“This matter involves the previous dynasty. My The Brooks Family originally served as officials in the former court, but later we saw the error of our ways and returned. Robert Harris is a remnant of the old regime. Killing me was merely an attempt to frame the current dynasty, to make those surrendered noble families realize that the court is not friendly to families who defected from the previous dynasty. Unfortunately for him, he failed.” David Brooks said helplessly.

The Brooks Family truly feels aggrieved—awkward in the current dynasty, yet still facing revenge from the previous one.

William Carter felt no sympathy. Who told you to be the first top scholar? The outstanding bird gets shot.

From Robert Harris’s perspective, it’s understandable—traitors are even more hateful than enemies.

David Brooks didn’t dwell on court disputes. Knowing that William Carter had never left the mountain, he began to share interesting stories from the martial world.

A martial arts grandmaster fought alone against the eight great sects, shaking the entire martial world.

A divine monk, injured while subduing demons, was tragically poisoned to death by a shady innkeeper.

The saintess of Xuanyin Tower had her room infiltrated by the Saint of Thieves, who stole her valuables.

The Evil King with Ghost Eyes was captured by the court and thrown into the imperial prison.

Stories like these kept William Carter thoroughly entertained.

David Brooks also explained the ranks of martial artists to him, from lowest to highest: third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, and then the True Essence Realm. If one can use their internal energy to attack enemies through martial arts, that counts as stepping into the True Essence Realm. Robert Harris was a master at this level, having practiced martial arts for nearly twenty years.

William Carter compared himself and felt that killing Robert Harris wasn’t that difficult, thanks to the Daoist Natural Arts. Even after only mastering the second level, his internal energy was already enough for him to unleash Divine Shadow Kick and Nine-Seeking Heavenly Dragon Step at will.

Cultivation really is superior.

A full half an hour passed before David Brooks finally left.

William Carter stared at the secret manual on the table, lost in thought.

Could this manual be poisoned?

……

Spring passed and autumn came. Since David Brooks’s departure, several months had gone by. The leaves on the trees at Longqi Temple gradually turned yellow. William Carter’s days returned to normal, and the disciples were no longer curious about him. His roommate, junior brother Stephen Reed, rarely disturbed him anymore, as Stephen Reed was also deeply engrossed in martial arts and couldn’t extricate himself.

If there was any change, the biggest was that William Carter could now openly practice during the day. His internal energy kept increasing, and he had begun to grasp the basics of Vajra Roar, though he hadn’t started training Qi Finger yet.

He wanted to fully master Vajra Roar before moving on to Qi Finger.

David Brooks hadn’t visited again, and after the murder, Reverend Mason hadn’t met with William Carter alone either.

On this day—

William Carter finally reached the third level of Daoist Natural Arts, with his senses greatly enhanced. He could even hear the buzzing of insects a hundred yards away, and the breathing of other disciples was crystal clear. The sensation was incredibly strange.

His internal energy hadn’t increased, but he could clearly feel it subtly changing—perhaps beginning to transform into spiritual power.

Several hours later, he went to the courtyard. The disciples hadn’t returned yet and were still listening to teachings in the Dao Hall, so he began practicing Vajra Roar.

To train Vajra Roar, there was no need to shout at the top of one’s lungs—just to open up the hidden meridians in the throat. When his internal energy resonated, he could judge the power of his roar. In the past, those hidden meridians were hard to activate, but after his breakthrough, the process of channeling energy into them became smooth and painless.

William Carter was delighted. As expected, cultivation methods are the foundation. Most of his time in the future would still need to be spent on them.

At dusk, Stephen Reed returned to the room.

“Senior brother, second senior brother plans to take fifteen disciples down the mountain for training. He asked me to see if you’d like to join?” Stephen Reed asked excitedly.

Most of these disciples were orphans, and each training trip would bring back a new batch of disciples.

Since coming up the mountain, Stephen Reed had never gone down before and was curious about everything below. Guests had said that a golden age was coming and that war could no longer be seen in the human world.

William Carter shook his head. “I’ll pass.”

Stephen Reed tried to persuade him a few more times, but he still refused, so Stephen Reed had to give up.

Go down the mountain?

Impossible!

Unless his martial strength was unmatched in the world, William Carter would never go down. Longqi Temple was right in the capital, and those powerful figures watching him were surely still keeping an eye on him.

After all, if his identity were exposed, he’d be beheaded. If the true dragon emperor was enraged, even the highest officials would be brought down.

Over the years, the emperor had purged factions, and countless founding officials had died.

The next morning, second senior brother Charles Foster led a group of disciples down the mountain, including Stephen Reed. William Carter didn’t go to see them off, but instead practiced in front of the Dao Bell Tower, facing the blazing sun.

It wasn’t until nightfall that William Carter was about to get up.

[In the twelfth year of Kaiyuan, a spy persuaded second senior brother to try to lure you down the mountain. You refused, thus avoiding an assassination attempt and received a survival reward—miscellaneous skill ‘Alchemy’.]

Seeing this prompt, William Carter froze, nearly blurting out a curse.

A spy?

There’s a spy in Longqi Temple?

First, rule out second senior brother Charles Foster. When he was two, he was almost killed by Eldest Senior Brother during martial arts practice, and it was Charles Foster who saved him. Besides, this time Charles Foster was the one being persuaded.

Wait!

Could it be Eldest Senior Brother?

That incident at age two wasn’t an accident, but intentional?

William Carter began to recall who usually looked at him strangely, who might be suspicious—even Stephen Reed became a suspect in his mind.

He thought for a long time but still couldn’t figure it out.

But one thing was certain: going down the mountain was dangerous, and as long as Reverend Mason was still at the temple, the traitor wouldn’t dare act recklessly.