“Ha ha ha!” David Reed laughed loudly. “Nonsense! How could you ever get used to it? Look at these people—they treat you like you’re invisible. No matter what they think, you need to understand for yourself: they’re all ordinary folks, with mortal eyes, completely clueless about what’s truly worth nurturing.”

“People fight tooth and nail over a mere Baoliu spiritual root. But when it comes to real, unpolished gems, they toss them aside like worn-out shoes.”

“Kid, you need to understand, cultivating the Dao is our pursuit. Your Dao heart must be as solid as a rock. But, if along the way, you can also leave those who doubt you, ignore you, belittle you, or look down on you utterly dumbfounded, leaving them far behind—that feeling is amazing! If you can enjoy it, why not?”

A faint, strange smile appeared in Brian Carter’s heart. “How come I’m starting to think you and I have very similar personalities?”

“Ha ha ha!” David Reed’s laughter was thunderous.

Matthew Clark muttered under his breath, “Two petty guys.”

“Pfft!” Brian Carter and David Reed said in unison.

“Headmaster!” Old Adam Brooks suddenly spoke up. “You’re not thinking of taking Edward Foster as your disciple again, are you?”

He said this bluntly, and everyone immediately became alert.

“Headmaster, you already snatched Henry Wright before, and now you want to take Edward Foster too? Isn’t that a bit much?”

“Exactly, even if you’re the headmaster, you can’t be so domineering, can you?”

True Ryan Brooks looked embarrassed.

Spiritual roots also have different grades—the best are, of course, the ten most famous spiritual roots in the cultivation world.

Besides the top ten, there are three more ranks below. The highest is first-class, the lowest is third-class.

Henry Wright possesses the Five Elements spiritual root, which is an extremely rare first-class root. This kind of root is naturally sensitive to the Five Elements spiritual energy, and cultivates several times faster than ordinary people.

When Henry Wright was brought back, it caused a sensation throughout Subao Mountain. True Ryan Brooks had to put in a lot of effort and sacrifice many benefits to finally take Henry Wright as his disciple.

At that time, who would have thought that a small village like Lotus Terrace could produce someone with one of the top ten spiritual roots? Subao Mountain was truly lucky—not only did they get a first-class spiritual root disciple, but they also found another with one of the top ten roots!

True Ryan Brooks really couldn’t compete any further, but his heart was bleeding.

With a gloomy face, True Ryan Brooks swept his gaze over everyone. “Of course I won’t fight for it anymore, but you all should restrain yourselves a bit! I think, as for whom Edward Foster will choose as his master, let’s wait for the mountain-opening ceremony and let him decide for himself.”

As soon as he said this, the other elders’ minds became active: Wait until the mountain-opening ceremony? That means, before then, it’s every man for himself.

True Ryan Brooks looked at Samuel Grant and his companion. “Samuel Grant, this time you’ve rendered great service to our sect. What reward do you want?”

Samuel Grant quickly knelt down. “Serving the sect is my duty. This is all thanks to Heaven’s favor on Subao Mountain. I dare not claim credit, nor ask for any reward.”

Although True Ryan Brooks knew Samuel Grant didn’t mean what he said, he still nodded with some satisfaction. “Even so, not rewarding merit would chill the hearts of other disciples. How about this: from today on, you’ll be in charge of managing the spirit beast rentals in the Spirit Beast Garden.”

Samuel Grant was overjoyed. “Thank you, Master Uncle!”

“All right, you may go now. Also, settle those two in for now—let them stay with the other disciples.”

“As you command!”

From beginning to end, no one asked Brian Carter a single question.

Samuel Grant and William Grant led the two out the door and immediately cupped their hands to Edward Foster. “Congratulations, Junior Brother Tian!”

Edward Foster gave a reserved smile. “You two senior brothers are my guides. I will always remember this kindness!”

This was exactly what the two senior brothers had been waiting for. They’d looked after Edward Foster all along the way, all to build a good relationship with this future powerhouse.

The two of them smiled. “Come on, let’s find you a good place to stay.”

The four of them left. Inside the side hall, the elders were about to disperse when True Ryan Brooks called out, “Brothers, wait a moment, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

“Master Daniel Cooper will be visiting our sect tomorrow, so I’ve decided to postpone the mountain-opening ceremony and focus on receiving Master Cooper.”

At these words, the elders were in an uproar.

The mountain-opening ceremony was extremely important, but not a single person objected to True Ryan Brooks’s decision to postpone it for Daniel Cooper. Instead, everyone looked delighted. “Headmaster, is it really Master Cooper?”

Ryan Brooks nodded, looking a bit proud. “I also heard that recently Daniel Cooper is planning to forge a new spirit-patterned array armor, and needs to use the Sanwen Earthfire for the ritual. That’s why I went to great lengths to pull some strings and let Master Cooper know that we have an excellent Sanwen Earthfire vent in the back mountain of Subao Mountain. We even sent a special sample of the fire for him to inspect. After seeing it, he was very impressed and has already written to inform us that he’ll visit tomorrow to borrow our fire vent for forging the spirit-patterned array armor.”

“That’s wonderful!” Old Adam Brooks was overjoyed. “Master Cooper is a renowned spirit architect in the cultivation world. If we can use this opportunity to build a relationship with Master Cooper, and he’s willing to forge one or two spirit-patterned array armors for Subao Mountain, we could produce two top-tier experts for our sect!”