The Fourth Elder James Carter gave William Carter a kindly smile, nodded gently, and said, “It seems you can cultivate again? Not bad! Truly worthy of being the real iron-willed genius of the Zheng family!”

“James Carter, get out of my way!”

Seeing clearly that the person who had forced him back was James Carter, Thomas Carter's brows shot up sharply.

James Carter shielded William Carter behind him and said, “Third Elder, what a show of authority! When Henry Carter from the Ancestral Land came to cause trouble, why didn’t you stand up to him?”

Thomas Carter's face instantly fell. It was his own grandson who had tipped off Henry Carter that day! Now, with James Carter saying this, wasn’t he just slapping him in the face in public?

“Matters of the Ancestral Land are not my concern!” Thomas Carter said in a deep voice, “This good-for-nothing had his martial soul taken and is still so arrogant, stirring up trouble everywhere, and almost hurt my grandson Samuel Carter! If I don’t teach him a lesson today, who knows when he’ll be riding on my neck causing trouble! Get out of my way!”

Hearing this, William Carter felt a surge of anger and stepped forward, shouting, “You people from Thomas Carter’s line really do inherit your shamelessness! Grandson Edward Carter betrayed me for having the supreme soul, and then the grandfather comes out to frame me for causing trouble! You people from Thomas Carter’s line, you’re really something!”

“This past year, I’ve kept to myself, focused on cultivation! I haven’t provoked anyone! It’s Samuel Carter who’s come looking for trouble with me again and again!”

“So if he hits me, and I don’t dodge or fight back, that’s what you call not being arrogant? Not causing trouble?”

“When he was hitting and cursing me just now, where were you? When he couldn’t beat me, you stepped in to help—so this is how an elder should act?”

“You keep calling me a good-for-nothing, but isn’t your behavior the real good-for-nothing act? Even if I can’t beat someone, I wouldn’t call for help—unlike your precious grandson!”

“Bullying the weak with the strong—only you, Thomas Carter, could do something like that in the whole family! When you can’t bully others, you turn to bullying the younger generation—only a loser would do that! Was it you who stole the candy from the kids in town yesterday too?”

Thomas Carter was left speechless by William Carter’s barrage, his face growing uglier and uglier, but unable to find a retort, he could only shout in anger, “You sharp-tongued good-for-nothing! Today I must teach you a lesson!”

James Carter quickly shielded William Carter behind him, confronting him head-on: “Thomas Carter, I saw everything just now. It was clearly Samuel Carter who started it, and when he couldn’t match William Carter, he was beaten back.”

“With what you’re doing now, no matter how much the family head tries to smooth things over, he can’t possibly take your side!”

Thomas Carter’s mouth twitched, wishing he could just go over and break William Carter’s arms and legs right now!

But he knew in his heart that he was in the wrong today. If he clashed with James Carter now and alarmed the others, not only would he gain nothing, but he might even suffer because of William Carter’s sharp tongue.

Thomas Carter quickly weighed the pros and cons and could only choose to back down, saying, “James Carter, William Carter, I won’t let this go!”

With that, he turned around and gave Samuel Carter two hard kicks on the backside, knocking him to his knees, then said irritably, “You can’t even beat a good-for-nothing, what are you standing around for? Get back to training!”

Samuel Carter got up from the ground, dusting off his knees while glaring venomously at William Carter, and replied, “Yes, Grandpa!”

Then the two of them left.

James Carter watched their backs as they left, happily patted William Carter on the shoulder, and reminded him, “Feng’er, since you can cultivate again, you must train hard and make rapid progress! Besides martial arts, you must also be careful of that Thomas Carter’s whole family.”

“Mm.” William Carter nodded, said goodbye to James Carter, and walked toward the family compound.

For the past year, his cultivation had been stuck at the first level of the Qi Wheel Realm, making him worry about the upcoming family test.

But now it was different. His cultivation had already risen to the third level. At least he wouldn’t be relegated to the bottom in the family assessment.

But! Not being relegated? That’s far from enough! William Carter looked up at the sky and took a deep breath: I want to take back everything that belongs to me! In this competition, I want to take first place, I want to enter the Xuanming Sect, I want to learn even more advanced martial arts there, obtain the top internal cultivation techniques! Go to the Ancestral Land and defeat Henry Carter, who stole my soul!

At this rate, in just a few days, he would reach the fifth level of the Qi Wheel Realm.

Five more days! In five more days, it would be the family competition!

He had to train like mad in the coming days, striving to reach the fifth level before the competition, so he’d have a chance to reclaim what was his.

When he got home and saw that his parents’ room was empty, William Carter sighed again. He’d heard from the elders that his father and mother were both very powerful. If they were in the family, his supreme soul wouldn’t have been taken! But for some reason, his parents had left the family not long after he was born, saying they were going to find spirit herbs to lay his foundation.

“Father, Mother! Where are you?” William Carter looked at his own room, brows tightly furrowed. “Do you know? I don’t need any spirit herbs to lay a foundation—I just want you by my side! I don’t want you risking your lives to find herbs for me…”

In a secret chamber of the Zheng family.