Less than a minute later, Bamboo Pole and Emily Thompson also flew over on their swords. The two of them had seen the burst of sword light from behind and knew that Olivia Bolton must have crashed into someone again in his usual brutish way. Seeing him standing there in a daze, neither of them was surprised in the slightest. With Olivia Bolton's rough temper, they didn't dare say a word, and hurriedly flew past him on their swords.

Standing motionless where he was, Olivia Bolton felt a swelling between his brows, as if something was about to burst out of his mind. Growing more and more frightened, Olivia Bolton wanted to cry out for help, but it was as if he was trapped in a nightmare—no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make a sound, and could only watch as clusters of blurry lights flew past in front of him.

"Ah..." No one knew how much time had passed before Olivia Bolton suddenly let out a scream. In that shrill cry, Olivia Bolton's head exploded with a "pop" into hundreds of pieces. The headless Olivia Bolton floated on his sword for a moment longer before the sword light dimmed, and his body and flying sword fell together at the entrance of the cave.

Guanyun Peak, standing at 17,326 meters, is the highest peak in the Tianlin mountain range. Its summit is covered in snow and ice all year round, with biting winds and swirling clouds and mist.

Woniu Stone, located at the summit of Guanyun Peak, is a block of black basalt over ten meters in diameter. It is named Woniu Stone because its shape resembles a reclining, one-horned wild ox.

After Brian Grant rode the Bilin Sword to the summit, he saw that William Smith was already leisurely standing atop Woniu Stone. In the winding cave with eighteen bends, Brian Grant had been chasing and entangling with Eric Bolton and the others, but because of William Smith's caution in keeping a certain distance, Brian Grant never found a good opportunity to make a move.

"You've lost..." William Smith said coldly to the somewhat dazed Brian Grant. Although it felt a bit like an unfair victory, seeing the look of dejection, disappointment, and even pain on Brian Grant's face, William Smith found the taste of victory not bad at all.

"Impossible!" After a brief daze, Brian Grant roared in fury and charged at William Smith on his sword.

William Smith frowned slightly, feeling a strong sense of disdain for Brian Grant's loss of composure. "Another sore loser," he thought to himself. Without any courtesy, he controlled his Blood River Sword and met the attack head-on.

Intending to teach Brian Grant a lesson, William Smith used sixty percent of his strength. The violent collision shattered both of their sword-light shields at once. However, relying on his overwhelming advantage in true energy, William Smith kept his flying sword steady and floating, while Brian Grant's sword seemed to lose control, sending him tumbling toward William Smith.

Despite the pain on his face, Brian Grant stubbornly reached out to grab William Smith's neck, as if determined to fight to the death.

Brian Grant's reckless move made William Smith slightly angry. His face turned cold, and with a twist of his hands, he seized both of Brian Grant's wrists. Just as William Smith was about to exert force to crush Brian Grant's wrist bones, he noticed that there was no madness in Brian Grant's narrow eyes—only a chilling, sinking murderous intent.

Having once served in the Heavenly Army, William Smith was no stranger to this kind of killing aura; it was the murderous intent only found in true killers. Sensing danger, William Smith was just about to react when a black shadow suddenly flashed before his eyes.

"Thud, thud, thud, thud..." In a series of muffled sounds, a hundred Black Fiend Poison Needles shot out in an instant from the Black Fiend Needle Box hidden in the black wristguard. The Black Fiend Needles, forged from Black Fiend Silk and tungsten steel, were extremely poisonous and had tremendous penetrating power. Driven by a specially designed magnetic array in the needle box, they shot out like a violent storm, leaving no room to dodge.

"Ah..." William Smith was so close to Brian Grant that, at such a short distance, even with his level five Qi Refining cultivation, he had no time to react. The barrage of Black Fiend Needles easily pierced through William Smith's sword-light shield, protective true energy, flesh, and skull, cutting off his scream as well.

The explosive force carried by the Black Fiend Needles riddled William Smith's face with countless bloody holes, then exited through the back of his head, trailing fine lines of blood as they shot dozens of meters away. The intense poison and powerful penetration of the Black Fiend Needles instantly ended all of William Smith's life.

Glancing at William Smith's head, now like a beehive, Brian Grant expressionlessly withdrew his hands. Just as he turned around, Eric Bolton also flew up on his sword.

The drifting clouds and the deep night on Guanyun Peak prevented Eric Bolton from seeing William Smith's gruesome death. It was only when Eric Bolton flew his sword directly in front of Brian Grant that he sensed something was wrong.

Eric Bolton's gaze darted around, searching for the source of his unease. With only third-level Qi Refining skills, he certainly didn't have the spiritual intuition of a Zen master sensing the wind before it moves. His unease came more from his keen sense for conspiracy and slaughter.

When William Smith's horribly mutilated head came into view, Eric Bolton's eyes suddenly froze, and a chill shot straight from his heart. Though he was bold and reckless, he was still shocked by William Smith's death, especially without any mental preparation.

For a moment, Eric Bolton's hands and feet went cold, his whole body weak. Only one thought filled his mind: "This is bad!"

Eric Bolton's startled reaction had long been anticipated by Brian Grant. Seeing Eric Bolton fall into his trap, Brian Grant took the opportunity to draw the Cold Iron Wind-Slashing Saber from his waist with his left hand. The unsheathed long blade swept upward in a simple diagonal slash, its slender body tracing a beautiful arc in the night.

No matter how beautiful the flashing blade was, it could not conceal the chilling, deadly intent within. In Eric Bolton's eyes, widened in fear, the trajectory of the blade was clearly visible.