Chapter 136: Done With My Disciple;On To The Lindsay’s Compound.

Chapter 136: Chapter 136: Done With My Disciple;On To The Lindsay’s Compound.

The possibility made Xavier’s heart beat a little faster. If his theory proved correct, he might have discovered an entirely new way to improve his mastery of martial arts without relying solely on conventional practice.

He had no intention of letting the idea remain a mere speculation.

Xavier immediately took Maya away from the abandoned construction site and headed toward the Silver Lake City branch of Treasure Pavilion, following the navigation on his phone.

After arriving, he purchased a 2nd-Grade martial arts manual called the Life Giving Art.

He then handed the manual to Maya without wasting any time.

The moment she accepted it, a familiar notification sounded in his mind.

[Congratulations, Host! Your investment in the 2nd-Grade martial art, Life Giving Art, was successful. The investment triggered a 20x multiplier, rewarding you with an advancement in the Life Giving Art from Great Completion to Perfection!]

Xavier’s eyes lit up.

His theory might actually work.

It worked!

The moment the system notification appeared, Xavier could barely contain his excitement.

The Life Giving Art had been the first martial art he invested in through Mira.

That initial investment had pushed his mastery to the Great Completion stage, and he had not bothered to practice the technique any further since then.

Now, after purchasing another copy of the manual and giving it to Maya Knox, his mastery had advanced straight to Perfection!

This discovery opened up a world of possibilities.

Of course, the Life Giving Art was only a 2nd-Grade martial art.

It was not designed for direct combat, so even reaching the Perfection stage would not significantly increase Xavier’s fighting strength.

But the technique itself was not the point. What mattered was whether he could use the same method to improve his mastery of more powerful martial arts.

Take the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique, for example.

His proficiency in that technique had already reached the Great Completion stage.

If he invested in its manual through Maya, could the system push him to Perfection just as it had with the Life Giving Art?

Then there was Phantom Step, which he had already mastered to Perfection.

Would investing in that technique produce an entirely different reward?

The possibilities became even more tempting when he considered the Star Tempering Body Technique and the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger.

The former was a 7th-Grade martial art, while the latter was a 9th-Grade technique.

Both were exceptionally difficult to master, and even the assistance of Lesser Enlightenment Pills could not accelerate his progress as much as he wanted.

If he could use investments to improve his proficiency directly, he might save himself an enormous amount of time and effort.

The more Xavier considered the idea, the more attractive it became.

Unfortunately, he could not put his theory to the test immediately.

For one thing, he did not even possess all the necessary manuals.

The copies of the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique and the Star Tempering Body Technique were currently with Mira.

Unlike the Everlasting life force, which was relatively easy to obtain, those two manuals were not something he could simply purchase whenever he pleased.

He would have to wait until the opportunity presented itself.

For now, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Turning toward his new disciple, Xavier put his excitement aside and asked, "Maya, what are you planning to do from here?"

Maya answered honestly. She had come to Silver Lake City to find her mother, Sarah, and despite spending months searching, she still had not found a single reliable lead.

Xavier was surprised when he heard the details of her family history.

"Your mother is a martial artist who reached the Spirit Platform Realm?" he said.

"She fell in love with your father, who was a farmer, had you with him, and was eventually taken away by her family?"

Maya nodded.

Xavier looked at her with renewed interest. He had not expected his new disciple to have such a complicated background.

If the circumstances had been reversed, her story would have been the perfect beginning for a male protagonist in one of those wish fulfillment novels.

A powerful martial artist falling in love with an ordinary farmer, giving birth to a child, and then being forcibly separated from her family?

It was practically a ready made legendary backstory.

More importantly, Sarah’s cultivation had reached the Spirit Platform Realm. That meant the family she came from was unlikely to be ordinary.

There might be considerably more to Maya’s origins than she knew.

"You’ve been searching for three months without finding anything useful?" Xavier asked.

"Yes, Master," Maya said, lowering her eyes, unable to hide her disappointment.

Xavier considered the matter for a moment before speaking.

"Don’t worry," he said. "I’ll ask around and see whether I can find something about Sarah and her family. I know a few people who may be able to help."

He could approach Samuel Bush, Victoria Quill, and some of his other contacts in the Extraordinary Division.

They had access to information and connections that Maya could never hope to obtain by wandering the streets alone.

"Your mother disappeared eighteen years ago," he continued. "There’s no need to exhaust yourself trying to find her overnight. We’ll take things one step at a time."

Maya nodded gratefully.

"Thank you, Master," she said.

"For now, I’ll arrange somewhere for you to stay," Xavier said.

"I have a few things to take care of, but I’ll come back for you once I’m finished."

Xavier had already decided what to do with her after dealing with the Lindsay family.

He would take Maya back to Valemont with him.

Keeping her close would make it easier to protect her while also allowing him to continue investing in her cultivation.

Naturally, Maya had no objections. She had arrived in Silver Lake City with no one to rely on.

Now she had a master who had cured the condition that had tormented her for most of her life and given her a chance to become a powerful martial artist.

She was more than willing to follow his arrangements.

Xavier soon found a hotel near the Silver Lake City branch of the Extraordinary Division and booked her a room.

Once he had made sure she had somewhere to stay, he left her there and headed out into the night.

His destination was the Lindsay family compound.

* * *

Night had settled over the foothills of Mount Auric when Xavier arrived.

The Lindsay family’s residence was an enormous estate built in the traditional architectural style, with rows of low rise buildings, tiled roofs, and courtyards that gave the place the appearance of an ancient settlement.

From above, the compound covered roughly a thousand acres.

In a city as prosperous as Silver Lake City, where every inch of land was valuable, possessing an estate of that size was a clear demonstration of the Lindsay family’s immense wealth and influence.

Their security arrangements were equally impressive. Six martial artists guarded each of the main entrances, while dozens of others patrolled the perimeter and moved along the walls throughout the night.

Xavier suspected that additional experts were concealed within the estate, ready to respond if anyone attempted to break in.

An ordinary martial artist would have struggled to enter unnoticed.

Xavier, however, had a new advantage.

Void Walking.

He activated the martial art, and his physical form disappeared from the ordinary world.

The sensation was unlike anything he had experienced before.

As he entered the void, Xavier discovered that reality seemed to divide into two distinct spaces. One was the familiar world of living people, buildings, and flickering lights.

The other was a desolate, ash gray expanse that appeared to contain nothing at all. A translucent barrier separated the two realms.

Through it, he could observe everything happening in the physical world without exposing himself to the people moving about inside it.

At the same time, a strange force pressed against his body from every direction.

The power of the void was everywhere, threatening to overwhelm anything that entered its domain.

Fortunately, the chaotic energy surrounding Xavier kept that force at bay. Despite the pressure, he remained completely unharmed.

He could move freely through this strange space, almost as though he were floating.

His movement was slower than it would have been in the physical world, but that hardly mattered.

He was not here to race anyone. He needed to locate the Lindsay family’s senior members without alerting the guards.

First, I need to find out where the senior members are staying.

With that objective in mind, Xavier began exploring the compound from within the void.

He did not have to search for long. Less than five minutes later, he stumbled upon a promising lead.

* * *

Inside one of the Lindsay family’s buildings, Garrett Lindsay abruptly rose from his seat as his phone rang.

He was the head of the family’s fourth branch, and two hours earlier, Reginald Lindsay had personally instructed him to mobilize his connections and search for anyone suspected of awakening the Calamity Poison Body.

Now, it seemed his efforts had paid off.

"What did you say?" he said. "You’ve found someone who might have awakened the Calamity Poison Body?"