Once the elders had taken the cultivation methods away, Li Tiangang escorted everyone out of the courtyard. Then he returned to the study and picked up the interrogation report he had left half-read.
This was his second time reading it. He only wanted to check whether anything had been overlooked.
Before long, he finished his second read.
Li Tiangang fell silent. Standing where he was, he gazed at a training ground in the courtyard.
A Dragon Tendon Grass Target stood there, but it was already ragged and covered in snow.
Thwack!
An arrow suddenly struck the center of the Dragon Tendon Grass Target, its tail quivering gently.
"How was that? I told you I could hit it!"
The child jumped up and down, shouting excitedly.
"Haha, not bad. With a little more practice, you'll surpass Second Brother at your age." A tall, straight-backed youth with a sword at his waist spoke with a smile.
"He already has. Seventh Brother's talent for archery is greater than mine."
Another young man beside him, with a long, lean face, smiled and reached out to pat the delighted child's head.
"Oh, come on. You blew apart that Great Demon's head with one arrow from thirty miles away. The whole army saw it." Admiration shone in the sword-bearing youth's eyes.
The long-faced young man smiled without answering, then said to the child, "Last time, you said you wanted a fine saber of your own. Look, what's this?"
He brought his hand out from behind his back, revealing a curved saber the length of a dagger.
The child's eyes lit up as he took it in delighted surprise. "Second Brother, did you buy this?"
"Second Brother hunted a great flood dragon, took its fangs and scales, and had someone forge it for you," the sword-bearing youth