Fly's actions left Muse somewhat speechless. As a dignified Grandmaster Realm Beast Warrior, why on earth would he try to scam some greenhorn kid?

  But, Muse was by no means a petty man. After taking a moment to smooth out his ruffled feathers, he began considering the issue from Fly's perspective.

  Never harbor the intent to harm others, but never drop your guard against them.

  Although Fly's thought process was a bit unconventional, this level of caution might just save him from a lot of trouble in the future.

  Besides, to help me accomplish that task, mere talent in Martial Studies wouldn't be nearly enough.

  Muse pondered inwardly, his estimation of Fly rising a few notches.

  "If you're truly that uneasy, you can use your phone to scan the contract, turn it into a digital copy, and send it to someone you trust."

  "Have them verify the contract for you. Surely, that should be acceptable?"

  Taking a step back to put Fly at ease, Muse gave him free rein to find anyone to verify it.

  "As expected of Grandmaster Muse, you've thought of everything." This was exactly what Fly had been waiting for. Without a hint of politeness, he whipped out his phone, scanned the document into a digital file, and sent copies to Mr. Carter and Dean Sterling.

  Both of them had helped him in his Martial Studies cultivation and were his teachers. If they both deemed the contract to be fine, then it was genuinely safe.

  But, neither of them replied to Fly immediately. Besides, even if they had seen the messages right away, they would still need at least a little while to study it before giving him an answer.

  Taking advantage of this downtime, Fly decided to simply recount everything he had seen during the trial of The Scroll of Martial Heart-Tempering from start to finish.

  "When you previously broke through to become a Tier-3 Beast Warrior, did you encounter a very dangerous situation when facing the origin of your Totem Beast?" Muse cut straight to the chase.

  Although he couldn't see the state of Fly's Sea of Consciousness during the trial, as the creator of The Scroll of Martial Heart-Tempering, he understood its underlying principles perfectly well.

  When a Beast Warrior faced The Scroll of Martial Heart-Tempering, they were directly confronting the deepest terrors hidden in their hearts.

  In a way, it was a form of Inner Demon.

  "Yeah," Fly confirmed with a nod.

  "Interesting," Muse chuckled. He hadn't paid too much attention to Fly before this. However, after learning that Fly had broken through his scroll, Muse had quickly run a brief background check on him.

  Both his parents were ordinary working-class citizens.

  He wielded the power of a Mythical Species Beast Totem—the Thunder-Roach.

  Not only was the power of his Beast Totem exceptionally strong, but during combat, he was also highly adept at adapting to his environment and devising tactics on the fly.

  In a place like Star City, a Beast Warrior with this kind of talent was truly a rare gem.

  But what surprised Muse even more was that Fly's Beast Totem seemed to possess the ability to continuously evolve.

  This granted him the potential for infinite growth.

  "As you spend more time as a Beast Warrior, you should have come to realize that Beast Totems aren't just 'lifeless tools.' They possess a certain degree of self-awareness, don't they?"

  "That's right," Fly nodded.

  "As a Beast Warrior continuously grows stronger, the power of their Beast Totem also continuously strengthens. And the moment the Beast Warrior's own strength fails to keep up with the strength of their Beast Totem, the totem's origin consciousness will stage a 'rebellion.'"

  "It's the exact same logic found in pack animals. The moment an old alpha wolf's strength falls behind that of the younger wolves in the pack, its position is threatened."

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Although I don't know what method you used to suppress the origin of your Beast Totem when advancing to Tier-3, that incident planted a seed of fear in your heart."

  "You're afraid. You're afraid that during future cultivation or breakthroughs, your Beast Totem's origin will mount an even more violent rebellion. You're terrified that, when that time comes, you won't have the power to suppress it again. That is why, when facing The Scroll of Martial Heart-Tempering, you saw the origin of your own Beast Totem."

  "Am I right?"

  Muse slowly laid out his analysis.

  "Perhaps," Fly didn't outright admit it, but he didn't deny it either.

  Before the trial of The Scroll of Martial Heart-Tempering, he genuinely hadn't paid too much attention to this issue.

  But thinking about it now, it made sense...

  When he first saw his Beast Totem evolve, Fly had been utterly thrilled. Recently, however, after learning that Beast Totems had their own consciousness and could rebel against their Beast Warriors, that thrill had gradually morphed into a gnawing worry.

  With the backing of the Insect Fusion System, his Beast Totem's potential was nothing short of heaven-defying.

  As long as he could keep coming into contact with other insect-type Beast Totems, it could continuously evolve and grow.

  Once his Beast Totem evolved to a certain degree, its origin power would also grow to an unprecedented level. When that time arrived, would he really still have enough confidence and enough strength to suppress it again?

  Perhaps this was exactly the seed of fear buried deep within his heart.

  He just hadn't thought about it so thoroughly before.

  "Looking at it from another angle, since I passed the trial of The Scroll of Martial Heart-Tempering, doesn't that prove I've conquered my Inner Demon and become stronger?"

  "This kind of issue shouldn't pop up again in the future, right?"

  Fly thought for a moment before asking earnestly.

  Although he still hadn't decided whether or not to sign the Apprenticeship Contract, since he was getting a free consultation with a Grandmaster Realm Beast Warrior, he obviously had to seize the opportunity to ask the burning questions in his mind.

  "Not necessarily." Muse shook his head slightly. "The Scroll of Martial Heart-Tempering only targets the terrors currently residing in your heart."

  "Beast Warriors are constantly growing, and during this growth process, they will encounter all sorts of new problems."

  "Some of these problems might be easily solved, while others might throw your mind into chaos, giving rise to an even greater terror—your 'Inner Demon.'"

  "But, you shouldn't let this discourage you."

  "While you may not possess overwhelmingly powerful strength right now, you do have an admirable amount of intelligence and confidence."

  "That is your advantage, and it's also the key to your continuous growth in the future."

  In Muse's eyes, none of this could truly be considered a problem.

  In every walk of life, among the teeming masses, who hadn't encountered problems?

  Those who flinched and ran away at the first sign of trouble would never find a way to grow.

  "That makes sense," Fly nodded in agreement.

  "As long as I can keep getting stronger in the future, I'll always be able to suppress the rebellious intent of my Beast Totem's origin."

  "As long as I am the strongest king, I never have to worry about my subjects rebelling."

  Fly said this with a straight face, but immediately afterward, he felt his words were a bit too edgy and melodramatic.

  Ahem...

  He cleared his throat and bluntly shifted the topic back to Muse.

  "So, are the rumors true?"

  "Were most of your assets really detained by Helios Warrior Corp?"

  Even though Fly felt 'Emperor' Valerius had no reason to lie to him, this matter still left him rather bewildered.

  While this was a society that respected strength above all else, by and large, it was still a modern society governed by the rule of law.

  In a society governed by law, especially considering Muse's influence and strength weren't exactly weak, could Helios Warrior Corp really just directly seize his assets under such circumstances?

  Was something like that really justifiable?

  If he were to join some organization or corporation in the future, would his resources and property also be detained like Grandmaster Muse's when he decided to leave?

  These questions weren't born out of Fly's nosiness, but rather from a desire to better understand the underlying rules of how this world operated.

  If this was actually a common occurrence, then he really needed to keep his guard up in the future.

  "These are not matters a high school student like you should be prying into," Muse flatly rejected him.

  After all, this was only his first time meeting Fly, and the matter of the apprenticeship hadn't even been finalized yet. Naturally, he wasn't going to just spill his entire past to the boy.

  "Once you become my disciple, when the right time comes, I will naturally tell you all about it."

  Clearly, this was information reserved strictly for Muse's most trusted confidants.

  "One more question. Will you interfere with my choices when I apply for university?" Fly inquired.

  Perhaps in the eyes of others, becoming Grandmaster Muse's disciple was an absolute honor.

  They would probably fall to their knees in gratitude and treat him like a godfather.

  But Fly wasn't that kind of person.

  In his eyes, the master-disciple relationship should be a two-way street.

  There was absolutely no need for him to act subservient in front of Muse.

  I'm here to be an apprentice, not a slave.

  Furthermore, with the student council incident serving as a precautionary tale, Fly had become a bit more sensitive to anything involving his future university applications.

  "If possible, I naturally hope you would attend Principia University."

  "Principia University? Why?" Fly reflexively pressed further.

  "Because Principia University is my alma mater. The teachers and professors there are all old friends of mine. If you go to Principia University, I can handle a lot of the connections for you," Muse said bluntly.

  In his heart, however, he was thinking of something else entirely.

  The headquarters of Helios Warrior Corp was located right in the town of Principia...

  Thanks for reading!

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  Next update: The day after tomorrow!

  I've been a bit busy these past couple of days, so updates might be a little slower for now. I'll get back to daily releases soon! I'm really sorry about this!