Although Stephen Clark was his own older brother, William Clark couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable at the thought of his mother quietly taking the Body Tempering Pill that belonged to him and giving it to Stephen Clark. As a result, his tone was anything but pleasant when he spoke.

Hearing William Clark’s response, the look of surprise in Stephen Clark’s eyes deepened. William Clark was his younger brother. Although he disdained interacting with him, he still knew a bit about William Clark’s character. William Clark had poor aptitude and lagged behind everyone else in cultivation, so he was inevitably insecure. In the past, whenever William Clark spoke to him, he was always timid and cautious. Who would have thought that after just a few months apart, William Clark now spoke with confidence and composure, exuding an indescribable aura—he was like a completely different person from before.

For the first time, Stephen Clark felt that he could no longer see through this younger brother.

“Advancing to the second level of martial arts is good; you can help me!” Stephen Clark suppressed his thoughts and got straight to the point: “Next month, I plan to have a match with Richard Clark. This match is very important. If I win, the title of the number one expert among the younger generation of the Zhang family will be mine, which will be greatly beneficial for us.

In this match, although I’m not afraid of Richard Clark, he has many lackeys, and I’ll have a hard time dealing with them. I came to you this time because I want you to help me by holding off Richard Clark’s lackeys, so they can’t pull any tricks, allowing me to defeat Richard Clark smoothly...”

At this point, William Clark finally understood why Stephen Clark had come: so, Stephen Clark wanted to drag him along as muscle!

Richard Clark was the eldest legitimate son of the Zhang family head, Edward Clark. His talent was no less than Stephen Clark’s, and both were at the peak of the second level of martial arts. Both Richard Clark and Stephen Clark were outstanding, and people in the family often compared the two, which made them both dislike each other. It could be said that a showdown between them was inevitable.

If it were in the past, William Clark would have agreed to help without hesitation, even if he knew he’d get beaten up badly. But after merging his memories, William Clark had long since become indifferent to brotherly affection. Moreover, he had just obtained the peerless classic “Dao De Jing” and successfully advanced to the second level of martial arts. The path of a strong cultivator was slowly opening up before him, with endless martial arts mysteries waiting to be explored. How could he be interested in such a boring contest for a title?

As soon as Stephen Clark finished speaking, William Clark replied directly, “I’m not interested in that. I can’t help you.”

Hearing William Clark refuse without even thinking, Stephen Clark’s expression changed slightly. He said, “William Clark! We’re brothers. You won’t even help me with such a small favor?”

“Brothers?” William Clark let out a wry laugh, shook his head, and repeated, “I’m not interested in that. I can’t help you.”

“You...!”

This younger brother, who had always obeyed his orders, was now repeatedly refusing his requests. A surge of anger flared up in Stephen Clark’s heart. He glared coldly at William Clark, his face extremely ugly, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

William Clark ignored Stephen Clark’s ugly expression and went straight back to his own small courtyard.

Chapter 0004: The Incomplete Blade Manual

After returning to his courtyard, William Clark first had a hearty meal, then crawled into bed and slept soundly, not waking for a whole day and night. When he woke up, William Clark felt an indescribable energy throughout his body and a remarkable clarity in his mind.

William Clark tried picking up a book and found that his memory had indeed improved greatly—he could remember the gist of anything after reading it just once. What made William Clark even happier was that his calculation and comprehension abilities had also increased significantly. For some martial arts problems, he only needed to think briefly to quickly pinpoint the root of the issue.

“It seems that after this memory fusion, my brain has undergone some wonderful changes and become much sharper.” William Clark was overjoyed and thought to himself, “Before, my aptitude was poor, and my mind wasn’t great either. Now, my aptitude is still low, but my comprehension and calculation abilities far surpass before. As long as I can understand and memorize things faster than others, even if my aptitude is lacking, I’ll eventually be able to walk the path of the strong!”

After the excitement passed, William Clark suddenly remembered something: “Now that I’ve advanced to the second level of martial arts, it’s time to go to the family’s library and pick out a few martial arts techniques to practice.”

The cultivation method William Clark was currently using came from a book called “Martial Arts Enlightenment.” As the name suggests, it contained only the most basic things, such as “basic internal skills,” “basic movement techniques,” “basic fist techniques,” “basic palm techniques,” “basic sword techniques,” “basic blade techniques,” and “martial arts knowledge,” etc. These contents were illustrated and easy to understand, so even ordinary people who had never studied martial arts could easily grasp them.

The Zhang family had a rule: only those who had cultivated basic internal skills to the second level of martial arts were qualified to go to the family library and select martial arts techniques suitable for themselves. William Clark had always been stuck at the first level of martial arts, so he had never been able to obtain any martial arts techniques. Now that he had advanced to the second level, it was finally time to get some.

The Zhang family, library.