With Sarah Parker's permission, William Harper no longer had to worry about missing out on the Tian Shi secrets and techniques in the Sutra Pavilion. Only then did he return to this aspect—so easily overlooked by others, yet the most important—and began to diligently study the foundational texts.

Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, several loud slaps on a wooden table echoed from the third floor of the Sutra Pavilion.

In the pin-drop silence of the Sutra Pavilion, those “bang bang” sounds from the third floor clearly startled many people.

William Harper was no exception. He put down the scroll of “Overview of Tian Shi” in his hand and looked up toward the third floor of the Sutra Pavilion.

On the third floor was Edward Harper. As the main figure who had taken first place in this trial, Edward Harper had not been seen coming downstairs since the first day he entered the third floor.

Edward Harper was strong and already a Two-Yi Tian Shi. Even if he stayed up there for six or seven days without eating or drinking, his body would be fine. No one found it strange that he hadn’t come down.

Creak!

The door of the small room on the fourth floor of the Sutra Pavilion, which had always been tightly closed, was gently opened. Sarah Parker, hunched over and frowning, walked out and stood at the top of the stairs leading to the third floor. She scolded toward the third-floor corridor, “Boy, what are you up to?

No noise is allowed in the Sutra Pavilion, nor any loud sounds. Didn’t your elders warn you when you came?

Don’t you know any rules at all!”

“Why isn’t there...

Why isn’t there...

Why is there nothing?”

Edward Harper walked into the corridor, his hair disheveled, eyes bloodshot, muttering in a daze. As he spoke, he kicked a round stool in front of him, sending it flying straight toward the ceiling of the Sutra Pavilion.

Sarah Parker reached out and pressed the air. The flying stool suddenly froze in midair, then slowly drifted back to its original spot.

“Insolence!”

After returning the stool to its place, Sarah Parker shouted sternly, her wrinkled left hand pointing at Edward Harper. A ripple like water, visible to the naked eye, surged straight toward Edward Harper.

Bang!

Edward Harper's sturdy body collapsed with a thud, as if bound by an invisible giant net, falling to the ground, unable to move.

“Three years ago, you were lucky and found a manual here that matched the bottleneck you faced, which allowed you to break through to the Two-Yi Tian Shi realm.

This year, you’re still pinning your hopes here, thinking you’ll be as lucky as three years ago. Now you can’t find a manual and you take it out on the Sutra Pavilion. Is this all you’re capable of, Edward Harper?”

Sarah Parker was furious.

“There are never shortcuts on the path of cultivation. If you always pin your hopes on the insights of others, you’ll never make another breakthrough!”

Sarah Parker snorted coldly, sweeping a stern gaze from above over the second and first floors, where the Ji family youths were looking up, and lectured, “All of you listen to me! The Tian Shi cultivation secrets, techniques, and the experiences of predecessors in this Sutra Pavilion are just methods. Whether you can use these methods to succeed in cultivation depends most of all on yourselves!

Don’t pin all your hopes on these cultivation secrets and techniques. Only you yourselves are the most crucial key to unlocking the treasures of your bodies!

Don’t lose sight of what’s truly important!”

To all the Ji family youths, Sarah Parker of the Sutra Pavilion was a mysterious figure. Before coming to the Sutra Pavilion, their elders had repeatedly warned them to be cautious, never to anger Sarah Parker, and to study the Tian Shi secrets properly and not cause trouble.

All signs indicated that this Sarah Parker, hidden deep within the Sutra Pavilion, held a special status in the Ji family.

With her anger, all the Ji family youths realized things were bad, cursing Edward Harper in their hearts for causing trouble—why did he have to upset her?

If she was unhappy, no one else could hope to be happy.

Bound by that strange power, Edward Harper, after being scolded so harshly, gradually regained his senses. Now, with a miserable face, he lay on the ground admitting his fault: “Mrs. Parker, I know I was wrong. I really lost my mind just now. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

“Mm.”

Sarah Parker nodded, no longer looking at Edward Harper. Frowning, she swept her gaze over all the Ji family youths on the second and first floors, then sighed softly and, in a gentler tone, said, “Since you’re all here today, I’ll say a few more words and let you know some of the Ji family’s past.”

At these words, all the Ji family youths, including William Harper, became solemn, focusing intently on Sarah Parker.

All along, the Ji family elders had rarely spoken to them about the family’s past. Occasionally, though, when the elders discussed certain matters, they would let slip a few hints.

For example, once when the current Ji family head, Samuel Harper, was drunk, he had proudly boasted about how powerful the Ji family was in its heyday. Henry Harper, George Harper, and others had also privately said that if the Ji family could regain even half its former glory, they wouldn’t have to eke out an existence in such a small place as Qingyan Mountain.

Yet, when it came to the younger generation, these elders kept their lips tightly sealed and never spoke of the Ji family’s past.

If anyone couldn’t help but ask, they would be sternly rebuked and forbidden to inquire further, as if the Ji family’s past was some great taboo.