“If one were to encounter a martial cultivator who has attained sainthood, it would still be somewhat possible. However, such masters have already faded from the martial world, secluding themselves in meditation in pursuit of ascension, and would hardly concern themselves with these mundane affairs.”

“Then, Father, why have you summoned me today?” Henry Thompson suddenly looked up, meeting Samuel Thompson’s gaze directly, and asked calmly.

Samuel Thompson avoided Henry Thompson’s eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then said, “Father has secretly established a Tianshui Manor on Tianshui Island. There are more than ten second-rate experts and three first-rate experts guarding the perimeter, as well as ten maids, three stewards, and three child brides... Little Henry, from now on, you will stay there. During the holidays, Father will bring your mother to visit you.”

“I understand Father’s intentions,” Henry Thompson replied calmly, though he felt an inexplicable pain in his heart.

Henry Thompson understood that perhaps Samuel Thompson had no other choice, but is fame and fortune truly everything in the martial world?!

From birth until now, outsiders had no idea of the existence of the third young master of the Li family. In the martial world, the Li family only had Edward Thompson, William Thompson, Grace Thompson, and Lily Thompson—there was no Henry Thompson, nor was there any mention of a third young master.

“Little Henry, do not blame your father. Every ten years, the martial families hold a grand tournament. Every child of these families, regardless of their cultivation, must participate. At that time, in order to win the carefully prepared rewards and to elevate the family’s status in the martial world, the slaughter is absolutely brutal. Being born into a martial family, and as a man, you cannot stay uninvolved. Little Henry, you cannot practice martial arts—if you go up there, it would be certain death. Father... Father is also helpless...

Since you like reading, Father has also copied all the martial arts manuals for you. You can read them when you have nothing else to do... Child, this is all that Father can do for you...”

When Samuel Thompson spoke these words, his voice trembled, and he seemed to be immersed in a deep sorrow, as if he was bearing an immense, invisible pressure. His whole body appeared somewhat hunched.

A sudden pain welled up in Henry Thompson’s heart, and all the resentment he had felt before vanished. In this moment, all he felt was defiance! An intense, unyielding defiance!

His thin body stood beneath the dim eaves, and in that instant, a sense of pride, indifference, and resolute determination surged from deep within!

Suddenly, Henry Thompson turned around, knelt before Samuel Thompson, and said, “For Father’s kindness in raising me, I have no way to repay you. One day, I will become a peerless master admired by all, and I will no longer be a burden to the family!”

With that, Henry Thompson knocked his head on the ground three times with a resounding “thud, thud, thud!”

The forceful collision of his forehead with the ground left Henry Thompson’s mind reeling, and soon, a purplish-red bruise appeared on his forehead.

Chapter 002: Thirteen Volumes of the Sword Soul

It had been a month since arriving at Tianshui Manor.

For this entire month, Henry Thompson had shut himself away in the library. Except for meals, he left everything else to Alice Thompson.

Focusing his mind, holding his breath, and guarding his dantian, after a month of arduous meditation, at this moment, a faint stream of energy finally appeared in Henry Thompson’s dantian—a weak, barely perceptible current!

Fixating his mind on this wisp of energy, Henry Thompson felt an indescribable excitement!

Though thrilled and elated, Henry Thompson still maintained control, guiding the faint current through his body. If it could not circulate through the major meridians, he would guide it through the minor ones; when encountering blockages, he would redirect it!

After countless attempts, the current finally made a complete circuit!

Just as Henry Thompson began to rejoice, the returning current failed to gather in his dantian and dissipated once again!

Henry Thompson was stunned, and his heart instantly turned cold with despair!

His dantian could not gather energy! His meridians were completely blocked!

In that instant, all hope was shattered once more!

Henry Thompson sat dumbly in the center of the library, staring at the ancient, yellowed tomes before him, feeling as if life itself was but a dream!

“Should I just give up like this? No! I will not give up! I am only eight years old. One failure means a hundred more; a hundred failures means a thousand more. Even if I try until death, I will not give up!” Suddenly, Henry Thompson seemed to have a fierce urge to fight against fate! Having already died once, Henry Thompson cherished this life all the more. So, though he was in the depths of despair, he still refused to give up!

Looking at a nameless, yellowed ancient book before him, Henry Thompson calmed himself and quietly opened the precious tome.

Having read many books, Henry Thompson was well-versed in martial arts and medical theory, but in these tattered, yellowed volumes, he once again encountered sentences that defied grammar and logic.

The characters were not archaic or obscure—Henry Thompson recognized every one of them—but strung together, they made no sense, the sentences were incoherent, and the text was extremely difficult to read.

Henry Thompson had already read several such books, with thousands of incomprehensible sentences, and to this day, he had not understood a single one. Originally, Henry Thompson would not have cared about these strange and obscure things, but at this moment, driven by utter despair, he suddenly became interested and began to carefully peruse the tattered volume.