A Cultivator in the World Dominated By Awakeners

Oliver walked toward Rebecca after spotting her—and she had waved him over.

For a man in sweatpants to enter a restaurant like this was already conspicuous enough, but what made it even more striking was the fact that he was heading straight to the most eye-catching woman.

However, when he reached her table, the woman graciously invited him to sit down, leaving the other onlookers with nothing to say—just envious stares directed at Oliver.

"You probably haven't had dinner yet. I already ordered something for you, so go ahead and eat," she said softly.

In front of the seat he had taken was a cut of roasted meat, glistening so perfectly it almost looked like a decorative candle made to resemble meat.

"Mrs. Rothschild…" Oliver began, but the woman cut him off.

"Are you still mad at me? Is that why you won't call me by my name?" she asked, her tone tinged with sadness.

Thankfully, Oliver was of sound mind. Otherwise, any man would probably fall under the spell of that sorrowful tone—her voice alone carried a charm potent enough to shake a man's thoughts.

"You can't just apologize after calling someone a bumpkin," Oliver replied flatly.

And why was she so eager for his forgiveness, anyway? He was sure it was because she wanted something from him.

Just like now—she was inviting him to collaborate. If it weren't for the temptation of gaining two cultivation stages, there's no way Oliver would have responded to her invitation.

"I know. That's why I want to show you my sincerity," she said.

Then, to Oliver's surprise, she cut a piece of her own steak, stabbed it with her fork—and held it up toward his mouth.

"How about I feed you your dinner tonight?" she offered.

Oliver: "..."

He was stunned—and so were the people watching nearby.

Being fed by a woman as stunning as Rebecca? Some might consider that an honor worthy of royalty.

But Oliver furrowed his brows.

This wasn't something casual acquaintances did. This was already crossing into romantic territory.

"Even if your engagement with Edward was just a family arrangement, you really shouldn't be doing this," he said.

He had sensed Edward's sincerity. Naturally, he felt the need to warn Rebecca—otherwise Edward might think he was betraying him.

"No need to worry. I've already asked my family to cancel our engagement," she answered calmly—stunning Oliver even more.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I couldn't tolerate Edward's actions. He didn't even tell me beforehand that he brought home a talented Cultivator. And he acted so naturally that I assumed you were just a regular guy. I mean, how often do you come across someone with real cultivation talent? He purposely hid that from me so I wouldn't try to deceive you. Of course, that makes him a good friend to you. But I can't be with a man who doesn't prioritize his woman. If I stayed with him, I'd just end up losing out."

Oliver wasn't sure how to react to her explanation—or to the fact that she had ended things with Edward for such a reason.

Edward, it seemed, had chosen not to serve Rebecca's interests.

From Oliver's point of view, Edward's honesty may have been a bit too honest. He should've at least shielded his partner from the parts that could hurt her.

"So it seems your family's arranged engagements can be easily refused," Oliver remarked, choosing to speak more about elite family politics than comment further on Edward.

"Because I'm still young—at least until I turn twenty. The elders don't mind if I refuse, but they'll just pick another man in the family to be my next fiancé. They're probably discussing who that'll be right now. Since I'm not in any kind of relationship with anyone, are you still going to refuse me feeding you?"

She once again pointed her fork at his mouth, though not as close this time.

"I can feed myself," Oliver replied. "Let's just get to the point. Tell me what your plan is."

As he spoke, Oliver began to eat on his own, making it clear he didn't want her trying to feed him again.

Even if she wasn't romantically tied to anyone anymore, there was no way he'd let her do something like that.

After all, he still had a girlfriend.

Rebecca didn't push the issue. She simply brought the forkful of meat to her own mouth and took a bite.

"We're going to rob someone," she said quietly.

Oliver, who was about to put a piece of meat into his mouth, froze.

He set his fork down again, shocked.

He stared at Rebecca, utterly incredulous—he hadn't expected her to invite him to rob someone.

Sure, Oliver had done something similar before. He had robbed Murphy—and killed him. But that had been because of Murphy's own actions.

Robbing someone else who hadn't done anything to him? That felt morally wrong.

"The one we're robbing is someone from the Rothschild family," Rebecca added before Oliver could say anything.

That made him even more shocked.

"Don't look so surprised. The Rothschilds have been a wealthy family for hundreds of years. We have way too many members. Even small families are full of conflict—imagine how it is in a family as big as ours," she said.

"Who is it?" Oliver finally managed to ask.

"I'm not sure if you've heard of him or not, but among outsiders, he's known as Fire Ghost," Rebecca replied calmly.

"What?"

Oliver felt like his ears had deceived him.

"Sounds like you already know Fire Ghost," she said, raising a brow. "You'll be even more surprised when you find out who he really is. He's actually pretty well-known, but not even your teacher knows he's a member of the Rothschild family."

Rebecca gave a faint smile, clearly trying to lighten the mood with a touch of humor.

If Oliver didn't know anything about Fire Ghost, the conversation might have ended there—but it turned out he did know.

Anyone who had crossed paths with Fire Ghost would naturally be curious—who was this man? How did his manifestations work so flawlessly? How could he appear to have his full strength and yet roam freely as if he had no physical body?

Rebecca knew that curiosity would be enough to pull Oliver in.

"Who is he, really?" Oliver couldn't help but ask.

"How about we finish dinner before we go deeper into that? You might want to act immediately once we've talked it through. And while I don't like poor people, I really don't like wasting food that I paid for myself. Plus, I'm still hungry," Rebecca replied.

Oliver gave her a side glare at that remark.

Still, he resumed eating.

But he couldn't stop himself from asking more.

"Fire Ghost is a Cultivator. If he really has treasure that can boost cultivation, why doesn't he use it himself?"

"Because it hasn't reached his standards yet. He's still in the process of refining it to achieve better results," Rebecca explained.

"He can really make treasures like that on his own?"

"Yeah. He's a specialist in that area. In fact, he has zero cultivation talent. He didn't even begin cultivating until he was in his 40s. It's only because he discovered a refinement method that lets him create things that enhance cultivation. That's how he managed to rise so quickly—it made him look like a genius. Everyone thinks so, because no one realizes he's not young anymore. I bet you want that method, don't you? I don't mind you having it. I just want the parts that are useful to me."