Immediately after, a man about his age strode over with a powerful gait, rushing toward him. Upon seeing him, he let out a sigh of relief: “Terry Director, you’re alright! I heard your shout from a kilometer away and thought you were being attacked by that clouded leopard. I rushed over as fast as I could—thank goodness nothing happened.”

Terry looked a bit embarrassed.

That shout was clearly because he’d been shaken to his core by Samuel Thompson’s punch, and, thinking disaster was imminent and facing mortal terror, he’d cried out involuntarily. Now that he thought about it, he realized he’d just scared himself.

“Director, what happened just now?”

Terry shook his head, clearly unwilling to talk about such an embarrassing incident.

But after a moment, something occurred to him, and he suddenly looked in the direction Samuel Thompson had left: “Coach Andy, that direction leads to Yaoyang City, right? If I remember correctly, you’re from Yaoyang City?”

The man named Andy nodded: “My ancestral home is indeed Yaoyang City.”

“Do you know a young man named Samuel Thompson? He looks a bit mature, but he should still be under twenty.”

“Samuel Thompson.”

Andy grinned: “Of course I know him.”

“You do?”

Terry asked in surprise, “Is this Samuel Thompson very famous in our circle?”

“He is famous, but not in our circle—rather, in another one. My son is entering high school this year and has been admitted to Yaoyang City’s best school, Yaoyang High. Because of that, I know this young man Samuel Thompson very well. He’s the top scorer in the college entrance exam for not just Yaoyang City, but our entire Keli Province. The city and Yaoyang High have really made a name for themselves because of him. Any parent with a child at Yaoyang High can’t help but have heard of him.”

“Samuel Thompson? And he’s the top scorer?”

Terry was dumbfounded.

Thinking back to the ferocity Samuel Thompson had shown in their recent fight…

And now hearing about Samuel Thompson’s supreme achievement as the province’s top scorer…

The contrast just didn’t add up.

But whether the Samuel Thompson he’d mentioned and the one Andy spoke of were the same person, he’d find out by paying a visit. Such a renowned top scorer shouldn’t be hard to find.

If it turned out that the top scorer Samuel Thompson Andy spoke of was indeed the martial arts prodigy Samuel Thompson he’d just encountered…

Then whoever went to visit him…

Would need to be someone of considerable standing.

At the very least…

They’d have to send someone from the main headquarters.

Otherwise, if they wanted him to join their martial arts school but no one could keep this young man in check, it would be quite awkward.

Chapter 9: Dark Force

On a country path outside the Rocky Mountains, Samuel Thompson walked slowly.

Though he was moving forward, his gaze was fixed on his right hand.

Compared to his left, his right hand was swollen and red, looking rather alarming. When he touched it with his left hand, it felt numb, as if the nerves were dead.

“Dark force?”

Samuel Thompson guessed.

But he wasn’t sure.

The Star God Body-Tempering Fist he practiced was completely different from the martial artist systems passed down on Blue Star, originating from another parallel universe.

In that other universe, tempering the body seemed to be a lower-level pursuit. Practitioners could use the blood of fierce beasts to quickly bypass the stage of accumulating vital energy and blood. The real difficulty lay in the lack of mental refinement, being unable to break through the void with willpower and fist intent to glimpse the Void Realm.

That’s why the Star God Body-Tempering Fist, while refining the body, placed even more emphasis on nurturing the spirit. For this reason, when he fought Terry with full force, he was able to unleash his fist intent and strike fear into the heart.

“In this universe… I’ve never heard of the Void Realm, and there’s no information about it in my memory… Maybe it doesn’t exist…”

Samuel Thompson looked at his right hand…

Without the Void Realm, the Star God Body-Tempering Fist might not be the most suitable martial art for him now.

He needed to learn about the martial arts traditions on Blue Star.

Samuel Thompson walked along the country path. By the time he left the mountains, night had already fallen. There were no more buses back to Yaoyang City from the town, and this small town was still thirty or forty kilometers from the city center.

Spending forty, he found a simple guesthouse, put down his luggage, washed up, and, since it was still early, headed to a clinic he’d seen when entering the town.

This clinic wasn’t on the main street but in a small alley, not really a storefront but more like a private residence, just with a clinic sign hanging outside.

Samuel Thompson smelled the scent of Chinese medicine inside. He thought that even if the clinic’s doctor wasn’t very skilled, he could at least buy some medicine to decoct himself, so he stepped inside.

Inside, a girl who looked under twenty, dressed in a youthful and stylish way, was watching entertainment news on TV. Noticing Samuel Thompson’s arrival, she didn’t get up, but just stared at him.

After a while, as if she finally recognized him, she said in surprise, “Samuel Thompson, you’re the Samuel Thompson from Class Eleven, right?”

Samuel Thompson looked at the girl. Before he could ask, the girl who had recognized him jumped up excitedly: “It’s been two months, and you’ve changed so much! If I didn’t remember you have a mole to the left of your brow, I wouldn’t have recognized you. I’m Kelly from Class Fourteen.”

“Hello.”

Samuel Thompson greeted her.