Confused Zhang Henglong!

"No, I have to speed this up!"

Su Xiaobai made the decision on the spot.

Two hundred days, over six months—back in the day, he wouldn't have thought that was much time... after all, with his progress, he was already faster than any Warrior outside!

But now the crisis was closing in.

An invisible sword hung over his head, ready to fall at any moment... if he didn't finish cultivating this technique, a Martial Master might come knocking before he was done!

"Perfect timing, I just sold a batch of Fierce Beasts materials for three hundred and eighty thousand Ten Thousand Spirit Coins. A level 4 Automated Training Space costs one hundred thousand—that's enough!"

"System, upgrade my Automated Training!"

Su Xiaobai gave the order directly.

"Upgrade complete!"

With the system's feedback, the tag in the upper right corner of the Automated Training Space changed from "*4" to "*8"!

In an instant, the shadow progress of Automated Training accelerated to eight times!

"At the current rate, finishing this technique will still take some days... I need to keep pushing!"

"Upgrading Automated Training to the next level costs one hundred thousand, but I only have eighty thousand left—definitely not enough... level 3 Automated Monster Hunting costs one hundred thousand, even less... I'll have to wait for the next batch in a week!"

"For now, I'll use the remaining eighty thousand to upgrade Automated Cultivation!"

Su Xiaobai decisively poured all his remaining money into Automated Cultivation.

Now wasn't the time to save.

These days of waiting might be the days of strength improvement... so if he could boost it as fast as possible, he would!

"Upgrade complete!"

With the system's prompt, the tag in the upper right corner of the Automated Cultivation Space also changed from "*4" to "*8"!

Eight times the cultivation speed—one could imagine how fast Su Xiaobai's progress was now!

While others might need years of hard work to advance a single level, for Su Xiaobai, it only took months, or even days!

"All done!"

"The remaining issue is finding a new place to stay as soon as possible!"

Since they could find the villa, it meant they already had his address. Staying there wasn't safe... he needed to move to a secure spot, and only when the Yuan Family was dealt with would this crisis alert be lifted!

Meanwhile, Zhang Hengde had returned to the Zhang Family.

"Big brother!"

Zhang Hengde rushed in hurriedly. Along the way, servants greeted him respectfully, but he ignored them all, his eyes wide as brass bells, his expression panicked.

He went straight to Zhang Henglong's study and shoved the door open.

"Why are you back? Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on Guest Elder Su's side?"

Zhang Henglong, who was handling family affairs, looked up and frowned.

"Big brother, I have something very important to tell you!"

Zhang Hengde glanced around cautiously and quickly shut the door.

He didn't think it was hidden enough, so he pulled the curtains shut too.

"This is my study, always under my watch. If even this place gets infiltrated, then no corner of the Zhang Family is safe."

Zhang Henglong said calmly, closing the file in his hands. "Go on, what's so important?"

"The Yuan Family made their move!"

After confirming there were no issues, Zhang Hengde leaned close to Zhang Henglong and lowered his voice, speaking with utmost seriousness.

"Did you encounter an assassin?"

Zhang Henglong's gaze sharpened, his expression turning grave.

"I did. The Yuan Family was clever—they didn't use their own men. They hired Madman Drake!"

"Madman Drake? The Yuan Family really spared no expense!"

Zhang Henglong's eyes grew heavy.

He had certainly heard of Madman Drake's reputation. To hire him required not only an exceptionally generous reward but also enough challenge... clearly, this task suited Madman Drake's tastes perfectly!

"You came back specially, which means Madman Drake's assassination failed, right?"

Zhang Henglong glanced at Zhang Hengde.

He knew his second brother's nature.

Though reckless and hot-tempered, when given a task, he would carry it out meticulously.

Zhang Hengde's return was enough to show that Su Xiaobai was fine... and that Madman Drake hadn't succeeded!

"Not only did he fail, Madman Drake lost his life too!"

"You're at least an Intermediate Martial Master. Killing an Advanced Warrior isn't anything strange."

"No... Madman Drake wasn't killed by me. It was Guest Elder Su who killed him!"

As soon as Zhang Hengde said this, Zhang Henglong jerked his head up, eyes wide, staring straight at Zhang Hengde.

The meaning in his gaze was simple: How is that possible?!

Zhang Hengde swallowed hard.

"What exactly happened?"

Zhang Henglong could no longer maintain his earlier composure.

Su Xiaobai was only a Senior Quasi-Warrior.

Madman Drake was a genuine Advanced Warrior.

Though the difference in their realm levels was just one word, the gap that single word brought was as vast as heaven and earth!

He had never heard of a Senior Quasi-Warrior being able to kill an Advanced Warrior... This was far too shocking!

"It was like this..."

Zhang Hengde broke down everything that had just happened, chewing it up and laying it all out in full detail.

The more he spoke, the thicker the shock on Zhang Henglong's face grew.

Especially when he heard that Su Xiaobai had unknowingly already broken through to become a Beginner Warrior and had even blocked Madman Drake's Poison Needle—his pupils suddenly contracted!

But that wasn't the end.

Then he heard about Su Xiaobai's fierce battle with Madman Drake in the alley, how Su Xiaobai, at the Beginner Warrior realm, had traded blows evenly with an Advanced Warrior—his whole body trembled involuntarily!

A Beginner Warrior facing an Advanced Warrior.

A single grade difference was enough to create a crushing situation.

Two grades of difference left almost no chance of victory!

Yet Su Xiaobai could actually stand firm against him... It was utterly baffling!

But even that wasn't the most baffling part.

"What?!"

Zhang Henglong suddenly stood up from his chair, the aura of an Advanced Martial Master unconsciously bursting forth from his shock, throwing the entire study into chaos... His face was filled with horror, as if he had seen a ghost!

"You... you're saying that Guest Elder Su... he has mastered an Attribute Technique?!"