Steward Brooks's original name was Charles Brooks, and he was Edward Clark's childhood friend from the same village. At first, sixteen people from the village joined the army, but only Edward Clark and Charles Brooks walked off the battlefield alive. If Charles Brooks had wanted, he could have become a general as well, but he chose to stay by Edward Clark's side. Charles Brooks had only one son, and his son Richard Brooks became a general at the age of twenty-six. Although he had the support of the Cheng family, his own abilities were also outstanding.

Over a decade ago, Richard Brooks died in battle and was posthumously awarded the title of Grand General of the North, but the specific circumstances were unknown to anyone. William Clark found that deep in his memory there were some vague fragments—a general, covered in blood, holding him. The memory was short and blurry. Clearly, he was very young at the time, but now, thinking back, he realized that person looked a lot like Richard Brooks. Combined with what Richard Brooks had just said, it was obvious there was more to the story.

“In consideration of the fact that you are the only descendant of the Luo family, a child of the loyal and brave, I won’t kill you this time. Remember, this is the only time. No matter what you think in your heart, as long as you are in the Cheng family, you must obey the Cheng family’s rules. What, not convinced? Fine, I’ll give you a special privilege: you can challenge me at any time. Aren’t you unhappy with me? Then come and challenge me. If you have the ability, defeat me head-on, and then you can openly beat me up and vent however you like.” Although the memory was blurry, combined with what Richard Brooks had just said, William Clark had already vaguely guessed a few things.

“Are you serious?” Richard Brooks looked at William Clark in disbelief, the anger in his eyes turning to shock.

“Do I need to lie to you?” William Clark pressed down lightly with the knife in his hand, the blade already cutting slightly into Richard Brooks's skin.

Richard Brooks felt the chill from the blade and a slight pain, and he understood the situation he was in. There was really no need for him to lie; if he wanted to kill him, he could do it at any time, or even just give the order—after all, he was the master, and Richard Brooks was the servant. But when did he become so powerful? Not only did he possess the strength of the seventh level of the Transformation Stage, but even though Richard Brooks was stronger, he was still suppressed. However, if he could challenge him and beat him up in public, as long as his strength stabilized, there would be no problem.

Although Richard Brooks had lost, the thought of being able to openly beat up William Clark made him extremely excited—he still had confidence in himself.

“Pa…” William Clark flicked his knife to the side, and the blade slid directly into the scabbard of the soldier from earlier, startling the soldier. With that force and speed, if he’d missed even a little, the soldier would have been dead.

The others’ eyes lit up again. What a cool move! To defeat the strong as the weak, even breaking the opponent’s weapon, and to handle things so decisively—was this really the same spoiled young master of the Cheng family?

“Your life will be spared, but mistakes must still be punished. Seven days of facing the wall in the ice cave. Each day, I’ll have someone bring you a bowl of soup.” Although William Clark also had doubts in his heart, he didn’t ask further. Some things would naturally come to light in time.

“Ah…”

The other soldiers were stunned when they heard this. Several veterans kept winking at Richard Brooks, urging him to beg for mercy. The ice cave—what kind of place was that? It was set up with formations, specifically used to store ice and some special items. To stay there for seven days and only get a bowl of soup each day—this was basically a death sentence.

They had just thought the young master was being merciful, but now it seemed they were wrong. The young master clearly didn’t want Richard Brooks to die easily—he wouldn’t even let him die comfortably.

“I’ll come back for you, and I’ll beat you into a pig’s head.” After William Clark lifted his knife, Richard Brooks turned and walked straight toward the ice cave in the back mountain, completely unafraid, finally saying the words he’d kept in his heart for years. Richard Brooks actually felt incredibly relieved. In the past, whenever he mentioned dealing with William Clark or beating him up, his mother would scold and punish him. Now, he could say it right to his face, and soon he’d be able to do it. Just an ice cave—he was sure he’d survive. William Clark, just you wait.

William Clark shrugged and didn’t bother with him. Actions speak louder than words. As he wandered around the Cheng family, the looks from these people were truly strange, so William Clark simply turned and walked out.

Fortune and misfortune are sometimes hard to tell apart. In his early years, he had a fortuitous encounter and obtained the Yin-Yang Ten Thousand Things Manual, which led him to learn about the number one artifact in the Nine Provinces—the Void Yin-Yang Cauldron—and its situation, and he eventually obtained this number one artifact. But because of this artifact, he was possessed and reborn, and ended up in the body of such a notorious wastrel. Yet because of this, he also learned a secret that no one else knew: the number one artifact, the Void Yin-Yang Cauldron, actually consisted of an inner and an outer cauldron, and the one that exploded was just the outer cauldron.

After leaving the Duke Protector’s residence, William Clark strolled through the streets. As one of the top five empires in the Southern Zhanbu Continent, the capital of the Blue Cloud Empire—Yunge City—was truly magnificent. Yunge City had a population of over two million. The founding emperor of the Zhu family had the character “Blue” in his name, and the most famous thing here was the “cloud pigeon.” This was a special kind of bird, faster than even seventh-level flying demon beasts. Back then, the Blue Cloud Empire was able to gain an advantage in intelligence and information precisely because it controlled these “cloud pigeons,” and ultimately established a powerful empire.