“Junior brother, don’t say such things carelessly. If this gets to James Bolton senior brother’s ears, you’ll be in trouble. Although the Heavenly Sword Sect isn’t run by his family, James Bolton senior brother joined the sect earlier than us, knows more people, and his cultivation is much higher than ours. Some disciples who entered the sect the same year as James Bolton senior brother have even made it into the inner sect, and even those who are weaker than James Bolton senior brother have reached the seventh, eighth, or ninth level of the Martial Path. If he wants to deal with you, he doesn’t even need to do it himself, does he?”

“Thank you for your guidance, senior brother. I’ve learned my lesson. No wonder after William Bolton senior brother defeated the senior brother at the sixth level of the Martial Path, no one came to cause him trouble?”

……

The outer sect disciples below the arena were all discussing, marveling at the strength displayed by Edward Grant, while also feeling sorry for him for offending James Bolton, who was among the top tier of outer sect disciples in terms of strength.

On the arena, at William Bolton’s plea for mercy, Edward Grant stopped tossing William Bolton around like a dead dog.

“William Bolton, you insulted my cousin. This time I’m just giving you a light lesson. If there’s a next time, I’ll let you know what real pain is. Get lost…”

After speaking, Edward Grant kicked out, and William Bolton’s body immediately flew off the arena, landing more than thirty meters away on the plaza.

At the edge of the arena, Samuel Carter stared at Edward Grant in shock and delight, and only snapped out of it when Edward Grant walked up to him.

“Brother Tian, you—your meridians… your cultivation?” Samuel Carter was so excited he stuttered.

Edward Grant smiled slightly and said, “That night soaking in the Hidden Sword Pool healed all the damage in my meridians, and my cultivation improved greatly. Cousin, are you alright? Next time anyone dares to bully you, I’ll break their legs.”

“I’m fine now. I took a minor healing pill, and my wounds have started to heal. In a few days, I’ll be fully recovered.”

Samuel Carter said excitedly, “Brother Tian, did your cultivation break through to the fifth level of the Martial Path? That’s amazing! William Bolton didn’t have any power to resist you at all. It was so satisfying to watch.”

The minor healing pill is a type of pill used in the Heavenly Sword Sect to heal injuries. Every disciple is given some to prevent serious consequences from untreated wounds.

Of course, the minor healing pill is just a very ordinary healing medicine, only effective for minor injuries. For serious injuries, one needs to go to the sect’s pill hall for better medicine or seek help from an alchemist.

“Remember, don’t foolishly let others provoke you into fighting. If someone’s cultivation is a whole level above yours, don’t get on the arena and let them beat you up for free.”

Edward Grant flicked Samuel Carter’s forehead and said, “I’m going to the Martial Arts Pavilion to learn a new technique. You and John Harris go back and rest first.”

Samuel Carter was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, “Learn a new technique? Brother Tian, have you already reached the sixth level of the Martial Path?”

Martial artists only learn new techniques at the third, sixth, and tenth levels. The path of martial arts must be followed step by step. If your cultivation isn’t high enough, even if you have a top-tier technique, it’s as hard as climbing to the heavens to master it—it’s just a waste of time.

Of course, there are rare geniuses with extraordinary comprehension who can learn techniques ahead of their level, but they are few and far between.

Therefore, the Heavenly Sword Sect stipulates that outer sect disciples can only learn higher-level techniques when they reach the third, sixth, or tenth level of the Martial Path.

Edward Grant had already learned a mid-grade Yellow-rank technique, and now he was going to learn a new one, which clearly meant he had reached the sixth level of the Martial Path.

Edward Grant nodded slightly and said, “Mid-grade Yellow-rank techniques are no longer of much use to me. I need to learn a high-grade Yellow-rank technique.”

Samuel Carter gasped. In just a few days, Edward Grant’s cultivation had jumped from the fourth to the sixth level of the Martial Path?

Edward Grant’s cultivation technique was the Wild Bull Body Strengthening Art, his sword technique was the Wind-Chasing Sword Art, and he had also learned the Serpent Step movement technique and the Wild Bull Fist. All of these were mid-grade Yellow-rank techniques and martial skills.

Ever since he had that little white jade sword in his brow, Edward Grant’s progress in cultivation and martial skills had been especially fast, especially in sword techniques, where he improved by leaps and bounds.

Originally, Edward Grant had only mastered the Wind-Chasing Sword Art to the great achievement level, while the other techniques and martial skills were only at the minor achievement level. Now, not only had he brought the Wind-Chasing Sword Art to a miraculous level, but the Wild Bull Body Strengthening Art, Wild Bull Fist, and Serpent Step had all reached the great achievement level.

Having reached the sixth level of the Martial Path, to progress further, he needed to cultivate a high-grade Yellow-rank technique. Otherwise, advancing from the sixth to the seventh level with a mid-grade Yellow-rank technique would be ten times harder than with a high-grade one.

Letting John Harris support Samuel Carter back to their residence, Edward Grant went straight to the Martial Arts Pavilion.

The Martial Arts Pavilion is where the Heavenly Sword Sect stores its techniques and martial skills. Low and mid-grade Yellow-rank techniques and skills are entry-level and can be learned from the outer sect stewards. For high-grade Yellow-rank and above, one must go to the Martial Arts Pavilion.

High-grade Yellow-rank techniques offer hope of breaking through to the innate realm and are quite precious, so they are all kept in the Martial Arts Pavilion under unified management.

The Martial Arts Pavilion is quite far from the outer peaks of the Heavenly Sword Sect, built at the foot of a mountain closer to the inner peaks. It is three stories tall, each floor about ten meters high, and is very imposing.