Everyone who has mastered the Inscription Needle has had similar experiences, so creating a break was not difficult for her. Before long, she once again completed this spirit pattern design, but the lines of the pattern were intermittent, and the quality was, as one could imagine, quite poor.

After deliberately making the breaks, the spirit patterns on the weapon looked extremely unsightly, far from comparable to those on Chad Brooks’s longsword.

Her beautiful brows furrowed slightly as she looked helplessly at the weapon in her hand, secretly wondering to herself, how exactly did that little monster manage to do it?

Shaking her head, she composed herself, focusing all her attention on a single point.

A thread of light shot out once more from the short needle. She carefully guided the light to approach a certain break on the weapon.

Following the technique she herself had taught, the thread of light carefully wandered around both ends of the break.

However, after just a moment, the white light at the needle tip trembled slightly, then flickered uncertainly, leaving a rather large mark on one side of the break.

Yvonne Sullivan stared blankly at this mark, feeling truly disheartened.

Although she had long known in her heart that she definitely couldn’t achieve this, she was never willing to give up before actually trying.

Pressing her lips tightly together, she once again summoned the thread of light and swept it toward another break.

Trembling, failing... continuing, trembling, failing... continuing.

This cycle repeated—no one knew how long it lasted—until Yvonne Sullivan suddenly stopped, because she realized that the abundant true energy within her was now almost completely depleted.

She stood there in a daze for a while, looking at the two pieces of scrap on the ground, feeling inexplicably sad, almost wanting to burst into tears.

Her uncle had once said that among her peers, her talent was absolutely second to none. Even within the prestigious family from her father’s side, no one at her age had achieved what she had.

All along, although her true strength was unknown to others, she had always been proud and self-appreciative, never considering her peers as equals.

But today’s events had taught her a lesson.

There is always someone better, and always a higher sky!

“Yuqi, what are you doing?” A middle-aged man walked slowly into the armory. Seeing the weapons scattered all over the floor, he frowned slightly and asked.

Yvonne Sullivan quickly stood up and said, “Uncle, I’m just playing.”

For some reason, she didn’t tell her uncle about meeting Chad Brooks. Perhaps it was because she didn’t want anyone to know that such a monstrous peer existed nearby—at least, that’s what she told herself.

The middle-aged man was none other than the owner of this manor, William Bolton, who was also a renowned master in the area.

He reached down and picked up a weapon from the ground, swept his true energy over it, and couldn’t help but frown.

Yvonne Sullivan stuck out her pink little tongue and said, “Uncle, I was just trying out the technique you taught me.”

William Bolton shook his head helplessly and said, “Yuqi, I’ve told you many times, the basics—only the basics—are the most important. Right now, you’re just a spirit practitioner, still far from the level where you can smooth out the breaks in spirit patterns. Learning this technique now won’t help you; in fact, it could even be harmful, like pulling up seedlings to help them grow.”

Yvonne Sullivan’s pretty face changed slightly. She lowered her head and softly replied.

William Bolton said in a deep voice, “You’ve played enough for today. Go back and rest well. In the future, focus more on your basic training and don’t aim too high.” He paused, then added, “Remember, a tower built without a foundation, no matter how beautiful, is nothing but an illusion.”

“Yes.” Yvonne Sullivan nodded, but after hesitating for a moment, she still couldn’t help but ask, “Uncle, do you think it’s possible for someone at the first level of true energy to inscribe spirit patterns?”

“The first level of true energy?” William Bolton couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s absolutely impossible. At the first level, controlling true energy is like a child wielding a sledgehammer—how could they possibly inscribe spirit patterns?”

Yvonne Sullivan blinked her beautiful big eyes and continued, “So, it’s also impossible for someone at the first level of true energy to master the technique of smoothing out breaks in spirit patterns?”

“Nonsense,” William Bolton said irritably. “At the first level of true energy, you can’t even inscribe spirit patterns, so how could you possibly master that technique? Yuqi, what have you been up to these past few days, acting all mysterious?”

“Ah, nothing.” Yvonne Sullivan quickly shook her head in denial.

William Bolton didn’t suspect anything and said, “Tomorrow, your uncle is going to visit Sanxia Village. Do you want to come along?”

“Sanxia Village?” A strange look flashed in Yvonne Sullivan’s eyes. “Why are you going there?”

“David Brooks from Sanxia Village is a promising craftsman. He recently forged a fine sword and inscribed spirit patterns on it. He wants me to appraise it, and if it’s good enough, I’ll infuse it with spirit energy.” William Bolton explained casually.

Yvonne Sullivan nodded slowly, then turned and left the armory, entering her own room.

But as she walked, she muttered softly, “David Brooks, Chad Brooks, what’s their relationship, I wonder?”

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