Lucas had not expected word of this to have reached the elderly master artificer Drake already. Somewhat embarrassed, he said, "I didn't expect you to have heard about this already."
With a reminiscent look on his face, old Master Drake began telling Lucas and the others the story of the tribe.
Long ago, a warrior named Stans obtained a fruit from the Tree of Life by chance. With that fruit, he broke through the Seventh Rank Warrior realm, which no human had ever surpassed, and reached the Eighth-level Warrior realm. Later, another chance encounter taught him of the existence of Battle Qi. Unfortunately, he did not obtain a Battle Qi cultivation method at the time.
During his later adventures, he made many friends. Among them were their ancestor Smith, who excelled at artificing, and the ancestors of the other boys. At this point, Drake continued, "Young Lucas, your ancestor Wood was a Seventh Rank Warrior second only to Stans."
"Later, they came here and built the present tribe under Stans's leadership. That little girl who likes you is a descendant of the Stans Family. Come to think of it, your father and Wilson were rivals as children. Your father's talent as a warrior was clearly greater than Wilson's back then, so Wilson could never stand him. Who would have thought that his daughter would fall for his rival's son? It's amusing just to think about!"
Hearing this, Lucas naturally understood why Windsor's father had been so openly hostile when they first met. So he had been caught in the fallout from his father! This really was a clear case of the father showing off and the son paying for it!
At this, Benny hurriedly asked, "Teacher, what about our family's story?"
Drake looked at the disciple he had picked up so easily and told him, "Your ancestor John was also a powerful Sixth-Rank Warrior back then."
Then he looked at Eric and said, "Your family came here three hundred years ago, following a daughter of the Stans Family. They say your ancestor was a scion of a great family. Later, however, he abandoned his surname and made his own name his family's surname."
Eric thanked Drake. "Thank you, sir, for telling us about the origins of our Baker Family!"
Looking at these youngsters, Drake sighed. He remembered how his elders had once admonished them when he was young, and felt that it was now his turn to take on the role those elders had once played.
He smiled at Lucas and the others and said, "I hope you won't let down the illustrious names of our forebears. Let our tribe truly establish itself in the Hemonxi Mountains!"
After hearing old Drake's words, Benny said outright, "Teacher, our boss has created Battle Qi. We'll definitely surpass our forebears!"
Before Lucas could react to Benny's remark, Eric shot Benny a cold look and snapped, "Benny, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Lucas naturally understood that Benny had a little cleverness and a slightly scheming streak when dealing with boys his own age. But he was a child, after all. Having suddenly obtained a Battle Qi cultivation method, he naturally could not contain his excitement and wanted to show off in front of his elder. He was just like Sun Wukong after learning the Seventy-Two Transformations and the Somersault Cloud. Even though Patriarch Bodhi had explicitly told him not to reveal them, he still could not resist showing off!
Besides, Lucas had never said they could not tell anyone else. Looking at it now, Eric was much steadier. He might have been somewhat proud, but as long as you won him over and shared a secret with him, he would wholeheartedly protect that shared interest.
Lucas now understood as well. It seemed that in the future, he could leave matters he could not conveniently handle himself to Eric. Although Benny had followed him the longest, he was not suited to sharing secrets with Lucas. That meant he was not suited to handling things in the shadows!
With that thought, he glanced at Benny, who looked rather embarrassed after Eric's rebuke.
He said, "All right, Eric. It's fine!" Master Drake was an old man and naturally took all of this in. Sure enough, this boy Lucas has secrets. After that foolish disciple I picked up blurted those words out, his standing in his boss Lucas's heart probably plummeted. That boy Eric is the clever and loyal one.
At this thought, Drake laughed heartily. Although he had not spent much time with his newly accepted disciple, he still intended to smooth things over for him. He waved a hand and said, "An old man like me has no interest in learning your secrets."
Lucas had, after all, lived two lives. Even though he had only been a farmer in his previous life and had rarely taken part in intrigue, he could still see what Master Drake meant. He took the Magic Crystal Core from the fourth-rank magic beast he had killed earlier out of his clothes and said to Drake, "To be honest, it's Benny's good fortune to become your disciple, Master. But we youngsters should also understand the proper formalities. This fourth-rank Magic Beast Core isn't particularly valuable. Please accept it as Benny's apprenticeship gift from me!"
Drake considered it, sighed inwardly, and accepted the gift. Lucas continued, "As for Eric and me, we'd like to learn some artificing skills. I'll trade a Battle Qi cultivation method for them."
Hearing Lucas say this, Drake realized that the Battle Qi his easily acquired disciple Benny had just mentioned was real. Drake also knew that the legends passed down by their ancestors spoke of Battle Qi cultivation methods, but their small, remote tribe had never obtained one. He asked, "Are you certain it's a Battle Qi cultivation method?"
Lucas directly channeled his Battle Qi, forming a gleam of energy at his fingertip. With one thrust of his finger, he pierced straight through a stone slab beneath his feet!
Although Drake had never seen Battle Qi, what he saw was clearly different from the physical strength used by Sixth-Rank Warriors like them. With this Battle Qi ability and his Fourth Rank Warrior physique, young Lucas could probably already fight some of the tribe's younger Fifth Rank Warriors. He agreed to the arrangement!
Watching Lucas leave with Eric and Benny behind him, Drake sighed from the bottom of his heart. "I'm getting old. That boy Lucas of the Wood Family is no ordinary lad. This little tribe probably won't be able to hold him. I just don't know how far he'll go, or whether the disciple I just took in out of a soft heart will be able to keep pace with him."
Meanwhile, Benny followed Lucas away with guilt written all over his face. Once they reached a place out of sight of Drake's artificing workshop, Benny said to Lucas, "I'm sorry, boss. I let the secret about Battle Qi slip by accident."
Before you continue