Brian Sutton smiled faintly and said, “Little William, you still haven’t remembered who that acquaintance is? It’s no wonder—you can only blame The Lord for spoiling him too much. Even I, the dignified Left Minister of the Empire, have only met him a few times. Forget it, Little William, just keep him in your heart.”

……

Life in memory began from the moment Gregory Clark picked Eric up in front of the academy. Eric often fell into turbulent dreams, as if all the life before being abandoned under the academy’s porch was tossed about on a great river.

At this moment, Eric sat atop the stone-built high wall of the lower courtyard, gazing at the Capricorn on the distant cliff.

The Capricorn was a common wild beast on the Yan Yun steppe, gentle in temperament, extremely swift, with interlaced blue-gray fur, long whiskers under its chin, and spiral-patterned horns of indigo blue, long and sharp, like a pair of swords resting on its brow. When pressed against something, the tips of the horns would emit a faint electric current, causing numbness.

Before approaching a Capricorn, Eric would usually condense his dan force into substance, laying down a qi armor. Capricorns on the steppe rarely interacted with people, but instinctively pressed their sharp horns forward, unleashing their numbing technique. Even when Eric grabbed the base of the horns, it was too late for the beast to escape.

The Capricorn’s horns and intact pelt could fetch a good price. Commoners were not allowed to own private property, so each time Gregory Clark would exchange them for precious books to offer to the academy.

But at this moment, Eric had no mood to lure the Capricorn that had been attracted by the scent of the Yingyan flowers.

Due to the presence of outsiders, the academy had tightened restrictions on the servants. Without permission, they were not allowed to leave the lower courtyard easily, and many chores in the main hall and side courtyards were now handled by the academy’s attendants.

Last night was the first time Eric saw Brian Sutton and William Harper; in the canyon, he had only heard their voices.

The moment Brian Sutton entered the house, Eric finally understood Gregory Clark’s repeated admonition: there is always a higher sky. What Brian Sutton exuded was not the aura of a martial artist, but a vaster, more unrestrained force.

Last year, in the cold autumn, on the first night the Yingyan flowers bloomed, Eric sat atop the crown of a Kunlun bramble tree, gazing at the stars. In a moment of distraction, he fell into a mysterious state. In his consciousness, the blood in his body flowed with a faint glow, subtly resonating with the starry sky above. When he awoke, there was a new power within him, different from the Qingluo dan force. At first, it was as fine as silk, almost imperceptible, but as the Yingyan flowers bloomed more fervently, he could feel this power more clearly.

As the flowering season ended, this mysterious power within him gradually faded away. Eric assumed something had gone wrong with his cultivation, and, fearing Gregory Clark’s scolding, kept his doubts to himself. After the flowers withered, he found that his Qingluo dan force had unknowingly become more refined. When he tried to use the Qingluo qi armor, he succeeded with ease, filling him with unexpected joy.

As the flowering season approached again, Eric once more sensed that power within him—subtle, yet undeniably present. Before he could study it or mention it to Gregory Clark, the arrival of outsiders like Brian Sutton, William Harper, and Charles Bennett at the academy distracted him.

Without the chance to sit atop the Kunlun bramble, Eric seemed unable to grasp that power.

But the moment Brian Sutton entered the house, Eric felt that vast, unrestrained force, and the similarity made Eric realize that Brian Sutton had a power flowing within him akin to his own.

The faint power within Eric, before this overwhelming presence, collapsed at a touch, like snow melting in hot soup, dissolving into the Qingluo dan force.

At that moment, Brian Sutton was shocked by how much Eric resembled a certain someone, and failed to notice what set Eric apart from ordinary people, nor did he see the hatred and anger in his eyes.

William Harper entered the room afterward, astonished that Eric could refine ordinary Qingluo dan force to such purity.

After Brian Sutton and William Harper left, Gregory Clark also departed, preoccupied. Eric hid in bed, closing his eyes, and the burning gaze of Brian Sutton would appear before him.

“You’re willing to live your whole life so lowly in the academy…”

Yes, that was what those eyes seemed to say.

Tossing and turning all night, unable to sleep, it was only at dawn that Eric realized his Qingluo dan force seemed much more refined, but he could no longer sense that mysterious power within.

A winding procession of bronze carriages, surrounded by many retainers—Brian Sutton, even as an exile on the steppe, still shone brilliantly, and beneath the splendid vanity was a power that overshadowed all.

Could I be the same kind of person as him?

That fleeting sense of similarity last night made ambition sprout in Eric’s heart, as lush as the tall green grass in the academy, and for the first time, he felt that being a wandering martial artist might not be the best choice.

Brian Sutton would not have said those words for no reason. As Eric gazed at the Capricorn on the distant cliff, his heart was stuffed with a tangled mess of dry grass, unable to find a moment’s calm or focus, and he longed for a chance to go to the front courtyard.

……

The leaves of the Yingyan flower filtered the mottled moonlight. On the bluestone slabs of the courtyard, it was as if a layer of clear water had been spread.

Eric gazed at the arched doorway, only a corner of the winding corridor visible. At the end of the corridor was Brian Sutton’s quarters. If he misunderstood his intentions and went there rashly, what would be the consequences?