The rain was pouring down on the small street. The place where the incident happened during the day was some distance away, making it hard to see clearly. Only a dark figure could be made out, outside the house destroyed by the ferocious beast, slowly moving along the traces left behind. Judging by the outline, it wasn’t a beast, but looked more like a person walking at a slow pace.

Ryan Bennett secretly let out a sigh of relief. To be safe, he told Emily Foster to turn off the lights and bolt the door, then silently leapt out the window and walked toward that figure...

Chapter Six: So It Was You

The night rain fell unceasingly.

During the day, the ferocious beast had rampaged, collapsing several houses by the riverbank. Even the undamaged houses were too dangerous for people to stay in, leaving the ruins shrouded in darkness.

Ryan Bennett carried his sword, moving silently through the alleyways, arriving at the side of the street where the beast had run wild earlier. He peeked around the corner of a courtyard wall.

The corpses of the beast and the constables had already been taken away, but the ground was still covered with many drag marks and patches of sticky beast blood.

A tall figure dressed in black, holding a black oil-paper umbrella, stood beside the beast blood. Using the faint light in the distance, the figure lowered their head to examine the scene carefully.

Ryan Bennett observed from the shadows at the side. He could see that this person was wearing black martial attire with bracers, the fabric of fine and expensive quality. At the waist hung a long sword in a black scabbard, the sheath covered in cloud patterns, the sword tassel adorned with gold and jade, exquisitely crafted and clearly valuable.

A rich young master sneaking out for a midnight adventure?

Ryan Bennett relaxed his guard a little, squinting to observe more closely, trying to gauge the other’s strength.

The light was too dim to see the face, but judging by the body’s outline, the person was slender, with long, taut, powerful legs—likely skilled in legwork. The waist, cinched by a belt, was slim and without a trace of excess fat, suggesting agility. Moving upward to the chest...

What impressive pectoral muscles!

??

Ryan Bennett was stunned for a moment and looked down at himself. He had practiced martial arts since the age of three, for over a decade, but had never developed muscles to this degree. What kind of training produced such a chest?

Breaking stones on the chest?

While Ryan Bennett was pondering this, he didn’t notice that his downward glance caused a faint rustling of his clothes.

The sound was slight, almost negligible in the rainy night.

But since a beast had just caused havoc here, the person in black on the street remained on full alert.

In that instant, a ‘clang’ of a sword rang out in the rain, and a flash of sword light shot from the rainy night, aimed straight at the corner of the courtyard wall where Ryan Bennett stood.

As soon as the other made a move, Ryan Bennett sensed danger, quickly revealed himself, stepped back two paces, and called out:

“Wait, don’t be rash.”

Hearing a human voice, the person in black paused cautiously, sword tip pointed at Ryan Bennett. Using the dim firelight, they glanced at him and asked:

“Who are you?”

The voice was deliberately pressed low and rough, but still sounded a bit feminine.

Hearing this, Ryan Bennett realized the other was a woman—no wonder her chest was so well-developed...

He hung his sword at his waist, raised his hand to show he meant no harm, then stepped forward and said:

“I was just drinking nearby and saw someone here, so I came to check it out. There was a beast rampage here during the day, um... why are you here alone so late at night?”

The woman in black stood in the shadows, taking in Ryan Bennett’s appearance and attire—handsome, well-dressed, and polite in speech, not looking like a villain. Seeing this, she sheathed her sword and replied casually:

“I heard about what happened during the day and just came to have a look. Sorry to have startled you, please go back.”

Clearly, she didn’t want to talk.

But Ryan Bennett had just noticed that the way this woman drew her sword was very similar to Grace Carter’s move earlier in the day, as if they had learned from the same school—she must also be a cultivator.

Ryan Bennett was skilled in martial arts, but to be honest, it was just physical techniques, far from true cultivation. Although his family was well-off, he had never found a way into the world of cultivation. Now that he’d met a cultivator, he naturally wanted to chat a bit.

“It’s late and I have nothing to do, so I’m not in a hurry to go back. Your swordplay just now was truly impressive—are you perhaps a master from Qihuang Valley?”

The woman in black didn’t want to reveal her identity. Seeing that Ryan Bennett wouldn’t leave and even tried to strike up a conversation, she couldn’t force him away, so she replied coolly:

“Mm.”

Ryan Bennett chuckled softly. The rain was heavy, so he didn’t step closer, but stood under the eaves and said gently:

“What a coincidence, I’m planning to go to Qihuang Valley to seek a master as well. In the future, I might have to call you ‘senior brother.’ May I ask your surname?”

Hearing this, the woman in black seemed a bit puzzled and looked Ryan Bennett up and down:

“My surname is Long. How old are you?”

With no lamp or fire, and the umbrella blocking the view, Ryan Bennett couldn’t see her face, so he didn’t try. Instead, he looked at the fishing lights on the river and replied:

“Seventeen.”

“Seventeen?”

The woman in black hesitated, as if searching for the right words, and finally said:

“The path of cultivation is vast and profound. While anyone can try, very few can truly enter. Regardless of gender, if you want to step into cultivation, you must start diligent training at six. If you can’t open your qi sea by nine, you’ll never get in. You... judging by your clothes, you don’t seem to be from a poor family, so why are you only starting now?”

Ryan Bennett was silent for a moment, then sighed: