In terms of innate purple qi cultivation, the ten disciples varied greatly in their levels, but the main reason for the disparity was not aptitude, but rather the time they had entered the sect. The eldest senior brother, David Bennett, had been a disciple for over thirty years. His cultivation of innate purple qi had already reached the seventh level; flying on a sword and soaring straight up into the azure sky was nothing out of the ordinary for him. Not long after his training journey five years ago, he made a name for himself in the cultivation world, and among his peers, he was considered top-tier. So, although Luo Fu Sect now had ten core inner disciples, none of the others ever regarded him as a peer, and naturally, he disdained being grouped with this bunch of youngsters. Moreover, since he left the mountain five years ago, his relationship with everyone else had grown somewhat distant. Among the remaining nine disciples, the one publicly acknowledged as the strongest was the second disciple of Master Lingjia, Edward Reed. He entered the sect twelve years ago, and his innate purple qi cultivation had already reached the third level. He was also highly proficient in the sect’s sword techniques, wielding them with great skill. Beneath David Bennett, it was him. Next was the third-ranked Samuel Grant, whose innate purple qi, like that of Henry Clark now, had broken through the Foot-Shaoyin Kidney Meridian, and his second level had reached the stage of great perfection, lacking only a bit of refinement. In swordsmanship, he was only slightly inferior to George Reed.

As for the others, due to their later entry into the sect, most of their abilities were similar to that of Henry Clark before. In terms of innate purple qi, only two had not reached the second level. One was Grace Carter, who often ate barbecue with Henry Clark. She was a girl, innately weaker, and younger, so her cultivation of innate purple qi was still lacking. The other was John Brooks. The case of John Brooks was somewhat special; because of his unique aptitude, he did not cultivate innate purple qi, but another technique, said to be as marvelous as innate purple qi. However, since he had not been cultivating for long, his strength was also somewhat inferior.

There was one more person who had to be mentioned: Brian Foster.

Brian Foster was a swordsmanship prodigy. Naturally, that was why Master Lingjia took him as his last disciple. His innate purple qi cultivation had just stepped into the second level, but his swordsmanship was already comparable to Samuel Grant. Compared to Henry Clark before today, purely in terms of swordsmanship, he would have had to admit defeat. But now, things might be different.

Henry Clark collapsed and remained unconscious for three whole days and nights. When he finally woke up again, he looked around and realized he already stank.

At this point, he couldn’t figure out how long he had been lying there. Anyway, when he woke up, his stomach was rumbling with hunger—he had never been this hungry in his life.

He could only blame himself. All along, he had lived in that separate little hut. Other than his master, no one really looked after him. Now that his master was gone, he was left alone. The senior and junior brothers who usually got along with him were all busy training hard for the sect-opening ceremony. Even Grace Carter and Brian Foster, who were closest to him, were tied up by their masters for training—how could they have time to come and joke around with him?

Climbing up from the ground, his whole body felt as if it had fallen apart. Maybe it had rained after he fainted, leaving him covered in mud and reeking. He couldn’t even bother to look for food; he dove straight into the small pond, took a good bath, washed his clothes in the pond, used his innate purple qi to dry them, put them back on, hunted two rabbits to fill his stomach, and then prepared to head to the sect gate. After all, he didn’t know how long he had been unconscious or if he had missed anything important.

But just as he was about to leave, a sudden flash of inspiration struck his mind.

It was just that this kid had been lucky lately, with high comprehension—or perhaps it was fate. Most likely, the heavens had overslept these past two days, allowing Henry Clark’s mind to open up. He recalled the feeling he had in the water just now.

Normally, he wouldn’t have cared. Since childhood, he’d always felt that way in water—there was resistance, but it was natural. But now, before he fainted, Henry Clark had been practicing swordsmanship. Even after three days of unconsciousness, the lingering sensation of sword moves was still in his mind; he was still in a state of practicing and comprehending swordsmanship. So, whatever he encountered, he would unconsciously relate it to swordsmanship. Now, his thought was: what if I could practice sword techniques in the water as smoothly as on land?

With the idea in mind, of course he wanted to try. The result was a mess—at the bottom of the pond, let alone wielding a sword, even making a move with a pine branch was extremely difficult.

“Puh!” His head popped up from the water. He swam to the shore and spat out a mouthful of water. “Whew, I seem to be too impatient. Master said, whatever you do, you must proceed step by step!”

Climbing out of the pond, Henry Clark didn’t even bother to use purple qi to dry his once again soaked clothes. He started thinking to himself, “Then, I’ll start with something simple!”

……

On the tenth day of the ninth month, the sky suddenly cleared.

Not a cloud in the sky for thousands of miles.