Ethan Brooks was a bit surprised; he hadn’t expected the other person to approach him and start a conversation. He straightened his clothes and replied politely, “Chen with the ‘ear’ radical, Ethan Brooks.”

Samuel Turner was taken aback, apparently not expecting this young man’s name to be so plain—even a wealthy country squire probably wouldn’t name his son like that. After a moment of silence, he said, “That name is certainly simple. I can’t say it’s bad.”

Ethan Brooks thought to himself, you’re pretty straightforward too, but your name is quite strange as well.

“I’m called Ethan Brooks... because I was very ill as a child, and my master hoped I would live a long life. What about you? Why are you called Samuel Turner? Are you the thirty-sixth child in your family? How can your family have so many people? Where is your family from? With so many siblings, isn’t it too noisy when you’re reciting your lessons?”

Samuel Turner was stunned.

To ask someone directly about the origin of their name isn’t very polite, especially since he had a cold, unapproachable face. Those who didn’t know the story behind his name, no matter how curious, would always hold back in front of him and never ask directly. Yet this young man just asked so casually, and even added so many follow-up questions.

Actually, Ethan Brooks’s thinking was very simple. In the unfamiliar capital, in the Tiandao Academy full of ridicule and cold stares, the other person was clearly a genius, yet had taken the initiative to approach him. So, he felt it was only right to return even more warmth and kindness, at the very least to make small talk and chat about something.

He had grown up living with his master and senior brother. His master rarely spoke, and his senior brother didn’t speak at all, so he really didn’t know how to make small talk. He came off a bit awkward and stiff; even though he wanted to convey his good intentions, it was easy to cause misunderstandings—just like yesterday at the Divine General’s Mansion.

Yet interestingly, Samuel Turner not only didn’t dislike him for this, but actually found Ethan Brooks to be honest and genuine. What Samuel Turner wanted most in this life was to be a real, authentic person, but in the world he mostly encountered mediocrity or hypocrisy. Suddenly meeting someone like Ethan Brooks, he was very pleased.

“There really are a lot of people in my generation in my clan, but we all recite our lessons at home, so it’s not noisy. The reason I’m called Samuel Turner isn’t because I’m the thirty-sixth in my family, but because last year, when I was fifteen, I made it onto the Qingyun Ranking for the first time and was ranked thirty-sixth. I found it very embarrassing, especially compared to that woman and that wolf cub... So I changed my name to Samuel Turner to remind myself how weak I am right now. Hmm, I think I’ve answered all your questions. Yes, all of them.”

This conversation was the first social interaction Ethan Brooks had after leaving Xining and arriving in the bustling capital, and also the first for Samuel Turner after leaving Wenshui and coming to the capital. At the time, Ethan Brooks was fourteen, and Samuel Turner was about to turn sixteen. Both were a bit naive and inexperienced in this regard. This interaction was undoubtedly awkward, amusing, and even laughable, but as history proved many years later, it was extremely successful—one could even say that, since the alliance between Emperor Taizong and the Demon Clan Chief, this was the most successful and important social exchange.

“How many questions did you answer?”

Samuel Turner asked. He was genuinely interested in the answer, because he always felt that while Ethan Brooks seemed like an ordinary person, he... probably wasn’t ordinary at all. When he saw that Ethan Brooks looked a bit pale, he realized his question was a bit inappropriate. Those exam questions were as vast as the sea—even for a genius like him, they were exhausting. Clearly, Ethan Brooks had overexerted himself, so the results probably wouldn’t be very good.

“There were some cultivation questions I really couldn’t answer—spiritual sense, true essence, and the ‘Gathering Stars to Burn the Sun’...”

Ethan Brooks said honestly, feeling a bit lucky. He had read the Daoist Canon thoroughly since childhood, so those seemingly difficult academic questions weren’t hard for him. Instead, it was the cultivation questions he truly had no answers for. Fortunately, since it was just an entrance exam, there weren’t too many of those.

As Samuel Turner listened, he started to sense something was off. If those were the only questions he couldn’t answer... did that mean this kid actually answered all the rest? Just then, he noticed across the lake, a teacher carrying a thick stack of exam papers was hurrying somewhere, looking so excited that he nearly tripped on the steps. Samuel Turner was momentarily stunned, and recalling what Ethan Brooks had just said, he couldn’t help but have a suspicion he could hardly believe—could this kid really be about to shock everyone?

“The rest... you’re sure you answered them all?”

“I can’t say I’m sure... The Supreme Purity Heart Mantra has two versions. When the National Religion was first established, it was revised and edited, and since then everyone has used the edited version. But the question mentioned a time before 1573, so I didn’t know which version to use. In the end, I just wrote down both versions, but I’m afraid the teacher might not like that and deduct points.”

Samuel Turner fell silent at these words.

He only knew one version of that question, and only answered with one.

After a while, he looked at Ethan Brooks and said, “I always thought that guy and I were the most arrogant people of our generation, but I didn’t expect you to be even more arrogant than us.”