The sixth elder, ‘Paul Thompson’, who had always had a good relationship with Brian Thompson, was a middle-aged man with a scar on his face. He spoke calmly.

“Sixth elder, according to what you’re saying, do you think James Thompson is sure to win?”

The fifth elder, David Thompson, couldn’t help but speak up.

“That’s a widely acknowledged fact.”

Paul Thompson smiled.

“Then let me make a bet with you, sixth elder… If James Thompson wins, I’ll lose you five hundred taels of silver. But if William Grant wins, you’ll lose me five hundred taels of silver. How about it?”

David Thompson looked deeply at Paul Thompson and spoke slowly.

As elders of the The Thompson Family, their monthly salary was only a little over ten taels of silver. David Thompson was putting up several years’ worth of salary in a single bet!

All the The Thompson Family higher-ups present, including the family head Nathan Thompson, looked at David Thompson in surprise, not expecting him to have such confidence in William Grant.

Even the grand elder Jack Thompson opened his eyes and gave David Thompson a deep look.

Hearing David Thompson’s words, Paul Thompson’s eyes lit up.

He was already a gambling addict, and in his eyes, David Thompson was just handing him money.

However, he simply didn’t have five hundred taels on hand.

Almost all his money had been lost at the gambling house.

“What’s wrong, sixth elder, are you scared?”

Seeing Paul Thompson fall silent, David Thompson smiled.

Paul Thompson’s face flushed red, and he turned to look at the seventh elder, Brian Thompson, beside him.

“Sixth elder, I’ll lend you five hundred taels of silver. Also, I’ll put up another five hundred taels to bet with the fifth elder. Fifth elder, are you willing to join?”

Brian Thompson saw Paul Thompson’s predicament and looked at David Thompson with a burning gaze.

David Thompson frowned.

Although five hundred taels was only a few years’ stipend for him, after daily expenses, he had only about eight hundred taels saved up over the years.

For Brian Thompson to have saved up a thousand taels, he was considered wealthy among the The Thompson Family elders.

It could be said that Brian Thompson was going all in this time, staking everything on this bet!

Chapter 11: A Thousand Taels at Once

Given the current situation of the fifth elder David Thompson, even though Grace Thompson wanted to help him, she was powerless.

Over the years, almost all the silver she had went to buying medicinal herbs to strengthen her son’s body.

And recently, she had spent her savings on herbs for the Seven Treasures Body-Tempering Liquid for her son, leaving her with just over a hundred taels of silver.

“What’s wrong, fifth elder, don’t you dare bet with me and the seventh elder?”

The sixth elder Paul Thompson smiled, looking smug.

Just as David Thompson was about to borrow money from another elder—

“Seventh elder, I’ll take that five hundred taels and bet with you!”

A voice called out from afar.

Accompanying the voice was a pair of youths, a boy and a girl as beautiful as golden children, walking hand in hand.

The one who had just spoken was the boy.

He had sword-like brows and starry eyes, strikingly handsome and elegant.

It was none other than ‘William Grant’!

“Ninth elder, you’ve spent quite a bit of silver on your son over the years. Do you really still have five hundred taels saved up?”

The seventh elder Brian Thompson teased with a smile, giving Grace Thompson a deep look.

Grace Thompson frowned slightly, sighing inwardly.

Did her son really think she still had five hundred taels of silver?

“Greetings to the family head, grand elder, and all the elders.”

William Grant led Ke’er by the hand up to the high platform and bowed slightly to the The Thompson Family higher-ups.

The family head Nathan Thompson looked at William Grant in surprise. The last time he’d seen William Grant was over a month ago.

At that time, the ninth elder Grace Thompson had lost her temper and punished the seventh elder Brian Thompson’s son, ‘Andrew Thompson’.

Back then, William Grant had been a sickly youth.

But now, compared to the past, William Grant was a completely different person!

“Body Tempering Stage Level Three… William Grant, you’ve actually broken through to the third level of the Body Tempering Stage!”

When Nathan Thompson instinctively probed William Grant’s cultivation, his pupils contracted and his face was full of disbelief.

Nathan Thompson’s exclamation was like a stone stirring up a thousand waves.

In an instant, everyone on the platform turned their gaze to William Grant.

Very soon, except for Grace Thompson and David Thompson, everyone else was in utter disbelief.

“If I remember correctly, a month ago when he was gravely injured by Andrew Thompson, he wasn’t even a martial artist!”

“This William Grant, in just a month, went from an ordinary person to completing body tempering, and now to the third level of the Body Tempering Stage… Am I seeing things?”

“You’re not seeing things, he really is at the third level. Looks like he must have had some kind of fortuitous encounter!”

…

Including the seventh elder Brian Thompson, most of the elders were dumbfounded.

The scene before them left them stunned for a long time.

The grand elder Jack Thompson looked at William Grant with great interest, for once not closing his eyes to rest.

Brian Thompson took a deep breath.

William Grant breaking through to the third level of the Body Tempering Stage was completely beyond his expectations.

However, thinking of the huge gap between the third and fourth levels, he felt relieved.

In his view, whether William Grant was at the second or third level, it made little difference to his son James Thompson.

“William Grant, did you just say you want to bet five hundred taels of silver with me?”

Brian Thompson looked at William Grant and asked.

“Yes.”

William Grant nodded.