Just as Brian Carter was about to turn and leave, William Harris spoke again: “Brian Carter, the reason I fought you today isn’t because of Eric Turner, but because someone else asked me to teach you a lesson...”

Brian Carter paused, turning his head in surprise to look at William Harris. He had always thought that Mark Reed and William Harris were helpers brought in by Eric Turner, but it turned out he was mistaken.

“Who?”

William Harris shook his head and said, “I can’t tell you who it is, but the words he wanted me to pass on to you after defeating you—I can tell you those...”

Brian Carter nodded, his brows furrowing slightly. “Go ahead.”

“He wanted me to tell you: there are some people you shouldn’t mess with. Don’t think about a toad eating swan meat, or in the end, you’ll be the one who gets hurt!”

Brian Carter’s brows slowly relaxed, and the image of a woman flashed through his mind. He smiled slightly. “So that’s how it is. I understand now, thank you!”

William Harris shook his head. Originally, these words were meant to be spoken from the stance of a victor, but he had lost—and lost badly. Yet Brian Carter’s apologetic attitude after winning made William Harris feel guilty, which was why he finally spoke these words, as a reminder to Brian Carter.

Edward Clark leaned on the railing, watching Brian Carter’s figure as he left the academy and walked away, his gaze full of admiration.

“Overlord Shedding Armor—shedding all defenses; Overlord Descends the Mountain—gathering all power into a single point, like waves crashing, with boundless might. Truly an exquisitely refined top-tier martial art!”

“The Xiao family’s Overlord Fist really lives up to its reputation!”

Edward Clark folded his arms. “Brian Carter can actually practice the Overlord Fist to such a skillful and refined level—he truly has a talent for cultivation. Defeating William Harris, he already has strength close to a level nine Power User. With his meridians sealed, isn’t that a real pity? The Xiao family really went too far. Should I try to find someone to help him unlock those Sixfold Meridian Locks? It’s not easy to make a friend—this is really a headache...”

At this moment, Brian Carter was still immersed in the excitement of victory. Having defeated both the fifth and third ranked Power Users in the academy, it showed that his strength had improved tremendously.

The power displayed by those two moves—fist techniques he had never used on anyone before—also left Brian Carter deeply shocked. But the doubts that followed only grew stronger.

The fist technique his father had taught him, as well as the axe technique, were both incredibly exquisite. But what were their origins?

It was a pity he didn’t know the name of the fist technique. Otherwise, he might have been able to quietly ask around. His father had warned him not to use it lightly; otherwise, he could have consulted some martial arts seniors.

The Red Moon Dynasty was vast, divided into nine provinces, each with four counties, totaling thirty-six counties.

Jinyun Academy was located in Zilan City, one of many cities in Zishan County. Among nearly twenty cities, it ranked in the top three in size and was a very prosperous city.

After leaving the academy, Brian Carter headed straight for the Medicinal Cuisine Guild, wanting to buy ingredients for medicinal dishes—surely the most complete selection would be there.

The entire Zilan City covered a huge area, bustling and full of guilds: Blacksmith Guild, Warrior Guild, Alchemy Guild, and so on. Especially the Warrior Guilds—there was more than one. The founders of these guilds were all powerful warriors who, after registering with the empire, established various guilds to recruit warriors of all levels. Even though they were all Warrior Guilds, there was fierce competition among them.

There was only one Medicinal Cuisine Guild in all of Zilan City, and it was located in a rather remote area. Brian Carter stood at the entrance, looking at the cold and deserted scene inside, thinking to himself that the art of medicinal cuisine had truly fallen into decline.

There were hardly any people in the entire guild; it was so quiet that not even a sparrow could be seen. Even the young man behind the counter looked listless, slumped over the counter.

Seeing Brian Carter walk in, the young man lifted his head and lazily asked, “Sir, what would you like to buy?”

Brian Carter nodded, stepped forward, and handed over a list. “Please check if you have all the medicinal ingredients on this list. If you do, I’d like these quantities. What’s the price?”

The young man still didn’t sit up, lazily taking the list and scanning it from top to bottom. He looked up at Brian Carter in surprise. “We have all these medicines. May I ask what you need them for? The quantities seem pretty large...”

Brian Carter smiled slightly. “I’m buying them for someone else. As for what they’re for, I don’t know. Since you have them all, please calculate the price.”

The young man immediately perked up, stood up, and began calculating the price of the medicines. After all, Brian Carter was buying quite a lot, and some of the ingredients weren’t cheap. This order would cost a fair amount.

Soon, the young man quoted the price: “Sir, according to your list, the total comes to three hundred sixty-five gold coins. I can give you a small discount—three hundred fifty gold coins!”

Brian Carter was secretly shocked. The price of these medicinal cuisine ingredients was really not cheap. If he hadn’t just won six hundred gold coins in a bet today, he probably would have had to borrow money to afford them.