of the most prominent families of the era. Perhaps not as strong as Silver Snow City or Blood Soul Manor, their influence was considerable nonetheless. They had always acted covertly and maintained a low profile, which is why they were less noticed. But in terms of their own manpower and resources, they were certainly commendable.

However, over the last decade, constrained by that accursed oath, the entire family seemed to have completely vanished from the mortal realm, sequestered in a secret base, almost entirely cutting off contact with the outside world.

In the initial few years, several Supremes kept a close watch, fearful that the Dongfang family might break their promise. Under this pressure, the Dongfang family had no choice but to comply and completely isolate themselves from the mortal world. Yet, feeding and clothing hundreds of family members, not to mention daily expenses, was always a massive undertaking! Even with deep reserves, they were slowly finding their resources stretched thin. After several years, they were verging on exhausting their savings. At this point, they began contacting the Supremes again, hoping to resume the Dongfang family's business.

After all, even if the Dongfang family didn't appear publicly, the secular world's commerce had to continue to sustain their livelihood. But the three Supremes who witnessed the original pact—Yun Biechen was notoriously elusive, and Li Jue Tian traveled constantly, making him hard to find. The only one potentially accessible, Han Fengxue, was affiliated with Silver Snow City. All three were difficult to locate.

The Dongfang family had no choice but to send out a small number of people each year to maintain their businesses. But after years of absence, most of their original enterprises had declined, and establishing new supply chains required substantial manpower and resources, which was not easy to accomplish.

This time, Li Jue Tian personally sent a letter to the Dongfang family seeking assistance, offering one hundred thousand taels of silver—a rather substantial income! This also signaled an attitude from Li Jue Tian: You are out now; I always knew, but I won't pry.

To be honest, this transaction was extremely significant for the Dongfang family, almost equivalent to incurring a great favor from Blood Soul Manor. Therefore, the joint arrival of the three Dongfang Swords this time was precisely for this reason; it wasn't solely for the sake of the thirty thousand taels of silver.

"These past years, your grandfather secretly dispatched forces four times a year to deliver large quantities of supplies to the Dongfang family's secluded dwelling; yet, your maternal grandmother still couldn't let it go," Dongfang Wenqing said with a bitter smile, sighing slightly. Who would have thought that the once dominant Dongfang family would be forced into such a predicament?

Jun Moxie remained silent.

On this matter, determining right from wrong was truly difficult.

Grandfather was not someone who acted recklessly. He must have seen the situation clearly long ago. Even if the Dongfang family possessed immense power and had every right on their side, rashly wiping out the Tianxiang Imperial Family would inevitably incite universal indignation across the continent. Not only would the Supreme Alliance surely intervene, but even most of the current Eight Supremes would certainly make a move.

Moreover, there was the Xiao family of Silver Snow City, already standing in opposition.

The only possible outcome then would be the destruction of the Dongfang family alongside the Jun family!

This was a foregone conclusion; anyone could have foreseen it. His grandfather had spent his entire life on the battlefield; if he couldn't see such consequences, he truly would have lived in vain.

After weighing multiple factors, he made the final decision to break away, choosing to preserve the existence of these two families above all else!

While this result caused temporary pain for everyone, it guaranteed the continuation and prosperity of both families, or at least ensured that the Dongfang family would not face utter extinction or complete ruin. Otherwise, given Jun Zhantian's temper, how could he have swallowed his pride and completely refrained from mentioning revenge?

Jun Moxie had always wondered why his grandfather and his third uncle, both true men and iron-blooded heroes, would refrain from seeking revenge for so many years. Based on the sixteen-character maxim of the Jun family's ancestral instruction, this made no sense. Now, he understood there was this underlying reason.

For Jun Zhantian, it wouldn't matter if the Jun family perished entirely while seeking revenge, but implicating the Dongfang family in their extermination was something the upright old man could never tolerate. A man of integrity would naturally not hesitate to spill his entire household's hot blood for revenge, but he would never unjustly sacrifice the lives of others!

Jun Moxie felt that his deduction, while perhaps not the absolute truth, was likely very close.

"In fact, these ten years of seclusion haven't necessarily been a bad thing for our Dongfang family," Dongfang Wenqing noticed Jun Moxie’s troubled expression and spoke to comfort him with a slight smile. "Our Dongfang family has always been famous throughout the world for assassination techniques, but these techniques are actually the greatest source of our latent worries and flaws!"

"Why is that?" Jun Moxie looked puzzled.

"Our Dongfang family has existed for over three hundred years, producing countless masters in every generation, yet we have never produced a single Supreme-level expert!" Dongfang Wenqing said bitterly.

"Oh? What is the reason for that? Didn't the Old Madam once single-handedly battle two Divine Profound masters from the Xiao family and win, though she didn't need to? Such astonishing strength, yet still not Supreme-level strength?!" Jun Moxie found this very confusing!

"While Mother undeniably overpowered two Divine Profound experts by herself, displaying power that was transcendent and comparable to a Supreme master, she hadn't entered the true Supreme realm! The assassination techniques cultivated by the Dongfang family have always focused on stealth, striking once for a fatal blow, and vanishing a thousand miles away. Assassins are fundamentally different from killers."

Dongfang Wenqing spoke gravely. "For the sake of perfecting our assassination arts to their absolute peak, the Dongfang family has relentlessly researched agility and speed since its inception. Generation after generation, this refinement has become increasingly exquisite. By this time, in terms of movement techniques, we have achieved myriad transformations, approaching a state of perfect completion."

"But this pursuit has resulted in us unknowingly stepping onto a crooked path, a path from which there is no turning back..."

"A crooked path?" Jun Moxie mused, his face gradually growing solemn.

"You've guessed it? You are also proficient in supreme movement techniques; you should grasp this quickly." Seeing his expression, Dongfang Wenqing couldn't help but sigh. "For any Divine Profound expert to advance to the Supreme level, profound internal energy alone is insufficient for natural progression. Every Divine Profound expert, upon ascending to the Supreme rank, must forge their own system—including unique comprehension of Profound Qi and martial skills—to form a distinct domain that sets them apart. In essence, every Supreme is a Grandmaster capable of founding a sect!"

"And all of this is forged through prolonged exploration. Where does exploration come from? From actual combat, from slaughter! Constantly discovering one's weaknesses in battle, constantly improving, then returning to combat, and improving again. After thousands of repetitions, one attains that smooth, comprehensive enlightenment, that sudden flash of insight! This is why every Supreme was once a martial fanatic. If one isn't obsessed with martial skills and profound arts, how can they reach the Supreme level? Merely cultivating diligently, one might never reach the Supreme rank!"

Jun Moxie nodded silently, recalling how Ying Bokong dared to risk shattering his body to battle the Profound Eagle on the snow-capped peak, and how he lowered his status to fight various people everywhere—wasn't it for this very reason?

"However, we assassins have more than enough opportunities for killing and combat, but due to the nature of assassination, we lack experience in frontal combat. If we engage in direct fighting, how can we still be called assassins? Thus, though our kills are numerous, the only gain is the refinement of our own skills. We suffer from an inherent deficiency in absorbing experience from others' martial arts! An assassin strikes with the intent of a single, fatal blow. While this is sharp and decisive, it's often a life-or-death situation: if the first strike fails to kill the target, it is the assassin who dies! Exposing an assassin's flaw to an opponent is equivalent to seeking death!"

"This is the greatest weakness of the Dongfang family! That is why, despite having numerous masters and countless assassins in the past, we were utterly helpless against the three Supremes! Back then, we could only choose to wrong Mother and establish that utterly unfair oath!"

Dongfang Wenqing’s eyes shone as he looked at Jun Moxie. "My purpose in telling you all this today, you must surely understand! Because your movement technique is even more bizarre and agile than ours! Your movement technique can virtually guarantee that no one can kill you, but such a technique is a hindrance to your martial skill cultivation..."

"Once you possess such an unparalleled movement technique that ignores any powerful foe for protection, you never have to worry about your safety again; you can roam the world without restraint!"

"But, relying on this movement technique, and no longer fearing for your life, what else would you take seriously? Even if you won't admit it, even if you believe you won't become complacent; in reality, the moment you possess this technique, your mindset already differs from that of ordinary cultivators."

"You are no longer anxious or fearful like them. But it is only under that pressure of impending death that truly massive breakthroughs are achieved. Therefore, we only attain breakthroughs when the time is ripe, but we never receive unexpected gains. Consequently, throughout our entire lives, we have no hope of reaching the Supreme ranks!"

Jun Moxie was deeply moved!

Thanks to the incredible functions of the Hongjun Pagoda, even though his current cultivation was only at the Jade Profound level, he was guaranteed that even if the Eight Supremes attacked simultaneously, they absolutely could not kill him.

This was why he had always been fearless, why he dared to oppose Heaven Profound and Divine Profound experts when he hadn't even reached Silver Profound cultivation, and why he never felt the pressure of imminent death!

But honestly reflecting, if he had transmigrated without the Hongjun Pagoda accompanying him, how many times would he have died by now given his actions?

Previously, he had been somewhat self-satisfied, believing himself immensely powerful and completely unconstrained. But if he continued with this mindset, even with the Hongjun Pagoda, how high could he possibly advance?

As he thought, beads of cold sweat slowly dripped from Jun Moxie’s head, falling onto the table before him with clear, crisp sounds.

Dongfang Wenqing knew he had conveyed his point to his nephew, and the young man was clearly deep in tense contemplation, whom he absolutely must not disturb. He quietly waved to his two brothers, and the three quietly retreated.

Leaving Jun Moxie sitting motionless in the tent, watching the lamp flame flicker, frowning in deep thought...

Perhaps I should change?

The Hongjun Pagoda might be an incredibly heaven-defying treasure, but precisely because of this heaven-defying existence, its functions were too powerful, proving detrimental to his progress at the current stage!

Jun Moxie sat stiffly for an entire night! He only emerged the next morning, rubbing his eyes, which were ringed with dark circles, and stretching his arms.

Dongfang Wenqing, his long beard flowing, stood quietly under a large tree near the entrance of the tent, watching him. "What, still haven't figured it out?"

Jun Moxie managed a wry smile and looked up at the sky. "You've given me quite a difficult problem. Having supreme movement techniques, should I not use them? Or when facing an enemy known to be stronger, should I deliberately avoid using them, or use Jade Profound against a Supreme without using them? Wouldn't that be courting death?"

"You spent the entire night racking your brain, and this is what you're agonizing over!?" Dongfang Wenqing was momentarily flustered, his eyes widening. He suddenly exploded in a torrent of curses: "Idiot, imbecile! Bastard! Moron! How could my incredibly smart sister have such a hopelessly stupid son? I am utterly speechless! You wooden-headed fool, you truly deserve a good thrashing! Did a donkey kick your head when you were little?"

"Uh?" Jun Moxie was genuinely dizzy. From his past life to this one, everyone had praised his intelligence. Blast it, someone was actually calling him stupid? He intended to retort but couldn't find any words of rebuttal for a moment, leaving him stunned.

"The logic I explained to you before was to tell you, kid, that when facing opponents of the same level, you should try your best not to rely on movement techniques for victory. If you can engage head-on, do so as much as possible. Occasionally try to challenge those above your level, but don't exceed your limits too much! Why are you blindly charging forward with your pitiful, soybean-sized Jade Profound power to challenge Heaven Profound, Divine Profound, or Supremes? Are you tired of living?"

"Uh..." Jun Moxie was caught between laughter and tears. "But you didn't make that explicit."

"Does that need to be spelled out? Damn it, if you can't win, must you force a fight? Having such excellent movement speed, if your life is in danger, of course, you run! Are you an idiot?" Dongfang Wenqing was exasperated. How could this nephew be so dense?

He didn't realize that the sharper a person's mind is, the harder it is for them to escape when they fixate on a single point.

"If a Jade Profound faces a Supreme, and the opponent can crush you with a single finger, are you still supposed to meet the challenge head-on? What is the use of the supreme movement technique you master then! You silly boy!" Great Uncle Dongfang was extremely conflicted. He was telling him to utilize his resources to fight head-on and gain experience, not to rush off and commit suicide!

"Then I understand!" Jun Moxie laughed heartily, suddenly executing a few somersaults in the air, and sped far away. If he stayed any longer, who knew what else his great-uncle would scold him for.

Yesterday, seeing him composed, elegant, and bearing an air of distinguished grace, he had thought that was all an illusion. But today, he was scolding him so fiercely!

Young Master Jun clearly failed to notice the shift in his own mentality. He had, intentionally or unintentionally, acknowledged these three uncles, even elevating them in focus to the same level as his Third Uncle, Jun Wuyi.

Because these three individuals truly cared for him with all their hearts!

"You frustratingly stupid kid..." Dongfang Wenqing still wanted to curse a few more times, shaking his head in disappointment, only to see that his nephew was already gone.

Three days later.

Dust flew on the main road, and a majestic sound, capable of shaking mountains and moving peaks, could be heard from afar. The army led by Third Master Jun Wuyi had finally arrived.