Hearing this, Silas paused slightly, caught off guard.Stand together? When it's Silas doing all the dirty work every single day, nobody's ever brought up unity or friendship then. Now that you're the one getting bullied, suddenly you want to drag me into a group fight against three newcomers?And besides — has this man lost his mind entirely? Didn't he even hear what they said? The other side was clearly just going through the motions here!"This might have something to do with the Fortune Master apprenticeship." A sudden flash of insight struck Silas.These three newcomers clearly had some kind of backing, yet they were willing to come work as apprentices at a coffin shop — because they had their eyes on that apprenticeship under a Fortune Master.A Fortune Master with access to the Violet Garden, even just as an apprentice, likely came with plenty of hidden benefits attached.Back in the coffin shop, Garrick had a lot of harsh words to say, but once he'd finally vented, he quietly

Even though the Violet Garden is firmly under the Fortune Masters' control, it's still technically Prince Ansel's own property. On the day of the great recruitment, people from Prince Ansel's own household will absolutely show up. If you perform well enough, you won't even need the Fortune Masters' approval — Prince Ansel's own household can simply grant you entry to the Garden with a single word."Ambrose spoke at length, but this left Silas genuinely troubled.After the incident where those three tried to hurt him, he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself.But if he wasn't impressive enough, there was no guarantee he'd get into the Violet Garden at all."There's still time left. Once I've fully mastered the Farsight Qi Technique, I'll be able to engrave the White Goose array single-handed." Silas thought to himself.On the third day after Garrick's incident, Linnea and the other two returned to the coffin shop, settling into the old wooden chair to chat as usual, acting

The second round required actually comprehending the Purpuregold Rivers and Mountains Scripture directly!This was the supreme fortune scripture of the Grand Xia Dynasty — even something as basic as its White Goose chapter was extraordinarily precious, something only a proper Tomb-Guarding Fortune Master was normally permitted to study."Within two sticks of incense time, comprehend as much as you can, and engrave whatever you manage to grasp directly onto the coffin." A Fortune Master called out."Not too difficult, honestly. If it weren't for this competition, I'd probably already be working on my own original luck array by now." Silas opened the book, nodding a little.Time passed, and before long, the two sticks of incense had burned down.Silas secured one of the limited spots, taking a proud second place overall.He marveled privately that Ansel City truly held hidden talent everywhere — someone with even greater formation skill than his own.Honestly, had he known the full trut

At this, Linnea lowered her voice further. "I heard the unmatched powerhouse stationed in the Violet Garden is actually here specifically to protect a near-sage-level master within the Garden. Rumor has it that master is on the verge of becoming a True Dragon-rank Fortune Master.""But all of that's a long way off from where we stand right now — oh, look, we've already arrived at Teacher Barnaby's courtyard."As she spoke, Linnea seemed to suddenly realize they'd already arrived at Barnaby Thatcher's residence, a faint flicker of disappointment crossing her eyes.Barnaby sat on a stone table in the courtyard, eyes closed, deep in meditation.Standing behind him was a handsome young man — this man's own attendant."Master Barnaby!" Silas approached Barnaby and gave a respectful nod.Barnaby nodded slightly, opened his eyes, looked over the apprentices gathered in his courtyard, then rose and said:"Now that everyone's here, let me briefly explain how things will work between us going f

Yet three months later, more apprentices graduated one after another, and Silas still wasn't among them."Could it be that this one was assigned by default too, not because of any real talent?""Very possible. Probably an apprentice with plenty of strings pulled behind the scenes — not even as skilled as the rest of us."Everyone began speculating, gradually convinced that Silas must have gotten in through connections, same as the others.And with plenty of padding behind that arrangement, too."Has his true colors finally shown?" Barnaby too felt puzzled, glancing at Silas — who sat with his eyes closed, deep in contemplation of the Dao within his own courtyard — and murmured this softly to himself."Don't worry about what other people think of you — I still believe in you. But I'm about to graduate soon myself. You need to hurry up." Linnea, holding true to her role as a patient, understanding guide, refused to judge him purely on talent or strength.[Burial successful!Gain mid-sta