Despite winning the fight, Arthur was still in awe. He shook his head in wonder and said, "That's just a crippled second mortal coil cultivator. I wonder what an intact one is truly capable of."
If he had a choice, he wouldn't have fought Black Mantis. It was because of that relative lack of lethal danger and the confidence he gained in researching Black Mantis that he was willing to fight it out with the man.
He had done a lot of research on the boss of the mercenary group. He only did surface-level research on the group before he got Irvin and heard that their boss was injured. It was then that he did deeper research and learned how Black Mantis was injured.
His so-called deeper research was simply paying for deep-level information on Black Mantis from an information broker. It was expensive, but it gave him the confidence to stand and fight Black Mantis.
He had the option to let Black Mantis spank him or run away. But he chose to stand and fight because he had the confidence to win.
The fight had been so fast and quick that most of it was over after 40 seconds. That was the time it took Black Mantis's force to falter. The rest of the fight was just him beating the man and pouring sand into his mouth to shut him up before dragging him away to be killed.
He shook his head and said with a grin, "I'm good too. How many people can take advantage of an injured second mortal coil cultivator? How many of them can take a beating from them and only struggle to drink wine after?"
It is true that second mortal coil cultivators are impressive, and it is also true that Black Mantis was injured, but he still believes that it is impressive that he was able to bring Black Mantis down because no other first mortal coil cultivator would have been able to do so.
Even though Black Mantis's force faltered, it was only slow by a beat. A first-mortal-coil cultivator wouldn't have been able to take advantage of that short moment of weakness.
That is if the first mortal coil cultivator can last until that moment when Black Mantis's force faltered. He doesn't think that is possible.
In fact, he is willing to bet that no first mortal coil cultivator can touch Black Mantis once or survive one hit from Black Mantis. He is willing to bet his entire net worth on it.
He laughed and said, "One hit and their internal organs will turn to mush. Their muscles will turn to meat paste and their bones will shatter."
The more he thought about it, the more pride he felt for defeating Black Mantis. The less he also feels about his hands struggling to drink.
As the adrenaline faded from his blood, the pain came in full. He groaned, but he stood up to tell the maids that they didn't have anything to worry about anymore. Then he went to bed.
In the days that followed, no one came to his yard to ask about the cry for help they heard in the middle of the night. If they had come, he would have denied any involvement with the sound.
But he didn't need to deny anything because unless something appeared right in front of the people in Ethera, no one would care. Even if it happened right in front of them, as long as it doesn't concern them, they will just ignore it.
His neighbors suspected that he had killed someone. But they all thought it was probably a maid because of the shrill feminine cry for help. There was no way they were going to risk angering him and creating trouble for themselves for some maid.
He too didn't make it public who he killed. He didn't accuse anyone of sending Black Mantis to intimidate him. He also didn't say anything about withdrawing his plan to teach the advanced mana breathing technique.
He wasn't ready to teach the advanced mana breathing technique yet, but he also wasn't willing to give his enemies the impression that they had won.
Instead, he planned to behave as if Black Mantis never came over to warn him while waiting for another person to jump up and create trouble for him. So to be simple, he put everyone on an indefinite hold for a while.
This continued for a long time. But no one came over to warn him again. His life was relatively peaceful, but the dojo masters had their hearts stuck in their throats because of the anxiety.
Life continued slowly. Two years went by quickly, and he became 14 years old.
During that time, his half-brother Tyson became eleven years old and had begun cultivation. He began training when he became ten years old, so it has been one year since he began training.
In those two years of peace, Thompson had become 19 years old and had reached the sixth transformation. He moved to the city to stay with Arthur.
Thompson opted not to join the family guards not only because he wanted more for his life but also because he wanted to work with Arthur. His decision meant that he owed the Dyson family some 100 gold coins for the cost of tuition.
Arthur used him as an opportunity to begin teaching the advanced mana breathing technique for free. Since Thompson didn't have to pay for the advanced breathing technique, it meant that he had a chance to reach the seventh transformation and would be able to pay off his debts.
His decision also caused his dojo to become even more popular. In fact, its popularity exploded once he began teaching the advanced mana breathing technique for free. Many people from all over the city came to attend his class.
A lot of people were very grateful for what he was doing. Unlike the ignorant kids who benefited from his teaching of the basic mana breathing technique, the beneficiaries of his decision to teach the advanced copy were grown men and women who knew the true value of his teachings without him telling them.