“Swish, swish, swish, swish—” William Clark kept swinging his blade, each slash sending up a spray of snowy white water.

Practicing swordsmanship in water is completely different from practicing on land. The resistance of water is much greater than that of air on land, and there are occasional eddies in the water that affect the angle and direction of the blade. One could say that slashing once in water is far more difficult than slashing ten times on land.

Draw the blade, sheath the blade. Draw again, sheath again.

Under the waterfall, William Clark repeatedly practiced these two simple movements.

“Supreme goodness is like water. Water benefits all things and does not compete; this is the virtue of humility. That is why rivers and seas can be kings of a hundred valleys—because they are good at staying low, they can be kings of a hundred valleys. Nothing in the world is softer or weaker than water, yet nothing can overcome the strong and hard; this is the virtue of softness. Thus, softness overcomes hardness, weakness overcomes strength. Because it is without form, it can enter where there is no space. From this, one can understand the teaching of non-action and the benefit of doing nothing.”

The longer William Clark practiced his blade in the water, the deeper his understanding of these words became. Water is the softest thing in the world; on the surface, it appears weak and lowly, but it can wear through mountains and stones, flood fields and destroy houses—nothing strong can stop it. This profound truth of the universe deeply shocked William Clark.

William Clark vaguely felt that if his blade could reach this miraculous state of “supreme goodness like water,” his swordsmanship would make a qualitative leap, and among the younger generation, he would have no rivals. He might even become invincible in the entire country and reach the pinnacle of the Xiantian realm.

Draw the blade, sheath the blade—William Clark practiced like this for more than two months.

After more than two months of training, William Clark’s once gentle features gradually became sharp and defined; his gaze grew as keen as a blade, his movements as precise as a blade, and his whole being became like an unsheathed sword—sharp and full of aggression.

The waterfall crashed onto his face, his body, and his blade, yet it could not move him an inch.

“Swish!”

William Clark slashed once, cutting through the waterfall.

“Clang!”

The blade returned to its sheath, as if it had never moved.

Between drawing and sheathing the blade, his movements were supremely smooth, as if formed by nature itself.

“Heh, to have practiced basic swordsmanship to this level is already mastery. Training under the waterfall is extremely tough, but the rewards are immense!” William Clark stroked the thick-backed blade in his hand, feeling a surge of pride.

To have reached mastery in basic swordsmanship in just two short months—no one would believe it if he told them. But William Clark had achieved it through sheer willpower and calculation!

Not only had he mastered basic swordsmanship, but he had also brought the Iron Bridge Blocking the River stance to perfection.

With basic swordsmanship at the level of mastery, even a simple slash carried immense power. And with the Iron Bridge Blocking the River stance at mastery, once the stance was set, unless one’s strength far surpassed William Clark, it was impossible to break through.

By mastering these two major offensive and defensive techniques, William Clark finally had some ability to protect himself.

“With my current strength, defeating David Clark at the mid-stage of Martial Dao Level Two shouldn’t be a problem. But to defeat Richard Clark at the peak of Level Two, I’m afraid it’s still not enough! Moreover, Richard Clark could break through to Level Three at any time. The strength of Martial Dao Level Three far surpasses the peak of Level Two—even if I’ve mastered basic swordsmanship, I’m still no match for him! I need greater strength!” William Clark assessed his own abilities, knowing that while he was already among the better youths of the Clark family, he still couldn’t compare to the truly gifted ones like Richard Clark.

If his strength was lacking, he would work harder to improve. William Clark once again took out that incomplete sword manual, determined to master all the techniques within it in one go.

Chapter 0009: Mastery of the Clear Wind Slash

The unnamed sword manual recorded a technique with a name—Clear Wind Slash. Wind means speed. The key to mastering this technique is just one word: speed!

Draw the blade swiftly—so fast that the opponent can’t react, so fast that their eyes can’t follow, and as soon as the blade leaves the sheath, it claims a life!

Clear Wind Slash, Clear Wind Slash—when the clear wind brushes the face, you feel the wind but see no blade.

To achieve great speed in drawing the blade, one must have explosive power, and also use qi to drive the blade, making it even faster.

After more than two months of training under the waterfall, William Clark’s explosive power was already quite impressive. What he needed to practice now was using qi to drive the blade.

Using qi to drive the blade, as the name suggests, means channeling true qi into the blade, making it faster and more powerful. William Clark’s comprehension was now far beyond before; after reading the Clear Wind Slash technique just once, he memorized its essentials. In the days that followed, he practiced while pondering the technique, and soon grasped its key points.

“Clear Wind, Clear Wind Slash—use strength to draw the blade, use qi to control the blade, use wind as the blade! Haha!” William Clark laughed heartily, leaped up, and landed in the pool, swinging his thick-backed blade dozens of times.

At first, the dozens of slashes were like chopping firewood. But after the next dozen or so, his arm seemed to disappear, and the thick-backed blade seemed to be guided by a light breeze—its speed reached the extreme, leaving no trace.