He listened to a performance at his usual teahouse, then went to Huaiyang Restaurant for lunch at noon. As soon as David Brooks walked in, a waiter eagerly greeted him, bowing and nodding, “Young Master Brooks, you’re here. The private room upstairs, your usual spot.”

Chapter 006: Troubled by Talent (Part 2)

David Brooks nodded and casually tossed him a piece of silver. The private room by the window on the second floor had already become David Brooks’s exclusive seat. He sat down and tossed the folding fan he was playing with onto the table. “The usual, bring it up.”

“Right away, please wait.”

The waiter went downstairs to make arrangements. David Brooks and his two attendants leaned against the window, peeking at the young ladies and married women passing by on the street below, making lewd and crude comments.

“Mr. Thompson, let’s sit here.”

“Alright, please have a seat, everyone.”

A group of people arrived outside the private room and sat down not far away. Their conversation was clearly audible to David Brooks and his two companions.

“Brothers, there are only five days left until the entrance assessment. Is everyone confident?”

“We can’t compare to Mr. Thompson, what confidence could we have? But we’ve signed up for the county school and the three major sects, hoping to pass at least one by luck.”

“It’s a pity. If only we had the family background of that scoundrel David Brooks. I heard that the county school and the three major sects have already sent the introductory parts of their highest classics to David Brooks.”

“How unfair the world is!”

“That David Brooks is just relying on the shade of his ancestors. He’s nothing but a mediocre talent himself—no outstanding bloodline, unruly character. On his own, he couldn’t even pass the entrance assessment, yet now he’s being fought over by all these powerful factions as if he were a genius. It’s infuriating!”

“Alas, the rivalry between the academy and the sects is getting fiercer. As long as his father is James Brooks, even if he’s as dumb as a pig and a total good-for-nothing, there will still be people scrambling to take him in, just to boost their own strength.”

The people outside kept complaining. They had almost no hope of passing the assessment themselves, but someone like David Brooks, whose aptitude was no better than theirs, could be courted by the four great powers—of course, they were indignant.

William Brooks suddenly stood up, ready to go out and teach those loose-tongued fellows a lesson, but just then, footsteps approached and the group outside cheered, “Mr. Johnson is here, please join us!”

That Mr. Johnson said, “No need to pay too much attention to that ridiculous second-generation heir. Let’s just focus on ourselves. People like him are destined to become mere dust in history, fading away in silence. But all of us here have a chance to leave our names in history!”

“Well said!” His words immediately drew thunderous praise, greatly boosting the group’s morale.

But David Brooks was already pushing open the private room door with a dark face and walking out, his two lackeys loyally following behind, glaring fiercely at the people outside.

Among them, two stood out for their looks and bearing—these must be the “Mr. Thompson” and “Mr. Johnson” they’d mentioned.

His sudden appearance left the group stunned and silent. David Brooks swept them with a sinister glance, flung his sleeve, and strode downstairs. “Fools who don’t know their place!”

He stormed out of Huaiyang Restaurant in a rage. The waiter chased after him, asking what had happened, but David Brooks waved him off and left.

A little later, more than a dozen fierce bodyguards burst into Huaiyang Restaurant. The group upstairs was still eating and drinking, and naturally got a thorough beating.

Most of these servants were cultivators, so dealing with a bunch of youths who hadn’t even awakened was all too easy.

“Mr. Thompson” was furious, knocked to the ground and covered in spilled drinks, still shouting angrily, “Don’t bully the poor youth! When I succeed in my cultivation, I’ll trample you and that ridiculous wastrel underfoot!”

His answer was a big foot stomping his face into the floor, grinding it in hard.

But David Brooks wasn’t feeling much better. He’d bullied others plenty of times before—he’d always taken pride in it, not shame, because having power to rely on was something to be happy about.

But this time, he couldn’t feel happy: even a beating wouldn’t make these guys accept him. Unless he could truly prove his talent was superior to theirs.

Once home, he ordered William Brooks, “Go find a Heaven’s Gift Divine Stone for me.”

The Heaven’s Gift Divine Stone was a type of meteorite. The name sounded impressive, but it wasn’t very useful—its only purpose was to assess a cultivator’s aptitude.

There were plenty of these meteorites, and they weren’t expensive. The The Brooks Family had several spares. It was said that when the first one was bought by the The Brooks Family, his mother had been full of hope, wanting to test her son’s aptitude, and then...

And then she pretty much gave up hope. The strength and stubbornness of the imperial Ying bloodline was not something she could change.

Soon, William Brooks brought back a Heaven’s Gift Divine Stone. David Brooks sent the two of them out, locked himself in his room, then gripped the stone in his hand, closed his eyes, and focused all his attention on it.

In this state, the Heaven’s Gift Divine Stone would emit a beam of light, and from this light, one could judge the cultivator’s aptitude.

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet—the further along the spectrum, the better the aptitude. And within the same color, the brighter the light, the better the talent.