This Andrew Jackson was a companion who came to the Purple Mansion together with William Carter. He was quite lucky—his turn to serve in bed was right after William Carter. After hearing what William Carter said, the third young lady hesitated for a long time and then stopped looking for more people to serve her, so Andrew Jackson narrowly survived and became a menial servant in the Purple Mansion. From Lillian Carter, he learned that William Carter had changed drastically over the past month and a half; his once ordinary appearance had actually become somewhat handsome, which immediately set his mind in motion.

“Mr. Carter, I beg you, I’ll kowtow to you. For the sake of us both coming from Prison Island, please help me.” Seeing the determination in William Carter’s eyes, Andrew Jackson grew anxious, dropped to his knees with a thud, and pleaded.

William Carter’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter, his gaze gradually turning icy. He said in a low voice, “Disappear from my sight immediately.”

When Andrew Jackson met William Carter’s gaze, he couldn’t help but shudder inside. Stammering, he quickly got up, hesitated for a moment, and then hurriedly left. However, just before leaving, a flash of resentment crossed his eyes.

Seeing Andrew Jackson leave, a cold glint flashed in William Carter’s eyes. He had noticed the other’s final expression. This Andrew Jackson had been pestering him for days, all because he’d noticed the great change in his appearance and temperament and wanted to learn the method.

As for the other’s motive, William Carter had already learned from Lillian Carter: among the male slaves in the noble households of the Springwater Empire, if one had a good-looking appearance and served their master well, they would receive better treatment.

Andrew Jackson’s looks were quite ordinary, so in order to survive better, he naturally wouldn’t give up any chance to increase his charm.

Unfortunately, his own transformation was due to taking that mysterious pill, so he really couldn’t help. Thinking of this, William Carter was suddenly startled—his drastic change in temperament might attract the attention of those with ulterior motives, especially that long-haired woman he’d fought with that night.

But then William Carter dismissed the thought. First, he’d been masked that night and only fought the other for a few seconds, plus the rainy night had poor visibility, so the chance of being recognized was slim.

Second, the internal Ascension Technique itself had the ability to expel impurities from the body. Although his change was a bit more dramatic, he should be able to explain it with this.

Even so, he would have to be extremely cautious in the future.

Putting these thoughts aside, William Carter resumed his unfinished cultivation. The third diagram of the internal Ascension Technique was almost complete. According to the manual, after completing the third diagram, there was a chance to gain an ability called “Opening the Spirit.” Whether or not one could obtain it depended on the practitioner’s talent.

William Carter was very interested in this ability, because the manual explained it clearly: so-called “Opening the Spirit” meant greatly enhancing the body’s perception.

William Carter knew well the benefits of heightened perception. As he had cultivated the Ascension Technique over these days, his perception had increased as well. Whether it was detecting the arrival of the Springwater warship before fighting the long-haired woman, or pulling Lillian Carter aside to dodge the spear when they left the tool shop, all of it was closely tied to perception.

Even more obvious was that whenever anyone came within ten meters of William Carter’s courtyard, he would immediately sense it. With so many benefits, William Carter was very much looking forward to gaining this “Opening the Spirit” ability that could greatly enhance perception.

William Carter even had a feeling that the increase in perception would be the key to breaking through his current limit of controlling the metal sphere at 22 meters.

Now, after these days of practice, he could barely manage to keep the metal sphere at a height of 22 meters four or five times out of ten, but this clearly didn’t meet William Carter’s standards.

He had to be able to control it perfectly at 22 meters every time, so that he would have the ability to break through 22 meters and lower it to 21 meters.

The lower the height, the greater the difficulty of control.

All of this depended on whether, after mastering the third diagram tonight, he could obtain “Opening the Spirit.”

To speed things up, William Carter temporarily gave up physical training and metal sphere control, focusing solely on cultivating the internal Ascension Technique.

Chapter 9: The Supreme Who Saved Me

The movements of the third diagram were even stranger than the previous two. This movement couldn’t be done sitting down; it could only be performed while standing.

He had to use the tip of one big toe to support his entire body, with the other leg bent tightly against his abdomen. In addition, both hands had to hug his body, one in front and one behind. The hardest part of this bizarre posture was maintaining balance—any carelessness would cause him to fall and lose all progress.

William Carter had to try for a long time before he gradually found the right feeling. He had to focus all his attention on controlling his balance, which meant mastering every breath and every muscle tremor.

This third diagram was also the slowest for him to cultivate; it took him more than half a month just to persist for 58 minutes.

He practiced over and over again, until midnight, when William Carter finally managed to hold out for 60 minutes!

But to his surprise, based on his experience with the previous two diagrams, he should have felt a strong sensation as soon as he reached 60 minutes. Yet this time, even though he had reached 60 minutes, he felt nothing at all.

At 62 minutes, William Carter reached his limit. He withdrew from the posture and moved his body, racking his brains.