Outside the thirty-second floor’s curtain wall glass, the harbor’s thunderclouds hung low, with occasional flashes of golden-purple lightning streaking through the leaden-gray layers. That was the sign of distant array hubs forcefully dissipating spiritual energy overload.
Shen Huai’an sat behind a large cedarwood executive desk, his slender fingers gripping the body of a black-gold fountain pen as its nib drew a clean arc across the final page of the financial restructuring agreement.
“President Shen, the three Gu family elders have been waiting in the fifteenth-floor reception room for two hours.” The secretary placed a cup of iced Americano down, her tone subtly tense. “They said that if the Shen family refuses to relax the spirit stone quota this year, the Gu family’s talisman factory will shut down next month.”
Shen Huai’an did not look up. Wearing gold-rimmed half-frame glasses, his eyes behind the lenses were dark and cold, like a snow-covered abyss.
“Let them shut down,” Shen Huai’an said evenly, without a ripple of emotion. “Last year the Gu family hoarded three thousand jin of low-grade spirit ore on their own. Do they really think the Shen family’s compliance audit is just for show? Notify the legal department to issue a notice in half an hour and freeze the Gu family’s liquid assets in the four southern provinces under the breach clause.”
“But……”
“Get out.”
The secretary swallowed the rest of her words, bowed slightly, and left the office.
The moment the heavy wooden door closed, Shen Huai’an’s right knuckles resting on the desk suddenly tightened, emitting a faint crisp sound.
His spine remained perfectly straight, yet the originally rosy color of his lips faded completely within seconds, taking on a deathly pallor.
The Cold Marrow poison had flared.
There were still four full hours until the new moon, but the thunderstorm outside had prematurely stirred the yin fiend qi between heaven and earth. Shen Huai’an could clearly feel an extreme chill like needles rising from the deepest part of his spine, rapidly spreading along his meridians.
It was not ordinary cold, but a deathly stillness capable of freezing both Golden Core and blood into fragments. His vision began to double, and the nose pads of his gold-rimmed glasses felt icy enough to embed into his flesh.
Shen Huai’an made no sound. With practiced ease he opened a drawer, pressed the hidden elevator control button, then stood and walked step by step toward the private lounge at the back of the office.
His steps remained steady, only landing slightly lighter than usual.
Behind the lounge mirror stood a thirty-centimeter-thick alloy blast door. The password lock verified his pupil and fingerprint, the mechanical sound of the door’s teeth engaging especially harsh in the quiet space.
The chamber inside had no windows; the walls were lined with black obsidian bricks that isolated spiritual energy fluctuations. The room temperature was set at a frigid three degrees, yet to Shen Huai’an at this moment it still felt like a blazing furnace—because his internal temperature had already dropped below freezing.
“Click.”
The chamber door locked shut behind him.
Shen Huai’an could no longer maintain his stance. His body swayed, and one knee slammed heavily onto the icy stone floor. Air was forced from his chest, exhaling a puff of white mist.
His fingers trembled as he tried to undo his suit buttons, but the spasming digits refused to obey, repeatedly slipping off the fabric.
“President Shen.”
A low voice called from a dark corner of the chamber.
A tall figure emerged from the shadows. Lu Xiao wore black tactical pants and a fitted black tank top, his broad shoulders and back taut under the dim light. His exposed arms were covered in crisscrossing old scars, and a faint visible heat radiated from his skin—the phenomenon of pure yang martial blood circulating at high speed.
Lu Xiao stopped three steps away from Shen Huai’an and looked down at the man who normally stood above everyone, controlling hundreds of billions in assets and the fate of noble houses.
Shen Huai’an raised his head, his glasses slightly askew on the bridge of his nose. The corners of his lips twitched from extreme pain, yet his eyes still held their final coldness and warning.
“You’re late……by two minutes.” Shen Huai’an’s voice was hoarse, like two shards of ice grinding together.
“The array’s electromagnetic interference outside was too strong; the elevator stopped for a while.” Lu Xiao’s tone was flat, showing little respect, yet his gaze was fixed like a wolf locked onto its prey, pinned on Shen Huai’an’s pale fingers.
Lu Xiao took a large step forward, his military boots thudding dully on the floor.
He dropped to one knee before Shen Huai’an and extended his large, callused hand without hesitation, gripping Shen Huai’an’s cold, trembling wrist.
“Hiss——”
Shen Huai’an instinctively jerked.
The heat from Lu Xiao’s palm was scorching, like a red-hot iron pressed against frozen skin. The extreme pain and the faint relief that followed clashed violently in his nerves, forcing a low, muffled groan from the cold-faced man.
“President Shen, two-thirds of your pulse is frozen today.” Lu Xiao’s fingers pressed harder, the pads digging into the soft flesh inside Shen Huai’an’s wrist as he forcibly channeled a thread of his own violent yang energy into him.
Shen Huai’an’s pupils dilated instantly, veins at his neck faintly bulging from the neural shock. Both hands clutched desperately at the fabric over Lu Xiao’s thick shoulder blades, knuckles whitening from the force.
“Stop talking nonsense……” Shen Huai’an lifted his head, a layer of uncontrolled physiological mist welling in his eyes, his voice broken yet still carrying an undeniable commanding tone. “Take off your clothes……follow the rules.”
Lu Xiao watched the usually stern and indifferent face now flushed from the infusion of scorching yang energy, a dark, restless glint flashing deep in his eyes.
“As you wish, President Shen.”
Lu Xiao answered in a low voice, then reached out, seized Shen Huai’an’s expensive silk tie, and yanked it hard with one hand, pulling the knot completely loose.