After finishing speaking, he locked eyes with Adam Carter, their gazes sharp as blades, neither yielding an inch. In the end, it was Adam Carter who gave in first, helplessly looking away. Frank Quinn then sighed, “Fine, I know you’ll secretly use your own share of the money to help out later. Who doesn’t know that you, Adam Carter, are ruthless to outsiders but always care deeply for your own brothers? And you can’t bear to see widows and orphans suffer. I’ll arrange a job for her, so she’ll have no worries about food and clothing in the future. Are you satisfied now?”

Adam Carter chuckled softly. It was precisely because Frank Quinn was loyal, fair in his actions, and possessed a meticulousness and adaptability that others lacked, that he acknowledged this guy as the leader of their brothers.

“That’s great! I can’t thank you enough!”

“We’re brothers—what’s with all the gratitude? But what I’m most curious about now is your boxing skills. When did you reach such a level? I saw Shi Hu’s corpse. All his bones were shattered inch by inch, and he’s no Shi Bao! You, clearly not yet at the Qi Refining stage, and with those gloves, it shouldn’t be possible. Could it be that all twelve forms of the Dragon-Subduing Strike have reached the Dragon Roar level? But that’s impossible—that’s the true Golden Armor Profound Body technique!”

“It’s not Dragon Roar, but Dragon Roar and Tiger Howl—”

Frank Quinn’s face instantly froze. Dragon Roar and Tiger Howl? Does that mean Adam Carter has merged dragon and tiger, reaching the first heaven of Subduing Dragon and Tiger, a level that can rival Qi Refining cultivators?

Adam Carter laughed ‘hehe’. These guys had already shown their doubts on their faces last night. The fact that they managed to hold back until now to ask was already impressive self-control.

“If I said I’ve been hiding my strength all along, would you believe me?”

“No way! If you’d been hiding your strength, you wouldn’t have almost lost your manhood in that fight a month ago.”

Adam Carter blushed, a bit embarrassed and annoyed. That fight was indeed dangerous—his lower abdomen had been slashed open by a broadsword, leaving a long bloody gash. But it had nothing to do with his manhood.

He snorted to show his displeasure and continued to ramble, “Recently, I got a sword. Once I unite with the sword, with the help of the sword spirit, even ordinary Qi Refining cultivators are no match for me.”

“Is it that one?”

Frank Quinn’s gaze fell behind Adam Carter. He knew it was a decayed sword, newly fitted with a scabbard, but the broken half-hilt still looked rather ugly.

With a snort, Frank Quinn looked at Adam Carter as if he were an idiot.

“Wudao, I think you’ve read too many tales of gods and monsters. Sword spirit? Stop fooling people!”

Adam Carter was helpless—he knew Frank Quinn wouldn’t believe him, so he changed his story: “I’ve been practicing martial arts outside the city these days, and suddenly had an epiphany. Yesterday’s battle was like walking on eggshells, and at the brink of life and death, I somehow grasped a bit of the true meaning of Dragon Roar and Tiger Howl. If you asked me to do it again today, I definitely couldn’t.”

“An outburst of potential? An epiphany? That’s not so strange, then. Shi Hu really was doomed. What rotten luck—”

Frank Quinn couldn’t help but laugh, his expression showing he believed it now. Then he suddenly stopped in his tracks, standing still.

While they were talking, the two had already arrived at the gate of a large mansion. The outer wall alone took up a full third of Yuhuan Street. Hanging above the main gate was a plaque with the four characters ‘离尘学馆’.

Legend had it that the calligraphy was done by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the characters as powerful as iron and silver hooks, exuding a majestic aura.

This was one of the eight hundred academies under the jurisdiction of the Lichen Sect. Even though it ranked at the bottom, it still looked quite impressive. As for what it was like inside, everyone in Yue City knew.

Frank Quinn was not a disciple of the Lichen Academy and could only stop here. But he casually tossed over two valuable brocade pouches, one large and one small.

As soon as Adam Carter caught them, he knew they contained some pill bottles and silver notes—light and easy to carry.

“These are things we took from Shi Hu and his gang’s lair yesterday with a few brothers. We also found the land deeds and house deeds. But those four must have had private stashes—those are probably lost for good.”

As Frank Quinn spoke, his expression grew serious again: “I’ll try to recruit more brothers in the next few days. As for the other matter, I’ll leave it to you. Everything we have is now in your hands.”

Adam Carter nodded slightly. These two brocade pouches—one was for him, the other probably for someone else.

But he didn’t refuse at all, just waved his hand casually and walked through the academy’s main gate.

Behind him, Frank Quinn suddenly called out, “Speaking of which, we brothers should have a name for our group. How about calling it Sword Robe Hall? Of the dozen or so of us, except for you and me, most use swords—”

Adam Carter couldn’t be bothered to reply and walked straight through the gate. He had no interest in this; as long as it wasn’t called Cat Hall or Dog Hall, he didn’t care.

The Lichen Academy covered a vast area, built a hundred years ago when the city was founded. The first headmaster, relying on the Lichen Sect’s name, claimed six hundred mu of land in the city center, with seven courtyards in succession and two martial practice fields each a hundred mu in size—truly grand in scale. It made all the other academies in the city pale in comparison.

But by now, due to lack of funds for repairs, most of the courtyards had fallen into disrepair, with only the surface appearance maintained.

As Adam Carter entered, he saw two people standing in horse stance at the gate of the courtyard, both arms raised.

When they saw him arrive, their eyes lit up and they started winking at him.