Gerald’s train of thought was cut short when he heard a knock on his office door. Shortly after, Aiden entered before saying, “Brother Gerald! I’ve received a call stating that Professor Boyle is back. He’s currently at his manor, Fresh Cottage!” “Oh? Bring me to him!” It was around noon when the duo arrived at Fresh Cottage. Even from afar, they could already see all sorts of plants and even artificial mountains within the manor’s grounds. Each plant seemed to have its own special spot, and if they could see things from an aerial view, the duo would surely be able to tell that everything was arranged to look like an eight diagram… “As you’ve probably guessed by now, Professor Boyle is different from the other experts of the topic,” said Aiden. Chuckling in response, Gerald simply replied, “He’s definitely one of the more experienced ones, that’s for sure.” Though Gerald didn’t say it, he had already figured out that Professor Boyle had arranged his garden in the shape of a f

“What?” replied the astonished Professor Boyle as he stared wide-eyed at Gerald. “What cr*p are you even spewing? My grandfather simply has tuberculosis! It only relapses when he’s tired, so stop trying to scare us! Just leave already!” retorted the annoyed woman. “Stop it, Harmoni!” growled Professor Boyle as he slowly got to his feet before looking at Gerald with genuine surprise. “…To think you’d be able to see through my condition that easily, Mr. Crawford… In such detail too…! You must be a hidden master!” declared the professor, leaving Harmoni completely dumbfounded. Before she could say another word, the professor added, “True enough, I began learning breathing techniques when I was forty, and my stamina greatly increased soon after. On one of my following explorations, I headed into a primitive forest in search of exotic plants… However, I ended up getting seriously injured by a huge python! Despite having broken four ribs at the time, a colleague of mine risked his li

“But… the holy stones are still with the Morningstars… In fact, I believe they’re hoarding all the holy stones within the nation! Come to think of it, I remember members of their family using a more advanced breathing technique compared to my father… Is that why they need all those stones?” asked Fayvel. “Doubt it. They wouldn’t need that many just to cultivate. Now that I know the scale of their hoarding, however, I believe they may be preparing them for another party that’s been backing them up! That aside, you don’t need to worry. All you’ll need to do after this is follow Aiden to their manor and show them what I’m about to give you. They’ll surely be more compliant to hand you some holy stones by that point. Aiden will be needing some of the stones for his cultivation as well,” replied Gerald. “Sounds like a plan! Though… What exactly are we bringing with us…?” asked Aiden. Looking at how curious they all were, Gerald simply walked toward the hall and took out a piece of pap

While he wasn’t about to say no to freedom, there was something else on his mind. For one, the fact that these seven mortals had come down here without permission—from the Thunder Sword Sect—was already punishable by death. With that in mind, if they were willing to risk their lives just to momentarily release him, that had to mean that the enemy was exceedingly strong! “…Is he really that strong?” asked the old man. “He is, and despite being so young, he’s probably stronger than the three elders of the Thunder Sword Sect! We know since even after so many years of cultivating, all seven of us weren’t even able to block a single attack from him…!” replied Jaxen as he began explaining about Gerald and his sons’ deaths… Naturally, this left the old man surprised as he thought, ‘…To think that the outside world has changed so much after being imprisoned here for just a few decades… For that boy to be this powerful, he must be a true cultivator from the cultivation realm like me!’ I

“Hah! What you’re about to do to me? To think that you’re already this arrogant when you’ve just started cultivating your inner strength! Look, while you may think that your cultivating technique is superior, in my eyes, that Zeman technique is just something off the rack!” scoffed Lyndon as he laughed bitterly while shaking his head. “You’re courting death!” roared Aiden and Leo simultaneously as they pounced toward him! To their shock, Lyndon simply waved his hand… which sent a strong wave of essential qi flying out! The two weren’t his match at all! Watching as they got tossed into the air before crashing on the ground and spurting out blood, Lyndon then replied, “Save it. You’re lucky that I don’t kill innocents. Otherwise, you’d be dead by now!” Before the duo could reply, all three of them suddenly heard a voice saying, “Oh, you two are here? If you’re free, do get some water for me! I’d like to water the plants!” Though the voice wasn’t all that loud, everyone seemed t