...

Shin was having an absent mind as he walked towards Professor Plum's humble house in the middle of the forest near the Springfield Family Mansion. And before he knew it, he had already arrived at his destination.

He only managed to snap out of his daze when he heard the old man's voice, saying. "How was your first defeat?"

Shin raised his head and looked at the source of the voice with a blank face. And when Old Plum saw that expression on Shin's face, he couldn't help but clicked his tongue and said. "What? Getting depressed immediately just because of a single lost?"

Hearing that, Shin shook his head repeatedly, indicating that that was not it.

"Then what was it?" asked Old Plum when he saw that reaction. And immediately added after a slight pause. "Is that due gap in Martial-Art talent?"

Hearing this, Shin finally made a reaction and said. "Tell me, Old Geezer. How did Arthur become so strong like that? Our first exchanges may be close, but I know for sure that he is holding back much of his true strength. I can feel it. How did he reach that state in such a short amount of time? Is that really because of his bloodline powers."

Even if Shin couldn't tell it straightforwardly, Old Plum could tell that his ego took a huge hit. After all, he should be someone that was leveled as one of the most talented Martial-Artist of his generation. And knowing that Arthur was too ahead of him now, made him a little uneasy.

If the gap that was needed to fill was a little small, then he could still accept it. But that was not the case currently since from where he was standing, he could see that Arthur's back was going to get further and further from this day onward. And if he did not make some actions now, then he could already see that he was going to be left in the dust without him knowing.

Seeing Shin's distress, Old Plum couldn't help but form a huge grin with his lips. 'Looks like this should be a good time to put this kid on training. But before that, I guess I need to put a little more oil in the fire for more motivation.'

"Well, that is one of his advantages. As I told you before, your Martial-Art talents were a little average compared to him. So, if you do not speed up your training too, then you are going to be really left behind," said Old Plum in a nonchalant manner but deep inside he was waiting for Shin to become a little more frustrated.

But before Shin could even react to the old man's words, another old man appeared out of nowhere and suddenly cut in the conversation. "But your talent in Mentalism is almost on par with that little kid."

Shin turned his attention at the newcomer and saw Grandmaster Benn comfortably sitting on the roof of Professor Plum's nipa hut.

Old Plum, on the other hand, glared at Old Fatty Benn and said. "Hey, hey. I am lecturing my disciple here. Don't butt in so suddenly."

The old fatty threw him a mocking look before saying. "He is my student too, so I have the right to teach him some things."

Then he ignored old Plum once again and resumed what he was saying. "Anyway, that little dragon may have a very powerful bloodline that could rank on the very top of bloodline talents, but it is also going to be hard for him to master wielding it. The Divine Dragon's Bloodline is a very unique type of bloodline so there are not many who know how to properly utilize its powers."

At this point, Old Plum suddenly chimed in. "But that little kid is a Martial-Art Prodigy. So, learning the 'Imperial Tactics' may become quite easy for him. This breathing technique is made by the very first Dragon Ancestor of the New Age history. And it is worldly recognized as the strongest bloodline technique that is specialized on controlling any dragon's bloodline."

Old Benn suddenly raised one of his brows before refuting. "That may be right. But what Arthur has is the Bloodline of the Divine Dragon which is known for being the hardest bloodline to control. So, mastering it is very hard and is going to take some time even with the help of Imperial Tactics."

"Ha! What do you think of the Springfield Family for? They already have a long history. So, they already know quite a number of perfect methods on how to control their draconic bloodline. Plus, that kid also has a body that was baptized at the Dragon Valley. And with the help of the 'Imperial Tactics', controlling the Divine Dragon's bloodline is much easier," countered by Old Plum.

Not willing to back down, the old fatty immediately went for the rebuttal. "Hey! Why are you praising someone else in front of your disciple? Are you not afraid of demoralizing him too much?" Though, he couldn't find the right words to refute what Old Plum had said.

"I am letting him see the reality. If he can see the gap between him and the one that he was chasing, then he can at least put more effort to fill that gap. And I am his master so I can teach him the way that I see fit," said Old Plum almost instantly.

Then Old Fatty Benn gave his rebut almost instantly. "As I said earlier, he is my student too, so I am concerned about how we are going to train him. And stop comparing anyone to others."

"All people are unique in their own way and have their own talents. Arthur may have a Peak Bloodline, but his kid is not weak either. He is born to be a Dual-Practitioner, and a real one at that since he has the 'Spiritual Embryo' Special Body. He has his own path to take!"

Shin facepalmed as he saw the too old men arguing with each other like kids; both of them had their own points and insights that they could use to contradict the other.

And when he saw that now one was planning to back down; all Shin could do was to helplessly shake his head while wearing a bitter look on his face. He came to this place to find some answers about his doubts, but from the looks of it, this was not the right time to look for it.

'Having this Old Geezer as my master is already hard to endure. And from the looks of it, this Old Fatty was no better either. I wish I can also train under Arthur's mysterious master,' thought Shin to himself as he remembered what Arthur had said he asked about it.

– "I am not sure about that. Because I strangely can't remember anything about that man. I also asked Uncle Nathan about that, but he said it is not important for now." –

Shin released a helpless sigh before saying to the two old men. "I am going now. I think I need to take a rest for now. I'll come back looking for you later."

He didn't care if the two old men heard him or not, he immediately turned around and started walking back towards the mansion.

But he only took a couple of steps when he heard Old Plum's voice, saying. "Don't too much, kid. We are already done with the preparations for your special training. So, make sure that you are already done with all of the things that you need to do this upcoming five days."

"After those give days, we are immediately going to leave for your training. And we are only going back if the entrance exams for the School openings are going to start. Or maybe if you somehow manage to finish all of the training plans that we prepared for you."

Shin halted his tracks for a moment to nod his head before resuming to walk back towards the mansion.

Watching Shin's back, Grandmaster Benn couldn't help but ask. "Are you sure that that kid is going to be fine? From the looks of it, he really took a great blow."

Professor Plum smirked at him before saying to him. "Heh! Don't worry Old Fatty. I know that kid for a long time already, he is still fine. He is just too shocked that Arthur managed to overtake him by that much. He is going to regain himself after a day or two, or probably three at most." while stroking his beard.

The old fatty knitted his brows after hearing that and said. "So, that is why you delayed his training for two more days than the one that we scheduled?"

Old Plum shrugged his shoulders and said. "You can put it that way. Since even if I expect that little Arthur is going to show off his progress to him, but I still didn't expect for him to possess that kind of power."

"I did expect him to have the 'Blood of the Solar Dragon' with highest purity or the 'Real Blood of the Ancient Dragon' at the very most, but possessing the 'True Blood of the Divine Dragon' completely out of my expectation. That is a big miscalculation on my part."

Old Fatty Benn thought for a moment and said. "From what I remember, the neighboring Region also gave birth to two Superior Bloodline Possessors."

Old Plum raised one of his brows a little before replying. "If you are talking about the Possessors of the 'Genuine of the Immortal Phoenix' from the Potter Clan, then you are right, that Clan really gave birth to two consecutive possessors of that Bloodline."

Then he paused for a moment before continuing. "That is not only on our continent. I also receive some news regarding the cases on different continents; there are also producing Peerless Geniuses of their own."

Grandmaster Benn suddenly squinted his eyes as said. "Looks like this Era is giving birth to geniuses one after another in the past forty years. Is this a good sign for the flourishing era or a bad omen for an impending doom?"

Hearing that, Old Plum's eyes suddenly turned sharp and started mumbling. "When the flowers are beginning to bloom at the edge of the cliff, a calamitic storm is about to come... Let's just hope that it is not really the case."

...…