Keira was confused.
1
She took a step back and asked James, “What did you just call me?”
James hesitated slightly.
Thinking about how his third uncle preferred younger women, and that the banquet in a few days was
being held in a secretive manner without much fanfare, he cleared his throat, stepped forward, and
said, “I’vee to understand your rtionship with my third uncle. Well, it’s fine if you don’t want me
to call you something so intimate in public.”
Keira didn’t know what to say.
Before she could figure out the rtionship he mentioned, she saw James turn to the gatekeeper and
said, “This is an elder of my family… No, she’s a friend of mine. Be more respectful to her in the future.”
The gatekeeper immediately sped his fist in salute. “Second Senior Brother, understood!”
Then he turned to Keira with a fist salute. “I apologize,
youp
Freeman Sect really doesn’t take temporary jobs.”
Only then did James look at Keira. “What temporary job?”
Keira coughed lightly, “I want to cooperate with the
Freeman Sect.”
“Cooperate?”
James waspletely baffled.
The gatekeeper immediatelyughed. “Miss, what you’re proposing is just a one-time deal, not
cooperation. Even if we assign a few people to protect you out of respect for Second Senior Brother, at
most it’s an employment rtionship, right?”
Keira stopped short on hearing this. “So what would qualify as cooperation?”
James exined, “Actually, the Freeman Sect does ept cooperation from anyone. We just practice
own martial arts. If you really want to talk about a cooperative rtionship, the only way would be for
you to join the Freeman Sect and be an ?nner
Sect Disciple then we could perhans refer to it as a
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cooperation?”
Keira was dumbfounded.
Was this what martial arts families mean by cooperation?
She had thought it would be like with the Olsen family and the Davis family, where finding a project
everyone could make money on was considered cooperation.
After pondering for a moment, she looked at James again. “So how can one join the Freeman Sect and
be an Inner Sect Disciple?”
This question rendered James somewhat speechless.
He coughed, lifted his chin, and said, “Actually, it’s very difficult to be an Inner Sect Disciple. Apart
from hard work acquiredter, it mainly depends on natural talent. Those of us who wish to learn
martial arts are
sent to the Freeman Sect for Bone Assessment around
the age of three or four. Only those with exception innate qualities are taken in as Inner Sect Disciples
the Freeman Sect.”
James patted his chest, confidently saying, “Out of the seven Olsen brothers of our family, not even the
eldes
was chosen only I was!”
09.24
<
Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.
Keira thought, “That’s your family, not mine.”
But…
If the Freeman Sect only took in kids, she certainly couldn’t turn herself into a three- or four-year-old
child, could she? What was she supposed to do now?
The first person she thought of was Amy.
But that wouldn’t do.
Amy’s personality was too gentle, and she wasn’t cut out for martial arts; her bones were too thin and
too soft, though she was quite good at dancing.
Keira was troubled. “Hasn’t there ever been an older person who was selected?”
“Yes!”
James said, “Our senior sister, she was noticed by the Sect Leader when she was fifteen!”
Speaking of the senior sister the gatekeeper got excited too. “Right, our Sect Leader said that our
senior sister had an extraordinary foundation.
Although she was fifteen, she was especially resilient seemingly because she had been beaten up from
a young age. As a result she developed an irond body.
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which is incredibly formidable. She’s a standout talent among our generation. Unfortunately, the Sect
Leader has been secretly training her, so none of us have seen what the senior sister looks like!”
Mentioning the senior sister, James also looked wistful. “Our Sect Leader said he nned to have the
senior sistere back to the Freeman Sect at the age of 23 to give us some guidance. By my
calctions, that time should almost be upon us…”
The gatekeeper immediately got excited. “Second Senior Brother, you’ve practically fought all over the
Freeman Sect unbeaten. When the senior sister
arrives, the two of you should have a match! See who is more powerful!”
Upon hearing this, James gave him a smack on the head. “What nonsense are you spouting? How
could Ipare with our senior sister? The Sect Leader said that she became a disciple at fifteen,
became a mas by eighteen, and at the age of twenty, she almost bested the Sect Leader by half a
move! I can’t even defeat the Sect Leader yet, how could Ipare wit
the senior sister? Don’t stir up trouble for me! I know
my ce!”
ww
09-24
383 Chapter
The gatekeeper chuckled.
Keira, unable to contain herself as the two men chatted enthusiastically, interjected, “Actually, my
constitution isn’t too shabby either. I’ve been especially resilient to beatings since I was young. Could
you take me to meet your Sect Leader?”
As soon as she said this, both the gatekeeper and Jame’s fell silent.
They both looked toward Keira in unison, twitching at the corners of their mouths as if they thought
what she had just said was a joke.
ncing at James, the gatekeeper coughed and said, “Not to put you down, but you’re over twenty this
year, aren’t you? No matter how skilled someone is, by that age their bones have set, and without a
solid foundation, it’s no good. The legend of the senior
sister, being able to practice martial arts at fifter the Sect Leader said it was because she never had e
to eat or wear when she was young, so her body fully developed…”
Keira exined, “…But I also started practicing ma arts when I was fifteen. Maybe there’s a chance?”
06.24
Back when she had just started middle school, she left the Olsen family at the age of fourteen. After
that, she worked to earn money and met a martial arts master of her own.
While she was selling balloons in the park and reading books at the same time, a middle-aged man
kept staring at her and then approached her.
“Youngdy, I can see that you have an exceptional foundation and a natural talent for martial arts.
Why don’t you be my disciple?”
At the time, Keira was almost ready to call the police, daiming he was harassing her, until he finally
agreed to pay her five hundred bucks for an hour of martial arts practice with him every day. That was
when she consented,
She trained with him for four or five years, and
eventually, her master said he was going to wander world. He told her to keep practicing on her own
that he would look for her when the right time car
Come to think of it, it had been two years since shest saw her master.
She didn’t even ask for her master’s name when he
<
left…
Keira then looked toward James. “Just take me to see him. We won’t know if it’ll work or not until we
try.”
James wanted to refuse.
But then he remembered his uncle’s instruction from
this morning to be filial to his aunt, and he twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Alright, then follow me!”
James tossed the car keys to the gatekeeper and walked into thepound with Keira.
The Freeman Sect was vast, and as soon as they
entered, they could see martial artists practicing all around, with grunts and shouts echoing non-stop,
oozing with masculinity.
After walking with James for about half an hour, they arrived in front of a bungalow. He said, “The Sect
Leader is meditating inside. I’ll call him for you.”
Inside the room.
At that moment, Trevor Freeman, the Sect Leader of
the Freeman Sect, had tears streaming down his face. He was looking at a photo with his disciple,
Keira, on his phone, sobbing uncontrobly.
Having been so picky all his life, he had only taken in one disciple, but how could she have drowned so
young?!
Just then, he heard James’s voice from outside the door, “Master, I’ve brought someone to see you. Is
it a good time now?”