William Harper insisted on choosing the Sword Origin Manual, so Steward Ethan Brooks naturally couldn’t refuse him. He thought to himself that all these genius disciples had their own pride, and their first choice was always the Sword Origin Manual. Which one of them hadn’t suffered a setback before switching to another technique?

Ethan Brooks brought out the secret manual for the Sword Origin Manual and said, “The Sword Origin Manual is divided into upper and lower volumes. Practicing only the upper volume makes it an intermediate technique; practicing both together makes it an advanced technique. Right now, you can cultivate the upper volume. If you can truly master this technique and reach the seventh level of the Condensing Origin Realm, you may then cultivate the lower volume!”

William Harper took the Sword Origin Manual, walked over to a chair, sat down, and began to read and study it. As for sword techniques... he could wait until after cultivating the Sword Origin Manual to choose them.

Many gazes focused on William Harper, waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

After more than ten minutes, William Harper finished reading through the Sword Origin Manual. Aside from its higher requirements for physique, in William Harper’s view, the cultivation of the Sword Origin Manual wasn’t particularly complicated. Maybe it was because he was too much of a genius—he understood it after just one reading.

In fact... after reading it once, William Harper could even recite the entire technique from memory.

William Harper closed the manual, set it aside, then sat cross-legged, palms and soles facing upward, and began to cultivate.

Noticing William Harper’s actions, even more eyes focused on him.

Seeing that William Harper had only read through the Sword Origin Manual once before starting to cultivate, and had even closed the manual without looking at it again, the other disciples all looked at William Harper as if he were an idiot.

They all thought to themselves: This guy... does he really think he can master the Sword Origin Manual just by reading the manual once? How arrogant and reckless!

Even Steward Ethan Brooks shook his head slightly.

Chapter 9: Breaking Through to the Fourth Level

Time ticked by, second by second.

Ten minutes passed.

Half an hour passed.

An hour passed.

William Harper remained seated, his aura withdrawn, making it impossible for others to gauge his true state or depth.

“Hmph... just putting on a show, making a mystery out of nothing!” David Cooper snorted coldly, thinking William Harper was just pretending.

If someone truly started cultivating the Sword Origin Manual, an hour would be enough to produce ‘Sword Origin Qi’. Most people couldn’t withstand the ‘Sword Origin Qi’ and would suffer a backlash.

But William Harper looked calm and composed, with an air of inscrutability. David Cooper didn’t believe for a second that William Harper could really master the Sword Origin Manual.

Time continued to pass. Two hours went by.

William Harper remained seated on the ground, his aura withdrawn. Although he was absorbing the world’s energy to cultivate, outsiders couldn’t tell whether he was really practicing the Sword Origin Manual.

“William Harper, how much longer are you going to keep up this act? Heh... even Brian Scott couldn’t last two hours cultivating the Sword Origin Manual. Do you really think this is meaningful?” David Cooper said again, his tone icy.

Brian Scott was the most outstanding genius among the disciples of David Cooper’s generation. In just two years, at only fourteen years old, he had cultivated to the ninth level of the Condensing Origin Realm.

If not for William Harper’s perfect sword talent, Brian Scott would be the most gifted disciple of the Ancient Sword Sect since the days of Gu Ruifeng!

Brian Scott joined a year later than William Harper. When he entered, William Harper had already been stuck at the first level of the Condensing Origin Realm for a year and had fallen from his pedestal. So... William Harper’s perfect sword talent didn’t affect Brian Scott at all; in fact, by comparison, Brian Scott seemed even more outstanding.

David Cooper’s words were echoed by the other disciples. Brian Scott had reached the ninth level of the Condensing Origin Realm in just two years—his cultivation speed was monstrous, earning him the title of the number one genius of the outer sect.

Even if William Harper had greater talent, in terms of actual cultivation results, he was far behind Brian Scott.

If Brian Scott couldn’t do it, could William Harper?

All the disciples agreed: Impossible!

For a while, the second floor of the Martial Pavilion was filled with whispers, mixed with ridicule and mockery.

In the midst of cultivation, William Harper remained calm and focused, completely ignoring the cold remarks of others. The ridicule and mockery of the crowd didn’t affect his state of mind in the slightest.

Time passed, and another hour went by.

William Harper had been cultivating the Sword Origin Manual for over three hours!

Most of the disciples in the reading area had stopped looking at their own manuals and were now focused on William Harper.

David Cooper said William Harper was just putting on a show, making a mystery out of nothing, and the other disciples believed this conclusion. They were just waiting to see how long William Harper could keep up the act!

On the second floor of the Martial Pavilion, the world’s energy suddenly surged violently.

All the disciples sensed this fluctuation in energy and were surprised. This kind of energy surge was similar to the effect caused when a martial artist broke through in cultivation.

Who... whose cultivation was breaking through at this moment?

In a very short time, the surging energy formed a storm centered on William Harper, and the rushing world energy rapidly poured into William Harper’s body.

One! Two! Three!

Inside William Harper’s body, three meridians burst open, and everyone could sense the aura of these three meridians. Then... the aura of a fourth meridian gradually emerged!

It was William Harper’s cultivation breaking through, as the energy in his body burst open the fourth meridian, advancing him to the fourth level of the Condensing Origin Realm.

All the disciples looked a bit stunned. They hadn’t expected... it was actually William Harper who had broken through.