Ch 8 - The Truth

Before long, two boys awkwardly emerged from the crowd. They were good friends of Cairo,

and their status in the Alexei family was also comparatively low. They approached Cairo and

carried him away while he was groaning in pain. Fearing that Billy might also attack them,

they kept looking behind their backs.

Billy pursed his mouth sourly when he caught their cautious gazes.

When they were certain that Billy wouldn't charge at them using the Ass Breaking Finger

Skill, they both held Cairo tightly and ran away as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, at the Alexei family Medical Center, a hairless old man watched Cairo in shock and

exclaimed, "Their training is becoming increasingly intense and serious. They're even using the

Ass Breaking Finger technique now."

One of the two boys, who still had the cold creeps, asked, "Elder Alexei, Cairo's condition..."

Elder Alexei waved his hand with a shrug and said, "He's going to be okay. He only sustained

minor injuries, so he'll be fine after a week of bed rest."

The two boys sighed with relief. Billy had seemingly held a sense of rectitude when he

attacked.

By the time both boys arrived at the training ground, practice time was almost over. Everyone

started leaving, one after the other. Billy also couldn't wait any longer to wash his hands, so

he left immediately to clean his fingers.

...

Meanwhile, in the large hall of the Alexei family, a frail old man was seated high in a corner, and

his exposed hands were extremely dry.

Instructor Lester faced him with the utmost respect. Being the Alexei family's expert, the old

man's strength reached the Human Rank Ten-star. Although his hands seemed wrinkled, they

held a large amount of power. It was effortless for him to tear up a giant beast, who was as big

as two men put together.

This old man was the Alexei family's patriarch, Hans!

Just below Hans were three figures that stood apart from each other.

The first figure was big and seemed to be in his mid-forties. He appeared to be the tallest

among the three and stood there like a bear. He was Dakota, the eldest son of Hans and

Billy's uncle. He was at the peak of the Human Rank Nine-star.

The second figure was the shortest of the three, and he was in his forties as well. However, his

body was exceedingly slender, and he looked like a pole. Instructor Lester was even more

fearful of this figure. He was Hans's second son and Billy's second uncle, Henry.

Henry practiced thief-like movement of combat Methods, and his speed was exceptionally fast.

Meanwhile, Instructor Lester trained straightforward and backbreaking exercises, so he loathed

and dreaded warriors like Henry the most.

This was also why Dakota's base was undoubtedly stronger than that of Henry. But despite that,

Instructor Lester was more afraid of Henry.

The third figure appeared to be a normal person with an ordinary face. No one would think that

he was somebody special in a sea of faces. But just as he opened his eyes a little, a bright light

shone upon them from time to time, revealing that this person was extraordinary. He was none

other than Hank, Hans's third son, and Billy's third uncle.

Dakota, Henry, and Hank had training bases at the Late Human Rank Nine-star, Mid Human

Rank Nine-star, and Early Human Rank Nine-star, respectively.

Hans's face was very excited at that point. "Lester, are you telling the truth? Can Billy really

cultivate his Internal Strength?"

Instructor Lester said at once, "This is absolutely true. I've already looked into it myself. The

Internal Strength in Billy's body is tantamount to the Internal Strength that Fifth-grade

Aptitude cultivators have produced in a week."

Hans looked incredulous. "How could this happen? Even if Billy has a fourth-level Aptitude,

how can his Internal Strength be equal to what you're saying? I don't believe it. Even a grade

one or two talent won't have a case like that. Could Billy's talent possibly be at the

Medium-class?"

Speaking of which, Hans first nodded. "Billy's aptitude was assessed by the Alexei family,

and I've also evaluated it more than once. He is indeed a Lower-class Fourth-level Aptitude

cultivator, but..."

Dakota went on to say, "Could it be that this child cultivated his Internal Strength a few days in

advance, but only kept it to himself?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's attention was directed to Instructor Lester.

Beads of sweat stood out on Instructor Lester's forehead, but he didn't dare to wipe them away.

Being closely watched by three cultivators with Human Rank Nine-star and one with Human

Rank Ten-star put a great deal of pressure on him.

The gap between Hans and a Four-star Human rank cultivator was far too wide.

Instructor Lester replied firmly, "Billy probably cultivated his Internal Strength last night. I

knew for certain that he was just an ordinary person yesterday during training. And today, when

I asked him, Billy admitted it."

"If that's true, then why?" Hank asked with a puzzled expression.

Hans thought for a moment and said, "Even though I don't know why it's definitely a good thing."

Having said so, Hans smiled bitterly. "You also know the current situation of your fourth brother.

It's not that I don't care about our father-son relationship, but he's caused too many problems.

Someone needs to handle this matter to divert the attention away from us. Otherwise, our

family's solidarity will be drastically curtailed. Since your fourth brother is involved in this case,

he will naturally have to take responsibility, and he has signified his consent."

"The incident from ten years ago caused considerable damage to our Alexei family's power. We

originally expected to become the number one family in River City, but it has been dragging on

for more than a decade already. It's only now that we've reclaimed much of our strength, and

we're strong enough to fight the other two families: the Lazarus family and the Nikolai family."

"I didn't expect many family members to be dissatisfied with our Fourth Brother. Consequently,

Billy didn't have any playmates since he was a child. Even Kane was very disappointed

with him."

Speaking of this, Hank looked contrite. "It's because the child wasn't properly disciplined."

Dakota and Henry also expressed their bitterness. It was also the case for their own children,

which made them feel more ashamed of their fourth brother.

Even though the fourth child made such a mistake, he was still their sibling.

Had it not been for their love for their fourth brother, Dimitri, he wouldn't have developed such a

cowardly and stubborn character. Whenever they thought about it, they felt unsettled and even

felt guilty for making his character to be that way.

Eventually, the Alexei family had little time to rise. From Hans's generation until today, it was

only a few decades ago. Not that there were no fights in the family, but compared to other

families that had been around for thousands of years, these fights were nothing.

As a result, Dakota's relationship with his brothers couldn't be considered without a trace of

conflict, but it was also true.

Hans saw the three brothers' reactions and waved his hand. "You can't blame any of this on

yourself. If you force Kane, he's more likely to do the opposite. But it's okay now, especially that

Billy has already cultivated his Internal Strength. With his Fourth-level Aptitude, he can

outperform us in the future. If we let him contribute to our family, those mistakes that Fourth

Brother made won't be an issue anymore. By then, he will no longer have to suffer."

Dakota nodded. "Father has a point. Speaking of which, it's been over a decade since I last had

a meal with him. Although he has a soft personality, he blamed himself for causing a massive

loss to the family. He even refused to concede on that issue."

"Originally, I allowed the servants to stir trouble for the fourth child, as I hope he can get rid of

this cowardly temperament. But now, because of self-blame, not only is he unscrupulous, but he

has become more tolerant. I just hope Billy can put a stop to this." At that moment, Dakota

shook his head, somewhat depressed.

Suddenly, Hank chuckled. "My nephew is nothing like the fourth brother. He's been pretty

assertive since he was a kid. In my opinion, Billy was only able to work secretly without his

Internal Strength in the past. Now that he has gained some power, he will no longer be capable

of tolerating it."

Dakota and Henry were astonished to hear this and fell into deep thought.

Meantime, Instructor Lester was also baffled, and he immediately thought of the training ground.

Many people had planned to spar with Billy to bully him in the end. But in the end, those

people had a change of heart. Thinking about it now, it was indeed a little strange.

...

Inside Billy's room.

For him to successfully attain the Nine Flames And Strange Fire Art First Layer, Billy had

put a lot of energy into it during this period. Before he knew it, seven days passed.

On this day, Billy felt that his training had reached an impediment, so he endured it. He

couldn't help but feel happy. "This is great! After seven days of continuous practice, I've finally

reached my limit! It seems like in another two or three days, I'll successfully reach the First

Layer. Afterward, I'll be able to produce mortal fire in my energy center!

Although the Nine Flames And Strange Fire Art's mortal fire doesn't belong to the Nine Flame's

Exotic Flame, it's incomparable to other people's mortal fire. According to the information on the

Nine Flames And Strange Fire Art, it should be a few times stronger than the others.

Also, this past week has increased my Internal Strength's base by a lot!"