Samuel sneered upon hearing this and said, “What’s there to regret? I observed that this boy is calm and decisive in battle, shrewd and wise. He had already formulated his tactics at the very start of the fight, lowering his speed to lull the enemy into complacency—his combat talent is truly outstanding. Especially after Peter Scott used the Demonic Disintegration Technique, he immediately used a puppet clone to block in front of him, then transformed himself into a tree root on the ground, and finally commanded the puppet to retreat quickly to draw Peter Scott’s attention. This was a brilliant move—only someone of great wisdom and courage could pull it off. He is a rare talent, a true gem, the likes of which are seen only once in a millennium. His future achievements are limitless. For Peter Scott to die at his hands is not unjust at all.”

Matthew Harris also clapped his hands in praise and said, “Indeed, it’s rare for a child to reach the final stage of Qi Gathering at the age of twelve without any external help, and his martial skills are formidable—his talent is exceptional. But Reed junior niece, you stood by from the start of the fight and let an eleven-year-old boy face a Golden Core expert alone. How could you bear to watch?”

Grace Reed replied with a playful smile, “This boy discovered Peter Scott before I did. If I had shown up, Peter Scott would have fled, and at that point, he still had energy left—if he ran at full speed, I wouldn’t have been able to catch him. Later on, I was also curious to see just how far this boy could go. In any case, I could have saved him at any time.”

Matthew Harris nodded and said, “That makes sense. But do you know this boy’s name?”

Grace Reed said with some pride, “I knew you’d ask. I followed him home and it seems he’s a child of the Jiang family in the west of the city. His name is Yvonne Foster. According to his neighbors, he’s been clever and quick-witted since childhood, and he’s also a training fanatic.”

“Oh? So this little fellow is also very diligent?”

“Exactly. Just yesterday, he was practicing outside the town until midnight before coming home, which says it all.”

While everyone was still singing his praises, Andrew Turner suddenly interjected, “This boy is almost twelve, and he’ll be enrolling this year. If he’s left to be taught by mediocre people, it would be a real waste. Sect Leader, may I have the honor of teaching him? Andrew Turner guarantees that in ten years, he’ll reach the Liquid Condensation stage.”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present changed their expressions. David Turner was the first to snort coldly, “Isn’t your Intelligence Hall busy enough, Senior Brother? I’m stepping down from my post at the Patrol Hall tomorrow—let me teach this boy, that would be best.”

“The Jiang clan and my Lieshan clan both descend from the Flame Emperor’s line. It’s only right and proper that I teach this boy.”

“This child uses the blade, just like me. It’s only fitting that he inherit my Matthew Harris’s legacy.”

“Master, please judge for us. The three of them all have important duties—how could they have time to teach? It would be a shame to let this boy’s studies go to waste.”

“What a joke! You think you’re the only one who can resign? I could also step down and focus on teaching.”

Benjamin Turner knew that the boy in this vision would one day achieve even more in cultivation than the sixth-generation ancestor. If she could teach him, it would bring great prestige to her and her family’s descendants. She had wanted to compete for the chance, but seeing her senior brothers already arguing heatedly, she couldn’t bring herself to quarrel with these men. She could only sigh heavily and, imitating Samuel and Grace Reed who had slipped away at some point, quietly left as well.

Chapter 7: Brawl

Completely unaware that he had become the object of competition among the upper echelons of Tianque Sect, Yvonne Foster was currently troubled by a major headache—the two rings he had picked up.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t break the seals on the rings. In fact, the strength of the sealing formations that could be set on a small ring after carving a complex and massive spatial array was actually quite limited. With Yvonne Foster’s current knowledge of formations, he could break them all within three hours. The real trouble came after the seals were broken.

When he broke the seal on the first ring, Yvonne Foster was startled to find it filled with refined magical treasures and various materials—countless minerals, beast bones, and furs. There were dozens of pure white three-tailed fox pelts, the very ones his mother Emily Thompson had envied for a long time. The second ring left him even more dumbfounded: it contained all kinds of medicinal pills and herbs weighing no less than five tons, all of them extremely rare and precious. Among them were six hundred bottles of Spirit Gathering Pills for the Foundation Establishment stage, four hundred bottles of Spirit-Charging Pills for use from the Qi Gathering to Nascent Soul stages, over three hundred bottles of Qi-Gathering Pills for restoring true energy during battle, and more than twenty Nine Heavens Revival Pills that could bring the dead back to life. There were also various other elixirs and healing medicines, with a total value enough to buy the entire Maple Forest Town dozens of times over.

After the initial shock and delight, Yvonne Foster began to feel suspicious. Why hadn’t that black-robed Daoist used so many spirit pills? And even a wealthy Golden Core expert couldn’t possibly amass so many treasures and pills. With these doubts, he took out a medicine bottle for a closer look and indeed found a family crest at the bottom—the three-sword emblem of the Ji family in the east of the city. With Yvonne Foster’s intelligence, he instantly guessed what had happened. Most likely, the black-robed Daoist had stolen the rings during the attack on the Ji family, and since he hadn’t had time to break the Feng seal, he had no idea there was such a vast fortune inside.