Even her confidence in the adventure discipline she had specialized in for decades was shaken.

Inside the classroom, the martial arts students only dared to secretly lift their heads after William Harris walked out, gazing at his departing figure with a mix of emotions.

Their initial contempt and disdain had turned into fear, and quite a few even showed expressions of admiration and awe.

What terrifying insight William Harris must possess, to be able to spot their fatal flaws with just a casual glance. Even calling it meticulous would not do it justice.

If it were only keen insight, that wouldn’t be so frightening.

The most terrifying thing was that Megan Walker, Eric Johnson, Wayne Miller, and Sandra Cooper all cultivated completely different disciplines, covering four of the nine major branches on the Divine Martial Continent: Adventure, Martial Arts, Forging, and Alchemy.

Yet William Harris was intimately familiar with each of their cultivation paths, their progress, and the problems they encountered—he understood them better than they understood themselves.

It was truly terrifying.

This meant that William Harris likely had a profound understanding of all four major disciplines, far surpassing his classmates.

“Wasn’t William Harris always a useless nobody? How does he know everything? Was he hiding his strength all along?”

A few young martial students whispered in confusion and suspicion.

“If he’s a nobody, then what does that make us? Are we even worse than nobodies?”

One student looked sorrowful.

“Maybe he’s just all talk, sounding impressive but useless in real combat. He must have been secretly observing us all this time, and now he’s just showing off!”

A very small number of students, unwilling to accept the truth, muttered venomous slander in hushed voices, not daring to let William Harris hear.

“Bang!”

“That’s it! I get it now!”

Suddenly, Eric Johnson snapped out of his dejection, his eyes lighting up as he slammed his palm on the desk. “William Harris, you despicable scoundrel!

You must be jealous that we’re all stronger than you, so you’ve been secretly collecting information on us for years. And now, on the crucial day before the exam, you dump it all out at once to shake our confidence and make us fail the assessment, just like you, so you can vent your resentment!

You’re a cunning, treacherous bastard. Since you can’t get into the Luyang Prefecture Academy, you resort to these dirty tricks to drag us down with you.

Tomorrow, at the joint exam of the ten academies, I’ll expose your true colors and put you back in your place!”

The more Eric Johnson spoke, the more agitated he became. He suddenly stood up, clenching his fists, pointing at William Harris as he walked out of the classroom, and shouted harshly.

He had nothing left to lose—his major flaw had already been exposed in front of everyone, so he no longer cared about offending William Harris even more.

As soon as he finished speaking—

The other students, who had been in awe and fear of William Harris, suddenly snapped out of it, coming to a realization.

That’s right!

How could someone as useless as William Harris suddenly become so formidable?

He must have known he was no good, so he spent three years meticulously collecting their weaknesses and flaws, and then, in the final class before the exam, delivered a devastating blow to their confidence. That way, he could drag them all down with him.

That was highly likely!

This must be the real truth!

Sandra Cooper lifted her head from her tears, startled by Eric Johnson’s words. Her beautiful eyes looked at William Harris with deep disappointment and heartbreak, and she called out loudly to him as he reached the classroom door.

“William Harris, I’m so disappointed in you. I never thought that, being weak yourself, you’d refuse to improve! You actually went behind our backs to collect our weaknesses and exposed them in public, shaking everyone’s confidence and doing something so despicable! I really misjudged you before. From now on, we are finished! I will never associate with someone so cold and heartless, who disregards the bonds between classmates!”

“Our ties are severed. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other!”

William Harris had already reached the classroom door. He stopped, glanced back at Sandra Cooper one last time, and a faint, cold smile appeared on his lips as he said icily,

“I finally understand that people like you and me were never the same kind of people!”

“I finally understand that I should walk my own path, instead of forcing myself to squeeze in with a bunch of petty people like you!”

“See you at the exam tomorrow!”

William Harris took a deep breath, gazing up at the sky outside the classroom. His lonely figure faced them, and with a tone of utter disdain, as if casting aside worthless weeds, he said with cold mockery,

After the heavy rain, the sky was bright and clear, with sunlight shining down and not a cloud in sight.

For the first time in his life, he stood tall and proud, utterly indifferent to the classmates he once respected and feared.

The students all began to curse loudly.

But to their dismay, no matter how much they cursed or insulted him, William Harris didn’t even bother to look back at them.

Sandra Cooper stared blankly, her lips slightly parted, watching the gradually disappearing figure of the young man. She felt as if she had missed something, and her heart grew unbearably heavy...

Chapter 5: Martial Arts Assessment

William Harris, having vented his anger in class, left the Nancheng Martial Academy and returned to his old family residence in Luyang City.