Young in age, yet quite fierce—on an ordinary battlefield, he’d indeed be a formidable warrior. William Clark thought to himself, but his blade moved with astonishing speed, blocking Richard Brooks every time before his staff technique could fully unfold. William Clark didn’t use any martial techniques at all. Martial techniques are divided into lower, middle, upper, and transcendent levels. In his previous life, William Clark started by cultivating the Yin-Yang Myriad Arts, then succeeded in alchemy, and directly practiced spells. Although his knowledge was broad, even the worst items in his collection back then were transcendent martial techniques—none of which he could use at his current level.

Of course, even though Richard Brooks was two levels stronger than William Clark, already at the ninth stage of the Body Transformation realm, William Clark was still confident. With his insight, experience, and cultivation, he could analyze Richard Brooks’s next move as soon as his body made the slightest motion, and could easily counter his Sweeping Eight Desolations staff technique on the fly. That’s exactly why Richard Brooks felt so awkward in the fight, as if he had all this strength but couldn’t even use seventy percent of it.

This scene left the surrounding soldiers dumbfounded. There was already a huge gap between the seventh and ninth stages of the Body Transformation realm, not to mention Richard Brooks’s extraordinary talent and incredible strength. Even among those at the same level, few could go head-to-head with him. Yet now, as Richard Brooks unleashed his full Sweeping Eight Desolations staff technique, this young master—who usually seemed so frail—actually blocked every move. It was simply unbelievable.

In fact, for William Clark, this was just his first warm-up in this life, a process to get more familiar with his current strength and body. Although he didn’t have any martial techniques to use right now, from his perspective, Richard Brooks’s attacks were full of flaws. Even if Richard Brooks was much stronger than him, it was useless. After all, they were both in the Body Transformation realm, and Richard Brooks hadn’t reached the Bone Refinement stage where vital energy could be infused into the bones and used in combat.

“Now it’s my turn.”

William Clark’s body suddenly retreated, and in the next instant, he spun like a wheel, his blade moving with him. Just like when he suddenly drew his blade earlier, he slashed directly at Richard Brooks’s neck. At that moment, Richard Brooks happened to be changing moves, and his iron staff unknowingly returned to a starting position. So when William Clark slashed again, Richard Brooks instinctively raised his staff to block, just as he had at the beginning.

“Clang... clang... clang...” But this time was different. As soon as the blade was deflected, William Clark’s body pressed forward, continuing to hack down, forcing the just-repelled Richard Brooks to block again. More than a dozen strikes in a row—how could this be? How could this be? Richard Brooks was utterly shocked, because William Clark’s move was very similar to one from the lower-level martial technique Sweeping Eight Desolations staff technique he had just used, only William Clark was using a blade instead.

Before he could react, there was a violent clash. Richard Brooks felt his iron staff suddenly tremble and lighten, and in the next instant, he saw a flash of the blade break through his defense.

“How is this possible...”

“In a battle between those of the same level, the iron staff actually broke...”

“Please, young master, spare him—he’s Steward Brooks’s grandson...”

Chapter 7: Flower Boat Street

In fact, from the moment William Clark and Richard Brooks started fighting to the moment the outcome was decided, it all happened very quickly. By the time everyone reacted, it was already over. When they saw William Clark, at the seventh stage of the Body Transformation realm, actually break Richard Brooks’s ninth-stage iron staff, they were all stunned. You have to know, the weapon William Clark was holding wasn’t some artifact, not even a top-grade mortal weapon—just an ordinary fourth-grade mortal weapon. And William Clark’s strength was weaker—how could someone weaker break a weapon wielded by someone stronger? It was simply unbelievable.

While everyone was still in shock, fortunately, an old soldier snapped back to reality. At a time like this, there was no time to think about anything else—if that blade really came down, it would be a disaster. The young master might not be afraid, but Richard Brooks was the only heir of the The Brooks Family.

Death—a sense of death even stronger than before—loomed over him, but Richard Brooks showed no fear, glaring angrily at William Clark.

William Clark wasn’t joking. His strike was meant to kill—this was his way of doing things. Although Richard Brooks felt more anger than killing intent toward him, William Clark would not leave someone who could threaten him alive. For most people, even if someone shouted for them to stop at this moment, they wouldn’t be able to. Only a true expert could intervene in time.

Although William Clark’s body wasn’t very strong yet, after fusing the Pure Yang True Fire and activating the inner cauldron of the Void Yin-Yang Cauldron, he found his spiritual power recovered at an astonishing rate. Now, even experts at the Bone Refinement stage, with vital energy infused into their bones, might not have spiritual power as strong as his. That’s why he could easily imitate Richard Brooks’s lower-level Sweeping Eight Desolations staff technique and even adapt it into a blade technique. His neural reactions were much faster than normal, and a few thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

“Bang...” The blade changed direction, sweeping sideways, and with tremendous force, knocked Richard Brooks to one knee.

“You are Richard Brooks, grandson of Steward Brooks, son of General Richard Brooks.” William Clark had already recalled some information from his memory.

“Hmph!” Richard Brooks raised his head and snorted angrily. “I lost. Do whatever you want with me.”