Another day in the morning, Ray thought he would be learning formations right after getting up and would be able to help people get used to the idea of the internet. But the first thing he was told to do was get freshened up by Aunt Mary. She is the maid who takes care of Ray's needs if Diana is not around.
Aunt Mary then told him it was time for sword practice. Every single time, Ray wanted to escape sword training. But Mary had been strictly told that Ray must not miss his sword training under any circumstances.
Ray could only get up from bed and freshen up by brushing his teeth and washing his face. Then he was forced to change clothes by Aunt Mary. She always tried to change his clothes for him, and Ray would argue back, saying he could do it himself. But clearly, Ray would lose this battle every single time.
Aunt Mary had become more used to Ray and knew he was more open around her. She noticed there were only a few people in Ray's life he chose to speak to, and she was one of them. She could joke with him, scold him, or tease him—but only in private, since Ray warned her that she'd be scolded if she did it in public.
Aunt Mary then took Ray to the training ground—or more like dragged him by the hand, as he hated training like crazy. But Ray was so good at swordsmanship that it irritated not only Robert but also his sword master. Ken believed Ray had great talent in it. But Ray seemed to have a different dream. He wanted to become a formation master for his own reasons.
Sword Master Ken looked at Ray being dragged by his wife and chuckled. This had become a daily scene for him. Ray didn't like to work out, but when he had to, he followed instructions to the letter. And Ray's comprehension of Ken's teachings was shocking—he understood everything more easily than anyone Ken had ever seen. Robert had four trusted men under him, and Ken was one of them. He had trained countless swordsmen in Robert's army.
But he had never seen anyone like Ray. He could become someone like Robert—or even better. That's what Ken believed. When Ken told Robert that Ray had sword talent, Robert didn't believe it. But when he saw Ray's training from afar, he understood. It seemed that Ray's swordsmanship had reached a bottleneck—just one step away from sword force.
Sword force was something typically attained only after years of training. But Ray, only six years old, was that close. Recently, Ken had started teaching Ray how to escape using a sword. It seemed that after the incident in the king's palace, Ken realized he had only been teaching Ray how to fight—not how to retreat. So he now focused on a variety of training. Currently, Ken was attacking, and Ray was dodging. But then they stopped as footsteps echoed from the corridor.
This was Ray's personal training ground, yet someone was interrupting their session. They saw it was the 9th and 11th children of Robert—both children of Roxane. The 9th child was the fourth daughter, and the 11th child was her fifth son. They were accompanied by swordsman Paul, also one of Robert's four trusted men.
Seeing them arrive could only mean one thing—the siblings had come to stir up trouble. Ray looked at them and said, "What brings you here, Senior Sister Anne and Senior Brother Reggie?"
Anne was 12 years old, while Reggie was 10. It was swordsman Paul who stepped forward and apologized to Ken, saying, "It was me who told them that Ray is great with swords, and they didn't believe me. They want to challenge Ray to see how much truth there is in my words."
Hearing that, Ken smiled and nodded. "Sibling rivalry is good. Both of them can learn from each other. Ray has only fought me. He needs to face different styles and techniques. Good—this is good training."
Ken clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and said, "Ray, they've come to challenge you, and you're going to accept." Before Ray could object, Ken had already decided. Because if Ray were given the choice, he would start making excuses and run away. Forget challenges—he didn't even want to train.
To speed things along, before Ray could speak, Reggie said something stupid: "Your mother didn't teach you any manners? You're supposed to greet us properly. You should say, 'Hello, big sister, and hello, big brother.' Your mother poorly educated you."
Ken saw something interesting—something he had never seen before. Even Aunt Mary felt a chill down her spine when she saw Ray's expression. It seemed Reggie had touched Ray's reverse scale. For the first time, Ray didn't argue with Ken or try to make excuses to avoid a fight.
Ken and Paul went with Anne to the spectator stand, where Aunt Mary was already seated. Reggie, still running his mouth, spoke again: "Yesterday, you had to hurt yourself to save the princess. How useless are you? In the end, you had to rely on your mother's help."
Ray chuckled and said, "I saw how useless you were against the Montclair family. You couldn't even get close to the princess. I don't need to mention your mother because I'm not a lowlife like you, who drags others' mothers into their own stupidity. You disgrace our family name by almost losing to the Montclairs. At least I did nothing and still brought honor by being chosen by the princess herself."
That ticked Reggie off. Without another word, he dashed at Ray, attacking furiously from left and right. But Ray easily blocked him and began to fight more aggressively. He was winning the fight. This shocked Anne and Paul—they could now see for themselves how skilled Ray really was. Now they understood why Ken and Robert always praised him. Sadly, he wasn't a cultivator yet.
That's exactly why Reggie activated his cultivation and attacked Ray with increased speed. Reggie was a 6th-stage Qi cultivator. Now Ray had to dodge every attack—because Reggie had become significantly faster. Seeing the unfair fight between a cultivator and a non-cultivator, Paul stood up, intending to stop it—but Ken stopped him.
Paul looked at Ken and asked, "Why are you stopping me?"
Ken replied, "Watch and learn, my friend. You're not seeing Ray's true potential. He's one step away from enlightenment. And this fight might just push him there."
Paul looked back at the fight and noticed something, then sat back down. Anne looked at both men, confused, then returned her gaze to the fight. She still didn't see what they were seeing. How could Ray win when he wasn't a cultivator and Reggie was already at the sixth Qi stage?
Then she noticed something. Even though Reggie was on the offensive, he hadn't managed to land a hit yet. Ray was holding on by continuously sliding back—but not in a straight line. He was moving in a circle, cleverly avoiding the wall while analyzing Reggie's weaknesses. Finally, Reggie lost his cool and used his most powerful strike. Ray managed to roll to the side, barely dodging—but he couldn't escape completely. He got a huge bruise on his left hand while rolling to the right.
He repositioned himself. When Reggie missed that last attack, he made a fatal mistake—he left his left side wide open. Ray took the opportunity and struck with his sword toward Reggie's right side. But Paul intervened just in time, stopping the blow from causing serious injury.
"You talk about my mother saving me? Look at you now—saved by someone else. You should be ashamed of losing to a non-cultivator. Never show your face to me again. Loser." Saying that, Ray turned and began to walk away.
Anne stepped forward and said, "I want a turn too. Why don't you give this sister a chance to face your sword force?"
"Sword force? What's that? I'm not a cultivator, Sister Anne. Maybe next time," Ray said, continuing to walk away. This time, Anne didn't stop him.
Reggie had an ugly expression—he had no idea what had just happened.
Ray, as he walked away, felt something stir within him—something like a breakthrough. But he wasn't sure what. Anne had mentioned something about sword force. Maybe he'd broken through in a sword-related technique. He would ask his mother to learn more.