My jaw clenched as I walked away from Caleb Thorne's hotel room. The sting of his dismissal still burned, but beneath that, a fierce determination began to rise.
"So he thinks I'm just another pretender," I muttered to myself, striding through the hotel lobby. "A man riding on the Ashworth family's coattails."
The lobby was busy with morning activities—hotel staff attending to wealthy guests, martial artists gathering in small groups, discussing recent tournaments. None of them paid me any attention as I exited onto the bustling street.
Outside, I leaned against a marble pillar and pulled out the recipe Caleb had given me. I studied it again, looking for what I might have missed. The supposed formula for the Nine Transformation Pill seemed straightforward enough, but now I understood why Caleb had sneered.
My father's jade pendant warmed against my chest, almost in response to my thoughts. I closed my eyes, drawing on the ancient knowledge stored within it.
