A Blood Lotus Takes Time to Bloom

"Pretty good at enduring pain."

Watching the restaurant waiter lean against the wall as if facing a formidable enemy, Lin Xuan could not help admiring the man's endurance.

Those two attacks just now had naturally been his handiwork.

As early as a year ago, he had been able to throw a child-sized punching bag more than ten meters away, making it burst apart instantly.

That was also when he had grasped the throwing skill.

Over the past year, he had ground the throwing skill up to Lv.3, higher than both the True Meaning Five Elements Fist and the True Meaning Swimming Dragon Step.

Of course, that was also because their difficulty differed, and as martial arts methods, the latter two brought different improvements as well.

Still, a Lv.3 throwing skill was enough for him to hit every target within his range.

As for those two attacks just now, he had snapped off the pointed tips of the forks in front of him beforehand and flicked them out from beneath the table as concealed weapons.

But he had thought the other party would be unable to resist exposing himself after the first strike. Unexpectedly, the man had endured it.

That was why there had been a second strike. And he had endured that too?

Let's see just how much you can endure.

Lin Xuan immediately intended to give him a third strike.

But just then, Lin Wu's voice suddenly sounded by his ear. "Leave the rest to me. You just rest obediently. With us older brothers and sisters here, there's no need for you to step up..."

Lin Xuan was instantly taken aback, because Lin Wu's voice had not come from his actual direction. It had come through an Electronic Bee.

"Second Brother, you noticed him?" Lin Xuan asked the Electronic Bee in a low voice.

"Every electronic signal in this restaurant is under my surveillance. I heard his entire conversation through his earpiece."

Lin Wu's synthesized electronic voice came from the Electronic Bee again. "I didn't make a move earlier because I was using him to trace the location on the other end of the earpiece. I didn't want to alert them, but I never expected him to come looking for us."

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?" Lin Xuan rolled his little eyes.

"I didn't expect him to come over so suddenly either. Besides, these little things of mine don't only detect images. I was originally planning to wait until both sides acted at once, but who knew you'd strike first... Never mind that. I'll deal with them first, so they don't scare Mom later."

As Lin Wu finished speaking, the Electronic Bee had already flown away.

Under Lin Xuan's gaze, the restaurant waiter leaning against the wall soon twitched twice before sliding down the wall and collapsing onto the floor.

Lin Xuan turned to look at Lin Wu and saw that the gloved hand was still moving four fingers back and forth, as though controlling something.

A moment later.

Lin Wu finally stopped, turned toward Lin Xuan, and gave him an OK gesture, indicating that everything had been handled.

Seeing this, Lin Xuan relaxed and stretched lazily.

As long as nothing was wrong.

Unless necessary, he did not want to attract attention this early. Quietly grinding experience was happier than anything else.

As for his Second Brother Lin Wu, he already knew Lin Xuan had been precocious anyway. One more secret would not make a difference.

The hotel lobby on the first floor.

A slightly hunched old man stood before a young man dressed in white, a hint of unease on his face as he asked, "My lord Attendant, how much longer until we can leave?"

"A Blood Lotus takes time to bloom. There's no rushing it." The young man in white smiled faintly. "Does Old Lu not want the Blood Lotus Seeds anymore?"

"No, no, of course I do." The hunched old man immediately waved his hands. "I'm only worried that if we delay too long and attract Crimson Flame's attention, it won't be so easy for us to escape."

"Didn't you already have your men surround the hotel with the 'Mirror Box'? The signals have been cut off too. How would Crimson Flame find out?"

The young man in white smiled lightly. "Or is Old Lu questioning the great 'Scarlet Lord,' intending to go back on his word..."

Though the young man in white was still smiling by the end, his tone had turned considerably colder!

The hunched old man hurriedly clasped his fists and bowed. "How would this old man dare question the great 'Scarlet Lord'? My lord Attendant, please see clearly!"

"That's for the best, because this is already your last chance." The young man in white said blandly, "Your body has been ravaged badly enough by the Beastial Bloodline. If nothing unexpected happens, you likely won't even survive this year. Right now, only Blood Lotus Seeds can let you live a few more years...

"With that extra time, you'll have more opportunities to serve the great 'Scarlet Lord' and redeem this worthless old life of yours."

"I am willing to die for the 'Scarlet Lord'!"

The hunched old man immediately declared his loyalty.

Yet there was a clear trace of agitation between his brows, born of unease over the current situation.

Carrying out an attack within Great Xia was absolutely the kind of desperate act that put one's head on the line.

Even if they managed to withdraw safely this time, Crimson Flame would inevitably target them from then on. Even fleeing to the Old Soil might not guarantee their safety.

If he had not been left with no choice, he never would have done this.

But now that things had come this far, regret was no longer an option.

"Bad news, Boss! We suddenly lost contact with several of the brothers on the third floor!" A subordinate hurried over to the hunched old man's side.

"Could the signal interference have caused it?" the hunched old man asked with a frown.

"We have an internally encrypted channel. It won't be affected. We really can't reach them... I suspect something may have happened on the third floor!" the reporting subordinate said gravely.

"Damn it, could there be a powerful Transcendent on the third floor?" The hunched old man immediately grew restless.

In this era, so-called Transcendents were no longer anything unusual.

Anyone who mastered any strange power related to the Old Soil could be called a Transcendent. His own team had quite a few Transcendents, including himself.

When they had taken control of this hotel earlier, the hotel's security team had Transcendents as well, but they had quickly dealt with them.

After all, there were differences in strength even among Transcendents.

The Transcendents in the hotel security team had merely been the most common Gene Warriors. They might have been sufficient for ordinary situations, but they were outmatched against a team like theirs that had spent years roaming the Old Soil.

Yet now an accident had occurred on the third floor. This very likely meant that a powerful Transcendent outside the plan had appeared in the hotel!

Without question, that added a variable to their plan!

"My lord Attendant—" The hunched old man looked toward the young man in white.

"Don't worry. I have people on the third floor too. Nothing can go—"

Just as the young man in white was about to say something with a smile, he was suddenly interrupted by an enormous bang!

Boom!!

Everyone in the first-floor lobby heard the deafening crash from overhead, as if something had slammed into the ceiling directly above them!