The ancestors specifically emphasized the preciousness of this innate Yuan Spirit Qi, and Shawn Carter naturally realized that this was something extraordinary. In fact, the world is filled with Yuan Spirit Qi, but as for innate Yuan Spirit Qi, he had never even heard of it before. From this, it was clear that this was not something ordinary cultivators could access; it wasn’t even part of the basic knowledge.

Because one could only come into contact with it after reaching a certain level, and it was incomparably precious—you could sense it just from the tone of the ancestor.

Thoughts flashed through Shawn Carter’s mind, and he immediately understood the ancestor’s intentions, thinking to himself that this ancestor wasn’t bad at all.

No matter what, having gained so many benefits, Shawn Carter hurriedly bowed in thanks. At the same time, he comforted himself, trying not to worry about the matter of the golden vortex. After this brief delay and a few words, Shawn Carter finally noticed a withered little tree beside the ancestor, planted in an extremely beautiful flowerpot. The flowerpot was so exquisite. Flames swirled around it like fiery clouds, and various animals seemed almost alive. Shawn Carter immediately thought of Emily Johnson; that girl had apparently seen this flowerpot a few times when delivering things to the ancestor, and had even mentioned how amazing the pot was, yet it held only a withered little tree. She found it quite mysterious and wondered what purpose the ancestor of the Wu family had for it.

“This is a flame tree that I, together with some family members, obtained a hundred years ago at great cost. This kind of flame tree is of immense benefit to our Wu family’s cultivation of the Ninefold True Fire. If it could have survived, it would be no less valuable than the Chen family’s ten-thousand-year-old Profound Ice Tree, and would have accelerated the cultivation progress of a million family members. If it could bear fruit after a thousand years... sigh, forget it, there’s no point in talking about it. Unfortunately, although we managed to seize it, it was ultimately struck by lightning and didn’t survive. Later, I kept it only in memory of some old friends who perished back then. Never mind, since you like it, just take it and play with it.” As the ancestor of the Wu family, Henry Carter had sharp eyes. He immediately noticed where Shawn Carter was looking. Without any unnecessary words, he lightly waved his sleeve, and the pot with the withered flame tree flew straight into Shawn Carter’s arms.

“Wow, really, thank you, ancestor! Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Goodbye, ancestor!” Since even the ancestor hadn’t noticed anything, there was no point in staying any longer, and he had unexpectedly received this as well. When he gave it to Emily later, it would surely make her happy.

Seeing Shawn Carter leave happily with the flowerpot in his arms, Henry Carter couldn’t help but shake his head. This child was completely different from his father, but that was fine—living a happier life with less pressure was a good thing.

After leaving the ancestor, Shawn Carter carefully examined the flame tree he was holding. The already withered sapling looked just like an ordinary shriveled twig, nothing special about it. Only the pot was somewhat unique and extremely beautiful.

But Shawn Carter only remembered that Emily Johnson had said she liked it. He hadn’t expected that after just a few more glances, the ancestor would give it to him. After looking at it for a while, he couldn’t help but turn his attention to the golden vortex condensed at the Ren Spring in his lower dantian.

There was nothing he could do. No matter who it was, if something like this inexplicably appeared in the most important part of their body—let alone any other part—something only they could see, hear, and feel, while no one else could detect it, they would feel a chill down their spine and a sense of unease. Even the ancestor couldn’t detect it—how mysterious was this thing? What on earth was it?

He hadn’t done anything special yesterday. He had just snatched some monkey wine from a group of monkeys on his way to duel with Emily Johnson, then accidentally wandered into a strange lakeside, and later passed out. When he woke up, this inexplicable thing had appeared inside him.

“How strange…” Fortunately, Shawn Carter was open-minded; otherwise, he would have been worried sick. He just couldn’t help but pay attention to it, finding it baffling, but he wasn’t overly concerned about anything else. He simply couldn’t figure out why even the ancestor couldn’t detect it, and only he could sense its existence.

But now that even the ancestor couldn’t solve it, Shawn Carter decided not to bother with it anymore, since he had already done all he could. Instead, after returning to his own quarters, Shawn Carter placed the withered flame tree on the windowsill and immediately sat down to circulate his cultivation. Because of the previous fierce battle with Charles Carter, and the fight with Eric Carter, the power that had been just a little short of saturation had unexpectedly reached its peak, and he had finally reached the pinnacle of the Ren Spring stage.

Originally, Shawn Carter wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about cultivation, as there were more interesting things in life that attracted him. Although he only practiced in his spare time, when it came to playing, Shawn Carter had unparalleled talent—no matter what he played, he could master it faster than anyone else.

But after being repeatedly besieged and with Eric Carter constantly causing trouble, Shawn Carter—who never provoked trouble but was never afraid of it either—now wanted to study the pinnacle of the Ren Spring stage carefully, to see how to compress his power and break through faster, aiming to reach the Di Spring stage first. No matter who the opponent was, Shawn Carter was unafraid. That was his nature: when there was no pressure, he lived freely and happily, but when there was pressure, he would rebound even more fiercely.

At the peak of the Ren Spring stage, the Ren Spring in the lower dantian, about the size of a bowl, was saturated and could no longer absorb power. At this moment, Shawn Carter slowly activated the family’s inherited Ninefold True Fire to circulate his power, feeling the changes inside the Ren Spring after reaching its peak.