Two months, for the martial artists diligently cultivating in the Sacred Martial Hall, were but the blink of an eye.

Di Shitian, however, had no time to marvel at the swift passage of time. He returned to his private office, sinking into the very sofa where Ferrero had once sat, quietly observing Ferrero, who sat behind the desk with his eyes closed, as if engaged in deep martial contemplation.

One minute, ten minutes, an hour… three hours… five hours…

Ferrero could no longer maintain the pretense of ascetic practice. He opened his slender eyes and deliberately looked at Di Shitian Azia with a hint of feigned confusion. “Oh? Di Shitian, what brings you to my humble quarters today?”

…

Di Shitian stared silently at Ferrero, his expression brimming with the unspoken understanding shared between them.

Ferrero knew perfectly well why Di Shitian was present. His silent, unannounced appearance could only mean one thing.

Xue Tian! That learning genius, more terrifying than a machine, had, in these mere two months, deeply wounded Di Shitian’s self-confidence.

Di Shitian remained silent for a long moment before slowly speaking, “He is formidable.”

Ferrero’s face lit up, every corner creased with a smile, nodding repeatedly as he said, “Exceedingly formidable…”

The two patriarchs exchanged wry smiles. Although they still had much martial knowledge to impart to Xue Tian, the young man’s absorption rate was simply too fast. Each time they witnessed his whale-like gulp of knowledge, they were simultaneously delighted and astonished, yet severely deflated.

The wry expressions on the faces of the two patriarchs shifted simultaneously as they both looked toward the slightly ajar door.

The next second, the door was pushed open, and Xue Tian appeared in the doorway with a mischievous grin. “Two esteemed masters, you were hard to find.”

“Something you need?”

Ferrero asked, steeling himself.

“A small matter, just a tiny thing.” Xue Tian rubbed his hands together animatedly. “I’ve finished the insights manual Master Di Shitian gave me and came to ask for a new one. Give me more this time, please. Running back and forth constantly is rather tiresome.”

Ferrero pulled out a copy of Eight Desolations Blade and Sword Dual Mastery, while Di Shitian produced Brahma Hell Thunder Blade.

Xue Tian took the two secret manuals, his roguish smile unchanging, and continued to hold out his hand.

Silence reigned in the room for several seconds. Ferrero then reluctantly pulled out another manual: “This is Six Harmonies, which I derived from Eight Desolations…”

“Hell’s Thunder Charge…” Di Shitian mirrored the action, pulling out another volume.

Xue Tian accepted the secret manuals but made no move to leave, his wicked smile completely fixed. The muscles around Ferrero’s eyes twitched several times before he abruptly threw out two more books: Four Symbols and Tai Chi…

“Heavenly Hell, Thunderous Hell…”

Four sets of secret manuals later, Xue Tian was still grinning wickedly. Ferrero’s expression suddenly sharpened, his two prominent, golden eyebrows shooting upwards, condensing a thousand unsaid words into a single syllable to express his intense emotion.

“Get out!”

“Understood, I’m rolling out immediately.”

Xue Tian casually snapped a crisp salute and truly rolled out of the room, leaving the two patriarchs utterly speechless as to what they should say to their apprentice.

“I need to go into seclusion.”

Di Shitian dropped the statement and vanished from the office.

Ferrero ground his teeth in a bitter laugh. “Shameless! Using seclusion as an escape from Xue Tian! In retrospect, I suppose I have more spirit. I absolutely refuse to enter seclusion today; I can always do it tomorrow… Huh? Martial Venerable? Where is he going? In the direction of Qin Fen’s residence?”

Pushing open the door to the room he hadn't truly lived in for long, Qin Fen looked upon his spotless quarters with a touch of melancholy.

Since joining the military, whether as a soldier, a police officer, or now within the Sacred Martial Hall, he had never possessed a truly stable residence—a situation less settled than when he was a student.

Yet, this nomadic existence held an indescribable allure, a charm that made one almost want to fall in love with it.

Qin Fen stepped into the living room and retrieved the computer floppy disk he had kept preserved for two months, inserting it directly into the projector’s reader.

The air shimmered, and distorted light quickly resolved into a figure Qin Fen didn't know intimately but remembered vividly.

Eyes perpetually deep and cold, hands crossed in front of his mouth, clad in a perfectly crisp military uniform devoid of a single wrinkle, radiating an aura that chilled the bone.

Though clearly a man, Qin Fen felt the sensation of being stalked by a snake—a venomous, malevolent great serpent.

Serpent King Du Hen appeared in the projection, exactly as he always presented himself.

“Your martial cultivation has completed a stage. Return to Shengjing; there is an important combat mission.”

With those brief words, Serpent King Du Hen’s projection vanished instantly.

An important combat mission? Qin Fen carefully pocketed the disk and fell into deep thought. Could the Federation truly be fracturing internally? That seemed impossible! With the Divine Beast Martial Artists holding the balance, even if one or several Divine Beasts wished to break away, it wouldn't be easy, and they would surely be wary of other Divine Beasts opposed to secession.

Other than a Federal split, Qin Fen could not fathom what other mission could be deemed important enough.

Martial Venerable remained as ethereal as ever, suspended outside Qin Fen’s window. “Finished?”

“Yes.” Qin Fen was slightly taken aback; in the two months he spent integrating the Divine Fist Path, he still hadn't detected the man’s presence. This skill was even more astonishing than he had previously estimated.

Martial Venerable hung outside the window, not entering Qin Fen’s room, tilting his head back to gaze at the vault of countless twinkling stars. “When you see your elder brother, tell him I miss him dearly.”

“What?”

Qin Fen was first stunned by the sudden, disconnected remark, then his eyes brightened. “You know my brother?”

“Yes.” A gentle smile touched Martial Venerable’s usually stern features. “He is more interesting than you are.”

“Then do you know where he is now?” Qin Fen’s voice grew urgent. His rigorous training had made him forget Qin Zhan for a while, but hearing his name again reignited the intense desire to find his elder brother. “Is he the Azure Dragon of Jupiter?”

“Where he is?” Martial Venerable gently shook his head. “I do not know.”

“Is he the Azure Dragon of Jupiter?” Martial Venerable shrugged. “Who truly knows? The recognition process for Divine Beast Martial Artists used to be highly unconventional. If the White Tiger hadn't died, it would have continued indefinitely. They never needed face-to-face affirmation; it was a tacit understanding. Even if they didn't know each other or each other's identities, they could sense the other's existence and acknowledge them.”

A bucket of cold water was effectively dumped on Qin Fen’s excitement, but the fire within was not entirely extinguished. In the half-year since arriving at the Sacred Martial Hall, this was the first time he had heard confirmation that his brother was here as well.

“He is more interesting than you,” Martial Venerable repeated. “Your performance is astonishing. You follow the direct, correct path. Your brother is different; he does as he pleases.”

“Take the Esoteric Arts Pavilion, for instance,” Martial Venerable said, a reminiscent smile flickering across his face. “You walk the path of apprenticeship, openly entering the fold. He walks his own path, disregarding the rules of the Sacred Martial Hall. He stayed in the Esoteric Arts Pavilion for many days, yet no one discovered his presence until he left, leaving only a note to reveal he had been there.”

Infiltrating the Esoteric Arts Pavilion? Qin Fen had to reassess his brother yet again. The security there was so impenetrable, so perfectly laid out, that describing it as iron walls and inescapable nets would be an understatement. Infiltrating it and remaining undetected for days was a feat comparable to scaling heaven.

“Then why not reinforce the defenses?”

Qin Fen was puzzled. While many mechanisms in the Esoteric Arts Pavilion were obviously subject to frequent changes, no large-scale modifications seemed to have been made. If someone had broken in, why not change the system?

“Why change it?” Martial Venerable smiled. “Is there a second Qin Zhan in this world?”

Qin Fen also smiled. If there was only one Qin Zhan, then naturally, only one person could devise a method to breach the Esoteric Arts Pavilion. Why worry for the Sacred Martial Hall?

“Actually, I knew he entered,” Martial Venerable’s expression returned to contemplation. “But he meant no harm. Why stop him from setting that record? Using it also serves to show the other members of the Sacred Martial Hall that they are not the absolute pinnacle.”

Qin Fen’s admiration for Martial Venerable’s magnanimity deepened. The spirit and words of the man before him were something only he could utter; even the Six Stars of the Sacred Martial could not achieve this breadth of view.

“Go now.” Martial Venerable tossed him a hand-copied volume of the Martial Void Technique. “You haven’t studied insights on this aspect recently. Here is a small gift. Remember to return someday to help mentor the younger generation. When you see your brother, tell him I said to come back for a visit when he has time; Jennifer, the Celestial Maiden, is still waiting for him.”

The Celestial Maiden? One of the Sacred Martial Hall’s three beauties? Qin Fen felt his head might explode. How was it that wherever his older brother went, the most outstanding women developed affections for him?

“I won't lecture you on how martial arts is like rowing a boat against the current,” Martial Venerable said, patting Qin Fen’s shoulder with solemnity. “Remember, at the Gathering of Heroes, do not disappoint us, and do not disappoint the Martial Maniac.”

“Oh, right…” Martial Venerable shot a hundred meters away, then suddenly stopped flying and turned back. “I personally suggest you put other matters aside for now. The Serpent King has never sent a letter to the Sacred Martial Hall before; this is the first time. It must be something very important. Perhaps you should return to Shengjing first.”

Martial Venerable vanished as abruptly as he had appeared. Even with Qin Fen’s sharp vision, he couldn't discern how the man disappeared.

“Truly worthy of being the top master of the Sacred Martial Hall, a martial artist who can rival the Divine Beasts.”

Qin Fen uncharacteristically left his room, visited K and the others to leave brief notes, and then leaped out of the quarters.

At the exit of the Sacred Martial Hall, he handed over his badge. Standing by the sea, Qin Fen looked back at the colossal sanctuary of martial arts, a wave of complex emotions surging through him.

For the Sacred Martial Hall to stand as the martial mecca of the Federation, it certainly possessed an extraordinary side.

Qin Fen lightly clenched his fists, boarded the helicopter waiting some distance away, and began his ascent. Gazing down at the massive island from above filled him with gratitude once more.

In seven months, his martial strength had soared from a ten-star martial artist to a fifteen-star expert. He was certain he could never have achieved such rapid progress by self-cultivating in Tianbei City.

Unlike their entry, the Sacred Martial Hall provided the best departure resources for those leaving.

Under the starry sky, the helicopter flew at extreme velocity. Qin Fen quietly watched the ocean scenery below. The creation of the Divine Fist Path wasn't just about shutting the door and working in isolation; observing the myriad things in the world was equally crucial. Grasping the boundless, overwhelming force of the ocean was not something one could understand after just a few months of observation.

Given the time, Qin Fen wished he could attempt to swim across the strait alone, to personally experience the might of the sea, much like how his journey on foot in Qinghai had aided his martial cultivation.

He observed the endless ocean, and then the vast expanse of the land.

Different from the ocean’s imposing momentum, the earth’s aura was heavier, more substantial. Every location held a distinct nuance in its presence, boasting an all-encompassing grandeur.

Qin Fen did not observe the land for long before the helicopter landed at a relatively small civilian airport in Shengjing.

A military vehicle had been waiting nearby. Qin Fen wasted no time, switching to a magnetic-drive flying car, and was driven directly into the military compound he had entered and exited several times before.

The changes here were minimal; in fact, there were almost none.

The only real change was in Qin Fen’s own state of mind.

The last time he was here, he had to fend off challenges from his peers across the region almost daily; fighting several matches in a single day was not uncommon.

Sometimes, he had to deal with covert maneuvering and treachery, and even right before his departure, methods as brutal as sniping and completely eliminating threats were employed.

Yet, even after reaching such a point, people in Tianbei City were still hiding in the shadows, firing cold shots at him.

Qin Fen had not forgotten that he was nearly killed by the White Tiger’s palm strike, and immediately afterward, operatives from the Golden Triangle received news and dispatched a large contingent of martial artists to assassinate him.

If only one or two people had been sent, it might have been because he had disrupted the business of some Golden Triangle faction during the security overhaul in Tianbei City, thus incurring their wrath.

Dispatching over a hundred reasonably capable martial artists at once was not something even a major Golden Triangle power could casually afford.

Clearly, that incident was not about a minor business dispute but something else entirely.

Qin Fen knew well that he had completed his mission excellently in the Golden Triangle, and he had even incidentally eliminated that region’s Honorary President-General.

This act was performed in extreme secrecy, known only to a few high-level officials.

The hidden cold shots had not all been eliminated! Qin Fen took a deep breath to calm his emotions. Now that he was back, some matters absolutely needed to be cleared up to prevent greater dangers from arising later.

Whether it was the Golden Triangle or the hidden entity directing things secretly, upon his return this time, he had to find a way to uproot them.

“Qin Fen!”

A hearty shout echoed, and Zhao Huzi strode forward with large steps, opening his arms for a warm, powerful bear hug.

“Kid, it’s been nearly a year since I last saw you. Your strength truly astonishes me.”

Zhao Huzi’s massive hand thumped heavily on Qin Fen’s shoulder, his booming voice drawing the attention of passing soldiers. Why was Lieutenant General Zhao being so familiar with a Lieutenant Colonel? And such a young Lieutenant Colonel at that?

Qin Fen pulled away from Zhao Huzi’s embrace and immediately snapped to attention, rendering the most standard military salute before speaking. “General, your martial arts have also advanced. Congratulations are in order.”

“Hah! An accident! Pure accident!” Zhao Huzi waved his hand dismissively, but the joy on his face was impossible to hide. “An old tree flowering again. I don’t know how I broke through the bottleneck I’ve been stuck at for years, completing the Marrow Replacement Nirvana Great Innate, reaching this fifteen-star strength.”

Fifteen-star strength? The passing soldiers gasped, marveling at Lieutenant General Zhao’s extraordinary power!

“But speaking of which,” Zhao Huzi placed both hands on Qin Fen’s shoulders, examining him closely. “You’re not even twenty years old yet, are you, kid? And you’re already fifteen-star…”

Thud…

Not far away, a passing soldier, hearing Zhao Huzi’s words, was so distracted staring at Qin Fen that he completely failed to notice the lamppost directly in front of him, resulting in an intimate collision between his head and the metal pole.

Other passing soldiers either froze instantly or stared at Qin Fen in astonishment, walking straight into an oncoming soldier.

A fifteen-star martial artist? According to the Lieutenant General, this martial artist, not yet twenty years old, already possessed fifteen-star power? Heavens! What was he planning to do? Was he a future Divine Beast level martial artist?

Fifteen-star strength, yet only holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel? Even Colonel or… Ah! This young man’s military merits were insufficient…

The eyes of the soldiers passing by held nothing but envy when directed at Qin Fen.

Military merits were indeed a difficult thing for many soldiers to acquire, but for a fifteen-star martial artist, describing it as easy as turning over one's hand wouldn't be an exaggeration.

General! The soldiers along the road clearly understood that if Qin Fen possessed good overall strategic awareness, he truly could become a General in the future.

No! If he maintained incredible luck and broke through future martial bottlenecks, even becoming a Divine Beast level martial artist wasn't impossible, let alone attaining the rank of General.

In military circles, a rising young talent often appeared each year, a future star, but never had anyone heard of someone achieving fifteen-star martial strength at such a young age. This singular, super combat ability alone guaranteed that his future path would not be limited to his current rank.

Even if his martial strength never advanced beyond this point, a high-paying post like a Special Forces instructor would certainly be waiting for him.

“Heh heh, luck.”

Qin Fen mimicked Zhao Huzi’s tone. In front of this General who felt more like an elder brother than a superior, Qin Fen was relaxed, completely lacking the deference others showed to a Lieutenant General.

“Good boy,” Zhao Huzi punched Qin Fen lightly on the chest and laughed. “Very good! Excellent! Although I always suspected you would reach fifteen-star strength someday, I never expected you to reach this level so soon. This puts my mind at greater ease! Come! Go see the Serpent King with me.”

The Serpent King? The soldiers standing by felt as if they had been struck by lightning again. This young Lieutenant Colonel was someone summoned by the Serpent King! It seemed the days leading up to his elevation were numbered; his Lieutenant Colonel insignia would likely be upgraded soon.

Qin Fen surveyed the military compound, his chest swelling slightly as a surge of spirit rose from within. He roared silently in his heart: Military! Qin Fen has returned after a year!