The Head Elder’s eyes widened in surprise. The arrogant, self-absorbed prince had bowed his head. Did the child know what that meant? What had made him this desperate? In fact, despite his words, the Head Elder had a good opinion of Phante.

Although Phante was indeed considered simple, it was because of his directness and honesty. In fact, the Head Elder was aware that Phante had an outstanding ability to assess and analyze things. If he were truly stupid, he wouldn’t have been considered as one of the candidates for the throne.

Neither was he truly weak. In truth, it wasn’t fair to compare him to geniuses like the Head Elder and the Martial King. Phante was actually one of the most skilled tribe members and hardly anyone his age had accomplished the level of martial arts he’d reached.

The only reason the Head Elder had told Phante such cruel words was to test his patience. Patience was the most important part of Mugong. When your growth stopped, when you hit a wall, or when you lost a battle, you had to be able to stop and reflect on what had happened. 

If you threw a tantrum and ran away because introspection was too hard, you would never grow. This was especially the case for a skill like Blood Lightning. The skill involved many complex concepts since it was a Mugong that the Head Elder himself had made. A great deal of self-restraint was required to learn it well. Without patience, it was impossible...