William Carter had acted out of urgency just now, without thinking much. Now that he recalled it, he immediately realized the use of those two moves and couldn’t help but ponder over them. He now understood that the mysterious power that had suddenly emerged after being transformed by the water of the Heavenly River was his most reliable support. The sooner he became familiar with the techniques to control this energy, the greater the benefit to himself.

Emily Thompson, however, was unaware of William Carter’s thoughts. The two miraculous Stone-Throwing Techniques William Carter had just performed left her deeply impressed, making her think this big brother was a hidden master. Her attitude became much more respectful, and her words even hinted at wanting to learn from him. William Carter found it both amusing and awkward, so he politely declined Emily Thompson, saying he was heading back to Xici Town and asking if Emily Thompson would return as well.

Emily Thompson shook her head and said, “Fengzhou is full of dangers. If I don’t work hard and train diligently, I’m afraid it will be very difficult to be accepted by any sect at the Six Sects’ Disciple Selection Ceremony in half a year and learn the arts of immortals. Every time I fight monsters on the Xici Grasslands, it’s my way of practicing swordsmanship. I’ve only just come out today, so I can’t go back with you, Brother Yue.”

William Carter greatly praised Emily Thompson’s tenacious spirit. But seeing such a young girl having to travel alone in a land overrun by monsters, he couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy. However, knowing that he was even less experienced than Emily Thompson in Fengzhou, he had no standing to say much. He could only give a few words of advice and bid farewell to this seemingly very independent little girl.

“Even such a young girl knows how to work hard. Compared to those guys in the Xinchen Hall who just talk big, they really ought to be ashamed. I need to work harder too, or else at the Six Sects’ Disciple Selection Ceremony in half a year, I’ll probably end up at the bottom of the list.”

William Carter racked his brains, recalling the scene when he fought the yellow demon rabbit. When he threw the multicolored stones, he was only thinking about how to make them more powerful and didn’t carefully experience the feeling at that moment. Now, trying to recapture it was quite a challenge. William Carter picked up over a hundred stones and, as he walked back, tossed them one by one, practicing the two stone-throwing techniques. Finally, on the forty-seventh throw, with a crack, two stones collided and shattered into pieces.

“That’s it, this is the feeling—inject this force as powerfully as possible into the stone thrown later; the stronger the force, the faster the speed... The first stone thrown should be light and weak, so the one behind can catch up...” William Carter was so absorbed in his research that he didn’t notice a dark shadow sweeping across the sky. It was a massive rock, as big as a small island, from which some debris fell, with two pieces landing not far from William Carter, shaking the ground.

These floating giant rocks and flying islands—some are naturally formed, some are inhabited by exiled immortals—so it’s not surprising for things to occasionally fall from them.

Reminded by the falling debris, William Carter realized how quickly time had passed. Feeling hungry and tired, he hoisted the yellow giant rabbit onto his shoulder and headed toward Xici Town. Along the way, he continued to experiment with the explosive stone-throwing technique he had just grasped, or tried to figure out how to curve stones to strike enemies.

After all this practice, by the time he returned to Xici Town, he had become somewhat proficient at the explosive stone-throwing technique. Out of every seventeen or eighteen throws, there would always be one or two times when two stones collided and shattered. Although it was not as powerful as when he injured the yellow giant rabbit, he had at least grasped the essence of the technique.

Ironically, the seemingly easier curving stone-throwing technique eluded William Carter no matter how much he practiced; he simply couldn’t reproduce it. Still, with these gains, William Carter felt much more confident about surviving in Fengzhou. “As long as I keep practicing, sooner or later I’ll master a formidable stone-throwing skill, and I won’t have to fear the monsters on the Xici Grasslands anymore.”

As soon as he returned to Xici Town, a burly man pushed through the crowd and gave William Carter a big bear hug, laughing loudly: “I was worried you’d been killed by the monsters outside and was just about to look for you. I didn’t expect you to come back on your own!”

David Miller’s sincerity and concern made William Carter very grateful, and he said with feeling, “I only meant to hunt a few demon rabbits, but I almost couldn’t handle even one. I ended up in a sorry state and made you worry, Shi.”

“Oh, you actually managed to catch a demon rabbit? Why is this one so huge?”

William Carter threw the yellow demon rabbit to the ground, and someone immediately exclaimed, “Isn’t this the Rabbit King of the Xici Grasslands? Wasn’t Aunt Thompson’s youngest son kicked to death by it? Quick, go tell Aunt Thompson that someone has avenged her son...”

There were quite a few busybodies in town, and soon someone ran off to deliver the news. A family, young and old, came to the edge of town, and when they saw the yellow demon rabbit, a woman immediately burst into tears.

William Carter quietly asked David Miller and learned that this yellow demon rabbit had run rampant on the Xici Grasslands for years. Not only was it cunning and vicious, but seven or eight people in town had been injured by its legs. Many had tried to hunt it, but none had ever succeeded.

William Carter thought to himself how lucky he was and mused, “If I hadn’t been incredibly lucky today, managing to use two miraculous stone-throwing techniques and meeting Emily Thompson, a White Lotus Sect disciple skilled in swordsmanship, I’d probably be another soul lost under this demon rabbit’s feet.”