Especially Grace Carter and Brian Foster, they were so excited that words could hardly describe it. “Hmph, those damned guys actually dared to look down on us. Now they know how formidable we are!”

With a little wrinkle of her nose, Grace Carter said to Henry Clark, “But I really didn’t expect it, Fifth Senior Brother, your swordsmanship is so impressive. With such skill, why don’t you ever give me any pointers?”

There was a hint of complaint in her tone.

Henry Clark laughed, “That’s not my fault. My swordsmanship was achieved through diligent practice. You’re so lazy—how could you possibly reach my level?”

Standing to the side, Brian Foster shuddered violently when he heard this. If most people’s attention weren’t still focused here, he would have burst out laughing.

Grace Carter’s expression was also quite odd. She’d seen shameless people before, but never anyone this shameless. If you, Henry Clark, are diligent, then pigs must be able to climb trees.

She reached out and gave a hard pinch to the fat at Henry Clark’s waist, then snorted coldly, turned her head away, and ignored him completely.

Henry Clark gave a wry smile and returned to his original spot.

But this time, standing here felt different from before.

The looks from the surrounding senior brothers now carried a trace of recognition—something that hadn’t been there before. In a flash, Henry Clark vaguely understood why.

They were all core inner disciples. No matter their relationships, their status was about the same. Usually, Henry Clark only represented himself, but today, in this setting, Henry Clark had been challenged. He now represented the highest-ranking group among the third generation of the Luofu Sect. If he lost, these people would lose face as well. But now that he had won so beautifully, it also meant that the strength of these core inner disciples, his fellow brothers, couldn’t be underestimated. At the very least, from now on, this group would be held in higher regard.

This was the circle.

Their own little circle, just like the previous generation, which also had a dozen or so uncles and elders, divided into several small circles. The strongest was the Luofu Five Swords, led by Elder Logan.

Among these ten people, too.

Roughly divided into three groups: one was David Bennett alone, another was six senior brothers led by Edward Reed, and the last was Henry Clark, Grace Carter, and Brian Foster.

But outside these three circles, there was another secret little circle: David Bennett, George Reed, and Samuel Grant. George Reed and Samuel Grant were clearly stronger than the others, so David Bennett was closer to them. As for Henry Clark, before, they were polite and joked with him because Henry Clark was Mark’s disciple, with the same seniority and status. That politeness and camaraderie were purely out of courtesy. But now, they fully acknowledged Henry Clark’s strength and admitted that he was qualified to enter this originally three-person circle, becoming one of the strongest among the ten disciples.

This was a completely different feeling from before—a circle based purely on strength.

So, although Henry Clark felt good now, he didn’t feel relaxed.

It was a nice feeling, but to keep it, he had to maintain his strength, which put pressure on him. He wasn’t a diligent person, and he knew very well that cultivation depended most on hard work, so the pressure was great.

The sect-opening ceremony ended not long after he stepped down.

This internal challenge was the last event, and after him, there were few challengers, so soon Elder Logan announced the end.

And Henry Clark returned to his usual life. The only difference was that, from then on, except for Grace Carter, no one ever called him the Pig of Luofu in public or private again.

……

……

Time flowed like water, passing swiftly without notice.

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since the last sect-opening ceremony.

In the past half year, aside from the more pleasant looks others gave him, everything else remained the same.

But among the third generation of the Luofu Sect, the number of core inner disciples had increased from ten to twenty-six.

Besides the Luofu Five Swords, the other uncles and elders also began to take disciples. This time, the new disciples recruited at the sect-opening ceremony had solid foundations and good aptitude, so the number of core inner disciples soared.

But this had no effect on Henry Clark. His master still hadn’t returned, and he himself didn’t want to be managed by others, so nothing surprising or delightful happened.

Standing in chest-deep creek water, Henry Clark held a steel longsword and practiced the Bagua Nine Palaces Sword from start to finish, each move and stance precise.

This time, there was no sense of sluggishness at all. Even when some moves required him to draw the sword from underwater, the speed of his sword and hand in the water was just as steady and fast as in the air.

This creek was three hundred and eighty li from Qingsongping, already at the very edge of the deepest part of Luofu.