Both arms swung out again, striking toward William Clark's chest. This time, Claire Waters did not use her inner energy, but those arms were so light and silent, not even a whisper of wind could be heard—they had already touched the threshold of the perfect level of whip form.

Once again, a palm appeared, transforming into a blade. The vertical blade shattered Claire Waters's attack once more, and the blade form drove straight in, slicing inward toward her wrist, forcing Claire Waters to counter with a blade form as well.

Claire Waters lightly bit her red lips. “So this time it’s the blade form? The perfect level blade form!” She already understood William Clark’s intention—did he want to use this as compensation for peeking at her? What did he take her for?

A different kind of embarrassment welled up in the girl’s heart. As she moved her wrists to counter with the blade form, she unconsciously used thirty percent of her inner energy.

With the infusion of inner energy, Claire Waters’s blade form immediately gained a different power, and her palms faintly exuded a sharpness.

“Hm? Not good.”

William Clark felt a chill coming from his palms. He sensed the sharpness of a blade in Claire Waters’s counterattack, and only then remembered that this girl was a level-one martial artist, while he himself hadn’t even touched the threshold of inner energy.

A force both gentle and sharp invaded his body. Suddenly, William Clark felt a heat at his dantian, and the tingling sensation from practicing 【冲虚聚元诀】yesterday resurfaced. Then, a wave of heat spread from his dantian throughout his body, as if he had just come out of a sauna, leaving him feeling indescribably refreshed.

In an instant, that wave of heat completely dispelled the invading force within his body. William Clark’s right palm continued its motion, gently slicing across those fair wrists.

Claire Waters’s delicate body trembled again. She felt her inner energy, which had just entered William Clark’s body, be completely neutralized. At the same time, a faint wave of heat rebounded, causing her inner energy to suddenly accelerate its circulation. Unfortunately, this wave of heat vanished in an instant, leaving no trace.

Staring wide-eyed with her dark green beautiful eyes at William Clark, Claire Waters was, for the first time, seriously sizing up a boy: delicate features, a slender figure—if not for the mischievous grin at the corner of his mouth, this boy would undoubtedly be quite handsome.

That’s right, someone who had trained the 【Three Forms of Soldier】 to the perfect level—how could he possibly not have condensed inner energy? But then, why had this boy, in his three years at Nanying Academy, willingly endured the teachers’ scolding and the classmates’ disdain?

In the corner of the training hall, Instructor Carter’s brow kept twitching, as if he were having spasms. “All three forms of the 【Three Forms of Soldier】 at the perfect level, and he can even guide his classmates in training—this William Clark, this William Clark...”

At this moment, Carter truly didn’t know how to describe his feelings. It was as if he’d been watching a pig lazing around for three years, and then one day, the pig tore off its skin and turned into a fierce tiger. This contradictory feeling made Carter want to cough up blood.

Suddenly, Carter’s eyes widened. He saw Claire Waters channeling inner energy into her blade form, while William Clark simply used a light hand blade to easily neutralize the attack.

“Damn it, this brat is actually a level-one martial artist, and he can already control his inner energy at will. This bastard!” Carter kept cursing inwardly, but in his heart, he was secretly delighted. “This brat knows his usual grades are too low to qualify for the graduation martial arts test, so he’s putting on a good show for me? This brat—good, very good, damn good.”

Thinking of William Clark’s past, Carter couldn’t help but feel puzzled. “Strange, with such talent, how did I never notice this kid before?”

Suddenly, Carter recalled the opening class meeting of C-69 three years ago, when homeroom teacher John Thompson had criticized William Clark mercilessly in class. He could still remember those nearly insulting words.

Carter suddenly understood. “So that’s it. Teenagers are naturally rebellious, let alone a genius like this.”

Connecting the dots, Carter found what he believed to be the answer. Which martial arts genius isn’t born proud? To be harshly scolded by the homeroom teacher at the very start of school would surely make a teenager’s rebelliousness flare up, making it hard to remain friendly with teachers and students. Moreover, the martial arts taught at Nanying Academy were all basic—through the eyes of a martial arts genius, they were nothing but child’s play.

That’s why William Clark had such a poor record over the past three years. Maybe others saw this student as hopeless, but in William Clark’s eyes, perhaps everyone else was just a bunch of clowns.

Once Carter figured this out, he felt extremely pleased. Kid, so what if you’re a genius? Aren’t you still my student? Now that the graduation exam is approaching, you must be anxious, right? If you can’t even participate in the martial arts test, no matter how talented you are, you won’t get into Difeng Academy.

Difeng Academy? That’s right—with the strength this kid is showing now, he might really make it in. If a student like this suddenly appeared in Class C-69, what would those guys in the A and B classes think?

Squinting at William Clark’s back, Carter found this student more and more likable. He opened the roster, made a bold stroke, and directly added 50 points to William Clark’s usual grade.

A perfect score of 100!

Chapter 010: Inner Energy Awakening

Two hours later, all 120 trainees in the training room were drenched in sweat, and finally heard Instructor Carter’s special pardon.

“Rest for half an hour.”

Carter tossed out these words and turned to leave the training room. No one noticed how light his steps were as he left, as if he were stepping on two clouds, bouncing with every step.