"What? I've been here for so long?" Han Feng asked, somewhat surprised.

"Don't forget, one hour inside the cultivation space is only one minute outside. Only three hours have passed outside now," Zero explained.

Han Feng breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Zero's words: "Why won't you let me continue fighting the energy entity?"

Zero said, "You've been so focused on fighting that you haven't been summarizing your experiences. Without summarizing, how will you know how to break the deadlock?"

Han Feng thought about it and realized that Ling was right; he had indeed been a bit too impatient.

Zero said, "You should practice for three hours every night in the Tower of Babel, and spend the rest of the time summarizing your experiences. That's how you improve."

Han Feng nodded, then suddenly remembered that the Liu family would take action against the Third Elder tonight, so he left the cultivation space.

When I opened my eyes, the digital clock in the bedroom showed 00:23.

"What an amazing flow of time..." Han Feng rubbed his temples, Zero's final reminder still echoing in his mind. Each time those energy beings defeated him, they would change their fighting style, and he had only focused on reckless charges, neglecting to analyze the patterns.

"Liu Xiaoran should be making his move by now..." Han Feng thought to himself, getting up and walking to the window.

He took a deep breath and began to review the battles he had fought during his training—those energy entities most often launched surprise attacks when he used "Star Trail" to connect with "Meteor Fall," as if they had anticipated it...

Meanwhile, the air in the Liu family's underground chamber was as still as lead. Four bodyguards dressed entirely in black knelt on one knee, their eyes reflecting a cold light beneath their masks. Liu Xiaoran stood before them, toying with a bronze token in his hand—the Liu family's "Patriarch's Token," which could only be used by the patriarch or heir.

"Have you memorized all the target intelligence?" Liu Xiaoran's voice seemed to be squeezed out from a crack in the ice.

The guard on the far left slightly raised his head: "The Third Elder has been staying in his study in the side courtyard since dinner, guarded by eight men, four in the open and four in the shadows." His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping. "From what we've observed, his old injury to his right leg has flared up, making it difficult for him to move."

Liu Xiaoran's lips tightened. The Third Elder's leg injury was sustained twenty years ago while protecting his father, yet now it had become capital for betraying the family. Thinking of this, the veins on his hand holding the token bulged.

"Remember, swift and decisive action." Liu Xiaoran slammed the token on the table, the bronze striking the wood with a dull thud. "Leave no survivors, leave no evidence."

The four guards kowtowed simultaneously, their movements perfectly synchronized. They were assassins trained by the Liu family, subjected to inhuman training from a young age, loyal only to the token and not to any person.

Liu Xiaoran retrieved a scroll of parchment from a hidden compartment. Unfolding it revealed a detailed map of the Liu family manor. He circled three locations with a vermilion pen: "The Second Elder's spies are at these points; I will handle them personally." The pen finally stopped at the main courtyard. "Grandpa will find a way to delay the arrival of the family guards."

Liu Xiaoran glanced at the water clock on the wall. He silently made a gesture, and the four guards immediately dispersed to the four corners of the secret room, each checking their equipment—poisoned sleeve darts, black iron short blades, smoke bombs... each weapon gleamed with a cold luster.

"Final reminder." Liu Xiaoran tightened his wristband. "The Third Elder's study has a secret mechanism that, once triggered, leads directly to an underground river. If he touches the third brick in the southeast corner..." He glanced at the four of them. "You know the consequences."

The guards nodded silently. The Liu family's underground river connected to the outside of the city; once they escaped, they would be difficult to track down.

\"action.\"

At Liu Xiaoran's command, the four dark figures vanished like smoke into the secret passage. He himself then took out a human skin mask and carefully fitted it, instantly transforming into an ordinary-looking servant.

The third elder's residence was surrounded by a bamboo grove, which rustled in the night breeze, perfectly masking the subtle movements of four dark figures gliding across the ground.

The number one bodyguard, positioned in the shadows against the wall, took out a bamboo tube about the size of a thumb from his robes. He tilted the tube, and colorless, odorless powder drifted into the courtyard on the breeze. Moments later, the two guards standing watch outside the study began blinking rapidly, then silently collapsed.

The second bodyguard slithered onto the roof like a gecko, a thin silver thread slipping from his sleeve. He precisely wrapped the end of the thread around the hook of the lantern in the corner, and with a gentle tug—the lantern tilted, and the sleeping gas hidden inside the lampshade was ignited by the candlelight. The smoke drifted with the airflow towards the two sentries in the shadows.

"Thump, thump."

Two muffled thuds sounded almost simultaneously, and the third and fourth guards emerged from the shadows, each dragging a corpse with its throat slit. All eight guards were dealt with in less than three minutes.

Liu Xiaoran had already slipped into the courtyard. Disguised as a servant, he walked obsequiously towards the study, carrying a tray of ginseng soup—a nightly custom of the Third Elder. When a knock sounded, an aged voice answered from inside: "Come in."

The candlelight flickered in the study. The Third Elder sat behind a rosewood desk, reviewing account books. His right leg was propped up on a low stool, his knee wrapped in thick bandages. Hearing the door open, he didn't even look up: "Put it on the table."

Liu Xiaoran slowly stepped forward, and suddenly pounced when he was five steps away from the desk! The short sword under the tray shot out like a venomous snake, aiming straight for the Third Elder's throat!

\"clang!\"

A dagger suddenly appeared and deflected the fatal blow. The screen behind the Third Elder shattered, and an old man in gray robes appeared like a ghost, his blade flashing like a waterfall—this was the true personal bodyguard!

Liu Xiaoran narrowed his eyes beneath his mask, his figure drifting backward like a willow catkin. At the same time, four dark figures burst in through the doors and windows! The second guard's hidden dart accurately struck the gray-robed old man's wrist, the neurotoxin coated on the arrowhead instantly turning his entire arm bluish-purple.

"You're the Liu family's secret guards?!" The Third Elder's expression finally changed, and he slammed his hand on the table's mechanism. "You dare—"

The number one guard's throwing knife struck first, piercing his palm and pinning the old hand firmly to the table. Before the third elder could even scream, guard number two had already covered his mouth and nose with a cloth soaked in medicine.

"Search the third brick in the southeast corner." Liu Xiaoran pulled off his mask, his voice icy.

The third guard immediately crouched down to examine the ground, and after a moment pulled a nearly transparent thread from a crack in the bricks: "The mechanism has been disarmed."

The gray-robed old man collapsed to the ground, the poison having spread to half of his body. He stared intently at Liu Xiaoran: "Young Master...why...?"

"Where did you go with the Third Elder last month?" Liu Xiaoran squatted down in front of the old man, gently touching his heart with his short sword.

The old man's pupils suddenly contracted.

Without hesitation, the sword tip pierced his heart.

Liu Xiaoran rose and walked to the desk. The Third Elder was forced into a chair, his eyes filled with resentment. The old man, his mouth gushing blood, cried out, "Liu Xiaoran! You actually dared... to mobilize... the secret guards to murder an elder..."

Liu Xiaoran glanced at him indifferently: "You colluded with the Nangong family in secret and even tried to use my sister Mengran as a sacrifice for a marriage alliance. For these two reasons alone, I could kill you a thousand times over!"

"Click."

The number one bodyguard snapped the old man's neck. Liu Xiaoran had no interest in listening to the nonsense of a dying man.