"Rustle..."
In the forest, footsteps on dry leaves created faint rustling sounds.
Caesar, clad in black, arrived at the center of the forest, where a simple wooden cabin stood.
"Creak~"
Caesar pushed open the main door, and the wooden door emitted a harsh, sharp grating sound.
The wooden cabin was small, about thirty square meters, containing only a massive object covered by a black cloth.
Caesar pulled a corner of the cloth, and with a "whoosh," it was thrown back, revealing an armed and modified off-road vehicle.
"Hmph..."
Caesar softly snickered. He walked to the back of the off-road vehicle, opened the trunk, took out two golden Desert Eagles, checked their ammunition, and tucked them behind his waist.
"Sizzle sizzle..."
He opened the car door, got into the off-road vehicle, started the engine, and with a "sizzle sizzle" sound, it rushed out of the wooden cabin and drove towards the outside of the forest.
Caesar. Reinhard, from the United States of Edimi, was ordered to carry out a spy mission in the Republic of Amburizet. This mission had lasted for twenty years.
During this period, he faced the risk of exposure countless times. Life-and-death crises, like those in movies, were commonplace for him.
During his twenty years of missions, he killed many people, and countless others indirectly died at his hands.
Over the years, he had experienced countless things, including near-death situations and despair, but he had never thought of betraying his homeland.
These people pursuing him were from the intelligence organization in the Republic of Amburizet, tasked with handling traitors.
They had three phases: eliminate, dispose, leave.
Simple, clean, fast.
He drove all the way to a small town. The quiet streets of the town weren't as bustling as a big city.
This was the smallest island among the Seven Islands, naturally sparsely populated.
From here, he needed to take an airship to the address provided by the mysterious person.
Currently, he couldn't stay in either the United States of Edimi or the Republic of Amburizet.
Upon arriving at the airport, Caesar shaved his beard, instantly looking ten years younger.
He changed into a white and blue striped T-shirt and denim shorts, wearing sneakers and dragging his luggage.
He looked like a tourist who had just finished a trip and was about to take an airship back home.
"Mr. Atrio?"
As soon as he stepped into the airport, a sudden young female voice sounded beside him.
Caesar, wearing sunglasses, turned his head, only to see a young, beautiful girl with blue-gray short hair looking at him with surprise and joy.
"Are you finished with your vacation and heading back?"
Caesar subtly scanned left and right with his peripheral vision, then nodded slightly and said.
"Yes, there are some matters at the company that I need to go back and handle."
The girl curiously observed his attire, covering her mouth and chuckling.
"Mr. Atrio, how come you wore such formal clothes when you came for vacation?"
"And now that your vacation is over, you're dressed so casually."
Whenever Caesar came for vacation, he would either wear a suit or a trench coat. She had rarely seen him dressed like this.
The girl was a local resident, her home not far from Caesar's vacation villa. She often came to chat with Caesar, and sometimes Caesar would help her chop firewood.
"Haha, when you go back, changing into a relaxed outfit makes your mood less heavy."
Caesar chuckled, raised his wrist, pretended to check the time, and smiled subtly.
"Hmm, it's about time. I need to board the airship."
Caesar smiled faintly at the girl and turned to walk away.
"Mr. Atrio!"
Caesar paused, but did not turn back.
"Will you... come back?"
Caesar lowered his head and pushed up his sunglasses. With his back to the girl, he said with an extremely relaxed tone, smiling.
"Yes, of course."
The young girl watched Caesar's figure gradually disappear into the airport entrance. For some reason, she felt as if something had been lost in her heart.
She wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out.
"Next time, I'll definitely make you stay."
The beautiful girl clenched her fist, cheering herself on, then turned and walked out of the airport.
"Beep..."
Caesar, who was walking towards the airport counter, pulled out his vibrating phone from his pocket and pressed the answer button.
"Caesar, no need to go to the counter. There are people pursuing you there."
"I've booked your ticket. You just need to pick it up from the ticket machine."
Caesar paused. The voice on the phone was still young. He didn't know how the other party had managed to book a ticket using his identity information, but he could only obey him now.
"Beep beep beep..."
He went to the ticket machine, swiped the prepared ID, and indeed, the ticket had been booked an hour in advance.
"Did he already expect me to accept?"
Caesar looked at the time the ticket was booked and realized this point.
Taking the ticket, Caesar, wearing sunglasses, slowly walked past the counter, holding the ticket and pretending to pass by casually.
The ticket agent at the counter bowed slightly to Caesar and gave a polite smile.
Caesar ignored him and walked straight past the counter to the boarding gate. After checking his ticket, he directly boarded the airship.
"Have you found the target?"
Inside the counter, the ticket agent who had bowed and smiled at Caesar earlier, pressed the earpiece on her ear and quietly replied.
"Not yet."
"What's going on?"
The voice in the earpiece was clearly anxious.
"He should have entered the airport by now. According to the plan, he should be purchasing tickets at the counter."
At this moment, Caesar's airship had slowly taken off, and they had completely missed Caesar.
"Beep..."
On the airship, Caesar, who was sitting by the window, savoring the beautiful scenery of the Seven Islands, picked up his phone.
"Mr. Caesar, congratulations on gaining your freedom."
Caesar listened to the sinister laughter from the other end of the phone, raised his wine glass, and took a small sip.
"What freedom? It's just moving from one cage to another."
"I'm right, aren't I, Mr. Mysterious?"
The voice on the other end of the phone paused for a moment, then chuckled sinisterly again.
"Don't say that, Mr. Caesar."
"Look at it differently, you finally don't have to be a dog anymore."
"Anyway... I have no other choice."
Caesar gulped down the remaining wine in his glass, looked out at the clouds, and remained silent for a long time.
Kaimera Continent, northernmost border of the Kakin Empire, Anchorage.
Twenty kilometers north of Anchorage, Mount Ambys, with an altitude of 6596 meters.
Vast white snow covered the continuous snow-capped mountains, reflecting dazzling white light under the piercing sun.
The temperature here was below minus twenty degrees Celsius. It was nothing but snow mountains. Apart from a few mountaineering enthusiasts, no one else would ever pass through here.
As a remote, uninhabited area with extremely harsh conditions, not to mention tourists, even locals dared not venture deep into it.
"Whoosh whoosh..."
Wild winds swept across the snow-capped peaks. Julius, stripped to the waist, sat cross-legged on the peak, like an ascetic monk.
Starting ten years ago, Julius would spend three months here each year to cultivate. Aside from some local monks who brought him necessary supplies, he had not seen anyone else.
Ten years ago, Julius became fascinated with psychology, not the ordinary psychology understood by common people.
The psychology Julius was fascinated with was transpersonal psychology, a school of psychology that emerged in the United States of Edimi in the 1960s, far beyond what ordinary people understood.
It was the result of the full development of humanistic psychology, and it could also be said to be a derivative of humanistic psychology.
At the same time, it also had another name: [Transpersonal Psychology].
It was proposed by the humanistic psychologist Abigail in the early 1960s.
Its purpose was to explore the ultimate origin of the human mind and potential.
This school of psychology was recognized by more and more psychologists and gradually gained popularity.
Julius began to learn about transpersonal psychology at that time, but he was entangled in many affairs.
And now, he could finally put everything down.
Mount Bechdel and Mount Ambys were precisely the conditions he needed.
This school of psychology, which emerged in the 1960s, still had no completely developed system. Very few people truly delved into it.
Ten years had passed, and Julius's research in transpersonal psychology had surpassed 99.99% of the people in this world.
The core theory of this school of psychology lay in consciousness, which divided human consciousness into four levels: the Soul level, the Non-existence level, the Self level, and the Shadow level.
Each level represented a different understanding of personal essence.
Its theory was based on humanistic principles, studying the combination of the human mind and body.
It was influenced by various philosophies and disciplines.
Ancient philosophy, traditional philosophy, modern philosophy, Taoist thought, Buddhist thought, as well as meditation, esotericism, Brahmanism, yoga, etc., could all be studied.
Its purpose was for humans to develop their potential, understand truth, know themselves, transcend themselves, return to the heart, help others, gain transcendent experiences, and even point the way forward for the human mind.
For ten years, Julius had not only made great breakthroughs on a theoretical level but also manifested them on a physical level.
Ten years ago, Julius came to Anchorage, Kakin Empire, through a friend's introduction.
Here, he learned from the local population that there was a temple, over two hundred years old, on a towering snow-capped mountain.
Although its exterior appeared dilapidated and the conditions were extremely harsh.
Inside, however, lived a monk over two hundred years old.
Before this, Julius could never have believed that someone could live to be two hundred years old, and in such an extremely harsh, uninhabited area.
And after seeing him in person, Julius became even more skeptical of his claim of age.
Because, his appearance looked no more than fifty years old, how could he possibly be the legendary two hundred years old?
However, a month later, Julius had no choice but to believe.
This monk, who, according to local legends, had existed on this great snowy mountain for two hundred years, was not only proficient in ancient philosophies from various countries but also in ancient yoga and ancient esotericism.
His bodily functions were extremely peculiar. Even on the icy, snowy peaks, he could go a month without food or drink, leading Julius to believe he had long since died.
However, a month passed.
When Julius saw the monk return to the temple completely unharmed, Julius's heart was filled with unparalleled shock.
The sight of such a scene, defying human common sense, unfolding personally before him, brought an overwhelmingly powerful shock.
From then on, Julius had no more doubts and willingly began his path of cultivation.
In the first month, he brought all sorts of equipment and ascended the great snowy mountain. Just standing on it, he felt a sense of awe.
He came to the edge of the snowy mountain cliff and looked down. A glacier canyon, thousands of meters deep, was pitch black and unfathomable, like a hellish abyss, seemingly swallowing even sunlight.
Above, was a vast, boundless blue sky. The cold wind from the peak of the snowy mountain blew over his body. Even wearing a down jacket, Julius still felt a biting chill.
In the second month, Julius took off his upper clothing, leaving only his lower pants, and sat cross-legged, shivering, on the peak of the snowy mountain, beginning his meditation with closed eyes.
Despite his strong physique, meditating bare-chested in the biting wind at minus twenty degrees Celsius was undoubtedly terrifying.
The result was also obvious: in less than ten seconds, Julius's face turned blue, and he had to stop his meditation.
For ten years, Julius relentlessly battled nature in this biting wind.
Using the breathing techniques learned from the monk, Julius's endurance gradually increased.
Until today, Julius could effortlessly sit cross-legged on the snowy mountain peak and meditate for an entire day.
"Swish!"
Julius wielded his fists on the snowy mountain peak, constantly running back and forth, walking briskly. The slightest misstep would send him plunging into the glacier canyon, resulting in a shattered body.
But Julius liked this feeling. He wanted to use this great terror between life and death to make the connection between his mind and body more perfect.
Day after day, year after year, time passed minute by minute. As his cultivation deepened, Julius's eyesight, hearing, nerve reaction speed, sixth sense, sense of touch, and so on, grew stronger and stronger.
Most incredibly, the fatigue he had accumulated over years of work also found relief.
His mind and body became increasingly peaceful, as if nothing in the world could disturb him anymore.
"Huuu..."
On the snowy mountain peak, Julius finished his boxing, closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and took a deep breath.
"This year's cultivation ends here."
Every year at the end of the year, Julius would spend three months cultivating on Mount Ambys, then return home to celebrate the New Year with his family and friends.
"Whoosh!"
Julius dashed down the hundreds of meters of steep rock on the western slope of the snowy mountain, his speed comparable to that of a snow leopard foraging in the snow all year round.
From the peak of the snowy mountain, he descended all the way to the halfway point, where Julius stopped.
Looking ahead, a suspension bridge, hundreds of meters long, appeared before him. It was the only way to reach that dilapidated temple.
Every time Julius passed by here, he found it incredible.
Each time he crossed this suspension bridge, it swayed precariously, looking as if it would collapse at any moment.
He had been cultivating here for ten years, and this suspension bridge had received no maintenance, yet it still stood.
He could only attribute its magical resilience to the miraculous monk.
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