But all of that was in the past. William Clark didn’t know the details, so he didn’t find anything strange. Emily Carter also quickly forgot about everything else and focused on discussing the current situation with her senior brother.

After a few words, William Clark finally figured out his current circumstances.

He had a cheap master—who had passed away a month ago.

The sect was called the Shushan Sect, and he was the head of the Shushan Sect—but after losing a duel two days ago, he lost both the sect’s name and its land.

The sect had only two people—himself and the Emily Carter in front of him.

To put it simply, apart from having a junior sister who didn’t seem very friendly toward him, he had nothing at all.

After figuring things out, the two sat in silence. Emily Carter saw her senior brother sitting there with his head down, not saying a word, and for a moment, she seemed to see that same useless and unmotivated senior brother she’d always known.

This senior brother had never been able to surpass her since childhood—his martial arts were inferior, he was slow and procrastinated in everything, and he couldn’t do anything well, yet he loved to bury his nose in some tattered book and read endlessly.

Yet for some reason, the master insisted on passing the position of sect leader to him. She had thought she would be the new head, and she believed she could make the Shushan Sect flourish.

Unfortunately...

“Could it be just because I’m a woman?” Thinking of how every previous sect leader had been a man, Emily Carter couldn’t help but suspect this was the reason.

Still, she was not convinced. Couldn’t a woman become the head of a sect? Besides, in today’s martial world, there were quite a few sects led by women, including some major sects that accepted both male and female disciples. Why was her own small sect so old-fashioned?

But a master’s order could not be disobeyed. Before passing away, the master had named her senior brother as the next leader, and she could not go against his dying wish. At this point, she could only choose to obey: “Senior brother, Master said the great task of reviving our sect is now yours...”

William Clark didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard this, because he felt like he’d heard these words somewhere before. But before he could react, his beautiful junior sister said something that left him utterly stunned.

“If you can’t do it, then just hand over the position of sect leader to me as soon as possible!” With that, regardless of William Clark’s reaction, she picked up her empty bowl and walked out of the room.

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Chapter 2: Sword Technique Manual

Watching his junior sister float away, William Clark was momentarily at a loss. He had long sensed that his junior sister didn’t think much of him, but he hadn’t expected her to harbor such thoughts.

“Does she want to seize the position of sect leader?” But what he couldn’t figure out was: “Why not just kill me or cripple me outright?”

After thinking it over, he could only conclude, ‘This junior sister hasn’t gone mad enough to do something so ruthless just for the position of sect leader!’ He couldn’t think of any other reason.

But the problem before him was even more troublesome than his junior sister eyeing the sect leader’s seat. If what she’d just said was true, then he and his junior sister were now homeless.

The root of it all was that the original owner of this body had lost a duel, and with it, a bet—not only losing the right to use the sect’s name, but also the ancestral land passed down through generations.

And the reason for all this was simply because their sect was called “Shushan Sect!”

“Damn it, what’s so wrong with being called Shushan Sect? The name isn’t imposing or arrogant, and it doesn’t offend anyone. Why would such a lousy name attract challenges?”

William Clark didn’t know that this place was called Shushan County, and the nearby mountain was also called Shushan. When the sect’s founder established the sect, Shushan was a quiet, deserted place, so he took the mountain’s name for the sect.

His disciples did well and made a name for themselves, so they secured the Shushan Sect’s reputation.

But the later generations became less and less capable, and the sect gradually declined. Now, many other sects and branches of big clans had moved onto the mountain.

Many people resented this small sect for holding onto the name, so the dueling challenge happened. That’s also how William Clark managed to take over this body and cross over.

He didn’t know any of this, so he couldn’t figure out why the duel had happened, and his thoughts hit a dead end.

Feeling frustrated, he decided to set the matter aside for now and ask his junior sister about it later.

“If it’s because we offended someone powerful, I’ll just hand over the sect leader’s position to her and let her do whatever she wants. I’ll enjoy my freedom on the side!” William Clark didn’t see anything wrong with that. After all, everything here was unfamiliar to him.

Unfamiliar surroundings, unfamiliar people—he couldn’t even be sure he was still on Earth, so he certainly wasn’t going to worry about whether his junior sister would suffer if they’d really offended someone important.

All he needed to consider was how to survive in this world—that was all.