William had initially thought that, despite Alice’s somewhat lacking aptitude, she should be able to break Jeffrey’s mental illusion within an hour with a single strike of her sword.
During her battle in Ravenwood, she had even managed to employ her sword aura and pressure effectively.
Logically, after learning from William for so long, breaking such a minor illusion should have been no problem for her.
However, by 11:30 PM, when Wes called again, William asked, “Deputy Director Wenzel, when will you arrive?”
“I’m already downstairs. Just hand your phone to Jeffrey, and I’ll speak to him directly,” replied Wes. He and Zoey had actually been nearby for quite some time, but they weren’t in a hurry. The two even had a late-night snack nearby.
According to Wes, since William had injured someone and was being held, it wasn’t a big deal to let him be taught a lesson. Besides, Wes knew Jeffrey’s character and was confident that he wouldn’t harm William, so a later arrival seemed fine.
“You’d better come up here,” William insisted, bound by his verbal bet with Jeffrey. He wasn’t afraid to lose, but their agreement was based on the premise of ending the bet with Wes’s arrival.
Wes, not fully understanding William’s intention, worried that Jeffrey might be causing trouble. “Wait for me, I’ll be right up,” he said before hanging up.
Jeffrey, observing William, commented with a smile, “Seems like the girl can’t escape the illusion on her own.”
“I can take the loss,” William replied, accepting the outcome. After all, it was just about doing a month of volunteer service at the Asa Church ritual site.
He couldn’t blame anyone but himself for overestimating his disciple and trusting Alice too much.
Hours had passed, and she still hadn’t broken Jeffrey’s illusion. If Jeffrey had been the type to kill easily, Alice would likely be dead by now.
William glanced at Alice, acknowledging that his disciple, if too weak, was doomed not to survive long.
From past experiences, those who benefited from William often saw a sudden increase in strength, but the trials they faced later were unimaginably tough.
Regrettably, William couldn’t intervene. If he did, the subsequent trials would only multiply endlessly.
William fears nothing and can break through almost any calamity, but peacefully resolving those calamities also comes at a cost.
The most memorable incident for William was over eighty thousand years ago when Artemis faced a calamity. William forcibly intervened ninety-nine times, only to trigger the dark forces within himself. On that day, he went on a killing spree, destroying the entire realm of gods with a single blow, and Artemis too perished under his palm.
Calamities can be overcome, but they must be resolved by the individuals facing them. The more William interfered, the more severe the consequences became.
Perhaps this is the inevitable cause and effect that governs the universe.
Wes wasn’t slow in arriving. As he rode the elevator up and the doors were about to open, a sudden burst of brilliant light emanated from Alice’s eyes. Her sword aura swept through, causing the building’s electrical systems to fail, the ground to crack open, plunging everything into darkness.
Jeffrey coughed up a mouthful of blood, clearly suffering from the aftermath.
William couldn’t help but smile, realizing he no longer had to do a month of volunteer service.
At that moment, Alice had grasped part of the essence of the sword technique William used to break Lucien’s Ninefold Stellar Sanctuary formation at Mystic Peak.
Impressive! She truly had understood some of the essence of the sword technique.
“How is this possible?” Jeffrey stared at Alice in disbelief, his heart racing at the formidable sword aura.
She was still a mid-level Soulmancer with no apparent increase in strength, yet she wielded such a powerful sword technique.
Inside the mental illusion, Alice’s mind had reached a state of profound clarity. She realized that probably only William’s sword strike could sever the hand of the titanic giant.
As she meditated, the essence of William’s swordplay continuously appeared before her eyes. First, she imitated it, then gradually came to understand it.
Without even drawing her sword, the golden hands around her seemed to be pierced by thousands of swords, cracking and fragmenting, along with the giant titan, until it exploded.
“Still want to fight?” Alice also fixed her gaze on Jeffrey. If he still wanted to fight, it wouldn’t matter to her – her confidence was sky-high, and she even felt capable of slicing a planet in half with one strike.
“Cough, cough!” Jeffrey, a master of exceptional strength, had never been challenged like this, especially not by a mid-level Soulmancer girl.
This was a bit too absurd. 𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Just moments ago, Jeffrey felt his mental illusion begin to collapse.
He hadn’t even had the chance to dissolve it himself when it was shattered by a formidable and unrivaled sword technique, which even injured his soul.
At this moment, Alice stood with the Sword of Soulbreaker slanted behind her. Though her eyes bore no killing intent, the pressure of her sword aura soared skyward, now seemingly indifferent to any level of strength.
Jeffrey swore he had never seen such a terrifying sword technique. Even though his own power far surpassed Alice’s, he had no confidence in withstanding a strike from her sword. The level of strength seemed like the wealth of ordinary people – what this wealth could be transformed into depended on the Soulmancer themselves.
Although Jeffrey was a peak mid-level Soulmancer, Alice’s current momentum was so overwhelming that even the wooden sword in her hand instilled a deep sense of fear within him. If they really fought, he believed he would die – a notion that made him question his own life.
Could a mid-level Soulmancer actually threaten a master at the peak of the same level?
“I give up! I admit defeat,” Jeffrey sighed inwardly and conceded, “Young lady, your sword technique is a rare gem in a thousand years. I’m impressed!”
Alice, hearing his words, burst into a delighted laugh.
William, however, only offered a faint smile, exchanging a glance with her, somewhat unimpressed.
This girl’s talent was lacking, and she was not diligent enough. Continuing this way, she was bound to encounter mishaps sooner or later.
Now, he somewhat regretted accepting Alice as his disciple. With such abilities, how could she stand on her own in the future?
It seemed he would have to intensify her training when they returned.
Wes forcibly pried open the elevator doors and stepped out, quickly addressing Alice, “Alice, don’t be impulsive, Jeffrey won’t harm William.”
He assumed that Jeffrey was giving William trouble, leading to Alice drawing her sword in confrontation.
In his eyes, apart from the mysterious person who slaughtered Maplewood Town, Alice was the strongest, especially with that divine sword in her hand – its power was unparalleled!
Even Zoey might not be able to defeat Alice.
Jeffrey, despite being a peak mid-level Soulmancer, surely wouldn’t fare well in a fight against Alice!
“It’s okay, we’re not fighting anymore,” Alice explained. “A guy named Andrew launched a sneak attack on William… I couldn’t hold back and just gave him a lesson.”
Alice cleverly took the responsibility upon herself, knowing that her master didn’t like revealing his strength.
“It’s fine, I’ll go check on that person’s injuries and try to negotiate,” Wes responded.
From what William had told Wes earlier, it seemed that it was William who had hit someone. Now it appeared it was actually Alice, the formidable one, who had acted. This made things much easier to handle.
This content is taken from 𝘳𝑎.𝗇t