Chapter 108: A Leader


    "How dare those rich a*sholes, who do they think we are? Just because some guy screwed around with the daughter of the n head and then escaped before the guards coulde, and now we''re the ones who have to sacrifice our shift time to search the mansion? Screw them!"


    "Calm down man. I know exactly how you''re feeling, but I suggest you shut up right now or else we''re going to end up in trouble."


    "You''re telling me to shut up? Well then, I got a better idea Why don''t YOU shut up?" He raised his voice, and his colleague let out a sigh.


    "Oh? Someone finally escaped from the hands of Margaret? That''s news to me..." A sudden voice came from behind the guard, and the guard, still drunk, turned his head back, squinting his eyes as he did so.


    Behind them stood a slim and short man with a twirling moustache, who had a wide grin on his face as he opened his mouth to speak. "Would you mind telling me more about it?"


    ********************


    Within the inner disciple division in the Golden Avarice Academy, which was still in the process of merging with the other academies to form the Royal Academy, ude summoned his katana as he began his cultivation training.


    "Sunrise Sword Technique..." As ude whispered softly, he closed his eyes and began concentrating, as he quickly withdrew his aura, looking extremely calm. After a while, he slowly raised his katana and all of a sudden, his aura burst out forward, this time more aggressive than before, as it became increasingly sharp.


    Shiiiii


    ude grasped his katana tightly and he opened his eyes, his heart calm as still water and his mindclear as he stared closely at therge rock that was in front of him with a sharp gleam in his gaze.


    Shik!


    ude instantly drew his katana decisively, which created bright and resplendent sword lights that were extremely dazzling under the sunlight.


    "Now!"


    The sharp saber light shed forward, moving at high speed and creating shockwaves in the air as it chopped at the rock in front of him.


    BANG!


    The violent de lights struck the rock, continuously piercing through it, and with a loud noise, the rock was destroyed in an instant, breaking into small pieces quickly and violently as the powerful force of the de lights traveled through the destroyed rock and spread through the ground, shaking the earth and all the treeswithin his surroundings began waving back and forth in an orderly manner as a result of the impact.


    Dust began filling and fluttering around in the air, as all of a sudden, a voice was heard.


    "The Sunrise Sword Technique But there''s something different to it. I wonder, what could it be?" ude turned around to gaze at the direction where the voice hade from, and saw a middle aged man wearing white robes walking out from the courtyard. The man was, of course, the Third Elder, who had now imed the title of the Headmaster of Golden Avarice Academy, and after the merging, will upy the position of the Headmaster of the Royal Academy.


    When ude saw the Third Elder who was now his master, he immediately bowed his head and greeted him respectfully, "Greetings Headmaster! May I ask what brings you to my residence today?"


    The new Headmaster smiled faintly as he spoke to ude, "Oh it''s nothing, young man. I was just walking around the Inner disciple division, trying to get a good idea as to what my disciples are upto, and to observe their cultivation training. Now that I''m going to be given the title of the Headmaster of the Royal Academy once the merging isplete and as the number of students increases, I figured that I would have less time to interact with every one of my disciples."


    He then turned his gaze towards the katana that was in ude''s hands, and continued. "I have seen a lot of variations of the Sunrise sword technique, but never have I witnessed the variation that you were performing just now. If I may ask, is it perhaps abination of the Invisible Sword Technique and the Sunrise sword technique?"


    ude smiled embarrassedly and nodded his head. "Headmaster is truly great to have already figured out my methods. Yes, it is in fact a variation of the sunrise sword technique bybining it with the Invisible Sword Technique. I realised that although the basic steps of the Sunrise sword technique were mostly alright, the basics of the Invisible Sword technique were simply moreplex and quicker while also providing an overall sturdier foundation to the sword technique. Of course, it''s incredibly difficult to perform, as it is when it requires the basic steps of the Invisible Sword Technique, but fortunately for me, luck has been on my side."


    The new Headmaster revealed a bewildered expression as he listened to ude''s words. "Goodness me! Even though I had a hunch. To think that it was actually true You are aware thatbining two difficult and equallyplex techniques without any supervision could''ve ended in a disaster, right?"


    When ude heard this, he revealed a bitter smile and said, "Of course, I am well aware of this, Headmaster. However, I felt as though I had a sense of understanding about both of the techniques, and I came to the conclusion that I could, in fact,bine the two techniques with careful consideration of my safety in mind. Perhaps I might have been a bit too arrogant, but now that I have found positive results, I feel as though my arrogance in this specific case, if there really were any, arepletely justified."


    "Ohoho! Being this bold in front of the Headmaster himself I must say, your arrogance is showing!" The new Headmaster nodded his head in satisfaction and continued, "Although perhaps that might not be such a bad thing after all. Cultivators require pride and arrogance. Only then can they topple mountains and change thendscape of the martial world on their own. It''s great that you are able to utilise your arrogance to fuel your cultivation. After this and the incident concerning the previous Headmaster as well the battle against the revolutionaries I must say, you have impressed me quite a lot, young man!"


    When ude heard the Headmaster''s words, he revealed an expression of joy. However, he still bowed his head and said, "Many thanks to the Headmaster for your kind words, but of course, I am still miles away from bing someone who''s worthy of being called ''impressive'' by the Headmaster. I still have many areas to improve on."


    The Headmaster revealed a smile and said, "Trying to be humble after being arrogant? Ha ha ha I must say, you are indeed bold. But I do believe that what I said was true. You are an impressive individual, ude Rayforth. You may feel as though your current cultivation might not reflect my words, but I am confident that your future self shall make my wordse true."


    The Headmaster then slowly walked over to ude and said, "But I wanted to ask you something important, ude."


    ude nced at the Headmaster, and curious about his words, he asked, "What is the matter, Headmaster? Is there something troubling you?"


    The Headmaster smiled faintly and replied. "No, no There''s nothing wrong. I just wanted to ask you, ude Rayforth, if you would be willing to be the leader of my Grand Astral Faction in the uing Golden Crown tournament. What do you think about it?"


    "Leader of the Headmaster''s faction?" ude''s expression changed. "How could I, who was simply a junior when ites to cultivation, be given the role of the leader? And even if I agreed to it, wouldn''t the seniors be angry at me for taking away the position that would usually be imed by one of them?"


    The Headmaster waved his hand casually and said, "It might be true that the seniors may feel as though they have been robbed of the position that should''ve been rightfully theirs. However, like I said before, I am confident about your abilities and your future as a cultivation genius, and I wish to expand your skills into different sectors. And I feel as though providing you with as much experience as I possibly can from the beginning itself is the way to bring out the most of your talent."


    He then lightly patted ude''s shoulder and said, "Of course, I wouldn''t be able to magically make the anger of your seniors disappear even if I announced it in front of everyone. And so, I could only think of one way that you could be the leader."


    ude frowned slightly and asked, "I have to fight them?"


    The Headmaster quickly consoled him, "Of course, you are a junior. So they''ll be forced to fight with a handicap. And it wouldn''t be just the seniors against you. I was nning on making it a ''fight for all of my disciples'', an opportunity for the juniors to clench the title of the leader."


    The expression on ude''s face did not change. "I am not sure about this, Headmaster."


    The Headmaster turned around and started to walk away, and after a while, he said, "I''ll be introducing the idea to my disciples, so think about it, alright? Trust me!"