Chapter 278 Times Have Indeed Changed
Lucien had just started to meditate when Tristan was suddenly rooted to the spot in shock.
Tristan was not a warrior who relied solely on his sword in battle, nor was he a swordsman blindly obsessed with swordsmanship.
However, his understanding of sword techniques was profound.
When the Sword Spirit appeared once again, he could feel the invincible swordsmanship secrets that no one else could match.
There seemed to be a kind of epiphany in his heart, but because the Sword Spirit was present, he couldn't reach the deep power within himself.
His heart seemed to grasp some unclear truth.
"Could this be the so-called 'Sword's Essence'?" Tristan's heart pounded fiercely, filled with power.
Clenching his fists with emotion, he gazed at the figure of the Sword Spirit, gradually entering a self-forgetting state of meditation.
"Alice, what's happening to him?" Alice turned to look back, only to see Tristan in a contemplative state. Although he was not sitting on the ground like Lucien, he stood still, like a statue made of wood and clay.
Steven explained, "He might be experiencing an 'Epiphany'."
"What's an 'Epiphany'?" Alice appeared somewhat confused. The reason she did not understand this concept was that William had never taught her such specialized terminology.
In fact, during her time with William, Alice herself had already experienced two similar 'Epiphanies', only she was not aware of it. Otherwise, how could she have so quickly reached the level of an intermediate Soulmancer?
William was filled with emotion. He had put so much effort into training this disciple, how could he be so slow on the uptake?
Having possessed the Sword of Soulbreaker for several days and even completed the master-servant recognition with it, he hadn't achieved much in the way of swordsmanship.
On the other hand, an outsider who had witnessed the Sword Spirit only once had directly touched the 'Sword's Essence'.
It seems that there are indeed genius Soulmancers in this era,it's just that his own disciple Alice was a bit too foolish.
"Director Wenzel, if there's nothing else, I'm going to go back to sleep," William smacked his lips, finding the trip rather dull, thinking it would be better to go back and watch some TV shows.
Zoey asked, "Aren't you planning to stay here to improve your strength?"
"I can't feel any energy residues, so I won't stay," William replied. "Actually, I'm not fond of excessively pursuing the improvement of strength."
"Suit yourself," Zoey was not the kind of person to be overly controlling. If William wasn't keen on enhancing his strength, was she supposed to force him to stay here and upgrade his abilities?
Steven said, "William, are you going back with Alice? I'll have Wes drive you back."
Steven also felt there was something special about William. It was just that William's demeanor was somewhat inscrutable to him, but he didn't wish to delve deeper into it.
After all, there were only two possibilities.
The first one was that William was just an ordinary novice Soulmancer, but he had a deep relationship with Alice and was quite adept at handling matters. At least from the recent incident of borrowing the divine sword from Alice, it seemed that William's principles were quite flexible. The 13th Bureau sometimes needed staff who could act a bit shamelessly.
The second possibility was that William had been hiding his true strength all along, that he was the powerful figure behind Alice, that he was the one who gifted the divine sword, that he was the one who killed the "demigod" in Maplewood Town, and that even the Panacea given to Alice earlier was from William.
If it really was the second case, then William was undoubtedly a peerless powerhouse.
With such an invincible presence, he did not want to expose his identity, and if the people of the 13th Bureau forcibly investigated, it would only antagonize him.
So, pretending to be oblivious was actually the best course of action.
Steven had already started to have the artifacts replicated by William tested. To create replicas indistinguishable from the real ones in just one day proved William was truly capable.
Zoey also chose to stay in Maplewood Town to increase her strength, and at the same time, Steven had called in some of the 13th Bureau's experts. Tents were pitched all over, and in a month's time, the overall strength of the 13th Bureau was bound to greatly improve.
After William and Alice got into the car, Steven still gazed at William's retreating figure, pondering.
William turned his head back, their eyes met, and they shared a knowing smile, seemingly very candid with each other.
When the Sword Spirit appeared previously, William did not forget his current role and forcibly put on a very strained expression. He felt that his acting skills had reached a state of perfection, but Steven still harbored some doubts about his identity.
Doubts will be doubts,even if Steven knew his identity, he wouldn't dare to talk recklessly about it.
It's just that William was not keen on interacting with others in an invincible manner.
That would be too lonely.
When encountering others, everyone would be overly respectful and reverent towards him, leaving him without a single friend.
It made it even harder to lead a normal life.
Just as he was somewhat annoyed by Lucien's actions, he didn't want to kill him. Instead, he chose to save Lucien's life with a divine medicine.
Under normal circumstances, William was not a bloodthirsty person,even if he disliked someone, it didn't mean he had to kill them.
On the way back, Wes kept telling William that if he could absorb energy in Maplewood Town and enhance his strength, it would be a great opportunity.
It was rare for William, as a staff member of the 13th Bureau, to have direct access to improve his strength, and Wes advised him to seize the chance to increase his power.
William just thanked him for his kind intentions. Returning to his own home, he pulled out his phone, half-reclined in a wingback chair, and prepared to continue watching his TV series.
"Master, did you kill those 'demigods'?" Alice waited until Wes's car had driven off, her heart brimming with questions for her master.
William opened the episode of the series he hadn't finished watching last time and hummed an acknowledgment. His nonchalant demeanor made it seem as if he was just talking about squashing a few ants.
Yet Alice was somewhat excited and continued to ask, "Then you also knew someone was trying to assassinate me, and you unlocked the seal on the Sword Spirit?"
"Mm."
"That miraculous medicine you gave me..."
"Go make me a cup of tea," William said with a slight frown, feeling that his disciple was perhaps asking too many questions.
"Oh." Alice hurried into the house to pour tea for William. It was only when she picked up the medieval Pewter tea set that she remembered she needed to retrieve a particular cup from "Eternal Life Emporium" the next day. After all, it belonged to her master, and it wouldn't do to have sold it to someone else—especially now that she owned the entire "Eternal Life Emporium."
Alice boiled a pot of water inside, prepared a pot of tea, and brought it out.
"Master, is that miraculous medicine of yours really powerful? If so, why don't we just give one to Mr. Richardson and cure him?" Alice said as she poured tea for William. "Why go through the trouble of having me treat him?"
William replied indifferently, "There are many ways I could cure Nathaniel if I wished to. But wouldn't that make you seem rather useless?"
"…" Alice probably understood. It seemed her master just wanted her to play a role, that was all.
Alice poured herself a cup of tea and asked, "Mr. Richardson's illness should be curable by tomorrow. Should I inform Evelyn to come over?"
William hit the pause button on his TV series and looked up at Alice.
This girl is probably the first disciple who pours him tea and also pours a cup for herself. It seems that times have truly changed. A long time ago, his disciples were extremely respectful towards him,when he drank tea, they would only dare to stand by the side.
William believed that if there were an extra chair nearby, she would sit down without any hesitation.
"Evelyn is Nathaniel's relative; naturally, you should inform her," William said before returning to his TV series.
Although this tomb-robbing themed TV series had many inaccuracies compared to the real process of tomb-robbing, watching these inconsistencies was quite entertaining. It also gave him an insight into how people of this era understood tomb-robbing.
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