Chapter 15 Encounter with the Man

• Sophia rose abruptly, fixing Michael with a stern gaze.
• Equally resolute, Michael held Sophia's gaze.
• After a brief standoff, Sophia averted her eyes. "I've said what needs to be said. We're adults now, so we should understand how society works. I'm going to sleep."
• With that, Sophia drew the curtains around her bed, the canopy enveloping her and hinting at her graceful figure through the fabric.
• Michael sighed inwardly, shaking his head. We're adults now, so we should understand how society works.
• Am I expected to passively accept this?
• Wear the mark of betrayal without protest?
• He considered confronting Sophia about her alleged betrayal but decided against it. What would be gained from asking now?
• Quietly, he moved towards the balcony, slid open the doors without a sound, and closed them just as silently.
• These moments were familiar after five years.
• Despite his discontent with Sophia, he couldn't bring himself to harm the woman he adored or disrupt her sleep.
• Lying on the mat, staring at the starry sky, Michael mulled over the day's events.
• He now held the ancient Taoist medical heritage, a power over life and death.
• With such abilities, he could easily rise to prominence, perhaps even impressing Sophia with his newfound influence.
• He wouldn't have to bow to anyone, not even the Lewises or the Hamptons.
• But so what if he achieved all that?
• Would he be able to win her heart?
• No.
• He loved the unadulterated Sophia, the one who cared for the needy, the one who offered food to starving, freezing beggars on the streets without a second thought.
• For him, love transcended possessions; it was about mutual sacrifice.
• Michael closed his eyes, a solitary tear tracing his cheek in the moonlight.
• He understood that things had reached an irreversible point. All he could defend now was his dignity.
• Suddenly, with his eyes shut, Michael sensed a warm, ball-like substance rolling around in his lower abdomen.
• This is the spiritual root left by my ancestors, the elixir!
• Michael recalled inheriting the ancestral legacy, initially with a less potent elixir that had now grown substantially.
• Could it be from absorbing the dendrobium's medicinal power? he wondered.
• In the Taoist medical heritage, countless techniques exist, but achieving ideal results demands reaching a certain medical realm, he reflected.
• It seems like I need to elevate my elixer realm.
• Taoist medicine's essence lay in alchemy. Aspirants usually needed guidance and insights from a master to cultivate their elixir.
• Yet, Michael had inherited a trace of this spiritual root and formed an elixir. Absorbing the dendrobium's power had advanced him into the initial stage of the elixer realm.
• Michael felt heightened senses from the advancement of his elixer realm, as if his ears could discern even the faintest sound ...
• Then, a voice broke his reverie.
• "I'm in Room 666 on the sixth floor of the Good Times Hotel. Come over!"
• It was a stranger's voice. It sounded extremely familiar to Michael—it was the same man who had previously called him, urging him to divorce Sophia.
• Sophia was chatting with this man on her phone!
• Michael held his breath, attuned to the sounds outside.
• "Okay, don't keep me waiting too long!" the man's voice replied.
• Moments later, Michael heard Sophia rise and dress.
• Is Sophia really heading to the hotel to meet this man?