Chapter 136: First Fight


    Javier was staring at ude with the same expression that he had while he was studying everyone else, but once in a while, his mouth would twitch, which meant that he was, in fact, interested in this person. "Just so you know, he was my opponent first!" Russell said loud enough for Javier to hear, which he did. He turned his head to look at Russell and said, "Doesn''t matter. He''ll have to face me once he defeats you."


    "We''ll see!" Russell snickered, and Javier shook his head disapprovingly and went back to stare at the disciples again.


    "Well, well, well.. kid. I''m impressed!" Russell said with a smirk on his face as he looked at ude, who was standing next to Senior Beldon and talking to him. "You''ve got yourself a pretty powerful rival!"


    "Why am I getting a feeling that someone''s staring at me?" Near the arena, ude, who felt the gaze of someone powerful on him, turned around, trying to find out who the person was. However, before he could figure it out, he felt the gaze disappear, which made him unable to track down the person.


    "Probably one of the seniors." Senior Beldon, who had heard ude''s mumbling, said to him. "They don''t try to show it on the outside, fearing that it''ll make their master dislike them. However, they definitely do hate us for jumping to their faction."


    "Speaking of people who are angry at us..." ude said with a grin as he pointed his finger at Ian andckeys, who were approaching them. From the looks on their faces, it didn''t seem like they were having the best of moods.


    "ude Rayforth We meet again!" Ian said, ring at ude. Theckeys behind him however, simply lowered their heads, afraid to incur the wrath of the monstrous youth in front of them.


    "I heard that you''re the one who burnt down my residence and murdered my servants!" ude said with a cold smile, and as soon as he finished his words, a powerful aura burst out from within him, causing Ian and hisckeys to feel a tremendous amount of pressure press down on their backs!


    "You know, I''m all for trying to get under your opponent''s skin and mind games," ude said as he began walking towards Ian, and with every step he took, Ian could feel the pressure mounting up on him, even causing him trouble breathing. "But what I don''t like is when someone tries to inconvenience me. Like, let''s say, burning down my house!"


    BAM!


    Unable to handle the amount of force pressing down on his body, Ian fell to his knees with a loud ''thud'', and everyone around them suddenly turned their heads to look at what was happening.


    "Kugh Y-You- you''re going to pay...!" Ian, who felt as though he had been humiliated yet again by his junior, tilted his head up with great difficulty and stared at ude with hatred in his eyes.


    ude simply scoffed in response, and immediately stopped emitting the powerful aura, and Ian and hisckeys who felt the tremendous pressure get lifted off from their shoulders couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief.


    "I must say, I am impressed! Most cultivators would''ve stopped threatening me right after I showed them my aura, and might''ve even tried to apologise. But you just stuck to your guns and continued with your threats, even when you were down. Even I must admit, that takes guts!" ude said with a smile as he walked back, with Senior Beldon following close behind him. As he was walking away, ude said, "You better not try to squirm your way out of fighting me, senior. I really don''t like quitters."


    "Y-You!" Ian wanted to reply, but he couldn''t think of any words to say at the time, and by then, ude had already created a distance between the two of them.


    "I-I''ll show you! I''ll show you!" Frustrated and angry from the humiliation that he received, Ian began mumbling to himself, and theckeys who were standing next to him looked at each other with worry in their eyes.


    Their owne- friend was losing his sanity, and they didn''t know what to do about it! But more importantly, the more enmity Ian creates with ude, the more theckeys would need to be concerned for their safety.


    "I-Ian," Jason, who was part of the first group ofckeys who had their a**es beat by ude the first time around, ced his hand on Ian''s shoulder, which prompted the rage filled Ian to turn around with anger and ask, "What?!"


    "I-We, We''re you know, just concerned about you," Jason began stuttering when he spoke, as he was trying his very best to urge him not to fight as well as trying not to make him angry either so as to not lose his paycheck. "It''s just- We feel like you should take a break from fighting u-"


    "Take a break?!" Before Jason could finish his words, he was interrupted by the loud and angry voice of Ian, who stood right in front of his face, hatred evident in his eyes as he screamed, "The brat just humiliated me in front of everyone, and you''re telling me to take a f*cking BREAK?!"


    "Of- Of course not, of course not!" Jason, who realised that there was just no way of convincing the crazy lunatic from backing out from the fight, backpedalled immediately and outright denied what he was about to say. "I was just saying that you can take a rest right now. You know, until the fight happens?"


    He then pointed at one of the seats closest to them in a hurry, and Ian nodded his head. "You know what, you''re right! I need to clear my head if I truly want to beat that piece of sh*t''s ass. I can''t let him get in my head!"


    He then patted Jason''s shoulder and said, "Good idea, Jason." To which Jason simply shed a fake smile. "H-Ha ha.. sure."


    As everyone was murmuring and whispering amongst themselves, Elder Keh arrived on the Training Grounds sector and stared at the faction members for a few seconds before clearing his throat and yelling, "Everyone quiet down!!"


    Whoosh!


    Elder Keh''s voice echoed throughout the arena, and as soon as he finished speaking, there was only silence remaining. Every single one of those disciples had shut their mouths upon hearing the Elder''s order.


    Elder Keh then stepped to the side, and yelled out yet again, "Your master, the Headmaster of the new Royal Academy, is here!"


    Whizzz


    A figure appeared at the entrance of the arena, and every single disciple who was present immediately knelt down on the ground and lowered their heads to show their respect to this person.


    This figure was, of course, the Headmaster himself, who waved his hands at his disciples, before speaking, "I hope you have all prepared for the sparring contest."


    "Yes, Headmaster!" Every single one of those faction members yelled out in unison, and the Headmaster nodded his head in satisfaction. "Very good. Well then, what are we waiting for?"


    He shifted his gaze to the side, towards Elder Keh, who nodded his head and stepped forward to speak. "Let the contest begin!"


    *******************


    And so, the contest had officially begun.


    The initial matchup was done through picking lots, and like most had expected, almost all the seniors who had been matched up with juniors easily won without any struggle.


    While some of the juniors who were lucky enough to fight another cultivator of the same year were able to pass through to the next round. However, given how many senior faction members moved on to the second round, the juniors who did pass through weren''t too enthusiastic about fighting.


    BAM!


    Javier swung his fist as hard as he could, and a golden glow enveloped his entire arm as he struck his opponent''s shield, causing it to break in an instant and flung him backwards in the air.


    "The opponent has been knocked out. Javier wins!" Elder Keh pulled Javier''s hand and raised it high in the air as he made sure that his opponent was unconscious, and the crowd erupted into cheers.


    Javier, however, had the same indifferent expression on his face, even as he was announced the victor.


    After finishing the winning announcement, Javier immediately left the stage.


    "You do know that you can fake being happy, right?" Javier found Russell standing in his way, his hands crossed on his chest, and with a smug grin stered across his face. Javier simply shook his head disapprovingly in response to Russell''s words, saying, "I don''t like to fake emotions. I dislike being a faker. And what emotions I show and don''t show is not anyone''s business."


    "Hey, I''m just giving you tips to stand out. Why''re you getting angry at me?" Russell raised his hands up and acted defensively while letting out a chuckle. His eyes then moved to the stage, and he said, "Though, you might want to show a bit of emotion for this next fight!"


    Javier turned around to see ude walking up to the stage with a calm expression on his face.


    It was time for his first fight!