《Evil Samurai In Cultivation World》 Chapter 1: Rise of the Devil! Chapter 1: Rise of the Devil! ''Ah, am I dying?'' He shuddered. It was hard to think. He was dizzy. He couldn''t feel his knees anymore. ''You''re shaking, you know that? You''re slipping away,'' he tried telling himself, but to no avail. The only thing that he could move now were his thoughts, so he could do nothing but think wildly. Blood trickled down from his torn shoulder and soaked through his clothes. It was the fatal wound that he had received from his opponent. He raised his head and looked up at the sky. Today was supposed to be the start of a new era. It was the start of a new year. Today was the beginning of the 18th century, and yet as the people were celebrating the arrival of the new year, Sakuto Naokata was lying on the ground, blood dripping out of his body, unable to move. "Finally, I can rest now..." He waspletely exhausted. He had endured and survived for a long time, but it would all end here. He had already tried his best to survive. He felt like he could take a well-earned rest now. He closed his eyes as life left his body. ****************************** ''Am I dead now?'' Sakuto didn''t know what death would feel like, so he had no idea what was going on. He remembered feeling like the life slowly draining out of him, and falling unconscious. However, right now, he was still conscious. He just had his eyes closed because he was tired. ''Am I still alive?'' That was the thought that first came to him. All of a sudden he heard someone shouting at him from the side. His eyes shot open. His pupils gleamed with a brutal light, and there was savagery contained within them, enough to silence most people. However, a few momentster, the killing intent in his eyes was reced by a look of astonishment. ''Huh? Where the hell am I?'' He looked around, trying to figure out his location. He couldn''t recognise the ce he currently was at. It was nothing like the ce he was from. It was extremely different. sh! All of a sudden, thousands of memory fragments and information flooded his mind, and head started aching fiercely at the moment. After he clutched his head and wailed in pain for a while, he felt that he had learned many new things. At first, he didn''t know what the hell was going on, but as the memories sorted itself out inside his head, his mind became clearer. His expression had bepletely tranquil. At a nce, he appeared to possess a calm and steady demeanor. "Have I truly been reincarnated?" Sakuto quietly gazed, standing by the window, letting the rain from the wind hit his body. The spring rain quietly rained down on Dawsbury city. It was alreadyte in the night, a slight breeze blowing with the light rain. Immediately, Sakuto breathed in the fresh moist air of the city, how refreshing it felt. "So I''m not dead after all. Am I just lucky? Or was I chosen?" Sakuto stretched out his hand, his sight fixated on his own young and soft, pale palms, then slowly clenched them, embracing the truth of this reality with all his might. He had been reincarnated, but he wasn''t Sakuto anymore. He was ude Rayforth, a young boy of 17 years of age, with a slim body and a childish face. He wasn''t super handsome, but he was still good-looking. He came from the Longdale Vige to apply for the Golden Avarice Academy, relying on his superb performance. He was considered a genius for his age at his hometown and was the first to reach the first rank of the Earth Realm, at the age of fifteen. From then on, he left the life of a normal person and stepped into the gateway of cultivation. Everyone in the vige praised him for his talent, saying his future could not be measured. The person who came with him was May Stafford, a girl who reached the 1st rank of the Earth Realm around the same time as him. Now, they were both at 4th rank, at the age of seventeen. However, when he reached Dawsbury city, he realised how foolish and naive he was. In the city, there were many youths his age who had broken through to the fourth, fifth and sixth rank of the Earth Realm. There were even some people who had already broken through to the eighth rank. Even though he somehow got selected to the Golden Avarice Academy, he was considered to be one of the lowest level of cultivators for his age. One of the lowly outer disciples. May Stafford, who came with him from Longdale vige, slowly became distant from him as she interacted more and more with the top disciples amongst the outer section. This caused the young boy to train harder out of anger, but it seemed he was training a cultivation technique that he couldn''t handle, and lost his soul in the process. "You poor boy" the young man''s clear eyes quietly looked at the lights sparkling in the night, and curled up his lips slowly into a sinister smile. "Thanks to your pitiful death, you have given me, Sakuto Naotaka, a second chance. And for that, I have to thank you." He stretched out his hands, andughed maniacally. "I, Sakuto Naotaka, have risen from the dead, chosen by God himself. To choose me out of everyone else, it could only mean that he approves of my actions. Very well. I shall grant your wishes." He stood back and bowed, as he continued, "From this day on, I am not Sakuto Naotaka, but ude Rayforth, and the world shall bow down before me!" Chapter 2: The Devils Deed Chapter 2: The Devil''s Deed The next morning ude Rayforth woke up, stretched his four limbs and went to practice in the small courtyard. The yard was too old, and the environment wasn''t well maintained. But that was how normal outer disciple ces looked like. He took a deep breath and started to practice the Academy''s ''Invisible Sword Technique.'' The Invisible Sword Technique was one of the hardest martial arts to pull off, needing the user to stick to the difficult swordys without deviating from it for even a second, and it was the move which ultimately caused the death of the previous owner of his body. But ude was a samurai in his previous life, so he had enough knowledge about swords and sword techniques. Normally, the higher the level of a martial art, the higher the damage dealt by it would be and the better it would be for cultivating. The Invisible Sword Technique was a high rank martial art, but it was also one that most wouldn''t even consider picking up, mainly because of how dangerous the consequences are if not followed properly. But ude practiced it carefully, polishing it beautifully. Considering ude''s identity, as well as having no exceptional talent, it was very hard for him to learn martials arts of a higher level. But to reach the top, one needed to learn high ranked martial arts, so the only option he had was to choose the cultivation technique that most people wouldn''t even dare take. In the end, it turned out to be a foolish decision, resulting in his demise. After practicing for a while, ude''s face was raining with sweat, and his breathing rate was quick. "It seems that the kid has been stuck at the fourth rank of the Earth Realm for a long time," ude murmured to himself as he analysed his body and attributes. His talent wasn''t all that bad. The reason why he couldn''t catch up to the others was because he didn''t have martial skills of a higher level. He also wasn''t rich, and couldn''t buy cultivation pills to increase his cultivation speed. "Whatever! It''s not like I can change this kid''s fate so easily. Right now, I just have to focus on increasing my strength!" ude took a deep breath and started to practice again. The Invisible Sword Technique seemed to be as smooth as water, smoother than it had ever been. "Ha ha ha" an evil grin was stered on ude''s face as he continued practicing. His sword technique was so smooth that it seemed like the move was created just for him. He had an excited look on his face. As he practiced again and again, he could feel that the power and the speed of the moves had increased as time went on. He felt that his blood flowed better and faster than before, as if it was burning. His movement speed became faster and faster, and the moves started to perfectly link with one another. "This is perfect! My skill with the sword is perfectly tranted through this martial art technique!" udeughed coldly. Excitement was apparent in his eyes. "As I thought, I was chosen specifically! Who else could pull off such a dangerous move without killing themselves?" After practicing it more, his speed had already be twice as fast as before, and the damage had also increased greatly. The attack power of the Invisible Sword Technique was terrifying indeed. This,bined with ude''s fluent sword skills made the attack even scarier, seeking to deal death with every strike. "At this speed, I will just need a few more days to break through to the fifth rank of the Earth Realm," ude felt that his improvements were very obvious. The Invisible Sword Technique might be extremely difficult and dangerous, but once it ispletely mastered, then it''ll help the user grow with an even faster pace. High risk, high return! ''This kid had the right idea in mind. Too bad, he didn''t have the necessary skill and experience to handle such a technique,'' Cluade sighed as he shook his head. Risks are meant to be taken, but not without thinking it through first. If you jump headfirst without even considering the consequences, then you''re just a fool in the end! "Hahaha! ude, so you were hiding here. I was looking everywhere for you.. Don''t tell me you are thinking of escaping from me!" As ude was in the middle of training, a mockingugh came from behind him, causing him to turn around. The guy who came was a fit and muscr youth, dressed in ck. His eyes had a tinge of yfulness inside of them as he looked down upon ude. ''Oh, it''s this f*cker'' ude looked at the youth''s face as he remembered who this young man was. He was Aldrich Winfrey, an outer disciple who was in fifth rank of Earth realm. Aldrich used to beat up ude, and humiliate him just for his own amusement. Aldrich''s eyes were fixed on ude. He took a few steps forward and said a fierce tone, "You seem to be having a good time practicing. Hehehe, if that''s the case, why don''t you spar with me? Having a sparring partner is only going to help you out. Especially a strong opponent." Aldrich wasn''t having a good time. He wasn''t making any improvements in his cultivation rank, and he was frustrated. He needed to take his anger out one someone! Which is why he went out to find ude. He wanted to beat up and humiliate ude to reduce his frustration. But ude''s actions were too calm. It was strange. He didn''t seem to get angry or talk back, like he usually does. Instead, he stood in front of him, silent. The situation was too peculiar. Just as he was wondering what had happened to him, udeughed and nced lightly at Aldrich, "Sure, why not?" "... Eh?" For a second, Aldrich thought that he had heard it wrong. ude squinted at Aldrich, saying, "I said that I''m okay with it. Why? You don''t want to?" ude''s face was expressionless and he then strode forth. "We''ll fight at the martial arts field. Let''s go!" His performance gave Aldrich who was the same age, a pause. But he soon recovered, thinking he was just acting cool in order to not look scared. "Hahaha! Alright then! Let''s see what you got! I want to see why you''re so confident!" He sneered as he turned his body to make space for ude, stretching out his arm and indicating him to take the lead. udeughed nonchntly and moved forward, and Aldrich followed closely. They reached the Martial arts field, and many disciples of the Academy came gathering around, wondering what was going on. "ude, get ready! I''ll try to control my strength, but I can''t guarantee your safety. So don''t end up dying, alright?" He spoke as if he was genuinely concerned for ude, but everyone who knew Aldrich knew that he was lying. ude said nothing, and just smiled at him as he got into his fighting pose. ''Tch still acting cool..'' Aldrich was irritated by ude''s indifference. "Let''s see how long you can keep that act up!" Aldrich''s voice drifted to the crowd as he executed the Tiger Hands, a high rank martial art. He executed the move, and his hands transformed into blood-red tiger ws as he made a grab towards ude. "Whoa, it is a high level martial art!" From the crowd came an excited shout from someone who had recognised Aldrich''s move. "How''d he get the Tiger Hands? He''s only fifth rank, and the tiger hands martial art is only essible to those who are above the sixth rank!" At the Golden Avarice Academy, disciples under the sixth rank of the Earth Realm could either learn low or middle level martial arts, or buy the high level ones at a much higher price. The only exception was the Invisible Sword Technique, which had a low price, but was extremely dangerous to use. "I heard that Aldrich''s uncle is one of the Academy elders. Maybe that''s how he got it.." "Using family connections if only my uncle was an elder.." The disciples around the area were talking to each other, discussing his move. In their minds, they had already decided who the winner was. "A high level martial arts skill. No wonder why this idiot was so confident..." ude took a cold breath, as the tiger hand moved in his direction. ''But that''s not going to be enough to defeat me!'' The maniacal glint in his eyes intensified, as a silver sword suddenly appeared in his right hand. Shoosh! When this sword was drawn, the world seemed to have slowed down by many times. His opponent, Aldrich, suddenly felt uneasy. ude swung the sword, and the de streaked towards Aldrich, easily breaking his attack apart. Fear shed in his eyes, but it was already toote! Snap! The de struck Aldrich''s neck, and in the next moment, he felt that his world was spinning; he actually saw his own feet, chest, back and his severed neck. His head flew away from the impact, his body pushed back a few meters before copsing down. The shouts and cheers from the crowd came to an abrupt end. The excited expressions of the students were reced by a sense of extreme trepidation and terror, rushing all over their body. "Oops," ude said lightly, his lips curling into a smirk, "I couldn''t control my strength!" Chapter 3: Convincing Chapter 3: Convincing "Murder!!!" "ude killed him!" The crowd could not help but scream out. They had witnessed the entire process, and they felt a sense of extreme trepidation and terror rushing all over their body. To this group of teenagers, the concept of killing was still too foreign and too scary. Even though Aldrich said all kinds of things, he still wasn''t nning on killing ude. ude was just a rtively weak teenager whenpared to Aldrich, but he still overpowered and murdered him with just one move. He had a sinister smile stered on his face. This expression further sent a shiver down the onlookers'' spines. Aldrich''s heady on the ground, both his eyes wide open. ude stared coldly. He knew that he was a bit impulsive with the kill just now. He could''ve defeated him without taking his life, but he still did it. But this was his second life, and he couldn''t wait to have his first kill. He was impatient, and now he had to improvise. Aldrich''s uncle, Thomas Winfrey, was an elder in the academy. Killing Aldrich meant trouble to him, and it most likely wouldn''t end up with ude winning. After all, he was just a lowly outer disciple. His gaze swept through the nearby onlookers; there were more than twenty of them. ''Someone must''ve already gone to Thomas''s ce to inform him about Aldrich''s death..'' After pondering for a while, ude turned around, and dashed back, leaving behind a dozen or two stunned onlookers staring after his back. ----------------------- Second elder Baron Caldwell stood at the window of the third storey of his building, looking outside with a calm expression, when his eyes caught something- no, someone, approaching his abode. "Oh? Isn''t that one of the outer section students? What is he doing in front of my home?" The Second elder squinted his eyes, staring at the young man who was approaching. The young man was, of course, ude Rayforth. He had left the martial arts field, and right now he stood at the entrance of the second elder''s home. He waited for a few seconds and saw the second eldering out, gradually walking closer towards him. "What are you doing here, outer disciple?" The Second elder asked, amusement evident in his eyes. "Pleased to meet you, Second elder!" ude yelled out loudly, and as soon as he spoke, bowed his head to show his respects to the elder. "Second elder, my name is ude Rayforth. I havee here to ask you personally, to join your Flying Sword Faction! Please consider it!" The second elder was stunned, feeling extremely surprised. Did the outer disciple in front of him just ask him to join his faction? Did he think that it would be that easy? Was he messed up in the head? He could not help but shake his head. "Young man, are you joking with me?" The elder said icily as his eyes shone with a cold light. "This lowly disciple dares not," ude bowed his head once again. "Then what were you thinking, asking to join my faction?" The elder shook his head, sighing solemnly. "You do know that I only select the most talented as my faction members! You on the other hand, is an outer disciple who is only at the fourth rank of the Earth Realm. What on earth do you have to offer that can convince me that you deserve to have a spot in my faction?" sh! The moment he finished speaking, a bright light shot out of ude, enveloping him as he brandished a long sword in his hand, appearing out of nowhere. "Is that the Invisible Sword Technique?" The second elder''s eyes widened with surprise. He was dumbfounded as he stared nkly at the phenomenon happening in front of him with his mouth agape. He couldn''t believe it! No one in their right mind would even consider studying the Invisible Sword Technique, mainly because of how dangerous and difficult it is to master. But this young boy in front of him, with a measly fourth rank body, not only did he choose to study it, but also seemed to be rather exceptional at performing the art. Who is this young man? Chapter 4: Show Off Chapter 4: Show Off Who is this young man? In front of the confused and curious eyes of the Second elder, ude retracted his sword, and the light surrounding him disappeared all of a sudden. Absolute silence filled the area. ude looked at the second elder and he returned his gaze. Nobody spoke. After a short while, the Second elder sighed and said, "I now understand why you asked me to hand you a spot in my faction. You feel like you''re talented enough to join. And you may be right." The second elder hesitated for a second before he spoke. "But right now, you are still only a fourth rank Earth realm cultivator. The Invisible Sword Technique is definitely a high ranking martial art, and being able to cultivate it does indicate that you are indeed, talented. But the sword technique is just one of many martial arts that can propel you to great heights in the future. And looking at you, someone who is already seventeen years of age and yet have only reached the fourth rank, I can''t say that I''m confident about how you utilise your skills. I can definitely see the potential, but I do not know if you have the ability to bring it out. After all, if you really did, you wouldn''t have been an outer disciple in the first ce." He nced at ude and said, "Basically, what I''m telling you is that I don''t have the confidence nor the guarantee to add you to my faction. One faction only allows ten students, and I''m afraid I cannot afford to spend my resources on someone whom I''m not confident in. I''m sorry." "Then don''t," ude nced at the Second elder and replied calmly, and the second elder looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean?" "Then don''t spend your resources on me," Lin shrugged his shoulders as he exined his words. "The inner disciple exams are in two months, and I''ll make sure that I''ll get in. I''ll prove to you that I''m worthy of being a part of your faction, and you can monitor my progress and decide for yourself whether I''m worthy or not." He snapped his fingers and continued, "In the meantime, you can just act as if you owe me a favor, and help me out without actually spending any of your resources. And at the same time, I''ll be able to use your name to get out of unnecessary problems. I''ll get insurance from your name, and you''ll get to know whether or not I''m a great addition to your faction. This way, if the conclusion that youe to is not to your liking, you wouldn''t have lost anything." ude nced at the Second elder nonchntly as he finished speaking. "How about it?"he said calmly. "I don''t know about you, but it does seem like a pretty good offer to me." "It does sound good, but why would I need to take such a risk in the first ce?" The second elder took a deep breath as he spoke. "After all, I already have a talented group of people waiting to be selected into my faction." "I know you have a talented team of disciples under you." ude''s voice was very calm yet self-confident. "But I also know that the third elder has an even talented group of individuals on his side." The Second elder''s eyes twitched but he didn''t say anything. He just waited for ude to continue. "I know that the Academy headmaster is going to be retiring soon. In three years, maybe even less. And I know that second elder and third elder are the most favoured amongst the elders to win the seat. But in the end, it all depends on what the headmaster decides." ude enunciated each and every syble. "From the looks of it, the third elder has a better chance at winning. He has a better batch of students at his side, far better than yours." ude put his arm up to stop the elder from speaking. "I know that I may be overstepping my boundaries by saying all of this, but I feel like I have to say it. I''ll prove my worth to you, and I''ll make sure that you give me a spot in your faction. And in return, I''ll make sure that you win the headmaster''s position. That is my offer." ude had a resolute look on his face as he finished speaking. The Second elder thought for a few seconds, before turning to look at him with admiration in his eyes. "Ha ha ha...you are one special boy, aren''t you? I can''t believe you were able to persuade me," the second elderughed as he patted ude''s shoulder and dered loudly, "Alright, from today onwards, you shall be under my supervision. Nothing special. Just to protect you from any unwanted problems. I shall notify the rest of the elders. But if you show enough promise in theing examinations, I''ll make sure that you get a spot in my faction. It''s my pleasure to meet a young talent like you, ude!" "It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Second Elder. Now, as you have be a backer of mine..." ude stopped and turned around to look at the entrance, and the Second elder followed his gaze. Far away, he could see someone dashing towards his home, with killing intent surging out of them. He squinted his eyes to see who the person was. Elder Thomas? ude turned back to look at the second elder with an innocent smile, and a bad feeling suddenly welled up in the second elder''s heart. ".. I''m going to need your help, second elder!" Chapter 5: Protection and Future Chapter 5: Protection and Future Elder Thomas? ude turned back to look at the second elder with an innocent smile, and a bad feeling suddenly welled up in the second elder''s heart. ".. I''m going to need your help, second elder!" "ude Rayforth!" Thomas Winfrey yelled out loudly as he dashed forward, in his direction. He immensely hated ude and couldn''t wait to rend him into pieces. He already had an idea about ude from his nephew, Aldrich. He knew that Aldrich used to always bully ude, but he didn''t do anything about it. In fact, he always defended Aldrich whenever he was being used of bullying others, helping him to get out of punishments. To him, this wasn''t something difficult to aplish at all, but never once did he think that his nephew would die at the hands of one of his victims. Even before he arrived, his deadly aura was already in effect. ude watched as Thomas approached, his body had turned stiff, and he could not move. But when Thomas was about to seed, a mysterious ripple appeared. Instantly, between ude and Elder Thomas, the scene became a blur, like they were separated by an unclean mirror. "Mirror Shield Technique!" This change had urred too quickly, but Elder Thomas reacted rapidly too, and retreated a few steps back. The Second Elder moved forward, standing in front of Elder Thomas and protecting ude who was behind him. "Second Elder! Why are you protecting this lowly outer disciple? You may not know this, but he just murdered one of his peers in a practice match," Elder Thomas''s eyes squinted as he emanated a cold aura. ''So that''s it..'' The Second Elder had some idea of what was going on, and he turned back to look at ude, who still had an innocent smile on his face. ''Well, I guess I can''t go back on my word,'' after a short while, he sighed and turned to focus on Elder Thomas. "Oh Elder Thomas, living beings already live in difficulty, why must we hurt each other? Why don''t you stop here? Didn''t you say that they were sparring? idents happen in a martial arts match. You know that don''t you?" The Second Elder smiled as he said so. "Second Elder! The young man he killed was my nephew! And you''re telling me to just let it go? Without witnessing the person responsible for his death to receive their punishment?" Elder Thomas gritted his teeth, feeling rage and hatred. "I am!" The Second Elder said with a calm expression, his dark blue eyes flickering with deep emotions. "I have selected this young man to be my helper, therefore he is under my supervision for now. You don''t wish to disrespect me by attacking my helper now, do you?" "No, but, Second Elder.." Elder Thomas cried out in dismay, but he could no longer talk properly. He couldn''t clearly process what he had just heard. Did the Second Elder say that he had picked ude to be his helper? Why? How? When? He had no idea. Elder Thomas was bbergasted, but he couldn''t do anything. His hands were tied. He nced at the Second Elder, and he stared back at him, narrowing his eyes. There was a sh of cold light in his gaze; immediately Elder Thomas felt his heart beating fast, his scalp going numb at the same time. "Alright, Second Elder. I understand your words. I shall forget my grievances." Under the Second Elder''s despotic aura, Elder Thomas could only lower his head and return home. The Second Elder stared at Elder Thomas''s gradually disappearing shadow, and then turned to look at the young man standing behind him. "You are a sneaky little fe aren''t you?" He heaved a sigh. "I couldn''t control my strength. It''s really difficult to handle the Invisible Sword Technique," ude shrugged his shoulders as he replied. "I can''t believe you tried to use my name to get you out of trouble," The Second elder lifted his eyebrows and let out a small chuckle. "In my defense, he was a bully. The world is a better ce without him in it," ude''s lips curled, revealing a smile. The Second Elder silently looked at ude and a hint ofplication shed in his eyes. In this world, strength was above all else. Killing someone was not something peculiar. But it was not so simple when it came to kids. But as he was staring at the young man standing in front of him right now, the second elder came to realise that his face was calm as ice. There wasn''t any fluster. There weren''t any uneasy feelings. ording to what Elder Thomas said, the young man dashed to his house immediately after he killed his opponent. It was as if the person who killed the young man was not him at all! He was amazed at the young man''s indifference towards life. As a martial artist and a cultivator, familiarising yourself on how to kill was an important and hard lesson that had been learned. Therefore, he was impressed by his skills and cold attitude. If he was well-nurtured, he would be every enemies'' worst nightmare. But on the other hand, he felt worried and distressed. This could all blow up on his face. He felt that ude was way too daring. "ude, I''ll forgive your actions this time. After all, it is only an outer disciple who was killed. But you have to be careful next time," the Second Elder used a solemn and deep voice to break the silence. "I know." ude nodded and replied, "Trust me Second elder. Now that I have your protection, I''ll show you what I''m capable of." Chapter 6: Trouble Arrives! Chapter 6: Trouble Arrives! "Did you guys hear the news? ude Rayforth killed Aldrich Winfrey!" A student whispered to his ssmate beside him. "I heard it too, he really killed him." The student clenched his chest with a pale face. "There were many people who saw him do it. Aldrich was bullying him. Trying to beat him up. Guess he just snapped. Apparently he had been cultivating in secret, waiting for the right opportunity to strike, and decapitated him immediately!" "That''s not all. Even after killing him, ude didn''t get in trouble nor did he get expelled. You would think that Elder Thomas would''ve done something by now, but it seems that he doesn''t care about his nephew that much." "Actually, I heard from someone that Elder Thomas did in fact try to get ude expelled. But it didn''t work out." "Oh really? What happened? Isn''t ude just an outer disciple? I thought he didn''t have any influential background." "Yeah I thought the same, but apparently he got scouted by the second elder. It seems that the elder picked him as a helper of some sort. Saved him from the hands of Elder Thomas." "Are you for real?" "I''m serious beyond belief. I came early this morning and I saw Elder Thomas return from Second Elder''s residence all angry." "Oh man, why would we lie to you? Earlier, the Second Elder called ude over. It does seem true." The youths in the Academy did not pay attention to ss as they held their little conversations. To this group of youngsters, the concept of killing was still too foreign and too scary. As a result, they were fearful of ude, who killed someone so nonchntly. As the rest of the students were talking, the students who had bullied ude along with Aldrich sat on their seats with pale faces. They had only heard about the news of ude killing Aldrich this morning. They were familiar with Aldrich. As Aldrich had the influence of Elder Thomas, these students who were good at boot licking, were acting as hisckeys, to leech off of his power. To think that he was simply killed by ude! They felt astonished, full of disbelief and felt twice the shockpared to the others. However,pared to the shock, they felt a greater sense of worry and fear. "We actually bullied such a ruthless murderer? Will hee to us for revenge?" Many of them patted their chests, feeling a lingering fear. ************************** After he met with the Second Elder, ude walked back to his room, in order to train more. Now that he had the support of the Second Elder, he was confident that he wouldn''t have to worry about any hindrances that may interrupt his cultivation process. He revealed a pleased smile. If things went as he nned, he could definitely reach the pinnacle of the martial world. "ude!" All of a sudden, a slightly shocked voice from a girl stopped him in his tracks. The young girl''s voice had a familiar sound and he turned his head slightly, and his happy expression was immediately reced with an annoyed one. From the corner of his eye, he could see a boy and girl who weren''t any older than him. The male was dressed in ck, with long and smooth eyebrows and built like a greyhound, with sharpness radiating from his eyes. His cultivation had reached the peak of the eighth rank. "He is the first ranking amongst all of the outer disciples in the academy, Colton Grey!" The people around them eximed, with faces full of worry and fear. The girl that came with Colton Grey was wearing purple, whose age was the same as ude. She was May Stafford, the girl who hade with ude. ''Ah, it''s this b*tch!'' ude looked at the girl and his mouth subconsciously curled into a mocking smile. Chapter 7: Time For A Lesson! Chapter 7: Time For A Lesson! ''Ah, it''s this b*tch!'' ude looked at the girl and his mouth subconsciously curled into a mocking smile. Back at the Longdale Vige, May Stafford was a close friend of ude. She looked up to him, and were good friends from childhood. ude was also fond of May, and he would often teach her martial art moves that he had learned to her. However, after they entered the Golden Avarice Academy they became distant from one another, and they were almost total strangers now. After May had entered the academy, she quickly became good friends with Colton Grey by utilising her beauty. Some say she even offered her body to him. By using her newly formed connections, she achieved the fifth rank of the Earth realm about half a month ago. If she had used her influence a bit more, she could''ve stopped the bullying ude had to face. Colton had an influential image amongst the outer disciples, and May could''ve definitely helped him get rid of the problem if she had tried. But she didn''t. Of course, the ude of the present didn''t care about the feelings of the ude of the past. However, he did hate people who tried to one up him. And looking at the expressions of these two, it was clear that they looked down on him. He didn''t like that. He didn''t like that one bit. ''These f*ckers.. You really think you''re that great, huh?'' He had a calm expression on the outside, but he was sneering inside his mind. He made sure that he''ll definitely teach these two a lesson.. one that they''ll never forget, when the timees! At this moment, May Stafford walked in front of ude, and in aplex manner, with a little sigh, said, "ude, I heard that you finally mastered a high ranking martial art, even though you are still stuck at the fourth rank. However, I wanted to give you some advice, do not be too stubborn. I know you''re feeling super thrilled that you were able to beat the person who humiliated you, bu-" "Oh yeah! I feel great! Killing him felt real great! In fact, I''m thinking of doing the exact same thing if you don''t get the f*ck outta my way!" ude broke off her sentence and responded with a sinister grin, which caught Maypletely off guard. She was not expecting that response. "What did you say?" May said with a bit of anger on her face, but before she could do anything, her body suddenly turned stiff as ude''s killing intent enveloped her, causing her expression to turn grave. Immediately, her facial expression changed and her pupils shrunk to a needle-like size. "May! How dare you!" Colton Grey yelled out, as he leapt towards ude. Not good! ude felt a great dangering towards him. He stood firmly on the spot, raised his head andughed, "Colton Grey, you better think this through!" After hearing ude, Colton Grey immediately stopped his actions. His outstretched hand paused in midair and his face showed a sign of hesitation and resentment. Although he wanted to beat up ude, the young man was a helper of the Second Elder, which meant that he had the protection of the elder. Trying to hurt him meant offending the elder himself! He only wished to beat him up, but Colton definitely did not want to risk offending the Second Elder for such a small reason. He reluctantly withdrew back and looked at ude with his bloodshot eyes. ude responded with an innocent smile, and withdrew his killing intent, causing May to copse down on the ground. Blech She immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, her stomach turning as she resisted the urge to vomit. "Next time, don''t get in my way, you cocky little brats!" ude said calmly. "ude Rayforth!" May shrilly eximed, as her icy gaze became fixated on ude. The anger that could be seen burning on her visage, slowly distorted into something unsightly. Today was the day when she put her former childhood friend in his ce, but instead, it had be a day filled with disgrace. This was a p to her face a grave humiliation! "Don''t think that you''re someone special just because you were selected by an elder. At the end of the day, you''re just a helper!" The intensity of the coldness in her tone, seeped deep into one''s bones, as determination shone in her eyes. ude calmly gazed at May, before closing his eyes and stated, "Perhaps I am a nobody who got lucky. Who knows," he stopped for a second, and an evil smile appeared on his face. "But even if I''m just a helper, I''m still miles better than you. After all, you''re just a c*cksucking slut!" Heughed loudly for everyone to hear his words, and under the cold gazes of Colton and May, slowly walked towards his room. Chapter 8: Picking Up Martial Arts! Chapter 8: Picking Up Martial Arts! "He sure thinks he''s good." Colton Grey snorted, as he watched ude walk away. He didn''t even think of ude as a serious opponent! Among the Academy''s outer disciples, those that had entered the eighth rank of the Earth realm didn''t even exceed ten people, and to rank first out of these It could be seen that he had some great skills up his sleeve. "ude, the road in the future is still long." May Stafford tightly clenched her fists and silently vowed that in the future, she must cleanse all the shame and humiliation that had urred today. *********************************** The next day, ude Rayforth came to the Academy''s important grounds, the Martial Arts Library. The Martial Arts Library was very important to the Academy, and therefore it had elders guarding it. ude looked around and saw the Second Elder waving at him from the entrance. He walked to his side. "Greetings, Second Elder." ude had a polite face on, as he bowed his head to show respect. "For what reason have you called me here?" "I know you said that you only wanted yo use my name and nothing else to help to cultivate until you get selected into my faction," the Second elder said with an expressionless face. "But as your master, I can''t just ept you as a helper without giving you something as a reward. It does not sit well with me. Therefore.." As soon as he spoke, he raised his hands to show a seal. "This seal, which is a symbol of my faction, represents my power and position as an elder of the Golden Avarice Academy. You can use it to make any sort of payments within the confines of the academy, as long as the rules allow you to." He tossed the seal to ude, who caught it. "Remember, although I have given you the seal, you are still an outer disciple who is just at the fourth rank of the Earth Realm. The seal doesn''t provide you unlimited wealth nor does it allow you to go against the rules of the academy. Which means you can''t use it to buy the high ranking martial arts, because your cultivation level is not enough." He paused for a second, and continued, "You can use the seal to buy anything at the first level of the martial arts library. The first level of the martial arts library has a lot of low level martial arts, and middle level ones. Anything other than that, and you''ll have to pay the actual price. Only if you climb up to the sixth rank of the earth realm will you be able to use the seal to buy the higher level martial arts." ude took a deep breath and said, "This junior understands." "Ok! You can go in now." Under the second elder''s guidance, ude slowly stepped into the martial arts library. The martial arts library was an important building of the Academy, with collections of different martial skills collected over hundreds of years. They were used to help those of theter generation in the hopes of producing prodigies. ude remembered that at the Longdale Vige, there wasn''t even a martial arts library. The martial arts library was divided into 3 floors; On the first floor there was arge quantity of martial arts, but most of them were low ranked and middle ranked ones. The second floor was of the high rank martial arts techniques, there were even some peak ranked ones there! And the 3rd floor was just for inner disciples and elders, with secret and traditional techniques passed down for the bravest of the brave by the greatest martial artists of all time! ude stepped into the first floor, his breathing quickening, and his lips curling into a smirk. He made a promise to himself, that he''ll be powerful enough to enter the third level, and study the secret techniques of the legends! He took a deep breath, and scanned along the bookshelves. For now, he wanted to find a martial arts technique that can supplement his Invisible Sword Technique. The Invisible Sword Technique was extremely powerful, but it''s still not enough for ude to win. In terms of cultivation levels, he was still way lower than the rest, and he needed to make up for that disadvantage. The Invisible Sword Technique was just one piece of that puzzle. The first floor of the martial arts library had several thousand books, and every book was half an inch thick. To find one or two martial arts from such a high amount was not easy. ude flipped through the pages of these martial art skills quickly, one after the other. Cultivating a martial art takes time, and he had choose carefully. He only had two months until the Inner Disciple Exams begins, so he had to make sure that he chose the right techniques that can help him win. The skills he looked at were mainly middle rank ones. His concentration was maximum as he flipped through the pages. Time passed by in a sh, and ude let out a long breath. He felt tired. He had already selected a few martial arts techniques to improve his speed, stamina, and footwork, all of which were either low or middle rank ones. Wait! ude was scanning for more books around the area when his gazended upon an old martial art book. He picked up this book and read the title on it. Astral Wing de! Moves like the wind. Chaotic like fire. Uses speed to win. ''Interesting!'' ude''s eyes shone, and he picked it up, adding it to his list. Chapter 9: Moving Up! Chapter 9: Moving Up! ude took the books he selected out of the first floor of the martial arts library. "Did you pick what you wanted?" The second elder asked with scrunched eyebrows. "Yes, I did. Thank you second elder for helping me out." ude politely said. Looking at ude leaving, the second elder shook his head and said, "I sure hope that you won''t end up disappointing me, young man!" ******************************** Leaving the martial arts library, ude returned home, and began to study the martial art books that he had bought with endless excitement. There were thousands of books in the martial arts library and all of them had at least one person train the art in the past, so the students could use their experience for learning. However, to choose a few martial art skills from these books wasn''t easy. ude had a smile curl upon his lips, as he started his cultivation training. He shut his eyes and concentrated, as he performed the new set of martial arts techniques. He wanted to assimte the techniques into his own body first and make sure that his foundation was firm. After all, muscle memory helps a lot when ites to developing reflexes. After studying the Astral Wing de and other techniques, ude started to re-cultivate the Invisible Sword Technique once again, in order to make sure that his new martial art techniques perfectly mixed in with the previous one. Studying martial arts was like dancing. It has to have good choreography, or else it''ll just turn out to be a mess. Although the Invisible Sword Technique was a move that he had practised countless times, when he unleashed it once again, he had a very different experience. He felt like every single muscle in his body hade alive. He even felt muscle fibers that hadn''t changed much in a long time start to move about vigorously once again. ude practised each move slowly and seriously, and when he finished cultivating the full set once, his entire body felt iparably rxed andfortable. After training the full set of techniques for two whole days, ude could feel the power that coursed through his body. His strength was stronger than before, by a lot. He had improved drastically. "Finally." ude said with a calm smile as he felt himself burst with energy. All of his muscles and bones were full of power. He punched his fists forward, and hit out! BOOM! He had finally broken through to the fifth rank! "That was faster than I imagined.." ude felt incredible. Breaking through to the fifth rank was easier than he thought. He immediately calmed down. He knew that many others in the outer section had already reached the fifth rank at his age. He wasn''t anyone special. Not yet. Even May Stafford had reached the fifth rank, albeit with the help of her new ''friend''. "The progress is good, but it''s still not enough if I want to win.." After all, most of the top outer section students had learnt high rank martial arts skills, or had at least trained them to the low level. "I have to do something about Colton Grey," ude ced his hands on his chin as he thought to himself. He was sure that Colton Grey was a sketchy guy. He was someone who most probably wouldn''t y by the rules. Which means, he''ll try to find some shady method to hinder ude''s cultivation. "I don''t necessarily mind fighting more enemies. But Colton Grey is definitely going to be a tough opponent, even if I somehow get to the eighth rank. I have to do something about him," ude''s lips curled, revealing a cruel smile. He had to make sure that Colton Grey was no longer a threat to him. ************************** Within the room, there was only Colton Grey and May Stafford. Neither of them spoke a word, causing the atmosphere to be extremely tense. May Stafford felt extremely frustrated and unhappy about the incident with ude. After all, the reason why they hade to meet ude was to remind him of his position in the Academy and to publicly humiliate him. Yet, the things that had happened that day, went directly against the ns that they''d had. Colton Grey indifferently nced sideways at May Stafford, and asked, "What? You''re that easily shaken?" Her expression trembled, as she looked at Colton Grey. After the incident with ude, she couldn''t deny that she was somewhat shaken. "We have to do something about him," May said as she walked over to the side of Colton, and nced at him, a deste look evident in her eyes. "He''s the helper of the Second Elder. Don''t even think about going after him, after the fiasco that happened. If something happens to him, the elder will definitely suspect us," Colton levelled his gaze at her, as he lowly intoned, causing May to stiffen. ude''s action and words had caused her name and face to be dragged through the mud. "But..." May''s expression grew nasty. Today, the enmity between her and ude had already worsened to a state of no return. "There''s no need for buts, I will arrange everything. Even though we can''t hurt ude while he''s in the academy, he would eventually have to go out into the city. And the city is filled with danger. Who knows what kind of murderers and evil practitioners are roaming through the alleyways, waiting for a young prey," Colton gently said, as a frosty expression shed in his eyes, causing May to shudder. Chapter 10: Happy! Chapter 10: Happy! At Dawsbury City, there was an unending flow of humanity moving about in the streets. The city was bustling with noise and excitement. The originally spacious streets were suddenly rather packed and narrow. The city was filled with activity, groups of people either surrounding the street merchants or endlessly pouring in and out of the entrance of different kinds of shops. The surroundings were filled with the shouts of merchants hawking their wares. Among the hustle and bustle of the city, stood a silhouette, contemting his surroundings with extreme caution. He had his face covered with a cloth, but one could see that he was rtively young. The young man was, of course, ude Rayforth, who moved along with the crowd, walking alone. The further one walked, the more flourishing and prosperous it was. Small street vendors lessened whilerge shops increased in number. ude observed his surroundings as he walked, finally stopping in front of a simple-looking medicine shop. "It''s here," he evaluated while looking at the shop; It had an old sign hanging in front of the door, which said ''Edward''s Medicines'', and ude knew that he had arrived at the right ce. ude walked inside. Inside of the shop, there was a counter on one side, and on it were bottles filled with various kinds of medicine. Different from the other shops, it was silent in here. He crossed the main hall and reached for the reception desk. "Wee to my medicine shop. The name is Edward. What can I do for you?" A middle-aged man spoke to ude as soon as he reached the desk. "I came here for your medicinal drugs," ude said as he looked around the shop. "Well lucky for you I have a lot of them. What would you like, kind sir?" Edward asked with a kind and innocent smile. "Actually, I was wondering.." ude learned forward and whispered slowly, "If I could get your ''special'' medicinal drugs.." As he finished speaking, ude leaned back a bit and ced ten gold coins on the table. Back when he killed Aldrich, ude had actually gone to his room afterwards, and ''borrowed'' a bit of his money that he had kept lying outside. After all, a dead man doesn''t have any use for it. However, he knew he couldn''t take more than that, because that could cause the elders tounch an investigation. Which will only spell more trouble for ude. The Second Elder can only protect him so much. Edward looked at the gold coins in front of him and stood in ce for a while, before he turned around and spoke. "Follow me." ude followed him, and soon they reached a small corridor that had many doors on its sides. Edward then opened one of the doors, revealing a dark staircase that led towards an underground basement. At the bottom of the stairs, he could see a wide table and lying on it were a bunch of pills, medicine bottles, and tablets. "I''ve got all kinds of drugs. I''ve got drugs that make you see stuff, drugs that make you delirious, drugs that make you feel happy. I''ve got nothing that''s too dangerous though, if that''s what you''re looking for.. What do you want, kid?" Edward asked, as he grabbed a long smoking pipe, and took a puff. "I''m going to need the drugs that make you happy," ude said, and Edward nodded his head. He grabbed two of the medicine bottles on the table, and threw it in ude''s direction. He stretched his hands forward and caught it. "There''s fifty of them in those two bottles. The dosage is two per day. Anything more than that isn''t good for your body. It might slow down your cultivation progress if you take too much, alright? Don''t forget that," Edward pointed at the bottles in ude''s hand as he warned him. "What if I diluted it with water?" ude asked, and Edward shook his head. "Don''t. Mixing it with water will actually make its effects worse. So be careful," he walked towards the door as he continued, "And don''t tell anyone about this ce. I don''t know how you found this ce, nor do I wish to know. Just keep it a secret. I don''t know you and you don''t know me. That''s how I do business. Got it?" "Got it!" ude nodded his head. His face was still covered with a cloth, so he knew that his identity was safe. After leaving the Medicine Shop, ude returned to his room. He first calcted the money he had left from Aldrich, it was a total of five hundred silver and fifty gold coins. It wasn''t even to buy any high rank cultivation skills "I wonder how strong this medicine will be." ude was full of expectations as he looked at the medicine bottle in his hand. He had bought the medicine so that he could mix it in Colton Grey''s water supply system. "Colton.. I hope you''re ready to be happy," The youth had a cold smile on his face. Chapter 11: Moving Forward Chapter 11: Moving Forward "Why do I have a feeling that today is going to be great as well?" As he walked out of his room, Colton Grey emotionally mumbled, he was truly happy. As to why he was happy? He had no clue. It wasn''t like he was doing better at his training. In facts, the results have actually been getting worse. He found that ever since he entered the eighth rank, the progress of his cultivation was starting to slow down. Especially in thest few days, when there was absolutely no progress made. But for some reason, instead of feeling sad, he felt extremely happy. Perhaps this was enlightenment? He didn''t know, but his mind was telling him that it was. May Stafford, who had been plotting on how to make ude suffer, had never imagined that the serious, and dignified Colton Grey would actually have aplete change of attitude so fast. What happened to him? Why does he keep saying that he''s reached enlightenment? What exactly was happening? She had no clue. As she tried asking him about his ns on dealing with ude, she heard him say, "I''m feeling extra good today, so I''ll let him get away with it for now. Nothing is going to change, May. After all, I''m still better than him. I''ll beat him at the Inner Disciple exams, as it is meant to be. " Although May was extremely displeased deep down, she had no other choice. She couldn''t go against him. Thus, she clenched her teeth, and stayed silent. ************************* Time moved forward, and soon one month had passed. ude sat crossed legged and surveyed his worn out room, "There is still one more month until the inner disciple contest. In order to win the contest, I have to train even harder.." He closed his eyes while sitting still. In the past month, ude had been training relentlessly, and had finally reached the peak of the fifth rank. As for Colton, he was still stuck at the eighth rank, not advancing in the slightest. But he was getting used to the effects of the drugs, and was slowly returning to his normal behaviour. ude first cultivated the Astral Wing de technique a few times, then resumed using the Invisible Sword Technique. He cultivated ording to the instructions given. He had nothing weighing on his mind, and had entered into a state of spiritual calmness. ude knew that he was not particrly strong. However, through the fine control he had over his techniques and a skillset that had been developed using years of real life experience, he managed to master these martial arts at a much faster rate than most people. As ude continued to train, he felt that his body strength had reached a limit now, every time he operated it he felt as if it had reached its peak. He needed to break through to the next rank! ude estimated that he needed at least ten days to reach the next level, which was the sixth rank of the Earth realm. "Not good enough.. I have to be even faster," ude said to himself. He took out the rest of the gold coins that he had taken from Aldrich''s ce. There were still a few coins left. He then decided to head to the city''s biggest medicine shop and buy some ''Cultivation Booster Powder.'' With the money he had, he could buy one bottle of Cultivation Booster Powder, which can only be used one time to increase his cultivation skill speed. He had bought a few of them already with Aldrich''s money in the past month, and it seemed like this would be hisst. One bottle of Cultivation Booster Powder spent all of ude''s money. He sighed. All his savings were now gone. He had used it all up and he was now broke. After returning home, ude immediately opened the bottle of Cultivation Booster Powder and gulped it down in one go, and started to cultivate. All of a sudden, a hot feeling started to ignite within his body. And as time went on, a fiery feeling started to sink into his body. The burning and intense feeling reverberated within his body and made his training speed increase. He moved even quicker, his muscles reacted even faster, and his attacks became even stronger. "Come on I''m almost there" ude was shocked but wasted no time in absorbing the energy within the medicine. He could feel that he was about to break through, and he couldn''t wait. He felt that his body was full of energy. The energy was flowing in his body like streams of rivers. It flowed so smoothly, there was no sign of blockage. The energy in his vessels that flowed freely had begun umting. BOOM! All of a sudden, his eyes widened as if he had some kind of a revtion, and he broke through to the sixth rank of the Earth Realm. The energy released during the breakthrough was distributed in the form of vibrations,parable to the sound of endless wind blowing and water flowing on earth. The vibrations faded away slowly, as the energy began to stabilize. He opened his eyes, and felt that his body was light. The Sixth Rank! He had reached it! Chapter 12: Hunting Chapter 12: Hunting The next morning ude let out a breath as he raised his palm high up into the air. He had finally reached the sixth rank, and he still had a month left, until the Inner Disciple Exams begin. With this level of cultivation, he had a 50-60% chance of reaching the top ten. However, if he wanted to win, he''d need more than just a high cultivation level. Not good enough! ude shook his head. He needed to increase his chances. "It looks like I may have to go to the Gryfino forest," ude said after thinking deeply, and left his room. ************************** Inside a fancy building at the Outer Section. "Junior May, why have you called us?" Inside the room stood three ck-clothed young men, staring at the beautiful young girl sitting in front of her. "ude Rayforth made me lose face and he is just a mediocre outer disciple with no talent!" May Stafford bit her teeth and said with murderous intent. "Elder brothers, I am begging you. It seems like Senior Colton isn''t nning on taking revenge for me. You have got to help me," as she spoke, she suddenly turned and looked at the young men with a teary eyed expression, and the youths'' heartbeat started to thump faster. It could be said that she was the woman of their dreams. She was full of fear and hatred. She was afraid of ude, whom she had discarded without a second thought as soon as she joined the Academy. When she heard the news about ude killing Aldrich in a practice match with just one move, she couldn''t help but feel afraid. She was afraid that she made the wrong choice by pushing away ude. May was someone who wished to never regret her actions, but was too insecure to actually feel that way. She didn''t want to regret her decision, which was why she went to see him with Colton, to remind him of his ce. Regretfully, the truth of the events unfolding was much more fascinating than what was originally nned. In any case, she still had her arms wrapped around the gigantic tree that was Colton Grey, the one who had the most chance in reaching first ce in the Inner Disciple Exams. *************************** An hourter, ude had finally arrived at his destination, the Gryfino forest, the name of the biggest forest in the country. Being thergest forest of the surrounding countries, the Gryfino forest had many dangerous wild beasts, and near the centre of it there were high level predators far stronger than wild beasts. ude came to the Gryfino Forest to increase his cultivation throughbat. Swoosh! His body was like a feather as he stealthily moved through the forest using the trees. Utilising the environment to one''s advantage is also something that one has to learn when you''re inbat. As the trees were higher than their surroundings, it gives ude a more dominant vision of the environment. As he stood on the tree, ude began to survey his surroundings. "Got one!" About one hundred metres away from his location, he could spot a huge bear, withrge fangs that popped out of its mouth, its skin a dull brown color and the ws looking like it was borrowed from some prehistoric predator, seemed sharper than a butcher''s knife. It was the ''Sabertooth Bear'', an extremely famous beast in the Gryfino Forest. "Time to test out my skills," ude thought to himself and quickly used the Invisible Sword Technique, as a silver sword appeared in his right hand. He aimed the sword at the Sabertooth Bear and swung it in its direction, and the de streaked towards the bear. Shoosh! An afterimage was left behind as the de pierced through the bear''s skin, and an angry roar was heard. It squinted its red eyes in use''s direction and tensed its muscles, ready to pounce. ude saw the bear charge towards him, and he quickly used ''Floating Footsteps,'' a new technique that he had learned to improve his footwork, to evade the attack of the bear. The Sabertooth bear''s reaction, speed and defense all far surpassed that of normal beasts. However, it wasn''t enough to catch ude, who moved carefully. ude knew how the beast would react, because it was, in the end, just a beast. But he didn''t know if it was fast or slow, clever for its kind or not, so he stayed loose, already winding up his countermeasures, but keeping his aim flexible, as long as he could, to study his ''opponent''. So he waited. The Sabertooth bear charged at him, enraged that its attacks weren''t affecting him. "Now!" ude swayed left, and quickly used Astral Wing de, and countless light gleams rose up and flew with a flicker, and they cut at the Sabertooth Bear''s head, in the back of the skull as the air filled with metallic ringing sounds. St! Blood spurted out, and the Sabertooth Bear copsed down on the ground. ude let out a deep breath and revealed happiness on his face, but he quickly calmed down. He hade to the Gryfino forest as part of his cultivation training, and he sure wasn''t nning on ending it with just one fight. Chapter 13: What happens in Gryfino... Chapter 13: What happens in Gryfino... For the next few days, ude Rayforth travelled around the Gryfino forest, searching for wild beasts to battle, and every time ude found a wild beast he considered worth fighting, a scream of pain would soon follow. Fight and kill as many beasts as possible. That was what he was aiming for. To kill these wild beasts, ude utilised his martial arts techniques that he had learned to the highest degree possible. With this, he had be familiar with all the martial arts techniques and his cultivation andbat ability was improving as well. For the past few days, he had gained a lot. He had killed another two Sabertooth bears, as well as fifteen to twenty other different beasts. He had a satisfied expression on his face, but it was soon reced by a serious one. At this moment, he could sense three lifeforms in the distance, moving in his direction with malicious intent. Three men. Two clothed in ck, one in blue. The two in ck were peak sixth rank, while the one in blue was a seventh rank cultivator. ude''s eyes shone with a cold light as he climbed above the trees and continued to move forward. ''Did Colton send someone to take care of me? No, from what I can tell, the effects of the drug still hasn''t worn off,'' ude didn''t think that Colton would send people to murder him, especially when he was under the influence of the ''happy'' drug. ''So it''s either someone sent by Elder Thomas or May Stafford.'' ude smiled as he elerated. ''Well, It''s not like it matters who sent them.'' As he had spent a lot of time in the forest, ude naturally came to understand the type of wild beasts that upied the forest and where to find them. And so, he was immediately able to decide which was the safest ce to fight the cultivators following him. ude dashed through the trees instantly and headed into the deeper parts of the Gryfino Forest. "He''s speeding up! Did he notice our presence?" One of the cultivators whispered, as he turned to look at the blue clothed man on his side. "It doesn''t make any difference. He will still die today." The blue clothed man spoke, his voice full of coldness, as they immediately followed. As ude ran through the dense forest, he was monitoring his surroundings in order to find obstacles that could stall the enemies pursuing him. Since he had spent the past few days studying the terrain and the beast habitats, ude was like a fish in the water that swam swiftly without stopping. The pursuers on the other hand were having difficulty in keeping up with his pace, and soon, he had disappearedpletely from the sight of his followers. "Did we lose him?" One of the cultivators clenched his teeth. "Calm down, he couldn''t have gone far. We can still find him," The blue clothed man eximed, and continued their search for ude. RUSTLE --- All of a sudden, the three of them sensed some movement behind a series of bushes. "Hahaha. It doesn''t matter how fast you are since you''re going to die today," The blue clothed manughed cruelly and moved towards the bush. Roar! The deadly beast''s roar caused the blue clothed man''s heart to jump, as two Night Wolves with nasty faces pounced towards the three men. "Shit! Move back!" The blue clothed man''s expression finally changed and his face instantly turned white. Unfortunately, one of the ck clothed men was toote to react. Crack! One of the night wolves opened its mouth and its sharp teeth pierced through the ck clothed man''s leg, tearing it into shreds. ''Brother!" The other man in ck screamed angrily and his eyes turned red, as he furiously hacked towards the night wolf. "Don''t!" The blue clothed man behind shouted, trying to stop him, but before he could do so, the other night wolf pounced right in between them, and roared at the blue clothed man. "Dumb beast!" The blue clothed man gritted his teeth. His eyes shed as he struck out his palm, as a faint green glow appeared around it, aiming for the forehead of the wolf. "Is that the Emerald Palm Technique?" ude saw the entire process, as he hid above the trees. The Emerald Palm Technique was a strength based high level martial arts technique that could instantly kill two normal cultivators of the fifth rank. Not even he had confidence in blocking it. However. Even though the strength of the Night wolf waz around the peak of the sixth rank, their main advantage was their amazing speed and reflexes. The night wolf evaded the attack in an instant, moving sideways, as its body swiftly floated within range of the blue clothed man''s neck. Roar------ The night wolf bit through the blue clothed man''s neck, shattering his throat instantly. Plop! The man in blue fell to the ground, dead. "Senior Balvin!" The man in ck, who had dashed forward to save his brother from the Night wolf turned around to see that his Senior had been killed. His brother whom he was trying to save, was already dead, and now, so was his Senior! Roar--- The two night wolves turned around to look at the ck clothed man, who was the only one remaining, and his legs unstoppably trembled in fear. "Well, I guess that problem is solved," ude turned around and sprinted back where he came from, as the ck clothed man''s scream faded away slowly. Chapter 14: Imprint Chapter 14: Imprint ude finally reached the outer edges of the Gryfino Forest and rushed back towards Dawsbury City. He returned home, took a bath and changed his clothes. After devouring an energy replenishment pill that he had bought, ude then sorted through his thoughts, summarizing his gains and losses during the training at Gryfino forest. He had defeated the beasts, but he realised that although hisbat experience was great, his familiarity with using cultivation techniques weren''t sufficient enough. He still needed more time to get used to the cultivation techniques. As he was previously living in a world where cultivation didn''t exist, his reflexes and first instincts naturally didn''t involve them. Although he had relied on his tyrannical sword skills andbat experience from his previous life, this wouldn''t be enough against a true cultivation master, where cultivation techniques make a huge difference. He couldn''t underestimate the cultivation masters of this world. He might have his previous life experiences to beat these kids, but it isn''t going to be enough when you''re up against a cultivation master, someone who he''ll have to face eventually. As all these thoughts shed through ude''s mind, he took a deep breath, went outside and carefully began cultivating. He needed to not only cultivate faster, but learn to familiarise the cultivation techniques as well. Thanks to the training in Gryfino forest, he had really improved a lot, and he had to put what he had learned into good use. As he cultivated, energy travelled throughout his body and stimted every single one of his cells, and his entire body felt really nice. ude wanted to channel this vital energy into his body and replenish his strength. **************************** May Clifford was trembling in anger. She couldn''t believe that ude Rayforth could return alive. But he did. With her senior brothers'' strength, how could they possibly fail? "Not only did he not die, he became even stronger " May Stafford''s face was green. From what she heard, ude had brought back several beast skins to sell, most of which were high grade ones in the sixth rank. She had sent her senior brothers to assassinate ude, but not only did they fail, they allowed his strength to increase even more. She couldn''t believe what she was hearing. idents and even deaths were not umon in the Gryfino forest, which was why she had sent her senior brothers to take care of ude. But ude returned, unharmed from the looks of it, while her senior brothers didn''t. She waspletely helpless now that even her senior brothers were beaten by ude. And worse, they might even be killed by him. And it wasn''t like she could do anything about it. Even if she had the influence to force the elders tounch an investigation to search all of Gryfino forest in an effort to frame ude for their deaths, it would still be a fruitless effort. The Gryfino forest is a dense and dangerous jungle filled with wild beasts in every corner. It would be a miracle if a dead bodysted that long without being devoured by any of them. "Damn you ude Rayforth." May Stafford''s eyes glimmered with hatred and impotent fury. However, she didn''t dare try to mess with ude when he was staying in the academy, and could only gulp down her resentment. ************************************ Closing his eyes, ude began to try and gain insight from his experiences. For him to imprint cultivation techniques into his mind as a form of reflex, he needed to be extremely careful and not rush, so the improvement speed would be slow, while giving more importance to mental energy, reaction speed and analysis. He continued training for seven days, but the effect was very obvious. He hadpletely reconstructed his innate reflexes and reactions and had sessfully imprinted cultivation techniques into his mind. ude found that when he used Invisible Sword Technique with Floating Footsteps, it was even faster. By using seven days, ude had improved his speed to the high level. This meant that ude''s offense was even faster than before, and had the potential to dominate most, if not all of the outer section disciples in the Inner Disciple Exams. ude''s lips curled into a smile, "I am getting pumped up for this contest!" Those that could rank in the top ten were selected by the Academy to join the Inner Section. At least five hundred of the outer disciples entered thepetition in the hopes of bing an inner disciple. If the ude of the past was still the same as before, he would not even have the right to participate. "There are still a few days left until thepetition. I need to use my time wisely..." Soon, ude''s concentration returned to his cultivation, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. The time for the inner disciple contest became closer and closer. Since he had already restructured his reflexes to include cultivation, ude put even more energy into cultivating. His key focus was the Invisible Sword Technique and his footwork. In just a matter of days, his cultivation had increased at an insane speed and easily broke through to the peak of the sixth rank, only half a step away from entering the seventh rank. "The inner disciple contest will start tomorrow.." ude took a deep breath and began concentrating. Swoosh! Using his Invisible Sword Technique, a sword was drawn in mid air, vibrating with loud hums as beams of sword light shed past. The sword intent in the air now was beyond terrifying, as the stream of resplendent light whistled through the air. ude stood in the middle with a calmposure, exuding an extraordinary aura. A cold light flickered within his eyes. He was ready to win! Chapter 15: Right Here! Chapter 15: Right Here! That night, in a certain garden in the Outer Section. "Congrattions Colton! You trained the high rank skill Sky Smashing Sword Technique to the highest level. Out of the outer disciples, it is probably only you who can achieve such a feat," May Stafford said smiling. As the effects of the drug wore off, Colton Grey had returned to his normal behaviour a few weeks ago, and has been training relentlessly ever since to make up for his foolish actions. But as he could only train for a few weeks, he wasn''t able to make any significant progress and was still stuck at eighth rank of the Earth realm. Nevertheless, he was still the highest ranking and the most powerful outer disciple. "The first ce of the inner disciple exam will definitely be yours. And don''t worry, ude Rayforth, that bug, will be crushed under your feet!" May Stafford said coldly. As soon as she spoke the sword in Colton''s hand suddenly fired ten different blows, with a strength that would even shock cultivation masters. "May, your eyesight is limited. Do not think about the bugs that are merely an annoyance." Colton Grey shook his head, "My true opponents are inner disciples! I''m destined to be the best amongst the Inner disciples. An insect like ude Rayforth is not even worth my time!" Countless outer section disciples were rubbing their palms together for tomorrow''s fight. Everyone was waiting for the chance to change their destiny. ******************************** The morning of the next day. As the sky turned bright, a lot of people came into view as they gathered at the Martial Arts Field, for the Annual Inner Disciple Exams. The top ten outer disciples, including the top three; Colton Grey, Mather Llewellyn and Misty Durward had also arrived. The disciples that arrived increased, with almost all of them being outer disciples. There were not many inner disciples that showed up. As time passed, around twenty academy elders came into view. These elders had looks of interest as they looked towards the outer disciples, and a few of them had middle or high positions in the academy. "There are a few, quite strong, outer disciples. I wonder how many of them will be eliminated." "Personally, I think Colton Grey has the best chance at winning the title!" The Academy Elders discussed. "I don''t know about that. Misty Durward, who is ranked third amongst the outer disciples, has made significant progress in the past few months!" One of the elders said as they pointed at the arena. Misty was one of the main focuses of the outer disciples, having a clear face and a quiet attitude. As ude inspected the girl with his eyes, his lips curled, revealing a cruel smile. "Just advanced to the eight rank not enough of a threat!" He murmured to himself. About half an hourter, a voice sounded throughout the field, "The Inner disciple preliminaries starts now!" The voice sounded the official start of the contest, and the crowd went into dead silence. Under the academy''s guidance, the preliminaries had begun. The rules were simple. The outer disciple participants were split into eight different groups through a process of random selection, and only two top ranking disciples from each group would proceed to the next round, eliminating the rest. The one''s ranked behind would challenge the one''s ranked higher. If they won they would rece the opponent''s rank. But if they lose then they''ll be knocked out of the tournament. No second chances! ude was picked to be part of the fourth group, where both Colton and Misty were present. Colton raised his eyebrows, surprise evident in his eyes. He had imagined that ude would use his connections with the second elder to keep him away from Colton as far as he could, so that he could advance to theter stages smoothly. But to think that they were in the same group! ''Guess you are still too much of aw abider, ude..'' Colton Grey thought to himself as he looked at ude. ''Unfortunately for you, your journey ends here'' ude noticed Colton staring at him, but he chose to ignore it. ''You really think I wouldn''t use my connections with the second elder to rig the group selection, Colton?'' ude''s eyes were dark like the abyss. Colton thought that ude didn''t use his connections, but in reality it was the opposite. He did use his connections to rig the selection. But ude had used it to group him with Colton. He wanted to end this in the group stage, not in the finals. As soon as the tournament started "ude Rayforth challenges Colton Grey!" ude raised his hand and yelled out the moment the judges finished exining the rules, and everyone turned to look at him. What!? Challenging Colton Grey right at the start? Was this kid crazy? "This brat''s way too arrogant! Does he think he can beat Colton Grey with his measly sixth rank cultivation?" "Hmph! Maybe he''s just delusional! Once he fights Senior Colton, maybe he''ll realize that they belong to different worlds!" The disciples sniggered. May Stafford, who was in group six, looked at that familiar figure and sighed. She had aplex feeling towards him, some sympathy, some coldness. She thought about what Colton Grey told her, and she came to an understanding that she should no longer think about ude, who belonged to a different world than them. He was but a mere fool who desperately wished to enter the realm of gods "Hmph! You think that just because you have the protection of the second elder, you can do anything and I won''t be able to hurt you?" Colton Grey, who was ranked first, looked mockingly towards ude. "I thought I was giving you face by not humiliating you back then, but it seems that your arrogant self needs to be taught a lesson. So don''t me me for being too hard on you.." Facing Colton Grey''s disdain, ude''s expression was like steel; there was not a single change as he looked at him. As they say; actions speak louder than words! He''ll prove what he wants to prove on the battle ground. Chapter 16: Expectation & Reality Chapter 16: Expectation & Reality The crowd turned silent as the two faced each other. "You aren''t going to admit defeat, are you?" Colton Grey mockingly said, attempting to infuriate ude, but he just responded with a smirk, which did more than what words could say. "You little shit! Let me see how long you can keep acting smug!" Colton bellowed, his hands moved and he brandished his sword, as a de of sword light shot out towards ude, shing in front of him. "It''s the Sky Smashing Sword Technique!" "I can''t believe that the power of the Sky Smashing Sword Technique is so strong!" "Looks like the battle has been decided!" The academy elders who were watching the match, praised. Many outer disciples who were standing near them nodded their heads in agreement. At this moment, in the faculty building near the Martial Arts Field, stood the Headmaster of the academy, Aldwin Eldridge. From his position, he could clearly view the exams over at the martial arts field. Turning, he nced at the second elder, who was standing behind him. He stood there casually; expressionless and indifferent. "Is that the young man that you mentioned?" Headmaster Aldwin asked, pointing towards the martial arts field as he spoke. "Yes," Lightly nodding his head, his reply was only a single word. The headmaster could see that he waspletely engrossed in this match and shook his head as he sighed. He slowly shifted his gaze downwards, looking at the arena with a gentle smile in his eyes. He suddenly recalled many things from the past, how his character was like when he was younger - wild, arrogant, unrestrained and frivolous. But when he looked at the young man standing below, he couldn''t see any of that. He could only sense calmness from him. Calmness that came with confidence. It was almost as if he was sure that he was going to win. "Strange," he furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at the young man. When he looked at ude, it was as if he was looking at an experienced adult. "It''s over now!" Colton Grey yelled out, a cold glint of light shing in his eyes and his killing intent overflowing, as his sword light went for ude''s throat. However, ude didn''t dodge, and instead stood straight, as he shed forward using the Invisible Sword Technique, causing a wave of deste aura to suddenly rush out of his body. A number of spectators close to the arena felt a frigid, bone-chilling sensation the moment ude unleashed this move. Some of the academy elders who had been conversing suddenly froze, and a lot more people now had their attention on ude. "He is using the high level skill, Invisible Sword Technique!" One of the elders dered irrefutably. Nobody questioned the elder''s words, and everyone went into an uproar. "Wasn''t he an untalented outer disciple until recently?" someone asked doubtfully. "Perhaps! But I guess he took a risk, and it paid off! However, there is little chance of victory." Another elder shook his head before he added, "Even though the Invisible Sword Technique was extremely powerful, it still doesn''t hold a candle to the Sky Smashing Sword Technique. I''m afraid he''ll lose with just this one move!" "I don''t know about that.. the kid seems confident. I feel like a miracle is about to happen," the other elder remained unconvinced. "How about we make a bet?" "Be my guest! I''ll bet on the young man ude!" As the elders were busy betting on who they thought would win, the rest of the people had fixed their attention to the martial arts field. "It''s no use. You might have learned a high level cultivation skill, but it''s still no match for the Sky Smashing Sword Technique!" Colton said in a very self confident tone. "I will let you experience the disparity between us." As soon as he spoke, his de light collided violently with ude''s Invisible Sword Technique, creating a beautiful sight. "ude Rayforth, who is a sixth rank cultivation master, was amazingly able to pull off this dangerous technique. However, there is still a big difference in terms of power. The gap between him and Colton is not something that can be fixed so easily.." Some people in the crowd shook their heads with pity. Based on what they knew, ude was bound to lose this fight. However, the next moment, their eyes widened in shock, as a figure emerged out from the collision, unscathed. It was ude! What happened!? The disciples and the elders were in shock, because from the looks of it, ude had almost no injuries on his body even though he took the Sky Smashing Sword Technique head-on! How? How is this possible? "What? How on earth did you survive that?" Colton almost blurted out in shock, and stood dazed as he saw ude survive his killing move.. Although the spectators were taken aback by what just happened, the academy elders who were keeping a close eye on the match were able to figure out what was going on, and their interest in the young man grew even more. "Huh, I guess you''re not as strong as you say." ude smiled as he stayed where he stood before. "You little shit! You were luckyst time, but I won''t make a mistake this time! Die!" Colton turned his embarrassment into anger, as he leapt up and swung his sword once again. "He''s using the Sky Smashing Sword Technique again!" "Will ude survive this one as well?" As the crowd stood still, waiting for the result, ude was staring at the fast approaching attack with a calm expression. Having fought countless battles in his previous life, he was quite familiar with the feeling of death. This type of situation, where a young cultivator would start panicking internally and make rash decisions, ude had seen it countless times. He had experienced it. If one were topare ude and Colton on paper, ude wouldn''t even stand a chance. Colton Grey had a higher rank than him. He was stronger. He had more high level cultivation techniques. He was simply more talented. On paper, ude wouldn''t stand a chance against someone like him. But ude''s eyes shone as it showed a cruel and cunning expression, and as the Sky Smashing Sword Technique got near, he used the Invisible Sword Technique once again. ''Reality isn''t always so easy to predict!'' Chapter 17: Dark Horse Chapter 17: Dark Horse What do you do when your opponent, who''s more powerful than you when ites to cultivation, unleashes a fast and powerful move that you simply can''t dodge? What do you do when youe to the realisation that even if you try to block the attack, you''ll still end up injured and your energy drained, leaving you simply too powerless to take on the next attack? ude''s eyes shone as it showed a cruel and cunning expression, and as the Sky Smashing Sword Technique got near, he used the Invisible Sword Technique once again. The answer is simple; you don''t block! Boom! The power that rushed forward from ude''s sword crashed against Colton''s sword gleam and zing lights erupted all over the ce, and a shock wave swept everything up in a five metre radius, making it difficult for anyone to see clearly what was going on. Grave silence surrounded the arena as everyone gazed at the martial arts field. "Will he survive Colton Grey''s attack once again? Or was the previous one just luck?" Colton stared at the space in front of him, with his eyes narrowed. Although he was confident that his Sky Smashing Sword Technique was simply too powerful for ude to handle, he couldn''t help but feel uneasy. "Look! He''s still standing!" One of the outer disciples yelled out, and the whole crowd turned their attention to the spot he pointed. Soon, everyone was finally able to see the oue of the attack clearly. ude stood in the middle of the martial arts field loftily,pletely unscathed once again. His body looked as tall and erect as a pine tree. The crowd was silent for a moment before exploding in a loudmotion. They couldn''t help but cheer when they saw ude standing still with not even a single injury. It was a miracle! "How on earth did he block senior Colton''s attack?" One of the outer disciples blurted out. "Ha ha ha! That''s because you are looking at it from the wrong way, young man. He didn''t block the attack!" One of the Academy Elders answered the outer disciple''s question. When he spoke, a smile appeared on his lips. He didn''t block the attack? What did the elder mean by that? Did he evade the attack? The spectators were all curious. Excitement shone on their faces. They wanted to know what the elder meant. "The young man didn''t block the attack. He diverted it!" The elder''s voice was simple, straightforward. Diverted it? Although they were curious, most of them were excited. The elder gazed at ude before he said resolutely, "Although ude Rayforth''s Invisible Sword Technique is a powerful cultivation technique, it''s a skill that is limited by cultivation levels. As a result, it wouldn''t stand a chance against Colton Grey''s Sky Smashing Sword Technique in a head on collision. And even if he somehow were able to deflect his attack, the entire process would''ve already consumed too much energy that he simply wouldn''t be able to fight anymore." "But ude probably knew that, and so he decided to divert the route of the attack instead of a direct block. What he did was simply nudge Colton''s attack using his Invisible Sword Technique, which diverted it from its original path and target. A nudge requires way less energy to execute,pared to a block. A fast moving attack like Sky Smashing Sword Technique requires just a simple touch to make a drastic change in direction. It''s simply marvelous!" The Elder exined. His words were very direct, and hearing this, everyone immediately understood what he meant. The Elder took a deep breath before he added, "However, I wouldn''t rmend executing such a move." "May I ask why you think so, elder?" One of the outer disciple youths asked. "The execution of such a technique is incredibly dangerous and risky. You have to pinpoint the exact spot of a fast moving attack in order to divert its route, all while utilising the bare minimum of energy, all in a matter of milliseconds. Too little force, and it simply wouldn''t change its direction. Too much, and it''s the same as a block. If your calctions are even a little bit off, it simply wouldn''t work out the way you want it to. It''s an extremely arduous task. Only a monster can pull it off without making a mistake." Hearing this, there were expressions of surprise, doubt and shock on their faces. Cold breaths sounded throughout the field. Everyone waspletely shocked by the elder''s words. The crowd''s attention once again focused on ude. In their eyes, he was a dark horse that appeared in the group stage. Who would have imagined that there was such a dark horse within the outer section? Chapter 18: Experience Chapter 18: Experience "Hmph! Cheap tricks! " Colton clenched his teeth and said unwillingly. He sprinted and instantly shortened the distance, as he thrust his palm out, and a pulsing scarlet ze appeared on it. "Scarlet Blossom Palm Strike!" Colton howled, his countenance incredibly unsightly to behold, as the scarlet light sted out of his palms and zoomed forth. ude''s eyes shed with extreme coldness as he twisted his body to the side, avoiding the palm strike by a hair''s breadth. His expression was cold, without any shouting or aggression. But in his silence, there was an aura of absolute iciness emitting from him. Before Colton could drag his fist back unrequited, ude immediately thrust his palm out under his chin, and a palm strike sted out of his hands. Virtually instantaneous. BAM! Colton''s body curled as the force of the palm thrust him backward, almost causing him to vomit. ude snapped his hand back just as fast, like a crisp parade ground move, and he stood upright and easy, like nothing had happened. Like you had blinked and missed it. Not only did he sessfully escape Colton''s killer move, ude actuallynded a clean hit! This scene caused the pupils of the surrounding crowd to widen in disbelief. Once again, their hearts pounded violently without cease, utterly dumbfounded in their amazement! "Was that the Star Fury Palm Strike that he just used? Isn''t that a mid level cultivation technique? Why did it look like it had a huge effect on Colton?" "You clearly haven''t been studying at all. If you had, you would know that the Star Fury Palm Strike is actually highly effective in close range. However, the more distance you create, the more it''s effectiveness shall decrease." The hearts of the crowd clenched as they continued watching, captivated by the battle on the stage. Their eyes were totally andpletely fixated on this young man. "This is not possible!" Colton''s face turned cruel and leapt furiously towards ude, and swung his sword once again. "Azure Wave sh!" With one swing, his sword seemed like the sea as waves after waves of power surged through it. ude took fluid steps, utilising the Floating Footsteps technique that he had learned, his body extremely agile. He moved intensely, and every time he managed to avoid the sword strike with no margin for error. "This young man''s footwork is insane! How is he avoiding Colton''s sword strikes with such ease?" "Madness." "Too strong!" The crowd were all infected by ude''s elegant movements. No one could have imagined that there would be a talented youngster who could fight on equal grounds with Colton Grey. Ten moves Twenty moves Thirty moves The spectators watched in fright, as the battle became more intense and dangerous. Not only was ude dodging every single sword strike in an impossible manner, he was striking back at Colton! "How is this possible?" May Stafford''s expression was extremely ugly and her two fists were tightly clenched. ude''s cultivation was two ranks lower than Colton. Then how was he fighting on par with him? The Academy Headmaster and the Academy Elders all showed a serious expression. How was he doing it? On the martial arts field, ude stared at the ashen faced Colton, and a smile could be seen on his face. He knew that Colton was faster, stronger, and more talented in cultivation than he was. But no matter how good he was, he was stillcking experience in fighting. And if one is inexperienced in fighting, then they''re more likely to perform moves in an orderly manner. This is because when training to fight, one usually studies moves one by one, and then performs them in order to imprint them to their minds. The problem with this method was, along with the moves, the order is also imprinted into your subconscious mind. Even experts, if the fight stretches on for too long, will subconsciously revert back to this state of predictability. And if your moves are predictable, then it doesn''t matter if you''re fast or strong. In the past two months, ude had been closely observing Colton, keeping an eye on him and his training, learning the order in which he''ll most likely attack, and how to counter it. He was someone who had many years of battle experience, how could he bepared to Colton Grey, who was only a young spoiled brat, who hadn''t even fought a real battle? In ude''s eyes, Colton''s moves, even though polished, were clear as crystal. No matter what moves he used, ude could clearly see through it and counter it perfectly. Every step he took was easily predicted by ude. His eyes had kept track of all his movements. This was the difference in experience! "I don''t believe it! You''re just a lowly sixth rank!" Colton howled in rage, his eyes crimson from his emotions, and once again thrust his palms out. ude stepped in, ducked and twisted, evading his attack, and as the distance between Colton and ude got closer, heshed out with his sword. In an instant, Colton felt his heart trembling fiercely as a formless pressure abruptly surrounded him. His breathing was getting erratic as his heart thumped with increasing intensity. The Invisible Sword Technique was extremely dangerous in close range. Colton wanted to avoid the attack at all costs, but it was already toote! "Invisible Sword Technique," ude said calmly, and the whistling sound of the sword piercing through the wind was audible. Peng! At that moment, Colton only felt his mind being assailed as he spat out a mouthful of blood, and everything turned dim. He flew back tens of metres andnded face first, unconscious. Colton Grey had lost! Chapter 19: Not By A Long Shot Chapter 19: Not By A Long Shot Colton fainted on the ground with no more movements from him. ude''s hair wavered in the air as he stood still with his cold expression on the martial arts field. A cold winter wind blew, freezing away all the hot-bloodedness. The entire arena was silent. In the faculty building, the Academy Headmaster was still standing, staring dumbfoundedly at the stage. "He won." After a momentary silence, the crowd erupted. The realization of what happened had finally hit the spectators. Everything suddenly seemed like a dream. "How can this be? Did he really pull it off?" Some people hugged their heads, revealing an expression of disbelief, while others were tongue-tied. "I struck it rich this time around." The Academy Elder who had bet on ude''s victory had a radiant smile on his face. He had bet a lot of money on ude, and ording to the payout rates, he was bound to win a whole lot. At this moment, countless gazes were riveted on the young man standing on top of the stage. "I guess I made the right decision," Second Elder looked up at the Heavens as he closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, exhibiting an expression of intense enjoyment. " Something''s wrong... I''ll go take a look." The judge was feeling a bit uneasy, and after saying so, he jumped onto the stage to inspect Colton, who was lying on the ground. The judge first squatted down and observed the fainted Colton Grey, sighing in relief as he found that he was not in a critical condition. His head just had a huge impact, causing him to fall unconscious. ''Weird. The young man used Invisible Sword Technique to attack, and yet this was the only damage done?'' The judge wondered. However, when he diverted a part of his concentration towards Colton Grey''s body, and inspected his cultivation, the judge couldn''t help but widen his eyes in surprise. "How is Colton doing?" A few people watching from below asked the judge as they rushed up to the stage quickly. The judge raised his head and stared at ude, his eyes shining with a fierce light, before turning around to answer their question. "His meridians and energy channels have been severed. It would take months, maybe even years for it to join back together. It''s going to be a hard process for Colton to return to cultivation!" The judge''s words caused the crowd''s heart to shudder violently. Did the judge just say that his meridians were severed? Does that mean that Colton Grey wouldn''t be able to cultivate anymore? A cold wind whistled through the air, the eyes of everyone werepletely focused on ude, who shrugged his shoulders nonchntly. "I might''ve hit him a bit too hard," ude said lightly. The spectators nearly puked blood upon hearing his words. Striking the meridian required uracy and was way harder to implement than normal attacks, so there was no way it was an ident. Was he serious? Even Academy Elders'' eyes twitched upon hearing ude''s words and were shocked by his ruthlessness. However, they chose to not take any action. After all, the young man had defeated Colton Grey, who was the favorite to win the Inner Disciple Contest. ude had beaten him, and he did it with a low cultivation level and not even a single scratch on his body. Even if he somehow didn''t win first ce, they were confident of the young man''s potential to rank in the top spots of the contest. He was going to be a fine addition to the Academy''s Inner Section. As for Colton Grey? Although he had potential, he wasn''t anywhere close to ude. And now that his meridians were severed, he was just a measly outer disciple in their eyes. No one would want to waste their time on a lowly outer disciple, no matter how much potential they had in the past. "I can''t believe it.. He beat Colton.." As for May Stafford, her countenance paledshe was frightened out of her mind. She had a feeling as if she had fallen from heaven and into the abyss. How can this be? How can this be? Her eyes turned red as she gazed helplessly around, her mind telling her that this was impossible. Yet with the truth in front of her eyes, there was no way her heart could deny the same thing. She had looked down on ude thinking he was a loser whenpared to the top geniuses at the Golden Avarice Academy. And yet, how had ite to this? Shouldn''t it be the opposite, where Colton Grey severed use''s meridians instead? In her eyes, that familiar figure was now the king of the outer disciples. All of a sudden, ude directed his nce towards her, and her body shuddered violently. She was truly afraidthis was true terror. A cold smile hung on his lips when ude saw the expression on May Stafford''s face. He knew that the group of cultivators that tried to kill him in Gryfino forest were sent by either Colton or May. ''If you think I''m going to let anyone get away with trying to kill me, then you''re dead wrong.'' ude smiled coldly, killing intent flickering in his eyes. ''This isn''t over. Not by a long shot.'' "Outer disciple ude Rayforth, you performed well, continue working hard." Finally, the judge patted ude''s shoulder and dered loudly, "ude Rayforth, challenge sessful! The challenger will now take the top spot in the group." Chapter 20: Number One Chapter 20: Number One After winning against Colton Grey, ude Rayforth''s poprity had increased drastically. "ude! ude!" The crowd cheered. ude''s surprising win over Colton caused many youths to worship him. How could they not? He defied all expectations and defeated the top ranking outer disciple! He achieved something that they could only dream of! The contest continued, but no one from his group challenged ude, perhaps due to fear of losing and getting kicked out in the first round, or fear of losing their entire cultivation. Even the third ranking outer disciple Misty Durward didn''t dare challenge him. How could anyone else? The preliminary round ended quickly, and the group winners and runner-ups were picked topete in the ''Round of Sixteen'', with ude and Misty representing group four as group winner and runner up respectively. In his first match of the round of sixteen, he met Garrett Farley, the second ranked outer disciple, who looked at ude, as he smiled bitterly. "I know there is a clear difference between you and me. But I am not someone who will give up." Garrett said calmly, as his bulky and muscr figure shook the stage. ude''s expression was calm, as his two ck pupils shed with an imposing light. "Begin." "Invisible Sword Technique!" As soon as the judge spoke, a terrifying sword intent was emitted from ude''s hands. He took in a light breath and released his aura. The sword intent became more and more intense, as a white sword manifested in his hands, and he shot towards Garrett ferociously with a sonic boom. ude''s killer aurabined with this flood of sword intent firmly locked Garrett in ce. Shoosh! Garrett dodged left, and closed in on ude as he swung his fist. tinum Star Fist! His fist thrust through, as an explosive power casually swam around his hands, causing his aura to sh with ude''s formless sword intent. ude''s eyes contracted slightly as his expression turned solemn. The spectating outer disciples stared in shock. "tinum Star Fist! That''s a high level body strengthening martial arts technique! When did Garrett learn it?" "Looks like ude isn''t the only one who has been cultivating in secret. This fight might be more interesting than what I imagined!" "But ude still defeated Colton Grey, who ranked first. No matter how strong Garrett might be, it might still be a stretch for him to actually win against ude, wouldn''t you agree?" "Didn''t we think that Colton would definitely win this year''s Inner Disciple Exams? Look what happened!" Discussion broke out nearby. This was something that no one expected. Perhaps there was going to be another dark horse? Everyone had their attention on the stage. BOOM! ude''s sword shed against Garrett''s fist, and all the outer disciples heard a loud ''Boom!'' before their ears trembled and they lost their hearing. Under the might of Garrett''s tinum Star Fist, the powerful sword technique was stopped in its tracks, as ude and Garrett both retreated at once and left cracks on the ground. ude had gained the upper hand slightly, but this scene shocked the outer disciples below. "Garrett was able to block ude''s Invisible Sword Technique! Looks like he may have a chance at beating ude!" "That guy focuses on body strengthening and he is able to counter ude''s attack!" Everyone in the crowd was discussing this. At this moment, the two of them were in a deadlock. ude''s killer aura and the Invisible Sword Technique was not able to overpower Garrett''s body strengthening cultivation technique. ude did not have any fear in his heart. Instead, he was full of vigorous battle intent. "Interesting. I see that you''re physically skilled. But let''s see how long you can keep up with me," As he spoke, ude dashed over ferociously to attack first. and countless streams of sword light shot out and flew with a flicker, attacking Garrett from different angles. The Astral Wing de Technique! "Don''t underestimate me!" Garrett''s bones cracked as his aura turned sharp, radiating all around. He swung at ude once again. Ding Ding Ding ! Sparks appeared as the Astral Wing desnded on Garrett''s fist. However, these sharp moves didn''t even pierce through his defense. ''A powerful move. You are strong. I underestimated you earlier. But in the end, you''re still predictable,'' udeughed coldly, as he half turned and half stepped back. Garrett''s fist moved toward him, faster than he was moving, off-script and involuntary, just like he thought it would. "Gotcha!" ude kept it going long enough to let their momentum establish, and then he spun away all of a sudden and twisted his body, dodging his fist. Zoom ! In an instant, ude had arrived right in front of Garrett. Garrett''s heart jumped. He had the feeling that he was fighting a martial arts master, and not a student. The speed was too fast, giving Garrett no time to dodge. A pressuring sword intent emerged from his palms, which was as incandescent as the sun, and he shed towards Garrett''s chest. "Invisible Sword Technique, Close Range!" He was unable to avoid it! Seeing the sword about to strike his chest, there was a look of desperation on Garrett Farley''s face. "Bang!" An explosion sounded as rocks and dust were sent flying and the air was turbulent. Garrett spat out a mouthful of blood as he was sent back flying tens of metres andnded face first. His face was pale and messy, and blood trickled out from the corner of his lips. On the other hand, ude''splexion had not changed. It was still red and glossy and he still had a faint smile on his face. He looked at the fallen Garrett in a rxed manner. The watching outer disciples stared at the stage with open mouths, before thunderous sounds of pping erupted from the crowd. After beating Garrett, there were no more opponents that were his match left. All his opponents admitted defeat. ude had beaten both the first and the second ranking outer disciples, and he did it with ease. How could anyone else even attempt fighting him? "I give up!" "I surrender!" ****************************** Two hourster, with his opponent in the final round conceding even before they fought, ude had easily attained first ce in the Inner Disciple Exams. Chapter 21: Seventh Rank Chapter 21: Seventh Rank Within the faculty building near the Martial Arts Field, there were two men dressed in embroidered clothes. They were looking at the young man standing on the stage. The young man on the stage was ude Rayforth, the winner of the Inner Disciple Contest. These two men were the most influential and part of the highest echelon in the Golden Avarice Academy. One of them was the Academy Headmaster. The other was the Second Elder. "This young man has an exceptional talent. You did a good job recruiting him to your faction, Baron." The Academy Headmaster said. Second Elder Baron Caldwellughed with second-hand embarrassment. "I don''t deserve your praise for this one, headmaster. The young man actually came to me and asked to pick him as a member of my faction. I had nothing to do with it." "Ha ha! This young man is a very interesting fellow!" The headmaster let out a chuckle. "Well, regardless of how you picked him, he''s still a talent worthy of being on your team. I can feel it. He''ll be a valuable member" After pausing for a while, the headmaster continued, " That is, If you handle him well." The Second Elder carefully listened to the headmaster''s words. The headmaster''s expression changed greatly as he revealed a bitter smile, "I always thought that you were the better candidate for the headmaster position, but it seems like the third elder isn''t giving up. And he also seems to have more support behind him. If I could just hand over the power to you, I would''ve already done so. But I can''t. My strength and influence has waned. I''m not as powerful anymore. There seems to be hidden powers at y, Baron. And they want me gone." "If those clowns want to control the Academy, as long as I, Baron Caldwell, still have a breath in me, even if I turn into ash, I will not let them get their way." Second Elder''s eyes had a resolute gleam that could easily inspire a sense of conviction in people. "Good," The Headmaster inclined his head, and walked inside into the interior of the faculty hall, as he stated, "In order to do that, you have to take my position the right way; by forming a strong faction of inner disciples! One that can win the Golden Crown Tournament next year!" ************************** After leaving the Martial Arts Field, ude returned to the Outer Hall Section to await the news. If there weren''t any idents, he would be an inner disciple today. What he needed to do was wait. ude then took a bath, and changed into a fresh set of clothes. Sitting in a crossed-legged position and shutting his eyes, he sank his consciousness into his body, as he began cultivating. He carefully inspected the power contained within his meridians. Once he did so, he was iparably happy because this energy was even clearer, purer, and more tyrannical than before. There was a maniacal expression on his face. This was his opportunity to finally break through to the seventh rank of the Earth Realm. He had gained a lot of insight from when he sparred with Garrett and Colton. The spiritual energy that had been formed inside his body from the fights he had was now thrice as dense. This spiritual energy, that was much stronger and denser than before, was slowly circting in his body, boosting ude''s cultivating speed significantly. He controlled this energy, making it flow out slowly through his meridians, then he pervaded his bones and muscles with it, tempering his body. ude patiently and unhurriedly advanced forward bit by bit, cultivating as he usually did, as the turbulent, river-like spiritual energy rushed into his dantian. At this moment they were glistening, and their luster was very bright. It was as though they were about to explode. BOOM! Just as ude''s strength was getting exhausted, he could sense an explosive feeling within his dantian that was bing more and more intense, as the spiritual energy circted nonstop in his body. However, ude did not feel any difort. This was more like he had been suppressed to the extreme and had finally obtained release. The pores all over his body opened up and streams of impurities began flowing out, as the originally chaotic energy had be clear. Finally, ude stopped the flow of energy, and he slowly opened his eyes. He had broken through to the Seventh Rank of the Earth Realm! Finally! ude smiled coldly as he inspected his body once again. He had done it! In just a few months of time, he had defeated the first ranked outer disciple, became an inner disciple and broke through to the seventh rank! This was something that people only dreamed of achieving, and he had done it! He then turned to look at the disgusting impurities on his entire body, he could not help but smile bitterly. Looks like he had to take another bath. Chapter 22: Grudges Chapter 22: Grudges After he was done with his bath and changed his clothes once again, ude''s entire body felt rxed and alert. His face was radiating with health and vigor. He even felt that he was filled with an inexhaustible energy. After leaving the Outer Hall Section, ude quickly met up with the Second Elder, who finally gave him the news. "Congrattions ude Rayforth! You''ve finally be an inner disciple! You can take your belongings and move to the Inner Hall Division starting today," The second elder was full of smiles as he spoke. Ever since the incident when ude had asked to pick him as a member of his faction, the Second Elder had started to pay attention to him, fascinated by his actions. After that, ude had performed exceptionally well in the Inner Disciple Exams, which was astonishing to say the least, when he remembered that ude was only in the fourth rank of the Earth Realm when he had met him. "Thank you, Second Elder!" ude was filled with joy as he immediately thanked the second elder. "Sit." the second elder nced at ude as a rxed smile broke out on his visage. "ude Rayforth, you do indeed have guts. To think that you dared to destroy a student''s meridian in front of so many people." "I thought I mentioned that was an ident," udeughingly replied, as he continued. "Plus, I was certain that I was going to be an inner disciple once I defeated him, so it wouldn''t have be a big deal anyways. Who''s going to cause trouble because an inner disciple severed the meridians of an outer disciple?" "That may be so, but it was still exceedingly dangerous. But thank god, all these turbulent waves have passed." The second elderughed, "And before I forget, I wanted to let you know that from today onwards, you are officially a member of my Flying Sword Faction! So, are you ready to be studying under me?" ude nodded his head in agreement, and the second elder took out two cultivation manuals from within his coat, passing it to ude. " Both of these are cultivation techniques. One of these is a body strengthening cultivation method, while the other is a sword technique. The body strengthening cultivation method can be considered a top-tier cultivation art of the Earth Realm, and is sufficient to support your cultivation all the way until you''ve stepped into the Sky Realm. The sword technique can be considered a high level technique, and only cultivators who are proficient in sword skills will be able to truly unleash the full strength of it. Thus, it should be considered quite difficult to cultivate for most, but perhaps not for you, who has studied the Invisible Sword Technique. Take them, let them be considered as the ''Apprentice Gifts''." "Many thanks, Elder." ude epted the two gifts. After a bit more talking, ude received a new token meaning that he was officially an inner disciple, and the second elder showed ude where he was going to live. Being an inner disciple, his treatment was far better than those in the outer section. His new ce had an extremely elegant courtyard with the fragrance of flowers permeating the air. There was even a little bridge over running water in the middle of the courtyard, with personal servants and maids to serve him. The Second Elder departed soon after, as ude was left alone in his new home. He then looked at the entrance to the courtyard. He could feel the vibrations of footsteps slowly moving in his direction. "Nice to meet you, young master Rayforth!" After a short moment, a young man dressed in a servant uniform appeared in ude''s vision. Looking at the young man in front of him, ude asked, "Are you my personal servant?" The man immediately reacted, his face filled with a smile as he said joyfully, "Yes I am! My name is Randall Garton. I am your butler, young master Rayforth. Of course, I''m not the only servant you have. Other than me, there are ten servants, who are all extremely happy to be of service to you." ude stared at Randall, and asked in an indifferent voice, "Can you guys cultivate martial arts?" "Of course we can," Randall nodded his head. They were servants, but they were cultivators as well. "Well then, I have your very first assignment, Randall," ude grinned, slightly deviously, before stating, "I want you to bring me two outer disciples; May Stafford and Colton Grey, here in front of me. Can you do that?" "Of course we can, young master Rayforth!" Smiling, Randall replied. "But, may I ask one thing, young master?" "Go ahead," ude said. Thinking for a bit, Randall nced at ude and questioned, "What should we do if they refuse toe with us?" ude''s lips curled, revealing a cruel smile. "I thought you said you guys could cultivate." Chapter 23: Forgiveness Chapter 23: Forgiveness "ARGHHH!" May Stafford screamed till she was hoarse. She struggled madly yet she discovered that there was a powerful force restricting her from getting up from the ground. Her unrelenting screams raised goosebumps in the heart of Colton Grey, sending a chill down his spine. May Stafford was in so much pain that she wished she was dead. Currently, she was in a kneeling position in the Inner Hall Division, in front of ude Rayforth, the winner of the Inner Disciple Contest. Just a few minutes ago, a group of men dressed in servant clothes entered the Outer Section, ignoring the eyes of the bewildered crowd, and moved in the direction of Colton Grey''s room. After which, screams of agony rang out from the room as the group of men walked out, with one of the men unceremoniously dragging May Stafford''s body with a single hand, followed by Colton Grey slowly walking behind them in silence. "Re Release me, please...." May Stafford choked, both her hands wing helplessly at the man''s hands but to no avail. This scene caused those in the surroundings to stare in incredulous disbelief as they stared at the group of men with trepidation, lowering their heads, not daring to meet their eyes. As soon as they reached ude''s Inner Hall Residence, May was directly forced to her knees. BOOM! The sounds of her kneecaps mming against the ground thundered out, with cracks seen on the surface of the ground as she knelt in front of ude. Her gaze shifted to ude, whose eyes were incredibly fiendish. In this instant, just a single nce was sufficient to pierce through all the way to her soul, causing her to feel a bone-biting chill right down to her core. When Colton Grey stared at ude, he could no longer look at him normally. His entire body was trembling from fear. He was just a mortal who couldn''t practice cultivation, while ude was an Inner Disciple, and the winner of the Inner Disciple Contest. ude swept a nce at him, and just a single nce made Colton feel as though an iparably sharp beam of light wascerating his body, shredding his soul into pieces. He had finally realised what kind of monster he had aggravated. The two of them simply weren''t people belonging to the same world! When ude shifted his nce back to May Stafford, her entire body froze as though she was awaiting judgement. "A few weeks ago, I had decided to travel to the Gryfino forest in order to train for the Inner Disciple Contest. I was nning on fighting a few wild beasts in order to gain more experience as well as improve and sharpen my cultivation techniques." In the dead silence, ude spoke without interruptions. There was only his voice, echoing through the air. "However, who would have thought that there would be people pursuing me, trying to kill me while I was in the middle of training? A bit rude, wouldn''t you agree? Luckily for me, they were attacked by a group of wild beasts, and the fight ended with their demise. So now, I put this question forth to you: Who in the Golden Avarice Academy would try to kill me? Because truth be told, I don''t remember pissing off that many people. In fact, the only people that I can remember who might have a problem with me, are you two and Elder Thomas. And I know the elder is just too afraid of infuriating the Second Elder, so I''m sure he wouldn''t consider sending people to take care of me. He''d most probably just try to take me down in a fair game. And plus, he was in the middle of a cultivation breakthrough when I left for Gryfino, so it couldn''t possibly be him." He gazed at May and Colton, as he indifferently eximed, "So that leaves the two of you." "ude! I didn''t do it! I swear on my mother''s life!" At this moment, Colton finally spoke, shedding whatever dignity he still had left. "Think about it! We don''t even know each other that well. How could I try to kill someone who I barely even know?" A cold glint shed across ude''s eyes as he heard Colton Grey''s shameless wail. "What you said is true," ude nodded his head, as if he was agreeing to what Colton was saying. But before Colton could continue with his words, ude''s gaze fell upon him and instantly, he felt a terrifying pressure bearing down on him. "But the problem is; because I don''t know you that well, I can''t trust what you''re saying to be the truth." His ice-like eyes swept over to both Colton and May, and instantly, they felt a bone-chilling cold shuddering their very soul. An overwhelming killing intent gushed right into their bodies causing them to involuntary tremble. "Regardless of who the mastermind was, you both messed with the wrong person. And for that, I have to punish you." ude took a step forward and as his stepnded, a booming sound rang out and Colton Grey fell onto the ground, as traces of blood leaked from his mouth. May Stafford, who was still kneeling on the ground, was moaning in misery. "ude, I''m sorry. I offended you earlier. It''s my fault. Please forgive me." May''s voice was quavering. "Forgiveness?" ude eyes gleamed with demonic light, his voice cold as ice, announcing their death sentences, "You lost that chance the moment you messed with me." As he spoke, a silver sword appeared in his other hand, streaking forward, and both their heads were sent flying as a rumbling sound rocked the area. ude''s face was calm, as if he had done nothing out of the ordinary. "Young master, you can leave this to us." Randall approached ude with a smile, politely speaking. ude nodded his head in response, as he turned and headed to the bedroom. He wanted to take a new set of clothes and bathe. Chapter 24: Body Strengthening Chapter 24: Body Strengthening The next morning, the outer disciples heard about the death of May Stafford and Colton Grey at the hands of ude Rayforth. However, they only shook their heads and sighed silently, as they continued on with their daily lives. "They shouldn''t have messed with ude! Now look what happened." "Who knew that ude Rayforth would win the Inner Disciple Exams? No one could''ve predicted that oue!" "Yeah, that was really unexpected! May Stafford and Colton Grey were just unlucky to have messed with the wrong person!" As they thought about May and Colton, they couldn''t help but feel pity for them. The biggest mistake an outer disciple can make was to offend an inner disciple. The difference of status between an inner disciple and an outer disciple were like Heaven and Earth! The inner disciples weren''t someone an outer disciple could afford to offend! To them, the inner disciples were the sort of people that they could only look up to. Even a hundred of their lives weren''t worth the life of a single inner disciple. They were the future of the Academy, and as a result, no one would even raise a finger if an inner disciple killed an outer disciple. This was why ude had restrained himself from killing Colton during the inner disciple exams. He was still an outer disciple at that time, and he didn''t want to bring unnecessary trouble to his side, especially when he had a better method in mind. This was how the martial world was like. It was a world where the strong ruled, and only with strength could one obtain the respect of others. Inside the Inner Hall Division, ude was in the middle of cultivating the new martial arts techniques that the second elder had given him. He flipped through the pages of the ''Pure Iron Technique'', which was the name of the body strengthening cultivation method. Body strengthening techniques usually needed a long time to train and couldn''t be easily learned within a short period of time. It was the type of skill that relied on hard work more than talent. ude''s forte was his sword skills, experience and speed. This would work well against students, but as the opponents get more powerful, the advantages he previously had will soon begin to decrease. Which is why it''s better to have as many advantages as possible. It was an investment for the future! With these thoughts in his mind, ude started to cultivate the ''Pure Iron Technique''. This martial arts technique was extremely tough to cultivate, and the duration of this entire process was extremely slow, as he condensed and refined the spiritual energy to match the technique. As time passed, ude slowly began to understand the essence of the Pure Iron Technique, and his strength increased. Sometimes, he would even enter a subconscious state ofplete concentration for hours as he cultivated. Soon, every breath he took seemed to contain surging levels of energy, spirit, and qi. "Right, I need to purchase some medicine in order to help me with my training," said ude after he thought about it for a bit. Last time, he had used the money he had ''borrowed'' from Aldrich''s house to buy a bottle of Cultivation Booster Powder. It had helped him get to the six rank of the Earth Realm, but he could only afford one bottle at that time. But now that he was an inner disciple of the academy, money wasn''t an issue anymore. Monthly payments were issued to inner disciples to spend on cultivation training. And now, there were personal servants that could help him with this. ude felt that even though his understanding and analysing speed exceeded that of normal people, it was still insufficient. This was a problem. The only solution to this was to boost up his cultivation using cultivation medicines. That way, he would be able to store up more spiritual energy in his body, which in turn will help him in mastering the body strengthening method. When increasing one''s cultivation speed, aside from hard work, medicinal pills were a necessity as well. ude took out a piece of paper and after he finished writing, he gave it to Randall, who was standing outside his courtyard. "Just follow the list on the paper to purchase the medicines. They should be easily found in medicine shops in Dawsbury City." Randall nodded his head joyfully, "I''ll go do it now. Young Master, rest assured. I will aplish this task beautifully." He said, and disappeared in an instant, as udeughed in satisfaction. It was not bad having personal servants. He did not have to bother with things like running errands. Chapter 25: Medicine Chapter 25: Medicine After a few hours, Randall returned with a big bag of medicinal bottles in his hands. After he left, ude turned his attention to the medicinal bottles that he brought back and inspected them carefully. Ten bottles of Cultivation Booster Powder, Five bottles of Protein pills, and Two Agary Root Tonics. ude picked up the bottles in order to examine it carefully. Aside from the Cultivation Booster Powder, which he had already used once, he inspected the other two medicines; Protein Pills and Agary Root Tonics. One protein pill would remove the need to eat or drink for one whole week after its consumption. These were usually taken by martial artists who wished to cultivate for a long period of time without taking any breaks. The dosages are to be strictly followed however, as it can be lethal if you consume it too much. Next was the Agary Root Tonic, a tonic made from the root of the Agary tree, which helps to increase the speed at which your spiritual energy expands. It helped to gain insights into one''s spiritual energy and meridians. Both of these medicines were extremely strict about following their dosage. He opened the bottles and ingested all three of them in ordance with the dosages, as he sat cross legged and closed his eyes, cultivating. All of a sudden, he felt a stream of energy traveling to his meridians, circting inside his sea of consciousness, as it extended everywhere. This time, ude gained a deeper understanding of his spiritual energy. Was this the effect of the Agary Root? Gathering his thoughts, ude circted the Pure Iron Technique once again, while condensing the spiritual energy formed. Sweat continuously trickled down from ude''s forehead, but he continued persisting. Each time the body strengthening cultivation technique made oneplete cirction, ude felt the reserve of spiritual energy in his body increase bit by bit. The cultivation technique, instead of depleting his spiritual energy, was helping him reach a better understanding, as it expanded along with the technique. This was the effect of the Agary Root Tonic! Usually, high level cultivation techniques were akin to a hungry beast, madly devouring the spiritual energy. But now that the Agary root tonic was absorbed into his body, it helps the cultivator in obtaining enlightenment and a deeper understanding of the spiritual energy, in order to aid him in his cultivation. This results in a temporary growth spurt of spiritual energy, which enables the expansion of spiritual energy to keep up with its consumption by the cultivation techniques, thereby helping the cultivator stay in a seemingly infinite loop of cultivation. However, although the end result would be permanent, with the cultivator gaining an improved spiritual energy reserve and a deeper understanding, the phenomenon that he was currently experiencing was only temporary, until the effects of the tonic wears off, after which the spiritual energy begins to drop. But still, this was an extremely useful medicine, andbined with the Cultivation Booster Powder, his cultivation would only improve over time. With his attention fully honed in on his cultivation, ude''s eyebrows were tightly knit. This would only happen in a situation where someone was concentrating extremely hard. The sweat glistened on his forehead as it incessantly poured down his face, trickling downwards. He did not dare to relent in his focus. If he made even a slightest mistake during this process, then the effects of the medicine would be extinguished, and all will be for naught. There was no room for mistakes. If he could perfectlyplete the process, then it would be ideal. ude''s eyes seemed to burn with excitement, but his heart remained extremely calm. The processsted for about six days, and ude felt that time had passed rapidly as he had abandoned thoughts of anything other than cultivating in a frenzy. After hepletely exhausted the effects of the tonic, he had stepped into the middle stages of the seventh rank. "The effects of these medicines are fantastic!" ude was extremely surprised. Back when he was just an outer disciple, he couldn''t afford to buy most of these high-end medicine bottles without spending all his savings on it. But now that he had earned the title of inner disciple, he felt as if it was all too easy. "Young master! The Second Elder hade by a few days ago when you were in the middle of cultivating!" Right at this moment, the voice of Randall was hearding from the outside. "Come in!" ude said, and Randall gently pushed the door open as he entered the room. "Young master, the Second Elder has asked you to head to his residence as soon as possible, afterpleting your cultivation training," Randall said. "Did he say what it was for?" ude inquired, to which Randall shook his head. "No he did not, young master. My apologies." "No matter," ude revealed a trace of a rxed expression, as he stood up from his cross legged position. "I''ll ask him myself." Chapter 26: Disagreement Chapter 26: Disagreement ude immediately took a bath and selected a rxing outfit to wear. Without further ado, he walked towards the second elder''s residence. Although he didn''t rush, he still arrived outside the second elder''s residence in no time. When he got there, he saw that there were nine people; two girls and seven young men, standing around. Everyone''s gaze turned to him. "Are you ude Rayforth? The newest member of the Flying Sword Faction?" one of the young men asked as he strode over to ude''s side, as he smiled faintly. ude nodded his head and said, "Yes, I am ude Rayforth. Rank Seven of the Earth Realm. I imagine you all are part of the Flying Sword Faction as well?" The young man''s face broke into a faint smile. "That''s right my junior! We''re all members of the Flying Sword Faction!" He stretched his hands forward as he continued, "The name''s Wilfred Beldon. I look forward to working with you!" ude shook his hand, and Wilfred suddenly looked at him and said, "By the way, I heard you killed two of the outer disciples as soon as you became an inner disciple. Is that true?" ude frowned slightly, but soon regained hisposure. "Yes I did," He replied while shrugging his shoulders. "One of them sent people to kill me while the other tried to harm me during the inner disciple contest. I''m not someone who likes to give people second chances. So I just finished them off before they can cause any more problems to me." ude was calm. He had an arrogance that generated from within. "Ha ha ha I really like this kid!" All of a sudden, Wilfred startedughing heartily. "You''re pretty good, kid. I like your way of thinking. I have a feeling we''re going to be good friends." "Thanks, senior!" ude smiled at the young man standing in front of him. Even though he was probably older than the young man when you consider his previous life, he was still polite. Making enemies left and right was apletely reckless move. One that may work for a short term problem, but not for long term. "Always trying to get people to join your side Why don''t you stop being such a snake, Wilfred?" One of the youngdies spoke with a somewhat cold expression on her face. She then red at ude as if she were extremely displeased. This caused ude to furrow his eyebrows. ''Why was she looking at me like that?'' ude now had a bad impression of thisdy. "That''s Senior sister Ashley Winter. Apparently, she doesn''t think killing people is right." Wilfred moved closer to ude and whispered in his ear. "So she hasn''t killed anyone?" ude asked. "No, she has." Wilfred shook his head. As he spoke, he straightened his back and looked at Ashley with disdain. "But whenever she does that she always has an excuse ready for it." "It''s not an excuse. And don''t phrase it like that. I never said you shouldn''t kill. I just don''t like people who kill others without showing any remorse!" Senior sister Ashley said coldly. "Also, the people who I''ve killed were all evil people. And even then, I''ve always felt bad about killing them. But people who kill others like they are insects or something, they''re just the worst." "So you''re judging me based on just that?" ude said as he narrowed his eyes at the youngdy in front of him. "You just spoke about killing two outer disciples like it waspletely normal," She said as she stared at ude. "I don''t know about you, but that kind of indifference towards life doesn''t sit well with me." "Seems like it''s just a way for you to feel good about yourself. To feel like you''re somehow better than the rest, even though you''re literally doing the same thing. If that''s the case, I''d rmend drinking alcohol. At least you''ll be less of a pain in the ass." ude had initially nned on being as polite as he can, in order to make as few enemies as possible. But when someone''s already hostile to you the moment you meet, he felt that there was no point in trying to reconcile. He didn''t mind having different and conflicting opinions. But if there wasn''t any leeway toe to a mutual understanding, then it just wasn''t worth his time. And remorse? In the martial world, where the strong rule over the weak? Was she joking? ude couldn''t help but scoff at her naive world view. The martial world was rough. Sooner orter, you''ll end up killing someone over something. It was just a way of life. Feeling remorse over such a mundane action will only make your life miserable, and will eventually lead to your downfall. "You-" Senior sister Ashley was left speechless by her junior''s harsh words. She simply hadn''t expected that. Every time she met someone, they''d usually try to make a good impression in order to impress and win her trust. But this young man didn''t! Not only did he not try to get on her good side, he even insulted her! Ashley was so surprised that she didn''t know what to say. "You don''t even know me!" She red at ude, who simply shrugged his shoulders. "And you don''t know me either. And yet you still formed an opinion before even talking with me. So why on earth can''t I do the same?" ude replied. "That''s-" Ashley wanted to rebuke him, but she couldn''t think of anything to say, so she just red at him in the end. "Ha ha ha.. well saidd!" Wilfred let out augh, as his handnded on ire''s shoulder. "I like you even more now! Although I''d have to disagree with you on the alcohol part. Already tried it. Unfortunately, she only got more annoying." "Hahaha " The rest of the faction members finally let out theirughter. Ashley''s fists were clenched tightly. She stared at both ude and Wilfred with hatred in her eyes. She feltpletely humiliated. "Alright, calm down everyone!" Suddenly, a pping sound reverberated across the courtyard, and everyone instantly turned silent. Footsteps were heard, and the doors opened slowly, as the second elder appeared in front of them. He looked around, and found ude standing behind, and nodded his head. "Now that we''re all here, why don''t we begin?" Chapter 27: Golden Crown Chapter 27: Golden Crown "Greetings, master!" All of the students bowed respectfully before their master as they entered his residence, walking into a magnificent hall decoratedvishly with gold and jade. "No need for formalities right now. And what are you doing here, Ashley? Didn''t you get injured during yourst battle? You''re supposed to be resting!" The Second Elder''s voice was calm as he moved his gaze in the youngdy''s direction. Ashley, who knew her master very well, didn''t hide her intentions. "I would like an opportunity toprehend the Frost Moon Technique, master. I havee to the realisation that I''m not strong enough, and I wish to get better." Her eyes immediately shed with guilt. Although she looked ashamed, in the end, her shame was reced by enthusiasm and the desire to get stronger. The Second Elder''s eyes shed with a glimmer of approval. "Fine, you can go to the Martial arts library and ask for the cultivation technique. Just show them this badge," said the Second Elder as he took out a golden badge and handed it over to Ashley. "Be careful with that cultivation technique, Ashley. It''s an extremely dangerous technique. One that I wouldn''t rmend to most people. But since you insist so much, I do not wish to stop you." "Thank you, master!" Ashley cupped her hand in salute as she replied, and she immediately walked towards the door after receiving the badge. ude narrowed his eyes as he watched Ashley leave. The Second Elder then turned to look at the rest of his students. "My dear students, I assume most of you have already heard about it, but I thought I needed to make an official statement just to make it clear. We, the Flying Sword Faction, have finally found our tenth member!" He then pointed his hands towards ude, and everyone turned their heads and nced at him. "Young man, would you like to introduce yourself?" The Second Elder asked as he stared at ude. ude immediately cupped his hands in salute and replied, "Greetings to my fellow seniors. My name is ude Rayforth, the newest member of the Flying Sword Faction. I''m a newly joined inner disciple in the seventh rank of the Earth Realm. I look forward to working with all of you." "Good!" The Second Elderughed heartily, with a faint smile stered on his face as he said, "In the future, you''ll all be working together, so make sure that you form good rtions with each and every one of them." Each and everyone huh ''That doesn''t seem like an option anymore,'' ude thought to himself, as he recalled the argument he had with Ashley. "Ha ha ha! How delightful! We have finally reached ten members!" The Second Elder''sughter made the students of the Flying Sword Faction feel at ease, as smiles began to appear on their faces. Their master''s prestige was enough to make anyone listen obediently. The Second Elder''s mood was currently good. He sounded genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart. "Sorry about that. I was a bit too excited." The Second Elder coughed after realizing that he was showing his emotions a bit too much. "But now that the Flying Sword Faction has ten members, we are eligible topete in the Golden Crown Tournament next year!" The students'' expressions changed quickly. Most of the students could guess the Second Elder''s intentions when they heard his words. The Golden Crown Tournament! Apetition that was only held once in every five years. Apetition that concerned the future of the martial world itself. It was apetition in which factions from different academiese together topete with each other. Although this was apetition for the youngest generation, it concerned the reputation of the entire Golden Avarice Academy. They, who were once known for their powerful factions, had now turned into mere husks of their past selves. They haven''t won thepetition in a very long time. And if they lost again, their reputation would only get more ruined. And even more importantly, the potential of what the newest factions of Golden Avarice Academy is also essential in determining their future leader. Being an elder was tough. If their factions showed impressive results in thepetition, it would indicate that they were good at managing students. However, if their reputation was tarnished, the students wouldn''t be the ones to me, right? It could be said that a ruler is in charge of their men. Thus, if their faction was doing poorly, it would imply that the elder was not doing their job well enough. The results of what the various factions of the Golden Avarice Academy can offer will be instrumental in deciding which of the elders are fit to be the next headmaster! Chapter 28: Safe Chapter 28: Safe "Master, can I ask something?" said one of the young men with a voice as piercing as steel. "What do you wish to say, Esmond?" the Second Elder asked softly as he nced at the young man named Esmond. "Isn''t itpulsory for every member of the faction to be in the Sky Realm in order to be eligible for the Golden Crown Tournament?" the young man asked solemnly. "Doesn''t ude have to reach the Sky Realm first in order for us to guarantee a spot in the tournament? If our goal was to participate in the Golden Crown Tournament, isn''t the selection of ude into our faction even before he reached Sky Realm slightly impulsive?" Although the Second Elder''s expression remained unchanged, there were some faint movements in the eyes of the students as they started to make all sorts of calctions. "Although I do agree that ude has enormous talent and potential, as well as for participating valiantly in the inner disciplepetition, if we want the Flying Sword Faction to have a chance in participating and even winning the championship, wouldn''t it be best to bet on someone who had already reached the Sky Realm, instead of someone who might reach it in the future?" Esmond''s words made the Second Elder nod his head in agreement. What the young man had said was true. Statistically speaking, it would indeed be more of a safe bet if he had chosen someone who had already reached the Sky Realm. Although most inner disciples had already joined a faction, there were still a few that were on the fence about it, like Hayden Fleming, one of the top ranking inner disciples who still hadn''t joined any factions. Although the Second Elder''s expression did not change, his voice sounded determined as he said, "What you said is absolutely true. And I understand what you mean. In normal circumstances, I too would''ve done the same." The Second Elder was silent for a moment before he replied in a powerful voice, "However, when I first met ude, he was only in the fourth rank of the Earth Realm. He didn''t have any particr skill, and his talent was mediocre. In fact, the only thing that made him worthy of my time was his mastery of the Invisible Sword Technique. And yet, for some reason, this young man told me that he would win the Inner Disciple Contest and make me pick him. And he said that with absolute confidence. I couldn''t see a hint of doubt within his eyes." The Second Elder kept talking. "Back then, I did agree to his request. But only because I thought it was interesting. Nothing more, nothing less. Just for my own amusement. But he did it. He won the Inner Disciple Contest. Just like he said he would. So when you ask me whether or not betting on someone who had already reached the Sky Realm, was better than someone who might reach it in the near future, then I''d say yes. It is in fact better to pick someone who already has the qualifications necessary to join rather than someone who might achieve it in the future. Definitely. That''s the more reasonable and safer option." "But I never once said I picked ude because he was the safe option, did I?" The Second Elder set his eyes on ude and asked, "ude! Tell me, did I make the right choice in picking you for my faction?" ude, who had been listening to the conversation, smiled. He exchanged a quick nce with Esmond, before answering the Second Elder''s question. "You did. In fact, I''d say it''s probably the best decision you''ve ever made." When the other faction members heard his shameless promation, they were left speechless. This young man was extremely arrogant! The Second Elder smiled faintly. He nodded his head and said, "And are you confident that you''ll be able to reach the Sky Realm in less than a year?" "I am, master! I don''t need a year to get to the sky realm!" ude said straightforwardly. "Good," The Second Elder waved his hand as he spoke, "No need to argue over this any further. I have chosen the young man, and he''ll prove me right. Besides, what''s so bad about a little optimism?" Although Esmond wanted to continue, when he saw the Second Elder''s determination, he chose to endure. The hall fell silent after these words left the Second Elder''s mouth. "Now that we''ve got that out of the way," the Second Elder paused for a second, studying everyone''s expressions, before continuing. "In half a month''s time, the Sherfield City''s yearly ''Prodigy Summit'' will begin. This year, the event will be hosted by three factions; Golden Avarice Academy''s Flying Sword Faction, Trinity Academy''s Dark Chariot Faction and Silver Moon Academy''s ck Pearl Faction. As there can be only five participants per faction, I want the juniors to enter thepetition, to represent the Flying Sword Faction. It might be an opportunity to gain experience." Prodigy Summit! ude''s eye''s shed with surprise and expectancy. He had only heard of the Prodigy Summit. This was a rather small event for the inner disciples of various factions toe and spar with one another. Chapter 29: Having A Drink Chapter 29: Having A Drink ude was thest of the five juniors who had been selected by the second elder to participate in the Prodigy summit. The other four juniors nodded in greeting when they saw ude looking at them. Wilfred Beldon, who was standing in front of them, also smiled at him. ude nodded his head in response. "This opportunity topete with martial artists of different factions is going to be a very important experience to you all. One that will help you in the future. Thus, you must all focus!" The Second Elder eyed the juniors as he spoke. "There''s one more thing to note. All of you represent the Flying Sword Faction, so you must not disgrace our name! Understand?" "Yes, Master!" The Second Elderughed heartily and said, "This is the first time in many years that my Flying Sword Faction gets to participate in the Prodigy Summit. Please do not go easy on your opponents! Train as hard as you can until then!" After a few minutes, the students departed from his residence, and ude immediately started walking back to his ce. "ude, wait up!" A voice called out ude''s name, causing him to turn around. A young man walked up to him with a smile on his face as he spoke, "Hey there! My name is Hugh Kenton. I''m one of the juniors who''s been selected to participate in the Prodigy Summit. I thought I''d introduce myself now that we''re in the same faction." "It''s nice to meet you, Senior Hugh. I look forward to working together with you all in the near future," ude smiled and gave the usual etiquette. After all, Hugh was the senior in this case, even though he didn''t look much older than him. "Ah, that''s what I wanted to talk about!" Hugh smiled brightly as he spoke, and ude''s head was turned slightly to the side, as if quizzically. "You see, since we''ve all been picked to participate in the Prodigy Summit, and you''re still new here, I was thinking of hanging around a bit, just us five juniors, to get to know each other," Hugh said, as he pointed at the rest of the juniors, who were standing just a few metres away. "How about it? Want to join?" ********************************* Although it was already evening and the sun had set, the streets of Dawsbury City were lit up as bright as day, with hugenterns ced in all directions. Despite the time, the streets were still bustling with activities. Mostmoners would choose this timing to gather in inns, talk about the past, discuss the current heroes of their time, and enjoy drinking to their heart''s content. Wasn''t this a simple kind of joy, as well? At this moment, ude and the rest were sitting inside a pub called ''Red Lion'', while drinking their beer. Despite the small outer appearance of the pub, it waspletely different inside, filled to the brim with people. It was certainly popr. "ude, congrattions on winning the inner disciples contest, bing an inner disciple, and joining the Flying Sword Faction!" Hugh toasted to ude, and as the voice of Hugh Kenton faded, the rest of the juniors all raised their cups as well, respectfully drinking a toast to him. "I took so long to be an inner disciple, there''s nothing worthy of congrattions." ude smiled as he nced at Hugh, trying to read his facial expressions. He wanted to know whether he had any ulterior motives for inviting ude, but in the end, he came to the realization that there weren''t any. He was genuinely trying to be friends with him. ''I keep forgetting that they''re still young,'' ude let out a heavy sigh as he drank his cup of beer. He forgot the fact that not everyone has a shrewd and twisted mind. No matter how powerful or talented these students can be, in the end they''re still inexperienced when ites to the real world. "Ha ha ha! You haven''t drank enough, ude! Here, drink this!" Miller Baldwin, one of the juniors,waved his hands as he picked up another ss of beer and stuffed it into ude''s hand. He was an honest, straightforward youth who didn''t like exchanging pleasantries. ude did not decline and immediately took a big, unceremonious gulp. "Great!" Hugh said as he downed an entire bottle of beer and smiled. After finishing the beer, ude leaned back, rxed, and let the others handle the conversation. "Personally, I think we have a shot at beating the Dark Chariot and ck Pearl Faction," Missy Newman, a young girl with long blue hair said with a proud look on her face. "I don''t know about that," Nash Orman, who had an unenthusiastic expression on his face since the moment he stepped foot in the pub shook his head after hearing what Missy said. "The Dark Chariot faction does have Dayton Palmer on their side." "Who''s Dayton Palmer?" ude asked, causing everyone''s gazes to turn to him. "You seriously don''t know who Dayton Palmer is?" There was a look of surprise in Missy''s eyes as she asked, and ude shook his head. He only had the memories of the previous owner, and even he had no clue as to who Dayton Palmer was. "Well, I guess it''s understandable, considering you were only an outer disciple all this time," Hugh said as he took another sip of his beer. "As you already know, the wferry Prefecture has three major cities; Dawsbury, Orefield and Vercester. All three of these cities have respective academies as well. Orefield has the Trinity Academy, while Vercester has the Silver Moon Academy." "Among the three academies, Silver Moon has never reached the same level as the other two. That is, until Dayton Palmer came. Dayton Palmer is single handedly keeping the Silver Moon Academy afloat. A genius in cultivation, Dayton has already reached the fifth rank of sky realm, and he just turned seventeen this year." Hugh shook his head as he smiled bitterly. "We don''t have any chance at beating such a monster. Let''s just stick to second ce." The rest of the juniors nodded their heads, while ude couldn''t help but narrow his eyes involuntarily. "Fifth rank of the Sky Realm? Interesting" Chapter 30: A Difficult Technique Chapter 30: A Difficult Technique For the next few days, ude Rayforth did not go out at all. He stayed in his room, continuously cultivating, as the temperature of the room grew higher and higher, due to the amount of energy he was circting within his body. Along with the Pure Iron Technique, he was also learning the sword technique that the second elder had given him. ude quickly quieted himself and closed his eyes, focusing on the sword technique known as ''Beau Paradis''. When he waspletely focused, he could feel the presence of an iparably profound sword within his hands. However, the moment he opened his eyes, the profound feeling would immediately disappear, leaving behind nothing to see. Even so, he remained calm. He once again stood still without making any movements, as he concentrated on the sword technique. And like before, he could once again feel the presence of that same sword within his hands. He grabbed hold of the handle of the sword and gripped it tightly, and tried swinging it while keeping his eyes closed. There was a cold gleam on the de of the saber as it sliced quietly through the air. "This is actually a tough technique to cultivate. Second Elder really wasn''t lying," ude had a bitter smile stered on his face as opened his eyes, and the sword disappeared once again. Although it didn''t look like it, controlling the sword was easier said than done. The sword was like a beast within ude''s hands, trying it''s best desperately to escape from his clutches. And like a beast, ude knew that he had to tame it in order to utilise its full potential. Of course, ude wasn''t a quitter. His heart was as calm as the water as he circted the cultivation methods of the Beau Paradis Sword Technique once again. He closed his eyes and slowly began to practice the technique step by step. Practice makes perfect, and ude had taken it to heart. Every step he took sent vibrations through the ground. In the ancient cultivation legends, the angels were the overlords of heaven and earth. They could overturn the seas and rivers and summon the wind and rain; there was nothing they could not do. And the Beau Paradis Sword Technique was said to be a sword technique that was passed down from the angels to the humans as a gift. When practiced to great perfection, one could summon the strength of the angels if they desired. Although he wasn''t making any huge progress, he still continued cultivating the technique. ude was a firm believer of hard work and training, and he wasn''t nning on giving up so soon. As days went by, his progress inprehending the profoundness of the Beau Paradis Sword Technique, although faint, was still present. ude squinted his eyes and a grave expression appeared on his face. As hisprehension of the technique began to increase, so did the difficulty along with it. The ''beast'' was now revealing its malevolent side. The turbulent energy carried a huge force; it was exerting a tremendous amount of force on ude''s body, making it exceptionally difficult for him to maintain bnce and concentration. ude however, did not panic and was very calm, as he continued concentrating, not losing his focus for even a second. The spiritual energy in his body circted as he absorbed it into his flesh and bones, slowly tempering his body. He held the sword in his hands, practicing the moves of the ''Beau Paradis Sword Technique''. "Now!" After the spiritual energy circted in his body for a few minutes, ude''s eyes shot open. "Boom!" The sword aura exploded out to the extreme. A huge force extended out as he gripped the sword tightly with his hands. The droplets of sweat that clung to his body instantly evaporated. "Kill!" He shouted lightly and leaped up high into the air. There was a crack of thunder in the sky; lightning streaked across the air, as his Beau Paradis Sword gave off a resplendent electrical light. The sword technique that he practiced many times was executed without hesitation. "Keng!" The Beau Paradis Sword chopped violently down onto the ground. The powerful sword light struck the spot below ude like a hammer, creating a half a meter wide pit. "Boom!" The huge force behind the attack triggered a reaction, which caused ude to be flung to the ground. After ude was struck by the reaction from the sword technique, he felt his insides churn a little. Fortunately, he did not suffer from too much damage. "Damn it! This is truly a problematic cultivation technique. It seems that I can only continue to train slowly until I eventually master it," After thinking a lot, ude sighed as he decided to take the mastering of the Beau Paradis Sword Technique a bit more slower. Although the sword technique itself was extremely strong, one needed to devote a lot of time into mastering the techniquepletely. And although he could try to maintainplete focus in order to master the sword technique, he realised that the process would ultimately end up slowing down his cultivation progress. Sometimes, it was better to take it slow. The sword technique might be powerful, but that''s not all he had in his arsenal. The versatility of a warrior is what makes him different from a one trick pony. He was more than that. Adaptability is something that every warrior and samurai had to learn, and so did ude. He didn''t wish to be dependent on a single technique. And besides, it wasn''t like he waspletely abandoning the technique. Although the speed and the time he spent practicing would be less than usual, he was still going to be cultivating the technique. "It''s not like I''m in a hurry to learn this technique. Better to take it slow and focus on improving my cultivation levels," ude thought to himself. Chapter 31: Dayton Palmer Chapter 31: Dayton Palmer Early the next day, the sun shined brightly. ude''s eyelids could not help but twitch twice. After a long time, his firmly shut eyes opened a crack. He struggled for a little before managing to sit up, and analysed his body. ude smiled bitterly to himself as he muttered, "Beau Paradis Sword Technique I am indeed not strong enough to execute it perfectly." He sighed in his heart. Some things just take time to learn. "Forget about that. I have more important things to focus on," ude said to himself as he remembered the words spoken by his seniors, and all of a sudden, a name popped into his mind; Dayton Palmer! From his seniors, ude had learned that there were many rumors about the poster child of the Silver Moon Academy. They said that he had been practicing secret techniques that were kept hidden by the Silver Moon Academy, mastering swordys at the age of five and cultivating from a very young age. Since he was thrust into the spotlight, he had never met anyone who was a match for him. He is the current top expert of the wferry Prefecture''s youth. "Fifth rank of the Sky Realm" ude silently muttered to himself. Although he believed that having a higher cultivation level doesn''t necessarily mean you have a higher probability of winning, what he did believe in were skill, technique and quick thinking. And if you were to effectivelybine them with the raw strength that was based on your cultivation, then you''d be unstoppable. Reaching fifth rank of the sky realm when he was only seventeen was very rare in the cultivation world, which meant that he was most likely not a musclehead. Which meant that he''d most probably be a tough opponent for ude, who had been beating those with a higher cultivation level than him only because he was more experienced and skilled inbat. "I need to know more if I n on fighting such a character..." ude said in an ice cold voice. Although Dayton was a child prodigy, ude was an experienced fighter. And to fight his enemy, he first had to know the enemy! ****************************** Dayton felt very excited; he had never dashed so fast and so smoothly before. Every cell in his body was rxed, and his clothes and hair were fluttering in the wind. His handsome face revealed a certain calmness. Finally, he reduced his speed and used the tree branches to travel, avoiding all the wild beasts. The rain had stopped and the sun, which came immediately after the rain, brought warmth. Dayton stopped moving, and he sat on one of the tree branches, and took out a bottle of wine, as well as some snacks. He had been staying in the Mazewood Forest near Vercester for quite a while as part of his cultivation training. With the Prodigy Summit close by, he was nning on winning by a huge margin. Although many of his teachers at Silver Moon Academy told him to take it easy, he decided that it would be better to train nevertheless. Dayton enjoyed the pleasant wind, drinking his wine and eating his snacks, as he revealed a satisfied smile. His training had paid off, and his techniques had improved quite a bit. It wasn''t anything special, but nevertheless, Dayton was still proud of his achievement. He sat on the tree branch, wondering about the future as he drank wine, watching clouds gather and scatter, flowers bloom and wilt, feeling free and unfettered. Just as he was about to leave Mazewood Forest, he immediately felt an indistinct killing intent extending around him, and he extended his Spiritual Sense. Dayton''s senses picked up a group of martial artists who were moving towards his location, and he narrowed his eyes. He immediately hid his presence, and kept watch on the ground, waiting for the martial artists to arrive. Just a couple of secondster, a young man leaped out of the bushes, his expression filled with fear and tiredness. He was breathing hard, as he looked around, attempting to find a ce to hide. But before he could do anything, a group of cultivators followed quickly, encircling the young man, blocking all routes to escape. The man who looked to be the leader of the group started smiling, as heughed loudly, "It''s all over young man. Hand over all the beast skins and gold coins that you have on you; otherwise, don''t me us for being vicious." ''Are they thugs? Seems like it..'' Dayton thought to himself, as he watched the event unfolding right in front of him. The young man asked them with a trembling voice, "Can''t you just let me go? I only stole a few gold coins to feed my starving family. It wasn''t even that much. I don''t have any beast skins on me either." The leader raised his hands forward and smiled coldly, "You can only me yourself for daring to steal from our Guts and Glory n, young man. No one who steals from us, no matter how small the amount may be, has ever escaped death. And I''m not nning on making an exception for you." Dayton, who was spectating from above the trees, couldn''t help but click his tongue upon hearing the leader''s words. So these people are from the Guts and Glory n. It''s no wonder they dare to be so presumptuous. They were a bunch of ruthless thugs who went around murdering those who they deemed unworthy. "Leaving trash like you alive is just increasing the burden on the," The leader said in an indifferent manner, as he stared at the young man with disdain in his eyes. Dayton felt extremely angry. Was this what a human being''s life amounted to in their eyes? Was the young man not evenparable to a beast to them? "Alright, no more crap; die " the leader was already very impatient. He opened his mouth to order his men to kill the young man, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly saw a sh of white light, and in an instant, his body had already been sliced into two pieces. Chapter 32: Analysis Chapter 32: Analysis Dayton inclined his head. His eyes were fixed on the leader of the group. His eyes contained a frigid coldness so icy that it was as though it had the power to freeze the soul of people he stared at. "I am the one with the sword.." Dayton whispered softly, and the instant he finished speaking, a terrifying heat scorched the air as the endless sword qi emitting from him actually coalesced into a silver rapier, as he rushed downwards, from the tree branch. The leader only heard a small shrill, but for some reason, his heart was pounding with trepidation. The next instant, he only felt a wave of coldness shing all across his body. Startled by a sudden fear of death, the leader explosively retreated with a speed as fast as lightning but everything was already toote. Everything happened in just an instant. Fresh blood seeped out as the body of the leader was split into two pieces, and the eyes of the other cultivators all widened in shock. They couldn''t believe what they saw was real. Their leader, who was standing in front of them just a moment ago, was now on the ground, his body sliced right down in the middle, splitting it into two symmetrical parts. Dayton stepped out with the silver rapier in his hands. The rapier had been stained with blood, and Dayton took out an old piece of cloth from his robes and wiped it clean. The young man who was being threatened just a few seconds ago, was now standing behind Dayton, stunned by what he was witnessing. "Senior Manley! How dare you kill him! You''re a dead man now!" the group of cultivators shouted as they woke up from their stupor. Dayton raised his head and revealed a handsome face. He looked extremely sharp as he released his killing intent at full force. He smiled faintly, "Do you honestly think that you have the right to say those words?" "HOW DARE YOU!" The others all erupted forth. Although the young man was powerful enough to take down their leader, he was only one person. They didn''t feel too much fear towards him; as after all, they had more than six experts above the second rank of the sky realm including two at the fourth rank. "Quick! Kill him before he has a chance tond a strike! He might be strong but he can''t handle all of us at once!" The cultivators drew their weapons and rushed forward with surging killing intents. Dayton waited, as he began to assess and evaluate the situation. Ten cultivators in total. Dayton focused on the two who were in the front; both at the fourth rank of the sky realm, which might be the reason why they were a step in front of the rest. Confidence. ''Now Out of these two, who would attack first?'' Dayton thought to himself, as he increased his grip on the silver rapier within his palms. ''Perhaps'' His eyesnded on the big guy. Round, smooth and heavy. Just like a bull. Signs of an unbroken nose, scar tissue on his brows, and misshapen knuckles. ''A body strengthening cultivator'' So he would most probably fight close range. He would be a guy who wants to grab on and not let go of his prey. That was his best guess. And Dayton was right. "KILL!" The big guy led the charge, lunging over to Dayton. The guy exploded out, his head low. "Bzz!" Resplendent light shed from his fists, containing a mighty force that wanted to smash everything. Straight for Dayton''s chest. Big mistake. The big guy charged and Dayton turned slightly sideways and bent his knees a little, timing it just right and executed the Thunder Strike Technique, whereupon his rapier transformed into a streak of light and a powerful sword might bore downwards, saturating the air with an iparably terrifying killing might. The rapier moved at the speed of lightning towards the big guy''s chest, who was startled by the counterattack, staggering backwards on stiff legs and desperately trying to stay upright. Without having enough time to dodge, he raised his arms in front of his chest, as he tried to block the attack. The speed of the fully powered Thunder Strike Techniquebined with the Silver Rapier was simply too fast. Even if he somehow urately predicted where the strike wouldnd, he would not be capable of blocking it. Boom! By the time he brought up his hands, the Silver Rapier had already pierced his chest. Blood flowed unceasingly from his mouth, and his bulging eyes caused anyone who saw it to be afraid. The surroundings immediately became quiet. Every one of the cultivators, who were dashing towards him with murderous intent on their faces took in a breath of cold air, as their faces were filled with incredulous looks. ''Now for the next one..'' As soon as the big guy fell on his knees, Dayton dashed towards the next person in line; the remaining fourth rank cultivator. The fourth rank cultivator leaped into the air, chopping ruthlessly at Dayton. He pushed his feet off the ground and gracefully leaned left, effortlessly evading the attack as he swung his rapier. "Fluttering de Lights!" A two meter long azure blue light shed by in the air, and struck the cultivator right in the head, piercing through his left eye, like pushing through a bloody steak. Blood immediately spewed into the air as the cultivator flopped around for a few seconds before going limb. Blood dyed his ck clothes red. Dayton''s aura was raised to its peak, causing everyone to tremble. Chapter 33: Might of a Prodigy! Chapter 33: Might of a Prodigy! Dayton stared at the group of people in front and did not turn his head around to look at the young man behind him. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at the group of cultivators. The hands of all these people were stained with the blood of the innocent. They should all be killed! The remaining group of people became pale. Although they had killed before, even to the point where the numbers were far beyond what normal cultivators were used to, right now, they couldn''t help but tremble in front of this youth. The heart of the remaining cultivators tightened; they felt their back turn cold with sweat. "Quick! Run!" Everyone was frightened by the horrifying might disyed by the young man; this seemingly fragile youth had yed their two best cultivators in a matter of seconds! Realizing that they might get killed, the fear of death sprouted in their hearts, and every single one rushed backward in panic. Dayton smiled coldly in his heart, You think you can run? Using his spiritual sense, he made a quick scan of the surroundings. The corner of his mouth curled up as his body shed forward with incredible speed, arriving at the front of one of the cultivators. Seeing Dayton appear so suddenly, the cultivator was startled in his heart and his facial expression turned unsightly. Seeing as it only took the young man an instant to appear in front of him, despair enveloped his heart, and as ast attempt, the cultivator brandished his saber and leaped into the air, chopping towards Dayton''s head. There was a resplendent saber light gathering on the de of the saber. He shouted angrily, "I will kill you!" "With your measly strength? Haven''t anyone taught you to only have realistic dreams?" Dayton leaned in hard, evading the attack, and turned his left hand backward, catching the guy''s right wrist, and rotated it like a doorknob. The guy screamed loudly, and hended violently on the ground. After hended, he vomited nine mouthfuls of blood continuously; hisplexion was pale. "Cloud Soaring Dragon Strike!" Dayton yelled out, as a surging rapier Qi gathered on his silver rapier, firing towards the fallen cultivator. Furthermore, the angle of this strike which was fired was extremely tricky to deal with. Without a strong foothold, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to dodge this attack. Hu Chi! In the next instant, it had pierced through the cultivator''s chest. Everyone''s jaw was open wide in disbelief. After a short moment, those cultivators recovered their wits. They turned pale with fright and shock filled their faces, and continued running. Dayton had a calm expression on his face as he continued to walk forward. "White Lightning Rapier Technique!" He took great strides as he shouted loudly. suddenly emitted countless arcs of lightning. The energy he had been building up was all used in his most violent technique. BOOM! After Dayton made his move, the sound of an explosion rang out and the number of cultivators that were uninjured were only three, as the bodies of the rest of the cultivators suddenly burst like balloons the moment the attack struck them. Their corpses were mutted beyond recognition, scattered everywhere. Arge amount of blood flowed from the bodies, continuously. Amputated limbs and internal organs were scattered everywhere; it was extremely gory. The cultivators who were lucky enough to escape the attack turned their heads around to check what Dayton had done to theirrades. When they did that, they became frightened and immediately increased their speed, rushing to get to safety. "You shouldn''t leave your pals behind, you know," After he spoke, cold air filled the ce as a chill light flickered and the speed of the cultivators slowed significantly. However, Dayton''s speed did not seem to be affected. Dayton revealed a cold smile, as he took a step back with his right foot, grasped the rapier handle and applied force on it. "Metal Burst!" The silver rapier, revealing a reserved light, rushed out like a beast that was unleashed. There was a loud melodious sound, and in an instant, numerous dazzling silver rapiers blossomed out. Along with the sound of rapiers appearing, a horrifying killing intent was extended out instantly and the group of cultivators felt their hearts go cold. Pu Ci! Miserable cries resounded. There were cries of pain from the cultivators before their deaths, as they were all sliced in half by the rapiers. The Metal Burst Technique was not in the least gaudy; it was very straightforward. Dayton stood proudly, and his eyes were like a boundless starry sky. His clothes werepletely stained with blood. The crimson blood was reminiscent of beautiful flowers, adding a strange beauty to his appearance. He then turned his head and spoke to the young man behind him indifferently, "You should leave. This part of the forest isn''t safe for a normal cultivator like you." The young man, who was simply too surprised at what he had witnessed, did not seem to understand that Dayton was talking to him. "Still not leaving? Are you trying to kill yourself? I thought you had a family to take care of," Dayton said sternly, his expression turning cold as he saw that the young man had not moved yet. "Ah! I-I''m sorry, I''ll leave right now! And thank you.. whoever you are," the young man said while stuttering before hurriedly turning around and dashing away. Dayton watched as the young man slowly disappeared from his view, and his hair and clothes started fluttering around despite the absence of wind. His face was as smooth as jade; he looked extremely handsome. He then looked at the corpses lying on the ground, saying indifferently, "I guess the training did work out well." He took a deep breath, feeling refreshed and rxed after the short ''workout'', before hurrying back to the Silver Moon Academy. ****************************** In a dark alley somewhere in Vercester City, the young man from before stood silently, looking around every now and then, as if he was waiting for someone to arrive. "Did you do what I asked, Elffin?" A voice echoed in the young man''s ears, and he turned around, startled. Behind him, stood a masked man wearing a cloak. The young man inhaled a deep breath of cold air. This man had an imposing aura surrounding him, making his heart tremble in fear. "Ah! Yes sir, I did! Here''s the list, as you ordered," the young man took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it over to the masked man, who read it carefully, revealing an expression of being deep in thought. He said, "You did well. Here''s the payment." The masked man then took out a pouch and threw it over to the young man, who caught it carefully, his eyes gleaming with delight. The masked man watched the young man drool over a pouch filled with coins with indifference, and his gaze returned to the piece of paper in his hand. Chapter 34: Eighth Rank Chapter 34: Eighth Rank Time passed quickly. The days till the Prodigy Summit creeped closer and closer. Sherfield City, the city hosting the summit, became busier and busier as the number of days began to get shorter. At this time, the information that Dayton Palmer had reached the sixth rank of the sky realm spread like wildfire throughout the wferry Prefecture. This obviously shocked countless youngsters and caused waves in the three academies. The Sixth Rank of the Sky Realm! For those youngsters, this was an incredible feat. There was no oneparable with Dayton Palmer in the wferry Prefecture. Inside the Inner Hall Division, In an Isted Courtyard.. A sturdy bamboo pole stood upright in the courtyard. ude Rayforth grasped the sword in his hand tightly and focused on the bamboo pole, raising his aura to the extreme. "Invisible Sword Technique!" ude''s expression changed, and he suddenly swung his sword. He struck the bamboo pole at an inclined angle from a distance, and a section of the pole that was as thick as his arm was sliced off in an instant. "Shua! Shua! Shua!" ude quickly hacked out a few more times, slowly slicing away the bamboo pole one piece at a time. When the final strikended, the bamboo pole that was now way shorter than before, waspletely sliced off from the ground. ude walked to the spot where the bamboo pole was present, and began inspecting the sliced pieces. After inspecting the pieces for quite a while, he wiped the sweat off his face and muttered to himself, "The long distance method for the Invisible Sword Technique is shaping up to be a fine addition to my arsenal." After he decided to not devote too much time for the Beau Paradis Sword Technique, he immediately started to review all the Martial Arts Techniques that he had learned. He decided to not rush with learning new cultivation techniques that may be too difficult to learn, and figured that he might as well use this opportunity to strengthen and improve the techniques that he had already learned. He saw that he had not even begun to understand the essence of the Beau Paradis Sword Technique and had only scratched its surface. He was not able to use it as though it was a part of himself. With his current speed that he was learning the technique, he found that it was hindering his cultivation growth, slowing his speed down as the technique requiredplete focus in order to learn it as fast as possible. In the long run, the technique will definitelye in handy, but for now, he had to take it a bit slow, even though it might mean that he wouldn''t be able to use the Beau Paradis Sword Technique for quite a while. And so, the Beau Paradis Sword Technique was temporarily pushed to the side, as ude began focusing on the rest of the cultivation techniques. Thus, he wanted to focus on the Invisible Sword Technique and the Pure Iron Body Strengthening Technique. He cultivated the Pure Iron Technique in a quiet ce within the Gryfino forest. As for the cultivation of the Invisible Sword Technique, there were no major requirements for it. Thus, whenever he came back to his room, he would go into the yard to practice it. The Invisible Sword Technique was about doing everything in one breath without deviating from the sword y to raise the aura to the extreme, causing the umted energy would be released out explosively in the form of a de light. This was an extremely bold and powerful Martial Arts Technique. If he could execute it from a distance as well, turning the close range attack into a long range one, all while maintaining the explosive energy that is raised to the peak and increased by many folds, then it''d be an even better attack than before, effective as both long range and short range attacks. However, he discovered a problem maintaining the explosive energy in the case of a long range attack. The aura would mostly be used up by the time it reaches the target, and it could not be used with the same effectiveness as it''s close range counterpart. Which was why he was training to maintain the energy and the aura. With the use of a Bamboo pole as a target, he practiced the Invisible Sword Technique everyday for a specific period of time. Within this extremely short period of time, what ude wanted to do was to increase the distance between him and the bamboo pole every time his strike reaches the same effectiveness as his close range strike, starting from the spot closest to the pole until he reaches the best distance he can reach. Initially, he had to be extremely close to the pole to maintain the energy, but after a few days of training, he was able to increase the distance quite a bit. Then he was able to continuously execute sword strikes from a long distance. The sunset dyed the clouds that filled the sky red, turning the entire sky a fiery color. ude''s clothes werepletely wet with sweat, and the soreness of his arms was all he felt. Without resting immediately, ude sat down on the ground cross-legged and entered into a state of cultivation. If one cultivated when the body reached its limits, then they would often experience an unexpected result. In just a few hours, the spiritual energy had circted for many cycles in ude''s body. Suddenly, he opened his eyes. The sweat in his body had already entirely evaporated into steam, the blood in his body was boiling, and the soreness in his armspletely vanished. "Boom!" In a split second, all the bones in his body gave off crackling sounds as a loud noise reverberated from him. After a while, he felt a veryfortable and invigorating feeling. "Finally! I''ve reached the Eight Rank of the Earth Realm!" ude smiled faintly. He was getting closer to reaching the Sky Realm. Chapter 35: Unexpected Issues Chapter 35: Unexpected Issues ude opened his eyes, and in the depth of his eyes, a sharp, radiant light exploded forth. He felt extremely clear-headed, and he felt that his senses got even sharper, which had urred as a result of the increase in his cultivation level. As he moved and stretched, the crisp sounds of cracking could be heard from his body. This kind of feeling felt extremely great, as though all the cells in his body were iparablyfortable. "You finally got ready!" As ude walked out of his courtyard, a voice drifted over and he turned to look, only to see Wilfred Beldon standing outside with a smile on his face. "Senior Beldon, why are you here?" ude said with a calm expression as he discovered his senior standing outside of his home. "I''ve been waiting for you toe outside. Master asked me to escort you to the Prodigy Summit," he replied with a straight face. "I see," ude nodded his head, and walked forward, with Wilfred Beldon following close behind. Despite it still being early morning, Sherfield City was already flooded with people. The County had mobilised 1,000 of their troops to provide security and maintain order, maintaining a tight security across the entire perimeter of the city. For those that came to spectate, they had to stay a distance away to avoid disrupting themencement of the Prodigy Summit. The crowd eximed in excitement in their hearts. This was indeed the grandest event to be held in the city this year. The Prodigy Summit would officiallymence today. The factions had invited all the dukes, lords, and important guests from the city. "Those from the Royal family are here as well. I heard that the Royals were shing with the Academies, but I suppose that was false," Some of the crowd cast their gazes over only to see a line of silhouettes walking up the flight of stairs. As the people representing the Royal Family, the Royal Ministers naturally had a seat on the spectator stands. "Students from the various martial academies are arriving!" At this moment, more and more silhouettes began to appear. As they made their way up the flight of stairs, they caused muchmotion. "The Golden Avarice Academy''s Flying Sword Faction has also arrived!" "That youngdy is really beautiful. Is she part of the Flying Sword Faction?" "That''s Ashley Winter, and she is indeed from the Flying Sword Faction. However, I heard she won''t be participating today," Someone replied, as the crowd was enlightened. "Trinity Academy''s Dark Chariot Faction has also arrived." "Silver Moon Academy''s ck Pearl Faction came as well." The crowd gazed fervently at the spectators stand, feeling immensely excited. The Prodigy Summit was about tomence! Trinity Academy always had the strongest cultivators in the Sky Realm in the entire wferry Prefecture. However, this year was going to be a little bit different! Silver Moon Academy ced tremendous importance on and held Dayton Palmer in exceptionally high regards, and some in the crowd couldn''t help but curiously cast their gazes over to him. Dayton stood on the side of his fellow Faction members quietly. He, who was handsome and extraordinary, naturally made him the focal point of attention. With good looks and exceptional talent, he certainly wouldn''tck any admirers. "All rise to show their respect to the head representative of the Royal Family, Minister Frederick Hammer!" At this moment, the gazes of the crowd shifted over to the best seats in the spectators'' stand. The one in the middle of those from the Royal Family was none other than Minister Fredrick Hammer. The Prodigy Summit was usually presided over by a representative from the Royal Family. ude was behind Senior Wilfred Beldon, standing shoulder to shoulder with his fellow junior teammates. And in front of Wilfred, there was another figure, and that figure was the Second Elder. Upon noticing the Second Elder, sharp glints of light flickered in the eyes of those part of the Royal Family. The eyes of these people had hints of heaviness within them. At this moment, all the figures in the spectators'' stand stood up, and paid their respects to the Representative of the Royal Family, Minister Frederick Hammer. Themencement of the Prodigy Summit would always start off with this etiquette where the spectators would rise in respect. "Everyone, please be seated." Minister Frederick Hammer politely spoke as he waved his hands. "Death to the Royals!" All of a sudden, someone from the crowd yelled out loudly and sprinted towards the Minister, making the entire crowd of spectators freeze. "Protect the Minister!" One of the Royal Guards shouted and at the same time, multiple guards dashed towards the suspicious person, and tackled him to the ground before he could do anything. "Let me go! Let me go!" The person who got captured was struggling to break free, but was unable to do so. The guards dragged him out from the venue, and the crowd began to whisper amongst themselves. ude shifted his gaze, an expression of interest appearing in his eyes. Minister Frederick Hammer''s face kept fluctuating, his countenance unsightly. Chapter 36: In And Out Chapter 36: In And Out The coordinators of the Prodigy Summit acted like nothing unusual had happened, encouraging for the tournament to continue as nned and forcing the audience to forget about the incident, and very quickly, the attention and anticipation of the spectators soon shifted to the participants. On the spectator''s stand, some powerful figures were secretly analysing the incident earlier, but they were each thinking about different things. The corners of ude Rayforth''s mouth curled up in amusement. He had imagined that the Prodigy Summit was going to be just a normal tournament. But this was unexpected. Although ude had the memories of the previous owner of his body, he definitely didn''t have any grasp on the political side of the martial world. He turned to look at his senior, Wilfred Beldon, with an expression that seemed to be demanding answers about the incident that just urred. But unfortunately for ude, Senior Beldon simply smiled at him and didn''t reply, and instead lifted his hand and pointed at the tform. "The tournament is going to be starting soon ude. You have more important stuff to worry about!" ude was surprised at first, and a light flickered in his eyes. ncing in the direction of the Royal Family Minister and then back to his senior, he nodded his head after a few seconds. "I understand. I will do my best," ude replied. He realised that this might not be a suitable location for such a discussion, and decided to ignore the issue for now. "Do your best, don''t disappoint us." Senior Beldonughed. "Is it finally beginning soon?" Countless gazes were fixated on the towering tforms. Ady who appeared to be in herte twenties, possessing beauty and emanating the sense of a mature woman, entered the arena and raised up an envelope, and the eyes of the spectators followed the beautiful engravings on it, enchanted by its beauty. She slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a card from the inside. "Sirius Scott of Trinity Academy versus ude Rayforth of Golden Avarice Academy!" And as the sound of her voice faded, and the crowd yelled out in excitement. The tournament had officially begun! "Wow, the first match! Are you sure you''re not nervous?" Senior Beldonughed as he looked at ude. "There really isn''t any difference. First orst, I''ve been ready to fight since the moment I was born into this world," ude shrugged his shoulders and the corners of his lips curled up into an icy smile as he walked towards the tform. "So you''re going to be my prey today?" A rugged looking youth, Sirius Scott, jumped out onto the tform as soon as ude stepped in, his eyes scanning interestingly at him. ude locked eyes with his opponent, but didn''t utter a single word, and darkness appeared on his face. It was natural for the disciples of the Trinity Academy to feel superior to the students of Golden Avarice Academy. After all, they have been the winners of the Prodigy Summit for over thirty years, with the Golden Avarice Academy cing second ce every single time. With this knowledge in his mind, the youth was trying to anger his opponent by calling him ''prey''. However, contrary to his expectations, ude didn''t seem fazed by hisments at all! ''No matter I''ll still win in the end,'' Sirius thought to himself, and the aura around his body began to spread out. The young man in front of him was only at the Eight rank of the Earth Realm, where as he was already at the First rank of the Sky Realm. In his mind, he had already dered himself the winner! Whoosh! A sword that was condensed from spiritual energy appeared in his hand, and a raging wind shook the tform they were on. ''It''s started,'' ude didn''t feel nervous at all and looked deeply at Sirius, whose sword intent rose to the peak. "Take this!" Under the attention of everyone, Sirius'' body erupted into motion. His eyes were like lightning as his sword pierced through the air leaving a long and bright streak behind,shing forward in ude''s direction. ude didn''t move. He simply stood there, his expression as calm as it was before. As he stared at the fast approaching Sirius, his mind began analysing the youth''s movements, studying his techniques. ude scanned his opponent''s eyes, and the direction in which he was staring. ''My right shoulder,'' ude thought to himself. But he had to be sure. ''The angle at which he swung his sword..'' His eyes then darted towards the spiritual sword that Sirius was holding. Although that sword strike looked extremely powerful, it seemed it wasn''t very versatile in motion. The path of the sword strike needed to be predetermined simply because of how powerful the attack was, and so, ude was able to study its direction and came to the conclusion that Sirius was indeed aiming for his right shoulder, which was what he had predicted. ''Now then, let''s finish this nice and easy..'' At this moment, a stunning energy pervaded the air, and for a single second, Sirius felt as though he was being suffocated. Floating Footsteps technique! ude''s body erupted into motion evading the sword strike by jerking left, deciding to meet him halfway. In that moment, his body instantly appeared in front of Sirius, and his expression changed. Invisible Sword Technique! Buzz!In the next instant, boundless sword lights gathered together in ude''s palm, manifesting into a silver sword and causing Sirius'' movement to slow down as a result. Peng! A great sound rang out as ude''s attacknded on Sirius'' chest, pushing him backwards. Fortunately for Sirius, he had been learning body strengthening techniques, which he utilised to reduce the impact of ude''s attack. However, ude was already expecting some form of resistance from his opponent. Astral Wing de! ude attacked once again without giving his opponent time to think, and countless light gleams immediately rose up and flew towards Sirius, colliding with his body. Tong! Tong! Taking these blows, Sirius felt his body turn numb, but he was rooted to the spot due to the shock and surprise he felt. ude exploded forward at him, his whole body moving as he utilised the Floating Footsteps technique once again and closed in on Sirius. He tried flinching away, but ude caught him on the ear, pulled him down and rammed his knee right in his chest. Sirius cried out miserably as he staggered backwards, and fresh blood flowed and dripped onto the stage. Star Fury Palm Strike! Without wasting any time, ude then used the bounce to jam forward once more, brandishing his palms. In an instant, it was as though a beam of bright light shed past Sirius, and he went down like a dropped marite. Chapter 37: Cultivation Monster Chapter 37: Cultivation Monster Silence was everywhere. The conclusion of the first battle was undoubtedly shocking to the spectators. In this short confrontation, Sirius Scott, who was at the first rank of the Sky Realm had been defeated by a youngd in the eight rank of the Earth Realm. Everyone watching the match was able to sense the level of intensity exchanged between the two participants just moments ago. The disciples of the Flying Sword Faction had joyful expressions of their faces as they walked towards ude who had already stepped down from the tform. Meanwhile, Trinity Academy''s Dark Chariot Faction had ugly expressions on their faces. They had been extremely confident and eager to defeat their eternal rivals, the Golden Avarice Academy once again. However, they had never expected that, not only would they not win their first battle, but they would also lose against aplete newbie who was still in the Earth Realm. A number of people rushed up quickly to the tform and carried away the unconscious Sirius Scott in a stretcher. ude gazed at his opponent being carried away and he lifted his head, slightly ncing at Minister Fredrick Hammer, before shifting his gaze towards Senior Beldon, who parted his lips in a grin. "Now that''s my junior! I knew you had it in you," he said as he gently smiled. "But still, that was one quick fight. I think it didn''t even take one minute for it to end. The Elders of the Trinity Academy must be fuming right now!" ude shrugged his shoulders and let out a chuckle, but didn''t reply. The Second Elder''s eyes shed with a glimmer of approval as he studied his newest disciple. The Second Elder had watched the match closely. ude''s performance had actually exceeded his expectations. Solely based on the handling and control of his cultivation paths and attacks, ude was definitely a step above the rest. ''If he had a higher cultivation level, perhaps he would have a chance at bing the champion..'' the Second Eldermented as he watched Dayton Palmer step onto the tform for the second match of the tournament. ''s.. the obstacle is simply too powerful for him to defeat,'' As the Second Elder mumbled to himself, Dayton Palmer was already in hisbat stance, ready to take on his opponent. "Ha ha ha! I''m very impressed, Second Elder! Your new disciple seems to be hiding an enormous amount of talent that is yet to be cultivatedpletely!" said Gerald Bancroft, the headmaster of the Silver Moon Academy, as he walked down the main hall with a smile on his face. Within his smile, one could see absolute confidence. He wasn''t hiding it at all. The Second Elder''s face darkened when he heard this. "It seems like I''ve gained quite a good disciple this time. But I must say, you have the better luck in that regard, Headmaster!" the Second Elder said softly. He could naturally sense the mocking intent behind the Headmaster''s words. However, he couldn''t ignore the harsh reality. The Headmaster did have a reason to be confident. Hence, no matter how irritated the Second Elder was, he could only swallow his anger. "Ha ha! That is true, Second Elder! Although I am afraid that I may have identally used up all my luck!" The Headmasterughed heartily. On the tform, both Dayton and his opponent, a youngster from the Trinity Academy, were staring at each other, neither of them moving an inch from their respective spots. Liev Mikkelsen, Dayton''s first opponent, was unsurprisingly a little gloomy. He was one of the top disciples of the Trinity Academy, and at the Third Rank of the Sky Realm, this year''s Prodigy Summit was supposed to be the ce he showed off the dazzling radiance of his talent. Simply based on his cultivation and ability, he originally should''ve been able to get very far. Yet this was only the first round, and he had to face Dayton Palmer of all people! Abraham Wand, the Elder of the Dark Chariot Faction, gritted his teeth. They had entered the Prodigy Summit with the intention of winning. They certainly weren''t expecting to lose two matches in a row. Nobody would have predicted that they would not only lose their first match against a newbie in the Earth Realm, but also encounter Dayton Palmer in the second match! He was a gifted genius. This was the worst possible start the Trinity Academy could hope for! Leiv''s expression was filled with concentration as he looked at Dayton. Woosh! Liev Mikkelsen erupted into motion, and a bright beam filled with iparable spiritual energy, explosively sted forward from his palm, towards Dayton''s direction. "I am the one with the sword.." As Liev''s attack was fast approaching, Dayton raised his hands forward and softly whispered to himself. All of a sudden, the Spiritual Energy within his body erupted while emitting a white light, and a silver rapier appeared in his hand. Liev''s expression changed as he felt a powerful force moving towards him and panicked, but soon realised to his horror that he couldn''t move even a single part of his body. Dayton swung his rapier, and a ray of light that was as quick as lightning shot forward, blinding Liev as well as the audience due to its brightness. This sequence of actions took ce quickly. In the blink of an eye, everything was over. When the light finally faded away, the spectators could see an unconscious Liev lying on the ground and a calm and collected Dayton Palmer exiting the tform. One move! Chaos broke throughout the audience. Most of them were confused by what had just happened, but all of them knew that it only took Dayton one move to beat Leiv. Even some of the older generation dropped their jaws. Dayton Palmer was simply a cultivation monster! Chapter 38: One Move Palmer Chapter 38: One Move Palmer The victor of this battle was undoubtedly Dayton Palmer. "Ha Ha Ha! Now that''s my student! Defeating your opponent with just one move! Simply too powerful," Gerald Bancroft, the headmaster of the Silver Moon Academy, nodded with a grin as he watched Dayton exit the tform. At this moment, the crowd had already considered him as the champion of the Prodigy Summit. Liev Mikkelsen''s strength could actually be considered really good whenpared to his peers. But when faced against a monster like Dayton Palmer, he had absolutely no way to win the fight. Moreover, no one was able to see the actual limits of Dayton Palmer, as he had simply used one move to defeat his opponent. As for the following battles, they were merely distractions in the eyes of the audience. Time flowed slowly and the battles gradually began to turn increasingly ferocious. The first round of the Prodigy Summit was about to end soon, and other than ude Rayforth and Hugh Kenton, none of the other juniors of the Flying Sword Faction were able to enter the second round. The Dark Chariot Faction and the ck Pearl Faction had the most number of disciples who had entered the second round, with three each. At this moment, everyone was filled with anticipation with regards to what the final ranking of the Prodigy Summit will be. In the main hall, Senior Beldon was talking to ude who was sitting by his side, "My Junior ude, do you think you would be able to defeat Dayton Palmer if you were to fight against him?" "You know, asking such questions to someone who has yet to fight Dayton Palmer may perhaps lower their morale and focus right?" ude looked at his senior and smiled. "So you''re not going to answer me, huh?" Senior Beldon mumbled in a low voice, and ude simply rolled his eyes at his antics. "Let the second roundmence," As the voice of the beautifuldy was heard, all eyes immediately turned to the tforms. Standing atop the tform was Silver Moon Academy''s Dayton Palmer and Trinity Academy''s Flynn Ravinger. "Brat, I can''t believe that not only are you alive, but you actually have the guts to be standing before me!" Flynn Ravinger red at Dayton Palmer, and coldly snorted. "What''s the problem between Flynn and Dayton? From the looks of it, there seems to be some sort of conflict between the two of them!" Someone in the crowd eximed, which caused many people to start whispering to each other. Was there really bad blood between the two of them? As he stared at Flynn, Dayton frowned, and coldly spoke, "Don''t tell me you really think that you have any chance of winning against me. You were the one who tried to attack me during our short Confrontation back at Skuma Vige. Lucky for me, I wasn''t as weak as you, so I survived. But to think I''d be able to fight against you! I''ll make sure that I repay my debts back with interest!" His words caused Flynn''s countenance to freeze, causing the expression on his face to turn exceedingly ugly to behold. He, who was one of the strongest disciples of the Dark Chariot Faction, was being insulted by a scum of the Silver Moon Academy? What humiliation! "Since you desire to be put in your ce, I will aid you with that!" As he spoke, an extremely sharp aura could be felt emanating from Flynn, radiating a terrifying sword intent. Boom! With a loud noise, Flynn exploded forth in Dayton''s direction, as a resplendent light appeared within his palms and a gigantic sword emerged out of nothingness. "Take this!" Flynn roared and the sword shed forth, as the rays of sword light eradicated everything that was in his vicinity. However, Dayton didn''t seem the slightest bit affected by this. He calmly raised his hands forward and remained as serene as before. "I am the one with the sword.." He whispered to himself once again, and as a bright light erupted forward, the silver rapier appeared in his palms. "You should already know that you''re no match for me, Flynn!" Dayton calmly spoke, as he struck out with his silver rapier and the ray of light that appeared moved forward with a speed like that of lightning, annihting Flynn''s attack and appearing in front of Flynn in an instant. The instant this move was executed, Flynn Ravinger felt an impending sense of doom approaching his way and he howled in madness as he struck out with a palm strike, attempting to stop the iing attack. "Leviathan Palm Strike!" He yelled out loudly as he swung his palm forward, smashing against the silver rapier. However, it wasn''t enough! Although Dayton''s attack was the exact same move he had used in his previous match, the energy and power it emitted was entirely different as the silver rapier enveloped by the ray of light frenziedly smashed downwards. BOOM! A frightening storm engulfed the arena, as Flynn''s attack crumbled almost instantly in front of the rapier, causing his entire body to be flung through the air, blood spraying out of his mouth. One move once again! After a full minute of silence, a thundering apuse suddenly rang out all around the stadium. This was too unreal! Initially, they thought that because they had already dered Dayton Palmer as the champion in their minds, nothing else could surprise them, but to think that the young man was nning on winning the Prodigy Summit using just one move! This year''s Summit was simply too fascinating. Chapter 39: Revelations Chapter 39: Revtions In the Royal Pce atop the mighty teau of Eramer, within a luxurious room, stood Prince ke Bancroft, who was watching the beautiful garden around the castle''s outer courtyard through his window, admiring the beauty of nature. He then turned his head as he gazed at the depths of the great hall, until his eyesnded on the door. "I''m entering the hall, your Majesty!" At this moment, the sound of a voice drifted out, following which the door was gently pushed open and a middle-aged man with an exceptionally calm facial expression entered the hall. "Your Majesty, the messenger from Rhodesweld has arrived," the middle aged man quietly stated, his gaze respectfully riveted in the direction of the Prince in front of him. "And? Did anything change, Minister Burne?" the Prince asked, running a hand through his long hair. "No, your Majesty," Minister Burne said as he nced at the Prince, and moved closer to him, in defiance of all convention that one should wait for the Prince''s permission in order to move. "There''s nothing to report. Or at least, not anything that''s beneficial to us. To be quite frank, I believe we''re running out of time." "You do not need to state the obvious to me, Minister.." The Prince turned his head and spoke as he gazed at the depths of the great hall. "I know everything that I need to know. After all, I did have a lot of time to think about everything." "I''m sorry, your Majesty. Sorry to ce this burden on your shoulders, and sorry to bring you into this situation all of a sudden." Minister Burne guiltily eximed. The Prince folded his arms and shook his head, "It''s not your fault that my father was a weak minded ruler, Minister Burne. And trust me when I say that this might be for the best. As for the future of Argria, I will do everything in my power to protect it." At this moment, the Prince took a step forward and walked towards the balcony. Tapping his chin with a finger, he asked, "What''s the situation with the Academies?" "The Academies are still hostile against the Royal Family, but there are some factions who support us, and the number seems to be increasing," Minister Burne replied, and the Prince nodded his head in response. "It appears that my low opinion of the Academies is not inurate," the Prince muttered. He raised his head up and looked at the sky, and continued, "No matter. Sooner orter, we''ll end up victorious, for it is only us who can save Argria from destruction!" ************************ Dayton Palmer, who was on the tform, was the center of the crowd''s attention. Reverence could be seen in the eyes of the spectators as they gazed at Dayton. "Dayton, you really are the pride of our academy!" Gerald Bancroft, the headmaster of the Silver Moon Academyughed as he nodded to him. And as for ude, his countenance which had remained indifferent throughout the match. He was not caught up by the passion of the crowd. On the contrary, ude was extremely calm. He had paid close attention to the battle between Dayton and Flynn, studying thebat prowess and techniques disyed by Dayton. "ude Rayforth of the Golden Avarice Academy versus Nathan Archers of the Silver Moon Academy." At this moment, the voice of the aged figure drifted over, and he stood up from his seat to head towards the tform. "Be careful," Just before he could head out, however, Senior Beldon turned to look at ude and spoke slowly, causing ude to abruptly stop and turn around, giving him a look of confusion. "Your opponent," As he spoke, Beldon pointed to the young man standing on the tform, and continued. "Let''s just say that there''s more to him than meets the eye.." Senior Beldon didn''t say anything else and turned silent, indicating that it was all the information he would provide, and ude gazed in the direction of the young man standing on the tform who showed no emotion on his face, and he couldn''t help but feel like something was off. "You really aren''t nning on borating what you meant?" ude turned around and looked at Senior Beldon with an annoyed face, but thetter just smiled in response. "Hey, if you can act secretive, so can I.." Senior Beldonughed, causing ude to roll his eyes. "Fine then keep your secrets," ude, who wasn''t nning on continuing the argument, walked towards the tform. As soon as he entered the tform, he took a good look at his opponent, Nathan Archers from the Silver Moon Academy. ''Strange,'' ude couldn''t help but raise his eyebrows as he analysed his opponent. Compared to the other participants, the young man standing in front of him didn''t look extraordinary in the least. ude remembered the fight Nathan had in the first round, and it wasn''t noteworthy either. Even his appearance was simply ''decent''. ''He''s normal.. In fact, I''d say he''s a bit too normal,'' ude narrowed his eyes as the both of them faced each other, and the two overwhelming auras began shing against each other with equal harshness. ''Nathan Archer, just what are you hiding?'' Excitement flickered in ude''s eyes as he sted out with the Invisible Sword Technique. In the short gap, the most simple and powerful attack had the best effect. But the instant ude attacked with his Invisible Sword Technique, Nathan had reacted by throwing out his palm forward, causing a string of arrows that glowed with golden light to shoot out from them, interweaving in a beautiful dance as they zoomed towards ude. Boom! The collision between the two attacks knocked Nathan backwards, while ude who had trained Body Strengthening Technique was able to reduce the impact of the collision, and using the Floating Footsteps technique, he went in for another strike! How quick was ude? When ude appeared in front of him, Nathan couldn''t help but get startled by how fast he was. He was much faster than he was in his previous match, and as a result, caught Nathan off-guard. ude immediately took advantage of this by sending out a palm attack. Star Fury Palm Strike! He sted out, as an enormous pressure smashed downwards, right in Nathan''s direction. Which could have been a major problem, except that right before the very moment of contact, Nathan flinched fast enough, executing his own footwork technique and sprung backwards. Woosh! The footwork technique that he utilised wasn''t anything special, but it did provide a jumpstart that created a bit of distance between him and ude''s attack. At least enough for him to raise his right arm. Peng! From his hand shot out a sharp beam of sword light that collided with the Palm Strike, and a thunderous sound rocked the stage, pushing back both ude and Nathan. ''I knew something was off,'' ude''s eyes glinted in surprise when he locked gazes with Nathan Archer, and a devilish smile appeared on his face which caused Nathan to shudder involuntarily. ''He''s not a normal student, he''s an experienced fighter!'' Chapter 40: Blood and Betrayals Chapter 40: Blood and Betrayals Sweat rolled down Hannibal Bancroft''s neck and forehead, his heart hammering inside his chest, burning like fire. How long has it been since hest slept? He honestly didn''t know. He had lost count of how many days he had been imprisoned inside the Bouldergate Prison, a Maximum Security Prison under the control of the Royal Family. Silence reigned within the Bouldergate Prison, where the only sounds that sounded were the footsteps of the guards passing by the cells every now and then. And in these cells, one could see prisoners locked up within. Hannibal gripped the bars and sucked in a deep breath through his parched lips, as he clenched his hands into fists in an attempt to ride out the pain. He thought that his health had improved over the past week, but it appears that he had made the wrong assumption. "Dammit! Why on earth is this happening to me?" He raised his cracked voice, but it simply bounced away from the walls, returning no answer. ''You''ll get used to it in time,'' he remembered what his prisoner neighbour had told him, but to Hannibal, time did not seem to pass in his cell. There were no days for him to keep track of, and no nights to sleep. "Hannibal Bancroft, you have a visitor!" Abruptly, a cold voice called out, and the pitiful Hannibal lying on the floor opened his eyes. He then heard the sounds of the metallic door being unlocked and a familiar figure entered the cell, causing a cold light to flicker in his eyes with an intent that was as sharp as swords. "YOU!" He shouted. Or at least, he tried to, but it came out only as a wheeze. "It''s good to see you too, father.." Prince ke Bancroft stood opposite to him, his hands sped behind his back, as he stared at the pathetic state his father was in. The countenance of Hannibal turned extremely ugly as he shouted in anger, "What do you want now, you lowly bastard? Isn''t it enough to imprison me in this cell? Isn''t it enough to leave your own father in this hellhole to rot? Or do you intend to finally finish me off? Is that what you want, you bastard? Are you here to take the life of the man who brought you into this world? Is that your intention?" Hannibal shouted out loudly and the expression on his face turned extremely ugly, as an intense killing intent gushed out from his weak and frail body. All of a sudden, several cultivators appeared around the Prince, protecting him. This scenario caused Hannibal to tremble in fear and he fell down to the ground, coughing out blood as a result. "Father, you shouldn''t push yourself too hard. You''re old and frail, and you''ll only end up hurting yourself," Prince ke Bancroft drew in a huge breath as he spoke. His gaze was as cold as ice as he continued, "And don''t even think about cing the me on me for getting double crossed by your own council. Should I remind you that it is because of your ineptitude that we''re all in this mess? You''ve caused too much trouble, father. And now I have to deal with the consequences of your actions." "Am i supposed to feel relieved by your statement?" Hannibal sneered as he raised his voice over the Prince''sints. "Don''t think that you''re special just because you sit on the throne, dog! You''ll always be a lowly ve, just like your worthless mother!" A cold light glinted in the Prince''s eyes as he stared at his father, but in the end, he simply sighed. "Insulting your future King, your crime should be worthy of death..." The Prince went silent for a moment before he continued in an icy voice. "But I''m not going to execute you. No, I''m going to make sure you live through the rest of your life, rotting inside this cell, all while you witness the glory brought about by your ''dog'' son. I''m going to make sure that you feel the same misery that my mother felt, right up until the light leaves your eyes." He turned then and, leaving the cell door wide open, said to the cultivators by his side, "Break his legs, but don''t kill him. And make it as painful as possible." Then, with his back facing Hannibal, the Prince walked back in the direction he came from, while loud screams could be hearding from behind him. ************************************* Invisible Sword Technique! A terrifying de strike sted forwards, as ude executed the Invisible Sword Technique, and Nathan Archer took a step forward in response to his attack. ude narrowed his eyes. Usually, moving forward is always better than moving back, as it unsettles your opponent, confusing him as to why he wasn''t retreating. It was a simple tactic, yet it was an effective one to mess with your enemy''s focus. ''I knew it! He isn''t like the other students,'' ude thought to himself. For him to make such a risky move at a close distance He definitely wasn''t normal! Whoosh! He raised his right hand, and in an instant a blue sword appeared in his hand, as a cold light gleamed forth, circling around the arena. ude''s face abruptly darkened. The cold aura that his sword emanated wasn''t something an average sword technique couldpare to. However, ude wasn''t normal either! ck! As soon as the two swords collided, a fierce and piercing sound was issued. ude immediately nted his legs firmly on the ground right before the fierce after-effect of this collision, reducing its impact on his body, and using the Floating Footsteps technique, he went for him once again, with a long, fast, skipping stride. Nathan Archer, who was pushed back by the after effects of the collision, watched his opponent fast approaching and, his back arching a little, utilised his footwork technique once again to move back. Not this time! ude was keeping an eye on Nathan''s bodynguage, his hips and his waist. He waited for the first small sign of imminent action, and in the space of a split second, he caught the motion. Smack! As his right leg took a step back, causing his knee to rise an inch, ude immediately swung his left leg and struck his knees, exploiting his own momentum and forcing the backwards motion to be way faster than Nathan intended it to be. Nathan, who lost his bnce, decided to switch from an offensive mode to a defensive mode out of panic, but this turned out to be a weakness. Recalibrating your attack mid-way requires time, which he currently didn''t have. Star Fury Palm Strike! ude swung his palm immediately without wasting any time, striking him right on his chest, in and out real fast, and a cold gleam shed through the air, as Nathan was capted through the air before mming onto the ground. Nathan involuntarily screamed as he clenched his hands in shame. Gritting his teeth, he red upwards, but ude had already appeared in front of him, and from his hands rose countless light gleams as he sted forth with the Astral Wing de. Nathan changed his direction instantly, as he rolled to the side and raised his arm, striking out with his own palm strike techniques. However, his opponent was ude! As the sound of the two attacks colliding echoed, ude slid around him, and implementing the Invisible Sword Technique, he swung his de at an extremely close distance, aiming for his midsection! Chapter 41: The Halls Have Eyes Chapter 41: The Halls Have Eyes Nathan spun around in an instant and swept his left forearm up, intercepting ude''s Invisible Sword Technique before it could meet its intended target. BOOM! A storm of an overwhelming pressure of vibration resonated outwards, creating a tornado that danced frenziedly in the air as Nathan ruthlessly mmed onto the ground, his inner organs trembling violently from the impact. Inclining his head, Nathan Archer gazed at ude with difficulty. His left arm was bleeding out, but he didn''t seem to be concerned at all. ''His left arm is..'' ude''s eyes narrowed as he looked at the young man who was his opponent. Although injuries could be treated using healing potions, it wasn''t allowed in the middle of a fight. Which was why most participants would choose to concede once they are too injured. However, from the look of Nathan''s face, ude was sure that he wasn''t nning on giving up. Such a bizarre scene caused the eyes of everyone present to narrow, as great shock painted their faces. Zoom! Nathan moved first. ude was expecting a more cautious approach after what had just happened, but he appears to have misjudged him. Or maybe Nathan realized that prolonging the battle would be disadvantageous with a broken limb and decided to go all out. Or maybe he isn''t thinking straight. Who knows? But ude didn''t care about the reasons. Nor did he have the time. Nathan was fast. He was fast before, but he was even faster now. By the time ude nted his feet and utilised his Invisible Sword Technique with all his momentum cocking backwards, Nathan had already arrived within range. ''Shit!'' ude knew he had messed up. He hadn''t expected Nathan to have been holding back in terms of speed like he did. Especially after he had taken a beating from ude. The only way to defend against a sword attack like the Invisible Sword Technique is to get there early, before the swing had even started, when it would still be weak and slow. Perfect time to strike! Nathan raised his palm forward as a terrifying palm strike unleashed from it, rumbling as it zoomed through the air, projecting a sense of tyranny. Right at the nick of time, ude arched his upper body to the left and spun around, as the palm strike zoomed past his neck, lightly grazing him on his ear, causing it to bleed. Nathan''s eyes widened in surprise. ude was able to evade such an attack at a close range? Who the hell was this young man? "Did he seriously just evade a close range Palm Strike by leaning? Is he Is he a monster or something?" a Dark Chariot Faction disciple, who was watching the battle said in shock. The several disciples in the surroundings who were currently spectating this battle were shocked by what was happening on the tform. However, Nathan had no time to be shocked. ude, who had sessfully evaded the Palm Strike, was now able to utilize his Invisible Sword Technique to its maximum ability. Whoosh! A burst of light flooded the area, emitting an intense and resplendent sword light as a silver sword materialized in his palms, and he swung it right at Nathan''s injured left arm. Nathan tried to utilize his footwork technique to escape, but he still hadn''t recovered from the quick sprint he did to use the palm strike from before, meaning he was still in forward motion. Toote to evade the attack, the sword caught his left arm and the impact caused violent energy waves to be swept across the sky, and the powerful shockwaves caused everyone''s hearts to tremble. After the collision, both men stood still on the same spot, but after a few seconds, Nathan dropped to his knees, and then flopped forward on his face. Shock suffused the eyes of the spectators, before erupting into loud cheers. They had already dered Dayton Palmer as the Champion of the tournament, and as a result, wasn''t expecting anything spectacr from the other participants. But the battle that concluded in front of their eyes just now was different. ude slowly walked out from the tform and was immediately greeted by a smiling Senior Beldon, who seemed to have been waiting for him to exit the stage. "I did tell you to be careful, didn''t I?" Senior Beldon studied ude a bit before speaking. "I was careful," ude smiled back faintly and replied as he shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the main hall, followed by Senior Beldon right behind him. "I wouldn''t say that after watching hisst move," Senior Beldon said with a light chuckle, and ude couldn''t find a way to retort back. After all, he was right. In thatst moment, he did in fact subconsciously underestimate his opponent, and he almost paid the price for it. ''I have to be careful,'' ude said to himself. This was the martial world, where you simply can''t afford to make a mistake. "By the way," Suddenly, ude nced at Senior Beldon and said, "How did you know that my opponent would be let''s say ''special''?" Senior Beldon looked at ude and simply smiled in response. "You really can''t say anything, huh?" ude said, as he realized that Senior Beldon wasn''t going to be answering his question. He then looked around the main hall for a few seconds, before adding, "You know, once this tournament is over, you''re going to have to exin everything." "I know," Senior Beldon chuckled heartily as he moved closer to ude and whispered, "And I will. Until then, be patient my junior, for there are eyes everywhere!" Chapter 42: Cold Wind Chapter 42: Cold Wind Prince ke Bancroft was dressed appropriately for the weather conditions normal to the coastal regions of Barugh. There was a cold wind blowing, and Prince ke stood on the balcony of his room, getting a better view of the Drukzar Terrains. The water in the Sundhi River waspletely frozen, driven by the cold wind. First Consul of Barugh, Josse Guiscard, sat in the hall and watched the Prince as a servant poured tea into his china cup. With a height of three inches over six feet, the First Consul was a physically unremarkable man with a deceptively vacant look hidden within his brown eyes. "Enjoying the view, Prince?" the Consul asked, while stirring his tea. "Your pce is situated in a beautiful spot, Consul Guiscard. I have to say, I''m impressed," Prince ke Bancroft replied with more good cheer than he felt. "The only problem I would say is the cold breeze, which I find to be too cold for me." "You call this too cold?" Consul Guiscard asked incredulously. "The folks back at Farhavar Mountains would simplyugh at you if they heard yourint, Prince." "Only if they hear it," Prince ke said,ughing loudly as he surveyed thend. "Are you hungry perhaps, Prince?" Consul Guiscard snapped his fingers as soon as he finished speaking, and a servant walked in, his head bowed towards the Consul as he whispered something into his ear. Prince ke Bancroft moved away from the balcony and sat down in the chair opposite to the Consul. "I have news from Rhodesweld," the Prince said casually as he took a sip from the tea served to him. ".... I see," After a brief silence Consul Guiscard spoke as he ced his cup on the table and looked out the window. "Gottfried seems unstoppable. Everything is ying out just like he said," The Prince continued, as he took another sip of the tea. "It''s like he''s a prophet!" "Well our decision of joining the Confederation seems to be paying off, wouldn''t you agree?" Said the First Consul as he shifted his right leg on to his left. Perhaps he was feeling the cold. "I need your help, Josse," the Prince said crisply, and the First Consul grunted in response. "I don''t owe you, Prince!" The Consul gritted his teeth as he spoke and the Prince chuckled. "No you don''t. But you owe my country, Consul. You owe the country of Argria, and you owe the Royal Family. And besides, you know very well how Gottfried feels about the Divine Commandments..." "Is that a threat, Prince?" The Consul snapped, and the Prince shook his head. "Of course not, First Consul. I was merely stating the facts. But I do hope that you''ll take some of my requests into consideration. As a friend." The Prince could tell from the Consul''s face that he was on the verge of exploding from anger. ''But he wouldn''t.'' Prince ke knew him. And he knew that he would have to help him out whether he liked it or not. "It''s two months, right?" After a few seconds, the Consul looked at the Prince''s face and asked, to which the Prince nodded his head. "That''s right!" "Remember... with this, we''re even!" the Consul finished speaking, and he raised his hand to motion one of the servants. The servant walked towards the Consul and he whispered something into his ear, after which the servant bowed his head and walked out of the room. "Thank you," the Prince said, and the Consul snorted. ****************************** The second round of the Prodigy Summit concluded, with nothing extraordinary happening. Flying Sword Faction''s Hugh Kenton was knocked out by Dark Chariot Faction''s Albert Hummels, leaving only ude Rayforth as thest remaining participant from the Flying Sword Faction. At this moment, there were only 4 contestants left Dark Chariot Faction''s Albert Hummels and Victor Hannibal, Flying Sword Faction''s ude Rayforth, and ck Pearl Faction''s Dayton Palmer. "Based on ude Rayforth''s strength that he disyed earlier, he should be able to deal with the rest of the contestants. However, if he wanted to contend for the first ce, it''s almost impossible. After all, everyone witnessed the strength Dayton Palmer showed earlier," the spectators, who were now familiar with ude, began specting about the oue of the Prodigy Summit. At this moment, the beautifuldy announced that ude Rayforth would face off against Victor Hannibal, while Dayton Palmer would fight Albert Hummels. "Looks like my fight is first," ude said as he stared at the tform, and Senior Beldon, who was sitting next to him, turned to look at him with a slightly forced smile stered across his face. "What?" ude asked when he saw the weird expression on his face, but Senior Beldon didn''t answer his question, and simply continued smiling. "Don''t tell me.." ude, who was annoyed by the expression on his Senior''s face, suddenly seemed as though he figured out something, and his eyes widened with surprise. He turned to look at Victor Hannibal, his opponent, who was climbing up to the tform, and then back to his Senior, who still had the same stupid expression on his face. "You''re kidding me.." he said, and Senior Beldonughed out loud as he opened his mouth to speak, "You have to be careful once again, my junior! Don''t make the same mistakes asst time.." "You have a lot of exining to do.." ude rolled his eyes as he began walking towards the tform. He knew he wasn''t going to be getting any answers from Senior Beldon, so he didn''t press him any more. As ude began approaching the tform, his heart was pounding madly out of excitement. ''Is he going to be simr to Nathan Archer? Or is he better?'' He didn''t know, but he wanted to find out. His steps grew iparably heavy as he walked forwards, heading on to the stage, where his opponent stood opposite to him. ude looked at his opponent, Victor Hannibal, his gaze unwavering as he stared at the young man in front of him. Victor''s countenance was exceptionally cold, like the deadly chill of winter. ''I guess this fight is going to be interesting as well..'' Chapter 43: Absolute Strength Chapter 43: Absolute Strength ude''s opponent, Victor Hannibal, didn''t say anything as they stood opposite of each other. Whoosh! Victor Hannibal directly shot forward towards ude, as he punched out with tremendous force, unleashing his energy and tremendous aura. ude unleashed his energy in response, and the silver sword appeared in his hands once again and burst out forward. He dared not show any neglect when fighting Victor, especially after his fight with Nathan Archer. He knew he had to respond. He gripped the handle of the sword with his right hand which was glowing with a deadly shine and he swung it as hard as he could, shooting out a white light and causing the air to tremble as ripples spread across the scene. Victor dared not show any neglect when facing the Invisible Sword Technique. He let out a loud shout and in an instant, devilish mes began hovering around his fist, enveloping his armpletely within it. ng! The silver sword collided with the devilish fist attack and vast energy ripples swept across the scene. The massive power behind the two attacks caused the air to violently sweep across the entire tform. Both Victor and ude was forced back a few steps by the collision, but ude immediately went in for another strike after regaining his posture. ude''s body swayed, and he arrived in front of Victor in an instant as he shot his left foot high off the ground, trying to ram it into his throat. Victor immediately crouched, avoiding the attack and shot his hand up to grip the ude''s leg, but before he could yank it, ude raised his right leg up, and using Victor''s grip as a support, twisted his entire body clockwise, spiraling in the air before crashing his foot onto Victor''s head as he mmed into the ground. Or so it seemed. As he was mmed down by ude, Victor stretched his other hand down to the ground, reducing the impact of the fall. At the same time, his right foot surged forward, crashing into ude''s stomach. A guttural whisper came from his lips involuntarily, as ude was pushed back by Victor''s kick. ''Looks like he has also mastered a body strengthening technique,'' ude inwardly let out a cold snort. Even though ude was cultivating the Pure Iron Technique, which made his body as hard as steel and gave him tremendous strength, ude''s kick didn''t seem to have much effect on Victor. ''This is going to be a tough one,'' ude told himself. And he was right. Victor was in the third rank of the sky realm, and he was the highest ranked cultivator ude has faced in the tournament. Although Nathan was ''special''pared to the rest of the challengers, he was nevertheless, still in the second rank of the sky realm. But this was different. Victor was stronger, as well as more versatile than Nathan. And with a body strengthening technique to protect him, he was a much more difficult obstacle. ''Okay, so how do I do this?'' ude asked himself. Hard and fast, of course, but how to do it hard and fast? He was not in the business of fair fights, but this was a tournament, not a fight for survival. And versatility and experience can only get you so far in a fair match. Whoosh! Victor Hannibal''s dark hair danced around as he dashed forward, instantly turning into a trail of light and disappeared from the scene, too fast for the spectators to keep an eye on. ude''s eyes lit up as he raised his hands and the silver sword appeared once again. He immediately spun to his left, his sword seemingly stabbing the air. But after a split second, a massive explosion sounded out, and Victors'' figure was seen for a brief second through the smoke, before being pushed backward by ude''s attack. ''Good thing I kept a close eye on his body movements,'' thought ude, smiling to himself. Floating Footsteps technique! ude rushed forward with his sword held up in his right hand and in the middle of a swinging motion, ready to strike. Victor regained hisposure in an instant and swayed to the left, avoiding the sword strike and then spun around and kicked out with his right foot. ng! ude dropped the silver sword from his right hand as he was in the middle of a swinging motion, catching it from below using his left hand, and immediately raised it, just in time to block Victor''s kick. Bang! The twobatants were pushed back once again. Their eyes made contact, and neither of them spoke a word. With a sway of his body, ude arrived in front of Victor, and in an instant, a bright light was unleashed from his palm. Star Fury Palm Strike! The palm shot forward, and Victor swung his left arm, ready to counter the palm strike. But right before the two attacks could collide, ude suddenly threw himself inside the swing and hit Victor in the chest with his palm. Bang! Although the palm strike seemed powerful, it could only knock Victor a few dozen meters back. ''It could only push him back a few steps..'' ude thought to himself as he dashed forward to take advantage of the situation. The silver sword appeared in his hands once again, and with a single fling, the sword pierced forward with lightning speed. But right at this moment, the powerful aura Victor was emitting turned into visible spiritual energy beams that merged together in his hands to form a golden spear, making a constant buzzing sound as he held it. Then, he stamped his foot and he thrust the spear in his hand forward with incredible strength. BOOM! The spear and the longsword collided, knocking ude hundreds of steps back, and at the same time, the spear continued thrusting forwards like a poisonous snake. ''Damn it!'' ude brought his hands up in a diagonal thrust to protect his body,but it wasn''t enough! The spear struck ude, sending him flying across the arena as he crashnded next to the spectator gallery, where he fell unconscious. Watching this scene, the people in the crowd held their breath, none daring to speak a single word. Chapter 44: Nightmares Chapter 44: Nightmares The atmosphere remained grim and heartless, even under a sky of crystal blue as the storm clouds over Nagamachi began swirling and colliding with each other, promising rain, thunder and lightning. High above a hill stood a young man wearing a long, ck gown fluttering in the wind and a river of blood drenching his clothes, maniacally gripping the long katana in his hands and sporadically ncing at his stomach, where he seemed to have taken an injury and causing him enormous pain, attested to by his grimacing expression. Countless dead bodies were scattered all around him, with blood still leaking out from some of the bodies, now mingling as they soiled the ground. "To think.. this is how I die.." On the ground next to the young man with the katana, a bloodied figure was lying with blood all over his body. As he tried to speak, blood began bursting out from his mouth. The man could only feel his life slowly draining away, but his eyes were wide open, moving slowly from side to side, searching. Just as he struggled to move, he saw the young man approaching him from the corner of his eye. "You know.. that it''s over.. for you.." he coughed weakly. The young man kneeled in front of the dying man, his eyes blinking with a cold light. "You were.. the best of us.. and yet, why on earth.." the bloodied figure continued, his words containing a hint of mncholy. "You know very well why, "said the young man coldly, staring at the dying figure in front of him. "I was a fool to believe your words. Too naive to believe that this cruel world can change." His voice was now a harsh, condemning whisper, rising rapidly in intensity and volume. The bloodied figure said nothing. The silence was total. The young man watched him for a moment, nothing in his face. Then he took out a small knife from his sleeve, and held it right above the dying man''s chest. "Anyst words?" The young man asked. The bloodied figure''s eyes moved and then settled on the young man''s face. "God will avenge me.. and my brothers.." he smiled weakly, and the knife pierced through his chest the very next second. There was no real pain for the bloodied figure. He looked at the man who''d just stabbed him, and he told himself to be strong. Then his mind faded into unconsciousness. The bloodied, lifeless figure below had spoken hisst words. The young man stared at the corpse for a few more seconds, and he opened his mouth to speak, "To hell with your god." ************************ "Junior? Are you awake?" ude woke up to the muffled voice of his senior, and involuntarily blinked his eyes with great effort. He felt as if he could feel every part of his body. He couldn''t move easily, but he could feel everything. "You shouldn''t try to move around, Junior.." A face loomed up, and he saw that it was Senior Beldon who was sitting beside him from the corner of his eye. "You haven''tpletely recovered yet." He continued speaking. ude tried lifting his head, and then copsed back down. "So I lost," he said, and Beldon nodded his head. "Yes you did." ude turned his head. "I guess it was inevitable, considering the difference in ranks between the two of us. But still, I was expecting to get second ce at least." "It can''t be helped. You did your best, but sometimes, your best is just not good enough. Sometimes the opponent is simply better," Senior Beldon replied. "But I must say, you did far better in the tournament than I expected. I''ve seen losses far worse than what you just experienced, and most of them didn''t even have the excuse of being realms apart from their opponents." ude thought back to the participants who had lost in the first round, remembering how brutal and humiliating some of those matches were. "I need to get stronger," ude said to himself, and Senior Beldon looked at him. "I know for a fact that my techniques are better than Victor''s. I just wasn''t strong enough to break through his defences." "Cheer up, junior. No one would ever have had the guts to pull off what you just did at your current rank, not without a whole lifetime of training. You''ll be alright kid," Senior Beldon responded. ude nodded his head. Nobody was perfect. He knew that. He was trailing behind everyone else, and he knew he had to catch up fast. Senior Beldon looked at ude and saw that he was able to move a bit more now. "Well then, I''ll be leaving you toplete the healing process. Come on over to the main hall once you''ve properly healed to watch the final fight. Dayton Palmer won his match and advanced to the final round when you were unconscious," he got up from his seat as he spoke and walked to the door of the infirmary. But before he opened the door, he turned around and asked, "By the way, I heard you whispering something about god while you were unconscious." "I did?" ude asked, almost to himself. "Yes you did," Senior Beldon responded. "Probably must''ve been a nightmare," ude rified. "I see," Senior Beldon nodded his head, but he could see the strange flicker in ude''s eyes when he spoke. "Well, be careful. You don''t want to have any more nightmares ruining your day," Senior Beldon stepped out for the room after he finished speaking, leaving ude alone in the room. ude watched him until he was lost to sight. He waited a minute more, to be sure he wasn''t going toe back. But he didn''t. ude thought back to his previous life, and his time as Sakuto Naokata. He remembered the events of that rainy night, and his face showed nothing at all. It had not touched his conscience one little bit. That had been personal, not business, and his conscience still didn''t care much about it. "Nightmare, huh," ude murmured to himself. He got up from his bed, his eyelids fluttering as he did so. ************************** ude headed out of the infirmary after making sure that he had healed properly. He got to the main hall, where he was met by the Second Elder, who inquired about ude''s injuries. "Have you recovered properly, ude?" Second Elder asked to which ude nodded his head. "I can assure you Second Elder, I''m fine." ude responded with a smile. His eyes then turned to the tform, where the beautifuldy was standing once again to announce the final match of the day. "Are you frustrated about yourst fight, young man?" Second Elder''s gaze was focused on ude. He knew that the young man in front of him had the heart of a warrior. And he knew that a warrior hates to lose. "I am," ude replied. His expression didn''t seem to convey his feelings, but his clenched fists and his fierce eyes sure did. "Very, very much!" "Good," The Second Elder nodded his head. He then turned his gaze towards the tform and continued, "Then use that frustration to move forward and destroy your obstacles. You may have lost today, but you have received something that''s very rare in the martial world; second chance. Make sure that you use it properly, young man." As he finished speaking, the two final participants of the tournament were already walking towards the tform, ready for their final fight. Chapter 45: Trouble Chapter 45: Trouble "I heard that Victor Hannibal is the Trinity Academy''s secret weapon." "Victor? I really don''t think that''s the case. I''ve talked to some of the Dark Chariot Faction members before the tournament, and no one even remotely mentioned his name as a suitable candidate for the championship. Not even once. At the age of eighteen, with his cultivation already at the third rank of the sky realm, and even cultivating a high grade body strengthening skill, you would think that he''d be one of your top picks, but apparently he wasn''t that good atbat during training and practice sessions." "Really? That''s hard to believe. Do you think he''s been hiding his skills on purpose?" "I really don''t know. But does it matter? In the end, he''s still no match for Dayton Palmer.." ... The surrounding crowd discussed in low voices. Dayton Palmer stared fixedly at his opponent, Victor Hannibal, with a serious expression. Facing Victor, for some reason, caused him to feel a strand of pressure. Why was that? Dayton stared fixedly at Victor as he indifferently said, "Ready?" Victor didn''t reply and simply nodded his head in response, his expression remaining tranquil. Whoosh! A golden spear light instantly shed out from Victor''s hands, as the spiritual energy in his feet burst forth, shing straight towards Dayton. "I am the one with the sword...." Dayton''s gaze brightened as his body jerked, abruptly shing backwards as an icy cold white light shed within his palms, before a silver rapier appeared. As Victor shed forward, his upper body tilted to the right as he swung his golden spear, bringing along with it a thunderous force. Dayton struck out with his rapier, and a ray of light swept out without restraint, moving like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for Victor. ng! Their two attacks collided, and Victor''s expression turned grim as he was sted backwards, flying through the air and dropping near the corner of the tform, whereas Dayton did not budge an inch. The spectators in the gallery were extremely silent. In the Main Hall. "Victor is getting beaten even with the body strengthening technique on his side. And Dayton''s attack seems to be even stronger than before..." ude''s eyes flickered, as he watched the final match with great interest. "Don''t forget, no matter how powerful the young man may be, in the end, he''s still human," the Second Elder slowly said. "Even if he''s a monstrous genius, he''ll naturally be cautious of his opponents." On the tform. "Cloud Soaring Dragon Strike!" Dayton yelled out, hurriedly circting his martial energy and pointed his rapier towards the fallen Victor, as rapier Qi began gathering on its tip. Boom! The rapier Qi exploded forth, descending onto Victor Hannibal''s body. "Hmph!" A light, cold grunt sounded and Victor rolled left, evading the attack, then got to his feet and sprinted towards Dayton. "White Lightning Rapier Technique!" Dayton shouted loudly, and his rapier suddenly began to emit countless arcs of lightning. Victor sidestepped the lightning strikes as he drew his golden spear, took aim, and a formidable strand of spiritual energy jumped out of the spear. He was fearless when faced with Dayton Palmer''s violent strike, almost as if he was expecting the attack. "Metal Burst!" Just before the golden spear struck its target, the silver rapier revealed a reserved light that rushed out and a white afterimage shed past Victor with a speed like wind, as if it was a ghost. BOOM! The two figures crossed each other. Dayton stood there firmly and wasn''t injured in the slightest, while the golden spear in Victor''s hand was sent flying, and Victor unconsciously extended his hand to touch his throat to find a faint trace of blood, before his body crashed onto the ground. "He lost." ude had aplicated gaze as he nced at the victorious youth on the tform. The corners of Dayton Palmer''s mouth had a faint smile from the beginning until the end of the fight, as if he was already aware of what the oue would be. The spectators went deathly silent before erupting with cheers, while without saying a single word, Dayton jumped off the tform and walked towards the main hall. Below thebat arena, it was a wave of noise. "As expected, Dayton Palmer won. There''s simply no one with such an extraordinary talent like him." "Having such strength at seventeen, I wonder to what extent he will grow in the future." "Dayton deserves to be the top cultivator in the younger generation. He has a well-deserved reputation!" The spectators'' eyes shed with anticipation, as they watched Dayton walk away from the tform. Most of the young cultivators'' eyes emitted a trace of reverence. Following the end of Dayton Palmer and Victor Hannibal''s battle, came the moment where the head representative of the Royal Family, Minister Frederick Hammer, personally distributed the prizes to the top four rankers in the tournament. Standing to the side, the Second Elder praised while looking at his apprentice. "You did well my child. Reaching this far was already impressive. And you''re still growing. You''ll have plenty of chances to defeat your opponents." ude watched as the Minister Frederick Hammer moved towards the champion of the Prodigy Summit, Dayton Palmer to present to him his prize, and nodded back to his master and grinned. "I know, master! And don''t worry, I''ll make sure that I won''t lose next time." As he was speaking, Minister Frederick Hammer had already moved to greet the second ranker, Victor Hannibal, who stood with a piece of cloth covering his neck, indicating that the healing wasn''t yet finished. "Young man, you don''t seem like you''re doing too well; it seems like you''re still in the middle of the healing process. I suggest you sit down instead of pushing yourself to greet an old man like me," Minister Frederick Hammer shook his head and smiled, as he extended his hand to congratte the youth. "Thank you for the concern, Minister. But I can handle this much," Victor Hannibal shook the Minister''s hand with a satisfied smile on his face. "Besides, considering what''s going to happen to you, I''d say you have more important things to worry about than my health." Whoosh! As soon as he finished speaking, Victor yanked the hand of the confused Minister, and pulled him closer, catching him off guard. His arms wrapped around the Minister''s upper body and he locked his hands together, gripping him tightly and closed his eyes. BOOM! Explosive mes and a tremendous amount of spiritual energy were unleashed across the ce, and the entire main hall was covered by a powerful explosion followed by countless cracks appearing on the ground, cratering it. The scorching mes that were unleashed by the explosion spread out at various angles and trajectories in seconds without giving anyone time to think, burning through flesh and bone. Chapter 46: Smoke Clouds Chapter 46: Smoke Clouds Sakuto Naokata woke up early. He quietly got up and made breakfast for his sleeping wife and then got ready to leave. He slowly opened the door, and looked up to the sky. The previous day''s rain clouds were nowhere to be seen, leaving behind bright blue skies. "You''re leaving?" a voice interrupted him from leaving, and with a gentle sigh, he turned around to see his wife standing behind him with a sleepy smile. "The chief had nned a group expedition to the north of Kakunodate starting from today. I''m going to bete if I don''t leave now," Sakuto said, as he walked towards his wife and gently caressed her face. "I know you''re doing your duty, my love. I''m just sad that I can''t see you so often anymore," she replied, as she held his hand tightly. "I''m sad I won''t get to see you as well. But I feel like we''re finally doing what we''re meant to do in quite a while; to bring about justice. I feel like we''re finally making some progress," Sakuto said while cupping his wife''s face with his hands. "You''re making a lot of enemies by doing that. Just be careful, will you?" She kissed him with a smile on her face, and he walked back to the door. "I will. I love you." ********* "Get down!" At nearly the same time the Minister''s body exploded into pieces, the Second Elder yelled out and ude rolled onto his side, reacting on instinct; all muscle memory and no forethought. BOOM! The explosion was immediate and catastrophic, tearing through the main hall, heaving up a chute of mes and a mountain of rubble and smoke began pouring out of the room, billowing in thick clouds down the hallway as the air grew thick. It sounded like the end of the world, as miserable shrill cries tore through the hall that were showered in blood, littered with chunks of human flesh. ude rolled onto his back and then got to his feet with a grunt, looked up, on alert. From the left, ude saw the Second Elder, staring at the carnage around him, followed a few secondster by a "ude, are you alright?" ude raised his hand in reply. "I''m fine, master." Second Elder saw ude waving his arm and nodded his head, then turned around, scanned the area and headed forward. The man hall had copsed, with the fires and deep ck smoke still raging. ude followed, and together they moved through the wreckage. Soon, they stumbled upon Gerald Bancroft, the headmaster of the Silver Moon Academy, who was sitting on the ground near a corner with his back resting against the wall. Gerald, who saw the two men approaching him, gave a wobbly shake of his head and said. "I guess you weren''t too close to the st, huh?" Second Elder knelt down and ced his hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay, Gerald?" "Yep. The explosion caught me a bit off guard. But other than that, I''m fine," Gerald grunted and raised his hand forward, and the Second Elder pulled him up, helping him get on his feet. "What about the rest of your disciples?" Gerald asked after taking a nce at ude. "I still have to find Wilfred. He''s the only one who stayed behind. The rest went out after the final fight to console Hugh who was feeling down after his loss," The Second Elder replied. "What about yours?" "Dayton was the only one who remained in the main hall," Gerald said, his forehead bnced on his arm as he spoke. "I have to find him." They moved down the hall, passing by people who lied on the floor, not moving, while others writhed in pain. "Who do you think is responsible for this?" Gerald asked as he pressed his fingertips around his stomach and winced. "Who else but the Revolutionaries? They are the only people insane enough to do such a thing," The Second Elder replied as he handed Gerald a bottle of healing potion. "There. I see them," The Second Elder pointed at the stairs and saw Dayton Palmer and Wilfred Beldon, lying on the floor, seemingly unconscious. "Dayton," Gerald stepped towards Dayton while the Second Elder turned to his disciple, Wilfred. The Second Elder turned him around and patted his head and Wilfred was instantly awake. Dayton, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, took one look at Gerald and panicked. "Dayton! It''s me!" Without pause, Gerald reached forward, gripping the young man''s hands tightly as he yelled out. "H-Headmaster?" Dayton panted in confusion. "W-What happened?" "Victor blew himself up," Gerald grabbed the healing potion from his pocket and handed it to Dayton, who tore open the bottle and gulped it down. "How?" asked Beldon, who had calmed down after the initial outburst. "Probably using Domperixin," The Second Elder replied, as he helped to lift Beldon up and handed him the healing potion. "Or a drug simr to Domperixin. Domperixin is an extremely lethal substance that destroys the meridian by overamplifying the spiritual energy. It basically forces the user''s body to expand the meridian until it pops." "He wouldn''t be able to sneak such a drug in so easily, right?" ude asked Second Elder, who shook his head. "There''s probably more than one person involved." "Let''s leave that discussion forter. For now, get moving." Gerald responded, and they turned around, walking back the way they came. A couple of breathster and they were out of the wreckage, and the royal guards who were positioned outside of the venue were seen rushing into the main hall. Meanwhile, everything else was gripped in chaos, with people screaming and dashing everywhere as the smoke from the explosion spread everywhere. ********* Prince Bancroft rose and moved to the window, staring out past the courtyard at the Drukzar Terrains. He''d been in the country of Barugh for three days now. Thebat units deployed by the First Consul was four days from their destination, having made the bulk of the travel under clear skies. He turned at the sound of two men approaching, both in their mid-thirties. "Your Majesty," the two men warmly greeted the Prince, speaking in a polite and respectful manner. "What news do you bring?" The Prince asked. One man lowered his head and spoke softly. "Prince, we have received news that Minister Frederick Hammer had been murdered!" "Minister Frederick." The Prince''s face had aplicated expression, and a bitter smile had appeared on the corners of his mouth. "Minister Frederick, may your soul rest in peace. Your sacrifice will not be in vain. I shall make sure of it.." The Prince muttered, with a voice that was filled with bitterness. Chapter 47: Shrouded Chapter 47: Shrouded "You What did you just say?" In the spacious courtyard of the Royal Pce, a middle aged man stared at the person that stood before him, his eyes revealing intrigue as he spoke. "Yes, Minister Burne! I said that Minister Frederick Hammer has been murdered!" The Royal guard who brought the news went slightly pale and couldn''t refrain from taking two steps back, afraid that the Minister would attack him in a fit of rage. However, contrary to his expectations, the Minister didn''t explode out of anger. Instead, he seemed to have a pleasantly surprised expression on his face. "Tell me, what happened? How did Minister Frederick get murdered?" Minister Burne looked at the Royal Guard, and his eyes were filled with a dense, cold light. "I was informed of the news just now. We found the body about an hour ago. From the initial word, it looks like a revolutionary got close to the Minister and blew himself up. The Royal Guards on duty say that the perpetrator was a student of the Trinity Academy. A Victor Hannibal," the Royal Guard caught his breath and responded. "Do we know what he used to blow himself up?" the Minister asked, shifting around thetable as he spoke. The Royal Guard shook his head. "No. The results are going to take time, Minister. His body is being checked as we speak. We believe that it might be the drug Domperixin or something simr to it, but it''s much too early to draw conclusions. The Royal Army have the ce under control for now, and we''ve recovered just over fifty bodies-" "Okay." the Minister interrupted him before he could finish. That information may have been important, but right now, it was irrelevant to him. "Anything else that we know?" The Royal Guard handled that one with a shake of the head once again. "Nothing else, Minister. I''ll notify you if we do find out anything important!" "Thank you." Minister Burnes dismissed the man and the door opened as though by magic to let the Royal Guard out. The next one in was a young and rather earnest-looking man, who bowed his head in front of the Minister as he said, "Good morning, Minister Burne." "General Ivan," the Minister began. "I assume you already know why I''ve called you today." "Of course, Minister Burne," the young man, Ivan, spoke in a whispered tone. "When do we start?" "For a start, we''ll have a country-wide mourning and funeral nned for Minister Frederick''s death. The Prince will prepare an official statement regarding the incident when he returns to reassure the people." "And then?" General Ivan asked. "And then we''llunch a full investigation on the three academies; headed by you, of course," Minister Burne said bluntly. "We couldn''t do it before because we didn''t have a reason. Now we have one." "Good job on baiting the Revolutionaries," General Ivan said with a smile on his face. "We knew the Revolutionaries would bite. They''ve gone crazy for freedom. Too impatient. They would''ve never missed out on such an enticing opportunity to get back at us," Minister Burne pointed out. "A student of the Trinity Academy murdering a Royal Family representative? That''s a good enough reason tounch an investigation, and it also gives us an opportunity to put a stop to this rebellion, once and for all!" ******** Warm sunlight shone down towards the Golden Avarice Academy, warming Dawsbury City and its inhabitants. Presently, the carriage that carried ude and the Flying Sword Faction disciples had entered Dawsbury City before quickly arriving in front of the academy. "We are back," The Second Elder spoke, as he exited the carriage followed by ude and the rest of the disciples. When he entered the academy, ude noticed that there was a group of people waiting for them near the entrance. His personal servant, Randall Garton and his helpers stood at a side, waiting for ude to arrive. And in the middle of the group stood an elderly man wearing an embroidered robe, his eyes flickering with a sheen of wisdom and emitting a majestic presence. This was of course, the Academy Headmaster. "A thousand blessings, Headmaster." Second Elder stood before the Academy Headmaster and slightly bowed his head. "You may forgo the formalities, Baron." the Headmaster''s eyes flickered before slowly opening his mouth. "Why don''t we go somewhere private? It appears we have a lot to discuss." "Right." The Second Elder nodded his head in agreement, as he left with the Academy Headmaster. "Young Master!" a voice was heard from behind him, and ude turned. "Young master, wee back! What are your orders?" Randall looked eagerly at ude with a smiling expression. Before answering Randall''s question, ude turned his gaze onto Senior Beldon, who was talking with his own servants. His eyes cast a nce towards Randall and said. "Randall, prepare a bath for me. I''ll arrive at my room in a few minutes. You can all leave for now." "Don''t worry young master. I''ll prepare the perfect bath for you." Randall''s eyes brightened as he began walking back towards ude''s courtyard. ude then began walking towards Senior Beldon as bewilderment painted his face. Before the fight with Victor Hannibal, Senior Beldon had warned him to be careful of the young man. The same man who was responsible for the murder of Minister Frederick Hammer. Which had ude thinking; did his Senior also know that Victor was going to blow himself up and murder the Minister? "Senior Beldon," ude walked over, and as he neared, he could sense a strong aura emanating forth from his Senior. After noticing ude however, the strong aura disappeared, and a familiar smile appeared on Senior Beldon''s face as he turned around to greet ude. "Well if it isn''t my favourite junior. How are you feeling?" "Better. After the tournament and the incident concerning the death of the Minister, I now realize that I have to get even stronger if I wish to control my fate," ude smiled, and he nced at Senior Beldon''s servants who were standing behind him, their faces showing neither happiness nor joy. It was only for a second, but Senior Beldon noticed his nce. With a smile, he turned towards his servants and said, "Wait for me at my home. I have something to discuss with my junior." The servants nodded their heads and departed without speaking a single word. "Don''t worry junior ude," With a gentle expression in his clear eyes, Senior Beldon turned his gaze towards ude and continued, "I''ll exin everything to you!" Chapter 48: Heir Chapter 48: Heir Isabelle Bancroft stared at the door. Her hands were bound behind her, her eyes red and her hair disheveled. She had been locked in her room for god knows how long. The door was still closed, but she heard soft footsteps on the other side. It was going to open any minute. She heard the rattle of the padlock, and the door opened. Bright sunlight fell across the floor, and the Prince, ke Bancroft, stepped through the door. The Prince saw her face sh with recognition, then darken. "Good to see you again, Queen," the Prince narrowed his gaze on Isabelle as he trundled forward. Queen Isabelle began to pant in fear and in anger as he screamed, "You bastard! How dare you treat me like this, you mutt! I''m your Queen!" "I see that you''re still spewing out threats and insults," Prince ke ignored the Queen''s screams and sank into the plush leather chairs opposite to her. His bright blue eyes traveled up from the handcuff on the Queen''s hand and moved along the chain. "Did you forget that you''re not in a position to threaten me, Queen?" said the Prince, his eyes growing devilishly wide. "Or should I remind you once again?" The Queen turned her head away, closed her eyes and shuddered. Her screams died into a sob. "There we go. Was that so hard?" the Prince nced at the Queen and winked. "What did you do with my husband? Did you kill him?" She grimaced. "Don''t worry," the Prince said. "I didn''t kill him. Your husband, the King, is still alive. Not in a better condition than you, but alive nheless." "You''re a monster," she red at him, breathing hard. "I''m a monster?" The Prince walked forward and mped her chin in his hand and lifted her head up. "You and your husband destroyed my mother''s life and left her for dead," the Prince yelled. "You took everything from me, and you dare call me a monster?" He raised his fist and struck the Queen''s stomach, and a line of nerve pain shed through her before she screamed in agony and copsed on the floor. Then he stopped, shook his head and whispered, "Forgive me. I was blinded by rage and struck you. I apologise for my actions. But do not test me, Queen. Because the next time, I won''t just stop here." ******** "You do know that the Kingdom of Argria is ruled by the Bancroft Family, right?" Senior Beldon asked ude, who nodded his head. "I do not know much about the politics, but I do know this fact," he responded. "Well, about three years ago, there was a rumour going around that the Queen, Isabelle Bancroft, have been misusing the royal fund and the tax money for her own benefit," Senior Beldon said. "Now, this caused a lot of uproar back in the day, resulting in theunch of an investigation as well. But in the end, it was concluded that there wasnt enough evidence to support this usation, and the investigation was suspended. But most of the people believe that the event was swept under the rug, an attempt by the King to protect the Queen." "The public began doubting their rulers," ude replied with a smile, and Senior Beldon nodded without looking up. "Although the investigation led nowhere, the suspicion still remained in our minds. And over the years, that suspicion would only get stronger." "And what does the Academies have to do with all of this?" ude asked. It was Senior Beldon''s turn to smile. "You didn''t think that the Academies were only useful for learning cultivation, did you?" Senior Beldon shook his head and continued, "The Academies hold a much greater influence than what most people think, ude. The next soldier, the next Royal Guard, the next Commander The Academies produce them all. They literally create the next generation. They influence them, molding them into their perfect form. You don''t think they have their ws in every job sector? Well you''d better think twice, because with the influence they have in the future of the country, it''d be a miracle if they didn''t." ude nodded his head. He could understand what Senior Beldon was talking about. In the martial world, only the strong would survive. It was the survival of the fittest, and as a result, your position in society was dictated by your strength. Most of the upations were rted to cultivation, and as a ce which helps you refine and perfect your cultivation, the Matial Arts Academies would undoubtedly have a lot of influence in the martial world. "So you''re saying that the Academy have connections to people in high positions," ude responded, and Senior Beldon snapped his two fingers together and smiled. "I knew you were a fast learner," he said. "The Academy did in fact have people who could get them information that they wanted. And it turns out, the misusing of royal funds was only the tip of the iceberg. The King and the Queen were nning on raising taxes as well as imposing new ones, all the while draining away the funds for the people. They were driving the country towards bankruptcy." "And?" ude asked. "What did they do with the information?" "Here is where it gets a bit messy," Senior Beldon responded, letting out a sigh as he spoke. "Although the information the Academy received were concerning and came from credible sources, none of the tax policies that they mentioned were introduced. Instead, they began gradually enforcing strict censorship and arresting of protesters without trial. Now, although the Academies were influential, they cannot take on the Royal Family on their own. They needed the support of the people, which is why the introduction of the new tax policies would''ve ignited the spark for a revolution. After all, money is extremely important to people. But the new tax policies weren''t introduced, and the process of censorship was gradual as well, which greatly reduced the number of people protesting against it." "So the information was fake?" ude asked, and Senior Beldon gave a bitter smile. "I don''t know actually. They say that there are people in the Academies secretly working for the Royal Family who may have found out about the leaked information, but I don''t know what to believe. However, the information that the King and the Queen were secretly draining funds for the people actually turned out to be true, although the Royal Family denies such ims." "So what happened at the Prodigy Summit?" ude asked. "The Second Elder believes that it was most likely an attack by the Revolutionaries, an aggressive and extreme section of the reformation movement spearheaded by some members of the Academies. They think murder is the answer to everything, and it seems the attack on Minister Frederick was their work as well," Senior Beldon responded. "Did you know that Victor was going to murder Minister Frederick Hammer, Senior Beldon?" ude asked as he narrowed his eyes, waiting for a response from Senior Beldon. Senior Beldon stopped for a second, and turned to look at ude before replying, "No I didn''t. I had a sneaking suspicion that he was part of the Revolutionaries, but that''s it. I''ve analyzed his fights before, and figured out that he was holding back most of the time, always adapting to his opponent''s methods. Which was why I warned you about him." "... I see." ude nodded. "Is that enough to make you believe in me?" Senior Beldon asked with an innocent smile on his face. "No, but it''ll do for now," ude replied, and Senior Beldon threw back his head and cackled until his ribs probably hurt. "Fair enough." "So I''m assuming you''re part of the Reformation Movement?" ude asked, and Senior Beldon nodded his head enthusiastically. "Correct. Both me and Second Elder. That''s why Second Elder wants to take over from the Headmaster. He doesn''t want the Academy falling into the hands of a spy." "Last question, why aren''t more people protesting against the Royal Family?" ude asked. "I know that the new tax policies weren''t introduced, but still, I feel like the number of protesters are way less than what it''s supposed to be." "Probably because they believe the Bancroft bloodline would end with King Hannibal." Senior Beldon responded immediately. "They haven''t had any kids even though they are really old. Some say that they''re sterile." "So they don''t have any heirs?" "None," Senior Beldon shook his head as he spoke. Chapter 49: Deep Discussion Chapter 49: Deep Discussion After apanying his junior brother to his courtyard, Senior Wilfred Beldon spoke first. "Well then junior brother ude, if you''ll excuse me, I have matters to attend to. I''ll be taking my leave first." "Alright. Thank you for sharing this information with me, Senior.." ude lightly nodded, then he watched from afar as Senior Beldon left. After Senior Beldon disappeared from his view, ude shook his head and sighed. He wasn''t sure whether or not Senior Beldon''s words could bepletely trustworthy. And it certainly did seem like he knew much more than he let on. However, he could be sure about one thing: the situation concerning the Royals and the Academies seems to be worsening with every passing day. "Hmm!" ude let out a breath of air, and entered his spacious inner disciple residence. "Wee home young master We have already prepared your bath. Do you wish to take one right now?" ude had only just passed through the front gate when he noticed Randall Garton, his servant,ing to greet him with a happy expression. The gazes of the other servants who were behind him descended onto ude as well. "I''ll be taking a bath now. Good job," ude smiled lightly. "Thank you for yourpliment, young master." Randall lightly smiled as he bowed his head in respect. ******** The Royal Pce, in the Prince''s courtyard. "You know," A ck-clothed old man said as he leaned back on his chair, "It was not supposed to be soplicated. It was supposed to be a lot simpler than this." "I''m sure you and the council had everything nned, Prime Minister Antonni. But you made the mistake of letting loose. You relinquish your control for even a second, and the world takes over for you," Prince ke Bancroft pointed out. "And now, we''re in this mess." Perhaps they were just in unlucky, Prime Minister Antonni thought, looking out the window and onto the red leaves of the beautiful Drazik trees outside. "Good Morning, Prince!" Prince Bancroft tilted his head to see the Royal Army Admiral Bjorn Garrison, walking towards him. "Well hello there, Admiral Bjorn," Prince Bancroft said with a smile as he shook hands with him. "I believe you already know Prime Minister Antonni?" "We''ve met before," the Admiral said as he turned towards the Prime Minister and nodded his head. The Prime Minister noded back. The Admiral scurried over and sat down next to the Prime Minister. "How''s the situation with Gottfried, Admiral Bjorn?" Prince ke leaned forward as he finished speaking, and the Prime Minister nced at the Admiral, waiting for his response. "Do you really want to know the truth, Prince? Right now?" Admiral Bjorn asked, meaning, ''Is it okay to speak in front of the Prime Minister''? "It''s alright Admiral. The Prime Minister can handle it," replied the Prince, and Admiral Bjorn nodded. "Gottfried and his army seems to be moving west, across the Belugar mountains, after the annihtion of Rhodesweld. Assuming his next target is the country of Capenea, it gives us roughly around two months time to prepare. Thank God we didn''t get on Gottfried''s bad side, because there just isn''t any good toe from offending him. The Council hadn''t been handling the King and the Queen very well which lead to this" "Let''s keep our discontent out of the report,shall we? What''s the situation with the Capenean Army? How long do you think they can hold out?" Prince Bancroft asked. "The whole country of Capenea is a dog''s breakfast, Prince. The total number of cultivators in the Capenean army is around 17,500. That''s nothingpared to the five hundred thousand under Gottfried." Admiral Bjorn replied. "What''s the situation with Barugh, Prince?" This question came from Prime Minister Antonni. Prince Bancroft took a second or two before replying. "The First Consul decided to lend us a fewbat units, constituting under ten thousand cultivators for aiding us." "Is that it? What good is ten thousand people against five hundred thousand?" The Prime Minister''s mood was slightly agitated. The Prince sighed as he slowly said, "Thebat units are for helping us control the state of turmoil that our nation is in, Prime Minister. Not to defend against Gottfried''s army." "But what if we fail to control the situation? How on earth are you nning on defending against an army of five hundred thousand men?" the Prime Minister asked. "No country is going to lend us a hand in defeating Gottfried, Prime Minister," Prince Bancroft said after a moment''s reflection. "Because taking on Gottfried isn''t worth the risk. Therefore the objective, Prime Minister Antonni, is to make sure that the country doesn''t fall into the hands of the people. That is what we are trying to prevent. And we have two months to do so. For an uprising amongst the masses will doom not only us, but also Argria as well." "I wish you''d cleared it through the council first, Prince," Prime Minister Antonni grumped. "It''s not my fault that we''re in this situation, Prime Minister. But nevertheless, we are in this situation now, and I, as the Prince, have a responsibility to save my country from being ruined. I apologise for not consulting you or the council, Prime Minister. But I just couldn''t waste any time," the Prince replied with a calm expression on his face. It was clear from the way he leaned back that the Prime Minister didn''t like the situation. But he had no choice. "What''s the situation with the Academies?" Admiral Bjorn cut in. "How''re you nning on dealing with that?" "I''m leaving that to General Ivan and his unit. He''s adept at handling such situations," The Prince announced. "Wouldn''t that simply result in an increase of aggressive force from the elders and the students?" the Prime Minister asked. "That''s why we have General Ivan. I''m not nning on forcing the reformers to hide. I''m forcing them toe out of hiding, so that we can crush thempletely," the Prince observed confidently. Chapter 50: Authority Chapter 50: Authority The Second Elder had only just arrived at the faculty building, alongside the Headmaster, walking in withrge strides as they entered the Headmaster''s Hall. He noticed that besides the Headmaster, there stood two other people nearby in the room. One of these people wasn''t unfamiliar to the Second Elder. The Third Elder! "Third Elder," Second Elder looked at him and lightly nodded his head, and the Third Elder''s face went gloomy in response. "Headmaster, is this about the incident concerning the Prodigy Summit?" The Second Elder''s gaze descended onto the Headmaster. "Greetings Second Elder! Forgive me for bothering you at this difficult time, but it was I who had requested an audience," Right at this moment, the person standing next to the Third Elder stepped forward. "Ivan Bardsley?" The Second Elder couldn''t help but exim in a low voice. The young man that presently stood next to the Third Elder wasn''t anyone else but precisely General Ivan Bardsley, the infamous leader of the Royal Army''s Enforcer Squad. "What''s the meaning of this, General?" The Second Elder pursed his lips and frowned at the General, his nostrils ring as he spoke. "Why so serious, Second Elder? I did note here to start a fight," General Ivan Bardsley looked at the Second Elder and the Headmaster and smiled indifferently. "I only wanted to inform you that the Golden Avarice Academy, along with the Trinity and Silver Moon Academies, will now be under strict surveince and supervision. By my squad, of course!" "Presumptuous! The Royal Army can''t just barge in and take control over the Academy and its students! This isplete nonsense," the Second Elder spoke in a deep voice. General Ivan''s gaze grew harder, and he said indifferently, "I understand that it can be frustrating, Second Elder. But after what happened at the Prodigy Summit, we cannot just ignore the fact that an academy student was able to murder a Royal Representative with such ease. Initial reports suggest that the young man was part of a revolutionary group who were conspiring against the Monarchy, and that is a heinous crime." "I agree that it was an unfortunate event. But to use that to force restrictions over the students and faculty and to monitor them is simply too much. The actions of one disciple does not reflect the views of everyone else," the Second Elder had a face full of anger as he finished speaking. "Second Elder, Ipletely understand your anger," The General gave the Second Elder a gaze that said he understood, then slowly said, "However, the fact that such a dangerous organization had ties to a student from a prestigious academy, and the fact that they weren''t able to identify such a problem from the beginning itself does raise a few questions." "Are you implying that the Academies are involved with such cruel and violent organizations, General?" The Headmaster''s face sank. "Are you using us of conspiring against the Monarchy?" "Of course not, Headmaster," General Ivan looked at the Headmaster and shook his head. "The student in question wasn''t even from your Academy, so why would we even make that usation? However, I do hope you understand how much of a serious problem this is. We simply cannot risk such a situation from happening again, and the fact that an academy was able to foster such a behaviour within one of their disciples for so long without even noticing doesn''t help your case. This crisis event is taken to be a threat; a disturbance in the order, and my job is to preserve the status quo." "And besides," The General took out a scroll from his pockets and passed it over to the Headmaster and continued. "The King has handed down a Royal Decree, granting meplete control over the supervision of the Academies, so I do hope you will not interfere with my work." As the General finished speaking, he nced at the Second Elder and the Headmaster, whose expressions were iparably gloomy. "No need to worry, Headmaster," General Ivan''s gaze focused on the Headmaster and he indifferently said, "As you already know, your Academy isn''t the only one that I have to monitor. So I''ve decided to hand over my responsibilities to Third Elder for the time being. I hope you don''t mind." "I won''t disappoint you, General Ivan!" The Third Elder''s gaze was calm, with a carefree expression on his face. "And Second Elder, I hope you''re able to cooperate." Third Elder''s icy-cold gaze swept past the General and the Headmaster, then it finally descended onto the Second Elder, whose eyes shed with a trace of viciousness. This wasn''t a good sign! ****** After returning from the Prodigy Summit, ude Rayforth quickly devoted his efforts to practicing his martial arts techniques once again. From what he realized while participating in the Prodigy Summit, without sufficient skills and the required cultivation realm, it was impossible for one to move forward in such tournaments. With ude''s current level, he knew that he had no chance of advancing. He knew that he had to improve! ude''s figure was lively and flexible as he continued training. He utilised the Invisible Sword technique with astounding grace, following up with Star Fury Palm Strike, executing the moves as easy as breathing, and the air surrounding him bellowed as though the mighty waves of the sea. "I can feel the spiritual energy inside my body wanting to expand! Have I reached a bottleneck?" As the blood in his body flowed faster and faster, a thought shed across ude''s mind. He had just met with a bottleneck; the spiritual energy that he had cultivated was desperately trying to expand, but he found it unable to break through despite what he did. "I need a massive amount of energy to blow it open," ude guessed that he would need an immense force to circte through him in order to force his body to break through to the next realm. But no matter what cultivation technique he used, he simply couldn''t build up the required amount of energy. "Should I try out the Beau Paradis?" As he sat nkly on the spot, ude suddenly remembered Beau Paradis sword art that the Second Elder had gifted him a while back. As it was a problematic cultivation technique, he had chosen to focus on his other techniques, but perhaps it could help him break through to the Sky Realm! Chapter 51: Sky Realm Chapter 51: Sky Realm ude knew that neither the Prodigy Summit incident nor the incident concerning the Monarchy and the Academies would be resolved swiftly. The ruckus in the Royal Pce and the Academies would surely continue for a long time. But all of these had nothing to do with him. "The Sky Realm.... In order for me to climb up and be able to fight against the best of my generation, I have to boost my strength. And for that, I have to ascend to the Sky Realm!" Training alone in his courtyard, a thought shed across ude''s mind. Even though he wasn''t able to utilise it properly, the ''Beau Paradis Sword Art'' left a deep impression. The Sky Realm would open up a whole new world for a martial artist, including tremendous changes to your speed, strength, and dexterity. But to break through to the Sky Realm, he would need an immense force to circte through his body, andpared to the techniques that he was practicing with, the Beau Paradis Sword Art Technique was one of the most powerful Sword Art for martial artists, and the most powerful cultivation technique in his arsenal. "I should try it out!" Making up his mind, ude closed his eyes, and his mind slowly nked out to reach an imperturbable state. He stretched his hands forward, and a burning wave gushed out from ude''s chest, and spread to the rest of his body, making its way towards his palms. Peng! In the blink of an eye, a long sword had already appeared in ude''s hands and arge amount of energy erupted from it. "Not yet" ude said to himself as he advanced forward, practicing the moves of the Beau Paradis Sword Art technique. Simr to the Invisible Sword Technique, the core to practicing the Beau Paradis Sword Art Technique was for one toprehend the intent of the sword and its movement. It allowed the spiritual energy to flow through the martial artists'' body continuously. "Not yet I still have to let the spiritual energy build up!" ude turned around and stepped his foot forward, and his motion and the sight looked as though he was floating on the ground, elegant in nature. Every move he made was connected and precise, as though he was dancing. Even though the spiritual energy was being released at a very high pace, the movements performed by ude utilised much of the released energy, making the build up within the body much slower and giving ample time for the cultivator''s body to get ustomed to the technique. While cultivating it straight could create a burst of energy much faster, making the training much more effective for a high level cultivator, it resulted in a significant loss of energy in a really short time, which made it difficult for someone with a lower cultivation level. "It''s about time for the beast to awaken..." The air currents around ude suddenly burst, as his body suddenly shuddered. By now, ude could feel the uncontroble restrictive force increase several times with every second, and he felt as though his entire body was being pressed downwards due to the tremendous amount of force exerted on him. "Just a bit more.." ude was not going to allow himself to waver, and smiled faintly. He could feel the blood in his body flowing faster and faster, increasing in speed and he had a feeling that he could break through. "Now!" After an unknown period of time, ude finally opened his eyes, and an endless amount of spiritual energy burst out ude''s body as the sword in his hands began to shake violently and a cold light gleamed forth. Wham! ude swung the sword with all his might and stabbed into the ground below, and in an instant, the crisp sound of cracking bones sounded from his entire body, as his cultivation suddenly burst forward and an incredible strength surged into his arms. Boom! At the same time, a gleam of light shed through the sky, and as a screeching sound echoed, the ground below him was split into two and dust flew into the sky. Then, with a loud boom, a massive force knocked ude back. However, unlikest time, he didn''t suffer any damages to his body andnded safely. "Ha! Atst, I''ve done it! I''ve finally reached the Sky Realm!" With a smile, ude clenched his fist. In the blink of an eye, he shattered his bottleneck and broke through to the First level of the Sky Realm. He could feel that his muscles had grown stronger and tougher, and he realized that the Spiritual Energy within his body also became denser! "Congrattions young master! You have broken through to the Sky Realm!" A delighted voice sounded from behind, and ude turned around to see Randall''s thrilled face. "Thanks," ude nodded with a smile on his face. Randall was about to speak when suddenly, his body jolted. "Young Master Chong, someone is approaching your room." Just as ude was about to ask what was wrong, he suddenly heard Randall whispering to him, as he nced at the entrance gate. "Oh?" ude''s consciousness was jolted, and he look toward where Randall was ncing at. "Hup!" At that moment, a high-pitched voice sounded from Randall, and all of a sudden, the rest of ude''s servants appeared around ude, surrounding him. At the same moment, a domineering aura began exuding from the exterior of his abode, and ude couldn''t help but take a deep breath. "Do not worry! I havee in peace!" an impassive voice sounded just before the entrance gate opened, and a young man slowly walked in, exuding an intimidating aura that made ude feel as though he was standing helplessly amidst a huge storm. ''Who is this man?'' Taking a deep breath, ude calmed himself down, as he lifted his gaze to match the young man who was standing in front of him. "What''s the meaning of this, General Ivan? I thought the Royal Army couldn''t barge into an inner disciples'' room as they please," Randall''s face turned grim as his fierce gaze descended onto the young man in front of them. ude''s brows raised. General Ivan of the Royal Army? "Didn''t I tell you not to worry, servant? I''vee here today to discuss changes that are to be made to the academy and I thought I''d drop by some of the inner disciples'' rooms. You know, to make sure they aren''t nning on blowing anyone up," The General looked at Randall with a pair of calm eyes. "That doesn''t answer my question!" Randall was iparably agitated. "Like I said, there''s going to be some changes around here. And the changes include giving me and my men the authority to barge into the rooms of the academy disciples as we please. Happy with the exnation, servant?" The General spoke with a calm voice. "What? You''re lying!" Randall''s face revealed shock. "Oh, but I''m not, servant.. I really am telling the truth. And soon every disciple will know it as well," General Ivan looked at Randall and said indifferently, "Better adapt to it as fast as you can, because you have no other choice." "Well, I only came here today to check up on some of the disciples. If you''ll excuse me, I have to leave now.." His gaze descended onto ude, and the corners of his mouth curled into a sneer. "See youter, Second Elder''s disciple. I wish you the best of luck, because you''re going to need it." And with that, General Ivan left the room, leaving the entire scene with silence. What was actually going on? Chapter 52: Disappointed Chapter 52: Disappointed Asbjorne awoke to find that his arms and legs were tied up. A whimper escaped his lips as he looked around the room he was in. He was inside what looked like a huge tent, surrounded by four men all dressed in ck, standing up, silent. In front of him, stood a figure with long hair and bloodshot eyes, with a kind of aura that intimidated people. Asbjorne tried to move his wrists and ankles, but he couldn''t break free no matter how hard he tried. "It''s futile," the ck clothed figure to his right whispered. "You cannot escape, Warrior. Now stay still. Our Lord is conversing with the gods, and he needs absolute silence!" Asbjorne nced at the person who spoke, and then turned to look at the figure with the long hair, and figured out that the person in front of him was in some sort of a trance. His eyelids were fluttering, all the while muttering iprehensible words. After a few seconds, the figure closed his eyes and opened them, as a slow smile broadened his lips. "Forgive me warrior, for I was praying to the gods. I''ve kept you waiting for too long." He snapped his fingers as he moved closer and one of the four men drew up a chair for him to sit down, which he did. Now that he was closer, Asbjorne could see his features much more clearly. The man was neither too young nor too old, and his hair was grey. He was wearing a simple and tidy attire, yet the intimidating aura that he was emitting seemed to imply that he was more than ordinary, and he looked at Asbjorne like a predator looking at its prey, causing him to be frightened in a way that he''d never known before. "Who are you?" Asbjorne asked, careful to keep his face without expression while he spoke. "Ha ha ha I cannot believe it! You call yourself a warrior and yet you do not know the face of your enemy?" The man smiled back at Asbjorne, just a slight curve at the corner of his own mouth, and it took him about five seconds to recognize the individual standing in front of him as his mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "G-Gilbert Gottfried?" Asbjorne asked, his face pale as a ghost. "In the flesh," Gilbert Gottfriedughed lightly as he stared at Asbjorne, who looked at him in horror. Whoosh! All of a sudden, Asbjorne''s feet moved, and he leapt forward, aiming for Gottfried. But before he could do anything, the two men standing on Asbjorne''s sides caught his shoulders and pushed him down, hurling him onto the ground. "YOU TOOK AWAY EVERYTHING FROM ME!" Asbjorne snarled at Gottfried as he was held down by the ck clothed figures. "I do feel sorry for you, Warrior Asbjorne.. I really do," Gottfried shook his head ruefully. "But you see, I had to do it. I had to annihte Rhodesweld to fulfill God''s will! It is what the gods wished for. I''m merely fulfilling their requests!" "You killed everyone I loved!" Asbjorne screamed. "You destroyed everything I ever cared about!" "Once again, I apologise. But it had to be done. You probably do not understand, but I assure you, the death of your people will not be in vain. I''ll make sure of it," Gottfried looked at Asbjorne tenderly, as he let out a sigh. "You know, warrior Asbjorne, if I truly didn''t care about you or the lives I''ve taken, you''d be dead by now. But I do care. And I do believe that I owe you an exnation. God has brought the two of us together, warrior Asbjorne.. whether you like it or not!" He cocked his head and moved back a few steps as two ck clothed figures untied Asbjorne, who seemed puzzled as to what was happening. "Warrior Asbjorne, I know that you wish to fight me...To tear apart the person who was responsible for the death of your loved ones And I believe that in order to be the Messiah that the gods intend me to be, I have to earn that position!" His eyes locked on to Asbjorne''s face. "Therefore, I am giving you a chance. A chance to avenge your people. A chance to avenge your home!" "Asbjorne Frydenlund, Rhodesweld''s Strongest Warrior!" Gottfried raised his hands and pointed towards Asbjorne, as the violent look in his eyes grew increasingly pronounced. "Fight me!" ******* ude Rayforth stood inside his room with deep andplex emotions rippling in his eyes. "Young master ude.." ude turned around and saw Randall looking at him with concern in his eyes, as though there were many worries guing him. "What do you wish to say, Randall?" ude asked. "Although I do not want to believe General Ivan''s words, I''m afraid that he might be telling the truth," Randall said worriedly. "Oh? And why do you say that?" ude''s interest was piqued. "The Academies take the safety and the security of their students very seriously. And anyone who would be a threat to them will not even be allowed to take a step into the academy. The Elders are very serious about it," Randall answered seriously. "Which is why General Ivan, a member of the Royal Army and a supporter of the Monarchy, wouldn''t have been allowed to meet with the students even if they desperately wished to, under normal circumstances." "I see. So something definitely changed," Understanding the meaning behind his words, ude nodded his head. "That General, is he formidable?" ude suddenly asked. "General Ivan? Oh, he''s extremely formidable!" Randall replied. "I''m afraid even the Second Elder will have a hard time dealing with him." "He''s that powerful?" Randall''s answer took ude by surprise. ude knew that the Second Elder was extremely strong, yet Randall said that he would have a hard time dealing with General Ivan. Hearing those words, ude realized how powerless he still is in this world. For experts like General Ivan, ude''s existence was no different from an ant. "Randall, keep an eye on my residence. I have to meet up with the Second Elder." ude suddenly said. It was time for him to leave his residence. ******* Swoosh! A pir of blood gushed out, and Asbjorne''s head left his body, with a face filled with disbelief as he took hisst breath. Gottfried slowly turned around and put away his giant axe, as drops of fresh blood dripped down onto his feet. A ck clothed figure slowly walked in and stood next to Gottfried. "Your Majesty, did you enjoy the fight?" The ck clothed figure looked at the severed head of Asbjorne on the ground and said indifferently. "Honestly, I was hoping for more from the strongest warrior of Rhodesweld," Gottfried looked at the ck clothed figure with a calm gaze. "I guess I was disappointed." "Do not worry, your majesty. There are still many more chances toe," The ck clothed figure looked at Gottfried as he spoke, and Gottfried''s expressions slightly eased up. "I sure hope so, Commander Helvig," he replied in a low voice, and his eyes were filled with a piercingly cold light. "So, who is the strongest warrior in Capenea?" Chapter 53: Sunrise Chapter 53: Sunrise ude Rayforth walked towards the faculty building in order to meet the Second Elder and the Headmaster of Golden Avarice Academy. "Junior brother ude!" Looking over at ude, who was walking towards the faculty building, Senior Beldon yelled out, "Hold on!" "Senior Beldon!" ude looked at his senior brother with a smile as he shouted out a greeting. Senior Beldon walked to the spot where use stood, and following him were Ashley Winter and Esmond Carrington. "Wait a minute! Junior brother ude, you already broke through to the Sky Realm?" Senior Beldon, who had noticed that ude''s aura was a bit different than usual, was pleasantly surprised, as he looked at ude with amazement in his eyes. "What? You''re kidding! Wasn''t he at the seventh rank thest time I saw him? Wilfred, are you sure you aren''t mistaken?" Senior Sister Ashley Winter covered her mouth in surprise, her tone unable to hide her astonishment. Esmond had a simr expression of shock and disbelief on his face as well. "Of course it''s true, I''ve checked his aura and spiritual energy thoroughly. There''s no way I''m mistaken." Senior Beldon puffed out his chest and said firmly, "I told you before... junior brother ude is a prodigy!" "I can''t believe it.. How on earth is such a growth rate possible?" Hearing this, Esmond could no longer hide his shock. Although he was already at the eight rank of the Sky Realm, it took him years to get there. This kind of growth was simply unheard of. Senior Beldon looked at ude profoundly, and smiled, "I have no answer to your question, Esmond. Even I didn''t imagine that someone like junior brother ude would appear in our academy. It seems that he''s simply too special for us to understand." "Senior''s words are too much. I practice a lot, and this is simply a result of that," ude let out a chuckle as he spoke. "But more importantly, why are the three of you here, seniors?" "Why else? To meet with the Headmaster and the Second Elder of course!" Ashley looked on haughtily, replying withplete conviction. "General Ivan came to ''visit'' all of us, and the academy didn''t even try to stop him! I have to know whether or not what he said was true! I need an answer!" ude nced over at both Esmond and Senior Beldon, who nodded their heads in response. Turning his head back to look at Ashley again, he said, "Well then, I guess we shouldn''t waste any more time." .... Meanwhile, at the top of the faculty building that was situated in the center of the Golden Avarice Academy, the Second Elder respectfully stood in front of the Headmaster with a lowered head. "Headmaster, what are we going to do?" the Second Elder asked, his eyes flickering with a ghastly flowing light as he spoke. "What can we do? The Royal Family now has a legitimate reason to monitor our academy, so we cannot do anything to stop them," the Headmaster responded in a low voice, sighing. "But are we just going to let them have their way?" Second Elder''s fists were both tightly clenched as he sighed, and one could clearly hear the rage and hatred hidden within his words. Inclining his head, he stared at the Headmaster, "Sir, if this keeps up, the Monarchy will soon be in a position to take over the academy from the inside. Are you fine with that? Are you fine with handing over your position to a puppet of the Monarchy?" "Of course I don''t wish for that to happen, Baron," the Headmaster replied with a bitter smile. Second Elder froze for a second, drew in a huge breath and bowed his head. "Forgive me. I overstepped my bounds. I let my emotions take a hold of me." "It''s alright, Baron. I know how you feel, but right now, we can''t do anything but y along," The Headmaster replied. "So you''re just going to let the Royal Army do as they wish, Headmaster?" At this moment, a voice drifted over, causing both of them to incline their heads, only to see a few figures walking towards the Headmaster''s office. They were none other than ude, Senior Beldon, Ashley and Esmond. The Headmaster raised his eyebrows and locked eyes with ude, as he faintly inquired, "Are you the one who asked the question, young man?" "Yes I did Headmaster!" Lowering his head, ude replied respectfully. "ude, how can you speak to your Headmaster before showing your respects? The Headmaster is a highly-esteemed cultivator, who has contributed greatly to the growth of the Academy. He helped to stabilize andy the foundation for the Golden Avarice Academy of the new era, and he is also my master. How can you act in such a disrespectful way?" Before the Headmaster could speak, the Second Elder looked at ude and frowned. ude''s previous performances and his way with words had impressed the Second Elder, but his efforts seemed to crumble here. "Forgive me master! I realize that it was disrespectful, but I felt like I had to express the words in my heart!" ude turned to the Second Elder and spoke earnestly. Despite the reaction from the Second Elder, calmness firmly remained on ude''s face. "It''s all right, Baron," By his side, the Headmaster said. He had a favorable impression of this young man. "I know how you are feeling, young man. Trust me, I feel the same way. We all do. But the monarchy has issued a royal decree, and this time, they have a legitimate reason to enter our academy. Right now, we have no choice but to agree to their demands." "But this is ridiculous, Headmaster! Doesn''t this mean the Royal Army can do whatever they want inside the academy? We can''t let them have their way!" Hearing the Headmaster''s words, Ashley Winteri''s face immediately darkened. "Of course, I wouldn''t let them do whatever they want. But we can''t just oppose them either.. not when they have legitimate reasons for their actions!" the Headmaster spoke in a heavy tone. "However, this doesn''t mean that they have won. The academies wouldn''t have antagonized the monarchy if they were afraid of a counterattack. In fact, this disruption of peace that the Royal Army brought with them may just be the catalyst that forces the students and the citizens to open their eyes to the authoritarian rule of the Royal Family." "But still" Esmond clenched his fist tightly. He understood the Headmaster''s words, but he just couldn''t ept it. The Second Elder shook his head and sent a consoling gaze to Esmond. "Do not worry my disciples I''ll make sure that the Royal Guards do not overstep their bounds and interfere with your business. They may be part of the Monarchy, but right now, they are in Golden Avarice Academy, and I''ll make sure that they remember it!" Although Esmond and the rest were strong, they were still young. Knowing this fact, the Second Elder put on a cheerful smile in an attempt to alleviate the heavy atmosphere. The Headmaster nodded his head. "But.." Esmond couldn''t finish his sentence, as a feeling of helplessness invaded his heart. "We understand, master," Senior Beldon decided to lead and immediately answered with a lowered head, and the others, with a sigh, decided to follow suit. "Good! You can leave now. Do not worry about the Royal Army and just focus on your cultivation. Worrying about the academy is my job, and I hope to keep it that way," the Headmaster said with a light smile on his face. "Yes, Headmaster!" ude and the rest hurriedly answered before bowing respectfully and slowly backing out of the room. "ude, wait!" All of a sudden, the Second Elder called out to ude. "Yes, master?" ude jolted in surprise and lifted his head up, and Senior Beldon and the rest stopped walking and turned around with him. "ude, stay behind. The rest of you can leave!" The Headmaster spoke calmly. Senior Beldon looked curiously at ude before nodding his head in response and left the room, followed by Ashley and Esmond. "Second Elder, Headmaster.. For what reason have you asked me to stay behind?" ude widened his eyes in astonishment. "I heard from the Second Elder that you performed exceptionally well at the Prodigy Summit! Therefore I wanted to reward you for your hard work!" Upon seeing that the rest of the disciples had left the room, the Headmaster immediately dived straight to the point. "What?" ude was astounded. "But I didn''t achieve anything noteworthy to deserve any rewards! After all, I couldn''t even get second ce..." "Young man, I reward people for their hard work. For someone who was still stuck in the Earth Realm, your achievements at the tournament was quite remarkable. And not to mention, you''ve already broken through to the Sky Realm, and it''s only been a few days since the Prodigy Summit ended. I don''t know about you, but see a talented man with great potential in front of me, ude Rayforth," the Headmaster said calmly. In the blink of an eye, the Headmaster took out a small wooden box from his sleeve, and passed the box over to ude. Surprised, ude''s attention was piqued. "I heard from the Second Elder that you were fond of sword techniques. So I hope you''ll like this one," The Headmaster chuckled. "It''s called the Sunrise Sword Technique!" Chapter 54: Old and New Chapter 54: Old and New The Royal Pce. Inside one of the spacious and luxurious halls decorated with great splendor, stood arge group of people ranging from young to old, their faces filled with anxiety and worry. A young male stood in the middle of the group, giving off a majestic aura. "Prince Bancroft, what do you hope to achieve by doing this? I genuinely do not understand this move You and I both know that the only reason our enemies haven''t made a big move is because this secret was so well guarded. Why are you nning on unveiling this secret to the public so early?" An elderly but impatient voice immediately echoed, and as a result, the whole group started to murmur. A middle aged man spoke with a sense of urgency, "I apologize Prince, but I''m afraid I have to agree. This isn''t a good move. We''re already in a predicament, and I''m afraid that with the release of this information, we will face an even more unfavorable situation." The man''s voice was filled with never ending anxiety. "I understand your concerns, my ministers," The young man, Prince ke Bancroft, spoke with a tone of confidence, and the people who had originally been chattering away suddenly went silent. "But you have to understand, we only have a few months left. Time is running out, and I''m afraid we''re going to have to start improvising.." "But still, this move is quite reckless.." Another middle man spoke, his entire face filled with concern. With a small nod and augh, the Prince responded, "I know that, Minister Paval. But we have to remove our enemies as soon as possible, and for that, we need to switch to offence!" ******************** Swoosh! Before the sun rose from the mountains, the sound of swinging des could be heard from the backyard of ude''s residence. Casually dressed in his ck training clothes, ude Rayforth was practicing the Sunrise Sword Technique, the sword technique gifted to him by the Headmaster of the academy. ''I need to try and get ustomed to the new realm..'' Although he had climbed up to the sky realm in a shorter time frame than most cultivators, he still needed time to adjust to the changes made to his body. After all, whenpared to breaking through ranks, breaking through to another realm was apletely different process. It was like unlocking a new part of yourself. For ude to understand his new limits, he had to adapt. "I have to make sure that I do better than how I did in my match with Victor..." Back then, ude didn''t have any spare time to think things over. Although he was undoubtedly more skilled than Victor Hannibal, he was too weak to create any chances for him tond a good attack. In the end, ude lost to Victor because he couldn''t bridge the gap between them. Strength may not be everything in a fight, but it sure as hell makes a difference. ude understood that he had to be stronger. But of course, the physical enhancement was merely a by-product, as the true essence of a new realm lies in setting up a deep connection with the cultivator, helping them understand and perfect their spiritual energy. ''I''ll utilize the Sunrise Sword Technique to get a grasp on my improved physique..'' In an instant, a strong streak of silver energy shed through the air and onto ude''s palm, and a curved, silver katana materialized in his hands. Grab! Holding onto the silver katana, ude couldn''t help but smile tremendously. The Sunrise Sword Technique is a special cultivation technique that allows the cultivator to morph the structure and dimensions of their sword to better suit them. But because it is so flexible in its shape and structure, the technique requires intense concentration and a tremendous amount of spiritual energy to power it. So although it allowsplete control over its weapon, it''s also incredibly hard to use. However, to someone like ude who was a samurai in his previous life, a katana was almost like an extension of his arm. He felt as though the sword and him were one, a feeling he had never felt in his new life, and he didn''t need to spend as much time to control it. Whoosh! Using the Floating Footsteps Technique, ude moved through the courtyard elegantly as though he was dancing. As he moved, the air surrounding him began swirling in ordance to his motion, as though it was dancing alongside him. ''Feel the weapon... understand it'' ude closed his eyes, as he started to slowly circte the spiritual energy in a cycle through his body while integrating the katana into the process. Under ude''s control, the Spiritual energy would then be incorporated into both his body and his katana together. Ever since he received this new cultivation technique from the headmaster, one of the things that had excited ude was the ''Soul Fusion''. The Soul Fusion was the connection formed between the Sunrise Sword Weapon and the cultivator, akin to a spiritual connection. It meant that the weapon and the spirit of the cultivator were now intertwined by fate, sharing the spiritual energy as if they were one. The sword became the soul and the soul became the sword. As a result, the spiritual energy within ude''s body had be extremely dense, more dense than what he was used to. The spiritual energy of a living, breathing being like a human and that of an inanimate object like a weapon wasn''t the same, and because of this difference, the spiritual energy needed to evolve for it to handle the soul fusion, essentially forcing itself to morph into a hybrid that can support both. Boom! As ude''s spiritual connection with his katana deepened, the violent de Qi surrounding him began to grow even sharper. "Even though the Sunrise Sword Technique is supposed to be much more difficult to utilize than the Beau Paradis Technique, it certainly doesn''t feel like it is this the difference between the Earth Realm and the Sky Realm?" ude questioned to himself in amazement. The moment he began cultivating the Sunrise Sword Technique, which was known to be extremely difficult, it was as if ude''s spirit and his senses suddenly expanded, bringing up an indescribable feeling within his heart. The movements he was having difficulty with were suddenly easier, and the techniques he had already mastered were as simple as inhaling air. He nced at his arms, as his face revealed a look of extreme joy. He was getting stronger! "I shouldn''t be utilising this technique for too long though.." The katana in his hand started vibrating violently, and ude''s expression changed. He came to the realization that his soul hadpletely harmonized with the katana in his hands, but at the same time, he could feel the dense spiritual energy flowing through his body that seemed to be gradually bing weak due to its strong energy consumption. sh! ude took a stride forward, raised his katana and directly swung it out, as an extremely terrifying energy burst out at an increasing frequency, practically affecting the flesh, blood, and bones in his entire body. The swift and fierce sword strike tore through the air like a meteor, and it struck a giant rock that was near the courtyard, shattering it into tiny particles, causing dust to suffuse the air. Bang! The ground quaked in response to the attack, and several cracks were formed as ude let out a long breath of air. "Even though I''ve reached the Sky Realm, I couldn''t use the attack for too long..." ude''s face sank. Only a few minutes had passed since he had first been continuously cultivating the Sunrise Sword Technique, but within this short period of time, the technique had already drained more than half of the spiritual energy within his body. He knew in his heart that he had to improve his cultivation even faster! "ude! Are you here?" Before he could continue with his training, a voice suddenly rang out from the entrance of his abode, and a few secondster, a youth walked in, apanied by his servant, Randall. "Hugh" ude said with a surprised look on his face. It was Hugh Kenton, one of the juniors under the Flying Sword Faction who participated in the Prodigy Summit alongside him. ude wasn''t exactly close to the young boy, so he was certainly surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?" "ude, you need toe to the Second Elder''s ce quickly" Hugh had a serious face, and as he looked at ude his expression became extremely heavy. He said in a low voice, "The Royal Family has released news about the King and the Queen...." Hearing the young man mumble to himself, ude had an intrigued look on his face. ******************************** The Headmaster stood in the middle of his office with his eyes closed. At that moment, a muffled knock was heard from the other side of the door. "Headmaster, it''s me, Carlos!" A voice came from outside the door. "Enter!" The headmaster turned towards the door and replied. Click! The door opened, and a young man who looked to be twenty years of age walked in with an ugly expression on his face, and the Headmaster couldn''t help but feel distraught. He muttered, "What on earth are they nning..." Chapter 55: Nefarious Chapter 55: Nefarious One year ago, a rumour had begun to spread in the nation of Argria. The rumour was that the King of Argria, the infamous Hannibal Bancroft, was secretly raising an heir to the throne, far from the Royal Pce. The rumour also said that the King had kept the information regarding his heir a secret thanks to the help of the Royal Council to ensure the safety of his child. The rumor didn''t manage to gain a lot of traction, and it eventually died down after a while. There was simply way too little information regarding the rumours. [The Royal Family reveals the King and the Queen are ill! The Royal Council to appoint Prince ke Bancroft, son of the Royal Couple who was raised secretly, as the new King! ] So when the news came out, no one in the country seemed to be believing it. "It appears that someone is making jokes.." "Well if they really are jokes.. they''re not very funny!" "It''s ridiculous there''s no way the Royal Family can get away with doing such a thing! Raising a secret child? At least think up something a bit more believable!" Most people in the country dismissed it as just a joke made by someone. And so, despite the fact that it was potentially the biggest breaking news they have ever heard, no one paid too much attention to this news. However, things began to change when one yearter, Royal Guards with messenger emblems on their shoulders began appearing in towns and viges, and people''s eyebrows rose once again. The appearance of a Royal Guard with a messenger emblem on his shoulder usually meant that there was some important information that was to be passed on to the public from the King. These ''information'' ranged from changes made to the country''snd to sudden tax reforms for which the King and the Queen were known. Of course, the thoughts of the normal citizens were still the same, but suspicion began to arise. "It''s not true. is it?" However, unlike what they had imagined, what came from the mouths of the Royal Guard Messengers only confirmed the rumours. "The Reign of King Hannibal Bancroft and Queen Isabelle Bancroft ising to an end!" "The King and the Queen, who had both been diagnosed to have been infected by an unknown and incurable disease sometimest year, have secretly been receiving treatment under the care of the Royal medicine experts. But unfortunately, they still remain affected by this disease, despite the efforts of the Royal Medicine branch." "Seeing as the disease has been slowly draining away their life-force, this leaves them just a few months left to live. And because of this, the King and the Queen, with the agreement of the Royal Council, have taken the brave decision to hand over the throne to their son, ke Bancroft, who was sent to be raised in the city of Josenheim for his protection, until he was old enough." "The Prince - and the soon to be King - of Argria, ke Bancroft, will address the nation and its citizens in the city of Josenheim, the ce where he grew up, in theing week!" "Uh?" "What?" "Oh my god, it''s true!" The citizens, who couldn''t believe what they just heard, could not help but shout out. And soon, the news resonated throughout the country. "A new era was arriving!" ********************* Inside the Headmaster''s Office. The Headmaster of Golden Avarice Academy walked back and forth with a sunken expression on his face. He had just received the news that the King, who was allegedly ill, was abdicating the throne, and his secret child, Prince ke Bancroft, will be dered the new King of Argria during his coronation in the city of Josenheim next week. Of course, this had caught him off-guard. He did expect the Monarchy to make a move in an effort to taint the reputation of the academies even more, but he certainly wasn''t expecting the reveal of a secret heir. He didn''t know how the Royal couple kept the birth of their child a secret. He wasn''t even sure if this child was the King''s in the first ce, but seeing as the Royal Council had agreed to a public coronation, it was most likely the truth. "... But why?" The Headmaster identally blurted out the words he had been repressing, "Why on earth would they reveal this information right now?" The Headmaster had no clue as to why the Monarchy chose to disclose such a vital piece of information at this specific moment. Carlos Nunez, one of Headmaster''s secret guards who had brought him the news of Prince ke Bancroft, shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Perhaps this is all an borate ploy to get the public on their side while everyone is busy hating the academies.." "I really do not think that''s the case, Carlos. The information they revealed isn''t so simple.." After thinking about it for a few minutes, the Headmaster shook his head. While the Royal Family could''ve been taking advantage of the situation that the academies had gotten themselves into, the information that they revealed was simply too significant to be used in an attempt to fan the mes, and this news might work against them in the long run. ''They must''ve known that the protests and the efforts of the reformation movement would only get even more fierce after revealing the fact that the Bancroft bloodline isn''ting to an end anytime soon, right?'' The Headmaster walked back and forth while locked in thought, and the sounds of his footsteps rang out. "Does this mean that the Monarchy is nning on ending this conflict once and for all?" He grumbled in a low voice before continuing, "Do they n on eradicating their enemies?" All of a sudden- A knock on the door. "Headmaster, it''s the Second Elder." The Headmaster looked at Carlos for a second and replied,"Juste in." "Yes, Headmaster," As soon as the voice finished speaking, the turning of the doorknob was heard, and the Second Elder entered the room with a face that was difficult to read. "I assume you''ve already heard the news, Baron ..." The Headmaster spoke with a bitter smile on his face, and the Second Elder nodded his head furiously, "How could I not hear about it? What the hell are they nning, dropping a bombshell like that? Did they n that?" "What do you think?" The Headmaster nced at the Second Elder as he went back to his desk. "I don''t know," The Second Elder muttered. He was clearly annoyed by the actions of the Royal Family. "Are they seriously nning on taking us down? Is this a deration of war their way of saying that the Bancroft bloodline will never end?" "But revealing the identity of the Prince to the public doesn''t exactly put them in an advantageous position. And they didn''t even give the coronation any time either.. It''s like they''re running out of time.." The Headmaster stopped talking for a moment, took a sip from the coffee cup on his desk, and continued. "Regardless, if they are nning on ending this conflict as soon as possible, then I think I made the wrong decision by allowing the Royal Army to monitor our Academy. I thought we''d have enough time and they wouldn''t move so quickly, but it appears I''ve made a mistake." "It wouldn''t have mattered, Headmaster. The Royal Family would''ve found a way. And besides, the situation wasn''t favourable to us anyways, so it was best to not stir up any more trouble," the Second Elder said as he nced at the Headmaster. "The Second Elder is right, Headmaster. It''s not your fault " Carlos chimed in as well, and the Headmaster shook his head. "But I could''ve tried stopping them. Even if the result might''ve been inevitable, I could''ve at least tried." "But...!" "No, don''t deny, Baron. This failure is my responsibility, and I n on epting it." The Second Elder couldn''t disobey the Headmaster, so he trembled and carefully withdrew. "What do you n on doing, Headmaster?" The Second Elder asked. "Well first, I was nning on suspending all activities inside the academy for a few days. There might be a surprise attack, to further destroy our reputation amongst the public, and we need to be ready," The Headmaster, while sitting in his chair, replied lightly. "The students may already know that something is up, so make sure that they are ready for anything. We need them to be alert, and ready to fight. I assume that you were nning on briefing your disciples?" "I am, Headmaster," The Second Elder replied as he bowed his head. "I have already asked them to gather at my residence and I will be briefing them about the situation after I leave." "Good, because I don''t want to lose any of my students to an outside force," the Headmaster looked at Carlos and continued. "Carlos, I''m going to have to ask you to send your unit to the rest of the academies to figure out what they''re nning to do. With what happened with General Ivan, I can''t help but feel like something''s wrong." "Yes, Headmaster.. I''ll leave right away!" With those words, Carlos walked away with his usual light footsteps, passing by the Second Elder. "You don''t trust the Alliance?" The Second Elder waited for Carlos to leave, and looked at the Headmaster for an answer. "I thought they were on our side?" "Most of them," the Headmaster snapped his finger as he replied. "As far as we know, they might also be dealing with internal matters. Although they might not say it outright.." "You think the Third Elder''s faction might be an issue?" The Second Elder asked, and the Headmaster nodded. "I''m afraid, Baron. I fear this is just the beginning of something. Something far nefarious." Chapter 56: Time For The Truth Chapter 56: Time For The Truth ude and Hugh passed through the Academy grounds, walking over a hundred steps beyond the faculty building and arrived at their destination, which was the Second Elder''s residence. Senior Beldon was standing in front of the door and saw ude arriving and nodded his head with a smile, "Took a while didn''t you, junior brother ude?" ude lightly returned the greeting before taking a deep breath and looking around as he strode over to his Senior''s side. He could see that the rest of the disciples of the Flying Sword Faction had already arrived. "What is taking master so long? I can''t handle this! I need answers!" Ashley Winters, who was standing next to Esmond, cried out in frustration. "You have been standing here for literally five minutes. Can''t you be a little more patient?" Senior Beldon replied with an annoying look on his face. Ashley turned her head towards Senior Beldon and snapped in an angry tone, "Can you just stop acting like the ''nice guy'' for once? It''s making me sick! Or is it too hard for you to stop licking people''s boots?" "And you wonder why you don''t get a boyfriend.." "The hell did you say?" In the end, vulgar curses began to emerge from the youngdy''s mouth. The bickering would''ve continued, however.. "Silence!" As soon as the voice of the Second Elder was heard, silence filled the space. "I cannot believe this. I ask you to arrive in front of my residence to brief you on an important topic concerning the future of the academy and the first thing I see is you two fighting like children! Shameful!" The Second Elder disyed a scornful expression at their silence before opening his mouth to speak again. "I expected more from the two of you." Ashley spoke with a difficult expression,"Forgive me, master. But Wilfred over here was trying to get under my skin with his snide remarks and I-" "I do not wish to hear your excuses!" Ashley shut her mouth hurriedly when she was interrupted by the Second Elder and bowed her head. "I apologize, master! I made a mistake!" Peng! At the same time, Senior Beldon kneeled on one leg and bowed his head, "I apologize for my actions, master. I assure you, it will not happen again!" "I''m honestly a bit disappointed in both of you..." The Second Elder sighed and shook his head a few times before continuing. "But I''ll forgive you for now. We have much more important matters to discuss, and it involves everyone''s safety and future." Kukukung With that, the Second Elder opened the doors to his residence, gesturing to his disciples to follow him. They all looked at each other for a brief second, before following the Second Elder into his home. Like thest time, they were led into a magnificent hall decoratedvishly with gold and jade. However, the difference from that time was the Second Elder''s attitude. Thest time the Flying Sword Faction had a meeting, the Second Elder was calm and quiet, releasing an aura of gentle friendliness. That aura of friendliness had now been reced by tension and anxiousness. The Second Elder headed to the chair in the center. He sat down in the chair that waspletely covered in leather and opened his mouth to speak, "As I''m sure most of you already know, the Royal Family has released important information that involves the future of the country of Argria and it''s citizens." The atmosphere in the room remained tense. Nobody dared to interrupt the Second Elder. With the attention of his disciples focused on him, the Second Elder spoke with a cold expression, "One day ago, the Royal Council deemed the King and the Queen unfit to be in a position of power, due to their failing health, and the position of King is to be passed on to Prince ke Bancroft, the only heir to the throne, who was raised in the city of Josenheim in secret." He focused on the group once again and continued, "The Royal Family revealed this information just mere days after the Prodigy Summit suicide bombing, and the academy has reason to believe that the timing of this reveal is more than a coincidence." "As you all already know, the academies and the Monarchy are not exactly on friendly terms. And throughout the years, the Monarchy has been desperately trying to gain control over the academies, but never seeded in doing so." The Second Elder tightly gripped the wooden arm of his chair, and the disciples could hear it slowly breaking. "However, for whatever reason, we feel that this time, it''s different. We fear that the Royal Family may be nning to end the conflict once and for all this time. Which is why I want you all to be vignt in theing days, for we expect an attack on the academy; perhaps even from the inside. I want you all to be safe, so keep an eye on your fellow members." As soon as the Second Elder finished speaking, the silence that was present in the room was immediately reced by the loud voices of the students, as if a storm exploded in the meeting room. "A-an attack?" "Do we seriously have to fight the Royal Family? I don''t know if I''m ready for that!" "I don''t know what to think...!" Everyone was shocked. They already knew that the academy and the Monarchy were enemies, but they surely weren''t expecting the two superpowers to fight directly as it''d only result in destruction. But to think they''ll have to take on the Royal Family The Second Elder studied the expressions of his disciples, as he thought about the Royal Family, and what they might''ve been nning by revealing the information about the secret heir. Most of the students in the academies didn''t have a good impression of the Royal Family. In fact, the majority of the poption weren''t fond of the Monarchy at all, especially King Hannibal and Queen Isabe, who were infamous among themoners. So much so that in the eyes of themoners, the Monarchy was, in fact, just the King and Queen. Compare that to the academies, which were beloved by almost everyone, and had an almost spotless reputation among the public. And not to mention the amount of cultivators they produce every year. In terms of power, they were clearly a threat to the Monarchy. The Royal Family were in desperate need of a change in reputation, while tainting the reputation of the academies in the process, which was exactly what the Prodigy Summit incident brought about. With the reveal of the secret heir and the dying King and Queen who intend to pass on their throne to their secret child, it would undoubtedly bring about a sense of relief and joy in the minds of themoners, who had been closely associating the bad reputation of the Monarchy with the infamous King and Queen. ''The End of the King and Queen means the end of tyranny. Except it''s not. But people will believe. Or at least, they''ll start to believe. After all, it brings hope. And hope is a dangerous thing.'' After thinking about it for a while, the way the Second Elder felt could be summarized with those words. But is that all? "Stop," All of a sudden, the Second Elder spoke and the atmosphere in the hall calmed down at once. "I hope that you all take my words seriously. Regardless of what you may feel about the Royal Family, you are now a student of the Golden Avarice Academy. And that means that you and the academy are bound together by fate. I hope you''ll understand your responsibility, and protect the academy in whatever way you can." The students nodded their heads at the Second Elder''s words. "Of course, this doesn''t mean that you''re all on your own. You will have the Elders and the Headmaster who''ll support you as well. But even though the Elder''s are extremely strong, we aren''t confident enough to protect each and every one of you," the Second Elder''s stiff face loosened a bit as he spoke. "As much as I would like to proim to everyone to blindly trust the Elders to protect the students, I''m afraid we aren''t capable of promising that. But I can promise you that I''ll fight for each and every one of you, even if that puts me in a disadvantageous position." As he finished his words, the Second Elder scanned the faces of his disciples and realized that they were all looking at him with respect in their eyes, and he smiled. With his words, the cold atmosphere of the room became a little warmer. "Master, I have a question!" A loud voice was heard, and the Second Elder turned his gaze in the direction the voice came from. The person who spoke was Esmond. "You can speak, Esmond." The Second Elder made a gesture to allow the message, and Esmond nodded his head. "You said that we have to be careful of the Royal Family, but not everyone in the academy has an enmity with them. Does this mean that if an attack does happen, we have to be careful of the students and the faculty as well?" Chapter 57: Opening Up Chapter 57: Opening Up "You said that we have to be careful of the Royal Family, but not everyone in the academy has an enmity with them. Does this mean that if an attack does happen, we have to be careful of the students and the faculty as well?" Whoosh! At that moment, a heavy silence fell over the disciples, as they nced at each other. ''What should I do in this situation?'' The awkward atmosphere continued as the Second Elder began thinking of how to answer Esmond''s question, worried about what to say. He hadn''t nned on revealing the fact that they may have to fight against fellow students right now. He wanted his disciples to deal with one problem at a time so that they have enough time to process things, instead of bombarding them with information until their anxiety reaches its limit. However, it seemed that he had to deal with the problem earlier than expected. Nevertheless, the Second Elder managed to calm his mind. ''...No, perhaps this might be a good thing. The Monarchy has been quite unpredictabletely, and it''s better for the students to adapt to the situation as quickly as possible!'' "That is a very good question, Esmond," The Second Elder said, nodding his head politely, "You may be right!" As soon as he finished speaking, Esmond''s eyes widened with surprise. Even though he had asked the question, he wasn''t expecting a direct answer from the Second Elder. However, the Second Elder heartlessly told them the bitter truth. Was this the right move? With his eyes still shaking, he asked the Second Elder to confirm again, "Master, are the words you just spoke the truth?" The Second Elder calmly replied, "Yes, Esmond. As it stands, we have to be careful. Although we may be part of the same academy right now, once the battle begins, you''ll have to start picking sides." As the sound of the Second Elder''s voice faded, the countenances of everyone underwent a drastic change. "No way... we can''t even trust our own peers?" "Are we alone in this fight?" "Isn''t this way too unfavorable for us?" Each reaction was different, but they were all shocked. They were already unsure about fighting the Monarchy. However, now they hear that they may have to fight their own peers as well? Dismay, horror and disbelief filled the eyes of the people in the room. The Second Elder waved his hands, and the whispers created by the students died down. "I know what most of you are thinking right now. You must feel helpless. Afraid. Anxious. You feel like you''re at a disadvantage, which is true; you are at a disadvantage," The Second Elder calmly spoke, and there was silence in the air once again as everyone attentively listened. "But you have to realize one thing. Our enemies, the ones that you''re afraid of, are making a move because they''re afraid as well. They''re afraid of us. They''re afraid of the academies, and the power we might hold in the future, and they''re desperate." ude calmly listened to his words. No one knew what he was thinking. Senior Beldon stood beside him, staring at the Second Elder with an emotionless expression. "The Golden Avarice Academy, simr to the rest of the academies in Argria, has a rich history of hundreds of years. And throughout these years, we have experienced countless obstacles and faced great opponents, but regardless of whatever problems that came our way, the Academy has always stood at the peak, enjoying years of glory. Which is why I''m telling you all; you may think that this is an unfavorable situation. But you have to understand one thing; oveing unfavourable conditions is what made the academy one of the greatest academies in Argria. Years have changed, but our roots have not." The Second Elder spoke with no fluctuations to his expression, causing his disciples to blink in wonder. He continued, "I understand everyone''s feelings. However, we no longer have a choice; the Academy and the Monarchy can no longer exist together. Despite this, do not be disappointed, all of you currently standing here are more than talented. So o ask you to persist. Stand your ground, and stand by the academy, and all of you will definitely have a better future." The Second Elder smiled as he finished his words, and all his disciples had despondent looks and lost expressions on their faces. "I am ready to support the Academy from whoever; be it the Royal Family or someone from the Academy itself!" After a moment of silence, a loud, high pitched voice broke the silence, and the gazes of the spectators all shifted onto the person in question. It was Ashley, who stepped forward from the crowd and stared at the Second Elder before continuing, "I am blessed to have been able to enter under master''s tutge, I would fight to the death alongside master with no regret." Ashley knelt down, causing a smile to appear on the Second Elder''s face. "We are willing to fight for the academy as well, Master!" Immediately, the voices of the disciples echoed out one after another as they bowed their heads to pay respect to the Second Elder. "This junior is willing to fight alongside master as well," ude also joined in and paid his respect, and so did Senior Beldon. The Second Elder stared at his disciples with pride and clenching his fists tightly as warm currents flowed in his heart. ''Let''s see who wins this fight, Royal Council.. I''ll make sure you regret your actions!'' The Monarchy was simply too arrogant! The Academy has existed for hundreds of years and yet the Royal Family had the audacity to dere war on them? What did they take this ce as? This was the GOLDEN AVARICE ACADEMY! If a war is what they want, a war is what they''ll get! ************************** Hargrow Forest, a few miles north of Canteburne City. The sound of horses cantering could be heard, the dry summer earth rising into the summer fragranced air. About a dozen men rode the horses wearing dark colored clothes with hoods covering their heads. "Men, it''ll take us about 2 hours to get to Canteburne city. Remember, do not bring any attention to yourself once you reach the city. Be extremely careful of your surroundings. Keep an eye out for danger." Carlos Nunez, who was leading the group, spoke loudly for the others to hear. The men nodded their heads, but didn''t respond. Carlos didn''t seem to mind, and turned his head forward to face the dirt road. Dadak! Dadak! The horses ran at a dizzying speed, carrying them onwards as their surroundings sped right past them. ''Navaz had told me before that they were still using the Crust and Bread Inn as the meeting ce..'' Carlos stroked his beard a few times as he thought to himself. Carlos and his men were on their way to meet with some of the elders of Trinity Academy, which was situated in Canteburne City. These were elders who were part of the Reformation movement, who were secretly in an alliance with the rest of the academies in an effort to rece the monarchical system once and for all. Even though the academies were constantly producing talented cultivators who directly contributed to the country - sometimes even more than the Monarchy - they were still chained to the age-old system of Monarchial rule. As such, they felt that in order to reach their full potential and gain more power, they needed to remove the Royal Family once and for all. With the infamy surrounding the King and the Queen, Hannibal and Isabelle Bancroft, and the public''s negative perception of the Royals, the academies felt like it was the best time for them to join hands and strip down the system. The ''Crust and Bread Inn'' was a secret meeting ce in Canteburne city used by the alliance. Looking at it from the outside, the ''Crust and Bread Inn'' looks like any other inn that you''ll find in a highly popted city. However, what most people didn''t know was that it also had a hidden room underneath it, which was used by the Alliance members who would usually be disguised as travellers or merchants. ''Haa.. I really hope we get there quickly. I can''t stand this forest...'' It usually would''ve taken at least a day more if they were a normal unit, but Carlos, who was known for his speed, was confident that they would take less time to reach their destination. The problem wasn''t the journey, but the route they took. For him to be able to reduce the duration of the journey by a day, Carlos had to take a different route, one much different and less preferred, which involved passing through the Hargrow Forest, which was rumoured to be cursed, as many travellers who passed through the forest were met with great misfortune. As if they had also be anxious, the horses ran like the wind through the hard dirt road without much difficulty. Right then "Huh?!" A groan emerged from Carlos'' mouth, as he looked in front with a confused expression. The dirt road, which was visible to him just a second ago, was nowpletely covered by a thick white fog, spreading all across the forest at a rapid pace, approaching Carlos and his unit in a matter of milliseconds! Chapter 58: Naive Chapter 58: Naive "Be careful!" Carlos shouted as loudly as he possibly could with a heavy expression on his countenance, but before his voice even faded, the entire forest was covered in the foggy mist. Carlos'' vision was hindered, and he turned around and realized that he actually could no longer see his unit behind him. Carlos'' face hardened before growling, "Dammit, how could this happen?" The fog floated around, and Carlos, who had beenpletely enveloped inside the fog, tried retreating backwards, but he couldn''t see, he couldn''t hear, and he hadpletely lost his sense of direction. He was simply like a blind man. Carlos frowned as he looked at the fog. He couldn''t help but mutter, "Mystic Arts Technique?" The Mystic Arts Techniques were a group of cultivation techniques from the Middle Eastern countries, brought to the country of Argria by foreign travellers hundreds of years ago. However, the foreigners who taught the Mystic Arts to the Argrians weren''t experts, but simple merchants who were fascinated by the mysterious cultivation techniques that they had never seen. As such, the Mystic Arts Techniques that are avable to the Argrians were simple martial arts techniques rather than theplicated ones. Unlike the Argrian cultivation techniques, which were mostly direct in their implementation and giving more importance to offence, the Mystic Arts were moreplex with their implementation, focusing more on covert and irregr warfare, deception and surprise attacks. As most of these techniques were deemed dishonorable and beneath the honor of what the Argrian cultivation stood for, they didn''t get too much traction in the country, but it''s said that there still existed a few cultivators who practiced them. ''Who''s attacking us?'' Carlos'' perception stretched out, trying to identify the culprit who was responsible for the fog, but much to his surprise, he couldn''t find anyone. Just then Whoosh! All of a sudden, a silhouette appeared right behind Carlos. Bzz! The silhouette rushed forward, as a transparent sword, akin to a bolt of lightning, appeared in his hands, unleashing an attack towards Carlos. The speed with which it moved was so quick that most cultivators wouldn''t even be able to respond to it. "Do I look like an easy target to you?" Carlos, who had sensed the danger, immediately turned around and swung his fist, and streams of runic outlines appeared on his arm, glowing brightly as his fist collided with the transparent sword, resulting in a thunderous explosion. BOOM! The explosion pushed the silhouette backwards, as he tried to regain his footing. "Where do you think you''re going? I ain''t done with you!" Carlos, who seemed to be unperturbed by the explosion, wasn''t nning on giving his attacker a chance to recover. He rushed towards the mysterious person with a speed as fast as lightning and swung his fist once again. "Get over here!" Whoosh! Right before Carlos'' fist struck the mysterious attacker, a bright light enveloped his body and he vanished like smoke in thin air. ''Where''d he go?'' Realizing that his opponent had disappeared into thin air, Carlos looked around, frustrated that he couldn''t defeat his target. At this moment, a voice drifted over. "I''m right here," As soon as the voice faded, the silhouette suddenly appeared behind Carlos, wielding a terrifying scythe. Before Carlos could make a move, the sound of the scythe slicing through the air had already rang out, as it chopped down on him. ng! Right in the nick of time, Carlos raised his arms to his chest, and the scythe struck down with an immense force, sting out a terrifying attack. BOOM! The runic inscriptions on his hands exploded upon contact with the scythe and a resounding thunderous explosive sound echoed out, as the attack sted Carlos backwards, leaving behind bloody wounds on his body as he groaned in misery. "The Golden Hands Technique? I thought that technique was lost forever. Interesting...." A malevolent look shed on the mysterious attacker''s face as he looked at the injured Carlos and licked his lips. "Very interesting.." "Do you think you have the time to daydream?" Carlos roared as he jumped up from the ground, stretched his arms out and rushed forward, lifting his fist and sting it forward. "I ain''t dead yet!" Zoom! As he swung his fist, his entire arm was enveloped by an azure light, illuminating the area around him and a terrifying torrential force shot out from his hands and in the mysterious attacker''s direction. "You really are a strong opponent.. If it was any other person, they would''ve definitely struggled against you," the mysterious attacker murmured as his body disappearedpletely in the mist, and Carlos'' attack passed through the fog, hitting nothing but air. "But unfortunately for you, you''ve met your match!" "Dammit! Where the hell did he disappear to?" Carlos'' turned incredibly unsightly and he retreated. Just then... "You''re not looking too good, Mr. Messenger!" "What?" Startled by the voice, Carlos swiftly turned around, and discovered that behind him, three silhouettes had appeared, all of them sharing the same facial and physical features. They were the same person! "Incarnation Technique?" Carlos'' countenance changed as he stared at the three identical silhouettes. "Ha ha ha We''re ttered, but you seem to be overestimating us, Mr. Messenger!" One of the silhouettesughed coldly, as he brandished his weapon; a Double-ded Scimitar. "We''re just triplets!" ******************* Crust and Bread Inn, Canteburne City. Inside the secret room under the inn, a group of men sat around a table. The person in the lead chair was d in simple clothing and yet he was exuding the aura of a tyrannical cultivator. "Are you sure we made the right decision, Elder Arvid?" A voice asked. The person who spoke was Eira Borghild, the Fifth Elder of Trinity Academy, and her words caused the rest of the group to turn their attention to her. These people were none other than the faculty members from the Trinity Academy, who were also part of the Reformation movement. Other than the Fifth Elder, the Third, the Sixth and the Eighth Elders were present in the room as well. At this moment, the Second Elder of the Trinity Academy, Elder Arvid''s eyes gleamed with sharpness as he stared in the direction of the Fifth Elder. He coldly spoke, "Could it be that the Fifth Elder is regretting your decision? Do you not wish for the safety of our country, Elder?" "I do wish for my country to be safe, Second Elder. If I didn''t, then I wouldn''t have agreed to co-operate with the Royal Family. But I do feel as though wepletely ignored the Reformation Movement, which wasn''t necessary," the Fifth Elder''s brows were furrowed. She had joined the Reformation Movement because she believed that people deserved freedom from the shackles of Monarchy. "I joined the Reformation Movement because I believed we were standing up for what''s right. I still believe that it''s the right cause, and honestly, I do not think that we need to bury the Reformation Movement to protect our country. We can fight for the country and fight for the freedom of the people at the same time!" She spoke calmly, and the Sixth Elder coldly snorted in response, but didn''t speak. The Second Elder, Elder Arvid''s gaze descended onto the Fifth Elder, and a strand of coldness shed within his eyes, before disappearingpletely. "I understand your frustration, Eira. But it is definitely not as simple as that. I''m sure you know this, but we can''t work alongside the Monarchy while also nning to take them down. It''s simply too naive of a n!" "But Second Elder!" The Fifth Elder clenched her fist and looked around, trying to find anyone to support her argument. But unfortunately, she couldn''t find any allies, which only made her more frustrated. "Do not worry too much Fifth Elder," In the end, Elder Arvid let out a sigh and replied in an attempt to calm her down, and continued. "Of course, we''ll deal with the problemter. It''s not that we''re ignoring itpletely. We''re just extending it to ater date. I''ll make sure that wee back to itter, but right now, we have more important matters on our hands. I hope you understand." The Fifth Elder didn''t seem like she was satisfied, but she reluctantly nodded her head, and the discussion soon moved on to a different topic. After the discussion which seemed both long and short, only two people were left in the secret room. "What did you think of the discussion?" The Second Elder turned to the only remaining person in the room, his personal guard. "The Fifth Elder might be a problem in the future. I think we''ll need to deal with her," the guard spoke with almost no etiquette, and sat down in one of the chairs. It wasn''t the behaviour of a guard at all. "I agree. I''ll find someone to take care of her," the Second Elder nodded his head, not minding his guard''s attitude at all. He continued, "What about the messenger unit that Navaz mentioned?" "The triplets will take care of them. They''re extremely reliable," the guard replied, as he picked up a cup of coffee from the table and drank it all in one gulp. "I am disappointed that you killed Navaz as well. I liked the kid. He was a hard worker," the Elder Arvid shook his head as he spoke. "He would''ve understood if we exined everything to him." "I disagree!" the guard shook his head with a disapproving expression. "The kid was too naive. And in the martial world, naivety is simply a burden not worth carrying!" Chapter 59: Good To Know Chapter 59: Good To Know "Ahhhhhh!" A terrified scream came out from Carlos'' mouth as his limbs had be unrecognizable, cut apart like tattered leather, causing blood toe spraying out onto the ground. The triplets stared at the disfigured Carlos, their faces not revealing any emotion whatsoever during the act, as if it had no effect on them. The fog that had enveloped the forest slowly began to disappear, revealing the corpses of Carlos'' unit on the dirt road. One of the triplets, the one with the swords as his weapon, slowly swept his gaze across Carlos'' body and said, "You know, you could''ve just given up and joined our side when we politely asked you to. With your strength, I''m sure you would''ve made a fine addition to the New Order. You even gave the three of us a tough time. You could''ve reached heights that you wouldn''t even dare imagine. And yet, you chose to stand by your Headmaster. Why?" "You p-punks.. you wouldn''t understand it..." Carlos said sternly. Right now, he wanted nothing else but to kill these three and rip apart their organs. However, it appears that his wish wouldn''te to fruition today. "No need to get angry with me. I just wanted to know. What is it that made you so supportive of your Headmaster that you''re willing to die for him? Loyalty? Debt?" the young man asked with an innocent smile. It was clear that he was looking down on Carlos. As if he wasn''t even a threat. "Why on earth would I tell you anything?" Carlos snorted in response and said, "If you think I''m just going to sit here and tell you my life story as I''m dying, then you''re clearly delusional..." "Ha ha ha ha ha. Fair enough!" the young man started tough evilly as he smiled at Carlos, disdain evident in his eyes. "I was just curious, but I can always ask someone else!" He had already arrived in front of Carlos, his transparent sword already swishing down in an arc like a bolt of lightning towards Carlos'' head. At that moment, Carlos only had mes of anger in his eyes, and his eyes shed with killing intent as he stared at the young man in front of him, but he couldn''t do anything and the sword pierced right through his skull, splitting his head into two. The young man looked at his transparent sword that was covered in blood and with a single thought, the sword disappeared into thin air. "Are you finally done with the Messenger, Edvard?" After seeing his brother returning, the one with the scythe asked, and the young man, Edvard nodded his head. The person with the double Double-ded Scimitar as his weaponughed loudly as he said, "You didn''t have to ask him that, Edvin. We all know he''ll only leave his victims after taunting them with nonsensical questions. Always trying to look cool..." Hearing this, Edvard''s mood grew nastier, his eyes seemed to be able to shoot sharp swords as he growled, "Why don''t you mind your own business, Eirik?" The young man with the double ded Scimitar, Eirik, red at Edvard in response, and with a disdainful expression, the young man stepped forward and pointed at him as he yelled, "What did you say to me, you delusional prick? Why don''t you try saying it one more time? I dare you!" Edvard''s cold eyes stared at his brother''s face as he stepped closer to him, and he spoke out, "I''ll say whatever I want. So, why don''t you mind your own business, Eirik?" Eirik''s face hardened and he couldn''t help but scowl, "You dumb piece of-" "Enough!" p! Right then, Edvin walked forward and stood in the middle of his two brothers, and politely spoke to the both of them, "This isn''t the ce nor time to fight among ourselves. You can both do that once we get home, but right now, would you both please get it together?" Edvin was neither servile nor overbearing, but he did sound a bit disappointed. The two brothers looked at each other for a second before reluctantly nodding their heads. ******************* The disciples soon left the Second Elder''s residence after the meeting ended. Senior Beldon walked out of the room with ude and down the path towards the training grounds. "What do you think about the Second Elder''s words, Senior Beldon?" ude asked his senior, Wilfred Beldon as they walked.It seemed that ude was interested in what his senior thought about the deration given by their master, the Second Elder. "It doesn''t matter what I think, does it, ude? It''s not like we have a choice. Like it or not, we are definitely part of the academy, and if the Royal Family is nning on taking us down, then they''ll probably want to make sure that they don''t leave any loose ends," Senior Beldon responded with a smile. "That may be the case. However, to me, it just sounds like you do not wish to talk about your opinion, and your making up excuses in order to not do so; Good excuses, but excuses nevertheless." ude replied and Senior Beldon turned to look at face for a few seconds, before letting out a heavy sigh. "Although I do believe that a fight with the Royals is inevitable, I do not think that we''re in a rough position as the Second Elder described it to be. While I do think that the Royal Family might be nning on shutting us down, I don''t think they''ll do it in a direct way. After all, the public perception of the Royal Family, although nowhere near the infamy they were receiving just a few years ago, is still pretty bad overall." Senior Beldon looked back at ude once again before continuing, "But the reformation movement is more powerful than ever, and consists of multiple Elders and other faculty members of the academies, so an indirect fight would still be out of the question without it opening up to the foreground eventually." "But if that''s the case...." ude faced Senior Beldon with a strange expression and said, "Doesn''t that put the Royal Family in a tough spot? What''s their game n?" Senior Beldon nodded his head, "You''re right, it does put them in a tough spot. Unless.. they canpletely remove the obstacle, the Reformation Movement, that''s standing in front of them." "-What?!" "Do you mean the Royals might be turning the Reformers to their side?" ude asked as he was forced to take a step back. "How is that possible? Aren''t the existence of Royals the very reason the Reformation Movement started? How on earth would the Royals be able to turn people with such convictions?" "That I do not know," Senior Beldon smiled helplessly, and said, "But I do know that conviction isn''t the only thing that motivates these people. The removal of Royals leaves a position of power vacant, which might be what motivated some of these members to join the reformation movement." ude could barely ovee the tension and spoke, "So what you''re saying is the war might''ve already started, but we just don''t know it yet?" "Correct." Senior Beldon looked at him with a satisfied expression. "And if we do not even know it has started, then we''re already losing." "So, why didn''t senior exin this to the Second Elder?" "First of all, this is simply a theory. I do not have any proof. And second, having this information doesn''t change the Second Elder''s ns at all. It just adds a bit more enemies. And third, if there is something that the Royals are using to turn the reformers, how influential would the thing they''re offering be? Would it only turn some, or would it change everyone''s minds?" One question was resolved for ude, but another question popped up in his mind. "Is senior implying that there''s a possibility that what they''re offering might even change our minds?" "Would you be open to that?" Senior Beldon stopped walking and turned around to face ude. "Would you be open to supporting a corrupt monarchy if what they''re offering might be more influential and more important than the Reformation Movement?" Silence. "What do you mean by that, Senior Beldon?" ude uttered. "Are you asking me if I would betray our master?" "A hypothetical question, but yes. That is exactly what I''m asking," Senior Beldon asked, and a horrible chill tickled the back of ude''s neck, different from anything he had felt before. "Would you, ude Rayforth, betray your master if necessary?" There was silence once again. ude stared at Senior Beldon with a nk face, while the senior had an innocent expression, like he always does. But ude knew. He knew that this time, it was different. ''This was a crossroad.'' His life would change depending on what his answer is. ...So what was it going to be? "If it''s necessary," After a period of silence which was both long and short, ude spoke up, "Then I might." ".... I see," Senior Beldon, who was watching him quietly, nodded with a grateful expression. "Good to know, junior brother ude Good to know." Chapter 60: A Deal Chapter 60: A Deal It had been a week since the meeting with the Second Elder and his talk with Senior Beldon. As always, ude Rayforth was practicing in his courtyard, trying to improve his cultivation techniques and skills. "Pant...! Pant...!" ude heaved as his hands moved with the grace of a ballerina, swinging his Katana in an elegant manner, almost as if he was dancing. When he first started cultivating the Sunrise Sword Technique, he couldn''t even use it for a long time, as it would''ve drained his spiritual energy in a short amount of time. He couldn''t even use the technique twice in the same day.But he used the knowledge he had and figured out what he needed to do in order for him to be able to maintain this technique for long periods of time. He studied his technique and the way his body moved in order to reduce unwanted movements, and to conserve as much energy as he could. He practiced cultivating this technique every day, and now, his body, which he had trained systematically for a whole week, was already showing lots of progress. Whoosh! With a light breeze, ude stepped forward, and then his figure moved. Swish! He swung his Katana, and a raging wind gusted by, followed by an iparably tyrannical aura sting out from the strike. The de strike manifested in the air visibly and instantly enveloped the sky before transforming into a stream of resplendent light as it struck the ground. BOOM! An explosive sound thundered out, as the ground shook violently, torn apart once again by ude''s attacks. ''With this It''ll be the fourth time of the day!'' As soon as hepleted his 4th continuous usage of the Sunrise Sword Technique, ude kneeled on the ground instantly. ude looked at his hands, and realized that they were trembling. "Would you, ude Rayforth, betray your master if necessary?" As he sat on the ground, exhausted by the amount of training that he had done, ude suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Senior Beldon. "Why?" "Huh?" As Senior Beldon looked at him with a confused expression, ude hesitated slightly before asking. "Why did you ask me that question? Why me? What was your reason for asking me?" "..." Senior Beldon''s expression turned nk for a second as he listened to ude''s words, before nodding his head. "I see. You sure you want to know?" "... Why? Is the reason something absurd?" ude asked like it was ridiculous, but Senior Beldon shook his head with a little smile. "No, no.. it''s nothing absurd. It''s just unremarkable." "Then yes. I do wish to know what your reason was for asking me that question." "Alright," Senior Beldon nodded his head and continued. "It''s because you reminded me of myself." "Huh? What do you mean?" ude looked at him with a confused expression once again. "It is as I said. You reminded me of myself. Someone simr. Someone who thinks more than usual. Someone more analytical. Someone who is careful." "And that''s it? That''s your reason?" ude asked, his eyes filled with surprise and suspicion as he stared at Senior Beldon, who smiled brightly and continued, "Probably a bit uncharacteristic of me, but I felt as though I had to look after you. Since we''re simr. I don''t know how to exin it properly, but I feel as though we''re connected by fate." "So it''s just a feeling," ude replied, and Senior Beldon shrugged his shoulders in response. "You can call it whatever you like. But I do think I did the right thing by asking you that question. I knew you would''ve answered it the same as me." "And what if I didn''t?" ude asked, staring at his Senior''s face. An amused expression appeared on Senior Beldon''s face for a brief second before he smiled. "Then I wouldn''t have asked!" ''Simr to him, huh....'' ude stood up from the ground, and looked at his trembling hands. He didn''t know what Senior Beldon was going to do with his answer, he didn''t feel anxious for some reason. ''Perhaps...'' ude''s face brightened as he clenched his hands tightly. ''Fate did he call it?'' ude wasn''t someone who believed in God, for the god he was taught to believe in was righteous and kind. Not one who tortures his creations. But he did believe in the devil. Why did he get reincarnated? For what purpose was he given a second chance? ude didn''t know. But he did know that it wasn''t an act of kindness. "Fine, I''ll y along with fate if that''s what the devil wishes for," ude turned his gaze towards the skies, his eyes bloodshot as he continued. "But don''t expect me to kneel in front of you! I''ll y along, but I''ll do it my way!" ***************** About a hundred years ago, the country of Capenea was andmark for civilization that was on its way to be the cultural and economical centre of the world. For a while, it held onto the title of the richest, proudest, most supercilious country in the martial world, and was under the rule of us Alim Bartholin, Emperor of the Great Nordian Empire. However, everything changed after the Shadow gue, a pandemic brought to the Capenea by warrior units who were returning from campaigns in the North, wiping out arge proportion of the empire''s poption and iming the life of the Emperor as well, devastating the Royal Army and leaving the country in ruins. Since that unfortunate incident, Capenea was never able to return to its glorious days of the forgotten era. It took them almost a century to get the country back on its feet. However, it seemed the gods weren''t too fond of the Capeneans, for another misfortune awaited them. BOOM! The Capenean soldiers were desperately trying to defend against the Thionian army, but it seemed to be futile. Hundreds of cultivators erupted forth, attacking at the same instant, theirbined might exploding out in all directions and causing a swathe of grand destruction, as the Capenean buildings began to fall. "Get to safety! Don''t forget to protect the civilians! " An expert from the Capenean Army, General Hans Harrington yelled out to his troops, who were falling back frantically. He then rushed towards a wall of debris, hiding behind it as he studied the Thionian Army. ''Goddammit! We''re getting annihted here!'' As he stared at the Thionian army who were pushing forward, butchering the Capenean forces as if it was nothing, his countenance turned incredibly unsightly. He then focused his gaze on the centre of the Thionian forces, on a man who was calmly moving forward along with the Thionian soldiers, and yet not making any moves at all. But it wasn''t because he was weak. General Hans Harrington knew that he couldn''t underestimate this man, who''s eyes emanated a terrifying aura that was beyond anything that he''s ever seen. "Gilbert Gottfried!" The cold tone of his voice contained a terrifyingly sharp killing intent, his aura ring up in anger. The man who''s responsible for this attack! The General waspletely enraged and his eyes shed with a baleful malevolence as he spoke, "I promise you, Gilbert Gottfried that you''ll die under my han- Boom! Before the General could finish speaking his words, Gilbert Gottfried took a step forth, and in an instant, a surge of bone-chilling cold killing intent permeated this entire area, causing the Capenean soldiers to feel terror in the depths of their souls. "Are you just going to hide there?" Gilbert Gottfried''s ice-cold voice erupted forth, pressing towards the debris behind which General Hans Harrington was hiding. "Did he hear me? Impossible.." General Hans Harrington''s countenance turned incredibly unsightly to behold, his face alternating between shades of green and white. "Why are you noting out? I thought you wanted to kill me? Or are you just all talk?" Gilbert Gottfried''s eyes shone with coldness, and he continued to stare at the fallen debris. ''He did hear me!'' General Hans Harrington felt his heart trembling. How can this be? How was this possible? I was so sure that no one would hear me! How on earth did he hear my voice? Countless questions flowed to his mind, but he couldn''t find any answers. "As you wish," Letting out a heavy sigh, General Hans Harrington slowly appeared from behind the fallen debris, and faced Gottfried. Hup! As soon as he revealed himself, dozens of Thionian soldiers stood in front of Gottfried and pointed their hands straight at General Hans! "Stay back!" Gilbert Gottfried clicked his tongue and spoke with a dissatisfied expression, and the soldiers immediately moved back. Gottfried then looked at the General, and with a satisfied smile, he spoke, "Do you wish to kill me, warrior?" What? "I do. But why are you asking me that?" General Hans Harrington, after a moment, asked in confusion. Gottfried nced at him as he smiled, "Oh, that''s simple. Because I can offer you a deal." "A deal?" "That''s right," Gottfried stared at the General, the coldness in his tone so icy that it could pierce the bones. "An offer to fight me; one on one!" Chapter 61: Too Fast Chapter 61: Too Fast "An offer to fight me; one on one!" General Hans Harrington could feel the arrogance in Gilbert Gottfried''s tone. "A one on one fight? With you?" the General stared at Gilbert Gottfried as he asked. "That''s right! I''m asking you to fight with me in a one on one match. If you win, my army will leave your country alone, stopping the conquest," Gilbert Gottfried icily stated. The General stepped out and a surge of violent spiritual aura abruptly flowed in Gottfried''s direction. His eyes were akin to the edges of sharp des and overflowing with killing intent, riveting upon Gilbert Gottfried as he stated coldly, "And if I lose?" Gilbert Gottfried''s expression turned iparably malevolent, shifting his gaze onto the General as he replied with a smile, "Then you die alongside everyone else! My army will destroy everything that your country has built, and in the end, nothing shall remain!" He said it so calmly, and yet his calm words caused the hearts of the Capenean soldiers to pound violently. Whoosh! A cold wind whistled through the air, and everyone''s eyes werepletely focused on General Hans Harrington, who''s eyes shed coldly. An offer? To save my country? Honestly, the General wanted tough at Gilbert Gottfried''s words. He knew about the history of his country. He knew how much of an influential past his ancestors had, their control spanning over countless territories, and how the rulers ofrge countries and emperors of ancient empires treated them with respect. The fate of such a glorious and influential country now rested in his hands. As a part of a simple offer. How could he not find that hrious? But he couldn''tugh. He couldn''t find the urge tough. ''I wonder how our ancestors would react to the state of our country?'' General Hans Harrington let out a hollowugh. Over the years, he had seen many arrogant men, but there wasn''t anyone who dared to be so brazen in front of him. The majority would at least try to speak politely in respect to his county''s past. But today, this person was actually treating his country like a bargaining chip. This wasn''t merely just not giving him face, but rather a harsh p on the face. It was simply too humiliating! With his pride, how could the General even think of enduring this? You want a fight? Then I''ll give you a fight! "Fine! I''ll take you up on your offer," General Hans Harrington icily spat. Step! The guards surrounding Gilbert Gottfried took a few steps forward when they saw that, causing Gottfried to furrow his eyebrows. "Are you thinking of disobeying me! Stand back immediately!," Gottfried imperiouslymanded, and the soldiers, sensing the killing intent of their master pressing down on them, immediately fell back in response. "So, are you ready?" Gilbert Gottfried stepped out and looked at General Harrington with a calm and carefree expression before coldly stating, "Make your move!" Boom! Before the sound of his voice even faded, General Hans Harrington had already rushed towards his opponent, as countless sword beams whistled through the air, instantly enveloping everything. One could clearly feel a terrible destructive pressure emanating from them, as they shot towards Gottfried, who still had a calm expression on his face. "Is this all you have to offer? You better step up your game and take this seriously. The fate of your country rests in your hands!" Gilbert Gottfried''s eyes were narrowed as he calmly spoke, and his tone didn''t have any fluctuations to it as he raised his right hand. Whoosh! A blinding light exploded from his hands, as an iparably terrifying gigantic axe containing boundless might appeared out of thin air. "If you think that''s going to be enough, then I''m afraid you aren''t worthy enough to be my opponent!" Gilbert Gottfried''s voice resounded through the skies, and as soon as his voice faded, a strong wind arose as the skies turned bright red, and a destructive pressure enveloped the entire area. BOOM! Gottfried''s figure moved with blinding speed, heading towards the General, facing the de lights head on! "Don''t even think I''m going easy on you!" General Hans Harrington howled as he sted his hands out, and the palm strike swept forward as it expanded, sting towards the fast approaching Gilbert Gottfried. "Is this all that you can muster? Pathetic! Looks like I have to show you what real power looks like!" Gottfried spoke with cold arrogance, his eyes flickering with an iparable sharpness. Swish! The giant axe in his hands shed forward like a streak of lightning as terrifying spatial fluctuations rocked the surroundings, and General Hans Harrington felt his entire body shivering from a chill in his heart and his countenance turned pale. BOOM! A terrifying whirlpool of runic light radiated from the axe, and shot through the air with annihtive force as a monumental pressure descended on the General. BLAST! The beam of light collided with the de lights and the palm strike, as the light permeated everything, eating away General Harrington''s attacks and continued sting forward. "NO!" General Hans Harrington''s eyes turned red and he roared in terror, but he was unable to do anything. BOOM! With a cataclysmic explosion, the beam of light mmed down on the General with no mercy, sting through his defenses as if it was nothing special, and his eyes filled with nothing but despair. "I can''t lose!" General Harrington''s expression was iparably wretched, his face was painted with reluctance as his life faded away. "Nobody wants to lose. Unfortunately for you, you weren''t strong enough." Gottfried emotionlessly spoke, as he looked at the corpse of General Hans Harrington with disdain. "Commander Helvig," Gilbert Gottfried waved his hands and a momentter, a ck clothed figure appeared next to him. "Yes, your majesty?" "My opponent lost. You know what to do," Gottfried spoke coldly, and cast a deep nce at his Commander. "Of course your majesty. I''ll continue with the conquest, so you can take a rest. Trust me," Commander Helvig smiled, as he replied. "When I''m done, there''ll be nothing left of this country to even remember!" ******************************** Inside the Royal Pce. A silhouette stood before a pavilion. He stood there quietly, yet he exuded an unexcelled and exceptional presence. "Prince Bancroft!" All of a sudden, a voice drifted over, as a person wearing ck clothes arrived, and upon seeing Prince ke Bancroft standing before him, he instantly knelt down. "Your Majesty, we have received the message from the informant in Copenea!" "And? What information did the informant send us?" The Prince turned his head and stared at the person who was kneeling and asked in a gentle voice. The person''s eyes shed with a trace of reluctance before he spoke in a low voice, "The message states that the Gottfried''s Army has already conquered Copenea and is moving on to their next target. I''m afraid they''re moving faster than we initially predicted, your majesty!" What? Right now, Prince ke Bancroft appeared to be calmly standing in front of the messenger, but his heart was filled with boundless shock. "Are you sure that the information is true? Did you check to see if there were any mishaps?" The Prince asked in a faint voice, and the messenger shook his head. "We checked the message thoroughly, Prince. We always do. We had it inspected by countless people as well. I can assure you, there was no mishap!" "... I see," The Prince nodded his head, trying to regain his calmness. But he knew that time was ticking away, faster than he could even imagine. ''It seems as though moving up the coronation ceremony and the information dump was a good decision..'' ording to the earlier ns, the coronation and the information dump about the King and the Queen was supposed to have had at least a one month interval between them. However, the Prince and his advisors had pushed for the dates to be moved earlier, in order topensate for any miscalctions. Now that his decision had paid off, the Prince was d that he had pushed for the dates to be moved, but he still couldn''t believe that Gottfried was moving so quickly. This was putting a lot of pressure on him. "Did you inform the Royal Council about this?" The Prince asked after a brief period of silence. "No, not yet your majesty. I wanted to let you know first and was nning on informing them afterwards," the messenger shook his head as he spoke, and the Prince nodded. "That''s good. Inform them after you leave this ce. I want them to know that we''re on a deadline here, and we''re losing time as we speak!" The Princemanded and the messenger nodded furiously. "You can leave now!" The messenger immediately left his room, leaving Prince alone once again. Sigh.. The Prince let out a heavy sigh as he looked outside from the balcony. ''I need to make sure nothing unexpected happens or else the whole of Argria might be in danger!'' Chapter 62: Trustworthy Individuals Chapter 62: Trustworthy Individuals Inside the Royal Pce. Prince ke Bancroft was on his chair, sitting inside his room. In front of him, on his desk, were two detailed reports with information about the invasion of Gottfried''s Army onto Copenea. The Prince had two separate informants working for him to snuggle out information, so as to make sure that there aren''t any errors in the reports. Of course, the informants were''t aware of each other''s existence. ''I know we already made preparations specifically for this, but I just can''t believe it''s really happening..'' The Prince frowned as he looked at the two reports. A massacre. That''s how the reports described the attack of Gilbert Gottfried and his army. There wasn''t anything the Capenean soldiers could do to defend against them, and as such, a country that was known for its rich history and background was no more. It''s existencepletely erased and reduced to dust. It was shocking and terrifying. It brought out a lot of emotions from the Prince. ''That could''ve been us. That could''ve been Argria.'' It was a disgusting and bitter realization, but they were powerless to do anything. They weren''t strong enough to stop Gottfried and his men. So their only hope was to get on his good side, in hopes that he will spare them. ''We''re lucky that we can live for now.'' The Prince still wished to wipe out the current academies if he could rebuild it from scratch while havingplete control over them, as it was much more straightforward. But with Gilbert Gottfried and his army fast approaching, it was simply too dangerous and risky to cut down the academies. ''For all their talk about saving the people, they sure went against their beliefs easily.'' The Prince had received information from General Ivan that the reformer group from the Trinity Academy had agreed to cooperate with the Royal Family in order to ''protect Argria and its citizens,'' and anyone who were in disagreement with these members would be dealt with immediately. ''What a bunch of nonsense. They will go off the limit for their own safety.'' The Prince gritted his teeth as he read through the report. He thought that most of these so called ''reformers'' would have at least rejected the cooperation at first, but it appeared that a majority of these members were only in it because the sess of the reformation movement would result in higher position for those that took part in it. In other words, they were a part of it purely because of their greed for power. Of course, there were those who wished to wipe out the Royal Family as it was hindering the growth of the nation and the academies. But these opinions were only voiced by the minority. It was the majority of these members, even though they knew how it went against the ideology of the reformation movement, who decided to join hands with their enemies. ''I''ll deal with themter, but now is not the time.'' The Prince knew that keeping these people who weren''t reliable on his side for too long wasn''t a good idea. And so, he decided to use these people to deal with the internal problems within the academies and if the Royal Family is sessful with their ns and became strong enough that he no longer needed these people ''I will end them then!'' As the Prince was thinking about his future ns, someone knocked on the door to his room and he turned his head. "Prince. It is time for the coronation!" The voice of Minister Burne was heard through the door, and the Prince smiled bitterly. "Oh already?" he replied as he got up from his chair, and walked towards the door. ''It''s finally starting huh.'' ********************* Inside the Inner Hall Division. The Training Grounds. The Night before the Coronation. ude Rayforth was standing inside of one of the closed training ground sectors. The training grounds were only avable to the inner disciples who had reached sky realm, which was why it took ude so long to find a training sector. He had Senior Beldon authorize entry into the training grounds and added his name to the registry right after the Second Elder''s meeting, so that he could get started right away. He had been training in his courtyard for quite a while now, and the servants were having a hard time cleaning up the mess and refilling the ground that was destroyed by his attacks. It was time for him to move on to the training grounds, which was the designated area for Inner disciples to go all out. The training ground sector was a lot bigger than the courtyard that ude had been using to train. ''I asked for a lot of space, and sure enough, they did give me a lot.'' The training ground sector was prepared ording to ude''s wishes. It was designed specifically for him. ''I can practice here all I want, without worrying about destruction.'' ude didn''t waste any time and started training right away. The first thing he did was practice all of his cultivation techniques that he had learned. Swoosh! He first practiced the Invisible Sword Technique,bined with the floating footsteps technique. Swish! He then followed it up with cultivating the Pure Iron Technique, which was the body strengthening technique, to properly strengthen his muscles, and then he practiced with the astral wing des. Whoosh! Next came the Beau Paradis Technique, which was now a bit more easy thanks to ude breaking through to the Sky Realm. It would''ve been a lot difficult for him to utilize the technique had he been stuck in the Earth Realm. sh! And then, finally, he trained using the Sunrise Sword Technique, as he summoned his katana and practiced. The day went by quickly, but ude was still in his training ground sector, practicing his techniques and trying to push his limits. Cold air brought steam over his breaths. "You know, you shouldn''t train so hard. You need to rest as well,"He then heard a voice and ude stopped his practice, and the training ground went silent at once. It was Senior Beldon, who was standing next to the doorway. It seems he had been observing ude, which made him furrow his eyebrows. "I''ve gotten used to it. And I have to push myself. It''s necessary, in order to move forward." ude turned back and spoke quietly, and Senior Beldon began slowly walking towards him. "I remember telling you that we''re simr, but I''d say we''re pretty different when ites to training." He spoke softly. However, even though he was whispering, his voice wasced with spiritual energy that spread through the training ground, which showed Senior Beldon''s sheer power. He wasn''t a nobody. "Surely Senior didn''t juste here to talk about howzy you are..." "Hah.... A sense of humour. That''s new!" Senior Beldon chuckled for a few seconds and then shook his head. "I came here to tell you about tomorrow." "The coronation?" "That''s right, tomorrow is the day of the Prince''s coronation. We have to reach Josenheim before the coronation takes ce, so don''t forget to sleep early. Oh, and ude!" Senior Beldon looked at ude for a second, before continuing, "Be careful tomorrow." ude''s eyes grewrge and turned to Senior Beldon, who simply walked away. ******************* The faculty building, inside the Headmaster''s Office. The Headmaster was walking back and forth, an ugly expression covering his face as he walked. "Headmaster!" A voice was heard from the other side of the door, and the Headmaster replied, "You cane in, Baron!" ck! The door opened, and the Second Elder walked in with a panicked expression on his face. "It''s Carlos, Baron.." although reluctant, the Headmaster spoke slowly, "It seems that Carlos is missing.." "Are you sure, Headmaster?" The Second Elder asked seriously and the Headmaster shook his head with a sigh. "I am, Baron. It appears that someone got to him before he could reach the meeting ce in Canteburne City. I''m positive that he''s been killed." "This is bad," the Second Elder gritted his teeth as he spoke. "Who else knew about Carlos?" "No one except his crew, us, and the Trinity Academy reformers!" The Headmaster bit his lips in anger and continued, "Who do you think betrayed us, Baron? Who was the good for nothing who thought it''d be a good idea to make enemies of us?" The Second Elder looked at the Headmaster with a bitter smile. "I''m afraid I do not have an answer to that, Headmaster. But we can''t trust the Trinity Academy reformers anymore." "You''re right Baron," the Headmaster nodded his head as he sat down on his chair and took a sip out of his coffee, dissatisfied. "But if we can''t trust the Trinity Academy reformers, then who do you think is trustworthy?" The Second Elder moved to the window and looked outside as he spoke, "Headmaster I think right now, we can only trust each other." Chapter 63: All Hail Chapter 63: All Hail In the city of Josenheim, today was already destined to be bustling with people, as it was supposed to be the day of the coronation of their new ruler, Prince ke Bancroft. Many people didn''t even sleep as they waited with anticipation for the arrival of the new king, while others were a bit more skeptical, but couldn''t say anything. Before the sun even rose, Josenheim had already started to fill with people, and after a while the entire city was flooded as though everyone in the country had turned up for the coronation ceremony. The citizens of Argria were familiar with the grand and outstanding celebrations of the Royal Family, but they usually weren''t too thrilled about the Monarchy to be in the mood for celebrations. However, today, they were celebrating a glory of a different type; the dawn of a new era. And most of the citizens were extremely weing of the change. Vibrant red carpets paved the walkways of the city, and ornaments were hanging from every tree nearby. The roadsides were filled with flowers of various colors for a distinctive vor. These were the voluntary efforts of the citizens. By now, Prince ke Bancroft''s name had already spread all across the country, and almost everyone knew about the new ruler of Argria. At this moment, inside the Royal Castle in Josenheim. The members of the Royal Council sat around a table inside one of the giant halls of the castle. "Hah, atst... it''s all finallying to an end. I''ll tell you what, I really didn''t think we would pull it off. Especially after the whole scandal with Hannibal and Isabelle. I thought we were done after that. It was a miracle that we were able to find ke. That''s when everything changed." Minister Staffordughed while staring at the rest of the council. "Honestly, I don''t think this n would''ve worked without ke." "You know what? For once, I actually agree with you, Stafford." Minister Copp smiled as Minister Stafford chuckled in response, nodding his head in satisfaction. "Ha! You hear that folks? He said he actually agrees with me! You all heard it, alright? So don''t tell meter that you never heard him say that, you hear me?" "And now I regret telling you that!" Minister Copp shook his head with a sigh and the Royal Council erupted withughter, echoing through the air. "Well, I for one am d that we''re still in power. Who knows what could''ve happened had we let Hannibal and Isabelle continue with their tyrannical rule." Minister Egerton smiled and shook his head. "Hmph, those buffoons..." Another Minister, Minister Corlonspoke coldly when the words ''Hannibal and Isabelle'' were spoken, as the cold light of a killing intent shed in his eyes. "It''s all because we gave them too much freedom. They actually dared to go against us, thinking that they could rule however they wished. Look where that got them. Pathetic pests!" "Calm down Carlon. I get that you''re angry, but be d. It''s all over now. Those morons are locked up, and will never see the light of day again, and the public''s perception of the Monarchy is slowly shifting. It''s all going well," Minister Berbatov, who was humored by Minister Carlon''s response, let out a short chuckle. "Is it really over?" A voice suddenly interrupted, causing the entire hall to turn silent. When the gazes of the Ministers shot in the direction of the voice, they soon discovered that it was Minister Shaw who spoke. "What do you mean Minister Shaw?" The Ministers frowned. "It''s exactly like I said, my fellow council members. I asked, is it over? Although we have sessfully eliminated the reckless King and Queen from their positions, we''re still not sure that we haveplete control over the Prince. Am I not right?" Minister Shaw stated calmly, and his words caused the countenances of the other Ministers to turn extremely unsightly. "But the Prince knows that he''s only in the position that he is because of us. And plus, he''s a cautious person who was raised by peasants. I''m pretty sure he''d be too wary to do anything to make an enemy out of us." One of the ministers interjected, and Minister Shaw shook his head. "Do not take the Prince''s behaviour for granted, Minister Jones. Let''s not forget, thest time we let a ruler do whatever they wanted, we almost lost the power from our hands." The countenances of the other Ministers were all exceedingly ugly to behold, but they had to agree that Minister Shaw was making a good point. They didn''t want another repeat of the same fiasco yet again. "And unlike the King and the Queen, who were morons who got too addicted to power, the Prince might be a legitimate threat to us if we let him do whatever he wants. He''s extremely intelligent, which is one of the reasons everything is moving so smoothly for us right now. However, it wouldn''t be nearly as fun if we''re on the other side, would it? Which is why we need to have a leash on him. He''s dangerous, Ministers. He''s the real deal." Minister Shaw''s eyes swept through the council, staring at them and the expressions of the Ministers turned even more unsightly because of it. "If I may interject" Minister Burne spoke, and the entire atmosphere turned heavy as the gazes of the ministers were fixated on him. "I agree that we need to make sure that the Prince stays in check and he knows his boundaries. But I''m afraid we''re currently not in a position to be making such risky moves. Right now, it''s all in the hands of the Prince, and any moves we make against him will only end up pping us in the face. And we also have another problem to deal with; Gilbert Gottfried. Both of these problems require the Prince to work in our favor. So although I understand what you are saying, Minister Shaw, I''m afraid now is not the time for this discussion." "Ha ha.. very well. If that''s how you want to handle this problem, then I''ll leave it alone for now. But don''t say I didn''t warn you earlier, alright?" Minister Shaw sneered, and heid back on his chair. Soon, the topic of the discussion shifted to something else, but the council members knew; the Prince was a problem. ********************* Riderstone road, a few miles away from Josenheim. Quite a number of vigorous-looking horses were pulling multiple carriages that were decorated with the symbols of Golden Avarice Academy on its sides. The carriages looked like they were heading towards Josenheim, most probably to attend the coronation of the new King of Argria, ke Bancroft. Inside one of the carriages were ude Rayforth and the rest of the juniors of the Flying Sword Faction. "What do you think about Argria getting a new ruler, ude?" Hugh Kenton, who was sitting next to ude, asked him with an exciting face. "What does it matter what I think of the new ruler, Hugh? It won''t change anything." ude replied calmly, and Missy Newman, one of the juniors, clicked her tongue, clearly dissatisfied with ude''s answer. "Ohe on, just say that you don''t want to give us your opinion," She pouted, and Hugh let out a chuckle in response. "Come on ude, we aren''t going to judge you. Just say what you think about the whole incident," Miller Baldwin, who was sitting opposite to ude, spoke enthusiastically. It seemed that he really wanted to know what ude thought about the abrupt ending to the era of King Hannibal and Queen Isabelle. "I just don''t think that a change in position doesn''t exactly mean hope for a country," After a brief silence, ude finally spoke, voicing his opinion about the incident. "Oh? And may I ask why do you say that? Is it because the academy is against the Monarchy?" Hugh asked curiously, and ude let out a heavy sigh. "Because that''s how it is," ude replied. "I don''t even know who Prince ke Bancroft is. Most people don''t. So, why on earth is people so excited about him taking the throne? It''s only because they hate the King and the Queen right? Which is fair, except it doesn''t exactly make the situation hopeful. Just neutral. And yet people look at it as hope for a better rule, which is just naive." "What if there was a reason for hope?" All of a sudden, a voice drifted over from outside the carriage, and the juniors looked outside, through the window. "Senior Beldon!" Missy Newman eximed loudly. Wilfred Beldon was riding a horse, moving alongside the juniors'' carriage while keeping a safe distance. He smiled at his juniors, and nced at ude as he asked his question again, "What if there was a reason for the hope?" "If there was a reason?" ude thought about it for a few seconds before answering, "Then all hail King ke Bancroft, I guess.." Chapter 64: Time To Get Serious Chapter 64: Time To Get Serious Inside another carriage. "Headmaster, what exactly do you think the enemy''s n is?" The Second Elder asked, his expression turned serious. The Headmaster of Golden Avarice Academy, who was sitting opposite to him inside the carriage shook his head, "I''m guessing they wouldn''t try to attack in a straightforward manner. They would most likely use the divide and conquer technique. And they certainly wouldn''t want the conflict to turn into a big deal, as they''re trying to build up a good reputation for the new ruler." "What do you think about the Third Elder?" The Second Elder nced out of the carriage for a second asking his question, making sure that his voice wasn''t being heard. "I do not trust him one bit, but I do not think he''s the sort of person who''ll dirty his hands willingly," the Headmaster responded with a bitter smile. "He''s someone who''ll most probably ignore the issue and let someone else deal with it instead of doing it himself. He''s simply a poster child. Nothing more." "I thought so as well. Knowing him, he''ll most likely assign someone else to deal with his problems," the Second Elder said with a disgusting expression. "But regardless of what we feel, we should still keep an eye on his behaviour. Perhaps we may be able to-" "Stop the carriage!" Before the Second Elder could finish his words, he was interrupted by the Headmaster who yelled out all of a sudden, and the carriage immediately came to a halt. The Second Elder looked surprised for a second before his expression turned serious. It looked like he had realized what was going on as well. They slowly got out of the carriage and looked around. The area surrounding the carriage waspletely covered in a dense white fog. "The coachman" the Second Elder looked at the coachman on the carriage, who looked like athousand year old corpse. "He''s dead" It seemed like his life had been sucked away by something. What remained was just a shell of his body. "An Energy Replenishment technique?" The Headmaster and the Second Elder looked at each other, but couldn''t find any answers. This was a technique that waspletely unfamiliar to the two of them. They were dealing with an unpredictable enemy. This was serious. The fog began creeping closer as the eerie silence created a disturbing atmosphere, making the two experts frown in displeasure. "The Mystic Arts Technique.." the Headmaster murmured softly and the Second Elder nodded his head. "Are we dealing with a Middle Eastern Magician?" "Highly unlikely," the Headmaster responded as he began scanning the white fog, attempting to find the person responsible for the creation of the fog. He murmured, "But not entirely impossible.." "How on earth were we unable to detect this?" The Second Elder stared at his surroundings, scratching his head, wondering as to how they werepletely oblivious to this trap. "They were able topletely iste us from the rest of the carriages.." the Headmaster replied. "The person who is responsible for this trap must be someone who''s quite proficient in the mystic arts.. perhaps someone who might be as strong as the two of us" "I don''t remember the Royal Army having anyone who was able to cultivate the mystic arts and can also rival us in terms of cultivation.." The countenance of the Second Elder was sharp. "Perhaps our enemy is someone from outside the country?" "Most likely" the Headmaster coldly spoke. "More importantly, the students They might be in danger!" "Oh my, worrying about your students even at a time like this That''s very noble of you, Headmaster of Golden Avarice Academy!" At that moment, a voice rang out suddenly, echoing through the fog, and the Second Elder immediately shot forward into the mist, his hands glowing red. Whoosh! The Second Elder was so fast that even a cultivation expert would have had a hard time keeping up with his movement. The Second Elder stretched his arm and stabbed outwards, after which a fearsome torrent of destructive energy gushed forward and into the fog. BAM! The torrent of destructive energy collided with something in the fog and immediately permeated the entire area, manifesting a hurricane that ravaged this space. Everything happened in a millisecond, but such was the ability of a cultivation master. He was simply too powerful! "Dammit! I knew he was powerful, but isn''t this a bit too much?" As the result of the explosion, a figure was flung back, who cursed out loudly in response. The person who was flung back red at the Second Elder and eximed, "You''ll regret th-" Swoosh! Before he could finish his words, the Second Elder had already disappeared from his spot, and at that exact moment, the person immediately moved backwards, his eyes filled with terror. "Pathetic little insect!" The voice of the Second Elder was heard echoing within the fog, but he was nowhere to be seen. Boom! Right at that moment, a terrifying surge of destructive energy manifested in the form of a whirlpool right on top of the unknown figure, startling him. The energy was so powerful that it ckened the sky, causing it to shudder before erupting downwards with blinding speed. "I have to retreat!" The unknown figure, who felt his heart trembling, roared loudly before soaring into the air, trying to escape the attack. But unfortunately for him, his speed was slightly slower and was ensnared by the whirlpool of destruction, and as the destructive energy rushed into his body unceasingly, he let out a loud scream before disintegrating into ashes. He had died. The Second Elder''s figure appeared once more, standing next to the Headmaster as he looked at the remains of the unknown figure with loftiness in his eyes. "He wasn''t the person responsible for the mystic arts" the Second Elder frowned. Even though he had killed the unknown figure, the fog surrounding him hadn''t disappeared, which meant that the person who cast the mystic arts spell was still alive. "Even if you have the ability to catch us off guard, do you really intend to hide from us forever? Show yourself!" The Headmaster yelled out, frustration evident in his words. He wasn''t enjoying this; not one bit. "BOOM!" As soon as the sound of the Second Elder''s voice faded, a giant de light shot out from the fog, heading towards the Headmaster. "You think I''m an easy target? Think again!" The Headmaster coldly shouted and he positioned himself in a battle stance. ZAP! In an instant, a gigantic long spear appeared in the Headmaster''s hands and he lunged straight towards the de light. Zoom! A loud noise resounded through the skies as spiritual energy concentrated on the tip of the Headmaster''s spear, as he stabbed out with a crushing might. "BANG!" That terrifying long spear pierced out, directly colliding into the de light and creating a gigantic explosion as a result. The de light disintegrated into nothing. However, the Headmaster''s countenance turned ashen as he witnessed hundreds of the same de light shooting out from all directions, moving at lightning speed towards the two of them. "Baron!" The Headmaster yelled out as he moved backwards, and the Second Elder nodded his head as he did the same. "Still not showing yourself? Pathetic trash!" The Second Elder nced at the iing de lights and shouted loudly, the killing intent in his eyes apparent. "Focus on the attacks, Baron! He''s just a coward!" The Headmaster spoke coldly. Zoom! The long spear in his hands began vibrating fiercely, and boundless mes gathered around the spear as he spun it around, creating a wheel of mes! At the same time, the Second Elder raised his hands, and two long swords appeared in his palms, spiritual energy radiating from them, as thunderous noises echoed. BOOM! "Attack!" The Headmaster yelled out, and a gigantic wheel of mes shot out from the spinning spear, growingrger andrge in size, madly smashing against the countless de lights that wereing their way. At the same time, the Second Elder stepped forth and raised his swords high up in the air, as thunderous sounds echoed out, momentarily illuminating the skies before a iparably gigantic sword made out of pure energy burst out through the clouds and shot downwards, aiming towards the ground. BOOM! The countless de lights that were moving towards them disintegrated when meeting the terrifying gigantic sword that seemed impervious to damage. As the giant sword struck the earth, the de lights evaporated into the air, and the ground shook from the impact. Even if a mountain stood in itt way, the mountain would simply be smashed apart by the power of the sword. "Is it over?" The Second Elder''s heart pounded violently as he looked at the destroyed surroundings. The attack was simply too powerful, and even a highly trained expert wouldn''t have been in a critical condition after that attack. p! p! "Well, wasn''t that something?" As he was thinking that, a pping sound echoed out, followed by a calm voice, which made the two of them cautious and on high alert. From the fog emerged a young man, d in ck. His gaze shed with a faint coldness, and with a sinister smile on his face, he spoke. "But I''m afraid ytime''s over. Time to get serious!" Chapter 65: Dangerous Opponents Chapter 65: Dangerous Opponents The carriage carrying the juniors of the Flying Sword Faction zoomed through the dense forest roads. Senior Beldon, who was following along on a horse, furrowed his eyebrows as if he had sensed something. He then looked back, only to find the carriages which were supposed to be following them not at all visible, instead reced by a dense white fog that seemed to be inching closer and closer, keeping up with the pace of the carriages, much to his surprise. Whoosh! At this moment, a row of silhouettes whistled through the air, and Senior Beldon immediately shouted. "Enemies! Get down!" BAM! The carriage halted to a stop, and as soon as it did that, the white fog that was following immediately caught up to them, enveloping the area surrounding the carriage in a matter of seconds. "Ho, you actually noticed us? I''m surprised. Perhaps this might be an interesting mission after all," One of the figures descended from the skies, dressed in ck, exuding an extraordinary aura. "Who are you?" Senior Beldon stood in front of the carriage with his juniors, and asked. "Well, I''m not supposed to tell you this, but whatever! Where''s the fun in that, right?" The young manughed sinisterly as he continued, "The name''s Commander Rivaldo Dante, from the country of Barugh!" Thud! As soon as he finished speaking, the rest of the silhouettes descended from the sky at a high speed andnded with a loud noise, surrounding the carriage. There were at least a dozen men surrounding them, causing Senior Beldon to frown. "What is this? What is happening?" As this was going on, ude and the rest of the juniors were looking out through the window of the carriage. ude''s gaze was also on the scene in front of them, as a cold light shed within. "You''re acting so prestigious and high up, and yet you''re trying to sneak attack a carriage filled with children; despicable and shameless, wouldn''t you agree?" Senior Beldon nced at Rivaldo and spoke coldly, the light shimmering within his eyes was extremely cold. ''Kids, I''m afraid you''re going to have to run when I give the instruction!'' At the same time, Senior Beldon controlled his voice and whispered slowly to his juniors inside the carriage. "What?" The eyes of the juniors widened in surprise as they heard the words of Senior Beldon. "What do you mean by that, Senior? Are you telling us to abandon you?" Hugh, who had understood what his senior was asking him to do, whispered back in desperation. Thud! Before Senior Beldon could reply to his juniors, the expressions on the enemy''s faces all drastically changed, as one of the soldiers who was standing behind Rivaldo roared in rage,"You ant! You dare to disrespect the prestigious army of Barugh? Insolent fool!" "Stop!" Rivaldo raised his hands, motioning the soldier to close his mouth, and the soldier turned silent. A deep grin appeared on Rivaldo''s face as he spoke."He''s just trying to get us riled up. Isn''t that right, Mr?" "Beldon!" Senior Beldon spoke with a cold tone. "Senior Wilfred Beldon of the Flying Sword Faction!" "I didn''t expect you to answer my question," Rivaldo''s eyes gleamed with a crimson bloody glow as he spoke, and Senior Beldon shrugged his shoulders in response. "I like to make sure that my enemies have a good idea who put an end to their life!" Boom! As soon as he finished speaking, Senior Beldon shot forward, as resplendent rays of lightning madly shed about, bursting everywhere! "JUNIORS, RUN!" Senior Beldon shouted loudly, and right then, the doors of the carriage opened and the junior disciples rushed out and ran into the fog, disappearing from view. "Get rid of them!" Rivaldomanded, and some of the soldiers leapt out and followed the juniors'' trail, disappearing along with them. "AAAAHH!" Senior Beldon screamed loudly and he raised his hand high up in the air, as a giant hammer appeared. "Take this!" As the sound of hismand rang out, the hammer began shaking violently, exuding a cmitous aura as it swung down, aiming for Rivaldo. "It''s quite admirable how you sacrificed yourself for your juniors," Rivaldo calmly said as his silhouette flickered. "But unfortunately for you, my mission is to get rid of all the enemies of the Royal Family.. and that includes the disciples of the Second Elder!" Wham! In an instant, a powerful sword qi swept over the surroundings, and before Senior Beldon could strike Rivaldo, the sword qi permeated the air, infusing the atmosphere as it lunged towards Beldon. BOOM! The impact of that sword qi actually shattered the giant hammer in Beldon''s hands as the sword qi swept out containing a crushing might, mming against him and he was flung through the air, causing him to cough out blood. "You poor thing, you could''ve been a formidable addition to the Royal Army if you had chosen your sides wisely!" Rivaldo''s eyes turned sharp as he lunged towards the falling Beldon. "But you chose the wrong side!" "See, that''s where you''re wrong," Senior Beldon saw the fast approaching Rivaldo, but his eyes were incredibly calm as he spoke. "I didn''t choose the wrong side.." "What?" The eyes of Commander Rivaldo flickered, taken aback by his words. But before he could think any further, a bright light illuminated the surroundings, blinding him for a brief moment before vanishingpletely. "Stop, Rivaldo.." A voice drifted over to his ears and he opened his eyes, only to see a flying figure in front of him. "You''re!" ***************** p! p! "Well, wasn''t that something?" As he was thinking that, a pping sound echoed out, followed by a calm voice, which made the two of them cautious and on high alert. From the fog emerged a young man, d in ck. His gaze shed with a faint coldness, and with a sinister smile on his face, he spoke. "But I''m afraid ytime''s over. Time to get serious!" "Who the hell are you?" The Headmaster of the Golden Avarice Academy red at the man who appeared in front of them, and the Second Elder moved to the side of the Headmaster. "It''s not surprising that you don''t know me. Let''s just say I''m someone from outside the country," the man''s voice was emotionless as he spoke. "You can call me Arthur!" Whoosh! As soon as he spoke, his body began radiating boundless spiritual energy and it manifested in his palm as a longsword. "Baron, be careful. He''s extremely dangerous," the Headmaster inclined his head and stared at the Second Elder, who nodded his head. Zam! With the glowing longsword in his hands, Arthur abruptly shed out with an unsurpassable might, and the longsword vibrated fiercely in his hand before the sword light emerged, slicing forward and heading towards the Headmaster and the Second Elder. "Look out!" The Headmaster yelled out as his eyes flickered with terrifying killing intent, and the skies began rumbling all of a sudden before a golden light shot out through the clouds, heading towards the longsword that Arthur was holding. "Very good! But I don''t think that''s enough!" Arthur inclined his head and stared at the sky as the sword light was fast approaching the Headmaster. Boom! The golden light that emerged from the skies collided with the sword light, creating a gigantic explosion and a deafening sound. "Headmaster, look out!" The Second Elder yelled out, and the Headmaster widened his eyes. The longsword shot through the dust and smoke resulting from the explosion, heading towards the Headmaster at lightning speed. "Hah!" The Headmaster snorted and swung his hands as the long spear appeared in his hands, using it to defend against the attack. BAM! The collision resulted in the Headmaster being pushed back, and he gritted his teeth in response. "Oh? You defended against that? Impressive!" Arthur had a calm expression on his face as he spoke. It seemed like he wasn''t surprised at all. "Don''t underestimate us you fool!" The Second Elder screamed, already appearing right behind Arthur in the blink of an eye, as he swung his sword. "Apologies if I offended you.. but I can assure you that I''m really not underestimating you both, my friend!" Before the Second Elder''s sword connected with his neck, Arthur had already disappeared from the spot, catching the Second Elder off guard. ''What? He disappeared right in front of me? Impossible!'' Such an unexpected scene caused the Second Elder to bepletely dumbfounded. "Don''t be too surprised, my friend!" Arthur''s voice drifted into his ear and the Second Elder immediately turned around only to find his sword shing downwards, aiming at his skull! ng! Before the sword could strike the Second Elder, the Headmaster, who had appeared right next to him, swung his spear forward in an attempt to block the attack. Boom! The resulting explosion was massive, and pushed the three cultivators backwards. The Second Elder moved to the Headmaster''s side once again, but this time his countenance had turned unsightly. "Forgive me Headmaster, I was too careless!" "Now is not the time, Baron!" The Headmaster shook his head, and he pointed at their enemy, who looked disinterested. "We have to find a way to defeat him. He''s no normal opponent." "What do you have in mind?" The Second Elder looked at the Headmaster, who stared back at him with a bitter smile on his face. "I''m afraid I''m going to have to use THAT!" Chapter 66: Trickier Chapter 66: Trickier Golden Avarice Academy. One day Earlier. ude was in the middle of training. Right then, a voice drifted over to his ears, "Young master ude! I''ve returned!" ude turned around to see his servant Randall running towards him, and he got up from the ground and walked forward. "Young master ude! I have got what you asked for!" Randall''s smile was very radiant as he passed on the pile of bottles that he had brought with him to ude. The servant then turned his gaze onto his master, ude and spoke, "May I ask why do you need this, young master?" "Why? Do you really want to know? Are you just curious?" ude''s gaze was stuck on the bottles in his hands as he inspected them, and he replied without looking at Randall. "Or course not, young master. This servant wouldn''t dare be curious about his master''s businesses," Servant Randall immediately bowed his head as he spoke. "I''m asking just in case. You see, the medicinal drugs that you requested for seemed to bebelled highly dangerous and are quite possibly illegal. I just wanted to make sure that if you do somehow get involved with any trouble from the Royal Guards, I have something to help you out." "Oh? Thinking ahead, are you? That''s very clever, Randall.." ude smiled as he walked towards his living room, where a bowl of medicinal soup had already been ced, sat down next to it and drained it all in one gulp. "Of course, if I do get in trouble with the Royal Army, just let one of your underlings take the me. You''ll take care of that, won''t you.. Randall?" "Ah, yes.. Of course I will. Thank you for the rification, young master! Your servant understands!" Randall''s eyes twitched for a brief moment, and he nodded his head and walked back, leaving ude alone in his room, as he studied the medicinal drugs in front of him. He had bought bottles of Dymexine and Axerbjan from Edward the medicine shop owner, both of which were highly dangerous drugs. Ever since he had purchased the ''Happy'' drug from him, ude had been in touch with Edward, learning about the various kinds of drugs he sold for future use. That was how he had learned about Dymexine and Axerbjan. Dymexine was a group of nerve agents that were said to be created by a group of alchemists from the South, designed to inhibit the bodily functions of its victims, resulting inid paralysis of all the muscles in the body and rendering the person immobile for a limited period of time. Axerbjan on the other hand was an extremely toxic synthetic spiritualpound, created in the Middle East for usage in war, which works by blocking the function of the meridians, restricting the victim from using the spiritual energy thereby making them unable to cultivate, albeit for a short period of time. Both these drugs were something that Edward had been dying to get his hands on, but unfortunately, he didn''t have the necessary funds for it. And ude, who had recently received a massive amount of wealth, courtesy of the Second Elder''s kindness, decided to help Edward out in return for a few of the bottles. "Oh, did he include a letter as well?" As he was sorting through the bottles, ude came upon a note, and he opened it curiously. The note read; ''Keep in mind that the time limit of the drugs lessens the more cultivation rank the victim has.'' "So the effects may onlyst for less than a second for the highest of the cultivation levels?" ude widened his eyes in surprise. That was an extremely short window. But that doesn''t mean it wouldn''t work. One second is a short period of time, but to a cultivator, it could mean the difference between life and death. As he packed up the bottles, ude remembered the words spoken by Senior Beldon earlier. "Be careful, huh.." ude nodded his head as he took a look at the bottles once again. "Maybe I''ll end up using this sooner than I think!" ***************** Present Day. Inside the dense and thick fog, screams and cries of misery rang out unceasingly. ude, who moved with the speed of lightning, turned ashen, as he could clearly sense the lives of his fellow disciples getting reaped away by the enemies. They had been separated the moment they stepped into the fog, but ude didn''t stop for even a second and continued dashing. He knew that there wasn''t any hope for the rest of the juniors. They just weren''t as experienced as ude. And with what little cultivation he had, ude knew that he wasn''t a match for his enemies. So he''d only end up getting killed even if he tried to save his fellow disciples. ''Goddammit,'' ude cursed as his countenance turned incredibly unsightly. ''It looks like I''ll end up using the drugs soon..'' ude gritted his teeth. He didn''t wish for such a situation to happen. This wasn''t a fight. This was a hunt. And he sure as hell wasn''t the hunter. Wham! All of a sudden, ude felt an intense premonition of danger. "Where''s the enemy?" ude''s perception stretched to the limits, yet he still had no way to perceive the true location of his enemy. "I heard you were an interesting fellow, and it looks like the rumours were true! It looks like it''s time for us to finally meet, young man!" Abruptly, ude sensed a pair of eyes appearing in the fog behind him, causing him to feel cold all over, and he immediately turned around. "You!" ******************** BOOM! The resulting explosion was massive, and pushed the three cultivators backwards. The Second Elder moved to the Headmaster''s side once again, but this time his countenance had turned unsightly. "Forgive me Headmaster, I was too careless!" "Now is not the time, Baron!" The Headmaster shook his head, and he pointed at their enemy, who looked disinterested. "We have to find a way to defeat him. He''s no normal opponent." "What do you have in mind?" The Second Elder looked at the Headmaster, who stared back at him with a bitter smile on his face. "I''m afraid I''m going to have to use THAT!" The Second Elder''s eyes widened in surprise after hearing the Headmaster''s words, "But Headmaster, if you use that-" "I know, Baron!" The Headmaster cut him off before the Second Elder couldplete his words, letting out a heavy sigh as he continued, "But it seems that it''s our only choice!" "Are you two done with your little chat? I''m getting bored here..." Arthur''s calm voice was heard again, and within the calmness of his voice was slight disdain. As if he didn''t take the Headmaster and the Second Elder seriously at all. The two cultivators turned their heads to look at the young foe in front of them, gritting their teeth in the process of doing so. "It seems that you aren''t taking us seriously at all..." the Headmaster grunted coldly, then swept Arthur with an indifferent gaze. "I''m going to make sure I wipe that smug look off your face" Om! A bright light shed out, blinding Arthur for a moment, as the light enveloped the Headmaster, covering him from head to toe, as a giant silhouette of a warrior appeared out of thin air! "What the hell? What is this technique?" Arthur, who saw what was happening in front of him, couldn''t refrain from eximing in surprise. The spiritual energy that had been produced as a result of that bright light roiled in the sky, and the giant warrior silhouette that had been condensed kept shaking violently, and was extremely unstable. "Headmaster..." The Second Elder had a saddened expression as he gazed at the extremely unstable warrior silhouette formed on top of the Headmaster. The Second Elder was able to discern that this was one of the sacred techniques created by the founding fathers of the Golden Avarice Academy, the God Shadow Technique! If the Headmaster hadn''t been a cultivator in the Dream Realm and hadn''t studied countless cultivation techniques to form the foundation, it would''ve been impossible for him toprehend such a powerful cultivation technique. But even still, the God Shadow Technique was too powerful of a technique that it literally takes away the lifespan of its user! "Please, do not use it too much.." The Second Elder clenched his fist as he whispered softly. He knew that the Headmaster was taking a huge risk with this technique. "You want to get serious, right?" The Headmaster''s voice echoed throughout the area, and even Arthur couldn''t help but shudder a little. "Then let''s get serious!" Whoosh! As soon as he finished speaking, the giant warrior silhouette moved its hands and an endless stream of gigantic palm imprints containing fearsome ck-colored energy mmed down, engulfing the entire sky. "Damn it!" Arthur, who was full of disdain for his enemies until now, couldn''t help but feel fear in front of the warrior silhouette as he waved his palms, sting hundreds of sword lights out towards the palm imprints while he flew backwards to distance himself from the attack! "This might be trickier than I thought" Chapter 67: Tag Team Chapter 67: Tag Team "You want to get serious, right?" The Headmaster''s voice echoed throughout the area, and even Arthur couldn''t help but shudder a little. "Then let''s get serious!" Whoosh! As soon as he finished speaking, the giant warrior silhouette moved its hands and an endless stream of gigantic palm imprints containing fearsome ck-colored energy mmed down, engulfing the entire sky. "Damn it!" Arthur, who was full of disdain for his enemies until now, couldn''t help but feel fear in front of the warrior silhouette as he waved his palms, sting hundreds of sword lights out towards the palm imprints while he flew backwards to distance himself from the attack. Bang! This was a collision of pure strength, as incredibly lethal and destructive energy ripples swept across the scene due to the impact, causing both the air and the earth to tremble violently as a result. Crack! The sword lights were instantly destroyed by the gigantic palm imprints and Arthur, who was already in the middle of flying away, was knocked back dozens of meters anyways, spitting out blood as he was flung back. "A pathetic cultivator like you is trying to beat me? Old man, I''ll show you my true power!" Arthur roared out, causing his energy to surge once again. "Oh really? Didn''t you say you were going to take the fight seriously just a few minutes ago? Or did you think we would just forget that you said that?" The giant silhouette, which was now starting to resemble the Headmaster, opened its mouth and spoke with the same tone Arthur was using to speak to the two of them just a few seconds ago with a mocking expression on his face. "You really are shameless, aren''t you?" "SHUT UP! Do you really think you''ve won, old man? You''re too naive. Don''t worry, I''ll send you to your grave soon..." Even though he said all that, an ugly expression could be seen on Arthur''s face. He knew he had underestimated his enemies, and he had paid a heavy price for that ignorance. He was humiliated, and he was boiling with anger. Boom! Suddenly, a strong wind appeared, and powerful spiritual energies swept across the flying Arthur, as a domineering aura swept out, forcing the already unstable warrior silhouette to shake even more violently. ''So he really was underestimating us before to think he was this powerful,'' The Second Elder, who was watching from the giant silhouette''s side, was surprised at the aura exuded by Arthur. Although Arthur was an extremely difficult opponent, it seemed that because he had underestimated them, he was partially hiding his true abilities when he fought. In the Second Elder''s eyes, that made him an even more terrifying opponent. ''Even if he was an idiot because he had underestimated us, his strength is no joke..'' If Arthur had used his full strength right from the beginning, he would''ve been able to easily injure the two of them, and the Headmaster probably wouldn''t have been able to use the God Shadow Technique and conjure up the gigantic warrior silhouette. Just the thought of that made the Second Elder tremble. ''We''re incredibly lucky that he didn''t take us seriously from the start.'' "Take this, old man!" Arthur shouted out loudly and a bright light flickered as a giant sword appeared in his hands, shining brightly as he swung it forcefully towards the giant warrior silhouette! "You think I''ll go easy on my enemies like you did? You''d better think twice!" From the giant silhouette''s mouth, the voice of the Headmaster echoed out, and the silhouette stretched its gigantic arm out and performed a grabbing gesture, causing the surroundings behind it to instantly warp as if reality itself was being morphed by it. Woosh! A gigantic translucent palm imprint suddenly burst out from his hands, and was rapidly moving towards Arthur. Swoosh! Arthur didn''t slow down his attack even when the giant palm imprint appeared. "You''re going to die old man! And when I''m done with you, I''ll take care of your little friend over there. I''ll make sure that he dies in the most painful way possible!" Arthur''s eyes lit up as his sword was engulfed in mes, merging with the bright light to form a crimson red glow surrounding it, as he shot forward. ng! Both attacks collided, and the surroundings were immediately sent into a turmoil, and theyers of clouds in the sky were ripped apart and disintegrated. The impact was huge. Arthur felt a very strong vibration passing through his entire body before he felt an invisible force push him backwards,unching him back ten feet in the air before he could stabilize his body. ''This is bad.. He''s more powerful than I thought!'' Inside the giant warrior silhouette, the Headmaster'' facial expression changed. He raised his head and looked at Arthur, who was catching his breath, in shock. The Headmaster knew that he wouldn''t be able to maintain this ability for too long, and so he wanted to put an end to this as soon as possible. He thought he could defeat Arthur quickly and get this over with, but Arthur was just too strong. His power was scary. ''Damn it! I was pushed back? By this old man??'' The Headmaster wasn''t the only one who was surprised by the oue. On the other side, Arthur was struck with both surprise and shock,pletely baffled by what just happened and he looked at the giant warrior silhouette as if he was looking at a ghost. He was proud of his sword, which was a top-tier summoner sword, and he had considered it a weapon that could destroy almost anything. But now, not only was he unable to pierce through his enemy''s defences, his opponent was able to actually push him back. This giant warrior silhouette''s strength was like the power of a godly entity pressing down on him. This hadpletely freaked him out, and if Arthur hadn''t personally witnessed it with his own eyes, then he most likely wouldn''t have believed it. This was really frightening! ''The cultivation technique that he''s using most probably has a time limit, like every other cultivation technique.. So if I move around and keep dodging his attacks for long enough, perhaps I can win!'' As he stared at the giant silhouette in front of him, Arthur''s forehead was covered with sweat. From what he had seen of the giant silhouette''s skills, he wasn''t too confident about dodging the attacks, but he knew that he had to try. Boom! "Quickly die for me!" The Headmaster furiously roared out as the warrior silhouette immediately raised its hand up, and began performing various hand gestures as he unleashed a giant crystal spear, radiating such a brilliant aura that was enough to make even the sky shake. Swoosh! The spear transformed into a lustrous beam as it flew toward its target, Arthur, with incredible speed. "Not good!" Arthur, who had already sensed the extremely dangerous aura, instantly summoned his sword once again and shed forward, before dodging backwards to evade the attack. "Oh no you don''t!" However, although Arthur was quick to respond to the Headmaster''s attack, the Second Elder had appeared right behind him, catching him off guard. "You?" "What did you say before? That you''ll make sure I die in the most painful way possible? I''d like to see you try!" The Second Elder roared out and immediately unleashed his sword, shing towards Arthur at close range. "You insect! Move!" Arthur''s hair was violently fluttering in the wind as he shouted loudly and tried to counter, but the Second Elder''s attack was simply too fast! BOOM! The Second Elder''s attack struck him right in the chest, producing a tremendous explosion that shook the area. At the same time, the giant silhouette''s crystal spear and Arthur''s sword strike collided with each other, immediately destroying the space in that particr area. The crystal spear easily pushed through the sword strike, and with incredible speed, moved forward. Argh! A miserable scream sounded out from Arthur''s mouth as he staggered right back to the path of the crystal spear. Arthur, who realized that he was in the spear''s path once again, tried to evade the attack, but it was already toote. sh! Blood sprayed out like a fountain and Arthur instantly let out a miserable blood-curdling shriek. He was able to prevent the crystal spear from hitting his head, but it sliced off one of his arms instead, almost causing him to stumble and fall down from the air. "AHHH! I''LL KILL YOU! I''LL KILL YOU!" Arthur, who was nowpletely enraged, screamed out loudly like a crazy man. "You''re finished!" The Headmaster''s voice echoed in the air, and the giant silhouette raised its hands again with incredible speed, not allowing the injured Arthur any time to respond as an invisible force pulled him towards the silhouette. Arthur tried resisting, but his injuries were far too serious. "Halt! Leave him!" However, right before he could make his move, a rather disharmonious voice interrupted him, and both the Headmaster and the Second Elder''s eyes widened in surprise when they heard the familiar voice, turning around towards the direction the sound came from. sh! Suddenly appearing in the sky was none other than the Third Elder, and he was holding both ude and Wilfred Beldon, both injured and unconscious! Chapter 68: Hostages And Opponents Chapter 68: Hostages And Opponents "You''re finished!" The Headmaster''s voice echoed in the air, and the giant silhouette raised its hands again with incredible speed, not allowing the injured Arthur any time to respond as an invisible force pulled him towards the silhouette. Arthur tried resisting, but his injuries were far too serious. "Halt! Leave him!" However, right before he could make his move, a rather disharmonious voice interrupted him, and both the Headmaster and the Second Elder''s eyes widened in surprise when they heard the familiar voice, turning around towards the direction the sound came from. sh! Suddenly appearing in the sky was none other than the Third Elder, and he was holding both ude and Wilfred Beldon, both injured and unconscious! The Second Elder could see that his two disciples were still alive, but not only was he not happy, he felt scared and angry, and without hesitating, he shouted, "Third Elder! What''s the meaning of this? What are you doing with my disciples?" "Come on, Second Elder! You''re not seriously asking me that question, are you? Do you really think I''m that oblivious to my surroundings?" The Third Elder said with a sneer on his face. "Did you really think I didn''t know that you two were nning on getting rid of me while handing over the Academy to the Second Elder? Do you take me for a fool?" Both the Second Elder and the Headmaster''s face darkened. Considering their abilities, there was no way they could rescue ude and Wilfred without endangering their lives. And the Headmaster definitely didn''t have much time left for utilising the God Shadow Technique! "You had the position of an elder in one of the most prestigious academies in the whole country, and you actually decided to resort to such despicable methods to get control over the Academy! I really wish to know where you''ve ced your face! Since you dared show yourself here today, you must be seeking death!" From the mouth of the giant warrior silhouette echoed the cold voice of the Headmaster. "Hah! I should''ve known that you''d spin my reasoning for betraying you to fit your narrative. The only reason I did everything was to propel the academy to even greater heights. The academy under my rule will prosper and redefine achivements. And to aplish that, I needed to be on the top. I thought you would understand, Headmaster. I really did. But unfortunately, you were thinking of choosing the Second Elder for the position. So I did what I have to do. I only did what I did because you forced me to!" The Third Elder coldly harrumphed, as his grip on ude and Wilfred''s necks slowly tightened, causing the Second Elder''s countenance to turn unsightly. "Did you say that I''m seeking death by being here? Don''t make meugh! We both know that as long as I have these two disciples as captives, you wouldn''t move a muscle, Headmaster! You always had a soft spot for your students..." "You bastard! To think we were once acquaintances. Using my disciples as hostages? You disgust me!" An aggressive look suddenly flickered in the Second Elder''s eyes, but he couldn''t do anything. He knew that whatever he does, it will only put his two disciples in danger. He had to make sure that he doesn''t make any unnecessary moves. He couldn''t let his emotions control his actions. Not today. Not right now. "Let''s make a deal; I''ll let the two of them go, but only if you let Arthur leave." The Third Elder still spoke with the same indifference, ignoring the Second Elder''s words, as he stared at the giant warrior silhouette in front of him. Inside the giant silhouette, the Headmaster was staring angrily at the Third Elder. One of his faculty members, an elder that was in contention for his Headmaster position, was now using the academy''s students as bargaining chips, which made him gnash his teeth in anger. However, at the same time, he felt helpless. He wanted to save the Second Elder''s disciples, but for that, he had to let go of Arthur, who was an extremely powerful enemy. And furthermore, his God Shadow Technique would wear off any minute now, which meant that his enemies would have an even greater advantage afterwards. "Time is running out, Headmaster. I haven''t got all day. What will it be?" The Third Elder said. ".... Alright, I''ll let Arthur go. But you must release the Second Elder''s disciples. Understand?" The Headmaster''s voice echoed throughout the air, as he tried his best to supress the fury in his heart. Whoosh! The giant silhouette slowly started to fade away and disappear, revealing the Headmaster, who stared at the Third Elder. He then looked at Arthur, who was already unconscious because of the powerful force that was used by the Headmaster to hold him in ce, and let out a heavy sigh as he let him go. At the same the Third Elder loosened his grip on ude and Wilfred, and the two disciples began falling from the air. Whoosh! The Headmaster swooped in and carefully carried the two in his arms, and pulled them both up. ".... H-Headmaster?" Wilfred, who opened his eyes, stared at the Headmaster with a puzzled look, followed by ude. ".... W-What happened, H-Headmaster?" ude, who had woken up, tried to get up by grabbing onto the Headmaster''s shoulders, put found himself unable to. ".... Don''t try to move a lot, young man. It appears that the Third Elder drugged you, so you might not be able to use your cultivation for while," the Headmaster let out a bitter smile. "I''m sorry I wasn''t able to save you sooner.." ".... N-No, Headmaster," ude shook his head as he continued, ".... We''re sorry!" Whoosh! All of a sudden, the Headmaster felt a chill running down his back, and to his surprise, he began losing his ability to fly. ''What? I can''t activate my cultivation abilities?'' The Headmaster was startled. How could this be? Although he was weak due to utilising the God Shadow Technique, he thought he still had a bit of strength left. But then, what was happening? ''Did I get drugged? No, that can''t be right.. I haven''t let anyone touch me right n-'' The Headmaster shuddered, and as he immediately looked at his shoulder and then back to ude and Wilfred in his arms, his expression changed dramatically. sh! In an instant, a knife appeared in the hands of Wilfred, who swung it towards the Headmaster, aiming for his neck. The Headmaster could see the fast approaching knife, but he found out, to his horror, that he couldn''t move a muscle to defend himself. He couldn''t utilise a cultivation technique, nor could he dodge the attack. Both Dymexine and Axerbjan had already spread through his body, and he would''ve needed at least five seconds to recover from it''s effects, and Wilfred wasn''t going to allow that. Puchi! The de was extremely sharp, and it immediately shed through the Headmaster''s throat, causing blood to shoot out like a fountain. "Headmaster!" The Second Elder trembled and he let out a loud cry. He was still in the sky, and was keeping an eye on the Third Elder, to make sure that he didn''t pull a sneak attack on the Headmaster while he rescued ude and Wilfred. But he never expected such an oue! How did this happen? "You should keep an eye on your surroundings, Second Elder!" Unfortunately for the Second Elder, he had shifted his gaze towards the Headmaster, forgetting the Third Elder, who decided to use the opportunity to attack. With a sway of his arm, a dazzling sword that was emitting a cold shine appeared in his palms, as he shot forward, heading in the Second Elder''s direction. The Second Elder, who had realized his mistake, immediately tried to defend by raising his sword up to his chest, attempting to block the Third Elder''s attack! ng! The two swords collided with each other, producing arge amount of sparks and the Second Elder was knocked back dozens of meters before he could stabilize his body. "Are you sure that you''re training enough, Second Elder? Because it sure as hell doesn''t seem like it! You''re honestly making me worry!" The Third Elder said in a sarcastic manner. He was obviously trying to make the Second Elder mad. And fortunately for him, the Second Elder hadpletely lost it. "YOU SHALL PAY!" The Second Elder furiously roared out and unleashed an energy beam toward the Third Elder, but before the energy beam could hit its target, a powerful sword qi permeated the air, and a young figure appeared out of nowhere and blocked the attack using a sword. "Third Elder, how could you not tell me about such an interesting opponent! You''re too distrusting of me!"The young man, Commander Rivaldo Dante, said with a sneer as he looked at the Second Elder. The fight had now turned into two against one! Whoosh! At the same time, Wilfred flew down and caught ude, who was unable to move due to the effects of the drugs. Wilfred ced him down on the ground, andid ude next to a tree, and sat down next to him. "That worked out well, wouldn''t you agree?" Chapter 69: Hope and Humanity Chapter 69: Hope and Humanity A few minutes ago ''Goddammit, it looks like I''ll end up using the drugs soon..'' ude gritted his teeth. He didn''t wish for such a situation to happen. This wasn''t a fight. This was a hunt. And he sure as hell wasn''t the hunter. Wham! All of a sudden, ude felt an intense premonition of danger. "Where''s the enemy?" ude''s perception stretched to the limits, yet he still had no way to perceive the true location of his enemy. "I heard you were an interesting fellow, and it looks like the rumours were true! It looks like it''s time for us to finally meet, young man!" Abruptly, ude sensed a pair of eyes appearing in the fog behind him, causing him to feel cold all over, and he immediately turned around. "You!" Behind him, stood the Third Elder, who looked at ude with an amusing expression on his face. Sensing the frightening aura leaking out from the Elder''s body, ude couldn''t help but tremble. This man was just too powerful! ude knew that he wouldn''t be able to escape from his clutches even if he tried his hardest. It was simply impossible! "Third Elder, how on earth were you able to pass through this thick and dense fog?" ude asked in an indifferent manner, trying to probe him for answers. "Look at you, trying to act all innocent," The Third Elder sneered as he took a step forward and stood right in front of ude, looking straight into his eyes, as if he was staring into his soul. He ced his hand on ude''s shoulders and continued, "You really are a sneaky little brat, aren''t you? I''ve heard a lot about you and I have to say, you have definitely exceeded my expectations! In fact, my gut feeling tells me that I should get rid of you as soon as possible. And I must say, I feel extremelypelled to do so right now..." As he finished speaking, the Third Elder tightened his grip on ude''s shoulder, and ude could feel the strength of an expert cultivator pressing down on him like a mountain, causing him to feel so heavy that he could barely even breathe. ''Is this old geezer going to kill me right now?'' The Third Elder''s words caused ude to break into a cold sweat. If the Third Elder wanted to, he could easily kill ude right now, and there would be nothing he could do to prevent that from happening. "Look what your words did. You''re bullying him too much, Third Elder!" Right at this moment, an extremely loud voice was suddenly heard from a distance. After that, the fog surrounding ude and the Third Elder slowly began opening up, and two figures walked towards them. "Senior Beldon!" ude looked at one of the men, who was of course, his senior Wilfred Beldon, and yelled out in a surprised manner. "Ha ha ha Sorry about that. I just had to tease him for a few seconds because he looked so serious upon seeing me. It seemed like fun!" The Third Elder immediately loosened his grip on ude''s shoulders and let go as he let out a chuckle, but ude wasn''t so sure he was joking. "Well, I''m sure that we can all agree that getting threatened by an expert cultivator who''s realms above you isn''t exactly what someone would call fun!" Senior Beldon shook his head as he moved next to ude and continued, "Are you alright, ude?" ude nodded his head, indicating that he was fine. He then turned his gaze towards the person that came with Senior Beldon. Senior Beldon, who noticed his gaze, spoke with a smile. "Ah, this is Commander Rivaldo Dante." "I saw him before," ude responded with an indifferent expression and Commander Rivaldo Dante scratched his cheeks. "Sorry about that kid. Orders were to kill every person on that carriage. Didn''t get the information that we had two of our allies within them.." "And I''m pretty sure he would''ve killed me had it not been for the appearance of the Third Elder," Senior Beldon red at the Commander, who shrugged his shoulders in response. He turned to ude again and continued, "Commander Rivaldo Dante is part of abat unit who is working for the Royal Family under the order of their employer, the First Consul of Barugh, Josse Guiscard!" "The country of Barugh?" ude asked as his eyes widened in surprise, to which Senior Beldon nodded his head. "That''s right. It seems that both Barugh and Argria are working together at least for now." "For what reason?" ude asked. He still didn''t have the full picture, but he really wanted to know more. "You didn''t tell him everything?" The Third Elder stared at Wilfred Beldon and asked, raising his eyebrows in suspicion as he did so. "I wanted to make sure that he was ready before telling him the n," Senior Beldon replied. "Ready? You said you didn''t tell him the n! How the hell can he be ready if he hasn''t heard the n?" Commander Rivaldo Dante shouted loudly, and Senior Beldon red at him once again. "I wanted to figure out whether or not he had the appropriate mindset. Like it or not, he''s still a kid. Betraying someone''s trust isn''t necessarily as easy as you may think it is. It''s harder the first time." He then focused his gaze on ude and said, "I wanted to know if he would be on board with a n which involved him betraying his master. I could only reveal the n until I knew he was ready." "And?" ude interjected, causing everyone''s attention to turn to him. "Can you tell me the n already? Why are you doing this? What''s the reason?" "The reason is to protect our country," Senior Beldon replied, and ude looked at his senior curiously. "Go on." udetold Senior Beldon. "I''m sure in a perfect world, the Headmaster and the Second Elder''s wishes of a country free of the monarchy would be an achievable dream. But not in the martial world. As a part of the Reformation movement, I had been secretly keeping an eye on certain groups of people in the academy who I was suspicious of working for the Royal Family. And in an attempt to smoke them out, I used all kinds of techniques to gain information from them. But what I found, was something unbelievable." Senior Beldon was immersed in his memory as he continued, "The news of a conquest. The Ruler of the country of Itawar and the Emperor of the Dazearyn Empire, Gilbert Gottfried, had been nning to wage a campaign against the empire of the Middle East, the Stetopian Empire. For an invasion of the powerful Stetopian Empire, he was preparing tobine forces with other countries, particrly the nearest ones, which included Argria." "And? What''s the problem? Can''t we just agree to provide reinforcements to the Dazearyn Army?" ude asked, confused as to what was the problem. "The problem is, the Divine Commandments." the Third Elder spoke. "Gilbert Gottfried is a firm believer in God''s will, and particrly, the Divine Commandment of God. It essentially dered anyone born from the Royal Blood to be the subordinates of God, and any country that doesn''t abide by these principles were considered to be enemies of God!" "So the Royal Family simply cannot just cease to exist at least not all of them," ude snapped his fingers as he grasped the situation. "You need to keep the Royal Family alive in order to appease Gottfried." "Exactly," Senior Beldon nodded his head. "But you could''ve told the Second Elder this, and I''m sure he would''ve agreed to let go of the enmity to save the country," ude asked as he looked at Senior Beldon, who in turn, looked at the Third Elder. "Well of course, it couldn''t be just a lose-lose situation for all of us now, could it?" the Third Elder replied with a sinister smile. "My faction was already in a good rtionship with the Royal Family, and given the situation, we decided it would be best if we eliminated at least one threat to.. you know, appease ourselves. After all, we were in such a rough position, and we needed some kind of aplishment to keep us happy." "So you used a grim situation to gain a more powerful position?" ude asked, his expression cold. "That''s right. I did," the Third Elder replied. "Why? Does that make you rethink your decision?" "Not really it''s just that you were going on and on about the safety of the country," ude sneered as he continued, "But in the end, it all came down to greed Not that I had any problem with it, it''s just.. for a second, I thought there was hope for humanity.." ********************** "YOU SHALL PAY!" The Second Elder furiously roared out and unleashed an energy beam toward the Third Elder, but before the energy beam could hit its target, a powerful sword qi permeated the air, and a young figure appeared out of nowhere and blocked the attack using a sword. "Third Elder, how could you not tell me about such an interesting opponent! You''re too distrusting of me!" The young man, Commander Rivaldo Dante, said with a sneer as he looked at the Second Elder. The fight had now turned into two against one! Whoosh! At the same time, Wilfred flew down and caught ude, who was unable to move due to the effects of the drugs. Wilfred ced him down on the ground, andid ude next to a tree, and sat down next to him. "That worked out well, wouldn''t you agree?" ude tried his best to nod his head, but unfortunately, the drugs prevented him from doing so. Chapter 70: God and Devil Chapter 70: God and Devil "You''re going to drug the Headmaster to save Arthur?" Commander Rivaldo Dante identally yelled out loudly, and both the Third Elder and Senior Wilfred Beldon red at him in response. "That''s right!" ude nodded his head, and the three cultivators looked at him with surprise on their faces. "Like you said, Arthur, who is part of your Arditi unit, is getting beaten up by the Headmaster right now, so we better act fast if you wish to save him." "I understand the use of drugs and why you would want to use them. but how on earth are you nning on drugging him? He would most likely realize something is off the moment you try to get in contact with him," the Third Elder said as he ced his hand on his chin. "Not if ude''s in a dangerous situation, where the Headmaster has no time to focus on anything else," Senior Wilfred Beldon interrupted, as he snapped his finger and spoke. "But how would you sneak it onto the Headmaster? Obviously, you aren''t nning on opening the bottles right in front of him. And applying it on a weapon wouldn''t exactly be practical either, because that would only make it even more obvious!" Commander Rivaldo Dante voiced his opinion once again, and the Third Elder nodded his head along with him, agreeing to his words. "Themander is right. Even if the Headmaster is in a highly risky situation where he doesn''t have any time to think too much, he would still notice you trying to apply the drugs!" The Third Elder spoke as his gazended on the young man in front of him, who looked at with a calm expression on his face. "Unless I apply it on my hand first!" ude responded almost immediately, as soon as the Third Elder finished speaking his words. "What?" the three shouted in unison, as they stared at the young cultivator with surprise evident in their eyes. "But how would that even work? Wouldn''t applying the drug cause you to be paralyzed by it as well? How would you be able to apply it on the Headmaster if you yourself are unable to move?" the Third Elder asked, his eyebrows raised with curiosity. "Of course it would paralyze me as well!" ude nodded his head, agreeing with the Third Elder on his point. He then raised one finger and continued, "That''s precisely why we need to time it perfectly!" "What do you mean, junior brother ude?" Senior Beldon asked, and ude replied, "Before the drug sets in and activates itself to paralyze its victims, there''s a small five second window. It is during this stage that I would need to act!" "So that would mean that the drug should be applied on yourself just moments before your contact with the Headmaster!" the Third Elder folded his arms as he spoke. "But the effect of the drug would be over in just a matter of seconds if it''s applied on the Headmaster. Wouldn''t it be impossible for you to take him down, seeing as you would be paralyzed as well?" "That''s why there needs to be two people involved!" Senior Beldon widened his eyes as he understood what ude''s n was. "Isn''t that right, junior brother ude?" "You are correct, Senior!" ude responded with a smile as he gave a thumbs up to his senior. "This n would need two people; one to implement the drug, and the other to initiate the attack on the Headmaster!" "Of course, the second person is supposed to be me, right?" Senior Wilfred Beldon asked, and ude nodded back. "It simply wouldn''t work otherwise!" ude then looked at the Third Elder and spoke, "Third Elder, you can take us both as captives and use us as hostages. We''ll pretend to be unconscious, and you could then proceed to negotiate with him using us as bargaining chips. Just before you let go of us, I can simply apply the drug and ce the bottle in your sleeves right before I fall. The Headmaster will catch us pretty quick, so five seconds would be more than enough for me to initiate the n. Once I do that, Senior Beldon can handle the rest. How about it?" "Ha ha ha!!!" All of a sudden, Commander Rivaldo Dante let out a loudughter, earning him the res of both Senior Wilfred Beldon and the Third Elder. The Commander, who didn''t seem to be bothered by their res, turned his gaze towards ude and spoke with a grin on his face, "And here I thought you weren''t going to be a useful asset! This kid is great, Third Elder. You sure picked up one hell of a gem. I have to say, I''m jealous of your damn luck." The Third Elder didn''t respond, but he did have a smile on his face. Senior Beldon gave ude an ''okay'' sign with his hands, and ude nodded his head. ''Did this ensure my survival?'' ude thought to himself. Of course, he wasn''t joining the side of the Third Elder simply because of his motives or because of the looming threat that was Gilbert Gottfried. From what he had learned while living in the martial world, ude hade to the conclusion that morality had little to no ce within this world. Of course, he wasn''t doing this because it is the best choice for the people. No, he had picked this side simply because it provided a higher chance of survival than his previous choice. ********************* "That worked out well, wouldn''t you agree?" Senior Beldon said with a smile on his face, as he sat beside a paralyzed and powerless ude. "You know, you never did ask what happened to the other juniors," Senior Beldon said and he turned his gaze towards ude, who didn''t - or couldn''t - even move his eyelids. "They''re dead, just so you know. You were the only person who survived." "..." "Most of the disciples are probably fighting Barugh''sbat units as we speak," Senior Beldon said as he pointed at the fog. "But they''ve all been isted from one another and into small groups by the mist. They probably have little to no chance of surviving the ughter." "..." "I may have lied to you, ude." Senior Beldon looked up at the sky and let out a heavy sigh. Above the clouds, he could see the Second Elder fight the Third Elder and Commander Rivaldo Dante. They were engaged in such a brutal fight that both ude and Beldon couldn''t have made any contribution at all had they decided on getting involved in it. "I said that I asked you because you reminded me of myself, and that might''ve been a lie. Although you did have a simr mindset as myself, you reminded me more of my brother." "....?" "Me and my brother were orphans. We were poor, and in a cruel world where strength mattered the most, we had to do everything to survive." Senior Beldon looked at ude once again with a bitter smile and continued, "Until one day, trouble came. Some rogue cult members. Stirring up trouble as usual. Except this time, we were their targets." Senior Beldon clutched his chest as he breathed in and out, and he spoke. "So I ran. And so did my brother. I don''t know how, but I lost sight of each of him. Perhaps I had been too focused on running to keep an eye on him. Or perhaps I just forced myself to focus on my escape. But I lost him." "..." "The worst part was, I didn''t look back. Not once. I just kept running and running until I was sure I was out of danger. And by then, it had been toote. I never saw my brother after that," Senior Beldon slowly exhaled, and he continued, "By chance, I was able to meet our master, the Second Elder, who saw potential in me and took me in as his disciple. It has been so many years since then, but I still haven''t searched for my brother. I''m afraid to. I felt guilty. I still do. But I''m more afraid to find out for myself." Senior Beldon then turned his head and looked at ude. "You look quite simr to my brother, junior brother ude You reminded me so much of him. That''s why I picked you. Because I didn''t want to abandon my brother again." ude could hear weeping soundsing from his side. By now, the effects of the drugs were slowly wearing off, so he could move his iris if he wanted to, but he didn''t. "I''m sorry, ude.. I wanted to feel better, but I don''t. I feel the same way as before. As much as you look like my brother, you''re not him. As much as I saw him in you, you''re not the same person.. I''m sorry..." ude moved his iris upwards and looked at the skies. He could see the fight between the Second Elder and Commander Rivaldo Dante and the Third Elder going on, and he let out a sigh inside his mind. ''I was right. There isn''t a god, only devil..'' Chapter 71: Introduction Chapter 71: Introduction The streets of Josenheim were filled with dazzling lights, and the guests from various academies and institutions began appearing with a superior and prideful expression stered on their faces. To themon people, these were the elites, the people who were a step above them in the socialdder. Each of them were top existences in the country of Argria, with prestigious statuses next to their names. As such, it was obvious that these so called ''elites'' would be extremely prideful of their positions. More and more people started appearing, and the crowd slowly began moving towards the altar, where the ceremony was set to take ce. "Look, the Royal Carriage has arrived!" Right at this moment, someone suddenly cried out in joy, causing the people to turn around in the direction where the voice came from, and spotted a beautiful and luxurious carriage that was moving towards the altar, and with that, a storm of discussion was brought to the crowd. "The Prince is here!" "Oh my god! The new king is finally here! I can''t wait to see his face." "I just hope that the new king is better than you know?" The arrival of the Royal carriage immediately attracted everyone''s attention. The majority of the people had an extremely negative opinion about King Hannibal and Queen Isabelle. So in the public''s minds, Prince ke Bancroft was already the new ruler of Argria, even before his coronation ceremony. They had already epted him as their new king. The carriage moved forward, towards the altar, and everyone moved out of the way, opening up space for the carriage to pass through. ck! The carriage came to a stop as it reached the altar, and the doors slowly opened as a young man exited the vehicle. This man had a pair of bright blue eyes, exuding a prestigious aura from the moment he stepped outside and onto the altar. This was of course, Prince - and soon to be King - ke Bancroft! No person was able to move their eyes away from the young man on the altar. The Prince gently raised his head and nced at the crowd, and with a smile on his face, he said, "Greetings, my fellow citizens. I am ke Bancroft!" *********************** It was a fierce fight between the Second Elder and Commander Rivaldo Dante and the Third Elder, but the Second Elder just couldn''t defeat the powerful duo. The death of the Headmaster had also impacted his mindset, which created a negative impact on the Second Elder''sbat strength. Bam, bam, bam! Waves of sword lights shed through the air, as dirt and debris repeatedly blew out due to the impact of the collisions. "Don''t get in my way!!!" The Second Elder, who was now extremely furious, shouted out as hepletely unleashed his aura, and struck out with a palm strike, aiming for Commander Rivaldo Dante. "That''s not going to be enough to stop me, Second Elder!" Commander Rivaldo Dante said in an insidious tone. Whoosh! As the palm strike was quickly approaching, a bright light flickered within the Commander''s palm as a dazzling and mystical sword appeared out of thin air. Even a normal person, who wasn''t proficient in martial arts and cultivation could see that the Commander was holding a marvelous sword. Buzz The sword began shaking violently, producing a deafening noise as a scarlet energy began emitting out of its body. The aura it was emitting was eerily simr to the killing aura of a cultivator, which made the sword look like it was alive, thirsting for blood. "Second Elder, I have to acknowledge your skills. You truly are exceptional..." As soon as he finished speaking, Commander Rivaldo Dante strode forward with the mysterious sword ced in his hand, and swung it. BAM! A ground-shaking explosive sound spread across dozens of miles, followed by a terrifying scarlett colored light beam shot forward, instantly colliding with the Second Elder''s palm strike! BOOM! A humongous amount of sparks burst out from the spot where the two attacks had collided, igniting the sky in mes. ".... But you see, I''m not that bad of a cultivator either!" Commander Rivaldo Dante said with an evil smile, and with a sway of his body, he simply vanished into thin air. Where''d he go? The Second Elder was startled. But he didn''t have time to think, as he was immediately met with the attack of the Third Elder! "You shouldn''t ignore me, Second Elder" The Third Elder spoke in a cold manner as his body shed, and he charged towards the Second Elder, with bright de lights shooting out from his sword in his direction, instantly ripping apart the skies as it did so. "Don''t you dare think that you can defeat me!! You''ll pay for murdering the Headmaster!!" The Second Elder roared out and immediately unleashed his own de lights, as he tried blocking the Third Elder''s attack. BAM! The two attacks instantly collided, producing a loud explosive sound that rang out in everyone''s mind. Both the Elders were pushed back multiple steps, bit before the Second Elder could readjust his body, he was immediately met with another attack! "Don''t forget about me! Take this!" Right above the Second Elder, appeared Commander Rivaldo Dante, as all of a sudden, a dark energy wave surged out from his hands and shot downwards at full speed, transforming into a long beam of darkness, aiming for the Second Elder. "What?!" A startled expression instantly emerged onto the Second Elder''s face as he tilted his head upwards. However, it was toote for him to do anything. Boom! The Second Elder was critically hit by the beam of darkness, forcing a mouthful of blood to exit his mouth. He had been caught off guard, and he couldn''t defend against it, letting out a miserable shriek as one of his arms were burnt to a crisp. He had hastily tried to defend against the surprise attack, but there just wasn''t enough time. "Don''t lose just yet, Second Elder. After all, you still haven''t received my attack!"The Third Elder shouted out loudly, as a fiery light and bursting mes sted out from his sword, causing the temperature of the surroundings to rise. "THIRD ELDER!! YOU SCOUNDREL!!!" The Second Elder roared loudly, as if he was a crazy person. He was in a helpless condition now, with his mouth spurting out blood, but right now he was bursting with spiritual energy. WHAM! As the Second Elder yelled out, his palm began illuminating a bright golden light, and all of a sudden, waves of golden sword beams escaped from his hands, leaving behind a trail of light. Bang! The bursting mes shed with the Second Elder''s golden sword beams, resulting in a tremendous explosion that shook the entire area. Whoosh! Although the golden beam light was a powerful attack, the Second Elder was simply too weak to raise the technique to its maximum power, and as a result, he was flung back once again by the impact of the devastating force of the collision. "You had your fun, Third Elder But I believe it''s finally time to end it. I''ll do the honors!" Whoosh! From the smoke filled clouds that had been formed due to the devastating collision of the Second and Third Elder''s attacks, Commander Rivaldo Dante shot out and moved towards the Second Elder at lightning speed. Within less than a second, the Commander had already arrived right in front of the Second Elder, who had barely any time to register what just happened. "Second Elder, your end has arrived." The vibration in the atmosphere was caused by the trembling sword in his hands, emitting a strong killing aura, as he swung the sword. As the sword moved, the spiritual energy surrounding the sword began behaving more and more violently, as if the sword was lusting for blood. The Second Elder could feel the threatening feeling of death that was fast approaching. He wanted to dodge. He wanted to evade. But he was drained of energy, and he was injured. Puchi! "Aargh!!" The sword in themander''s hand pierced through the Second Elder''s chest, and he groaned in pain with all his might. Splurt! Blood began spurting out continuously like a blood fountain, and his face turned very pale as he slowly began to fall from the sky. "Y-you.. you''ll never !!" Before the Second Elder could finish his words, blood was forced out of his mouth and cut him off as Commander Rivaldo Dante pushed the sword further into his chest, twisting it slowly before pulling it out. The Second Elder sensed the light in his eyes gradually fading away. In his despair, his gaze turned towards the ground, where ude and Wilfred Beldon were sitting. His gaze lingered on the two of them until the light in his eyespletely faded away, and his lifeless corpse fell to the ground. The fight was finally over, and it was followed by silence. The Third Elder moved towards Commander Rivaldo Dante, who was gasping for air. He had utilised a lot of spiritual energy to use that sword technique, and it had paid off. "Finally, it hase to an end!" . Chapter 72: In An Instant Chapter 72: In An Instant The Second Elder sensed the light in his eyes gradually fading away. In his despair, his gaze turned towards the ground, where ude and Wilfred Beldon were sitting. His gaze lingered on the two of them until the light in his eyespletely faded away, and his lifeless corpse fell to the ground. The fight was finally over, and it was followed by silence. The Third Elder moved towards Commander Rivaldo Dante, who was gasping for air. He had utilised a lot of spiritual energy to use that sword technique, and it had paid off. "Finally, it hase to an end!" Below them, both ude and Senior Wilfred Beldon looked up at the sky, and saw the body of the Second Elder falling down like a puppet who''s string was cut. "Looks like the battle is over!" Senior Wilfred Beldon whispered softly as he watched the lifeless body of his master fall down to the ground with a loud thud. "...It sure does look like it," ude spoke after a brief moment of silence, and Senior Beldon turned his head to gaze at ude and widened his eyes with surprise. "Oh? So you can speak now.." Senior Beldon said with a light smile on his face, and ude replied, "I can only move my mouth and lips, but yes, I can in fact talk now." "Hmmm It looks like the drug''s effects are wearing off faster than expected," Senior Beldon ced his hand on his chin and spoke. "It looks like that''s the case," ude replied with the same expression. He then shifted his gaze towards the Third Elder and Commander Rivaldo Dante, who were talking to each other up in the sky, and continued, "You told me what happened with the other juniors, but what''s the situation with the rest of the flying sword faction members? What about the other elders and their disciples who were in support of the Second Elder? What happened to them?" "The Barugh special unit is taking care of them. The fog separates the faction members into small groups and the unit fights them in small numbers, just like they did with us!" Senior Beldon replied, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke. "The fog isn''t created by one specific person. The technique has been taught to almost all of the cultivators in the special unit. So it''s almost impossible to get rid of the fog unless youpletely defeat the unit!" "I see," ude wanted to nod his head, but the drug''s effects weren''tpletely neutralized, and so he could only reply with words. "... Do I really look like your brother?" Senior Beldon turned and looked at ude for a second, before replying, "Now that I get a good look at you, not really, no.." ************** "Senior sister.. help us!!" "I don''t want to die! I don''t want to die!!" "Argh!! Help me.." Countless miserable and dying shrieks were heard from inside the fog, and it wasn''t looking like it would stop anytime soon. More and more disciples were dying with each passing minute and the fight had turned into an extremely cruel massacre. "Esmond! Cover me!" Senior sister Ashley Winters yelled out as she swung her sword towards her enemies, unleashing a crimson de light that shot forward and shed with the cultivators that were moving towards her, slicing them into pieces. "You know, the more you murder random people without even blinking, the less your words sound convincing!" Esmond jumped up and leapt over Ashley as he spoke, and a long golden spear manifested in his palms. "My spear! Burst through the enemies for me!" Esmond spoke softly as he held his spear close to his face, and it seemed as if he was whispering to the spear itself. Swoosh! As if the spear had heard his words, it started to tremble very violently, rising from his hands and floating in the air before it shot forward, flying in every direction within the fog, slicing down enemies left and right, causing blood and bones to rain down. "Quit it Esmond!" Ashley yelled out annoyed, as she shed another enemy cultivator in half. "Now is not the time for this discussion. We''ll discuss this issueter!" Tap! Tap! Tap! As soon as she finished speaking, she turned around and shot forward like an arrow, instantly moving through multiple enemies, chopping them down as if they were pieces of paper. "That''s what you always say," Esmonughed out in satisfaction, as he had sessfully annoyed Ashley. His golden spear returned to his hand and he swung it around quickly, and the enemies who had surrounded him were instantly knocked away, with their heads leaving their bodies as blood spurted out. "But you never do end up bringing it up! You just avoid it!" Swoosh The golden spear left his hands once again as it passed through the enemy lines ying a huge amount of enemies left and right. "What''s this? They can''t even deal with a bunch of no name cultivators who haven''t even fully grown yet? Pathetic!" All of a sudden, a mysterious voice echoed out from the fog, causing both Esmond and Ashley to be cautious. Peng! Out of nowhere, a hand emerged from the fog, stretched forward and grabbed the golden spear! "My spear!" Esmond yelled out, but before he could summon the spear back, a huge amount of pain hit his head with a tremendous force, and he was instantly knocked away. ''An Alternation Technique?'' Esmond looked at the hand that grabbed his spear with shock, as he coughed up blood. "Esmond! Are you alright?" Ashley, who saw Esmond getting flung back all of a sudden, yelled out with a concerned voice. But suddenly, the mysterious voice resounded throughout the battlefield once again. "Aw, how sweet! You''re concerned for his safety. But sweetheart, I genuinely don''t think you have time to be concerned about other people''s problems!" Pah! A big palm came out of nowhere through the dense fog and grabbed onto Senior Ashley''s throat and gripped it tightly before she could do anything. ''How? I couldn''t see it!'' Ashley couldn''t believe what just happened. She, who usually had a good eye for enemy attacks, was caughtpletely off guard! "Gah!" Ashley tried to speak, but the hand on her throat tightened his grip, and she choked on her words, only letting out a short whimper in the end. "You are a feisty one, aren''t you?" A young man walked out from the fog, sneering as he increased the grip on Ashley''s throat, causing her face to turn pale, and she could only keep struggling. "You can keep trying, but you won''t be able to use any cultivation techniques as long as you''re in my hands," The young man said with a sinister smile. He was unleashing an energy from his body that kept Ashley under his tight control and unable to use any cultivation. "Ashley!" Esmond cried out in shock. He got up on his feet, and with a loud shout, his figure began flickering before disappearing from everyone''s view and reappearing right behind the mysterious young man! "Aaaah!" Esmond yelled loudly as his arm stretched forward and swung his palm, unleashing a deadly palm strike, aiming for the young man''s nape! "Oi, who the hell gave you permission to attack my brother?" Right at that moment, a bright light shed before him, revealing another mysterious figure, who unleashed a deadly p. BAM! The two attacks collided, and to Esmond''s surprise, the mysterious person''s ppletely destroyed his palm strike, as the p burst through his attack as if it was nothing! Boom! The mysterious figure arrived in front of Esmond and simply gave him a p. Arghh!! Esmond let out a miserable shriek as his chest exploded, turning into a blood mist. ''What the hell? How was this possible?'' As he fell backwards, Esmond could only wonder how he lost. Why couldn''t he withstand a simple p from this guy, and was severely injured in a matter of seconds? How powerful was he? "Now that you two had your fun, leave the kill for me!" Out of nowhere, a figure crept up right behind Esmond before he hit the ground and grabbed his head tightly. He didn''t even have the time to respond. "Goodbye!" A loud explosive sound rang through the air as the third mysterious figure squished Esmond''s head, causing it to instantly explode into a clump of blood mist. Ashely, who saw the entire event happening right in front of her eyes, wanted to let out a scream. But unfortunately, she couldn''t even do that! "Why did you interfere? I could''ve easily taken him down, Eirik!" The man who was holding Ashley threw his nce over to the person who was responsible for the p! "If you could''ve then you should''ve, Edvard.. Don''t me me for your inadequacy!" Eirik said with a loud voice. "What did you say?" "Alright, enough!" The Third figure, who was obviously Edvin, interrupted the two of them, and pointed at the battlefield. "If you have time to fight with each other, then you have time to clean up. We need to finish this as soon as we can. Got it?" "Alright, alright, Edvin" Eirik replied as he rolled his eyes and turned his gaze towards Ashley, who was in the clutches of Edvard, and said, "Kill her quickly.. or else I''ll do it myself!" Edvard had a look of disgust emerge in his eyes as he looked at his brother, and then shifted his gaze towards Ashely, who was looking at him with a pale face. "You heard him.. it''s time for you to die!" Edvard spoke with a smile on his face, and he immediately squeezed her throat as hard as he could, and she instantly turned bright red. St! Ashley''s throat exploded due to the heavy force applied, as blood burst out through her eyes, nose and mouth. She was dead in an instant! Chapter 73: A Good Show Chapter 73: A Good Show "What is the situation with the academies? Tell me." Sitting inside the Royal carriage, Prince ke Bancroft asked. "It''s going really well, your majesty. I''ve done exactly what you asked, and so far, everything has been going absolutely smoothly. You do not have anything to worry about!" General Ivan, who was sitting opposite the Prince, spoke as a faint smile emerged onto his face. Next to him sat Minister Burne, who had a calm expression on his face as the general spoke his words. "Oh! Absolutely smoothly, you say? Is that right?" The Prince, ke Bancroft,looked at the General and asked in a surprised manner. He had expected General Ivan toplete his task, but he wasn''t expecting such an easygoing response from him. That was truly surprising to the Prince. "Yes, your majesty!" General Ivan smiled, portraying utmost confidence as he spoke. "In fact, the unit from Barugh whom you lent me was especially useful in doing so. They are an extremelypetent and highly trained group of cultivators who can adapt to any situation easily. I must say, I am impressed by Barugh!" An astute glow emerged within the General''s eyes, as he continued; "They''re currently taking care of our enemies in the Golden Avarice Academy, and which will most likely take another few hours if we consider cleaning up and burning the corpses as well." "Well done! You did good, General Ivan. You have exceeded my expectations, and for that I will reward you greatly!" The Prince let out a heartyughter as soon as he finished speaking. He was really happy right now. The Academies were being dealt with and will soon be under his control, and his enemies will be dead. Things were turning out to be far better than he was expecting. "And now, we just need a final push! A reason to bring together the citizens of Argria to our side and topletely erase what we did to the academies. What we need is a distraction!" The Prince''s smile was so big that his eyes could barely be seen. He then threw his nce to Minister Burne and said with a smile on his face, "Minister, I hope you''ve done what I asked you to do. This needs to be perfect!" "Of course your majesty! I''ve done what you asked of me, and I''ve made sure that nothing interferes with our ns." Minister Burne replied. He then nced at the Prince for a brief second, and continued; "Your majesty, please be careful!" Minister Burne expressed his deep concern for the Prince, who smiled back in return. "Do not worry, Minister Burne. I''ll be alright. Just don''t make any mistakes, and everything will be fine!" The Prince spoke confidently, letting out a chuckle. Thud! The carriage came to a stop as it reached the altar. "Oh, it looks like we have reached our destination!" The Prince said, after noticing that the carriage had stopped moving. He got up from his seat and moved to the doors as he continued, "Wish me luck!" "Give them a good show!" "Good luck, your majesty!" The Minister and the General spoke at the same time and the Prince opened the doors to the carriage and stepped out onto the altar! No person was able to move their eyes away from the young man. With his pair of bright blue eyes, he was exuding a prestigious aura from the moment he exited the carriage! The Prince gently raised his head and nced at the crowd, and with a smile on his face, he said, "Greetings, my fellow citizens. I am ke Bancroft!" "Oh heavens, the news was indeed true!" "Our new king has arrived!" "Long live the new ruler of Argria, King ke Bancroft!" Excited by the appearance of the new and soon to be King, the people began whispering amongst themselves. "My fellow citizens, hear me!" After noticing that the crowd had a favourable first impression of him, ke Bancroft smiled and spoke loudly so as to get everyone''s attention, and as soon as he spoke, the entire city of Josenheim turned dead silent. "Citizens of Argria! It is with excitement and anticipation that I am standing before you today, on this altar. And I know that most of you feel the same way!" ke Bancroft''s voice was loud and thunderous, capturing everyone''s attention. It was as if every single one of them was possessed. "But today, before everything else, I have decided to tell you something important! Something that you all need to know. Something that''s going to endanger the safety of everyone!" ke stopped for a second before exhaling, and continued; "I need you to know about Gilbert Gottfried!" ***************** Both ude and Senior Beldon were sitting on the ground, watching the Third Elder and Commander Rivaldo Dante talk to each other while floating in the sky. ude squinted his eyes as he watched the two of them, and softly whispered; "... They''reing down." Senior Wilfred Beldon, who heard ude''s words tilted his head up in response. "It seems they are indeeding down.." He got up from the ground, walked in front of ude and asked, "You need help standing up or has your cultivationpletely recovered yet?" Fwip! ude tried to move his muscles in order to try and get up from the ground, but apart from a few fingers and his mouth, he found out that he still couldn''t move the rest of his body. "No, not yet.." ude shook his head as his gaze shifted towards Senior Beldon and said, "It appears I''m going to be needing your help, senior!" A grin emerged on Senior Wilfred Beldon''s face as he grabbed ude by the shoulder and pulled him up, and he walked towards the spot the Third Elder and the Commander were descending towards. "Oh? The kid isn''t able to move yet? The effects of the drug haven''tpletely disappeared yet, huh.." Commander Rivaldo Dante eyed ude, who was pulled up by Wilfred Beldon, and spoke with his hand on his chin. "Thank you for the observation, Commander. That was extremely insightful!" ude said in a sarcastic manner, and the Third Elder let out a loudughter. "Ha ha ha ha! You know what, I really like this kid!" The Third Elder said and he immediately let out a chuckle as the Commander clicked his tongue. "It really isn''t that funny, alright?" "Now that you''ve finally finished off the Headmaster and the Second Elder, may I ask what''s the next step?" ude asked as his gaze shifted to the Third Elder, who stoppedughing instantly. "Of course, murdering an entire faction and many disciples and elders, along with the Headmaster of a prominent academy isn''t something that can be easily swept under the rug," The Third Elder said, as an evil grin began forming on his lips. Clearly, they had a n on how to deal with such a situation! "I''m listening," ude replied, and the Third Elder nodded his head and continued; "Well, it''s something that''s hard to cover up, but not totally impossible. The problem is time, manpower, and no one suspiciously snooping around..." "The immediate ''resignation'' of the Headmaster of a prestigious academy and his second inmand is surely going to make at least some people suspicious." ude replied. "Not to mention the said second inmand''s whole faction disappearing overnight and its disciples going ''missing'' as well. Questions will rise." "That''s why we need something bigger!" the Third Elder snapped his fingers and pointed at ude as he spoke. "An incident that''s bigger than the academy. Something that concerns all of the citizens of Argria, that they''d have no choice but to put all their attention towards this issue!" "... Gottfried!" ude''s eyes widened with surprise as he suddenly blurted out his words. "The news about Gilbert Gottfried and his army is going to be big if revealed to the public. I could cause a nationwide panic! You''re nning on revealing it?" "Not us!" Senior Wilfred Beldon, who was pulling him up, interjected into the conversation and said, "But the Prince. He wishes to reveal the information to the public today, during his coronation!" "But wouldn''t some people still be suspicious of the academies even if something that big happens?" ude asked, and Commander Rivaldo Dante replied, "It''s likely that a few people will find the whole thing suspicious, but we''ve dealt with problems like that before. It''s the number of suspicious people that''s the issue. And this will definitely limit that to something that''s shorter and more of our range." "Alright. But what about trust?" ude posed another question. "It would be clear to a lot of people that the Royal Family had received the information a long time ago if you do decide to reveal it. Wouldn''t an issue of truste up?" "It could. But don''t worry, the Prince has thought of that as well!" This time, it was the Third Elder who spoke. "After all, we haven''t gotten rid of one enemy group yet! And they''re going toe in handy real soon!" Chapter 74: The Finale (1) Chapter 74: The Finale (1) No one in the crowd was able to remain calm as they listened to ke Bancroft''s words. "The new king is talking about something serious." That''s all they currently knew. Everyone had pale expressions on their faces, but no one had any clear idea as to what the king was talking about. "My fellow citizens of Argria, please listen to my words!" The Prince and soon to be king said with a loud voice. "During the past few weeks, we have received information that Gilbert Gottfried, the Ruler of the country of Itawar and the Emperor of the Dazearyn Empire, was nning on conquering the Stetopian Empire. And as a part of this conquest, he also seems to be nning on conquering countries that are nearby, such as ours, to increase his military forces. He''s already annihted countries like Capenea and Rhodesweld, and it appears his army is now moving towards Argria!" Each word was like a p of thunder that echoed throughout the entire area, and his words immediately struck the citizens with panic and fear. "How could this happen? The powerfulDazearyn Empire is actually nning on conquering Argria? We are finished! There''s no way our small country has the manpower to defend against such a big superpower!" "Oh heavens, what did we do to deserve this?! Not only did we have to suffer under the rule of the terrible Hannibal and Isabelle, but now I hear we''re going to be conquered by those tyrants? What crimes did our forefathersmit for us to suffer like this? What should we do? How do we survive against the Dazearyn Empire?" "Oh my lord! This is a colossal disaster! We''re definitely done for! I was suspicious before, but now I''m one hundred percent certain that our country is cursed. I should''ve left this damned country back when I had money left." The faces of all the citizens were instantly filled with despair. They knew about the Dazearyn Empire and how powerful they were. However, now they were nning on conquering them? How on earth will they be able to defend against such a powerful Empire? They had no hopes of winning! "Everyone, please listen up! I know that you all are frustrated. You''re afraid. I know how scared you must feel right now, but I urge you, please be patient and listen to my words!" ke Bancroft circted his spiritual energy through his body and shouted out loud, and the energy amplified his voice, causing everyone to be able to hear him loud and clear. As everyone''s attention turned to him, ke let out a heavy sigh and continued, "Although the Dazearyn Empire is still nning on conquering Argria, I do have to tell you that fortunately, I was able to convince Gilbert Gottfried to organize a meeting in order to sort this issue out in a much easier way! And if this meeting does move forward in the direction we expect it to go, then we will in fact be free from the clutches of the Dazearyn Empire!" "Oh my god, is the Prince telling the truth?" "We''re saved! There is a god!" "Thank you, Prince! You have saved all of us." "Be respectful! He''s not a prince anymore, he''s our king! Who cares if the coronation is not done yet! I believe he''s already earned the title!" "Long live the king! Long live the king!" The words of the Prince brought joy to the people. All the people in the city were overwhelmed by his words, and although they didn''t have a single clue about him before today''s events, he had already brought hope into all their lives, and he did so in a few minutes, something the old King and Queen couldn''t do in years. Therefore, they hoped this young man would be the new king as soon as possible. Some even kneeled down and kowtowed in his direction while expressing their gratitude. "He''s really good at putting on a show. I''m impressed!" General Ivan, who was monitoring the area through the carriage, spoke as a devilish smile appeared on his lips. "Mixing in lies with truth makes the information seem more believable!" "He knows what he''s doing," Minister Burne replied with a light chuckle. "That''s why he''s the best man for this job. He wouldn''t have been able to reach this position otherwise." "Ha ha ha I must say, it was a blessing that the King had decided to fool around with many women," General Ivan threw his nce over at Minister Burne and let out a loudughter. "Otherwise, you''d be in deep trouble right now. Wouldn''t you agree, Minister?" "That is true," Minister Burne spoke with an indifferent voice. "However, he is still the reason for the mess that we were in, so I don''t think he deserves all the credit." "Yeah, I guess you''re right about that," General Ivan nodded his head. "No one has looked into the Prince''s background yet, have they?" "We have been keeping an eye on that, and so far, no one with any real ability has tried looking into it," Minister Burne shook his head as he continued, "But I''m sure more people will try. Of course, the Prince already predicted such an incident to happen in the near future, and we have people to take care of these threats if they do appear." "Ah! So you already have people for such an event. That''s a shame," General Ivan ced his palm on his face as he spoke. "I thought I''d get a new and different mission to do if I bring it to you first, but it seems that you''ve already thought about it." "I''m sorry that we thought ahead, General Ivan. I''ll make sure that next time we leave it to you," Minister Burne replied in a sarcastic manner, and General Ivan let out a chuckle. "Now, when are the fireworks?" He said as he looked out through the window once again. "Don''t get me wrong, I enjoy heartfelt speeches as much as the next guy, but I do love it when things get a little more chaotic!" "Of course you like chaos, General," Minister Burne replied as he held a feather fan in his hand, and continued; "But to answer your question.. it''ll get exciting soon enough!" BOOM! Right as the Prince was about to speak once again, a ground shaking explosion suddenly came from one of the buildings nearby, causing debris to be sent flying in all directions, as terrified expressions appeared on people''s faces. "It''s finally time, huh.." Prince ke Bancroft''s expression changed dramatically, as he whispered to himself. Everything he did up until now, was leading up to this moment. He couldn''t make a mistake now. "Time for the finale!" ********************* "Alright. But what about trust?" ude asked the next question. "It would be clear to a lot of people that the Royal Family had received the information a long time ago if you do decide to reveal it. Wouldn''t an issue of truste up?" "It could. But don''t worry, the Prince has thought of that as well!" This time, it was the Third Elder who spoke. "After all, we haven''t gotten rid of one enemy group yet! And they''re going toe in handy real soon!" "Oh? And what group might that be?" ude asked, his eyes widened with curiosity. "Why of course, it''s the Revolutionaries!" Before the Third Elder could answer his question, Commander Rivaldo Dante interrupted them and spoke out. "Only those crazy as*holes will take obvious baits! They''re idiots, but they''re dangerous idiots." "How do you n on using the revolutionaries?" ude shifted his gaze towards the Commander, who had an evil grin stered on his face. "How else but provocation?" "Provocation? Is that it? Isn''t that a bit too easy?" ude couldn''t contain his surprise. Provocations were the most obvious baits, and unless you''re in an extremely desperate situation, it''s extremely easy to detect and understand them. How on earth would it work? "Like the Commander said, we''re dealing with a group of dangerous idiots. A provocation is more than enough if it allows them to make a statement," the Third Elder chimed in, before giving Commander Rivaldo Dante a ring look, and continued. "The only thing they need is a good enough bait. Something they cane after. We implemented the same strategy during the Prodigy Summit, and that worked out perfectly." "And this time, you guys have an even bigger bait, so it''s even more enticing for the Revolutionaries!" ude snapped his fingers, as he understood what they were doing. "Exactly!" The Third Elder said with a satisfied expression. "The existence of the Prince is the biggest threat to their ideology, which involved the abolishment of the Monarchy, and we''ve just given them their enemy on a silver tter! They wouldn''t let this chance go, and if we utilise this opportunity in the best possible way, the citizens will have an even bigger reason to stick together with the Royals!" The Third Elder clenched his fist tightly and said,"Strength to protect!" Chapter 75: The Finale (2) Chapter 75: The Finale (2) "Like the Commander said, we''re dealing with a group of dangerous idiots. A provocation is more than enough if it allows them to make a statement," the Third Elder chimed in, before giving Commander Rivaldo Dante a ring look, and continued. "The only thing they need is a good enough bait. Something they cane after. We implemented the same strategy during the Prodigy Summit, and that worked out perfectly." "And this time, you guys have an even bigger bait, so it''s even more enticing for the Revolutionaries!" ude snapped his fingers, as he understood what they were doing. "Exactly!" The Third Elder said with a satisfied expression. "The existence of the Prince is the biggest threat to their ideology, which involved the abolishment of the Monarchy, and we''ve just given them their enemy on a silver tter! They wouldn''t let this chance go, and if we utilise this opportunity in the best possible way, the citizens will have an even bigger reason to stick together with the Royals!" The Third Elder clenched his fist tightly and said,"Strength to protect!" BOOM! Right as the Prince was about to speak once again, a ground shaking explosion suddenly came from one of the buildings nearby, causing debris to be sent flying in all directions, as terrified expressions appeared on people''s faces. "It''s finally time, huh.." Prince ke Bancroft''s expression changed dramatically, as he whispered to himself. Everything he did up until now, was leading up to this moment. He couldn''t make a mistake now. "Oh lord! What the hell is happening? Don''t tell me the battle has already begun?" "Damn it, we''re all going to die! It''s all over! The war has begun and we have no chance at winning!" "We''re finished! We''re finished, I tell you! We''re all going to die!" The crowd, who were caught off guard by the explosion, were immediately sent into a frenzy, and they scattered all over the ce. They were confused and terrified, and most of their faces had turned extremely pale from the explosion. "I need to get away from this ce! Hurry up and move!" "Damn it, what''s taking these people so long? Just get out of my way if you all wish to die so badly! I don''t want to die here!" Everyone was greatly frightened upon seeing their surroundings get destroyed. It was a frightening scene, and they felt as if they could die at any moment. Swoosh! The Prince swayed his hands and in an instant, a crimson colored lightning bolt poured down like a violent waterfall from the sky and into his palm. Bzzz.. Right when the lightning bolt touched his hands, Prince ke Bancroft began trembling violently, and an ice cold wind started to flow around him. BAM! All of a sudden, the Prince stepped forward, threw his arms back and roared out before swinging his hand with all his might, as the lightning bolt shot forward like an arrow leaving his palm! Whoosh! In the blink of an eye, the lightning bolt had maneuvered through the panic stricken crowd and moved in the direction of the city bell tower! "What? How on earth did he detect me?" Within the bell tower, a hooded figure cried out in shock, as they desperately tried to evade the attack. Argh!! But before the hooded figure could do anything, the lightning bolt had already reached its target, and with a loud noise, the fierce lightning bolt instantly hit him, forcing him to let out a miserable shriek. The lightning bolt ripped through his chest, passed through his body and came out from the other side, instantly killing him, all in a matter of milliseconds. The miserable shriek of the hooded figure was enough to get the attention of the panic stricken crowd, who felt a constant buzzing sound in their ears, and turned around to look at the Prince with appalling gazes. "Citizens of Argria! Do not worry, for your ruler, King ke Bancroft is here to protect you!!!" The Prince roared out, and his voice swept across the entire area like a roaring p of thunder, causing everyone to be able to hear him loud and clear. His words brought change to the faces of those despairing citizens, and brought them much needed hope. "The King is risking his life protecting us lowly citizens! And here I was thinking that he was going to run away and hide.. I''m deeply ashamed!" "Damn it! We don''t deserve such a great leader! Please don''t get killed, King!" "You Royals and your silver tongue. I can''t believe people are buying into your crap. You make me sick!" All of a sudden, a young and impetuous voice echoed throughout the area, following which another hooded figure appeared on the altar. "Death to the Monarchy! Glory to the Revolution!" the hooded figure shouted loudly, and a powerful energy wave burst out from his palms, heading towards the Prince. "Ha ha ha! You wish to kill me?" Prince ke Bancroft threw his head back andughed as a wave of scorching mes shot out from his hand and rammed into the powerful energy wave, instantly shattering it. Boom! The raging mes continued moving forward, and struck the astonished hooded figure, who couldn''t even put up his defense in time and was flung back because of the intense force. Gah! A mouthful of blood was forced out from his mouth, staining his clothes crimson, and his face turned pale. He had clearly suffered a serious injury. At the same time, only one thought came to his mind, "Run!" "Don''t even think about running away from me! You think you can just attack the King and get away without suffering any consequences? You must be out of your mind! Who do you think I am?" Before the hooded figure could even flee, Prince ke Bancroft had already moved. He flew with an incredible speed, and appeared right in front of the hooded figure and grabbed his neck, causing his face to turn purple. "G-Glory.. to.. to the R-Revol.. Revolution.." The hooded figure tried his best to speak, but the Prince''s grip on his throat was too strong, and as a result, he couldn''t speak properly. "You got too caught up in your own ideology that you became a threat to the country you were trying to protect. Pathetic!" The Prince looked at the hooded figure in a ridiculing manner. "Goodbye now!" After saying that, the Prince squeezed his hands and forcefully broke the hooded figure''s neck and he died instantly. "Now, where are the rest of you?" The Prince turned around to look at the crowd and said while gnashing his teeth. BOOM! As if to answer the Prince''s question, a tremendous explosion shook the entire area, and a few buildings were brought to a devastating state,pletely destroyed by the explosion as they began falling down and onto helpless civilians. "Not on my watch!" The Prince shot forward, and he waved his hand, unleashing a palm strike and a blood red palm shot out from his hands, ripping apart the debris into nothing but dust before it could hit the ground! "Glory to the Revolution!" All of a sudden, four powerful figures flew in from all directions, and surrounded the Prince. "You and your family are a threat to the country no matter what you think, Prince. Therefore, for the future of our country, please die!" With a sway of their bodies, they struck out their palms, and multiple golden beams shot out from their hands heading towards the Prince. "You aren''t enough to defeat me!" The Prince''s brows twitched and a trident appeared in his hands. Whoosh! Prince ke Bancroft spun the trident at an incredible speed, creating a powerful tornado around him that was enforced with lightning in order to defend against the attack of the hooded figures. BAM! The golden beams collided with the tornado, creating a terrifying explosion, and pushed the Prince a few steps back! "You may be powerful, but you can''t win against the four of us! You''ll die soon!" One of the hooded figures said with an extremely cold voice. "Is that so? Then how about I join in?" A voice rang out from the skies and entered the ears of the hooded figure, who tilted his head up in surprise, only for his expression to turn gloomy. Above them, in the sky, stood the Third Elder, Senior Wilfred Beldon, and ude Rayforth, all of whom were looking down on the Altar. The Third Elder''s eyes were calm, and no emotional fluctuations could be seen on his face. "Third Elder of the Golden Avarice Academy Why are you interfering with the Revolution? The Royal Family is the enemy of the academies as well, so I suggest you do not interfere with our business!"One of the hooded figures, who seemed to be the leader of the four, said with an arrogant voice. "Oh, I agree that the Academy and the Royal Family aren''t exactly friendly. However, as someone who cares deeply for my country and its citizens, I do believe that the safety of my country and its peoplees first." The Third Elder threw his nce over at the hooded figure and spoke with an indifferent voice. "Third Elder! What are you trying to say?" The hooded figure red at the Third Elder, furious upon hearing his words. "Oh? It seems that you did not understand. Very well, I shall make it simple for you," The Third Elder''s voice was crystal clear and full of strength. "To ensure the safety of Argria and its citizens, the Golden Avarice Academy has decided to let go of our past grudges and join hands with the Royal Family!" Chapter 76: The Finale (2) Chapter 76: The Finale (2) "Oh, I agree that the Academy and the Royal Family aren''t exactly friendly. However, as someone who cares deeply for my country and its citizens, I do believe that the safety of my country and its peoplees first." The Third Elder threw his nce over at the hooded figure and spoke with an indifferent voice. "Third Elder! What are you trying to say?" The hooded figure red at the Third Elder, furious upon hearing his words. "Oh? It seems that you did not understand. Very well, I shall make it simple for you," The Third Elder''s voice was crystal clear and full of strength. "To ensure the safety of Argria and its citizens, the Golden Avarice Academy has decided to let go of our past grudges and join hands with the Royal Family!" ... "Ohoho! Now this is unexpected. I certainly didn''t expect the Golden Avarice Academy to team up with the Royal Family, considering the bad blood between them. Truly unbelievable!" "Wonderful, simply wonderful! The academies and the royal family never got along with each other, so never in my dreams would I have thought they would team up one day. I''m guessing the Prince''s words made them rethink the situation, and figured out that supporting the Royal Family is the path to safety!" "This feels like the start of something big! I can''t believe that the Prince was able to convince the elders of the Golden Avarice Academy to support him. He''s truly the King that Argria deserves!" The citizens were surprised to see the Third Elder of the Golden Avarice Academy lend a hand to the new king, as none of them had expected this to happen. However, none of the spectators wereining. After all, the more support the new king gets, the better his chances were at winning against the ones who were terrorizing them. "Third Elder! To think that you would express your support for the Monarchy so openly! I didn''t expect you to be this spineless! I bet they paid you and your pals a lot of money just to get your support, huh? Well, we''re not going to let you win! The Revolution shall continue, and we''ll vent our anger on you!" The hooded figure burst into an evilughter, gnashing his teeth after speaking, and one could see the gruesome hatred he had for both the monarchy and the third elder leaking out from his eyes. "You all are the spineless ones here, scum! Throwing away our country''s hopes for the sake of your ideology! As if I''ll let you do that!" The Third Elder turned to the hooded figure and said. "What do you say, Prince ke Bancroft? Are you willing to ept the Golden Avarice academy''s help?" "Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on." The Prince looked at the Third Elder and replied. "Life is too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs, and therefore I, Prince ke Bancroft, will dly wee a new beginning to our rtionship." "You damn money-grubbers! To think all you people would care about are money and power! You are all enemies of the Revolution, and you shall be purged from the face of the earth!" Realizing that things weren''t looking so good for them, the hooded figure quickly spoke, and the Third Elder gave him an indifferent look. "Pathetic words from a soon to be dead man. I''ll send you to the underworld in a few seconds!" The Third Elder shouted, and his aura turned murderous! Bzzz! Without hesitating, he forcefully punched out and an extremely dazzling and enormous crimson colored palm manifested in the air carrying a huge amount of spiritual energy, and was shrouding toward the hooded figures. "Don''t think you can defeat me just because you are an elder of the Golden Avarice Academy! We''ll let you know how powerful we are!" The leader of the hooded figure spoke with an angry expression.Since he couldn''t avoid a confrontation, then there was nothing left to do. If they want a fight; he''ll give them a fight! Swish! With a roar, the four hooded figures pressed their right foot forward in unison and unleashed their spiritual energy, emitting powerful golden beams from their palms! Bzzz! The four golden beams connected with each other and formed a rectangr golden shield! "Shoot!!" The leader of the hooded figure shouted, as the giant rectangr shield surged upwards, and the two attacks collided, creating a tremendous explosion due to the amount of force and energy expelled! BOOM! The four hooded figures took a few steps back before stabilizing their bodies, as dust and debris filled the air! "Hmph! Looks like you do have some skills! But if you think little tricks are going to help you get out of this situation, then you''re sorely mistaken!" The cold voice of the Third Elder echoed throughout the dust filled air, and his figure burst through the smoke clouds, heading towards the hooded figures. There wasn''t arge distance between them and the Third Elder was incredibly fast! Within a split second, he had already appeared right in front of the leader of the hooded figure. "What?" The leader''s eyes went wide and he simply cried out in shock. He couldn''t believe how fast the Third Elder was! "Take this! Star ming Strike!!" The Third Elder''s eyes flickered with cruelty and he immediately unleashed another palm strike, aiming for the leader''s chest. "Leader! Nooo!!" The three hooded figures yelled out and they stretched out their palms right in front of their leader''s chest and began drawing; unleashing a mysterious pentagram in order to block the attack of the Third Elder. BOOM! The star ming strike burst through the pentagram and collided with the leader of the hooded figures, who was sent flying backwards like a kite that had its line cut off and crashed onto the ground over a hundred meters away, causing arge crater to appear. AAAAH!!! Miserable screams ran throughout the air, as the three hooded figures stared at what remained of their hands. Even though they had tried their hardest to block the attack, there was no way they could withstand the Third Elder''s frightening palm strike. As a result, their palms collided with the Third Elder''s attack and instantly exploded. "THIRD ELDER!! How dare you try and stop the revolution!" The leader roared loudly as he struggled to climb up from the ground, and spit out a mouthful of blood. This was an insult, an unbearable insult to the Revolution! However, the leader''s chest was now torn up and he didn''t even have the strength to stand properly anymore. "How touching! Because of your friends, you actually managed to survive my strike! I''m impressed by your loyalty to your cause. However, this is as far as you''ll go!!" The Third Elder suddenly shouted out, and his body then shed toward the leader of the hooded figures. "Leader! Quick, we have to do something!" The three hooded figures, who saw the Third Elder move towards their leader, tried to intervene, but before they could do anything, three silhouettes appeared on their sides! "Don''t tell me you forgot about me, did you?" Prince ke Bancroft shouted loudly, and without hesitating, he raised his sword high up into the air and swung it down from top to bottom, slicing one of the hooded figures in half. "I''ll take care of this one! You can take the other, Senior Beldon!" ude yelled out, as he arrived in front of one of the figures in the blink of an eye. The Third Elder''s attack not only destroyed their hands, but also weakened them considerably. Under normal circumstances, it would have been really difficult for ude to fight against these hooded figures, but thankfully, they had lost most of theirbat strength. Thus, these hooded figures were currently no match for ude. Whoosh! ude wielded his katana, and the tremble of its spiritual energy shattered the air around it while shing forward! Aargh!! The hooded figure let out a loud scream as he couldn''t even defend against it, causing his entire body to explode! At the same time, the Third Elder had already appeared in front of the leader, and grabbed his head and simply crushed it! ude gentlynded on the ground and calmly looked at Senior Beldon, who had also sessfully defeated his opponent. "Prince, are you all right?" the Third Elder moved towards Prince ke Bancroft and asked, as he extended his hand towards him. "I appreciate your concern, Third Elder but I am perfectly fine," The Prince said with a smile, epting the Third Elder''s help and pulling himself up. Both ude and Senior Beldon also moved closer to the Prince, and the four of them walked towards the crowd of people who had been watching the battle! "You have saved us all, King! You are our savior!!" "My GodUsing his strength to protect the citizens instead of trying to swindle them! My King, you are already an improvement over our previous one!" "Long live King ke Bancroft! Long live King ke Bancroft!" All the citizens that were present in Josenheim burst into cheers upon seeing the King and his allies appearing unscathed. They were all looking at their new king in the most respectful manner. Because of his actions, they were now ready to wee a new era. Chapter 77: New Beginnings Chapter 77: New Beginnings Over the years, General Ivan had met countless cultivators, both in and out of the battlefield. Some were idiots who only knew the way of the fists, while some were cold and calctive, waiting patiently for the right chance to strike. Some werezy and climbed through the ranks through ttery and connections, while some were hardworking, highly trained individuals who would make even the most powerful tremble. Some were cowards who wouldn''t even think twice about betraying someone, while others were braver than anyone else, who''d dly wee death rather than betraying their people. General Ivan didn''t know which one of them would best describe him. But then again, he had never thought about it before. He had always been a workaholic. Most people would consider this a bad thing, but not General Ivan. He had always enjoyed what he did, and he made sure that he spent his life doing what he enjoyed every single second. His work was his life and he never gave it too much thought. One mission after another. That was his life. General Ivan took out his binocrs and looked through it. The messenger they had sent was returning, heading in their direction; to the nameless town near the southeastern border that the soldiers called ''Valley of the Dead''. "Ever been here before, General?" The second inmand, Sergeant y approached Ivan and asked, to which the General nodded his head. "As a matter of fact, I have." The General took his eyes off the binocrs and turned his gaze towards the second inmand."This was my hometown." Sergeant y''s eyes widened with surprise. He was certainly amused. "Really? I knew you were not from around here, but I didn''t know this was your hometown! That''s surprising!" "Yeah, it sure is." General Ivan nodded his head and began slowly walking towards the fast approaching messenger. ''I didn''t think I''d be back here either..'' Ivan let out a heavy sigh as he waited for the messenger. Already a soldier who had served more than eight years in the Royal Army, his childhood wasn''t exactly a pretty onehe was a young beggar in the Valley of the dead had unfortunately gotten involved with the local thugsrealizing that he had no way of staying alive in the town, he decided that he had to get out of there once and for all. The next day he had secretly hitched a ride to the inner cities, leaving behind his pathetic past once and for all. At least, that''s what he thought. But now, here he was again, standing in the middle of the town that he once called home. "I don''t know if I should be happy or sad that the town has be deserted..." Ivan looked around the deserted town, and thought to himself. A few years after he left, the town had been facing constant threats from the neighbouring country, Owale. As time went on, the conflicts became more and more prominent, and the town had been transformed into a war zone, leading to many people fleeing the town. Although the town being deserted meant that the ce where he had his rough and painful childhood memories was gone, deep down, Ivan wanted it to remain the same. He wanted everything and everyone to go back to the way it once was, just so he could see how much he had grown. He wanted to beat up the thugs who made his life a living hell, and he wanted to show all those who looked down on him his current status. But unfortunately, the town had been abandoned, and the people he once knew were gone. ''To think I was still holding onto the grudge'' General Ivan clutched his hands tightly as a bitter smile appeared on his face. He thought he had grown. He believed that he was past all that. But I guess some things never change unless you really look into it. ''Maybe I should think about my life a bit more'' Plop, plop, plop As the General was thinking, the messenger''s horse had already arrived in front of him. "What did the other party say, William?" General Ivan walked towards the messenger, who was getting down from the horse, and asked. "The other party agrees to the Prince''s wish for a meeting," The messenger, William, spoke quickly and he turned his head to face the General. "I couldn''t read his face. I couldn''t tell he was thinking, General, and I always know what they think." "Is it that hard?" General Ivan asked as he folded his arms. Messenger William was someone who practiced physiognomy. He assessed a person''s thoughts through their facial expressions, and usually was an integral part of General Ivan''s ns. Messenger William shook his head and bowed his head. "I apologize, General. But I don''t think I can be of much help today." "It''s alright." General Ivan waved his hands in response and continued, "I''m sure you did your best, William." As he spoke, his gaze shifted to the mountains far away, where he could see a small but bright light. "What else did they say?" "They said that they''ll arrive in a few minutes, right after the private army gets ready," The messenger spoke loudly, and General Ivan widened his eyes with surprise. "Private army? Did you not tell him that for the meeting to take ce, he had toe with less than twenty men?" "Uh, yes General I did in fact say that," the messenger turned his gaze away from the General''s face as he spoke. "But he didn''t agree to the conditions. I apologise once again. I have failed to pursuade them." "It''s alright," General Ivan said as he clicked his tongue, irritated by the actions of the other party. ''A few minutes, huh..'' He stared at the small light that was shining like a star in the mountains, and squinted his eyes. ''Let''s see what makes you so special, Gilbert Gottfried..'' As if to reply to the General, the small light shone even brighter. ***************** Inside the Royal Pce. Under the escort of the Royal Guards, the Third Elder, ude Rayforth and Senior Wilfred Beldon entered the Great Hall. As the doors slowly opened, ude scanned the hall, studying the surroundings and saw that a young man wearing a luxurious robe was sitting firmly on the imperial throne in the middle of the hall. This was of course, the new king of Argria, King ke Bancroft. "A thousand blessings, your majesty." The Third Elder respectfully bowed to the new king of Argria, and both ude and Senior Beldon followed suit. The king smiled and nodded his head before opening his mouth. "Thank you, Third Elder. Because of your help, I was able to put on a great show for the citizens. For that, you have my gratitude." "It was nothing, your majesty. I simply did my duty as a citizen of Argria and decided to protect its ruler. That is all," The Third Elder shook his head and spoke, and ude really wished he could roll his eyes right then. It had been two weeks since the terrorist attack at Josenheim. The coronation went ahead as nned - under strict protection, of course - and the crowd was erupting with joy the whole time. It seemed that the whole ''King protecting the citizens'' plot actually resonated with most of the citizens, as the cheers only got louder and louder as time went on. Add to that one of the academies deciding to end their grudges and work together in order to save the country, and the plot was perfect! It seemed that the other academies had also realized that the public perception about the Royal Family had finally changed, because right after the whole incident, several academies began showing their support for the new king. "Third Elder, as part of my new n as King, I have decided that the Golden Avarice Academy, Trinity Academy and the Silver Moon Academy bebined into one single academy! What do you think?" The smile on King ke''s face hadn''t once halted as he spoke. "Your majesty, I''m afraid I can''t speak for the other Academies!" The Third Elder replied, and the King suddenly startedughing, his face revealing a carefree and joyful smile. "Do not worry, Elder. I have already spoken with the rest of the Headmasters, and they all agreed to the idea. I want it renamed as the ''Royal Academy of Argria'', an academy under the Royal Family. The Monarchy will provide you with the funds, so you will no longer need to worry about money." The King then stared at the Third Elder and said, "Third Elder, I want you to be the very first Headmaster of the Royal Academy of Argria. How about it?" "Your majesty, are you really giving me the position of the Headmaster?" The Third Elder asked, and the Kingughed in response. "Of course I am. It will boost the morale of the citizens as well. What do you say?" "If that''s what your majesty wishes, then I''ll dly take the position. Thank you, your majesty!" The Third Elder spoke slowly, in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, and bowed his head once again. "Good," the King smiled, and his eyes shifted towards the two who were standing behind the Third Elder, and said, "Now, how shall I reward the two of you?" Chapter 78: Wishes Chapter 78: Wishes It was not the grandest tents ever made, but it was enough for a small army. That was how Messenger William felt when he reached the group of tents made for the Dazearyn troops. ''Are they underestimating us?'' Seeing that the number of soldiers on their side weren''t exactly a lot, the messenger couldn''t help but furrow his eyebrows in response. But right after he thought that, he immediately shook his head, shaking that thought away. ''No, no, no don''t think like that William. This is the Dazearyn Empire that we''re talking about. They don''t underestimate nor do they overestimate. I''m sure they have a reason for such a low soldier count,'' He told himself as he was led to the main tent by two Dazearyn guards. ''I really wish I could go back to my home..'' Looking at the tent in front of him, William couldn''t help but let out a small sigh. He was supposed to be on vacation, but an urgent order from the King had put a stop to it. The King had specifically requested him, so it wasn''t like he could pass the job off to someone else either. ''Why did I have to be so good at my job..'' William wanted to cry. Swish! One of the guards opened the cover to the tent and went ahead while the other stayed behind, and held the cover open for William. As William caught up with the guard who moved forward, he found himself walking on the man''s right hand side, a few steps behind. It was not nearly as spectacr as William had expected. The main tent was probably norger than the rest of the tents. There was a bit more space than the rest and some expensive-looking sculptures and a weapon''s chest on the side, but that was all. Wiim''s gaze shifted to the centre of the tent as he went in. In the middle of the tent stood a tall, solidly built man with a full head of grey hair and red eyes which were stuck on William, studying him as if he was looking at his prey, and William couldn''t help but feel as if he waspletely naked. "Are you the messenger from Argria, young man?" The figure didn''t move his gaze that seemed to spark with aggressive energy, and asked. Gulp! William swallowed the saliva inside his mouth. That may have been a simple question, but William felt as though he couldn''t answer straight away. He was like a deer caught in headlights. ''That''s one powerful aura'' William had been struck with both fear and amazement. Although he was just a messenger, William considered himself to be decent when it came to cultivation. But today, he felt as if he had to reconsider his strength. Even the mere energy ripple that was leaking out from his concealed aura was enough to make him feel difficulty in breathing. This was simply a new level of mightiness, and he couldn''t help but be surprised. "T-That''s me, Emperor Gottfried! My superior, General Ivan, has sent me here to ask you to join him for a small talk. I-If you would like to join, of course.." Although it was hard, Wiim was eventually able to speak properly, and presented the message from General Ivan to Emperor Gilbert Gottfried. "A ''small talk'', did you say?" Gilbert Gottfried walked towards messenger William as he spoke and ced his hand on his shoulder. "I''m assuming your General is aware of why I''m here, doesn''t he?" Gulp! Messenger William gulped down another round of saliva once again. He once again remembered the glorious vacation that he was about to take, and was internally crying about his misfortune. "The G-General knows everything, Emperor. He still insists that you have a talk with him before you do anything.." Although he wasn''t able to look him directly in the eye, William was able to give him an answer. "Oh? Is that so? Very interesting.." Emperor Gilbert Gottfried, who was surprised by the messenger''s words, loosened his grip on his shoulders and let out a loudughter. "Ha ha ha! I like this feeling. Alright then. I''ll agree to the request. " "Understood, Emperor," Messenger William bowed his head and secretly let out a sigh, satisfied that he had done his job without any problems. "The General requested that you arrive alone, for the pr- "Don''t try and push my limits, messenger!" Before messenger William could finish his words, a wave of powerful aura hit the atmosphere, causing him to fall down to his knees, gasping for air. Help! Help! William wanted to scream for help, but to his horror, realized that he couldn''t even make a sound because of the murderous aura that was pressuring him. "Pathetic," Emperor Gilbert Gottfried looked at the kneeling William and clicked his tongue in disgust. He waved his hand, and all of a sudden, the murderous aura disappearedpletely, and William began breathing hard. "I''m bringing my troops, whether your General likes it or not. Understand?" the Emperor said loudly as his gaze was fixed on William, who nodded furiously. Right now, he just wanted to leave as soon as possible. "Good! Now get out of my tent!" Emperor Gilbert Gottfried waved his hands, and William bowed as fast as he could and quickly walked back. "Oh, and another thing!" Gottfried spoke suddenly, causing William to stop walking and turn around. "Try not to read my face the next time we meet, alright messenger?" the Emperor spoke with a sinister smile, sending a chill down William''s spine. "You''re going to regret it the second time.." .... "Private army? Did you not tell him that for the meeting to take ce, he had toe with less than twenty men?" General Ivan asked. "Uh, yes General I did in fact say that," the messenger turned his gaze away from the General''s face as he spoke. "But he didn''t agree to the conditions. I apologise once again. I have failed to persuade them." "It''s alright," General Ivan said as he clicked his tongue, irritated by the actions of the other party and waved his hands, motioning the messenger to leave. Messenger William bowed his head and walked back to his tent. ''I really need that vacation '' William let out a sigh once again. ***************** "Third Elder, I want you to be the very first Headmaster of the Royal Academy of Argria. How about it?" "Your majesty, are you really giving me the position of the Headmaster?" The Third Elder asked, and the Kingughed in response. "Of course I am. It will boost the morale of the citizens as well. What do you say?" "If that''s what your majesty wishes, then I''ll dly take the position. Thank you, your majesty!" The Third Elder spoke slowly, in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, and bowed his head once again. "Good," the King smiled, and his eyes shifted towards the two who were standing behind the Third Elder, and said, "Now, how shall I reward the two of you?" "We merely did our duty as a citizen of Argria, your majesty." Senior Wilfred Beldon spoke as he bowed his head to the King and continued. "We didn''t do anything special, and as such, I do not think we should be getting any rewards, your majesty!" "Ha ha ha! I like your attitude, young cultivator!" The King let out a heartyughter as he spoke. "But you need not be so humble. You both risked your lives to protect your country and your king, and that isn''t something that everyone can say. You say it''s merely your duty, but I believe it''s something greater. I believe that as two young cultivators who haven''t yet left the academy, you both risked your lives for me and your country, and that deserves recognition." The King then shifted his gaze towards ude and asked, "Tell me, young man... What do you think I should gift you?" ude pondered for a moment before looking at the King and slowly saying, "Your majesty, I want to ask you to give me a position in the Royal Army after I graduate from the academy!" "Oh? You want to join the Royal Army? That''s interesting," The King couldn''t help but be stunned when he heard this. "Why do you wish to join the Royal Army, young man?" "Well, because I believe that as cultivators in the martial world, almost everything is decided by strength. And as such, I believe a position in the Royal army is the best ce to grow my cultivation skills and techniques. And being a subsidiary of the Royal Army, it also means that I''m already starting off at a higher position of power." ude spoke and his eyes flickered with a strand of a bright light. "I believe I can contribute more to the country if I am able to reach my full potential." "Ha ha ha! That''s good. You''re an ambitious young man, I like it!" The King then looked at Wilfred Beldon again and he asked, "What about you, young man? Are you satisfied with what your junior has requested, or do you wish for something else?" "I''m fine with it as well," Senior Beldon nced at ude for a brief second, before nodding his head. "Very well then!" The King nodded his head, satisfied by their answers and said. "I''ll make sure that your wishes are granted!" Chapter 79: Season 2 Episode 2.5: Back In Time (Bonus Episode) Chapter 79: Season 2 Episode 2.5: Back In Time (Bonus Episode) [ This episode is a shback episode. ] Gilbert Gottfried was born in Gellia, the capital of the Kingdom of Dazeary. His father had been a shoemaker for almost all his life, until one day his workshop was burned down in an idental fire, and his family found themselves living in poverty. His father, who couldn''te to terms with the situation he and his family was in, became an alcoholic, and Gilbert soon left his home and turned to a life of crime as a teenager. During his years as a struggling street thug, he had robbed, burrized, and assaulted many people, many of whom ended up dead. Because of his growing reputation in the streets, he was treated by other thugs in the neighborhood with considerable respect. It was also during his time as a crook that Gilbert Gottfried became acquainted with Persiv Pablo, a crippled soldier from the middle eastern kingdom Saronna, who was exiled because of his participation in a failed coup. It was Persiv who had taught him the basic martial arts techniques that he had learned during his time in the Saronnan Army. Gilbert, who was a fast learner, was able to study the techniques in a very short amount of time, which impressed Persiv, because he knew that the Middle Eastern cultivation techniques were much more difficult to learn than an average Argrian martial arts technique. And yet, the young teenager in front of him was practicing as if it was nothing, which shocked him. Gilbert, while practicing the martial arts techniques in his spare time, also began utilising them in his robberies and fights, which also helped improve his cultivation. Persiv, who had realized the true potential of his young disciple, wished for him to stop turning towards crime, but Gilbert would simply shrug his shoulders and ignore his words. During his time training under Persiv, Gilbert had heard many stories from him. One story that really caught his interest was the story about a soldier, who had survived a one sided battle against enemy forces. He, who was the only one who had survived the massacre, believed that he was saved by God, keeping him alive for a bigger purpose in life. With his passion ignited, the soldier would go on to lead his army through various battles and survive, before eventually defeating the same enemies that had massacred his first battalion, snatching the victory from them this time around. Gilbert Gottfried was incredibly fond of that one particr story, and intrigued by the notion of God and his chosen one, and the idea of fulfilling God''s purpose. It had taken about two years since he first dabbled in the art of crime, but Gilbert had finally fucked up big-time, when he had decided to assault the drug-dealing Azershah, a very reputable and formidable man in the criminal underworld with a long history of violence under his belt. The resulting bacsh from Azershah''s gang was simply enormous, which ended with Azershah and his men tying up both Gilbert and his master, Persiv, inside one of his warehouses and lighting it on fire, leaving the both of them to be burned alive. Putting his skills as a thief to good use, Gilbert was able to break free from the chains that were used to bind him up, but he couldn''t save his master in time, and was forced to leave him as he was consumed by the mes. Lost, alone and nowhere to go, Gilbert was found by a group of soldiers, who would take him under their wing, an incident which Gilbert considered to be the moment he was saved by God. Finally finding his purpose in life as a messenger of God, Gilbert Gottfried decided to join the army as he believed that it was what God had intended. Combining his exceptional cultivation skills and his experience with fighting in the streets, Gilbert was easily able to rise up the ranks in the army, before eventually reaching the rank of Royal Commander of the Emperor, Augustin Makharadze, where he would learn about the Divine Commandments. It was only during his second year serving under the Emperor would he figure out that Augustin Makharadze was merely a puppet of the Board of Advisors, and was not born from Royal Blood, thus making him - in Gilbert''s eyes - not a messenger of God. Convinced that his purpose in life was to uphold the Divine Commandments, he would secretly organize a coup with the help of a few unhappy noblemen and the military, and wouldter overthrow the Emperor and the Board of Advisors before appointing himself as the new ruler of Dazearyn Empire, as he believed that he was, in fact, chosen by God as a messenger, and this was what God had intended. ********************** "Uuuugh !" As ke regained his conscience, he slowly got up from his bed and he rubbed his eyes. "Mother..." He whispered softly as he let out a yawn. It was that dream again. He had been dreaming about his mother for a few days now. He wanted it to stop, as it reminded him of a painful memory, but his subconscious mind didn''t seem to be listening to him. ''Damn it! Why did I dream of my mother again'' ke clicked his tongue as he scratched his head and got up from the bed. ''Perhaps the stress of it all is slowly getting to me..'' He thought to himself as he walked to the bathroom. After washing his face, ke headed towards the gymnasium to train. He had chosen this gymnasium to practice his cultivation skills, and the gymnasium had a lot of space to train. ''Well, I guess if it helps me train, then it doesn''t really matter'' With a bitter smile, ke Bancroft waved his hands, and a bright red sword manifested in his palms. Whoosh! All of a sudden, the air surrounding him began swirling around, creating a whirlpool of wind and circling ke. The aura he was emitting began to increase as time went on, and soon enough, the temperature of the gymnasium began increasing, and his body was definitely feeling the pressure of it. Wham! All of a sudden, ke raised his sword and with a swing, a giant wave of crimson red light shot forward, causing ice-cold wind to blow out as a result. BOOM! The sword strike instantly collided with the ground, resulting in a deafening explosion and causing dust and debris to appear in the air. "I''m doing better than yesterday" ke looked at the crimson sword he was holding, and muttered to himself. "I see that you''re doing well, ke," A voice was hearding from behind him, and ke slowly turned around with a smile and said, "Why are you up so early, mother?" "I was about to call you for breakfast, but it seemed like you were in the middle of practice, so I decided to wait a few minutes" The voice came from a middle-aged woman who was looking at ke with a loving gaze and a bright smile. "Oh! It seems that I waste to wake up," ke scratched his chin with a bitter smile as the crimson red sword disappeared from his hands, and he walked towards the middle ageddy. "Let us go and eat breakfast!" As the two walked out of the gymnasium, the middle ageddy nced at ke before speaking softly, "ke, is there something on your mind? You look a bit sad today.." ke shifted his gaze towards the middle ageddy, hesitating for a few seconds before eventually opening his mouth; "... I saw my mom in my dream again." The middle ageddy widened her eyes with surprise and stopped walking as soon as she heard his words. ke stopped walking as well, and turned around to look at the woman he had previously called ''mother''. The middle ageddy let out a deep breath, and looked at ke with a smile as she said, "You know, I still remember when Brenda came to me with you in her arms. She was so careful about concealing her pregnancy that even I was surprised when she told me that she had given birth to you!" ke smiled when he heard her words. The middle ageddy let out a chuckle as well, before her expression turned serious and continued speaking. "I know that you''re hell bent on taking revenge on your father, ke. But I really wish that you would be more careful. The people who you''re working with, they''re not good people. The only reason that they''re helping you is because you are useful to them. Do not forget that." "I know, mother," ke nodded his head, and the middle ageddy walked towards him and hugged him tightly. "I know that I''m not the one who gave birth to you. But I do know that you''re my son, ke. I hope you know that," ke could hear her trying her best to hold in tears, and he replied, "I know mom I know.." Chapter 80: Winter Chapter 80: Winter Winter wasing. You could tell from the cold wind blowing through the abandoned town under a crystal blue sky. Letting out a breath of air, Gilbert Gottfried looked at the ghost town in front of him that was called the ''Valley of the Dead''. To him, this ce was not unlike his first military post in Hemazia ten years ago, right after he got promoted to Captain. Sure, there were a few shops that worked, and the amount of garbage raiders walking around the town as if this was their home were more than anyone would''ve expected, but that was it. It was basically inhabitable. After the almost one sided Massacre at Capenea, Gottfried and his army were satisfied, as the conquest had ended up giving them a useful trade. The Empire of Dazeary had profited personally from the demise of the Capenean army by increasing their territory as well as receiving a multitude of other resources that were looted by the Dazearyns such as textile, gold and most importantly, spice. Moreover, the medicine shops, food supplies and treasuries were all ransacked as well. Although the conquest had essentially wiped the country of Capenea off the map, the Dazearyn army had considered the result an overall sess. Gilbert Gottfried had been expecting a simr situation with the country of Argria. Although he had expected little resistance, he believed that the victory would undoubtedly be with the Dazearyn army. General Ivan was waiting for him at the border of the abandoned town with a calm smile on his face, and Gilbert Gottfried couldn''t help but raise his eyebrows in suspicion. Those weren''t the eyes of someone who knew that the mighty Dazearyn Empire was going to attack their homnd. Two days ago he''d preloaded their protective gears and physical weapons hardened carriages, physical swords to project on the cultivation technique, reducing the need to exert more spiritual energy, as well as hardened clothing. As any goodmander did, Gilbert Gottfried had already sent out his men to inspect the surrounding area in order to stop the enemy fromunching any surprising attacks and had also sent out strategists to map out the terrain in order to lessen the advantage the enemy might have because of familiarity. Surely, he was prepared for a war. The enemy might''ve also figured that out, but then again, there''s nothing they can do to prevent Gottfried from utilising that information to his advantage either. But then, why did the General seem so calm? There was no point in being too curious if he didn''t have any way to find out the answers. But Gottfried couldn''t help but rub his chin feeling a bit anxious. Plop, plop, plop. The horses moved fast, and Gilbert Gottfried and his men arrived in front of the border in no time. Gottfried''s gaze shifted to the General, who was walking towards them with a few of his soldiers right behind him. Gottfried signalled his men to get off their horses, while also motioning them with his hands to stay alert and keep an eye on their surroundings. Although he had said before that he''d not listen to the instructions presented by the Argrian General, Gilbert Gottfried had kept his team small, himself and five others that he trusted implicitly. It was just enough men to do the heavy lifting if necessary, but not enough to present a problem to his opponents. He didn''t mind that part of it, actually. Gottfried walked towards the General, and his subordinates stayed a few feet behind him, close enough to protect him, but far enough back not to make their enemies alert. "Wee to Argria, Emperor Gottfried! I hope you enjoy your stay here," General Ivan spoke with a smile and weed the Dazearyns. Emperor Gilbert Gottfried nodded his head in response to the General''s words. "It''s not bad for a ghost town. I''m sure I''d enjoy it if I was dead, but unfortunately for you, I''m not." "Ha ha ha ha. I didn''t expect the Emperor of one of thergest empires to be a funny person. Now isn''t that surprising?" General Ivan burst outughing. Gilbert Gottfried said, "I suppose it helps to bnce out the mood." He then scanned the surroundings for a few seconds, and continued,"Now if you don''t mind, General Ivan, I think we should get to talking, because I''m a very busy man and you people are running out of time." "Why of course, Emperor. Let''s get to it," General Ivan stretched his hand out and pointed towards the old abandoned building behind them, motioning the Emperor to head inside, who raised his eyebrows in response. "This is an abandoned town, so I''m afraid this is the best ce we''ve got." "Fine let''s not waste any time," Gilbert Gottfried massaged his temples and walked towards the building, and his subordinates followed him close behind. "I apologize, but I have to speak with the Emperor alone. So I''m afraid I''m going to have to ask you all to stay back here," But before the subordinates could take another step forward, the General''s men stood in front of them, blocking their path. This caused the eyes of the subordinates to turn bloodshot, as they screamed loudly, "Move out of the way, bitch! Or pay the price!" Gilbert Gottfried, who was walking forward, stopped in his tracks and turned around, his eyes squinted as he said, "What the hell is this? Do you not want to talk, or do you simply wish to die?" "I apologize, your majesty, but I can''t let your mene along with you. However, I assure you that you''ll be safe with me," General Ivan bowed his head as he spoke, and all of a sudden, a powerful wave of deadly aura surrounded him, making it hard for him to breathe. "On what basis are you saying that you can guarantee my safety, General?" Gilbert Gottfried, whose killing aura was now flowing out, asked, his expression furious. "Because I''ll be alone as well," Even under the intense pressure of Gottfried, General Ivan spoke out with great effort. He continued, "I promise that I''ll also enter the building without any of my men. You can guarantee that you''re powerful enough to defeat me alone, isn''t that right, your majesty?" Silence. Gottfried was looking at General Ivan, and the General was looking at him, but no one spoke. " Tsk, fine!" Gilbert Gottfried clicked his tongue, and suddenly the killing aura that he had been releasing simply vanished without a trace, and General Ivan let out a sigh, and had to kneel down on one knee to support himself. Gottfried looked at the General for a brief second before shifting his gaze towards his men, and said. "Stand back. I''ll be alright!" "B-but your highness.." one of the subordinates spoke out sounding concerned. BAM! Before he couldplete his words, Gottfried stomped his foot hard on the ground, and the whole surrounding shook for a second! "That''s an order, soldier!" Gilbert Gottfried yelled out, and the soldier who spoke realized that he made a mistake and bowed his head. "I-I Apologize, your highness! I''ve made a huge mistake! Please forgive me!" "General, let''s go!" Gottfried didn''t bother speaking with the soldier who had bowed his head and turned to General Ivan, who nodded and walked towards the building, followed by Gottfried, leaving the soldiers alone. The two of them stepped inside the building and walked towards one of the rooms. It was a small square room with a window and a dirty old rug on the floor, with a wooden desk and two chairs. General Ivan walked up to one of the chairs, sat down, looked up at Gottfried and smiled. He said, "Sit down, your highness." Gottfried grabbed the remaining chair, pulled it close to him and sat down, asking; "What is it that you wanted to discuss?" "I''m going to have to ask you to leave Argria alone," General Ivan said. Silence imed the room. Gottfried said, "You''re joking, right?" General Ivan said nothing. BAM! Gottfried mmed his hand over the table and screamed, "I have sent over my men to monitor your country''s situation, and have received news that the Royal Family will soon lose their power over the masses. ording to the Divine Commandments, it is my duty as a messenger of the lord to stop such an event from happening!" General Ivan waited for Gottfried to finish before speaking. "The King and the Queen have been reced. It seems that your information is outdated, your highness.." "What?" Gilbert Gottfried looked at General Ivan, stunned by his words. "What nonsense are you spouting? Are you trying to trick me, General?" "There''s no trickery here, your highness!" General Ivan spoke calmly and continued, "Everything that I''ve told you is the truth. The King has been overthrown by his own blood; his son, ke Bancroft. And he has been the King for the past few weeks. The people are content under his rule now, your highness! It seems that you should be worrying about your informant''s ability first, your highness!" Chapter 81: Outdated Chapter 81: Outdated "The King and the Queen have been reced. It seems that your information is outdated, your highness.." "What?" Gilbert Gottfried looked at General Ivan, stunned by his words. "What nonsense are you spouting? Are you trying to trick me, General?" "There''s no trickery here, your highness!" General Ivan spoke calmly and continued, "Everything that I''ve told you is the truth. The King has been overthrown by his own blood; his son, ke Bancroft. And he has been the King for the past few weeks. The people are content under his rule now, your highness! It seems that you should be worrying about your informant''s ability first, your highness!" BAM! As soon as the General finished his words, Gilbert Gottfried mmed his fist on the table once again, gritting his teeth as he yelled out, "Are you mocking the skills of my men, General? Are you trying to imply that my men are ipetent? Is that what you''re trying to do?" "Of course not, your majesty. I would never do that," General Ivan shook his head and continued. "I''m merely suggesting that you look into your informants as the information they seem to have collected are all pretty old and inurate as of now. Frankly, I''m baffled as to how this can happen." "You have a way with words don''t you, General..." Gilbert Gottfried clicked his tongue as he spoke in a sarcastic manner. General Ivan smiled in response, which only made Gottfried even more frustrated. "Well, regardless of what you think about my words, you have to agree that your intelligence team is, for ack of a better word, cking''!" General Ivan looked at Gilbert Gottfried and spoke softly, and Gottfried tightly clenched his fists, but didn''t say anything. After a few seconds, Gottfried leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, closing his eyes and thinking to himself, and silence reigned in the room once again. General Ivan didn''t wish to interrupt him as it would only bring about the emperor''s wrath upon him. The only reason General Ivan provoked Gilbert Gottfried was to force him toe to terms with the outdated intelligence report instead of outright denying it. It wouldn''t do any good if he provoked him while he was thinking to himself, and it would only ruin everything he did right now. "Hmmmm..." After a brief period of silence, Gilbert Gottfried cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak. "I understand, it seems I have to have a talk with my intelligence team before dering war on Argria. Forgive me for getting angry at you. It seems that the stress has got to my head." "No, no., no It''s all right your highness. It was an honest mistake on your part and it isn''t a big problem. Let''s forget about that," Although General Ivan spoke with a smile on his face, he was cursing out inside his mind. ''The hell it''s alright! I''m pretty sure you would''ve tried to kill me with that kind of aura. As if I''m okay with that!'' If his face wasn''t visible to Gottfried right now, then General Ivan would''ve rolled his eyes at hisment. "But this doesn''t mean that we''re done here General..." Gilbert Gottfried said as he pointed hos finger at the General and continued. "Although it was a mistake on my intelligence team''s side, the fact is that I''ll only trust my own men fully and not you, General." "Oh, of course your majesty!" General Ivan straightened himself up as he replied and said, "I know that blindly trusting your would-be enemy is simply foolish. But I assure you that I''m telling the truth." "Hmmm.... alright," Gilbert Gottfried nodded his head, seemingly satisfied with his answer. He then stared at the General and said, "But even if my intelligence report confirms this, how can I be sure that this isn''t some scheme put forward by those old foggies in the Royal Council? For all I know, the King that you keep mentioned could simply be a puppet of the Council. I''ll need answers, General." "Oh, of course! Ipletely understand your reasoning, which is why the King wanted to invite you to the Royal Pce to meet with him," General Ivan shifted his body a bit forward, and said. Gottfried furrowed his eyebrows. "Sounds like you were expecting me to say that, General. It''s only making me more suspicious, to bepletely honest." "Well, the king had already invited your highness, and I simply thought that was the best opportunity to mention that!" General Ivan still had his innocent smile on his face as he spoke. ".... Fine, I''ll discuss the issue with my intelligence team first, and then I''ll decide whether or not I''ll ept your King''s invitation!" Gilbert Gottfried stood up from his chair and looked down at General Ivan, who was still sitting down. "If you are in fact following the Divine Commandents without any problems, then we won''t have any problems and we can let bygones be bygones..." He then walked towards General Ivan, ced his hand on his shoulder, and said. "But if I find that you lied to me or tried to mess with me, then I''ll make sure that you and everyone you love are erased from this world! I hope you''ll understand. General!" "... I understand, your highness," General Ivan had no smile on his face as he responded to the Emperor''s words. "Good, then I guess this is the end of our conversation for now," Emperor Gilbert Gottfried nodded his head and loosened his grip on General Ivan''s shoulder and walked towards the door. "Oh, and one more thing!" Gottfried stopped right before he exited the room, turned around and shifted his gaze towards the General. "I''ll take your messenger, the one who brought your message to my campsite, with me" "You want William?" General Ivan looked at the emperor with a confused expression and he replied, "I''m going to have to inform you of the date as to when we can have a meeting, and I can only do that after my discussion with my intelligence team." "And?" "And I''m not sending one of my own men to inform you of the news," Gottfried said with a sinister smile as he turned around and exited the room, waving his arm as he walked out of the building. "Send him as soon as you can!" Gilbert Gottfried left without even waiting to hear General Ivan''s answer. He wasn''t going to take no for an answer, and Ivan knew that. "Sir, is everything alright?" One of his subordinates entered the room as soon as the emperor and his men left the ce, and asked. General Ivan shook his head, let out a heavy sigh and said, "Just bring me Messenger William. Tell him he''s got another mission..." *********** Back in the Royal Pce. After meeting with the new King of Argria and receiving his blessings, both ude and Senior Wilfred Beldon walked out of the giant hall that they were in right now. ude quickly began walking towards the exit, eager to return to his training, and Senior Beldon followed him close behind. "Hey, ude!" Senior Beldon called out to the fast paced ude in front of him. "Wait for me, junior!" ude stopped in his tracks and turned around, and Senior Beldon caught up to him. "You said you wanted a position in the Royal Army," Senior Beldon looked at ude and asked. "Why?" "What do you mean, why?" ude raised his eyebrows, confused at his Senior''s question. "I just told his majesty the reason." "I did hear all that. But from what I do know about you, I really don''t think you told him the actual reasoning behind your decision," Senior Beldon stared at ude and replied. "''Royal army is the best ce to grow your cultivation skills?'' Sure, there might be some truth to that, but I don''t think that''s all there is to it." "Why do you want to know so badly?" ude asked. "I don''t know. I just do," Senior Beldon shrugged his shoulders and replied. ude stayed silent for a few seconds, before opening his mouth. "I want to be at the top!" Senior Beldon looked at ude and he continued, "No matter what I do, I''ll most likely end up working under someone else. And everytime I look back, I can''t help but feel as if there''s a knife right behind me, ready to pierce my back at any time. And I hate that." ude shifted his gaze towards Senior Beldon. "In a world where strength dictates one''s social status, the only way to get rid of that feeling is to be the strongest. And I can only do that if I push myself to my utmost limits in every aspect of my life. The Royal Army can provide the setting as well as the resources required for all that." "... I see." Senior Beldon nodded his head and ude asked, "Is that good enough of an answer?" "It''s pretty good, yeah.." Senior Beldon said with a smile. "So what do you n on doing now?" ude looked at Senior Beldon and said bluntly, "What else? Train." Chapter 82: Dont Want To Get Angry Chapter 82: Don''t Want To Get Angry "In a world where strength dictates one''s social status, the only way to get rid of that feeling is to be the strongest. And I can only do that if I push myself to my utmost limits in every aspect of my life. The Royal Army can provide the setting as well as the resources required for all that." "... I see." Senior Beldon nodded his head and ude asked, "Is that good enough of an answer?" "It''s pretty good, yeah.." Senior Beldon said with a smile. "So what do you n on doing now?" ude looked at Senior Beldon and said bluntly, "What else? Train." "... *Sigh*.. You really are a workaholic, aren''t you, junior brother ude?" Senior Beldon ced his palm on his face as he let out a heavy sigh. "You should let loose once in a while, you know? Have fun!" "What are you talking about, Senior Beldon? I do have fun when I''m training." ude let out a short chuckle and walked towards the exit, and Senior Beldon let out another sigh as he followed him. "Where do you n on training? Are you still nning on using the training ground sectors?" Senior Beldon caught up to ude and asked. "I am," ude nodded his head in response and continued walking. "It''s the best ce right now for training in the academy." "But didn''t you say before that you weren''t making any decent progress while training on those grounds?" Senior Beldon asked, his eyes shining with curiosity. "I did. But right now that''s the best I can do," ude replied, his gaze shifted towards Senior Beldon. "I guess I have to makepromises." "Hmmm...." Senior Beldon ced his hand on his chin as he began thinking. ude stopped moving and looked back to see his senior deep in thought, and looked at him with a confused expression. "Aha! I have an idea!" Snap! All of a sudden, Senior Beldon''s eyes twinkled, and he snapped his fingers with delight. "You can train in the Gryfino forest!" Senior Beldon walked towards ude and spoke with delight, and ude couldn''t help but be confused by his words. Of course, he had considered Gryfino forest. But most of the spiritual beasts inside the forest were easily beatable with the help of ude''s cultivation. And it wasn''t just ude who could defeat the beasts. Almost all of the students who had passed on to the Sky Realm could easily defeat almost all of the spiritual beasts inside the Gryfino forest. And it wasn''t like the terrain was better than the training ground sectors. In fact, he thought that the artificially created training ground sectors were more useful in training than the abnormal and uneven terrain of the Gryfino forest. So why on earth was his senior rmending him this only now? Honestly, ude couldn''t help but be disappointed. "Oi, oi, oi! Don''t look at me like that. I can tell exactly what you''re thinking, you know!" Senior Beldon spoke with an annoyed expression on his face as he scratched his head. "I know what you''re thinking you''re thinking why am I rmending Gryfino forest when you''re at the Sky Realm, right?" "I simply don''t understand how training there can improve my cultivation in any way," ude replied and Senior Beldon clicked his tongue. Tsk! "That''s because you don''t know what secrets Gryfino forest holds, junior brother ude!" Senior Beldon spoke with a smile on his face, which made ude intrigued. "What on earth do you mean, Senior Beldon? Is there something I do not know about Gryfino forest?" ude asked, unable to contain his curiosity, and a huge smirk appeared on his Senior''s face. "Well, it''s not like you would''ve known, considering not many people are aware of this. But you certainly should''ve expected that I wouldn''t simply state something without any reason. I can''t believe you didn''t trust me, junior brother ude!" Senior Beldon looked at ude with a painful expression, and ude rolled his eyes at his terrible acting skills. "Just spill it, would you, Senior Beldon?" ude spoke bluntly, and Senior Beldon clicked his tongue once again. " Tsk, you''re no fun, ude Fine, I''ll tell you!" He pointed his finger upwards as he opened his mouth to speak, "As everyone knows, Gryfino forest is one of thergest forest areas in all of Argria, and has a variety of animals and spiritual beasts and whatnots residing inside it!" ude nodded his head and didn''t interrupt Senior Beldon''s words, indicating him to continue talking. Seeing his junior brother so interested, Senior Beldon stopped for a moment before saying, "But what most people don''t know is that the Gryfino forest has a lot of secrets that are hidden from the public!" "What is the reason for not divulging this information to the public?" ude slowly asked, in a neither humble nor arrogant manner. "Mostly because of fear of public interference, and for their safety.." Senior Beldon replied. "But to get back to our topic..." Senior Beldon returned to the earlier topic and continued speaking."I do not know if you''ve noticed this before, but if you go deep into the Gryfino forest and look around, you''ll be able to find small holes on the ground that seem to stretch towards the core of the earth. Although most people would ignore this weird hole, this hole contains a secret that not many people know." Senior Beldon took a deep breath and stared fixedly at ude with a slightly excited mood, and continued. "The hole is dug by a spiritual beast called Carus." "What is a Carus?" ude had a bewildered expression on his face as he asked. Senior Beldon looked at ude as he directly said, "A Carus is a worm-like creature that bores through the earth in order to hibernate. Now, what''s so special about this worm is that as it hibernates, it is essentially building up spiritual energy inside its body. And this little sucker hibernates for thousands of years as well, so that''s a lot of spiritual energy that it''s using!" Senior Beldon pondered for a moment before looking at ude and slowly saying, "Now, although it does cultivate a lot of spiritual energy, it is basically a worm, so it can''t actually use all of the energy inbat. We''re assuming that the spiritual energy is most likely broken down into food particles for the Carus worm, so it''s not in the form intended for cultivation. And although some have dissected the organism, it was found out that the spiritual energy was released into the atmosphere the moment the creature died." Snap! Senior Beldon snapped his fingers as he continued, "But if you defeat the Carus worm, it''s said that the spiritual energy that gets released into the atmosphere is so thick that one can feel your cultivation levels improving if you are in close proximity to its corpse!" "Why haven''t most people figured this out yet? Surely the strange and weird holes on the ground must''ve intrigued somebody." ude asked, and Senior Beldon nodded his head. "Oh, because it''s not that easy to capture this worm. For one, the holes it bores are literally endless, and it''s impossible to pick out the Carus from the hole. And secondly, even if you somehow found it identally, it''s speed is so fast that it''ll most likely escape before you can even make a decision." "So how on earth am I supposed to capture it?" ude asked, impatient. He knew that Senior Beldon wouldn''t tell him all of that just to say he wouldn''t be able to capture the worm. Surely he must have a n in mind. And, as per his suspicions, Senior Beldon did, in fact, have a secret method hidden up his sleeve. "Erythrimum and Dioserum!" He said with a smile, and ude looked at him, confused. "Are those some kind of drugs?" ude asked and Senior Beldon nodded his head. "Bingo! These drugs are essential to bring out the Carus. You only need to mix the two drugs together to form apound drug, and pour it into the hole. Thepound will definitely seep into the earth and reach Carus in no time, making it irritated and weak, forcing it toe out." "You''re expecting me to buy the drugs?" ude asked, and Senior Beldon rolled his eyes. "I''m sure you have the ability to find these drugs considering you were able to off the Headmaster, but do remember to check the dosage as thepound might be dangerous for the ground in the long term." "Is that all?" ude asked, as Senior Beldon slowly exhaled. "Oh, and one more thing..." Senior Beldon said as he cleared his throat. "Do make sure that you catch and kill the Carus worm as quickly as you can, alright?" He looked at ude, and his gaze was serious. "The Carus might look like an easy target, but if you y around too much and not let it bore a hole for hibernating, it will get angry..And I''m positive you''re not going to like it getting angry!" Chapter 83: Secrets And Death Chapter 83: Secrets And Death "You''re expecting me to buy the drugs?" Senior Beldon rolled his eyes. "I''m sure you have the ability to find these drugs considering you were able to off the Headmaster, but do remember to check the dosage as thepound might be dangerous for the ground in the long term." "Is that all?" "Oh, and one more thing..." Senior Beldon said as he cleared his throat. "Do make sure that you catch and kill the Carus worm as quickly as you can, alright?" He looked at ude, and his gaze was serious. "The Carus might look like an easy target, but if you y around too much and not let it bore a hole for hibernating, it will get angry..And I''m positive you''re not going to like it getting angry!" "Hmm, I guess I can give it a shot," ude said as he ced his hands on his chin and began thinking. He felt like it was a fresh idea when he thought about it. "Thanks for the information, Senior Beldon. I appreciate your help." "Just don''t make a mistake and put yourself in danger, alright?" Senior Beldon lightly smiled at his junior brother, who nodded his head in response and walked forward. "By the way, now that our master and our fellow faction members are dead, what are we supposed to do?" ude asked. Senior Beldon scratched his head and spoke, "Well, Third Elder said that he''ll introduce us to his own faction and we can join them, but I''m guessing we''ll have to wait until the merging of the three academies for that to happen.." "I see," ude nodded his head and continued walking. ******************* Valley of the Dead. Camp of the Dazearyn Army. From the look on the Emperor''s face upon reaching his army''s campsite in the Valley of the Dead should have told Commander Selvig all he needed to know about the mood of Gilbert Gottfried and his subordinates, as well as what level of anger he could expect from him. Gottfried seemed less than pleased from his meeting with the Argrian General on the border, and was visibly angry. The reason for his displeasure wasn''t known, nor did the soldiers seem to care about it. From their experience serving the Emperor, they had understood that as long as they stayed out of the Emperor''s way, they could all be safe and alive. "Wee back, your majesty," The Commander snapped off and bowed his head to the Emperor and said "The beverages and exotic dishes that you had ordered has been made by our talented chefs and are waiting for you in your tent!" Themander then stepped aside and gestured toward the giant tent that stood almost fifty feet away. Gilbert Gottfried, who was beyond angry, still managed to give a nod to themander without blowing up. "Commander Selvig, bring me the leader of our intelligence agency. I want him right now," Gilbert Gottfried ordered hismander and headed towards the tent. "I''ll make sure someone gets him, your highness," Commander Selvig replied and waved at a soldier standing beside him, who nodded his head and went off to find the person whom the Emperor was asking for. "That was close," One of the soldiers let out s heavy sigh as the Emperor left towards his tent, relieved by the fact that he wasn''t the target of the Emperor''s fury. "I feel bad for the leader of the intelligence agency though," Another soldier, who was standing next to him shook his head, sympathetic towards the leader of the intelligence agency. "Forgive me for being rude, your majesty, but may I ask what exactly happened back at the Valley of the Dead that seemed to have worsened your mood today?" Commander Selvig turned to Emperor Gilbert Gottfried as they walked towards the tent. "It seems that our intelligence team has made a mistake, Commander Selvig," the Emperor said, as he continued walking, "The information we have on the country of Argria seems to be outdated by a few weeks, or even months." "What? How on earth is that possible?" Themander couldn''t help but identally blurt out his thoughts. "What''s different from the information that we received?" "Well, for one, they say that the throne has been imed by a new king, someone who is of Royal blood," the Emperor reached the entrance of the tent as he spoke, and the two guards standing in front of the tent immediately bowed their heads, showing their respect for their ruler. "What? But I thought the King and the Queen didn''t have any children," Commander Selvig followed the Emperor and entered the tent as well. "They seemed pretty confident. I doubt it''s a lie." the Emperor replied, and immediately saw the Commander''s eyes change. "Well, it could also be that they are confident that their lie cannot be exposed. Or maybe there''s something going on that we don''t know." Inside the tent was a golden throne and a giant table, which was filled to the brim with various dishes and drinks and fruits of all kinds. The Emperor walked towards the throne and sat down while the Commander grabbed a ss filled with wine and handed it to the Emperor who took a gulp from it, "This is really good. I like this..." "My men picked it up from one of the finest of wineries, your majesty. I''m happy that you enjoyed the wine," the Commander bowed his head, thanking the Emperor for his kindment. "Guess I''ll take your word for it." The Emperor took another gulp from the wine after he finished speaking. "Regardless of what the motives of the Argrians are, the fact is that our intelligence team made a mistake. And you and I both know I don''t tolerate mistakes. Not in my army." "Let me go, I can move on my own, alright?" Right then, a voice was heard from outside of the tent, and both Emperor Gottfried and Commander Selvig turned their heads around to look at the entrance of the tent. "I guess our guest for this evening is here.." the Emperor spoke with an indifferent voice. Whoosh! As soon as Emperor Gilbert Gottfried finished speaking, a body was flung through the entrance, andnded on the floor on their back with a loud ''thud''. Two men walked into the tent, immediately bowing their heads in front of the Emperor, showing their respect. "Your highness! We have brought the head of the Intelligence team, Roman Rodriguez, as per your request!" The Emperor nodded his head and waved his hands in response, and the two guards bowed once again and walked out of the tent, leaving the man on the ground all on his own. "Oww.. That hurt.." Roman Rodriguez said in an annoyed voice as he slowly got up from the ground, only to realise that he was in the Emperor''s tent, and in front of him was Commander Selvig and the Emperor himself. "Y-Y-Your M-Majesty! I-I''m so sorry about the ruckus that I made! I just-....I-I didn''t know..." the man was so scared that he couldn''t even form proper sentences. "Silence! You dare talk without showing your respect to your ruler?" Themander''s eyes narrowed as he spoke coldy, which made Roman be unable to help himself from turning pale, and he hurriedly knelt on the floor. "Your majesty, your subject had absolutely no such intentions! Glory to the Emperor! Glory to the Empire! Please forgive me for my actions!" "Rise," the Emperor said indifferently, with a tone that didn''t carry any feeling. "Thank you, your majesty." Roman Rodriguez stood up and let out a heavy sigh. Emperor Gilbert Gottfried''s eyes narrowed as he indifferently said, "Roman Rodriguez of the Intelligence team. Did you know that the information that you handed forward was outdated?" A moment that drifted into an ufortable silence. Roman Rodriguez broke it. "W-What? I d-don''t understand?" "Did you or did you not know that the information that you had handed forward about Argria was outdated?" the Emperor asked again, this time more dryly. "I-I don''t know what you''re talking about your majesty," Roman, who was still scared, stuttered as he spoke. "I don''t understand How can the information that we collected be outdated? Our sources are reliable and-" "Stop!" Before he could continue his words, the Emperor raised his hands to silence him, and he immediately shut him mouth. The Emperor stood up from his throne, and walked towards Roman and merely said, "I got everything I needed to know." "Wh-What do you mean your maj" Those were the only words he managed to get out before the Emperor''s hand quickly grabbed his neck and clenched down hard on his windpipe. "G-Guagh..." Roman, who realized that he couldn''t breathe properly, began iling around, his eyes bulging and his face beginning to get red. The Emperor looked at his face with an indifferent expression as he clenched his neck even harder. Pop! Not much of a sound. Hard to hear at all, but Roman Rodriguez''s head had burst like a balloon, leaving a pool of blood on the floor and on both the Commander and the Emperor. "Terminate the intelligence team and build a new one," The Emperor said quietly and turned his gaze towards the Commander. "And make sure that you investigate each and every one rted to the Royal Family. They''re hiding something, and I want to know what!" Chapter 84: Return to Gryfino Chapter 84: Return to Gryfino ude left home well before the sun rose. First thing he did was to go to Dawsbury city. The streets were crowded as usual, with the early morning merchants setting up their tents in order to sell their products, and the shop owners opening up their shops. He headed north through the thick crowd, crossing the Prarotori River and fifteen minutester, he was in front of ''Edward''s Medicines.'' As soon as he got inside, he saw Edward sitting behind his desk with a smile on his face. "Ah, well if it isn''t Mr. ude Rayforth, my favourite customer." He approached ude with a smile as soon as he noticed him entering the shop. "I hope you were satisfied with your previous purchase. I hope that it was put to good use." "Hello Edward. It''s nice to see you as well. And yes, I am satisfied with my purchase, if you really must know." ude spoke with a smile as well. "Fantastic! Knowing Mr. Rayforth, I''m sure that you must''ve used the product to its full extent. And knowing that my products have fulfilled the needs of my customers makes me very happy." Edward pped loudly as he spoke and spun around, and began walking the other way. "So, may I ask the reason for your arrival today, Mr. Rayforth? Is there something else that you wish to purchase?" "Ah, yes. In fact, I was looking for two very specific drugs; Erythrimum and Dioserum." ude took out a piece of paper in which he had written down the names of the two drugs and read it aloud for Edward to hear, and said. "Do you have them in stock? If not, is there any way you can get them for me? I''ll pay you well." "Erythrimum and Dioserum, eh.." Edward ced his hands on his chin and rocked his head back and forth. "I''ll be honest, Mr. Rayforth. Not a lot of peoplee looking for those drugs. I''ll be honest, it''ll be a miracle if I do find them in stock today." "Just tell me directly, Edward. No funny games," ude snorted. "Do you or do you not have these two drugs with you?" "Alright, alright. You''re no fun, Mr. Rayforth. Did no one even tell you to rx a bit?" ude looked over to Edward and got a reluctant nod from him. "Lucky for you, I do have some in stock. Though I wasn''t kidding about them being not too popr with the folks here. You are really lucky to have gotten these from me, because I almost never restock them." "For god''s sake, I did promise you that I''ll pay you well, didn''t I? Now can you please stop your whining?" ude massaged his temples with an annoyed face, and Edward looked back at him with a hurt expression. "I can''t believe that you thought I was trying to trick you into paying me more, ude. Not everything is about money, you know?" "How much do you want?" "..... twelve gold coins." Whoosh! A pouch was flung into the air, and Edward stretched out his hands and caught it eagerly, his eyes twinkling with delight. "Now get me the drugs," ude said in an indifferent voice. "And don''t call me ude. We''re not friends." "Understood Mr. Rayforth." *********************** As the new King and ruler of Argria, ke Bancroft had to ensure the public that they were in safe hands. He had to ensure that their fears were unfounded and the country was safe now that the previous King and Queen are dead. And to ensure that these ideas stay in the people''s heads, he had to give speeches. And there were a lot of speeches. For something of this magnitude, it was inevitable that he would have to address the public, but King ke Bancroft was simply too exhausted by speaking like a noble every minute or so. "I apologize, your highness," Minister Burne told the new King as he kneeled in front of him. "But I''m afraid I cannot help you get out of this. We need this. The public needs this. And most importantly, you need this as well, your highness. The public speeches are what builds the support and respect for the king amongst themon people. Itys the foundations so that we can continue our rule as smoothly as possible. Call it bad luck if you want, but you must do these speeches if you wish to be the king." "I understand that, Minister Burne. I really do. But I am pretty sure that the little show we put on in Josenheim is more than enough to get the support of the public," King ke Bancroft said tiredly as he let out a yawn. "Perhaps. But we can never be too sure now, can we?" the Minister sighed. "It''s better to be safe than sorry." "Not fun being a King, is it your highness?" General Ivan said when he entered the room. "What do you think, General Ivan?" The answering face of ke Bancroft contained almost no enthusiasm at all. The King looked very tired. "Want to take a wild guess?" "No, your highness. I''m afraid the guess wouldn''t be as wild as you think." General Ivan shook his head. "And forgive me for interrupting your therapeutic sessions about the horrors of being a king, but I have news from the Valley of the Dead." "Oh? And? How did your talk with Gottfried go? Tell me everything that happened," King ke Bancroft asked acidly. He was upset enough to allow his anger to show for once. The speeches were just too much, and add to that the threat of Gilbert Gottfried, and the King was more than pissed. "I want to know it all." "Well, it went reasonably well, your Highness," General Ivan spoke as he handed over the written report of the mission over to Minister Burne, who passed it on to the King. "I believe that our n worked. We''ve sessfully convinced Emperor Gilbert Gottfried that a new ruler has taken over the throne. Someone who''s of Royal Blood. You should''ve seen his eyes. He couldn''t believe it." "He didn''t have any suspicions?" King ke Bancroft asked as he flipped through the report that was handed to him. "He didn''t seem to think that we could''ve done something?" "I am pretty sure that he does have suspicions about the part of your highness being of royal blood, considering the King and the Queen were said to have no children at all..." the General the King. "But then again, it is not that easy to get the approval of the Church of Karinthian to be a rightful sessor for the throne and a messenger of the gods. The fact that we were able to sessfully ascend the throne without any usations from the Church most likely made him less suspicious." "But he is suspicious?" "Yes, your highness." General Ivan nodded his head as he replied. "Emperor Gilbert Gottfried is most likely investigating the issue as we speak. But fortunately, he agreed to meet with you, your highness." King ke Bancroft leaned back and took a sip from his golden cup that was filled to the brim with wine. "Are you positive that we can make him believe us?" "He will have to believe us, your highness." Minister Burne interjected. "He may be suspicious, but if he finds nothing, he''ll be forced to back down and ept the truth!" "We have informants as well just for this reason. If he''s suspicious about something, then we''ll know, and we can do whatever we can to fix it," the General added. "Fine. I guess I''ll have to make an effort in front of the emperor as well." The King sighed as he gulped down the wine. "I sure hope he likes a fake smile, because I sure as hell don''t." ************************* Inside Gryfino forest. *grrrrr* Deep in the jungle, a herd of tigerwolf beasts stopped moving, turned around and started to growl with bloodshot eyes. They were staring at the trees, growling as though there was something in the woods that were their enemy. *GRRRR* One of the tigerwolf beasts leapt forward, heading towards the darkness, and disappeared from the other beasts'' view. The rest of the beasts, as though they were being cautious, waited for the beast who leapt forward to return. Boom! Boom! Boom! All of a sudden, the earth began to shake in a rhythmic manner, as though something huge was heading towards them, and the tigerbeasts, now ready for a fight, roared loudly and revealed their sharp teeth and ws. BAM! A body shot towards the tigerbeasts from the trees, and it bounced of the ground as itnded right in front of one of the tigerbeasts. The body thatnded in front of them was the corpse of the tigerbeast that had leapt forward a few seconds before. "Well, that was a disappointing fight. He didn''t evenst a minute," A voice rang out from the wilderness in front of them, causing the tigerbeasts to be alert. A young man walked out from the darkness of the forest, revealing a katana in his hand, as his gazended on the group of beasts. "But I suppose you''ll all make up for his failure, right?" Chapter 85: Smoke + Skin Chapter 85: Smoke + Skin ude entered the depths of the Gryfino forest, trying to find the hideout of the Carus worm. The Gryfino forest had giant trees everywhere that seemed like it would touch the skies,pletely blocking one''s vision. As he went deeper and deeper into the forest, the size and number of these trees only seemed to increase, and in this type of dense jungle, one could lose their way if they weren''t careful. Whoosh! ude used the tree branches to move around, jumping from one branch to another,pletely evading the ground. "Oh? What''s this? I can''t believe I got lucky!" All of a sudden, udended on one of the branches and stopped moving and looked down at the ground a few metres away from his location. There, he could see a group of tigerwolves were roaming around, seemingly looking for a prey to hunt down. One of the tigerwolves had a cloth-like object on its mouth, and the rest of the tigerwolves were biting on it, trying to tear it into pieces. "Well now, isn''t this perfect!" As he spoke, a sinister smile had formed on ude''s face. ******************* "I would like to say that this is a great idea and all, but how on earth am I going to find a small worm like creature in one of the biggest and most dense forests in all of Argria, when it doesn''t even appear above the ground?" ude asked Senior Beldon, who nodded. "I know. But there is an easy way." "Which is?" ude asked. "Every now and then, the Carus worms shed their skins, which are so light that it''ll get shot up through the hole by the spiritual energy that the worms release," Senior Beldon exined. "Theseyers of skin are eaten only by tigerwolf beasts, who have a strange addiction to it. So in order to find the location of a Carus worm, you need to look out for any tigerwolf beasts. As the Carus worms shed their skins almost every day, this''ll make it much easier to locate them." Senior Beldon paused, before continuing. "Of course, this method isn''t exactly urate. The tigerwolf could''ve just taken the worm skin and moved elsewhere, which would make it difficult to get a clear understanding of the Carus worm''s location. I would just rmend using a tracking potion and hope to god it hasn''t been a long time since the skin was taken from it''s orginal spot and the scent hasn''t gone away yet." "This sounds like a hassle," ude had an annoyed expression on his face as his senior finished speaking. Senior Beldon simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "Yeah, it probably is." He stopped for a second, looked at ude and said. "But I thought you liked challenges...." "..." ******************** *grrrrr* Suddenly, the herd of tigerwolf beasts stopped moving, turned around and started to growl with bloodshot eyes. It looked like they had noticed the presence of ude, much to his surprise. "Oh, wow! These tigerwolves are extremely sensitive to their surroundings, huh..."ude''s eyes widened as he spoke. ude was a sky realm cultivator who was at the first rank, which meant that he had the ability to blend into his surroundings and suppress his presence and aura, making it really hard for others to spot him. However, the fact that these spiritual beasts were able to recognise his presence meant that they were extremely skilled when ites to scents and aura detection. *GRRR!* While ude was thinking to himself, the group of tigerwolf beasts on the other hand were staring at the trees, growling as though there was something in the woods that were their enemy. ZOOM! At that instant, one of the tigerwolf beasts leapt forward, heading into the depths of Gryfino forest, with its target being the same tree that ude was currently sitting on. "I guess I will deal with you guys first..." ude simply jumped off the branch as the Tigerwolf beast approached the tree that he was sitting on,nding gracefully on the ground, opposite to the beast, who was brandishing its sharp and deadly teeth at ude as saliva began dripping out from its mouth. "A warm up is exactly what I needed to start my day!" As he finished speaking, his eyes shed with a serious light, and a white light shed from his palms as arge katana suddenly manifested in his hands, and he pointed it at the beast. GRAAAAR! The tigerwolf raised its head and howled as loud as it possibly could, and then leapt forward and headed straight towards ude. BZZZ! As it moved, the tigerwolf beast''s mouth opened up and split itself into four parts, revealing it''s inner flesh and a red burst of energy shot out from its oesophagus. "That''s not going to be enough to defeat me..." ude had a devilish smile on his face and he swung his katana, as a powerful sword strike shot out towards the tigerwolf''s red beam attack. As the two attacks made contact in midair, it generated a strong explosion which resulted in the tigerwolf being flung back, hitting the tree behind it as a result of the powerful force of the energy that was released. "The skin of the tigerwolf absorbed some of the spiritual energy that was released from the explosion, which resulted in the attack being softened. Interesting..." ude muttered to himself as he fixed his bright eyes on the tigerwolf that was trying to get up after being struck down. "Pretty useful but it''s not invincible!" Whoosh! ude swung his katana once again, and his strike traveled towards the injured tigerwolf with blinding speed, suddenly appearing above it and hit it with a tremendous force. Unable to defend against the powerful strike, it instantly sliced through the beast''s body, knocking its corpse backwards, in the direction of the rest of the tigerwolves. BAM! The tigerwolf''s corpse bounced off the ground as itnded right in front of the rest of the tigerwolf beasts. "Well, that was a disappointing fight. He didn''t evenst a minute," ude''s voice rang out from the wilderness in front of them, causing the tigerwolf beasts to be alert. He walked out from the darkness, revealing his katana as his gazended on the group of beasts. "But I suppose you''ll all make up for his failure, right?" GRRRRR! The group of tigerwolves instantly burst into a rage when they saw the human who was responsible for theirrade''s death standing in front of them without any fear, and roared out explosively as all of their mouths opened, splitting into four parts, and shooting out a crimson red energy beam burst out from their split open mouths, aiming at ude. "Forget it. I was expecting some form of resistance, but this is simply too disappointing. I won''t y with you anymore." A trace of a cold smile appeared on the corners of ude''s mouth as his body blurred before disappearing from their view, surprising the group of tigerwolves. "Don''t worry. I''ll make this as painless as possible." By the time his voice was heard, he was already behind the group of tigerwolves, and the katana in his hand was enveloped in a hazy glow. Swish! With a swing of his arm, he shot towards the tigerwolves from behind as fast as lightning, and the katana in his hand moved so fast that it had transformed into a glowing beam of light. SLASH! The streak of light shot forward and struck the tigerwolves'' throats from behind, cleanly cutting their heads off and passed through the other side. Plop! Only after a brief second did the heads of the tigerwolves separate from their bodies and fall down, and the bodies simply shuddered a few times before they fell like jello onto the ground. ude walked over to the corpse of the tigerwolf that had the Carus worm''s skin in its mouth, and pulled it out. "Now to add the tracking potion to it.." ude muttered to himself as he took out a medicine bottle and opened it. He had bought the tracking potion from Edwards, who had given it to him as a free addition to his drug purchase. Puff! The bottle opened with a small sound, and a white vapour escaped out from the bottle as soon as he did so, leaving behind a pungent smell. He flipped the medicine bottle onto the piece of worm skin, and a purple coloured jello like substance dripped down onto the skin, and as the jello like substance touched the piece of skin, it suddenly be enveloped in mes! ude didn''t seem to mind the mes and instead stared at the smoke that it was emitting. The mes were emitting a purple coloured smoke that was more thick and dense than any normal smoke, and it wasn''t moving in the direction of the wind either. "Come on, show me the way...." ude scratched his chin and waited, as the tip of the purple smoke suddenly bent like a solid object and slowly started flowing deep into the wilderness. Chapter 86: Worm Chapter 86: Worm "By the way, u-" "Mr. Rayforth!" ude corrected Edward with an annoying look on his face as they both walked towards the basement of his medicine shop, where the illegal drugs were being kept. "Did you forget what I told you a few minutes ago?" "Of course, of course! Forgive me for calling you by your first name. How could I forget that? Ha ha ha ha..." Edward let out a loudughter as he finished speaking, and it only increased ude''s annoyance. "Anyways, Mr. Rayforth.." Edward cleared his throat and spoke with a smile on his face, and continued. "I was about to tell you that I saw you at Josenheim, standing next to our new king, and fighting those hooded figures. I have to say, I didn''t know my customer was a brave hero who fought to protect our kingdom. Ha ha ha!" He didn''t show it, but ude imagined himself rolling his eyes. He knew that his connection with the Prince was the reason for Edward being so nice and friendly with him. He wasn''t behaving like this when he first met him, only treating him as just another customer. ''Now I feel like I shouldn''t have shown my identity to him'' ude let out a sigh as he folded his arms. He thought that because he would most likely visit the medicine shop more than once, it would be beneficial for him to get close to the owner. And the medicine shop being a small business rather than a shop run by a hidden corporation made his choice a bit more easy. But now, it seemed like ude was rethinking his decision. "Anyways, so I was thinking...." After a lot of bbering, Edward cleared his throat once again and said. "As my dear customer is so friendly with the king, maybe Mr. Rayforth could help me fend off the Royal Guards from ambushing my storage facilities? I almost lost all my supplies justst week, and they aren''t giving up!" "Look, Edward..." ude massaged his temples, trying his very best to not sound annoyed, and said. "I''m not as close to the new king as you might think, alright? Just because I fought with him once doesn''t mean that we''re friends. It was a dangerous situation, and I felt like I had to help. That''s all! Now can I please get my drugs?" "Ugh, fine follow me," Edward clicked his tongue and his indifferent expression returned, and ude shook his head in response, following him close behind. They walked into a small room, where cupboards were filled with all kinds of medicines and drugs and pills. "Now.... where the hell did I keep it?" Edward began murmuring as he walked towards the pile of boxes that had been stacked in an uneven manner, as if someone was too busy to organize them in order, and started rummaging through them, looking for something. ude stayed behind him, and stared at Edward who was throwing stuff around, moving them in order to find what he was looking for. "Aha! Found it!" ude watched as Edward took out two bottles from one of the boxes that had been lying on the ground, and yelled out excitedly before handing them over to ude, who inspected them as soon as he received them in his hands. "Are these Erythrimum and Dioserum?" ude asked as he held one of the bottles up to his eye and Edward nodded his head excitedly. "Yup! I told you right? It''s Mr. Rayforth''s lucky day. I had a few bottles of both Erythrimum and Dioserum left, and these two are the only ones remaining." Edward said as he walked up to ude. "Well then..." said ude as he ced the two bottles inside his pockets and turned back to leave. "It was nice doing business with you, but it seems that it''s time for me to leave!" "Oh! Wait, Mr. Rayforth! I have something for you," Right when ude was about to start moving forward, Edward eximed loudly and he turned around. Whoosh! Edward turned and walked towards one of the cupboards, grabbed a small purple vial and threw it over to ude, who stretched out his hand and grabbed it. "What''s this?" ude asked and Edward walked over to him. "Tracking potion," Edward said. "It''s on the house, so it''s free of charge." ude looked at the vial with a suspicious look and then turned to Edward, who began speaking, "You don''t have to pressure the king or anything. Just mentioning the issue is enough. That''s all I''m asking!" ude sighed. After a few seconds of thinking, ude looked at Edward, and lied to his face. "I''ll try to ask him." ********************** Puff! The bottle opened with a small sound, and a white vapour escaped out from the bottle as soon as he did so, leaving behind a pungent smell. He flipped the medicine bottle onto the piece of worm skin, and a purple coloured jelly like substance dripped down onto the skin, and as the jelly like substance touched the piece of skin, it suddenly became enveloped in mes! ude didn''t seem to mind the mes and instead stared at the smoke that it was emitting. The mes were emitting a purple coloured smoke that was more thick and dense than any normal smoke, and it wasn''t moving in the direction of the wind either. "Come on, show me the way...." ude scratched his chin and waited, as the tip of the purple smoke suddenly bent like a solid object and slowly started flowing deep into the wilderness. The smoke initially began to move slowly, but it soon picked up the pace, and ude had a smile on his face as he spoke, "That''s what I''m talking about!" BOOM! ude shot forward at lightning speed as he followed the smoke trail, and began remembering what Edward had told him about the tracking potion. "The tracking potion will emit a purple coloured smoke as you apply it to any object. Once it''s applied to whatever object you are using for tracking, it will cause the object to light up in mes. Although this isn''t dangerous as it is not a normal fire." ude could remember his words, and he looked at his hands, which was carrying the worm skin that was lit up in mes just a few seconds ago. Right before shooting forward and following the smoke trail, he had grabbed the worm skin with him. Like Edward had told him, although the worm skin was still burning in his hands, it wasn''t hurting him or burning his skin. "Once the object gets lit up in mes,it will emit a purple coloured smoke, which will move towards whatever or whoever it is that you''re trying to track by retracing its scent and spiritual energy." ude muttered Edwards words once again as he zoomed through the dense forest, leaping on the branches, following the purple smoke as it moved towards Kiliharo mountain, which was located north of the Gryfino forest. "Where is the hole?" ude saw that the purple smoke was getting more and more straight and thin and moving downwards, which meant that the hole was somewhere close. He narrowed his eyes and used his enhanced senses to try and figure out where the hole was, and after a few minutes of surveying the area, his eyes widened with surprise, and a grin appeared on his face. "Found it!" Right on the base of the Kiliharo mountain, beneath a giant tree, ude could see a tiny hole in the ground, and ude zoomed towards it. BAM! udendedfortably right next to the giant tree, and waited for the smoke to follow just to make sure that he was standing next to the right hole. "Come on,e on..." ude waited patiently, and just a few seconds afterwards, the purple smoke reached the giant tree and entered the hole, confirming that the Carus worm was inside of it. "Now, let''s see if I can get you out of the hole..." ude kneeled on one leg in front of the hole and took out a bottle. He had alreadybined the two drugs into a singlepound and poured it into another bottle, instead ofbining it at the site itself. Plop! He opened the bottle and poured the liquid mixture into the small hole on the ground, and then he immediately leapt back and sat down on one of the tree branches, waiting for thepound to take effect. BZZZ! In just a few seconds, the ground began to shake uncontrobly, causing ude to be alert and he stared at the small hole with great interest. BOOM! Right then, the ground in front of the giant tree was split into many pieces as a huge crevice opened up in the middle, and a worm like creature that was the size of two tigerwolves burst out from the earth, roaring loudly. "Senior Beldon," ude muttered to himself as he stared at the monster worm in front of him with awe. "You really shouldn''t call this thing a worm..." Chapter 87: Worm (2) Chapter 87: Worm (2) ude opened the bottle and poured the liquid mixture into the small hole on the ground, and then he immediately leapt back and sat down on one of the tree branches, waiting for thepound to take effect. BZZZ! In just a few seconds, the ground began to shake uncontrobly, causing ude to be alert and he stared at the small hole with great interest. BOOM! Right then, the ground in front of the giant tree was split into many pieces as a huge crevice opened up in the middle, and a worm like creature that was the size of two tigerwolves burst out from the earth, roaring loudly. "Senior Beldon," ude muttered to himself as he stared at the monster worm in front of him with awe. "You really shouldn''t call this thing a worm..." GRRRR! The giant worm let out a loud screeching noise reverberating through the mountainous terrain and left a resounding echo, as it opened its circr mouth, revealing hundreds of spikes that seemed to be its teeth inside of it. "Does it not have any eyes? I can''t seem to locate any on its body..." ude scanned the giant worm''s entire body, but couldn''t find anything resembling an eye. But just because it doesn''t have any eyes doesn''t automatically mean that it''s blind. ude knew that making such assumptions so early isn''t a good idea. He knew that the beasts in the martial world were extremely different whenpared to the animals on earth, and it was best to be careful in these situations where he didn''t have enough information. GRRR! All of a sudden, the Carus worm turned its head towards the tree that ude was standing on, causing him to suddenly feel a slight shiver in his heart. "Did it figure out my location, or is it simply a coincidence?" ude furrowed his eyes, but he decided to be cautious and immediately leapt on to another tree just as the worm turned its head. GAAAARG! The Carus worm let out another loud and ear piercing screech as it shot towards the tree that ude had jumped onto, as crimson coloured mes manifested inside it''s giant mouth that zed like an erupting volcano. BOOM! The powerful mes erupted out from its mouth and headed towards ude, as he immediately retreated, leaping to the side instead, and onto another tree branch, narrowly avoiding the collision. "So it can detect me. I guess this is going to be harder than I thought..." ude gritted his teeth and an evil smile appeared on his face as he stared at the giant worm that hadpletely annihted the tree that he was standing on just a second ago. He enjoyed a good challenge, and it seemed like this was going to be an enjoyable bout. GREEEE! The Carus worm turned its head once again and let out another screeching sound. It seemed like the giant worm noticed that it had not destroyed its target as it had intended and it rushed forward fearlessly, slithering on the ground as it neared ude. "It seems like you think that I''m an easy opponent. That''s not a good reputation for me to have..." ude stretched out his hand as his katana manifested in the air and he cried out as he grabbed it, "It looks like I''m going to have to forcefully change your mind!" ude immediately leapt upwards from the tree branch that he was standing on and then swung his katana, that was shing with a white light, down onto the ground, to the spot where the giant worm was. SCREEEE! The giant worm immediately turned its head upwards, somehow noticing that its prey had moved from its previous spot and opened its mouth, as scorching mes erupted out and shot towards ude. "Seems like you are still underestimating me," ude who had an evil grin on his face, spoke in a calm voice, as the de light from his attack charged through the zing mes without a problem and fiercely struck down on the giant worm''s head, making it screech out in anger and pain. "But you''re not going to win against me with just that!" WHAM! Amidst a burst of brilliant light that was the result of the collision and the screeching gigantic worm, ude flew down with lightning speed and stretched out his two hands in the air. BZZZ! The katana that was in his hand disappeared and all of a sudden a bright light enveloped ude as two swords manifested in his hands! "Invisible sword technique and Beau Paradis sword technique...!" ude whispered softly and the bright light surrounding him shined even brighter, as he descended down with great speed. Both his hands were now carrying the swords that were the product of two of his most powerful sword techniques, and he used it to sh down at the giant worm''s head. Right at this moment, the Carus worm began twitching like crazy and from its skin burst out countless ice particles,pletely sealing the giant worm within multipleyers of thick ice before ude''s attacks could reach it. BOOM! The two swords collided with the ice covered body of the Carus worm, resulting in a loud explosion as the ground below the giant worm waspletely destroyed by ude''s sword strike, the effect of which created a giant crater on the ground. The Carus worm, which waspletely covered in ice, was pressed down onto the earth by the attack, revealing cracks on the ice, although that was the extent of the attack. "Tch! Covering yourself up with ice? Pathetic!" ude clicked his tongue, annoyed by the actions of the giant worm and he red at it as he leapt upwards. "If you think that I''m done with you, then you''re wrong!" ude yelled out as he raised his two hands, and the two swords appeared in his hands once again. Zoom! He shot forward, aiming towards the frozen worm as he swung his two swords for a second time, and a bright light radiated all around the area before the two sword strikes burst out from the swords, as they unfurled towards the Carus worm''s body. ude knew that although the previous attack didn''t exactly break the iceyer that was covering the giant worm, it did produce cracks on it, which meant that the protectiveyer wasn''t exactly indestructible. It just meant that he needed to concentrate and reduce the attack range a bit more, so that the spiritual energy from the strike isn''t distributed all over the worm and instead on a small part of its body. "Concentrate the attack onto a single point...!" ude closed his eyes and murmured as the two sword strikes shot forward. In an instant, he snapped his finger and yelled out; "Now,bine!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the two sword strikes closed the distance between them and merged together and stretched out both ways, forming a single strand of sword light that was now moving with such great speed that even ude was having trouble keeping an eye on it. Zoom! The strand of sword light whizzed and pierced through the iceyer and into the Carus worm''s body, and right at that moment, theyer of ice that was covering the giant worm suddenly exploded into small particles with a loud boom, and the worm let out a loud ear piercing cry once again as blood and small pieces of flesh sshed out in all directions. REEEEEEE! The Carus worm, now injured, screeched once again before fleeing the area with great speed, turning into a sh of bright light and slithering away. "Dammit, where do you think you''re going? Come back here!" ude was surprised by the speed at which the worm had fled, considering its gigantic size, before instantly flying behind it as he yelled loudly with anger. The giant worm slithered through the forest with ease, while ude used the tee branches to move forward, leaping from one branch to another, as he desperately tried to keep up with the fast moving creature. "You can''t escape me even if you try!!" Without waiting for the giant worm to make a move, ude utilised the floating footsteps technique and flung himself forward by giving himself a shot boost and hended on top of the giant worm''s body. "Try and dodge this!" As he finished speaking, ude clutched the skin of the worm with one hand and swung his other hand down, as a sword appeared in his hands, piercing through the worm''s body as if it was nothing. As a result, the Carus worm was now impaled and it immediately cried out a cry that reverberated throughout the Gryfino forest, twisting and turning in order to fling ude from its body, but ude increased his grip on the worm''s skin and held on tightly. Swish! ude began twisting the sword inside its body, causing the worm even more pain before pulling out the sword and stabbing it once again. BOOM! Right then, with a loud exploding sound, the worm exploded into thousands of pieces, and ude was flung back with immense force,pletely covered in the flesh and blood of the Carus worm before he struck his back against a boulder, rendering him unconscious. Chapter 88: Suspicious Yet Unable To Do Anything Chapter 88: Suspicious Yet Unable To Do Anything Elias walked through the Dazearyn military camping area, passing through the crowded military canteens and avoiding speaking to his fellowrades, stealthily walking away before any of his friends could see him. He studied the atmosphere and the people surrounding him, making sure that no one was keeping an eye on him, and proceeded stealthily across the pathway leading to one of the temporary food supply tents, where people rarely visit. ording to the n, he was to go behind one of the tents, descend down the short cliff behind it and walk towards the rocky terrain without catching anyone''s attention, and continue down the path until he saw a giant Welfedor tree with no leaves, which was supposed to be their meeting spot. He was to wait for his partner for twenty minutes, and if he doesn''t show up by then, Elias was instructed to get back to his position without any dy and continue on with the mission. Nothing more was said between Elias and his employer. As he stood in the narrow and empty spot behind a giant boulder next to the Welfedor tree and looked at his surroundings. The deadline was slowly inching closer and closer; and he continued waiting anxiously. Maintaining what they agreed upon, his partner had to arrive as soon as possible. Suddenly, Elias was rmed by something, and he stepped back, his expression turned serious. Footsteps! He thought to himself as he raised his arms up and balled his hands into fists, positioning himself into abat stance. The footstep was faint and extremely difficult to pick up, even for advanced rank cultivators. However, since he had been trained to pick up such faint sounds from a very young age, Elias was able to detect it pretty quickly. Elias stabilized his breathing and waited, as a familiar figure could be seen in the distance, and just like how he had been rmed, he rxed almost as fast, feeling relief as he stared at the person who was approaching him. "What happened, Mathias? Why were you sote?" Elias asked as soon as the figure arrived next to him, and stretched out his hand to greet him. "Did something happen?" "Well, something did happen, but it''s definitely not good news." replied Mathias, as he shook Elias'' hand. He had a grim expression on his face as he spoke. "The Emperor''s men came today and ordered the intelligence team to follow them. They didn''t show up after that, and no one has seen them since then." Elias, who saw his partner''s expression, asked, "You''re thinking that they''re starting to get suspicious?" "Oh, no. They''re not starting to get suspicious. They''re already suspicious." Mathias said in a thin voice, and he leaned back against the giant boulder and sighed. "They just aren''t suspicious of us. yet!" "But how can they know it''s us? You''re worrying too much, Mathias," Elias responded, shaking his head back and forth as he spoke. "They were probably just suspicious of the intelligence team and decided to get rid of them. Otherwise, how could they figure out that there''s informants among them?" "Well, the Emperor did leave to visit the General from Argria. And he ordered the intelligence team to be brought to him only after that meeting!" whispered Conklin, and he looked at Elias, whose eyes widened with surprise. "You''re saying that the General betrayed us and informed the Emperor of our existence?" he asked tly. "I don''t think that''s the case, seeing as the Emperor didn''t call us up the moment he returned and only ordered his men to bring the intelligence team instead," said Mathias under his breath. "So I''d say that he probably would''ve just hinted that they know something that they shouldn''t have known. Either way, we''ll be walking on thin ice from now on." "What in god''s name could the General benefit from by ratting us out?" whispered the bewildered Elias. "I don''t know," answered Mathias, a tremble apparent in his voice. "But do remember that we''re all just insignificant tools in this grand scheme, so it doesn''t matter to them if we''re ratted out or not. So, I''d advise you to be very careful." "I still can''t believe this! This is just too unbelievable. I don''t know what to say," eximed Elias, who ced his palm on his temple, looking anxious, and Mathias let out a heavy sigh. "Calm down. Regardless of what happened, we can''t just take off right now and leave our missions just because we have a suspicion. We''ll end up losing trust on both sides; we''ll most likely get hunted down by Dazearyn assassins and we''ll lose our support of the Argrians because we left our posts and disobeyed our orders. So our best bet is to stay back and try not to bring suspicion onto ourselves. From the looks of it, they don''t have any clue as to who the informants are, and it''s best that we keep it that way." said Mathias as he nced at his colleague. "What are you trying to tell me, Mathias?" Elias asked, and he turned his gaze towards Mathias. "I think we shouldn''t be doing these meet ups anymore. If we continue doing this, it''ll make us look suspicious, and we definitely can''t keep doing this when there''s people who are aware of the existence of informants in their troops." Mathias spoke softly as he turned around to leave a bewildered Elias. "You''re leaving? Just like that?" Elias shouted, and continued his words. "What about reporting to the Argrian army? Are we supposed to just keep doing that as well?" "I don''t think we have any other choice but to continue doing that," Mathias said as he continued walking, speaking softly. "Try to stay alive, alrightd?" Elias watched as Mathias walked off, and shouted, "Goddamn it!" ************************ ude awoke with a start, and shot up from the ground, alert and raising both his hands in a defensive position, frowning and disturbed, before calming down after making sure that nothing dangerous was present. "Did I get knocked out?" ude looked at his hands as he inspected his body. He then turned around and looked back at the destroyed boulder with a bewildered gaze. ''Don''t tell me I got knocked out by a f**king boulder! How on earth is that possible?'' ude couldn''t believe that he, a second rank cultivator of the sky realm, was rendered unconscious because of a collision with a simple and normal rock. It simply didn''t make any sense to him! And he certainly wasn''t going to believe that the explosion which was the result of the Carus worm blowing up was able to knock him out either. Although the explosion was massive and close range, he was still a second rank- Wait a minute! "Second rank?!" ude, who realized that he had now advanced to the second rank of the sky realm, was bewildered beyond belief. How and when the hell did it happen? "Don''t tell me?!" ude then looked at the spot at which the Carus worm exploded into pieces, and there was a giant crater in its ce. ude inspected the crater, and realized that the entire area was flowing with spiritual energy. The quantity of the spiritual energy present in the atmosphere was simply more than what exists in the air in actuality. "So the enormous amount of spiritual energy influx into my body was what resulted in me getting knocked out!" ude snapped his fingers as his eyes widened with surprise at his foundings. When the Carus worm exploded, spiritual energy it released was so much in quantity that it was simply too much for ude''s body to handle, and he was pushed back as a result of it. "Is thar why no spiritual beasts has tried to attack me when I was unconscious?" ude looked at the surrounding area and realized that although he was near the dangerous locations of the Gryfino forest, he wasn''t even approached by any spiritual beasts. The spiritual energy release was simply too much that it masked his scent! The spiritual beasts must''ve thought that three was a much powerful beast present in this area, as the spiritual energy was too high for any normal beast. Usually, if the spiritual beasts figure out that they''re in some other beasts'' territory that are more powerful than them, they try their very best to stay away. ude came to the conclusion that it might be what happened, and let out a heavy sigh, relieved that he was saved by his luck. "But still to think that I already advanced to the second rank so easily. And I did it in my sleep nheless!" ude muttered to himself as a smile bloomed on his face. As he continued inspecting his body, he discovered that not only wasn''t he at second rank, he was already halfway to the next rank as well. "Well, I guess I have to thank Senior Beldon now!" ude said with a smile. Chapter 89: Leaping Forward Chapter 89: Leaping Forward "Is that why no spiritual beasts have tried to attack me when I was unconscious?" ude looked at the surrounding area and realized that although he was near the dangerous locations of the Gryfino forest, he wasn''t even approached by any spiritual beasts. The spiritual energy release was simply too much that it masked his scent! ude came to the conclusion that it might be what happened, and let out a heavy sigh, relieved that he was saved by his luck. "But still to think that I already advanced to the second rank so easily. And I did it in my sleep nheless!" ude muttered to himself as a smile bloomed on his face. As he continued inspecting his body, he discovered that not only wasn''t he at second rank, he was already halfway to the next rank as well. "Well, I guess I have to thank Senior Beldon now!" ude said with a smile. As he tidied himself up and stepped forward. ZAP! All of a sudden, he felt as though a bolt of lightning had passed through his body, and he immediately knelt down, clenching his chest as he gasped for air. "Hah, hah...!" He took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling as he inspected his body once again to find out what was causing him such distress. "What the hell was happening? I was sure that there is no problem with my body. Then what the hell..." As he continued inspecting his body, the confused ude became a bit more clear headed, and soon, he was able to figure out what the problem was. "You have got to be kidding me!" ude eximed as he inspected his body, his eyes widened with surprise as he understood what was going on. "The spiritual energy is still being entered into my body?" What ude realized was that although nothing was actually wrong with his body, the massive amount of spiritual energy that was released by killing the Carus worm, which enabled him to break through to the second rank of the sky realm, still persisted in the air and on his body, and his body was continuously extracting the excess spiritual energy from the atmosphere. Which meant that although he was not in a position of cultivating, his body was being prated by these massive amounts of spiritual energy and as an overload of spiritual energy within his body would result in the destruction of his meridians, his body, although at an extremely slow pace, was cultivating automatically to prevent this from happening. "This is just insane!" ude, who decided not to do any huge movements, sat down on the ground, sitting cross-legged as he looked at his body and his surroundings in wonder. The massive amount of spiritual energy released during the explosion of the Carus worm was already worthy of amazement, but to think that the released energy wasn''tpletely expelled yet.. This was too much spiritual energy no matter how you look at it! "Well, well, well, I thought I was lucky today, but it seems that I''m luckier than I had originally thought," ude, although caught off guard by the news of the excess spiritual energy still persisting in the atmosphere, was nheless overjoyed at the end of the day. "Now that I''m awake, I should probably take over from my body and speed up this whole process of cultivation," ude let out a chuckle, still amazed by his luck as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his cultivation. Whoosh! As if an answer to his concentration to cultivate, the surrounding spiritual energy that was still persisting in the atmosphere began trembling in a chaotic manner, and began rapidly shooting towards ude''s body, as he continued cultivating. Beads of sweat began to form on ude''s forehead as both the spiritual energy inside his body and the energy present in the surroundings had congregated into one flow, mixing together and forming a current within his vessels. As the spiritual energy began to suddenly surge in his body, ude could feel that his consciousness was beginning to expand and his meridians opening up even more, which he had previously thought was going to be impossible, and in that moment, he gained shes of insight and understanding, which albeit short, was about cultivation as a whole and its connection to the human body. The duration of his cultivation process was unknown to ude, as even he didn''t have aplete understanding as to how much spiritual energy was left persisting jn the atmosphere, but it wasn''t like knowing that was going to help him from ending this process anytime soon, so he didn''t think more about that. As time passed, ude''s eyelids slowly began to flutter and his hands and legs began to tremble. He clenched his hands tightly and bit his lips, as the process was using up way too much energy from his body than he had imagined. Although the spiritual energy from the inside and the outside were simr, they weren''t technically the same thing. The spiritual energy in the surroundings were converted into fitting the body of a cultivator the moment it enters their cells. But this process of conversion required an extra set of spiritual energy. Only a finite amount of spiritual energy is allowed to be present inside one''s body unless they break through to the next rank of cultivation, which meant during the process of cultivation, when the spiritual energy from the surroundings enters the body, it either reces the spiritual energy that is already inside by utilising itpletely or fills up the gap left because of a depletion of spiritual energy within one''s body. But the problem was, the process of cultivation have always required a heavy dose of spiritual energy; you essentially lose more energy while cultivating than gaining it. Which is one of the reason why it is so hard for people to jump from more than one rank. Although ude had an excess amount of spiritual energy in his surroundings, it still only helped him to some extent. He had already jumped one rank without even being conscious, and was now close to jumping another rank, and the process was slowly draining out his energy. If he stops cultivating, his meridians will be destroyed. If he continues cultivating, he''ll eventually run out of energy and his meridians will still be destroyed; unless the spiritual energy surrounding him depletes first. "I can''t give up. I''m not going to lose. Not like this," ude gritted his teeth as he muttered like a crazy person, and continued cultivating without stopping. If he kept the process going with his current speed, then he''d perhaps break through to the third rank of the sky realm, which would help him gain a few more spiritual energy, but he definitely wasn''t going to give up. He continued cultivating, and ude could feel that he was getting closer and closer to the third rank, as a faint glow could be seen emitting from his body. Some more time had passed, and blood began to drip from his nostrils and flowed down. ude could feel that he was slowly losing his consciousness once again, but this time he couldn''t simply let it happen. If he bes unconscious this time, it meant death.. "I need be even more faster!" ude gritted his teeth as he cried out in anger, and his dantian suddenly started to absorb the spiritual energy from the surroundings at an even faster rate. Bzzzzz! As he continued cultivating, ude realized that he could no longer feel his legs, which meant that soon, his consciousness would fade as well. He knew that he had to be even quicker if he wanted to live. Don''t give up on me! Just a bit more! ude told himself as he held on, continuing to cultivate as fast as he could. He could feel that he was now extremely close to breaking those to the third rank, and all he needed was a single push! In the end, ude''s dantian had continued to absorb the spiritual energy from the surroundings for eight whole hours before the energypletely finally ran out, and as soon as it did, a bright light burst out of ude''s body as he yelled out in pain. BOOM! The bright light was so powerful that it shot through the clouds and into space, like a sky beam, and the air surrounding it began to swirl around the giant beam violently. As ude continued to be enveloped by the bright light, a thinyer of mist shed out from his skin, instantly evaporating as soon as it lost contact with his body. After a short period of time, the bright light gradually faded away, leaving a tired and sweaty ude gasping for air as he fell down on to the ground. "Hhh hhhh hh.." As heid on the ground, gasping uncontrobly, a brilliant smile hung on his face. "Finally I''ve done it! I''ve reached third rank of the sky realm!" Chapter 90: The Destiny of Discussion Chapter 90: The Destiny of Discussion The Dazearyn army had contacted the Argrian campsite in the valley of the dead, and they had agreed on a ce, date and time for the Emperor of Dazearyn Empire, Gilbert Gottfried to meet with the new ruler of Argria, ke Bancroft. "Your highness," Commander Selvig intoned, as he and the group of soldiers, who were acting as escorts for the emperor, began to get ready for the meeting with the Argrian King. "I would hope that you approach the meeting with a cautious mind. Although the Argrians may be telling the truth - and given how confident they were about it, it did mean that there is a slight chance that they are truthful - the timing of it all still remains suspicious. It might not be a stretch to say that they were spying on us; even the confidential matters, and we can''t afford to cooperate with such a group of people for a long time." "I know that very well, Commander Selvig," the Emperor said, as he got ready to enter his carriage. He walked towards the carriage, and the soldiers who were surrounding him slowly moved out of the way to make way for their Emperor, bowing their heads in respect. The Commander and a few of his men walked behind the Emperor, and Gottfried continued, "The timeline does seem suspicious, but if they are in fact telling the truth, then I''m afraid I won''t be able to do anything else as it goes against my beliefs." "But your highness, if we decide to keep those people close, then it would only hurt us more in the future. They were able to spy on us, the martial world''srgest and most powerful empire. Who knows what else they''ll do if we cooperate with them?" Commander Selvig said, his voice filled with concern. "I understand your concerns, Commander Selvig. But I am not going to abandon my ideals in order to destroy those who may be our opponents in the near future, that too without any evidence. If I turn my back on my ideals, then I''m nothing more than a reckless and merciless conqueror. My ideals are the only reason I became the emperor of this great Empire. Without it, I am nothing," he responded without turning his head. "So Commander, I suggest you keep digging until you do find evidence. Although I may not be able to annihte them if they are in fact found to be telling the truth, I would have a valid reason to destroy them if they n to wage a war against the great Dazearyn Empire." Emperor Gilbert Gottfried clenched his fists and turned his head, shifting his gaze towards themander, "Trying to wage a war against a country ruled by a messenger of God is simply a crime against God, and they shall be punished for it," he answered, and Commander Selvig breathed a little easier. "Well, that''s that. But only if you find any evidence to prove it, Commander. So you better get to work," the Emperor said and he snapped his fingers as a solider brought an Argrian soldier with him, handcuffed to his own hands.The soldier pulled the Argrian soldier with force and led him towards the Emperor, who ced his hand on his shoulder, "I hope you enjoyed your stay in the Dazearyn army campsite, messenger William. I believe you have already been acquainted with our ''interrogation officer'', Jacob Harrison. He''s usually a shy guy, but he is always thrilled to wee a guest. I''m sure he''s d that you came along!" The soldier who was handcuffed was none other than messenger William, who had handed the message of General Ivan to the Emperor, and tried to read his thoughts. He had been handed off to the Dazearyns temporarily as insurance. "Y-yes y-your high-highness i-it''s been a w-wonderful stay h-here. I am d-deeply i-indebted to y-you all," Messenger William, whose pants were soaked and his hair disheveled, stuttered as he spoke, trying his very best to smile, but failed miserably. Anyone with a brain could easily figure out that he was not having a ''wonderful stay''. "Nothing''s ever quite what it seems, is it?" The Emperor spoke with a smile as he slightly increased his grip on the messenger''s shoulders, who let out a small squeal as a result. "I s-suppose not, y-your highness..." Messenger William smiled weakly in response, and the soldier whom he was handcuffed to pulled him back, and entered a different carriage. Both the Emperor and themander watched as the Messenger disappeared from their view, and the Emperor turned to look at Commander Selvig and said, "Well then It''s time to go, Selvig!" Selvig looked at the Emperor who entered the carriage for a second, and shook his head. ''Sure, he could definitely stick to his ideals'', the Commander reflected. ''But did he really think he wasn''t just a merciless conqueror, or is he simply lying to himself?'' The Commander stared out at the dirt road that led to the valley of the dead, before entering the carriage, uncertain of what the answer was. ****************** The Dazearyn carriages arrived at the valley of the dead, where they were greeted by General Ivan and his subordinates, who pointed them towards another carriage which they were told to get into in order to reach the destination where the meeting with the new king of Argria was set to take ce. Although the Dazearyns were not too keen on abandoning their own carriages in favour of the Argrian carriages, General Ivan calmly responded that although the new king was supported by most of the public, they had been attacked by a terrorist organisation just a few weeks ago which made the public to be on edge. And therefore, in order to avoid suspicion, he asked the Dazearyns to move to the Argrian carriage so their presence doesn''t cause a disturbance to the public. In the end, the Dazearyns, who were initially reluctant to change carriages, did eventually agree to their request, as they too wished to keep a low profile. The soldier who was with messenger William uncuffed him and let the Argrian soldiers take him away, as they changed the carriages. The Dazearyn soldiers all boarded the Argrian carriages which, they saw, was a luxurious room on wheels than a simple carriage. The interior of these carriages wererge, with drinks and desserts present, and they even had servants, both male and female, with their sole purpose being pleasuring the guests. After letting the poison expert test the drinks, most of the Dazearyn soldiers availed themselves of a drink except the Emperor and themander, who barely noted the luxurious interiors of the carriage. It was amon instinct for the Emperor to not be swayed by the kindness of whom he considered to be a ''problem''. The carriage reached its destination after traveling for more than three hours. The location that they had decided to have the discussion was the city of Trivonte, about two hundred miles south of the valley of the dead. They were nning on having their meeting inside the Destiny Church, a newly built church that hasn''t yet been opened to the public. "Did we reach our destination?" the Commander asked, as he realised that the carriage had stopped moving. "We have reached the city of Trivonte," as if to answer the question of themander, the carriage driver''s voice was heard from the outside of the vehicle. "I hope that you enjoy your stay at Argria." the servants who were assigned to the Dazearyn soldiers shed a charming smile as they spoke, and they waited for them to exit the carriage. The soldiers collected themselves and shuffled out of the luxurious carriage, and were immediately captivated by the beautiful architectural marvel that was the Destiny Church. The exterior of the Church was striking, with two soaring towers on each side and intricate carvings with green and blue stained sses as its windows. "It''s beautiful, isn''t it?" A voice drifted over as Emperor Gilbert Gottfried was staring at the building in front of him, and his eyes immediately swept over to the person who spoke, his face showing partial interest. "I apologize if I interrupted you. But I''m afraid we have bigger things to discuss today, Emperor." the man chuckled, and continued. "I am the son of Hannibal and Isabelle Bancroft as well as the newly crowned king of Argria, King ke Bancroft. It''s nice to meet you, your highness!" "It''s nice to finally meet you as well, King ke. I, Gilbert Gottfried, the Emperor of the Dazearyn Empire, is delighted to have a civil discussion with the King of Argria." Gilbert Gottfried smiled in response, but they didn''t shake each other''s hands. It just didn''t happen. "Well then, shall we enter the church and have a chat?" King ke Bancroft pointed at the Church as he turned around and walked towards it, stopping for a second before speaking. "Alone, if you don''t mind?" The Emperor shifted his gaze from the King and onto his Commander, and nodded his head. He then stepped forward, and followed the King of Argria as both of them walked towards the Destiny Church, leaving their soldiers behind. Chapter 91: An Interesting Turn of Events Chapter 91: An Interesting Turn of Events ude''s dantian continued to absorb the spiritual energy from the surroundings for eight whole hours before the energypletely finally ran out, and as soon as it did, a bright light burst out of ude''s body as he yelled out in pain. BOOM! The bright light was so powerful that it shot through the clouds and into space, like a sky beam, and the air surrounding it began to swirl around the giant beam violently. ude continued to be enveloped by the bright light, as a thinyer of mist shed out from his skin, instantly evaporating once it lost contact with his body. After a short period of time, the bright light gradually faded away, leaving a tired and sweaty ude gasping for air. "Hhh hhhh hh.." ude was exhausted, and a brilliant smile was stered on his face. "Finally I''ve done it! I''ve reached third rank of the sky realm!" BAM! As soon as he finished speaking, ude stumbled backwards and vomited a mouthful of blood as he crashed violently to the ground. "Bleugh.. That was definitely not good for my body!" ude wiped his face as he let out a bitter and exhausted chuckle. He clearly wasn''t in his best shape right now. Skipping over multiple ranks is such an intense and excruciating process that it would undoubtedly put a strain on one''s body. Only master cultivators could skip multiple ranks and not be thrown off by the huge exhaustion of energy on one''s body. Both mentally and physically exhausted by the whole ordeal, ude decided to spend the day inside the Gryfino forest itself in order to regain his lost spiritual energy. He slowly recovered his internal exhaustion throughout the day, which was spent with him simply staying in one spot, motionless, and not exerting any energy. By the time the sun had set and the night came, he had mostly recovered. "It''s extremelyte.. I should probably return to the academy as soon as I can!" ude muttered softly as he realised the situation, and turned back to head towards the academy. Right then... "Ha, ha, ha! There''s nowhere to hide, Miss Elizabeth!" "Hmm?" ude, who was about to leave, stopped in his tracks when a loud and arrogant voice drifted into his ears, which made him furrow his eyebrows. Now that he was a cultivator in the sky realm, ude could hear sounds and noisesing from far away with ease. This particr noise seemed to being from about a few miles away from the location where he was standing, so he decided to check it out as he was intrigued. Zoom! He dashed forward, heading in the direction from where he heard the voices with great speed. Five miles away from the spot where ude was standing, around a dozen men were standing while grinning maliciously, surrounding a young woman who was clenching her bleeding chest, gritting her teeth as she did so. A man dressed in luxurious clothes licked his lips as he spoke, "Miss Elizabeth, you can continue to antagonize us and die, or you can give us the White Dragon''s tooth, and we''ll let you live. I''m sure you''re a sensible individual, so why don''t you just give up the tooth?" "Did he say that this woman had the ''White Dragon''s tooth'' on her?" ude, who was hiding up in a tall tree about five hundred meters away to avoid being spotted, was watching the intriguing conversation taking ce in front of him with attentive eyes. Although the real ude who was the original owner of his body wasn''t too knowledgeable about the political side of the cultivation world, he was interested in the much more intriguing mythical side of it, and he would often go into the public libraries and read about various stories about rare and magical items that are hidden deep inside the forests with interest. One such story was about the White Dragon, which was an extremely rare spiritual beast that was supposed to have gone extinct about a hundred years ago. The White Dragon was a hybrid breed, which was said to be born from the mating of a Pegasus, another rare and mythical creature, and a dragon. The White Dragons, who flew in groups, were said to have flown away from a magical ce called the ''Floating Ind'', which was said to be located near the Indus Ocean, although no actual proof of the ind existing is present. The group of White Dragons were then believed to havended within the Gryfino forest, making the forest its new habitat. Although at that time, the Gryfino forest were ten, maybe even a hundred timesrger than it is currently, and it was inhabited by various spiritual beasts who were far more dangerous than anything that exists in the present time. The myth of the White Dragon was a story told by the Arakins, a barbaric tribe who were the original inhabitants of Argria. Only a few tribesmen were said to have seen the White Dragon, but ording to the story that was told by the Arakins, one of the tribesmen - a crazy man of sorts - apparently challenged the White Dragon upon seeing it, and after a long and arduous fight, he was said to have beaten the White Dragon, and pulled off one of its teeth and made it into his weapon. After holding the teeth in his hands, the tribesmen said that he had undergone intense changes, even altering his personality as a result of it, although the story doesn''t go into detail about the changes brought to the crazy man. The story then boasts about how the crazy man was able topletely conquer the Gryfino forest andmand the spiritual beasts within it, apparently bing the hero of the tribal vige of which he was a resident of. The story ends with the crazy tribesman suddenly disappearing from the tribal vige one day, and even though the tribesmen searched everywhere for their hero, he was nowhere to be seen. Although the old ude was interested in such mythical stories, the current ude who was the new upant of this body wasn''t exactly fond of such folklores, and hadpletely discarded it in his mind, giving it no second thoughts at all. Well, at least until now. "I would have never imagined that the story of the White Dragon, which the previous ude was so fond of, was actually true!" ude remarked as he observed the injured woman and the man who spoke just now, with intrigue on his face. "Are they telling the truth?" He was however, not nning on revealing himself as of right now, which would result in gaining the attention of these people and inviting unwanted trouble, especially when he wasn''t sure if it would be worth such a hassle. For now, he was nning on simply observing the situation, and figure out what was happening. The wounded woman stared at the man wearing expensive clothes with hatred in her eyes before snorting, "You really think that I''ll just hand the White Dragon''s teeth to you people? Why don''t you kill yourself? Maybe then I''ll consider it." "Miss Elizabeth, why on earth are you making it so hard for us? We are both part of the Azure Lion n. Although we are not considered friends, and we have only spoken to each other on very few asions, I do believe that you are someone who could understand the situation that they''re in and respond rationally. Please, do not not make this any more worse. Just tell me where the White Dragon''s tooth is, and I''ll let you live." A man wearing expensive clothes spoke out. The woman, Elizabeth, took a look around her, scanning her surroundings. With so many strong people surrounding her who could easily kill her without spending too much time, she began tough maniacally, "You really thought I''ll fall for your bullsh*t? I''m not an idiot! I know that you''re not going to let me go, Endre! You betrayed the group and murdered them all, and you expect me to just believe that you''ll let me live? Even after I''ve seen you kill my friends? You know that the moment our n figures out about your betrayal, they''ll hunt you down and torture you. I''m sure letting me go will only seal your death, so why on earth do you think I''ll believe you?" "Haha, I told you; I knew you were a sensible person who could understand the situation that you''re in." The man in luxurious clothes, Endre,ughed, acting casual about the whole thing, and snapped his fingers. Right then, one of the men came forward, holding an unconscious young girl in his arms, causing the initially hatred filled eyes of Elizabeth to turn into that of horror. The man brought the young girl next to Endre, who ced his hand on the girl''s shoulder and said with a cold smile, "And now, as a sensible person, I believe you know exactly what the situation is. Give me the location of the White Dragon''s tooth and trust my word that I''ll let Gina live, or stay silent and I''ll kill the two of you. Choose wisely." "You piece of-" Elizabeth gritted her teeth in anger, and after looking at the young girl''s face, she opened her mouth and reluctantly said, "I hid the tooth six miles north of here, on Ravenhawk mountain, inside a hollow Greywood tree." "Ravenhawk mountain..." ude muttered to himself as he shifted his gaze towards the mountain she was talking about, and a smile appeared on his face as he dashed off. He wasn''t sure if the woman was telling the truth, but if there was a chance that she was, he would want to get there first before Endre''s henchmen do! Chapter 92: Teeth Chapter 92: Teeth Although Ravenhawk mountain wasn''t exactly too far from the spot he was currently present, ude still decided to utilise the maximum speed that he could muster. He knew that the man wearing the luxurious clothes, Endre, was sending his henchmen to retrieve the White Dragon''s tooth, and therefore ude had to make sure that he reached the location that the injured woman was talking about before they did. To enhance his speed, ude utilised the floating footsteps techniquewithout any hesitation, and ude''s speed soared instantly, as he dashed towards the Ravenhawk mountain. "Ravenhawk mountain..." ude muttered to himself as he dashed off. He wasn''t sure if the woman was telling the truth, but if there was a chance that she was, he had to get it! Zoom! After dashing for about five minutes, ude finally arrived at the base of the Ravenhawk mountain, which was located in the north-western region of the Gryfino Forest. The massive mountain was hundreds of meters in height, and the top of the mountain was surrounded by clouds and mist, making it seem as though it hade from a fairytale. "I''ve arrived." ude stared at the towering mountain in front of him and its surroundings as he whispered softly to himself. "Now to find the hollow Greywood tree that the woman was talking about..." ude looked around until his eyesnded on a tree branch. Whoosh! He immediately jumped on it and sat down on the tree branch, and he began scanning his surroundings with his new and enhanced sensory abilities. Being an extremely thick and dense mountain base, hundreds if not thousands of shrubs, trees and tall grass were all around the mountainous region. Judging from the current size of the forest and the information about its ancient history, ude knew that the Gryfino forest was evenrger than it is right now, and looking through such a dense and thick forest where thousands of trees were present was like looking for a needle in a haystack. So he had to be quick. Scanning through the mountain base in one go using his highly enhanced sensory attributes was a much better way of searching for the hollow Greywood tree than individually looking for the tree. Seconds slowly passed by, bit by bit. "Found it!" All of a sudden, a resolute light appeared in ude''s eyes.He leapt off the tree branch that he was sitting on and rushed towards a giant Greywood tree that was hidden behind multiple Calliver trees. Within seconds, he appeared in front of the giant Greywood tree, staring at the towering huge tree in front of him. ude pressed his hand against the trunk of the Greywood tree and slowly infusing his spiritual energy into it. In the martial world, although extremely faint, every living thing had spiritual energy within its body, flowing through everything and everywhere. It was essentially the symbol of life in the martial world. BZZZ! Just as his palm touched the trunk of the Greywood tree, ude felt a powerful current flow through his body and into the tree. Within seconds, ude could feel the entire anatomy of the tree, and he felt as though it was his own body. "Bingo, I knew my senses were right!" ude''s eyes widened as a grin appeared on his face. ude said confidently, "This is definitely hollow!" As he had made sure that the tree in front of him was in fact the same Greywood tree that the injured woman, Elizabeth, had mentioned, ude then raised his hands upwards, summoning his katana using the Sunrise sword technique. He then tightly gripped the katana and sliced it, aiming at the thick tree trunk. Swoosh! A thin and straight de light manifested as soon as he swung the katana, striking the hollow Greywood tree, and just after a second of silence, the tree spilt into two at its waist, and it crashed down onto the ground with a loud noise! BAM! ude released his grip on the katana and it disappeared from view, and he moved towards the cut down tree. He looked at the split open trunk and revealed a bewildered expression. "I can''t believe this, so it was indeed real" Inside the hollow trunk of the Greywood tree was a broad silver coloured sword like object that was double the size of his katana. It looked like the sword of a giant. ude looked at the White Dragon''s tooth in front of him and felt joy. He smiled as he muttered to himself, "To think that the myths and legends that I had once written off as mere children''s stories was actually true." He let out a chuckle. "Does this mean that the rest of the folklores and legends told by people are also true as well? Maybe I should research about the folklores in this world a bit more." Without wasting any time, ude stretched out his hands and grabbed the enormous teeth from the trunk of the tree. "Was touching the teeth going to change ny personality, like it changed the personality of the tribesman in the folklore?" ude was a bit excited as he clutched the tooth, as the folklore that he had deemed to be a silly story made up by vigers actually turned out to be real, but to his disappointment, it didn''t do anything when he made contact with it. ude was more surprised at the fact that it was extremely heavy to hold. ude had guessed that the teeth might be heavier than what it looked like before trying to lift it, but to his surprise, it was still heavier. He had still underestimated its weight, which was just insane! Adding a bit more strength, ude was able to lift the enormous White Dragon''s teeth from the truck of the Greywood tree and held it up to his eye to inspect it more closely. He couldn''t feel any sort of spiritual energy emitting from the teeth, but for some reason, he had a feeling that the teeth was holding a lot more secrets! "Now is not the time to inspect it. I should probably leave this ce before those people from the Azure Lion n show up.." ude held onto the giant teeth and leapt up, leaving the cut down Greywood tree and dashed in the direction of the Golden Avarice Academy. Boom! Just a few minutes after ude left the location, two figures shot down from the sky and crashnded on the ground with a loud noise, resulting in the surroundings shaking violently and forming a gigantic crater on the spot that theynded. "*Cough* *Cough*... You do know that you can justnd on the ground like a normal person, right Barris?" From the dust that spread out due to the crash emerged two men; one with a huge build and a long beard and the other who was a thin and short man with a twirling moustache. The man with the twirling moustache began yelling loudly at the giant with the king beard, who simply nodded his head in response. "For god''s sake Next time, be a bit more gentle, alright? Can you do that? Huh?" The man with the twirling moustache angrily spoke as he pointed his finger at the long bearded giant, and the giant drooped his head low and replied in a soft voice, "Yes Gaston..." "Good you bumbling idiot.." Gaston muttered as he dusted off his clothes and walked forward, looking around as he did so. "Now, why don''t you be a good boy and help me search for the Greywood tree. And don''t forget to be quick. The boss doesn''t like us being toot- Gaston, who was rambling on suddenly stopped speaking as his gaze was glued to the Greywood tree that had been cut down. He walked towards the tree and knelt in front of it, and Barris, who was staring at Gaston with confusion in his eyes, followed him close behind. Swipe! Gaston rubbed his fingers across the finely sliced trunk of the Greywood tree, brought his finger close to his nose, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling whatever was on the tip of his finger. "Looks like someone got here first.." Gaston whispered softly as he slowly opened his eyes. "And it seems that the person who stole the teeth only left a few minutes ago..." Gaston reached for his moustache and began twisting and twirling it as he thought to himself on whether or not he should try and follow the person who stole the teeth, but decided to give up on it in the end. After all, it''s been about fifteen minutes since the thief fled the scene. Although that may seem like a short period of time, a martial arts cultivator can travel great distances in such a short time frame with lightning speed, which meant that if Gaston did in fact decide to follow this person''s trail, it''ll most likely reach nowhere and he''ll probably have wasted his time. And he definitely didn''t want to risk wasting his time. "Oi.." He motioned at Barris and said, "Tell the boss that someone reached the location first and took the Dragon teeth. And tell him that even though the chances were low, I''ve already decided to try and follow this guy. Now leave!" Barris nodded his head and shot up from the ground and onto the sky, leaving Gaston all alone near the destroyed Greywood tree, and he let out a sigh. That''s right. He didn''t want to waste his energy. But his boss didn''t need to know that. Chapter 93: God And His Conquest Chapter 93: God And His Conquest As soon as ude reached his room, he hurriedly locked himself inside and then ced the White Dragon''s teeth on his table. BAM! The gigantic monster of a toothnded on the table with a loud noise, and ude began carefully examining it. "Oh? Now this is even more interesting..." On the uppermost section of the teeth, ude could see a variation in the colour and softness, and came to the conclusion that the upper part of the teeth was the root of the dragon''s teeth. It''s extremely rare for a spiritual beasts'' teeth to be found with their roots in a natural circumstance, as the roots of their teeths are said to be really sturdy. As such, the only way that the spiritual beasts'' teeth were found with their roots were when a cultivator defeated them and extracted their teeth. "Did this mean that the White Dragon''s teeth were extracted by someone?" While thinking, ude could not help but be extremely curious about the situation. Of course, he didn''t have reliable information to support these ims. He didn''t know if the White Dragon''s teeth were simr to the spiritual beasts'' teeth in present time, and he certainly didn''t have enough information about the White Dragon''s dental anatomy to form a conclusion. But nevertheless, ude thought of the folklore about the crazy tribesman who took down the White Dragon all on his own, and couldn''t help but wonder if the folklore really was telling the truth. After thinking for a long period of time, ude felt both slightly satisfied and dissatisfied. He was satisfied because of the possibilities that this idea brought forward, but was dissatisfied by theck of evidence and information he had toe to any sort of conclusion. He shifted his gaze back to the White Dragon''s teeth in front of him and continued examining it. As he studied the enormous teeth, he figured out that the actual materialprising of a White Dragon tooth was pretty simr to the teeth in spiritual beasts'' of the present day. However, for whatever reason, it was much harder and heavier than the spiritual beasts'' teeth, which just puzzled ude. "I feel like I''m not qualified enough to figure this out myself.." ude said in a gloomy voice and slightly exhaled. He knew that he wasn''t knowledgeable enough in the dental anatomy field topletely understand what the hell was so special about this teeth. However, he also knew that he couldn''t just show this to any expert without expecting to be bombarded with a barrage of questions either, so he didn''t know what to do about it. Now what to do? ude ced his hands on his chin and thought back to the incident in the Gryfino forest, and the conversation between the injured woman and the man wearing the luxurious clothes. "Elizabeth and Endre of the Azure Lion n..." ude whispered the names of the two to himself as he thought about the bizzare conversation that he witnessed. He knew that he could''ve gotten more information from thedy named Elizabeth if he had stepped up to help her escape from Endre, but he had decided to not do that. ude had been keeping an eye on the henchmen surrounding the injured Elizabeth, studying them. He had figured out that although the man named Endre was on the eight rank of the Earth realm, most of his henchmen, to his surprise, were all either on or above the first rank of the sky realm! And one of them were even on fifth rank of the sky realm! ude couldn''t have taken them on all alone. He wasn''t going to risk his life for a women he didn''t even know just because thedy spoke of something interesting. "From the part of the conversation that he heard, the man named Endre was nning on betraying them from the start" ude decided to retrace the part of the conversation that he heard from the very beginning, to get a clear idea of the situation. He continued, "And remembering how he talked about the White Dragon''s teeth, it was clear that he wasn''t surprised at all about the presence of a mythical artifact that, up until today, was part of a simple folklore" ude walked towards his window and opened it, letting in the cold breeze. "Did that mean the White Dragon''s teeth was part of the - if not the entire - reason for his betrayal?" Arriving at this conclusion, ude couldn''t help but frown; this implied that the existence of the White Dragon''s teeth was already known to both the injured Elizabeth and the traitor Endre before they embarked on their journey to the Gryfino forest. Just where did this informatione from? ude thought about it. This could mean that the information rted to the White Dragon could be present within the Azure Lion n that both Elizabeth and Endre wad part of. Of course, he couldn''t be sure, and this could all be a secret endeavour nned by Elizabeth and Endre along with a seperate group of people. But even if that was the case, then it could still mean that there might be some information about the White Dragon''s teeth inside either Elizabeth''s or Endre''s n rooms. Whatever the case would be, ude felt that he needed to investigate and if possible, infiltrate this Azure Lion n that these two were speaking about. ude felt that it would be worth a try. "But where exactly is the location of the Azure Lion n?" ude soon found himself in a pickle, as he had never heard of a n called Azure Lion n. In the end, ude had decided to rest first as it was already night time, and then ask Senior Beldon for help during the day to find out information about the Azure Lion n. ************** City of Trivonte. The Emperor of the Dazearyn Empire and the newly crowned King of Argria entered the Destiny Church alone, leaving their soldiers behind, who stared at the backs of their respective rulers with concern in their eyes. King ke Bancroft opened the door to the Destiny Church, stepped back and motioned the Emperor to step in first as a sign of courtesy, and the Emperorplied. The moment Emperor Gilbert Gottfried stepped his foot inside the Destiny Church, he realized just how enchanting and breathtaking this building could be. Its fantastic architectural designs didn''t simply extend to the exterior of the building, but to the interior as well. They moved forward, stepping on the beautiful marble floor and reached the front of the church, and King ke slowly walked towards the left side of the inner walls, turned a flower vase that was next to him, and all of a sudden, a hidden door opened up from the walls, revealing a staircase that went downwards. "Shall we?" King ke pointed down the staircase as he asked his question, and the Emperor nodded his head. The two descended down the long staircase that led them to a small hall with two chairs and one round table, and a blind man wearing a long white dress and standing still, as if he was waiting for someone. "Shall we begin, watcher?" King ke asked as he entered the small hall, and the blind man turned his head towards the King and the Emperor, greeted them with a small bow of his head and stroked his beard, replying; "Of course your highness. Please, sit." The blind man pointed towards the two chairs, and both the King and the Emperorplied with his request. The blind man walked towards the cupboard which was to their left and grabbed the pile of documents that were stacked on top of each other. He then slowly walked back towards the King and the Emperor, carrying the documents in his hands and gently ced them on the table. The blind man then lifted his chin toward them and said. "May god bring the both of you peace. Now, if the both of you could raise your right hands..." The two men did as they were told, and the blind man took out a long dagger from one of his sleeves, and very carefully, cut a line across both of their palms before cing the dagger back into his sleeve. The blind man then raised his head, mumbled a few words, cleared his throat and spoke once again: "You may open the sacred texts, your highness." The Emperor nodded his head and grabbed the document on top and opened it, studying it carefully. Minutes passed, and after finishing the first document, the Emperor grabbed the second one. After that he grabbed the third one, and then the next After a few hours, the Emperor flipped through thest of the documents, ced it back on the pile, turned towards King ke Bancroft and said, "So the Pope did recognize you as a legitimate heir for the throne." King ke nodded his head, "As you can see, I am in fact, a messenger of God. I hope you''re happy to know that, Emperor Gilbert Gottfried." Emperor Gilbert Gottfried narrowed his eyes as he spoke. "Very well. I, Emperor Gilbert Gottfried of the Dazearyn Empire recognize you, ke Bancroft, King of Argria as a messenger of God, and I am asking you to help me and my men with my conquest to fulfill god''s wishes." "Of course, I won''t fail you, Emperor Gottfried," said Prince ke Bancroft. Chapter 94: New Places Chapter 94: New ces After a few hours, the Emperor flipped through thest of the documents, ced it back on the pile, turned towards King ke Bancroft and said, "So the Pope did recognize you as a legitimate heir for the throne." King ke nodded his head, "As you can see, I am in fact, a messenger of God. I hope you''re happy to know that, Emperor Gilbert Gottfried." Emperor Gilbert Gottfried narrowed his eyes as he spoke. "Very well. I, Emperor Gilbert Gottfried of the Dazearyn Empire, recognize you, ke Bancroft, King of Argria as a messenger of God, and I am asking you to help me and my men with my conquest to fulfill God''s wishes." "Of course, I won''t fail you, Emperor Gottfried," said Prince ke Bancroft. "I give you my word; the kingdom of Argria will stand behind you and provide the Dazearyn Army with whatever support you may require to fulfill your duty as the servant of God." "Do not fail our gods," Emperor Gilbert Gottfried added with a vigorous nod. The goodbyes didn''tst that long, not more than a few minutes. After a few short exchanges, Emperor Gilbert Gottfried emerged from the church entrance, followed by King ke Bancroft, and the Dazearyn soldiers that hade with the Emperor immediately moved towards Emperor Gilbert Gottfried, while the Argrian men stood near their newly crowned King, cautious of the Dazearyn men next to them. The Dazearyns were led to an Argrian carriage, and right before getting on the vehicle, the Emperor turned around for a second, his eyes stuck on King ke Bancroft as he spoke. "I just want you to know one thing, King ke. God can see everything and everyone. He is the almighty, and trying to fool the Messenger of God will only result in incurring the wrath of the almighty. I hope you understand, King ke. Do not make careless mistakes that you''ll regretter on." "Of course, your highness." King ke Bancroft tried to look the Emperor straight in the eye, and he spoke with a resolute smile. "Trying to deceive a messenger is simply a crime against humanity, and it will only result in destruction, despair and agony. Thank you for warning me, Emperor. I''ll keep your words in my mind." The Emperor nodded his head and entered the carriage, and King ke Bancroft waited for a few moments of difort before the Dazearyns disappeared from his view. He then turned around and walked towards his own carriage in silence, entering the vehicle as the soldiers following him bowed to show their respect to their king. "Well, that was an unexpected threat at the end," Inside the carriage was General Ivan, who spoke with a wide grin on his face. Minister Burne was sitting next to him, and he slightly bowed his head to the King, "And that was an unexpected answer as well. Where on earth did you get such courage, your highness? I have to say, I''m impressed." "What else could I have done under those circumstances?" King ke Bancroft spoke in an indifferent voice. "He was basically forcing me to lie." "That''s true. But he was insinuating that you were doing some dirty tricks and deceiving him," Minister Burne said. "Do you think he knows?" "Even if he is, what can he do if he doesn''t have any evidence to back up his ims?" General Ivan had a very strange smile on his face and he shook his head. "That''s why he came here today, isn''t it? To find out the supposed truth? Well he got what he wanted, and now he''s got to learn to ept it." "You know it''s not going to be that easy, right General Ivan?" Minister Burne spoke out loudly. "The fact that he still remains suspicious, even after looking through the sacred documents of the pope, is enough to believe that we''ve be the target of the Dazearyn Empire. Even if he doesn''t have any evidence, the fact that he''s even considering that we''re lying to him puts us at risk. This is a real issue." "Perhaps. But I doubt he''d be able to focus on it right now," King ke Bancroft said. "With most of his conquest to prepare for the invasion of the middle East now almost over, Emperor Gottfried would definitely have to focus more on his strategies and nning for the attack, and he would have to most likely shove this discussion for ater date. And besides, we have the approval of the pope on our side. He might not believe us entirely, but with the signature of the pope, it''s official. You can argue that it''s going all ording to our ns." "You know what the craziest part of all of this is? The fact that this n actually worked," General Ivan observed. "I have to admit, even though I''m not fond of you, the old aristocrats in your chairs who doesn''t wish to get their hands dirty, this n was absolutely brilliant, and I wouldn''t have believed it had I not been a part of this n." "Well, you are not alone, General Ivan. I, a Minister of the Royal Council, also wasn''t too sure about the sess of this n and I have to say that it''s a miracle that everything went ording to n," Minister Burne said. "I guess we just got lucky. Or perhaps the gods did favour us. Whatever the reason may be, I''m simply d that it worked, and we''ve sessfully gotten rid of the god-awful Royal couple. With those two fools gone, the monarchy and the Royal Council can survive for a bit longer. I still can''t fathom that just a few months ago, we were on the verge of having our positions stripped away from us because of those two buffoons." "Oh, I absolutely agree with you!" General Ivan said. "Those idiots almost made us lose our positions and power! It was lucky that the son of a b*tch slept around with various women. Otherwise, how would we have gotten our newly crowned King over here?" "I am also d that you are able to track me down. Who knows what would''ve actually happened if you people had no clue about my existence?" King ke Bancroft said with a smile. "I always believed that it was fate that brought you to me, but now I''vee to the realization that it was actually my idiot father who brought you to me. If he wasn''t so despicable, I doubt you would''ve been so keen on finding me." "It is hrious that his own offspring was the cause of his downfall," General Ivanughed out loud as he pped his own leg. "I sure hope that idiot remembers that fact every time he wakes up in his dungeon." "I do hope that''s the case," King ke Bancroft replied. "That''s why I make sure to meet him in his dungeon every now and then. To make sure that he lives every second of his pathetic life in regret." "I''m d you''re enjoying this, your highness," General Ivan said with a smirk. "Of course," King ke Bancroft responded almost immediately. "It''s what helps me get up from my bed every morning!" *************** Soderberg City, Hustlefield Prefecture. "So this is Soderberg city huh.." ude, who was standing in front of the city gates, stared at the sign in front with amusement in his eyes. Soderberg City was a rtivelyrge city within the Hustlefield Prefecture,parable to the Dawsbury city or Sherfield City in the wferry Prefecture. As he stood in front of the gate, ude remembered what Senior Beldon had told him just a day before. "Did you say the Azure Lion n?" Senior Beldon turned to look at ude with surprise, who nodded his head furiously. "Oh yeah, I''ve heard of that n!" "Wait really?" ude looked at his senior, and his eyes seemed to be asking for more answers. Senior Beldon ced his hand on his chin and thought to himself. "If I''m remembering this correctly, it''s probably a n in the city of Soderberg, which is about eighty miles southeast from here. Why are you asking me all of this? Are you nning on heading to Soderberg City?" "I am, actually!" ude nodded his head. He asked, "What do you know about the Azure Lion n, senior brother?" "I''m sorry, junior brother ude, but I can''t help you there. I only know the location of the n. I''ve also heard rumours that the Azure Lion n n is extremely secretive, but that''s only hearsay. That''s all I know." Senior Beldon scratched his cheeks as he shed a bitter smile, much to the disappointment of ude. "It''s alright, Senior brother! I''ll try to find out more about it on my way," ude shook his head and immediately replied. He was definitely nning on heading to Soderberg City. He had to know more about the White Dragon''s teeth, and for that, he needed to investigate the Azure Lion n. "Oh, if you''re nning on going to Soderberg City, try your best to blend in, alright?" Senior Beldon asked, to which ude tilted his head, confused. Senior Beldon looked at him with a smile and said, "It may be nothing but a rumour, but I''ve heard that the cultivators in that city are extremelypetitive!" Chapter 95: Enthusiastic Followers Chapter 95: Enthusiastic Followers Simr to the city of Josenheim and the city of Dawsbury that was sprawling with life even in early mornings, the main street of Soderberg City was extremely crowded, with all types of people roaming around the city. But of course, the reasons were different for these people. While the city of Soderberg looked dazzling with all sorts of splendid store fronts that were teeming with groups of people present in every corner, it also had a reputation for crime and theft. Soderberg city was double the poption of Dawsbury city, but the cost of living in the city was extremely huge, and with the environment highly favouring the wealthy lifestyle people, the division between the poor and the rich began to get wider and wider, leading to the emergence of various criminal ns. To a normal person who wanted to afford living in the better parts of Soderberg, turning to these ns was the key in order to gain money, power and respect. The wealthy lived in the luxurious mansions while the streets, local businesses andnd all fell into the hands of these crime syndicates. As ude moved through the crowded streets, he was also keeping an eye on his surroundings. Senior Beldon had warned him that the criminal ns who are essentially running the streets usually kept an eye on neers, probably to figure out whether the neer was a threat to the n or not. "Well, well, well I guess Senior Beldon was right. Although this is simply way too quick"ude muttered to himself and he kept walking as a sinister smile appeared on his face. Although faint, ude could sense through the fluctuations in the spiritual energy, the presence of about a dozen people with suspicious auras in close range of him. As ude moved forward, he was also studying the people who were following him and quickly realized that these men were extremely agile and their movements were perfectly orchestrated in order to keep their target oblivious to their tailing. He also realized that no matter what he did, where he moved, or how fast he was walking, these men were somehow always keeping up with him, focusing on maintaining the same distance between them at all times. And it wasn''t because they were fast either. They were simply too knowledgeable about the city and its various pathways, utilising each and every alleyway, backdoor and secret passages to make sure that they did their best to tail ude without creating any problems. Even ude was impressed by their technique and thought to himself, ''Trying to make up for any disadvantage in speed by utilising their understanding of the city to the maximum... Clever fellows, these people!'' However, he obviously wasn''t going to let these people do whatever they wanted. He hadn''te here just to hang around; he was here to look into the Azure Lion n and their connection with the person called Elizabeth. And that meant that he couldn''t leave any loose threads. ''It''s a good thing I''ve covered my face with my scarf. I wouldn''t want these people to know my face!'' ude clutched the scarf that was wrapped around his neck and made sure that his face was fully covered. Whoosh! As soon as ude reached a corner, he immediately turned, pressed down his feet and in an instant, his speed increased exponentially and he moved as fast as lightning. The difference in speed was so vast and so quick that it even caught the people following him off guard, and by the time it took them to recover from the shock, he had already created a huge gap between them. "Dammit! He figured out that we were following him!" One of the figures who were tailing him cursed out as he grit his teeth, and the dozen men immediately increased their speed, hoping to catch up to their target before they lost him. ude looked back and saw the group springing into action, moving in his direction with the objective of catching up to him. ude muttered to himself indifferently, "No matter how much you know the surroundings, no matter how hard you''ve memorized these pathways, in front of absolute speed, you''re all bound to lose." BAM! ude implemented the floating footsteps technique, and with a loud boom, his speed increased yet again, and he shot forward much to the surprise of his opponents. "What the hell? How fast is this person?" The group of people who were following him were amazed by their target''s speed. Although this wasn''t the first time someone has spotted them, he was definitely the one with the fastest speed. "Not only that, but as a neer, he shouldn''t be too familiar with the infrastructure, and yet he''s able to maneuver through the streets so easily while keeping his speed consistent as well. Are we sure he''s a neer?" One of the figures asked, curious about his target''s origins. Another figure shook their head and replied, "The list has never been wrong, so he''s definitely a neer. As to why he''s able to move so easily, only god would know the real reason.." WHAM! ude rushed forward without stopping, moving through the pathway with ease, as if he had done this countless times. ''I''m pretty sure they''re wondering how I''m able to move through an unfamiliar city so easily,'' ude let out a chuckle, as he flipped sideways against a tight corner and turned his direction in an instant without reducing his speed for even a single second. ''If only it was that simple..'' In actuality, ude didn''t know about the infrastructure of the town, nor was he a sorcerer who could see the pathway in his mind. He was simply agile and a quick decision maker. In his previous life, ude, who didn''t have any cultivation powers, had to make do with his skills and techniques to fight against enemies. That included people who were physically stronger than him. One way to hold your own against someone who was stronger than you in a close range fight was to make sure that he was quicker than him. And he didn''t mean just the speed of his attacks. ude trained himself to not only be quicker in swinging his katana, but quicker in making decisions as well. ording to ude, the faster you make decisions, the more time you''re saving for your attacks. But of course, making decisions so quickly wasn''t so easy, and oftentimes, he had to make educated guesses and make decisions ording to those guesses. This meant that to make decisions as early and quickly as possible, ude had to anticipate what''s about to happen, and make the decision ording to that guess, instead of waiting for it to happen and then acting ordingly. This meant that he had to utilize his brain at all times to think, analyse and formte his n, and that required hard work and an unwavering dedication to the craft at all times. This way of thinking had carried over to his new life as well, and although it had been a mixed bag since his reincarnation, especially since the power difference in this world is simply too vast that even guessing isn''t quick enough when you have too low of a cultivation, but he was able to get a hang of it eventually. Add to that the mind of a cultivator is much more advanced and fast-processing than a normal human mind, it essentially meant that ude''s quick thinking abilities became even quicker. Whoosh! After a few minutes of zooming through the city, ude realized that the group of people weren''t following him anymore, and he immediately turned around and darted off into a dark alleyway as he hid in the darkness. ''Did I lose them?'' ude waited in the shadows, and after a minute or two of no sightings of the people following him, he let out a sigh and walked out. However, just as he took a step forward, his eyes immediately widened with surprise and he skipped backwards in an instant, as a figure came crashing down from the sky and to the spot right in front of ude, causing dust and debris to fly off. ''To think they kept up with me I really underestimated them..'' ude let out a bitter smile as multiple men appeared from the sky and stuck to the sides of the buildings that were on either sides of the alleyway, staring at ude as if they were staring at their prey. The man who hadnded in front of ude screamed at him. "Come here!" He rushed forward, heading towards ude, cursing as he tried to kick him. Whoosh! As the enemy''s kick, which seemed to be reinforced by a strengthening technique, was fast approaching ude, he instantly flipped to the sides, evading the kick with little effort, and without wasting any time, clenched his fist and punched forward, aiming for the enemy''s stomach. Ideally speaking, the stomach might not be the best spot tond the hit, but as he was turned to the side and his enemy was in the middle of retracting his leg, ude was perfectly in range of his stomach, and he decided to use it to his advantage. BAM! ude''s fist shot forward, and the fist which was reinforced by body strengthening techniques, collided with the opponent''s body, bursting through his stomach and organs and came out though the other side before he pulled his blood covered hand backwards. ude heard a grunt as his opponent swiveled and fell backward, as a spray of blood squirted from his stomach. Chapter 96: It Comes At Night Chapter 96: It Comes At Night ude clenched his fist and punched forward, aiming for the enemy''s stomach. BAM! ude''s fist shot forward, and the fist which was reinforced by body strengthening techniques, collided with the opponent''s body, bursting through his stomach and organs and came out though the other side before he pulled his blood covered hand backwards. ude heard a grunt as his opponent swiveled and fell backward, as a spray of blood squirted from his stomach. ude tilted his head up as he stared at the figures stuck to the walls of the alleyway and he said, "So you''ve recognized me as a threat after I discovered your presence? Is that all it takes to antagonize you? Dear lord, no wonder you people have a lot of enemies.." One of the figures spoke in a cold voice, "Take him down. He might look strong, but he can''t fight all of us." BAM! Right after the unknown person spoke, the rest of the figures pressed down their feet onto the walls, which resulted in the formation of small craters on the wall, before lunging towards ude who was standing on the ground. ude''s expression remained as calm as still water, not changing even a tiny bit as he stared at the people fast approaching him without any fear in his eyes. BOOM! He stomped his foot down and as he did so, he disappeared from everyone''s view, reappearing right in front of the figure who was closest to him. The man who wasn''t prepared for such a surprising turn of events shifted his gaze at ude and spoke, "You" But before he could finish his words, ude manifested his katana, grabbed it and swung it towards the man, catching him right in the throat. WHAM! ude immediately shifted focus to his side, his gaze shifted from the dead man in front of him and onto his next prey, as his right hand rose and from it shot out countless light gleams. The man who was his new target manifested a knife, but before he could defend, he was hit over and over by the de lights, striking his head which caused it to explode and the man dropped down, falling to the ground. "Don''t give him any chance to fight us individually!" The figure who seemed to be the leader of the group yelled out, but with the bodies of their fellowrades falling down to the ground right in front of them, it took out some of their gazes from ude at a critical moment. Two of the figures who were nearest to ude looked at the falling bodies quickly and then tried shifting their gaze, but ude immediately shot out the Astral Wing des once again and struck the figure on the right on his forehead, and one millisecondter another de light struck the other man on the neck. "Change of ns! Retreat and utilise long range attacks instead!" The leader screamed loudly as he stopped in the air, and hisrades followed suit as they simply leapt backwards raising their two hands and shot out multiple de lights that struck the walls, the ground, and even the windows of the buildings around them, flying everywhere. But ude grabbed the figure whom he had just killed and pulled the dead man''s body close, cing it right in front of him as a shield, and as the countless de lights rained down upon ude, he charged forward in the direction of the group that retreated. BAM! "What the-" Before the leader could finish his words, ude had already appeared right in front of him. He was simply too fast. "Catch your friend!" Before the leader could react, ude threw the dead body that he had used as a shield in his direction with all his might! "Huh?!" The leader of the group, who was visibly caught off guard by ude''s actions, shot out a de light on instinct, which gave ude a chance tond a strike. Whoosh! ude charged forward in a blur, his long katana high and swinging toward the leader without hesitation. Swish! The leader only saw a sh of light and in an instant, he felt a tug in his chest, and his vision blurred. "Boss!" The rest of the figures, who saw their leader''s corpse fall down to the ground, let out a scream of surprise, before realising that they were no match for their opponent, and turned back in order to escape. "Did you really think you could just leave after attacking me? Are you people really that naive?" ude snorted as he disappeared from his spot once again, and the sky rained blood onest time. ************** "That took much longer than expected..." After finishing off thest of the criminal n members, ude descended down in a graceful manner and slowly walked over to one of the corpses that were lying on the ground. "I doubt these people would just let me go, now that I''ve murdered a few of their henchmen," ude muttered to himself as he closely inspected the body of one of the figures that he killed. "Well, well, well although they were poor fighters, they sure are savvy with their attires," ude let out a chuckle as he studied the clothes worn by these men. Although the clothes they wore were high end civilian attire, their thick ck clothes and a blue armband that they wore made it seem as though they were a special group. ude turned over one of the corpse''s clothes and read out the words stitched onto the inside of it, "The Fury n..." ude had heard about the various ns inside the city of Soderberg from Senior Beldon, and Fury n was amongst them. "So they control this part of the city huh.." ude tapped his chin as he stared at the stitched words, and all of a sudden his eyes twinkled. "These clothes mighte in handy.." Looking at the attire worn by these n members, a wide grin manifested on ude''s face. A few minutester, ude strolled into the main street in Soderberg city, while wearing the clothes that he took off from one of the dead bodies, looking for the Azure Lion n. And soon enough, he did find the Mansion of the Azure Lion n. Contrary to how most n Mansions are, the Azure Lion n Mansion was a bit more northeast to the main streets of Soderberg City, away from all the hustle and bustle of the crowds. It was located near the Sherikk River, and surrounding it was mostly a dense forested area that belonged to the n itself. "Although the location might be discreet, the guards sure aren''t, huh..." ude entered the restaurant that had the best view of the n mansion and was gazing at its exterior from afar by utilising his enhanced sensory skills. ude could see that the main gate of the Azure Lion n Mansion was locked, surrounded on the outside by almost a dozen or so guards. Each guard was separated by another for about fifty meters, which meant that it would be near impossible to get in without alerting at least one of them. And that was just the exterior. ude walked out of the restaurant after finishing up his meal, looked around to see if anyone was around, and leapt onto the roof of one of the shops to get a better view of the inside of the mansion. "Someone''s a bit too paranoid," ude let out a dry chuckle as he focused on the Azure Lion n Mansion, and he realised that entering the n might be one of the hardest challenges that he had evere across in his life. The inside of the gates were even more tightly protected, with almost forty cultivators surveying the inside. And that''s just the ones ude could see. For all he knew, there could be even more of them. "I''m starting to thinking here wasn''t such a good idea...." ude descended down from the roof with a disappointed expression on his face. He was hoping to get some information about the White Dragon''s teeth from the n, but it seems like that wouldn''t be a feasible option anymore. "Hey, is it true that Margaret and her group of friends stille to the public houses at night?" ude was about to walk back to the main streets of the city to rethink his strategy, when he suddenly halted as he overheard a conversation between a group of young men who were sitting inside the restaurant that he had just left a few minutes ago. Although he wasn''t inside the restaurant, his hearing skills were good enough that he could listen in on them. "Yeah she is. I really don''t know what is wrong with her father. He''s the n head for god''s sake! Why is he just allowing her to fool around at night? Isn''t he ashamed?" Another person chimed in, and ude, curious about the conversation, decided to eavesdrop. "I''ve heard that he had already given up on her. Which is understandable, given the rumours floating around," One of the men let out a chuckle as he spoke. "They say that she roams around at night to find attractive and strong men to have sex with. Apparently, she brings them into the n mansion at night, has her fun with them, and then pays them enough money to flee the city." "I''ve heard that she kills them in the end," The first man spoke. "She''s a vixen, that girl. Still, with her body wouldn''t be that bad for yourst night, I''d say!" "In your dreams, George," a loudughter was heard. "Remember the rumours about her only sleeping around with strong men? Well, she apparently forces the men who wishes to court her into fighting with each other to find out who''s the stronger one! If you want to sleep with her, you''re going to need to cultivate a lot more, George!" ude drowned out theughter that ensued after thatst remark, turned around, and stared at the ss window of the shop he was standing next to. "n Head''s daughter, huh..." ude tidied his face and his clothes as he viewed his reflection on the ss window. With the attire he was wearing now, he could certainly pass as being someone in his twenties. A smile appeared on ude''s face as he muttered to himself, "I guess I''ve found a way..." Chapter 97: Margaret Chapter 97: Margaret "She''s a vixen, that girl Margaret. Still, with her body wouldn''t be that bad for yourst night, I''d say!" "In your dreams, George," a loudughter was heard. "Remember the rumours about her only sleeping around with strong men? Well, she apparently forces the men who wish to court her into fighting with each other to find out who''s the stronger one! If you want to sleep with her, you''re going to need to cultivate a lot more, George!" ude drowned out theughter that ensued after thatst remark, turned around, and stared at the ss window of the shop he was standing next to. "n Head''s daughter, huh..." ude tidied his face and his clothes as he viewed his reflection on the ss window. With the attire he was wearing now, he could certainly pass as being someone in his twenties. A smile appeared on ude''s face as he muttered to himself, "I guess I''ve found a way..." ************** The public house of the city of Soderberg was in the centre of the main street, named ''Red Lion''. Inside the public house were small a group of woman, who were sitting around a table and talking with each other. There were about eight women in the group, all of whom were exceptionally beautiful and fair skinned. Almost all of them were wearing tight and quite revealing clothes that entuated their slim waists and voluptuous breasts. Together, they sat around with a ss of wine in each of their hands, and were chatting with each other, acting all giddy and giggling every now and then, and the men inside the public house were staring at these group of women as if they were looking at a group of goddesses, enamoured by their beauty. At that very moment, one of the women suddenly shifted her gaze towards the man who was walking up to the bartender and ordering his alcohol, and immediately let out a surprised shout. "Oh my god! That seems to be Killian Grant, the wanderer known as the ''Monster yer'' in the West!" Hearing this, the entire group of women became startled and immediately turned their heads and looked over at the big, muscr man with their mesmerizing eyes. "My lord! It definitely is definitely Killian Grant! I had heard that he was arriving in Soderberg city, but I didn''t know when!" One of the women who was wearing a blue dress said and the girl next to her nodded her head, agreeing with her words. "That''s right, I''m absolutely sure this person is Killian Grant. Look at his body! My oh my, he''s exceptionally built. Looks like the rumours about him ying monsters weren''t exaggerated at all!" The woman with a monocle spoke out, licking her lips as she spoke and the rest of the women giggled along with her. Another women spoke out softly, "I don''t know about any monsters, but would he be able to take down the men inside this public house? You know, the one''s who''ve been ogling us for the past few hours? I mean I don''t know about you, but Jonas over there is pretty well built himself. In fact, I''d even go far as to say that he''s a much better catch than Killian." She pointed at another muscr man who seemed to be in his twenties, who noticed the group of women staring at him and waved his hands at them with a smile. The woman who pointed at him waved her hand back and bit her lips. "Did you seriously justpare Killian ''The Monster yer'' Grant with Jonas Asher? No matter how strong and handsome he might be, he isn''t a match for someone like Killian, who has defeated literal monsters. A pretty idioticparison, if you ask me.." The woman in the blue dress scoffed as she sipped her wine, and the woman with the monocle let out a short giggle, but instantly covered her mouth to hide it. "Alright, calm down. Charlotte, you can try to seduce whoever you want, but first, we have to listen to who Margaret is interested in." At that moment, a calm lookingdy opened her mouth. She continued, "What do you say, Margaret? Care to share your thoughts on whom you''re interested in?" After she had finished speaking, thedies stopped talking and shifted their gazes towards the woman who was at the front of the table. Out of all thedies in the group, it was only she who could be considered to be the most beautiful, and her tight red dress that revealed her beautiful long legs were simply enhancing her beauty. She was Margaret ir, the Eldest daughter of the Azure Lion n Head, Bradley ir. Although she was known to be an extremely beautiful dame, Margaret ir was more famous for her many rendezvous with strong and powerful men at night time. However, this didn''t matter to the men who were enchanted by her. Tall, mature, and beautiful like a rose, she was indeed gorgeous and charming enough to be the talk of any town. There were rumours that the n head was fed up with Margaret, but he was forced to go along with her ways as she was his daughter. "Hmm Did you say that he''s known as the ''Monster yer''?" She stared closely at Killian Grant, who in the middle of gulping down his drink, was secretly taking a nce at her table, with her narrowed eyes. After a few moments of silence, Margaret rolled her eyes and turned around to face her entourage, finallying to a conclusion. "I don''t think I''m interested in him. He looks desperate. As if he expects me toe to him first. I don''t like that. If it was any other day, perhaps I''d be more enamoured by him, but unfortunately for him, today''s not the day." "What? Why, Margaret? I thought you would definitely go for the ''Monster yer''. He''s surely the strongest one out of all of them," The girl who was wearing the blue dress looked shocked by Margaret''s words, unable to believe her. She looked like her whole world hade crashing down. "I told you, didn''t I? She''s more interested in Jonas. She can tell who''s the stronger one," the girl who had been gushing about Jonas Asher spoke happily with a smug expression on her face, and the girl in the blue dress began pouting. "I apologize, Alexandra. But I''m not interested in Jonas either," Margaret waved her hands as she let out a soft giggle, and she pointed her slim hands towards another table on the other side of the public house. "The one I''m interested in today is that young man over there." "What? Him?" The two girls who were fighting with each other turned to look at the young man sitting on the other side of the room with confused gazes. "He is definitely handsome, and does appear to be well built, but I just don''t understand how you can pick that young man over Jonas and Killian. Why are you interested in him, Margaret?" Margaret replied with a sexy smile, "Because, I have a feeling that he''s stronger than the both of them. At least, that''s what my instincts tell me." "I apologize for my rudeness, Margaret, but I do not trust your instincts today." The girl in the blue dress, Charlotte, said with a determined expression, and Alexandra nodded her head, siding with Charlotte. Hearing that, Margaret let out a giggle and she stared at the young man across the room with a seductive expression. "Well then, why don''t we find out whether I''m wrong or not?" After finishing her words, Margaret slowly stood up, immediately attracting the gazes of all the guys in the public house, who began murmuring amongst themselves as she walked past them. Margaret knew that they were looking at her as a sexual object, but she didn''t care. She was used to these gazes. She walked past both Jonas and Killian, who had turned around after seeing Margaret walk towards them, and sat down next to the young man who was sitting near the corner of the room with a ss of alcohol in his hands. "I''m Margaret," she said with a smile, and the youth turned his gaze towards her. She studied the young man''s face for a moment before adding, "I apologize if I interrupted your evening." "It''s alright, I''m always delighted to have my evening interrupted by beautiful women." The young man said as a charming smile spread across his face, and Margaret let out a short giggle that only enhanced her beauty. "Does that mean you''re interested in me?" "Who wouldn''t be interested in a beautiful girl like yourself?" the man responded quickly. "I''m ude." "Are you meeting someone, ude?" She asked as she gently ced her hands on his. "Not anymore, I guess." ude replied, and Margaret had a sexy smile in response. They chatted for a few more minutes before ude said, "You want to get out of this ce?" Margaret smiled at him. "I would love to, but my ex-boyfriends have been stalking me all day, and I''m afraid I''ll get stopped by them if I try to leave with a guy. They both are really obsessive." ude asked, "I can deal with them if you want. Where are they?" Margaret licked her lips as she turned her head and pointed at Jonas and Killian, who immediately turned away, afraid that Margaret would notice them ogling at her. "It''s those two." Chapter 98: Getting Hurt Chapter 98: Getting Hurt "Are you meeting someone, ude?" She asked as she gently ced her hands on his. "Not anymore, I guess." ude replied, and Margaret had a sexy smile in response. They chatted for a few more minutes before ude said, "You want to get out of this ce?" Margaret smiled at him. "I would love to, but my ex-boyfriends have been stalking me all day, and I''m afraid I''ll get stopped by them if I try to leave with a guy. They both are really obsessive." ude asked, "I can deal with them if you want. Where are they?" Margaret licked her lips as she turned her head and pointed at Jonas and Killian, who immediately turned away, afraid that Margaret would notice them ogling at her. "It''s those two." *********************** ''Damn it! I only came to this public house because I''ve heard that there was a beautiful vixen who goes around sleeping with strong and fierce men'' Killian Grant watched the gorgeous woman in the beautiful red dress speaking in a seductive manner with a young man on one corner of the room and gripped that cup of alcohol that he was holding in his hand tightly. He felt desperate. He was extremely conscious about his appearance and built, confident that he could pick up any girl if he wanted to. Although he was known as the ''Monster yer'' by many, those who knew him personally would tell you how much of a yboy he was. After he became famous among the people, Killian found it to be much easier to sleep with women, and he went around having intercourse with any beautiful woman whom he deemed to be worthy as he wandered across various ces. When he arrived in Soderberg city, he heard about the beautiful woman who sleeps with strong men, and was immediately fascinated by the rumours. Although he wasn''t particrly fond of having sex with women who was ''experienced'', the lengths these people went to describe the beauty of this mysterious woman fascinated him to no end. Hoping to the beautifuldy''s pick of the day, he charged into the city''s main public house in order to find this goddess of a woman. But, to his surprise, this goddess of a woman wasn''t interested in him at all, and instead ignored himpletely in order to flirt with a much younger man than him, which caused a massive dent on his ego. ''Hu If I knew she was interested in younger men, then I wouldn''t have spend hours waiting inside this pathetic excuse of a pub''Killian Grant sighed in regret as he emptied the entire ss, and wiped his mouth. Watching the beautiful woman and the youth flirting with each other from the side, Killian gritted his teeth and muttered, "Idiot. You got lucky that she''s into kids, you little b*tch. But you''re nothing in front of me..." Killian was infuriated, and his grip on the ss increased so much that it actually broke into small pieces. However, the young man and the beautiful woman, who were the targets of his intense anger, didn''t seem to notice him at all, and was instead spending their time talking with each other,ughing and touching each other''s hands every now and then. "This b*tch.. Just because she''s beautiful, she thinks she can do anything..." Killian was staring at the beautiful woman, who was looking at the young man with a sexy smile on her face. Her expression was clearly seductive. Killian knew what those eyes meant. He had seem the same eyes before, just on him most of the time. Havinge to the realization that he wouldn''t possibly be able to have sex with the woman, Killian turned around and asked for another ss of drinks, hoping to drown out his sorrow with alcohol. He, who was always confident about being able to get with any woman, was suddenly unsure of his looks and skills. ''Bitch You don''t realise this yet, but you just missed the chance to have the best night of your life.'' He thought that he was simply too good looking to be passed on, but now, his confidence was shaking. He felt humiliated, and it was filling up his insides slowly. To hide the embarassment that he was feeling, he began taking his anger out on the bartender. "Hey idiot! What the hell did you bring me? This tastes like sh*t!" He raised the ss high up in the air and yelled out. "Oh? I apologise, customer, but it''s the same drink that you were having before." The bartender smiled at Killian, and said. "But perhaps you would like to try another drink?" "What? Are you telling me that I''m wrong? I''m the customer here, and I''m telling you that you messed up! And you''re here, trying to find fault in my statement?" Killian, enraged by the bartender''s words, mmed his fist on the table, grabbing the attention of the people around him. "N-no, of course not customer I was simply stating the facts, and was rmending you another drink if you weren''t ced with the one you were having right now!" The bartender waved his hands, trying to defuse the situation. BAM! Killian, now enraged, leaned over in an instant and grabbed the cor of the bartender, pulling him close to his face and yelled out, "You little sh-" "Excuse me!" Before Killian could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a calm voice and a hand ced on his shoulders, which forced him to turn around in annoyance and say, "What the hell do you want?" "I apologize for interrupting your little fiasco over here," ude, who had walked over from his table and grabbed Killian''s shoulders, spoke with a bright smile on his face. "But I felt like I had an obligation to warn you that this is going to hurt a lot!" Killian stared at ude with a confused look on his face and said, "What the hell are you talking about, little man?" WHAM! ude stepped forward and shoved his fist hard, which was reinforced by his body strengthening technique and mmed it right into his chest, and the surprised Killian was flung backwards and crashed onto the ground with a loud ''thud''. With this, the crowd''s attention was focusedpletely on him. ''Oh? I thought I''d have to make someone else drum up trouble, but I guess this works as well...'' Jonas, who was watching the incident ur in real time had a smirk on his face, as he stepped forward. He pointed his hand at ude, who shifted his gaze towards him, and said,"Hey! What the hell are you doing? I haven''t seen you around here. You think you can juste into this ce and do whatever you wa-" Whoosh! ude rushed forward as he was talking, appearing before him in an instant, drifting towards Jonas, leapt up and then spun around savagely and mmed his right knee to his face. "Wha- Wait! Are you seriously going to attack me without a talk?" Jonas, who was caught off guard by the sudden attack, cursed out loud as he raised his arms up to defend himself from ude. BAM! As his knee struck the raised arms of Jonas, a loud noise was heard, following which the both of them were pushed back a few steps due to the impact of the strike. WHAM! ude, who was able to recover immediately from the fallback, immediately went for another strike, and Jonas who hadn''t recovered yet swung his right hand in a panic, aiming ude''s face. Escaping this was just a matter of quick thinking, and ude was pretty good at that. Swoosh! ude twisted his body to the left, narrowly avoiding the palm strike of Jonas, and lunged forward with his own palm strike! BAM! By the time Jonas saw the attack, his face had already been struck by ude''s palm strike and was sent flying back, crashing down on one of the corners of the room, unconscious. "YOU LITTLE SH*T!" An enraged scream forced ude to turn around and shift his gaze towards Killian, who had just gotten up from the floor and was staring at ude with intense anger in his eyes. "You''re going to die today!" Killian Grant, who was infuriated by ude, who had struck him while he was distracted, leapt up and extended his hands, and a giant lotus made up of spiritual energy appeared in his palms! Killian''s technique was exquisite, and his cultivation base had already reached the sky realm. Whoosh! ude utilised the floating footsteps technique and immediately skipped backwards, narrowly evading the palm strike. He then stomped his foot down on the floor, forcing him to stop moving, and instantly charged forward at Killian, who was still in the middle of pulling back his palms. Although Killian''s speed was really quick, he was unfortunately facing ude, who was not just faster than him, but also a quick thinker and decision maker. Bang! ude exploded at the guy and right before Killian could recover from his previous attack, he had already swung his palm sideways, aiming for Killian''s head. The body strengthening technique of Killian was pretty strong, but he was unable to guard himself against ude''s palm strike, and the impact smashed his lower jaw, and Killian rocked sideways a bit before crashing down onto the floor, face first. Ignoring the crowd of murmuring people, ude walked towards his table, grabbed Margaret''s hand, and said. "Where do you want to go?" Chapter 99: Pleasure Chapter 99: Pleasure ude walked towards his table, grabbed Margaret''s hand, and said. "Where do you want to go?" Margaret smiled at him as she epted his hand. "My ce is close. How about we head there?" "Perfect," ude replied, and he pulled Margaret''s hand as they walked out of the public house, leaving behind the unconscious Killian and Jonas by themselves. "I suppose you''re ready to leave, madam?" As soon as they exited the public house, a well dressed middle aged man approached the two and bowed his head in front of them with respect. ude, acting intrigued, turned his gaze towards Margaret, who simply shrugged her shoulders and spoke with a smile, "He''s my carriage driver. Don''t you know who I am, Mr. ude?" "I only know a few things, Miss Margaret," said ude as he walked forward, right behind the middle aged carriage driver who was leading them towards their carriage. "But I am rtively new in this town, so I''m not too informed about your financial situation..." "Really now.." Margaret let out a chuckle as she held onto ude''s arms tightly. The two sat next to each other inside a beautifully crafted carriage that was one of several carriages used by the Azure Lion n for short trips, and was merely a luxurious transport, giving more importance to its looks rather than protection. As ude scanned the interior of the carriage, he realised that the ir Family had made sure that no expenses were spared in making this luxurious mode of transport, with beautiful Gold Tooth Tiger leather and exotic hardwood on the inside. "So, may I ask where are you from, Mr. ude?" Margaret ced her right leg on ude''s and moved closer to him as she whispered in his ear. "I came from Southern Arnd, looking for opportunities here in the grand city of Soderberg," ude immediately grabbed Margaret''s chin and pulled her face close to his, and he spoke with a sly grin on his face. "But is this really the time for personal stories, Miss Margaret?" ude brushed her long hair out of her eyes, brought her chin higher and moved his head down as her lips pressed onto his. "MMmmmmmm," Margaret moaned out loud as her arms went around his neck, brushing through his hair. ude slid his tongue across her bottom lip as he moved his hands across her long legs, and Margaret opened her mouth and began sucking on his tongue, kissing him hungrily and biting at his lips, as she moaned into his mouth. Plop! ude pulled back all of a sudden and Margaret''s lips left his with an audible wet sound, causing her to pout in frustration. "Now, now.. let''s not move so quickly. We have all night don''t we?" ude smiled at her as he stared deep into her eyes, and she drew a deep, staggered breath, feeling dazed, confused as she nodded her head in response. The carriage took them through the crowded main street of the city and toward the entrance of the spectacr Azure Lion n Mansion that was overlooking the entire Soderberg city. The carriage stopped in front of the gigantic gate, and one of the guards walked towards the vehicle, lightly nced at the carriage driver and the window, before whispering something to another guard, who walked up to the gate and opened it. The carriage drove through as soon as the giant gate opened, only stopping before a giant building that had a pair ofrge doors in front of it. The carriage driver leapt off from the carriage, walked towards the door of the vehicle and opened it, and ude and Margaret exited the carriage, ude''s hand on Margaret''s waist as they walked. As he walked towards the building with therge doors, ude was secretly scanning the surroundings, trying to get a clear understanding of the mansion and it''s various sectors, mapping out the insides within his mind. He wasn''t sure whether the rumour about Margaret killing her lovers after they had intercourse was true or not, but he wasn''t willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. He had to make sure that he had an escape n and escape route ready, and he also knew that he would only have very little time to execute it. "Miss Margaret. I see that you''re already back!" A young man who seemed to be in histe twenties anddressed in a butler''s uniform met the both of them right in front of therge doors and Margaret waved her hand at him as she spoke with a smile on her face. "I know, I know. I''m early today." She then grabbed the arm of ude, pulled him closer and continued, "I guess I was simply lucky today." ude, who noticed the young man wearing the butler''s outfit staring at him, nodded at him and reached out his hand to offer him a handshake. "Nice to meet you. I''m ude, a friend of Margaret." "Oh, I apologise, Mr. ude for I am but a mere butler. I am not worthy to shake the hand of Miss Margaret''s friend. I hope you understand." The young man said as he waved both his hands in the air, and ude nodded his head and retracted his hand. "Well then, if you would both follow me, I have set up the suite that you would be using today, Miss Margaret." The young butler led them inside the building and into a giant room which was filled with expensive items and arge bed. The young butler left the room with a light bow, leaving the two alone. ude turned around, staring intensely at Margaret, who bit her lips in a seductive manner and said, "Come." Margaret moved slowly, walking in her heels and swaying her hips and approached him, staring up at his face with her lustful eyes. ude grabbed her chin and pulled her body closer, and Margaret arched her back as he caressed her beautiful face with his hands. "Mhmmm..." Margaret grabbed his hand that was caressing her face and moved it closer to her mouth, and ude began rubbing his thumb across her cherry lips. She opened her mouth and began nibbling on his finger, excitedly gobbling up his thumb as if she was hungry for it. ude then ran his other hand down to her cleavage, his eyes following, and began fondling it, and she moaned even louder. "Good girl," ude said as he leaned over and lifted her up effortlessly, and Margaret wrapped her legs around his waist as he gave her a long deep kiss. "Oh god! You''re so- Ahhh!" Her words were cut off as ude bit her ear, which caused her to moan in pleasure. Passion permeated her lips, and Margaret returned his passion in kind, kissing him more furiously, reveling in the taste of his mouth and didn''t break their kiss until heid her down on the bed. ude''s hands went to the back of her dress, and pulled it down with all his might tearing it as if it was made from paper with his powerful hands, and it fell to the floor in tatters, leaving Margaret in just her lingerie. Margaret but her lips seductively, and ude removed his clothes as he leaned forward towards her and pulled her p*anties to the side. He then flipped her over, causing her to gasp and his body pressed up behind her. His hands ran down her arms and her fingers interlocked with his while pressing his pelvis behind her, and she felt him entering her, causing her mouth to fall open with shock, pain and ecstasy. "Oh my god!!" ude pushed harder and harder and she continued to stretch open for him, deeper and deeper as she moaned, impaled on this young man. He ran kisses up and down her neck and she leaned her head back onto his shoulder, grinding her back onto him, matching his rhythm. ude''s hands stretched forward andnded on Margaret''s breasts and began fondling them once again as he thrust in and out of her, and her eyes rolled back into her head, unable to think clearly. "It feels so good.," Margaret purred out in between breaths, and ude had a sinister smirk on his face as he pistoned into her, over and over. As she was about to climax, ude grabbed her chin and forcefully tilted her face up to his mouth, kissing her hard. She returned the kiss desperately, as his tongue took control, increasing his tempo even further. "Ahhhhh!" With a final thrust, ude suddenly pushed all the way into Margaret, and she moaned louder than ever, entering a state of bliss and eyes flew open as she began convulsing in pleasure, before her vision went ck and she slipped out of consciousness. ude, who noticed that Margaret had be unconscious, pulled out of her, walked towards his clothes that wereying down on the ground, and put them back on. He then turned around and walked towards the door, opened it and stepped out. "Now, let''s check this ce out..." Chapter 100: Elizabeths Chapter 100: Elizabeths Margaret moaned louder than ever, entering a state of bliss and eyes flew open as she began convulsing in pleasure, before her vision went ck and she slipped out of consciousness. ude, who noticed that Margaret had be unconscious, pulled out of her, walked towards his clothes that wereying down on the ground, and put them back on. He then turned around and walked towards the door, opened it and stepped out. "Now, let''s check this ce out..." ude walked out of the room he was in, looking at both sides to make sure that there weren''t any guards in the vicinity, and then charged towards the stairs without making any noise. ude had investigated about the Azure Lion n in advance and found out that all of their n members resided inside their giant mansion, which was separated into different sectors ording to the ranks held by these members. ude knew that because she was the eldest daughter of the n head, Margaret was residing within the luxurious VIP sector of the Azure Lion n Mansion, which was much more expensive to stay in than the normal residential sectors. And since he hadn''t heard of anyone who''s highly influential within the Azure Lion n with the name Elizabeth, he surmised that she had to be someone who resided in the residential sectors. As he raced down the staircase, ude remembered what he had learned about the girl with the name of Elizabeth. Before he entered the public house, ude had spent his day going around the city of Soderberg, trying to get any form of information about the injured girl that he had seen back in the Gryfino forest. Through his investigation utilising his highly enhanced sensory organs, ude was able to learn that there were three girls with the name of Elizabeth within the Azure Lion n. And there wasn''t any news about the disappearance of anyone named Elizabeth within the Azure Lion n either, although ude had expected this situation already. After all, an expedition that involved the search for the White Dragon''s teeth would definitely be something that wouldn''t be disclosed to the public, or even most n members for that matter. "And even if someone had knowledge about her mission, I''m not sure if they havee to the conclusion that she''s already dead either..." ude narrowed his eyes as he moved down, opening the door to the first floor as he reached the end of the staircase. As ude didn''t know how long the expedition was supposed tost, he wasn''t sure whether or not the n hade to a conclusion about her situation. But whatever the situation might be, ude knew that he definitely had to find Elizabeth''s room. Plop! "Someone''s near..." ude stopped in his tracks as his enhanced senses were able to detect the presence of someone else''s spiritual energy near him. "It''s the butler he''s standing outside the building." ude focused his sensory organs to get a better grasp of the identity of this specific individual, and realized that this person had the same kind of energy patterns as the young butler whom he had met right before entering the building. It seemed that he was still keeping guard right in front of the gigantic doors. ''Is he in charge of guarding Margaret?'' ude, who realised that his exit path was blocked, decided to look for other ways to sneak out of the building. He could simply use the exit door which was located at the back of the building, but it simply led to the outside of the mansion, and was also monitored by the n guards. He stopped and controlled the strength of his aura and the spiritual energy that he was emitting to mask his presence, and then charged towards one of the windows on the first floor. Shua! ude lowered his body and knelt under the window, and after taking a few moments to make certain he wasn''t making any noise and the young butler wasn''t paying any attention to his location, ude slowly opened the window and slipped through without alerting the butler who was standing on guard, escaping from the VIP sector building sessfully. He then did his best to move in the long shadows of the giant trees and hurriedly fled towards a nearby tree and hid behind it, ncing at the guards who were on patrol duty, and tried remembering the route to the residential sector. As the carriage had passed through the residential sector to reach the VIP sector building, it had given ude ample time to memorize and map out the locations and the routes inside the entire Azure Lion n. ''I can''t move quickly if I have to keep hiding like this. I need to be even faster,'' ude raised his head from behind the tree and picked his target, a tired guard who was fifty meters or so away from his location. ude waited in the shadows and out of the corner of his eye, watched his target move back while yawning, his back towards him, and he slowly began approaching the guard from behind. Zoom! udeunched himself at his target and utilising his floating footsteps technique to increase his speed to the maximum of his abilities, he arrived behind the unsuspecting and sleep deprived guard before he could even realize what was going on. ZAM! Without wasting any time, ude stretched out his hand from behind and with a short but brutal strike, he mmed his palm upwards, mming against the guard''s lower jaw with all his might, and with a loud crack, the guard went out cold, slumping down as ude caught his body. He looked around quickly to make sure he was still in the clear, and immediately pulled the guard''s body behind the tree and began stripping him of his clothes. ude then removed the clothes that he was wearing and donned the uniform of the guard, and then walked out of the shadows a few minutester. He still moved way too slow, but he was faster now than before. ***************** It took ude fifteen minutes to reach the residential sector. He could''ve utilized his maximum speed if he wanted to, but he was certain that the experienced guards would be alert if he did so. ude stared at the amount of buildings within the residential sector. There were more than thirty buildings within the residential sector, and ude released a sigh of relief, d that he had already gotten the information about the buildings of the three residents with the name Elizabeth when he was investigating their backgrounds. ude found himself entering the apartment building number fifteen first, which was supposed to be the building were the n member named Elizabeth Kirby resided. He moved to the side and opened one of the windows and entered the building without making any noise. As ude entered the building, he realized that although these residential buildings looked expensive on the outside, the rooms were tightly packed together on the inside. ude slowly walked towards the office which was located on the first floor. After making sure that there were no traces of spiritual energy present, ude slowly opened the door and entered the room. He began going through various books that were lying on the table and pulled out the caretaker''s notebook, which had all the names of the residents, along with their room and floor numbers on it. ording to the notebook, Elizabeth Kirby was on the fourth floor, and so ude carefully ced the notebook right where he found it and immediately moved to the staircase. As ude made his way to the third floor, he entered a dark and dim hallway, and his footsteps immediately became much more soft in response. Elizabeth Kirby''s room was four rooms down to his right side, and ude slowly moved forward, taking every step with care and caution as he passed the first door. Stop! ude''s enhanced sensory skills yed its part once again, and he was able to feel a soft presence of spiritual energy from the room that was supposed to be Elizabeth''s and he narrowed his eyes. Was this just the wrong Elizabeth''s room, or was it someone looking for information about the White Dragon''s teeth? ude focused on his senses once again, and he was able to figure out that the spiritual energy and the aura that this person was emitting was extremely faint, which meant that this was simply an inexperienced cultivator, and not someone who would have the ability to sneak inside one of the Azure Lion n member''s room. This meant that it was most likely the owner of the room, which also meant that this wasn''t the Elizabeth that he had seen. With a sigh, ude turned around, and walked towards the staircase once again. As this Elizabeth wasn''t the one he was looking for, this meant that he had to go through two more residential buildings. Chapter 101: Hide And Seek Chapter 101: Hide And Seek ude focused on his senses once again, and he was able to figure out that the spiritual energy and the aura that this person was emitting was extremely faint, which meant that this was simply an inexperienced cultivator, and not someone who would have the ability to sneak inside one of the Azure Lion n member''s room. This meant that it was most likely the owner of the room, which also meant that this wasn''t the Elizabeth that he had seen. With a sigh, ude turned around, and walked towards the staircase once again. As this Elizabeth wasn''t the one he was looking for, this meant that he had to go through two more residential buildings. "I guess this was to be expected. Now, onto the next building..." Massaging his temple, ude opened the door to the staircase and used the railing to move down more quickly. After a couple of breaths, ude was already out of the building, swinging his head towards the rest of the numbered buildings, and began muttering to himself. "Next one is. Building number twenty three!" ude snapped his fingers as he found the building with the number twenty three written in ck on its side, and entered through the windows on the side once again, before going through the caretaker''s office and figuring out the room and floor number of the second Elizabeth, whose full name was Elizabeth Carter. "On the third floor, fifth room to the left..." ude, who read through the caretaker''s logs again, figured out where the second Elizabeth was staying, he immediately ced the logbook right where he had found it and darted out of the room. ude went up the stairs, eventually reaching the third floor and looked for Elizabeth''s room, which he found almost immediately. "Now to check whether it''s the correct room or not.." As he stood in the hallway, ude shifted his gaze towards Elizabeth Carter''s room before closing his eyes and trying to focus on the spiritual energy that was present in his surroundings. As he began concentrating, ude realized that there wasn''t any significant amount of spiritual energy emitting from the room, except for a small amount which was already present in the atmosphere. "So there''s no one inside the room.." ude confirmed, and began slowly walking towards the door, still cautious. He still didn''t know whether this was the room of the Elizabeth that he had seen. The only confirmation that he currently had was that the room was empty. It could mean that either this was the room of the same Elizabeth that he had seen in Gryfino forest, or the owner of the room simply went outside. He had to confirm if this was the room that he was looking for. As he stood in front of Elizabeth Carter''s room, ude realized that his supposed target''s door was locked. Of course, he could simply break the lock or smash down the door, but ude wanted to leave as little evidence as he possibly could. "It''s fortunate that I already know how to pick locks.." ude looked at both sides of the hallway before he knelt down in front of the door, studying the lock. Although ude was a samurai in his previous life, unfortunate circumstances had resulted in him having to adopt the ways of the crooked and the malicious. He had to sneak into various locked rooms without anyone noticing to get sensitive information, and during this period in his life, ude had learnt to pick several types of locks, which made him quite proficient in the artform that was picking locks. "I was worried that the locks would be intricate andplex, but to think that it was this simple..." After looking at the locks for a few seconds, ude came to the conclusion that it wouldn''t be a difficult task to enter the room. The locks were ancient, with a mechanism that was even simpler than the easiest of locks back in his old world. "I guess the locksmiths in the martial world were too focused on increasing their cultivation that they forgot to innovate in the lock-making business," ude let out a soft chuckle as he stretched out his right hand in front of the lock. "Astral wing de," ude whispered softly, and in an instant, a small blue coloured de light appeared from his right hand. ude then brought the astral wing de closer to the lock and inserted it into the keyhole as he began concentrating, and in less than thirty seconds, he had sessfully picked the lock, and he did so without making a single noise. ZAM! ude lightly pressed on the door, pushing it open as he summoned another astral wing de in his left hand and positioned himself in a defensive stance before entering the room. He stepped into the room and quietly pulled the door closed behind him as his eyes scanned the surroundings. Inside the room was a tiny living area, and near one of the corners was a small table that was facing away from the door. On the table and the floor were piles of papers, books, documents and notes, all of which were spread across the area without any order or arrangement at all. ude turned his gaze towards the cupboard which was next to him, and noticed a painting of a young girl ced on it. ude''s eyes widened and he walked towards the cupboard, picking up the painting as he focused his gaze on the girl in it. "Well, well It''s nice to meet you, Elizabeth Carter," ude had a grin on his face as he stared at the painting in his hands. The girl in the painting was the same girl that he had seen in the Gryfino forest, which reassured ude that this room was in fact the room of the Elizabeth that he knew. He carefully ced the painting back in the cupboard, and then turned towards the small table in the corner, walking towards it. Whoosh! He flipped open the books and documents that were on the table, reading through it, only to realize that none of the books had had anything to do with White Dragon nor any information regarding the expedition that Elizabeth had participated in. "I guess she would''ve hidden any important documents if there are any," ude pressed his hand against his chin, trying to figure out where the information regarding the White Dragon''s teeth could be if it really did exist, and walked towards the kitchen. "Look what we have here," ude moved towards the kitchen window and picked up one of the small medicinal bottles that were kept near the windowside. The cover on the bottle read ''Maziken'', and ude, intrigued, gripped the bottle a bit more tightly and closed his eyes as he tried to get a read on the spiritual energy that was still persisting on the bottle. Now that he was in the sky realm, ude could differentiate between various strands of spiritual energy that are known to be the essence of life in all living things. Spiritual energy is present in every living being, and if a cultivator was talented enough, he could clearly use the spiritual energy in various imaginative ways, and one such method was to identify the amount of times a non-living object such as a medicine bottle had been used by understanding the level and theyers of spiritual energy that was enveloping it. As the medicine bottle was a non-living object, it certainly couldn''t emit the spiritual energy that it was being enveloped in. And therefore, it meant that the faint amount of spiritual energy had been left there because of contact with the person who was using it, which was most likely Elizabeth. "Wow, this is interesting.." As ude gripped the bottle, he came to the realization that Elizabeth had been ingesting the medicine almost every three hours. ude figured this out by noticing the faintness of everyyer of spiritual energy that was present on the bottle, and how much it differed from theyer directly above or beneath it. ude turned the bottle around to read the instructions on the back, and was stunned to realize that the prescribed dosage of the medicine was actually supposed to be one tablet every day. "I should keep this for now," ude slipped the medicine into his sleeves, and then began looking around the room once again, trying to find any clues about the White Dragon''s teeth. After a few minutes of searching, ude, now desperate, said to himself, "I might use up more energy than I had initially thought to conserve, but it doesn''t seem like I have any other choice." With a sigh, he closed his eyes and began concentrating, as he began studying the spiritual energy that was present in the entire room, down to theyers and faintness of it. As time went on, small beads of sweat began to form on ude''s face, and he began to show signs of tiredness. But right at that instant, ude suddenly opened his eyes, turned his gaze towards the small desk which was located right next to the table, and knelt down in front of it. ude was able to identify faint particles of spiritual energy emitting from the wall behind the desk, which meant that the wall behind it was hiding something that was either alive or was an inanimate object that hade into contact with a living being. It was extremely faint, but ude was thorough enough to be able to detect it. "Well, aren''t you clever?" Chapter 102: Mimic Chapter 102: Mimic "I might use up more energy than I had initially thought to conserve, but it doesn''t seem like I have any other choice." With a sigh, he closed his eyes and began concentrating, as he began studying the spiritual energy that was present in the entire room, down to theyers and faintness of it. As time went on, small beads of sweat began to form on ude''s face, and he began to show signs of tiredness. But right at that instant, ude suddenly opened his eyes, turned his gaze towards the small desk which was located right next to the table, and knelt down in front of it. ude was able to identify faint particles of spiritual energy emitting from the wall behind the desk, which meant that the wall behind it was hiding something that was either alive or was an inanimate object that hade into contact with a living being. It was extremely faint, but ude was thorough enough to be able to detect it. "Well, aren''t you clever?" ude walked towards the small desk, grabbed it and pulled it to the side, then knelt down in front of the wall and began inspecting the wall. "A hollow wall? How on earth did she build this?" ude was surprised by the fact that there was a hiddenpartment inside the wall, which meant that the wall had either been built with a hidden portion from the beginning itself or it was renovated afterwards to include the hiddenpartment. But ude knew that the room was owned not by Elizabeth Carter, but by the Azure Lion n. Which meant that either the Azure Lion n had a reason to build a secretpartment for their n members, or this was built by Elizabeth herself with or without the knowledge of the n. "If only I had answers to these questions..." ude was intrigued by what he had found out during this mission, but unfortunately for him, he didn''t have all the information that he needed in order to find out more. And so, he decided to focus on the matter at hand, which was to find out if there were any clues about the White Dragon''s teeth that were left behind by Elizabeth. ude rubbed his hands across the wall, trying to get a feel of the hiddenpartment and to figure out if there was a way to open it without having to destroy the wall. "Bingo!" All of a sudden, ude stopped moving his hand, and ced his palm on a specific point on the wall, his eyes erged and his face stered with a wide grin. BZZZ! From ude''s hand emerged a small astral wing de, and he began to slowly insert the de into the specific point on the wall. TWIP! After a portion of the de entered the wall without any kind of resistance, he pushed the handle of the de sideways, and a small section of the wall flung open like a small door, inside of which was a small keyhole. "Another lock to pick? What is this, my lucky day?" ude let out a bitter chuckle as he inserted the astral wing de inside the keyhole. Although this was a bit more trickier and moreplex than the one on the door, it was still miles behind the expert locks that ude had learned to pick in his previous life. "Aaaand there we go!" ude snapped his fingers in delight, as he had sessfully opened the secretpartment. He pulled out the Astral Wing de from the keyhole, and as he did so, a section of the wall slightly pushed outwards, and ude grabbed one of the sides and swung it open, revealing a small cab that was filled with documents. "Did I hit the jackpot?" thought ude. He stretched his hand towards the hiddenpartment and grabbed the pile of documents that were present, opened up one of the documents and read through a few pages. "Ha hah! Oh yes, I did!" ude let out a smallughter as he flipped through the notebooks in his hand, clearly delighted by what was written in them. Inside the books were notes that were supposedly written by Elizabeth herself that contained information about the White Dragon and also about their research on the subject. This was exactly what ude was looking for, and he had finally found it! After he hurriedly went through the rest of the documents, he picked up all the books, hid them inside his clothes, closed the hiddenpartment and locked it, cing the small desk in front of the wall to cover the opening, and then stood back up. He then turned to the living area, and began to arrange all the notes, papers and documents that he had searched through before, back to their original positions, and only once he had finished recreating the room to look just like how it was before he entered the room was he satisfied. ude slowly walked towards the door, stepped outside to the hallway and softly pulled the door to close it without making a single noise. One minuteter, and ude had already exited the residential building and began walking towards the entrance gates while still wearing the uniform of the guard. As he approached the gate, ude immediately leapt into the shadows, hiding behind a tree and narrowed his eyes, utilising his enhanced senses to watch the guards who were walking towards the gate, studying them and reading their lips. ude watched as the guards who were leaving stepped up to the guard who was standing in front of the gate, handed them their name tag, spoke a few pleasantries and walked off. These were the guards whose shifts were over. From what little information ude could gather about the guards inside the Azure Lion n, he hade to the conclusion that there were shifts for a few of the guards. The positions of the guards who left at night were filled in by those who arrived for the second shift. ude then waited for the number of guards who were leaving to decrease, until he could see thest oneing from a distance, and after making sure that there were no other guards watching him, he stepped out of the shadows and walked towards the guard. "What''s up Jerry?" ude waved his hands and approached the guard, who looked at him with confusion in his eyes."I think you got the wrong guy, pal. My name is Joseph." "Oh? Is that so?" ude immediately leapt forward and stretched out his hand, and as the katana was beginning to appear in his palms, he stabbed it right under the guard''s lower jaw, and the katana finished manifesting as it burst through the guard''s head, immediately killing him. "Good to know!" ude grabbed the dead guard''s body and dragged it to the side of a tree, knelt down and took off his nametag. "My name my name my name is Joseph Joseph.." ude stood up and then pressed his fingers lightly on his throat, and began mimicking the dead guard''s voice, clearing his throat every now and then until he was sure that his voice sounded simr. He then took the scarf from the guard''s pockets and wrapped it around his mouth and neck, partially covering his face, and walked towards the front gate. "Nametag.." The guard at the gate murmured softly as ude approached the gate, yawning as he spoke. ude took out the nametag of the dead guard and showed it to the guard, who looked at it for a second before nodding his head and motioning ude towards the gate, which was now open to him. "Have a nice night.." the guard muttered under his breath. "You too.." ude whispered softly in a voice that was simr to the dead guard''s voice, and the guard in front of the gate raised his eyes at ude''s back for a brief second, before shrugging his shoulders and muttering to himself. ********************* In an unknown location. BOOM! A figure descended from the sky at a rapid speed,nding in front of a wooden cottage in the middle of nowhere, causing the earth and the surroundings to shake uncontrobly. "How many times do I have to tell you to slow down when yound, Barris?" In front of the cottage stood a short man with a twirling moustache, who had an angry expression on his face as the dust from thending flew all over. "Sorry Gaston..." From the dust emerged a giant with a long beard, who replied with a soft voice as he lowered his head. "*Sigh* Forget it." Gaston, who looked annoyed, waved his hands and continued, "Did you tell the boss what I told you to say?" "Yes Gaston" the giant nodded his head in response, touching the tip of his beard every now and then. "Uh Huh And what did the boss say?" Gaston asked and the giant tilted his head for a few seconds, as if he was thinking about his response, and then said, "Boss very angry..." "Yeah no shit!" Gaston cursed out loud. "Did he say anything else?" "Two weeks to find..." The giant muttered softly. "Or no payment" "Two weeks?" Gaston clicked his tongue. He wanted more time, but he knew that he couldn''t argue with his boss. "Fine, two weeks it is!" Chapter 103: Not Even Close Chapter 103: Not Even Close King ke Bancroft massaged his temples as he slowly opened his eyes to the bright rays of the morning sun, and let out a long yawn as he got up from his luxurious bed. He snapped his fingers, and in an instant, two soft taps were hearding from behind the door. King ke rubbed his eyes as he said, "You cane in!" As soon as he spoke, the handle moved, and the door slowly opened, revealing two beautiful women dressed in maid clothes. They turned their gazes towards King ke Bancroft and bowed their heads in respect and the king waved his hands as he stepped out of his bed and stood up. King ke walked out of his bedroom, leaving behind the maids standing with their lowered heads and entered the bathroom. After he finished bathing, he then exited the bathroom and entered another room, where two men were waiting for him next to a beautifully crafted wooden chair. The King sat down on the chair and tilted his head upwards, closing his eyes, and one of the men began shaving his facial hair, while the other waited patiently. How much longer would he be able to continue this farce? King ke wondered to himself as the man shaved his facial hair. ke, who was born to a poor but kind woman named Brenda Bamsworth, was the product of her sexual encounter with the then King Hannibal Bancroft, who used to sleep around with women whom he found to be extremely beautiful. One day, while the King was passing through the city while in his carriage, heid eyes on Brenda, who worked as a low wage employee under the town tailor. King Hannibal, who was captivated by her beauty, ordered his guards to follow her and abduct her to the castle once night came, which they did. The King had his way with her, and after he finished doing his deed, he called the guards again and ordered them to drag Brenda out of his room and back to where they found her. She was found by her neighbours in the morning lying unconscious on the floor,pletely naked. Unbeknownst to the then King, he had made a huge mistake. One that he''ll live to regret in the future. He had caused Brenda to get pregnant. The news of the neighbours finding her unconscious and naked on the street began to spread, and with it came rumours. And although Brenda did her best to hide her pregnancy, with the news of her lying on the ground naked and unconscious spreading around the neighborhood like wildfire, it was enough for the people to make a decision aboutbeling her for what they thought she was, and her chances of getting married suddenly turned grim. However, Brenda persisted through the hard times because of her baby. Although she was living on a low wage ie, she was confident that she would still be able to provide her child with the best life that she could offer. But unfortunately, one of the King''s guards learned of her being pregnant after he got a glimpse of her walking out from a medicine shop, looking suspicious when they made eye contact. Curious about her reaction, the guard walked towards the medicine shop owner and asked why thedy who had slept with the King was acting all suspicious. After figuring out that thedy was buying medicine bottles that indicated that she was most probably pregnant, the guard ryed this information to the King, who was horrified learning that the woman whom he had sexual rtions with was now pregnant with his child. The King was afraid. He couldn''t raise the child as the Queen would absolutely be furious. The King, although powerful, did not haveplete control over the Queen, as their marriage was also a contractual agreement; a symbol of the close rtionship between the Kingdom of Argria and the Kingdom of Agustinia, ruled by King Issac Lingard, who was the father of Queen Isabelle. To betray the trust of the Queen meant betraying the trust of the alliance between the two countries, and to the King of Agustinia, trust was extremely important. And the King definitely couldn''t allow the child to grow up under the woman whom she slept with, as it would only result in future problems. Which meant that he had to take care of this issue as soon as possible, before anyone could find out. Brenda, who was extremely cautious about her surroundings after her meeting with the Royal Guard, had a premonition in her sleep that something bad was about to happen to her, and afraid of not being able to protect her baby, she rushed to her only real friend, Frieda, and told her everything. She then asked her for a favor. Brenda knew that Frieda''s father was an old war veteren, someone whose job was to tend to the wounded in the battlefield, as most people wouldn''t have time to fight and take care of their wounds at the same time. He was also experienced in doing operations on people as well, and so Brenda asked her to operate on her belly and take out the baby before the Royal Guards could find her. Although both Frieda and her father were absolutely against this idea, Brenda begged her father to operate on her, iming that she was already near the birthing period, and this was the only chance at saving her baby. After a long time and a lot of begging and screaming, Freida''s father relented, agreeing to operate and take out the baby. The operation was done inside Frieda''s small workshop at night, and miraculously, both the baby and Brenda survived the operation, which was a surprise for her father, who was expecting the result to be worse. After giving birth to her child, Brenda was adamant on going back to her home, even though Frieda told her not to. She ced her baby in Freida''s care, and left for her house, which was thest time Frieda saw her alive. Sheter learned that Brenda had been confronted by the Royal Guards who were trying to apprehend her for supposedly stealing from a merchant, but before they could do so, she had lit herself on fire and jumped off a cliff while burning to death, killing her instantly. The Royal Guards, who didn''t bother to look for her body, left for the pce, and Brenda''s baby was in the hands of Freida, who would raise him as her own son. "Your Majesty," King ke''s thoughts were interrupted by the words of the man who was shaving him. "My work is done." King ke nodded his head, got up from the chair and walked towards the giant mirror on the wall, rubbing his face as he stared at his reflection for a few seconds. "It''s good," He said after a while, and then he turned around and looked at the other man and said, "You cane now." The other man nodded his head, and grabbed something from the table, which was the clothes worn by the Royal Family, or more specifically the King himself. The King stretched out both of his hands as the other servant slowly began dressing him with care and caution. After he got dressed, he moved back to the bedroom, and found the two maids from before setting up his breakfast next to his bed. The maids, who saw the King enter the room, bowed their heads for a second time. The King simply waved his hands, motioning them to leave, and they immediately fled the room, leaving King ke all by himself. King ke then shifted his gaze towards his breakfast and let out a heavy sigh. His breakfast looked delicious and expensive. It was a breakfast that every person would love to have at least once in their life, and he could have it every single day. And yet, ke couldn''t feel anything while eating it. He couldn''t taste anything ever since he agreed to y the role of the son of Hannibal and Isabelle Bancroft. It made him sick to his stomach. Did I seed with my revenge? ke wondered as he ate his breakfast. The man who was responsible for his mother''s death was now being tortured under him. But was it enough? Corruption was never a pretty thing. ke knew that the King wasn''t solely responsible for his mother''s death. It was a decision that went through the hands of many people. Guards. Ministers. Councils. They could''ve interfered. Done something. Anything. But no one did. They all had a chance to do something to prevent it all; from the assault on his mother to her cruel death. But instead they turned their heads away and pretended as if nothing was at fault. Because it benefited them to stay quiet. That was why the current situation was so frustrating. For his revenge on the man whom he thought was the person who was solely responsible for his mother''s death, he had to join the side of the council of ministers. But what the naive ke didn''t realize then was the fact that most of these men were also part of the King''s council, and had knowledge about every action of the King. He realised that if these men wanted to control the King back then, they most probably could''ve. The King''s position was in jeopardy back then, and the failure of the alliance between Argria and Agustinia would''ve been all it took to kickstart the fall of the King''s power and to increase the grip on the influence of ministers. But instead they decided to sit back and do nothing. Because it benefited them. King Issac Lingard was clearly in failing health. He was said to be nearing his death, and with the King having no son to take his ce as king of Agustinia, he would most likely have to hand over the position to King Hannibal, who was the husband of his daughter. They''d engineered the downfall of Agustinia, because it benefited them. So, did I have my revenge? King ke asked himself again. He looked at his breakfast and stabbed his knife into the food, as he murmured to himself, "Not even close." Chapter 104: Right Where I Want Chapter 104: Right Where I Want Corruption was never a pretty thing. ke knew that the King wasn''t solely responsible for his mother''s death. It was a decision that went through the hands of many people. Guards. Ministers. Councils. They could''ve interfered. Done something. Anything. But no one did. They all had a chance to do something to prevent it all; from the assault on his mother to her cruel death. But instead they turned their heads away and pretended as if nothing was at fault. Because it benefited them to stay quiet. So, did I have my revenge? King ke asked himself again. He looked at his breakfast and stabbed his knife into the food, as he murmured to himself, "No, not even close." Tap, tap! There was a loud knock on the door. "Enter," King ke Bancroft said as he inserted a small piece of roasted barrinbeast meat into his mouth and began chewing it, and the door slowly opened, revealing a young man with blond hair and sses wearing a butler uniform standing outside of the room. "Greetings your majesty. I''m your helper today for your morning activities," the young man bowed his head and announced, as the king grabbed a beautiful silk cloth that was ced neatly on the table and wiped his mouth with it, nodding his head while he did so. "Thank you, young man. I assume you''re the trainee sent by Colonel Harris?" King ke rose from the table after finishing his breakfast, lifted his thick coat that was made using a male Wiralbeast''s skin, and walked towards the young man who was standing in front of the doorway, his eyes scanning him from top to bottom. "That is right, your majesty." Right then, Colonel Harris appeared from the hallway with a smile on his face, bowed his head and answered immediately, while the young man still had his head lowered in front of the king. "His name is Calvin Santoro, your highness. He''ll be in charge of helping you today. He''s a little shy, but he''ll do whatever you need him to do. He''s a toughd, this young man," Colonel Harris let out a loudughter and he mmed his palm hard on the back of the still bowing Calvin, who let out a cough because of the intensity of the p. He then grabbed Calvin by the shoulders, turned his gaze towards the young man and said, "Get down to the front door and make sure that the Carriage has been brought to the entrance of the pce. I''ll apany the king until he reaches the front door." "Sir, yes sir!" The young man, Calvin, answered loudly, gave the Colonel a salute and dashed towards the stairs, leaving the Colonel alone with the king. "The kid seems enthusiastic about working for the king. I wonder, would he still behave the same way the day ends?" King ke watched as Calvin disappeared from their view. "Oh, you''d be surprised, your majesty. That kid is a trooper. He''s been through a lot. " Colonel Harris replied. "A good kid?" the king asked, to which the Colonel gave an emphatic nod of the head. "A fine soldier. He''s been a part of my regiment since he was a teenager, so I''m confident that he''s a trustworthy individual as well." "What''s the situation with Emperor Gilbert Gottfried?" King ke Bancroft asked. "We have had some feedback from a few of our informants, but nothing of value as of right now. More along the lines of gossip. But what''s more important is that my men, who are stationed within the secondary unit of the Dazearyn army, did not send out anything yet." "You think their identities have been found out by the Dazearyn soldiers?" King ke asked, and Colonel Harris shook his head. "I don''t think so. They would''ve sent out some kind of information if their covers really were blown. But from what it looks like, it just seems like they''reying low for the time being. Perhaps the enemy has gotten cautious." "I''m guessing a battle between Argria and the Dazearyn Empire is inevitable?" King ke asked with a bitter smile on his face, and Colonel Harris scratched his cheeks with embarrassment. "I guess it does sound like that, huh?" He paused for a second, cleared his throat and continued. "But unfortunately, I''m afraid this is the best case scenario for our country. And since we aren''t capable of influencing the thoughts and actions of our enemies, it seems that we''re helpless in this situation. Our only choice is to wait for the inevitable." "It''s an extremely bleak situation to be in," the King, ke Bancroft, let out a heavy sigh as he ced his palm on his face. "To think that all of the hard work that went into overthrowing the King and the Queen and to make me the new king would just result in a temporary state of peace. I wonder what the public would think?" "Well, to bepletely honest..." Colonel Harris said. "Most people would simply panic about it for a few days perhaps weeks, and then they''ll go back to their daily lives until the peace is actually broken." King ke let out a short chuckle. As they both reached the front door, they were weed by Calvin, who was waiting for them in front of the Royal Family''s carriage, and he bowed his head respectfully as soon as he saw the king arriving. "Keep up the good work, Colonel Harris!" King ke said as he turned towards the carriage. "Now, if you''ll excuse me I have to leave for a very important meeting." "Have a good day, your majesty!" Colonel Harris bowed his head and shifted his gaze to Calvin, who was about to enter the carriage, and said. "Keep an eye on his majesty. Understand, soldier?" "Sir, yes sir!" Calvin gave a salute to the Colonel and entered the carriage, and Colonel Harris watched as the vehicle drove off. ***************** Hugo Brewster was one of those who never seemed to have aged even a single Miu ever since he hit puberty twenty years ago, though he himself never really cared much for it. A believer of the ways of his inspiration and idol, Gilbert Gottfried, the Emperor of the Dazearyn Empire, he was more interested in proving his worth to the messenger of God and to gain his approval. And Hugo knew that in order for the Emperor to notice his presence, he had to be a warrior who, like Gilbert Gottfried, would be ready toy his life on the line if God wished for him to do so. He needed to be strong, fearless and brave. It was why he decided to join the Dazearyn army as early as fourteen years of age. But life wasn''t kind to Hugo, and soon, he was faced with the cold and harsh truth that was reality. He was overshadowed by many people who were more gifted than him in every way. Hugo wasn''t a genius either, and no matter what he did or how hard he tried, he couldn''t keep up with those who were the so-called ''chosen ones'' and Hugo had graduated the Military Academy with his rank somewhere in the middle of his ss. Although this wasn''t a bad rank by the standards of a normal person, it was perhaps the worst result for Hugo. The results had a significant impact on Hugo, and he fell into a state of depression, believing that in his current state, he would never be able to stand in front of his idol and make his presence known. But just as the world around him was about to shatter into pieces, he received a recruitment letter from an unknown subsidiary sector inside the Dazearyn army known as the ''Trojan Forces'', which invited him to take part in a covert operation that was going to be run by the group. Curious about the kind of job that he was recruited for, Hugo decided to head to the specified location of the group''s secret base, which was an old building located deep inside one of the many alleyways within the city of Arontury. The Trojan Forces office was just one of the floors inside the old building, but surprisingly, Hugo couldn''t find a single person when he entered the floor that he was supposed to enter. It was almost empty, with no signs of life except for the small room in a corner, from where a faint light could be seen through the gap under the door. Hugo, although suspicious and skeptical about the situation, decided to walk forward, slowly opening the door and heading inside the small room. He was greeted by an overweight man with a light stubble on his chin, who was sitting in front of a desk that was made up either marovan wood or well-seasoned Sandoval wood. The man, upon noticing Hugo who had entered his room, motioned for the man to take a seat in front of him, which he did. "So, how do you like the idea of working for the Emperor, Hugo?" the man asked as soon as Hugo sat down. "Oh, it- it sounds wonderful, to be honest," Taken aback by the sudden question, Hugo replied with a flustered expression, desperately trying to find the right words. "For me, it would be a dreame true. To support the Emperor on his quest to fulfill the wishes of God is everything that I''ve ever wanted in life." "Well then, it appears that you''re right where you want to be," The man replied with augh. Chapter 105: Old Memories Chapter 105: Old Memories "So, how do you like the idea of working for the Emperor, Hugo?" the overweight man with a light stubble on his chin asked as soon as Hugo sat down in front of him. "Oh, it- it sounds wonderful, to be honest," Taken aback by the sudden question, Hugo replied with a flustered expression, desperately trying to find the right words. "For me, it would be a dreame true. To support the Emperor on his quest to fulfill the wishes of God is everything that I''ve ever wanted in life." "Well then, it appears that you''re right where you want to be," The man replied with augh. "Oh?" Hugo looked at the overweight man with a confused expression on his face, waiting for him to exin his words. "Ha ha ha It appears that you''re still skeptical about our group. You are, aren''t you?" The overweight man let out a short chuckle as he noticed the hint of cautiousness in Hugo''s eyes and rubbed his stubble as he leaned back. "Oh Um, N-No.. I was just.. ask-asking for, uh.." Hugo, who was taken off guard by the man''s words, tried to exin his actions, but the question had made him extremely self conscious and as a result, he couldn''t string together a sensible sentence, which made him even more embarrassed. "Ha ha ha you don''t need to be so polite about it young man. We know how it might look to someone who has never even heard of our group before," the man immediately leaned forward and stared at Hugo''s face, startling him. He then stretched both his hands wide and continued, "You think we don''t know how sh*tty and suspicious this ce looks? We''re not a group made up of idiots, Hugo. An old and abandoned building for a top secret military organization? Yeah you''d be a total buffoon if you aren''t cautious for even a second." The man dropped his hands down gently, letting out a heavy sigh as he said, "Unfortunately, this is what the higher ups decided on, and I wasn''t going to get involved with that. Location scouting wasn''t my forte anyways, and they did tell me that this was the best choice to run a secret project as no one will even remotely suspect that an old and abandoned building in the shady part of town would be the main base of a top secret military organization. And not going to lie, they''re right about that." "Well, As long as I get paid really well for just doing paperwork, then I have noints with where my workce is located. And the location does fulfill its purpose, so it all works out. Anyways," The overweight man sat up in hisfortable chair. It was time to change subjects. Fwip! He lowered his hand under the desk, causing Hugo to tense up for a second. The man then pulled out arge brown coloured envelope, and ced it on top of the desk, within Hugo''s reach. "The envelope will have all the information you will need to know about the mission that you''ll be assigned to; if you choose to ept it, or course. It also has the necessary verifications with the signatures of the Emperor himself, so you''ll know that we''re the real deal and not some shady group of soldiers who want to engage in illegal activities." He then lifted his left hand and ced his right on top of the envelope, pressing down on it, and continued. "But that''s only if you choose to ept the mission. If you don''t, then I''m afraid this will be the end of our conversation, and you''d have to leave; without the envelope, of course." As he nced at the envelope, Hugo''s eyes sparkled for a brief second, and he shifted his gaze towards the man and asked. "Am I allowed to ask what kind of a mission it is?" "Undercover. That''s all I''m allowed to say about it." The man replied as he leaned back and folded his arms, waiting for Hugo to make a decision. "Can I ask why your group picked me?" Hugo asked another question. "I mean, I''m just an average soldier. I''m sure there are many candidates who are far more qualified to take on this operation. So, why me?" "Honestly?" The man paused for a second, contemting on his answer, and continued. "It''s because of your looks." "... What?" Hugo, who didn''t know how to immediately reply to the man''s words, just sat in front of him in silence for a few seconds before eventually responding. "Like I said. We picked you because of your looks," The man said with a smile. "You''re twenty three, but you look fifteen. You''d most definitely pass for a teenager, so we picked you for an undercover operation. That''s it." Another brief period of silence. "....Let me get this straight. So you''re telling me that the reason you picked me for a top secret operation was because I looked like a kid?" The man nodded. "Yup. Kids are less suspicious than adults. You have the face of a kid, so might as well use it to your advantage. This operation may go on for a long time, so it''ll be important to build trust with your enemies. It will be much easier to do so if you start off as a kid." Hugo, who was still having trouble grasping the situation at hand, looked at the envelope on the desk and then shifted his gaze to the man in front of him, and asked. "So I''ll have to pose as a teenager?" "Not the whole time," The man shook his head. "Like I said, this operation mayst a very long time, and so you''ll eventually be an adult in less than three years." "Uh... I-I don''t know what to say," Hugo scratched his cheek as he spoke and the man got up from his seat, walked towards Hugo and ced his hand on his shoulder and said, "Say yes, kid. I read your report. You wanted to prove yourself to our Emperor, right? Well, I''m giving you a chance to prove your worth. Trust me, this is the way." "... Do you mind if I ask about my new identity?" Hugo let out a sigh as he turned to the man and asked. "Like I said, all the information you''ll need is inside that envelope," The man said as he walked back to his chair and sat down. "But I suppose I''ll give you a hint. You heard about the news of a terrorist attack in Argria, the one where an entire town was destroyed everyone was talking about it, remember?" Hugo vaguely remembered it, and he nodded his head. The man continued. "A lot of families were killed in that attack. We''ll use that as a cover." Thud! The man ced his hand on the envelope again and slid it towards Hugo, and said, "Look, I know that this might be a difficult decision to make, but I need an answer, kid. Are you going to give up on your dreams, or are you willing to start a fake life for your country?" "...I-" "Are you feeling alright, Calvin?" Calvin''s thoughts were interrupted by the voice of King ke Bancroft, and he immediately snapped back to reality. "Ah! Yes, I am fine, your majesty," Calvin turned his gaze towards the king and replied with a smile. "I was simply remembering my past..." ****************** Sometimes Edward wondered whether he made the right choices in life. Before he opened up his medicine shop in Dawsbury city, he used to be an assistant who was working under David Harrison, who ran a very famous medicine shop in the city of Zambiana named ''Harrison''s Medicines''. It wasn''t like he didn''t get paid much or anything. He did get paid for his work. And his boss was a kind man who cared for his employees. Back in Zambiana, Edward had a stable life. But that was it. He was, just like everyone else, normal. And he wasn''t content with it. Edward wanted to be more than a somebody. He wanted to be his own person, to start his own business, which is why he bid farewell to his hometown and moved to Dawsbury city; to start his own medicine shop. It certainly didn''t pay as much as his old job, but Edward knew that he was much happier now than before. At least most of the time. There are certainly times, like today, when he bes unsure of his choices. BAM! All of a sudden, the door of the medicine shop swung open, startling Edward, and a figure stepped inside. "Good evening, Edward," The figure spoke, and Edward''s eyes widened for a second as a huge grin appeared on his face. "Good evening Mr. Rayforth," Edward rubbed his hands together as he walked over to his customer, and the unsure thoughts that he had had melted away. That''s right, of course he made the right choice! Edward thought to himself. He had a customer who had connections with the king himself! Which meant that the more he became friendly with this young man, the more chance he had of improving his business. Chapter 106: A Slow Death Chapter 106: A Slow Death "Good evening, Edward," The figure spoke, and Edward''s eyes widened for a second as a huge grin appeared on his face. "Good evening Mr. Rayforth," Edward rubbed his hands together as he walked over to his customer, and the unsure thoughts that he had had melted away. That''s right, of course he made the right choice! Edward thought to himself. He had a customer who had connections with the king himself! Which meant that the more he became friendly with this young man, the more chance he had of improving his business. "Good evening, Edward," The figure spoke, and Edward''s eyes widened for a second as a huge grin appeared on his face. "Good evening Mr. Rayforth," Edward rubbed his hands together as he walked over to his customer, and the unsure thoughts that he had had melted away. That''s right, of course he made the right choice! Edward thought to himself. He had a customer who had connections with the king himself! Which meant that the more he became friendly with this young man, the more chance he had of improving his business. "If I may ask, what brings you here today?" Edward asked, his eyes stuck on ude''s hands, which held a small vial inside of it. "Are you closing up for the day, Edward?" Before answering his question, ude looked over the counter of the shop and found out that the medicine bottles that Edward usually keeps on the front had all been moved to the back, kept inside a ss shelf. "Ah, you noticed, Mr. Rayforth?" Edward scratched his cheeks embarrassingly, and exined. "I was thinking of closing up early today to take some time off. But now that you''ve here, I figured I might as well close the shop afterwards." "Ah! I''m not saying that Mr. Rayforth is a nuisance. That''s not what I meant!" Suddenly, Edward''s eyes widened as he realized what his words might''ve sounded like to his high paying customer, and so he tried to clear the misunderstanding. "You don''t have to exin, Edward," ude waved his hands, stopping Edward from rambling on, and then walked towards the counter and ced the small vial on it. Pointing to the vial, ude asked Edward; "I just need you to tell me what this medicine is, and I''ll be on my way. You can do whatever you want after that." "Oh? You''re not going to buy anything today?" Edward''s tone was incredulous. "Unfortunately, no. Not today. Maybe another time." ude shook his head, still tired from the journey he had. He had just arrived from Soderberg city, and had decided to enter Edward''s medicine shop before heading towards his residence. He was simply too tired to have a back and forth chat between him and Edward and so, with an annoyed expression on his face, he once again pointed at the vial on the counter and said. "Look, can you just take a look at the medicine for me and tell me if you find anything interesting?" "Ah, yes! Of course. Forgive me for the dy," Edward said as he gave a fake smile to ude, to which he let out a snort in response. Ignoring his customer''s rude response, Edward walked over to the counter, picked up the vial and read thebel on it. "Maziken?" "Yes, Maziken.." ude nodded his head. "Have you heard of it before?" "Uh yes I have." Edward, who was still busy analysing the contents of the vial, muttered softly and continued, "It is an energy medicine. Not the normal kind, but much more expensive and rare. It is usually used to treat people with a severe shortage of energy-life." He ced the vial on the counter and turned to ude as he spoke, "Basically, the people who use this drug have a problem with fast spiritual energy depletion, and the drug is used to increase the length of this short period of time." His gaze then shifted back to the vial on the counter once again. "Can I analyse the medicine itself?" ude shrugged his shoulders as leaned back on the wall. "Go ahead. That''s what I wanted to ask you anyways." Edward nodded his head, and then opened the vial. He then smelled it for a brief second before he headed towards the basement while grabbing the vial. ude, who was curious, decided to follow Edward close behind, and they entered his secretb where he kept his illegal drugs and medicines. nk! nk! Edward ced the vial on the table and walked towards one of the cupboards, opened it and grabbed a small bottle which was filled with a strange green goo. He then grabbed a dropper, took a drop of the ''Maziken'' from the vial and dropped it into the small bottle with the green goo. PSSS! All of a sudden, the green goo began to turn blue in colour, confusing ude, but Edward nodded his head as if he figured out something. "What''s the matter? What did you find out?" ude asked as he moved closer to inspect the bottle containing the blue coloured goo. "This bottle does not contain pure Maziken." Edward said as he picked up the vial in his hand and brought it closer to his face, fascinated by the contents inside of it. "Normal people wouldn''t find a problem with it, but as someone who has previously worked under one of the most famous medicine masters in the country, I can tell you that this is a mixture of Maziken and Delihernum." This woke ude up from his tiredness, who was now curious about the results. "What the hell is Delihernum?" Edward''s gaze turned to ude and his smile widened. "Delihernum is an extremely toxic chemical that if entered into your body, will slowly force your meridians to expand in thickness in certain areas, where the flow of energy might be really high. Once the chemical is inserted, meridians start to thicken, and as the amount of Delihernum increases, the thickness of the meridians increases as well until itpletely copses on itself due to its increased mass,pletely blocking the flow of spiritual energy." "So it turns the user of the medicine into a cripple?" ude asked, intrigued by the mixture, and Edward nodded his head. "Not in an instant, but gradually." Edward corrected, as he began flipping the vial up and down with his hands. "It would confuse the hell out of a doctor though." "Oh?" ude, who was annoyed by Edward who was ying with the vial, immediately grabbed it from his hands and ced it in his pocket. "And why would you say that?" Edward, who seemed sad that the vial had been taken away, let out a sigh as he answered, "Although the meridians might have copsed, it wasn''t severed. In the martial world, only the ones whose meridians have been severed are considered to be crippled. So, the general consensus after an examination of the patient''s body would be simply that he or she was still able to practice cultivation." Edward shook his head. "Unless you rip open the patient and check his or her meridians instead of proving their body using spiritual energy, you wouldn''t find a single problem. And as the results are gradual, most woulde to the conclusion that the patient is suffering from a severe depletion of spiritual energy, asplete copse won''t happen quickly. And when it does happen, the mass of the meridians would simply force them to explode, which would, in most cases, critically injure the patient. And to most people it would just look as if his or her meridians were destroyed by a fierce attack." "Interesting..." ude rubbed his chin, intrigued by what he was finding out about the medicine that Elizabeth was taking. It meant that someone was secretly drugging her. But for what reason? For the White Dragon''s teeth? ude wondered. "It would definitely be a great way to kill somebody," Edward said."However, it certainly wouldn''t be easy. As it''s a mixture that is not even avable amongst the illegal drug world, you would probably need to know the right people to get your hands on that." "Wouldn''t it be simple for an alchemist to recreate it?" ude asked. Edward let out a loud chuckle, causing ude to raise his eyebrows, annoyed. "Mr. Rayforth, although it was easy for me to identify the additional element, it isn''t so easy to recreate aplex medicine such as this. Identifying and making medicine are two very different processes. I had a hunch about the additional drug because I''ve already dealt with a few samples of Delihernum back when I was an assistant, and that too was by chance. Delhernum has a very peculiar odour, and although faint in this particr mixture, I was able to identify it. But recreating it would be impossible for most alchemists." ude leaned forward. "So, you''re telling me that this drug cannot be recreated by just anybody." Edward nodded his head, "Trust me, Mr. Rayforth. There are only a few alchemists who are able to concoct such a mixture, and they''re the best of the best. You just have to figure out which one of them made it." Chapter 107: Heartfelt Letter Chapter 107: Heartfelt Letter "Wouldn''t it be simple for an alchemist to recreate it?" ude asked. Edward let out a loud chuckle, causing ude to raise his eyebrows, annoyed. "Mr. Rayforth, although it was easy for me to identify the additional element, it isn''t so easy to recreate aplex medicine such as this. Identifying and making medicine are two very different processes. I had a hunch about the additional drug because I''ve already dealt with a few samples of Delihernum back when I was an assistant, and that too was by chance. Delhernum has a very peculiar odour, and although faint in this particr mixture, I was able to identify it. But recreating it would be impossible for most alchemists." ude leaned forward. "So, you''re telling me that this drug cannot be recreated by just anybody." Edward nodded his head, "Trust me, Mr. Rayforth. There are only a few alchemists who are able to concoct such a mixture, and they''re the best of the best. You just have to figure out which one of them made it." So it''s the work of a professional! ude thought to himself, slowly nodding his head to Edward''s words. But who on earth is creating aplicated mixture of chemicals that is simr to an energy depletion medicine just to get rid of one insignificant person? Unless it''s not just for taking care of a single person. ude couldn''t help but wonder if this might just be a small fragment of a much bigger n. But for what reason? As ude remembered the White Dragon''s teeth, he couldn''t help but furrow his eyebrows. Is it really about the White Dragon''s teeth? Or is there something more going on? ude then shifted his gaze towards the window and said, "I hope you''re right, Edward. Thank you for agreeing to myte request. I''ll be heading back now, so you can close up the shop and do whatever you want." "It wasn''t a hassle at all, Mr. Rayforth," Edward said as he got up from his chair, and shook hands with ude. "I know that may have sounded passive aggressive, but I''m really telling the truth." "I told you before, didn''t I?" ude said as he turned his back towards Edward and walked out of his shop. "I don''t have any connections with the king, so you can stop trying to suck up to me." "And I told you that I wasn''t trying to suck up to you," Edward yelled out to ude, who had already created quite a distance between him and Edward''s medicine shop. ude didn''t turn around and simply waved his hands as his figure disappeared from Edward''s view, who let out a heavy sigh as he sat back down on his chair. "Damn it! I guess the sucking up part was a failure. Oh well! I''ll try again next time!" ********************** Soon, ude was back at his residence, and he sat in front of his desk, still dressed in the same clothes that he had been wearing the whole day, and he then ced the pile of documents, books and research papersthat he had grabbed from Elizabeth''s room on the desk, which made a loud ''thud'' sound when they made contact with the desk. After that, ude began slowly going through all the papers and documents, reading every page as slow as he possibly could. The documents contained the list of participants who were part of a research project under the Azure Lion n codenamed ''Demon teeth'', and also contained the various locations that they had to scout through to find the White Dragon''s Teeth. "Demon teeth project, huh I wonder what''s that about!" ude, curious about the project name, tried to find if there was any information about the secret project inside of the documents, but to no avail. Although dissatisfied by the exclusion of information about the ''Demon teeth project'', ude nevertheless continued reading through the documents. As he read the documents, ude realized that it wasn''t just a simple expedition that had been created by a group of n members. By looking at the massive amount of scouting and information that they had to scour through to get the location of the White Dragon''s teeth, it was obvious that these people were being backed by someone powerful. But who could it be? Was it the Azure Lion n? Or was it someone else? The documents didn''t give ude any names, or perhaps Elizabeth was cautious about writing it down, and chose to emit them. The document further exined the reason for their expedition, which wasn''t to find just the White Dragon''s teeth, but it''s entire skeleton, which ording to the documents kept by Elizabeth, were said to be buried under the northern parts of Gryfino forest. Unfortunately for ude, he couldn''t find any reasons as to why the White Dragon''s teeth and skeleton were being searched for and how it would be useful for a cultivator, but he was particrly intrigued by the detailed information regarding the fire nds of the White Dragon, which was more detailed than most sections in the documents. This fascinated ude, who was intrigued as to why the document was going so in depth into detailing the fire nd of the dragon when it wasn''t even mentioned in the folklores, which made him think that there must be some use for it. ude continued reading through the research papers, which mostly had extensive information regarding the rumours and the exnations of the folklore, which he wasn''t particrly interested in. ude also realised, from the research papers, that the White Dragon''s teeth was made up of one of the strongest materials in the martial world, practically making it impossible to destroy it. ude knew that the tooth was strong, but he didn''t know that it was this strong. "Oh! Now, what is this?" As ude was reading through one of the research papers, he found a yellow coloured envelope hidden within the pages, and he studied it with intrigue in his eyes. sh! ude used his Astral Wing de technique to cut through the envelope without tearing the letter that was inside. When he had it opened, ude read the address on the outside. It had been sent from a town in Shirington Prefecture named Salvador City that ude did not recognize. ude studied the letter, which seemed to be handwritten and read through it slowly. The author of the letter was Someone named Elijah Rae, who in his letter, talked about the miraculous recovery of his young daughter. Elijah talked about his bitter life in Salvador City as a low wage cultivation assistant to a martial arts master of a small cultivation school and his struggles to give his family a happy life. Elijah then talks about how his daughter caught an unknown disease, which deteriorated her health rapidly. As it was an unknown disease, medicine doctors couldn''t help his daughter, and as he was losing hope, he was approached by Elizabeth herself, who, representing the Azure Lion n, offered to help his daughter if they joined their n. After agreeing to their terms, the Azure Lion n members took her away, and brought her back once she was cured. It was a heartfelt letter thanking Elizabeth and the Azure Lion n for their kindness, but ude was suspicious as to why she was hiding this letter inside the documents that were about the White Dragon''s teeth. "Azure Lion n What the hell are you people hiding?" ude couldn''t help but get intrigued by what was happening. He felt as though something big was happening behind the scenes, and he was excited to figure out what was really going on. ****************** "Damn those bastards!"At night, one of the guards who had finished his nightshift back at the Azure Lion n Mansion, yelled out loudly as he sat around a table inside ''Carrison''s Inn'', which was located at the southeastern part of Soderberg City. The guard who waspletely drunk, was sitting alongside other guards who had also finished their shifts, and continued yelling out loudly, mming his cup which was filled with liquor on the table with a loud noise. "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?" Chapter 108: A Leader 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!" Chapter 109: Any Problems? Chapter 109: Any Problems? "Hey man, was that really a good idea?" "Huh?" The drunk guard turned around to see his friend look at him with a worrisome face. "What the hell are you talking about man?" "What do you think I''m talking about?" The drunk guard''s friend rolled his eyes for a brief second before continuing to talk with concern in his voice. "I''m of course talking about the stuff that you just disclosed to that stranger just a second ago. You remember that?" "I''m not an idiot alright. I remember what just happened," The drunk out snorted loudly as he chugged down another ss of alcohol and rubbed his face. "And? What did we do wrong?" "Dude, you do know that you just talked about the man who escaped from Miss Margaret''s room to a total stranger, right?" The friend grabbed the drunk guard''s cors and shook him violently, forcing the guard to push him back. "We were supposed to keep that a secret. What would happen if someone hears that we didn''t keep the secret?" The Azure Lion n were extremely secretive about their actions, and they''d usually go to extreme lengths to preserve their secrets, so his concerns were understandable. "Tsk! Is that what you''re worried about?" The drunk guard clicked his tongue as he stared at his friend. "No one''s going to know that we said anything. Stop being so paranoid. It''s just a random stranger who wanted to know about the escapades of the town sl*t. That''s it." "But, but.." The friend wanted to say something else, but in the end he simply bit his lips. The drunk guard walked closer to his friend and pressed his finger on his forehead. "You just need to keep it together and forget about the whole incident, alright? It''ll only be a big deal if you make it out to be one. You feel me?" "Yeah, yeah.... You''re probably right," The friend nodded his head and swatted the drunk guard''s finger away as he finished speaking. "I just need to get my mind off what just happened..." "There we go," the drunk guard snapped his fingers and then grabbed his friend by the shoulder as he downed another ss of alcohol. "Now Why don''t we pick up some girls to have fun with? That way you''ll definitely forget about what just happened." ******************** Gaston pushed the door open and walked out of the inn, feeling intrigued at what he heard from the drunk guard. He then looked around and saw Barris, who was standing behind one of the buildings, and slowly walked towards him. The giant, who saw that Gaston had exited the inn, waved his hand at him as he smiled gently. "You find?" "I''m not sure" Gaston said as he approached Barris, his hand on his chin as he spoke. "I may or may not have a lead. But right now, it might be our only lead, so we''ll look into it." Barris slowly nodded his head, although it was unsure whether or not he actually understood what Gaston was talking about. Someone was actually able to escape the clutches of the Azure Lion n? Gaston furrowed his eyebrows. The process would simply be difficult, but not entirely impossible. But that wasn''t what the suspicious part was. It was that escaping from such a secure mansion required a great amount of research, a good understanding of the ce and the route, and these things required time and effort to be put into it. In other words, it wouldn''t be something that one would''ve done prior to having a one night stand. Although there were many nasty rumours going around the town about what happens to the men who sleep with the n Head''s daughter Margaret, the people who tried to sleep with such a woman weren''t usually the ones who believed those rumours. But if you don''t believe the scary rumours, then one probably wouldn''t have scouted the ce out before and nned out his escape. And if one did actually believe what the townspeople were saying about Margaret and her long list of men whom she slept with, then they most probably wouldn''t risk their lives for one night of pleasure. Who on earth would actually do that? Of course, these reasonings would make much more sense if there was another reason for sleeping with Margaret. That was, of course, to infiltrate the Azure Lion n! "Haaah then again, this could simply be a crazy motherf*cker who just wanted to have the most exciting night with a woman." Gaston shook his head. He definitely knew some people who would actually be willing to put their lives at stake for a bit of fun. "Well, I guess we have to get inside the Azure Lion n, huh..." Gaston revealed a faint smile on his pale face as he tapped Barris on his shoulder. "Barris, this is going to be harder than we imagined. So you better be up for it. Do you understand what I''m saying?" "Yes Gaston..." Although he did not understand what Gaston was talking about, Barris nevertheless nodded his head in agreement. "Attaboy!" Gaston said with a sinister grin as he patted Barris on the back. "I knew you''d be on board with it." ******************** After ude finished his cultivation training, he walked out of his residence, deciding to meet with the Headmaster to talk more about leading the Grand Astral Faction. Although he really didn''t wish to take the position of a leader, he also didn''t want to drive a wedge between their rtionship from the very beginning itself. And although being a leader to the Headmaster''s faction sounded like hard-work, the Golden Crown wasn''t a team tournament. So when the Headmaster said to be a leader to the faction, he most probably meant in a general sense, which would definitely be a much less tiresome position. But as to how to achieve this position without angering the seniors? ude had no clue, and he certainly wasn''t looking forward to it. He wasn''tfortable being in a position which might result in him getting backstabbed. Along the way to the Headmaster''s residence, which was still the Third Elder''s old residence as he had not yetpletely moved out, he had to go through the Inner Disciples Division which was mostly popted by the members of the Grand Astral Faction, and many of these people looked at ude and started to guess who he was. "I feel like I''ve seen him before... Who is this person?" "I don''t think I''ve seen him before, but I admit that for some reason, he does seem familiar. Why on earth is he here in the Grand Astral Faction section of the Inner Disciple Division though? Is he perhaps lost?" "Oh!! I''ve finally figured it out! I know the identity of that person! It''s him! He is the person who fought alongside master to take down the crazy revolutionaries. His name is ude Rayforth!" With widened eyes, someone in the crowd yelled out immediately, and almost every disciple who hade out of their residence to see what themotion was about had a surprised look on their faces. Well, almost all of them. There were a few people who were staring at ude, their faces filled with cold expressions. It seems that they weren''t too excited hearing about ude. "Oh no! It''s Ian Jefferson and hisckeys. This might be bad. I''m sure Ian and his pals hate the idea of the remaining members of the Flying Sword Faction joining our faction. He might try to antagonize this young man. Things might get messy!" "From the looks on their faces, it appears that they''re nning on making it hard for ude. But I heard that ude Rayforth wasn''t someone who backs down so easily from a threat. Who knows? There might be a good showter." ude saw the states he was getting and listened to what the crowd was talking about, and he looked at the group with an expression full of intrigue, yet he did not pay it too much mind. From the looks of it, the group was made up of disciples who were only one year and a maximum of two ranks higher than him. Although they might''ve reached the sky realm because of their talent, they were still young and inexperienced. Five guys. Two in the fifth rank, three in the fourth. As long as it was not an older cultivator or someone who''s three or more ranks higher than him making a move, he had the confidence to deal with anyone. But of course, he wasn''t going to strike first. "Where do you think you''re going, punk?" Ian and his group ofckeys walked up to ude, stopping right in front of him and blocking his way. Ian looked at ude and said in a cold voice, "You think you can just jump from your weak faction to ours just because you stood behind our master one time? You thought it''d be that easy and we''ll all be okay with it? Huh?" *Sigh* ''To think there still are idiots like these around this academy'' As he stared at the confident gazes of these buffoons who were standing in front of him and couldn''t help but sigh. Oh well I guess I could start by taking care of the trash first! "That''s exactly what I thought," ude looked at Ian without any fear, remaining as calm as still water, and said indifferently. "Why? You got a problem?" Chapter 110: Big Mistake Chapter 110: Big Mistake "Where do you think you''re going, punk?" Ian and his group ofckeys walked up to ude, stopping right in front of him and blocking his way. Ian looked at ude and said in a cold voice, "You think you can just jump from your weak faction to ours just because you stood behind our master one time? You thought it''d be that easy and we''ll all be okay with it? Huh?" *Sigh* ''To think there still are idiots like these around this academy'' As he stared at the confident gazes of these buffoons who were standing in front of him and couldn''t help but sigh. Oh well I guess I could start by taking care of the trash first! "That''s exactly what I thought," ude looked at Ian without any fear, remaining as calm as still water, and said indifferently. "Why? You got a problem?" "You son of a b*tch! How dare you talk to your seniors with that tone!" One of Ian''sckeys yelled out loudly, his eyes burning with anger as he spoke. ude was not afraid, and with a cold expression that covered his face, he spoke. "Oh? And may the kind senior tell me what I might have done that angered you so much? As I recall, I simply asked if there was any problem with me assuming that it would be alright to join the Grand Astral Faction. It was merely a question senior. Or perhaps, there might be something wrong with your ears." "You rascal! We should just best you u-" Theckey gritted his teeth as he cursed out viciously. But before he could do anything, Ian raised his hand and stared at him, causing theckey to turn silent all of a sudden. Ian then turned his head to look at ude, who stared back at him, and said sinisterly, "Now, now, Jason, it seems that little ude over here is a bit arrogant, probably because he feels as though he''s a hero for standing up to the revolutionaries and helping our master even though he didn''t do all that much. I wonder though, what would happen if he finally understands that in front of ''true'' cultivators, he''s nothing more than a mere pest? That would definitely be a surprise for him. Perhaps, it might even destroy his ego and self-esteem. Or who knows.. the realization might even force him to kill himself!" ude looked at Ian and smiled indifferently as he replied. "Perhaps! But hey, at least I''m not a buffoon who talks about how great he is while needing hisckeys to support him as he talks down to his junior because bullying the weak makes him feel strong! I may be arrogant, but at least I''m not a loser!" Silence! Ian''splexion changed, and his eyes became bloodshot, but he suppressed the anger in his heart as he said, "Ha ha ha! Little ude is a jokester. Who knew! But my junior, you might want to keep your jokes to a minimum if you really want to have a nice life as a proud member of the Grand Astral Faction. Because unlike your dumb, little Flying Sword Faction, ours is for the best and the brightest. So, be careful with your jokes when you''re around the ones who''re brighter than you. If you''re not careful, you might end up burning to death." At the end of his words, he turned around with a smug smile, and began walking back. Although he wanted to make ude know who he was dealing with, he didn''t think that this was the right ce for it. He knew that ude had a close rtionship with the Third Elder, and he couldn''t simply deal with the young man as soon as he entered their section of the division. Of course, it would''ve been better if he wouldn''t have had the verbal confrontation with ude, but Ian couldn''t help himself. He wanted to make sure ude knew that he would never be a part of the Grand Astral Faction, even if he wanted to. He wanted him to know that he, who was part of the Flying Sword Faction which he found pathetic, would never be worthy enough to be part of their great faction. BZZZ! But before he could go back, a bright light passed by his face, and Ian''s eyes widened with surprise as a drop of blood dripped down from his cheeks. With shock in his eyes, he turned around and touched his cheeks, rubbing it slowly, and found a small graze on his face. He was injured! "WHAT''S THE MEANING OF THIS??" Enraged by what just happened, Ian turned his gaze towards ude and shouted out loudly, only to be met with a coldughter from ude, who had already summoned his katana, wielding it in his hands as he spoke. "What''s the matter? You didn''t think that I would just sit back and do nothing after you just threatened me, did you? I don''t take threats lightly." ZAM! He raised his katana up in the air as he looked at the raging Ian and hisckeys with eyes that were as calm as water. "You little- GET HIM!!" Angered by the words of ude, an enraged Ian screamed loudly as hisckeys shot forward, frantically rushing towards ude. ude simply smiled as he watched the fast approaching men, silently studying his opponents'' movements as they quickly reduced the distance between them. Four guys. Two in the front, one on each side. Two following closely behind, presumably as backup. Which made sense. After all, ude was at a lower rank than them. The one on the left had his left arm lightly stretching back, implying that he was gearing up tond a strike; perhaps a palm strike or a fist attack. The one on the right seemed a bit more intelligent, making seemingly no recognisable motion to attack. Seemingly. ude noticed that his right leg was exerting more strength onto the ground as he moved forward, which implied that he was channeling more spiritual energy into his right leg; presumably for a normal kick attack reinforced by body strengthening technique or maybe even a roundhouse kick. The two at the back seemed to be going for a more obvious approach, with their weapons - the one on the left wielding a double ded Scimitar and the other with a war hammer - visible to everyone. ''Oi, oi Aren''t you guys taking this a bit too easy?'' ude had a sinister smile on his face as he gripped his katana tightly and the originally hot air now became suffocating. Although they were extremely quick and nimble with their motion, in the end, they were still too young to be ude''s opponents. Swoosh! The guy on the left stumbled towards ude with his palm shooting forward, ready to attack using a palm strike. But before the attack could connect, ude instantly ducked down and evaded the attack before catching the guy by the wrist, much to his surprise. ude then immediately pulled the guy to his right, using him as a shield as the guy on the right twirled in the air and aimed a powerful kick straight at ude''s face. BAM! The guy whom ude threw collided with the powerful kick, knocking him out. Before the guy who initiated the kick could make his next move, ude had already arrived in front of him, smashing his palm right onto the middle of the guy''s face, executing a palm strike at close range. BOOM! With a loud explosion, the young man flung backwards, right in the direction of the two backups, who were caught off guard by their fellowckey friend. Zoom! ude immediately matched the two backups'' charge with momentum of his own and swung his katana straight at one of the guy''s chest, causing a loud explosion and pushing the guy backwards. He then bent backwards, avoiding the strike of the war hammer, and before theckey could pull the weapon back, ude had already charged forward and mped his giant palm over theckey''s mouth, immediately executing the palm strike as he smashed his head down to the ground. BOOM! Another loud explosion! When the Grand Astral Faction disciples who had exited their residences to watch the fight between ude and Ian saw the scene in front of them, they were astonished in their hearts. They did not expect ude to be able to exhibit such amazing techniques and win, especially against four cultivators who were of a higher rank than ude. Ian, who had witnessed the entire fight, was beyond shocked to say the least. He knew that ude was powerful for his rank, but Ian believed that no matter how strong he was, he wouldn''t be able to defeat his fourckeys who were all of a higher rank than ude. It wouldn''t make any sense! And yet, to his horror, it was exactly what had happened! "Senior! Why are you staying behind? I thought you wanted to show me how great you were!" ude, who had defeated the fourckeys, said with a sinister smile as he looked at Ian, who felt a cold shiver run down his spine when he heard his voice. Although he was two ranks higher than ude, Ian couldn''t help but feel that continuing to fight ude was not a wise action. "Don''t worry. I''m not going to kill you! I''m just going to hurt you really bad!" But before Ian could say anything, ude figure disappeared from the spot where he stood and reappeared right on top of Ian, his katana swinging downwards as Ian tried to block the attack! Chapter 111: Real Reason Chapter 111: Real Reason "Senior! Why are you staying behind? I thought you wanted to show me how great you were!" ude, who had defeated the fourckeys, said with a sinister smile as he looked at Ian, who felt a cold shiver run down his spine when he heard his voice. Although he was two ranks higher than ude, Ian couldn''t help but feel that continuing to fight ude was not a wise action. "Don''t worry. I''m not going to kill you! I''m just going to hurt you really badly!" But before Ian could say anything, ude''s figure disappeared from the spot where he stood and reappeared right on top of Ian, his katana swinging downwards as Ian tried to block the attack! "You''re going to regret attacking me!" Ian, who realized that he couldn''t reason with ude, gritted his teeth and summoned his saber, narrowly able to block ude''s powerful strike! BOOM! There was a loud boom in the air, which resulted in dust and debris flying everywhere, and Ian was flung backwards, taking a few steps before he stabilized himself on the ground. He looked at his right arm which he had used to hold the saber and realized that it was trembling violently; not due to fear but due to the immense power that was present in ude''s strike. It wasn''t something that Ian could handle with ease. He wasn''t even sure if he could take on the attack a second time! "Huh? senior? I think you made a mistake. Perhaps you judged my position wrongly and jumped over there, but as you can see, I''m right here!" A voice came out of the whirlpool of dust as a figure walked out, revealing ude, who was staring at Ian. His indifferent face revealed a crafty smile as he pointed at Ian and spoke, "Or perhaps, you got scared? Is that it, senior? But that couldn''t be true, right? Did you actually get scared of your junior disciple?" Enraged and frustrated by what was happening, Ian turned his gaze towards the spot where ude was standing, and a burst of deadly aura began emitting from his body, revealing killing intent with his eyes burning with hatred as he spoke, "You think this is over? Think again!" BZZZZZ! As soon as he finished speaking, countless de lights that were emitting saber qi manifested in the air silently and shot forward, hacking the air apart, heading in ude''s direction, who simply smiled in response. "Now that''s what I''m talking about! I was hoping that you wouldn''t give up that easily. There''d be no fun in that!" udeughed loudly as behind him, countless astral de lights manifested, shooting towards the saber lights that were aiming for ude, colliding with them! A loud explosion urred, creating strong gusts of wind that blew up the dirt on the ground as dust filled the air surrounding them. ude''s voice echoed in the dust filled air, "You know, there really isn''t a problem with talking big about yourself. You just have to be able to back it up!" BOOM! ude''s figure shed forward through the dust and debris filled air and rushed towards Ian, reappearing right in front of him, causing Ian to freeze for just a split second. ude sensed it and used the chance to whip his fist, reinforced with body strengthening technique, right into his chest, hammering a heavy blow onto him viciously! BAM! The huge force mmed into Ian and his internal organs were all shaken, and he could not help but vomit a mouthful of blood. He gasped for air as he lost his bnce and went down on to his knees, and ude immediately jammed his palm onto Ian''s face and smashed his head down as he executed the palm strike! BOOM! The impact of ude''s attack was so powerful that Ian hit the ground and bounced back into the air like a rag doll, handing motionless in the air for a brief second before crashing down on the ground once again, unconscious. The spectators were deathly silent. The crowd of disciples who were watching the fight between Ian and ude, now stared at ude, dumbfounded by what just happened. "Don''t worry, he''s not dead.." ude muttered as he stepped over the unconscious body of Ian Jefferson, and began walking towards the Headmaster''s residence as if there was nothing wrong. "But it would be better if you get him to a medicinal doctor though..." ***************** The new Headmaster was sitting on the balcony of his residence, taking a sip of tea as he watched themotion that was happening in the Inner Disciple Division. A smile appeared on his face as he ced the cup down after taking a sip, looking at the figure of the young man who was fast approaching his residence with intrigue in his eyes. Elder Keh, who was now serving as an attendant to the Headmaster, was standing next to him and let out a lightugh, "I always thought that this boy, Ian Jefferson, was too much of a bully. He always thought that he was special, even after losing to those who were more talented than him, writing it off by simply telling himself that it was because he was younger. I wonder, what kind of lies would he tell himself this time around?" "Although I think that ude was a bit too ruthless, perhaps this might exactly be what Ian needs to open his eyes to the truth. He''s arrogant because he''s been spoiled by his parents since birth, and sooner orter, he needs to learn that he''s the one who needs to change, and not others. If hees to the realization that the problem resides within himself, then he can work on himself to be better." The new Headmaster took another sip of tea as he looked at the fast approaching boy with a gaze that was as deep as still water. Elder Keh nced at ude for a second and then turned his gaze towards the Headmaster, "Master, should I leave the two of you alone?" The Headmaster nodded his head and spoke expressionlessly, "It would be much appreciated." "Very well." Elder Keh nodded his head as he disappeared, leaving only an afterimage. "You cane in. I am on the balcony," The Headmaster whispered softly, and his voice was amplified through the air using his spiritual energy, and reached the ears of ude Rayforth, who was about to knock on his front door. The whisper caught him off guard for a second before he realised that it was the Headmaster''s amplified voice, and he opened the door without knocking, entering the Headmaster''s residence. As he had not moved to the previous Headmaster''s residence, which was above the faculty building, he was still residing in his old residence. Without wasting any time, ude walked up to the balcony of the building, where he found the new Headmaster sitting on a beautifully crafted wooden chair and sipping tea as he stared at the surrounding area. "So, did you make a decision?" The headmaster turned his head and looked at ude. "Are you ready to take on the role of a leader?" "I did think about it," ude nodded his head, and he continued. "And I think I''ll take on the role only if the position of the leader isn''t really a position." "What do you mean?" The Headmaster tilted his head to the side, confused by ude''s words. "Create a tournament to decide who is the better martial artist and cultivator rather than to decide who the leader should be," ude said as he folded his arms. "It''s not likely that everyone would be on board with someone being the leader just because he''s the best cultivator among them. The position of the leader shoulde naturally, as it is how most people would ept it. Being the better cultivator would give you an edge over others, but it doesn''t make it a sure thing." ude then turned his gaze towards the Headmaster and continued, "And besides, if it is not a position that''s announced to everyone, then it wouldn''t be a big deal if I chose to step down from being a leader if I really wanted to either. After all, it wasn''t a real position." "Why do I feel like that was the real reason for your request?" The Headmaster let out a soft chuckle and ude shrugged his shoulders in response, answering the Headmaster''s question with an indifferent voice. "I just don''t wish to be dragged down by a position. I prefer to have control over my actions." "I can see that," The Headmaster nodded his head with a smile as he spoke. "Very well. I shall grant your request. But I need you to give it your all and not simply half-a*s it." "I''ll try my best," ude nodded his head, and the Headmaster leaned back and turned around to gaze at the surroundings as he grabbed his teacup, waving his hands towards ude, motioning him to leave. ude bowed his head and immediately left the residence, leaving the Headmaster alone. Chapter 112: Trust and Trash Chapter 112: Trust and Trash "Why do I feel like that was the real reason for your request?" The Headmaster let out a soft chuckle and ude shrugged his shoulders in response, answering the Headmaster''s question with an indifferent voice. "I just don''t wish to be dragged down by a position. I prefer to have control over my actions." "I can see that," The Headmaster nodded his head with a smile as he spoke. "Very well. I shall grant your request. But I need you to give it your all and not simply half-a*s it." "I''ll try my best," ude nodded his head, and the Headmaster leaned back and turned around to gaze at the surroundings as he grabbed his teacup, waving his hands towards ude, motioning him to leave. ude bowed his head and immediately left the residence, leaving the Headmaster alone. After taking another sip of his tea, the Headmaster let out a soft whisper, "You can appear now, Elder Keh. The young disciple is gone." Whoosh! As soon as he finished speaking, a strong gust of wind blew strongly, causing the Headmaster to guard his teacup in order to block any dust particles from entering inside of it. BAM! All of a sudden, the figure of Elder Keh appeared in front of the Headmaster, and the strong gust of wind immediately subsided. The Headmaster smiled faintly. "Well now, wasn''t that a good entrance... What took you so long to return, if I may ask?" Elder Keh immediately bowed his head in front of the Headmaster and replied, "Forgive me for beingte, master. I was in the middle of taking the unconscious Ian and his friends to a medicinal doctor." "Oh? Well now, isn''t that a surprise?" The Headmaster tilted his head when he heard what happened. "I thought you didn''t like the young man. What changed your mind?" Elder Keh shook his head and responded to the Headmaster''s words. "Nothing changed my mind, master. I still do not like the kid, nor his minions. He''s an incredibly spoiled brat who''s too far up his a*s to see his faults and takes his anger out on others. However, as Headmaster said, he is still a young man who is a disciple under your faction, and there is still time for him to recognize the error in his ways. Perhaps, I''ve been too harsh on him, as he is still young." "Well then, great!" The Headmaster nodded his head, satisfied with his answer. He then leaned forward and stared out into the inner disciple division, and asked the Elder, "Elder Keh, may I ask what your thoughts on my new disciple named ude Rayforth are?" "ude Rayforth, master?" Elder Keh nced at the Inner Disciple Division, staring at the leaving ude''s back for a brief second before answering the Headmaster''s question. "Perhaps a genius who was a bit toote in understanding his talent? His speed of improving upon his ranks is definitely monstrous. However, had he been cultivating with the same speed from the get go, he would''ve been at a higher rank than he is right now. Perhaps, even a realm higher. Nevertheless, he is still a monster cultivator." The Headmaster smiled gently and said, "I wasn''t asking what you thought about his cultivation skills and techniques, Elder Keh. I already have done my redeaton this young man, and I''m sure we can all agree that he''s ate genius when ites to cultivation. However, I was asking what you thought about ude Rayforth as a person and as a disciple." Elder Keh revealed a doubtful look as he asked, "Are you asking me if you should trust him, Headmaster?" The Headmaster ced his teacup on the table and shifted his gaze towards the Elder as he responded. "Do you think he can be trusted, Elder Keh?" Elder Keh thought for a while before he replied, "Rational, calm and good at studying the opponent and to understand his movements. He moves like an experienced veteran. If given enough time, he''ll definitely be able to grow into someone powerful. However, he is also the person who willingly chose to betray his master without even blinking, just to save himself. He''s not the type of person to make sacrifices, and he''s definitely not someone I''d trust. Is that a good enough answer, master?" The Headmaster nodded his head and smiled faintly. "Oh, your answer is perfect, Elder Keh. And don''t worry; I also do not trust him." "It''s such a shame," The Headmaster could not help but sigh as he looked at the Inner Disciple Division. "ude might have the potential to be one of the greatest cultivators the martial world has ever seen, and yet we''re not able topletely ce our trust on him. Although, we can''t afford to be his enemies as well. What an extremelyplicated situation that we''ve caught up in..." Elder Keh asked, "What do you propose we do, Headmaster?" The Headmaster whispered softly, "For now, simply be wary of him. Of course, he''s still a part of our faction, and we must treat him as a member, but keep an eye on him at all times." He then took another sip of his tea and muttered to himself, "Once a rat, always a rat." ***************** Soderberg city. Inside the sewers underneath the Azure Lion n Mansion, stood two men who were standing in front of arge hole, arguing about something. "Are you seriously telling me that you''re too fat to enter the hole?" The slim and tiny man with the twirling moustache, Gaston, clenched his fists tightly as he spoke. "Sorry Gaston..." The other man, a giant with a long beard who was of course, Barris, shrugged his shoulders and lowered his head in response to Gaston''s outburst, afraid of his anger. "I''m too fat.." "God f*cking damn it! You''ve got to be kidding me.." Gaston, who had raised his hand to strike Barris, lowered his hand in the end, and clutched his face as he gritted his teeth. "Are you telling me that I''m going to have to enter the sh*thole myself? Me? Seriously?" BAM! Frustrated by the situation that they were in, Gaston kicked the walls of the sewers, which emitted a loud noise that echoed throughout the sewer. "Gaston, you shouldn''t make noise.." Barris softly whispered, but he immediately shut his mouth when he received the angry gaze of Gaston, who was ring at him. "Shut up you dumb b*tch! I know what I''m supposed to do and not do, alright? You don''t have to teach me, do you understand, you dumba*s?" He then looked at therge hole in front of him and reluctantly began slowly moving towards it, covering his nose as he held his breath. ''If only I was good looking,'' Gastonmented about his misfortune. ''Perhaps then I could''ve just seduced that b*tch instead of going through this sh*thole.'' ***************** Sevinna City, 100 miles south of Sherfield City. A man wearing luxurious clothes was sitting inside an almost empty restaurant. He was sitting in a corner, and would often nce back and forth, as if he was waiting for someone to arrive. From his facial expression, one could easily deduce that he was anxious. "Wow, I actually cannot believe what I''m seeing.." All of a sudden, a voice entered the man''s ears and he immediately turned around to see a handsome man with an aura that was as ferocious as a tiger standing in front of the entrance, staring at him with a deep gaze. "The great Endre, who is known for being extremely confident, is anxious about something? I must say, although I''m deeply intrigued by your sudden change in behaviour, I have to ask; what the hell happened? And where is the material that you said you would bring with you?" He sat in the seat in front of the man wearing the luxurious clothes, Endre, and stared at him with a cold and indifferent gaze, which sent chills running down Endre''s spine. "I-I I''m afraid there''s been aplication," Anxious and afraid, Endre answered with a fearful look on his face, and the man in front of him looked at him with a displeased expression. "That''s not what my superior what''s to hear, Endre. You know that." "I-I know, I know It''s just that, it''s just someone else interfered with our ns. Someone from the outside," Afraid of the man''s words, Endre tried his best to smile and give excuses. "But I promise that I''ll resolve everything in just two weeks. You need to trust me. I can fix this." The man didn''t reply, and desperate, Endre turned to his side, grabbed a bunch of documents and files that he had kept next to him and ced it on top of the table that was in between the two of them. "See! I still have all the information that I collected about the experiments run by the Azure Lion n. The White Dragon''s teeth was just a mistake; a miscalction on my part. I promise that I''ll make up for it. My men are already tracking the person who stole it down as we speak." ZAP! At that moment, Endre suddenly froze. His eyes trembled, looking at the figure in front of him, who simply sighed in response. "It''s such a shame. I thought you''d be different from the rest. Oh well.." sh! A slicing sound resonated out as Endre''s head was separated from his body, the terror he felt still evident in his eyes. "I guess that''s why you don''t trust trash to do your job for you!" Chapter 113: A Sense of Smell Chapter 113: A Sense of Smell "See! I still have all the information that I collected about the experiments run by the Azure Lion n. The White Dragon''s teeth was just a mistake; a miscalction on my part. I promise that I''ll make up for it. My men are already tracking the person who stole it down as we speak." ZAP! At that moment, Endre suddenly froze. His eyes trembled, looking at the figure in front of him, who simply sighed in response. "It''s such a shame. I thought you''d be different from the rest. Oh well.." sh! A slicing sound resonated out as Endre''s head was separated from his body, the terror he felt still evident in his eyes. "I guess that''s why you don''t trust trash to do your job for you!" Thud! Endre''s head dropped to the floor, and his lifeless body slouched down onto the table as blood began to rapidly pour out from the cut open neck, covering the entire tabletop. The man clicked his tongue with disgust and pulled out a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped off the few droplets of blood that had sshed onto his cheeks, speaking with a dissatisfied tone, "Every single time I assign trash to missions, this happens." After he finished wiping his face, he pulled back the handkerchief and looked at the crimson coloured blood smear on the white cloth, and continued. "I really should stop hoping for a miracle." He let out a sigh as he massaged his temple, and after a brief period of silence, he whispered softly, "Leif" Whoosh! All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind began to blow, and a middle aged man appeared in front of him, who was kneeling on one leg with his head lowered. "Master Darius," The middle aged man, Leif, spoke as he raised his head, looking at the man in front of him with great respect. "May I ask, for what reason did you summon me?" "Leif, do you know anything about the people whom Endre entrusted the mission to retrieve the White Dragon''s tooth to?" The man, whose name was Darius, asked Leif as he stood up from his seat and walked towards the entrance of the restaurant, forcing Leif to follow him close behind. "It appears that he has a few contractors under him whom he has given the mission to. A pair of cultivators who used to be contractors for Azure Lion n a few years ago." Leif bowed his head as he informed his master Darius about his findings. Darius nodded his head, and then spoke softly, "And? Do you know where those two contractors currently are? Do you have their locations?" Leif shook his head as he replied, "I''m afraid not, master. It appears that the two contractors were under the orders of Endre to find and retrieve the White Dragon''s teeth, only after which they were supposed to meet up. But fortunately, my men were able to figure out when and where the meet up was supposed to be when they rummaged through the room in which Endre was staying in today." "Oh? That''s great news," Darius turned his gaze towards Leif and spoke with a smile on his face. "And where are they supposed to meet?" "Gryfino forest," Leif answered truthfully. "One week from now." "That''s perfect," Darius nodded his head, satisfied with Leif''s answer and he rubbed his chin as he began thinking. "Prepare an ambush at the meeting ce. Wait for the contractors to appear at the specified location and then once you make sure that they have retrieved the object, take them out." "And what if they haven''t been sessful at their attempt at retrieving the object, master?" Leif asked as he nced at his master''s face. "Well if that''s the case, then interrogate them and figure out what they have figured out so far. And afterwards, you can simply terminate them," Darius looked at Leif and said with a sinister smile. "I shouldn''t have entrusted this mission to the trash. I do not need him anymore, nor do I need his contractors. Make sure you get rid of them." "Understood, master!" Leif nodded his head, and within milliseconds, disappeared from his master''s view, leaving Darius alone at the entrance of the restaurant. "Hmph! Those Azure Lion n elders!" Darius let out a dissatisfied grunt as he walked out of the restaurant. "To think they were nning all of this in secret. I can''t believe I actually believed the farce that they put on to fool everybody. I guess they were simply hiding their true intentions all this time." "But you should''ve been more careful Azure Lion n!" He then looked at the sky, and with an evil smile stered across his handsome face, he muttered softly, "Because a secret is only a secret if it stays at the hands of those loyal to you!" ******************* The Azure Lion n Mansion, Soderberg city. "Just a little more just a little more." From one of the Garderobes inside the mansion came a small whimper, as a short and slim figure emerged from one of the holes, gasping for air as soon as he exited the hole. "Gah! Finally! I''m free!" The figure whispered softly with glee in the middle of him trying to catch his breath, and raised his balled fists up in the air as if to signal victory. This person was, of course, Gaston the contractor, who had just climbed through a literal sh*thole to get to the inside of the Azure Lion n Mansion. "Hah I am never doing that again in my life!" Exhausted and scarred by what he just went through, Gaston turned back and looked at the hole that he emerged from, and he couldn''t help but shudder. This was easily the most traumatizing incident that he had ever gone through, and he wanted to block this out from his memory at whatever cost. "Calm down, my heart..." He muttered to himself as he tightly clenched his chest, and he let out a sigh. He then turned his gaze towards the doorway and cleared his mind. "I need to focus on finding out whether or not the person who stole the White Dragon''s teeth also entered the Azure Lion n." He then let out a few breaths, and he stealthily stepped out of the restroom, looking around to find the building where Elizabeth''s room was situated. "If I remember correctly, it was building number twenty three, was it not" Gaston looked around, trying to find building number twenty three. From what it seemed like, Gaston already knew about Elizabeth''s room and building, meaning he had gathered information about the young girl. His eyes wandered the surroundings until itnded on a building that was about a hundred metres from where he was currently standing, and his eyes widened. Bingo! Number twenty three! "Found you!" He muttered softly as he walked towards the building, stealthily avoiding the guards who were patrolling the surrounding area and knelt right behind one of the windows of the building. ck! Gaston looked around to make sure no one was watching him and slowly pulled up the window without making any noise, jumped inside the building through the window and closed it from the inside. He then headed toward the stairs, careful to keep out of the sight lines from the nearest windows. Within seconds, he climbed up the stairs and arrived at the third floor, before making his way towards Elizabeth''s room. "I sure hope that he did in fact enter Elizabeth''s room. Otherwise, I''d have gone through all that sh*t for nothing!" As he stood in front of Elizabeth Carter''s door, Gaston muttered to himself as he lowered his hand into his pockets, and took out a small golden key! He then inserted the key into the keyhole of the door and turned the doorknob, opening it without any difficulty at all. ng! The door swung open and Gaston entered the room, silently scanning the interior of the room as he studied the surroundings. All of a sudden, he closed his eyes and began inhaling. His facial expression began to change as the various odours from the room entered into his nostrils. BAM! Suddenly, his eyes opened with surprise visible in them. He had noticed something! He then turned his head towards the cupboard, which had a portrait of a girl, most likely that of Elizabeth''s, on it, and he slowly began walking towards it. "Well, well, well Look what we have here!" He stood in front of the cupboard and grabbed the portrait with his hands, and pulled it closer to his face as he began inhaling once again. As the air surrounding the portrait entered into his nostrils, Gaston could identify various types of odour that were present on this picture. There was odour from the marketce in Soderberg, body odour of Elizabeth herself, as well as someone else''s. Someone who''s odour was fairly recent. A devious smile appeared on Gaston''s face as he muttered to himself, "Found you!" Chapter 114: Real And Fake Chapter 114: Real And Fake Suddenly, his eyes opened with surprise visible in them. He had noticed something! He then turned his head towards the cupboard, which had a portrait of a girl, most likely that of Elizabeth''s, on it, and he slowly began walking towards it. "Well, well, well Look what we have here!" He stood in front of the cupboard and grabbed the portrait with his hands, and pulled it closer to his face as he began inhaling once again. As the air surrounding the portrait entered into his nostrils, Gaston could identify various types of odour that were present on this picture. There was odour from the marketce in Soderberg, body odour of Elizabeth herself, as well as someone else''s. Someone who''s odour was fairly recent. A devious smile appeared on Gaston''s face as he muttered to himself, "Found you!" With a satisfied expression, Gaston turned around and shifted his gaze towards the small desk, and began walking towards it. KZZZ! He then knelt down in front of the desk and pushed it aside, and then pressed his finger on a specific spot on the wall, which resulted in a small portion of the wall being flung open, revealing the small keyhole inside. He then took out another small key from his pocket and pushed it inside the keyhole, and the wall opened up, revealing the hidden section to Gaston, who stared at the secret cab with furrowed eyes. He then closed his eyes and inhaled, trying to study the scents that were emitting from the cab. "I knew he was here" He muttered to himself as he opened his eyes and he lowered his hands and began rummaging through the hidden cab. "I can still feel the scent of a few documents that aren''t present inside the cab right now" He whispered softly as he ced the pile of paper that was left in the cab back in order. After going through the documents and papers that were left inside the hidden section, Gaston then closed up the secret cab and pulled the desk back to hide the section once again, and he left the room, closing it while leaving. ------- EVIL SAMURAI IN CULTIVATION WORLD ------- Soderberg city. Underneath the Azure Lion n Mansion, inside the sewers. The giant with a long beard, Barris, was waiting outside the giant hole for Gaston to arrive. "Gaston, where" Feeling impatient about waiting for Gaston for so long, Barris began whispering softly to himself as he tried to think of ways to spend time. Barris, who has always been a metally challenged person, only had a close rtionship with Gaston. Although Gaston was mean to him most of the time, Barris always tolerated him, as he was the only one whom he felt attached to. Barris was afraid of being alone, and so, even if Gaston was mean to him, and even if he doesn''t apologize or show remorse for his actions, Barris would always forgive him in his mind, as he was the only one who was there for him. "God damn it! Not this again" All of a sudden, a soft voice began echoing through the sewer, and Barris immediately became alert. He looked around to see where the voice wasing from, only to realize that it wasing from the giant hole. The same hole that Gaston had gone through! Barris was always a bit slow, but once he was able to figure out the situation, he rxed a bit and his eyes sparkled, as he missed his dear friend too much. Ssh! A figure shot out from the hole andnded right into the dirty water inside the sewer, and Barris waved his hands innocently at the person who was lying in the sewage. "Gaston! Gaston, it''s me, Barris" He said as he pointed at himself. "Shut up, you idiot!" Gaston, who was visibly disgusted by the situation that he was in, was irritated by Barris''s words and snapped at him, causing Barris to lower his head as he muttered softly, "Yes, Gaston..." "God damn it! I hate my life..." Gaston got up from the water and began trying to get rid of the waste materials that got stuck to him when he fell into the sewage water, but after a few minutes of struggling, he found that it wouldn''t make any difference and just gave up. He wanted to throw up, but realized that throwing up right now would only make things even more worse, and decided against it. "Why am I even sitting here? I should get out of this sh*thole as soon as possible!" Gritting his teeth, Gaston turned his gaze around to look at Barris and with an annoyed expression on his face, he said, "Let''s get out of here!" Barris, confused by his words, tilted his head to the side and looked at him with an innocent expression, which simply irritated Gaston even more. "What the hell are you looking at? Huh?!" He clicked his tongue and spoke to Barris in a dissatisfied voice, and continued. "I found the guy''s scent. He''s somewhere in the wferry Prefecture, most likely a resident in Dawsbury city but I''m not too sure about that part. Oh well, I guess we''ll find out soon enough!" "Gaston found man?!" Barris''s eyes widened with surprise and Gaston massaged his temples, trying his very best to keep himself in check. He was having a very bad day, and he felt like Barris''s antics were testing his patience. "What the hell were you listening to? God! Yes, I did find out the man''s location. Try to keep up, alright? Now don''t just stand there, follow me!" "Yes, Gaston..." Barris nodded his head as he followed Gaston close behind, and together they exited out of the sewers, heading out into the darkness. At the same time, inside the Azure Lion n Mansion. BAM! An explosion burst open the door to Elizabeth Carter''s room, and a ck robed figure entered the room, turning his head to survey the interior before making his way inside. He then waved his hands around in the air, and all of a sudden, multiple strands of light particles shot out from his fingertips, and spread through the room. The man wearing the ck robe then raised his hands high into the air and began mumbling something, and all of a sudden, the strands of light particles began to shine brightly, enveloping the entire room in a thick white light, before snapping back to normal brightness in a split second. The man furrowed his eyes and after a brief second, he said, "So it is as I''ve feared there''s been a leak of information." ***************** "Wait so you''re telling me that they stood in front of you and tried to bully you?" Senior Wilfred Beldon, who was watching ude train inside the training grounds sector, asked out loudly with surprise. "Yup!" ude nodded his head as he summoned his katana and began swinging it towards the ground, causing a loud explosion as the ground began to shake violently. "He actually thought that he could get away with it because he had support." "Didn''t he see you fight alongside their- I mean our master back in Josenheim?" Beldon asked, and ude nodded his head in confirmation. "Apparently, I only stood around and did nothing." "Wow.." Beldon whispered quietly to himself as he listened to ude''s words. "That is one messed up kid right there. Is he delusional or something?" "Who? Ian?" ude thought for a second and replied. "Probably, yeah Although I do think his sentiment is shared by many within the Grand Astral Faction." "Thinking that you did absolutely nothing but stand around during the fight back in Josenheim?" Beldon asked jokingly and ude let out a short chuckle and shook his head. "No, no I meant that there are people looking down on us because we''re from a different faction." "Oh yeah, that''s prettymon." Senior Beldon nodded his head, agreeing with ude''s words. "It was there back when our faction was intact, it''s still there now." He shrugged his shoulders, and continued. "It''s to be expected, that was how fierce the rivalry between the two elders were. But I guess the only thing that we can do is to show them our strength and force them to submit." "I guess..." ude nodded his head after a brief period of contemtion, and he continued with his training. Senior Beldon continued to watch ude train, and after half an hour, ude stopped his practice to cool off for a few minutes. "Taking a break so soon?" Senior Beldon asked, and ude nodded. "I wasn''t nning on pushing my abilities to the limits today. It may be a good strategy to break through a bottleneck and to reach the next rank, but it''s simply too tiresome to drain all the spiritual energy, especially with all the high energy draining techniques that I have in my arsenal." He then stopped for a second, looking at his summoned katana and continued, "That said, I do need to find a way to extend my energy. These summoned weapons drain too much energy continuously." "How do you n on doing that?" Senior Beldon asked, and ude said with a smile, "Of course, by using a real sword!" Chapter 115: Rich And Famous Chapter 115: Rich And Famous "Taking a break so soon?" Senior Beldon asked, and ude nodded. "I wasn''t nning on pushing my abilities to the limits today. It may be a good strategy to break through a bottleneck and to reach the next rank, but it''s simply too tiresome to drain all the spiritual energy, especially with all the high energy draining techniques that I have in my arsenal." He then stopped for a second, looking at his summoned katana and continued, "That said, I do need to find a way to extend my energy. These summoned weapons drain too much energy continuously." "How do you n on doing that?" Senior Beldon asked, and ude said with a smile, "Of course, by using a real sword!" "A real sword?" Senior Wilfred Beldon tilted his head and looked at ude with a confused expression. "You mean a physical sword instead of morphing your spiritual energy into one?" "That''s exactly what I mean," ude nodded his head and he loosened his grip, and the katana that was present in his hand disappeared in an instant. "I feel like the summoning of the katana as well as maintaining the spiritual energy to fit its physical form utilizes a massive amount of spiritual energy. I think switching to using a real sword that is enhanced by spiritual energy is a much better, and also energy efficient option." "I understand what you''re saying," Senior Beldon ced his hand on his chin and continued,"But a physical sword isn''t exactly durable against powerful attacks. Especially high ss ones. That was the reason why most cultivators decided to even switch to spiritual energy swords in the first ce. As different kinds of attacks and techniques were being developed, their power also began to increase, and after a while, it became unable for a normal weapon to defend against such powerful attacks, and they would often get destroyed in the process. There were simply no materials that were strong enough to create a weapon that could withstand most attacks." "So it''s not practical anymore," ude nodded his head, understanding why most cultivators switched to spiritual energy weapons. The materials that were used to build these weapons couldn''t withstand the fast growing cultivation techniques, and soon they ran out of materials that could take a high level attack, which was what caused the downfall of the physical weapons. The cultivators were growing at an exponential pace, whereas the raw materials were only avable in limited quantities. The cultivators simply felt as though it was time to move on from the physical objects to spiritual energy weapons. ''But they''re not me. They didn''t have a powerful raw material that could withstand any attacks,'' ude grinned subconsciously as he thought to himself. That''s right! ude had something that no other cultivator had. He had the White Dragon''s teeth, which was made up of one of the strongest materials that he has ever seen. He was sure that it could withstand most attacks, although he had no clue of its limits. However, he also had no idea about how he would be able to turn the seemingly indestructible material into a sword, as it would be incredibly difficult to do so. ''I''m guessing I would need to get in contact with a cksmith, if they really do exist anymore. But I''m sure that even they couldn''t have any idea as to how to create a sword from the teeth of a White Dragon,'' ude folded his arms and thought long and hard about the issue he was facing. The White Dragon''s tooth was seemingly indestructible, which meant it couldn''t be destroyed so easily. But it also meant that it would be nearly impossible to turn it into a weapon, as a cksmith would need to slice off or bend certain parts in order to create the intended look. "Are there any cksmiths remaining who specialise in creating weapons?" ude turned his gaze towards Senior Beldon and asked. Regardless of whether or not he had a solution to the problem right now, he felt that it would be better to know about any cksmiths in his vicinity as it would be useful information when he does find a solution. "cksmiths? These days?" Senior Beldon looked at him with surprise in his eyes before shaking his head. "The profession of being a cksmith died out many years ago. I doubt there are any cksmiths remaining who are even alive." "Alright then, do you know any famous cksmiths who had it as their family business and are dead now? And did any of them have children?" ude asked, which confused Senior Beldon. He looked at ude and asked, "Why do you want to know about that? Are you thinking that they might have passed on their teachings to their children?" "It''s just a guess, but there could be a chance," ude shrugged his shoulders as he answered Senior Beldon''s question. "People usually are keen to pass on their family teachings and businesses to their children. Though I could be wrong as well." "And why did you ask if they were famous?" Senior Beldon asked, curious about ude''s words, and he simply answered, "They would have made more money if they were famous. People who had famous businesses would''ve been prideful about their skills and abilities and it would definitely increase the chances of them passing on their teachings to their children. They would take pride in their past rather than those who have done poorly, who would simply wish to forget about their past instead." "I see, that makes sense..." Senior Beldon nodded his head as he thought of the names of famous cksmiths whom he had heard of before. "I do remember hearing about a cksmith family who were pretty famous," After scratching his head for over five minutes, Senior Beldon spoke and ude began to listen. "Their family name, if I remember correctly, was the ''Richardsons'', and if my memory serves me right, they used to have a small shop in Coderton city. That''s all I know." He said with a bitter smile as he finished his words, and ude waved his hands in response. "No, no, it''s alright It was just a question. I wasn''t nning on looking into it yet." ude said as he dismissed the situation. He decided to think about thatter, as he currently had no solution to solve this problem. And now that he had knowledge about one of the cksmith families, he could investigate them further afterwards. "Ah yes, I have one more thing to ask Senior!" ude snapped his finger and turned to his senior, who simply looked at him and said, "What is it? What do you wish to know about?" "Does senior know anything about Salvador City?" ude asked urgently as he remembered the letter that he had found concealed inside Elizabeth''s documents. "Has senior ever heard of this ce before?" "Salvador City?" Senior Beldon thought for a few seconds before shaking his head and replying. "I don''t think I have. Do you know the Prefecture that it might be located in?" "I believe it''s part of the Shirington Prefecture," ude responded almost immediately. "Oh, Shirington Prefecture.." Senior Beldon spoke in a calm voice. "I believe it''s to the south of wferry Prefecture.. Would probably take you about three to four days to reach there if you do n on going. I don''t know about Salvador City, so it would be better if you ask someone else." "Oh, no.. It''s alright!" ude shook his head. He had the information he needed right now. All of a sudden "The Headmaster requests his disciples to arrive at his residence as soon as possible!" An announcement was made within the Inner Disciple Division, catching both ude and Senior Beldon''s attention and they exited outside if the training grounds to see two men who wearing the uniforms of Elders reading from a scroll. The two Elders nced at both ude and Senior Beldon for a brief second before reading aloud the message once again, repeating everything. ude and Senior Beldon looked at each other for a second and nodded their heads, before heading towards the Headmaster''s residence. **************** As soon as they reached the Headmaster''s residence, they were greeted with stares from the rest of the disciples. Some were of intrigue, others were of questioning, and a few of them were of anger. ude looked around and saw Ian Jefferson standing behind the crowd, ring at him with an angry expression on his face. ''I guess this idiot still hasn''t learned his lesson yet,'' ude thought to himself. He knew that this could''ve happened. After all, people weren''t going to change so easily. However, he couldn''t kill this young man so easily. Not yet. ''No matter, I still have time.'' ude whispered softly and he grinned at Ian, staring right at him which caught him off guard. ude''s stare sent a chill down Ian''s spine and he couldn''t help but tremble in fear. When he realised that ude was messing with him, he grit his teeth. But before he could do anything, Elder Keh appeared from the second floor and shouted loudly, "Attention! The Headmaster is here!" Chapter 116: Spouting Nonsense Chapter 116: Spouting Nonsense ude looked around and saw Ian Jefferson standing behind the crowd, ring at him with an angry expression on his face. ''I guess this idiot still hasn''t learned his lesson yet,'' ude thought to himself. He knew that this could''ve happened. After all, people weren''t going to change so easily. However, he couldn''t kill this young man so easily. Not yet. ''No matter, I still have time.'' ude whispered softly and he grinned at Ian, staring right at him which caught him off guard. ude''s stare sent a chill down Ian''s spine and he couldn''t help but tremble in fear. When he realised that ude was messing with him, he grit his teeth. But before he could do anything, Elder Keh appeared from the second floor and shouted loudly, "Attention! The Headmaster is here!" Although it was a simple announcement, the Elder''s words carried a certain might, and as his words began reverberating in every disciple''s ears, they immediately turned silent and turned to look at Elder Keh, focusing all of their attention on him and showing no intention of disobeying his words. Elder Keh had infused a part of his spiritual energy into his words, which resulted in the disciples feeling his aura pressing down on them. ude, although he was at the sky realm, was also able to feel the pressure that the Elder was emitting, and couldn''t help but be surprised by his strength. He was extremely powerful! Almost everyone who was gathered there had the same thought. Elder Keh scanned each and every one of the disciples with his eyes and was satisfied with their reaction to his words. "Good!" He muttered to himself as he looked at the disciples who were staring at him, and then pointed to his side and said, "Now, pay respects to the new Headmaster of the Golden- no, the Royal Academy of Argria!" As soon as he finished speaking, a figure appeared next to him in an instant, and all the disciples knelt down on one leg and bowed their heads in sync, collectively yelling out; "Greetings Headmaster!" A faint smile was revealed on the Headmaster''s face and he waved his hands at his disciples and said, "At ease, my young disciples!" -------- EVIL SAMURAI IN CULTIVATION WORLD -------- The disciples looked at each other for a brief second before bowing their heads at the Headmaster once again and got up from the floor. The Headmaster stared at his disciples for a second before opening his mouth to speak, "My precious disciples! You might''ve already heard of this rumour before, but for those who haven''t; with the help of the Royal Family, the Golden Avarice Academy is going to be merging with the two of the remaining academies in the wferry Prefecture: Silver Moon Academy of Vercester and Trinity Academy of Orefield. Of course, the merging doesn''t mean that the students from all three academies will move to a single andbined Academy - or at least not this soon - but it does mean that there''ll be more chances of interacting with the students of these academies." The disciples looked at each other and began murmuring to themselves, curious of what the Headmaster was talking about. Only ude looked at the Headmaster with an understanding expression on his face. "Everyone, be quiet!" Elder Keh decided to interject. He didn''t speak loudly, but every disciple became silent at once. After making sure that the students had be quiet, Elder Keh nodded his head towards the Headmaster, who nodded back with a smile. "Now, although we are all technically part of the same academy, it is to note that there are going to be people within the academy who are not going to see it that way," The Headmaster continued speaking, and everyone fixed their gazes back to him. "Although this kind of mindset might be changeable, it would most definitely take a good amount of time to do so. So instead, I suggest that we try and stay together, as a faction and as a team! We need to learn to have each other''s back because once the merging isplete, we''ll be interacting with various groups of students and faculties, and some of them who approach you might have ulterior motives." ude listened to the words of the Headmaster and let out a chuckle inside his mind. ''Isn''t this fear mongering and propaganda?'' ude was intrigued by the techniques that the Headmaster was using to bring his faction even closer to him. He knew that although the backing of the Royal Family and gaining the position of the Headmaster was a step up in power and authority, it had stille with a catch, which was the merging of the three academies. The alliance of the three academies were necessary to end the conflict between the Royal Family and the Academies as well as saving the country of Argria. But the new Headmaster knew that the merging of the three academies meant his disciples would have more chances of being influenced by ideas and techniques of Elders from the other two academies. Elders who weren''t under him. Such a situation was a threat to the Headmaster, especially since he was new to the position. Which was why he was using such shady methods to manipte his disciples'' mind, to make them fear and be cautious of new encounters. And most of these disciples were studying under the Third Elder since they were fifteen and were probably their only mentor, someone who had their trust. Of course, ude didn''t have a problem with the methods that the Headmaster was using. Although he was covering up his shady methods by talking about being a team and sticking together, ude had to agree that it wouldn''t be such a good idea to wee the other academies with open arms and no doubts. After all, they were the same group who backstabbed their peers for a better position of power. It would be absolutely idiotic for them to actually trust each other after all that. In fact, ude was pretty sure that most of these Elders would be utilising a simr technique to the ones the new Headmaster was using to manipte their disciples as well. Of course, ude also knew that the Headmaster also wasn''t going topletely trust him either. After all, he was someone who betrayed his own master. How on earth could he trust ude? In fact, ude knew that the only reason that the Headmaster was allowing him to live was because of him helping out the Prince and sessfully catching his eye, and because he had his usefulness. The Headmaster knew that ude had no good reason to betray him right now, for he would have nowhere else to turn to, and it would be extremely hard to betray someone who''s already cautious about him. "Learn to trust each other! Learn to fight for each other!" As ude thought about his symbiotic rtionship with his new master, the Headmaster continued to speak, spouting out nonsense for his disciples. ''I would have said that no one would believe this, but from the looks of it, it''s actually working,'' ude scanned his surroundings and realized that almost all the disciples had excited expressions on their faces, clearly feeling joy from the Headmaster''s words, and he let out a sigh inside his mind. p! p! "Now that that''s over." The Headmaster pped his hands together as he spoke. "We have to talk about the Golden Crown tournament that ising up!" In an instant, the eyes of the disciples lit up, and ude shook his head. "As you all know, now that the three academies havebined together to form the Royal Academy, we would still be fighting as factions against each other." The Headmaster said with a smile on his face, and the disciples nodded their heads. The Headmaster paused for a second, before continuing. "What most of you need right now is experience and understanding. You may be at a high rank, but without experience in fighting, you would be unable to fully utilize your skills and techniques and reach your true potential. And it is only through continuous sparring that you learn more about your shorings as well. You can only identify yourplete set of weaknesses if you ce yourself in different kinds of situations. A single fight might tell you one weakness, but another might provide you with an entirely different one. Different people fight in different ways, and you need to learn to adapt to various situations." The disciples nodded their heads again, as if they were saying they understood his words. "Although it would be a better option for you to have real battles, I''m afraid we don''t have sufficient time until the tournament, and it would definitely be terrible if our most powerful members ended up not being able to recover, or even worse, sumb to death." The Headmaster snapped his fingers as he said. "Which is why I have decided to conduct a sparring contest between the members!" Chapter 117: Speeches and Meetings Chapter 117: Speeches and Meetings "What most of you need right now is experience and understanding. You may be at a high rank, but without experience in fighting, you would be unable to fully utilize your skills and techniques and reach your true potential. And it is only through continuous sparring that you learn more about your shorings as well. You can only identify yourplete set of weaknesses if you ce yourself in different kinds of situations. A single fight might tell you one weakness, but another might provide you with an entirely different one. Different people fight in different ways, and you need to learn to adapt to various situations." The disciples nodded their heads again, as if they were saying they understood his words. "Although it would be a better option for you to have real battles, I''m afraid we don''t have sufficient time until the tournament, and it would definitely be terrible if our most powerful members ended up not being able to recover, or even worse, sumb to death." The Headmaster snapped his fingers as he continued. "Which is why I have decided to conduct a sparring contest between the members!" ''A sparring contest?'' As the Headmaster finished his words, the disciples nced at each other, giving doubtful looks. Most of them were wondering whether or not this was a test to figure out who among them were the strongest. After all, knowing about your most powerful disciples would give the Headmaster an idea on whom he should be focusing his attention more. Of course, these kinds of spections only pumped up the disciples even more, as they wished to show their strengths and abilities to their master. For them, this was a chance to get the attention of the Headmaster. "The sparring contest willmence in one week''s time. I urge you all to use the time remaining to prepare for the contest, for anyone, even juniors who arepletely new to the faction, can participate." The Headmaster nced at ude for a brief moment as he said so. "Master, is there any reward for getting first ce in the contest?" A female disciple, Katherine Warner, raised her hand and asked. The other disciples also nodded their heads for they too had the same question. "Of course there is a reward for reaching first ce!" The Headmaster smiled as he stretched his hand to the side and snapped his fingers, and Elder Keh reached into his sleeves, pulled out a scroll and passed it onto him. The Headmaster''s answer did not disappoint anyone. He looked at his disciples for a few seconds before continuing, "The victor of the sparring contest shall receive the ''White Blossom Palm Techniques'', a secret palm strike technique that was created by the Legendary General Gareth Frasier!" A secret technique that was created by the Legendary General Gareth himself! Every disciple had their eyes glued to the scroll in the Headmaster''s hands now. They all wished to be able to cultivate a secret martial arts technique in their life, and this was their chance! "I want you all to give it your all and show off your skills!" The Headmaster''s voice echoed throughout the room, and the disciples couldn''t help but feel motivated. "With only a short period of time remaining until the Golden Crown tournament, we have to make sure that we win! To win, you need to improve. And to improve, you have to fight!" Everyone nodded their heads. All of the people here knew that as a faction that was under the mastership of the Headmaster of the Royal Academy, they had to give it their all to win the Golden Crown tournament. "I also would like to remind you that this contest is simply for educational purposes, and any techniques which are implemented with the intention of seriously injuring the opponent will result in immediate disqualification!" The Headmaster''s expression turned serious as he spoke, for he knew that there might be disciples who might have grudges on others and might see the contest as an opportunity to take care of their enemies. "I don''t want any of my disciples to seriously injure themselves and miss the chance to participate in the Golden Crown tournament! Understood?" "Yes master!" As soon as he finished speaking, all the disciples bowed their heads together and yelled out in unison, and their voices echoed throughout the building. "Good!" The Headmaster stared at his disciples for a few seconds before nodding his head in satisfaction, and said, "Well then, you can all leave to your residences now, for the meeting is now over!" He nced at ude, giving a meaningful look at him as he walked back, disappearing from everyone''s view, and ude simply nodded his head. Although he knew that the Headmaster didn''tpletely trust him, he still had no choice but to stay under him for now. After all, survival was important, and he would simply be reducing his chances of surviving if he did decide to leave the Grand Astral Faction. ude walked out of the Headmaster''s residence along with the rest of the disciples, and decided to head back to his residence in order to train. "Junior brother ude, wait for me!" Someone behind ude called out his name just as he was about to leave the area and he turned around to see his senior, Wilfred Beldon, walking towards him. "Why were you in such a hurry to leave, junior brother?" Senior Beldon walked over with a joyful smile on his face and asked. "Don''t tell me that you were nning on practicing again?" ude shrugged his shoulders and replied, "That was the idea.." "You really need to find some good hobbies, junior brother ude!" Senior Beldon let out a sigh and shook his head. "Oh, and by the way, what did you think about the Headmaster''s proposal about a sparring contest?" "Of course, I am nning to win it.." ude turned his gaze towards Senior Beldon as he said so, and the senior nodded his head with a smile. "I was expecting you to say that. But what do you think about the rest of the disciples? Do you know anything about your potential opponents?" ude shifted his gaze towards the front and began walking as he responded, "I do n on finding out more about my opponents, but for now, I am thinking of focusing on my practice first." "Well, whatever you want to do, I guess..." Senior Beldon shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. He then nced behind for a brief second, before leaning towards ude and whispering softly, "By the way, I think someone is angry at you..." ude looked at him strangely, confused about what he meant and Senior Beldon pointed to his back, "I don''t know the kid, but I assume he''s the one you beat up?" Behind them, a few metres away, were a group of people walking towards them with cold expressions on their faces, and ude, who saw what Senior Beldon was talking about, quickly wore a disinterested face and sighed. This idiot just wants to get beaten up, doesn''t he? The group was of course, Ian Jefferson and hisckeys, who were all ring at ude as though he was the devil. Senior Beldon, who was watching the group with an interesting expression on his face, leaned over to ude with a smile and said, "I think you should''ve beat him up harder." "Thank you for the input," ude said with a sarcastic expression. "I''ll make sure that I keep that in mind." "ude Rayforth!" Ian''s voice came from behind them, as he walked towards him with hisckeys and said, "You might''ve won because I underestimated you, but never again. You''re participating in the sparring contest, right? I''ll show you then that you only won because you were able to catch me off guard!" ude snorted in response and said, "You know, that would''ve worked if you were some powerful cultivator, but we all know that you are just merely average at best. You think you can fight me in the sparring contest? Better think about beating the average disciples, because you aren''t worth my time." "Oh really? Then how about me?" All of a sudden, a voice interjected their conversation, and ude turned his gaze towards the ce where the voice hade from with a surprised expression. ''Well, well, well It seems that it wasn''t onlyckeys that were apanying him,'' ude thought to himself as a sinister smile appeared on his face. The person who spoke was one of the people who were standing next to Ian, and he had spread out their aura when he spoke, and ude realized that this fellow wasn''t his average opponent. He''s extremely powerful! ude narrowed his eyes as he stared at the man, who had a handsome face and wore a dark blue robe. The man''s aura slowly surged up as he walked forward, until he stood right in front of ude, staring at him as he said, "My name is Russell Davies. I''m Ian''s senior, and I heard you beat him up. May I ask why?" ude stared at Russell for a second, and said "Does it matter? You''re nning to take revenge anyways, aren''t you?" "So you don''t have an answer, I presume?" Russell stared at ude coldly, who simply shrugged his shoulders in response. He then said, "I''ll make sure you regret your actions in the sparring contest." ude snorted and replied, "No you won''t." Chapter 118: Verbal Abuse Chapter 118: Verbal Abuse "Oh really? Then how about me?" The person who spoke was one of the people who were standing next to Ian, and he had spread out their aura when he spoke, and ude realized that this fellow wasn''t his average opponent. The man''s aura slowly surged up as he walked forward, until he stood right in front of ude, staring at him as he said, "My name is Russell Davies. I''m Ian''s senior, and I heard you beat him up. May I ask why?" ude stared at Russell for a second, and said "Does it matter? From what it looks like, you''re nning to take revenge on me anyways, aren''t you?" "So you don''t have an answer, I presume?" Russell stared at ude coldly, who simply shrugged his shoulders in response. He then said, "I''ll make sure you regret your actions in the sparring contest." ude snorted and replied, "No you won''t." "Oh? That''s big talking from a junior,"The gleam in his eyes was more evident as Russell swept his gaze across ude''s body, scanning him from head to toe and ude felt a huge pressure pressing down on him, and he clenched his fists. "I thought your previous master might''ve taught you the basics about respecting your seniors, but I guess I was simply expecting too much from someone who was part of the Flying Sword Faction!" "Ha ha ha ha. I must say, you''re extremely funny, Senior Russell. Just like your junior next you. No, perhaps even better!" udeughed coldly as he resisted the pressure that was being exerted by Russell and said with a smile, "I can see where senior Ian gets his sense of humour from. But just so you know, senior Ian over there said the exact same thing to me, and yet he couldn''t even defend a single attack of mine. So, if you really wanted me to take you seriously, then you should''ve honestlye up with better lines." "You brat! You think you can simply mock your senior and get away without suffering any consequences?" Senior Russell Davies stopped smiling and shouted out angrily at ude as he increased the amount of pressure that he was exerting on ude. ude, who was already trying his very best to resist the overwhelming aura that was pressing him down was now being overpowered, and he gritted his teeth in response. "Now now I was not nning on interfering with what appeared to have been some lighthearted hazing, but you are stepping over the line now, Russell." At that very moment, the cold voice of Senior Wilfred Beldon entered the ears of everyone present, and his powerful aura burst out forward, pushing back Russell''s aura in response and giving ude a chance to gasp for air. "You know, I''ve been standing here all this time listening to all the nonsense that you were spouting, and I couldn''t help but scoff at you. Look at you, you''re a senior who''s threatening your junior because he kicked yourckey''s a*s and it hurt your ego. I mean, that is just hrious to me." "You! What the hell did you say to me?!" Senior Russell''s expression suddenly became very unsightly as he stared at Senior Beldon and his hatred for him intensified. "Oh? Not only are you an idiot, but you''re deaf as well? Don''t worry, I''ll exin it to you." Senior Beldon let out a short snicker as he walked towards Senior Russell, and stood in front of him with a cold expression as he looked down to him. "I said that you''re a joke! Why? Does that hurt your little ego?" "You just want to die today, don''t you?" Senior Russell clenched his fist and stared at Senior Beldon as the pressure surrounding them increased tremendously, and ude and the rest immediately backed off in order to not be affected by it. "You were talking big in front of my junior, right?" Senior Beldon looked at Senior Russell and snorted as he nonchntly replied. "Bragging about how powerful you are, how you were going to get revenge on him for your idiotkey.... Well here''s the thing; if you want to get to my junior, then you''re going to have to go through me. Do you understand?" Swish! A giant hammer manifested all of a sudden in the hands of Senior Beldon, as the atmosphere began to get thick. Senior Russell nced at the hammer for a brief second and snorted as he spoke, "I thought you would be all talk and no bite, but I suppose you do have a spine, huh. No matter, if you truly wish for a fight, then I shall give you one. I''ll show you just how much of a fool you really are for wanting to fight me!" ZHAM! As soon as he finished speaking, short strands of lightning began swarming around his hands and two sharp axes appeared out of nowhere, bursting out with spiritual energy as soon as they made contact with his hands. ude watched the two seniors stare at each other, studying their spiritual energy levels and the terrifying aura that they were exuding outwards. He looked at the two axes that were gripped tightly by Senior Russell with his cold and calcting gaze. "Now, now What in the world is going on here?" All of a sudden, a rusty voice echoed throughout the surroundings, causing the two seniors to flinch in unison and turn around. Elder Keh stood behind them, gazing at the two seniors with an amusing expression on his face. "Oh, did I interrupt something? I apologize. Don''t mind me. Why don''t you continue doing whatever it is that you were doing?" "Ah- N-No, Elder. I was simply instructing my fellow faction member about the techniques used by me inbat..." Senior Russell replied awkwardly as he clumsily rubbed his back and smiled at the Elder, and ude couldn''t help but snicker at his behaviour. "Oh? So you two were not trying to fight each other right in front of the Headmaster''s residence?" Elder Keh turned his gaze towards Senior Beldon and asked. "No, no. Of course not, Elder Keh. Like brother Russell said, we were simply exchanging our fighting and cultivation techniques in order to improve ourselves for the sparring contest next week," Senior Beldon said with a smile on his face, and if it wasn''t for Elder Keh witnessing them about to fight just a few seconds ago, he would''ve definitely bought every word that came out of Senior Beldon''s mouth. "Hah..." The Elder let out a long sigh as he shook his head. "If you don''t want to be truthful, then that''s fine. I''ll ignore it for now. After all, it is in the end, your business and not mine. However..." He then turned to look at the two seniors, and his smile faded from his face, instead of which a serious expression appeared. "Do not forget that you are all part of the same faction now. And as you know, we have a tournament to take part in. This is the Headmaster''s chance to show everyone in the country what he''s capable of. So, I have to warn you; do not seriously injure each other, for you are not only risking your own lives, but the chances of the faction itself. I hope you understand that. " "Yes, Elder Keh. We understandpletely!" Both the seniors bowed their heads in unison as soon as Elder Keh finished his words, and ude and the rest followed suit. Elder Keh scanned the disciples'' faces and nodded his head as he continued speaking. "Very good. I won''t interfere with your business as long as it doesn''t make one of you seriously injured. However, if I were you, I would consider using the sparring contest to end your grudges once and for all. After all, you would have no choice but to hold back." "Yes, Elder Keh! We''ll consider it!" The two seniors once again bowed their heads, and so did the rest of them. Elder Keh waved his hands, dismissing their expression of respect, and turned back to leave. The group then watched the Elder walk back towards the Headmaster''s residence until he disappeared from their view. As soon as they made sure that the Elder wasn''t visible, the two seniors turned around to face each other, their gazes filled with hate for each other. "We''ll finish this in the sparring contest!" Senior Russell said as he gritted his teeth, getting awfully close to Senior Beldon''s face. Senior Beldon snorted as he didn''t back down from the staredown and replied, "Oh we definitely will finish this. Once and for all. And I''ll make sure that you regret meeting me." "Sure you will," Senior Russell said with a sarcastic tone and then shifted his gaze towards Ian and hisckeys and whistled at him, signalling him that it was time to leave. "Your owner is calling you. Better go now or else he might get angry!" ude whispered softly and immediately Ian turned around, his expression furious. "You!" However, before he could finish his words, he saw that Senior Russell was ring at him, and he reluctantly turned back and walked towards him, and theckeys followed close behind. "Don''t think that this is over, punk.." Ian said as they were leaving, his eyes burning with hatred. ude simply waved his hands with a smile in response, and the confrontation ended without a fight. Chapter 119: A Horror Story Chapter 119: A Horror Story "We''ll finish this in the sparring contest!" "Oh we definitely will finish this. Once and for all. And I''ll make sure that you regret meeting me." "Sure you will," Senior Russell said with a sarcastic tone and then shifted his gaze towards Ian and hisckeys and whistled at him, signalling him that it was time to leave. "Your owner is calling you. Better go now or else he might get angry!" ude whispered softly and immediately Ian turned around, his expression furious. "You!" However, before he could finish his words, he saw that Senior Russell was ring at him, and he reluctantly turned back and walked towards him, and theckeys followed close behind. "Don''t think that this is over, punk.." Ian said as they were leaving, his eyes burning with hatred. ude simply waved his hands with a smile in response, and the confrontation ended without a fight. "You do know that you didn''t have to interfere with my problems, right?" ude turned his gaze towards Senior Beldon as soon as the silhouettes of the group disappeared from his view. "Well initially, I was nning on letting you do your own thing. But then I figured ''eh, why not?''. You can''t have all the fun yourself, can you?" Senior Beldon Shrugged his shoulders as he finished his words. He then turned around and resumed walking, and ude followed him close behind. "So, what do you n to do?" Senior Beldon asked as they walked towards the inner disciple division, and ude shifted his gaze towards him, waiting for him to exin his words. "I know I said that he''ll have to go through me to get to you, but we don''t know what the rules of the contest even are. For all we know, you could end up fighting Russell in your first match. And even if you don''t, there is still a chance that you would end up fighting someone who''s as strong as Russell Davies. Are you confident that you can win against such powerful people?" "Confident about beating Russell? Nah," ude shook his head in response to his senior''s words and replied, "But I am confident that I can handle an attack or two against him. Or even cultivators who are as strong as him, even." "You do know that you''re going to have to do more than take punches to win, right?" Senior Beldon looked at ude with a confused expression and ude let out a snort. "What I meant was that if I am able to take an attack or two against someone, then the possibility of mending an attack on that same person increases considerably as well." ude replied with a smile as he walked towards his residence, and Senior Beldon tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean? How on earth does themnding an attack on you corrte to younding an attack on them?" He asked, confused by ude''s words. ude shrugged his shoulders and responded to his confusion with a smirk on his face. "Well, perhaps not everyone can find a corrtion between the two, but I know I can. And right now, that''s what matters to me." He then said, "You''ll understand what I mean when I actually do fight!" Senior Beldon scratched his head, thinking about what ude said, but decided to let it go in the end. The two reached the entrance in front of ude''s residence, and Senior Beldon suddenly yelled out, "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you!" "What are you talking about, senior?" ude, who was caught off guard by Senior Beldon''s reaction, asked, curious about what he wanted to tell him. "It''s about the city you mentioned to me a few hours before," Senior Beldon said as he pressed his hands on his chin, trying to remember something. "Uh, what was it called." "AHA!" *Snap!* All of a sudden, his eyes widened as he remembered, and snapped his fingers in delight as he spoke, "I remembered. It was Salvador city. That was the name of the city that you wanted to know about, wasn''t it? You asked me about it, didn''t you?" "Oh, yeah. I did ask you about it. But you said that you didn''t know anything about it. Why? Did you find out anything?" ude looked at the excited Senior Beldon with a curious expression on his face. "Oh, you have no idea." Senior Beldon replied with a grin as he rubbed his two hands together. "After you told me the name of the city, I couldn''t help but wonder about it for quite some time. I had initially thought that it was the first time that I had heard of a ce called Salvador City, but after a while, I couldn''t help but feel a sense of familiarity, as if I''ve heard about that ce before. And after a few minutes of brainstorming while I was back at the Headmaster''s residence, I finally remembered!" "What? What did you remember, Senior Beldon?" ude asked as he ran out of patience. He was intrigued by what Senior Beldon had figured out. He wanted to know immediately. "What did you remember about Salvador City?" "It''s nothing factual, I must say beforehand. But it is nevertheless an interesting story, which was why it was able to spark my interest." Senior Beldon said as he leaned back onto the wall that surrounded the entirety of ude''s residence. "It''s a rumour about a girl who had been resurrected from the dead." "Did you say ''resurrected from the Dead''?" ude''s eyes widened with surprise. The description of the story was simr to what the letter that he had found had described, but unlike the letter, which simply stated that the girl was sick, the rumour had gone a bit overboard. Or did it really? "The version of the story that I heard was that she was sick with an unknown disease. I do not remember hearing she died." "Oh, you''ve already heard of the story before?" Senior Beldon looked at him in surprise, before quickly nodding his head. "Ah I guess that was why you were so interested about Salvador City, weren''t you? Where did you hear the story from?" "I just heard it from one of the restaurants I went to." ude decided to lie about where he learned of the story. "Just some old geezer drunk on booze was yelling out loudly. I usually would have ignored it, but the story was interesting, so I listened." "Ah, I see," Senior Beldon nodded his head in understanding. "So that''s why you were asking about it. That makes sense." "Well, how''d you hear the story, Senior Beldon?" ude asked, as he was curious as to where the story originated from. "Oh, I heard it from a bard that came to Dawsbury city a few months ago." Senior Beldon began exining how he had heard of the story. "The bard said that he goes around various ces and hears strange stories told by the townspeople, and shares them with others during his journey." "And? What''s the story that you heard from him, Senior?" ude asked. "It appears that we have two very different versions of the same story. Or it seems like the same story at least." "Well, I don''t know what happens in your story, but from what I heard..." Senior Beldon spoke as he started to exin what the bard had told him. "The young girl was already near death when the townsfolk heard about the disease. Then, one day, the townsfolk heard about the passing of the young girl from her family, and everyone simply epted it. As she had caught an unknown disease, not many townsfolk attended the girl''s funeral in fear of catching it, but from the few that did, they heard that she was buried next to their house." ude furrowed his eyebrows as he listened to Senior Beldon''s words. Although both of their stories seemed simr to him at first, he quickly realized that the two stories had a vast number of differences, and the version told by the bard was very morbid and darkpared to the one that ude knew. "Anyways, the townsfolk thought that was it after the funeral and moved on to their daily lives." Senior Beldon continued with his story, and ude listened closely. "That was, until a rumour began to circte. Apparently, a few of the townsfolk heard the cry of a girling from the family''s home a couple of times at night. At first, people simply brushed it off, but as the days went by, more and more people began hearing the cries, and a few even saw the apparition of the young dead girl, wandering around near the house at night. But a few days after the alleged sighting of the dead girl, the townsfolk heard that the family had abandoned their house and moved to another city and they were never heard from ever again." "And that''s the story that I heard. What do you think?" Senior Beldon finished his story and turned to look at ude, who was rubbing his forehead with his hand, confused as to what was going on. "I need answers." Chapter 120: A Surprising Gift Chapter 120: A Surprising Gift "Anyways, the townsfolk thought that was it after the funeral and moved on to their daily lives." Senior Beldon continued with his story, and ude listened closely. "That was, until a rumour began to circte. Apparently, a few of the townsfolk heard the cry of a girling from the family''s home a couple of times at night. At first, people simply brushed it off, but as the days went by, more and more people began hearing the cries, and a few even saw the apparition of the young dead girl, wandering around near the house at night. But a few days after the alleged sighting of the dead girl, the townsfolk heard that the family had abandoned their house and moved to another city and they were never heard from ever again." "And that''s the story that I heard. What do you think?" Senior Beldon finished his story and turned to look at ude, who was rubbing his forehead with his hand, confused as to what was going on. "I need answers." He said as he leaned back next to Senior Beldon, who nodded his head as he let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I can understand that. I mean, it was told to me by someone who wasn''t a resident of the town itself, so I imagine a lot of details were left out of the story. But even then, I don''t think there''s enough information toe to a conclusion as to what really was happening in Salvador City." Senior Beldon then tilted his head up and looked at the sky as he continued, "In the end, it turned into just another folklore..." "You don''t want to hear the version of the story that I heard?" ude asked, and Senior Beldon looked at him. "Is it a better version than what I just told?" "Not really, no.." ude shrugged his shoulders. "But it does have more information." "I''ll pass," Senior Beldon shook his head and straightened himself as he spoke. "I''d rather have a good story to tell rather than an average one that leaves me wanting more. I feel like I''m bound to get disappointed." "Who knows if you''ll really be disappointed, though? I mean, for all we know, you might end up actually appreciating it for what it did." ude asked, and Senior Beldon once again shook his head. "I feel like the ''wanting more'' feeling is kind of your forte, junior brother ude," He said with a smile as he began walking away, leaving the entrance to ude''s residence. He pointed to himself as he said, "But me? No, I''d rather be ''content'' than ''wanting more''. But you do you, my junior brother. After all, I am not you and you are not me." -------- EVIL SAMURAI IN CULTIVATION WORLD -------- Senior Beldon then waved goodbye to ude, who waved back, and then turned around and left from his view, leaving ude alone as he stood in front of his residence. "There might be differences between the two stories, but looking at them side by side, I can feel the connection, that something''s off about the whole situation and that it has to do with the Azure Lion n," ude narrowed his eyes and ced his hand on his chin as he thought to himself. ''It looks like I need to make a trip to Salvador City soon,'' ude scratched his chin as he stepped inside his residence. ude''s servants came out to greet ude, who simply waved his hand at them, and entered the residence. ''But before that'' ude remembered what Senior Beldon had told him a few hours before, about the cksmith families. "The Richardson family, huh.." ude muttered to himself as he walked inside, and was greeted by his servant Randall, who bowed his head to show his respect to his master. "Wee back, young master!" Randall said with an enthusiastic voice and ude nodded his head in response. "What is it, Randall? Do you have something for me?" "Yes, young master!" As soon as he heard his master''s question, Randall''s eyes widened with surprise before readjusting almost immediately, and he opened his mouth to speak after a few seconds. "Actually, you have a guest, young master!" "Oh? Did you say I have a guest?" ude asked as he raised his eyebrows in suspicion. ording to what he knew, he wasn''t expecting any guests. However, seeing as he was now under a new master, he thought that it must have something to do with the Headmaster. "Do you know who this guest is, Randall?" Nevertheless, ude still asked Randall what he knew about this so-called guest of his. He didn''t want to make any baseless assumptions about the person yet, so it would be useful if he had at least some information about the person he was about to meet. "Not anyone who I know personally or professionally sir," Randall shook his head as he replied to ude''s question. "However, the guest did say that he was someone who worked for the Headmaster, and he did show me the Headmaster''s token as evidence. So he''s definitely not a threat." "And did he tell you his name, by any chance," ude asked, and Randall shook his head and bowed once again. "No, he did not tell me his name, young master. And by the servant''sw, if the person has the permission to enter the protected space and does note with any ill intentions, then we are not allowed to ask for the person''s name unless they provide it first. I apologise, young master. But this is how it works." "Of course. Don''t worry about it. It''s alright," ude shook his head, but he was frustrated. He knew that although the servants serve only him, they were nevertheless appointed by the academy itself. They weren''t really his servants, and this frustrated ude. He wanted a trustworthy and loyal group of people under his wing, and right now, what he had was not that. "Where is he? I''ll go ahead and meet him. You did ask him to wait in the guest room, didn''t you?" ude asked as he stepped forward and went past Randall, who turned around and replied, "Yes I did, young master. He''s currently waiting in the guest room right now, so you can go and meet him." "Alright then," ude nodded his head and then walked towards the guest room. As he reached the door to the guest room, ude grabbed the doorknob and opened it slowly as he entered. "Ah, I was waiting for you, ude Rayforth. My employer has told me so much about you, and now I''m finally able to meet you." As soon as ude opened the door, a tall and blonde young man stood in front of him with a smile on his face and his arm stretched out forward. "The name is David Lector. I''m one of the people working under the Third Elder- no, the new Headmaster. I apologise for the mistake, but I''m still adapting to the change in position." ude stretched his hand out as well and shook his hand. "I''m ude. ude Rayforth. I would tell you more about me, but I''m guessing you already know everything that you need to know about me. So I''ll keep it short for you." He then pointed at the beautiful wooden chairs that were ced next to the firece and said, "Shall we?" To which, David nodded his head. "Of course." They both walked towards the wooden chairs and sat down opposite to each other, and ude asked, "So, ''People working under the Headmaster''?" Referring to the words spoken by David a few seconds ago. "Well, we don''t exactly have names for what we do," David shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, and ude furrowed his eyebrows. "Let''s just say that I ''take care'' of things for the Headmaster." "Oh?" ude raised a single eyebrow in response to his words and asked, "And may I ask what brings you to my residence today?" "To hand you this," David leaned forward all of a sudden and instantly moved his hand inside his sleeve, causing ude to flinch for a second. "Here, catch!" David pulled out a scroll from under his sleeve and threw it over to ude, who caught it with a confused expression. "And what might this be?" ude asked as he pulled the small string and opened the scroll and David replied to his question, "The Headmaster called it a gift; he said that it''ll help you reach the goal that you were aiming towards." Inside the scroll was the detailed information about the Grand Astral Faction''s disciples; including everything from daily routines to secret techniques that they''ve mastered as ofte. ude, surprised by the Headmaster''s ''gift'', turned to look at David, who simply grinned at him. "You do know that the Headmaster expects you to win the sparring contest, right? Now, I might not be so sure about your victory, but I do think this will help you get closer to that goal." Chapter 121: A Good Chat Chapter 121: A Good Chat "Here, catch!" David pulled out a scroll from under his sleeve and threw it over to ude, who caught it with a confused expression. "And what might this be?" ude asked as he pulled the small string and opened the scroll and David replied to his question, "The Headmaster called it a gift; he said that it''ll help you reach the goal that you were aiming towards." Inside the scroll was the detailed information about the Grand Astral Faction''s disciples; including everything from daily routines to secret techniques that they''ve mastered as ofte. ude, surprised by the Headmaster''s ''gift'', turned to look at David, who simply grinned at him. "You do know that the Headmaster expects you to win the sparring contest, right? Now, I might not be so sure about your victory, but I do think this will help you get closer to that goal." "I can see that the Headmaster is very concerned about the results of the sparring contest," ude let out a short chuckle as he began reading through the scroll, and David simply shrugged his shoulders as he leaned back on the wooden chair. "I wouldn''t say he is concerned, but he definitely is expecting great results from you, Mr. ude Rayforth. And although this scroll might help you gain a better understanding of your opponents, it is still going to be a difficult task to clutch the first rank. I hope you understand this." "Are you perhaps insinuating that I am not up for the task, Mr. David Lector?" ude asked with a raised eyebrow, and David shed a smile in response to his question. "I am not insinuating anything, Mr. Rayforth. I am confident that even though you might be at a disadvantage when ites to ranks and cultivation techniques, you can easily make up for your disadvantages by utilising your mind and your raw skills." "If you already have all this information about me, then why do I feel like you''re questioning my abilities, Mr. Lector?" ude asked as he folded his hands, and David scratched his chin, let out a sigh and began speaking with a bitter smile. "I''m afraid you have misunderstood, Mr. Rayforth. I am not questioning your abilities, but your loyalty." -------- EVIL SAMURAI IN CULTIVATION WORLD -------- ude narrowed his eyebrows and stared at David with a cold gaze on his face, and David paused for a second to look at ude, which led to a brief but ufortable silence that filled the entire room. "I understand why you are looking at me with such a cold gaze, Mr. Rayforth.." David tilted his head sideways as he spoke. "But you can understand my concerns, can''t you? I mean, you are a disciple who betrayed his former master in order to gain the eptance of the new Headmaster. I''m sure you understand why I would be having doubts about your loyalty, right?" "I betrayed my master for the greater good. I was loyal to my master, but I am also loyal to my country. And in the end, I chose my country over my master. So, I''m sure you would understand why you shouldn''t be having doubts about my loyalty unless it involves the safety of our country, right?" ude decided to retort with a question of his own, but he knew that the man''s suspicions would not go away. "Perhaps you are telling the truth. However, your actions still make me unable to trust your words. As a result, I remain unconvinced of your loyalty and the truth in your words." David replied and then turned to look at ude''s face, which remained the same. However, he was fuming inside of his mind. Of course, ude didn''t betray his master to protect his master. He only did it to protect himself. He was a reincarnated soul, and he wasn''t about to let his second chance be wasted so easily. Not when he hasn''t aplished anything. He knew why, but he couldn''t reveal his reasons to David. That would be an extremely foolish decision on his part, and would only ce him on an even greater disadvantage. After a short period of silence, ude let out a sigh and responded with a deste expression on his face. "For what reason would I even betray the Headmaster, may I ask? As it stands, it would only put me at a disadvantage if I do decide to betray the Headmaster. I''m sure you know this, Mr. Lector. Of course, I understand why you would have a hard time trusting my words, but what you can trust are the cold, hard facts, and facts do not lie." "And, if you don''t mind me asking, what happens when this so-called disadvantage disappears, Mr. Rayforth?" David leaned forward and held his chin up with his hands. ude did the same as well as he replied to his question. "Well then, I''m sure that the Headmaster must have thought about it and might have already prepared a n to stop that from happening!" Another brief period of silence. David was looking at ude with an intrigued expression, which made ude feel ufortable. "You know, for someone who has just turned neen, you seem awfully calm about everything," After staring at ude for a good amount of time, David spoke with a grin. "In fact, you''re so calm about everything that it makes me feel as though something''s off!" "Well, we are living in the martial world," ude shrugged his shoulders and replied almost immediately. "It would be better to get ustomed to everything sooner rather thanter, in my opinion." "So you''re saying that you''re simply just ahead of the curve?" David asked and ude shrugged once again. "You can call it whatever you want. I''m just telling that I''m a bit more understanding of my surroundings and the situation that I''m in." "Hm, interesting ha ha ha ha!" All of a sudden, David leaned back andughed out loud, which was sopletely unexpected that it even caught ude off guard. "Ha, I had read the reports, but honestly, I didn''t feel as though you were worthy of investment," David waved his hands and corrected himself. "Ah, don''t get me wrong, I''m not telling that you don''t have any abilities. You definitely do, and you''re incredibly skilled as well. It''s just..." David scratched his cheeks, contemting on how to convey his words for a second before continuing, "The Headmaster was describing you as someone who had the ability to topple the martial world, and from what I read, I simply couldn''t envision that." He then turned his gaze towards ude, who was looking at him with a confused expression on his face, and he let out a sigh. "But after meeting you, I can see why the Headmaster would think that. You certainly have... something. I don''t know exactly what it is, but I feel as though you are someone who can bring about change. Now, I don''t know whether it''s a good change or a bad change, but I guess that''s the risk you take while investing on something so uncertain." "Are you telling me that you''re satisfied with my answer?" ude looked at him and asked, and David let out a short chuckle and nodded his head. "Oh I am. I am definitely satisfied. It was a good decision to meet you, Mr. Rayforth. We''ll probably be seeing each other again, so I hope we''ll get along well." As he finished speaking, he stood up from his chair and walked towards ude, who stood up in response. David stretched out his hand and said, "I am hoping that you achieveplete victory in the sparring contest, Mr. Rayforth. And I hope you''ll maintain a cordial rtionship with the Headmaster." "I will try my very best, Mr. Lector," ude responded as he shook David''s hand. He then continued, "And it was good to meet you as well, although I don''t know about seeing each other again." "Ha ha ha I like your sense of humour," David said with a smirk on his face as he patted ude on his shoulder, and then he left the room waving his hands, shouting loudly, "I will see youter, Mr. Rayforth!" He then exited the room, leaving ude standing alone in the guest room. ''So the Headmaster is wary of me, huh..'' ude smiled as he sat down on the wooden chair and began reading through the scroll once again. ''I did expect that, but to think he''d be so straightforward about his wariness..'' ude narrowed his eyes as he massaged his forehead, before letting out a heavy sigh. ''Well, it isn''t like I have another option to lean on right now. So I guess I''ll have to be on my best behavior,'' ude let out a bitter smile and he decided to focus on the sparring contest first. ''For now, it''s better to study the information about the other disciples first and n out strategies in order to counter them,'' ude thought to himself as he began going through the scroll. Chapter 122: Light Reading Chapter 122: Light Reading "I will see youter, Mr. Rayforth!" David soon exited the room, leaving ude standing alone in the guest room. ''So the Headmaster is wary of me, huh..'' ude smiled as he sat down on the wooden chair and began reading through the scroll once again. ''I did expect that, but to think he''d be so straightforward about his wariness..'' ude narrowed his eyes as he massaged his forehead, before letting out a heavy sigh. ''Well, it isn''t like I have another option to lean on right now. So I guess I''ll have to be on my best behavior,'' ude let out a bitter smile and he decided to focus on the sparring contest first. ''For now, it''s better to study the information about the other disciples first and n out strategies in order to counter them,'' ude thought to himself as he began going through the scroll. -------- EVIL SAMURAI IN CULTIVATION WORLD -------- ude began concentrating as he read the information that was present, making sure he memorized each and every single point that had been written down on the scroll. ''It''s surprising how many members the Grand Astral Faction really have. I was expecting a number simr to the Flying Sword Faction, or perhaps maybe slightly more than that, but I guess I was way off.'' ude thought to himself as he came to the realization that the number of disciples who were part of the Grand Astral Faction were well above thirty, which just seemed ridiculous to him. ''I guess the Headmaster is someone who prefers quantity over quality.'' ude wondered the reason for such arge roster of members, and came to the conclusion that the Headmaster picked almost all the disciples who had even some form of potential, instead of picking them only after intensely researching them like his previous master did. Of course, he was confident that the Headmaster was aware of the problems such a method of choosing might bring about. After all, he was an Elder for the Golden Avarice Academy. It wasn''t a position that can be achieved by just anyone. And it wasn''t as though he was picking them off the street. He only picked the inner disciples, who were already a step above the normal cultivators, and finding a really bad cultivator among them is extremely hard. Sure, it may make it hard to find a genius who may rock the martial world using such a method, but ude figured that the Headmaster wasn''t exactly nning to find anyone like that in the first ce. From the looks of it, it seemed like the Headmaster only wanted to have arge group that was headed by many strong cultivators, instead of a small group that had one genius. ''Well, whatever the reason may be for such a decision, it seems like I am going to be having quite a number of opponents to beat,'' ude thought to himself as he began counting the members. After counting, ude realized that including him, there were a total of thirty two members in the Grand Astral Faction. Going by the conventional tournament knockout style, this meant that ude would have to fight five matches to clinch the title of victor. He then looked at the main group of disciples whom he considered to be the biggest obstacles on his path to victory. ''The first one is, of course, senior Russell Davies!'' ude stared at his senior''s information that was written on the scroll with a cold look on his face. Although he didn''t like this senior of his, he had to admit that Russell Davies was a powerful foe. Currently at the sixth rank of the sky realm, he seemed as though he was already close to breaking through to the seventh rank. ude couldn''t help but furrow his eyebrows at the immense potential this young man had. But nevertheless, ude had to defeat him in order for him to im aplete victory in the sparring contest. ''Winning against him might be difficult, but it''s not impossible,'' ude said to himself. A rtively normal cultivator would assume that beating an opponent with a three rank difference is an impossible task, especially since the difference is only going to be more evident the higher your ranks are. After all, even ude, who was already a cut above the rest of the cultivators, wasn''t able to defeat Victor Hannibal, someone who was three ranks higher than ude. But in reality, it is a bit moreplicated than that. In reality, it is less difficult to defeat an opponent with a three rank difference when you are at a higher rank than when you are at a lower rank. When you are at a lower rank and a lower realm such as the earth realm, you have very few opportunities and avenues to turn to in order to defend against a really strong foe. Not only are you not physically strong enough, you have also not fully realised your body as a whole, with lesser understanding of your senses and motion and an even less variety of defense and attack techniques in your arsenal. This makes it extremely hard to defend against a powerful opponent and the difficulty only increases the higher the rank of your opponent is. However,pare that to a situation where both the cultivators are at a higher rank, and there are more avenues that you can choose to be a part of your strategy. With enhanced senses and a deeper understanding of your body as well as your limits, the difference in cultivation rank is not so apparent like before. Of course, a cultivator can still lose to a powerful opponent. It only became a lot less difficult to fight such a strong foe than before. And this effect only amplifies when ites to a genius in cultivation and technique such as ude Rayforth. ''It may be a difficult objective, but who knows...'' A sly grin appeared on ude''s face as he looked at his senior''s data on the scroll. ''Maybe there might be a miracle.'' His gaze then moved on to his next obstacle, who was senior Leroy Wayne. Simr to senior Russell Davies, senior Leroy was also at the sixth rank of the sky realm, which meant that he was another opponent that was going to make it difficult for ude to win the contest. Leroy, who was well known amongst the faction members for his body strengthening techniques, was dangerous when it came to close range attacks such as palm strikes and fist attacks. He held so much raw power in his close range attacks that he was able to knock out almost all of his opponents with a single strike, which earned him the title, the ''K.O. King''. ''Against such a dangerous opponent, it''s important to keep a distance and keep moving, and not let him catch you.'' ude told himself. He was aware of such strong people. They would usually lure their opponents to a corner or a ce where it would be difficult to makerge movements. He had to make sure that such a situation is never created. ''I have to be careful of such tricks,'' ude''s gaze then shifted to the next ones on the list; the twins Ray and Eva Walker, who were both also at the sixth realm. They were known for being fast and agile, and ude, who could also be described simrly, felt that they could be an annoying opponent for him to beat as well. ''But although these two might be difficult to win against, I feel as though he is my biggest threat,'' ude said to himself as he looked at thest member on the list, and even he wasn''t confident against such an opponent. The opponent''s name was Javier Banderas, a senior who was currently in the seventh rank; someone who could only be described as a monster. ''To think I even considered Dalton Palmer as the greatest foe I could face,'' ude snickered in his mind. Of course, Dalton had the potential to grow even stronger if given enough time and guidance, but right now, Javier was much stronger than any student ude has ever faced. After reading the data that he was given, ude realized that he was going to have a really hard time at the contest. Javier was, as some would like to call, aplete cultivator. He made sure that he was consistent in utilizing and mastering all of his skills and techniques, whether it came to speed, power or even reflexes, and only after he made sure that everything was bnced did he move forward. He wasn''t the strongest, nor was he the fastest, but he made sure that he didn''t fall behind by improving each and every aspect of himself and not bing someone who was dependent on one thing. ''I thought that this contest would only be amusing at best,'' ude had a wide grin on his face as he stared at the scroll with anticipation in his eyes. ''But now, I feel as though I can''t wait for it to begin...'' Chapter 123: Living In A Lie Chapter 123: Living In A Lie ''To think I even considered Dalton Palmer as the greatest foe I could face,'' ude snickered in his mind. Of course, Dalton had the potential to grow even stronger if given enough time and guidance, but right now, Javier was much stronger than any student ude has ever faced. Javier was, as some would like to call, aplete cultivator. He made sure that he was consistent in utilizing and mastering all of his skills and techniques, whether it came to speed, power or even reflexes, and only after he made sure that everything was bnced did he move forward. He wasn''t the strongest, nor was he the fastest, but he made sure that he didn''t fall behind by improving each and every aspect of himself and not bing someone who was dependent on one thing. ''I thought that this contest would only be amusing at best,'' ude had a wide grin on his face as he stared at the scroll with anticipation in his eyes. ''But now, I feel as though I can''t wait for it to begin...'' BAM! ude ced the scroll on the wooden table next to him and pped his hands to express his excitement. He then got up from the chair and walked towards the door and opened it, where his servant Randall was waiting for him. "Master!" As soon as he saw his master, Randall immediately lowered his head and bowed down to show respect. ude nodded his head and said to Randall, "Randall, how fast do you think you can set up a closed seclusion chamber for me?" "I-I''m sorry?" As soon as he finished speaking, Randall looked at ude with a bbergasted expression on his face. ude responded with an annoyed expression and Randall immediately realized his mistake and bowed his head once again. "Ah! I apologise, young master. I didn''t mean to be rude. I was just wondering why master would ask me to set up a closed seclusion cha-" Right before hepleted his words, his eyes widened as if he had figured out what was going on, and looked at ude with amazement in his eyes. "Don''t tell me- Young master, are you perhaps nning on entering the closed seclusion chamber to further your cultivation?" "You do understand that it''s extremely rude to question your master about his cultivation and training regimen, right?" ude stared at Randall and raised one of his eyebrows, showing his frustration, and Randall immediately backed up a few steps and apologized, "Ah! No, no I wasn''t questioning you, young master. That was not my intention at all! I was simply worried for your safety. As you most probably know, the closed seclusion chamber is infamous for its harsh effects on cultivators; both physically and mentally. And that''s especially true for younger cultivators, most of whom have gone crazy after spending time inside the closed seclusion chambers. That was why I was asking young master about it; to figure out whether you were nning on entering it or not. I was simply worried for your safety." "Well, you don''t need to worry for my sake. You are merely a servant sent by the academy to serve me. That is your duty. Telling me what to do and what not to do is not part of your duty. Do you understand me, Randall?" ude said as he stared at Randall, who simply lowered his head in shame and nodded in response. "Your servant understands, young master. I apologise for my shameful behavior." "Good," ude said after a few seconds of silence and then walked towards the living room, passing by Randall, who got up from the kneeling position that he was in, turned around and followed ude close behind. "And yes, I am nning on entering the closed seclusion chamber if you really must know." Randall, who heard ude''s words, opened his mouth as if to say something, but soon closed it after seeing the re in ude''s eyes, which warned him to not do so. "I hope the young master understands the risks going into a closed seclusion chamber involves and have taken those into ount," Randall spoke in a normal manner in order to not make ude angry, and ude looked at him with a short smile on his face before he nodded his head in response to Randall''s question. "Of course I have, Randall. How could I not? And after realizing that the gains outweigh the risks while also having enough confidence in my own skills to endure the terror that the closed seclusion chambers include, I have decided that I will be entering it." "Very well, young master," Randall, albeit reluctant about the young master''s decision, decided not to speak about it any more and nodded his head, epting his master''s wish. "If that is what the young master wishes for, then I wish you the very best inpleting your closed cultivation training. I will arrange the closed seclusion chamber as fast as I can." He then paused for a brief second, nced at ude and then continued, "Forgive me if I''m being rude, but may I ask how long will the young master be staying inside the chamber?" "Why, of course it''s only for one whole week!" ude replied with a wide smirk stered across his face, and one could feel the excitement oozing from him and spreading into the atmosphere as he spoke. "After all, I have a contest to take part in. Now I can''t miss that, can I?" "Ah, yes. Of course you cannot miss the contest. How could I not find an answer to such an easy question? Forgive me, young master," Randall bowed his head once again and ude snorted in response and waved his hands dismissively. Randall then straightened himself and turned around to head towards the exit, before shifting his gaze to look at his master and saying, "Now, if you''ll excuse me, I will try to find a closed seclusion chamber for the young master to use. I will be back as soon as I can. Goodbye, young master." ude simply nodded his head, and Randall turned around and walked out of the living room and exited the residence, leaving ude standing alone. ********************** Back in the Grand Astral Faction section of the Inner Disciple Division. "That b*tch, ude Rayforth.. I''ll make sure that I get him back for the embarrassment that I suffered at his hand!" An angry Ian Jefferson gritted his teeth as he yelled out his frustrations. He was sitting in the faction discussion room of their section, surrounded by hisckeys, who seemed to have awkward expressions on their faces as they didn''t know what to do to make him calm down. "Calm down Ian. You only lost to him because of a fluke. You underestimated him because he was younger than you, and he took advantage of that. I''m sure you''re going to beat him in the sparring contest." One of theckeys let out a sigh as he tried to console Ian. "Yeah, Ian. I mean, that''s the truth, right? You thought that he was just another junior, and you let your guard down. The kid, who figured out that you weren''t taking him seriously, wanted to show off in front of everyone, and he took advantage of that. That''s it. It worked a single time, but it won''t work again." Another one chimed in, and soon, so did the rest of the squad, trying to please their group leader with sweet words and praises. "Yeah, yeah! Of course, that makes sense," And Ian, who was waiting for someone to praise him, nodded his head, agreeing to their words. In his mind, he really did think that he was special, and he desperately wanted to make himself believe that the only reason ude Rayforth, someone who was a junior to him, could beat him was because he was caught off guard. "I mean it is obvious as to who would really win if we fought in the contest. Yeah, I''ll show him.." "No, you won''t!" All of a sudden, a voice interrupted their group meeting and everyone turned towards the direction where the voice came from and flinched at once. It was their senior, Russell Davies, who was standing at the entrance of the discussion room, staring at the group with a hint of disdain in his eyes. "W-what do you mean by your words, Senior Russell?" Completely ignoring the disdain that was evident in Senior Russell''s eyes, Ian turned towards him and asked with a smiling face, although one could see the smile slowly faltering if they looked closer. "Oh, you know exactly what I mean, Ian!" Russell stared at Ian and spoke with a smile on his face, which forced Ian to wipe the fake smile off his face. He continued, "Don''t live in a lie, Ian. Sooner orter, it''ll eat you up." He then paused for a second, before devilishly grinning at Ian and continuing, "Oh, and the kid is my opponent, alright? I felt as though I should make that clear to you. Don''t worry, I''ll take care of him for you." He then turned around and started walking away, leaving a distraught Ian and hisckeys alone. One of theckeys tried tofort Ian. "I-Ian, senior is probably just messing with y-" "SILENCE!" However, his words were interrupted by a loud shout from Ian, who looked at the silhouette of Senior Russell leaving with hatred in his eyes. Chapter 124: Blinding Anger Chapter 124: Blinding Anger "W-what do you mean by your words, Senior Russell?" Ian turned towards him and asked with a smiling face, although one could see the smile slowly faltering if they looked closer. "Oh, you know exactly what I mean, Ian," Russell stared at Ian and spoke with a smile on his face as he continued, "Don''t live in a lie, Ian. Sooner orter, it''ll eat you up." He then paused for a second, before devilishly grinning at Ian and said, "Oh, and the kid is my opponent, alright? I felt as though I should make that clear to you. Don''t worry, I''ll take care of him for you." He then turned around and started walking away, leaving a distraught Ian and hisckeys alone. One of theckeys tried tofort Ian. "I-Ian, senior is probably just messing with y-" "SILENCE!" However, his words were interrupted by a loud shout from Ian, who looked at the silhouette of Senior Russell leaving with hatred in his eyes. ''Is he seriously telling me that piece of sh*t junior of mine is better than me?'' Ian couldn''t believe the words that came out of his senior''s mouth, still stuck in disbelief. ''Don''t live in a lie, Ian'' Senior Russell''s words began echoing in Ian''s head, ying over and over as if his mind was intentionally doing it to toy with him. "Ugh! What the actual f*ck?!" Distraught and dibobted by what just happened, Ian sat down on one of the chairs that was next to him and clutched his head in pain, and hisckeys looked at him with worry in their eyes, but too afraid to go near him, fearing that he might get angry again. Ian plugged his ears with his fingers in order to drown out the voices that he was hearing, but to no avail. ''You know exactly what I mean, Ian..'' "No! You''re wrong..." Ian began to mutter in a soft voice, as the voices inside his head continued to get louder and louder. ''It''ll eat you up.'' ''I''ll take care of him for you.'' ''The kid is my opponent, alright?'' ''No, you won''t..'' ''Don''t live in a lie, Ian!'' "YOU''RE WRONG!!" BAM! All of a sudden, his saber manifested itself in his hand and Ian swung it onto the empty table that was right in front of him, and it exploded into countless pieces with a loud noise, startling hisckeys who looked at him with fear in their eyes. "F*CK! F*CK! F*CK!" As hisckeys watched him with horrified expressions on their faces, Ian, who seemed as though he had lost his mind, started to swing his saber continuously on the destroyed part of the table, causing sparks to fly everywhere. "You are wrong! You hear me? You are wrong!" He tilted his head up to the sky and shouted loudly as the raw strength of his saber strikes got more and more powerful. BAM! The saber had cut through most of the table parts and began striking the floor, as Ian continued yelling. "YOU!" BAM! "ARE!" BAM! "F*CKING!" BAM! "WRONG!" BOOM! Ian shouted loudly as he raised his saber as high as he possibly could in the air and swung it downwards with all his might, resulting in a loud noise as the floor cracked open because of the impact and dust and debris began to fly all over the ce! . Silence. "hhh.. Hgghh!" Ian breathed in and out, as he began calming down. Theckeys watched him from a distance, still unsure whether Ian was back to normal or not. "ude Rayforth, that brat..." Ian turned around and looked at hisckeys, who flinched as soon as they faced his piercing gaze. "Wh-What was that, Ian?" One of theckeys mustered up his courage and spoke up to respond to Ian. "We- we didn''t quite catch what you said just now. Can you repeat your words?" "CLAUDE RAYFORTH!" All of a sudden, Ian yelled out loudly, which shocked theckeys. Ian then tilted his head to the sky and continued, "I need you guys to tail him. I need to know where he is, what he''s doing, and who he''s with." "Uh, oh! Of- of course, Ian." Another one of theckeys nodded their heads and answered almost immediately, so as to not anger Ian. "Of course we can do that! You can leave it to us." "Y-you aren''t nning on doing something horrible to him, are you, Ian?" Just then, one of theckeys looked at Ian and asked him with fear in his eyes. ''Sh*t, what the f*ck, man?'' The otherckeys cursed in their minds. They knew that Ian was pretty unstable at the moment, and they had no idea whether asking him anything would anger him or not, which was why they had simply agreed to his request without any sort of resistance. ''But this idiot had to go ahead and ask a fu*cking question..'' And to make the matters even more worse, this was a question about ude, the person who was responsible for making Ian the way he is right now. Who knows if this would trigger Ian or not. All they could do was hope that it wouldn''t. "Are you a f*cking idiot?" Ian shifted his gaze to theckey who asked the question and red at him, who felt a chill run up his spine as a result. "What did you think I was going to do? Don''t tell me that you thought I was going to kill him? Of course I''m not going to kill him, you f*cking donkey! Do I look like an idiot to you, huh?" "N-no, Ian.." Theckey shook his head and he became flustered, which only frustrated the otherckeys even more. "Of course I can''t kill him. If I kill him, then it''s all over for me. I''ll get expelled from the academy." Ian said as he began walking towards theckeys. "I won''t go back home like that. I just can''t." He then stood right in front of theckey who spoke, who had lowered his head so as to not look Ian in the eye. "But just because I can''t kill him doesn''t mean I can''t hurt him in other ways," Ian leaned forward and whispered into theckey''s ear, who began trembling in fear. Ian then turned around and walked to the front of the discussion room. "Like I said before, I need you to tail ude Rayforth and I need you to find information about his daily activities. Try to find out if there''s anything we can do to hurt him." "Yes, Ian!" Theckeys nodded their heads and replied in unison, including the one whom Ian scared just a few seconds ago. Ian moved his gaze all over hisckeys'' faces, scanning them before nodding his head, satisfied by the reactions. "Good! Now get out of here and get to work." The group ofckeys walked out of the discussion room as soon as Ian finished his words and scattered off to do what they were told to do, leaving Ian standing alone inside. "I apologize, Senior Russell.." Ian pulled up his hand close to him and began muttering to himself. "But I''m going to defeat ude Rayforth and prove your words wrong." ********************* Meanwhile near the Training Grounds sector. ude stood in front of a giant block of a building that seemed weird and futuristic, staring at it from a distance. "I told you, didn''t I?" A voice came from behind him, and ude turned around to look at his servant Randall, who walked up to him with a smile and pointed at the building as he spoke. "I got young master a closed seclusion chamber as soon as I could." "Yes, you did, Randall. Well done." ude nodded his head and then shifted his gaze back to the building in front of him. "I assume all the necessary materials are inside the chamber?". "Yes of course, young master," Randall nodded his head, confirming ude''s assumptions. "You just need to enter the chamber and prepare for the training. That is all you need to do." "And the payment?" ude asked, and before Randall could answer his question, both ude and him turned around to see a figure walking towards them from a distance. "The payment has been made under the name of your master, Mr. ude Rayforth. You do not have to worry about a thing, as the payment shall be taken care of by him." The figure spoke softly as he neared ude, revealing a middle aged man with a white goatee who stretched out his hand and said. "I''m Elder Sanchez. I''ll be in charge of your chamber. Nice to meet you, young man." "Likewise, Elder," ude shook his hand and asked, "What do you mean by in charge of the chamber?" "Oh no, I am not your guard if that''s what you thought!" Elder Sanchez shook his head and exined what he meant. "It just means that I''ll act as a witness for you entering the chamber in case of any let''s say problems ur." He then extended a document to ude, and said, "I just need you to sign this, and you''ll be good to enter." ude read through the documents to make sure that there wasn''t anything suspicious in them and then signed the papers and passed it back to Elder Sanchez, who simply nodded his head and turned back around and left. "Alright then," ude turned his gaze towards the chamber and exhaled. "Let''s do this." Chapter 125: The Mystical Realm Chapter 125: The Mystical Realm "What do you mean by, ''in charge of the chamber''?" "Oh no, I am not your guard if that''s what you thought!" Elder Sanchez shook his head and exined what he meant. "It just means that I''ll act as a witness for you entering the chamber in case of any let''s say problems ur." He then extended a document to ude, and said, "I just need you to sign this, and you''ll be good to enter." ude read through the documents to make sure that there wasn''t anything suspicious in them and then signed the papers and passed it back to Elder Sanchez, who simply nodded his head and turned back around and left. "Alright then," ude turned his gaze towards the chamber and exhaled. "Let''s do this." With that, ude walked to the chamber, slowly opened the door and entered the room. Although the building looked small from the outside, it was actually pretty spacious on the inside. In fact, it was even slightly bigger than the guest room in ude''s residence. However, unlike a normal room, the closed seclusion chamber had almost no furniture or other materials inside of it. It waspletely empty except for a few bottles of medicine which were ced near one of the corners. ude reached out and grabbed the medicine bottles and inspected them. There were a few bottles of Agary Root Tonic, which would help with increasing the speed at which the spiritual energy expands inside his body, as well as bottles filled with protein pills. ude brought the protein bottle close to his face and read the description on its cover; ''highly concentrated''. This meant that one pill would be enough for a cultivator in the sky realm tost one whole week without eating any food. ude then shifted his gaze to the next bottle, which he had heard of before but had never used; the Sazirian mixture, which was supposed to be taken by the cultivator only when he is inside of the closed seclusion chamber. The consumption of the Sazirian mixture is one of the most integral parts of the closed cultivation training. The Sazirian mixture is a medicinal supplement that is made up of the Avasthitha tree sap, blood of the Blue Eyed Fox, Kalip oil, wild berries as well as a few secret ingredients and was prepared by an alchemist as per the instructions suggested in ancient cultivation texts. ording to the cultivation texts, the Sazirian mixture is a potion that was taken by cultivation warriors of the ancient times to enhance their bodies, spirits and their minds as fast as possible. The Sazirian mixture is supposed to help connect the cultivator with the mystical realm; a ce that is said to be the realm of otherworldly monsters, and forces them to confront their mind demons, which are the demonic creatures who roam through the mystical realm in search of lost souls to overtake. After confronting their mind demons, the cultivator is then expected to endure the physical as well as psychological attacks of the mystical creature and defeat it, which will result in the merging of the monster with the soul of the cultivator, essentially giving him a quick boost in rank. Should the cultivator be defeated by their mind demons, the mind of the cultivator is then consumed by the mystical creature which would result in the person losing his or her mind. And although there are cases where the surviving cultivator did regain their sanity, most of these cultivators never actually recovered from the shock and pain they went through at the hands of the mind demon. This was the reason why not many people used the closed seclusion chamber. It was simply too risky, and most people considered the method to be not worth the gains. ude however, thought differently. "You can leave now, Randall," After making sure that everything was alright, ude turned around and walked back towards the entrance of the closed seclusion chamber. He shifted his gaze at Randall, and said, "I''ll exit out of the chamber in one week, probably the day before the sparring contest begins. Until then, look after the residence for me." "Very well, young master!" Randall said as he kneeled on one leg in front of ude and lowered his head. "I wish you good luck on your training." ude nodded his head and waved his hands dismissively, and Randall stood up from the ground, bowed his head for a second time before turning around and walking back in the direction where he came from, leaving ude standing alone in the entrance of the chamber. ude waited until Randall''s figurepletely disappeared from his view and then stepped back and closed the chamber from the inside. He crossed his legs and sat down in the middle of the room and immediately began inhaling and exhaling, and continued doing it for a few minutes. After that, ude reached out to grab the medicine bottles and took them each one by one. He then ced the bottles back in their original positions and began concentrating on his body as he felt a wave of heat and energy enveloping him from both the outside and the inside. BZZZ! All of a sudden, crackling and rattling sounds unceasingly rang out from inside his body, as the surge of terrifying energy began bursting everywhere within his meridians, and even though he was in immense pain, ude gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, desperately trying to keep his calmness in this helpless situation. "I did expect the training to be intense, but still, to think I still ended up underestimating the intensity." ude began silently contemting in his heart as his eyesight gradually began to grow weaker and weaker because of the effects of the medicine bottles. ude watched as the walls surrounding him began morphing into various shapes and colours, and he squinted his eyes in response to the bizarre visuals in front of him. ''Is this the effect of the Sazirian mixture?'' ude realized that the medicinal mixture was messing with his mind and his ability to see, to make him question reality itself. ude watched through his warped vision as the walls began wobbling left and right as though they were alive with bright and vibrant colours, immediately capturing ude''s attention. ''No, no.. do not look at the surroundings.'' ude shook his head as he tried to focus on his cultivation. Many cultivators have lost their minds because of this method, and he didn''t wish to be just another victim on its list. The fact that the walls were moving and they were morphing into materials meant that the medicine was working, and his mind had sessfully been transported to the mystical realm. From now on, ude knew that he had to be careful and not lose his way. The mind demons could try to influence him using their dirty tricks, but he wasn''t going to let them do whatever they want. "Are you sure about that, Sakuto?" A familiar voice interrupted his train of thoughts and ude''s eyes widened with surprise as he swiftly turned his head in the direction where the voice hade from. As he turned, his surroundings immediately morphed into the inside of a japanese room and a gorgeous woman stood in front of the doorway with a warm smile on her face. She seemed to be older than ude''s current age, but shorter and slender in figure with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Haruka..." ude whispered softly, only to realize that his voice had changed. Surprised, ude touched his face and neck, and realized that he was in a different body right now. He looked like he was in his twenties, and he had apletely different, yet familiar face. He touched his cheeks with his fingertips, his expression filled with dismay as he did so. "Honey, what''s wrong?" The woman spoke softly as she walked up to ude, who turned around and met her gaze. He said nothing, and the woman gently pulled his hand up and ced it on her cheeks, slowly rubbing it up and down as she whispered, "I missed you..." Swip! In an instant, ude pulled back his hand, grabbed the katana that had manifested in mid air and shed at the woman in front of him. sh! The de sliced through the woman''s neck as though it was butter, and blood began bursting out of the opening, as the woman stared at her husband in disbelief. "Why..." The woman asked with a painful expression as she leaned on the wall next to her and fell down. "Because you''re already dead." ude replied coldly, and all of a sudden, the painful expression on the woman''s face was reced by a hideous grin as the blood stopped flowing from her neck. "Hahahahahaha!!" The woman began emitting a dark and insidious soundingughter as her body began morphing into a dark ck blob, and ude watched as the blob evaporated into the atmosphere, leaving him alone in the room. Chapter 126: The Mystical Realm (2) Chapter 126: The Mystical Realm (2) sh! The de sliced through the woman''s neck as though it was butter, and blood began bursting out of the opening, as the woman stared at her husband in disbelief. "Why..." The woman asked with a painful expression as she leaned on the wall next to her and fell down. "Because you''re already dead." ude replied coldly, and all of a sudden, the painful expression on the woman''s face was reced by a hideous grin as the blood stopped flowing from her neck. "Hahahahahaha!!" The woman began emitting a dark and insidious soundingughter as her body began morphing into a dark ck blob, and ude watched as the blob evaporated into the atmosphere, leaving him alone in the room. "Ha ha ha ha You''re amusing! I found an amusing human!!" The dark and insidious voice began echoing throughout the room and ude looked around, trying to find the source of the voice but to no avail. "Ha ha ha.. And here I thought it would be another boring prey! I guess I got lucky!" The creepy voice erupted withughter as the room that ude was currently in began to morph suddenly, and the walls began moving in towards ude. "Hmph! Cheap tricks!" ude let out a snort as he swung his katana once again, this time aiming for one of the walls in front of him, and all of a sudden, a burst of spiritual energy erupted from the de and shot towards the aimed wall. BOOM! The attack burst through the wall in an instant,pletely destroying it and causing a loud explosion, which resulted in dust and debris flying all over the surroundings of ude. "Bwa ha ha ha! Interesting! Very interesting!" The sinister voice continued to increase in volume as ude dashed forward through the still morphing room and moved towards the hallway which seemed to be twisting and twirling as well. "Ha ha ha! You are unlike any other human cultivator that I''ve met!" As ude was running through the hallway, desperately trying to bnce himself due to the irregr motion, all of a sudden a giant hand burst through the window next to him! BAM! The giant mostrous hand burst through the wall and the floor and headed towards ude, quickly approaching him. POW! ude immediately pulled up his katana to try and block it and the giant monster of a hand collided with its sharp des resulting in a loud noise! "Don''t think that you can overwhelm me with this!!" ude yelled out with fury as the katana in his hands burst into blue mes that were made up of spiritual energy, and the monster hand that was pushing against it began to crack like a vase, as a thick ck goo started to ooze out of the openings. "I must say, I''m impressed by your skills and your steady mind!" The sinister voice suddenly began whispering into ude''s ear, which sent a chill up his spine. "Where?" ude turned his head back swiftly only to find no one there. He immediately turned back but much to his dismay, the giant hand that was in front of him just a few seconds ago had also disappeared. "But you see..." The voice spoke once again, and this time it came from in front of ude, and all of a sudden, the floor below him began to shake uncontrobly, causing ude to steady himself to make sure that he didn''t lose his grip. "You''re still no match for me! Ha ha ha ha ha..." As the sinister voiceughed maniacally once again, the floor beneath ude began to split into two parts, forcing him to kneel down and clutch onto the floor. "What in the name of..." ude''s words trailed off in the end, as he simply couldn''t form any words to express what he was feeling as he watched the sight in front of him with disbelief in his eyes. ude looked on in disbelief as the floor beneath him began transforming right in front of him, morphing into two giant hands, as a humongous figure appeared from the darkness in front of him. "Scared, human? Afraid of losing your life? Ha ha ha ha!" The figure was mostly enveloped in darkness, but ude could see the silhouette of a giant cat''s head above him, and he looked at the enormous figure in disbelief. The cat-like monster had a hideous grin on its face, as it stared at the shocked ude with glee. "Stunned? I should imagine this is a terrifying figure for you humans, huh?" The giant cat figure said with delight evident in its voice as it moved its head towards ude and pulled its hand closer to its monstrous face. The cat-like figure shed a devilish smile, showing its sharp teeth as it spoke,"That is what you''ll be feeling until I consume your soulpletely! Fear, despair and hopelessnes-" BAM! Before the giant cat-like demon could finish its words, ude immediately summoned his katana once again and struck the face of the demon which was now in close proximity to him. Swish! ude''s katana sliced through the giant eyes of the demon like it was paper and the demon, whose vision was now blocked, screamed in agony. "AHHH!! IT HURTS!" The screeching voice of the giant cat-like entity echoed throughout the surroundings, and ude, taking this chance, charged forward and leapt up into the air as he raised the katana up above his head, aiming for the crying demon''s face. "Aaaah! It hurts, it hurts so much!" The demon who was screeching loudly, then burst out with an angry expression as the figure of ude descended from the sky. "You are going to regret this, you puny human!" The loud and angry scream of the demon echoed in ude''s ears, and with hatred on its face it turned its gaze towards ude, who swung down his katana in order to strike the giant cat''s face. BLAM! ude''s katana collided with the gigantic cat-like demon''s face instantly. However, instead of shing its face, the sword passed through the demonic figure as if it was made of water, which caught ude off guard. "You''ll pay for what you''ve done. You hear me?" ude watched as the giant demonic figure dissolved into the atmosphere like paint that was mixed with water, leaving ude alone in a pure ck void. ude looked around, trying to find where the demon was hiding, but right then, the surroundings began to warp again, and ude watched as the previously pure ck void magically morphed into a small neighborhood, filling the space with multiple houses and stores. "You piece of shi*t.." ude cursed at the demon under his breath, gritting his teeth as he turned around and fixed his gaze at the house that was directly in front of him. BOOM! All of a sudden, the mes erupted from underneath the house, engulfing the entire structure within mere seconds, and a loud scream was heard from inside the building as a crowd began to gather around it. The crowd began whispering and murmuring to themselves as they looked at the burning building with horror in their eyes. ude turned his gaze to the side, where he could see another version of him, who was wailing and screaming loudly as he tried running into the house, but he was being stopped by the people around him, supposedly stopping him from killing himself. "Puny human, how do you feel now?" All of a sudden, the mes burst out into the sky and took the shape of the cat-like demon from before, who stared down at ude, who returned the gaze with a cold expression. The demon grinned devilishly as he began speaking, "I told you, didn''t I? That you are going to regret trying to attack me!" ******************* Randall was walking back from the training grounds sector after wishing the young master good luck and bidding goodbye to him. He knew that the young master would only exit the closed seclusion chamber after a whole week, which meant that he would have minimal chores to do during this period. Of course, he had to look after the young master''s residence, but with more than a dozen servants under him, this was definitely not a hard job for Randall. Suddenly, the expression on Randall''s face changed. He turned to his left and spoke loudly, "Whoever it is,e out right now. Or else, I''ll do it by force." "Wow! To think my junior''s servant has such a good intuition. I am impressed," A figure appeared before his vision, revealing himself to be Ian Jefferson. Randall knew that this was the senior who had lost to ude. He frowned and said, "What the hell do you think you''re doing, following me? Are you trying to attack my master, because I am not going to let you do that!" "Oh, I think you misunderstood my intentions. I would never try to attack my junior, especially since my master has strongly advised us to not endanger each other''s lives." Ian dismissively waved his hands in the air as he looked at Randall with a calm smile on his face. "However..." As he spoke, eight figures appeared from the shadows, surrounding Randall who was now on high alert. "Master didn''t say anything about their servants..." Chapter 127: Pathetic Regrets Chapter 127: Pathetic Regrets A few minutes ago. "You can leave now, Randall," ude turned around and walked back towards the entrance of the closed seclusion chamber. He shifted his gaze at Randall, and said, "I''ll exit out of the chamber in one week, probably the day before the sparring contest begins. Until then, look after the residence for me." "Very well, young master. I wish you good luck on your training." Randall stood up from the ground and bowed his head before turning around and walking back in the direction where he came from, leaving ude standing alone in the entrance of the chamber. Far away from the training ground, above the Bloodstone mountain which was part of the Golden Avarice estate, stood a figure with a pair of binocrs in his hands, looking at ude and the leaving Randall with a devious smile on his face, "Oho? Don''t tell me that the reckless junior ude Rayforth is nning on entering the closed seclusion chamber for training? Well, well, well isn''t that interesting?" The figure took the binocrs off his eyes to reveal the face of one of theckeys who were under Ian. The young disciple then looked at the servant and master for a few more seconds before dashing back to the Grand Astral faction discussion room, where Ian Jefferson was sittingfortably in a wooden chair, spinning a small de in his hands, throwing it up and down in the air and ying around with it. "Ian, I''m back..." Theckeynded in front of Ian and said with a smile and Ian shifted his attention from the small de onto him. "Brenden, you''re back already...." Ian saw that one of hisckeys was back earlier than expected, and he grabbed the small de that was still spinning in the air, causing it to disappear into nothing. "I assume you havee back because you found out something?" "Oh, I definitely did find out something very interesting, Ian." Brenden said with a devilish grin on his face, and Ian who saw the excited expression on hisckey''s face raised one of his eyebrows, interested in what he had found out. "I thought that just following junior ude wouldn''t be enough, so I had began following his servant as well." Brenden replied enthusiastically, and Ian nodded his head, satisfied with theckey''s thinking skills. "That was a good idea. I like your thought process." "Thank you, Ian." Brenden scratched his cheek, embarassed because of Ian praising him, but once he saw Ian motioning him to continue, he quickly snapped out of it and continued, "And so, I began following the servant. Now, at first it seemed like it was going to be a worthless investment of my time and effort. The servant was going back and forth to many medicine shops and grocery stores and buying the essential items. It wasn''t anything special." "Uh huh." Ian nodded his head, urging Brenden to continue. "Go on." "Right," Brenden nodded back and continued,"But then, the servant began doing something peculiar. He went to the training ground sector and began asking around if there were any closed seclusion chambers remaining for use." He paused for a second and looked at Ian, whose eyes were widened with surprise. He looked at Brenden for confirmation, and Brenden responded with a nod. Ian then softly muttered to himself, "No f*cking way. You have got to be kidding me..." "I am afraid it is true, Ian." Brenden shook his head and replied almost immediately."I saw junior ude and the servant in front of one of the closed seclusion chambers just now. I am confident that he is nning on entering the chamber to train for the uing sparring contest." Ian furrowed his eyebrows and scratched his chin as he sat down onto the wooden chair. "To think that punk would be so daring! Even I wouldn''t risk my life and enter the closed seclusion chamber. It''s simply suicide!" He then paused for a second, turned his gaze towards Brenden and said with a grim expression on his face, "But on the other hand, if he does emerge from the chamber sessfully, he''ll be far stronger than before. We''d no longer be a threat to him." ''Well, you''re already not a threat to him alone, Ian.'' Brenden thought to himself, but he would never say it out loud. "To think I''d be stuck in such an unfortunate predicament." Ian massaged his forehead with an annoyed expression on his face, as Brenden watched him."If ude Rayforth fails while he''s in the closed seclusion chamber, then I wouldn''t be able to get a satisfying revenge on him. And if he does sessfully emerge out of the chamber, we won''t be his opponents anymore." As Ian let out a desperate sigh, Brenden simply shrugged his shoulders and looked at Ian and said,"Then I guess we''d better make sure he fails because of us." Ian raised his head and looked at Brenden with a curious expression, and asked, "What do you mean by that?" "I''m just saying...," Brenden said in a casual manner as he waved his hands around."Although the closed seclusion chamber forces the cultivator to enter the mystical realm, apparently it''s not exactly soundproof, which means that voices can enter through the walls and reach the cultivator''s ears, thereby making them aware even when they''re in the mystical realm. You just have to infuse a little bit of spiritual energy into your words as you speak." Brenden rubbed his two hands together with an evil grin as he spoke,"And from what I know, almost all the disciples have a close rtionship with their servants." "Oh? I like where your mind is at, Brenden," Ian smiled as he reached out inside his robe and took out a small pouch, which he immediately threw towards Brenden, who caught the pouch eagerly. "Thank you, Ian." Brenden bowed his head to show his respect, and Ian simply waved his hands to dismiss it. "ude, you think you can just act as if nothing happened after picking a fight with me?" Ian tilted his head upwards, gazing at the sky as he continued speaking."I am going to make sure that you regret ever meeting me!" ********************** Now to the present. "Wow! To think my junior''s servant has such a good intuition. I am impressed," A figure appeared before his vision, revealing himself to be Ian Jefferson. Randall knew that this was the senior who had lost to ude. He frowned and said, "What the hell do you think you''re doing, following me? Are you trying to attack my master, because I am not going to let you do that!" "Oh, I think you misunderstood my intentions. I would never try to attack my junior, especially since my master has strongly advised us to not endanger each other''s lives." Ian dismissively waved his hands in the air as he looked at Randall with a calm smile on his face. "However..." As he spoke, eight figures appeared from the shadows, surrounding Randall who was now on high alert. "The Headmaster didn''t say anything about their servants..." "You''re trying to catch the servant because you weren''t able to hurt his master?" Randall looked at Ian with disdain in his eyes as he spit out his saliva on the ground. "You''re just pathetic!" The smile on Ian''s face faded away in an instant, and was reced by an expression that was filled with hatred. "In about one minute, you''re going to regret saying that." "Oh, I highly doubt that." Randall raised both his hands up to his chest and positioned himself in abat stance as he spoke. "Now, are you just going to talk, or are you going to actually fight me?" "You little b*tch!" Ian gritted his teeth, and he screamed as loud as he could. "Beat him up! Make him beg for his life." BAM! As soon as he spoke, hisckeys leapt into the air and charged at Randall, who stared at the fast approaching opponents as he readied himself for the fight! "Die you bastard!" One of the guys who were in the front of the attack yelled out as he mmed his fist forward, aiming for Randall''s head. BAM! Randall immediately raised his hand up his head and blocked the attack as he kicked at the other guy''s waist, pushing him backwards onto the ground. POW! But before Randall could ready himself once again, he felt a wave of spiritual energy press against his back, causing him to be flung forward as he let out a painful grunt. He had been attacked from behind with a palm strike! As he fell forward, another guy charged towards him and swung his leg, aiming for his face, but Randall immediately grabbed his leg, and with a grunt, he pulled him up in the air and mmed him down on the ground with tremendous force, resulting in a loud noise and the ground shaking violently. BOOM! Another guy got a strike on his chest, and Randall spit out blood before sending him flying backwards with a palm strike of his own! "You''re persistent. I''ll give you that," All of a sudden, Ian''s voice echoed in his ears and Randall turned around in a hurry, but it was toote. Swish! A slicing sound was heard, and Randall saw his left arm fly up into the sky as he knelt on the ground, letting out a painful scream. The figure of Ian approached him as he screamed, and with a smile, he said, "I told you didn''t I? That you''ll regret it." Chapter 128: The Deadly Mind Chapter 128: The Deadly Mind Randall immediately grabbed his leg, and with a grunt, he pulled him up in the air and mmed him down on the ground with tremendous force, resulting in a loud noise and the ground shaking violently. BOOM! Another guy got a strike on his chest, and Randall spit out blood before sending him flying backwards with a palm strike of his own! "You''re persistent. I''ll give you that," All of a sudden, Ian''s voice echoed in his ears and Randall turned around in a hurry, but it was toote. Swish! A slicing sound was heard, and Randall saw his left arm fly up into the sky as he knelt on the ground, letting out a painful scream. "AHHHHH!" The figure of Ian approached him as he screamed, and with a smile, he said, "I told you didn''t I? That you''ll regret it." "You son of a b*tch!" Randall yelled out as he leapt up immediately and swung his right hand, and a powerful palm strike shot towards Ian. "If you think that''s gonna stop me..." Ian let off a short snort as he looked at the palm strike emitted by Randall with disdain in his eyes, and in an instant, he skipped backwards to create a short distance, which gave him enough time to counter with an attack of his own. "... Then you''re simply an idiot!" WOOSH! As soon as Ian finished speaking, a bolt of lightning burst out from Ian''s hands and transformed into arge saber, and Ian swung it as hard as he could as Randall''s palm strike swiftly approached him. BOOM! The two attacks collided with each other, resulting in a huge explosion that caused the two opponents to be pushed back due to the tremendous force of the impact. Ian immediately regained his control after being pushed back just three steps, whereas Randall, due to him being weakened because of Ian''s previous attack, was pushed back farther. ZOOM! Ian pressed his foot down as hard as he could on the ground, which caused it to create a giant crater due to the enormous force. As he did so, his foot began glowing all of a sudden, and in an instant, he shot forward, leaving behind dust and debris where he was previously standing. As he moved, the saber in his hands began to shake violently, releasing sparks of lightning as he charged towards his target. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Randall, who had finally gotten a hold of himself after being pushed back so far, saw the fast approaching Ian, who was moving towards him with a devilish smile on his face, and immediately tried to counter the attack as he started to summon his own weapon, a spear. nk! However, before he could do so, one of theckeys grabbed at his hand and clutched it as tight as he could, making Randall unable to defend against Ian''s attack. "You shameless bastards! Don''t you have any honour?" Randall gritted his teeth in anger and he swung his hand forward with as much power as he could, pulling theckey who was holding onto his arm with it, and let out a loud scream as he threw him at the fast approaching Ian. SCREECH! Before theckey could collide with him, Ian suddenly changed his posture and extended his right leg forward and lowered his upper body, causing theckey to miss him by a few inches. The readjusted posture also increased the speed of his motion, and in an instant, he appeared right in front of Randall. "Take this, you lowly servant!" Ian said as he swung his saber with as much power as he could possibly muster up, and the fast moving de shot towards Randall in no time. "Like hell I''d lose without a fight!" Randall screamed loudly and swung his spear forward in response to Ian''s attack, and a golden glow began emitting from the tip of the spear, blinding everything surrounding the two of them with the bright light. BOOM! The instant Ian''s powerful saber collided with Randall''s spear, a loud and violent explosion was produced which sent shockwaves throughout the atmosphere, causing theckeys who were watching the fight to be pushed back because of the impact. BOOM! As soon as the two attacks collided against each other, the spear had immediately flown out of Randall''s hands, as if it had struck a mountain, and before he could evenprehend what had just happened, an explosive forcended on him and he was sent flying backwards! CRASH! Randall, who was flung into the air, had crashed onto the ground a few feet away, resulting in a loud ''thud'' that shook the earth a little bit, and Ian immediately dashed towards thending spot, only to find an unconscious Randall lying on the ground. "Wow! Ian, you messed up his other hand as well!" Theckeys had caught up to Ian and were surprised to see what had happened to Randall. His remaining hand had been scorched by Ian''s attack, and it had turnedpletely ck like charcoal. "F*cking idiot!" Ian stood above the unconscious Randall with a victorious grin across his face as he muttered to himself. "You called me pathetic, didn''t you? Guess who''s the pathetic one now, you piece of sh*t?" Theckeys stood behind him without making a sound, and after Ian was done cursing the servant, he turned around to look at them and said, "You know where our precious junior brother lives, right? I''m sure that he has more servants and important material in his residence. Would you all be so kind and help me show our junior how to actually take care of one''s abode?" Surprised, theckeys looked at each other for a few seconds to make sure what they heard was true, which just made Ian let out a snort of dissatisfaction. One of theckeys raised their hands and asked, "Isn''t this enough, Ian? I mean, we did beat up his servant. Do we really need to go even further?" Ian narrowed his eyes at the person who spoke and red at them as he opened his mouth to speak, "What? Don''t tell me that you''re getting cold feet after all of this?" He then walked towards the person who spoke, and stood right in front of them and said, "Don''t even think about backing out right now! The moment you step out of my team, I''ll make sure that you regret it! And you know what happens to those who cross me, right?" He said as he pointed at the unconscious Randall, and theckey who spoke up quietly nodded his head. "Good! Now go on, and take care of our junior''s residence!" Ian turned around as he spoke. "Do whatever you want with the servants. Kill them, injure them.. I don''t care. But you mustn''t let them go. Do what I ask you to do and you''ll get paid very well. Understand?" "Yes Ian!" Theckeys nodded their heads and they immediately leapt off, heading towards ude''s residence, and Ian tilted his head up to the sky with a devilish smile on his face as he muttered to himself yet again. "I''ll make sure you pay for what you''ve done to me, ude!" ************************ Back in the mystical world. ude Rayforth stood in the middle of a snowy road, with no one in sight. He seemed cautious, looking both sides of the road to make sure there weren''t any enemies, as he gripped his katana tightly. ''How long have I been standing here?'' ude thought to himself as the snow slowly began to fall. In the mystical realm, time flowed differently to the outside world, and it was much harder to understand the passage of time. ''Think hard, ude. What happened a few minutes ago?'' ude massaged his forehead as he tried to remember the events that transpired just a few minutes ago, but to his dismay, he couldn''t remember. He didn''t know how he got there, nor did he have a clue about how much time had passed. Step! Step! All of a sudden, the sound of footsteps entered ude''s ears and his gaze turned serious. He ced his hand on his katana, gripping it even tighter than before, as he tried to figure out where the footstep wasing from. Step! Step! The footsteps began to get louder and louder, indicating that whoever it was, they were getting closer and closer to him. He tried to predict the direction of the footsteps, but for some reason, found it incredibly difficult to do so. Step! Step! Everytime he would turn to the side where he had thought the sound of the footsteps wasing from, the footsteps would immediately change sides, which made it harder for ude to locate the person. Step! Step! As the footsteps were getting closer and closer, ude couldn''t help but grit his teeth due to frustration. The footsteps were closer than ever now, and he couldn''t afford to make a mistake. Not right now. Step! Step! "I''ve got you now!" ude swung his katana as soon as the first step was heard, and the sound of flesh being sliced was heard for a second, before a soft whisper entered into ude''s ear. "Sakuto. why?!" Thud! The lifeless figure fell onto the snow filled road in front of ude, who stared at the body with a horrified expression on his face. "...Mother?" Chapter 129: Gratitude & Motherhood Chapter 129: Gratitude & Motherhood Step! Step! As the footsteps were getting closer and closer, ude couldn''t help but grit his teeth due to frustration. The footsteps were closer than ever now, and he couldn''t afford to make a mistake. Not right now. Step! Step! "I''ve got you now!" ude swung his katana as soon as the first step was heard, and the sound of flesh being sliced was heard for a second, before a soft whisper entered into ude''s ear. "Sakuto. why?!" Thud! The lifeless figure fell onto the snow filled road in front of ude, who stared at the body with a horrified expression on his face. "...Mother?" Thud! ude knelt down in front of the lifeless corpse of his mother, and softly caressed her face. "Why on earth... Why?!" ude screamed in agony as he clenched his fists and mmed it hard on the snowy roads, causing a loud explosion and creating a huge crater on the spot where he punched. In his former life, ude had lost his mother when he was still a teenager. Back in those days, he was a young and immature boy who still had no idea how cruel the real world was, and the death of his mother had hit him hard, causing him to change his whole outlook of life. He realised that the world wasn''t all sunshine and rainbows, and was filled with blood, death and destruction. After the death of his mother, ude could see the world for what it really was; a dark and deadly world where there was no ce for good men. In the end, he had decided to pursue the way of the samurai, in order to change this world once and for all, though he wouldter go on to regret that decision. However, even after all of the pain and suffering he had endured, he still remembered his mother with the same rose coloured view of the world he had back when she was alive. To ude, the day his mother passed away was the day when he faced the harsh reality. "Why are you crying, Sakuto?" A familiar voice entered his ears, and all of a sudden, a hand grabbed his shoulder, catching ude off guard and he turned around immediately. Behind him, much to his shock, stood his mother, smiling at him as though he wasn''t the one who had killed her just a few seconds ago. *********************** Back in the real world. Inner disciple division, in front of ude''s Residence. "Come on, get moving.." Ian and hisckeys stood in front of the entrance to ude''s residence, which was emitting smoke and fire, and right next to them stood Randall, who had been seriously beaten and tied up, and was ring at Ian with hatred evident in his eyes. The entirety of ude''s residence had been burned down by hisckeys, and the lifeless bodies of the rest of the servantsid in front of the entrance, as if they were presented for everyone''s view. "Are you trying to make me poke out your eyeballs?" Feeling ufortable because of his fierce gaze, Ian turned to Randall with an annoyed expression and asked, to which Randall snorted in response. "You think you can just do whatever you want just because the young master is busy with his cultivation training? When my young master gets out of the closed seclusion chamber, it''s not going to end well for any of you." Randall said with anger, and Ian merely scoffed at his words, and he spit on the floor in order to make his feelings clear. "That piece of sh*t only won against me because I underestimated him. But not anymore. Now that I know what he''s capable of, he''ll never stand a chance against me." "Ha ha ha ha ha. Are you f*cking serious right now?" Randallughed out loud as soon as Ian finished his words, which forced one of theckeys to kick him on his back and push him down onto the ground, in an attempt to make him shut up. However, he did not stopughing even after he hit the ground, and instead hisughter just got even louder. "Ha ha ha ha ha! To think that you were simply a f*cking moron. You still believe that you underestimated him, don''t you? Even after you lost to him Ha ha ha ha ha! This is just hrious!" Heughed maniacally as he spoke, which just made Ian angry. BAM! Ian walked towards the tied up Randall who was lying on the ground, grabbed his hair tightly and pulled his face up. He then summoned a small de in his other hand and brought it close to Randall''s eyes, stopping right before the tip struck his pupil. "One more word from your stupid mouth, and I stab this de into your eyes," Ian stared at the injured Randall with his cold gaze, and Randall, who noticed that Ian had gotten closer, immediately spit on his face. "AHHH!" Ian, who hadn''t expected such a response from the injured servant, jumped back in disgust as Randall let out another loudughter. "Ha ha ha ha! Did you seriously think I''d get scared because of your stupid threat? You''re proving yourself to be more and more of an idiot right now!" "AHHHH! YOU MOTHERF*CKING B*TCH!" Ian, who looked like he had enough of Randall, screamed loudly as he grabbed Randall''s face and immediately plunged the small de in his hands right into his left eye, piercing it without a problem, and Randll let out an ear piercing scream. "AHHHH!" "Oh, you didn''t like that very much, did you?" Ian had a sinister smile on his face as he slowly pushed the de deeper and deeper, and Randall began squirming around, screaming in agony as his eye started to leak blood, looking like a pulp of flesh,pletely losing its identifying features. After a few seconds of twisting and turning of the de, Ian pulled it out from his eye socket, and Randall let out a final scream before trying to catch his breath. But before he couldpletely calm down, Ian grabbed his hair once again and pulled him up, pushing his tied up body towards one of theckeys and said,"Pull him up! We have to head off to the training ground sector." He then paused for a second and looked at the injured Randall with a serious expression on his face and continued, "I need him there, and I need him alive." "Wha- what are you nning to do?" A weakened Randall whispered softly as he began inhaling, and theckey pulled him up and made him face Ian, who simply replied,"I''m going to make your master f*ck up during his cultivation training!" ********************* After a few minutes of walking, Ian, hisckeys and an injured Randall reached the front of the closed seclusion chamber in which ude was training. Ian snapped his fingers at theckey, who was holding Randall, and he immediately dropped Randall to the ground, who fell on his knees, and Ian walked up behind him, pulled his head up, and ced his de right on his neck. He then yelled out,"ude! I know you can hear me!" He then stabbed his de into Randall''s eye once again, who screamed out in pain, and Ian yelled out once again,"You hear that? That''s your servant, Randall! I just stabbed his eye! And I''m going to kill him, right in front of you. And guess what? You won''t be able to do anything about it!" He then pressed his hand on Randall''s neck once again and stabbed right in the middle, causing Randall to scream out in agony once again, this time even louder. Ian grabbed his hair up and then pulled him closer to the chamber in order to make ude hear his screams even more clearer, and after a few minutes of squirming around and screaming, Randall''s body went limp, and Ian dropped him like it was nothing. He then ced his face next to the chamber and said, "Such a shame isn''t it? You''re stuck inside your mind, unable to do anything, while I''m out here, killing your servant right in front of you! But in my defense, you really shouldn''t have messed with me." He then paused for a second, and with an evil smile, he said, "I''ll be looking forward to the contest, junior brother ude. That is, if you''ll even make it." At the same time, inside the mystical realm. "Such a shame isn''t it? You''re stuck inside your mind, unable to do anything...." ude opened his eyes as a familiar voice entered his ears, and he looked around and saw that he was lying on his mother''sp. He then leapt up in an instant, with a serious expression on his face, which caught his mother off guard. The familiar voice continued to repeat inside his mind, and ude grabbed his head. That''s right, this was just in my mind. Don''t forget it, ude "What''s the matter, Sakuto? Is it something you can''t tell your mother?" Ignoring the shocked ude, his mother asked him with a beaming smile as she stretched out her hand to caress his face. ude flinched for a second, but didn''t stop her from doing so, and his mother cupped her hands on his cheeks in a loving manner. "Are you sad, Sakuto?" She asked as she looked into ude''s eyes and he nodded his head. He then pulled her closer and hugged her, which startled his mother all of a sudden. "What is it, my son? You can tell your mother anything." She said as she patted his back, her voice filled with concern as she asked. "Oh, how I wish I could, mother.." ude said after a few seconds of silence, and his mother listened carefully. He pulled back his head and grabbed his mother''s shoulders, looking at her face with a painful expression on his face. "But you have to understand that I just can''t." He looked at his confused mother with a bitter smile as he continued, "Because no matter how much you try to conjure up my mother''s image, you can''t erase the fact that I saw her die." Swish! His katana pierced her chest, and as he looked at his shocked mother, he said, "So, although I am happy about seeing my mother once again, I''m afraid this is thest time." He then pushed the katana even deeper while pulling his mother closer to him, embracing her as she let out her dying breath. "Thank you mother, for now I know what I have to do to get out of this ce." Chapter 130: Hiding Spot Chapter 130: Hiding Spot "So, it looks like you are indeed determined to go into the closed seclusion chamber," Senior Beldon said, as he downed a whole cup of tea in one go, much to the dismay of ude. He was sure that the tea was boiling hot! "Of course I am determined, Senior brother." ude nodded his head, as he took a sip from his own cup. "I feel as though I am notpetent enough to secure first ce in the sparring contest, and I have a strong feeling that training inside the closed seclusion chamber is going to help me reach that position." "You sure have a keen eye for detail, junior brother ude," Senior Beldon said, as he immediately reached for the cup that was filled with cold water, and took a big gulp. Perhaps he was trying to heal his burnt tongue? "I know that you''re a smart kid, and I''m sure that you must have thought this through well enough to make this decision, but I feel like I still have to tell you to be careful. The closed seclusion chamber is a very dangerous ce, and you cannot win simply on the basis of your physical strength alone. It messes with your mind as well." "It''s not going to be the end of the world, senior brother. I''ll be fine. And it''s not like I''m a weak minded person either," the ude pointed out. "I am sure that I can ovee the challenges that the mystical realm contains ande out victorious. You don''t have to worry too much." "Alright. If you say so," Upon realizing that ude wasn''t going to change his mind, Senior Beldon simply shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands in response. "Onest piece of advice; Try to keep an eye on the passage of time, would you?" "Why?" ude asked, confused about the question. "Doesn''t time flow differently inside the mystical realm? What good would checking up on the time that has passed do me any good?" "You''re right about the passage of time inside of the mystical realm. Time does flow differently,pletely beyond our understanding." Senior Beldon said as he grabbed another cup of water and gulped it down once again. "But you on the other hand, is not going to be a part of the mystical realm. You''re going to experience the motion of time in the normal manner, even though everything around you may not obey your rules of time." Senior Beldon paused for a second, contemting on how to exin his words more easily, before continuing. "What I mean is that although time will move differently around you, you''ll still be able to count from one to sixty, which makes up a minute in our world. Sure, one minute inside of the mystical realm might not be the same as a minute in the real world, but the point is that you won''t forget the concept of what makes up our time." "So you''re telling me not to forget what constitutes the real world and it''s mechanics?" ude asked, trying to understand what his senior was trying to convey, and Senior Beldon snapped his fingers in satisfaction as he nodded his head at ude. "Yes! You see, the doorway to the mystical realm is through one''s subconscious mind, which means that you''re not only entering the mystical realm but you''re also essing your own subconscious mind! Just like a dream!" "And just like a dream, I could lose touch with what''s real and what''s not..." ude rubbed his chin as he muttered under his breath, and Senior Beldon nodded his head once again. "The more you spend our ''time'' down there, the more likely you''ll get distracted. It might look easy at first, but do not let your guard down. It''s a dangerous ce." "I''ll keep that in mind." ude nodded his head, as he got up from his chair and decided to head out, which prompted Senior Beldon to get up from his seat as well. "By the way, what do you n on doing to those punks that tried to start a fight with you?" Before he left, Senior Beldon asked ude, obviously talking about Ian and hisckeys. "What can I do right now?" ude shrugged his shoulders in response to senior Beldon''s question. "With the whole recement of our master and the new Headmaster, I feel like keeping a low profile is the best option right now." "You call beating up your senior and his friends in front of everyone low profile?" Senior Beldon crossed his hands and looked at ude, who simply smiled in response. "For me? Probably, yeah." He then stopped for a second, before replying, "But then again, I feel like he''s in the same position as I am. And if he finds a way around that, then I can just copy him." SLASH! ude''s katana pierced his mother''s chest, and as he looked at her shocked face, he said, "Although I am happy about seeing my mother once again, I''m afraid this is thest time." He then pushed the katana even deeper while pulling his mother closer to him, embracing her as she let out her dying breath. "Thank you mother, for now I know what I have to do to get out of this ce." Plop! With that, he let go of his mother and her lifeless corpse fell down onto the floor with a loud thud. ude rubbed his hands over his face and realized that he had a bit of his mother''s blood sttered on him. He then rubbed the blood with his hands and off his face, before sighing to himself. "I can''t believe I got lost..." After the first kill of his dead wife''s doppelganger, ude subconsciously began underestimating the mystical realm, and in the end, he got distracted by the mind demon. And now, he had no idea how many minutes, or even hours he had spent inside this world. ''I have to make sure that I don''t lose myself again.'' ude reassured himself as he massaged his forehead. He couldn''t afford to be distracted by the illusions again. He had to end this as soon as he could. "Kuhu ha ha ha ha!!" All of a sudden, the lifeless corpse of his mother beganughing maniacally, which made ude back away, immediately turning cautious. Click! Click! The sound of the readjusting of muscles and bones were heard, and the dead body began twisting and turning around, gradually lifting itself up off its two feet, with a sinister smile on its face. "You''re impressive, human! Impressive, I say!!" The corpse began to speak in a demonic voice with an evil smile, and ude narrowed his eyes. "To think you were able to pull yourself out of the illusion! How amusing! You truly are an interesting prey." Click! Click! Click! The corpse began twisting its neck as it spoke, eventually doing aplete rotation as it turned to face ude once again, with the skin on its neck ripped open and blood flowing out due to its movements. "But how long will you be able to keep that up, I wonder? You may be a formidable opponent, but in the end, everyone falls prey to me!" The monster cackled loudly as it spun its head around again, and blood began spurting out from its neck. ude stared at the evil creature in front of him with an indifferent expression on his face, as his hands moved to his katana. "You know what? You''re absolutely right!" Swoosh! ude moved in an instant, appearing right in front of the monstrous figure without wasting a single second, and swung his katana at the evil creature''s neck! "That''s why I''m about to end it!" BAM! The evil creatureughed maniacally again as it pulled up its hands to block the strike, but the sharp des sliced through the dainty hands like butter, and struck the corpse''s neck from the side, cutting the evil creature''s head cleanly. "BHA HA HA HA HA! YOU THINK THAT CAN STOP ME?" The head flew up into the air as soon as ude''s katana cut and passed through her neck, appearing from the other side, and yet the maniacalughter of the mind demon still erupted from its mouth, even after being severed from the body. Thud! The severed head fell down with a loud thud, and ude walked up to it and picked it up, holding it close to his face. "You didn''t think that would be enough now, did you?" After a few minutes of no movements, the mouth of the corpse''s head moved and opened its eyes, looking at ude with an evil grin. All of a sudden, ude gripped the head tightly, causing the mind demon to feel as though something was off. ude stared at the severed head with an indifferent expression as he spoke. "I told you, didn''t I? That I''m about to end it." "This is my world, human. What do you think you can do?" The severed head looked at ude with a smug expression, and ude responded with an equally smug expression. "Well, it might be your world, but it is still inside my mind." BZZZ! All of a sudden, the surroundings began to warp, which resulted in a look of confusion on the severed head''s face. ude ignored the surroundings and continued talking. "And I think I might''ve just found out where you are really hiding!" Chapter 131: Time For Goodbyes Chapter 131: Time For Goodbyes "So in short, no one really knows how to defeat the mind demon?" ude asked as he turned around, and in his hands was arge book of perhaps two hundred pages that he had finished reading and passed it to Senior Beldon, who was sitting on the other side of the table. "Well, you could look at it that way, I guess.." Senior Beldon said with a bitter smile as he collected the book from ude''s hands and ced it on the top of the bundle of books that were next to him. "But the point is that everyone has a different mind demon to conquer, and everyone''s method of defeating their demons are going to be very different." "No, I understand that point very well.l, senior." ude said as he shrugged his shoulders. "But the book didn''t provide me with anything more than just that. I mean, you''re telling me that there isn''t even a single simrity between the techniques used by the cultivators who took the closed seclusion test?" "Well, the mind is aplicated ce that is filled with infinite possibilities," Senior Beldon replied with a smile as he got up from his chair and grabbed the pile of books to ce it back on the bookshelf. "One can try and make up a list of every single thing that he could dream up while he was inside of the mystical realm, and it would still only amount to a fraction of what is actually possible." "With all due respect, senior brother, your philosophical answers aren''t helping me find a solution to defeat the mind demon, which is what I was originally intended on finding out," ude said as he let out a heavy sigh. He then got up from his wooden chair as well and headed over along with Randall to the guest room, where the bookshelves were. "Junior brother ude, ording to what I''ve read, the mind demon, although described by most people as an extremely powerful and terrifying creature within the mystical realm, is still a manifestation within your mind." Randall turned and looked at ude and said, as he began cing the books in their respective ces. "So I''m guessing it''s real weakness would be in ces where you''re the most vulnerable." "But how would I defeat a monster that has the ability to control the literal surroundings itself?" ude asked, and Senior Beldon simply waved his hands in the air as a reply to his question. "Like I said before, even though he might be a terrifying monster within the mystical realm, it is still inside your head. Take advantage of it, I guess." "You do realise that your answer is still extremely vague and pointless, right?" ude looked at his senior with his eyebrows raised, and Senior Beldon chuckled. "I can only give you ideas, alright? I can''t give you urate answers for something I don''t know just because you expect me to. And in this case, all I can say is; try stuff out." He then ced thest book on the bookshelf and turned to face ude and said, "The people who fought the mind demon and won were able to morph their surroundings in the end to suit their needs. One cultivator was able to transform his surroundings when he was in contact with the mind demon, however, many have tried that since then, and yet most have failed. So all I can tell you is to try thinking about morphing your surroundings every now and then. Get creative. Who knows, maybe it''ll work." "Get creative, huh?" sh! As the sharp des of his katana sliced through the evil creature''s neck from the side, cutting the corpse''s head cleanly from its neck, ude couldn''t help but remember the conversation he had with his senior, and he shook his head. ''I''ve been imagining about changing the surroundings for quite a while now, and nothing seems to be working..'' ude couldn''t help but curse at his senior in his mind as he couldn''t get any results. However, he knew that his senior wasn''t really at fault. The mystical realm was, after all, a very bizzare ce that didn''t obey the rules of the real world. You could only make assumptions about such a rare and weird ce, especially since not many have attempted to explore more about this realm. "You didn''t think that would be enough now, did you?" After a few minutes of no movements, the mouth of the corpse''s head moved and opened its eyes, looking at ude with an evil grin. ''And now I have to deal with this guy again...'' ude was looking at the grinning demon in front of him with an annoyed expression on his face, when all of a sudden, his eyes widened with surprise. ''Is his eyes shining green?'' It was not exactly bright, but the corpse''s eyes were, in fact, lightly shining. ''Wait, the demon usually morphs its surroundings the moment he''s injured or in a dire state,'' ude remembered the times when the mind demon changed its surroundings, and realised that he might be about to change his surroundings yet again. So was the eyes shining green signalling him utilising his power? ''Perhaps the issue wasn''t imagination, but timing and intent?'' Suspicious, ude decided to focus hard and think about what the mind demon''s real weakness might be. ude knew that the mind demon, although an evil creature, was still a manifestation of his mind, which meant that it was a part of himself. ''It has only shown me the warped memories of my previous life as well...'' ude wondered why that was. Perhaps it was because he was still not over his wife''s death? Or perhaps he had yet topletely grieve about the loss of his mother? ude shook his head after thinking about it. ''It couldn''t be. After all, I had epted both of their deaths quite a while ago, and hade to terms with it already.'' If so, then what might be the reason for it showing him his previous life? ''Could it be?'' All of a sudden, ude gripped the head tightly, causing the mind demon to feel as though something was off. ude stared at the severed head with an indifferent expression and then turned his gaze towards the surroundings. "I knew it," As he muttered under his breath, an evil grin appeared on his face. As he began imagining about the mind demon''s weakness, ude could see the surroundings slowly morphing to his wish. ''It''s not about location, but rather more about intent and timing.'' ude thought to himself. All this time, he had been imagining different locations within his memories as the morphing was rted to the changing of the surroundings. But instead, he was supposed to find out the true intent of the mind demon and what it represents, and imagine it, and that would automatically change the surroundings. ude then looked at the severed head and spoke. "I told you, didn''t I? That I''m about to end it." "This is my world, human. What do you think you can do?" The severed head looked at ude with a smug expression, and ude responded with an equally smug expression. "Well, it might be your world, but it is still inside my mind." BZZZ! All of a sudden, the surroundings began to warp, which resulted in a look of confusion on the severed head''s face. ude ignored the surroundings and continued talking. "And I think I might''ve just found out where you are really hiding!" SSSS! ude watched as the surroundings began turning white in colour, and the blood dripping neck of the severed head began to rapidly grow muscles and bones, forming entire body parts in just a few seconds. ude watched the whole process with an amused expression on his face, and in less than a minute, the surroundings had changed to a white void, and in it was ude and the now fully formed body of his mother right in front of him. "AHHH!!" All of a sudden, his mother screamed loudly in pain, and her belly began to swell rapidly! "It hurts!" Crying and screaming in agony, the mother looked at ude in pity, hoping to elicit some sort of response from him. However, ude simply stood in front of her and watched with an indifferent expression, as if he was waiting for something. In just a few seconds, her belly had expanded tremendously, now seemingly looking pregnant. The mother, who had now calmed down, looked at ude with loving eyes as she said, "This is you, isn''t it my son?" ude walked closer to his mother and kneeled down next to her, nodding his head as he spoke, "Yes, it is mother. That is Sakuto, your son, inside your belly." He then paused for a second, before contemting on his words, and continued,"After I reincarnated, I had thought that I had left behind my previous life. And yet, I realised that I have always acted as though I was an outsider to this world, still treating it as though it was my second life, instead of living it like it''s my first! Perhaps I thought that it was me being careful, but I''ve now realized that deep down, I''ve always been Sakuto first, and ude second." He then stood up from his mother''s side, and walked to the front, holding his hand high up in the air, as his katana appeared in his grasp."But that ends today. Goodbye Sakuto." With that he swung his katana, and it shot down, piercing his pregnant mother''s belly and a loud scream burst out from the horrified woman''s mouth, echoing throughout the white void. Chapter 132: The Return Chapter 132: The Return "This is you, isn''t it, my son?" ude walked closer to his mother and kneeled down next to her, nodding his head as he spoke, "Yes, it is mother. That is indeed Sakuto, your son." ude paused for a second, before contemting on his words, and continued,"After I reincarnated, I had thought that I had left behind my previous life. And yet, I realised that I have always acted as though I was an outsider to this world, still treating it as though it was my second life, instead of living it like it''s my first! Perhaps I thought that it was me being careful, but I''ve now realized that deep down, I''ve always been Sakuto first, and ude second." He then stood up from his mother''s side, and walked to the front, holding his hand high up in the air, as his katana appeared in his grasp. "But that ends today." With those words he immediately swung his katana, and it shot down, piercing his pregnant mother''s belly and a loud scream burst out from the horrified woman''s mouth, echoing throughout the white void. "Goodbye Sakuto." ude muttered under his breath and he pushed the katana even deeper inside his mother''s stomach, as blood began bursting out, and the woman began twisting and turning because of the pain. "Goodbye, my old life, for it''s time to start a new one." SHHHH! All of a sudden, surroundings began to shake uncontrobly, and the white void surrounding them began to warp into different environments and ces in seconds, as though the whole realm was copsing in on itself, because of what ude had done. "Ahhh! You vile human! How could you do this to me?" The demonic voice of the mind demon emerged through the pregnant woman''s mouth, as her hair began falling off and her previously beautiful and young face started to peel off as she quickly began aging. ude simply looked at the woman with indifferent eyes as he pushed the katana even deeper, and the woman bent her neck backwards and screamed loudly! AHHHHHHHH! She continued screaming until all of her skin had been peeled off, after which she simply fell down backwards onto the white floor, seemingly unconscious. ZZZZP! ude waited for a few more seconds before he pulled out the katana from her stomach and surveyed his surroundings, only to realize that the violent shaking of the void had stopped right after the woman became unconscious. WHIZ! The katana disappeared from his hand as ude knelt down in front of the woman, and this time, he stretched out his two hands and pulled open the unconscious woman''s stomach, which resulted in blood leaking out once again. ude ignored the efflux of blood as his hands reached into the inside of her stomach, and he began searching for something. "Got it!" All of a sudden, his hands touched something and ude''s eyes widened in surprise as he grabbed it immediately and pulled it out, revealing a bloody foetus in his hands! ude looked at the foetus, which seemed to have lost a significant amount of blood, and said with a grin, "I told you didn''t I? That I knew where you really were." Splurt! The bloody foetus slowly turned what seemed like it''s head towards ude, and it opened its mouth with great difficulty as it spoke, "Curse you .. human worthless. creature..." ude snorted as he tightened his grip on the dying foetus, which made it emit a weak cry. "You can curse me all you want, but at the end of the day, you''re still the one who ended up in my palms, lying helpless under my mercy. So I''d say that you are the only worthless one around here, demon!" Hearing this, the mind demon who was in the form of the dying foetus emitted a weak scream as it''s weakly opened eyes red at the smiling ude with intense hatred. "Curse you. damn human...!!" ude simply snickered as he looked at the puny thing in his hands. "Whatever makes you feel satisfied.." He then waved his hand at the tiny creature in his other hand, and said with an insidious grin on his face, "I''d say we''ll see each other again but I''m pretty sure we won''t, and I''d also be lying. I really do not want to see you again." PUCHI! With that, ude squeezed the foetus as hard as he could in his hands, and the creature exploded into a bloody pulp, as blood and flesh spurted all across the white void, ending the mind demon''s life in an instant. ude looked at the bloody mess that he had made, as he waited for the effect to take ce. After all, he had defeated the mind demon, which was the primary objective of the mystical realm. ude muttered under his breath. "From what I''ve heard, it should take just a few seconds..." And he was right! BOOM! All of a sudden, a blood-colored divine energy broke through from the bloody pulp of a foetus that was in ude''s hands and entered his body, causing ude to be levitated into the air, as his pupils turned white! BZZZ! As the powerful energy burst into his body, ude felt as though his insides were being turned inside out, as if his meridians were being torn apart and remade from within him at the same time. The state of his body appeared clearly in his mind and the intensity of this powerful burst of energy made him feel like numerous raging mes weresetting his body aze, as if his entire body and mind was being reborn. ZOOM! ude felt as though the processsted forever, as he waspletely lost any sense of his world''s time from the moment the divine energy entered his body. Perhaps he has been stuck inside this mystical realm for decades, even centuries. However, he knew that he had no choice but to endure this process. Finally, after a really long time, the burning sensation that ude was feeling all this time had started to decrease in its intensity, which made udee to the conclusion that perhaps the process was over. But right then, his mind was enveloped in darkness and hepletely lost his consciousness. ****************** Within the Royal Academy training ground sectors. "Ahhh! This is too boring! Why am I being forced to stand guard in front of this ce when I could be training?" A dissatisfied voice was heard. In front of the closed seclusion chamber, stood over five young men who were watching the small building with tired expressions on their faces. The one who had spoken was Brenden, one of Ian''sckeys who had previously informed him about ude''s decision to enter the closed seclusion chamber and was also the one who gave Ian the idea to kill ude''s servants as revenge. He had provided Ian with these ideas thinking that he would get rewarded for it, which he did. However, he wasn''t expecting Ian to also give him the job to keep an eye on the closed seclusion chamber. Brenden could still remember the conversation he had with Ian right before he sent him out. "This is an important job, Brenden. The fact that I''m giving you this job is because I''m trusting you. Do you understand, Brenden?" Ian said as he ced his hand on Brenden''s shoulder. The hell you are trusting me! What a load of bullsh*t!... Is what Brenden wanted to say. However, as he wanted to get paid, he kept his mouth shut and simply nodded his head. "Or course, Ian. I understandpletely." Thinking back to it, Brenden could only cringe at himself, as he was now his fifth day of guarding this closed seclusion chamber. "God damn it! I should really learn to say now. Why am I such a pathetic b*tch?" Brenden muttered to himself. Link, another one of Ian''sckeys who was standing next to him, shouted back, "You do this every single time, and yet you stille crawling back to Ian for more money..." Brenden looked at Link and said, "I wasn''t talking to you now, was I? Why don''t you just mind your own business?" Link simply let out a snort in response as he faced Brenden and said, "I would be minding my own business, but I''m stuck here guarding this stupid little closed seclusion chamber. And when I''m stuck here and have to listen to your whining every single day, then it kinda bes my business. I would love it if it wasn''t my business, but it is. So why don''t you just shut up?" "Alright fine, I''ll stop talking if it bothers you that much." Brenden reluctantly waved his hand as he dismissed the issue. He was not interested in having a fight right now, especially since they both still had to sit next to each other until the next day. If they fought now, they would simply be making it difficult for themselvester. Link, who also understood this, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Why don''t you start looking on the bright side? We''ll finally get to leave this job tomorrow, when the contest takes ce. I''m pretty sure the kid probably died in the mystical realm." Brenden looked at the closed seclusion chamber and nodded his head. Link was probably right, he thought. After all, it''s been a few days since their junior entered the chamber, but they knew that time worked differently inside the mystical realm. And since most of the cultivators who had entered the mystical realm had either suffered mentally or simply died, they were hoping simr results to their junior, who was the cause of their pain right now. It was right then! BOOM! A loud explosion was heard from inside the closed seclusion chamber, which immediately alerted the fiveckeys, who assumed theirbat stances in an instant! "What the hell was that?" Brenden, who was staring at the chamber, asked loudly. "Oh sh*t! Don''t tell me..." Link muttered under his breath as he gulped down his saliva, as the doors slowly began opening, revealing a young man standing behind it. "Well, well, well Look at what we have here!" Chapter 133: Fear Striken Chapter 133: Fear Striken "Why don''t you start looking on the bright side? We''ll finally get to leave this job tomorrow, when the contest takes ce. I''m pretty sure the kid probably died in the mystical realm." Brenden looked at the closed seclusion chamber and nodded his head. It was right then! BOOM! A loud explosion was heard from inside the closed seclusion chamber, which immediately alerted the fiveckeys, who assumed theirbat stances in an instant! "What the hell was that?" Brenden, who was staring at the chamber, asked loudly. "Oh sh*t! Don''t tell me..." Link muttered under his breath as he gulped down his saliva, as the doors slowly began opening, revealing a young man standing behind it. "Well, well, well Look at what we have here!" The young man, whose eyes were glowing like fire, stared at theckeys who had surrounded the closed seclusion chamber with an amused expression on his face. He was, of course, ude Rayforth, who had sessfullypleted his closed cultivation training inside the mystical realm! ''Damn it! It really is him!'' Brenden gritted his teeth as he stared at the young figure who was standing in front of the entrance of the chamber, smiling at them as if he didn''t even consider them a threat. ''Did he really have toe out of the chamber right now?'' Brenden wanted to yell out his frustrations, but in the end, he still chose to keep it in his own mind. He couldn''t help but cry about his misfortune. He had seen ude take down Ian and hisckeys back in the inner disciple division. As he wasn''t a part of Ian''s most trustedckeys, Brenden didn''t get humiliated by his monster of a junior. However, because of the beating his thenckeys took, Ian had decided to increase the number of supporters he had on him, which was how he got roped into this whole mess. And now, seeing as the young man had exited the closed seclusion chamber, it probably meant that he had sessfullypleted the closed cultivation training. Which in turn meant that he was most definitely stronger than before! "What the hell did I get myself into?" Brenden murmured under his breath as he lowered his head, unable to look at the mostrous talent in front of him in the eye. "You know, I had thought that senior Ian would have a grudge against me since I humiliated him when I beat his a** back at the inner disciple division." He paused for a second, and all of a sudden, extended both his arms forward, causing theckeys to flinch, and continued his words. "But to think he was actually nice enough to actually arrange a weing ceremony for me! I must say, I am touched!" After finishing his words, ude then started to walk down from the entrance of the closed seclusion chamber, which prompted theckeys to pull their weapons up and point at him! Slick! As the sound of the des cutting through the air was heard, ude, who still had a calm expression on his face, continued walking forward, which made theckeys, who were intimidated by their enemy''sck of fear, reluctantly take a few steps back. "Oh? What''s the matter?" ude let out a snicker when he saw the five men, who were obviously his seniors, take steps back as he moved forward. "Why are you walking away, seniors? Don''t tell me that you''re afraid of me?" ''This b*stard'' Link, who was infuriated by ude''s words and yet felt helpless, turned his gaze towards Brenden, who shared the same feelings. ''He''s ying with us.'' "J-Junior brother..." Unable to take his disrespect any longer, Brenden decided to step up and talk to ude instead of forcing a fight. ude, who saw him move forward, raised his eyebrows in surprise, who was obviously not expecting any of these spineless losers to have the courage to talk to him. His lips then widened into a grin as he stared at the ''senior'' who was standing in front of him and asked, "Oh, at least one of the seniors isn''t afraid of talking! Yes, senior? What is it that you wish to say to this junior brother?" ''This f*cking b*stard why is he still putting on the innocent facade?'' Although he was pissed beyond belief, Brenden couldn''t show it to ude, so he sucked it up and decided to reply with a smile on his face. "Ehem Listen, junior brother ude. I understand that you''ve had quite a difficult rtionship with your senior, Ian. But you cannot resort to violence, as our Headmaster has instructed us to not take part in any unnecessary fights against each other that may result in seriously injuring any one of us. I hope you didn''t forget his words, junior brother!" "Of course I did not forget it, senior brother! Why on earth would I have forgotten it?" ude tilted his head as he stared at his senior, looking at him with a confused expression stered across his face, which caught Brenden and the rest off guard. Wait, wasn''t this kid about to murder us all? "Y-You mean to say that you weren''t nning on attacking us right now?" Link, who had gathered up the courage to speak up, stepped forward and asked, and ude shook his head with an innocent expression. "Of course I wasn''t! Why on earth would I willingly go against our master''s wishes and endanger the lives of my fellow faction members? Especially when we are getting ready for the Golden Crown tournament? That would simply be me digging my own grave." ''Well then, don''t walk out of your closed cultivation training room with a menacing aura! You had us scared for a moment there, kid!'' After hearing ude''s words, theckeys couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief. They felt as though they had just escaped death. "A-Ah! Oh, yes! Ha ha ha ha! You''re absolutely right. I should''ve thought about that earlier. Sorry about that, junior brother!" Senior Brenden acted as though he had made a mistake and let out a loudughter as he scratched his head embarrassingly, but he was cursing at ude from the inside of his mind. "You seniors sure do have a vivid imagination! Ha ha ha ha!" ude joined in on theughter, and he ced his hand on Senior Brenden''s shoulder. BOOM! All of a sudden, they felt a tremendous invisible force pushing them down as they were all stuck in one ce, unable to move as if the time around them had stopped. "H-huh? What the hell?" "W-what is this?! Why can''t I move? What''s happening to me?" Although they all desperately tried to move, even emitting out spiritual energy to dispel the force that was pushing them down, but to no avail. With their faces now turned pale, they turned to look at the person who they thought was most likely responsible for what was happening to them. ude Rayforth stood in front of Brenden, his body exuding a massive amount of crimson coloured aura, as he smiled sinisterly at the terrifiedckeys. They were terrified at the tremendous amount of power possessed by this young man. ''This is he really only our junior?'' Brenden, who was right in front of the young man, realized that ude''s power was tremendous. He remembered back to the time when he had experienced Ian''s burst of aura, and he was sure that the aura emitted by the youth standing in front of him was even more powerful. Just by being in close proximity, they could feel the difference in power. "Just remember one thing though.. The Golden Crown tournament is inevitably going to end!" ude said with a smile, and every single one of theckeys felt a chill run up their spine. Gulp! They were afraid. "Alright then!" ude nodded his head, satisfied with the reaction that he got, and he immediately pulled back the powerful aura that he was exuding, and theckeys felt the force that was pressing them down leaving them and let out a sigh of relief yet again. ude pped his hands, focusing the attention on him yet again and said, "You can go ahead and tell your owner that I''ve returned. I don''t want him to make up any excuses the next time we fight!" ude then turned around and walked away, leaving the fiveckeys in a state of shock and disbelief. ***************** Inner Disciples Division. "Well, I guess I''m in a difficult situation!" ude muttered under his breath as he stared at what remained of his residence. "They''ll get you a new residence. You don''t have to worry about that." said Senior Beldon, who was standing next to him, and ude nodded his head. "And what about the people who did this?" "Well, they didn''t technically break the Headmaster''s promise, so I heard they got away with a disciplinary fine." Senior Beldon replied, and then looked at ude and asked, "What are you nning on doing about it?" "Only a disciplinary fine, huh..." ude muttered to himself before shifting his gaze to Senior Beldon and asked, "Do you have any information about Ian Jefferson''s family?" Chapter 134: Delusional Minds Chapter 134: Delusional Minds "Just remember one thing though.. The Golden Crown tournament is inevitably going to end!" ude said with a smile, and every single one of theckeys felt a chill run up their spine. Gulp! They were afraid. "Alright then!" ude nodded his head and he pped his hands, focusing the attention on him yet again and said, "You can go ahead and tell your owner that I''ve returned. I don''t want him to make up any excuses the next time we fight!" ude then turned around and walked away, leaving the fiveckeys in a state of shock and disbelief. "Oi!" After a brief period of silence, Link called out to Brenden, who stood there like a statue, not moving an inch. He pressed his hand on Brenden''s shoulder, causing him to flinch before calming down. "What are we going to do?" "What else?" Brenden said as he breathed slowly. "You heard what he said, right? We have to tell Ian!" The otherckeys looked at each other and nodded, and Link asked, "Do you think Ian can beat him in a fight?" Brenden looked at Link, and Link returned the gaze. Neither of them said a word, but they knew. They knew that their junior was a monster. ******************* m! Ian''s hand mmed against the wooden table, causing it to explode into little fragments because of the power his attack contained. "He said what?" Ian looked at hisckeys with anger in his eyes. "He said that he doesn''t want me to make any excuses? That son of a b*tch! Who does he think he is?" Brenden and Link, who were standing in front, couldn''t help but sigh in their minds. They knew that Ian was nowpletely delusional. They had told him that ude Rayforth had sessfullypleted the closed seclusion training, which meant that he was most probably more powerful than before, but Ian just didn''t listen. It was as if he couldn''te to terms with it. ''I guess I won''t be getting any money for standing guard today,'' Brenden wanted to cry as he thought about his misfortune. Far away from Ian''s residence, a figure stood on top of one of the roofs of the inner disciple division, their gaze stuck on two men who were standing in front of ude Rayforth''s burnt residence. This figure was that of Russell Davies, who was watching ude and Wilfred Beldon from afar. With a sinister smile, he said, "Interesting!" ****************** "Well, I guess I''m in a difficult situation!" ude muttered under his breath as he stared at what remained of his residence. "They''ll get you a new residence. You don''t have to worry about that." said Senior Beldon, who was standing next to him, and ude nodded his head. "And what about the people who did this?" "Well, they didn''t technically break the Headmaster''s promise, so I heard they got away with a disciplinary fine." Senior Beldon replied, and then looked at ude and asked, "What are you nning on doing about it?" "Only a disciplinary fine, huh..." ude muttered to himself before shifting his gaze to Senior Beldon and asked, "Do you have any information about Ian Jefferson''s family?" "Junior brother ude..." Senior Beldon raised his eyebrows as he looked at ude, who was smiling innocently at him. "You really aren''t someone who goes easy on people, are you?" "An eye for eye, right?" ude shrugged his shoulders, and Senior Beldon shook his head. "More like a dozen eyes for an eye." "Perhaps," ude waved his hands dismissively in the air and let out a faint chuckle "But he should''ve known that when to make someone your enemy, you''re not just cing yourself on the table. You''re cing everything you hold dear on the table as well. Just because you don''t y like that doesn''t mean others won''t. At the end of the day, there are no rules when you''re making enemies. Only chaos." "I''m starting to feel as though you''re not too fond of Ian.." Senior Beldon said in a sarcastic tone and ude let out a snort. "Oh, and by the way..." Senior Beldon turned towards ude and said with a grin on his face. "Congrattions on breaking through! I guess you really were confident when you said you were going to enter the closed seclusion chamber." "You didn''t believe me?" ude asked with a wide grin, and Senior Beldon scratched his cheeks, looking embarrassed. "No, no. I did believe you. In the sense that I did feel like you were genuinely confident. I just thought that the variables this time were simply too vague and unable toprehend. After all, even geniuses can lose, even if they are extremely confident." "You''re saying that the mystical realm was too unpredictable and therefore you were unsure about the chances of me seeding?" ude asked after thinking about his answer for a while and Senior Beldon nodded his head. "That''s right! Even a simple system could show extremely unpredictable behaviour, which is why I usually do not try to predict the oue of an event, rather simply wait for it to happen. However, when ites to you, junior brother ude, I usually have a lot of fun trying to see my predictionse to life, even if I''m not entirely sure about it." Senior Beldon said with a smile as both ude and him began walking towards his residence. "But you see, the mystical realm is simply too iprehensible and is filled with new and bizzare materials that I didn''t have the necessary data to form a prediction." "So you just guessed," ude rubbed his hand on his chin and Senior Beldon shed a bitter smile. "To put it short, yes." He then tilted his head up for a second as if he was thinking about something, and then nced towards ude and asked, "However, you must''ve known all of this as well, junior brother ude. I''m sure that most people would be a little bit cautious about going into an unknown realm, especially since almost all who have entered the realm are either dead or scarred for life. So why weren''t you?" "Hm, that''s a good question!" ude said as he crossed both of his hands and thought for a few seconds. After a brief period of silence, ude opened his mouth to reply. "I guess it''s because I''ve alreadye face to face with death before." ude wanted to say that he had, in fact, died once. However, he didn''t wish to reveal this information to Senior Beldon, so he made the sentence a bit more vague. "Another reason is that how do I put this?" ude paused for a second as he contemted on what to say, before continuing. "I feel as though I''ve already been to different realms?" "What do you mean by that, junior brother?" Senior Beldon asked, clearly interested in what he was talking about. ude simply shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Exactly what I said. I felt a sense of familiarity with the mystical realm. As though it wasn''t anything new to me. I do not know how to describe it. Perhaps I''m just too good at adapting to various environments?" Yet again, ude couldn''t reveal the fact that he was from another world. And since the martial world was a hundred times more violent and deadly than his previous world, he expected the mystical realm to be even worse. And since he had already crossed over to another world once, interealm travel certainly didn''t mean much to him. "Interesting..." Senior Beldon nodded his head, clearly intrigued by ude''s words. ude, who clearly didn''t expect his senior to take his words seriously, simply sighed in response. But the ''interrogation'' did help raise some questions in ude''s mind. "Now that I think about it, if the method of travelling to the mystical realm is somewhat simr to my reincarnation process, then does it mean that cultivation can help ess other realms and worlds?" ude thought to himself. It could be possible. Even though the mystical realm was inside the cultivators'' mind, given how differently the surroundings work inside of it, it could very well be called a different world. ''More importantly, did this mean that I can also go back to earth?'' ude thought to himself. It was certainly an interesting notion. Especially if he can bring his cultivation skills with him. ''That is most definitely an enticing situation.'' ude thought. Unfortunately, his understanding about the limits of cultivation was still far too little. And most importantly, he was still nowhere powerful enough to actually attain such a vast understanding. After all, in cultivation, strength and understanding goes hand in hand. Which meant that if he wishes to travel through different realms and worlds as well as return to earth, then he had to get stronger. ''This world just gets more and more interesting the more time I spend in it,'' ude let out a chuckle as he walked forward, and Senior Beldon followed close behind. Chapter 135: Ready Set Go Chapter 135: Ready Set Go ''That is most definitely an enticing situation.'' ude thought. Unfortunately, his understanding about the limits of cultivation was still far too little. And most importantly, he was still nowhere powerful enough to actually attain such a vast understanding. After all, in cultivation, strength and understanding goes hand in hand. Which meant that if he wishes to travel through different realms and worlds as well as return to earth, then he had to get stronger. ''This world just gets more and more interesting the more time I spend in it,'' ude let out a chuckle as he walked forward, and Senior Beldon followed close behind, and they both soon reached Senior Beldon''s residence. He guided ude to the guest room, and said, "Alright then! Here''s your room, junior brother. You can stay here until you are assigned a new residence." "How long do you think it''ll take for me to get a new residence?" ude asked, and Senior Beldon shrugged his shoulders. "Depends on how important the person is." He then nced at ude for a brief second and said, "Which means you''ll probably get a new residence in almost no time." "Oh? So I''m an important person all of a sudden?" ude said with a snort as he opened the door to the guest room, revealing an average size room, with a firece, a table and two chairs, as well as a bed. It wasn''t anything special, but it would do. And besides, it was just a temporary residence. "Well, of course! Do you think someone would go out of their way to burn down a normal person''s home?" Senior Beldon waved his hands in the air, acting as though he was disappointed, and ude merely shook his head. "Oh, yeah. And I would also need to find another batch of servants as well," ude said as he walked inside of the room, and Senior Beldon scratched his chin while nodding his head. "Now that could take a bit more time. After all, it''s not that easy to find people who are willing to be servants. And it would be even more difficult to find the capable ones." Senior Beldon saw ude looking at him with expectations in his eyes, and he simply smiled in response. "But don''t worry. It''ll probably take three or four days. A week maximum. You''ll definitely get your new batch of servants." He paused for a second and continued, "And besides, you should be focusing more on the sparring contest that you have tomorrow. Don''t tell me you forgot about it?" ude chuckled in response, "Forgot? Me? Of course not! Don''t worry about it, senior brother. Now that I''ve sessfullypleted my closed seclusion training, I''m even more confident that I''ll be able to secure first ce in the contest." "Well, that''s good then. Now, why don''t you take a bath? I didn''t want to say this before, but..." Senior Beldon paused for a second, held his nose tightly and continued, "... You stink!" "Ha ha ha ha! Sorry about that. It''s the result of the impurities that had exited my body after breaking through." ude let out a bitter smile as he exined the situation, and Senior Beldon turned around and exited the room. "I get it, I get it. But you still need to take a bath!" ude waited until his senior had left, and then closed the door. After that, he sat cross legged on the floor and began inspecting his body using his spiritual energy. "I can''t believe that the closed seclusion training would help me improve this much after just a few days!" A wide grin appeared on ude''s face as he inspected his meridians, which were extremely refined and fine tuned as of right now. Before he entered the closed seclusion chamber, he was at the fifth rank of the sky realm, but after he had sessfullypleted the closed seclusion training, he had broken through two ranks and was now a cultivator in the fifth rank of the sky realm! This meant that he was now only two ranks below that of Javier Banderas, whom ude considered to be his biggest threat in the sparring contest. Although he had basically just skipped over two ranks as if it was nothing, he was still far behind Javier, as the sixth and seventh ranks of the sky realm are considered to be some of the hardest ever ranks to break through. Most cultivators usually reach a bottleneck during these two ranks, and if not taken seriously, one may end up stuck at the same rank for months, even years in some cases. Even though he was able to skip over two ranks by cultivating within the closed seclusion chamber, ude wasn''t confident that he would be able to replicate the same results right now, when he was in the fifth rank. "It''s going to be an interesting fight tomorrow! I can''t wait!" ude couldn''t help but smirk widely as he thought about the sparring contest the next day. But first ude sniffed his own body for a few seconds, before shing a bitter smile, "I thought he was exaggerating but god, do I smell like sh*t!" ...He had to take a bath. ********************* The next day. The Grand Astral Faction members had all gathered around early in the morning in the training arena inside the training ground sector, as they waited for their master to arrive. Everyone seemed to be excited about the contest, but more people were less interested about winning the contest and more concerned about showing off their talents and skills to the Headmaster and to make him notice them. Only a very few disciples were actually excited about reaching the top of the faction, to clench the first ce! A few metres away from the arena stood a young man with a muscr body, leaning onto the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. He was Javier Banderas, the disciple whom most considered to be the strongest amongst the faction members. Javier was watching the rest of the disciples talk and chat with each other, scanning each and every one of the faction members as though he was studying their entire body. "Ohoho! Well, well, well if it isn''t Javier Banderas, the staring pervert himself!" Javier immediately shifted his gaze in the direction of the voice, and found Russell Davies walking towards him with a huge smile on his face. "You know this is why the girls don''t want to talk to you, right?" "Shut up," Javier said and he turned his head back, continuing to scan the crowd that had gathered, and Russell let out a sigh and shook his head. "I was joking. You really should learn tough, Javier. I''m sure you''ll be able to make more friends if you start smiling." "I don''t need friends," Javier didn''t even bother looking at Russell when he spoke. "What I do need is strength!" "There you go again, trying to hide your hurt feelings about your inability to make any friends," Russell said as he moved closer to Javier and leaned on the wall next to him. "I can tell by watching you, you know?" "I can see that you''re having fun, Russell.." Javier said as his eyes moved from one student to another. "But don''t include me in your imaginations. It makes me sick." All of a sudden, his gaze shifted to a young man who entered the arena, and his expression changed from indifferent to surprised in an instant. Russell, who caught the change in expression of Javier, turned to see where he was looking, and once he did, a wide grin appeared on his face. "Ah! That''s our new junior. ude Rayforth. I met him before. Pretty interesting kid, right?" Javier didn''t answer, but he did nod his head in response, which was enough for Russell to start talking again. "I had gone with my junior Ian to scare him a bit, but I have to say, I was fascinated by the kid''s aura. From the looks of it, the kid seems to be exceptional in cultivation! Just a few days ago, he was at the third rank of the sky realm, but now, he''s at fifth!" Russell snickered and his gaze shifted towards Javier in an attempt to find his reaction. 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!" Chapter 136: First Fight 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! Chapter 137: A Brief Talk Chapter 137: A Brief Talk "You do know that you can fake an excited expression, 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. Russell watched Javier''s face and let out a snicker. "Now that is an excited expression!" ''My first official fight as a Grand Astral Faction member.'' ude thought to himself as he stepped in the training arena, and his eyes shifted to the top of the gallery, where the Headmaster sat in his chair with two Elders standing on either side of him. ude could feel the strong gaze of the Headmaster on him, and he couldn''t help but sigh in response. ''He must be really looking forward to seeing me perform, huh.'' His gaze then turned to face his opponent for the first round, a young man by the name of Eric Norton, who looked at him with a wide grin on his face. ude raised his eyebrows in response. From the looks of it, the young man seemed to be a senior to him. Perhaps he was angry at them for entering their Grand Astral Faction? "Warriors! To the front!" Elder Keh yelled out as he stood in the centre of the arena, and both ude and Eric walked forward, only stopping once they were close to the Elder, standing opposite to each other. "Now bow!" As soon as the Elder finished speaking, both ude and Eric bowed their heads in unison. "You must think that we seniors are merely stepping stones for people like you, don''t you?!" Eric''s voice entered his ears as he was bowing his head, and ude raised his eyebrows. After finishing bowing their heads, the two cultivators nced at each other, and ude furrowed his eyebrows at Eric, who simply shed a cold smile in response. "I saw your fight with Ian." Eric said, and ude widened his eyes in surprise. "Are you a friend of Ian? Did he pay you to take revenge for him?" ude asked Eric, who simply shook his head. With a sigh, he said, "Of course not. Quite the opposite, in fact. I dislike that guy. He''s way up his own a**. He''spletely delusional. The only thing he has is his family''s money." "Oh? Well that''s surprising." ude really was surprised. He had definitely thought that Eric was Ian''s friend from the way he spoke. After all, the incident with Ian was the only time he really disrespected his seniors in the Grand Astral Faction. But if that was not the case, then why was this person antagonistic towards him? "I''m confused. Why are you angry at me?" "Because, even though Ian was a delusional and arrogant piece of sh*t, he was still, nevertheless, your senior!" As he spoke, Eric''s smile vanished, and in its ce appeared a serious expression. "And not to mention the seniors who were with Ian as well. You also disrespected them." "He tried to take advantage of his status!" ude snorted coldly, as he began walking back. After all, they had both finished their greetings. And now, it was time for them to get ready and take their respective positions and wait for the Elder to announce the beginning of the fight. "And his buddies followed suit. In my eyes, Ian and his friends were the ones who were disrespecting the positions of the faction. I simply took action against the defiling of our faction." "You speak well, junior brother ude. Perhaps, if you had been speaking to someone else, you would''ve easily been able to fool them with your eloquent way of speaking!" Eric let out a short chuckle as he also began moving away. "But you and I both know the positions of the Grand Astral Factions aren''t something that can be changed by you alone. They aren''t positions of merit, but of time. And no matter what you might think about the actions of Ian and his buddies, the fact still remains that he is your senior, and that is not something that you can simply change by yourself!" Both of the young men had now created quite a bit of distance between the two of them. Elder Keh looked at the two and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" BZZZ! ude immediately summoned his katana, while Eric waved his hands and a giant axe appeared in the air, and he gripped it tightly. "You may be right. But if you think that I was going to let someone talk down to me and bully me, then you''re dead wrong. I don''t care if what I did was right or wrong, but I will not take it while sitting down!" ude replied with an indifferent expression as he pulled up his katana and held it close to his chest, tightening his grip. "And if you think your beliefs are going to be enough to defeat me, then you''re dead wrong. Senior!" Eric let out a snort, as he raised his hammer. "I''m going to make you regret ever saying that, junior!" Elder Keh looked at the both of them, and yelled out, "Start!" BOOM! ude pressed his foot on the ground hard, and a giant crater formed under him as he shot forward like an arrow. ZOOM! He arrived right in front of Eric with his katana swinging right at his head, and Eric instantly reacted by pulling up his axe to block ude''s attack! BAM! The force that resulted from the collision was so powerful that it created a shockwave that passed through the ground and into the gallery, and was felt by most of the disciples who were watching the fight. "Sh*t!" Eric, who had been flung backwards into the air, cursed loudly as he tried to find his footing, but ude who had sessfully stuck to the ground even during the powerful explosion shot forward yet again, this time appearing right behind Eric, who was still in the air. sh! ude swung his katana straight at the back of his head, and Eric, in ast ditch effort, twisted his body quickly and brought both his hands up in the nick of time. BANG! The powerful strike of the katana caught both of Eric''s elbows and the impact of the attack burst through his skin and smashed his hands backwards, hitting his chest, as he yelled out in pain. But ude wasn''t done yet! Without wasting any time, he pulled back one of his hands and raised it high in the air, and a bright light began shining in his palm. "Looks like this is the end of the road for you, senior!" ude said with an evil grin as he swung his glowing hand downwards, right at his head, and the impact of the attack pushed the two of them downwards, crashing down onto the ground with such force that a powerful gust of wind burst out into the gallery, followed by dust and debris filling the air. The figure of ude could be seen through all the dust and smoke, who stood in the middle of the arena and raised his hand victoriously as the crowd erupted into cheers. "Now that is how you bring excitement into your matches!" Russell Davies, who was watching the match with enthusiasm, turned his gaze towards Javier, who was also watching the match. "See, even the kid knows how to be a good showman. You really need to learn more, Javi." "I told you before and I''ll say it again, Russell. I''m not a showman," Javier turned to look at Russell with an annoyed expression on his face. He then paused for a second, contemting on his words before continuing, "And don''t call me Javi." Russell let out a short chuckle in response, and he shifted his gaze towards the arena once again. "Thi- This son of a b*tch," Of course, there was still someone who was hating all the cheers that ude was receiving, and that someone was Ian, who was watching the entire fight while gritting his teeth and mumbling to himself. "I''ll get you I''ll get you..." Behind him stood hisckeys, who looked at each other without speaking, and simply shook their heads. Elder Keh walked in the direction where Eric lied and inspected him for any serious injuries. After making sure that he was not in any dangerous condition, he walked towards ude and stretched out his hand to him. ude let out a short snicker and epted the handshake, after which Elder Keh raised his hand and announced, "The opponent has been knocked out. ude wins!" Chapter 138: Masters And Dogs Chapter 138: Masters And Dogs "Now that is how you bring excitement into your matches!" Russell Davies, who was watching the match with enthusiasm, turned his gaze towards Javier, who was also watching the match. "See, even the kid knows how to be a good showman. You really need to learn more, Javi." "I told you before and I''ll say it again, Russell. I''m not a showman," Javier turned to look at Russell with an annoyed expression on his face. He then paused for a second, contemting on his words before continuing, "And don''t call me Javi." After making sure that Eric was not in any dangerous condition, Elder Keh walked towards ude and stretched out his hand to him. ude let out a short snicker and epted the handshake, after which Elder Keh raised his hand and announced, "The opponent has been knocked out. ude wins!" "Wow! That was a quick match!" "To think the junior brother actually won against the senior. And in such a quick time as well! I was not expecting that!" "It''s not that surprising, really. After all, the junior brother who fought against senior Eric is ude Rayforth, the disciple who also fought alongside the new King of Argria!" "Oh! Yeah, now that I think about it, it does make a lot of sense!" After the silence, the crowd in the spectator stands exploded into chatter. They were all excited and their discussions were unending. As he was walking off of the arena, ude suddenly turned his gaze and looked at Ian, who coincidentally was also staring at ude, and the two locked eyes, causing Ian to flinch. "Heh," ude, who saw Ian flinch, just let out a short chuckle in response, and waved his hands at him with a wide grin on his face, as if he was saying; next is you, Ian! "Y-You little b*tch! I''ll show you who I am!" Ian, who felt humiliated yet again, gritted his teeth in anger. "You really don''t have to continue entertaining him, you know?" Senior Beldon said as ude walked towards him. "Who? Are you talking about Ian?" ude turned his head around and nced at Ian once again before shifting his gaze towards Senior Beldon, who nodded his head in response. "He''s not worth your time. And not to mention that his actions are like that of a pest. He may not be worthy of being your opponent on the basis of strength, but he can make your life extremely annoying." "So? What are you telling me to do?" ude asked, and Senior Beldon simply shrugged his shoulders. "Don''t lead him on. With enemies like that, you either finish them off, or crush their spirits so hard that they won''t even bother getting up again." "I definitely can''t kill him. At least not yet. So you''re telling to just give him a beating so bad that he''ll wish he was dead instead?" ude asked, and his senior nodded. "Otherwise, he''ll do even more annoying things. This time, it was burning down your residence and murdering your servants. Next time, it could be even worse." "The next match, Wilfred Beldon vs Javier Banderas!" All of a sudden, Elder Keh announced the next match of the sparring contest, and ude, surprised by the matchup, looked at his senior, who also seemedpletely shocked. "I guess you have more important things than me to worry about, senior brother!" ude said with a snicker, and Senior Beldon smiled bitterly at him and nodded his head. "It sure seems like that, doesn''t it?!" "Cheer up, senior! Who knows, maybe you will win this fight and surprise everyone!" ude patted his shoulders, trying tofort his senior. Senior Beldon sighed as he said, "And then I''ll wake up and realise that it was all a dream and I had been knocked out within three moves by Javier!" "Come one senior brother. Look at the bright side!" ude responded as he pped his shoulders, and Senior Beldon looked at him with a confused expression on his face. "At least you would''ve won in the dream." ude said whole shrugging his shoulders, and Senior Beldon let out a chuckle. "You know what, I do need to be more positive." Senior Beldon said as he began walking towards the arena, leaving ude standing alone in the gallery. "Junior brother ude!" ude heard a voice calling him from behind, and he immediately turned around, only to see Ian''s group of followers standing behind him with their heads lowered. Did they seriouslye here to start another fight with me? ude furrowed his eyebrows as soon as he saw the group. He definitely did not have a positive impression of these seniors, as they were not only weakpared to him, they also tried to bully him even after they knew that they were weaker than ude. This meant that they were not only talentless, but also delusional because of arrogance. And ude despised unfounded arrogance. "Oh, it''s you seniors. What''s the matter? Are you here to challenge me to another fight?" ude said in a sarcastic manner, which did agitate the group a little bit, but they held it in. Brenden, who stood in the front, bit his lips and moved forward as he began to speak. "I understand that we weren''t exactly kind to you during our first meeting, junior brother ude." "Oh boy, isn''t that an understatement!" ude interrupted his words with a cheeky reply, but Brenden disregarded theck of respect he was getting from his junior and continued. "Like I was saying, we understand that you have a grudge against us. After all, we did try to use our positions to try and bully you. However, we are standing in front of you today to tell you directly that we havee to understand our mistakes, and we assure you that we''ll nevermit such atrocities ever again!" "Uh Huh! Sure.." ude rolled his eyes at the words of Brenden, and remained unconvinced of their sincerity. Jason, who saw that ude wasn''t buying their expression of sincerity, stepped forward and said, "I can understand why you wouldn''t be keen on believing our words, junior brother ude. After all, we definitely aren''t trustworthy people in your eyes." "Of course you aren''t. You all took part in burning down my residence and killing my servants. How on earth can I trust you all?" The fake smile on ude''s face vanished in an instant, reced by a serious expression, and the group ofckeys couldn''t help but feel a chill run down their spine. "And don''t even mention the look that your owner just gave me a few minutes ago! If you all believed that I''d trust you just because you can whip out a speech, then you''re all just a bunch of idiots!" "Ipletely understand, junior brother ude! But I hope you understand that we have no control over Ian and his feelings. This apology has nothing to do with Ian. He has no idea that we are here." Brenden rified for ude their situation, and ude raised his eyebrows in surprise. Don''t tell me theseckeys have abandoned their master? Brenden continued, "And we are not simply standing in front of you to just apologize. We are here because we wish to make amends for our mistakes!" "Oho?!" ude smiled,pletely taken aback by their words. So not only did the dogs abandon their master, but they also wished to help him? Was this an evil plot conceived by Ian? Was this Ian trying to get him to lower his guard? No, that can''t be it, ude shook his head after some thought. He''s too dumb and prideful of a person to think of such a n. And he definitely wasn''t a patient person. "And why on earth should I believe you all? For all I know, you could all simply be lying. To try and trick me!" ude said, and Brenden shook his head. "You are absolutely right, junior brother. You have no reason to believe us. However, I feel as though junior brother is a very opportunistic man. And an opportunistic man would be able to realise the importance of freebour, even if they cannot be fully trusted." "Oh? Don''t tell me you people are trying to tell me that you have value!" ude snorted, and Brenden shook his head. "Not on our own. But you can make use of our abilities. We can do things that you can''t, or rather, do not wish to do. Andost importantly, we are a group." "A useless group, you mean!" ude said, and Link interjected, "I agree that we might not be as strong as you, but our numbers do offer up advantages, such aspleting a variety of tasks simultaneously." "Like I said, we know that we aren''t trustworthy people," Brenden said. "But that means you can entrust us with jobs that do not require yourplete trust." ude stared at theckeys with amusement in his eyes. Certainly, he wasn''t going to forgive them for their atrocities. But then again, he was unable to give them proper punishment as they were still his seniors. So why not make use of them until he is able to exact vengeance upon them? A wide grin appeared on ude''s face. Things were about to get even more interesting.. Chapter 139: Senior Fight Chapter 139: Senior Fight "You can make use of our abilities. We can do things that you can''t, or rather, do not wish to do. And most importantly, we are a group. I agree that we might not be as strong as you, but our numbers do offer up advantages, such aspleting a variety of tasks simultaneously." Brenden said. "Like I said, we know that we aren''t trustworthy people. But that means you can entrust us with jobs that do not require yourplete trust." ude stared at theckeys with amusement in his eyes. Certainly, he wasn''t going to forgive them for their atrocities. But then again, he was unable to give them proper punishment as they were still his seniors. So why not make use of them until he is able to exact vengeance upon them? A wide grin appeared on ude''s face. Things were about to get even more interesting.. "Alright. I understand what you are saying." ude nodded his head, and theckeys stared at him, their eyes indicating that they still didn''tpletely believe his words. Well isn''t that ironic? ude let out a short chuckle and he decided to rify. "Don''t get me wrong. I''m not saying that I trust you now. But I can understand that there might be some advantages to havingckeys. After all, even idiots have their uses." Idiots? ude''s tant insult did make some of them angry, but Brenden waved his hands at them, indicating that he was simply trying to rile them up. And so, although reluctant, they decided to hold their anger in. ude snickered in delight as he watched his seniors try their very best to hold in the anger they were feeling. He pped his hands together, and brought the attention back to him again, and said, "Alright then. For now, I want you all to follow Ian as if nothing has changed. He shouldn''t be able to notice that his entire group ofckeys has shifted sides. You''ll have more to do, but for now, you''ll have to make do with this. Do you understand?" "Yes, junior brother." The group yelled out in unison, and ude shook his head. "No, no no that''s not right. You''ve got it wrong!" The group looked at each other with confusion. "I''m sorry?" Brenden turned his gaze towards ude, who was waving his finger, and asked. "What are you talking about, junior brother?" "Do you seriously not understand?" ude said and he stared at the group as if they were a bunch of morons. "Of course, I''m talking about the way you address me." He took a step forward. "From this moment on, you are working for me. You do understand what that means, don''t you?" His eyes scanned the entire group, sending a chill down their spines. "It means that you and I are not equals. You''re below me. And I don''t want someone who is below me to call me ''brother''." He paused for a second, before staring at Brenden who was standing in the front, and smiled as he continued. "Master. That is how you''ll address me from now on." BAM! As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of everyone who were listening to his words widened with surprise and shock. They looked at ude as if they were staring at a madman! This wasn''t what they signed up for. This was too much! "This is simply insane. No matter what, we are still your seniors! And you expect us to call you master? Are you being serious right now?" One of theckeys who couldn''t take the disrespect and the humiliation anymore shouted out loud, and the rest stared at him. They could''ve tried to stop him from speaking, but instead they did nothing and let him speak. Perhaps they too wanted to say the same thing, but didn''t want to risk angering ude and ruining the deal! ude stared at the angered Lackey with indifference in his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, ude said, "Are you done?" "W-What?" Theckey who had the sudden outburst had now calmed down and was beginning to sweat. But he did not regret what he said! He stared at ude, as if asking him to exin what he meant. ude repeated his words. "I said, are you done now?" He took another step forward, and stood right in front of theckey who had yelled, and scoffed at his face. "Are you done acting like a spoiled little brat? Huh?" "S-spoiled little brat?" Theckey seemed offended by that remark. He retorted, "I don''t see how asking for a bit of respect when ites to our positions can be considered spoiled?" "Oho? Is that what you think?" ude snorted, mocking theckey. But before theckey could retort yet again, ude brought his hand up and said. "Do you think I need you?" "Huh?" Theckey looked at him in confusion. Weren''t they talking about positions right now? What was this sudden shift in topics? "Wow, you really are deaf, aren''t you?" ude snorted. "I asked, do I need you?" "I- I don''t know.." Theckey stammered. He didn''t know what he meant by that. ude rolled his eyes. "I''ll answer for you. I don''t need you." ude then turned to look at the rest of theckeys, who immediately avoided his gaze. "I don''t need any of you. Sure, you might make my life a bit better. But that''s it. You''re never going to be an integral part of my life. Never." He then walked towards Brenden and said with a cold expression, "But don''t you pieces of sh*t forget, that it was you people who came to me for help. You were so afraid of being forced to face my wrath in the future, that you decided to ditch your owner and suck up to me. So let me make this very clear for you; I don''t need you, but you need me." Theckeys lowered their heads with embarrassment. They didn''t want to admit it, but he was right. They were afraid. Afraid of bing enemies of the genius cultivator who had the potential to change the entire martial world! They didn''t want their mistakes to haunt them for their whole lives. Even theckey who had yelled out loud had hung his head low. He knew that ude was speaking the truth. ude looked at the group of seniors standing in front of him, and scoffed. "You try to bully me, burn down my house and murder my servants, and then you think that you can just stand in front of me, apologize and wag your tail for a few seconds, and everything will be forgiven?" His gaze shifted to theckey who had spoken up, and said, "Huh? Is that what you thought, you dumb f*ck''s?" No answer. ude let out another snort. Pathetic, he thought. He then took a step back, closed his eyes and then breathed in and out. After a few seconds, he said, "You can either serve under me or you can be my enemy. It''s your choice, but I give you the options." ude then turned around and walked towards the arena to get a good look at the fight. As he walked away, he said, "Better choose wisely." **************** Javier stepped up to the arena to face his next opponent, Wilfred Beldon. "Warriors! To the front!" Elder Keh yelled out once again, and both the contestants moved to the centre, standing next to each other and bowed their heads. Javier was studying his opponent''s movements as he lowered his head. He was the person who was standing next to ude Rayforth. Javier said to himself. He could remember seeing Wilfred Beldon with ude when he was studying the disciples. "Let''s do our best!" Wilfred said as they both began stepping back, and Javier, although taken aback at first, nodded his head. When the two contestants had created enough distance between them, Elder Keh yelled out, "Assume your battle stance!" WHIZ! A giant hammer manifested in Wilfred Beldon''s hands as he held it high up in the air, and Javier raised his two fists to his chest. Elder Keh looked at the both of them, and then screamed loudly, "Start!" BOOM! A powerful burst of energy shot out from the giant hammer as soon as Elder Keh finished speaking! The attack instantly appeared in front of Javier, who crossed both his hands together to block the attack! BAM! The collision resulted in a loud and powerful explosion, and pushed Javier a few inches back, but his feet never left the ground! "Well, well, well Aren''t you an interesting opponent!" Wilfred Beldon stared at Javier with surprise in his eyes, but it soon changed into excitement. Javier pulled his hands back a bit to examine them, and was surprised to find scratches on his skin. Impressed, Javier turned to looking at Wilfred and replied, "I could say the same thing!" Chapter 140: A Thrilling Fight Chapter 140: A Thrilling Fight The powerful burst of energy shot out from the giant hammer as soon as Elder Keh finished speaking. The attack instantly appeared in front of Javier, who crossed both his hands together to block the attack, as it collided! BAM! The collision resulted in a loud and powerful explosion, and pushed Javier a few inches back, but his feet never left the ground! "Well, well, well Aren''t you an interesting opponent!" Wilfred Beldon stared at Javier with surprise in his eyes, but it soon changed into excitement. Javier pulled his hands back a bit to examine them, and was surprised to find scratches on his skin. Impressed, Javier turned to looking at Wilfred and replied, "I could say the same thing!" Whoosh! Wilfred''s figure disappeared from everyone''s view, and Javier tilted his head upwards. "Wow! That was a fast reaction. You''ve got a fast eye, don''t you!" Wilfred Beldon had reappeared high up in the air, right above Javier, and pointed his hammer straight down aiming at him. BZZZZ! All of a sudden, a deep glowing, golden circle appeared under the giant hammer, and as everyone watched, the circle began to get bigger and bigger, until it was half the size of the arena! "Why don''t you try and defend against my Golden Circle attack!" Wilfred Beldon yelled out loudly as the giant golden circle detached from the hammer''s tip and shot down to the ground while spinning violently! It was aiming for Javier''s head, who simply stood under it without moving. Javier Banderas watched as the giant spinning circle shot towards him at a high speed, and a wide smile appeared on his face. He said, "You certainly are an amusing opponent. Very well, since you have managed to garner my curiosity, then I shall allow you to witness my true power!" SHAAAA! As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, closed his eyes and began mumbling to himself, and his arm began to glow brightly, as an ungodly amount of spiritual energy shot out from his palm. It circled around his hand before transforming into a giant sword that was about twice the size of him! The bright light that was emitting from the giant sword was so blinding that people who were standing closer to the arena had to look away every few seconds because of its brightness. ude, who was watching the whole fight, stared at the gigantic sword that had appeared in Javier''s hand with wonder and awe in his eyes. Javier grabbed the sword tightly in his hands and held it high in the air, its tip aiming straight for the centre of the giant spinning golden circle that was heading downwards! BAM! A beam of spiritual energy shot out from the tip of the giant sword, and as soon as the energy beam left the sword, the air shook with the vibrations, even affecting the people in the spectator stands! "This is truly the strength of a cultivator in the seventh rank of the sky realm!" ude remarked as he observed the two seniors battling with each other. BOOM! The glowing, golden circle and the powerful spiritual energy beam collided with each other in the air, resulting in a loud explosion that shook the earth and zing lights erupted all over the ce, making it difficult for anyone to see clearly what was going on as the vibrations from the impact of the collision drowned out every other noise in the area. BOOM! Unbeknownst to the spectators, the spiritual energy beam that shot out from the tip of the giant sword had actually burst through the golden spinning circle, heading up towards Wilfred Beldon, who clicked his tongue and desperately tried moving out of its intended trajectory. BAM! Even though he was quick, the beam was quicker than he had expected, and it struck his left hand before he couldpletely move out of the way. The spectators, who weren''t able to get a clear look at the arena, saw a bright light amidst the dust and debris that was covering the arena, after which they heard a loud explosion, but they didn''t know the reason for it. Inside the storm covered arena, Javier saw the injured Wilfred, and he nodded his head. "You were able to dodge my attack! Impressive! I knew you were worthy of my true weapon!" He then pulled the sword backwards, looked at Wilfred floating in the air, and said, "But unfortunately, this is where the fight ends!" ZOOM! As soon as he finished speaking disappeared from the spot, causing Wilfred Beldon to be alert as he looked around, trying to figure out where he went. "If you were looking for me, then unfortunately, your eyes were too slow!" Wilfred heard Javier''s voiceing from behind him and turned around in an instant, and found him standing in the air with his sword held high. BZZZZ! There was a strange energy floating around the sword as he held it up, and as Wilfred watched, the surroundings of the sword began to swivel and wobble, as though they were made of y. "Are you ready to take this strike?" Javier asked him bluntly and Wilfred raised his eyebrows. Whoosh! His giant hammer manifested in his hands once again, and he pulled it back, as if he was about to swing, and it began to glow blue in colour! ZOOM! Javier swung his sword, and multiple strands of de light shot through the air, making the sky bright up. Wilfred tried to defend against it by swinging his giant hammer, as a giant ball of bright blue mes burst out of the hammer, heading in the direction of Javier. KABOOM! The blue fireball and the de lights collided with each other, resulting in another powerful explosion that flung all the dust and debris that were present in the atmosphere away, clearing the skies. "Look! It''s Wilfred Beldon!" And as the crowd of spectators finally got a view of what was going on, they could see the figure of Wilfred Beldon falling down from the sky onto the ground with a loud noise. BOOM! Elder Keh walked up to the crashnded Wilfred Beldon as Javier descended from the skies. After making sure that Wilfred was alright, Elder Keh called out for his servants, who dashed towards the arena and carried the unconscious Wilfred out of the battleground and into an infirmary in order to give him some time to heal. Elder Keh then walked towards Javier, nodded his head in satisfaction, and then raised his hand and said, "The opponent, Wilfred Beldon, has been knocked out! Javier Banderas is the winner!" As the Elder''s voice began to fade, the crowd of spectators erupted into cheers. Javier stared at the cheering crowd with an expression of indifference. He then nced at Russell, who met his gaze, before turning away to the crowd once again. Except this time, he raised his hand up in the air, as if he was proiming his victory to everyone. WOOOOOH! The scene only made the crowd''s cheers increase even higher. Russell, who watched Javier trying to rile up the crowd, let out a chuckle. "At least he''s trying his best to be a showman..." Javier waved his hand up in the air for a few more seconds until he had to step down from the arena. As he walked down, his eyes met with ude''s, who was staring at him with an intense gaze. "He truly is as strong as they say..." ude mumbled to himself. Javier was undoubtedly going to be one hell of an opponent for ude. But nevertheless, he couldn''t lose. He had to win this contest. And so, no matter how strong Javier was, he was going to defeat him. Javier looked at him for a few seconds before nodding his head and walking away. And as soon as he left, the announcement for the next match echoed in ude''s ears, "Next match; ude Rayforth vs Ian Jefferson!" ude''s eyes widened with surprise for a split second, before a wide grin appeared on his face. "Well, well, well I guess it''s time for the idiot senior to learn his lesson!" ude said as he turned to look at the arena. He knew that he was about to have a good time. He was going to enjoy this very much. ***************** "Next match; ude Rayforth vs Ian Jefferson!" As the announcement for the next match echoed throughout the arena, Ian Jefferson, who was watching the matches suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. He couldn''t help but turn his gaze in the direction where ude was standing for a brief second before turning away. "What the hell am I doing?" Ian muttered to himself. Was he afraid of the fight? Him? How could he be? He was waiting for this fight to arrive from the very beginning itself. How on earth could he get cold feet now? "No, no, no Get a hold of yourself, Ian. You''re going to win this fight." Ian pped himself on his cheek to get a hold of himself. He then pulled out a medicine bottle from his pocket, and gripped it tightly. Yes. He was definitely going to win the fight! Chapter 141: A Ripple In Reality Chapter 141: A Ripple In Reality "Next match; ude Rayforth vs Ian Jefferson!" ude''s eyes widened with surprise for a split second, before a wide grin appeared on his face. "Well, well, well I guess it''s time for the idiot senior to learn his lesson!" He said as he turned to look at the arena. ude knew that he was about to have a good time. He was going to enjoy this very much. At the same time, Ian Jefferson, who was watching the matches suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. He couldn''t help but turn his gaze in the direction where ude was standing for a brief second before turning away. "What the hell am I doing?" Ian muttered to himself. "No, no, no Get a hold of yourself, Ian. You''re going to win this fight." Ian pped himself on his cheek to get a hold of himself. He then pulled out amedicine bottle from his pocket, and gripped it tightly. Back amongst the crowds stood the underlings of Ian, who were staring at the arena as the announcements were being made. "What do you think?" Brenden turned his gaze towards Link, who tilted his head at him. "I''m talking about the discussion we had with ude Rayforth. I''m asking for your opinion." The rest of theckeys shifted their gazes to Link, who ced his hand under his chin and began to think. "It''s certainly a hard decision to make. I thought that it would be a bit more favourable and a clearer decision making process for us, but that doesn''t seem to be the case anymore." He nced over to the rest of theckeys for a few seconds, before looking back at Brenden and said, "And plus, I don''t think most of our ''pals'' over here aren''t toofortable going along with Rayforth''s requests so easily!" Brenden turned his head and scanned the rest of theckeys as Link spoke, and everyone turned their heads away in order to avoid his gaze. "Ugh.. This shouldn''t be that hard of a decision to make!" Jason, who seemed as though he couldn''t take it anymore, yelled out, and everyone turned their attention towards him. He looked at Brenden and Link and pointed his hands at him as he said, "It''s simple! If we stay under Ian, he''ll use us to make his life easier. But if we stay under ude Rayforth, he''ll humiliate us because he hates us!" He stretched out both of his hands and spoke as though the decision should be obvious. "Are we seriously having this discussion right now? Do you want to be paid for working or do you want to get humiliated for free? It''s an easy decision. Why is this even a question?" "I think you''re oversimplifying this, Jason!" Brenden narrowed his eyes. "It was never about whether we get paid or not. It was never about whether we are humiliated or not. The discussion was based on whether we get out of this mess alive or not." Link nodded his head, agreeing with Brenden''s words. "That''s right. You''re saying that staying under Ian is better because he would not humiliate us like ude would do. However, what you''re not thinking is that by refusing to join ude Rayforth, we''re essentially making him our lifelong enemy. And I don''t know about you, but I for one am notfortable with having a genius cultivator who can climb to positions that I couldn''t even imagine as my enemy." "Don''t try to make it sound like I''m an idiot for suggesting that we should continue under Ian, alright?" Jason rolled his eyes as he spoke. "Sure, I know that declining ude Rayforth''s offer means that we''re most probably signing our death warrants. I can understand that. I am not dumb. But what I don''t understand is how you all aren''t even considering what we have to give up in order for ude to remove the target from our backs." He turned around to look at the rest of theckeys and said, "Don''t you get it? He''s asking us to give up our dignity in order to live. Even if you decide to agree to his request in order to not lose your life, ask yourself this question; is it going to be a life worth living for? You''ll most probably be humiliated, worked to death, and there''s still going to be a chance for you to get killed if he does have a grudge against us. I understand you people cherish your lives, but is this really worth the risk?" The group began murmuring to themselves as Jason finished his words. Brenden turned to look at Jason and sighed. "Why are you doing this?" He said. "Staying under ude Rayforth is the best shot we have right now. We have already made the mistake of offending him, and now we must pay the price!" "You''re making it sound like ude Rayforth is going to end your life the very next day if you don''t agree to his requests!" Jason snorted and shook his head in response to Brenden''s words. "He still needs our Headmaster''s support, and he would lose that once he starts murdering his disciples. And I doubt he''s going to carry a grudge for a bunch of nobodies until his academy life ends." He then looked at Link and said, "And would you stop it with the fake bullsh*t about ude being a one of a kind genius? He might be strong but that''s it. He''s not even the strongest member in our faction. And I''m sure that if he continues moving forward with the same arrogance he has right now, he''s bound to get killed by someone who''s far more powerful than him. So I don''t know about you, but I''d prefer a safer bet than an unstable arrogant brat." "You! Do you really want to get us all kill-" Link was about to yell at Jason when a hand stopped him in his tracks. Brenden pushed Link back and pointed his finger at the arena, where ude was standing opposite Ian. He then looked at both Link and Jason and said, "We''ll continue this after the match!" Link red at Jason before reluctantly nodding his head. Jason snorted, but didn''t say anything either and turned his gaze towards the arena. ude walked towards the centre of the arena with a calm expression on his face. Ian, who was walking opposite to him, red at him, his eyes burning with fury as he stared at ude, but ude simply waved his hands at him and smiled in response, which only made Ian even more mad. "Warriors, bow!" As soon as the Elder Keh finished speaking, both ude and Ian bowed their heads in unison. "You ready to get your a** whopped, son of a b*tch?" The enraged voice of Ian Jefferson entered the ears of ude as he bowed his head down, and a smile appeared on his face. He was wondering why Ian was being so quiet. ude thought that he was finallying to terms with reality, and had be afraid of what''s toe, but seeing that he was still talking out of his a**, ude knew that he would have a lot of fun beating this idiot up. "Oh, I''m hoping for it! Please do!" ude said with an innocent smile as he bowed and Ian gritted his teeth. I''ll show him, Ian thought to himself. He would show them all who''s really the genius in the Grand Astral Faction. After bowing to each other and the Elder, both ude and Ian began walking away from the centre of the arena to their respective positions. This is going to be easy, ude thought to himself. After all, it was just a few days ago when ude beat Ian''s a** in front of all the inner disciples. And back then, he was still only at the third rank of the Sky realm! Both of the young cultivators had now created quite a bit of distance between the two of them. Elder Keh looked at the two, nodded his head and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" BZZZ! ude immediately summoned his katana, while Ian clicked his tongue and summoned his saber, which began trembling violently in his hands. "Hm?" Far away, at the spectator''s stand, the Headmaster''s eyes were fixated on Ian''s saber, and his eyebrows were raised. "What is it? What may be the matter, Headmaster?" One of the Elders, who were standing next to the Headmaster asked, and the Headmaster simply shook his head. "No, no. It''s nothing. I just made a mistake," he said. But in reality, he was intrigued. Interesting, he thought. Even though he could sense something was off, the Headmaster didn''t wish to interfere. He wanted to see how ude was going to ovee this obstacle himself. Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" BOOM! Ian shot forward and swung his saber. He was so fast that even ude waz surprised. However, he still maintained his calmness and turned his katana over to his side in order to block the attack. However "Hmm?" As the attack got closer to ude, he could sense that something was terribly off about Ian. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he gripped hard on the katana, which collided with Ian''s saber! BOOM! Chapter 142: Doesnt Matter Chapter 142: Doesn''t Matter Elder Keh looked at the two, nodded his head and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" ude immediately summoned his katana, while Ian clicked his tongue and summoned his saber, which began trembling violently in his hands. Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" And Ian shot forward, instantly swinging his saber. He was so fast that even ude was surprised. However, he still maintained his calmness and turned his katana over to his side in order to block the attack. "Hmm?" As the attack got closer to ude, he could sense that something was terribly off about Ian. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he gripped hard on the katana, which collided with Ian''s saber! BOOM! The resulting explosion was far greater than what anyone expected, and the tremendous amount of force that came with the strike flung ude backwards, high up in the air. "Shit! How the hell did he get so powerful?" ude cursed out loud as he maneuvered in the air as he was descending downwards. "ude Rayforth! I''ll show you how powerful I am!" Ian, who was ring at ude trying to straighten himself in the air, scoffed with disdain in his eyes beforestomping his foot on the ground and creating arge crater, and his figure disappeared from the spot. WHOOSH! ude, who was now alert, swifty turned around in the air and positioned himself upwards, as Ian reappeared above him, with his saber raised high up above his head! "You think you can humiliate me and get away with it?" Ian screamed at the top of his lungs as he swung the saber down towards ude, aiming for his head. "Damn you!" ude gritted his teeth as he summoned his katana once again and blocked the attack before it coulde into contact with him, resulting in a loud explosion. Zoom! Ian burst through the smoke clouds that were produced as a result of the explosion and swung his saber once again, and ude immediately utilised his floating footsteps technique in order to move through the air gracefully, narrowly avoiding the saber strike attack, before immediately countering with his own Sunrise sword technique, aiming for Ian from his sides! "You think you can defeat me with just these petty techniques of yours?!" Ian scoffed as he swung his saber once again, creating a bright de light that shot out from the saber and headed towards the sword light produced by ude''s katana. BOOM! The two attacks collided in mid-air, and the collision created a bright white light that was shining so brightly that it almost blinded the whole front row spectators. "Uh! What the-" Ian, who also didn''t expect the blinding brightness, covered his eyes out of instinct. Before he could realise the mistake he made, ude, who had suddenly appeared right behind him, swung his katana before Ian could turn around, striking him in the back with a loud noise and sending him down to the ground with tremendous force! BAM! Ian crashnded on the ground with a loud bang, and immediately attempted tounch himself up from the ground. "You really think that I''m going to give you a chance to recover?!" ude''s voice echoed in the air, and before Ian could even move his hand, he had already swung his palm down to the spot where Ian had crashed, and a giant blue translucent palm appeared in the air, glowing brightly as it shot down towards Ian. BOOM! The giant palm struck the spot where Ian was lying, causing another massive explosion and resulting in a massive dust storm that enveloped the entire arena. Brenden and theckeys, who were watching the fight, looked at each other with confusion in their eyes. "I don''t get it. How the hell did Ian get so powerful?" Brenden turned his gaze towards Jason, who shrugged his shoulders. He had the same look of confusion in his eyes. "How the f*ck would I know?" "Well, whatever brought about this change, perhaps this might end up being a good thing for us." Link interjected into their conversation, and all the attention went to him. "If Ian actually wins against ude Rayforth, then we can continue to work usne Ian. After all, winning against someone as powerful as ude isn''t an easy feat. And ude''s threats would have little weight if he really does lose against Ian. And we wouldn''t have to serve under him and endure humiliation." Link exined, and both Brenden and Jason nodded their heads. He was right. Ian winning against ude is exactly what they needed right now. They didn''t really think about this situation just because in their minds, they had already written off Ian as not worthy of standing opposite ude Rayforth, who could be the next genius that''ll shock the cultivation world. However, now that the situation doesn''t sound so far-fetched anymore, perhaps they might still have a chance to save themselves. "Look at you, actually considering supporting Ian instead of ude!" Jason scoffed at Link, although he didn''t disagree with his points. Link narrowed his eyes and replied, "I never said I support ude. I only chose him as our go-to because I believed that he was our best option in the long term. That''s it." "Alright, alright. Let''s not bring out our disagreements just yet." Brenden interjected in the middle and said, "The match isn''t over yet. We''ll know who is the better choice for us once the match is over!" "HAA!!" In the arena, Ian leapt out from the giant crater that had formed as a result of ude''s palm strike, trying to catch his breath. He looked tired from all the fighting, which was understandable considering he did just take a palm strike head-on from a cultivator who''s at the fifth rank of the sky realm! "Oho? You actually survived that? I''m impressed!" In front of Ian, a few metres away from the spot he stood, ude descended onto the ground with a calm expression on his face. "I thought that you''d be out of juice by now." "I can take more than that!" Ian said as he spit on the floor with a look of hatred in his eyes, and ude shrugging his shoulders in response, "Oh, I highly doubt that. Especially since most illegal physical enhancer drugs are usually created to be utilised in a short amount of time." Ian''s eyes widened at ude''s words. "What the hell are you talking about?!" Ian yelled out loudly. He seemed nervous, which just confirmed it for ude. Ian pointed his finger at ude as he screamed. "I didn''t take any illegal drugs. You would be able to notice the effects pretty easily if you really did. The drugs would affect the spiritual energy and your aura, which would''ve been detected by someone powerful, like Elder Keh. The fact that he didn''t already makes me innocent." BAM! Instead of answering Ian, ude suddenly pressed his foot on the ground and immediately disappeared from everyone''s view, catching Ian off guard. "Damn it, he distracted me!" Ian, who realised that ude had used the situation to catch him off guard, immediately became alert, but it was already toote. "I didn''t say that you took spiritual energy enhancing drugs, but physical enhancer drugs!" ude''s voice echoed in his ears and Ian turned around in an instant, only to be faced by a bright blue de light that was already in front of him by the time he noticed. BOOM! The de light struck Ian right in the chest, resulting in another bright and loud explosion that flung him backwards, and his body skipped on the ground like a rock before crashing down after a few seconds. "Energy enhancers help you boost your spiritual energy levels, which is what changes the whole aura that you emit. But the drugs you took are most probably physical enhancer drugs, which simply enhance your physical body. Of course, it''s much rarer and extremely difficult to find, which is why not many people know about this. It''s fortunate that I knew someone who was extremely proficient in ''rare'' medicines and drugs. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have been able toe to this conclusion at all," ude said as he disappeared from the spot where he stood and reappeared in the sky right above the fallen Ian, who looked at ude with horror in his eyes. "But you want to know why I haven''t yet reported you to the Elder yet?" Whoosh! As he spoke, a giant translucent katana appeared in the sky, and lightning began to dance around it. ude''s gaze turned serious. "It''s because I want to show you just how powerful I am and how futile your efforts to stop me are." BOOM! ude swung his hand towards Ian, and the giant katana shot down with frightening speed, rapidly approaching Ian. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He screamed out of frustration and fear. He was supposed to win this match. That was why he took the drug. But still, how He raised his hand and swung his saber at the iing attack and the de light shot towards the giant katana right before it struck Ian, and the whole arena turned white with bright light as a loud explosion echoed in everyone''s ears! Chapter 143: A Subversion Of Expectations Chapter 143: A Subversion Of Expectations "But you want to know why I haven''t yet reported you to the Elder yet?" As ude spoke, a giant translucent katana appeared in the sky, and lightning began to dance around it. ude''s gaze turned serious. "It''s because I want to show you just how powerful I am and how futile your efforts to stop me are." ude swung his hand towards Ian, and the giant katana shot down with frightening speed, rapidly approaching Ian. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He screamed out of frustration and fear. He was supposed to win this match. That was why he took the drug. But still, how He raised his hand and swung his saber at the iing attack and the de light shot towards the giant katana right before it struck Ian, and the whole arena turned white with bright light as a loud explosion echoed in everyone''s ears! BOOM! The arena became covered in dust and debris, which made the spectators unable to see what the result of the fight was. But after the dust began to settle and the air began to clear, people could see the silhouette of a young man standing with his sword raised to the sky. The young man was, of course, ude Rayforth, who stood victorious with his right leg above an unconscious Ian. The sight was simply too majestic, and the crowd of spectators were so enamoured by the sight that it took a few seconds for them to erupt into cheers. Elder Keh climbed up to the arena and headed over to Ian in order to make sure that he was alright. But right then "Hold it!" A voice echoed throughout the arena, and everyone turned their heads to the direction from where it came. It was the Headmaster who had spoken. BAM! As everyone turned their attention to the Headmaster, he slowly rose from his seat and floated up into the sky, moving towards the arena where ude and Elder Keh stood. "Headmaster!" Elder Keh bowed his head as the Headmaster descended to the ground. "May I ask for what reason you have chosen to interfere with the contest?" "You should keep a closer eye on our disciples, Elder Keh!" The Headmaster said with a smile as he walked towards the spot where Ian was lying unconscious, leaving a confused Elder Keh standing behind him. ude, who was standing next to the unconscious Ian, stepped to the side when he realised that the Headmaster was walking in his direction. As he walked past him, the Headmaster nced at ude for a split second, and both their eyes met. Within that one single second, ude experienced a range of emotions. The confident and calm expression on the Headmaster''s face gave ude the feeling that he had already known about Ian''s enhancements. Which in turn, only increased the number of questions he had regarding his involvement with Ian. Was today the first time he noticed the enhancements? Or was he the one who provided them? If he really was the one who was behind it, then what was he trying to achieve with it? And if it wasn''t him, and this is the first time he noticed the changes, then why didn''t the Headmaster inform the Elder before the fight started? ''Hold on, you''re thinking too much ude!'' ude reminded himself. He really was thinking too much. Right now, this was all merely spection, and until he had all the facts, then he could sort out the important questions and find the answers to those ones. For now, he simply watched the Headmaster walk towards the unconscious Ian. Thud! The Headmaster stood right in front of Ian, who was lying on the ground, and stared at him for a few seconds. The spectators, who had no clue as to what was going on or why the Headmaster interrupted the contest, looked at the arena with confusion in their eyes. The Headmaster waved his hands, and all of a sudden, bright red threads emerged from his fingers and descended downwards, lightly touching the unconscious Ian in the face. BZZZZ! Suddenly, Ian began to shake uncontrobly, as the meridians in his body began to light up, shining so brightly that it shone through his skin. Elder Keh and ude, who were both extremely surprised at what was happening, leaned over to stare at Ian''s body. They saw that a bright orange pill shaped structure was moving towards the spot where the red threads were attached from all directions. The orange pill shaped materials converged right as they were about to make contact with the red threads, forming a long orange line within the meridians before it disappeared, passing through the red threads. Plop! The red threads disconnected with the face of the unconscious Ian with a small pop, and began to retract into the Headmaster''s palm. He flipped the palm upwards, and right before the red threads disappeared into his hands, from it emerged a small ck ball, which levitated right above his palm. He gently grabbed the small ck ball and inspected it for a few seconds before he tossed it to Elder Keh. "Physical Enhancers. There were still some left inside of his meridians, boosting his physical abilities." He said. "What the- He cheated?!" Elder Keh looked at the ck ball in his hands with amazement, before he realised that he had failed to detect one of the participants had cheated under his supervision. "Forgive me, Headmaster!"With a loud scream, he bowed his head down to the Headmaster, who was walking away from him with his back turned. "I have made a mistake!" The Headmaster stopped in his tracks, turned around, and said with a smile, "It''s good that you''ve realised that you messed up." His smile then disappeared, reced by a serious expression. "But do not make this mistake again, Elder Keh. Do understand that." "Of course, Headmaster!" Elder Keh bowed his head again. His face was now covered in sweat. The Headmaster nodded his head, and then turned towards the crowd of spectators and said, "My students. I am heartbroken to hear that my disciple, Ian Jefferson, had been under the influence of a physical enhancer drug during the battle right now!" The crowd, who heard what had happened, gasped and began murmuring amongst themselves. The Headmaster cleared his throat, sending a wave of spiritual energy, which forced the people who were whispering to close their lips and turn their attention towards him. He continued, "As you all know, physical enhancer drugs are illegal substances that are not allowed to be used in official matches. Our academy does not tolerate such disrespect towards the art of cultivation. This is an insult to our beliefs and our culture and I take these cases extremely seriously!" His eyes then wandered over to the unconscious Ian once again before saying, "This is an unforgivable offence, which is why, from this moment onwards, I dere Ian Jefferson to be expelled from the Royal Academy!" BOOM! The deration by the Headmaster made everyone gasp. Everyone began to whisper amongst each other. Even ude seemed surprised. He didn''t expect the Headmaster to actually expel him. Perhaps this was his way of showing ude that he wanted him on his side? ude thought to himself. After all, he was sure that the Headmaster must''ve been aware of their problems with each other. So it would make sense that this was all some scheme created by the Headmaster in order to make a favourable impression in ude''s eyes. Thinking too much again, ude. He reminded himself. He really was thinking too much. After all, it didn''t matter whether or not the Headmaster was actually pulling the strings. All that matters is the fact that everything that was happening was favourable for him. It didn''t matter who pulled the strings and who didn''t as long as it was benefitting him. ude looked at Elder Keh, whose servants were moving an unconscious Ian from the arena, and a sinister smile appeared on his face. ''And now that Ian was expelled, he could finally go all out with his revenge,'' ude thought to himself. This definitely benefited him. Far away from the arena, the group ofckeys watched bitterly as an unconscious Ian was dragged away from the battle ground. Brenden let out a sigh and said, "Well, I guess we have our answer." Link nodded his head, but he didn''t reply. Perhaps seeing Ian put up a fight against ude might''ve ignited a small hope within him, and seeing his hopes get crushed almost immediately must''ve been heartbreaking. "This. Is this really happening?" Jason lowered his head and clutched both his hands tightly. He definitely wasn''t taking it so well. Brenden sighed and shook his head. ''This is why you should''ve kept your expectations realistic,'' he thought to himself. He knew that there was no chance of Ian winning against ude. Elder Keh walked towards ude, pulled his hand up in the air, and screamed loudly,"The opponent has been knocked out! ude Rayforth advances to the next round!" Chapter 144: No Choice Chapter 144: No Choice Brenden let out a sigh and said, "Well, I guess we have our answer." Link nodded his head, but he didn''t reply. Perhaps seeing Ian put up a fight against ude might''ve ignited a small hope within him, and seeing his hopes get crushed almost immediately must''ve been heartbreaking. "This. Is this really happening?" Jason lowered his head and clutched both his hands tightly. He definitely wasn''t taking it so well. Brenden sighed and shook his head. ''This is why you should''ve kept your expectations realistic,'' he thought to himself. He knew that there was no chance of Ian winning against ude. Elder Keh walked towards ude, pulled his hand up in the air, and screamed loudly,"The opponent has been knocked out! ude Rayforth advances to the next round!" As soon as the words left the Elder''s mouth, the entire spectator stand exploded into loud cheers! ude waved his hands at the audience, smiling as he did so, which only increased the cheers even more. The Headmaster, who had already returned to his position, sat down on his chair with a satisfied smile on his face. "Ohohoo, the kid is excellent. If he keeps this up, he really might win the contest!" Back in the spectator stands, Russell Davies was leaning back on the wall and let out a loud cheer along with the audience. "Why are you still standing next to me?" Javier Banderas, who was standing to his side, turned his head and asked. His usually indifferent expression now had a slight hint of annoyance on it. "Oh, I can''t believe that you are actually annoyed!" Most people wouldn''t notice it, but Russell, who had a really good eye, immediately noticed the slight fluctuations on his face, and eximed. He shot up his fist in the air and said, "Yes! I actually was able to annoy the one and only Javier, who doesn''t show any emotions." "Do you want to get knocked out?" Javier massaged his forehead and clicked his tongue. Russell had been following him everywhere since early morning, trying to make small talk with him,mentating over the fights and giving his opinions. It was so tiring to hear that even someone like Javier, who usually doesn''t get swayed by emotions, was getting annoyed. "Oh? You want to knock me out?" A wide grin appeared on Russell''s face when he heard those words. "Well, you sure can try. But if you think that I''ll just let you beat me without even defending against you, then you''re dead wrong!" "... Nevermind," Javier nced at the hyperactive Russell and shook his head. Now was not the time. "I will knock you out, but not here. We''ll settle this like true cultivators. In the arena!" "Tch and here I thought we''d be having a brawl right here and now!" Russell clicked his tongue and looked dissatisfied, but in the end he just leaned back again and turned his gaze towards the arena, and Javier did the same. ''Hmm, I guess he can be annoyed. Interesting..'' Russell thought to himself. Although he was one of the top cultivator disciples within the Royal Academy, he was someone who was known for his sneaky methods in his earlier days. And even though he turned out to have amazing talent in cultivation, he nevertheless still retained some of his old tricks and mentality. ''I''d have to annoy him a bit more, to try and shift his focus,'' He said to himself. He wasn''t someone who ys by the rules. He knew that Javier was a monster when it came to cultivation, and no matter what he did, he would always be overshadowed by his monstrous talent. But that doesn''t mean that there''s no chance that he can win. He just had to think outside of the box. At least, that''s what he thought that he was doing with his sneaky tricks. ''You may be a monster when ites to cultivation, but I''m not going to lose so easily to you, Javier,'' He grinned. ude walked down from the arena, and was greeted by the group ofckeys of Ian. ''Well, well, well. I guess they made their decisions,'' ude stared at theckeys standing in front of him and snickered. It''s not like he was going to leave them with the ability to choose. He had made sure that working under him was the only choice they had. "Oh? Did you make your decision already?" ude said with an innocent smile stered across his face, and theckeys immediately bit their lips and lowered their heads in shame. ''Damn it! Why on earth is this happening?'' Every single one of theckeys thought as they stood in front of their junior brother, and soon to be master, ude Rayforth. Most of them didn''t still believe this was happening. After all, they were the inner disciples under the Headmaster of the Royal Academy. Never in their lives would they have imagined ever bowing their heads to someone who were younger than them. But here they were, doing exactly that. "We have, in fact, made our decision, junior brother ude." Brenden stepped forward and nodded his head. ude snickered once again, "Oh? And may I ask what might your decision be, senior brothers?" This kid! Theckeys clenched his fists as they tried their very best not to get enraged at ude! They knew that he was making fun of them. He was mocking them, and the worst part was that they couldn''t even do a single thing to stop it! They had to endure. "I think you already know what our decision is, junior brother." Jason said with a frown on his face as he stepped forward. "Oh I may have a rough idea." ude said with a smile. "But I don''t think you know, senior brother." "What do you mean by that, junior brother ude?" Jason tilted his head and looked at ude with confusion in his eyes. "Because, if you did know what your decision was..." ude pointed his finger at Jason, and the smile on his face disappeared in an instant, reced by a serious expression, sending a chill up Jason''s spine. "... Then you''d be addressing me the right way!" Silence! As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions on all of theckeys'' faces turned grim. They knew that ude had mentioned it, but they were desperately hoping for it to be just a joke. Or perhaps they were simply holding onto hope. But now, their hopes had been shattered! They had to face the harsh reality! "Junior brother ude, is there really no room for any negotiation?" Brenden looked at the grim expressions on the faces of his fellow brothers and asked ude with a bitter smile on his face. But what he received was a cold and emotionless re from ude, and he immediately shut his mouth. "Room for negotiation? Hah? Are you kidding me?" ude scoffed at Brenden, who lowered his head. "You people tried to use your positions to try and bully me for no reason, then burned down my residence and killed all my servants because you didn''t have the strength to back it up, needed to see your owner get beaten into a pulp and expelled to understand what kind of a mess you''ve gotten yourself into. And you think you''re capable enough to ask for a negotiation?" As soon as he finished speaking, ude''s powerful aura burst out from his body, forcing a tremendous amount of force onto theckeys, who had to kneel down because of the pressure they were facing. ude''s eyes were glowing red as he walked forward, and stood right in the middle of the group ofckeys as he spoke. "You low life scums should be d that you''re not dead. You''ve got no room for negotiation!" He then stared into the eyes of Brenden, who was having a hard time breathing properly, and asked, "Now tell me, how are you going to address me?" "... M-Master," Brenden spoke with great difficulty, and as soon as he spoke, the tremendous aura that was pressing down on them was gone in an instant, and theckeys breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Now was that so hard?" ude ced his hands on his hips and spoke with an innocent smile, but theckeys only saw the figure of a devil with a sinister grin across his face. ---------------------- "... Heh, he''s pretty interesting," Leroy, who was watching ude from a distance, had a wide smirk across his face. "He''s a pretty interesting fe, isn''t he?" A voice entered his ears and he turned around in an instant. A beautiful girl and a tall and handsome man stood behind him, waving their hand at Leroy, who frowned in response. "Too bad for you, you won''t even get a chance to fight him," The beautiful girl, Eva Walker, said with a grin on her face. Leroy crossed his hands and asked with a frown, "And why on earth would he not end up fighting me?" "Because, silly," Eva smiled and pointed at the arena, where Elder Keh stood and announced, "Next match! Leroy Wayne vs Ray Walker!" "... You''re fighting my brother." Chapter 145: A Chat Chapter 145: A Chat "... Heh, he''s pretty interesting," Leroy, who was watching ude from a distance, had a wide smirk across his face. "He''s a pretty interesting fe, isn''t he?" A voice entered his ears and he turned around in an instant. A beautiful girl and a tall and handsome man stood behind him, waving their hand at Leroy, who frowned in response. "Too bad for you, you won''t even get a chance to fight him," The beautiful girl, Eva Walker, said with a grin on her face. Leroy crossed his hands and asked with a frown, "And why on earth would he not end up fighting me?" "Because, silly," Eva smiled as she pointed at the arena and said, "... You''re fighting my brother." "Next match! Leroy Wayne vs Ray Walker!" Elder Keh stood in the arena and announced the next match, and immediately, people began to whisper amongst one another, trying to predict the oue of the match. "If you think you''d be enough to defeat me, then clearly you''re just dreaming!" Leroy stared at Eva and said with a serious expression. Eva scoffed in response and ced her hand on her brother''s shoulder as she spoke. "Just because you won the matchst time doesn''t mean that you''ll this time as well, Leroy. And don''t you forget thatst time, you only won on a close call. It was evenly matched right till the end!" "That''s right!" Leroy nodded his head as he let out a scoff aiming at Eva. "And? So what if it was a close match? What if it was evenly matched? In the end, even when we were evenly matched, I was the victor. And in a tournament, that''s all that matters!" He stepped forward and spread out his hands. "And I was the victor! Not your brother. But me. And no matter what you say to make yourself feel better, that''s never going to change. Not now. Not ever." "You really are an arrogant piece of sh*t aren''t you?!" Eva yelled. Her teasing expression hadpletely disappeared right now, and in its ce was an enraged expression. "I would really love to punch you in the face!" "I''m right here," Leroy said with a look of disdain in his eyes as he scanned Eva. "Why don''t you try it? I dare you. Who knows, maybe the result will be different fromst time!" "You-" Eva was about to yell back at Leroy, but before she could do so, a hand pressed onto her shoulder and pulled her back. "Calm down sister." It was her brother, Ray Walker. "But brother.." Eva turned to look at her brother with pleading eyes, and Ray shook his head. "You shouldn''t be getting into fights with people right in front of an arena, sister. Especially since you were the one who initiated the fight in the first ce!" "That''s-" Eva wanted to speak, but looking at her brother''s expression, she shut her mouth and lowered her head. Leroy, who saw this, simply scoffed in disdain at Eva and said, "Hmph, listen to your master well, b*tch. At least he understands the situation better than you!" "What did you say?!" Eva screamed in anger, but Ray''s grip on his sister''s shoulders tightened and she groaned in response, immediately feeling her legs go weak. "That''s enough, sister." He said as he pulled her back, and she didn''t move anymore. "All bark and no bite!" Leroy murmured under his breath with a wide grin on his face. He then looked at Ray and said, "You trained her well, Ray. However, do consider keeping her on a leash next time. I feel like she might try and bite me." "Do not talk about my sister in such a disgusting manner, Leroy!" Ray said with a grim face, and Leroy simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "You still consider that b*tch to be your sister? Even though her mother was part of that disgusting barbaric tribe? Isn''t that touching!" Leroy smirked. "We''ll meet each other in the arena, Leroy." Ray, who didn''t wish to stay and listen to his bullsh*t turned around and waved his hands, pulling his sister along with him as he walked away. "Or maybe you just might be acting! That could very well be the case, now that I think about it!" Leroy screamed at Ray from the back, but Ray didn''t stop and continued walking away, until he disappeared from the view. "Damn it, he''s really resistant, huh..." Leroy clicked his tongue, but he didn''t look dissatisfied. In fact, it seemed as though he was quite happy with how he handled the situation. ''You might be strong, Ray Walker,'' Leroy then turned around and looked at ude, who was walking towards the infirmary, and smiled. ''But you''re not worthy to be my rival.'' He said as he got ready to head for the arena. He had a match to get to. -------------------- "Ouch!" Senior Beldon was lying on the bed, groaning as he tilted his head from one side to the other. It seemed as though his injuries from the fight weren''tpletely healed yet. "I didn''t know you were such a crybaby, senior," ude said as he walked into the infirmary with a smile on his face, waving his hand at him. "Don''t disrespect your elders, you little sh*t!" Senior Beldon said with a bitter smile on his face as he got up from the bed with difficulty and faced ude. "Here!" ude threw a small bottle in Senior Beldon''s direction, and he caught it and looked at it. It was a revitalization medicine bottle. "It won''t heal your injuries in an instant, but it will help to speed things up a bit." Click! "Thanks, junior brother!" Senior Beldon said as he opened the bottle and drank the medicine. The effects of the revitalization medicine wouldn''t show in an instant, as it is a slow burning medicine, so he didn''t have to sit still and channel his spiritual energy in order to sessfully heal. "So, what happened to your matches while I was cked out?" Senior Beldon asked once he finished drinking the medicine, and ude shrugged his shoulders in response. "Well, I''m not the one who''s lying in the infirmary right now. So what do you think?" "You''re going to make your senior cry with those hurtful words!" Senior Beldon faked crying and ude rolled his eyes. "Oh! And what happened to Ian?" Senior Beldon seemed intrigued. "He got expelled for using a physical enhancer." ude replied. "Oh? How the hell did he get his hands on a physical enhancer? I thought those were extremely hard to find," Senior Beldon asked. ude shrugged once again. "I have no clue. Maybe his family helped him out in secret?" "Hm, that could be a possibility," Senior Beldon crossed his hands and thought to himself, but in the end, he couldn''te up with anything. He then decided to change the topic. "But how on earth did he get caught? As far as I know, it''s extremely difficult to detect whether or not someone is using a physical enhancer. And adding that to the fact that it''s extremely rare to get hold of, most cultivators wouldn''t have even seen it being used in practice." "It was the Headmaster who caught him." ude answered, and Senior Beldon''s eyes widened. "The Headmaster?" "Uh huh!" ude nodded his head. "But what''s strange is that I''m pretty sure he had already known about Ian using the physical enhancer. And yet he only revealed it after the fight was over." "You''re implying that he was the one who supplied Ian with the physical enhancer?" Senior Beldon furrowed his eyebrows in suspicion, and ude shook his head. "No, no.. That doesn''t make any sense. We currently do not have any grievances with each other. And he definitely doesn''t have any gains from seeing me defeated." ude didn''t want to reveal the fact that he had previously met with the Headmaster and he had been tasked with winning the contest, so he kept quiet about that information. "So the only other reason was to test you," Senior Beldon said and ude nodded his head. "You''re most probably right about that." After all, that was the whole point of the contest. The whole sparring contest was a way for ude to prove to the Headmaster and to the Grand Astral Faction that he was a worthy addition to their team. "But to not interfere even after my opponent had cheated.." ude murmured under his breath. "You''re not exactly making it easy to trust you, Headmaster." ude wasn''t so sure before, but he was sure now, that no matter what happens, he and the Headmaster wouldn''t be able to trust each other. It didn''t matter if he proved himself by winning the sparring contest. They would both be cautious of one another. The Headmaster would be cautious of ude, who helped him murder his previous master. And ude would be cautious of the Headmaster, who organised a coup to overthrow the previous Headmaster. But right now, the Headmaster held more power and had control over him. ude knew that this had to change. ''I''ll y this game to survive, Headmaster..'' He said to himself. ''But don''t make the mistake of trusting me, for it won''t end well for you.'' Chapter 146: Delusions Of Grandeur Chapter 146: Delusions Of Grandeur "So the only other reason was to test you," Senior Beldon said and ude nodded his head. "You''re most probably right about that." After all, that was the whole point of the contest. The whole sparring contest was a way for ude to prove to the Headmaster and to the Grand Astral Faction that he was a worthy addition to their team. "But to not interfere even after my opponent had cheated.." ude murmured under his breath. "You''re not exactly making it easy to trust you, Headmaster." ude wasn''t so sure before, but he was sure now, that no matter what happens, he and the Headmaster wouldn''t be able to trust each other. But right now, the Headmaster held more power and had control over him. ude knew that this had to change. ''I''ll y this game to survive, Headmaster..'' He said to himself. ''But don''t make the mistake of trusting me, for it won''t end well for you.'' "Next match! Leroy Wayne vs Ray Walker!" Elder Keh''s announcement entered their ears, and they turned to look at the entrance of the infirmary. "Oho! It''s going to be a good match!" Senior Beldon turned to ude and said. "Don''t you want to watch it? You might end up fighting the winner of this match. So it''ll help if you study the fight and learn their techniques and patterns." "... Alright, sure." ude nodded his head after thinking about it for a few seconds. Senior Beldon didn''t know that ude had already received all the information he needed describing both Leroy Wayne and Ray Walker''s fight styles and techniques from the Headmaster himself, and he definitely wasn''t intending on revealing this information right now. ''And plus'' ude ced his hand on his chin. ''It''s much better to get a good look at the fight styles and techniques myself rather thanpletely trusting the data given to me by someone whom I can barely trust.'' ude and Senior Beldon exited the infirmary and made their way to the spectator stands. "Oh? Well, well, well Look who it is!" As they were walking, they were stopped by a voiceing from behind them. Both ude and Senior Beldon turned around to find Russell Davies leaning against the wall and smiling devilishly, and standing next to him was Javier Banderas, who simply looked at ude and then turned his attention back to the arena. "Senior Russell," ude said with a smile as he slightly bowed his head. Senior Beldon simply waved his hand once. "I thought you would be practicing for your next match." ude said. Russell Davies snorted in response. "I could say the same thing about you, and yet here you are, wandering around the spectators stand." "For your information, I am here to take notes on the two fighters that''s about to enter the arena." ude said as he pointed his hand at the arena. "After all, one of them could definitely be my future opponent." "Well, what a coincidence," Russell said with a grin. "I was about to do the same thing." "Good." ude said, his innocent smile still stered on his face, and Russell nodded his head. "Good." Senior Beldon was watching what was happening and shook his head. He then shifted his gaze towards Javier, who felt his eyes on him and turned his head to meet his gaze. Senior Beldon nodded his head and said, "I''ll defeat you the next time we meet." Javier didn''t reply for a few seconds, which made Senior Beldon think that he was being ignored, but right then, Javier nodded his head and said bluntly. "Alright, sure." "Oh yeah, I forgot. Didn''t Mister ''Senior'' over here get beaten by Javi in the second round?" Russell Davies, who noticed the interaction between Senior Beldon and Javier Banderas, decided to chime in with a tease, and Senior Beldon turned to look at him with an annoyed expression. Tch! Javier, who clicked his tongue in frustration, turned his gaze back to the arena, and saw that the two cultivators had now entered the field. "The fight is starting," He said softly, and everyone''s gazes turned to the arena. In the Arena... Both Ray Walker and Leroy Wayne walked towards the centre of the field z where Elder Keh was waiting for them. "Warriors, bow your heads!" Elder Keh yelled as soon as the two reached the centre, and the two contestants immediately lowered their heads as soon as the Elder spoke. "This isn''t going to be a repeat ofst time." Ray Walker said as he bowed his head and Leroy Wayne simply snorted in response. Ray ignored Leroy''s dismissal of his words and continued, "I hope you still have that same attitude after you lose." "... Alright, sure. Keep dreaming, Ray!" Leroy snickered as he raised his head after he finished bowing, staring at Ray''s face with disdain in his eyes. "Warriors, step back!" Elder Keh ordered, and the two contestants exchanged onest staredown before turning around and walking back in opposite directions to their respective spots. Elder Keh looked at the two, and after making sure that they were both in the correct spot, he nodded his head and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" Whoosh! Ray immediately summoned his long spear, while Leroy simply let out a snicker and raised both of his fists right up to his chest, and all of a sudden, countless thin silver coloured threads began to pop out of his arm, binding together to form a silver coloured coating over his hands that amplified his aura! "Hold on a minute! Is that the Silver Glove technique that Leroy''s using?!" "My god! I thought it was too hard to learn! To think that he was able to master the silver glove technique!" "It seems Ray Walker is done for this time. If the result of the match wasn''t exactly obvious before, it definitely is now!" The cultivators in the spectators stand began to whisper amongst themselves as soon as they saw the silver binding on Leroy''s hands, debating whether or not he was going to win this fight, and most people agreed that Leroy, with the Silver Glove Technique in his arsenal, had to be the victor of the match. "Brother..." Eva Walker, who was standing next to the field, watched her brother with fear and frustration in her eyes. She bit her lips and murmured to herself, ''You can do this, brother!'' Leroy stared at his opponent with a smug smile on his face. "Do you really think that you''ll be able to change the result of this match? Or are you just delusional?" Ray Walker, who had a surprised expression on his face, immediately returned to his indifferent expression and he said, "No fight has a predetermined winner. Like I said, I won''t let this be a repeat ofst time, and I am going to stand by my words!" Leroy snorted and with an arrogant smile, he said, "Very well! I thought that you''ll finally stop being delusional, but this works as well. I''ll make sure to have fun destroying your little dream world and forcing you to face the harsh reality!" Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" BOOM! As soon as Elder Keh finished speaking, Leroy stomped his foot on the ground, causing it to shake violently, and he shot off towards Ray Walker with the speed of a lightning bolt! "Take this!" Leroy yelled as he flung back his arm, winding up his fist in order tond a powerful punch on his opponent. Whoosh! Before Leroy''s fist could collide with Ray, he spun his spear in the middle of the air, and all of a sudden, his figure disappeared from everyone''s views. BOOM! The fist only struck the air, which sent a powerful burst of air towards the spectator stands, even forcing a few younger cultivators back a few steps, and they were astonished by how powerful the attack really was, even though it struck absolutely nothing! But where was Ray Walker? "Look up! He''s up there!" One of the younger cultivators pointed at the sky as he spoke, and everyone tilted their heads and looked up. Zoom! Ray Walker was floating in the air upside down, right above Leroy, with his spear pointing downwards. "One strike!" Ray Walker ced his mouth next to the spear and whispered softly. BAM! All of a sudden, a bright light enveloped the arena, and Ray Walker, along with his spear, transformed into a stream of light and shot down towards Leroy, who tilted his head up right in time for him to witness the attack! "Oh no you don''t!" Leroy gritted his teeth and he immediately flipped horizontally in the air just before the attack hit him. Swoosh! The stream of light glided right past his face, only lightly grazing it as it shot towards the ground. BAM! As the stream of light passed by him, Leroy stretched out his hand mid-air and grabbed at the light from the side, which resulted in a loud explosion. "Ugh!" As soon as his hand collided with the stream of light, Ray Walker became visible, who had his neck tightly gripped by Leroy''s giant hands. "Like I said, nothing''s going to change!" Leroy said with a smug look on his face as he pulled back his other hand and swung his fist right into Ray''s face, and another burst of air shot out from the arena and onto the spectator stands! BAM! Ray Walker fell on to the ground, unconscious, and Leroy Wayne raised his hand in the air with an arrogant expression as the crowd went wild! Chapter 147: Arrival Chapter 147: Arrival Swoosh! The stream of light glided right past his face, only lightly grazing his skin as it shot towards the ground. As the stream of light passed by him, Leroy stretched out his hand mid-air and grabbed at the light from the side, which resulted in a loud explosion. "Brother..." Eva Walker, who was watching the whole fight happening, bit her lips in worry. She was so focused on the oue of the fight that she didn''t even notice that her bright red lips had begun bleeding. "Ugh!" As soon as his hand collided with the stream of light, Ray Walker became visible, who had his neck tightly gripped by Leroy''s giant hands. "Like I said, nothing''s going to change!" Leroy said with a smug look on his face as he pulled back his other hand and swung his fist right into Ray''s face, and another burst of air shot out from the arena and onto the spectator stands! Ray Walker fell on to the ground, unconscious, and Leroy Wayne raised his hand in the air with an arrogant expression as the crowd went wild! "Of course, the winner is undoubtedly the obvious one!" "That''s why they call him the K.O. King! He''s just too strong. His punches are lethal!" "Damn! I had heard that his body strengthening techniques were one of the best in the whole academy, but seeing him utilizing his techniques in person is just mind blowing!" "Not to mention, he had mastered the Silver Glove Technique as well. So it was a no-brainer as to who would be the victor. Ray Walker is a good fighter, but this time, he got unlucky with the pairing!" The crowd whispered amongst themselves, discussing what they thought about the fight, sharing their opinions with each other. Some were satisfied with the results, while others, who had ced bets on the one who lost, had sour expressions on their faces. Elder Keh walked towards the unconscious Ray and made sure that he was not critically injured before calling his servants and heading over to the spot where Leroy stood. "The opponent has been knocked out! Leroy Wayne moves on to the next round!" Elder Keh grabbed Leroy''s hand and raised it up into the air as he announced the result of the fight, and the crowd''s cheers only increased. Leroy had a wide smirk on his face as he waved his hands in the air, and as he waved, he caught sight of Eva Walker, who was in the spectator stands. She was staring at him with anger in her eyes. If looks could kill, Leroy would be dead by now. "F*cking ve!" Leroy murmured under his breath as he turned his head and spit on the floor, before turning back around and grinning at Eva, who clenched her fists tightly. "Brother please be alright!" Eva mumbled to herself. Now that her brother had been knocked out cold by Leroy, someone whom Ray was hoping on defeating, she was sure that he''d be feeling too depressed to train again for a while. It was exactly what happened thest time he lost to Leroy, and it took Eva a lot of effort to bring her brother back to his usual self. And now, she would have to do it all over again. "It''s all because of you!" She gritted her teeth as she stared at Leroy Wayne, who had stepped out of the tform and down to the changing room. She had to take revenge for what he had done to her brother. But for that to happen, she had to win her next match. Leroy had defeated her brother and moved on to the next round, which meant that if she wished to fight him, then she''d have to win and move on to the next round as well. "Don''t worry brother!" She said as she watched the figure of Leroy Wayne disappear from her view. "I''ll make sure that by the time you wake up, I''d have already taken down that piece of sh*t!" -------------------- At the same time... "Wow! I have to admit, that was a great fight!" Russell Davies, who had watched the whole match y out in front of him while standing next to Javier Banderas, ude Rayforth and Wilfred Beldon, spoke loudly, his tone indicating his surprise. "It was alright..." Javier softly whispered, and ude nodded his head. "It was entertaining, but a little too short!" "Well, what did you expect?" Russell Davies turned to look at ude and rolled his eyes. "That''s how it''s going to be when you have the ability to literally punch your opponent''s lights out. You get hit by those fists, and you''re off to dreand." "Why on earth did Ray Walker decide to get closer to Leroy?" Senior Beldon ced his hand on his chin and said. "If he had chosen to stay back and use long range attacks, perhaps he might''ve had more of a chance." "Oh, that''s most probably because his long range attacks might not be his strongest attacks. At least not something that can injure someone like Leroy, who has trained the body strengthening technique all his life." Russell Davies answered almost immediately. "In such cases, it''ll be better to move in for a close range attack. It might be an extremely risky method, but if you are careful enough, then your risk might end up paying off." "Well, I guess his risk didn''t pay off, huh..." ude said with a smile and Russell chuckled. "You shouldn''t make jokes like that, junior brother ude. Who knows, maybe you might suffer the same fate as little old Ray over there." "We''ll see..." ude snorted in response. His eyes then shifted to the arena, where the group of servants were carrying an unconscious Ray Walker out of the field, and watched them with a serious expression. The Elder walked upto the arena once the servants had done their duty and left the field. Elder Keh faced the spectator stand, and after clearing his throat, waz ready to announce the next match of the day. "Next match, ude Rayforth vs Eva Walker!" The Elder announced the next match, and soon, everyone was whispering with each other, specting about the results of the match. "Ohoho! I guess it''s time for your fight now, junior brother!" Russell had a wide grin stered across his face as he turned to look at ude, who narrowed his eyes and stared at the beautiful woman standing next to the arena, who was his next opponent. Eva Walker. Her fighting techniques are said to be extremely simr to her brother''s. Is this going to be an easy fight? ude thought to himself. After all, ude didn''t consider Ray Walker, her brother, to be a worthy opponent. He felt that Ray Walker was someone whom he could beat without much difficulty; at leastpared to the rest of the high ranked individuals in the faction. And if Eva''s cultivation techniques and skills really are simr to her that of her brother, then it meant that neither was she. But of course, people could change. Don''t get ahead of yourself, ude said to himself. After all, the documents that he got from the Headmaster was not written by his opponent, but by a third party observer. For all he knows, she could even be hiding secret techniques. Of course, the documents certainly did have some truth to them. He just wasn''t going to rely on thempletely. "ude Rayforth..." Eva Walker turned to look at ude, who was standing next to Russell Davies and Javier Banderas, and narrowed her eyes. She knew who he was. Most people knew. He was the one who had fought alongside their Headmaster and protected the new King of Argria. He was also transferred to their faction right after his previous faction was annihted. He was described by many as a genius. "But he''s still young and at a lower rank than me..." Eva said to herself. He had defeated Ian, sure. But that''s it. Ian wasn''t whom one would consider to be ''strong''. He was just merely average. And Eva was still a rank above ude. "Don''t worry brother..." She said with a smirk on her face. "I''ll defeat this so-called genius and move to the next round; And then, I shall avenge you..." ---------------------- Meanwhile, in the streets of Dawsbury city. Two men walked through the crowded pathway. One was an extremelyrge person with a long and thick beard on him, while the other was small and thin, but had a distinct twirling moustache on his face. "Finally!" The short manughed out loud, causing the street vendors to turn their heads and stare at him with confused gazes. The man twirled his moustache and said, "The scent has led us to Dawsbury city. I can''t believe I didn''t go with my first hunch and instead decided to search all around the wferry Prefecture. We wasted our precious time!" "Is this where man, Gaston?" The big guy with the beard asked, and the short man, Gaston, nodded his head. "Oh yeah, Barris. We''re finally here!" Chapter 148: Humiliating Chapter 148: Humiliating Two men walked through the crowded pathway in the busy streets of Dawsbury city. One was an extremelyrge person with a long and thick beard on him, while the other was small and thin, but had a distinct twirling moustache on his face. "Finally!" The short manughed out loud, causing the street vendors to turn their heads and stare at him with confused gazes. The man twirled his moustache and said, "The scent has led us to Dawsbury city. I can''t believe I didn''t go with my first hunch and instead decided to search all around the wferry Prefecture. We wasted our precious time!" "Is this where man, Gaston?" The big guy with the beard asked, and the short man, Gaston, nodded his head. "Oh yeah, Barris. We''re finally here!" He stretched both of his hands wide open andughed once again, attracting the eyes of the people walking around him. But he didn''t care. Gaston had wasted far too much time going around the wferry Prefecture instead of trusting his gut and starting from Dawsbury city itself. But that was all in the past, and he wouldn''t be able to change it even if he wanted to. Right now, he was closer to the White Dragon''s tooth than he''s ever been. "Gaston, happy?" Barris ced his index finger in his mouth and began sucking it as he asked, and Gaston patted his stomach and replied, "Oh yes, Barris. Gaston is very happy. He''s so happy that he''s referring to himself in the third person. That''s how happy he is." "If Gaston happy, then Barris happy..." Barris mumbled under his breath and Gaston jokingly punched him in the stomach. "Yeah yeah We still have to grab the White Dragon''s tooth first, so don''t get too happy. Not yet." He then turned his attention towards therge building that seemed quite far away from the busy streets of Dawsbury city. That building was, of course, the entrance of the Golden Avarice Academy, now renamed Royal Academy. "So our little thief is a Royal Academy student, huh..." Gaston ced his hand on his chin and murmured to himself. "That doesplicate the situation a bit. However, I''m sure we''ll get our chance soon." He smiled devilishly. ---------------- The Elder announced the next battle. "Next match, ude Rayforth vs Eva Walker!" "ude Rayforth..." Eva Walker turned to look at ude, who was standing next to Russell Davies and Javier Banderas, and narrowed her eyes. "Don''t worry brother..." She said with a smirk on her face. "I''ll defeat this so-called genius and move to the next round; And then, I shall avenge you..." ude felt a murderous gaze on him, and he furrowed his eyebrows. But he didn''t turn around. He knew that it most likely had to be Eva Walker. After all, it was only after the announcement that he felt the intensity of the gaze. And more importantly, ude had already noted the positions of every member of the faction in his mind the moment he entered the training ground sectors, updating every now and then. The only reason he decided to do this is because right when he entered the training grounds, he felt an intense gazend on him, but before he could identify where it hade from, the person immediately withdrew his gaze, and ude couldn''t identify the culprit. ude didn''t want to make more enemies, but if there really was someone who had enmity towards him, then he would want to know who and where this person was. Because of this, he had a faint idea as to where Eva was currently standing. ''Is she really going to be this tant?'' ude sighed as the intense gaze he was feeling on him only increased after a while. She wasn''t even trying to hide it at this point. ''Very well. If you really wish to make me your enemy, then I can fulfill your desires,'' ude said to himself. He wasn''t an impulsive or short tempered person who would get angry at the slightest form of inconvenience, but he definitely wasn''t someone forgiving. ''I''m going to make sure that she gets just what she''s asking for,'' ude smiled as he began walking towards the arena. "Don''t lose now, junior brother ude." Russell Davies said with a short chuckle. "Or else I''ll be extremely disappointed." ude ignored hisments and entered the arena, and began walking towards the centre where Elder Keh stood. Eva Walker, who had also came down from the spectators stand, entered the arena and walked up to the Elder, while ncing at ude with her narrowed eyes. "Warriors, bow your heads!" Elder Keh yelled as soon as the two reached the centre, and the two contestants immediately lowered their heads as soon as the Elder spoke. "Greetings, junior brother ude." Eva Walker said as she bowed her head with a smile. ude looked at her for a brief second with an indifferent expression on his face, and simply nodded his head as he bowed. Eva ignored ude tantly ignoring her greeting and continued, "I''ve heard a lot about you. You''re a hot topic these days, did you know that?" "Oh, am I..." ude said with an indifferent voice. "You may think I''m lying but it''s the truth. Which is why I''m interested in this fight." ude had an indifferent expression the whole time she was speaking. However, if he could, he would''ve rolled his eyes multiple times. ''Was this girl actually serious?'' He thought to himself. Clearly, she was trying to get him to feelfortable in front of her, so that when she does be aggressive during the fight, he''ll be caught off guard. Which, to be honest, isn''t that bad of an idea. But nevertheless, it was not going to work against ude. "Warriors, step back!" Elder Keh ordered, and the two contestants exchanged onest nod. "I know that you beat Ian Jefferson. But don''t underestimate me just because you beat him, alright?" Eva said before turning around and walking back, and ude did the same. They walked in opposite directions to their respective spots. Elder Keh looked at the two, and after making sure that they were both in their respective spots, he nodded his head and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" BZZZ! As soon as he finished speaking, ude waved his hands in the air, and his katana appeared in his hands. He gripped it tightly and held it close to his chest, staring at Eva with a serious expression on his face. Whoosh! Eva waved her hands in the air as well, and a long spear, simr to the one used by her brother, Ray Walker, appeared in her hands. "Brother..." The smile on Eva''s face disappeared, reced by a serious expression, and she murmured to herself. "Don''t worry. By the time you leave the infirmary, I''ll have seeded in avenging you!" Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" BOOM! As soon as the Elder finished his words, Eva disappeared from everyone''s view, reappearing right behind ude as she thrust her spear! It all happened in just a split second, and the audience had no time to react as Eva''s spear pierced right into the back of ude. "Sorry, junior brother ude. But I''m afraid this is the end of your line." Eva said. But right then, the figure of ude began to shake violently, which made Eva tilt her head in confusion, and take a few steps back. Whoosh! Eva watched as ude''s figure, on whom she had stabbed her spear into, turned into smoke right in front of her, before vanishing into thin air. "An after image?" Eva Walker, who realised what was going on, widened her eyes, and immediately turned her head around to find where the real ude was. "Looking for me?" Eva Walker tilted her head upwards and saw ude, who had appeared right above her, descending downwards with his katana swinging in her direction! "Shit!" Eva cursed as she immediately pulled up her spear horizontally and tried to block his attack! The katana collided with Eva''s spear, resulting in a loud explosion that shook the arena. BAM! Eva was flung back following the explosion because of the tremendous force of ude''s attack. ude on the other hand,nded gracefully on the ground, and immediately shot forward, heading for Eva who was still in the air. "Damn it! I can''t lose! I have to take my revenge!" Eva was pissed. She definitely wasn''t expecting this. And from a junior no less! She had promised herself that she would avenge her brother, and yet here she was, on the verge of losing to a junior. This was humiliating! Plop! She twisted her body in the air andnded on the ground by nting both her feet and her hands, and raised her head up only to find ude who had appeared right in front of her with a devious smile. "Sh*t!" Chapter 149: True Strength And Victor Chapter 149: True Strength And Victor The katana collided with Eva''s spear, resulting in a loud explosion that shook the arena, and she was flung back following the explosion because of the tremendous force of ude''s attack. ude on the other hand,nded gracefully on the ground, and immediately shot forward, heading for Eva who was still in the air. "Damn it! I can''t lose! I have to take my revenge!" Eva was pissed. She definitely wasn''t expecting this. And from a junior no less! She had promised herself that she would avenge her brother, and yet here she was, on the verge of losing to a junior. This was humiliating to her! She twisted her body in the air andnded on the ground by nting both her feet and her hands, and raised her head up only to find ude who had appeared right in front of her with a devious smile. "Sh*t!" Eva cursed out loud, and at the same time, multiple de lights shot out from her palms and headed towards ude! nk! nk! nk! ude easily deflected the hastily thrown de lights using his katana and continued his descent downwards. Eva, who had bought herself a few milliseconds using the de lights immediately sprung backwards, missing ude''s strike by only a hair''s breadth. BOOM! ude''s katana struck the ground instead, causing another explosion and flinging dust and debris all over the ce. But just a split secondter, ude shot out from the dust filled spot, cutting through the air and heading towards Eva, who had just found her footing on the ground. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" She cursed out loudly once again and swung her spear right towards the fast approaching ude as countless streaks of lights burst out from the tip of the spear! "You''re going to be needing a lot more power if you really wish to defeat me, senior sister!" ude said with a devilish grin on his face and he swung his katana, cleaving through each and every one of the spear lights without even losing his speed. ZOOM! Within a few milliseconds, he had appeared right in front of Eva once again. "Take this!" Confused and angry, Eva screamed loudly as she stabbed towards ude, who was standing right in front of her. "Too slow. You''ve got to improve more, senior sister!" ude ducked his head down in an instant, and the spear stabbed just the air. ude then immediately moved his katana to his weaker hand and balled his dominant hand into a fist, and punched her right in her stomach. BAM! The tremendous force of the punch flung Eva backwards, and her body bounced on the ground repeatedly before she could control herself. When she finally stopped her motion, she found that she was gasping and wheezing for air. "Pah!" She suddenly spit onto her hand, and found blood on her palms. "For f*cks sake..." Eva gritted his teeth. She was frustrated. She had only thought about Leroy Wayne as her opponent, basically considering herself as the winner of this match before it had even started. But reality was different, and it seemed like she wasn''t even going to get a shot at beating Leroy. Nothing was going ording to her ns, and she was angry. This was bad, she thought to herself. She needed to find a way to win, and she needed to be fast. Otherwise, her defeat was basically guaranteed. "Don''t lose your focus! I''m not done yet!" But before she could even formte a n, ude had once again appeared right in front of her, and swung his fists. "Don''t think that the same attack would work again on me, punk!" She screamed loudly as she raised her spear and stabbed at his fist. BAM! The two attacks collided with each other, resulting in a burst of air that shot out from the centre, but right then, ude swung his weaker hand that was holding the katana and shed it right at Eva, aiming for her chest. The attack was too sudden and it was unexpectedly close to its target. Eva didn''t even have a chance to react. BOOM! A bright light shot out from the katana as it struck Eva, followed by a loud explosion that flung Eva back in the air once again. ude looked up in the air and clicked his tongue. "As I expected, my weaker hand is less powerful at dealing high level attacks." He knew that Eva still wasn''t unconscious, which meant that the fight still wasn''t over yet. But he didn''t look annoyed. He clenched his fists and smiled, and as the spectators watched, his figure disappeared from everyone''s view yet again. Whoosh! ude reappeared right above Eva, with his katana raised high up in the air. Goddamn it! Eva cursed in her mind. She couldn''t even defeat someone who''s a junior to her. And it looked like he was just ying with her and not taking the fight seriously at all. How on earth was she nning on beating Leroy? "You can''t defeat me!" She yelled out and immediately raised her spear high up in the air, as a bright light began enveloping her. "One strike!" She whispered into the spear, and in a split second, she had transformed into a stream of light along with her spear and shot up towards ude, who watched the whole event happening right in front of him with a wide grin on his face. "Your techniques are extremely simr to your brother. I must say, it''s very impressive!" ude said as he held up the katana to receive the strike! Whoosh! The bright streak of light shot towards ude, colliding with the katana with such intensity that the entire sky was blinding to even look at! ude pushed his katana upwards in mid-collision, and the bright streak of light turned direction in an instant, deterring from its intended trajectory and grazing ude by, but not before ude extended his hand and grabbed at the light from its side, like Leroy did. BOOM! A burst of air shot out from ude''s hands as the bright light disappeared in an instant, and a struggling Eva appeared in his tight grip. "But just like your brother, you''re going to be defeated!" ude said with a smile as he pulled back with his fist and swung it hard, aiming right for Eva''s chest. BAM! The punch was so ridiculously strong that Eva''s eyes rolled back and she gasped for air, and her body shot down like a meteor. Zoom! Right after hended his hit, ude''s body disappeared from everyone''s view once again, and reappeared right next to the falling Eva."You know, I''m not as strong as Leroy, so this might take more than a punch..." He pulled back his fists. "But I assure you that it''ll end the same way as his fight!" He smiled before punching her right in the face! BOOM! Eva crashnded right in the middle of the arena, and an enormous amount of dust and debris flew out, causing the spectators who were standing near the arena to have to step back a few steps in order to not get engulfed by the dust storm. "Woah! What the hell? That was just too powerful of an attack!" "Seriously I can''t believe that ude is actually this strong! Perhaps he might even have a shot at clenching first ce in the contest!" "I can''t wait for his future fights. I''m sure it''s going to be just as exciting as this!" The crowd began to whisper with one another. They were impressed by ude''s skills and techniques, and most importantly, his power. "Oh yeah! I''m definitely going to enjoy fighting him!" In the spectators stand, Russell Davies had a wide grin on his face. "That''s only if you are going to be matched up with him in a fight," Wilfred Beldon said, and Russell turned to look at him with an annoyed expression. "What do you mean by that? As long as he doesn''t lose, our fight would be inevitable. Or are you suggesting that I might lose before?" "You do realise that there''s only four people remaining, right?" Wilfred Beldon turned his head towards Russell and smiled. "And that''s including Javier Banderas over there." Russell shifted his gaze towards Javier, who turned his head to meet his gaze. Wilfred Beldon continued, "So there''s a chance that you might end up facing him first, rather than ude!" Both Russell and Javier continued staring at each other, never breaking eye contact. "Well then, I guess I''ll just have to defeat you," Russell said with a grin, and Javier narrowed his eyes. Back in the arena, a figure stepped out from the dust storm. It was, of course, ude Rayforth, who raised his katana up in the air as the crowd erupted into cheers! Elder Keh walked up to the unconscious Eva, and after making sure that she was not in critical condition, he walked over to ude, raised his hand, and dered, "The opponent has been knocked out! ude Rayforth wins!" Chapter 150: A Short Scuffle Chapter 150: A Short Scuffle Right after hended his hit, ude''s body disappeared from everyone''s view once again, and reappeared right next to the falling Eva. Eva wanted to defend against the attack. She wanted to win and move on to the next round, to face Leroy and defeat him. But she couldn''t even move a muscle. She could only watch helplessly as ude smiled at Eva, right before punching her in the face! Eva crashnded right in the middle of the arena, and an enormous amount of dust and debris flew out, causing the spectators who were standing near the arena to have to step back a few steps in order to not get engulfed by the dust storm. ude walked out of the dust storm and raised his katana high up in the air as the crowd erupted into cheers! Elder Keh walked up to the unconscious Eva, and after making sure that she was not in critical condition, he walked over to ude, raised his hand, and dered, "The opponent has been knocked out! ude Rayforth wins!" The crowd''s cheering only became even louder as the Elder announced the results. The Grand Astral Faction members who hated the fact that both ude and Wilfred Beldon were given the chance to be a part of their faction all had sour expressions on their faces. They certainly weren''t expecting this to happen. And now that they knew ude was extremely powerful, they realized that they wouldn''t even be able to express their hatred for him; not unless they wanted to get on his bad side. And the disciples who weren''t exactly mad about ude and Wilfred Beldon entering their faction were now excited about the fact that they had a powerful genius among their top ranks, which would prove to be extremely useful in order to im the victory of their academy in the Golden Crown tournament. ude waved his hands at the spectators with a gleeful smile stered across his face. Elder Keh waved his hands at the servants, who immediately dashed towards the arena, picked up the unconscious Eva Walker and dragged her out of the field. "With this, we''ve finally reached the semi finals of the contest!" Elder Keh stepped forward and stomped his foot on the ground, and every single one of the disciples turned silent in an instant."We''ll continue the next round of the contest after a short break. After all, it is already noon!" He then pped his hands together, causing a ripple of spiritual energy to burst out and shoot towards the spectator stands, and everyone flinched."Do not make a scene just because you''ve been given a break. Use the time you''ve been given wisely and carefully. Do you understand?" Gulp. Everyone nodded their heads in unison, and Elder Keh smiled, looking satisfied. ude snickered in his mind. This man certainly was an interesting person! Of course, he didn''t mind having a strict elder. He actually preferred strict people rather than those who were moreid back. Elder Keh stepped off the arena, and ude did the same as well. "Junior brother ude!" As he was walking, he heard someone calling for him and turned around. It was, of course, his Senior brother, Wilfred Beldon, who was walking towards him alongside Senior Russell Davies and Senior Javier Banderas! ude stopped walking and turned around, waiting for the group to approach them. "Well, well, well. Junior brother ude Rayforth..." Russell Davies approached ude with a smug smile on his face, and ude raised his eyebrows. Senior Beldon merely shook his head and Javier had an indifferent expression on his face. "What is it, senior brother Davies?" ude asked with an innocent smile, and Russell Davies held down the urge to roll his eyes. "It looks like we''ll be meeting each other on the battlefield soon enough..." He said, grinning as he spoke. "I''m going to enjoy fighting against you in the arena, so you better be ready for me!" "Well, that is if you don''t encounter Javier in the semi finals!" ude said as he looked at him. Russell groaned loudly and looked at Javier as well, who simply shrugged his shoulders. Russell groaned again and turned his gaze back to ude. "You really think I''ll lose to Javier?" "I thought you two had fought before." ude replied, and Russell nodded his head. "We may have." "And I also heard that you lost." ude said and Russell rolled his eyes. "That doesn''t mean that I''ll lose again." He then pointed his finger at ude and said, "Just be ready to fight me, alright?" "Alright, sure." ude nodded. "Good." Russell nodded his head, looking satisfied. "Well, why don''t we grab some lunch? I''m starving." ude raised his eyebrows and looked at Senior Beldon, who shrugged his shoulders. He then turned to look at Russell, and let out a sigh."Alright. I guess we do have time." ------------- EVIL SAMURAI IN CULTIVATION WORLD ------------- Dawsbury city. Inside the Barnacle Inn. "Gaston, what n next?" Barris scratched head and looked at Gaston, who was sitting on his chair, thinking to himself. He looked like he was deep in thought. "Gaston?" Barris asked again, and Gaston raised his hand and gave him a nasty look, ordering him to be silent. "Quiet, you idiot. Can''t you see that I''m thinking?" "But n?" Barris lowered his head and spoke softly. Gaston snorted in response. "I know, you dumba**. I don''t need a fool like you to remind me that I have to think of a n to retrieve the White Dragon''s tooth. That''s what I''m doing this very instant, so do not disturb me when I''m concentrating." "... Okay Gaston." Barris replied as he pouted, and Gaston shook his head. "I swear, he''s getting dumber and dumber every single day..." He murmured to himself. Just then.. "Wait! Hold on," Gaston, who had been thinking quietly until now, raised up from the chair with his eyes wide open and looked out the window. He then began to sniff loudly, inhaling as much air as he could. "Aha! The scent has now gotten incredibly close. Which means he''s in the city right now!" Gaston''s eyes widened with surprise before a sly grin appeared on his face. "Whoever stole the White Dragon''s teeth decided that it would be safe for them to exit their precious little academy. Looks like we can get a good look at who our little thief really is." Gaston walked up to Barris and pped him hard on his back, causing him to flinch and look up to him. "Get up. We have to leave quickly." Gaston said with a serious expression and Barris immediately stood up. He then tossed a bottle to Barris, who looked at it with curiosity in his eyes. "It''s an aura reduction medicine." Gaston exined as he opened the door and stepped out. "It''ll mask our aura and which would not alert our little thief about our arrival. Don''t worry, it''s not temporary." Barris looked at the medicine for a few more seconds before walking out of the room, ingesting the medicine as they walked. ---------------------- Riverside Restaurant, Dawsbury city. "I''m telling you guys, this is one of the best restaurants in the whole city." Russell Davies said as he opened the front door and stepped in, followed by ude and the rest. "Good afternoon, master Russell." One of the servants came forward as soon as they saw Russell and the rest entering the building and bowed their heads. He motioned them towards an empty table and they all sat down, and ordered their meals. "Someone''s watching us." Before they could rx however, Javier leaned forward and spoke with a serious expression, and the rest of them also turned serious. "I can sense it as well." ude said, but he didn''t turn his head. "The aura they''re projecting is extremely powerful." He said. "This person, he''s not even hiding his strength." ude came to the conclusion that the person emitting the aura must be somewhere around the seventh rank of the sky realm. "What should we do?" Senior Beldon asked. "Are we nning on fighting this person together, as a team?" "No." Javier shook his head and then turned his head around, scanning the restaurant for someone. His eyesnded on arge, muscr bald man wearing a long ck trench coat and a giant sword on his back, and said, "I know this guy. He''s here for me." He got up from the table as he spoke. "Step back. I''ll finish this. Alone." The bald man made eye contact with Javier, and he waved his hand at him, smiling as he did so. Javier on the other hand, still had a serious expression on his face as he walked towards the bald man. "Well, well, well..." Far away from the restaurant, lying on the roof of a building, was Gaston, who was surveying ude and his group using a spyss. "I thought our thief was just a student who was quick on his feet. But this sheep might turn out to be a lion cub." A smile crept up on his face as he spoke. "This hunt is going to be more interesting than I thought." Chapter 151: An Interruption Chapter 151: An Interruption "Someone''s watching us." Before they could rx however, Javier leaned forward and spoke with a serious expression, and the rest of them also turned serious. "I can sense it as well." ude responded. "The aura they''re projecting is extremely powerful. This person, he''s not even hiding his strength." ude came to the conclusion that the person emitting the aura must be somewhere around the seventh rank of the sky realm. "What should we do?" Senior Beldon asked. "Are we nning on fighting this person together?" "No." Javier shook his head and then turned his head around, scanning the restaurant for someone. His eyesnded on arge, muscr bald man wearing a long ck trench coat and a giant sword on his back, and said, "I know this guy. He''s here for me." He got up from the table as he spoke. "You don''t need to worry about anything. I''ll finish this. Alone." The bald man made eye contact with Javier, and he waved his hand at him, smiling as he did so. Javier on the other hand, had a serious expression on his face as he walked towards the bald man. ude turned towards Russell Davies. "Do you know who that person is, senior brother Davies?" He asked. Russell scratched his chin and replied, "If I''m remembering correctly, I believe that''s David Moriarty, a famous wanderer from the Southwestern continent of Gillerna. People call him a barbarian, someone who''s absolutely ruthless and does whatever he likes. Of course, people do try to stop him. However, one thing you should know about ruthless people like him is that if he really was easy to beat, then he would''ve stopped doing things like this a long time ago." "So what problem does he have with senior brother Banderas?" ude asked. Russell Davies shrugged his shoulders. "Now how on earth would I know that?" He replied. "But Javier did roam around the continentst year. Perhaps he encountered him on his journey?" ude nodded his head. He then shifted his gaze towards Javier and David Moriarty, but he took brief nces at Russell Davies as he did so. Did he n this? ude thought to himself. After all, it was Russell who brought them to this restaurant to have their meals. Perhaps he knew that David had arrived in Dawsbury city. And maybe he had someone inform him that they had seen David Moriarty hanging around the Riverside restaurant. Russell could just be trying to wear down his opponent so that if they really do end up fighting each other afterwards, then having fought such a powerful foe might leave Javier in a rather troublesome situation. And he also knew a lot about a supposed wanderer from another continent, which was also suspicious. But in the end, he couldn''t prove any of it. So it might as well have been a coincidence, ude thought to himself. But nevertheless, he couldn''t help but be wary of Russell Davies. ''I have to be careful around him,'' ude reminded himself. "Oi! If it isn''t little boy Javier?" The bald man, David Moriarty smiled in a devilish manner as Javier Banderas stood in front of him. Whoosh! All of a sudden, a tremendous aura burst out of Javier''s body, which made the other customers who were sitting inside the restaurant flinch. ''That''s a powerful aura!'' Even ude, who was sitting a few metres away from Javier, could feel the pressureing from him. "Oh? So our little boy Javier has grown into a big boy now, eh?" Even at the face of this tremendous pressure, David Moriarty stood there smiling. It was as though the pressure wasn''t even real. "I''m a lot stronger than before," Javier said with a cold expression on his face. David Moriarty let out a short chuckle as soon as Javier finished speaking. "Oh really now? So, now you think that you can defeat me, huh? Is that why you''re standing up in front of me with no fear, boy?" ude frowned as he watched the interaction between the two men. It certainly didn''t look like it was going to end well. The question was, would the restaurant survive if the two duked it out right here. "Don''t call me ''boy''.." Javier said and his ice cold voice echoed throughout the restaurant, which had now turnedpletely silent due to the intense atmosphere. ude could see Javier''s fists tightening and he became alert. ude knew that a fight was about to happen. Soon. David Moriarty leaned forward, his face right next to Javier''s, and said with a grin. "Oh really now? And what would you do if I don''t? Huh boy?" BAM! Javier swung his fist with frightening speed. If it was anyone else, it would''ve been impossible to defend against such a quick attack! BOOM! However, just as Javier swung his fist, David Moriarty raised both his hands up to his chest in order to defend against the attack. He moved as though he had expected Javier to attack right then and there, and when Javier''s fist struck his hands, a loud and extremely powerful explosion urred, causing arge burst of air to emerge due to the tremendous force, pushing normal cultivators off their seats! ude, Russell Davies and Senior Wilfred Beldon sat in their chairs and watched the fight with intense concentration. From the looks of it, David Moriarty seemed like he could take on Javier Banderas, which meant that Javier might have to do his absolute best if he had to win against such a powerful foe. This meant that he would be showing his full strength and perhaps even his entire arsenal of skills and techniques. This would give them valuable information about Javier and his fighting style and techniques, something that he hasn''t yet sharedpletely. "Woah! So you really weren''t joking when you said that you''ve gotten stronger!" David said with a smirk as he lowered btph his hands. "I have to admit; you''re grown tremendously. I am impressed by your talent." BAM! David swung his fist as soon as he finished speaking,nding a powerful strike on Javier''s chest, flinging him backwards like a puppet that had its strings cut off. Tap! Javier manoeuvred in the air andnded without crashing down, but as soon as he raised his head, he saw David''s fist fast approaching him. Whoosh! Javier lowered his head and evaded the attack before winding back his fist and then punching forward, aiming right for his stomach. BAM! The tremendous force of the attack pushed David back a few steps, and he clicked his tongue, with a dissatisfied expression. He isn''t using any weapons? ude thought to himself. He didn''t understand why he was choosing to fight without any weapons. And why on earth was his opponent, David Moriarty, also not using his sword? ude had noticed the giant sword that was on David''s back. Clearly, he could wield a sword. So why doesn''t he? ude turned to nce at Russell. He had an indifferent expression on his face, but every now and then, ude could see slight wrinkling on his forehead as the fight went on. He seemed like he was dissatisfied with the fight. But he didn''t want to show it. Why? Why on earth would he feel the need to hide his opinion of a simple fight in a restaurant? ude frowned. Was he expecting both of them to whip out their swords and have a go at it? Of course, if he was expecting to see Javier do his very best, then he would definitely need to use his sword. Was he really the person responsible for setting up this encounter? Because if so, then ude could understand why Russell was trying to hide his frustration with the fight. He had set this fight up to push Javier to his limits, and yet they were not fighting at their full strength. ude thought to himself. The fight between Javier and David was only getting more and more fierce. It had only been a mere two minutes since they started fighting, but the two cultivators had already exchanged more than five hundred attacks with each other. BOOM! A powerful punch in the chest pushed David back a few steps. Plop! Plop! The sound of something dripping down onto the floor. David touched his nose, and then lowered his hands in order to take a look at it, only to find droplets of blood on his fingers. His nose was bleeding. Plop! Plop! The blood continued to drip from his nose. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" All of a sudden, Davidughed maniacally, which made the spectators confused. Did he lose his mind? They thought. "You have gotten powerful! Not as strong as me, of course, But you are skilled enough to make up for that disadvantage." He said as he stretched out his hands, motioning Javier to attack. "We''ll end this here. Come on." Whoosh! Javier moved with frightening speed, appearing right in front of David, who swung his fist, aiming right for his face. Javier tilted his head right as David was about to strike him, evading the attack by a hair''s breadth, and immediately countered with a powerful uppercut that struck David right under his chin. BAM! David flung up and mmed onto the ceiling with a loud sound, before crashing down onto the floor. "This is for all the innocent lives you took," Javier''s voice echoed inside the restaurant, as his figure disappeared from everyone''s view, reappearing right in front of David, who was still in the air. WHOOSH! "Thousand fists technique," He swung his fist right at his chest, and a bright light illuminated the entire interior of the restaurant as apparitions of thousands of fists rained down on David, who had a faint smile on his face right before he got struck. Chapter 152: Not Worthy Chapter 152: Not Worthy Javier tilted his head right as David was about to strike him, evading the attack by a hair''s breadth, and immediately countered with a powerful uppercut that struck David right under his chin, causing David To be flung up and mmed onto the ceiling with a loud sound, and came crashing down onto the floor. "This is for all the innocent lives you took," Javier''s voice echoed inside the restaurant, as his figure disappeared from everyone''s view, reappearing right in front of David, who was still in the air. "Thousand fists technique," He swung his fist right at his chest, and a bright light illuminated the entire interior of the restaurant as apparitions of thousands of fists rained down on David, who had a faint smile on his face right before he got struck. BAM! A burst of air pushed the nearby people away, with some even crashing onto walls as Javier''s fist mmed against David''s sword, which had somehow disappeared from its original spot behind him and reappeared in his hands within a split second. BOOM! The tremendous force that came with the collision pushed both the cultivators back a few steps. Javier looked at his fist and realised that his hand was bleeding. It wasn''t anything serious, but the impact of the collision was so powerful that it even pierced his incredibly tough skin. "Ha ha ha! To think you were actually able to make me use my sword!" The bald man, David Moriarty,ughed with an evil grin on his face as he swung around the giant sword like it was a ything. "It''s been a while since I''vest used my sword. So forgive me if I''m not that good anymore," David Moriarty said with a sad expression and Javier simply snorted in response. Cling! He raised the giant sword with his hand and pointed its tip right in Javier''s direction and said, "What are you doing? Bring out your sword as well." Javier clicked his tongue as David and raised both his hands up to his chest. He said with a serious expression, "You aren''t worthy of dying by my sword!" BAM! The moment Javier finished speaking, David stabbed the gigantic sword down onto the floor of the restaurant, and a giant crack was formed right in the middle of the building, causing a small earthquake. A few people who had gathered around the restaurant to watch the fight turned around and ran far away, afraid of the building copsing on them. David looked at Javier with eyes that were bright red, his normal expression gone and nowpletely reced with a look of hatred and rage. "You think you''re very clever saying that don''t you?" Javier snorted. "I just like giving arrogant people a taste of their own medicine," He replied. ude was sure that he saw Javier''s lips twitching for a split second, as though he was resisting grinning. ''Interesting,'' ude said as he watched Javier and David with intrigue. He wanted to know what had happened between the two of them. Next to ude, Russell Davies was watching the fight with a reluctant expression. His facial expression seemed to imply that he was expecting something else. "Ha ha ha ha ha!"David Moriarty tilted his head up into the ceiling andughed maniacally. He then looked straight at Javier with an angry expression. If looks could kill, then Javier would already be dead. He pointed his finger at Javier and said, "Good, good. I like fighting a stubborn opponent. It''s more fun that way." Whish! He pulled the giant sword up in the air and continued, "Just don''t regret your wordster, alright boy?" "Oh, don''t worry," Javier replied as he waved his hands, motioning David toe. "I definitely won''t." CLICK! David clicked his tongue with an annoyed expression before disappearing from everyone''s view. "Take this!" David reappeared right behind Javier and swung his giant sword right at his head. Whoosh! Javier twisted his body to the side right as he was about to be struck by the sword, and immediately countered with a fist attack, aiming right for David''s chest. BOOM! David pulled back his sword and held it right in front of his chest, and the powerful fist attack struck the strong de of the giant sword, creating a loud noise. The tremendous impact of the collision pushed the two cultivators back once again, but this time, David immediately regained his footing and dashed forward, slicing his sword horizontally as he aimed for Javier''s lower abdomen. Whip! Javier, who saw that the sword was quickly moving his way, immediately leapt up into the air, jumping right over the sword before gracefullynding on the floor. Hup! He reacted almost immediately and swung his foot right at David, who used his less dominant arm to block the attack! BAM! Although he blocked it, the impact of the attack was more than what David was expecting, and his less dominant hand couldn''t handle all of the tremendous force, which caused him to be pushed back multiple steps before mming onto the wall behind him. "Dragon fist attack!" Javier''s voice echoed throughout the restaurant as he appeared in front of David in an instant and punched forward, aiming right for David''s head. Flip! David tilted his head right before the fist could strike him, and Javier punched through the wall, resulting in the formation of arge hole in the building. BANG! Before Javier could pull back his fist, David immediately stabbed his sword right onto Javier''s stomach, and the collision resulted in a loud explosion that pushed Javier back, flinging him into the air as fell onto one of the tables. David charged towards the fallen Javier and swung his sword once again, but Javier rolled to the side in an instant, evading David''s attack, before kicking against the wall that was to his side and springing back towards David, kicking him right in the face! "Ugh," David groaned as he was forcibly mmed down onto the floor, which caused another small earthquake that shook the entire building. Javier was about to punch him once again when the fallen David swiped his foot and struck Javier''s leg, causing him to be pushed down to his knees. David instantly pulled back his legs and kicked him in the stomach, right where he had stabbed him just a few moments ago, and Javier cried in pain as he was pushed back, mming his back against the wall. "Like I said, you''re just a little boy!" David rose up from the floor with a devilish grin on his face and held his sword up to his chest, aiming right at an angry Javier. "You''ll never be able to defeat me!" Javier looked at David with an intense expression, and then swiped the sweat off his forehead and replied, "I guess I''ll just have to prove you wrong!" Swoosh! Javier dashed forward, and an infuriated David swung his sword right at him. TWIP! Just as the sword was about to strike Javier, he twisted his entire body mid-run,pletely evading the sword before punching David right in the face! BOOM! The impact knocked David a few feet back, and Javier immediately pulled David by his cor and hit him again by mming his own head against him! "Ah! Resorting to such cheap tactics," David mumbled under his breath as he tried to swing his sword, but Javier bent his upper body backwards, and the sword simply just didn''t connect, passing over him just by a hair''s breadth. He then immediately regained his posture and punched David right under his chin, pushing him back a few steps and causing him to spit out blood. "Why don''t you stop talking and try tond a hit?" Javier said with an indifferent tone, which only made David more infuriated. Whoosh! A burst tog light emitted from the tip of the giant sword, as David pointed it right at Javier. All of a sudden, hundreds of de lights shot out of the giant sword, and moved through the air with frightening speed, aiming right towards Javier, who just watched the fast approaching streaks of light with an indifferent expression. BAM! Javier stomped his foot on the floor, causing it to crack and the ground to shake violently. He then stretched out his palm and began to breathe in and out, and a faint golden glow appeared to envelope him. BOOM! As the countless de lights approached Javier, he twisted his palms to the side and arge golden ring manifested right around his hand, and shot out, aiming at the iing de lights! POW! The golden ring glowed so brightly as it collided with the de lights, creating a loud burst of air as dust and debris filled the restaurant building. Whoosh! A quick figure moved through the dust and appeared right in front of David, who was caught off guard by the sudden appearance. "I told you, didn''t I?" Javier said as he pressed his palm against David''s chest, and a bright light enveloped him. "You''re not worthy of dying by my sword!" David could see an apparition of a giant palm right in front of his chest, following which he felt time slow down, and his eyes weakening. Chapter 153: Return To The Arena Chapter 153: Return To The Arena As the countless de lights approached Javier, he twisted his palms to the side and arge golden ring manifested right around his hand, and shot out, aiming at the iing de lights! The golden ring glowed so brightly as it collided with the de lights, creating a loud burst of air as dust and debris filled the restaurant building. A quick figure moved through the dust and appeared right in front of David, who was caught off guard by the sudden appearance. "I told you, didn''t I?" Javier said as he pressed his palm against David''s chest, and a bright light enveloped him. "You''re not worthy of dying by my sword!" David could see an apparition of a giant palm right in front of his chest, following which he felt time slow down, and his eyes weakening. And then everything turned ck, and David felt as though he was going into a deep sleep. Forever. BAM! A crisp sound drifted out as David Moriarty, who had beenpletely enveloped by the white light, disintegrated right in the middle of the restaurant in front of everyone''s eyes, in just like that in the span of a few seconds. Silence! The entire restaurant turned dead silent. Everyone was staring at Javier as though he was death himself. After all, it wasn''t just nobody that he had defeated just now. That was a powerful cultivator that he had just sent to the afterlife as if it was nothing! "Hooo That took longer than I expected," Javier let out a long sigh of relief as he breathed in and out. He then walked towards the table where ude, Russell Davies and Senior Beldon were sitting and sat down next to them. "So, shall we continue eating?" Javier said with an indifferent expression and ude and the rest looked at each other before sighing. "Yeah, sure." ude said as he snapped his fingers, calling for the terrified waiter who was hiding behind one of the tables. "Let''s eat for now.." ----------------- "You''ve got to be sh*tting me.." Gaston lowered his spyss down and clicked his tongue. "That''s one hell of a strong student." He was watching the fight between Javier and David from afar, and was both amazed and terrified at the disy of pure strength from the young man. "Not only is our little thief part of the Royal Academy, he''s also friends with a lot of powerful people!" He folded his hands and said to himself. Retrieving the White Dragon''s tooth was already going to be a difficult task once he realised that the culprit behind the incident was a student of the Royal Academy, and now, it seemed as though it had gotten even harder. "Gaston fail?" Barris leaned forward on the rooftop and poked Gaston''s shoulders, who rolled his eyes, annoyed by his actions. "No, I did not fail, you nipoop!" Gaston said as he swatted Barris''s hand away. "It might take a while. But sooner orter, I''ll find a way. I always do." He raised his spyss and continued looking through it, clenching his fists tightly. "I''ll get that tooth. No matter what it takes." ------------------ ''Ah, to think that didn''t work,'' Russell Davies clicked his tongue as ude and the rest of the group stepped out of the restaurant after finishing their meals, ready to return to the training ground sectors for the remaining matches. ''I really thought that he''d end up showing all of his abilities in order to defeat David Moriarty. But to think he actually stuck to his body strengthening technique to finish him off'' Russell thought to himself. When he had received information from his servants about the fact that David Moriarty, one of Javier''s enemies, had arrived in Dawsbury city, he was initially extremely thrilled. After all, he was aware of how much hatred Javier had for David Moriarty. Even though Russell annoyed Javier a lot, he never actually told him to leave outright, and as a result, did hear a lot about Javier''s life and the journey he didst year around the country. On this journey, he met a lot of good people, some of whom joined him on the journey, as well as some not so good people. And one of them was David Moriarty. ording to Javier, David Moriarty was an evil man who wreaked havoc in the small town of Dragons Moore. Javier and a few cultivators with whom he was travelling tried to stop him. However, at the time, Javier wasn''t exactly strong enough to stop a powerful man like David Moriarty, who killed all of hispanions as well as the vigers, and left him for dead. Russell knew that Javier wanted revenge, and he also knew that if he brought the two men together, they''d most definitely end up fighting with each other to the death. And if this man, David Moriarty, was as powerful as Javier told him, then he''d most definitely force Javier to utilise all of his abilities and skills. Which was why he had his servants follow the bald man around, to try and figure out the ces that he usually went to, so that he could create a chance encounter with the two of them. However, what he didn''t expect was Javier trying to take David down only by using his fists and the body strengthening technique. He didn''t even take out his sword, which made him even more powerful. He remembered what Javier told him while they were eating. "David never used his sword against me when we previously fought against each other. I was simply returning the favour." That was what he said. ''God damn it! To think that n didn''t work out..'' Russell wasn''t having it. After all, he was given a glorious opportunity to bring out all of Javier''s abilities. It was as though even god was on his side, handing him everything on a silver tter. And yet, it had all gone to waste. ''Well, at least he was injured by him,'' Russell looked at Javier''s stomach as he thought to himself. He remembered David''s attack that struck Javier right in the gut. It didn''t look like an issue at first, but Javier was defending his stomach afterwards from every attack that came after it. Perhaps the injury was a bit too much for normal healing to handle. Injuries that are amplified by the spiritual energy of the weapon responsible for the wound will usually take much more time to heal, especially if the spiritual energy released during that time is at a high level. If that''s the case, then it might take him a few more hours topletely heal. ''If it really is as serious as I think it is, then it might notplete the healing process by the time the final match rolls around,'' Russell thought to himself as he ced his finger under his chin, ncing at Javier every now and then. Maybe this wasn''t such a waste after all, he thought to himself. Unbeknownst to him, ude Rayforth, who was walking next to him, was monitoring his actions, keeping an eye on him. ------------------- After the short break, the students of Royal Academy returned to the training ground sectors to witness thest two rounds of the sparring contest. Elder Ke was waiting for them, standing right in the centre of the arena, with both his hands behind him. His eyes were scanning the entire audience, as though he was studying each and every one of the spectators. "Wee back, my dear students," He said with a smile and he pped his hands once, and the sound echoed throughout the spectators stand, making every one of the students silent in just a split second. They knew that the p was the sign to shut their mouths and listen to the Elder. "Now that you''re all back here again, let us waste no time and return to the contest!" Elder Keh was still smiling as he spoke. ude, Russell Davies, Javier Banderas and Senior Wilfred Beldon were also standing amongst the crowd of students, watching the Elder with curious eyes. ude eyed both Russell Davies and Javier Banderas. As there were only four people remaining in the contest, he knew that there was a chance that he could get either one of them as his next opponent. The other option was Leroy Wayne as his next opponent, which would be an incredibly lucky pick, as Leroy wasn''t nearly as strong as the other two. "Well, even if I win against Leroy, I would still have to fight one of them in the final." ude said to himself. A difficult fight was just inevitable. "And the match ups are..." Elder Keh pulled out an envelope from his pocket and held it up to his face. He opened it and pulled out the paper from the inside, and read it aloud for everyone to hear. "ude Rayforth vs Leroy Wayne and Javier Banderas vs Russell Davies!" As soon as the fights were dered, the whole crowd went wild. ude turned his head to look at Leroy, who was far away from him, and the two locked eyes for a brief second. Javier and Russell turned to look at each other before nodding their heads. Chapter 154: Arrogance And Confidence Chapter 154: Arrogance And Confidence "Wee back, my dear students," He said with a smile and he pped his hands once, and the sound echoed throughout the spectators stand, making every one of the students silent in just a split second. They knew that the p was the sign to shut their mouths and listen to the Elder. "Now that you''re all back here again, let us waste no time and return to the contest!" Elder Keh was still smiling as he spoke. "And the match ups are..." Elder Keh pulled out an envelope from his pocket and held it up to his face. He opened it and pulled out the paper from the inside, and read it aloud for everyone to hear. "ude Rayforth vs Leroy Wayne and Javier Banderas vs Russell Davies!" As soon as the fights were dered, the whole crowd went wild. ude turned his head to look at Leroy, who was far away from him, and the two locked eyes for a brief second. Javier and Russell turned to look at each other before nodding their heads. They knew that they both had to fight each other at some point; be it in this round or the next one. A fight was inevitable. ''I wish I could''ve gotten Javier in the final. Oh well'' Russell said to himself as he shed a bitter smile on his face. Javier on the other hand, still had an indifferent expression on his face, as though the matchups were of no importance to him. ''Leroy Wayne, huh..'' ude was staring straight at Leroy, who was also staring back at ude with his eyes narrowed. They were having a staring contest. ''I guess I really am lucky..'' ude had an indifferent expression on his face, but on the inside, he was pretty happy. Although he knew that a fight with either Javier or Russell would be inevitable as there was still the final round of the contest remaining, he was still incredibly fortunate to have been able to get to the final so easily. Well, easy whenpared to the other two. ''This kid is my opponent? I guess this is my lucky day!'' On the other side, Leroy Wayne, who was studying ude intensely, let out a short chuckle. Simr to ude, Leroy Wayne was also feeling lucky, as he had gotten a junior who was in the fifth rank of the sky realm as his opponent, miraculously avoiding Russell Davies and Javier Banderas. Although he knew that ude was talented, and was also dered by many as a genius that''ll shake up the martial world, Leroy didn''t believe their words. Or at least, he was confident that no matter how much of a genius this kid was, he was still young, and being young meant being inexperienced and weaker whenpared to someone like him. Given time, perhaps he could overtake Leroy, but he didn''t believe that day to be today. To Leroy Wayne, today was the day when he would go on to beat young talent ude Rayforth and move forward into the finals of the sparring contest, showcasing his amazing abilities and skills to the Headmaster. ''That kid must probably be thinking that the fight is going to be easy since he beat that b*tch so easilyst round..'' Leroy Wayne looked at the indifferent expression that was stered on ude''s face and snorted. He had seen the battle between ude and Eva Walker, and how she had been defeated. He thought that since he was much younger than Leroy, ude must probably be underestimating him because of his previous victory over Eva, who was simr in rank to Leroy. Furthermore, on observing ude Rayforth for a few minutes, Leroy understood that ude behaved simr to how Javier Banderas usually behaves, even sporting a simr indifferent expression on his face. Because of this, Leroy thought that ude was trying to imitate Javier Banderas, someone who could be described as a cultivation master. Leroy thought that ude was getting blinded by his ego. ''Don''t worry kid..'' Leroy smiled as he began walking towards the arena. ''I''ll make sure that you know how powerful your seniors really are.'' "Do you think you can beat him, junior brother ude?" Senior Beldon moved closer to ude and asked, as he was getting ready to leave the spectators stand and onto the arena. "Maybe," ude shrugged his shoulders and spoke with a smile. "It definitely is an easier match than fighting any of these two." ude pointed at Russell Davies and Javier Banderas as he spoke. "Don''t lose, junior brother ude!" Russell Davies said with a grin as he waved at ude. "I won''t forgive you if you aren''t my opponent in the finals." ude rolled his eyes at his words. He then turned his gaze towards Javier, and their eyes met. Javier gave a nod to ude and he nodded back. With that, he turned around and walked towards the arena as the cheering of the crowd began to get louder and louder. Both the contestants entered the field, ncing at each other for a second from opposite sides before they walked towards the centre of the field, where Elder Keh was waiting for them. "Warriors, bow your heads!" Elder Keh yelled as soon as the two reached the centre, and the two contestants immediately lowered their heads as soon as the Elder spoke. "Feeling good about yourst match, huh kid?" Leroy''s voice entered ude''s ears as he was in the middle of bowing, and he tilted his head to look at him with a confused expression. ''Was this small talk?'' ude didn''t know what Leroy was trying to ask with such a question. "Don''t need to look at me like that, kid. You did well in your fight with that b*tch. You''re allowed to be proud of your achievements." Leroy continued talking with a wide smirk on his face. "I especially liked the part where you beat the living cr*p out of her in the end. That was really great to see." ''Why the hell was heplimenting me?'' ude was still confused at what was happening. Usually, his opponents would either voice their anger at him or bepletely indifferent towards him. But this was just new to ude. ''Whatever he''s doing, it''s giving me the creeps!'' ude couldn''t help but feel like something''s wrong every time Leroy opened his mouth to speak. "But you know, kid" Leroy, who had no idea what was going on inside ude''s head, continued talking, as they both raised their heads after finishing bowing, finally standing opposite each other, face to face. "The fact of the matter is, she was my prey. And you took away my chance to hunt. So I hope you''re ready to receive my vengeance." ''Oh, so that was what he was leading upto,'' ude finally understood why Leroy wasplimenting him before. He was building up the intensity of his threat! ''A bit theatrical, isn''t it?'' ude couldn''t help but let out a short chuckle, and Leroy furrowed his eyebrows, growing at ude''splete dismissal of his threat. ''I guess this kid is too far up his a** to really give a sh*t, huh..'' His facial expression turned serious and he clenched his fists. ''No matter! He''ll soon learn what it truly means to be strong!'' Leroy Wayne had decided! He would pummel this kid until he bes unconscious! "Warriors, step back!" Elder Keh ordered, and the two contestants nodded at each other before turning around and walking back in opposite directions to their respective spots. Elder Keh looked at the two, and after making sure that they were both in the correct spot, he nodded his head, satisfied, and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" Swish! ude waved his hands in the air, summoning his katana as he held it close to his chest, gripping it tightly as a powerful aura of spiritual energy burst out from his figure and onto the arena. "That''s an interesting weapon you''ve got there, kid!" Leroy snorted as he raised both his hands up and balled them up into fists as another burst of powerful aura enveloped the field. "Poor old me is going to have a hard time defending against such an amazing weapon with just my hands you know?" "Senior brother Wayne," ude said with a serious expression as he pulled back his katana. "I don''t know about you, but I prefer to let my actions do the talking for me." "You''re one cheeky little b*stard, aren''t you?" Leroy said while clicking his tongue. "Don''t worry, I''ll make sure that you regret being cheeky in front of me!" Both the contestants stared at each other with intense gazes, and the crowd erupted into cheers, waiting patiently for the match to begin! Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" Whoosh! As soon as Elder Keh finished speaking, both ude and Leroy charged forward without even a second thought. ude swung his katana while Leroy swung his fist, and the two collided in mid-air as a bright light enveloped the arena! Chapter 155: Claude vs Leroy Chapter 155: ude vs Leroy "Senior brother Wayne," ude said with a serious expression as he pulled back his katana. "I don''t know about you, but I prefer to let my actions do the talking for me." "You''re one cheeky little b*stard, aren''t you?" Leroy said while clicking his tongue. "Don''t worry, I''ll make sure that you regret being cheeky in front of me!" Both the contestants stared at each other with intense gazes, and the crowd erupted into cheers, waiting patiently for the match to begin! Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" Whoosh! As soon as Elder Keh finished speaking, both ude and Leroy charged forward without even a second thought. ude swung his katana while Leroy swung his fist, and the two collided in mid-air as a bright light enveloped the arena! BOOM! A deafening boom exploded out after the emergence of the bright light, as strong ripples of spiritual energy spread out in every single direction with the collision point as the center, sending dust and debris flying back towards the spectator stands, as people tried to avoid getting hurt. "What the hell? How powerful are these two?" "We''ve underestimated them because they weren''t as strong or well known as Javier and Russell Davies, but they truly have the right to be taking part in these rounds!" "Quick! Move back a few metres. I assume this isn''t going to be thest time rubble is going to fly back in our direction!" "What a tremendous explosion. They really are powerful. I can''t help but feel scared just watching the fight!" The crowd began to whisper amongst themselves, but no one was taking their eyes off the arena. Whoosh! Both ude and Leroy were pushed back due to the tremendous impact the collision force carried. udended gracefully after a few steps and Leroy found his footing right afterwards. ''I thought that this was going to be an easy fight. But'' Leroy looked at ude who was standing opposite to him, holding his katana close to his chest with an indifferent expression. Leroy''s facial expression turned serious. ''.... This is going to be a difficult one, huh.'' Leroy noticed that after the pushback from the tremendous force of the collision, ude had found his footing first, followed by Leroy a split secondter. For most people, it was only a split second difference, which meant nothing. But for Leroy, it was more than that. In the dangerous world of martial arts, even a split second difference could be the difference between life and death. And Leroy didn''t wish to die. Not today. "Hwup!" Leroy stomped his foot hard on the arena, resulting in a giant crack of the ground, before rushing forward, aiming for ude with lightning speed! "Take this!" He yelled out, and his voice echoed throughout the arena. Leroy swung his fist hard, aiming for ude''s face, and an extremely bright light had already lit up his hand. "Hyah!" ude raised his katana and yelled out as it began emitting a dazzling white light that suddenly burst out and began engulfing him. WHAM! All of a sudden, his aura began to rise to the extreme and strands of spiritual energy began to circle around his entire body, making him glow even more bright. Zoom! Right before Leroy''s fist collided with his face, ude''s figure suddenly disappeared from the spot, and the fist touched nothing but air. BAM! ude appeared right behind Leroy in an I and swung his katana, and the powerful sword energy burst out from the de of the katana and collided with Leroy''s back, sending a shockwave through his body and down to the ground, causing the ground to form a giant crack. BAM! A giant burst of energy emitted from the centre of the arena as arge vortex made up of air, dust and rubble formed around Leroy, culminating in arge and loud explosion that shook the ground below, causing the spectators to worry about their safety. BOOM! In one strike, Leroy Wayne was sent flying back a few steps while udended on the ground gracefully once again. Leroy maneuvered his body in mid air andnded on the ground after bouncing once on the dirt floor. He then turned around and stared at ude with anger and hatred in his eyes. Drip! Drip! Leroy felt something dripping from his mouth, and he rubbed his hands across his face, only to find blood. His mouth was bleeding. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" All of a sudden, Leroy Wayne stretched both his hands out and beganughing maniacally. The loudughter resonated within the arena, echoing Within each and every one of the spectators, sending a chill down their spines. "Ha ha ha This is wonderful!" He said as he fixed his gaze on ude, who was still looking at him with an indifferent expression on his face. Leroy pointed his finger at ude and continued, "This is just wonderful! I thought I would be having a boring match, but this is turning out to be quite a difficult one! I must say, I''m impressed." Whoosh! Hisughing expression suddenly turned serious for a brief second, after which he disappeared from everyone''s view. It was so sudden that no one had expected him to disappear like that! "Damn it!" ude cursed out loud as he twisted his katana to his left, as Leroy''s figure appeared right next to ude, his fist aiming right for ude''s left shoulder! BAM! The punchnded on the katana, but the force was enough to push ude to the right, as he was flung up in the air a few steps beforending on the ground. "I ain''t done yet, boy!" Leroy''s voice sounded once again, and he appeared right in front of ude. BOOM! This time, ude swung his katana, and the two attacks collided with each other causing another wave of energy to burst out from the arena! The two contestants were pushed back once again, but once they regained theirposure, they charged towards each other yet again! "You''ll never win against me, boy!" Leroy yelled loudly as he swung his fist, aiming right for ude''s chest, but before the strike could connect, ude instantly ducked down, narrowly avoiding the attack, before swinging his katana at Leroy''s thighs. BAM! Leroy immediately kicked forward using his foot, which collided with the katana, and the two were once again sent flying backwards. "I ain''t done yet!" Leroy swung forward once again and ude raised his katana. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The sounds of the attacks shing together could be heard as Leroy''s powerful fists and ude''s katana continuously hit each other in a split second. Leroy punched aggressively and ude defended against the various punches. "Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t!" Leroy, enraged that none of his attacks werending where he wanted them tond, screamed loudly in rage and dashed forward. "Why won''t you just get hit, boy?" Leroy yelled out loud as he swung his fist right at ude''s face. He was fast, but ude didn''t dare lower his concentration. He immediately shifted to the side, causing the fist to harmlessly slide past his face, before instantly striking back as multiple bright de lights shot out from the katana and onto Leroy. A long range attack at a close distance! "Damn it!" Leroy Wayne gritted his teeth as he swung his fists in an attempt to block the iing attacks, but by the time he pulled back his fists, it was already toote. BAM! Leroy was flung backwards and crashed onto the ground as ude charged forward, raising his katana high up in the air, shining brightly. ude had used his entire strength, including his floating footsteps technique, and appeared right in front of Leroy, who had only just found his footing. Leroy was caught off guard by the sudden presence of ude that he simply had no time to react. ude swung his katana as therge and bright de light burst out of the weapon and crashed right onto a stunned Leroy''s chest, immediately causing arge wave of spiritual energy to be released in waves as a burst of air, followed by a loud explosion that sent shockwaves throughout the area as the dirt and the dust on the ground were sent flying into the air. BOOM! The impact of the attack was so powerful that it mmed Leroy''s body down on the ground so hard, causing him to bounce back up into the air. ude pulled back his katana once again and stared at the floating body of Leroy with an indifferent expression before he swung! Leroy, who was still conscious but couldn''t move, suddenly felt arge amount of pressure on his body. The pressure was sorge that it felt as if his entire body was about to be crushed. BAM! The katana in ude''s hands began to glow and flicker rapidly, before a giant de light shot out and collided with Leroy''s body! Chapter 156: And Then There Were Three Chapter 156: And Then There Were Three A loud explosion sent shockwaves throughout the area as the dirt and the dust on the ground were sent flying into the air. The impact of the attack was so powerful that it mmed Leroy''s body down on the ground so hard, causing him to bounce back up into the air. ude pulled back his katana once again and stared at the floating body of Leroy with an indifferent expression before he swung! Leroy, who was still conscious but couldn''t move, suddenly felt arge amount of pressure on his body. The pressure was sorge that it felt as if his entire body was about to be crushed. BAM! The katana in ude''s hands began to glow and flicker rapidly, before a giant de light shot out and collided with Leroy''s body! The spectators watched the fight without even blinking once, as a sh of light enveloped the body of Leroy Wayne for a brief second before a loud explosion erupted from the centre, resulting in a wave of energy to burst out from the arena and back to the spectator stands. Leroy, who was floating in mid air was mmed down onto the ground as a result, causing him to lose his consciousness as his body was buried under the dust and rubble that was flying around in the air because of therge explosion! "What a loud andrge explosion! This young man, to think he''s a first year student in our academy! I had heard people saying that he''s a genius, but it was only today that I understood why they were calling him that." "He''ll definitely be a monster when he grows up. If he keeps up this level of skill and technique as he grows, then he''ll definitely be someone who can shake up the martial world." "It''s a good thing that he''s in our Royal Academy. I''m pretty sure having this young man as my opponent would be an absolute nightmare!" "He''s got a lot of potential. But as he grows in strength and age, he''ll definitely get noticed by more and more people, which also means that he''ll have more enemies as well. He''ll have a tough life, but let''s hope that he survives in the end." In the spectators stand, people were whispering amongst themselves, passionately gossiping about ude and his monstrous skills and techniques. They knew that they were witnessing the birth of a cultivation genius! "I knew that you would be able to pull this off, ude Rayforth," On the top floor of the spectators'' stand sat the Headmaster in his expensive chair, watching the fight with a smile on his face. "He''ll definitely y an integral part in helping the new Golden Avarice Academy rise to the top of the martial world once again." The Headmaster closed his eyes as he leaned back on his chair, letting out a sigh. He tilted his head upwards and stared at the sky. "I knew I had made a great decision by sparing the lives of both ude Rayforth and Wilfred Beldon." He murmured under his breath. Initially, he had nned on killing both ude and Senior Beldon right after he took control of the academy. They had killed their previous master in cold blood. He knew that they could never be Completely trusted. He had no ns on keeping two traitors alive. However, after seeing the skills and the techniques disyed by ude Rayforth, he had decided to change his n. He didn''t wish to kill him anymore, but instead, he wanted to use him. Although both of them knew that they wouldn''t be able to trust each other, the Headmaster felt as though he''ll be able to use his skills to his advantage. And although ude might also understand what his motive was, he''d have no choice but to obey him, as he didn''t have that many options left to choose. And the only reason the Headmaster decided not to kill his senior brother Wilfred Beldon was to not make ude resent him. The Headmaster knew that both ude and Wilfred Beldon were extremely close friends. He was afraid that killing Wilfred Beldon would simply make ude hate the Headmaster. Now, while this might be fine in the present since the Headmaster could easily overpower ude, he was also thinking about the future, when ude would overtake him in terms of pure strength. Obviously, he did not wish to be the enemy of a future martial arts genius. As of right now, they were simply people who were using each other. Although they weren''t able topletely ce their trust on one another, ude definitely didn''t hate the Headmaster. He didn''t wish for that to change just because of him killing someone whom he considered to be a nobody. It would simply be a dumb decision. The Headmaster grabbed a cup of wine from the table beside him and raised it high up in the air. "Here''s to me and my wonderful investment." He said to himself and lowered the ss, bringing it close to his lips as he took a sip. Step! Step! ude stepped out of the dust filled arena and waved his hands at the audience, who erupted into a loud and ear piercing cheer as soon as they saw the victor. "I guess junior brother ude is eager to win first ce, huh?" Senior Beldon smiled as he watched ude standing triumphantly on the field and then turned his head towards Russell Davies and Javier Banderas, who were also looking at ude. "He sure is interesting to watch," Russell Davies said with a grin on his face. "I guess we have to show him that we mean business as well, don''t we, Javi?" He spoke as he shifted his gaze towards Javier Banderas. "Don''t call me Javi," Javier replied with a cold expression, and then went back to stare at ude. "I''ll take that as a yes," Russell Davies nodded. In the arena, Elder Keh walked towards the spot where an unconscious Leroy Wayne was lying, checked to see if he was alright, and then walked to where ude was standing. He grabbed ude''s hand and raised it in the air as he said, "His opponent has been knocked out! ude Rayforth has advanced to the final round!" The crowd erupted into cheers, full of excitement! Although they didn''t believe that ude had better chances of winning first ce than Javier Banderas or Russell Davies, they were confident that he''d most likely put up one hell of a fight! They were sure that this was going to be an entertaining final. "Next up is our fight, you know?" Russell Davies said. He didn''t look at Javier this time. But nevertheless, Javier nodded his head this time. "You won''t win this time." Russell said. His casual expression had now turned into a serious expression. "We''ll see about that." Javier replied with the same indifferent expression that he always has. ude began walking out of the arena, and Elder Keh turned to the audience. "Next match! Russell Davies vs Javier Banderas!" He announced, and the crowd began cheering loudly once again. "This is going to be the best fight ever! Unfortunately, it isn''t the final match, but still! I have a feeling that it''s going to be an incredible experience!" "Junior brother ude''s match was really good, but we all know this is going to be the best match of the contest. Senior brother Davies vs Senior brother Banderas. I''m getting chills!" "Exactly! Everyone''s saying that the final match is going to be a great one, yet we all know the truth. This is what everyone was waiting for." "I think Senior brother Banderas is going to win. After all, he has defeated Senior Davies once before. I am sure he can do it again." "But Senior Davies could''ve trained more after the defeat and studied Senior Banderas in order to win against him. I''m sure that he won''t let the same thing happen again." The crowd began whispering amongst themselves, trying to predict the oue of the match. Some even decided to ce bets on the match. The majority of the audience was leaning towards the victory of Javier Banderas. However, the people supporting Russell Davies weren''t less in number either. Step! Step! The sound of footsteps. The two men began walking towards the arena, and in an instant, all eyes were on them. As ude stepped down from the arena, he could see both Russell Davies and Javier Banderas walking side by side, moving in his direction. They walked by ude, and as they passed, Russell turned towards ude and smiled as he waved his finger, while Javier merely nodded his head. ude nodded back at the two of them, and continued walking towards the spectators stand, where Senior Beldon was waiting for him. "Congrattions on the victory!" Senior Beldon said with a smile. "Thanks!" ude replied, and then immediately turned around to face the field. "Who do you think is going to win?" Senior Beldon asked. ude shrugged his shoulders. "I don''t know." Senior Beldon nodded his head. "Do you think you''ve got what it takes to win the final round?" He asked, and ude turned his head to look at him. "We''ll see." He said with a smile. Chapter 157: The Anticipated Fight Chapter 157: The Anticipated Fight Both Russell Davies and Javier Banderas began walking towards the arena, and in an instant, all eyes were on them. "Wow, look at all those people who are staring at us." Russell said with a smirk as he stretched out both of his hands. He turned to look at Javier and said, "These people really want to see you get destroyed by me, don''t they?" Tsk! Javier clicked his tongue. "You''re just getting annoyed because it''s true," Russell shrugged his shoulders and began whistling loudly, waving his hand at the audience who were cheering them on. As ude stepped down from the arena, he could see both Russell Davies and Javier Banderas walking side by side, moving in his direction. They walked by ude, and as they passed, Russell turned towards ude and smiled as he waved his finger, while Javier merely nodded his head. ude nodded back at the two of them, and continued walking towards the spectators stand, where Senior Beldon was waiting for him. "Congrattions on the victory!" Senior Beldon said with a smile. "Thanks!" ude replied, and then immediately turned around to face the field. The two contestants had already reached the arena and entered the field from opposite sides. "This is it! This is the fight that we''ve all been waiting for. I can''t believe it''s happening. I''m so excited!" "Shut up! You''re getting me excited as well. Oh my god, who do you think is going to win the fight?" "It''s definitely going to be Senior Javier Banderas!" "You wish! It''s definitely going to be Senior Russell Davies!" "You''re just saying that because you ced a bet on him yesterday while being drunk!" As the two contestants began walking to the centre of the field, the crowd began to get louder and louder. People were cheering, people were whispering, and people were deciding on whom they should ce their bets on. "Who do you think is going to win, junior brother ude?" Senior Beldon turned to look at ude, who simply shrugged his shoulders. "I don''t know." "Do you think you''ve got what it takes to win the final round?" Senior Beldon asked, and ude turned his head to look at him. "We''ll see." He said with a smile. ude wasn''t exactly confident. He knew that he wasn''t as strong as the two of them. He was also below them when it came to cultivation rank. But as most experienced fighters would tell you, strength isn''t the only thing involved in a fight. There''s much more to it than that. Although ude was at a disadvantage when it came to power and rank, he knew that he was miles ahead of the two of them in terms of skill, technique and reflex actions. He knew that it was going to be extremely difficult, but he also knew that him winning the contest wasn''t exactly impossible either. Back in the arena, the two contestants, Russell Davies and Javier Banderas, were standing face to face in the middle of the field, with Elder Keh right beside them. "Cutivators, bow your heads!" Elder Keh yelled loudly, and the two cultivators, who were ring at each other until now, immediately lowered their heads as soon as the Elder spoke. This wasn''t their first time, and they definitely weren''t about to make it theirst. "Good luck on the fight." Russell Davies said as he was in the middle of bowing. Javier slightly tilted his head upwards to look at Russell, who continued, "You''re going to need it." "You too," Javier replied after a brief second of silence, and the two contestants raised their heads. Russell stretched out his hand. Javier looked at it and then back to Russell''s face, and only after a second did he ept the handshake. "May the best man win." Russell said. Javier nodded, and the two separated, heading to the two ends of the arena, as the Elder yelled out, "Warriors, step back!" The two contestants arrived at the two ends of the arena in a few seconds. Elder Keh looked at the two, and after making sure that they were both in the correct spot, he nodded his head, satisfied, and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" BZZZZZ! As soon as Elder Keh finished speaking, a long saber appeared in Russell Davies'' hand, and he raised the saber high up in the air, his face carrying a serious expression. BAM! Javier summoned his giant sword and held it horizontally, as though he was ushering Russell to make the first move. Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" BOOM! Russell charged forward, and in a sh, he had already appeared behind Javier Banderas'' back. His long saber, which was now glowing with a bright golden light, stabbed at Javier''s back like a bolt of lightning. Its speed was so quick that it was hard to describe. Javier, who still had a calm expression on his face, all of a sudden disappeared from everyone''s view right before the fast saber could connect with its target, stabbing nothing but air in the process. m! Javier''s figure appeared right on top of Russell Davies, and swung his giant sword aiming for his head. Zoom! Russell tilted his body sideways, narrowly evading the attack, and swung his saber horizontally as Javier''s sword crashed down onto the ground right next to him. BAM! Javier removed one of his hands from the giant sword and raised it in order to block the attack, resulting in a loud andrge explosion that pushed him backwards. "You''ve gotten weaker, Javier!" Russell yelled out loudly as he disappeared and reappeared right above Javier who was trying to find his footing, and shed at him once again. BAM! All of a sudden, Javier''s giant sword disappeared from his hands and appeared behind him, blocking Russell''s attack right before mming down onto the ground for a second time! Javier turned around in an instant and swung his fist at Russell, who hadn''t pulled back from his swing yet. Russell immediately pulled back as fast as he could and raised both of his hands in order to block Javier''s attack. The incredibly fast fist attack collided with Russell''s hands, flinging him backwards into the air as a loud explosion urred, resulting in a burst of air. Javier appeared in front of him as he was flying in the air, and swung his giant sword once again. Russell immediately rotated his entire body mid-air, evading the attack before he mmed his hand onto Javier''s face, punching him so hard that he shot down and crashnded on the ground, sending dust and debris flying all over the ce. Swoosh! From the dust and rubble shot out Javier''s giant sword, moving through the air with lightning speed, aiming for its target, who was Russell Davies. "Damn you!" Russell Davies screamed loudly in frustration and stretched out his hand, as a giant translucent figure of a lotus appeared right in front of his hand. BAM! The giant sword collided with therge translucent lotus, which resulted in a bright white light that enveloped the entire sky with a loud sound. The giant sword broke through the translucent lotus and shot towards Russell Davies, who immediately pulled up his long saber in order to defend himself. But right before the giant sword collided, Javier Banderas appeared right behind Russell, and struck out with a palm strike on his back. BAM! A loud explosion urred, flinging Russell forward and mming right on to the giant sword, causing a bright light followed by another ear piercing explosion! Whoosh! Russell mmed down onto the ground, and Javier shot down with frightening speed andnded gracefully a few metres from the spot where Russell was. m! Javier mmed his sword on the ground, sending a loud burst of air in Russell''s direction, clearing the dust and rubble filled air in a split second! As the dust was cleared, the figure of Russell Davies came into view. Russell stood in the middle of the arena with his long saber stretched forward. Quite a number of small scratches had appeared on Russell''s body, and there were even small drops of blood dripping out from his body. "Oh! Senior Russell is wounded! It''s over!" "To think that even after Senior Russell trained a lot, he was still behind Senior Javier Banderas! I can''t believe it!" "Well there goes my money. I should''ve ced a bet on Senior Banderas instead!" "Don''t make such early predictions. There''s still a chance for him to win." The crowd began to whisper amongst themselves, and Russell chuckled out loud as he faced the still indifferent Javier Banderas. "I''m impressed. I thought I was training too much, and yet you were still able to injure me. You truly are a cultivation monster," Russell said indifferently as he gazed up at the sky. "It''s about time we ended this, though." Russell changed his expression to serious and raised the sword in his hand. As soon as he did, Javier sensed a condensing feeling all around him. This fight wasn''t over just yet! Chapter 158: Last Strike Chapter 158: Last Strike "Oh! Senior Russell is wounded! It''s over!" "To think that even after Senior Russell trained a lot, he was still behind Senior Javier Banderas! I can''t believe it!" "Well there goes my money. I should''ve ced a bet on Senior Banderas instead!" "Don''t make such early predictions. There''s still a chance for him to win." The crowd began to whisper amongst themselves, and Russell chuckled out loud as he faced the still indifferent Javier Banderas. "I''m impressed. I thought I was training too much, and yet you were still able to injure me. You truly are a cultivation monster," Russell said indifferently as he gazed up at the sky. "It''s about time we ended this, though." Russell changed his expression to serious and raised the sword in his hand. As soon as he did, Javier sensed a condensing feeling all around him. Swish! Russell charged forward in an instant, his long saber glowing bright crimson red! Javier, who decided not to wait around, also charged forward while holding his giant sword in a nted manner, ready to swing! nk! nk! nk! The two collided with each other in the middle of the arena, resulting in a bright light enveloping the spectators stand, before they shot upwards into the sky and continued their fight in the air. The incredibly quick and blurry silhouettes moving through the air like shooting stars, asionally colliding with each other and sending a bright light every now and then created an abstract scene in the arena. Most of the spectators couldn''t evenprehend what was actually going on, but nevertheless, they watched the lights moving and colliding with each other with awe. This was beyond what everyone was even expecting. Those who previously dered that Senior Davies had lost simply because he had scratches on his body had now shut their mouths tight. Nobody even dared to breathe heavily. BAM! After creating another loud and bright collision in the air, the two cultivators pulled away from their entanglement, and their figures were now visible to all the spectators, who cheered loudly. Javier turned his attention to Russell Davies and said, "Is that all you got?" Russell scoffed in response, and merely brandished his saber and shed in Javier''s direction. Javier stiffened for a second before immediately raising his giant sword in order to block the attack. However, the moment his de and the saber light collided, he felt a tremendous amount of spiritual energy enter his body, causing him to shake violently for a brief second before being flung backwards. ''No way?'' As he was flying backwards in the air, Javier looked at Russell Davies, who had a wide smirk on his face, with disbelief in his eyes. ''Was he hiding his strength?'' The saber de light attack that Russell Davies had utilised just now was a simple yet incredibly powerful saber attack. However, he had been using the same attack for quite a while in this fight. Javier, who was able to deflect most of the saber de light attacks, had just now realized that the previous attacks had been reduced in power, subconsciously forcing Javier to get used to them, before suddenly striking back with his full power de light. Javier was caught off guard by the sudden increase in spiritual energy which was more than what he was used to. Russell Davies stared at the surprised Javier for a few seconds before disappearing from his spot, and reappearing right behind Javier. "Take this!" Russell screamed loudly as he thrust his saber, and the moment the saber was thrust, the tremendous amount of spiritual energy was emitted from him before being gathered within his saber, and then a bright red de light rushed out from the tip of the saber. Javier raised his hands and the giant sword appeared right above him, blocking the saber de light that was aiming for his chest. Boom! Boom! Boom! When the giant sword and the saber de light collided with each other, the giant sword was pushed back, before a bright light enveloped the skies. BOOM! The light blinded everyone in the spectator stands for a split second, after which they saw a bright lighte crashing down onto the ground with a loud noise, sending rubble, dust and debris all over the ce. Russell Davies, who was still floating on the sky, slowly descended down andnded on the arena. Whoosh! All of a sudden, the giant sword shot out from the dust filled arena, and Russell Davies immediately raised his long saber in order to block it, sending him a few metres back. "Like I said before," the chilling voice of Javier Banderas was heard from behind him, and Russell immediately turned around in a panic and stretched out his long saber, blocking a powerful fist attack! BOOM! The fist and the saber collided with each other, emitting a loud burst of air, as Javier''s figure came into view. He looked down at Russell with a menacing look on his face and said, "Is that all you got?" "Damn you!" Russell cursed out loud as the two cultivators were pushed back because of the tremendous force behind the collision. Javier rushed forward immediately, appearing right in front of Russell and stretched out his fist, aiming right for Russell''s face. "Sh*t!" Russell yelled out in frustration and bent his upper body a whole ny degrees backwards, and swung his saber right at Javier''s waist. BAM! Javier''s giant sword suddenly appeared from above the sky and shot down right next to him, blocking Russell''s saber strike in an instant. Javier kicked forward, mming his foot on Russell''s knee with a tremendous force! BOOM! The strike pushed Russell backwards, and he crashed down onto the ground with a loud thud. Javier appeared right above him in the air, and without wasting a single second, he raised both of his hands, gripping them together tightly and mming down onto Russell. Russell flipped upwards onto his foot, narrowly avoiding the strike as Javier mmed down onto the ground instead. Russell, who wasn''t about to waste this opportunity, immediately rushed towards Javier and punched right on his stomach, where David Moriarty had previously injured him. Although cultivators heal extremely quickly, the strike that David had used contained an incredible amount of spiritual energy. Something that could not be cured so easily. "Ugh!" Javier groaned in pain and immediately stretched out his hand, grabbing Russell Davies'' throat in an instant. BAM! He mmed Russell down onto the ground with such force that the earth shook violently and the ground cracked, forming arge crevice underneath Russell. "Gueh.." Russell gasped for air, but right then, a fistnded on his face, pummeling his head down, forcing it to m against the earth once again. Tfoo! Understanding that he had to get out of this dangerous situation that he had gotten himself in, Russell immediately took a mouthful of dirt when he mmed down onto the ground and spit back at Javier''s face when he moved forward tond another punch. "Ugh.. What the hell?!" Surprised by the sneak attack, Javier immediately pulled back his face, but it was already toote. The dust had entered his eyes, causing him trouble with his vision. "Take this!" Russell decided to seize the opportunity and struck his saber right at Javier''s stomach in close range, sending him flying back, bouncing on top of the ground multiple times before crashnding with a loud noise. "I''m not done yet!" Russell charged forward without wasting any time, and appeared right in front of Javier while he was in the middle of crashnding, and swung his long saber at his chest. "Me neither!" Javier screamed out loudly as he stretched out his fist while he was on the ground, and his fist collided against Russell''s saber attack, which sent arge shockwave through the atmosphere, pushing even the spectators back a step. BAM! The impact sent the two of them flying backwards. Russell found his footing after a few steps, while Javier, who was on the ground when the attack urred, was pushed farther back through the field, and had created a thin but long trench on the ground because of his motion. Javier looked at his body. There were multiple wounds on his hands, face and chest. But it wasn''t just him who was injured. Russell also had multiple injuries on his body, and blood was dripping from his knees. "These two" The Headmaster leaned forward. Even he was getting excited because of the fight. "...They''re true warriors." ude, who was watching the fight, clenched his fists, as a wide grin appeared on his face. He wanted to get in the arena and fight the two of them. "Let''s finish this." Javier rose from the ground, his eyes fixed on Russell. Russell nodded his head, and raised his saber as a bright red circle appeared behind him. Javier waved his hand, and the giant sword appeared right beside him. However, this time, it didn''t strike the ground, but instead floated horizontally, its tip aiming at Russell. "Scarlet Saber Technique." Russell whispered and he swung his saber hard, as the bright red circle behind him divided into multiple red discs that surrounded his saber, shooting out with the saber de light! "Golden Shooting Star Technique!" Javier yelled out, as the floating sword beside him transformed into a streak of bright light, aiming right towards Russell''s de light! Chapter 159: Advancement Chapter 159: Advancement "These two" The Headmaster leaned forward. Even he was getting excited because of the fight. "...They''re true warriors." ude, who was watching the fight, clenched his fists, as a wide grin appeared on his face. "Let''s finish this." Javier rose from the ground, his eyes fixed on Russell. Russell simply clicked his tongue in response. He then raised his saber high up as a bright red circle appeared behind him. Javier waved his hand, and the giant sword appeared right beside him. However, this time, it didn''t strike the ground, but instead floated horizontally, its tip aiming at Russell. "Scarlet Saber Technique." Russell whispered and he swung his saber hard, as the bright red circle behind him divided into multiple red discs that surrounded his saber, shooting out with the saber de light! "Golden Shooting Star Technique!" Javier yelled out, as the floating sword beside him transformed into a streak of bright light, aiming right towards Russell''s de light! The two attacks moved towards each other with such frightening speed that most of the spectators couldn''t even keep with the motion. Their speed was simply too fast for their eyes. "Damn it! First row! Move back!" Elder Keh was rmed, and he yelled out to the people who were nearest to the arena, urging them to move back a few metres, which they immediately did. They knew how scary Elder Keh was when someone didn''t listen to him. BAM! The streak of bright golden light collided against the red circles, and for a split second, the two merged together and shone brightly. The amalgamation of the two vastly different attacks was like the scorching sun itself, as though it was about to explode any moment! The audience who were in the spectators stand stared at the amazing amalgamation of cultivation techniques with wonder and awe. They werepletely mesmerized by the marvelous sight that was in front of them, unable to look away. But the merged form remained only for a split second, after which the burning ball of mes began to get bigger and bigger, as dust and debris began to get sucked into it, as though it was pulling these particles towards it. The people standing on the front row of the spectators stand could feel an invisible force trying to pull them towards the giant ball of mes, which immediately made them move back, fear in their eyes. Whoosh! All of a sudden, the giant scorching ball of mes began to shrink rapidly, and in just a split second, it had shrunk into a size that was not visible to a normal human eye, and in its previous spot, there was an explosion! Boom! Boom! Boom! The explosion was extremely strong, sending shockwaves in every direction, as the air and the dust particles that were sucked in by the giant ball of mes were spat back out with frightening speed. The strong energetic impact of the explosion caused a few of the audience, who were in the front row seats, to be flung back in the air and came crashing down onto the ground. "Damn it! What the hell?" "Look the spiritual energy that''s been produced by the explosion! Simply unreal!" "Dammit! My back! Oh, my back!" "Should''ve taken the back seat!" People began murmuring amongst themselves, but the shockwaves continued to spread across the arena, as dust and debris filled the atmosphere. The impact of the explosion still hadn''tpletely subsided yet. "Headmaster!" One of the Elders who were standing next to the Headmaster turned to look at him. "Are the spectators going to be alright? Should we do something?" "Calm down." The headmaster waved his hands at the Elder who spoke, urging him to not do anything. "It''ll be over in a few seconds. You do not need to get worked up over something as simple as this." He then pointed his finger at the arena. The Headmaster was right. Although it took a few seconds, the shockwaves had nowpletely dissipated, and the dust particles began to settle down on the ground. People who were concerned for their safety let out heavy sighs of relief, while the rest of the audience had their eyes fixated on the arena, anxiously waiting for the victor to emerge from the dust. Tap! Tap! Tap! The sound of footsteps could be heard, and the audience began to get excited. Who had won and who had lost? They needed to know, and they needed to know fast. A figure could be seen appearing from behind the dust filled arena. Thump! Thump! The crowd watched breathlessly as Javier Banderas appeared from within the dust cloud. His giant sword was nowhere to be seen, but the audience didn''t care, and immediately erupted into cheers. "I told you, didn''t I? I knew it. I knew that Senior Banderas would be the one to win. He won against Senior Davies once, and he can do it again!" "I''m rich! Oh heavens! I can''t believe I hit the jackpot! I knew that I made the right choice by cing a bet on Senior Banderas!" "Poor Senior Davies. He trained so hard, and yet, he lost to the same person a second time in a row. Nevertheless, he did perform extremely well against someone like Senior Banderas. He deserves respect!" The people in the audience began whispering amongst one another; they were talking about the fight as well as the final match that would happen right after this match. Thud! But right when they were discussing the oue of the next match, Senior Banderas suddenly fell to his knees, which made the entire crowd turn silent. They shifted their gazes towards the arena, and saw Javier Banderas waving his body back and forth until he fell down like a puppet who had his strings cut, mming face first onto the ground with a loud noise. Silence. As the audience stared at the unconscious Javier Banderas lying on the ground with disbelief in their eyes, the sound of footsteps could be heard again. The crowd watch with amazement in their eyes as from the dust emerged the figure of Senior Russell Davies, holding his long saber high up in the air in a triumphant manner. Whoosh! A deadly silence spread in the arena. The realization of what had happened finally hit the spectators, and all of a sudden, everything seemed like a dream. They were all inplete shock. Just moments ago, they had dered Senior Javier Banderas as the victor of the match. And now, it turned out there was onest twist remaining. Who would''ve thought that this fight would take them on such a rollercoaster of emotions? One second, two seconds After a full minute of silence, a thundering apuse suddenly rang out all around the stadium. People who were cheering and boasting for Senior Javier Banderas had their mouths shut, and those who had ced their bets on Javier Banderas now looked pale, as though they had seen a ghost. "Wow! What a match! Now that''s what I call thrilling entertainment!" "Congrattions to Senior Russell Davies. He managed to defeat Senior Javier Banderas and take his revenge!" "He managed to ovee the mighty Javier Banderas and win! Now I''m sure that he''ll win the final round as well!" "I know that ude Rayforth fought well against his enemies, but let''s be honest here; he''s no match for Senior Russell Davies!" Everyone was apuding Senior Russell Davies for winning against Javier Banderas. Even people who had lost bets, had to admit that the match was nothing short of exciting. It had everyone on the edge of their seats. "He managed to defeat Senior Banderas, huh" ude, who had been watching the whole fight, stared at Senior Russell Davies, who was standing on the arena and waving his long saber in the air, with a smile on his face. "Interesting" ude knew that Senior Russell Davies had been aiming for Senior Banderas'' stomach. He knew that Senior Banderas had taken a heavy hit against David Moriarty back in the restaurant. It was an injury that couldn''t be solved so easily. Not only that, ude was also interested in the way Senior Russell Davies fought against Senior Banderas. When he was down in a disadvantageous position, Russell Davies used cheap tactics, such as spitting dirt, in order to catch the opponent off guard. Although most fighters would condemn such methods, ude on the other hand was intrigued by them. Facing an opponent who could use even the dirtiest of the tricks in an attempt to escape a disadvantageous position; that''s an unpredictable foe. "I can tell already.." He murmured under his breath, as his eyes sparkled with interest. "The final round fight is going to be an interesting one." In the arena, Elder Keh ran up to the unconscious Javier Banderas, and after checking to see whether he was seriously injured or not, he turned around and motioned his servants to bring him to the infirmary, before heading off towards Russell Davies. Elder Keh pulled his hand up in the air and announced, "Javier Banderas has been knocked out! Russell Davies advances to the final round!" Chapter 160: The Roar Of The Lions Chapter 160: The Roar Of The Lions BOOM! Inside one of the rooms within the massive Azure Lion n Mansion, an enormous mirror that looked extremely expensive was flung back onto the wall with immense force, smashing it into a million little pieces with a loud noise! The countless bits of shattered ss were sent flying all over. A few of the ss pieces shot towards the ck robed figure, who was kneeling one one leg. Zoom! The piece of ss passed by him, lightly grazing his face and causing droplets of blood to drip down from his cheek and down to the floor. And yet he didn''t move an inch. He stayed right where he was, in the same kneeling position as he raised his head and looked up. In front of him sat a very mysterious figure. The face of the figure was covered in shadow, but he had a menacing presence. The figure was wearing a long orange coloured robe which had countless jewels and gemstones on it, and most of his fingers were covered in multiple rings. This figure seemed to contain an overwhelming might that could subjugate everything before him. Although the new King of Argria, ke Bancroft, had an imposing aura as well, he was nothingpared to this figure. Comparing the two would be likeparing the heaven and the earth. "Swordmaster Baskins would wish to apologize to the Patriarch of the Azure Lion n!" The ck robed figure bowed his head once again and whispered softly. "Are you sure about the information, Swordmaster Baskins?" The figure, the Patriarch of the Azure n, spoke. His voice was rough and hard, and within it hid a slight hint of displeasure as well. Clearly, the Patriarch wasn''t too happy with what the ck robed man had brought him. "Unfortunately, yes, master. I''m afraid it''s all true." Swordmaster Aragon Baskins didn''t waste any time, immediately recounted the whole story to the Patriarch. He exined how he had found a disturbance of spiritual energy within the room of Elizabeth Carter, and how he had found traces of an intruder within the room. The swordmaster didn''t hide anything, neither did he dare exaggerate. He knew how big of a situation this was. He couldn''t afford to lie to the Patriarch. From what he could understand, the intruder had taken the documents that were kept secret by Elizabeth, who was presumed to be dead. This meant that the intruder might have a vague idea about the Azure Lion n''s ns. So instead of lying, he thought it would be best to just recount everything the way it had happened to the patriarch. "An intruder? Who somehow entered our mansion and was also sessful in retrieving information about our ns? Not to mention, this all happened right under our nose! What a disgrace to the Azure Lion name!" The Patriarch was fuming with rage as he spoke. Swordmaster Aragon Baskins let out a sigh. He felt that his decision to tell the truth was the right one. Now, he just had to listen to the Patriarch''s orders. "Prepare yourself and your men. You are tasked with finding out the identity of the intruder, and to capture and interrogate them." The Patriarch said calmly, but his voice carried a bit of anger as well. "Patriarch, what if the identity of the person in question is something prestigious? What if it''s incredibly difficult to capture such a person alive?" Although such situations are extremely rare and are highly unlikely, Swordmaster Aragon Baskins felt that he had to ask this question if he did somehow find himself in such a situation. "We are already dealing with the situation concerning Elizabeth Carter and her expedition group, most of whom are presumed to have been killed during the expedition. And now, we have to deal with an intruder as well. The timing doesn''t sit well with me." The Patriarch spoke in a slightly annoyed tone as he stared at the swordmaster. "Perhaps the intruder and the missing case of the expedition group are rted. Nevertheless, your mission doesn''t change, even if the person whom you''re looking for is an influential one. Everyone, now matter how powerful they are, will have weak moments. You just have to be patient." At this point, his eyes flickered. "And if the intruder really is connected to the missing expedition crew, then do try and find out if they know the location of the White Dragon''s teeth as well. Perhaps the intruder might help us reach the White Dragon''s teeth." "And what about the n''s head?" Swordmaster Aragon Baskins raised his head and looked at the Patriarch as he asked. "Do I inform him about the intruder?" "Hmph! The n Head?" The Patriarch scoffed in disdain. "He''s merely a puppet. He thinks he holds the power, but he''s nothing more than a scarecrow. A misdirection. He doesn''t need to know about such things." "Understood, Patriarch." Swordmaster Aragon Baskins lowered his head once again, but he couldn''t help but feel sad after hearing that the Patriarch considered his son as nothing more than a puppet. With that, he left the room, leaving the Patriarch alone. "As expected, there are various setbacks.." The Patriarch murmured under his breath. "No matter," He said. "Sooner orter, the whole martial world shall bow down to the Azure Lion n!" ********************* From the dust emerged the figure of Senior Russell Davies, holding his long saber high up in the air in a triumphant manner. A deadly silence spread in the arena. The realization of what had happened finally hit the spectators, and all of a sudden, everything seemed like a dream. They were all inplete shock. After a full minute of silence, a thundering apuse suddenly rang out all around the stadium. Elder Keh ran up to the unconscious Javier Banderas, and after checking to see whether he was seriously injured or not, he turned around and motioned his servants to bring him to the infirmary, before heading off towards Russell Davies. Elder Keh pulled his hand up in the air and announced, "Javier Banderas has been knocked out! Russell Davies advances to the final round!" The crowd went wild, erupting into loud cheers as soon as the words left the Elder''s mouth. The final had now been decided, and it was ude Rayforth against Russell Davies! "Oh hell yeah! I''m definitely going to ce a bet for the next match! This one''s easy!" "You know that everyone''s going to be betting on Russell Davies, right? You won''t even get that much money back." "Sure, I''ll only get a short increase in percentage. However, it won''t be a small amount if I ce a sh*t ton of money oh him!" "Well seeing as everyone''s going to be cing bets on Russell Davies, I''ll take a chance and bet on ude Rayforth. Who knows, maybe I''ll get lucky!" People were getting ready to ce bets. They believed that they knew what the oue of the fight was going to be. Of course, everyone believed the winner was going to be Russell Davies. I mean, how could it not be? After all, Russell Davies was a senior disciple who just defeated the strongest member of the Grand Astral Faction, while ude Rayforth, although a prodigy, was still a youngster who didn''t yet face anyone who can be described as a ''real threat''. "It seems people are already running off to ce bets on the final," Senior Beldon said as he watched a wave of people head off outside, and let out a short chuckle. "They''re probably going to bet against me," ude said as he snorted. Of course, it was probably what they thought was the logical option. But if they really were being logical, then the best option would be to not ce a bet at all. After all, if most people believe that Russell Davies was going to win, then they''d know that the profit margin would be really low if they really do win. "Well, when ites to gambling, I guess everyone''s a bit less logical.." He sighed and turned to Senior Beldon, who had a wide smirk on his face. "You want to ce a bet on yourself?" He asked. ude nodded his head. "How on earth did you know?" He asked. "Because" Senior Beldon shrugged. "That''s exactly what I was nning to do as well." "Confident that I''ll win?" ude raised his eyebrows. "No," Senior Beldon shook his head. "I''m not confident. But I do like gambling." ude chuckled. "Well then" His eyes turned towards Senior Russell Davies, who was walking towards the infirmary in order to tend to his wounds. He had turned around just as ude was looking at him, and the two locked eyes. "Don''t forget to go all in." He said with a confident expression as he nodded his head for Russell Davies to see. Russell Davies smirked in response, and nodded his head as well. "Next match" Elder Keh''s voice echoed throughout the arena, and everyone''s eyes were on him as he announced the final round. "ude Rayforth vs Russell Davies!" Chapter 161: And So It Begins! Chapter 161: And So It Begins! Whoosh! Two figures shot down from the sky andnded gracefully without making any noise right near therge iron walls that surrounded the Royal Academy. The Royal Academy Campus had an incredible amount of area under its name, and the ce where the two figures hadnded was the Grevanny Forest, which was a small forest within the campus where the students could get a first hand experience on how to fight within a forest, without worrying about actually fighting a beast animal. The Grevanny forest did not contain any wild beasts, but was used as a training ground for students. Disciples are encouraged to battle against each other in a friendly match while making use of the terrain, in order to gain more experience. Although the Grevanny forest had no wild animals, it was an extremelyrge training ground, which was spread all around the campus. "Finally, we''ve found a ce to enter," One of the figures whispered softly as he quickly hid behind a tree. The unknown figure slowly popped his head out from behind the tree and looked at his surroundings. He could see a guard near the giant wall, walking towards them, and the figure immediately turned around and signalled the other figure before disappearing up into the tree. The other unknown figure also caught a glimpse of the guard approaching their vicinity, and climbed up into another tree within seconds. The guard reached the spot where the two mysterious men were standing previously, looked around for a few seconds, before turning around and walking back in the direction he came from. "Goddamn security guards!" Up above the tree, on one of the tree branches, sat one of the mysterious men, who cursed the guard under his breath. The two men were, of course, Gaston, and his aplice, Barris, who were after the White Dragon''s teeth and ude, the one who took it. Once they made sure that the guard had left the spot, the two men appeared under the tree and began moving towards the inner disciple division. "Gaston" Barris whispered softly as they were in the middle of dashing. "Is this.. good idea?" Tsk! Gaston clicked his tongue, annoyed by Barris''s words. Good idea? What does this dumb fool know about what''s good and what''s bad? "It''s a good idea, Barris. Trust me." He turned his head and said with an annoyed expression on his face. "But Gaston security strict. Might get caught!" Barris said. "Yeah, I know, Barris." Gaston shook his head. As if he didn''t know that already, he thought to himself. Of course he knew that the Royal Academy would be heavily guarded. "But you see Barris. Today, there is a sparring contest happening within the training grounds." Gaston was trying to exin the situation to Barris, who looked at him with a confused expression on his face. Gaston continued, "We might not be able to get the thief who was responsible for taking the White Dragon''s teeth, but using this opportunity, we just might get back the teeth itself!" --------------------- "You want to ce a bet on yourself?" Senior Beldon asked. ude nodded his head. "How on earth did you know?" He asked. "Because" Senior Beldon shrugged. "That''s exactly what I was nning to do as well." "Confident that I''ll win?" ude raised his eyebrows. "No," Senior Beldon shook his head. "I''m not confident. But I do like gambling." ude chuckled. "Well then" His eyes turned towards Senior Russell Davies, who was walking towards the infirmary in order to tend to his wounds. He had turned around just as ude was looking at him, and the two locked eyes. "Don''t forget to go all in." He said with a confident expression as he nodded his head for Russell Davies to see. Russell Davies smirked in response, and nodded his head as well. "Next match" Elder Keh''s voice echoed throughout the arena, and everyone''s eyes were on him as he announced the final round. "ude Rayforth vs Russell Davies!" "It''s happening, Headmaster!" The Elder who was standing next to the Headmaster spoke softly, and the Headmaster nodded his head, but didn''t reply. His eyes were fixated on the arena. This was the moment that he had been waiting for. This was why he had created this friendlypetition in the first ce. To most disciples, this was just an opportunity for them to make their presence known to the Headmaster, or to get famous and to appear cool. But to ude and the Headmaster, thepetition was so much more. This entirepetition was a chance for ude Rayforth to showcase his strength to the martial world. If he wins this fight against Russell Davies, his senior, then he''ll definitely be someone who''d be revered by almost everyone who has respect for the art of cultivation. The victory of ude Rayforth would be a promation; by ude himself as well as the Royal Academy, that this was the birth of someone who could shake up the martial world! And that person was a student of the Royal Academy! That was the bold promation that the Headmaster and ude Rayforth were going for! "Come on, ude Rayforth." He whispered softly under his breath. "Show everyone in the academy what you are truly capable of. Although most people would undoubtedly dere Russell Davies as the victor even before the fight, in the eyes of the Headmaster, there was only one winner; and that was ude Rayforth! He was the diamond that the Headmaster had identally found, and he intended to polish the diamond as much as he could. "Looks like it''s time for the final fight!" ude stared at the arena from the spectators stand and let out a long sigh. "Nervous?" Senior Beldon turned to look at ude. "I don''t know. Maybe it is," ude shook his head. "I didn''t think I would feel nervous, but I guess I was wrong." He turned around and continued, "It''s not a bad nervousness though. It''s a feeling of excited nervousness." "Good luck." Senior Beldon said as he patted ude''s shoulder. "You''ve got this." "Thanks." ude nodded his head, and then turned back around and began walked towards the arena. As ude began walking, everyone''s eyes were on him. Some were excited, some seemed unimpressed, and some were even aggressive. But to ude, it didn''t matter. To him, they were nobodies. They could shout all they want, but at the end of the day, they weren''t worthy of being on the field on the final round. They weren''t people who could challenge him. They were simply people. "Well, well, well I guess it''s finally time, huh?" Russell Davies, who was sitting on the sideline bench, had a wide smile appear on his face as he saw ude Rayforth approaching the arena. He then got up from the bench and stood up, staring straight at ude, who nodded his head in response. Tap! Tap! Tap! ude stopped right in front of Russell Davies, and the two locked eyes, neither of them looking away even for a split second. "I told you, didn''t I, junior brother ude?" Russell Davies said with a wide grin on his face. "That you''ll end up facing me." "I guess you''re predictions were correct," ude said with a smile. "You did well, junior brother ude." Russell said as he scratched his chin, and his devilish grin had still not disappeared. "You''ve sessfully reached the finals. I''m impressed." "I''m impressed as well," ude replied almost immediately. "You beat Senior Javier Banderas, who was said to be an absolute monster when ites to cultivation." "I guess I got lucky this time," Russell shrugged his shoulders, and ude nodded his head. "You sure did." Senior Russell Davies raised his eyebrows, but before he could ask more, he was interrupted by the voice of the Elder, "May the contestants please enter the arena?" Both ude and Russell Davies turned their heads to see Elder Keh standing in the middle of the field with a serious expression on his face, which meant that he was in a bad mood. The two looked at each other for a brief second before moving to their respective entry sides of the arena, and entered the field to the thundering cheers of an excited audience. "Hell yes! The fight is finally starting! I''m so d I ced a bet on Senior Russell Davies!" "I didn''t even bother with the bet! Why on earth would I ce a bet which doesn''t even guarantee a good profit?" "You''re missing the point! It''s not about the prize, but the feeling of victory! You wouldn''t get it until you try betting!" As people whispered amongst each other, the two contestants had already stepped foot into the arena, and walked towards the centre, until they stood face to face in front of each other, with Elder Keh beside them. "Cutivators, bow your heads!" Elder Keh yelled loudly, and the two cultivators, who were ring at each other until now, immediately lowered their heads as soon as the Elder spoke, after which they headed to the two ends of the arena, as the Elder yelled out, "Warriors, step back!" The two contestants arrived at the two ends of the arena in a few seconds. Elder Keh looked at the two, and after making sure that they were both in the correct spot, he nodded his head, satisfied, and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" BZZZZZ! As soon as Elder Keh finished speaking, a long saber appeared in Russell Davies'' hand, and ude summoned his katana. Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" Chapter 162: True Strength Chapter 162: True Strength The two contestants immediately stepped into the arena, and walked towards the centre, until they stood face to face in front of each other, with Elder Keh beside them. "Cutivators, bow your heads!" Elder Keh yelled loudly, and the two cultivators, who were ring at each other until now, immediately lowered their heads as soon as the Elder spoke, after which they headed to the two ends of the arena, as the Elder yelled out, "Warriors, step back!" The two contestants arrived at the two ends of the arena in a few seconds. Elder Keh looked at the two, and after making sure that they were both in the correct spot, he nodded his head, satisfied, and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" As soon as Elder Keh finished speaking, a long saber appeared in Russell Davies'' hand, and ude summoned his katana. Elder Keh looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" Whoosh! Right after the Elder finished speaking, both ude and Russell Davies charged forward, leaving bursts of air behind as they moved with frightening speed towards each other! "Take this!" Russell Davies screamed as he thrust his long saber forward, and a bright light burst out of the tip of the saber and headed for ude, who immediately used his katana to deflect it easily. ng! ude swung his katana as hard as he could, and arge stroke of pure spiritual energy in the form of a de light shot out forward, aiming for Russell Davies. As ude''s attack moved towards Russell Davies with an unshakable pressure spreading in his direction, Russell immediately shed his long saber directly forward, and a bright red sh of light flew straight out with an indomitable presence, slicing through the floor as if it was paper! ude''s de light and Russell Davies'' sh beam collided with each other, and for just a second, it was as though the entire world had slowed down. Spectators could see the various coloured strands that were bursting out from the collision, as though a beautiful painting was being created in front of them. BOOM! The collision resulted in an extremely loud explosion, and a chaotic force erupted from the centre of the arena, sending a burst of air towards the spectators stand and making it rattle as though leaves on a windy day. The spectators even felt slight tremors underneath their legs. The two contestants were pushed back multiple steps due to the impact of the collision, but immediately charged forward once again as soon as his foot touched the ground, moving towards Russell Davies with such intensity that he even looked like a god of war to many. Whoosh! ude burst through the smoke clouds that was enveloping the arena and charged towards Russell Davies. He held the katana high up in the air, as bright red particles began to gather at the end of the de, rapidly increasing the pressure that ude was releasing. Russell realized toote what ude was going to do. In a panic, Russell flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the strike that send out shockwaves throughout the arena as it hit thr floor. He immediately tried to take a step back and swing his saber, but ude immediately appeared in front of him and ducked with ease right before twisting his whole body around andunched another strike, this time right onto Russell Davies'' side, which he sawing toote. BAM! The strike send Russell Davies flying high as he spun around in the air before crashing down onto the ground, bouncing a few times before he found his footing and flipped himself back up. Drip! Drip! Blood began to drip down onto the floor, and Russell Davies'' gaze had now narrowed onto ude and his face muscles twitched with irritation. He then touched the side of his head with great difficulty to looked at his hand with disbelief in his eyes. He was injured! By a junior no less! He couldn''t see it clearly, but he could certainly sense it. There was a fine bloody line on his cheek that went down to his chin. It wasn''t anything too deep, but it did make Russell Davies annoyed and angry. "Oh my lord! What am I witnessing here? Did ude Rayforth just injure Russell Davies first? Could it be? Does ude Rayforth actually have a chance?" "Oh hell no! Don''t do this to me, god. I''ve bet all of the money I''ve madest year on Russell Davies''victory. Don''t you do this to me now!" "Hmph! This is just the start of the battle and you''re already regretting your choices? What a bunch of idiots! Do you require think Russell Davies, the man who defeated the cultivation monster Javier Banderas, would go down so easily? This was just a warm up. The real fun begins after this." The audience, who had also witnessed ude creating an injury on Russell''s face, were bbergasted by the situation. Some were in disbelief, some were regretting making bets, while some were simply excited for what''s toe. BAM! At this moment, Russell Davies charged forward, and everyone''s eyes turned to him. His body moved like a gust of wind, and with a frightening speed, he swung his saber with all his might, as a bright red sh of light burst out from his saber and shot towards ude, cleaving through the air with terrifying power! This move was so bright that the light flooded the vision of almost everyone in the spectators stand. TWIP! ude bent his upper body backwards in an instant and the de light passed by right above his waist without even touching him. He then flipped back up only to find Russell Davies appearing right in front of him and in the middle of swinging his saber, aiming for his chest! ude contracted his pupils and immediately swayed left, but Davies'' strike hit him right on his shoulder, causing him to be flung a few steps sideways. He staggered for a split second, but eventually found his footing. On the spectators stand, the crowd went wild. "See? I told you before, didn''t I? He''s Senior Russell Davies. You think he''ll be an easy opponent to ude Rayforth? Well guess again!" "Whew! Thank god for that counterattack! I was losing faith! But I guess I should''ve been more level headed and thought more logically. After all, this was someone who defeated the cultivation monster! Of course he wasn''t going down so easily. And definitely not to some young boy who was his junior!" "Hey now, don''t shrug off ude Rayforth''s first attack as just luck! He definitely has the skills and the power to fight against someone like Senior Russell Davies and even injure him! Who knows, perhaps he might really have a shot at winning the contest!" As the crowd whispered amongst each other, the two cultivators stomped down on the ground, causing a slight tremor, and charged forward with terrifying speed, meeting right in the middle of the field. BAM! Another loud explosion followed after the two collided with each other, and bright lights began to envelope the arena. Whoosh! Both ude and Russell Davies werw pushed back, but immediately regained their footing and charged forward once again. Spiritual energy began to surge within Russell Davies'' body, and as he circted it through his meridians, the aura that he was channeling outwards was growing stronger and stronger. Even ude could feel the tremendous pressure mounting on his shoulders, growing ever so slightly as time passed. "You might be a powerful opponent, ude Rayforth! But you won''t defeat me! Not today!" Russell Davies yelled out loudly as he shed his saber, and all of a sudden, his spiritual energy, which had been increasing at a constant and slow pace, began climbing rapidly, and a bright red light began to emit from the long saber! BAM! BAM! BAM! Multiple red circr apparitions appeared behind Russell, increasing his aura and spiritual energy even further, and they charged forward allong with the bright red strand of light, aiming for ude Rayforth. ude took a few steps backwards and stretched out his katana forward, as his eyes glowed azure blue! Whoosh! All of a sudden, blue coloured particles began to appear around him, and he stomped his foot on the ground, as a bright light shot out from under his feet! Floating footsteps technique! Utilizing the floating footsteps technique, he began to rotate within the blue coloured particles with such frightening speed that a tornado began to form around him, causing him to float in the air. "The Dancing Sword Technique!" One of the Elders whispered to themselves. They knew this technique. Unlike other normal cultivation techniques, this was abination technique which involved the martial artist using multiple techniques at the same time to create something new. The Dancing Sword Technique was abination of the floating footsteps technique with a normal sword technique. But ude Rayforth was using it with the Sunrise Sword Technique, which was just infinitely more hard tobine with anything. The Sunrise sword technique was already too difficult, and adding anotheryer to that was simply too much for most cultivators. But to think this young man was pulling it off... Just as the Elder stood amazed by the technique, his eyes widened even more and his jaw dropped open with surprise. "Wait, three techniques?" Along with the Sunrise sword technique and the floating footsteps technique, ude was also utilizing the Invisible Sword Technique, which was just insane! Whoosh! As Russell''s red strand of light with discs approached ude, the tornado disappeared in an instant, rapidly shrinking to the tip of his katana, before shooting off with a loud noise and a terrifying burst of air that shook the arena! Chapter 163: Only One Winner Chapter 163: Only One Winner Swoosh! Swoosh! Two figures passed by the inner disciple division residences without even making a sound. These two were, of course, Gaston and Barris. The two contractors were moving from the top of one residence to another within seconds. Their speed, while also being stealthy at the same time, was terrifying. Since they both had masked their auras using the aura reduction medicine, the guards who were patrolling the area didn''t take notice of them. This enabled the two men to hide and move behind the various residential buildings, using them as covers to shield them from the view of the guards. "Stop!" All of a sudden, Gaston raised his arm and whispered softly, stopping right behind one of the residences, and Barris, who was moving right behind him, stopped after hearing Gaston''s words. Gaston moved towards the wall of the residence with his back turned to it, and then slowly popped his head out from behind the building to look. A few metres away, he could see two guards who were keeping an eye on the nearby area. Gaston clicked his tongue and stared at the neighbouring residence, which was about half a mile away from them. They definitely would be caught by the guards if they made a run for the residence now. In the end, Gaston decided to stay put and wait until the guards leave. "Gaston" Barris came up to him and whispered into his ear, which made him flinch for a second before moving away from the giant with a disgusted expression on his face. "What, you idiot?" He asked, frowning. "When we reach thief''s house?" Barris asked with an innocent expression, and Gaston mmed his palm on his forehead. "It''ll take a few more minutes, you dumb f*ck!" He said with a frustrated look. "Barris no dumb f*ck.." It seemed that Barris wasn''t exactly fine with being called names, and he simply began muttering under his breath. Of course, Gaston couldn''t care less, and began focusing on his sense of smell. It was close, he told himself. He could feel the scent of the thief getting stronger. His residence was nearby. "We can''t stop here " He whispered under his breath. "Not now." He tilted his head once again, and saw that the guards, who were patrolling the area that they were in, were now moving away from the spot, which would give them ample time to rush towards the next residence without getting noticed. He raised his hands to Barris, signalling him to get ready to charge forward, as he focused his gaze on the guards who were walking away. "Go!" He waved his hands and took off, disappearing from the spot within a split second, followed quickly by Barris, who also did the same. "Hm?" One of the guards raised their eyebrows and turned around, but he found nothing. "What? What''s the matter?" The other guard asked, but the first guard simply shook his head in response. "Nothing. It was probably just the wind." ----------------- "The Dancing Sword Technique!" One of the Elders who was standing next to the Headmaster whispered to themselves. They knew this technique. Unlike other normal cultivation techniques, this was abination technique which involved the martial artist using multiple techniques at the same time to create something new. The Dancing Sword Technique was abination of the floating footsteps technique with a normal sword technique. But ude Rayforth was using it with the Sunrise Sword Technique, which was just infinitely more hard tobine with anything. The Sunrise sword technique was already too difficult, and adding anotheryer to that was simply too much for most cultivators. But to think this young man was pulling it off Just as the Elder stood amazed by the technique, his eyes widened even more and his jaw dropped open with surprise. "Wait, three techniques?" Along with the Sunrise sword technique and the floating footsteps technique, ude was also utilizing the Invisible Sword Technique, which was just insane! Even the Headmaster, who usually had an indifferent expression on his face almost all the time, was now staring at the young man with a surprised expression. "This" For the first time in his life, the Headmaster was now speechless. Utilizing two techniques was already difficult for a young talent such as ude, but three techniques? That too, involving extremely difficult techniques such as the Invisible Sword Technique and the Sunrise sword technique? In the end, the Headmaster simply let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair, waiting for the two attacks to collide. "I did the right thing, giving him a second chance.." He knew that even if he didn''t win the final match, this young man would definitely shake up the martial world in the near future. He was a good investment! Whoosh! As Russell''s red strand of light with discs approached ude, the tornado disappeared in an instant, rapidly shrinking to the tip of his katana, before shooting off with a loud noise and a terrifying burst of air that shook the arena! BAM! The st was so powerful that the entire first row had been flung backwards into the air, andnded on the ground with a loud thud. The people who were a bit farther away from the arena felt the tremendous force that burst out from the centre of the field, pushing them back a few steps before they could find their footing and ready themselves. Even the Headmaster could feel the impact of the explosion. Of course, it didn''t move him at all. But nevertheless, he was still amazed by the massive amount of spiritual energy that was being emitted from the single collision! "What the hell? How is the energy released so much more than the collision during the match between Senior Javier Banderas and Senior Russell Davies? Isn''t ude Rayforth a bit too overpowered?" "Ahh! Please god! Please let Senior Russell Davies win this match! I have bet all my life savings on his victory. I can''t afford to lose this! I just can''t!" "What a match! I had imagined that Senior Russell Davies would wipe the floor with ude Rayforth, but to think the match is neck and neck! Looks like this ude Rayforth was underestimated rather than overestimated, like many believed!" People were specting on who had won the final bout. Some were excited. Some were anxious. Some were regretful, while others were joyful. However, almost everyone was looking forward to what the oue of the final match was. "Come on, junior brother ude" Senior Beldon stood in the spectators stand, and like everyone else, he too was anxiously waiting for the victor to walk out from the dust clouds. He was hoping for ude to be the winner of the match, but he wasn''t sure if he really did win. "Looks like I was a bit toote," A rough and low pitched voice came from behind him, and Senior Beldon turned around to find Javier Banderas standing a few metres away from him. "Javier." Senior Beldon nodded his head, and Javier Banderas nodded back in response, as he walked towards him, his eyes still fixed on the arena. "I wanted to witness the final match of the contest, but I was too busy with the healing process and ended up beingte." "Well, it''s not over yet," Senior Beldon said as he pointed his finger at the arena. "Who do you think will win?" He turned around and asked Javier. "Russell Davies is definitely a strong opponent. He''s intelligent, powerful, thinks quickly and is highly unpredictable. He''s a scary opponent to face. No junior will be a match for him." Senior Beldon nodded his head, looking disappointed. Perhaps he was expecting Javier to say that ude had a chance of winning? But right when Senior Beldon thought that he was done talking, Javier opened his mouth again. "No junior will be a match for him" Javier took a deep breath, his eyes still fixed on the arena as he continued, "... Unless that junior is ude Rayforth." Tap! Tap! Tap! The sound of footsteps could be heard, and all of a sudden, everyone turned quiet. All eyes were on the arena, and from the dust clouds emerged a figure. He held a katana high up in the air, and walked victoriously, as the audience got a clear view of the victor. This time there were nost minute twists. No turnarounds. Just ude Rayforth, standing in the middle of the arena. ---------------- At the same time, back in the Inner Disciple Division, two men stood next to Senior Beldon''s residence, staring at the building with a smile on their faces. "Gaston" Barris turned to Gaston, pointed at the building in front of him, and asked. "Is this thief''s ce?" "Yes, Barris" Gaston didn''t turn around to look at him as he spoke. His eyes were on the residence in front of him, and had a devilish smirk on his lips. "This is where the thief lives. Now, let''s find the White Dragon''s teeth!" Chapter 164: True Victory Chapter 164: True Victory "Russell Davies is definitely a strong opponent. He''s intelligent, powerful, thinks quickly and is highly unpredictable. He''s a scary opponent to face. No junior will be a match for him" Javier took a deep breath, his eyes still fixed on the arena as he continued, "... Unless that junior is ude Rayforth." Tap! Tap! Tap! The sound of footsteps could be heard, and all of a sudden, everyone turned quiet. All eyes were on the arena, and from the dust clouds emerged a figure. He held a katana high up in the air, and walked victoriously, as the audience got a clear view of the victor. This time there were nost minute twists. No turnarounds. Just ude Rayforth, standing in the middle of the arena. A few minutes passed by without any noise when all of a sudden, a chorus of excited shrieks and cheers sounded throughout the arena, as the crowd had erupted into a celebratory mood. Everything seemed like a dream to the disciples. Senior Russell Davies, who had finally defeated his longtime rival Senior Javier Banderas, had lost to ude Rayforth, a junior who was in the sixth rank of the sky realm! No one could have predicted that. Sure, some people were hoping for the underdog to win, but no one actually believed that would really happen. And yet it somehow did. Most people were now anticipating that ude Rayforth would be the driving force thatwould lead the Golden Avarice academy to the Golden Crown Tournament trophy. "There must be a mistake. M-Maybe Senior Russell Davies isn''t out yet. Maybe he''s just hiding. Come on, Senior Russell, get up! Stop ying around!" In the midst of the cheerful people were a bunch of cultivators staring at the arena and ude with a half dazed, half sober expression on their faces. They were the people who had ced bets on Senior Russell Davies to win the final round. Now that the victor was finally decided, and it was revealed to be ude who had won the match, they felt their hearts sink. They were so confident about their bets before, and yet they had lost. For most people, this match was a dream. But to these people, this was a nightmare. "I''m doomed! I can''t believe I lost everything! Why on earth did I ce the bet on Russell Davies? I should''ve just gone for ude Rayforth. After all, he was the dark horse. I always go for dark horses, and yet this time, when it actually mattered, I chickened out and went for the other one! Damn it all!" "Oh dear, oh dear oh dear. What am I going to do? I can''t believe I actually ced all my life savings on this bet! What on earth was I thinking? I just lost everything! What am I going to do now?" "F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! Why the f*ck does this keep happening to me? Am I really that unlucky? Everytime I ce a bet, I lose! I can''t believe this! This is bull*shit!" People were fuming, angry about losing their money. "Ha ha ha! I can''t believe it! I''ve hit the jackpot! I''ve won! Go ude Rayforth! You''re the best! I love you! You''ve made me rich!" One of the few men who had ced his bet on ude Rayforth winningughed loudly as he spoke to the young man sitting beside him, pping his shoulders and grabbing his neck as he celebrated his lucky bet. He had just ced the bet for fun, and had never expected that ude Rayforth would actually be the winner of the contest. But nevertheless, his choice did end up winning him a huge sum of money. His only regret was that he didn''t ce enough money on ude. But of course, that was going through almost everyone''s head right now. ude stood on top of the arena with a triumphant smile on his face. He truly was satisfied with the match. Although he would''ve preferred taking on both Senior Russell Davies and Senior Javier Banderas, this also worked out well for him. He was happy and satisfied. ''And I assume you are as well, Headmaster..'' ude thought to himself as he tilted his head to look at where the Headmaster was, and nodded his head slightly. "Ha ha ha ha That kid!" The Headmaster saw ude''s little nod and let out a short chuckle before nodding back at him. He had a wide smile on his face as he watched the young man wave his hands triumphantly at the audience in front of him. "He''ll definitely be a great addition to our academy." "Only if he stays loyal, Headmaster.." One of the Elders who were standing next to the Headmaster whispered under his breath, and the wide smile on the Headmaster''s face vanished in an instant, reced by a serious expression. "Of course he''s going to be loyal to the academy. We''re going to make sure that he has every reason to be loyal to us." "Didn''t his previous master attempt to do the same?" The Elder who spoke previously continued. "And look where that ended up." "The Second Elder was betrayed by ude, yes." The Headmaster nodded his head. "But it was because his safety was being threatened. By the time ude had climbed onto the Flying Sword Faction, it was already a sinking ship. There was no hope of ever winning against thebined forces of the Royal Family and their supporters. So he chose the side which would ensure his survival." The Headmaster leaned back in his chair and grabbed a ss of wine from the table as he continued speaking, "We are not in such a desperate situation. At least not yet. And as long as we provide ude Rayforth with whatever things he requires and keep him happy, then he''ll continue contributing to the academy." "But wouldn''t simply keeping him in check using force be the easier and better option?" Another Elder chimed in, and raised his question to the Headmaster. "Isn''t ensuring the satisfaction of ude Rayforth a bit too risky of a n?" The Headmaster shook his head and focused on the arena, where he could see Elder Keh walking up to ude. "ude Rayforth isn''t your average rebellious disciple who needs a bit of discipline and harsh punishment to learn his lesson." He paused, took a sip of the wine, and continued. "He''s a ferocious beast that cannot be contained. He proved that by betraying his previous master in order to survive. ude Rayforth is a genius who has the talent and the ability to climb to great heights, and straining our rtionship with him is thest thing that we should do. After all, positive emotions trump negative emotions every single time." In the arena, Elder Keh walked up to the centre of the field and stomped his foot down,pletely clearing the dust and debris that filled the air, revealing an unconscious Russell Davies lying on the ground, and he let out a long sigh. He knew that this could most likely be the oue of the match, ever since the Headmaster had ced his trust on ude. But nevertheless, to see it happen in front of his eyes was something else. ''This young man,'' He turned to look at ude Rayforth, who was waving his hands at the excited crowd. ''He might be the real cultivation monster.'' He then signalled at the servants who were waiting for his orders, before walking up to ude. He nodded at the young man, who nodded back at him, and then raised his hand high up in the air as he dered, "Russell Davies has been knocked out! ude Rayforth is the winner of the sparring contest!" The crowd erupted into even more cheers as the words left Elder Keh''s mouth. "ude Rayforth" Standing on the spectators stand, Senior Javier Banderas whispered under his breath, and Senior Wilfred Beldon turned to look at him. "I would like to fight him one day." Senior Banderas exined, and Senior Beldon nodded his head. "Well, you better do it fast," Senior Beldon said as he stared at ude. "He certainly had a knack for grabbing the attention of strong opponents." ude, who saw Senior Beldon standing next to Javier Banderas, nodded at him, and Senior Beldon simply smiled in response. ''Well, he also has a knack for bringing good luck to you,'' Senior Beldon thought about the money that he and ude had won from betting. But of course, he wasn''t going to tell that to Banderas. ---------------------- The Inner Disciple Division. Two men were seen searching inside Senior Beldon''s residence. They were rummaging through every single spot, every crevice they could find, and yet for some reason, they weren''t making a single noise while doing so. "Damn it, damn it, damn it" A small and thin man whispered under his breath, frustration evident in his voice. This man was, of course, Gaston, who was inside ude''s temporary room to search for the White Dragon''s teeth."Where on earth did that son of a b*tch hide the White Dragon''s teeth?!" And unfortunately for them, things weren''t exactly going ording to n! Chapter 165: Trickster Chapter 165: Trickster The Inner Disciple Division. Two men were seen searching inside Senior Beldon''s residence. They were rummaging through every single spot, every crevice they could find, and yet for some reason, they weren''t making a single noise while doing so. "Damn it, damn it, damn it" A small and thin man whispered under his breath, frustration evident in his voice. This man was, of course, Gaston, who was inside ude''s temporary room to search for the White Dragon''s teeth."Where on earth did that son of a b*tch hide the White Dragon''s teeth?!" And unfortunately for them, things weren''t exactly going ording to n! "Uh Gaston?" Barris, who was searching the room along with Gaston, turned to look at him who looked like he was about to murder someone. "Calm down." "Calm down?" Gaston stopped what he was doing and turned around, his gaze now stuck on Barris, ring at him. "Did you just say to calm down, you f*cking prick?" He said as he gritted his teeth. "Uh. No Gaston.." Barris lowered his head in response, unable to look at the enraged Gaston in the face. "Barris sorry" "Why don''t you take your sorry and shove it up your a**?" Gaston wanted to scream, but because they were still in the inner disciple division residence, they had to be extremely quiet and stealthy. In the end, he had to voice his frustrations in the most quiet way possible, which only increased his anger even more. "F*cking r*tard!" Gaston whispered under his breath. It had taken him a long time to even find the thief that was responsible for interfering with their ns, and even after finally discovering the identity of the thief, they still had to be careful and act like a bunch of small-time crooks. They couldn''t even teach the thief a lesson for messing with them, and instead, they have to snoop around the thief''s own residence, as though they''re the ones who are the real thieves. And to top it all off, even though they had found the identity of the thief, even though they knew where he lived, and even though they now had ess to his ce, they still couldn''t find the White Dragon''s teeth! Clearly, the thief had hidden it somewhere, but Gaston didn''t know where. "The time limit ced by our boss is in a few days, and yet we still haven''t found the item yet." Gaston walked up to Barris, who moved back until he hit a wall behind him, and pressed his finger on his chest as he moved his head closer to Barris''s face. "We''re a f*cking disgrace to contractors. You know that?" Twat! Gaston turned his palm around and pped Barris on the face with the back of his hand. "Deadline day ising up, and we are going to lose our heads if we don''t bring what the boss ordered," Gaston said as he grabbed Barris by his chin. "You got that, you dim witted f*ckface? Huh? We''ll get our heads cut off! You want that?" "N-No, no, Gaston." Barris shook his head furiously, still not making eye contact with Gaston. "Barris don''t like to die." He said timidly. "Good!" Gaston said as he stabbed his finger on Barris''s chest one final time, before letting go of his chin, pushing him back. "We''re not going to find anything here. The sneaky motherf*cker probably moved the White Dragon''s teeth to somece safe." "So, what do?" Barris cleared his throat and asked, and Gaston clicked his tongue. "What else? We leave this ce right now. There''s nothing to find here, so why on earth waste our time?" He then paused for a second, walked up to one of the chairs inside the room, and lightly rubbed his hands over it. "We''ll follow the thief around. Try to find any leads on where the White Dragon''s teeth might be hidden. Who knows, maybe he''ll lead us right to the exact spot." "And, if thief not, Gaston?" Barris asked, and Gaston turned around to respond to him. "Well then, I guess We''ll be officially f*cked!" -------------- ude walked up to the spectators stand, showered by praise and encouragement, where both Senior Beldon and Senior Banderas were waiting for him. "Now that was an exciting match! I have to say that I was really nervous! You had me worried there, Junior Brother ude!" Senior Beldon coughed lightly before speaking to ude Rayforth, stretching out his hand for a handshake. "But you did, in fact, win the match! I have to say, I''m impressed, junior brother! You did well!" "Thank you, Senior brother Beldon!" ude said with a smile as he shook his senior''s hand. "I hope you found some happiness with my victory as well!" Of course, ude''s words had another meaning; he was asking about the bet that he had asked Senior Beldon to ce on him. "Ha ha ha! Of course, of course! How could I not be happy?" Senior Beldon, who had already figured out the meaning behind his words, had a wide smile on his face as he spoke. "My junior brother won the sparring contest and is now officially the strongest member of our faction! I am extremely proud of you, junior brother ude!" He said as he lightly pped ude on his shoulder, and ude let out a short chuckle. "ude Rayforth!" All of a sudden, Senior Javier Banderas took a step forward, and immediately, both ude''s and Senior Beldon''s attention diverted to him. "Senior Banderas." ude replied with a light nod of his head. Javier Banderas was staring at ude''s eyes. He looked like he didn''t even blink. Javier definitely did have an enormous presence and pressure surrounding him. However, ude didn''t budge and epted the staredown, staring right back at his face. "You may have won against Russell Davies, but you still haven''t won against me!" After a very long period of silence, Javier opened his mouth to speak. ude raised his eyebrows, and Javier continued. "I''ll defeat you when we finally do fight!" "We''ll see about that," ude responded almost immediately with a grin on his face. Javier nodded, then turned his head towards Senior Beldon, and did the same. Then, he left, leaving both ude and Senior Beldon alone. "What do you think? Will you win against him?" Senior Beldon turned to look at ude and asked, who simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "We''ll see. Of course, I''ll grow even more by then. But at the same time, he could do the same as well." Senior Beldon nodded his head. "Let''s leave it for now, and focus on the money that we''ve won!" ude said with a smile. "After all, it''s not everyday that you hit the jackpot." "That motherf*cker! He actually won the contest!" As both ude and Senior Beldon walked away, theckeys, who were previously working under Senior Ian Jefferson, began to whisper amongst themselves. Although their previous owner had now been expelled from the academy and they were now serving under their junior brother, ude Rayforth, they still had wished for ude to lose. After all, their positions under ude were much more humiliatingpared to their time serving under Ian Jefferson. Although Ian Jefferson had treated most of them like tools, he definitely didn''t cross the line, and did treat them like his colleagues. But ude on the other hand didn''t even consider them as human. They were dirt to him. Just a bunch of servants who weren''t even on the same level as him. This made theckeys enraged, but they were also fearful of offending such a cultivation genius. Instead, all they could do is wish for something bad to happen to ude, just so they can get some satisfaction from seeing ude frustrated. However, it seemed that God didn''t like them too much, as ude had actually won the contest, defeating Russell Davies, his senior, and obtaining first ce. "I guess this is what makes him different from us" Brenden murmured under his breath and let out a heavy sigh. The otherckeys wanted to reply, but they didn''t even know what to say. ---------------- After grabbing their winning money bag from the betting ce, ude and Senior Beldon walked towards his residence within the Inner Disciple Division. "The Headmaster seemed impressed with your skills." Senior Beldon said, and ude nodded his head. "I''m guessing he - as well as the rest of the faction members -will look at you more favourably after this contest," Senior Beldon exined. "I sure hope so," ude replied. He didn''t want to tell Senior Beldon about his deal with the Headmaster. After saying their goodbyes, Senior Beldon departed, and ude entered his room. Step! As soon as he took one step inside his room, ude stopped in his tracks, and his eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute," ude murmured under his breath, as a frown appeared on his face. He walked towards the centre of the room, and began scanning his surroundings, before whispering to himself, "Something''s wrong." Chapter 166: Secrecy Chapter 166: Secrecy "The Headmaster seemed impressed with your skills." Senior Beldon said as the two walked towards his residence, and ude nodded his head. "I''m guessing he was. After all, he did spare us from sharing the same fate as our previous master." ude said. "It''s the least we could do for him." "I''m guessing he - as well as the rest of the faction members -will look at you more favourably after this contest," Senior Beldon exined. "I sure hope so," ude replied. He didn''t want to tell Senior Beldon about his deal with the Headmaster. After saying their goodbyes, Senior Beldon departed, and ude entered his room. As soon as he took one step inside his room, ude stopped in his tracks, and his eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute," ude murmured under his breath, as a frown appeared on his face. He walked towards the centre of the room, and began scanning his surroundings, before whispering to himself, "Something''s wrong." He was channeling his spiritual energy, and although faint, ude could sense a disturbance with the spiritual energy that was inside the room. It was as though there had been a slight change with the atmosphere. As though it has been meddled with. Step, step, step ude walked up to his chair, and lightly rubbed his fingers over it, and closed his eyes as he tried to get a feel of the spiritual energy. "I feel something.. strange.." He whispered under his breath. He could feel a small drop of a different spiritual energy from the chair that he was touching. It was definitely not from the room, as ude already was familiar with the surrounding spiritual energy by now. "Someone has been here.." He released his hands from the chair after a few seconds and scratched his chin, mumbling to himself. But who? ude raised his eyebrows. This was bad. Who was after ude? Was it the Azure Lion n? Perhaps they had found out about his intrusion into Elizabeth Carter''s room. Or perhaps they were after the White Dragon''s teeth and they had somehow linked it back to him. Or was it really the Azure Lion n? ude thought to himself. It could be those groups of people whom he had seen in Gryfino forest along with Elizabeth Carter. ude remembered. ''Of course, there was a chance that it could be the both of them as well,'' ude narrowed his eyes. He didn''t know who the people trying to kill Elizabeth Carter were, but if they were also part of the Azure Lion n, then they could both be working together to find out ude''s location. ''Whatever the situation might be, it appears that I''m in trouble,'' ude clicked his tongue. He definitely didn''t like being caught up in a mess, and yet here he was, caught in a sticky one. Although ude was definitely powerful on his own, he still was, nevertheless, on his own. While the people who are chasing him could very well consist of any number. ''Hold on a minute, ude,'' ude said to himself, and he took a deep breath. He was reminding himself that perhaps he might be overthinking this situation as usual. He definitely did have a habit of overthinking, so it could very well be that. ''Calm down.'' He inhaled in and out, trying to rx. He had to think slowly. ''This residence did belong to Senior Beldon, so it could very well be enemies of him.'' It definitely was possible. Perhaps their real target was Senior Beldon, and ude was simply caught up in his mess. But that turned out to be not the case when ude began to investigate the rest of the residence. He couldn''t find even a trace of the different spiritual energy that ude had previously found on his chair. "So whoever entered my room is only after me," ude murmured under his breath. But then again, this person doesn''t even have to be affiliated with the Azure Lion n. After all, this was the Royal Academy. A cultivation academy that has the backing of the Royal Family and the new King of Argria. Not many people would even consider entering the Academy since doing so would mean risking making the entire Royal Family their enemy. Of course, it doesn''t necessarily rule out the Azure Lion n either, but seeing as it was a giant n which would need connections with other powerful people to function properly, they most likely wouldn''t risk it. ''It could be Ian or one of his exckeys,'' ude thought. After all, Ian was expelled from the academy, and he could have shifted the me onto ude. Or it could be one of hisckeys, who were all now under ude. ude knew that theckeys harboured an immense amount of hate for him. He also knew that he couldn''t do anything to them, for it would mean straining his rtionship with the Headmaster as well as the academy itself, and this also applied to theckeys as well. Of course, sometimes, hatred could ovee sensible thinking. After thinking for a while, ude shook his head. ''It definitely couldn''t be those idiots,'' ude thought to himself. They couldn''t even stand up for themselves, let alone mess with his room. It could be a third party, whom he didn''t know. ''It''s a good thing I hid the White Dragon''s teeth somece else,'' ude leaned back on the wall as he thought to himself. He had already known that there were a lot of people after the White Dragon''s teeth, so he knew that keeping it with him would be a mistake that he would definitely regret making. So, he had chosen a different hiding ce just for the teeth. He then moved back to his room, trying to analyse what the hell these intruders were up to and what else they hade into contact with, but other than the small traces of variant spiritual energy he could find on the chair, there was nothing that could help ude learn what the intruders were doing. Unsatisfied with the results, ude sat down on his chair and let out a long sigh. "Well, at least the intruders didn''t directlye for my life." He mumbled. From what it looked like, the intruders only entered his room, went through his room and got out. Which meant that although they were confident entering the premises of the Royal academy, they weren''t confident of actually encountering him directly. "So I guess this means that I''m safe within the academy," ude said with a bitter smile. Although it wasn''t much, this was still better than having no hiding ce. This meant that the people who were after him weren''t exactly cultivation gods who had the ability to defy everything. They still had limitations. Lines that were not willing to cross. And that meant that they had weaknesses. ''But nevertheless, for now, I still have to be careful and cautious about my surroundings, since I seem to have people after me,'' ude frowned. He didn''t exactly enjoy being low key. But since he didn''t even know who his opponent was, it was definitely a good idea to stay vignt and not do anything risky for the time being. ---------------- Elsewhere. In the depths of Gryfino forest, a figure shot forward, moving through the trees, leaping from one branch to another with frightening speed. "GRAAAAR!" A giant, wolf-like beast roared loudly as it charged from behind, aiming for the quickly moving figure through the dirt road below and opened its mouth, shooting a burst of bright red energy beam straight up the trees! BAM! The figure turned his head around. Behind him, he could see the bright red light that was fast approaching him, quickly reducing the distance between them. The figure turned its attention to the front again and immediately made a decision. Swish! He hastily turned and did a quick flip by kicking his feet on the trunks of one of the trees, shooting through the jungle diagonally, changing direction in an instant, right before the bright red light struck the tree with a loud explosion, burning it and everything surrounding it into ashes. TWIP! TWIP! TWIP! The figure had now changed the way he moved, now shifting to using the tree trunks to move from one tree to another. "GRRAAAAR!" The wild beast, now enraged at the fact that it couldn''t injure its prey, roared loudly once again and opened its mouth, charging up for another round of energy beam, as its throat began to brighten up. Whoosh! Right then, the figure shifted his direction, kicking the tree trunks and using the force to shoot towards the creature, appearing in front of the wild beast in an instant, surprising it! "White Lightning Rapier Technique!" The man whispered softly, and in his hand appeared a silver rapier which glowed brightly, illuminating the entire forest for just a split second. Step! After the light disappeared, the man and the beast were on opposite sides. Suddenly, the man waved his hands and the rapier in his hands vanished into thin air, and at the same time, the creature that was behind him split into two pieces, before copsing down onto the ground. The man turned around, revealing his identity to be Dayton Palmer, who murmured, "That was a good shot!" Chapter 167: Mysteries And Mysteries Chapter 167: Mysteries And Mysteries The figure shifted his direction, kicking the tree trunks and using the force to shoot towards the creature, appearing in front of the wild beast in an instant, surprising it! "White Lightning Rapier Technique!" The man whispered softly, and in his hand appeared a silver rapier which glowed brightly, illuminating the entire forest for just a split second. After the light disappeared, the man and the beast were on opposite sides. Suddenly, the man waved his hands and the rapier in his hands vanished into thin air, and at the same time, the creature that was behind him split into two pieces, before copsing down onto the ground. The man turned around, revealing his identity to be Dayton Palmer, who murmured, "That was a good shot..." He then closed his fists tightly and opened them again, doing the same motion for a few seconds, trying to get a feel of his grip. "How are you feeling?" A voice came from behind, and Dayton Palmer immediately turned around, his eyes vignt and his expression serious. Whoosh! A figure burst through the woods and appeared right behind Dayton Palmer, who widened his eyes in surprise for a split second before twisting his body in an instant and swinging his hand towards the figure as his silver rapier reappeared in his palm. BZZZ! The figure raised his palm and a blue spark of lightning shot out from the centre of his hand, right after which arge azure blue coloured apparition of a palm appeared in front of his real palm. BAM! The silver rapier mmed against the gigantic blue coloured palm apparition, and arge burst of spiritual energy broke loose, spreading each and every direction of the forest, as both Dayton Palmer and the mysterious figure both were pushed back a few steps because of the impact. "You''re going to have to do better than that if you want to win," The mysterious figure let out a short chuckle, right after which he disappeared into thin air, and Dayton Palmer narrowed his eyes for a split second before he leapt up into the air and flipped around, using his left leg to kick hard right behind him. BANG! Although there was nothing visible standing behind Dayton Palmer, the moment he swung his leg, it struck the air and resulted in a loud explosion, and a streak of lightning shot out from where his foot struck and crashed down onto the ground, sending shockwaves all over the earth below along with it. "Ouch! Now that, on the other hand, was a good move! I''m impressed," The mysterious figure emerged from the spot where the streak of lightning had crashnded, his body covered entirely in small strands of electricity, as his face came into view. It was a young man who seemed to be just a few years older than Dayton Palmer. His hair was blonde and he had a good physique. He wore an expensive robe that was embroidered with what appeared to be fragments of precious gems and stones. The young man had a wide smirk on his face as he began stretching his hands and legs, before continuing. "But now, it''s my turn!" The moment he finished speaking, he disappeared from Dayton Palmer''s view and reappeared right beside him. Whoosh! Dayton immediately swung his fist towards the reappeared young man, and the man reacted by raising his hands and making a cross shape, blocking the attack! BOOM! Dayton Palmer''s fist struck the young man''s hands, leading to anotherrge explosion, but this time, the young man didn''t move an inch. Dayton, who had been pushed back due to the impact, immediately raised his head after getting hold of himself, and found the young man''s face right in front of him! "You have to be a lot quicker than that, Dayton!" The young man said with a smile on his face, and Dayton immediately responded with a right hook to his side! The punch shot towards the young man''s side, but before it could connect with the man''s head, he raised his hand in order to block it, and a tremendous amount of energy burst out from the impact point. "Too slow again!" The young man said as he raised his left arm and went in for a punch to Dayton Palmer''s stomach, which Dayton immediately tried to defend against by raising his knee up, attempting to block his attack with a kick! BAM! The two attacks collided with each other, and yet the young man''s punch was too much for Dayton Palmer to deal with, sending the youngster flying backwards with terrifying speed, bouncing up and down on the ground before crashnding with a loud noise. The young man floated towards the spot where Dayton Palmer had crashnded. "Well, that was fun." He said while chuckling, as a dirt covered Dayton Palmer emerged from the dust clouds, his body emitting steam as he walked. "You and I have very different definitions for fun." Dayton Palmer said as he sat down on the ground, tilted his head up into the sky, and let out a long sigh. "Cheer up, would you?" The young man said as he lightly pped Dayton on the shoulder, and the tired youngster turned around to look at him. "I''m serious, kid. You did really well. It''s not everyday that you get to fight against a High Ranker like me!" The young man then pointed at his own cheek as he continued, "And besides, younded a pretty impressive hit on my cheek! I''m still hurt by that, you know?" He rubbed his cheek and pouted, and Dayton Palmer let out a short chuckle. "But you didn''t use your full strength, Sir Arthur." "It doesn''t matter," the young man, Arthur Bradbury, shook his head and crossed his hands. "The fact that you were able tond a good hit on a high ranker''s face, even if I didn''t use all of my power, is still an incredible achievement." He then turned to look at Dayton. "Most people would be proud of such an achievement." "I agree. Most people would definitely be proud." Dayton Palmer nodded. He then raised his hand up to the sky and continued, "But I do not want to be ''most people''. I want to be more than that." "Hah, seriously.." High Ranker Arthur Bradbury shook his head and let out a sigh as he sat down next to Dayton Palmer. "You really underestimate yourself. I seriously cannot believe that you aren''t jumping up and down full of joy fornding a hit on me. Sometimes I wish I had been assigned to another yer." "Do you really?" Dayton turned to Arthur and asked. Arthur simply shrugged his shoulders. "I''m just joking with you," He said with a smirk. "But you really do underestimate yourself, Dayton. You have to learn to appreciate yourself." "I''m only at the fourth rank of the sky realm," Dayton shook his head. "And that is just because you were assigned to me and giving me instructions. I really don''t think I wouldn''t have reached such a level had it not been for you, Arthur." "Fourth rank of the sky realm at such a young age is no easy feat, Dayton." Arthur replied almost immediately. "Do you honestly think there''s anyone else in this world who can keep up with your leveling up pace?" "Achoo!" ude sneezed loudly, which made Senior Beldon turn to look at him. "Did you catch a cold or something? How could that be?" He then scratched his chin and continued, "Maybe someone poisoned you?" After all, cultivators were usually immune to most normal diseases. The only time a strong cultivator would get sick is if his body had been introduced to any highly toxic poison. "Rx, Senior Beldon. I don''t think that I''m sick," ude shook his head. "I''ve scanned my bodypletely, and found no traces of any poison either." He shrugged his shoulders. "It''s probably just nothing." "Alright, if you say so, junior brother ude.." Senior Beldon didn''t seem to have believed ude''s storypletely, but he did know how to keep his boundaries. He wasn''t nning on crossing that today. But the thought of being poisoned did run through his mind many times after he realized that someone had entered his room. But because of that, he did check his surroundings thoroughly, and was vignt. So it would''ve been extremely hard for someone to have poisoned him during that time. "Maybe you are just nervous about the Silver Moon Academy disciples who are visiting the academy tomorrow," Senior Beldon''s words snapped ude back to reality. ''That''s right,'' ude remembered. The Silver Moon Academy and the Trinity Academy, along with the Golden Avarice Academy, was supposed to havebined together to form the Royal Academy of Argria, and yet the three academies continued to operate separately. Until now. Tomorrow was the day when the disciples of the Silver Moon Academy would arrive for abined study visit,plete with friendly battles and group practice matches. ''Dayton Palmer,'' ude thought to himself. He hadn''t meant him since the Prodigy Summit. ''I wonder how much stronger he has be.'' He thought to himself. This was going to be fun... Chapter 168: Fresh Meat Chapter 168: Fresh Meat "Maybe you are just nervous about the Silver Moon Academy disciples who are visiting the academy tomorrow," Senior Beldon''s words snapped ude back to reality. ''That''s right,'' ude remembered. The Silver Moon Academy and the Trinity Academy, along with the Golden Avarice Academy, was supposed to havebined together to form the Royal Academy of Argria, and yet the three academies continued to operate separately. Until now. Tomorrow was the day when the disciples of the Silver Moon Academy would arrive for abined study visit,plete with friendly battles and group practice matches. ''Dayton Palmer,'' ude thought to himself. He hadn''t meant him since the Prodigy Summit. ''I wonder how much stronger he has be.'' He thought to himself. "..You okay there, junior brother ude?" Senior Beldon asked as he hadn''t received a reply from ude. ude immediately shook his head with a smile, "No, no.. I''m perfectly fine, Senior Beldon." He rified. "Just thinking about tomorrow." "Worried or perhaps excited?" Senior Beldon asked, intrigued by the response he got from ude. "A bit of both I guess." ude shrugged his shoulders. "I assume you''re worried about Dayton Palmer?" Senior Beldon leaned forward onto the table and grabbed his cup of coffee as he spoke. ude''s eyes shifted to Senior Beldon, his eyebrows raised. "How''d you know?" "Oh, it''s nothing amazing," Senior Beldon let out a short chuckle as he shook his head. "I just knew that you were extremelypetitive in nature, and who else could have the ability to grab your attention than the young genius from Silver Moon Academy?" ude chuckled in response. "I guess I am a bit too simple in that regard, huh.." "Nothing wrong with that, you know?" Senior Beldon shrugged and took a sip from his cup. "You need to bepetitive if you want to climb higher and higher." ude nodded his head. That''s right, he thought. The martial world is a tough and troublesome world where death can be just around the corner, hiding from our eyes until it''s all toote. That is true for both the strong and the weak. One might wrongfully assume that every problem you have can be easily solved if you have enough strength. But by living in this world, ude hade to the realization that this line of thinking was simply too naive. If you remain weak, you''ll be living in fear from the people who are stronger than you. And even if you be as strong as the people who may be giving you trouble, you''ll eventually be a target to those who are far stronger than them. Like moths to a me. The brighter you burn, the more they''ll increase in number. It just never ends. And the higher you climb, the more powerful and difficult your opponents are going to be. In the martial world, there was only one way to ensure your survival, and that was to never stop climbing up. ''These people who entered my room'' ude narrowed his eyes. ''They probably should have a good idea of me since they figured out my residence.'' ude scratched his chin. ''If that is really the case, then the fact that they entered my room regardless meant that they weren''t afraid of him.'' So the enemy most likely has to be stronger than him, thought ude. How strong? He didn''t know. But he did know that he had to be extremely cautious. --------------- Soon, it was the next day, and the Royal Academy of Argria was bustling with noise and people. Disciples were everywhere, whispering to one another, looking around the area, and waiting for the arrival of the Silver Moon Academy disciples. Many were even waiting in front of the entrance of the academy. Of course, they were mostly senior disciples who wanted to get a good look at the ''new meat'' that were going to be arriving soon. "Hey Harry?" A man with a turnip shaped head, who was waiting for the arrival of the Silver Moon Academy carriages, turned around after letting out a long yawn. "Are you sure we won''t end up in trouble for doing this?" "Of course not, you idiot!" A tall, humongous figure came into view, who answered the turnip head''s question. The youth had a scary expression, with scars all over his nose and his cheeks, giving him the appearance of a terrifying criminal. The young man, Harry, leaned over to the turnip head kid and ced his hand over his shoulders and whispered into his ear. "Listen here, Linguini." He said. "You really don''t like the way our juniors behave towards us, do you?" "I-I don''t.." The turnip head, named Linguini, answered while stammering. "Y-You''re right, I don''t like it." He replied softly. He, along with Harry and his pals, were part of a senior disciples group who would go around and use their strength and status to extort and bully junior disciples. At first, they did this for fun and to kill time, but as they spread out their bullying to multiple people and the extortion began to make them a lot of money, the group began to see the method as a viable source of side ie, and their methods began to branch out, bing more and more aggressive over time. However, that all changed the moment ude Rayforth became well known within the academy. Stories about the young man named ude oveing obstacles, standing up to his bully and defeating him were spreading like wildfire amongst the junior disciples. And it had its reasons. ude Rayforth was, like the rest of the youngsters, a junior disciple, and he had never bowed down to any of the seniors, which was going on for so long that it almost had be a tradition within academies. ude Rayforth proudly stood alongside many of the seniors whom most junior disciples feared to even look at, and he did it with such ease that it was enough to inspire many junior disciples. At first, it was just a few disciples. They stood up and within seconds, they were beaten into submission. But when one went down, two would spring back up in their ce. The bullies, who had thought that their resistance would end after a few failed tries, were quickly proven wrong. The confidence of these junior disciples coincided with the achievements of ude Rayforth over their senior brothers. And since ude Rayforth has almost never been kept back by his seniors, neither did the confidence of these juniors. The bullies didn''t predict this, and the next thing they knew, there were far too many people that were standing up to them. More than they could handle. The juniors had won, and the seniors had lost. Of course, this failure to defeat their juniors did send a sour feeling through these bullies, and soon, more and more people began to leave the group, eventually disbandingpletely. Most of these people moved on. Found other things to worry about in life. But some of these seniors, like Harry, Linguini, and their pals, were simply too addicted to the feeling of beating down those weaker than them that they couldn''t imagine a life without it. "Listen, Linguini." Harry grabbed Linguini''s checks, causing Linguini to look straight into his eyes, and said. "These juniors, they don''t respect us. They don''t respect you. You know that, right?" He lightly poked Linguini on his chest. "And you know what? I even heard them making fun of your name." "What?" Linguini stared straight at Harry, except this time, his eyes were burning with hatred. As though he wanted to kill someone. Linguini didn''t like his name. But he also didn''t like people making fun of his name. "You know why?" Harry whispered softly. "It''s because they don''t fear us." Harry grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him hard. "This is what happens when we leave these juniors alone. They be brave. They think they are invincible. You don''t want that happening again, do you?" "No," Linguini shook his head. He definitely didn''t enjoy hearing that his juniors were making fun of him. Tap! Tap! Tap! The sound of carriages moving on the dirt road was heard, and a wide sinister grin appeared on Harry''s face. Good, he thought to himself. ''Fresh meat has arrived.'' "Look at that, Linguini." Harry said with an urgent tone as he grabbed Linguini by the shoulders and turned him around, and pointed at the group of carriages that were slowly moving in their direction. "The disciples inside those carriages they probably have never even heard of ude Rayforth and his victory over his seniors. These junior disciples, they''ve not learned to stand up for themselves. They''re weak-minded. Ready to be ruled over by us, the seniors." POW! Harry pped Linguini on his shoulders, and said, "You don''t want them making fun of your name now, do you?" "No!" Linguini replied almost immediately with a cold voice. "Good," Harry nodded his head. "Well then, as seniors, I guess we''ve got ourselves a job to do." Chapter 169: Easy Target Chapter 169: Easy Target The sound of carriages moving on the dirt road was heard, and a wide sinister grin appeared on Harry''s face. "Look at that, Linguini." He said with an urgent tone as he grabbed Linguini by the shoulders and turned him around, and pointed at the group of carriages that were slowly moving in their direction. "The disciples inside those carriages they probably have never even heard of ude Rayforth and his victory over his seniors. These junior disciples, they''ve not learned to stand up for themselves. They''re weak-minded. Ready to be ruled over by us, the seniors." Harry pped Linguini on his shoulders, and said, "You don''t want them making fun of your name now, do you?" "No!" Linguini replied almost immediately with a cold voice. "Good," Harry nodded his head. "Well then, as seniors, I guess we''ve got ourselves a job to do." ----------------- Although the Royal Academy of Argria was buzzing with activity and filled with the disciples who hade out of their residences early in the morning in order to wee the Silver Moon Academy disciples, ude Rayforth, however, was standing on top of one of the hills within the Grevanny forest, looking at the entire campus from the summit. He had climbed up the hill in order to cultivate, as he felt that a change in location would help him keep his mind at peace, especially since all the events concerning the intruders took ce. Peace and quietness aside, ude had picked this ce because the surrounding air was filled with different kinds of spiritual energy, which would help enrich his soul and help him concentrate. He had made his previous servants - the ones who were tragically killed by Ian''sckeys - create arge tform made out of strong rocks, wood and mud, which would give ude a straight and bnced in instead of the irregr terrain of the forest. He was currently in seclusion so he could properly train with the new technique that he had received from the Headmaster as a reward for his victory in the sparring contest. "It is called the Lionheart Technique!" The Headmaster had a delightful expression on his face when he gave ude the secret technique. "Forgive me if I am being rude, Headmaster. But what is the Lionheart Technique? I have never heard of this technique before.." ude voiced his confusion, and Elder Keh let out a chuckle in response. "Why of course you haven''t heard of it, youngd!" The Headmaster said with a smile on his face as he lightly pped ude on his shoulder. "That''s because it''s a secret technique that has been passed down from Elder Keh''s family!" The Headmaster pointed at the Elder as he spoke, and ude looked in his direction, his eyes widened with surprise. "It''s true, young man.." Elder Keh nodded his head. He walked towards ude Rayforth, standing right in front of him as he continued, "My ancestors were knights, an old profession back in the early days of Argria. It is said that this was a technique created by the very first knight who had the golden opportunity to serve directly under the king." Whoosh! Elder Keh waved his hands and a silver sword appeared in his hands, and he held it up above his head with one hand as he closed his eyes, and a bright golden light began to envelope both the Elder and the sword. ude looked at the Elder with confusion in his eyes, until he realised that his vision was slowly weakening. He had lost his peripheral vision, and all he could see on the sides were pitch ckness. "What the hell" He whispered under his breath, and all of a sudden, he realized that he couldn''t move his body either. It was as though he had been caught in a void. "Release.." A soft voice was heard, and right after that, ude could feel his vision slowly returning back to normal and he clenched his fists. He could move his muscles as well. "Interesting, isn''t it?" Elder Keh said with a smile as he waved his hands once again, and the sword disappeared from his hand within an instant. "And that was simply just a fraction of its power." He then pointed at the scroll in ude''s hands and continued, "The Lionheart Technique is simr to what most predator beasts do when they face an opponent. It''s an intimidation tactic, yes, but it also reduces the strength of your opponent by quite a lot. And unlike a lot of techniques, the Lionheart Technique is highly effective. Only the timing of the effect would change ording to the opponent." "An intimidation technique huh" ude mumbled to himself as he stood on the tform. Some people wouldn''t consider that a very useful technique, but ude knew how valuable the technique would be inbat. In a battle between cultivators, every second counts. A single fraction of a second could be the difference between life and death, and it is crucial for the cultivator to remain vignt and cautious at every single moment and not lose concentration. In such an intense and fierce situation, an intimidation technique such as the Lionheart Technique would be of great benefit to the cultivator, for it will render the opponent incapable of defending himself, be it for a second or even a millisecond. When he had merged with the Heart of the Earth, the Martial God''s mind power had been shattered, so refining itpletely would be no easy matter. Whoosh! He closed his eyes and slowly moved his leg on the sand covered tform, creating an arc shape on the ground below as he swung his sword sideways, and a bright golden glow began to appear on the sides of the de. All of a sudden, a quick gust of wind began to flow around him, as he slowly moved across the tform. ''I can feel it'' ude thought to himself as he took one step after another, as though he has been practicing this technique for years. "Master ude." But before he couldplete his training, he was interrupted by a voice, which made ude open his eyes and charge forward through the jungle, appearing before a young man who was standing still and grabbing him by the throat, lifting him up in the air. "You interrupted my training," ude growled in anger. "What do you want, Brenden?" Brenden, who was struggling to breathe under the right grip of ude tried to speak. "The Headmaster.. wanted ev-every.. disciple to be present in front of the academy.. to wee the.. the students of the Silver Moon Academy." ude let go of his grip in an instant, and Brenden fell down onto the ground, looking relieved as he started gasping for air. Brenden, along with the rest of theckeys, had reluctantly arrived in front of ude''s temporary residence yesterday as part of their deal. And starting from today, they were going to do all the duties that ude''s previous servants used to do. Of course, they weren''t too keen on doing it, but if they wanted to avoid making an enemy out of ude Rayforth, then they had to suck it up and do whatever he told them to do. Brenden, who had been given the title of the head servant under ude, was already regretting his new job, as he continued gasping for air. ude ignored the gasping Brenden and walked over him, his gaze still on the academy campus. "The Silver Moon Academy students" A wide grin appeared on his face. "They''re finally here, huh.." ------------ Step, step, step The carriages had stopped right in front of the entrance of the Royal Academy of Argria, and the doors opened all at once, and hundreds of students wearing white coloured robes stepped out of the vehicles, looking around with intrigue and excitement in their eyes. "Wow! So this is the Golden Avarice Academy, huh! It''s so huge!" "Meh, it''s alright! Nothing too special. Just another normal academy with a forest as their backyard. That''s all!" "Oh sure, I believe you. After all, every academy has their very own personal forest as their backyard, am I right? Totally normal thing to have." "Well, let''s all try and keep a calm head, alright? The size of an academy is not what makes their worth. It is the amount of talent that they make bloom that defines whether or not an academy is sessful." As the Silver Moon Academy students began to whisper amongst themselves right before entering the campus, Linguini and Harry were watching them from beside the gates, observing them like a predator. "Look for someone who can be our prey, Linguini," Harry said as he scanned the students one by one. "We''ll need to know who''s the most powerful and who''s the weakest." Linguini nodded his head and then turned to look at the Silver Moon Academy students who were entering their campus, and then, suddenly, he pulled Harry''s shoulders and pointed at one of the students. "Harry, look! I found one." Harry turned to look at who he was pointing at, and a smile appeared on his face. It was an overweight young man who was walking along with his gaze stuck on a book in his hands, mumbling to himself as he moved. Bingo! Their first target! Chapter 170: Arrival Chapter 170: Arrival As the Silver Moon Academy students began to whisper amongst themselves right before entering the campus, Linguini and Harry were watching them from beside the gates, observing them like a predator. "Look for someone who can be our prey, Linguini," Harry said as he scanned the students one by one. "We''ll need to know who''s the most powerful and who''s the weakest." Linguini nodded his head. He then turned to look at the Silver Moon Academy students who were entering their campus. Then, all of a sudden, he grabbed Harry''s shoulders and pulled him towards him as he pointed at one of the students. "Harry, look! I found one." Harry turned to look at who he was pointing at, and a smile appeared on his face. It was an overweight young man who was walking along with his gaze stuck on a book in his hands, mumbling to himself as he moved. "Hey guys!" Harry snapped his fingers, and a few more young men appeared behind him in an instant. "What is it, Harry?" One of the young men stepped forward and asked while scratching his chin. Shoosh! Harry walked up to him and ced his hand over the young man''s shoulders and pointed at the entrance, where the Silver Moon Academy disciples were entering. "Brother Christian! Of course, I''m calling you to resume our little business venture once again." Harry said as he rubbed his fingers together. "Not this again, Harry." The young man, Christian Aguero, shook his head as he replied. "You do remember what happenedst time, right? Do you want to be embarrassed once again? Are you perhaps a masochist?" p! Harry lightly pped Christian on his back. "I do remember, Christian. You don''t have to remind me of our humiliating history once again. But look," He pointed at the entrance once again and continued, "They are fresh meat. They''re not the ones who stood up in front of us. They haven''t heard of ude Rayforth." Crack! His grip on Christian''s shoulder increased ever so slightly, as Harry turned to look at him with a wide smile on his face. "I''m not asking you to continue doing what we were doing all over again. I''m just asking you to give me a hand. Just this once." Whoosh! He then moved his lips near to Christian''s ear and whispered softly, "Don''t tell me that you are giving up just because those freshmen stood up to you, are you?" sp! Christian clenched his fists tightly as a frown appeared on his face. He definitely was furious about it. After all, the juniors essentially got rid of an age-old tradition just because of one incident. Even the current seniors had to endure the same from their seniors back when they were still freshmen, and so the idea of the juniors escaping this so-called tradition was infuriating to Christian. ''I suffered through hell, and yet you can simply walk away from it without facing any consequences?'' That was the thought that went through their minds. However, they couldn''t do anything against it, as the issue had gotten out of hand. "The truth is, you don''t want this to end. Isn''t that right, Christian?" Harry whispered under his breath as he patted Christian''s shoulder. He then turned around and faced the others who had arrived along with Christian and said, "Brothers! I know that each and every one of you desires revenge for the humiliation that our juniors caused us. You do not need to lie, for I know how you feel." Harry clenched his robe tightly as he spoke, his facial expression now serious, "I know that you all feel it is unfair how easily the juniors escaped our traditions, when we ourselves couldn''t do the same." Whisper! Whisper! The seniors who had gathered behind him began to talk with each other, discussing the issue. Some were nodding their heads without wasting a single second, as though they were waiting for someone to bring up the issue, while others seemed unsure. Whatever their thoughts were, they all had their attention on Harry, who pointed at the Silver Moon Academy students and continued speaking. "Do not worry, my friends! For these new students have no idea about ude Rayforth nor his exploits! They are fresh meat, who needs to know the difference in the statuses of senior and junior. As seniors, it is our responsibility to instruct them of the natural order within the academy!" ---------------- Meanwhile, right outside the Silver Moon Academy carriages. "So this is the Golden Avarice Academy, huh.." A young man said softly as he exited the carriage, making him thest one to get out. He had a majestic aura surrounding him as he walked, and the students who were standing in his way subconsciously flinched and stepped away, clearing the path for this young man. This young man was, of course, the cultivation genius Dalton Palmer. "What''s the matter, Dayton?" A man with a tall, bulky frame andrge muscles stood next to Dayton Palmer, staring at him with curious eyes. "Don''t tell me you feel jealous of therge open area of the Golden Avarice Academy?" "Of course not, brother Lawrence," Dayton Palmer shook his head with a smile. "I was simply taking in the view, burning the image into my mind." "You think there might be any formidable opponents for us within the Golden Avarice academy?"Lawrence said as he tilted his head left and right and stretched his limbs. "Who knows, brother Lawrence," Dayton Palmer shook his head once again. He wasn''t sure, but he could feel as though there was something formidable waiting for him within the academy. ''Strange'' Dayton said while frowning. It wasn''t as though he was detecting any presence nearby. So it definitely wasn''t his senses that were making him feel this threat. ''Perhaps it''s the sign of the universe? A divine intervention?'' Dayton didn''t know. But nevertheless, he couldn''t help but feel cautious. ''I can''t help but feel something - or someone - is waiting for me in the academy..'' Dayton scratched his chin. And for some reason, he felt the urge to meet this entity as soon as possible. "Looks like this trip to the Golden Avarice Academy is certainly going to be an interesting one" He said softly as he started to walk, and Lawrence followed his close behind. "It''s not Golden Avarice Academy anymore, Dayton.." A female voice came from behind him, and both men turned around to see a beautiful young girl with long red hair standing behind them. "ra.." Dayton whispered under his breath. ra Silverton was the daughter of Minister Han Silverton, an influential figure within the Royal Council. She was a beautiful woman who was courted by almost all of the male students within the Silver Moon Academy, but what most people didn''t know was that she practiced the secret cultivation art of Blood Binding technique, which meant that by being in close contact with whoever she charmed, she could drain their spiritual energy and use it for her own cultivation gain. The more the contact with the victim is, the more she could drain spiritual energy from them. And the more powerful the victim is, the more spiritual energy they''d have in store. This was a dark art, and was made illegal to teach the students by the academicmittee. Which is why ra knowing this dark cultivation art was a rarity. Dayton Palmer had learned of this fact by pure chance, and since then, he has been trying to keep his distance from this woman. Her father was an influential figure, and Dayton, although a genius, didn''t have enough power to deal with him. This meant that things would only get troublesome for him if he decided to get involved. However, it seemed that the girl found the disinterest of Dayton Palmer intriguing and, perhaps attracted by the massive amount of spiritual energy stored within him, was approaching him even more now, as he began earning the envy of every male student. "It''s called the Royal Academy now." ra exined, and Dayton Palmer let out a fake chuckle. "Ha, yes. I almost forgot about that." "Hey, can Ie with you guys?" ra moved closer to Dayton and asked, her bright blue eyes staring straight into Dayton''s. "I feel like I''ll end up lost if I don''t have someone with me." "O-Of course, ra!" Lawrence, who had beenpletely smitten by ra, answered while stuttering, and Dayton turned around, giving him a re, which made him flinch in fear. "Yay! Thanks!" ra said with a smile, and Dayton let out a nervousughter. ''How do I get out of this situation?'' He thought to himself. "W-What do you want?" All of a sudden, a trembling voice entered his ears, and Dayton Palmer turned around with a frown on his face. Confused by his sudden change in expression, both ra and Lawrence turned to look where he was staring at, and found an overweight young man surrounded by a bunch of Royal Academy students, standing behind one of the buildings. Chapter 171: A Cowardly Opportunity Chapter 171: A Cowardly Opportunity "Hey, can Ie with you guys? I feel like I''ll end up lost if I don''t have someone with me." "O-Of course, ra!" Lawrence, who had beenpletely smitten by ra, answered while stuttering, and Dayton turned around, giving him a re, which made him flinch in fear. "Yay! Thanks!" ra said with a smile, and Dayton let out a nervousughter. ''How do I get out of this situation?'' He thought to himself. "W-What do you want?" All of a sudden, a trembling voice entered his ears, and Dayton Palmer turned around with a frown on his face. Confused by his sudden change in expression, both ra and Lawrence turned to look where he was staring at, and found an overweight young man surrounded by a bunch of Royal Academy students, standing behind one of the buildings. "What the hell is going on there?" ra asked, her eyebrows now raised. "Looks like that guy is being bullied." Lawrence said as he squinted his eyes in order to see more clearly. He then turned his gaze towards Dayton Palmer, who was looking at the group with cold and emotionless eyes, and a chill ran up his spine. He knew what those eyes meant. "Remind me not to get on your bad side" Lawrence mumbled under his breath as Dayton Palmer began walking towards the building. "Why? Do you n on getting on my bad side?" Dayton said without turning around, and Lawrence let out a short chuckle, before following him close behind. Although Dayton said that in an attempt to relieve the tension, Lawrence knew that Dayton was still pretty pissed off about the situation. That was why Lawrence knew that he had to make sure Dayton doesn''t do anything that would be considered ''problematic'' or something that couldnd them in serious trouble. He had to keep him in check. "Wait, huh?" ra, who saw that both Dayton Palmer and Lawrence were walking towards the group of Royal Academy students, raised her eyebrows in confusion before jogging towards the two. "Don''t tell me that you''re going to interfere, are you, Dayton?" ra asked as soon as she caught up with them. Dayton Palmer, however, didn''t answer and continued walking, and Lawrence just gave her a weak smile. "Ugh.. Goddamn it!" ra gritted her teeth with a frustrated expression on her face before reluctantly walking alongside the duo. "This better be worth it.." She mumbled to herself. "Uh, c-can you just let me go now?" Meanwhile, the overweight kid, who was standing right in the middle of the Royal Academy students, began fidgeting his fingers, unable to look them in the eye. He seemed ufortable. However, the seniors paid him no mind and let out a loudughter. "Ha ha ha why are you keen on leaving so soon?" Harry said with a sinister smile on his face as he ced his hand over the Silver Moon student''s shoulder, gripping him tightly. He turned his head and looked at the overweight youth''s face. "Didn''t you just get here, Manuel? Huh?" "Uh.. ehm Th- that is true, yes." The overweight student, Manuel Jameson, reluctantly nodded his head, letting out a nervousughter as the group closed in on him. They had him surrounded. He couldn''t even run away even if he tried, and definitely couldn''t beat them all. Of course, he waspletely aware of the situation and what was happening to him. He knew that he was being bullied. He also knew that it would be infinitely more painful if he tried to resist them, and so he just went along with it. ''If I just do what they want, maybe they''ll leave me alone.'' That was the thought that went through his mind. Even though he knew deep down that they''ll never leave him alone if he goes along with it. He just wanted to believe that he wouldn''t see them again. "Hey, Manuel," Christian, who was standing in the middle of the group, stepped forward all of a sudden, and everyone''s attention turned to him. Christian shifted his gaze towards Harry for a split second, who nodded his head with a smirk on his face, and then turned back to face Manuel, continuing, "We''re all friends here, right?" Clutch! Christian grabbed Manuel''s shoulder with a soft grip, causing Manuel to let out a gulp, "Y- yeah I- I guess we are?" He replied, stuttering while he spoke. "Good to know" Christian nodded his head. His grip tightened a bit more, causing Manuel to let out a small groan, which just made the rest of the seniors chuckle. Christian on the other hand, still had a normal expression on his face as he continued, "So, as we are now officially your friends, wouldn''t it be okay for you to lend us some money?" Thud! Thud! Thud! As soon as Christian finished speaking, Manuel could feel his heartbeat thumping hard. He had known that this would happen, but perhaps he still had hope that it wouldn''te so soon. He didn''t want to give them any money. He wanted to reply that they weren''t, and will never be, friends. But, to his disappointment, he realised that he couldn''t say what he really wanted. Instead, he could only say what they wanted to hear. "S- Sure I- I guess I wouldn''t mind" He said with a nervousughter, and Harry, who was standing right next to him, covered his mouth with his hand, unable to control himself fromughing like a madman. "So fatty!" Linguini stepped forward, and grabbed Manuel''s chin and forcefully tilted his face up, which made him let out a surprised yelp. His face was now close to Linguini, who had an evil smirk on his face as he said, "What are you waiting for?!" Tap! Tap! He tapped Manuel''s pockets and continued, "Take out the money, ''friend''!" "R- Right! Ah, of course.." Manuel responded almost immediately, and his hands went down to his pockets as he began searching for money, but right before he could find whatever money he had on him, they were interrupted by a loud shout! "What''s going on here?!" The voice was that of a young man. However, the sheer amount of spiritual energy that contained in that single shout was so enormous that the seniors had to make sure if it was really the voice of a youngster. They turned around, only to see a young boy who looked to be about eighteen years of age walking towards them with a cold and emotionless expression on his face, followed by a muscr youth and a beautiful youngdy alongside him. ''Who on earth are these people?'' Harry stared at the group of people who were walking in their direction with furrowed eyebrows. Looking at their attires, he had figured out that they were Silver Moon Academy disciples. However, what was even more concerning was the massive amount of spiritual energy that was present in that one shout from this young man who was in front of them. Harry knew that to engrave spiritual energy to your speech, the cultivator had to be extremely skilled. So this boy who seemed to be younger than him was definitely not an ordinary disciple. ''Damn it! Just when we were about to seed!'' Harry clenched his fists and cursed his rotten luck. He really was unlucky to have garnered the attention of such an extraordinary young man at such a time. "Ah! It seems that you have misunderstood the situation, junior brother.." Harry stepped forward and waved his hands around with a smile on his face. "Misunderstood?" Although Dayton Palmer had whispered softly, each and every one of the seniors had heard his chilling voice echoing in their ears, sending shivers down their spines. They couldn''t help but tremble in fear. "Ah, y-yes!" Christian took a step back and grabbed Manuel by his shoulders once again, except this time, his grip was even more tighter, as though he was threatening Manuel. "You see, we were just chatting with Manuel over here about Silver Moon Academy." He said with a smile on his face, patting Manuel on the back of his head as he spoke. "We were just talking with him. Is that really something that''s worth being concerned about?" Dayton didn''t reply, and instead, his gaze shifted to Manuel, who was fidgeting around. "Is what they''re saying the truth?" He asked Manuel, who raised his head up, locking eyes with Dayton Palmer. "Are you simply chatting with them?" Manuel immediately knew who he was. How could he not? It was Dayton Palmer, the cultivation genius of the Silver Moon Academy! Perhaps he could help me, Manuel thought to himself. He was powerful, which meant that he could solve problems that Manuel could never even imagine doing himself. Clutch! Just then, he felt a tinge of pain from his shoulders, which only increased as time went on. He turned his gaze towards his side, and saw the terrifying eyes of Christian, looking down at him as though he was looking at a dead man. "Uh.. y-yeah.." In the end, Manuel could only sumb to his fears, and lied to Dayton Palmer. "We''re just chatting" ".... I see," Dayton Palmer nodded his head, as his cold and emotionless expression turned to that of a normal one. The seniors all breathed a sigh of relief, but right when they thought the issue was over, Dayton Palmer took another step, and the tense atmosphere returned in an instant. "Such a shame," Dayton said as he stretched out his hand. "I really thought you would have the courage to call for help." BZZZZ! A bright light enveloped his palms, followed by the formation of a silver rapier in his hands. "Oh well," Dayton grabbed the rapier and shrugged his shoulders. "Coward or not, I still n on saving you." Chapter 172: Front Gate Fight Chapter 172: Front Gate Fight "Uh.. y-yeah.." In the end, Manuel could only sumb to his fears, and lied to Dayton Palmer. "We''re just chatting" ".... I see," Dayton Palmer nodded his head, as his cold and emotionless expression turned to that of a normal one. The seniors all breathed a sigh of relief, but right when they thought the issue was over, Dayton Palmer took another step, and the tense atmosphere returned in an instant. "Such a shame," Dayton said as he stretched out his hand. "I really thought you would have the courage to call for help." A bright light enveloped his palms, followed by the formation of a silver rapier in his hands. "Oh well," Dayton grabbed the rapier and shrugged his shoulders. "Coward or not, I still n on saving you." "W-Wait, wait, wait!" Realizing that the situation had gotten worse, Harry stepped forward with a flustered expression and tried to talk to Dayton Palmer, who looked like he was about to attack them. "D-Didn''t you hear him?" He pointed at Manuel and continued, "He said that we were just chatting! Did you perhaps hear him wrong?" "Oh, I heard him perfectly.." Dayton said with the same cold expression as a bright blue me began to dance around the silver rapier. "So why on earth are you wielding your weapon?!" Harry screamed in frustration. He was furious. He didn''t know why the young man was not backing down, even after the supposed victim reassured him that nothing suspicious was going on. "Why?" Dayton tilted his head and looked at Harry as though he was an idiot for even asking that question. "Of course, it''s because I don''t believe him." He then pointed his rapier at Manuel, who suddenly flinched in response and continued, "I think he''s being forced to lie. So I''m going to help him get out of this predicament." "So you''re just going to attack us based on your guess?!" Harry wanted to scream. This person was insane. He was making his decision simply based on his guesses, even if there was a risk of Manuel actually telling the truth. "Oh, it''s not a guess. I can assure you that." Dayton said as he stomped his foot on the ground, resulting in the earth shaking violently under his feet, forming arge crater underneath him as he stepped forward. "Let him go." He said. "Right now!" Harry felt his face burn when he heard Dayton Palmer''s words. "You might be a powerful cultivator, young man. But you do realise that you''re in the Royal Academy campus now, right? You still have to abide by the rules of our academy, and not get into fights. So how about you do us both a favor, step back and just let this go for once? Or do you honestly think that you can just do as you please wherever you go?" Harry shouted loudly, his voice echoing everywhere. "Ahhhh! Screw this!" All of a sudden, a loud shout came from Linguini, as he stared at Dayton Palmer with anger and hatred in his eyes. "Why are we still talking with this lunatic?" He pointed at Dayton as said. "He''s just one person, and there are more than a dozen of us! Even of the two standing behind him joined hands, I''m confident that we can still beat them!" Harry had an ugly frown on his face. He was trying so hard to avoid a fight, and yet here Linguini was, ruining everything at the veryst second, just because he couldn''t keep it in. He turned to Linguini to tell him to shut his mouth, but all of a sudden, before Harry could even react, a punch hadnded right on Linguini''s face, sending him flying backwards, before crashnding on the ground with a loud noise! "You are too noisy!" Lawrence was standing in the spot where Linguini previously stood, his ck eyes scanning the surroundings. He let out a scoff and said, "If it is a fight that you desire, then it is a fight that you get!" He then spread both his arms wide, and said with a smile. "Come!" "He took out Brother Linguini!" "Insolent fool!" "Get him brothers! Take this fool down and show him his rightful ce!" The seniors lost their cool as soon as they saw Linguini getting swatted away by Lawrence, and they all charged forward, aiming in the direction of Lawrence and Dayton Palmer while roaring loudly. "Hold on a minute!" ra screamed loudly at Lawrence and Dayton, who had positioned themselves into theirbat stances, ready to fight. "Are we seriously nning on fighting them? Didn''t we just enter this academy one minute ago?" Both Lawrence and Dayton didn''t answer her question, which just made her even more frustrated. ''Oh, for god''s sake..'' She let out a heavy sigh. It seemed as though there was no stopping them. "Wait, no! Don''t.." Harry, who wanted to avoid a direct confrontation as much as he could tried to persuade his fellow brothers to call off the attack, but to no avail. The seniors didn''t have a clear hierarchy among themselves, which meant that although there were people who seemed to have the qualities of a leader, there wasn''t one in reality. The only hierarchy that existed was between the juniors and the seniors. "Ahhhh! F*ck this sh*t!" Frustrated that his n didn''t work, Harry felt his blood boil. He couldn''t stop the fight. Not now. It was toote. And so, he gave up trying to stop it, and decided to join in. BAM! Roaring loudly at Dayton Palmer, Harry brandished both his arms, and all of a sudden, a bright red glow appeared on each of his palms, burning with intensity and radiating enormous amounts of spiritual energy before shooting out at Dayton. "It''s the Crimson Fireball Technique!" ra, who was standing behind Dayton Palmer shouted out loudly as soon as she saw the attack. It seemed like she was quite familiar with this move. The Crimson Fireball Technique was an extremely powerful cultivation technique, despite how simple it looks. Although it looked like a normal fireball, the Crimson Fireball was quite different from simr techniques, exploding immediately with arge force as soon as it came into contact with an object. You have to be extremely careful while dealing with this sort of technique, especially if there were many of them, which would make it difficult to dodge. However, Dayton Palmer''s expression was indifferent as he watched the crimson coloured fire orb fast approaching him with a terrifying speed. WHAM! All of a sudden, Dayton Palmer moved his silver rapier around in the air, and hundreds of de lights that were beaming with a bright blue glow burst out forward, colliding with the crimson coloured me orbs, obliterating them in an instant before heading towards their real target; the seniors! "Look out!" Harry shouted loudly before immediately jumping out of the way in order to take cover, but the rest of the seniors who were quitete to react to the counterattack were sent flying into the air before smashing down into the ground with a loud noise. "You piece of sh*t You better not take this too far!" Christian, who was standing alongside Manuel, suddenly reacted with a loud shout, garnering the attention of Dayton Palmer, who looked at him with his indifferent gaze. Christian ced his hand around Manuel''s shoulders once again, and screamed. "Do you know what you are doing? Do you know where you are right now? Are you sure that you''ll be able to face the repercussions of your actions?" He stared at Dayton Palmer and waved his hand. "You think you''re so powerful, don''t you?" He said as his grip on Manuel''s shoulder increased. "Well too bad, because your power is nothing when ites to the elders in our academy! You may be able to beat us, but do you really think that our master will just sit still after this incident? Huh?" Dayton nced at Christian silently. Right then! "Shut the hell up!" All of a sudden, the figure of ra appeared behind Christian and swung her fist right at his spine. BAM! "What the-" Christian was caught off guard by the sudden attack that by the time he noticed the threat, her fists had already collided with his back, sending him flying into the air with a loud noise. Dayton shifted his gaze towards ra, who shrugged her shoulders in response. "Since it is toote to stop the fight, I can help you win quicker!" Dayton nodded his head. At the same time, a few miles away from the location of the fight. "Well, well, well" A young man stood on top of a tree branch, his eyes staring straight at the entrance of the academy. This man was, of course, ude Rayforth, who was returning from his training tform to the academy main grounds. He was using his enhanced senses to see the fight that was happening near the entrance, intrigued by the fact that Dayton Palmer was also involved in it. "Dayton Palmer" ude whispered under his breath. "I wonder how powerful he''s gotten." ude licked his lips. He really was itching to fight him! Chapter 173: Secret Discussion And A Not-So Secret Interruption Chapter 173: Secret Discussion And A Not-So Secret Interruption "You think you''re so powerful, don''t you?" He said as his grip on Manuel''s shoulder increased. "Well too bad, because your power is nothing when ites to the elders in our academy! You may be able to beat us, but do you really think that our master will just sit still after this incident? Huh?" "Shut the f*ck up!" All of a sudden, the figure of ra appeared behind Christian and swung her fist right at his spine. "What the-" Christian was caught off guard by the sudden attack that by the time he noticed the threat, her fists had already collided with his back, sending him flying into the air with a loud noise. Dayton shifted his gaze towards ra, who shrugged her shoulders in response. "Since it is toote to stop the fight, I can help you win quicker!" Dayton nodded his head. His eyes then turned towards Harry, who felt a chill run up his spine. "Everyone!" He yelled out loud, and every single one of the seniors who had been knocked back by the previous attack got up in an instant, and lined up right next to Harry, who screamed, "Take him down!" Whoosh! As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of seniors charged forward, roaring loudly as they headed in the direction of Dayton Palmer, who stared at them with an indifferent expression. "Linguini," Harry turned his gaze towards the spot where Linguini hadnded. "I-I''m here.." Linguini stepped out from the rubble, whispering under his breath as he tended to his wounds. "I want you to find Master Thomas!" Harry said with a serious expression. "He''s the only one who''ll be able to help us." ------------------- The huge main hall of the new faculty building, which was splendidly adorned with precious materials and gemstones, was upied by a small group of men, who were sitting around a round table. There were multiple guards surrounding the room, although they were positioned far away in the corners of the room. The three men, two of whom looked middle aged and the other in his early twenties, were sitting around the round table, talking to each other and chuckling every now and then. One of the men had grey hair and a long white beard, and although he had a frail and thin figure, his voice on the other hand was powerful and resounding. He was Elder Thomas Winfrey, the uncle of Aldrich Winfrey, the young man who was the first victim under ude Rayforth. Aldrich Winfrey had died at the hands of ude Rayforth, and Elder Thomas Winfrey, who was extremely agitated about his nephew''s death, couldn''t do anything to the person responsible for the murder, as the murderer was close to the Second Elder at the time. Although this incident left a longsting impact in Thomas Winfrey''s life, he got over it after a few months. He still hated ude, but he knew that the young man''s position within the academy was now extremely valuable, and angering such a person would do him no good. He was talking to another Elder, Marlon Ford, who was Elder Thomas''s old-time pal. Marlon Ford was an Elder under the Silver Moon Academy, and he had arrived at the Royal Academy of Argria with the students in the role of a supervisor. Seated beside the two of them was a man who seemed to be in his early twenties with a rather imposing aura surrounding him that enveloped the entire room. The aura was so majestic and filled with an enormous amount of spiritual energy that his presence would be known to everyone, making others feel a sense of inferiority when they nce at him even for a split second. Based on the way Elder Marlon was beaming, Elder Thomas could tell that he thought very highly of the young man sitting beside him. "Look at this young man! What did I tell you, Thomas?" Elder Marlon grabbed the young man by his shoulder and pulled him closer as he let out a chuckle. "I knew the moment I saw Rio sitting in front of the Ferdinand orphanage, that this boy was special. And ten yearster, look where he is now!" "Master Marlon, please.. you''re boasting too much about me," The young man said with a smile, as though he didn''t wish for the Elder to talk so greatly about him, although his facial expressions said otherwise. "I apologise for my master''s words, Elder Thomas." The young man, Rio Keene, turned his gaze towards Elder Thomas Winfrey and slightly bowed his head. "He gets a bit too excited when he talks about me, so he exaggerates quite a lot. Despite my master''s ims, I consider myself to be still a novice in cultivation. After all, I am only at the seventh rank of the sky realm." "Look at this boy! Can you believe it? He''s being too humble!" Elder Marlon tapped Rio Keene on the shoulder and said to Thomas Winfrey. "He''s a bit shy, but trust me. He''s a special youngd, this one." "Oh, I can tell, Elder Marlon!" Elder Thomas said as he shifted his gaze towards the young man, who was scratching his face with an embarrassed expression. "I can feel his aura spreading through the air around us. He definitely has potential to be one of the greatest cultivators in Argria!" "Ha ha ha! Of course, of course!" Elder Marlon let out a roaringughter as he pped Rio Keene on his back, which made the young man cough out loud. "I knew I had a good eye for talent, but I didn''t think I''d be this good at it." "Well now, Marlon. Care to tell me what your request is?" Elder Thomas took a sip of his tea and asked. He knew that Elder Marlon wasn''t sitting in front of him with his prized disciple just to chit-chat with him. He wasn''t a naive fool who was born yesterday. "Ha ha ha! You sure are quick, Elder Thomas." Elder Marlon pped his knee and let out a loud chuckle. "Just like when we were young! You always did like to cut to the chase and not waste any time." "Well, it is an efficient method to utilize," Elder Thomas replied with a smile, and Elder Marlon nodded. "Well, the thing is.." All of a sudden, Elder Marlon Ford''s face turned serious, and he leaned forward. "I was thinking if you could help my boy, Rio Keene, get into the Royal Academy Golden Crown Team." "Don''t you have your own factions to help with your entry?" Elder Thomas asked, confused by the request. Elder Marlon shook his head. "Apparently, the Academy Association of Argria is revising the rules of entry to the Golden Crown tournament, making it a single team entry per academy from this year onwards." Elder Thomas raised his eyebrows. "Is this information legitimate?" "I have a reliable source, yes." Elder Marlon nodded his head. "Apparently, the change in rules is because of the decision to unite the three powerhouse academies into one." "Someone''s not too happy that the powerhouse academies are all teaming up," Elder Thomas murmured under his breath. "You can say that again," Elder Marlon let out a heavy sigh. "So, you want me to help you ensure the entry of your disciple?" Elder Thomas scratched his chin as he spoke. "That''s right," Marlon Ford said as he took out a small golden box that seemed to have engravings all around its exterior, and ced it on the table in front of him. "Of course, I''m not asking you to do it for free." He said and he lightly tapped the box. "I''ll pay you. Extremely well." "What''s in the box?" Elder Thomas asked, curious about its contents. Marlon Ford had a wide grin on his face and he slowly opened the box, revealing a red coloured egg with veins popping out of its shell inside of it. "The egg of the Asmorath snake!" Elder Thomas''s eyes widened with surprise. The Asmorath snake egg was an extremely valuable item within the martial world. Contrary to its name, the Asmorath snake egg is not really an egg, but a mass of tissue that has been extracted from the gut of the Asmorath snake. Consumption of the Asmorath snake egg helps in increasing the longevity of mortal life, and faster healing abilities. "You help me get him a ce on the team" Elder Marlon closed the box and ced it back in his sleeves and continued. "And the egg is yours." "I" As the elder was about to answer his question, a loud sound came from behind the door, which made him frown. "Master Thomas! We need your help!" All of a sudden, Linguini came running through the doorway. He had rushed over like the wind, so he was currently gasping for air. "Linguini?" Elder Thomas frowned. "Don''t you know that we are having a private meeting here? How can you just enter like you please?" "We are being attacked by the Silver Moon disciples, Master!" Although Linguini knew that interrupting his master would be inappropriate, he couldn''t care less about etiquette right now. "What?" Elder Thomas froze. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!