David Parker, though he claimed to be the boss of Field No. 3 in the C group, only bullied the little novice boys around him; when had he ever truly fought anyone with a blade? You should know, though he was a novice, he came from three generations of good people, which was why he was selected.

Looking back three generations, you couldn’t find anyone more ruthless than Henry Clark, let alone him.

As for the others, after that night, they were completely convinced; the little freckled boy still trembled whenever he saw Henry Clark.

After sitting around idly for a while, Henry Clark once again perked up and flipped through the “Qingyun Qi-Refining Manual.” But after a while, he shook his head and closed it. It was useless—he had already tried. According to the cultivation method described in the Qingyun Qi-Refining Manual, he couldn’t sense any so-called spiritual energy at all. After trying three times, Henry Clark concluded that it was all nonsense.

And it wasn’t just him; none of the people in Field No. 3 of the C group could sense the existence of spiritual energy. Even David Parker, who claimed to have sensed “qi,” was just boasting—Henry Clark had already forced the truth out of him.

Still, Henry Clark couldn’t bear to throw away this scripture. After all, according to David Parker and the others, out of ten thousand novices, there were still some who managed to cultivate the spiritual energy described in the book, and by doing so, became outer disciples of Qingyun Mountain.

Such people were rare, but every year there were one or two such rumors, so it probably wasn’t a lie.

“Maybe I’m just not cut out for cultivation…”

Henry Clark shook his head helplessly, thinking that the Dao valued talent, and that made sense—aptitude really was important.

Giving up on further studying the Qingyun Qi-Refining Manual, Henry Clark took out a thin booklet with a purple cover from his bundle. This little book was given to him by his Ninth Uncle, and it was also the cause of the disaster that befell Ghost Smoke Valley. On that very night, Edward Harris descended from the sky, standing atop an iron eagle, wielding a chilling flying sword, and slaughtered all three hundred bandits of Ghost Smoke Valley.

The only one who escaped was this little bandit himself.

Edward Harris always thought the tenth bandit leader who escaped was a burly man like the others—he probably never imagined it was just a ten-year-old child…

It was precisely because he was a child that, when everyone else decided to fight to the death, Ninth Uncle handed him this book, told him to keep it safe, and then threw him into a secret tunnel. Henry Clark didn’t hesitate at all—he ran for his life as fast as he could. He knew he was no match for that cold, stern man standing on the iron eagle, not even for the iron eagle itself, which could kill him with a single claw…

On the purple cover of the thin booklet were five ancient seal characters. Henry Clark had learned ancient script from his Ninth Uncle, so he recognized the five big characters: Yin-Yang Divine Demon Mirror.

However, when he opened it, the inside was completely blank. He held it up to the sunlight, but it was still the same.

He was sure this wasn’t a blank book—otherwise, Ghost Smoke Valley wouldn’t have suffered such a calamity.

“Could it be written with some kind of potion, like those treasure maps Second Uncle used to scam fat sheep?”

Henry Clark pondered for a moment, but it didn’t seem likely.

Those potions always had a time limit, but this book was clearly very old. The ancient traces couldn’t be faked.

Thinking this, Henry Clark placed the book on top of the Qingyun Qi-Refining Manual, which was spread across his knees. He looked up and sighed softly, feeling that he still had a long way to go, with almost no hope of revenge. But just then, as he lowered his head, he was startled to find that a faint line of text had appeared on the Yin-Yang Divine Demon Mirror, as if conjured from thin air.

“Qingyun Qi-Refining Manual, Qi Condensation Realm cultivation method, refines essence into qi, can achieve magical powers…”

“What the hell…”

Henry Clark suddenly sat up straight, staring blankly at the lines of text on the book.

At this moment, on the previously blank page, an introduction to the Qingyun Qi-Refining Manual had appeared. It wasn’t detailed, but in just a few words, it explained the purpose, principle, and even the shortcomings of this cultivation manual…

After staring for a while, Henry Clark lifted the Yin-Yang Divine Demon Mirror, and sure enough, the writing quickly disappeared.

He put it back down, letting it touch the Qingyun Qi-Refining Manual, and the writing appeared again.

Henry Clark grew excited, looked around, and after thinking for a moment, placed the half-eaten watermelon beside him on the book.

No reaction…

“Maybe it’s too ordinary?”

Henry Clark rummaged around, then suddenly remembered the snuff bottle he kept in his chest. According to his Fourth Uncle, who gave it to him, it was a real treasure—the smoke inside could knock out most people, and even take down a cow.

He placed the snuff bottle on the book, and after a while, faint writing appeared:

“Magical artifact, can store mist, not of any grade…”

Just these ten simple words, and after waiting a long time, nothing more appeared.

“So it really is a magical artifact—definitely a good thing. Fourth Uncle really is the most reliable of my nine uncles, even if he’s a bit of a weirdo…”

Henry Clark muttered, trying a few more things, but nothing else triggered a reaction from the book.

“Boss Clark, it’s really hot today—let’s get some wine to cool off!”

Not far away, David Parker walked over, wiping his hands, and called out from a distance.