This kick was even heavier than the one in the morning. Agonizing pain surged from the abdomen and flooded the whole body, making Samuel Hayes break out in a cold sweat, his mind going completely blank.

William Harper had a tall, slender figure and two long legs. At this moment, her legs were aligned in a straight line, pointing skyward—her move was explosively cool.

The female disciples watched with stars in their eyes, while most people ignored the Samuel Hayes who had been kicked flying. Reality... is just that cruel!

“So cool!” Some female disciples even whispered under their breath.

Because of her good looks, William Harper always got along well with the female disciples of her year.

Most male disciples decided whether to be friends based on talent, status, and personality, but most female disciples didn’t care about all that—they only cared about looks!

Instructor Sarah Bennett stood up excitedly and praised, “Good! William Harper, your strength has indeed improved greatly. Have you advanced to the third level of the Condensing Origin Realm?”

Samuel Hayes, lying on the ground, had just regained a bit of consciousness. Hearing the instructor’s “Good!”, he was so angry he almost fainted again. He’d been beaten so badly, yet the instructor was cheering—was there no justice left?

William Harper withdrew her leg and said to Sarah Bennett, “Yes, I’ve already opened three Origin Meridians.”

All the disciples looked surprised. William Harper had previously been at the first level of the Condensing Origin Realm, and now she was suddenly at the third—did she break through two levels at once?

Sarah Bennett was beaming with joy, her eyes shining as she looked at William Harper. “William Harper, it seems you’ve made a breakthrough after accumulating strength for so long, advancing two levels in a row. Your three years of diligent cultivation have not been in vain.”

Sarah Bennett walked forward, took a token from her pocket, and handed it to William Harper: “You don’t have to wait until the fourth level of the Condensing Origin Realm. Tomorrow, you can go to the Martial Arts Pavilion and use this token to study intermediate techniques and swordsmanship!”

William Harper accepted it and said, “Thank you, instructor.”

All the disciples looked envious. They had only been able to learn intermediate techniques and swordsmanship after reaching the fourth level of the Condensing Origin Realm.

William Harper put away the token and said, “Instructor, I want to challenge a few people as well!”

Taking advantage of the sword competition, he had to settle the score with the fellow disciples who had bullied him before!

Upon hearing this, the disciples who had previously fought with William Harper all turned pale.

Sarah Bennett nodded slightly. She knew that over the past three years, William Harper had suffered a lot of bullying. Now that he had the strength, of course he would want to get even.

Fellow disciples of the same year entered the sect together, so there was still some camaraderie. William Harper had suffered less bullying among his peers; those who had really taken advantage of him were the senior disciples or disciples from other peaks.

Buddha fights for a stick of incense, people fight for a breath of pride.

Sarah Bennett could imagine that with William Harper’s rise, the Outer Sect of the Ancient Sword Sect would surely be stirred up, and those disciples who had bullied him... would taste the bitter fruit.

Chapter 7: All of You, Come at Once!

The Ancient Sword Sect recruited disciples once a year, with a quota of one thousand.

These thousand were divided among the ten outer peaks, one hundred per peak.

The recruitment standard was to reach the Condensing Origin Realm before the age of twelve, and each batch of outer sect disciples could be taught for up to six years.

Before the age of eighteen, if a disciple broke through the Condensing Origin Realm, they could be promoted to inner sect disciple. Otherwise, after six years, they would graduate—either working in the sect’s secular industries or returning to their family.

In other words, each peak of the Ancient Sword Sect’s outer sect only had six batches of disciples at any time. Whenever a new batch entered, the oldest batch would leave.

William Harper’s cohort on the Seventh Peak had exactly one hundred people, all from various cities in Qingzhou.

William Harper’s gaze swept over his fellow disciples, focusing on three people: “I, William Harper, challenge Richard Foster, Steven Blake, and Thomas Perry. The three of you, come at me together!”

The three of them walked out, faces dark.

Richard Foster, Steven Blake, and Thomas Perry were all at the fifth level of the Condensing Origin Realm, their strength on par with Samuel Hayes.

William Harper had easily defeated Samuel Hayes earlier, so fighting these three one-on-one would be a clear show of dominance.

In the eyes of the other disciples, William Harper letting the three join forces was giving them a chance—this was the bearing of a true powerhouse.

In reality... that wasn’t the case at all!

William Harper simply found it too troublesome to fight three times, and it wasn’t challenging enough. Letting all three come at once would settle things in one go.

“You said it! The three of us will go together!”

“William Harper, a real man keeps his word—don’t you dare back out!”

“After today’s fight, no matter who wins or loses, our grudges are settled. How about it?”

Richard Foster, Steven Blake, and Thomas Perry quickly responded to William Harper’s words.

They didn’t believe that even with the three of them together, they couldn’t beat William Harper alone.

Even if they couldn’t win, at least the three of them wouldn’t lose to William Harper.

They were self-aware—they were the most average among the Ancient Sword Sect’s disciples, while William Harper... was the most talented. With William Harper’s rise, they would never be able to compete with him in the future.

The best outcome they hoped for in this fight was a draw. If they could resolve their grudges here, all the better.

William Harper stood tall with his longsword, his gaze sweeping over the three one by one: “After this battle, our grudges are settled!”