In the evening, the baron's mansion had become much quieter, as most of the nobles had already left. The engagement banquet had been a luncheon, and the people still lingering around the baron's estate at this hour were all relatively important guests.
"Wotton, where's your brother?" Yeru walked over to Wotton carrying two bottles of wine and asked, "Haven't seen him for nearly the whole afternoon."
"My brother left with that Mr. Hogm. I don't know where they went," Wotton said, shaking his head.
"I'll go find him. Knowing your big brother's personality, he probably ran off to the training grounds." Yeru left the living room, followed the corridor for quite a while, and headed straight to the rear courtyard outside the training grounds.
"Drip!" "Drip!"
Water was slowly dripping from the artificial rock formation beside the training grounds. In the quiet of the training area, the sound of dripping was remarkably clear. Lin Lei sat cross-legged on the grass, motionless.
If one looked closely, one could see that Lin Lei's muscles were rhythmically contracting and bulging. A natural breeze had risen around his body.
His mind merged into the vast earth, merged into the boundless wind.
"Thud!" "Thud!"...
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"...
With his eyes closed, Lin Lei sensed that the only things remaining in heaven and earth were the soul-shaking pulse and the invisible wind filling the world. After an indeterminate amount of time, Lin Lei opened his eyes.
"The master said no one is allowed inside without his permission."
"Not even me?" Yeru said, looking exasperated.
"Boss Yeru, come in," Lin Lei said with a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, rising to his feet. Only then did Yeru step inside, and seeing Lin Lei, he grinned: "Third brother, I knew it—you're out here training again. Come on, why do you push yourself so hard? You're already at the pinnacle of the Saint Realm. That's already incredible."
Lin Lei glanced at Yeru and chuckled.
In Yeru's mind, Lin Lei was already one of the absolute powerhouses of the Yulan Continent—even the emperor of the O'Brien Empire treated Lin Lei with great respect. But after his encounter with Hogm, Lin Lei knew he was still far from sufficient.
"Come on, have a couple drinks with me. Haven't really had a chance to drink with you today." Yeru placed the two bottles he'd been carrying on the stone table.
Lin Lei sat down and flipped his hand to retrieve two wine glasses from his spatial ring.
"Too bad Brother Four isn't here." Lin Lei shook his head with a sigh. Last month, when King Qoan announced his selection of a son-in-law, Rein had left the capital.
"Can't be helped. The army issued orders—he had to go whether he wanted to or not," Yeru said helplessly. "Last time was just lucky—he was on leave, so the three of us brothers got together. Brother Four is fine, but as for Second Brother... if you want to see him, you'd have to go to the Yulan Empire."
The Yulan Empire and the O'Brien Empire were quite far apart from each other.
Chatting away with his close brother, Lin Lei felt genuinely happy. Why did he have to rush off to slaughter in that High Plane? The joy of cultivation lay in the soul's repeated epiphanies, not in bloody slaughter.
"Third brother, I'll be leaving the capital in a few days too," Yeru sighed. "Can't be helped—being young, there are tons of things the trading company needs me to handle. Otherwise, I won't have the credentials to take charge later."
Lin Lei understood. A trading company of the Dawson Trading Company's caliber could never be as simple as a father passing the reins to his son; otherwise, the Dawson Trading Company would never have grown this large. Of course, the sons of the company would have certain advantages, but the prerequisite was that you had to be capable and have the credentials.
"Next month, when Olivier fights the Rock Sword Saint 'Heidisen', you won't be able to watch it?" Lin Lei said with a smile.
"Yep," Yeru replied casually. "I'm just a mage after all. Even if I watched two Saint Realm warriors fight, how much would I really understand?"
Lin Lei suddenly set down his wine glass and looked toward the door: "Someone's coming."
"Who?" Yeru asked, puzzled. "Does anyone else know you're here?"
"Two people from Martial God Gate," Lin Lei said with a faint smile.
Saint Realm powerhouses could already search with their mental energy. A small baron's mansion was easily covered entirely, so finding Lin Lei was no trouble at all.
Kasrot and Lande walked side by side toward the rear courtyard of the baron's estate, still surprised by their teacher's instructions.
"Lin Lei is quite talented, but did the teacher really need to go this far?" Lande said, shaking his head.
"I don't fully understand it either," Kasrot said, equally perplexed.
As they pondered their confusion, they arrived at the rear courtyard entrance. The guard posted there had already opened the gate. Kasrot and Lande exchanged a glance.
"This Lin Lei already knows we're coming."
Kasrot and Lande caught sight of Lin Lei sitting together with Yeru at a glance. Seeing Yeru there as well, both of them furrowed their brows.
Yeru stood up at this point: "Third brother, someone's here to see you. Go ahead and talk to them—I'll head back to the main hall."
Lin Lei nodded.
Once Yeru had left, Kasrot and Lande sat down. Lin Lei asked: "Kasrot, Lande, what brings you two here?"
Kasrot smiled: "Lin Lei, we two brothers are here on behalf of our teacher to invite you to Martial God Gate."
"The Martial God is inviting me to Martial God Gate?" Lin Lei could hardly believe it.
What was the Martial God's status, and why would he invite him?
Lande nodded beside him: "Lin Lei, our teacher did indeed instruct us to have you come to Martial God Gate. Moreover, this time, the teacher specifically ordered our eldest senior brother to receive you personally. Lin Lei, you should know—when the Rock Sword Saint Heidisen once came to Martial God Gate, our eldest senior brother didn't even come out to receive him."
"Oh?"
Something stirred in Lin Lei's heart. This eldest senior brother of Martial God Gate—who was he?
"Your eldest senior brother—meaning the Martial God's first disciple—how old is he now?" Lin Lei suddenly thought of the question. Good heavens, the Martial God had been born over five thousand years ago.
Kasrot and Lande both laughed.