James Bolton’s physical strength was higher than his opponent’s, but he still lacked experience, so for a moment he actually found it hard to fend off the attacks!

After taking several punches in a row, James Bolton gradually adapted to Captain Thompson’s assault. The more they fought, the more exhilarated James Bolton felt! It was as if every bone in his body was coming alive, crackling with energy.

Now it was Captain Thompson on the other side who was in trouble. He felt that James Bolton was like a monster—he’d landed several punches in a row, yet the guy seemed completely unfazed!

Although he’d been out of the military for over a decade, the habits he’d developed there remained. Not only had his skills not declined over the years, they’d actually improved quite a bit.

Sensing his stamina was dropping fast, Captain Thompson let out a loud shout, “Ha…” and launched several punches in quick succession at James Bolton’s face.

James Bolton was feeling more exhilarated than ever. Seeing Captain Thompson coming at him again, he didn’t back down, meeting the attacks head-on with his iron fists. After several direct clashes, both of them staggered back several steps.

James Bolton couldn’t help but think how formidable Captain Thompson was—if he hadn’t already mastered the basics of the iron fist, relying on physical strength alone, he probably wouldn’t have lasted ten moves!

Meanwhile, Captain Thompson just wanted to curse. The kid’s fists were as hard as steel, and judging by the look of satisfaction on his face, he probably wasn’t hurt at all! As for himself, he doubted he’d even be able to hold chopsticks tomorrow!

Though it sounds like a long story, the whole match between the two had lasted only three to five minutes. By the time Little James helped Henry Young over, the fight was already over! Henry Young, who hadn’t seen James Bolton’s miserable state, looked thoroughly depressed.

Olivia Summers, who had arrived a bit earlier, was also shocked by James Bolton! She knew he had some skills—after all, he’d broken Henry Young’s bone with a single punch—but Captain Thompson was the sanda champion of the entire South Province Armed Police!

Yet James Bolton had managed to fight Captain Thompson to a draw. It was simply unbelievable!!

Chapter 7: Gambling on Jade Again

“Officer Summers, see you next time! Don’t forget you owe me a meal!”

As night fell, James Bolton said goodbye to the still-stunned Olivia Summers and returned to the basement.

The fight with George Thompson today had taught James Bolton a lot! It seemed he still lacked experience in facing opponents.

For the next few days, James Bolton barely left the house except to eat! He kept practicing his iron fist technique, hoping to break through to the next level. That way, he could choose another internal skill to learn.

His efforts over the past few days hadn’t been in vain. Looking at his new stats on the attribute panel, James Bolton let out a long sigh of relief.

“James Bolton, stamina 15, spirit 9, strength 15”—this was the result of James Bolton’s days of tireless effort.

And he was on the verge of a breakthrough with the iron fist; the next moment could be the one!

“I’m finally about to break through. I even turned down several dinner invitations from a beautiful woman for this!” James Bolton felt like he could cry. These days, he’d even refused several invitations from Olivia Summers just to focus on his training.

Of course, James Bolton didn’t know that Olivia Summers had secretly cursed him countless times. For such a beautiful woman to invite someone to dinner and get turned down multiple times—she was so angry she took it out on the still-recovering Henry Young.

James Bolton decided to make another trip to Antique Street today. This time, he planned to look carefully for some rough jade stones with higher energy values, so he wouldn’t have to keep raising suspicion every time.

Practicing martial arts was just too expensive. In the past few days, James Bolton had spent nearly two thousand yuan just on food. Even though he still had over a hundred thousand in savings, his huge appetite was hard to sustain!

“It’s true—scholars are poor, but martial artists are rich. I’ve eaten up three months’ salary in no time!” James Bolton thought bitterly.

Now, making money was James Bolton’s top priority. As for martial arts, since his iron fist hadn’t reached the next level yet, he wasn’t in a rush.

He stepped outside, looked up at the blue sky, and felt a wave of relaxation. Casually hailing a cab, he headed for Antique Street.

It was the weekend, so Antique Street was especially crowded. Even with James Bolton’s physique, he was drenched in sweat by the time he squeezed into the jade gambling area. There were more people than usual today—almost every shop had a crowd gathered at the entrance!

James Bolton activated his scanning system and started checking the shops one by one. As his spirit value increased, so did his scanning range. Now, James Bolton could scan nearly ten meters in every direction.

After checking several shops in a row, James Bolton was a bit disappointed. It wasn’t that there weren’t any high-energy rough stones, but the prices set by the shop owners were enough to make anyone’s heart race!

Just now, James Bolton had scanned a rough stone with an energy value of over five thousand, but the owner wanted 380,000 yuan for it, with no intention of bargaining.

Thinking back to last time, when he’d made just over a hundred thousand and felt so smug, James Bolton couldn’t help but feel speechless!

A hundred thousand wasn’t even enough to buy a single decent rough stone! Just as James Bolton was about to lose hope, a string of numbers flashed before his eyes, and he perked up!

“Energy value: 11,235.” James Bolton looked excitedly at a pale rough stone sitting at the entrance of a shop! Finally, today’s efforts hadn’t been in vain. Judging by where it was placed, the owner clearly didn’t think much of it.

“Boss, how much are these rough stones?” James Bolton casually pointed to the one with an energy value over ten thousand.

“Haha, you’ve got a good eye, young man! These rough stones were all brought straight from Myanmar—they’re all old mine material!” The shop owner looked at James Bolton like he was a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.