"Right now, you're only one step behind them, but in the future, the gap will only grow wider. The first level of Qi Refining is just the beginning, and the difference is still small. Later on, you'll understand. So, settle your mind as soon as possible, and save yourself all that exhaustion..."

Steward Reed finished speaking, patted Henry Carter on the shoulder with regret, and turned to enter the Sutra Repository Hall to assign tasks.

"Is there really no hope?"

Henry Carter was silent for a while, then followed into the Sutra Repository Hall, but his mind was in turmoil.

Over the past month, he had never stopped diligently cultivating, not slacking off for even a moment, yet he hadn't expected to fall so far behind his classmates. In comparison, William Clark's talent was only average, but even he had surpassed him. What about Richard Foster?

And Emily Bennett?

For a moment, he couldn't think any further.

After all, he was still a young man. No matter how calm he usually was, there was always some unwillingness in his heart...

While working, Henry Carter didn't say a word, silently and mechanically tidying up. In his mind, he kept recalling the scene of William Clark and the others chatting and laughing in the pavilion. He had thought his state of mind was already very calm, but now it was in utter turmoil!

For him, this was the first time he truly felt the changes that fate had brought upon him!

Now he didn't want anything, just to empty his mind and not think about anything at all.

"Junior Brother Carter seems a bit off today..."

"I saw him looking at those Immortal Sect disciples earlier—he seemed really envious..."

"Tch, who wouldn't envy the Immortal Sect disciples? The main thing is, he's just a bit unwilling. You know, our Henry Carter—Junior Brother Carter—was once at the top of the Immortal Rankings! It was only because the Dao Origin True Explanation was revoked that he fell off the list. Otherwise, he'd be a true disciple now!"

"The past is the past. Now he's just a menial worker. If he still can't accept it, he's just making himself miserable..."

The other menial disciples also noticed Henry Carter's frustration and secretly laughed among themselves. Having spent a long time in the Immortal Sect, they had become quite slick in their ways, always avoiding hard work. Seeing Henry Carter so diligent, they simply left all the chores to him and sat aside to chat. Henry Carter didn't care, just kept his head down, organizing between the bookshelves, not even looking up, as if he'd forgotten everything.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he finally felt his arms growing sore and slowly stopped.

By now, he had gone deep into the Sutra Repository, surrounded by towering bookshelves. He couldn't even hear the voices of the other menial disciples anymore. It was as if he had hidden himself in a deep forest—no one else around, not a sound to be heard, as quiet as a grave.

Standing there in a daze for a while, Henry Carter finally leaned against a bookshelf and sat down, looking a bit desolate.

The gap between menial workers and true Immortal Sect disciples was just too great...

In just a month, his cultivation had fallen so far behind—what about the future?

He had once been full of ambition, wanting to reclaim his top spot. Was that really possible?

That chaotic and frustrated feeling shattered the calm he had maintained for a month, and it was impossible to contain.

"Sigh, heavens, are you really just toying with me?"

He didn't know how long he sat in silence before Henry Carter couldn't help but laugh at himself.

Feeling lazy, he casually pulled a book from the nearby shelf, intending to throw it far away, as if to vent his pent-up anger at the heavens—unseen yet ever-present, and the cause of all his misery...

But at that moment, he suddenly froze, not throwing the book, but instead bringing it before his eyes.

By the dim light, he saw clearly the four large characters on the cover: Dao Origin True Explanation!

Chapter Seven: The Great Dao Questions the Heart

As if by some mysterious coincidence, Henry Carter, at the height of his despair, saw this book again!

For a moment, his expression was dazed, and his emotions became extremely complicated.

If he hadn't spent ten years single-mindedly studying the "Dao Origin True Explanation," he probably wouldn't have only dabbled in other studies, leading to his current predicament.

If this "Dao Origin True Explanation" hadn't been proven fake in the end, he would still be the top of the Jiazi Rankings, famous throughout the seven counties of Yue, and would never have ended up as a mere menial worker in the Immortal Sect.

In the end, it was all because of this "Dao Origin True Explanation"!

By rights, he should hate this book, but seeing it again, his feelings were complicated!

After all, this was the book he had poured all his heart and soul into for ten years!

For those ten years, it had been the most important thing in his life, above all else!

You could say, whether it was real or fake, it was deeply imprinted in his heart, in his very blood!

The Dao Origin True Explanation had once been widely circulated in Qingyang Sect, even among the five great Immortal Sects of Yue, so it was no surprise to find a copy in the Sutra Repository. However, the scripture now in Henry Carter's hands seemed a bit different...

The material of this Dao Origin True Explanation was extremely rare—neither silk nor leather. The writing on it was already somewhat blurred, the cover damaged, and there were even some dark, sticky stains on it, which might have been dried blood.