10,000 taels of silver—this was equivalent to five times the monthly cultivation allowance provided by the family, enough to buy sixteen mid-grade Body Tempering Pills. Together with the pills distributed for free by the sect, it would be sufficient for John Harris to continuously take pills and cultivate for over two months.

“George Clark senior brother, 10,000 taels of silver, hehe...!” John Harris rubbed his hands together, his eyes narrowing into slits with laughter.

George Clark had reached the sixth level of Martial Arts, and had been in the sect for over five years. His talent was average, but his family background was significant—they were an eighth-grade family. Each month, his family provided him with 10,000 taels of silver for cultivation expenses. However, after deducting the cost of the pills needed for monthly cultivation, there wasn’t much left.

Outer sect disciples could only take on sect missions and go out to gain experience and earn money and sect merit points after reaching the seventh level of Martial Arts. Before the seventh level, the only way to make money was to instruct some wealthy new disciples in their cultivation.

Generally, only disciples at the fifth or sixth level of Martial Arts had this opportunity. After all, if your cultivation was too low, you wouldn’t be much stronger than the new disciples, and the new disciples wouldn’t be foolish enough to waste their money on random guidance.

Although he usually earned some silver by instructing new disciples, losing 10,000 taels was enough to make him suffer a huge loss, almost forcing him to stop buying pills for half a month.

George Clark felt a pang in his heart, scratched his head, and said, “Junior brother, isn’t this... isn’t this payout a bit too high?”

“What’s wrong? George Clark senior brother, you were the one who just said the odds were one to a hundred. All the senior brothers here heard it with their own ears. You’re not trying to go back on your word, are you?” John Harris couldn’t help but raise his voice a bit, retorting.

The nearby disciples at the fifth and sixth levels of Martial Arts laughed gloatingly, “George Clark junior (or senior) brother, we all heard it just now. If you try to cheat a third-level junior brother out of his silver, do you still have any shame?”

A row of black lines instantly appeared on George Clark’s forehead, but to actually hand over 10,000 taels of silver to this third-level junior brother—how could he be willing?

George Clark said, “Nonsense, how could I cheat this junior brother? Junior brother, you gave me 100 taels of silver, right? How about I return these 100 taels to you... or maybe I’ll give you 200 taels?”

Seeing the contemptuous looks from the other disciples, George Clark quickly changed his offer to 200 taels, but the looks of disdain only intensified.

Still, compared to 10,000 taels of silver, let them look down on him if they wanted. George Clark thought to himself, after all, the other party was just a third-level junior disciple—if he refused to pay, what trouble could the kid possibly cause?

“John Harris junior brother, what are you doing here? Where’s Samuel Carter?” Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind George Clark. He turned around and was startled—it was Edward Grant.

The scene of Edward Grant slashing out with his sword and sending Niu Zhigao flying off the stage was still fresh in George Clark’s mind.

“Could it be that this little junior brother is close with senior brother David Carter?” A sense of foreboding immediately welled up in George Clark’s heart.

In the Heavenly Sword Sect, the titles of senior and junior brother were not determined by age or years since joining, but by cultivation level.

Edward Grant had joined the sect later than George Clark and was two years younger, but his cultivation was higher, so he was George Clark’s senior brother.

“Senior brother David Carter... I heard there was a duel between elite disciples, so I came to watch. Senior brother Samuel Carter is injured and couldn’t come. This is senior brother George Clark, he...”

John Harris recounted how George Clark had gotten people to bet on the outcome and now owed him 10,000 taels of silver.

After listening, Edward Grant fixed his gaze on George Clark and said, “I’m very sorry, junior brother George Clark, I’ve let you down.”

Though the words were casual, his gaze was icy cold, making George Clark shiver. He quickly shook his head, “Not disappointed, not disappointed...”

Edward Grant said nothing more, just stared coldly at George Clark, making George Clark’s heart race with fear. He snapped to his senses, hurriedly fumbled in his robe, and pulled out a handful of silver notes, counting out ten of them—each a 1,000-tael note. He said, “I, George Clark, admit defeat. All my fellow brothers know I have the best gambling reputation. Junior brother, here are 10,000 taels in silver notes, please accept them!”

With that, he handed the 10,000 taels in silver notes to John Harris.

“Thank you, senior brother George Clark.” John Harris accepted them without hesitation.

Looking at the thick stack of silver notes in his hand—most were 100-tael notes, and there were only three 1,000-tael notes left—George Clark’s heart bled, but a tragic smile still hung on his bitter face. “Of course, of course!”

Seeing John Harris accept the notes, Edward Grant was about to return with him to their quarters to check on his cousin Samuel Carter, when suddenly a commotion broke out in the square.

“Senior brother James Bolton!”

“Senior brother James Bolton!”

...

...

The shouts echoed without end.

The square was packed with outer sect disciples, who all voluntarily moved aside. Even the elite outer sect disciples above the seventh level of Martial Arts were no exception.

One of the most prominent figures among the outer sect disciples, ranked in the top three—James Bolton—had appeared.

If inner sect disciples were like beings in the clouds to the outer sect, almost impossible to meet, then among the outer sect disciples, those ranked in the top ten were like dragons whose heads could be seen but not their tails—rarely glimpsed, and no one ever knew where they might be.