Chapter 384
Keira followed behind James, thinking he was acting too recklessly.

….
If the Sect Leader said it wasn’t a good time, it wouldn’t have mattered if she had waited.

But since the door was open, she still wanted to seize the opportunity, especially since her master had once said she was a good prospect for martial arts.

She followed James into the room and instinctively looked toward the Sect Leader first.

Then she heard some rustling sounds, and when she looked over, she noticed the Sect Leader had his back to them, clearly not wanting to see anyone.

James scanned the room and suddenly sensed that something was off.

There were bundles of tissue on the floor, and the Sect Leader had a hoarse voice when he spoke, so…

“Master, have you been crying?”

James didn’t think to cover for the Sect Leader at all.

Trevor was speechless.

This damnable disciple!

He must tell his second brother to teach James a good lesson!

Trevor took a deep breath. “Get out!”

James felt the Sect Leader’s resentment and didn’t dare delay any further, so he quickly backed away with Keira. “Alright, Master, then we’ll leave you be and won’t disturb you anymore. You keep… crying… By the way, do you want us to bring you a pack of tissues?”

Trevor’s response was throwing a shoe at James!

James instinctively tried to dodge, but if he did, the shoe would hit Keira behind him, so he turned his head, and the shoe ended up hitting his butt.

The other shoe flew at the same time, hitting the door and shutting it with a bang.

James touched his own butt.

He gave Keira an awkward glance, “Aun… Miss Keera, the Sect Leader is in a bad mood today. How about we come back another day?”

But Keira was looking elsewhere and suddenly asked, “Why don’t you introduce me to others instead? Or maybe I should just take you as my master. That would make me part of the direct line, right?”

“No, no!”

James quickly waved his hands. “That’s against the order of seniority!”

She was an elder. How could he take her as his disciple?!

Keira thought about it and figured it was true. They were cousins, so it wouldn’t be right to take him as a master because that would create a conflict with their generation..

Besides…

James coughed and lifted his chin slightly. “Not everyone can take on a disciple as they wish. The conditions for the Freeman Sect’s direct descendants to take on disciples are very strict…”

Even though there was now a senior sister, if she didn’t marry into the Freeman family, the future Sect Leader would still be James.

As the prospective Sect Leader of the Freeman family, any disciple he took would be related to the next leader, so the Freeman Sect had strict requirements for taking on disciples.

Keira asked, “How strict?”

James explained, “First off, disciples who want to join have to go to the Bone Assessment Hall for a bone assessment, then they train for a month, and if they can endure that, they’ll meet the direct descendants. All members of the direct line get to pick their disciples. That’s how I was chosen!”

Keira asked, “What about those who are older? Do they also need to go through bone assessment?”

James nodded. “Of course, no one can skip this step. Bone Assessment is very mysterious. It can reveal whether you’re suitable for martial arts, if you have any talent, or how far you’ve progressed…”

Keira said, “Then take me to the Bone Assessment Hall.”

James was dumbfounded.

He looked at Keira in confusion. “That place is currently filled with kids. Are you sure you want to go?”

Keira nodded. “Yes.”

Her foundation was solid. Her master had assured her there were no issues.

Who knows? Maybe the Freeman Sect would take a fancy to her, not care about her age, and accept her!

James saw her insistence and touched his nose. “Well then… okay.”

So, half an hour later…

At the Bone Assessment Hall, a spectacle suddenly appeared.

Keira queued up, standing among a group of four and five-year-old children, standing out like a crane among chickens.

The few children before and after her looked at her and all burst into laughter. This also drew the attention of the people around.

Someone teased her. “Hey, Miss, don’t you feel embarrassed standing among a bunch of kids?”

Others laughed and looked toward James. “Second Senior Brother, who is this? She’s so old, the growth plates in her bones have all fused. There’s no future left for her. Hurry up and take her out. Don’t be joking around here!”

James gave an embarrassed smile and also sighed in resignation. If this was his own sister, he would have long since forcibly taken her away, but how could he when she was the woman his third uncle fancied? He should show some respect to his future third aunt!

He coughed and said, “What’s wrong with that? Our eldest senior sister wasn’t discovered by the Sect Leader until she was fifteen. Who knows, my third… friend here might have a good set of bones.”

“The eldest senior sister is a genius, how many of her can there be in this world?”

“Right, the Sect Leader wandered outside for nearly ten years before he found our eldest senior sister. Besides, the Sect Leader said that the eldest senior sister had a special background that led her to this profession. Did your friend also have a tough life growing up?”

James was speechless.

After finding out that Keira was going to be his third aunt, he specifically inquired about her character. Keira grew up in a well-off family, quite happily; only later did she “blindly” marry Howard and suffer a little from the bitterness of love.

He also looked toward Keira. “Shall we go? It’s really quite embarrassing.”

Keira said, “I’m fine here on my own.”

“How can that do? If my third uncle finds out about this, he’ll definitely beat me up!”

Keira was perplexed. She smiled faintly. “Then thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing, but after the Bone Assessment, you should give up, alright?”

Keira nodded. “Yes, if after the Bone Assessment, I still can’t become an Inner Sect Disciple, then I’ll give up.”

James comforted her again, “But don’t be too disheartened. If you really, really want to join the Freeman Sect, I’ll think of another way.”

Keira knew he was just comforting her. If there was another way, James would have already employed it. Why would he bring her here? Although she found it quite novel, she had never had such an experience. But seeing James looking like he wanted to cover up his face…

Queuing was still boring, and somewhat slow. After all, there was only one Bone Assessment master, and yet there were so many people coming to seek apprenticeship every day. Before they knew it, two hours had passed, and finally, a child in front of her entered the room, and Keira slowly let out a sigh of relief.

Her turn was up next!

Five minutes later, the child in front came out dejected, and upon spotting the waiting parents, immediately burst into tears.

James looked on with concern. What if his aunt wasn’t selected later, or even worse, was ridiculed by the Bone Assessment master? She wouldn’t cry, would she?