Grace Bennett gritted her teeth and spoke anxiously, racking her brains as she began to think of a countermeasure.

　　"And you, you vicious girl, what kind of poison did you use on me? Very well, I will return it to you a hundredfold!" The Daoist in green glared at Grace Bennett with venomous eyes, his body trembling, poisonous blood oozing from his wounds, clearly enduring unimaginable pain.

　　William Harper watched the other's unsteady steps, his gaze turning extremely dangerous as he slowly raised his right hand.

　　"That you could be wounded by a mortal proves you are nothing more than a mortal yourself."

　　William Harper mocked, his voice loud and clear, making the killing intent in the Daoist's eyes even stronger.

　　The Daoist in green said coldly, "Very well, I won't let you die so easily. I will skin you, tear out your tendons, torment your soul, and..."

　　As he spoke, he advanced toward William Harper and the others, but before he could finish, William Harper's right hand suddenly raised his index and middle fingers together, forming a sword with his fingers, and pointed through the air at the Daoist.

　　The Daoist sneered, but then his pupils suddenly contracted. Instinctively, he turned his head, only to see the sword that had been knocked to the ground earlier suddenly shoot up, turning into a flash of cold light, attacking at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.

　　The heavily injured Daoist had no time to dodge.

　　Bang—

　　The sword struck from behind the Daoist's head, shattering his skull. The sword's light flashed, then flew to stop in front of William Harper, hovering in midair. Then, it quickly rotated, the hilt pointing toward William Harper's right hand, as if it were alive.

　　This scene left Grace Bennett stunned, and the people of the Fang household watching from afar stared at William Harper's sword as if they'd seen a ghost, all dumbfounded.

　　The Fang household fell silent!

Chapter 6 Three Cultivation Techniques

　　Thud!

　　The Daoist in green, now headless, collapsed onto the shattered stone ground, blood spilling everywhere. The Soul-Burning Banner that had been floating above him fell as well, and the ghostly aura around him dissipated.

　　Staring at the Daoist's corpse, Grace Bennett trembled all over. She turned to look at the sword floating in front of William Harper, unable to help but ask, "You... just now, that was..."

　　William Harper supported her with his left hand, his right hand still in the sword-controlling gesture. His expression was calm as he said, "As you saw, it was exactly the sword-controlling technique you taught me."

　　As soon as he finished speaking, the nearby members of the Fang household erupted in cheers.

　　"The demon Daoist is dead!"

　　"What was that just now? That sword was flying!"

　　"Even the strongest swordsman in the martial world couldn't perform such swordsmanship!"

　　"Young Master William Harper is so powerful!"

　　The Fang household was extremely excited. The Daoist in green had been so powerful—now that he was slain, the other assassins were nothing to fear.

　　Some people still worried the Daoist might come back to life, since he was a demon Daoist, and such people couldn't be judged by common sense.

　　When Grace Bennett heard William Harper's words, her face changed dramatically. Overcome with emotion, she began to cough, spitting out a mouthful of blood, which startled William Harper into immediately dropping his pose to support her.

　　Clang!

　　The sword fell to the ground, its blade still stained with the Daoist's fresh blood, looking chilling and terrifying.

　　"I'm fine... I won't die... I just used a secret technique to give this body some fighting strength for a short time. Although I'm badly injured, I'll recover within a month..."

　　Grace Bennett looked up and said, her face pale, but her eyes shining with spirit, as if she wanted to devour William Harper.

　　William Harper was startled by her gaze—after all, this person claimed to have been a demonic cultivator in a previous life...

　　"William Harper, have you really never come into contact with the path of cultivation before?" Grace Bennett stared at William Harper, took a deep breath, and asked seriously.

　　William Harper hesitated for a moment, but decided to trust her, so he replied, "I really haven't. But when you spoke of the sword-controlling technique, I could sense it wasn't made up—it was truly feasible. So I practiced for seven days, and when I performed the sword-controlling technique, I used true qi. You should be able to sense it."

　　He still wanted to rely on Grace Bennett to embark on the path of cultivation, so there was no need to play dumb. Showing his value would make her think more highly of him.

　　"How could true qi possibly perform the sword-controlling technique? And your sword isn't even a magical weapon, yet you controlled it from a distance..."

　　"I don't know either, but it just worked."

　　William Harper shook his head, secretly pleased with himself.

　　You think this is just an ordinary sword-controlling technique?

　　Sorry, this is the perfected sword-controlling technique!

　　Even cultivators of higher realms might not spend time mastering the sword-controlling technique.

　　Hearing this, Grace Bennett became even more agitated, her chest heaving. She forced herself to endure the intense pain and said in a low voice, "William Harper, you are truly a once-in-a-millennium cultivation genius. Your life-bound magical treasure must be an Earth Origin Spirit Treasure! Once I'm healed, come cultivate with me!"

　　With the Daoist in green slain, the calamity that threatened to wipe out the household was over, so Grace Bennett immediately spoke of the future.

　　Here it comes!

　　William Harper had been waiting for these words. He nodded, "Alright, you wait here. I'll go finish off the rest, and afterward, you can tell me what an Earth Origin Spirit Treasure is."

　　Grace Bennett nodded.

　　William Harper immediately beckoned for the clan members to come take care of Grace Bennett, then took his sword and left.

　　Andrew Harper arrived with the clan members and servants. He had two women look after Grace Bennett, while he cautiously approached the Daoist's corpse.

　　"Don't get close, there's a ghostly presence on him. Let me and William Harper handle it!"