Henry Foster was taken aback for a moment. Of course he wanted to cultivate—this was the second most important thing in his life.

　　But he still shook his head and said, “I’m not going with you to be a servant!”

　　The Old Woman in Black shook her head and said, “Young Master Jia has already withdrawn his order, so even if you wanted to go, you couldn’t. But if you’re willing to cultivate, I can point you in the right direction. Back in the day, I was born into the Hu family of Lingnan in Anzhou, so I know a fair bit about the cultivation sects here, and I still have some old acquaintances around. If you’re willing to cultivate your mind and character and embark on the path of cultivation, I can recommend you to an immortal sect!”

　　“Join an immortal sect?”

　　Henry Foster was startled when he heard this.

　　He was someone who listened to Walter Redman tell stories of immortals every day, so he was no stranger to the immortal sects. He knew that all the heroes in those stories came from the immortal sects. You could say that the so-called immortal sects were like schools for cultivators!

　　In his eyes, those immortal sects were lofty and untouchable. He’d heard that even the son of the lord of Bluestone City had to go through all sorts of tests and offer up who knows how much gold and jewels just to get in. How could a place like that be so easy to enter?

　　Was this old woman just bragging?

　　She was just a servant—how could she have such influence?

　　The Old Woman in Black had no idea that Henry Foster, at such a young age, could have such complicated thoughts. She just thought he was stunned, so she nodded and said, “Anzhou may be a small place, but it’s blessed with good fortune and has produced a few hidden dragons. There’s a Mount Taibai here, and I once met its master. He’s quite a good one. If you can become his disciple, you’ll be able to learn some real skills!”

　　“I accept!”

　　Henry Foster agreed without hesitation.

　　He hadn’t really decided whether he wanted to go or not, but with this opportunity, of course he’d take it first.

　　Once he had it, he could choose to go or not. If he didn’t accept, he’d have no choice at all.

　　Seeing how readily Henry Foster agreed, The Old Woman in Black was a bit surprised, but she didn’t say much. She just handed the letter in her hand to Henry Foster and said, “If you make up your mind, take this letter to Mount Taibai. Just say that Granny Hu Xiu of the Lingnan Hu family recommended you. I think the master of Mount Taibai will give me some face and allow you to enter and learn a few things. But the path of cultivation is long and full of hardships. All I can do is recommend you; the rest is up to you!”

　　“I understand! I understand!”

　　Henry Foster agreed at once. He’d heard The Old Woman in Black say these things dozens of times a day at Walter Redman’s place—he was more than used to it.

　　Especially the phrase “the path of cultivation is long and full of hardships”—those twelve words were like an opening line, meant to sound impressive but ultimately useless.

　　Outside, in the manor, a beautiful and spacious magic boat had already descended from the sky. Henry Foster said his goodbyes to The Old Woman in Black and Little Carp, then watched as the little girl carrying the rabbit cage boarded the boat, stood at the rail, and waved to him. Runes lit up one after another beneath the boat, followed by a surge of spiritual light and gathering clouds, lifting the boat straight into the air and heading east.

　　Henry Foster stood in the manor, only looking around after the magic boat and the black-armored guards had disappeared from sight.

　　The scenery around him was unchanged, but those flying immortals and the magnificent magic boat felt like a dream. For someone who had grown up in Niutou Village for over a decade, who’d heard stories of immortals every day but always lived an ordinary life, it all felt a bit unreal. Especially everything that had happened in the past few days—looking back, it all seemed like a strange dream…

　　Of course, there was no time to dwell on such things now. Once Henry Foster was sure everyone had left, he hurriedly slipped behind the side room, checked to make sure no one was around, quickly opened the pouch in his hand, and dumped it out onto the ground…

　　Clatter…

　　A small pile of dazzling purple crystals appeared before Henry Foster’s eyes.

　　Henry Foster was stunned, and after a while, he shouted angrily, “Where’s the silver?”

　　He’d thought there would be all sorts of gold and jewels in the pouch, but what came out was a pile of purple crystals, each about the size of a thumb, sparkling and beautiful—but how could they compare to the joy of seeing bright, shiny silver?

　　Silver could buy wine and fat chickens—what was he supposed to do with these, give them to Hongbao as a pendant?

　　“Did that bastard trick me?”

　　Henry Foster was a bit disappointed and couldn’t help muttering to himself.

　　But Henry Foster was not without knowledge. He’d heard plenty about the cultivation world from Walter Redman, so he quickly came to his senses, smacked his lips, and slowly realized, “Uncle Blind said that cultivators don’t use gold or jewels—they use things that are even more valuable, like spirit coins or spirit stones. Could it be that these are spirit stones?”

　　Thinking of this, he gradually became delighted.

　　He knew that just one of these things could be exchanged for several pieces of gold!