"President Hong, what are your instructions?"
Chen Junyue asked, pushing up her black-framed glasses.
"Prepare a check for twenty million and a gift. Hmm, I'll select the gift myself shortly. Tomorrow, you will personally deliver them to Red Falcon. Tell him the previous incident was He Hong acting on his own initiative and that these things are his payment for the dueling matches, as well as our apology. From this point forward, our Decisive Fist affiliation is peacefully terminated. However, express that we hope to have opportunities for cooperation in other areas, should the chance arise."
Hong Rentao said slowly.
A flicker of astonishment crossed Chen Junyue's face as she listened to Hong Rentao. 'Red Falcon… Wasn't he the target President Hong wanted to eliminate tonight? What…'
But working in the organization, and in her position, she was well aware of the principle of not asking what shouldn't be asked. She gave the middle-aged man a slight bow, said, "I understand," and exited the office.
In the office, Hong Rentao took a file folder from his drawer. He pulled out a stack of lists and found the page with Zhou Yuanjue's data.
RRRIP!
He tore the page into pieces and tossed them into the wastebasket beside him.
If it were an ordinary Duel Master, or even an Advanced Decisive Fist Master, trying to leave the organization would be a near-suicidal endeavor. This was a matter of prestige for Heiwei Yuan's Decisive Fist project.
'Come and go as you please? What do they take Heiwei Yuan for?'
But this Zhou Yuanjue had already transcended the category of Advanced Decisive Fist Master and reached another level.
Two elite assassins, six regular assassins, and a Decisive Fist project supervisor from the Wuhai Region—all of them killed by his bare hands.
Continuing to pursue this matter might allow Heiwei Yuan to muster enough power to eliminate him, but the cost would far exceed the value of making an example of him.
From the high-level perspective of an organization like Heiwei Yuan, there were no grudges, no hatred—only interests.
In this incident, Zhou Yuanjue had proven his value. Mending the relationship was more aligned with the organization's interests than killing him and creating a powerful enemy.
'As for the dead?'
Heiwei Yuan had no shortage of people, nor of talent. What it lacked were true elites who stood at the pinnacle of Human Society.
...
At nine the next morning, when Chen Junyue arrived for a visit and placed the gifts in Zhou Yuanjue's hands, he was genuinely surprised.
"That's the situation. We sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding and hope we might have the chance to cooperate in the future."
The young female secretary said to Zhou Yuanjue, a sweet, professional smile on her face.
"If you have a project that interests me, I'll consider it."
Zhou Yuanjue didn't refuse Hong Rentao's gifts. It would have been foolish to turn them down, and besides, getting further entangled with an organization like Heiwei Yuan didn't align with his own goals.
"We will. In that case, I won't disturb you any further. Goodbye."
The female secretary smiled slightly, turned, and left Zhou Yuanjue's residence.
Watching the secretary leave, Zhou Yuanjue glanced at the massive check in his hand, his expression somewhat amused.
'Heiwei Yuan... this organization seems a bit more interesting than I thought. I originally assumed this business between us would drag on for a while, but I didn't expect it to be resolved so quickly. Their way of handling this matter is unimaginably pragmatic.'
After Chen Junyue left, the room fell silent again. Zhou Yuanjue took the massive check back to his room, lifted a painting from the bedroom wall, and revealed a safe hidden behind it.
He opened the safe, casually placed the check in a corner, and then turned his attention to a paper file folder.
From the folder, he took out a thread-bound, blue-covered book that looked quite old.
This was the Red Falcon Fist manual his master, Fan Xinghai, had given him back then. Of course, this wasn't the original ancient text; it had been refurbished and reproduced many times. The copy in his hands was only about twenty years old.
Opening the manual revealed faintly yellowed pages, on which were exquisitely drawn diagrams of the Red Falcon Fist's stances, covering its various individual techniques and forms.
Of course, these illustrations were not the manual's most valuable part. In fact, even if an outsider were to see these stances, they wouldn't be able to master them. At best, it would be a form of calisthenics for improving health. Some of the postures could even cause injury if practiced incorrectly.
The manual's true value lay in the secret annotations and insights that followed the diagrams. These writings compiled the understanding and development of the stances by generations of Red Falcon Fist successors. Although the manual had been lost several times due to natural and man-made disasters, the remaining annotations were still crucial. After Fan Xinghai's death, it was by relying on these insights and notes that Zhou Yuanjue gradually cultivated his Red Falcon Fist to its absolute peak.
However, the book was gradually losing its usefulness, for he had already walked the path of his predecessors. Even if the strongest master in the history of Red Falcon Fist were resurrected, they would be, at best, his equal. In the several hundred years of the Red Falcon Fist's lineage, constrained by the limitations of their respective eras, there had only been three such individuals—one appearing on average only once every two hundred years.
Undeniably, the current era was truly an age beyond imagination.
However, although his predecessors had not reached a higher realm, they had left clues for their descendants within the manual's annotations.
Zhou Yuanjue turned the manual to the last page. On it was a single, unpunctuated passage:
"To be Holy and Bright, to Awaken and Guard It; when the mirror of the heart is without dust, like a bright light shining everywhere, one who presses forward unstoppably can reverse Yin and Yang and break through all shackles. This is called Saint Awakening. I could not achieve it."
These were the words left behind by the strongest master of Red Falcon Fist, a prodigy from three hundred years ago. It was said that this person had surpassed all his predecessors and had faintly touched upon the realm beyond Red Falcon Fist.
"To be Holy and Bright, to Awaken and Guard It, the mirror of the heart without dust, like a bright light shining everywhere, one who presses forward unstoppably..."
"Saint Awakening..."
Zhou Yuanjue closed his eyes and sat cross-legged, his thoughts drifting. Scene after scene from his martial arts journey flashed before his eyes. About half an hour later, he opened them again.
With his Fist Technique at this realm, his physical fitness at this level, and living in an era of material abundance and information explosion, his comprehension of the Fist Technique had, in fact, already surpassed that of his predecessors. As for what "Saint Awakening" was, he already had a faint direction and answer in his heart.
The trouble with Heiwei Yuan had been unexpectedly resolved in a short time. Now, it was time for him to embark on a new journey.
DING DING DING!!
Just then, the phone he had set aside rang again. He picked it up and saw it was a notification from a chat app.
The message was from Yajie.
He had a fairly strong impression of this student. She was one of the more "active" ones among those he taught. Of course, quite a few of his students were "active," but it was clear those others were channeling their "activity" in the wrong direction.
After blocking countless male and female students who had asked him out to dinner, to the movies, or to hot springs, not many students had managed to "survive" on his friends list.
Although he could roughly guess what this student, Yu Yajie, had in mind, she always asked about legitimate academic topics. Some of her questions were quite insightful, showing she had clearly put in the effort, so he didn't pay much mind to her other intentions.
He was a proud teacher of the people, and for students eager to learn, he always shared everything he knew without reservation.
He opened the chat window and was surprised to see that this time, her question wasn't an academic one: "Teacher Zhou, do you think there are really people in this world who can fight monsters and contend with Divine Spirits, like the heroes in myths and epics?"
Seeing this question, Zhou Yuanjue was slightly taken aback. 'It seems this student of mine has run into something perplexing.'
He quickly tapped on his phone's keyboard and composed a reply to clear up her confusion:
"You should trust in science."