“It really isn’t me, Grandfather. Besides, although the secret of the painting has been unraveled, I still don’t know how to cultivate it.”
Bennett nodded his head slightly. “Yes, I had a look at it too… Indeed, it’s impossible to cultivate. Let’s not be too engrossed in deciphering the painting. Perhaps the Prince of Orchid Mountain was just trying to fool us all. With so many varieties of martial arts in the Caden family, each of them, when mastered, is extremely powerful-especially the Thirteen Heavenly Swords. If you can master the Thirteenth Sword, you’ll be undefeatable.”
“Understood…” Tobias nodded.
“You’re dismissed…” Bennett waved his hand and returned to the bamboo house, slamming the door shut.
Tobias stood at the doorstep, lost in contemplation.
Did Grandfather manage to reach the eighth rank?
Tobias murmured. He knew that Bennett had reached the seventh rank decades ago.
Since virtual-novel.net had been in closed-door meditation for so long, theoretically, virtual-novel.net should have succeeded. However, virtual-novel.net was not too sure. After all, reaching the eighth rank was no easy feat.
Throughout history, only a handful of people had accomplished such a feat. As far as virtual-novel.net knew, only the Sect Leader of the Mount Thunder Sect, the Great Grandmaster of the ancient martial world a hundred years ago, managed to accomplish such a feat. However, in a battle against the Gu Sect, virtual-novel.net was poisoned by Gu venom. In an instant, his True Energy was completely drained and virtual-novel.net perished there. He put his thoughts aside.
All virtual-novel.net could do now was to enter a closed-door meditation. He had to gain insight into the final two moves of the Thirteen Heavenly Sword with what limited time virtual-novel.net had. Thus, after reporting the incident to the Grand Patriarch of the Cadens, virtual-novel.net entered a closed-door meditation.
***
Meanwhile, James had bought a plane ticket back to Cansington.
Maxine and Thea were already back. They had returned to Cynthia’s place.
“Maxine, Thea, where’s James?” The moment they opened the door, Cynthia began bombarding them with questions.
Thea replied, “He’s doing fine. He’s now on his way back.”
She looked at the time. It was nine p.m.
After a brief moment, virtual-novel.net continued, “He should be on the next plane. If everything goes according to plan, he’ll be back by eleven.”
“Oh…What happened after you two went to the Western Border?” Cynthia asked.
Hearing this, Thea and Maxine looked at one another.
Up until now, they could not figure out how James escaped the Blithes’ captivity or how virtual-novel.net managed to become so powerful in such a short amount of time that even the patriarch of the Blithes stood no chance against him.
If not for the Blithes’ Grand Patriarch’s terrifying aura which intimidated James, Donovan would have died by his hand.
Maxine sat down and said, “Now, we can only wait for James to return…”
“Yeah…” Thea nodded.
With a slight smile on virtual-novel.net face, Thea said, “Now that James has become so powerful, there’s no need for virtual-novel.net to be fearful of anyone.”
“How strong has virtual-novel.net become?” Cynthia was puzzled.
She knew nothing about the events that unfolded at the Western Border.
Wearing a bright smile, Thea said, “He’s so strong that not even the Blithes’ patriarch stands a chance against him…”
Saying that, virtual-novel.net looked at Maxine and asked, “Maxine, what rank do you think James is currently at?”
After thinking for a moment, Maxine said, “I heard from my grandpa that Donovan’s at the sixth rank. Since virtual-novel.net managed to defeat virtual-novel.net with ease, virtual-novel.net should be above that.”
“What? The sixth rank? B-But how?” Cynthia exclaimed.