The Unshackled King (by David Wu) novel Chapter 10

Stefan walked upstairs. Passing Sara's room, his gaze lingered on the tightly shut door for a moment.

He then looked at the room directly opposite, pushed the door open, and walked in.

The room was spacious, bright, impeccably clean, and carried a faint scent of orchids.

Stefan entered calmly and closed the door behind him.

He began circulating his cultivation technique and immediately sensed the pulse energy of the Profound Cold Earth Vein located beneath the Stewart Mansion. Moreover, his body resonated with the Mystic Cold Pulse Energy. A martial meridian deep within him became apparent, eager to absorb this endless stream of cold pulse energy.

"With this Profound Cold Earth Vein, I can finally awaken the True Dragon Meridian."

Stefan murmured to himself.

Stefan was a martial cultivator. Martial cultivators and ordinary martial artists were fundamentally different, worlds apart.

What defined a martial cultivator?

Opening martial meridians and gathering true essence!

As for martial artists, they generally referred to those who practiced martial arts, developing external strength, internal strength, and transformative strength.

Not just anyone could become a martial cultivator. One needed to possess martial meridians, awaken them, absorb the world's vital energy, and condense one's own true essence to earn that title.

In the present world, those born with martial meridians were exceedingly rare.

Human martial meridians were categorized from the first to the ninth tier. Some possessed a first-tier meridian, others a second-tier... up to the highest, the ninth-tier.

But Stefan possessed a tenth-tier martial meridian!

This tenth meridian was the hidden meridian brought by his Solar Apex Vitals Body—the True Dragon Meridian!

During his three years in prison, under Mayson's guidance, Stefan had awakened nine of his martial meridians. Only the final True Dragon Meridian remained unawakened.

Awakening the True Dragon Meridian required earth vein energy, preferably of an extreme cold nature for the best results.

Thus, the Stewart family's Profound Cold Earth Vein was undoubtedly perfect.

"Before awakening the True Dragon Meridian, some preparations are still needed. Acting rashly could backfire."

Stefan thought to himself. He wasn't in a hurry; it was best to be fully prepared.

"Let's see what the second task Mayson assigned is."

Stefan muttered, taking out a silver brocade pouch. Inside were three items.

A black token, a slip of paper, and a small USB drive.

Stefan first picked up the black token. It was heavy, as if forged from some mysterious iron. On the front were three characters engraved in a bold, flowing script—Shadow Dragon Hall!

The back featured an intricately carved, lifelike five-clawed frontal dragon, fierce and majestic.

"What's this token for?"

Curious, but unable to decipher anything from it, Stefan set it aside and unfolded the slip of paper. Five words were written on it—Rebuild the Shadow Dragon Hall!

"Rebuild the Shadow Dragon Hall? What does that mean?"

Stefan frowned. He glanced at the small USB drive, then his gaze shifted to a computer placed in the room.

He walked over, turned on the computer, and inserted the USB drive.

Sure enough, the drive contained a vast amount of information.

Half an hour later, Stefan couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath. Dark lines crossed his forehead as he grumbled, "D*mn it, I knew it. That old geezer wouldn't let me have a moment of peace after getting out."

The Dragon Kingdom had two dragons.

The Bright Dragon, representing rulership; the Shadow Dragon, representing dominion.

The Shadow Dragon Hall was once the largest power in the Dragon Kingdom, its influence even extending overseas—the undisputed underground emperor.

However, twenty years ago, for unknown reasons, the Shadow Dragon Hall disintegrated, disbanding and splitting into nine major power factions.

Now, these nine factions were spread across the globe, each an immovable behemoth.

Rebuilding the Shadow Dragon Hall meant having to reintegrate these nine separate factions. The difficulty of that...

Stefan shook his head; he dared not even imagine.

"I knew that old man was up to no good. Sure enough, he lands me with a task like this."

Stefan complained. Had he known earlier, he wouldn't have so confidently and readily agreed to Mayson's three tasks upon his release.

Moreover, Stefan wasn't allowed to look at the content of the third task yet.

Mayson had specifically instructed him to complete the first two tasks before viewing the third.

If rebuilding the Shadow Dragon Hall was already this difficult, the third task could only be harder.

Still, since he had agreed, his nature wouldn't let him back down from a challenge.

"Tiger Head Society?"

Stefan's eyes narrowed slightly as he focused on the Tiger Head Society mentioned in the USB data.

Sara stared at Stefan in astonishment. Have you misunderstood something? Is that what I meant by "not ideal"?

Since Sara had said this herself, any future issues couldn't be pinned on him.

Hearing Stefan's immediate agreement, Sara was taken aback, looking at him with some confusion.

He... agreed so readily?

Could it be he didn't catch the subtext? If he could see other women, she could also see other men?

Did he not care at all?

Wasn't being cuckolded the one thing men couldn't stand?

Even if there was only a nominal engagement now, the effect of being cuckolded would be similar.

"Could it be my charm is lacking, and he's just not interested?"

Sara couldn't help but doubt herself for a moment.

But she quickly dismissed that thought. She had immense confidence in her looks and figure; in River City, she was undoubtedly among the top. Unless this guy was blind, the idea of him not being interested was impossible.

Nevertheless, a strange sense of unease settled in Sara's heart. She could feel Stefan's attitude towards her seemed... utterly indifferent!

Yes, that was it—a feeling of complete disregard.

This was hard for Sara to accept. As River City's top beauty, she had countless admirers, each vying for her attention, acting meek and trying desperately to please her in her presence.

But Stefan? He acted completely indifferent and nonchalant towards her. This stark contrast left her feeling somewhat unbalanced inside.

Lost in thought, she saw Stefan already moving past her, heading forward.

Almost without thinking, Sara blurted out, "Where are you going?"

Stefan stopped, turned around. A roguish, slightly mischievous smile played on his lips as he walked back towards Sara, like a wolf approaching its prey.

Sara's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively took a step back.

One step back, and there was nowhere else to go. Her back met the wall.

Stefan closed the distance in two or three strides, effectively cornering her. His tall frame leaned in, his right hand planted on the wall beside her head—looking every bit like he was about to go for a classic "kabe-don".

"Wh-what are you doing?"

Sara spoke up quickly, her tone attempting calmness but betraying a hint of fluster.

"My dear fiancée," Stefan's low voice seemed to whisper right beside her ear, "didn't you just say we shouldn't interfere in each other's lives? So... where I'm going, what's it to you?"