James Bolton left, and the outer sect disciples in the square immediately began to discuss animatedly, their gazes occasionally darting over to Edward Grant.

“We’re leaving!” Edward Grant paid no attention to the disciples’ chatter and patted John Harris on the shoulder.

John Harris followed behind Edward Grant out of the square and said, “Senior Brother James Bolton is really impressive. Just seeing him just now, I felt like I couldn’t breathe, as if a huge mountain was pressing down on me.”

Just now, John Harris had been standing right next to Edward Grant, and the pressure from James Bolton’s aura surged entirely toward Edward Grant, which greatly affected John Harris.

Edward Grant said, “Keep your mind as clear as a mirror and stay true to yourself. If your mind is influenced by external things, it won’t benefit your cultivation.”

John Harris seemed to understand a bit and said, “Oh, I’ll remember that. Senior Brother Carter, the 10,000 taels of silver I won from Senior Brother George Clark—let’s split it evenly, 5,000 taels each.”

As he spoke, John Harris took out the silver notes from his chest.

“No need!”

Edward Grant waved his hand and said, “These past few days, I’ve broken through two levels in a row, and the sect has rewarded me with plenty of pills. For now, I’m not lacking in them.”

Each time one’s cultivation advances a level, the sect rewards ten pills accordingly. Edward Grant’s cultivation had risen from Martial Path Level Four to Level Six, earning him twenty ‘Superior Body-Tempering Pills’ as a reward—enough for at least two months of cultivation without lacking pills.

Previously, Edward Grant’s slow progress in cultivation was largely due to a lack of pills. The Carter family had just established itself in North Mo City, and their business was only in its early stages, so there wasn’t much extra silver to support the younger generation’s cultivation.

Edward Grant’s status was special, and the family provided him with double the cultivation funds compared to Samuel Carter, but even so, he couldn’t always have pills for daily cultivation. It wasn’t until this year, as the Carter family’s business gradually expanded and they earned more silver, that things improved. Now, Edward Grant’s monthly cultivation allowance was 5,000 taels of silver, calculated based on his Martial Path Level Four cultivation. With the pills provided by the sect, it was enough for a month’s cultivation.

His breakthrough to Martial Path Level Six had only happened in the past few days, and the Carter family, far away in North Mo County thousands of miles away, didn’t know yet. Otherwise, his monthly cultivation allowance would increase again.

Seeing that Edward Grant didn’t want it, John Harris scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Senior Brother Carter, this 10,000 taels of silver was won back because you defeated Senior Brother Cooper. If you don’t want it, how can I accept it?”

Edward Grant said, “You placed the bet, so the winnings are naturally yours. If you feel bad about it, then in the future, if I’m not around and Samuel Carter is short on pills for cultivation, lend him some first. I’ll pay you back when I return.”

“Oh… okay!”

John Harris nodded and put the silver notes back into his chest. Suddenly, he was startled and asked, “Senior Brother Carter, are you going somewhere?”

Edward Grant couldn’t help but smile and said, “Not for now. When I reach Martial Path Level Seven, I’ll be heading out for training.”

After Martial Path Level Seven, the body has already gradually tempered the skin, flesh, muscles, bones, and internal organs. The next step is to refine the bone marrow and vital energy, which requires two types of pills: Marrow-Cleansing Pills and Qi-Consolidating Pills.

Marrow-Cleansing Pills and Qi-Consolidating Pills are much more valuable than Body-Tempering Pills. Even the lowest grade of Marrow-Cleansing or Qi-Consolidating Pills costs 3,000 taels of silver each, suitable for Martial Path Level Seven and Eight cultivators.

The mid-grade ones cost 6,000 taels each, suitable for Martial Path Level Nine cultivators. The top-grade ones cost 9,000 taels each, suitable for Martial Path Level Ten cultivators.

Once you reach Martial Path Level Seven, the money needed for cultivation increases dramatically—at least 60,000 taels of silver per month.

If you don’t use pills for cultivation, your progress will slow by at least five or six times, and for those with average talent, even ten times slower.

As the saying goes, “Poor scholars, rich martial artists”—and this “rich” is by no means ordinary wealth. For a martial artist to reach the Innate Realm, the silver consumed is at least several million taels.

For those with average talent, even with pills, it can take a very long time to reach the Innate Realm—possibly requiring tens of millions of taels.

Edward Grant and John Harris returned to their residence, where someone was already waiting for them inside.

In the room, besides the injured Samuel Carter, there was also a young man about eighteen or nineteen years old.

“Junior Brother David Carter, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” As soon as Edward Grant entered, the young man’s gaze fell on him, his tone carrying a hint of condescension.

Edward Grant frowned. This sentence reminded him of Robert Cooper’s voice. The man in the room looked much friendlier than Robert Cooper, but that condescending tone was exactly the same.

“Senior brother, you are…?” Edward Grant’s gaze showed a questioning look.

This young man before him actually had Martial Path Level Nine cultivation, his strength far surpassing Edward Grant. Edward Grant had always kept a low profile and focused on cultivation, rarely interacting with others. Aside from the disciples of the Cooper, Bolton, and Miller families in North Mo County, he didn’t even know the prominent figures among the outer sect disciples.

Of course, there was one exception. There was one person among the outer sect disciples who was known by everyone—even the newest disciples would hear about him in the shortest time.

Of course, almost no one knew his name. Rumor had it his surname was Walker, but whenever any outer sect disciple mentioned him, they all called him “the pervert.”