Yvonne Foster did not tell his parents about possessing these three special abilities. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but knowing William Foster’s character—always putting the sect and family first—if he found out, he would surely be overjoyed and immediately tell the sect leader and the clan brothers, because those last two abilities were simply too powerful. Although Yvonne Foster believed his parents wouldn’t casually reveal his abilities, he couldn’t guarantee the same for others. With his experience as an assassin in his previous life, he deeply understood the importance of hiding one’s strength—an extra trump card is always an advantage.

Recently, Yvonne Foster had started intensifying his spell training again. As early as three years ago, Yvonne Foster had already mastered all eight spells at this stage. However, Yvonne Foster found these spells not very practical; not only were they far less powerful than martial arts, but the time needed to chant the incantations was also too long. By the time you finally managed to cast a spell, your opponent would have already rushed over and killed you.

In all martial arts under heaven, speed is the key to invincibility. This principle applies equally to Daoist magic—the speed of casting spells can determine the outcome of a battle. Understanding this well, after learning all the incantations, Yvonne Foster began to study how to cast these spells instantly. Normally, for Daoist spells below B-level, his parents could also cast them instantly, but in recent years they had been too busy with missions to teach him, so Yvonne Foster had to teach himself.

For this, he practically turned the library that Tianque Sect had set up in Maple Forest Town—meant for itinerant cultivators and registered disciples—upside down, reading every book related to incantations and hand seals. After two years of theoretical research and training in controlling his true qi, he finally began the practical phase. Now, Yvonne Foster had already achieved instant casting for Fireball, Root-Binding, Substitute, Puppet Clone, Transformation, and Wind Blade techniques. Today, he was experimenting with the Thunder Finger Spell. Although he hadn’t succeeded yet, the casting time had already been reduced from four seconds to two.

Glancing at the sky, Yvonne Foster decided not to continue practicing. It was already the fourth watch of the night; if he went back any later, his mom would scold him to death. But he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, after his true qi recovered, he used the Minor Rejuvenation Spell to heal the bruises he’d gotten during physical training.

When his mother used to treat his injuries, although she didn’t say anything on the surface, she would always secretly cry behind his back. Yvonne Foster didn’t want his mom to be sad anymore, so ever since he learned the Minor Rejuvenation Spell, every night after training, he would do as he did today—heal the more obvious injuries on his body before going home.

“Something feels off tonight.”

After healing his wounds, Yvonne Foster had just walked out of the valley when he saw faint flickers of firelight in the direction of Maple Forest Town in the distance.

Was there a fire? But that’s impossible—there are so many Golden Core-level experts in town, any one of them could put out a fire with a big Water Dragon Spell. Puzzled, Yvonne Foster shook his head and sped toward Maple Forest Town. But after only a few steps, he stopped abruptly. Thanks to six years of training, his six senses had become extremely sharp, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.

This was—a strong smell of blood and murderous intent! And the cultivation technique being used carried a strong aura of evil—it was an enemy! Judging by the effect of the Transformation Spell the other party used, it would require at least Golden Core-level cultivation. However, the opponent was seriously injured, and their true qi was depleted—they were desperately trying to recover. Escape? Impossible. While hiding, the enemy was also releasing such intense killing intent, clearly looking for a chance to ambush him. Even if he managed to escape for now, with the opponent’s Golden Core-level power, they would only need five minutes of meditation to recover some strength, and with the speed of an advanced Galloping Technique, they could catch up in six minutes and kill him without alerting anyone. In this situation, there was only one option—fight to the death!!!

Trying to ambush me? Instantly assessing the situation, Yvonne Foster let out a cold laugh and suddenly drew his blade, slashing at a banyan tree by the roadside. The enemy had clearly forgotten that in the cold northern region of Maple Forest Town, there were no tropical trees like banyans.

Just as Yvonne Foster expected, after a puff of smoke, the banyan tree vanished, and a black figure appeared before him. The opponent clearly hadn’t expected Yvonne Foster to see through his disguise. Despite trying his best to dodge, he was still struck by Yvonne Foster, losing his left hand. With a miserable howl, the black figure retreated dozens of meters, facing off against Yvonne Foster from a distance.

Only now did Yvonne Foster have time to size up his opponent. Across from him stood a masked middle-aged Daoist, about thirty years old, dressed in black robes, with a deep red scar on his left forehead. Besides the severed left hand, there were wounds on his right shoulder and left leg.

At this moment, the black-robed Daoist was staunching the fresh wound on his left hand. He looked at Yvonne Foster with eyes full of venomous hatred, then suddenly let out a strange, cackling laugh and said, “You’re quite bold, little brother. Daring to provoke a Golden Core-level expert with just Qi Gathering cultivation—do you not know what the word ‘death’ means?”

Yvonne Foster sneered inwardly at the Daoist’s words and didn’t bother to respond. If he couldn’t see that the other party was trying to stall for time with words, then in his previous life, he wouldn’t have deserved to be called a top ace assassin.