It seemed as if he sensed William Clark. That bearded middle-aged man’s tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open, a sharp light flashing within them, completely unlike someone who was injured. He slowly turned his head, fixing his gaze on William Clark. After watching for a moment, a trace of surprise suddenly appeared on his face, and he said, “You’re cultivating the basic internal skill from ‘Martial Arts Enlightenment’? I didn’t expect you could unleash such a fierce blade technique relying only on a basic internal skill! You’re quite impressive, but you shouldn’t have coveted my belongings, so you must die as well!”

With that, he raised his palm and struck out!

This bearded middle-aged man looked as if he was on the verge of death, but the palm he casually unleashed was shockingly powerful. As the palm force surged forth, William Clark felt as if he was in the midst of a raging sea, the surging true energy like countless invisible beasts, ready to tear him to pieces at any moment.

“Hyah!”

William Clark let out a loud roar, the broad-backed saber in his hand slashing out like lightning, executing the “Clear Wind Slash” and hacking fiercely forward.

William Clark had already mastered the “Clear Wind Slash” to perfection. As soon as the broad-backed saber was swung, it transformed into a flurry of clear wind, perfectly blocking in front of him.

“Boom!”

The force unleashed by the bearded middle-aged man from a distance was truly overwhelming, instantly shattering the web of blades William Clark had set up and sending William Clark flying back more than ten zhang. However, William Clark’s sharp slash also managed to split the force sent from afar by the bearded man in two, avoiding the fate of being torn to shreds by the true power.

Seeing that William Clark had actually withstood his palm strike, the bearded middle-aged man showed a hint of surprise on his face and said, “Kid, you’re quite something. With just mid-stage second level martial strength, you could actually take a palm from me! Although this palm was less than half as powerful as usual, it’s still quite remarkable! But, you still have to die!”

As he spoke, the man suddenly pulled something from his chest and, with a flick of his hand, a flash of cold light shot toward William Clark like lightning!

William Clark had already been on guard against this man, and as soon as he saw him reaching for something, he assumed a defensive stance. Even so, William Clark was still startled by the flash of cold light thrown at him!

The cold light hurled by this man was as fast as lightning, and William Clark felt his eyes couldn’t even keep up. Most terrifying of all, within that cold light was a suffocating, terrifying aura. From the very start, this dreadful aura locked tightly onto William Clark, making his whole body feel as if he’d fallen into an ice cellar. Not only was his body frozen by this aura, but even his thoughts seemed to be frozen, making it extremely difficult to move even a single finger!

“Ah, ah—” In this life-and-death crisis, William Clark’s eyes widened, and he suddenly let out a roar. Just as the white light was about to pierce his chest, he finally managed to move, one hand following a mysterious instinct, flipping up like lightning and tightly grabbing the white light.

Feeling that he had caught the cold light, William Clark finally breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he realize that in just that brief instant, he had broken out in a cold sweat. Looking down at his hand, he saw blood streaming down, his hand completely numb. In the center of his palm, a blade tip the size of a palm lay quietly, emitting a faint aura of majesty. Though the aura was only a faint trace, it carried an indescribable sense of nobility, authority, vastness, and grandeur, weighing down on William Clark as if he was bearing a ten-thousand-jin burden, his whole body icy cold.

William Clark struggled to lift his head, looking at the bearded middle-aged man who had suddenly attacked. He was about to ask something when he suddenly heard the man exclaim in surprise, “Eh? You actually managed to withstand the spiritual attack of this blade tip! I didn’t expect your soul power to be so strong! Kid, consider yourself lucky. This blade tip is yours now. I hope you live long enough to comprehend it, cough…”

The voice of the bearded middle-aged man grew weaker and weaker, until it was no longer audible.

Just as William Clark was about to go over and check if the man was dead or alive, he suddenly heard several soft “crack” sounds. The bearded middle-aged man’s body began to gush blood like a fountain, his whole body shriveling up. Clearly, the man was already dead.

A long while later, William Clark cautiously approached. He saw that the bearded man’s body was covered in wounds, no fewer than thirty of them fatal. It was a mystery how this bearded man had managed to hold on for so long.

Looking at these wounds, William Clark couldn’t help but gasp, “This man suffered such severe injuries, then took a heavy punch from me, his bones shattered, yet he still managed to live for a while. That’s truly unbelievable!”

After examining the wounds, William Clark shifted his gaze and suddenly noticed a palm-sized box beside the bearded man, faintly inscribed with mysterious lines. William Clark looked at the box, and suddenly, on a whim, picked it up and placed the blade tip he’d been holding into it.

This box was truly a magical item. Although the blade tip was just a dead object, it had been constantly emitting a faint pressure. But once it was placed inside the box, that faint pressure instantly vanished without a trace.