Grant Carter gave a sly chuckle, stepped forward, and said at just the right moment, “Elder, if William only had an ordinary spiritual aptitude, I wouldn’t have dared to bring him to you.”

James Carter raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, “Oh? How is his aptitude? What level has he reached?”

Grant Carter hesitated for a moment and gave a wry smile. “I can’t judge, Elder. Please test him yourself.”

“What?” James Carter looked at him suspiciously, thinking to himself, This kid is usually quite reliable—why is he being so hesitant and wishy-washy today?

Grant Carter noticed the elder’s doubt and quickly explained, “What I mean is, William’s aptitude is something I’ve never seen or heard of before, so I don’t know how to categorize it.”

James Carter’s eyebrows shot up. If he’d been a bit annoyed at having his meditation disturbed before, now all that irritation had completely vanished.

“William, demonstrate the process of absorbing spiritual energy into your body for the elder once more,” Grant Carter instructed in a deep voice.

William Carter knew this was no time to hold anything back. This opportunity was so rare—if he couldn’t show his best side, he’d regret it forever.

Taking a deep breath, William Carter focused his mind on his brow center.

As if responding to his call, the small sphere at the center of the swirling energy in his brow began to move, releasing a mysterious and powerful force.

As this force began to flow, William Carter immediately noticed a difference—it seemed much stronger than before.

After a brief hesitation, William Carter didn’t unleash the sphere’s full power, but only released about half of it.

Even so, the commotion he caused was much greater than before.

Countless white specks of light gathered around him, then formed a stream of light that surged into his body.

The strange power condensed into a sphere seemed to have an immense attraction for the world’s spiritual energy. Even releasing just a little could draw in a huge amount of external energy.

As the stream of light entered his body, the spiritual energy currents in his brow became even more vast.

Although this was already the second time William Carter had absorbed spiritual energy, he still didn’t dare to be careless. After absorbing just a little, he immediately withdrew the sphere’s power.

Once the force was retracted, the spiritual energy that had gathered around him instantly dispersed.

“Hm.” James Carter asked in surprise, “Little one, how long have you been cultivating spiritual energy?”

William Carter shook his head blankly and said, “I’ve never cultivated any spiritual energy before.”

A sharp glint flashed in James Carter’s eyes, and he stared at William Carter as if trying to spot any sign of deception.

But William Carter had a clear conscience and met his gaze calmly.

After a moment, James Carter said in a deep voice, “William… Very well. I’ll perform the simplest incantation—just follow along.” He raised a hand and lightly pointed into the air.

Immediately, a faint trace of spiritual energy was released from his fingertip.

This spiritual energy wasn’t strong—in fact, it was rather weak, like a candle in the wind, ready to go out at any moment.

Yet, this wisp of energy stubbornly persisted at his fingertip, and as it appeared, it exerted a powerful attraction on the surrounding spiritual energy. Bit by bit, the world’s energy gathered, making the energy at James Carter’s fingertip grow stronger and stronger.

Finally, when the energy reached a certain threshold, it suddenly emitted a soft “whoosh.”

The spiritual energy at James Carter’s fingertip underwent a qualitative change, transforming into a ball of light the size of a fist.

“Haha.” James Carter chuckled, casually tossing the ball of light away.

“Boom…”

Although the ball of light wasn’t large, its power was not to be underestimated.

Like lightning, the ball of light smashed hard into a pillar. With a loud bang, the pillar was blown into countless fragments.

William Carter gasped in shock, realizing that although the little ball of light didn’t look impressive, its speed far surpassed his own punching speed, and its power was in no way inferior to a punch filled with true energy.

And all of this was caused by just that tiny wisp of spiritual energy released by James Carter.

“Uncle, what a marvelous technique,” Grant Carter praised with a thumbs-up. Still, in his heart, he was a bit unconvinced.

For James Carter, this technique was effortless and smooth, but for a youngster who had just come into contact with spiritual energy, asking him to perform such a feat seemed a bit too much.

James Carter looked at William Carter with a smile and said, “You give it a try.”

A trace of difficulty appeared on William Carter’s face. If he were to release all the power within the sphere, he could do it. But to release just such a tiny wisp of energy—that was truly pushing his limits.