Grace Howard possesses exceptional talent in cultivation. Many years ago, she had already awakened her bloodline, becoming a Battle Blood Warrior with the Thunderbolt Golden Eagle bloodline. She has reached the fifth level of Battle Blood, making her powerful and full of potential. The academy leadership holds her in high regard, and she is a key student under special training. Moreover, Grace Howard is extremely beautiful, one of the three most stunning girls in the entire Jinyun Academy.

With a good family background, high talent, great strength, and beauty, generally speaking, girls like her tend to be somewhat proud and aloof. However, Grace Howard shows none of the airs of a spoiled young lady. On the contrary, she is kind and friendly to others, enjoys a stellar reputation in the academy, and is the ideal partner in the hearts of many male students.

Samuel White's family is also quite influential. The Bai family of Zilan City is well-known to all, and Samuel White himself is a very proud person. He ranks seventh on the academy's Bloodline Warrior list and excels in every aspect. Yet even he feels a bit insecure when faced with such an almost perfect girl.

Brian Carter?

Why?

Why does he deserve such special treatment from Grace Howard?

Not only special treatment—rumor has it that Grace Howard once confided to her closest friend that she likes Brian Carter!

Why?

Samuel White looked at Brian Carter, a hint of hostility appearing in his eyes. However, as a scion of a noble family, he was adept at hiding his emotions, especially in front of Grace Howard. Showing open hostility toward Brian Carter would surely displease Grace Howard.

Samuel White did not display any overt hostility, but neither did he pretend to be friendly and strike up a conversation with Brian Carter. He simply stood by, smiling and listening to the two talk, maintaining the appearance of a well-mannered gentleman.

"Mm, then you have to work hard, strive to get into the top three, win the Blood Spirit Fruit, and complete your bloodline awakening."

Grace Howard seemed completely unconcerned about Brian Carter's sealed meridians, and enthusiastically cheered him on: "Oh right, Brian Carter, the end of this month is my eighteenth birthday. You must come then, okay? I'll send someone to pick you up."

Brian Carter hesitated slightly. Seeing the anticipation in Grace Howard's eyes, he could only nod helplessly and say, "No need to pick me up. Just tell me the time and place, and I'll come by myself."

Grace Howard leaned in a little closer, lowered her voice, and said softly, "You must come, okay? Otherwise, I'll be really sad and disappointed. I hope you'll be by my side at my coming-of-age birthday party."

Brian Carter rubbed his nose and smiled, "Mm, I'll definitely come. Will Edward Clark be there?"

Grace Howard nodded and smiled gently, "I didn't plan to invite other students from the academy, but since he's your best friend, I invited him too. You can come together. And you have to be my dance partner, my only dance partner."

Brian Carter gave a wry smile, "If that's the case, I think I'll become the public enemy of all the guys."

Grace Howard beamed, wrinkling her nose playfully, which made her look even more charming. "I don't care. I know you won't be afraid at all, just like when you faced that pack of wolves... You saved my life back then, so of course you have to keep protecting me. You're not allowed to run away!"

Faced with Grace Howard's candid words, Brian Carter could only sigh inwardly.

How could Brian Carter not understand Grace Howard's feelings for him?

But in the past, Brian Carter had always tried to avoid her, because the gap between them was simply too great. Besides, there were still many mysteries in Brian Carter's heart—about his father's origins, about his mother whose memory had faded to a mere shadow, about his own sealed meridians...

But now, a brand new path had appeared before Brian Carter.

Perhaps, if he followed this miraculous road, where would it ultimately lead?

Thinking of Uncle Ryan's disdainful expression when he mentioned the seal on his body, supposedly left by a super-powerful being, Brian Carter's heart surged with anticipation and a long-dormant sense of heroism.

The incident with the pack of wolves that Grace Howard mentioned—if she hadn't brought it up, Brian Carter had almost forgotten about it.

At that time, Brian Carter was only ten years old. He and his father lived in a small town, with wild forests just outside. Although there were no extremely powerful magical beasts there, there were still plenty of fierce animals.

Lions, tigers, leopards, and so on—these were all terrifying to the ordinary townsfolk. Brian Carter's father had used a special method to soak him in medicinal baths from a young age to strengthen his body, and he also practiced martial arts, so he wasn't particularly afraid of these beasts. But after all, he was still young, and encountering them was still very dangerous.

When he met Grace Howard, Brian Carter was out in the wild gathering medicinal herbs. He often needed a lot of raw materials for his medicinal baths.

At that time, Grace Howard was eleven years old. As the little princess of the Yun family, she was out on an excursion with her guards. But her horse suddenly went wild, galloping into the forest and separating her from her guards. Tragically, she then ran into a pack of wolves.

The wolves swarmed, killing her horse. Just as Grace Howard was about to be devoured, Brian Carter happened to pass by. With only a hatchet, he managed to hack down three wolves and rescue Grace Howard.