After speaking, Jane Howard quickly shook her head.

"This is impossible. No one could master the Burial Sword Technique—which even many sword masters fail to learn—after seeing it just once!"

"You've practiced the Burial Sword Technique before, haven't you?"

As Jane Howard spoke, her gaze was fixed intently on William Carter.

"I truly am encountering this sword technique for the first time. As for why those sword masters can't master it, I can't answer that for you."

Jane Howard stared at William Carter, as if trying to find even the slightest trace of a lie in him.

But there was none.

Even though she had taught so many students and was already thoroughly familiar with their little tricks, when she looked at William Carter, she couldn't find any sign of dishonesty in his words.

After a moment, Jane Howard pressed her smooth, fair forehead, as if trying to clear her mind with the gesture.

"Whether you believe it or not, it took me half a month just to initially learn the method of stabilizing my vital energy and blood. It took three months before I could briefly achieve unity between man and sword while performing this technique. Then it took another month to master the method of stimulating my essence. To link all three together and successfully perform the Burial Sword Technique for the first time, it took me a full two years..."

William Carter said nothing.

He knew how difficult it was to cultivate this sword technique. Frankly, if it weren't for his sixth-level mental scale, if it weren't for the fact that he already possessed the strength equivalent to a great swordsman, and if he hadn't fully mastered the supreme realm of unity between man and sword, he would have had serious doubts about whether he could succeed in mastering the Burial Sword Technique at all.

One day! Two years!

Looking at the still slightly youthful boy before her, Jane Howard felt her confidence take a severe blow.

In everyone's eyes, she had always been the epitome of a genius girl: starting cultivation at six, becoming a martial artist at eight, a formal swordsman at sixteen, advancing to intermediate swordsman at nineteen, passing the assessment for advanced swordsman at twenty-four, and mastering the legendary Burial Sword Technique. All these honors and halos made her a true favored daughter of the heavens.

But now...

The legendary sword technique she spent two full years mastering had been grasped by someone else in just one day. Such a terrifying achievement shattered all her previous pride as a genius.

This... was simply a miracle.

Chapter 12: Peerless Talent

"Whew!"

Jane Howard adjusted her mindset.

Although she still couldn't be sure, she already had a vague suspicion in her heart: if this boy really was encountering the Burial Sword Technique for the first time, then his talent was beyond the word 'genius'—perhaps, because of her momentary kindness, she had unearthed a peerless swordsmanship prodigy for Biyue City.

"I'm sorry. I apologize for my earlier rudeness."

To admit one's mistakes and correct them.

At this moment, Jane Howard did not use her status as William Carter's instructor to simply write off her earlier doubts. Instead, she offered a sincere apology.

"No need. You taught me the Burial Sword Technique, so you are my teacher."

"Is this really your first time encountering the Burial Sword Technique?"

Although this wasn't the first time Jane Howard had questioned him, William Carter still nodded and answered simply.

"It is."

"Whew."

After a long while, Jane Howard finally began to calm down.

"You've already mastered the Burial Sword Technique, and I can tell that your skill with it has at least reached the entry level. Perhaps..."

What she was about to say, Jane Howard didn't continue: "Now, the focus is on training your movement and footwork. Even if you've mastered this peerless sword technique, you still need to be able to strike your target. If you can't hit your target, it's all meaningless. But since you just performed the Burial Sword Technique, you've used up a lot of your vital energy and blood. Rest for a bit first, and once you've recovered, we'll start training your movement and footwork."

As she spoke, there was a strange light in Jane Howard's eyes, as if she were looking at a rare treasure.

"I've mastered a method to stimulate my vital energy and blood. Although that last strike consumed a lot of it, I've already recovered some through regulation just now. There's no need to rest further."

"A method to stimulate vital energy and blood? You actually mastered such a secret technique? When did the The Carter Family..."

Jane Howard was startled, feeling she had let something slip.

Everyone, every family, has their own secrets.

It seemed that the dazzling display of the Burial Sword Technique just now had unsettled her normally calm state of mind.

"As for movement and footwork, I don't think there's any need to train further. Last night, I already spent more than two hours reviewing them in the woods behind the academy, and I've regained my grasp of these techniques."

"More than two hours."