уАКI Have Seven Dragon Souls In a cultivation worldуАЛ


 Chapter 1 - Last Stand

    "ept defeat Dante, stop trying to resist. You''ve done well to get to this stage of the tournament with your physique but you are simply not my match. If you continue to resist I''ll be forced to seriously hurt you."

    бн..

    Dante was in a dark ck robe that had been torn to pieces. His disheveled ink-ck hair made him look like he had just been through a storm, while splotches of blood and bruising dotted his skin visible through tattered clothes

    Despite his condition, he stared straight ahead with a firm, unwavering gaze at the young man opposite him ignoring the onlooking crowd

    Opposite him stood a shirtless giant over two meters tall, his skin a healthy tanned bronze, and he was packed muscles that seemed like they were about to explode. He had short brown hair and a stone-cold expression and a steady posture that seemed to radiate confidence around him

    "Stop with pep talk Brian, I''m not asking for your pity I''m here to fight not your opinion" Dante spat out coldly

    In response, Brian only lightly chuckled "I''m only giving you face as the son as the First elder yet you бн"

    While Brian was still monologuing, sensing an opportunity Dante instantly knew what to do andunched a preemptive strike.

    Blood quickly surged around his body, directing it to his legs, Dante bent his legs and abruptly dashed forward as his body flickered leaving an after image, instantly appearing to the side of Brian striking the side of his temple with a fierce palm

    "Bang!"

    Brian shrieked horribly as his whole body flew out rolling on the ground gathering the dust and dirt as his body rolled along the martialpound and spasmed on the ground

    Silence!

    The onlookers and audience be stunned from the unexpected outburst of strength from Dante, someone known to be quite weak in strength, especially while seriously injured

    "argh!"

    Before the crowd could adapt to the situation there we''re thrown into the change of seeing the champion vomit a litre of blood

    Looking at the puddle of blood at his feet Dante lightly chuckled.

    "well what else should I have expected using a forbidden technique given to me by father for life and death situations."

    " Even now I still think it''s worth it, it feels great to finally win," Dante said with a bloody smile

    Those were thest thoughts he had before his consciousness was overtaken by a ck wave causing him to pass out in his own blood

 Chapter 2 - Awakening Memories

    The kinsman n

    Bright steel city

    It was a midsummer day in the sun was slowly setting casting an orange hue in the sky

    In the courtyard in the kinsmanpoundy a handsome young man yet his facial expression was contorted into a grimace.

    His expression was quickly changing between pain and confusion as seemed to be having a strange dream

    This young man was Dante

    Suddenly Dante shot up out of bed sitting upright seemingly awakened

    "Earth, martial spirit world .. where the fuck am I ? "

    "Did I transmigrate here ?"

    "It seems like less of transmigration and more like awakening memories of my past life, luckily my name is the same in both lives." Dante thought to himself

    ording to Dante''s previous memory, the world he lived in was not a normal world.

    it was a cultivation world filled with cultivators that could shoot fire out their hands and magic beasts that could crush boulders with their paws

    In this world, after cultivating to the peak of body refining realm, you would undergo a ceremony called ''the awakening ceremony'' where you would awaken your martial spirit .

    A martial spirit can be anything from a rock to a sword, to Even a dragon and they usuallye with some strange abilities and perks allowing you easily crush someone without a martial spirit

    It''s extremely unlikely that you don''t awaken a martial spirit even if it''s a rtively useless one chances of not awakening are around 1 in 1000 making it a rare urrence

    On the flip side, there''s a rarer situation called a dual awakening where multiple martial spirits are awakened there have only been records of 5 dual awakenings here on the rippling continent though it is said in the mystical continent is loitered with geniuses and dual awakenings are everywhere with even rare triple awakenings existing there

    most factors that affect what type of martial spirits you awaken arepletely unknown except For 1, bloodline.

    Some families have what is known as a bloodline martial spirit which has a high chance of awakening in this family bloodline

    The family Dante was part of was one such family the kinsman n the bloodline martial spirit was the me viper martial spirit which high affinity with fire allowing them to manipte it with ease

    Unfortunately, Dante was born with a strange physique that made him much weaker than his peers, for his example, his strength at 9 stage body refining isparable to average strength at 7th stage body refining if not for his abnormally high speed and agilityplex with a strongbat sense allowing him to effectively jump realms in fights he would be the biggest joke of the kinsman n. Even still with such a weak physique a lot of people aren''t optimistic about his chances of awakening a martial soul

    "Luckily I seem to have a strong backing in this life so even if I don''t awaken a martial spirit I should still be able to live a peaceful life," Dante thought to himself.

    As he was thinking to himself a man walked in

    He had a tall slender physique and extremely handsome face so handsome it subconsciously made jealous almost as if he had been hand sculpted by an artist while pitch-ck eyes like ck hole seemed to want to drag you into the abyss be it willingly or unwillingly despite his good looks there was still an eerie aura around him as if being in his presence made your very life darker as if the darkness that was him was trying to devour you. this coupled with extremely pale skin almost gave him a vampire type of vibe but while vampire irresistible charm his was reced his with rejecting stone-cold aura

    "Father," said Dante

    "Dante" replied Winton

    "Dante are you aware of your mistake? Did you take a second to think about the consequences of your actions?" Winton said with a cold anger

    "Life and death techniques are not a game if it wasn''t for some magical alchemy pills I got from my adventures the consequences would have been horrendous," Winton said exasperatedly.

    "At best your martial cultivation would be crippled at worst you''d be left permanently paralyzed" Winton continued

    "Promise me you''ll never pull that crazy behaviour again," Winton said almost sighing

    "Yeah I''m sorry father it won''t happen again but I still felt like I had to win on n tournament no matter the cost," said Dante

    "What have I told you, it doesn''t matter if you lose all your tournaments caused your weak all that can change when you awaken your martial soul " replied Winton

    "I know that but still...," said Dante

    "no buts what you did was stupid and you know it" countered Winton

    "Here take this," Winton said to Dante throwing him a bottle

    "There''s some healing pills inside the bottle take 1 now and 1 before you go to bed"

    "Tomorrow is the day of the awakening ceremony, rest early and I''ll get a servant to help you get dressed," said Winton

    "I guess I''ll stop bothering you then" as he said this Winton turned away from Dante towards the door

    As he did this the smile on his face vanishedpletely and was instead reced with a cold frown and the aura of kind caring father he only he showed to Dante seemed to never exist in its ce was instead an evil, chaotic and devilish temperament devouring all light and vitality in his environment

    ....

    "Phew!" Exhaled Dante as his father left

    "It''s hard enough to act like a child," Dante thought to himself

    " martial spirit Huh, I''ll think about it more tomorrow I''m too tired right now my body seems to be extremely deficient in blood and Qi I''ll need a good rest to recover"

 Chapter 3 - Handsome!!

    The next day it was clear blue-skyed day

    "Knock, knock! "

    Dante was awakened by knocking on his door

    "You can enter " Dante replied

    As he replied pretty brown-haired maid entered the room carrying in a traditional Chinese ck gold robe the robe was dark ck ordained with coiling golden Chinese dragons around the arms all the way down tho the chest and back

    "Young master Dante your father said you should get ready he will be here to pick u up in an hour And that I should assist you."

    "Thank you for the offer but I''m sure I''ll be fine by myself you can leave now" replied Dante

    " Are you sure you know how to put on these clothes without any help?" asked the maid

    Looking at the confusing yet elegant robe in front of him Dante felt a headache just thinking about it

    "On second thought your help will be much appreciated" replied Dante without blushing

    бн.

    An hourter a fully dressed Dante was standing in front of a mirror and was left stunned if he wasn''t able to touch it he wouldn''t have believed it was his own

    There was only one word left to describe his appearance

    Handsome! and I mean unnaturally handsome!

    Looking at his reflection it staring in front of him was a young man with an athletic build with beyond perfect, wless level skin. Jet ck hair flowed down his back while two pointed ears peeking through his hair as if to let the world know of their presence coupled with a genial aura made him seem like

    "It truly does feel good to look this handsome, if only I was like that in my past life"

    Despite his good looks leaving him pleased there was still a fact that left him puzzled and that was his pointy ears, it obviously wasn''t a characteristic of humans on this continent yet all the other races on this continent did not share these characteristics

    The winged race is renowned for the bird-like wings While the elusive merfolk are said to have gill-like ears

    Dante decided not to think too much about it if it was extremely crucial surely his father would have talked to him about it right?

    While Dante was lost in thought his maid quietly approached

    " young master''s appearance is truly outstanding with such a temperament you surely lead to the rise of our kinsman family "

    "There''s no need for such Maria but I appreciate it anyway" replied Dante

    "But I''m being serious young master ever since you won the tournament the aura around you seems to have changed truly bringing out your handsomeness "

    Taking a moment to think about it Dante realized his words actually carried some truth his past self, well if you can call it that, was always spiteful of others due to his weak body coupled with his constant training andck of friends gave him a harsh aura that seemed to force others away

    Right after thinking this an even scarier thought hit his mind

    "what if father notices these changes "

    Right before Dante coulde up with a convincing n a man walked in.

    It was Winton, his father

 Chapter 4 - Close Call !

    "Father!"

    Dante eximed in shock as he saw his father approach.

    He wasn''t expecting him to silently creep In like that.

    ''What''s with this man''s ability to appear whenever you think about him like that.

    is this man a ghost or something?"

    Dante had all these strange thoughts in his head causing him to give Winton a weird look as he came in.

    Ignoring the strange looks he was getting from Dante, Winton took a second to look Dante up and down

    "I guess your feeling better, seeing how you''re already dressed and ready But something still seems off about you?

    Your aura... it''s changed.

    and the way you speak. it''s so different, almost as if you''ve be another person" stated Winton coldly

    "Who are you or more appropriately, what are you?"

    as Winton said those words the temperature of the room seemed to drop drastically

    ''Damn he figured out I''ve changed so soon''

    Dante was already panicking at Winton''s brief words

    ''howe other protagonists get away with changing souls yet a change in aura and I''ve been exposed''mented Dante

    his heart skipped a beat under Winton''s gaze and just as he was about to defend himself, A faint ck light flickered across Winton''s eyes

    suddenly, Dante seemed to feel Winton''s eyes peer straight through him.

    As Dante looked up he seemed to make eye contact with his father, he suddenly felt himself start to fall.

    As looked around he found his surroundings had quietly changed from his room calm and cosy room into a strange endless darkness.

    The darkness was pitch ck.

    it had gotten so bad that there was a point where he couldn''t even see his arms when he held them in front of him.

    In this darkness, he found that his falling speed wasn''t constant.

    instead, his speed was rapidly increasing.

    But that wasn''t all to it as while he fell, he felt a strange pressure acting on him and as he fell faster the pressure acting him got stronger causing excruciating pain.

    The pain got so bad that Dante felt like screaming but it was then that he discovered a scary fact.

    The pressure acting on him was so strong that the air wasn''t even able to escape his lungs!

    Not only was speaking impossible but now it seemed like he couldn''t even breathe!

    The experience was so hopeless Dante felt it was almost like he was drowning in the endless darkness in front of him.

    Secondster Dante started his bones creak under the pressure as his speed had reached ridiculosly fast levels

    "Crrrk!"

    The sound of bones fracturing rang out all around as Dante''s body sent an electrifying pain signal through his whole nervous system

    "Am... am I gonna die here"

    "How pathetic "

    As Dante thought thesest words he felt his consciousness slowly slipping away from him as his thoughts got blurrier and blurrier

    "Dante!"

    Suddenly Dante felt a warm current of energy flowing through him looking around he discovered he was back In his room

    "I''m sorry Dante while I was checking your soul for injuries I identally used too much strength"

    "There seems to be nothing different about your soul except for an increase in soul strength" concluded, Winton

    "But the thing that puzzles me is that there doesn''t seem to be an exnation for the drastic increase of soul strength"

    "Maybe because I won the tournament" Dante quickly replied

    "What do you mean" questioned Winton

    "Before I won the tournament I always used to feel a certain pressure to win. it was probably my heart demon causing me too obsessed with winning and after I won it felt like I got rid of the pressure in my mind and cultivation. This must have been because I got rid of my heart demon possibly exining the increase in mental strength "

    Winton didn''t reply to Dante causing Dante to panic inside instead he was thinking to himself

    ''The excuse he came up with does seem possible, and after inspecting his soul it does seem to be the same the only thing that changed was his aura ''

    ''and I did seem to overreact it was just a change in aura, but you never know what despicable means those bastards could use to get to me, its not unheard of for soul possession to take ce especially when the victim has been seriously injured. better safe than sorry after all''

    ''But I guess I should leave him alone after all everyone has their own secrets as long as the soul is the same and he''s still my Dante I guess it doesn''t matter'' Winton concluded

    "Dante collect yourself we''ve got your awakening in an hour let''s go to the awakening tform"

    Seeing that his father had changed the topic Dante breathed out a sigh internally and quickly responded

    "I''ve been ready the whole time I was just waiting on you!"

    "Hmph" snorted Winton ignoring his bullshit as he turned around

    "Dante you gonnae along or are you gonna wait here all day"

    after speaking Winton quickly walked out not giving Dante a chance to reply Dante could only follow him out of his room

    He walked out the room with a slight smirk of anticipation thinking about the martial soul he could awaken

    Walking out of hispound he admired kinsman family estate adorned with family markings a majestic red serpent spewing a breath of mes. It was the inherited bloodline martial soul of the kinsman family the profound ranked martial soul the me viper. A strong martial soul with me and poison affinities which was inherited quitemonly among the kinsman family allowing them to gain a foothold here in Bright steel city.

    As he neared the awakening tform his father spoke out

    "Dante, I need to meet up with the other elders of the family just make sure everything is going as nned just head to the tform without me I''ll see you at the start of the ceremony"

    "Sure I''m fine with that" replied Dante

    Leaving his father behind Dante walked to the area Dante was instantly attracted by the tform

    It was an elevated tform supported by 12 thick cylindrical pirs with a short staircase of stairs leading towards it

    The tform itself was cased in bronze and ordains with mystical runes and glyphs that asionally shed with a vibrant prismatic light.

    As Dante stood in awe at the magnificent craftsmanship a group of children appeared whispering andughing amongst themselves. They were dressed elegantly in robes of various colours. leading them was a muscr man that towered over 2m he was wearing a in red ceremonial robe but even those couldn''t hide his bulging muscles that seemed ready to explode at any time

    Seemingly noticing Dante his eyes narrowed and a warm smile appeared on his face and he walked towards Dante

    " I''m surprised you could make it to the ceremony I thought you''d at least be crippled after using that secret technique"

    "We all your not my opponent without your bullshit cheats how about we have another fight just to prove it or are you possibly scared?"

 Chapter 5 - Fight!!

    "We all your not my opponent without your bullshit cheats how about we have another fight just to prove it or are you possibly scared?"

    "Brian I don''t have time for your bullshit, today I''m asking you to kindly get out my way" as he said this step past Brian ignoring his provocation

    but Just as he walked past Brian, Dante seemed to sense a sudden malicious intent he swiftly ced his hand up to guard but it was toote. Brian''s fist struck him with full force sending him flying

    his body ragdolled across the floor in a truly humiliating fashion it was clear to see to everyone present he was down and out for the count

    " tch, anyone can win with a sneak attack look how easy it is," Said Brian looking at the fallen Dante

    "As expected of senior Brian born with divine strength no one in the same realm is your match," said one of Brian''s goons

    " if it wasn''t for the resources of the first elder we all know he''d be the weakest among the younger generation," said another onlooker

    "Born with trash strength making him weaker than his realm he''s just a lucky piece of shit thatбн"

    Before he could finish his sentence Dante appeared behind him like a storm smashing his head into the ground in rage

    Shocked everyone around the victim took a few steps back distancing themselves from him and Dante for fear that they would be next to bear the brunt of his fury

    Dante was furious not just at Brian but at himself also. Ever since he remembered his past life his attitude and perspective changed. In his past life, it was impossible for a normal person to randomly attack someone in broad daylight as long as their brain was functioning normally but here it was prettymon, hell he used to even do it himself. Luckily this wake-up call happened in a rtively minor situation or he could have even lost his life if this thinking doesn''t change. He was in the martial spirit continent now not earth.

    Turning his head Dante exchanged nces with Brian his death cold re met With Brian''s confident smirk

    " I see you are still fine I''m not surprised with all the pills you''re father gives you"

    "But you do realize your not my match without your secret technique and I''m sure you don''t want to miss your awakening ceremony for such a measly win for the win "

    " how about this, apologize sincerely in front of everyone and I''ll let you off with 2 broken arms, how about it no bad right?"

    "I think your forgetting who my father is I want to know what you''ve been taking that made you think you''d get away with breaking my arm," said Dante puzzled

    " don''t you know, because of my talent I''ve been epted as a disciple by the Grand Elder Harrison, his authority is the same as if not more than your father the First Elder"

    Seeing that discussion was getting nowhere Dante struck first taking the advantage he quickly circted his blood and strengthening his body he dashed forwardunching a fierce palm at his chest

    Snorting Brian countered with a fierce punch of his own directly at Dante''s palm.

    There was no change in Dante''s expression and appeared to continue on the attack but suddenly relying on his ghostly agility he slipped past Brian''s fist appearing right in front of him sending an uppercut straight to his chin causing his head to jolt back

    It didn''t end there before Brian could recover Dante Madly stimted his blood to his hand causing his arm causing it to buldge with his veins expanding out and coiling around his arm like a swarm of snakes

    "heart-shattering palm !" roared Dante with a flushed face as heunched a cruel palm at Brian''s heart

    "Bang!"

    The strikended causing Brian to stager back and vomit a mouthful of blood

    Filled with rage Brian''s eyes turned bloodshot as his figured erged circle tearing his robes turning into a topless bronze Titan. Sensing the horrible aura from Brian promptly retreated

    "Rock-breaking fist" screamed Brian

    "Bang!"

    Sensing the horrible aura from the punch Dante promptly retreated as all that was left from the punch was a bucket-sized hole in the earth

    Not wanting to let up the pressure Brian charged like a berserker swinging fist after fist at Dante shaking the earth with every hit

    Dante waspletely focused as he knew just one mistake was all took to lose this intense fight

    "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom.."

    From an outside perspective, all they could see was shaking earth and figures shing in smoke

    "Theseбн these guys are monsters"

    "Are you sure they''re still in the same realm as us?"

    Dante wasn''t having an easy time dodging as after Brian calmed down he started mixing faints into his attacks

    Just then Brian''s speed rapidly elerated his speed catching Dante off guard. Quickly Dante twisted his body at an abnormal angle trying desperately to avoid the punch.

    "Boom!"

    Unfortunately, Dante was still too slow allowing Brian to catch his left arm with his strike rendering it useless

    Secondster Dante was still dodging furiously but Brian had tired considerably from his continuous attacks his stamina was running low after all Dante was doing with up to 70-80% of his power while each of Brian''s attacks had a 100% of his.

    Sensing the brief weakness Dante decided to risk it all here to end the fight. Going all out, he quickly circted his blood around his body causing his face to go as red as beetroot then his body suddenly ballooned with veins popping out all over the body under the stress of the rapid blood flow.

    His figure flicked leaving an after image then he suddenly appeared behind Brian almost as if teleporting.

    "heart-shattering palm" roared Dante targeting Brian''s heart through his back

    "Bang!"

    As the strike hit, Brian was forced to his knees and curled over vomiting litres of blood

    Wanting end it here Dante showed no mercy and still struck out while he was still down

    Just as Dante''s palm was about to make contact with Brian''s temple and knock him out there was a loud roar

    "Stoppp!!"

 Chapter 6 - Grand Elder V First Elder

    "Stopp!"

    An ear shattering roar shaking eardrums of everyone present. Dante ignored this berserk scream and continued to send out a fierce palm to Brian''s temple. The opportunity to teach Brian a lesson didn''te every day. Brian was truly a vicious person these kinds of people don''t learn unless they''re taught something they can''t forget

    "Boom!"

    A figure rapidly approached, shing across the sky, leaving a streak of light behind him. It''s swiftly appeared Brian yanking out the way of Dante''s palm.

    The figure then lightly waved his palm sending Dante flying out.

    After Dante was sent tumbling, he stood up and looked in front of him.

    It was an old man wearing a red robe with a long white beard and a fierce look on his face

    "It''s the grand elder Harrison!" eximed a disciple

    "Dante''s finished now the grand elder''s here!" said one of Brian''s goons in joy

    Sensing a change in air, Dante looked around in search of an escape but before he could find one he heard the grand elder speaking to him

    "Winton''s boy, So you''re the one who put my disciple in such a state? Despite being of the same n you still show no mercy! Like father like son, truly a ruthless person, somethings just can''t be changed. Since your father can''t discipline you, let me do his job and discipline a bastard like you in his ce!"

    As the Grand Elder said this his terrifying aura condensed and he sent a horrific fist towards Dante.

    Dante seemed to see his life sh before his eyes and was prepared to use the secret technique.

    but before he could even begin he heard a cold shout

    "You old bastard when was it ever your ce to discipline my child! " before Dante even realised Winton appeared in front of him catching the grand elders fist

    "Look at what he did to my disciple I have every right to punish that little devil!l" shouted the Grand Elder in rage as he backed off

    "It''s not my son''s fault your disciple got himself beat up if there''s a problem, it''s that your disciple is too weak" replied Winton impassively

    "You always behave like this Winton, you just can''t be reasonable. Every time you just have to stand in my way and oppose me. Fine we''ll do it the hard way then!" roared Grand elder Harrison

    "me snake bite!" as he roared a wave of mes came out and then covered his armspletely. He then punched out sending a swarm of fire snakes swimming through the air towards Winton.

    There was no change in Winton''s expression he just calmly stated a word

    "Devour. "

    Instantly Winton''s shadow expanded into a giant dark circle and hundreds of tendrils of pitch-ck smoke extended from the circle. These demonic tendrils then began entangling the me snakes dragging them into the shadowy abyss. regardless of how hard they struggled resistance was futile in front of there overwhelming number! They continued expanding to the grand elder trying to entangle him causing him to dance around in a sorry state trying to dodge them not wanting to endure the same fate as his

    "Arrrgh Winton you forced me!!"

    In desperation, Harrison was forced to summon his martial spirit

    e out, me viper !"

    As soon as those words were said, there was an eruption of mes around Harrison sending a st of hot air towards the surroundings. From the mes rushed out a giant crimson viper. The viper was 6 metres long covered with rigid scales with yellow streaks running through its back. As it hissed it showed its two curved fangs dripping in a red fiery poison that protruded from its triangr head.

    "That''s the me viper the bloodline martial spirit of our n!" eximed a disciple

    "As expected of The grand elder, Truly majestic"

    Winton scoffed and Not wanting to be outdone in momentum released his own martial spirit

    As if sensing the Change in Winton''s aura the shadows started bubbling like a pot of boiling water

    "Come out, ckhole!"

    As he spoke a small tennis ball-sized ck bead condensed on his hand causing air to start gushing into it as if void trying to swallow everything. Once it was condensed it slowly started rising and that''s when changes started happening all around the area. all light within its vicinity disappeared as if it had never existed in the first ce! Then various objects in the area from trees to boulders were sucked into the ck hole slowly rising and expanding into the air the ck hole ended up blocking out the sun creating an eerie ghostly area of total darkness

    " whatбн what type of martial spirit is this ..?"

    "Demon, he''s a demon!"screamed one n member in fear

    Not wanting Winton to continue Harrison stimted his martial spirit causing his me viper to burst out in mes illuminating the darkness

    "you truly are a monster but it ends here Winton. I have prepared This technique for an asion like this, so are you prepared to finally taste defeat?"

    as he said this all the mes on his body condensed into his hand causing it to turn golden colour its golden radiance even seemed to illuminate the darkness created by the ck hole for a brief second.

    As if that wasn''t enough his me viper martial spirit then condensed into it his palm as well. when his aura had reached his peak he then punched out

    "Fire dragon palm!"

    As he punched out a fiery Chinese dragon shot out from fist and boosted by his Martial spirit exerted a lifelike roar and rushed towards Winton

    Seeing the dragon rushing toward him Winton snorted in disdain

    "Is that all you have Harrison, if so then all that''s waiting for you is defeat" taunted Winton

    "Gravity field!"

    As Winton spoke those words an aura expanded with him as the centre causing the earth to shatter and the speed of the dragon to slow down drastically.

    But he wasn''t done yet

    "Void shattering fist!"

    With those words, Purple energy erupted from Winton condensing into a giant fist above his head. the fist was gigantic and its presence alone seemed to shake the sky as cracks started forming in sky as if it was a broken mirror

    "Go!"

    Then the fist shot out at terrifying speed

    " Boom! Boom!"

    When the fist collided with the slowed dragon There was an earth shaking explosion! The explosion let out a bright light thatsted a few seconds that seemed to cover the whole world

    After the light dissipated There was still a lot of smoke obscuring the view

    "Who do you think won?" asked one disciple

    "Probably the Grand Elder, I mean he is called the Grand elder while his opponent is just the first elder"

    "I''m not so sure about that have u seen the first elder, he''s a monster his ability''s are just too strange"

    Before they could continue Their discussion the dust cleared up and the first thing that got their attention was the massive crater in the earth at the bottom of the crater There was a mangled old man with scattered hair covered in blood

    "Grand elder Harrison!" eximed one disciple in shock

    But what shocked them even more was the devilishly handsome young man in clean ck robes stood on top of Harrison, it was Winton!

    "Harrison know you know the difference between us, you can take this information and go to hell!" Said Winton preparing to end the Grand Elder''s life

    "Brother wait!!"

    Suddenly a handsome man with a heroic temperament appeared

    Beside Winton

    "I see your temper is still as bad as always brother," said the man

    "Leave me alone Gavin, he tried to cripple my son! I''m not dealing with his bullshit any longer. Today he has to die! " replied Winton coldly

    "Winton rx, your son is still fine and if you kill Harrison now in front of all the disciples what kind of example will that set for the disciples watching," said Gavin wisely

    Looking left and right Winton looked at all the young disciples watching and frowned

    "Fine I''ll spare his life, but only because you asked brother. If it was anyone else he would be dead right now. but this is hisst chance, if there''s a second time, not even you will be able to protect him brother." said Winton coldly

    "Trust me brother this kind of thing won''t happen again" replied Gavin

    "Guards! Get somebody to look after the Grand elder and his disciple I want them fit for the ceremony!" Shouted Gavin

    "Yes patriarch!" eximed the guards

 Chapter 7 - Dragon Spirit!

    Turning away from the scene of carnage and looking towards the disciples and n members, a warm smile appeared on patriarch Gavin''s face.

    ".Good morning my disciples! hope you don''t mind the scene it was just caused by some friendlypetition between some elders, it''s nothing to be concerned about"

    "the awakening ceremony will still go ahead as scheduled you can head up onto the tform and the ceremony will start shortly"

    As Dante was about to head towards the awakening tform figure suddenly appeared in front of him

    "Patriarch!" Eximed Dante

    "How many times do have to tell you just call me uncle" sighed Gavin

    "you''re really just like your father you just love fighting and causing problems for everyone"

    "And that cold look, tch, tch. wasting your good looks I tell you! trust me you don''t want to end up like your father scowling and ring all the time, look at him, he''s got no friends now his only friend is his big brother, how sad is that!"

    "Anyway, I just came along to check how you''re doing after all your my nephew, well I wish you good luck for the ceremony!"

    "Thanks uncle." said Dante

    As he walked towards the tform

    ''Strange?'' wondered Gavin

    ''Wonder why he''s calling me uncle all of a sudden. he seems to really have changed''

    As Dante walked towards with uncontainable excitement in his heart, after watching his father''s destructive powers in action his thirst for power only grew

    ''This is the first step in my story towards the top it all starts here.

    A slight smirk of anticipation appeared on his face as he daydreamed of making fighting all the way to top bing emperor of the world.

    ''Damn I need to calm down, I''m getting drunk on power I don''t even have. while being supreme in the world is nice, I need to think realistically here. just awaken the regr me snake martial spirit and stably inherit the position of First Elder from father and live a content life'' thought Dante pushing away the wild thoughts in his head

    ...

    Minutester, the awakening tform was fully packed with around 40 children ranging 12 to 14 from children of elders to children of servants all of them were gathered here to determine their future. In front of such an important asion all of them were equal at this point in time.

    Suddenly the patriarch spoke out

    "I hope all of you are ready it''s now or never let the ceremony begin"

    Then there was an extravagant cheer from the spectators while the kids on the tform waited with baited breath.

    all of sudden the tform Dante was on stood out burst out in a magnificent light!

    Soon,there was amotion to his side . Dante turned around a looked and saw a floating in longsword above one child''s head .

    Seemed as if someone had awakened A martial soul allowing him to take first step to bing a martial master

    As if to start a chain reaction, martial spirits start appearing from nts to spears but the mostmon was the me viper although they all varied in length from 30cm to 3 m long around 25 of 40 children ended up awakening me viper spirit

    All of sudden there was shout andmotion this time even elders were affected

    A wave of vibrant red martial energy rushed towards Brian from the awakening tform

    "Bang!"

    "Arrrrgh!"

    There was a fierce explosion and Slowly, a giant phantom of a 5 metre long ming king cobra wearing a crown of ck scales appeared.

    "This.. that''s the me king cobra martial spirit!"

    "The same martial spirit as the patriarch!" eximed another onlooker

    Meanwhile on the stand for the elders

    "hahaha my disciple is a genius , I knew my vision couldn''t be wrong!ughed grand elder Harrison

    "How about it patriarch definitely a talent worth the n training resources should be poured into talents like these" continued Harrison

    "Uh-huh " replied Gavin nonchntly seemingly pondering something else

    "By the way How''s your son doing Winton he seems to be struggling don''t tell me he''s not gonna awaken a martial spirit?" Asked Harrison with fake concern.

    "That''s none of your concern and anyway the ceremony has still not finished don''t look down on him he might surprise you, he''s my son after all."

    hearing this response garrisons face contorted into an ugly grimace

    "well we will see if he truly is amazing as you say" snorted Harrison

    бн

    Back on the awakening tform Dante was still stood proudly with a cold look on his face but internally he was sweating a storm

    ''Fuck, why am I not awaking my martial soul don''t tell me I can''t even awaken one''

    ''Fuck I''m gonna embarrass myself in front of everyone. I knew awakening my memories changed something I should''ve just stayed in bed, ahhh fuck my lifffe!'' Screamed Dante internally

    On the outside whispers and talk started seeing no change in awakening tform

    "Seems like the ceremony''s over"

    "How can that be Dante still hasn''t awakened a martial soul he''s the son of the first elder you know "

    "Trash will always be trash nothing will ever.."

    "Rumble!rumble!"

    Just as he was speaking thunder clouds rumbled across the sky blotting out the sun Turing the sky dark

    Suddenly rain started pouring from the sky

    Then Dante heard a sound

    "Ding!"

    "Wee to Dragon Dawn !"

    ''The hell is that sound'' wondered Dante

    Looking up at the loud thundercloud and seeing lightning flickering across it Dante had bad feeling

    ''Surely not right , the chances are too small''

    "Bang !"

    Before he could finish thoughts

    Dante was hit by bolt of lightning sending electric currents coursing through him

    "Fuck meeee!" Dante let out a loud wail of pain

    "Bang !"

    Another lightning bolt struck Dante

    "Arrrrgh!" Dante''s mind seemed to go nk with pain all he could do was left out a gut wrenching scream of pain

    "Roaaar!" suddenly a bone chilling roar erupted from Dante''s body seemingly synchronising with his wail of pain

    "The fuck is that" asked one onlooker in fear of roar

    "Seems to be Dante"said another in terror

    "Boom!" A geyser of mes erupted from Dante evaporating all the rain in area . While the roar emanating from his body got stronger until it seemed to shake the very heavens.

    From the roaring mes walked out a gargantuan beast, brining with it a wreaking stench of brimstone and sulphur. It was covered in armor-like Scarlett scales while being supported by four huge limbs that seemed packed with explosive power. Furious amber eyes red from within the creature''s skull while two enormous obsidian horns rise out from its head curved backward. It''s head was supported by a long muscr neck. Gigantic wings grew from its shoulders down to its it''s back. They were spread out showing its humongous wingspan glowing in a bright red hue as if they were made of fire itself . A long scaly tale extend from its rear swaying around to im its territory.

    Dragon! It was a dragon a majestic dragon from western fantasy. A creature at the apex of food chain, true rulers of the material ne

    бн

    Meanwhile at the elders stands

    "Whatбн what sort of beast is that ?" Asked an elder in fear

    "Seems to be a type of mutated fire lizard " said another

    "Mutated my ass! no matter how mutated you get it impossible to have that kind of fearsome aura plus why does it have wings!"

    Back on the tform

    Dante let a fierce howl intoxicated on the power he felt flowing through him

    In fear all surrounding children backed off

    All but one, Brian

    ''How amazing can a mutated fire-lizard be anyway'' he thought to himself

    ''All must submit before the aura of the king, the aura of me!'' he thought to himself blinded by his arrogance.

    As he thought this the cobra above himself let out a screech an invisible regal aura like a king before it''s subjects it seemed be demanding submission from its people.

    Feeling the aura, the red dragon turned to look at the king cobra.

    Seeing a lesser creature dared to challenge its prestige, it saw it as nothing less than a great humiliation'' how dare such an inferior breed of snake dare and try to subdue it, an actual mature True Dragon, an apex species throughout the multiverse ! The Red Dragon couldn''t handle such an insult, it''s pride as a True Dragon just wouldn''t allow it. It waspletely and utterly infuriated!

    The Red Dragons eyes flushed red with fury,Then the Dragon then let out a sky-shaking roar sending furniture and weaker people in the audience flying about randomly.

    But it didn''t end there as a horrendous and maddening aura erupted with the dragon as the centre. Releasing an iconic skill of dragon kind, ''aura of dragon fear''

    "Crac!"

    One after another, Martial spirits started to shatter under the irresistible pressure of dragon aura like fragile pieces of ss.

    The victims were brought to there knees shivering under the pressure.

    Weaker people couldn''t even withstand it and rendered unconscious wetting themselves in fear''

    "Arrgh!"

    " Someone help me please!"

    "I don''t want to die!"

    shrieks of terror erupted from the surroundings

    "Stop him now before he cause any more damage!" shouted an elder in desperation as he tried to calm and organize the surrounding nsmen

    Seeing the chaos an elder shot into the sky rushing towards Dante

    "Dante stop can''t you see the chaos your causing!" screamed the elder

    Turning his head towards the sound there was no reaction on Dante''s face . If you looked closely at his eyes, you could see there was only a primal fury left without even a speck of reason left inside!

    Seeing no reaction from Dante, the elder prepared to attack

    Seeing the elder approaching, Dante roared while the chest of the red dragon rapidly expanded as tongues of mes flickered across its nose.

    "Roar!"

    As the elder entered range of the dragon he was quickly bathed in a tyrannical dragon me

    "Bang!"

    Quickly, the elder threw up a energy shield but it was toote.

    a horribly burnt but still breathing elder fell out the sky plunging into the earth like a meteor.

    "Bang!"

    Letting out triumphant roar the Red Dragon flew into the sky looking down on the crowd arrogantly, as if it was a God looking at a group of ants.

    Suddenly a tired sigh was heard in Dante''s ears

    "Sigh, Dante that''s enough"

    "void shattering fist."

    All of a sudden, a gigantic fist of purple energy condensed in the air

    "Swoosh "

    The gigantic fist was sent hurtling at the dragon

    Sensing the terrifying aura of the fist, the Red dragon''s aura erupted in attempt to resist but in the face of such aplete power gap It was futile

    "Bang!"

    "Roaaar!"

    Feeling the unstoppable power of the fist, the Red dragon let out a heart-chilling roar of fury!

    "Crac!"

    Despite the efforts of the Red dragon it still shattered under the force of the fist exploding into fragments

    "Blergh!"

    As soon as the Red dragon shattered Dante copsed to the floor and spat a mouthful of blood.As he rose up from the floor up from the floor, Slowly Dante''s senses starteding back to him

    ''What the hell happened? and why do i feel like I''ve just been hit by a truck?'' Dante thought to himself

    As he looked up to the sky he

    Saw the patriarch floating in the sky

    "With that I will conclude the ceremony" said patriarch Gavin

    "Despite the troubles caused, the ceremony was stillpleted marking the start of your cultivation journey and for those whose martial spirits have shattered. You don''t have to worry, no damage was caused to you since the martial spirit was summoned by the awakening tform "

    "But don''t think that shattering your martial spirit has no affect, a shattered martial spirit can severely damage if not cripple you, so be careful when summoning them. Not like it''s something you''ll have to worry about any time soon, you kids won''t be able to summon your martial soul at your current cultivation level so don''t get ahead of yourselves "

    After saying this patriarch Gavin Flew away

    Seeing that Patriarch Gavin had finished his speech Dante sluggishly walked away. He was so stunned that when he walked away he didn''t notice the looks of fear cast his way as they rushed out of his path as he walked back to his room

    As he entered his room Dante felt his splitting headache get worse. he was so tired that he didn''t even bother to take off his robes and just jumped straight into his bed

    бн

    Meanwhile in a sect in a faraway ce, a shrivelled old man seemed to be bleeding from all orifices but a cruel smile appeared on his face.

    "Hahahaha" cackled the old man

    "Finally he has appeared, thest child of heaven has been awakened!!" cried the old man out in joy

    Just as he was rejoicing to himself a charming young man walked into the room

    "So any details? " questioned the young man

    "Yes young master " responded the decrepit old man

    " he seems to be from a smaller continent on that continent his background seems to mildly strong but definitely not from any major sects or ns on the main continent "

    "In addition to this he seems to have only recently awakened a martial spirit" said the old man

    "Is that all you could find"asked the young man

    "Yes young master Callius, nothing else can be found no matter how hard anyone else tries the heavens won''t you to know anymore,"said the old man

    " I see so you have aplished your purpose," said Callius

    "Bang!"

    Before the old man could react his head burst exploding into pieces flying across the room

    "Unfortunately you knew just too much"mented Callius with a sigh

    " out of all the children of heaven, It seems that none are a threat to my domination. The only other children of heaven worth paying attention to are the dragon-Prince of the merfolk and maybe the sword maiden after them all other children of heaven are trash in my eyes" said Callius thinking aloud

    "Even then no one can stop rise to heavenly emperor all can only be my nourishment even if your the dragon-prince" as he said this a crazy smile appeared on Callius''s face

    бн

 Chapter 8 - Learning About Cultivation

    10 hourster

    бн

    Dante woke up and looked outside the window only to see that the sky turned dark

    ''Fuck, how the hell did I end up sleeping till the sky turned dark''

    ''Damn I was just nning on taking a short nap even in this life I still manage to oversleep''

    Dante could only sigh internally, at his ownck of awareness

    "You''re finally awake"

    Dante turned his head looked towards the source of the sound to see Winton meditating on a chair beside him

    As Winton opened his eyes he continued to talk to Dante

    "You really made a scene this time Dante " sighed Winton

    "Huh, what do you mean" asked a puzzled Dante

    "You don''t remember? After you awakened your martial spirit you went berserk, you even severely hurt an elder, luckily he''s fine now but you should take time to see him and apologize" continued Winton

    "Well I hope he''s alright, all I remember is awakening my martial soul that''s it. Is this something I need to be worried about, I mean randomly losing control" Said Dante

    "You don''t need to be worried" replied winton

    "You only went berserk as you were too weak to control your released Martial Spirit, this won''t happen again as by the time you''re ready to realize your martial soul your cultivation would have dramatically increased,"

    "Cultivation? Can I finally start cultivation? " asked Dante with anticipation

    "Yes you can finally start cultivation but before that let me give you background on cultivation first," said Winton

    "in this world, there are up to Seven known cultivation realms but you only need to know four for now"

    "Seven? aren''t we taught that there are only 4 known cultivation realms" asked Dante in surprise.

    "aren''t you forgetting something, I am the only person to travel out of the rippling wave continent I even made it across the whole of the rippling wave continent you know. When ites to cultivation I''ll be the most knowledgeable in the n by far" as Winton said this a prideful smile that coulndt be hidden slowly appeared on his face

    "anyway the realms go like this : "

    1st the body refining realm

    2nd the Martial novice realm

    3rd the Martial Apprentice realm

    4th the Martial journeyman realm

    But you don''t need to worry about any other realm the one most important to you now is the Martial Novice realm.

    The Martial Novice realm is the first realm with energy maniption abilities allowing you to fully step past mortal shackles, ascending past mortal standards. you can use that energy to strengthen yourself or use it to cast martial techniques

    The Martial Novice realm isposed of 9yers Using your cultivation technique you attract energy from the atmosphere refining it for yourself and storing it in your dantian ascending through theyers of the realm until you eventually reach the peak

    Cultivation techniques usually specialize in 1 or 2 elements.

    It''s best to use cultivation techniques of elements you have an affinity for as you cultivate many times faster whenpared to using attributeless cultivation techniques or cultivation techniques of other attributes ."

    "Well that was a lot of talking" said Winton

    "Did you get all that Dante? "

    "Well I got the most important stuff" replied Dante passively

    "Alright then let''s test your affinity then "

    As Winton said this he pulled out a resplendent transparent crystal

    "ce your hand on the crystal" stated Winton

    Dante slowly stretched out his hand and ced his hand on the crystal expecting a sh of light but even 20 secondster no reaction was seen from the crystal

    "Strange" said Winton

    "Howe you have no elemental affinity "

    "You clearly awakened a fire attribute Martial Soul this should at least grant you some small elemental affinity " said Winton puzzled

    Thinking about the problem Dante remembered a phrase that he heard during the awakening ceremony

    ''Wee to dragon dawn''

    ''Was it because of that phrase I have no affinity pondered Dante?'' ''If I remember correctly dragon dawn was a game I was ying before in my past life why is it here'' Thought Dante

    While Dante was thinking to himself Winton also appeared to be thinking of something causing a mncholy look to appear on his face. Winton started to look at his space ring softly, stroking it lightly as if remembering a fond memory

    "Sigh!"

    Winton looked at Dante bringing out a silver cased book

    "Dante take this" said Winton handing him a silver book

    "hmm.. what is this "

    "Moon king sutra," said Dante reading the title of the book aloud

    " you can read through the book by yourself ande to me any time if you have trouble," said Winton to Dante

    "Also take this," said Winton throwing a token to Dante

    "You can take the token to the skill pavilion and pick out any amount of skills you want"

    "You can also take the token and retrieve a spirit weapon from the spirit weapon store of the third Elder "

    After saying this Winton left the room almost absent mindedly

    Looking at the book in his hand Dante couldn''t contain his excitement

    ''My path to power, it all starts here'' thought Dante grinning wildly

    ''But before I start cultivating there''s still something to do'' he thought to himself

    "System !"

 Chapter 9 - Welcome To Dragon Dawn!

    "System !" Shouted Dante

    Suddenly a holographic screen appeared in front of him

    "Ding!"

    "Wee to dragon dawn"

    "Just as expected" thought Dante to himself

    Dragon dawn was a game Dante used to y in his previous life . In the game you could unlock different types of dragons of various attributes and evolve them by eating treasures and gems of that said attribute.

    In addition to this there were also some passive and active skills that could be unlocked and levelled up with a currency known as energy points or ''EP'' for short. Energy points were gained from evolving your dragon or eating treasures or gems of your said attributes. for example Red Dragons can evolve and gain energy point from eating fire attribute treasures like ''me flowers'' or fire gems.

    "Thisбн this is just too great !"thought to himself

    "With my very own cheat there''s no reason for me not to rise in the martial spirit world!"

    "Wether I reach the peak or not it should be a way for me to be a powerhouse in this world"

    Looking at the panel Dante assessed the information disyed

    Race: Red dragon

    Age: Mature Adult Dragon

    Affinity: Fire

    Innate abilities:

    Dragon Fear :-when angered you release a terrifying aura to your surroundings causing all creatures to undergo a will check if they fail the will check the target will be frightened and immobile and in some extreme cases unconscious

    Red Dragon Breath - the user first inhales gathering fire in their mouth. The user then roars letting out a devastating torrent of me in a cone-like spread causing magic and fire and damage to the target

    Lesser Dragonification of the Red dragon - as a bearer of a dragon soul you are essentially a dragon trapped within a human body. Bymunicating with your dragon soul it allows you to partially take on your glorious draconic form. Red dragon Scales grow out of the skin only covering the arms and legs while hands and feet be wed. This form grants the user increased strength, speed agility and elements affinity. It also grants the user with increased physical and magical resistance and this statests for 15 mins.

    Passive skills: ( locked)

    Active skills : ( locked)

    Energy points : 6

    Looking at the panel Dante noticed not much had changed it''s just that one skill was added

    Lesser dragonification . This skill seems to have been added when transmigrating due to some unknown reason. Not that Dante cared This new ability was OP as fuck and he wasn''tining

    Next, he decided to look at skills. Now the way skills worked In dragon dawn was a bit weird at each level or dragon stage (which are the equivalent of levels In dragon dawn) one passive ability and multiple active abilities are unlocked and in order to gain skills of the next level the passive ability of that level and at least one active ability of that level must be fully levelled up. There are 8 levels or dragon stages in dragon dawn these are :

    Level 1 Whelpling

    Level 2 Young Dragon

    Level 3 Mature Adult Dragon

    Level 4 Elder Dragon

    Level 5 Ancient Dragon

    Level 6 Dragon wrym

    Level 7 Dragon Prince

    Level 8 Dragon King

    Level 9 Dragon God

    You only get the same amount of energy points as your level each level up e.g Level 1 has 1EP

    Level 2 has 2 EP level 3 has 3EP and so on

    As Dante''s Red dragon was at the Mature adult phase this meant that he had 6 EP. Dante had enough EP to fully level up the 1st level skill tree. Since there was only one passive skill Dante decided to fully unlock it

    Heart of mes 3/3

    Your heart burns with an inextinguishable elemental fire Granting you :

    100%immunity to mes at your level

    50% damage reduction to mes at a higher level which decreases by 10% for every level Higher than you the attacker is

    mes at the same level or lower levels heal for 25% of damage dealt

    Looking at these stats Dante was left speechless. ''This is just so fucking great!! ''Dante thought to himself almostughing with joy

    Next Dante looked at two active abilities of the first level

    Burning hands - gather heat in your hands causing them to glow an orange hue dealing extra fire damage for 5 mins

    Scorching ray - gather mes in your eyes causing you to shoot rays of me from your eyes at your enemies

    Looking at the avable options Dante didn''t even hesitate to choose scorching rays. ignoring the fact that it was a ranged attack just the fact you can shoot rays of fire just out your eyes should have been enough to sell you on this.

    After fully upgrading his ability Dante decided to try them out heading outside Dante found himself a secluded area in hispound where damage to the surroundings would have no effect

    "Scorching ray!"

    Instantly an orange glow erupted from Dante''s eyes shooting into the floor leaving a molten mark across it

    "Damn that''s some strong stuff and that''s only the 1st level" eximed Dante in shock

    But as Dante was walking inside feeling smug he suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion all over his body

    rapidly stretching out his hand to support himself Dante stopped himself from falling t out on his face

    "What the hell is happening to me" thought Dante to himself in panic

    Suddenly Dante thought of the dawn of dragons game. In the dawn of dragons game all skills require mana to take ce and be used.

    "But how am I supposed to get mana in this world," thought Dante

    "Mana doesn''t exist in the martial spirit world

    will I have such a cheat but not be able to use it cause of such an obvious w?"

    "How pathetic?" Thought Dante to himself

    Then the thought hit Dante

    ''what about Martial spirit energy?''

    both Spirit energy and Mana are a type of energy and can be multiple types of elemental energy and can even be used to cast elemental spells or techniques

    With that thought, Dante wasted no time and decided to test out his theory himself

    Dante brought out the book given by his father and read it

    "Moon king sutra "

    Grasping the cover book Dante slowly turned open the page

    It''s said that the moon king sutra was not just a spirit energy cultivation technique but also a mental energy cultivation technique. When cultivating the technique following a specific breathing method attract moonlight energy in the environment to your surroundings and refining and storing it in your dantian. Moonlight energy was a type of martial energy with yin and cold energy characteristics

    But where the moon king cultivation technique differed from others Was in the visualisation technique that came with it.

    on a page was a picture of elegant elf-like man donned in light blue royal robbed wearing a glowing silver crown On his head. In addition to this his left hand held a glowing ceremonial sword while his right hand grasped what seemed to be the moon

    Seeing the information on the page Dante decided to try out the cultivation technique. Opening his window so moonlight could get inside his room. Dante sat down under the moonlight breathing in the rhythm stated in the manual . Soon he felt a cool feeling flow through his body, it felt like drinking a cold drink on a hot summer day a refreshing cold feeling. Slowly Dante controlled the energy to circte around his body slowly forcing it to settle in his dantian.

    he seemed to feel himself be lighter almost as if he had let go of a weight that had been tying him down.Dante realized he had broken through the firstyer of the Martial Novice realm, not wanting to stop Dante went back too cultivation

    Dante continued like this till he felt a bright light sh in his face. Opening his eyes Dante looked out to see sun hanging in the sky .

    ''Damn it''s daytime already'' thought Dante to himself. under the mystical feeling of cultivation, time seemed to pass almost seamlessly without him even noticing that he had just spent hours cultivating in silence.

    Freshening himself up Dante got ready for the day storing the book safely in his room and picking the token given to him by his father

 Chapter 10 - Choosing A Martial Skill

    As he walked out his door he was greeted by a beautiful brown haired maid, it was Maria

    "Good morning Maria," said Dante

    "Good morning young master" Maria replied

    "Young master I''m here to inform you that due to some n duties the first elder wouldn''t be able to make it for breakfast"she continued

    "That''s fine "

    " it can be peaceful to eat by yourself sometimes," said Dante

    After saying this Dante strolled into his father''s courtyard. Most days he eats with his father so his breakfast is always made in his father''s courtyard.

    After Dante arrived he sat down

    Down looking at the magnificent breakfast Dante''s stomach couldn''t help but grumble

    After devouring his breakfast he got up , energized and ready for the day

    "Maria can I have a map of the city and some gold coins, I''ll be going out to see the city today," asked Dante

    "Of course young master, but are you sure you want to walk around the city I can arrange for a carriage for you " responded Maria

    "No need Maria" responded Dante

    "I would like to walk around and see the city" continued Dante

    "Very well then young master it will be arranged for youter," said Maria

    "Thank you Maria," said Dante "you''re just as reliable as always"

    After saying this Dante walked out of the courtyard and headed for the Martial skill pavilion. Walking across the npound Dante noticed strange gazes he was feeling from servants and disciples in the n.

    ''Strange why are these guys still so scared? Was I really that scary when I went out of control ?" While these thoughts were going through Dante''s head he slowly approached the skill pavilion

    As he walked in he was greeted by an old man with a long flowing white beard.

    "Normal rules Martial novice realm only allowed to pick 1 book on the first floor and you have 30 mins to choose"

    In response to this Dante shed his token.

    Seeing token the expression on the old mans face seemed to change rapidly with shock.

    "Well with this token you can go choose any amount of techniques you want but I advise you only go up to the second floor and don''t pick more than 3 techniques, remember you got to learn how to walk before you can attempt to run."

    Seeing the old man giving him some advice Dante bowed his head in thanks

    "Thank you senior for advice"replied Dante

    "No need to thank me. I was just giving some small advice , nothing major" replied the old man humbly

    After Dante walked up to the librarypletely ignoring the first floor .

    The second floor was a grand library filled with an earthy smell of books

    Martial skills in this world had several ranks there were:

    iron rank skills

    Bronze rank skills

    Silver ranks skills

    Gold rank skills

    and then legendary techniques tinum rank skills

    The first floor was mostly iron rank techniques

    While the second floor was bronze with the asional silver rank techniques

    Looking around Dante looked around and saw many fierce sounding technique names like "tyrant boxing art " or "flood dragon spear technique"

    Briefly scanning through the books Dante put them down. While the techniques were strong and decent for there level

    There was nothing that stood out to Dante. Normally protagonists of novels find there own secret technique of there own little niche technique that seems to have stronger affects when they use them. Maybe it was the childish side of Dante stuck in his own fantasy but after getting his own cheat Dante decided he would not settle for any less for himself.

    While Dante was searching through piles of books Dante''s stumbled across a book "rending dragon w" this book states that most iconic feature of rending dragon w was its ability to leave serrated wounds on its victims letting them have immense bleeding the book went on further to state cultivated to its greatest level it would let rending dragon w would let off 9 resounding dragon roars and although it was only a silver rank at the start when trained to mastery it was evenparable to a peak Gold rank technique at that point . Not many people like to pick this technique as it is quite gory andcking in any elemental affinity meaning it''s a neutral technique so it applied no extra elemental damage

    but that makes it perfect for Dante who has no natural elemental affinity all his affinitye from his dragon souls meaning that if they are not activated his actual affinity is zero . Coupled with the fact that after undergoing dragonification his hands would be dragon ws this technique could show 5 or 6 times the strength in his hands . It was his hole card he had been looking for

    After securing the Rending Dragons w technique Dante searched for a weapon manual after all the Dragonification technique wasn''t permanent and onlysted a short period of time other than that Rending Dragon w was his trump card he couldn''t just use it at the start of the fight .

    While looking for a sword technique he came across the lunar light sword art . It was an agility based sword art that focused on light quick movements . It was only bronze rank but that was fine with Dante he already had aplicated bronze rank technique and didn''t want to bite of more than he could handle at this moment in time.

    Bringing down his 2 books and headed down

    As he wasing down the old man asked "you finished choosing "

    "Mhm" nodded "I chose Bronze Rank Rending Dragon w and Bronze rank lunar sword technique" continued Dante

    "Two techniques, it seems like you heeded my advice and didn''t choose too many techniques at once" said the old man

    "But I think you should choose a path to focus on after all a range of martial arts is not equal to 1 specialized one you can choose which area to specialize after getting a feel for the techniques "

    "Thank you for your guidance elder"

    After saying this Dante left to his courtyard

    He even told Maria to just leave the money in his room as he wouldn''t be going out anymore and instead would try to cultivate some techniques

    Entering his courtyard he opened up Rending Dragon w technique . The Rending Dragon w was split into four stages:

    Rushing Dragon w, Furious Dragon w, Ghostly Dragon w, and finally The w of the Dragon king

    Although it only had four moves thest move was basically a peak rank silver technique and when chained together could show explosive power

    Dante wasted no time getting straight into practicing the first technique Rushing Dragon w

    Dante''s hands twisted into a w shape

    "Swish!"

    Dante shot out his hand practicing the method of Rending Dragon w trying to get the energy strengthening method correct

    You see martial arts past the body refining stage all require martial energy to reach their maximum Potential in the case of Rending Dragon w martial energy is needed to both strengthen the meridians of the arm but to also coat the hands in energy for the purpose of both strengthening and protection of the hand during the attack

    "Swish! Swish! Swish!"

    Dante continued practicing sending out w after w trying to find the perfect ratio between the amount of spirit energy used to strengthen himself and the strength added to the attack

    The sun was bright and hot causing Dante to sweat during his practice but that didn''t stop him . All that could be heated was the heavy breathing of Dante and the drips of his sweat Dante continued like thiste into the night

    .....

    Three dayster, Dante''s strength had increased considerably from all the practice he had done . He seemed to have a high affinity with technique that he attributed to the dragon soul inside him making him instinctively know how to fix his deficiencies and errors in the technique. For Dante practicing was as easy as eating and drinking at least for this technique he was currently using

    "Rushing Dragon w!" Dante shouted. The w seemed to vibrate letting out two Dragon like howls resounding through the courtyard .

    "Bang!"

    Dante''s w hit a Boulder the size of a small desk causing it to explode into fragments. Even scarier was the fact that if you looked at at the ground behind the Boulder you could see that the floor behind it was covered in scars across the floor as if it had been cut by a jagged knife

    This result was amazing as generally it was very difficult to reach such a level as it states in the book too reach 2 dragon roars it can take up to 1 year for average people to reach this level even heaven defying geniuses can take 3 months . But Dante did this 30 times faster! Dante knew he wasn''t some heaven-defying genius if that was so he wouldn''t have been so average in his past life. Dante actually credit his amazing progress to his increased mental strength from awakening his past memories in addition to the fact he has a dragon martial soul and is cultivating in a dragon technique.. It seemed He had a lot of affinity with .

 Chapter 11 - Choosing A Spirit Weapon

    Seeing that 3 days had passed and he had still not gotten his spirit weapon Dante decided to head out and buy some

    Heading into his room Dante freshened up and went and grabbed a map and a bag of gold coins that he had asked Maria to prepare

    The city Dante lives in was called bright steel city the city got it''s name from resource it produces . See bright steel city is situated near the forest . This forest was full of many resources ranging from magical nts to magic beasts but the most iconic resource from the forest would be spirit steel . A metal formed when pockets of minerals are bathed in spirit energy for long periods of times gain magical properties of being lighter but yet still harder than all other metals and alloys canpare with. It''s also allows for energy to be conducted through the weapon allowing for better use of martial skills when using such weapons.the metal also glows with a vibrant glow that gives the city its name

    With such a strategic resources their was fiercepetitions for control of the resources in the city after tens of years of fighting in around the city 3 families came out on top.

    First was the kinsman n with the me viper bloodline martial spirit using this was the family Dante was part of and granted them terrifying mes and horrifying poison abilities iconic of most vipers.

    In addition to the kinsman family, There was the ter n This family was a major family that controlled part of bright steel city There bloodline martial spirit was a ''Gushing Spirit River'' this Martial spirit granted water elemental affinity and force of a rushing river behind there attacks

    Finally for thest n in bright steel city was the Pierce family this n had the martial spirit of the ''shadow steel spear'' this martial spirit had ability of granting them high affinity with spear techniques and shadow like after images after each spear attacks gotten from their shadow elemental affinity.

    Refreshing his memories of the situation Dante walked out of his npound entering bright steel city

    He strolled along the streets over the city entering thergest smithy in the city .

    As the only major family with a martial spirit affinity of fire the kinsman family was excellent forger of weapons and armour

    Only the Pierce family couldpare and this only applies to them crafting spears.

    The kinsman family owned many weapon stores throughout the city but the most popr and high quality store would have to be the store directly under the control of the 3rd elder who was a weapon refiner instead of dedicating his life to fighting for the n the 3rd elder honed his art of craftsmanship and cksmithing. All spirit weapons used by the elders are usually made by him even the patriarch personally orders some equipment from the third elder

    Walking into the weapons shop he was greeted by a warm gust of air.

    As he walked in an he looked around and saw that it was fairly busy with customers looking at weapons and armours of various different colours

    average looking youth was at the counter

    "Wee, how can I help you" asked the youth at the counter

    "I''m looking to choose a weapon" Dante replied as he spoke he pulled out his token that his father gave him

    Seeing the token the young mana expression changed to shock ,then hesitation

    "Hold on a second I need to confirm something "said the young man before dashing upstairs

    A few secondster the youth came back downstairs but this time he was apanied by a tall burly man , he has a thick beard and reddish-ck hair and stern look on his face

    "Boy show me your token" said the burly man in a deep tone

    without wasting time Dante showed his token to the burly man

    "Hmm the token of the first elder?" Wondered the man allowed

    "Are You the boy of the first elder" questioned the burly man

    "Yes I am sir"said Dante

    "Hahaha good , good you can just call me 3rd uncle Han" said the Third Elder

    "So what brings you here today?" Asked the Third Elder

    "I''m just looking for a weapon" stated Dante inly

    "Well seeing as your father gave you that token he must be wanting me to give you some good stuff "concluded the third elder

    " follow me upstairs you won''t find the good stuff anywhere near this floor " continued the Third Elder

    Dante swiftly followed the Third Elder to the second floor. Arriving on second floor there much less people buying instead more were just having a look around Dante could clearly sense the goods on the second floor he could faintly feel spirit energy flowing from the weapons. They were spirit weapons!

    The difference between spirit weapons and normal weapons is that they can have inscriptions on them that made them have special effects such as being extremely sharp or creating lightning and fire

    "What are you gawking at?" Asked the Third Elder

    "This just were the weaker stuff are kept I''ll show you, I''ll show you where the good stuff is held, my personal favourite collection" said the Third Elder with a big grin on his face

    They continued upward and each floor they went up less and less people were seen until they reached the fourth floor .

    On the fourth flour there were no people in sight and much fewer weapons .

    "This is where my best creations are stored " said the Third Elder "feel free to Choose anyone of your choice." Continued Han .

    Looking around Dante saw many magnificent weapons from Greatswords to sabres and shields . He was strolling around but then Dante''s attention was immediately grabbed by a sword

    It was a beautiful longsword that glowed a milky white light and had various inscriptions on the sword making it have an ethereal phantasmal feel. But even more important than that Dante felt an innate attraction towards the sword as if something deep inside him was calling him to take the sword the strange thing is he felt a deep attraction to the sword as if deep in his body something was calling out to the sword . It wasn''t his dragon soul it was something else more intrinsic to his very nature, intrinsic to his blood.

    "Don''t be fooled by the looks of that sword it''s a failure " stated the Elder Han

    "A adventurer went out to some ruins and brought back a mysterious Ore. He called it moonstone he said it was fragment of the moon itself but it was most likely stone that had been illuminated by moonlight energy for thousands of years"

    " I spent loads of resources and precious metals trying to make a legendary sword to break past gold rank spirit weapon and forge the legendary tinum rank spirit weapon but unfortunately when it was finally crafted it was only a bronze rank spirit weapon!" Shouted Elder Han in exasperation

    "Not even Gold or Silver but bronze rank!!" Eximed Elder Han

    "Don''t choose it I don''t wanna scam you as an uncle just don''t choose it " stated Elder Han

    Dante considered not picking the sword but he was still drawn to it almost as if he had been spell bound or charmed

    "Third uncle I still choose this sword I feel as if I have a connection to it I''m confident I won''t regret my decision" said Dante filled with confidence

    Seeing the stern look on Dante''s face Elder Han was stunned

    ''Hmmm this kid is interesting''

    Thought Han to himself

    "Alright kid if you think that this sword is really the one for you then have it, but don''tin to your dad that you''ve been scammed"said Han handing him the sword

    "in addition to this how about I give you a bronze rank inner armour otherwise your dad will say I was taking advantage of you" Han said chucking him a shining leather armour

    "Thank you Third uncle" said Dante

    "Just treat it as a gift" waved Han dismissively

    "Alright seeing as you''ve got your weapon it''s time I leave I''ve been nning on crafting a new spirit weapon , who knows it might be the legendary tinum rank I''ve been trying so hard to get"

    After saying this elder Han eft the room and Dante followed him.

    Walking down to second floor Dante

 Chapter 12 - Scarlet Flame Rose!

    Walking down to the second floor Dante heard an interesting discussion

    "Have you heard? A Scarlett me rose has been discovered and apparently, it will fully bloom sometime in the near future "Said a skinny man

    "What, no way one can''t be found so easily and anyway how would you know," said one man in suspicion

    "What would you know" responded the skinny man in scorn

    "The leader of the fire wolf mercenaries is gathering a group of people to go and retrieve the Scarlett me rose"

    "He even put up a recruitment notice you can go up and try to sign up if you think you''re good enough to make the cut"

    Seeing that excitement of surrounding people, Dante''s curiosity couldn''t be held back so he approached them

    "Excuse me but, what is this so-called ''Scarlet me Rose'' " asked Dante curiously

    "Huh, you don''t know ?" Asked the skinny man in shock

    "When certain areas have a high concentration of spirit energy there is a chance that rare natural treasures will be born."

    "Natural treasures? what kind of purpose would you use these ''natural treasures for'' "asked Dante

    "Well they can be used in many ways," said the skinny man

    "But the mostmon way is to break through bottlenecks in the same realm. Why do you think the me wolf mercenaries are in such a frenzy, The leader of the mercenary group needs the Scarlett flower to break through to the 8thyer of the Martial Novice realm!"

    Hearing this, a light shed across Dante''s eyes. These natural treasures seemed to have elemental properties and should be an easy way for him to gain energy points in this world

    But the one thing left that Dante needed before he could start nning on retrieving the treasure was the location of the Scarlett me rose and what time it will bloom and there seemed to be a man that had a strange amount of information on this right in front of him.

    "You wouldn''t have any information as to where this natural treasure would be right?" Dante asked

    The skinny man looked left and right before turning his head towards Dante "if you want information it''s gonna have to cost you" as he spoke he showed a toothy grin showing off his murky yellow teeth."

    "In addition, it''s not suitable to give details here. By the way, the names Phil, If you are really interested in the details you can follow me. It''s not convenient to speak around here you see" he said indicating to the people around

    after leaving the in Dante followed the skinny man to the alleyway near the store

    "so what''s the price ?" asked Dante wasting no time

    "Wellбн this is a well kept secret and I''m risking a lot telling you this andбн"

    "Stop wasting my time Phil, What''s the price?" Said Dante cutting him off

    "Well seeing as you are in such a hurry and you''re a first time customer.. how about I cut you a deal, 30 Gold coins"

    Just as Phil finished speaking Dante chucked a bag of gold coins at him nonchntly leaving him stunned at Dante''s extravagance

    After a few seconds Phil fumbled around and handed Dante a map as he spoke tteringly "Honourable young noble . The location you''re looking for is here" he spoke pointing to a marked x "in addition the flower will bloom in exactly three days but I urge you to be careful the me wolf mercenaries. They aren''t stupid, they should know their secrets have been leaked and will most certainly have a n to secrete the retrieving the Scarlett me Rose"

    Seeing this extra information, Dante knew a sneak attack and stealing the treasure was not an option hearing how on guard these mercenaries were.

    If Dante wanted to steal the natural treasure it would have to be a frontal assault, almost a raid. So preparing correctly would be essential.

    While Dante was thinking to himself Phill spoke again "if you need any extra information you can find me at White Cloud Inn, just tell the guy at the counter that Phil sent you."

    After saying that Phil walked away looking back and forth to make. Sure he wasn''t being followed

    Meanwhile, Dante was devising a n to snatch the natural treasure as he walked home. This Scarlett me rose was an essential way to gain some Energy Points and increase his strength so it was obvious that he had to get it no matter what. But there was a big problem, he was just too weak!

    Dante had only started cultivating for a few days no matter how strong his abilities were and the fact he was able to skip levels it would be extremely difficult to fight a 6thyer martial Novice realm cultivator not to mention the fact that since it is a mercenary group other warriors would be part of the team. Another fact that couldn''t be ignored was the fact other people would be having the exact same thought as him.

    .....

    By the time Dante arrived home, it was already dark outside and the bright moon hung out in the night sky illuminating the night sky. Dante put all his thoughts about the Scarlett me Rose aside and brought out his new spirit weapon.

    As the Longsword was unsheathed a cold sheen appeared on the sword signing in the darkness of his room. Dante was entranced by the sword, only strengthening his assumptions that there was something special about the sword.

    He could feel it in his body. The sword seemed to be calling out to him, almost begging for him to feed it his blood

 Chapter 13 - Mysterious Bloodline

    He could feel it in his body. The sword seemed to be calling out to him almost begging for him to feed it his blood

    The mystical hum of the sword sounded like a blissful melody

    In a trance, Dante lifted the sword and pointed the tip towards himself. slowly Dante brought the sword closer and closer to himself but before he could cut himself Dante''s body seemed to shudder awakening himself from the trance.

    ''The hell just happened now'' thought Dante to himself but before he had time to collect his thought the sword in his hand shot out from his grip.

    "Sphlit!!"

    "Argh!!"

    The sword pierced into Dante''s shoulder causing him to scream out in pain.

    The sword, now stuck in Dante''s shoulder, seemed to let out a hum of glee vibrating in his shoulder causing the wound to ache with even more pain. But that was the end as the sword was squirming in his shoulder Dante felt the blood leaving his body through the sword at an rming rate

    ''Fuck this thing is sucking my blood'' thought Dante trying to remove the sword, but as he pulled he found the sword locked into his body, and no matter how hard he tried to pull it wouldn''t budge.

    ''Damn at this rate my blood will be sucked clean

    But just as Dante thought this he felt a sudden surge of blood enter his body again.

    The sword let out a dizzying buzz as it vibrated rapidly pouring the sucked blood back into his body.

    The blood pouring back into his body felt different, it was as if it was cleaner and all impurities inside the blood had been filtered out leaving only a much finer product.

    As the blood poured into Dante''s body his hair started to sh a dazzling silver and his ears started extending bing more and more pointed eventually turning into true elf ears. While his eyes turned from pitch ck to a bright silver illuminating the dark night.

    This process continued till the sword stopped humming, falling to the ground with a loud ng.

    ''What the hell just happened?"thought Dante. Looking at the fallen sword Dante was hesitant to pick it up and avoided it.

    Instead, Dante looked at his shoulder where his wound used to be. but instead of a wound, he found smooth skin Without even a scar.

    Surprised at this change turned to look in the mirror and inspect his body but was stunned to find his eye colour hadpletely changed from ck to a glowing silver.

    In addition to this, his ears had be rmingly sharp and pointed and sticking out from his ck hair, If before when looking at Dante you had to focus on his ears to realize they were pointed, now when looking at Dante the first thing that would stand out to u would be the extremely sharp and pointed ears sticking out of his ears coupled with the ethereal temperament around him like the cold Moon on a winter night

    ''Well I''m definitely part elf'' Dante knew he had another bloodline inside of him but wasn''tpletely sure which creature it was but now he was almost 99% sure it was an elf bloodline, I mean what else could it be after seeing the extremely pointed ears.

    Looking back at the sword Dante felt a strong connection to it as if it was an extra hand that could be manipted with just a thought and would follow his everymand.

    "Come ! "

    With those words, the sword shivered and flew into Dante''s hand

    "Interesting," said Dante. The sword seemed to havepleted some kind of pact with Dante heeding to his every whim. In addition to this, the sword seemed to have a slight consciousness almost an instinctive-like thought process where it will seek what is best for itself to evolve and make itself stronger. it also seemed to be able to act at Dantes will moving freely with his arm almost merging with it.

    " From today you shall be known as the Moonlight Sword," Dante said talking to the swords

    in response, the sword seemed to shiver in pleasure seemingly happy with the name.

    seeing that he had such a magnificent sword Dante couldn''t resist the urge to finally practice his sword technique. rustling around in his bedroom Dante found the sword manual put away in one of his drawers

    ''lunar sword technique''

    as it was a bronze technique in a true sense it wasn''t anywhere near asplicated as Dantes other technique ''Rending Dragon w'' but was instead meant to be an introductory sword technique manual for people just entering the Martial Novice realm and was very easy and quick to start practising.

    The technique was split into three techniques initiating the stages of the moon cycle. these stages were the Crescent Moon sword, Waning Moon sword and Rising New Moon strike

    The first stage, the crescent moon stage, was an attacking technique that channelled spirit energy through the meridians in your arm then you direct the energy along your sword and finally through swinging your sword in a crescent motion you release a crescent de of energy.

    after reading the details Dante wasted no time and went into the courtyard bathing in the cold moonlight. as he stood in the moonlight he felt afortable sensation arise from his body as if he was being held in his mothers embrace. slowly in thisfortable state Dante started practising the technique, dancing around the courtyard releasing de after de of moonlight energy subconsciously while enjoying the wonderful state. Like a firefly in the night, Dante brightened the courtyard with his silvery crescent des. he only stopped when his martial energy was depleted forcing him to stop and awaken from his state.

    looking around Dante saw a scene of pure carnage, the ground had been ripped apart with terrifying gashes running across the floor making it look like a modern-day battlefield

 Chapter 14 - Choosing Some Allies

    looking around Dante saw a scene of pure carnage, the ground had been ripped apart with terrifying gashes running across the floor making it look like a modern-day battlefield.

    Seeing this mess Dante felt an oing headache.

    ''Fuck, how the hell am I gonna exin this?'' ''I really fucked up big time with this one damn.''

    Seeing as there was no viable solution Dante simply chose to ignore it as the saying goes, ''See no evil, hear no evil'' and pretending to know nothing was definitely the best choice right now.

    Returning to his room as nothing had just happened Dante chose a spot underneath moonlight rays and started cultivating the Moon king Sutra again.

    Soon Dante could feel the familiar cool sensation again coursing through his body but strangely Dante found he could attract the moonlight energy much faster than usual this timepared to thest time he cultivated. opening his eyes Dante looked around for any strange changes in surroundings, instantly he discovered that particles of moonlight energy were concentrated around his new sword seemingly attracted to it like a ma.

    Dante really scored big this time! it seemed that the sword also had an additional ability to attract moonlight energy towards itself and in the process. this was amazing as usually treasures that can speed up cultivation were rare and only owned by big sects it was almost impossible to find any in cities like bright steel city.

    feeling much better about himself for choosing the sword Dante went back to cultivation. this process continued untilte into the night

    .....

    The next day Dante woke up feeling refreshed and awake especially since he managed to break through to the secondyer of the Martial Novice realm thanks to the new sword.

    After freshening up Decided to start his next stage of the n to steal the Scarlett me Rose. That was to recruit some allies, see Dante knew he wasn''t a match for a team of mercenaries alone it was simply impossible for him to level up to be that strong in the 2 days left before it bloomed. so Dante chose the next best thing, To hire some assistance. Dante knew his position as the son of the first Elder came with some perks and he was definitely nning on using it. Why struggle when you can just hire someone else to do the hard work for you? This was the true power of the son of the First Elder, a perfect temte for creating a top tier arrogant young master.

    After freshening up Dante headed to the Task hall, This was a ce where all the n tasks were ced from cleaning to tasks to patrol tasks all nsmen whether servants or noble childrene here to receive tasks to do.

    entering the task hall Dante went up to thedy at the counter.

    "Hello I''d like to prepare a task under the name of the first elder for the 7thyer of the Martial novice realm and above for around 3 members," said Dante to thedy at the desk

    "That will be fine, but do you have any proof that this was set up by the first elder"

    In response, Dante handed over the token he got from his father

    "This is the token of token of the first elder but I can''t give put up a mission without seeing the first elder in person I just can''t post a task on such short notice.."

    "Thud!"

    Before she could finish Dante put a bag of gold coins on the table pushing it towards her

    "Please, do me a favour just this once"

    As he spoke Dante let out an enchanting smile causing the receptionist to blush a bright red.

    "Well seeing as you have an identity token I can make an exception for you just this once," said the receptionist tucking away the bag of gold

    Seeing his task had sessfully been posted Dante went away to sit down.

    Since it was such a rewarding task Dante expected to get lots of people signing up quickly but even thirty minutester no one had taken up the task he published. puzzled Dante walked up to a scrawny youth who was staring at handyman tasks.

    "Hello, I''m just asking a question"

    "go ahead" replied the boy

    "Why are there no n disciples over the 7thyer around to ept any tasks ?"

    "don''t you know" replied the youth giving him a strange look "the annual inter-n tournament is happening soon so most disciples are in seclusion trying to breakthrough in their cultivation"

    ''Damn how could I forget'' thought Dante.

    In Bright Steel city because of the spirit steel veins even after three ns of Bright Steel city came out on top there was still fierce fighting between the three families leading to a bloody cruel ughter of each n''s weaker members.

    Seeing that if this continued that the three families would destroy each other they reached a conclusion that there would be a tournament every three years between the younger generation to decide the distribution of resources and to avoid aplete massacre and the decline of each family.

    ''damn, if there are no Martial Novice realm cultivators above 7thyer my n is going to have to change .''

    seeing as his n was a failure Dante quickly came up with a new n.

    A Fast Lethal strike!

 Chapter 15 - Teaching Them A Lesson

    Dante knew now that if he couldn''t crush them with absolute strength he would have to go for a swift assassination tactic. swiftly taking out the leaders of the mercenary group and then scaring the rest of the members into submission with the background of the Kinsman n.

    But a problem with this new n is that it would require a small yet stealthy group of elites but with disciples above the 7thyer in seclusion, he would need geniuses in the 4th and 5thyer with the ability to skip realms to join him.

    Walking to the n training grounds for disciples Dante stopped to see many youngsters training their various skills with some even sparing against each other with their weapons coated in a vibrant glowing light.

    as he approached Dante seemed to see a familiar face. it was Brian

    He seemed to be training with a more muscr older man. sensing his gaze, Brian turned around and locked eyes with Dante . in response, Dante gave him a warm smile, but for Brian the smile seemed to belong to Archdevil straight from Hell causing him to tremble in fear with his forehead leaking buckets of sweat.

    ''Oh God, that Demon, he''s back again. What did I do to deserve this ?'' thought Brian.

    luckily for brian Dantepletely forgave Brian, after all, he was just an arrogant kid anyway he waspletely and utterly crushed by him back then and the strength gap between them now was like the distance between heaven and earth. And Dante wasn''t so petty as to pick on someone weaker than him, well not at least someone he had defeated already.

    as Dante walked up to the training grounds he briefly cleared his throat before shouting " I am currently recruiting some people to help me on a mission to the Howling Beast Forest to pick some magical herbs on behalf of the First Elder the reward for this mission would be 30 contribution points !" as his voice rang out across the training grounds there was a brief silence, before the training ground erupted into a burst chatter.

    "My God, 30 contribution points !"

    "Somebody hit me I must be dreaming! "

    "Truly prodigal only the children of major n Elders can behave like this"

    "I''m so jealous!!"

    it has to be known that a contribution point was roughly equal to a gold coin in value. a gold coin was roughly the monthly ie of the average family. But that wasn''t all, in exchange value Contribution points are roughly priced higher than gold coins as contribution points can be used to purchase things gold coins can''t like secret manuals or custom made spirit weapons from the n.

    As Dante was speaking a handsome young man came up behind him and patted him on the shoulder and spoke in a condescending and humiliating tone.

    "Don''t worry, we all know a weakling like you can''t be trusted to go into the Howling Beast Forest by yourself, even your father doesn''t want you to lose your life so he asked you to hire some bodyguards "

    "Grayson" replied Dante with gritted teeth.

    Grayson was one of his bullies, throughout his childhood due to his weak physique Dante wasbelled as a piece of trash who would lose to opponents in lower realms so of course he was on the receiving end of some bullying in his past. but which child of regr nsmen had the guts to bully the child of the first elder so his bullies could only be the children of elders with a strong backing or else all it would take would be Dante toin to his father for their whole family to be dealt with.

    looking at Graysonup close and with his condescending smirk, Dante seemed to feel his blood rush to his head. Subconsciously he released the iconic Dragon skill ''aura of dragon fear''. Instantly a furious draconic roar erupted from deep within his body while a maddening aura of fury and domination expanded from Dantes body as his eyes turned into amber serpentine slits staring at Grayson with a smouldering Rage.

    "What.. what is this? said Grayson in panic sensing the aura released from Dante

    But before he could escape he found himself inside a ck void and looking at Dantes position instead of handsome young man, he found a hulking scaly Dragon reeking of a gut-wrenching smell of brimstone and sulfur while its mouth dripped with scalding magma. its eyes stared at him with infernal fury as if it wanted to consume him whole.

    "Arrrgh help me, please. I don''t want to die. Don''t eat me" Grayson found himself sobbing and begging in a pathetic mess

    outside of Grayson''s illusion onlookers were looking on at his terrible disy in shock and horror

    "What... What did Dante do to him?"

    "Demon, he''s a demon just like his father "

    looking at the pathetic visage of Grayson although Dante felt some pity for him it was overwhelmed with a great sense of satisfaction he felt having had his revenge.

    Turning to look at the crowd with his ''dragon fear aura'' still on full st Dante spoke

    "I''m willing to ept any teammates as long as you do better than that piece of trash" as he spoke a twisted smile appeared on his handsome face causing members of the crowd to step back in fear.

 Chapter 16 - Test

    With his dragon fear aura overwhelming them no disciple could take a step forward seeing the low-level strength and will of the disciples Dante shook his head and was about to leave

    Suddenly a beautiful figure walked out from among the disciples she had a delicate figure with willow-like eyebrows that looked down on sweeping eyshes with an angelic smile.

    slowly she walked out into the terrifying aura urging her spirit energy to resist the overwhelming pressure. Dante wasn''t about to go easy on her just because she was a pretty woman. Dante was looking for allies, not burdens so he watched on with a cold gaze as she got closer and closer until she was right in front of Dante. taking a moment to steady herself she then spoke

    "I would like to join you on this mission"

    Seeing as she had passed the test Dante let a warm smile, reaching out his hand for a handshake before replying

    "your wee to the team "

    seeing she was epted she let out a happy smile and shook his hand while replying

    "My name is Anne, a 5thyer Martial novice realm cultivator"

    "well I think you already know my name but I''ll still introduce myself. My name is Dante, a 2ndyer Martial novice realm cultivator"

    Hearing his realm Anne''s eyes widened in surprise. she didn''t expect for Dante to be so strong at such a low realm.

    As Dante was conversing with Anne a handsome young boy was pushing his way through the crowd

    "look Klent seems to want to try and pass the challenge "

    "That piece of trash that has been stuck at the 3rdyer for 4 years "

    "Don''t look down on him too much, remember back then he used to be a genius "

    "Genius, don''t make meugh. Even a pig would have managed to breakthrough with 4 years of training "

    Hearing thements Dantes interest was peaked in this so-called Klent. looking up he saw a handsome young man with long ck hair, holding a sword walking steadily towards him.

    As he was walked into Dantes ''dragon fear '' Dante fully utilised the pressure to challenge him. But was surprised Dante the most was instead of trying to resist his aura, Klent didn''t seem to be fazed instead an overwhelming Will burst out from him, This Will didn''t resist or push away Dantes aura but instead directly shattered it.

    Dantes eyes almost burst out his sockets in shock, it has to be known his dragon aura has only been resisted by people of a simr level to him but no one has managed to overwhelm it much less directly shatter it. But the scary thing is that Klent managed to shatter it directly with only his Will, Dantes dragon aurae directly from his cheat granting him the dragon aura of an Adult Red Dragon But Klent managed to shatter this just relying on his sheer indomitable Will Alone no cheat or perk included!

    People with a Will that strong always manage to make it to the top of the field they choose whether they have a smooth journey or whether they have to climb a mountain of bones first, one thing for sure is that they will never stop till they see the peak of their chosen field.

    Seeing such a strange phenom Dante let out a loud roar fully stimting his ''dragon fear'' yet again it was met with Klents indomitable Will stopping in its tracks

    approaching Klent, Dante spoke out

    "I didn''t expect to see such a talent hiding here in our n"

    "I could say the same about you " replied Klent inly

    "Are you willing to Join my team into the Howling Beast Forest ?" asked Dante directly

    "Sure but I have one request "replied Klent

    "What is it ?"

    "You have to fight me right here, right now, I need to test how far my strength has progressed "

    initially, Dante was taken aback by his statement before a confident smirk appeared on his face.

    "Sure, but I hope you don''t embarrass yourself"ughed Dante lightheartedly

    "Humph !" sneered Klent

    slowly the two of them backed away from each other creating a decent distance between them.

    slowly Klent unsheathed his sword from his side, instantly the aura around him seemed to change bing sharp and piercing and staring at him caused a prickling sensation to start urring all over your body

    seeing this development Dante also prepared himself

    "Come out ! " with his call a silver light shed as the Moonlight Sword unsheathed itself flying straight into Dante''s hand

    Dante''s eyes were as calm as the moon in the night sky while a gentle breeze blew his hair causing it to flutter in the wind almost like a scene out of a painting.

    suddenly both of them dashed towards each other

    "ng!"

    both swords shed mightily sending sparks flying out

    swiftly retracting his sword using his special bond to the Moonlight sword Dante switched his sword to his other hand sending a fast and Deadly strike towards klent

    "Phantom Ghost Steps" cried Klent

    as Dantes sword hit Klent he found that it passed directly through him as if he had just hit a ghostly entity. The Klent in front of Dante was not real, in fact it was an afterimage!

    Sensing a piercing gaze, Dantes Moonshine Sword burst out in a dazzling light and with a flick of his wrist the Moonshine Sword moved towards his back and defended it

    "Bang!"

    Dantes sword managed to intercept Klent''s stealthy attack leaving him mildly stunned

    but this didn''t affect klent as he rapidly rotated his body in the air generating terrifying momentum

    "Heavy Hack" Klents sword glowed a bright white light as he brought down the terrifying de back down on Dante

    "Bang!"

    a terrifying shockwave sted out from the blow sending Dante rolling out to reduce the pressure of the impact

    quickly standing back to his feet, Dante dashed towards klent sending a sharp attack to his face but as he was approaching Klent went into a sword drawing stance

    "de storm!" Cried Klent

    As he spoke bright white shes of de lights erupted around him flying straight towards Dante

    Seeing the de lights flying towards him Dante quickly shifted his momentum and twisted his body dodging the de lights flung towards him

    But it didn''t end there

    "de storm!"

    Again Dante was forced to doge these de lights, twisting at impossible angles to avoid getting hit

    Sick and tired of being forced to doge Dante took a step back holding the Moonlight Sword.

    Suddenly his sword shed with a dazzling silver light

 Chapter 17 - Artistic Conception Vs Sword Intent

    Suddenly his sword shed with a dazzling silver light

    "Crescent Moon Sword!"

    Swinging his sword in a graceful manner a silvery de of energy shot out flying towards the oing de lights

    "Bang!"

    The Crescent Moon de and sword lights shed in the air giving off a horrifying shockwave causing both Dante and Klent to retreat several steps.

    There were was a brief moment of silence where they both exchanged a fierce re before they both shouted

    "de Storm !"

    "Crescent Moon Sword !"

    "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    In an instant, the two of them exchanged a flurry of blows dancing across the training ground destroying anything caught in the middle of their fight

    "These guysбн aren''t they supposed to only be in the 2nd and 3rdyer"

    "Why does the fight seem like they''re in the 6thyer"

    "Monsters, they''re just a pair of monsters !"

    Ignoring the chatter around him Dante was concentrating seriously on his fight. Unknowingly he entered that mystical state he was inst night when training the lunar sword technique. He felt attune with his blood and mind, more than he had ever felt before, the sensation was onlyparable to the rush he felt awakening his martial spirit

    "Badum! Badum! Badum!"

    Sounds of clear heartbeats rang out in the training ground. It seemed like thunder in Klent''s ears. Not only Klent but everybody watching could hear these thunderous heartbeats.

    Dante''s blood was excited, circting madly on its own. Unknown to Dante his hair started flickering between a blinding silver and its normal ck

    Dante seemed to see an illusion he was a giant silvery figure, standing in the void radiating a terrifying yet awe-inspiring presence that seemed to cause space itself to shake. in this vision, he seemed to be crafting moons and other celestial bodies in his hands and scattering them throughout the void like a farmer sowing seeds in the soil

    At that instant, the Moonlight sword in his hand seemed to scream letting a deafening buzz.

    At that moment Dante seemed to have an overwhelming understanding of moons. From their orbit to their creation even to their significance to inhabitants of thes it orbits

    Stepping forward Dante calmly spoke

    "Lunar sword technique, Rising New Moon"

    A violent silver brilliance exploded with Dante as the centre covering a distance of several metres as if stepping into a field of pure silver

    But it didn''t end there as a melodious ding rang out with Dante''s body as the centre. Slowly a Cold Majestic Moon began to rise into the sky over Dante''s body spreading majestic presence all over the training field. Different from his ''dragon fear'' that made people hysterical with fear. This aura seemed to make you want to kneel involuntarily as if a peasant had found himself standing before the Emperor.

    "No way what is this" eximed an onlooker

    "Artistic conception, He''s developed his martial technique to the level of artistic conception! "

    Hearing this The onlookers were left stunned. Artistic Conception! It must be known that artistic conception was terrifyingly hard to achieve. To achieve Artistic Conception stage ofprehension you have to havepletely mastered your technique and go a step beyond that, having a deeper understanding of the technique than the creator itself, developing the technique past its ultimate stage creating a new stage past its limits. Only extremely talented elders that have trained a technique for 40+ years and have shown extreme mastery of a technique have ever developed an Artistic Conception. Even with that, cases of artistic conception have been extremely rare in the history of the Kinsman n with them being only found in extremely talented members of the n.

    Hearing the talk Dante opened his eyes causing a brilliant silver light to sh out of them. Dante knew himself it wasn''t an authenticprehension of an artistic conception. Dante knew a major credit was the vision he got from his bloodline, so it was something like a half bloodline skill

    Clearing his head of thoughts Dante looked directly at Klent fiercely

    "Rising New Moon " as he spoke those words the moon above his head seemed to shine even brighter as if it was trying to blind the world

    "Strike" as soon as Dante said those words a rain of beams of moonlight energy fell from the sky towards Klent.

    Sensing the oing barrage Klent didn''t hesitate

    "Phantom Ghost Steps" instantly his figure became blurred dogging the strike of energy. But it wasn''t over just yet with a wave of his hand Dante controlled the falling rain of moonlight energy towards Klent.

    "Phantom Ghost Steps" again Klent dodged the beams flickering across the training ground with a torrent of energy beams chasing close behind leaving a wave of destruction anywhere they passed.

    But under the pressure of continuously activating his martial skill, Klent grew tired and failed to dodge

    "Bang!"

    A thunderous explosion rang out as Klent was hit by a beam of energy burying him in a crater of the earth

    Not wanting to give up such an opportunity Dante didn''t hesitate

    "Strike !"

    With his words, a wave of moonlight energy poured towards Klent

    "de Storm !"

    not wanting to give up Klent activated his martial skill sending out beams of sword energy. But despite his efforts, his sword beams were just being overwhelmed by Dantes stronger more numerous energy beams.

    "Bang!"

    Suddenly Dantes beam of energy collided with Klent knocking him off his feet. Just as Dante was about to end the fight sting Klent with a beam of energy he noticed something strange with Klent.

    He seemed to be motionless and his eyes stared nkly into the distance as if his soul hadpletely left his body.

    Noticing Klents strange state Dante was about to end the fight in case he was seriously injured.

    "Buzz!" Suddenly there was a soft buzz, almost like a small wasp was continuously buzzing near your ear.

    Slowly the buzz progressed from a soft buzz into a deafening hum and this hum seemed to be radiating from Klent.

    At this moment all swords in the training ground seemed to tremble and hum. From shortswords to greatswords all swords seemed to resonate with the deafening hum

    "What the иC"

    "Damn, my sword! "

    "Someone help, my sword is out of control !"

    but it didn''t end there as the swords flew out into the sky dancing rounding and humming a majestic symphony as if weing theing their King.

    "ahh..."

    suddenly there was a sigh of rxation, turning his head towards the sound Dante looked to realise it came from Klent

    "I have to thank you Dante if it wasn''t for you I wouldn''t have been pushed so far andprehended sword intent" spoke Klent stepping confidently out of the crater

    Sword intent! The onlookers were gobsmacked. if Artistic Conception is rare but heard of then Sword Intent was nothing short of a Myth, only said to be had by legendary Masters hiding in the capital if they hadn''t seen it for themselves they wouldn''t have believed it, even now it was still hard to believe they had seen someoneprehend sword intent right in front of them.

    "no way .. it can''t be true right" eximed one disciple in denial

    "Sword intent, legendary sword intent " stuttered another in shock

    ignoring thements from the crowd Klent continued " Dante I have to thank you deeply for this opportunity and cause of that I''m going to go all out from here on "

    "Heres a technique I was saving for the inter-npetition "

    as klent said this he raised his sword and with that motion, a terrifying buzz seemed to erupt from the sword showing off his newly learnt sword intent.

    "Apocalypse Sword Style! "

    A mesmerising golden light congregated at the tip of Klents sword forming a dazzling scene

    "Split The Earth !"

    Klent shouted fiercely as he executed a ferocious chop filled with destructive malice, it was as if he wanted the very world itself to copse in on itself . in doing this he sent out a monstrous golden beam of sword energy straight towards Dante leaving cracks in the ground as it hurtled towards Dante.

    seeing this horrifying sight Dante acted too

    " Lunar Sword Technique, Rising New Moon !"

    The moon above him seemed to go into overdrive shing a dazzling silver. with a wave of his hand, Dante directed his attack towards the approaching beam of sword energy.

    "Boom!" a nuclear-like explosion went off sending a terrifying shockwave out that sent the onlookers flying and cowering in retreat.

    as the dust cleared all that could be seen was a massive crater and inside the crater was Dante. His clothes had been blown apart exposing hispleter upper body while his hair had lost its dazzling glow appearing a more pale white than its original glowing silver.

    seeing this scene Klent couldn''t help but sigh "truly a good fight, if it wasn''t for my suddenprehension of intent I would have definitely lost " hemented

    "Who said you''ve won ?"

 Chapter 18 - Dragonification!

    "Who said you''ve won ?"

    hearing those words Klent looked back in shock what he saw was a badly bruised Dante stand up from the crater with a confident smirk

    "Just as you had something saved for the inter-npetition, so did I !" continued Dante

    "Dragonification ! "

    "ROAR !"

    With those words, a terrifying roar erupted from Dantes body while a st of mes exploded turning the training ground crimson red, if you looked closely in the mes you could see the illusion of a terrifying Red Dragon roaring madly in rage wanting to destroy everything in its sight.

    Blood Red scales started appearing all over his arms and legs, while his hands and feet turned wed and lizard-like while his body ballooned bing terrifyingly muscr. in addition to this, a pair of curved obsidian dragon horns grew from the top of his head giving him a truly demonic look.

    "Now are you ready? " Dante asked confidently with his aura of dragon fear radiating out along

    "Of course" replied Klent and with that siring his terrifying Will in addition, a terrifying humm erupted from him yet again, shaking all the swords in the training ground.

    Suddenly Dante took a heavy step leaving a w-like footprint in the ground and shot towards Klent

    "Rushing Dragon w !"

    arriving in front of Klent Dante let out a swift w attack that seemed to let of two resounding dragon roars

    "de Storm !"

    not wanting to be overwhelmed Klent of an attack of his own sending blinding beams of energy towards Dante that when coupled with his sword intent were sharper than ever

    "Bang! Bang! "

    two beams of energy were sped and crushed directly by Dante with his ws leaving Klent staring stunned, but all he received from Dante was a mad grin.

    "Phantom ghost steps"

    Klent quickly executed his movement technique trying to put some distance between him and that monster.

    Escaping Klent shouted,

    "Apocolypse Sword Style, Split The Earth !"

    a giant burst of golden sword energy erupted from his sword hurtling towards Dante

    seeing the terrifying sword energy once again there was no fear in Dante''s eyes instead he roared madly

    "Red Dragon Breath "

    All of a sudden Dante''s chest rapidly expanded as heat rapidly gathered around Dante''s mouth forming a blinding orange hue.

    "ROAR!"

    As the sword beam approached Dante let out a horrifying roar sending out a cone of mes colliding with the beam in a spectacr fashion letting of a blinding array of lights.

    "Rushing Dragon w"

    bursting out from the explosion Dante was covered in light burns and scalds but he still rushed towards Klent madly

    seeing the oing w Klents sword shuddered erupting in a glowing white light

    "Heavy Hack"

    Klent brought down a fierce strike towards the w

    "Bang!"

    sparks erupted as scales and steel met under a fierce impact

    "Bang! Bang! Bang! "

    blow after blow was exchanged between them sending out thunderous bangs and even leaving scratches along Dante''s Dragon Scales.

    "Bang!"

    suddenly Dante managed to grab Klent''s sword firmly locking it in ce.

    seeing such an opportunity a devilish smile appeared on Dante''s face as his chest expanded rapidly while flickers of mes started to gather in his mouth.

    noticing such a frightening development Klent didn''t hesitate and sent a fierce punch straight at Dante''s nose

    "Bang!"

    "ROAR !"

    the fierce impact caused Dante to retreat letting out a roar of rage and pain releasing the torrent of mes trapped in his mouth bathing the training ground in a horrifying me

    Gathering his bearings Dante rushed furiously towards Klent again

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!" again they collided fiercely sending out shockwaves from their attacks

    suddenly Dante''s arm shot out grabbing Klents shoulder but this time Dante learnt his lesson. instead of dragon breath Dante instead went with a headbutt.

    "sphlittt!"

    In panic, Klent tried dodging the attack but Dantes horns still managed to pierce into Klents Shoulder

    "Arrgh!" klent let out a shriek of pain. Furious, he grabbed his sword and shoved it straight into Dantes side leaving a deep gash.

    "ROAR!"

    Dante''s eyes went red with pain letting out a berserk roar, Dante grabbed Klents shoulders almost crushing them leaving in helplessly in his grasp. in addition to this Dante opened his mouth as a torrent of fire element spirit energy poured towards him causing his surroundings to reach terrifying temperatures

    Klent was terrified as if he was hit by dragon breath at such close range he would be turned into nothing more than a pile of coke and ash

    At thest second Dante seemed toe to his senses turning his head away from Klent

    "Bang"

    A fierce wave of mes was released towards the ground melting it from stone into molten flowingva.

    Releasing Klent from his grasp Dante asked " Do you concede defeat, I think it''s my win ?"

    "Of course," replied Klent "You almost killed me you know! " eximed klent in exasperation

    "Yeah my bad, "said Dante "I got carried away from the fight and almost lost myself." apologized Dante.

    "Here take this," said Dante throwing Klent a bottle "inside are some healing pills they''ll speed up your recovery greatly. " "By the way are you interested in joining me on the mission to the Howling Beast Forest ?"

    "Sure, I do owe you, after all you helped meprehended sword intent." klent said gently stroking his sword "But what time is it ?"

    "It''s in two days time, you can just meet me at the n entrance in the morning "

    "The same goes for you Anne if you''re interested in joining us it''s the same time at the n entrance." Dante said turning to face her

    After saying this Dante went back to his room to recover leaving the destruction of the training ground far behind him, anyway, it wasn''t his job to clean it and if he was going to get in trouble for destroying it he''ll face the consequences after a good rest.

 Chapter 19 - System Reboot !

    As he entered his room Dante removed his hand from his wound. Looking at it he saw his hand waspletely covered in blood.

    Instantly he released his dragonification form and his figure instantly deted. With this proceed came an overwhelming sense of weakness

    ''Damn I''mpletely drained ''thought Dante fumbling through his room and taking out two bottles of pills

    Using dragonification brought him a drastic increase in his strength but it carried with it a tremendous burden on both his body and energy.

    Taking both pills all Dante wanted was to sit down and rest but suddenly he felt a mind splitting headache.

    "Ding!" "Wee to Dragon Dawn!"

    ''Not this shit againined Dante''

    But despite hisints it didn''t stop there but only got louder

    "Wee to Dragon Dawn !"

    "Wee to Dragon Dawn !"

    Eventually it got so dragon loud Dante ended up passing out straight on his bed

    бн

    The next morning Dante woke up groggily, he couldn''t remember much from after the fight, all he could remember was a terrifying headache and his system continuously ringing.

    "System" eximed Dante

    A holographic screen appeared in front of Dante and reading it he noticed some changes

    Race: Red dragon

    Age: Mature Adult Dragon

    Affinity: Fire

    Innate abilities:

    Dragon Fear - As True Dragon, you are at a higher level of life whenpared to mortal creatures. When angered you release a terrifying aura to your surroundings causing all creatures to undergo a will check if they fail the will check the target will be frightened and immobile and in some extreme cases unconscious

    Red Dragon Breath - As a True Dragon, Dragons breath is your birthright and the first skill a growing Dragon develops and stays with the Dragon for the rest of it''s life. The user first inhales gathering fire in their mouth. The user then roars letting out a devastating torrent of me in a cone-like spread causing magic and fire and damage to the target

    Lesser Dragonification of the Red Dragon - as a bearer of a dragon soul you are essentially a dragon trapped within a human body. Bymunicating with your dragon soul it allows you to partially take on your glorious draconic form. Red Dragon Scales grow out of the skin only covering the arms and legs while hands and feet be wed. This form grants the user increased strength, speed agility and elements affinity. It also grants the user with increased physical and magical resistance and this statests for 15 mins.

    Passive skills:

    Heart of mes 3/3 - Your heart burns with an inextinguishable elemental fire Granting you :

    100%immunity to mes at your level.

    50% damage reduction to mes at a higher level which decreases by 10% for every level Higher than you the attacker is.

    mes at the same level or lower levels heal for 25% of damage dealt

    Energy points : 3

    The first thing Dante noticed was that his active skills had beenpletely removed! Looking at the attributes panel it appeared as if he wouldn''t be able to gain any active skills anymore, luckily he got all the energy points he spent on his active skills back so it seemed like he had enough energy points to fully unlock a new passive skill .

    Looking at the passive skill list he looked towards the next passive skill and so he did just that

    Furious mes 3/3 - The burning anger of a Red Dragon is eternal and can never be stopped . Your mes are granted 200% increased damage and cause the victim excruciating pain

    Looking at the new ability Dante was overjoyed, with this ability he would have found it much easier to beat Klent in Their fight.

    Dante decided that he would train himself for the mission to try increase his strength even if it was only by a small amount

    "Rushing Dragon w"

    "ROAR! ROAR!"

    Two resounding roars were let off as Dante released a terrifying w

    "Rushing Dragon w !"

    "Rushing Dragon w ! "

    "Rushing Dragon w ! "

    Again and again Dante sent out w after w training harshly trying to breakthrough in his technique

    Suddenly Dante felt a mystical feeling shooting out a ferocious w causing a thunderous roar to erupt throughout his courtyard

    "One!"

    "Two !"

    "Three!"

    "Four!"

    Four devastating roars echoed throughout Dante''s courtyard showing his progress in the technique. Dante had broken through to the next stage of his technique, Furious Dragon w ! At this stage Dante w was imbued with a furious aura that could intimidate opponents causing them to hesitate or even pause during their attacks which can be extremely useful in fights were even a split second can determine the winner

    And like that three days passed until it was time for the mission into the Howling Beast Forest . Waking up Dante did quick stretch and put on his favourite ck and gold robe forming a great contrast with his snow white hair on his head .

    Walking out of his room Dante arranged for a carriage to pick him up at the n entrance before leaving his courtyard

 Chapter 20 - Mission Start

    Leaving his courtyard Dante strolled the npound until he reached the exit.

    As Dante reached the exit he saw two figures waiting there

    One was a dark-haired beauty in a luxurious red robe, while the other was a handsome young man holding an old rusty sword in a in white robe.

    They were Klent and Anne.

    Approaching them Dante spoke

    "Hopefully the two of you didn''t have to wait too long."

    "It''s alright I just got here" replied Anne

    Klent just gave a nod seemingly agreeing with Anne

    "Well since we''re all here I guess it''s time I tell you about the real details of this mission. The mission we are taking to the Howling beast forest is not your usual magic nt gathering mission, in fact, the real objective is to secure a Scarlett me Rose that is about to bloom" said Dante

    "But that''s not all, It seems that mercenary group has already gotten news about this Scarlett me Rose before us and have gathered arge team to retrieve it. so the real challenge of the mission is going to be stealing it from arge mercenary group"

    "Do you know the mercenary team well bepeting against?" asked Anne

    "It will be the me Wolf mercenaries" replied Dante calmly

    "me wolf mercenaries !" eximed Anne in surprise even Klents face changed expression hearing their name

    "me Wolf mercenaries, Dante are you crazy ? the leader of the mercenary group is 7thyer Martial Novice and if that wasn''t enough they also have many 6th and 5thyer Martial Novice realm cultivators in their mercenary group as well " exined Anne

    "And you want to rob them with 2nd and 3rdyer Martial Novice realm cultivators, even if you include me it will only be one 5th realm, Martial novice cultivator. Dante, I''m not sure if you thought this through, Maybe we should just consider buying it from them. "

    "I did think this through Anne " replied Dante coldly " The leader of the me Wolf mercenaries has been stuck at the 7thyer for many years now and the and this is thest chance for him to breakthrough his bottleneck into the nextyer would be to get this Fire element Natural treasure so no amount of money would be able to buy it off of him no matter the price."

    "were also not going to be fighting all the mercenaries at once. well sneak attack the leaders taking them out before the others can support them, then we can just buy off or intimidate the rest after we take care of the leaders and with mine and Klent''s strength and your not weak yourself either, trust me, I don''t think we''ll have a problem taking them out in a sneak attack"

    "I guess you do make a good point... but I still think it''s risky with so few of us if i get to the scene and the fight doesn''t seem winnable don''t me me for refusing to join in." stated Anne hesitantly

    " Don''t worry too much about it, I got it all nned out " replied Dante after saying that he turned towards Klent "How about you, you got any problems with the mission ?"

    "No problems here " replied Klent coldly " I owe you a favour for helping meprehend sword intent so ill repay it. I just hate owing favours after I repay this favour there''ll be no debt between us and well be back to a clean te."

    "Sure that''s fine by me I don''t have anyints if you don''t have any "

    right as Dante finished speaking a luxurious carriage pulled up right outside the n entrance.

    "That''s our ride, right on time " after saying that Dante hopped right inside the carriage before turning back to look at the two stunned people staring outside nkly.

    "Are you guys gonna just stand there and stare, cmon get in " beckoned Dante

    The two of them just stood there stunned looking at the luxurious carriage for a second before turning to look at each other. Klent gave a light shrug before reverting to his usual cold expression and hoping inside the carriage quickly followed by Anne. Shortly after the carriage started moving.

    ....

    around 30 minster the carriage carried along a rough dirt road before pulling to a stop.

    "young master this is as far as I can take you in a carriage, you''ll have to get out here if you''re going to keep going along this path" stated the old coach driver

    "That''s fine enough, thanks for taking us out here." said Dante stepping out of the carriage.

    "It''s my pleasure" replied the old man heartily before leaving in a luxurious carriage leaving the 3 of them stood outside on a dirt road

    This path was one of the secret paths created by the Kinsman family. As one of the top ns Dominating Brightsteel City and the surrounding areas of the Howling Beast Forest it was obvious that they would have their own little secrets and hideouts and ces in the surrounding area. This path was one of such areas and was a secret path made by the ancestors of the Kinsman n back when they were first settling down in Brightsteel city.

    The path is not as important as it used to be and has be like a type of open secret among the upper members of the Kinsman n so it wasn''t that hard for Dante to obtain a map of one such secret path and the surrounding areas of the Howling Beast Forest as the son of the first elder , Making it perfect way to secretly enter the Howling Beast Forest and prepare an ambush

 Chapter 21 - Flame Wolf Mercenaries

    "Alright, the n is to sneak into the forest well go to the meeting ce of the mercenaries and track them from there." said Dante

    Wasting no more time Dante dashed into the forest with Anne and Klent following close behind

    бн

    Minutester three figures could be seen flickering across the forest at extremely high speeds, it was Dante and the others.

    Soon they came to a stop some distance away from a group of around 20 beefy Men. They were all muscr and some even had gruesome scars across their body giving them a fierce look

    "Boss!" Shouted a muscr man "boss everyone is here, we''re ready to move out anytime " continued the man

    "Good" responded a confident middle-aged man. He had dominating look with the aura of a leader around him. This man was me Wolf, the leader of the me Wolf mercenaries

    Standing up the man looked at the crowd before shouting

    "We have a very important mission ahead of us, failure will not be tolerated under any circumstances," he said with a terrifying aura

    "But if the mission goes well I''ll double the pay of everyone here for this month! Now let''s show them why we''re the me Wolf mercenaries! "

    "Yeaaa!" Cheered the crowd

    Shortly after the group of mercenaries began going through the forest unknown to them that a small group was silently tracking them throughout their journey

    as the group of men walked through the forest they were deadly silent non of them spoke only giving out hand signals indicating where to go and how they were feeling.

    The Howling beast forest was just that dangerous and without a map to highlight the Habitats of monsters it was extremely difficult for people not part of the ns to venture far away from the main roads but even the maps owned by the three big ns weren''t that urate as monster habitats could change at any time within the vicious forest due to violent infighting between monsters.

    suddenly the man leading in front seemed to stop raising his hand in the air to stop along with him.

    disturbing the silence a sound roaring noise could be heard after that a huge boar walked out from the bushes. it was huge, over two metres tall covered in porcupine needles almost like a porcupine, but its terrifying tusks and bloodshot eyes told you that it would be much more threatening than any other porcupine could ever be.

    As if that wasn''t enough two slightly smaller identical boars walked out, all huffing and puffing showing the terrible mood they were in.

    "Oh Fuck, Spike Needle Boars and we invaded their territory, there fully pissed of now" eximed a mercenary in fright

    instantly the mercenaries began to panic and stumble amongst themselves.

    seeing this sight me wolf knew he couldn''t let the situation continue as it is he had to take control.

    "everybody Group up !" shouted me wolf stepping towards the front "stay groped up and be careful of their needles, they can shoot them out their bodies any time they feel desperate so always be prepared to block or dodge!"

    "Now fight !" screamed me wolf

    "fight" screamed the mercenaries in reply

    As he screamed this me wolf led the charge, sprinting directly towards thergest Spike Needle Boar. He raised his mighty Battle Axe over his head letting out a fierce roar as he bring it down mightily on the head of the opposing boar.

    "sphhilt"

    the Axe made heavy contact with the leg of the boar piercing through its skin leaving arge gash down the side of its leg making a truly gruesome sight.

    Enraged the Spike Needle Boar let out a deafening shriek as it did so its body seemed to shiver before sending out hundreds of sharp needles flying out from its body.

    seeing this sight me Wolf let out a low grunt before covering himself in a fiery vibrant light

    "clink! clink! clink!"

    Before the spikes hit me wolf the spike seemed to have hit a solid object as they bounced off his light barrier without even touching a hair on his body.

    While the leader of the mercenaries seemed to be handling his opponent fairly easily the same could not be said for his subordinates.

    The two boars seemed to be giving them a hard time as although the skin was easily piercable me wolf that is not the case. the only reason me wolf was able to pierce the skin that quick was due to his high level of strength.

    Spike Needle Boars naturally have extremely tough skin making it difficult for people to pierce at long range with arrows and weak attacks and it was very dangerous to get close because it was highly likely you would be on the receiving end of some of a flying needle attack.

    so the group surrounded the two Steel needle boars poking damage at them and kiting them trying to slowly break them down.

    this only worked for a while before the Steel Needle Boars became enranged dashing into the crowd like a berserker impaling an unfortunate mercenary right through the chest hanging him directly on his tusk.

    But the boar wasn''t done he let out a terrifying screech before its body started shivering

    seeing such a telltale sign a well-informed mercenary shouted

    "Watch out it''s about to release its Needle attack !"

 Chapter 22 - Howling Beast Forest

    "Watch out it''s about to release its Needle attack"

    But it was already toote

    instantly the mercenaries were bombarded with a rain of piercing needles

    "Arrgh"

    "Fuckk"

    screams of pain and frustration rang out as the mercenaries screamed, Sadly the mercenaries just didn''t have the ability to defend like their leader this simple attack hurt the mercenary group greatly and even leaving 5 of them seriously injured.

    In desperation, a mercenary shed at the boar shing its eye in the process and blinding the creature causing it to shriek and wail in pain. luckily the Steel Needle Boar had already released its signature needle attack but unfortunately for the mercenaries that wasn''t the only Steel Needle Boar.

    seeing the desperation of its partner the Steel Needle Boar let out a ferocious roar while dashing towards the remaining mercenaries

    but before it could make it a glowing red streak of light collided with it

    "Bang!"

    the boar was sent rolling from the impact looking closely you could see that the one behind it was the leader of the mercenaries, me wolf.

    looking behind him you could see a dead boarying on the ground with broken bones. Clearly, this was the boar that was previously fighting me Wolf but seeing the dire situation of the mercenaries he had to go all out and finish it up quickly.

    ''These useless pieces of trash !!'' thought me wolf in his mind. ''These guys can''t even handle a simple brainless boar for a few seconds. After I get this natural treasure and breakthrough I''m ditching this baggage.'' ''the young master said that if I can breakthrough to the ninth realm I could be epted as an outer elder''

    But me Wolf knew he could not voice his opinions out loud so he still put on a caring facade as he spoke

    "Don''t worry guys, Just focus on the injured boar I''ll handle this one" said me Wolf

    As he said this he let out a mad howl

    "ming Fang!"

    As he said this his axe started shining a bright , glowing red

    "Bang!" With a fierce strike me Wolf brought down his axe on the boar leaving a terrifying gash along its body

    but he wasn''t done yet

    "me Fang !"

    Again me Wolf repeated the process causing the Battleaxe to glow a bright red once again but instead of attacking randomly, this time he used more finesse perfectly bringing down the axe to the beasts neck ending its life.

    After he finished off the Steel Needle Boar, me Wolf turned around to see how his mercenaries were doing.

    Looking behind me Wolf could see that the beast was finally brought down, despite it requiring multiple mercenaries to do it, with the cooperation of the Steel Needle Boar was finally brought down.

    Looking at the aftermath, me Wolf asked

    "Damage report"

    Just after he spoke a scared burly man with a fierce look walked out

    "it''s not looking good Boss " cried out the man

    "Just speak !" urged me Wolf impatiently

    "There have been three fatalities and 7 seriously injured and unfit forbat, there are also 7 with minor injuries but those do not affectbat power."

    ''These absolute pieces of trash! '' thought me Wolf to himself ''I brought these guys to be cannon fodder and they can''t even do that properly !'' despite how frustrated me Wolf was he knew he couldn''t show this side of him to mercenaries less they lose faith in him as a leader, after all, although mercenaries risk their life for money they still wouldn''t want to die for an ungrateful bastard, even mercenaries don''t want to die for no reason.

    "Cremate the dead and tend to the wounded we leave in 5 mins" stated me Wolf coldly

    "But Boss the wounded will need longer than 5 minutes for a proper treatment if it is tost for the whole journey-"

    but before he could finish speaking he was interrupted by me Wolf

    "I don''t care, the Scarlett me Rose could bloom any time know are you willing to bear the consequences if I fail to get this natural treasure ?"

    as he spoke a fierce aura seemed to erupt from me Wolf pressuring his poorckey

    "Well Are You?" continued me Wolf

    "gulp!" the poorckey was terrified under the horrifying aura of me wolf taking a gulp in fear

    "No..n..n no Boss" stammered the man in fear "The boys will be ready to leave in five minutes Boss, you can bet my life on it"

    after saying that the burly man rushed into the crowd of mercenaries like a frightened mouse.

    There seemed to be some discontent within the mercenary camp but it was quickly quelled by the extreme efforts of the burly man.

    soon five minutester the mercenaries were still battered and bruised and with a fewer number than they came with, but they were ready to continue this exploration into the Howling Beast Forest

    Meanwhile, Dante and his group Had been watching the whole spectacle from a safe hidden location some distance away

    "Come on guys it seems like they''re leaving we''ve got to move " stated Dante

    "Alright, but let''s be careful, that me Wolf guy is quite strong I can see that he didn''t even use most of his power during that fight," said Klent

    "Not just me Wolf, some other mercenaries don''t seem to be using all their strength in that fight as if they were holding back for some reason" stated Anne

 Chapter 23 - Natural Treasure

    "Not just me Wolf, some other mercenaries don''t seem to be using all their strength in that fight as if they were holding back for some reason" stated Anne

    "Something seems off about this situation Dante" continued Anne

    "I''m not going to argue with you on that one, you''re right something does feel off," said Dante agreeing

    "but it''s too wasteful to just up and leave right away especially as we''ve alreadye this far." Said Dante Hesitantly

    "How about this, I''ll double the pay from 30 to 60 contribution points what do you say ?"

    Hearing this sky high price Anne couldn''t Hesitate after all how many chances will you have to earn that much in one sitting ?

    After some hesitation, Anne replied "well... if you''ve doubled the price, it''s hard for me to refuse" she said with a conflicted expression

    "Well if you''re still in let''s follow them, they''re starting to move" called Dante

    Soonter the three flickering figures shed through the forest tracing after the group of mercenaries, stalking them like a group of vengeful ghosts

    ...

    Around twenty minutester the mercenaries were still travelling through the Howling Beast Forest, only they were even more cautious this time.

    Maybe due to their increased cautiosness or increased luck this time they were fortunate enough to not encounter any beasts or identally trespass on their territory and aggravating them in the process.

    Suddenly me Wolf came to a stop beforeughing out boisterously

    "Hahaha ! "ughed me Wolf with joy "From the increased amount of fire element Spirit Energy I''m certain the Natural Treasure is nearby. After all these years I''ve finally found it, my path to breakthrough !"

    As he said this me Wolf dashed rapidly into a thicket of bushes crazily.

    Stunned the mercenaries looked around in hesitation before grudgingly following after him.

    As They dashed after him they were greeted with a mystical scene.

    In front of them was an areapletely different from the surrounding green of the forest. Instead, it was glowing a vibrant red hue with mystical fluorescent particles flowing freely in the environment like a group of dancing fairies like a scene straight out of a fairy tale.

    In the middle of this area stood a giant rose shing periodically with a blinding red light, as it attracted these flying particles of red light towards itself like a ma.

    "This... This is a direct manifestation of elemental particles changing environment " said Anne in shock

    The reason Anne was so shocked was that it was very rare to directly see directly opposing elements manifest kike this . as elements like to congregate in areas of their liking, for example fire element particles will congregate near areas like volcanos and water element particles will congregate in areas like deep ocean areas, it was quite a simple theory

    what made this scene so shocking was that the concentration of fire element spiritual energy reached such high levels that elements started to physically manifest and be visible even to the extent of changing the environment.

    Like Anne, Dante was also stunned but unlike Anne who was stunned by an overwhelming sense of Greed !

    It was almost Maddening Dante felt an unreasonable urge to im the treasure for himself causing his breathing to quicken and rapidly speed up . But the reason was not that it could increase his strength, no it was just for the fact that he could possess it and im it even if he had to ughter all the mercenaries present to have it.

    shocked by the sudden urge to calm himself and understand the urge he was currently experiencing.

    Then it hit Dante.

    His Dragon Soul!

    While Dragons were a tyrannical race known throughout the multiverse for their strength and magical prowess another major known fact about dragons was their overwhelming greed and an unquenchable thirst for wealth.

    Whether it be Good or Evil Dragons, Young or Old they have been known through all forms of literature to do anything in their power to get their hands on treasure and wealth

    But to make matters worse for Dante his dragon soul was currently that of a Red Dragon a True Dragon of the Chaotic Evil alignment and in most stories you hear where Dragons are the viins, These guys are usually the culprits.

    As a being of Chaotic Evil, the Red Dragon has no scruples when ites to the means of gathering its wealth, be it the mass murder of an entire city or threatening them with utter annihtion a Red Dragon has no bottom line and was willing to go to any extent possible

    The more Dante thought about it the more Dante realised the effect the Dragon Soul was having on him, for example his confidence and pride had shot through the roof ever since he got his dragon soul. Before he had just attributed it to the confidence he had from having his own personal cheat but it seemed to be alsoing from his Dragon soul as, after all, Dragons are known for their Confidence and Pride in themselves.

    Another observation he made was that whenever he entered his dragonification state his emotions were magnified and he became more violent and short-tempered, not to the extent where it affected hisbat abilities and judgment but it did increase his tendencies towards meleebat and fighting in ways where he would exchange blow for blow hurting himself to hurt the enemy even more giving him an almost berserker like fighting style.

    But Dante wasn''t extremely worried about these developments as they weren''t necessarily negative per see but more like extra quirks to his personality, in fact, Dante would be even more worried if there were no negatives to his Cheats

    After all, if something Is too good to be true, it probably is.

    This applies even more so to something as mystical and unknown as his system that has no known sense of reasoning or understanding. Abstract things like Luck and Karma are the only things that can have some effect on such mystical things

 Chapter 24 - Battle For The Scarlet Flame Rose !

    This applies even more so to something as mystical and unknown as his system that has no known sense of reasoning or understanding Abstract things like Luck and Karma are the only things that can have some effect on it.

    Dante decided to put those thoughts behind him as these things are not something he could control and focus on the situation in front of him

    "Klent, Anne are you ready " whispered Dante towards them

    "Always have been " replied Klent coldly

    "yeah I''m ready," said Anne

    "Great" replied Dante " we''ll attack when me Wolf is about to gather the treasure and his guard is at his lowest, My job is to take out me wolf but yours is to deal with all the remaining mercenaries."

    seeing the hesitation on both Anne and Klents face Dante quickly continued "ill quickly eliminate me Wolf and then there''ll be no need for the mercenaries to continue fighting and we can just bribe or intimidate them to submit"

    with those words, Klent and Anne''s face''s eased considerably

    "Alright let''s get in position," said Dante

    As soon as he said those words, the three people disappeared melting into the forest environmentpletely disappearing from the view.

    Meanwhile, Back at the mercenaries, me Wolf broke out of his state of admiration of the scene and started walking up towards the Scarlet me Rose.

    As he got closer me Wolf could feel warmth rush toward his face it was like walking into an oven.

    Looking left and right in nervousness me Wolf continuously got closer and closer towards the Scarlet me Rose.

    ''Finally !'' thought me Wolf ''My chance to breakthrough is finally here, from here on out ill be a new me, rising up to new heights and only going higher'' thought me Wolf with visible Excitement.

    Slowly he reached out his hand towards the Scarlet me Rose, his hopes and dreams were all within arms reach.

    But before he could touch the Scarlett me Rose a dazzling burst of silver light exploded like a shbang, temporarily blinding everyone in the surroundings

    "Damn!"

    "What the hell!"

    From the words of panic, a steady voice could be heard

    "Lunar Sword technique, Rising New Moon !"

    A melodious ding rang out in the ears of everybody, sounding like a deafening bell. And while all this was going on, a pale glowing moon rose to the sky covering the battleground in a moonlight glow turning the sky dark

    "Strike !"

    suddenly, a rain of energy beams fell from the moon hurtling down onto the ground creating bucket-sized craters as they fell.

    "AARGH" me Wolf let out an enraged howl. This was his only chance to breakthrough and he''d be damned if let someone take it from him.

    "ming Fang!"

    Raising his burning axe towards the falling beams of light he swung out

    "Bang!"

    A thunderous explosion rang out as his battleaxe cut through ray after ray of moonlight energy

    As the smoke cleared up me wolf looked around to see his mercenaries engaged inbat with a red-robed young woman and a man in white in robes. even though they greatly outnumbered them they seemed to be struggling to contain the two despite the overwhelming numbers they were throwing at them

    Just as me wolf was about to go up and help his struggling mercenaries he heard a voice

    "Strike!"

    Again, beams of energy fell from the sky pouring toward him. Seeing this, me Wolf let out a howl covering himself in a glowingyer of light bracing himself for impact

    Although me Wolf managed to put up some protection he was still sent flying from the impact hurtling ground.

    As me Wolf stood up he looked to find an extremely handsome young man with glowing silver hair and eyes looking towards him coldly

    "You bastard! I''ll kill you !!" screamed an enraged me wolf jumping up from the ground

    "Not just you, I''ll kill everyone you ever cared about" screamed me Wolf hysterically

    Hearing this Dante frowned, not out of fear, as he knew anyone in his family could turn me Wolf into a pile of mush just with a look. but the fact he was threatening his family got on Dante''s nerves, who wouldn''t be pissed if some lunatic started screaming they were going to kill your whole family

    With cold expression Dante took a step forward.

    "Lunar Sword Technique, Crescent Moon! "

    Dante''s sword exploded with a silver brilliance. As Dante swung his sword four crescent silvery des shot out towards me Wolf, approaching him from all directions!

    Seeing he waspletely surrounded on all sides me Wolf bent his knees before jumping into the air

    As he jumped into the air a sadistic and twisted smile appeared on Dante''s face

    Looking at the smile on Dante''s face, me Wolf knew that he done fucked up

    "Lunar Sword technique, Rising New Moon! "

    Instantly a rain of energy beams fell on me Wolf who was still airborne unable to dodge

    As the torrent of energy beams got closer and closer me Wolf let out a mad howl

    "Inferno Burst!!"

    "Bang!"

    Suddenly me Wolf burst out into a violent explosion colliding with the beams of energy

    Dante wouldn''t let such a chance slip past him, Dante took a heavy step leaving a deep footprint in the ground.

    Shooting towards the falling me Wolf and appearing beside him mid-air , Dante let out a vicious w attack

    "Furious Dragon w"

 Chapter 25 - Slater Clan

    "Furious Dragon w"

    Four devastating roars rang out through the forest while furious rage carried by the w was directed at me Wolf

    me Wolf covered himself in ayer of red light in panic , but it wasn''t enough

    "Boom!"

    A loud explosion rang out as Dante''s w made contact shattering me Wolfsyer of protection sending him hurtling towards the ground

    "Boom!"

    A frightening sound rang out as me Wolf''s body made contact with the ground creating a human sized crater in the ground.

    Suddenly there was a silence throughout the forest as all the fighting stopped as everyone turned to look at this scene .

    Landing lightly on the ground Dante and walked up to the beaten body of me Wolf.

    Lifting me Wolf up he released his ''Dragon Fear Aura'' and spoke

    "Your leader has been captured by me, all those that surrender will be spared but any resistors Will be killed no hesitation!"

    Under the affect his ''Dragon Fear Aura'' Dante''s intimidation seemed to have a multiplier effect

    "ng !" Sounds rang out as weapons were dropped in submission

    Seeing such a satisfying result Dante turned to look at me Wolf in his hand deciding to spare him Dante asked

    "What about you, do you surrender?"

    Under the pressure of Dante''s aura me Wolf was struggling to speak after struggling he managed to let out a desperate cry

    "Young Master, help me!"

    "p, p, p"

    Suddenly a pping sound was heard as young man walked out of the forest apanied by group other people

    "I didn''t expect for the Kinsman n to produce such geniuses, I''m genuinely impressed "

    Hearing thispliment Dante wasn''t pleased instead a unpleasant expression appeared on his face

    "ter n." Dante spat out hatefully

    Hatred between the ter n and the Kinsman n hassted since the founding of Brightsteel City, despite the fact that other ns have fought in Brightsteel City such as the fights between Pierce n and kinsman n.

    The fights between the Kinsman n and the ter n have always been the most bloody and vicious and there opposing attributes of their inherited martial spirits didn''t make things any better

    Turning to look at him Dante asked "what''s the reason you''ve been following us to here ?"

    "Following you ?" Responded the young man "No, you''ve been lured here" he said it with a terrifying smile

    "Think about it, who in Their right minds city wouldpete with the only fire attribute n in Brightsteel City for a fire elemental Natural treasure"

    "It was basically an open secretpetition between the Kinsman younger generation smart enough to figure out the blooming location of the Scarlet me Rose" continued the young man "I hope you didn''t think you were the only person amongst the Kinsman n that came to get the Scarlet me Rose? " questioned the young man in a mocking tone

    "What I thought doesn''t matter, Has the ter n gone Mad !" Responded Dante

    "Targeting the younger generation of the Kinsman family like this , do you want to start a war!!" Asked Dante in fury

    "Hahaha" responded the young man "you wouldn''t understand, a new era is upon us, an era where the ter will dominate Brightsteel City Ascending topletely new heights !" Said the young man with a passionate fervour

    "So it was a premeditated trap all along, Huh" responded Dante in anger.

    Dante was pissed, looking towards me Wolf in his hand " You were in on it all this time ? And to think I even thought of sparing you !"

    Seeing the situation turning sour me Wolf eximed " Young Master Reynard, save me !!"

    "No one can save you today" Dante spoke

    "ROAR ! "

    With those words a sky-shaking Dragon roar erupted from his body as it exploded in a geyser of mes

    Scales started growing out of his arms and legs as they turned into draconic ws . His body expanded, bing packed with bulging muscles while a pair of curved obsidian horns grew out of his head

    "Bang !"

    With his increased strength Dante directly crushed me Wolf''s head causing it to explode, entering his draconian state Dante didn''t feel anything but an inextinguishable rage and humiliation

    Humiliation of falling into such an obvious trap and rage that people dared to plot against him

    Unknowingly Both Klent and Anne appeared right beside Him in his moment of rage

    Taking a moment to collect himself Dante focused his attention back on The young man from the ter n, Reynard.

    But his anger hadn''t reduced in even the slightest after all , Red Dragons were known for their short temper and evesting anger.

    "Interesting ability you have there" said Reynard, turning to the people beside him he said " You deal with the people around him,the interesting one is mine "

    With his words the guards around him flickered dashing towards Anne and Klent

    "Buzz!"

    A screeching buzz rang in the ears of everyone

    "de storm !"

    Blinding de lights erupted zooming towards the crowd of guards dashing towards him

    "Bang! Bang! "

    As the de lights made contact mini explosions rang out sending people flying

    Anne wasn''t only watching she let out an iconic skill of the Kinsman n

    "me snake bite!"

    A burst mes covered her arms, then she punched out sending out a swarm of fiery serpents fling towards her enemies !

    "Bang!"

    "Argh !"

    As the fiery snakes made contact with the body they left terrible burns even Charing skin.

    Approaching Reynard Dante sneered "Your friends don''t seem to be doing so well, you sure you don''t want to help them out ?"

    Snorting in response Reynard said "You really don''t have time to be worrying about others right now "

 Chapter 26 - Dante Vs Reynard

    "You really don''t have time to be worrying about others right now"

    Reynards threats didn''t faze Dante, In response, Dante released his ''Dragon Fear Aura''pletely suppressing Reynard in momentum

    Reynard seeing he had lost the battle of words charged straight at Dante

    Reynard figure shed straight towards Dante and reading his movement perfectly Dante let out a ferocious w attack

    "Furious Dragon w"

    "Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!"

    Four intimidating roars erupted in quick session as Dante''s scaly, wed hand shot towards Reynard

    In response, Reynard''s hand shed a deep blue

    "Rushing river palm"

    "Boom!"

    A terrifying explosion rang as palm and w collided sending out a shockwave through the forest.

    Taking a step back Dante''s chest inted as fire element particles shot towards him charging his breath attack. Due to the fire elemental nature of the environment, his breath attack charged much faster than before.

    "ROAR!"

    A torrent of mes burst out Dante''s mouth towards Reynard.

    Seeing Reynard quickly shouted

    "Hydrosphere! "

    Instantly a watery blue light covered Reynard in a sphere

    "Hisss!"

    As mes met the sphere it evaporated ayer of water, covering the area in steam and obscuring vision. shuttling through the steam Dante appeared in front of the hydrosphere and let out a ferocious w

    "Bang !"

    Despite the loud bang from the attack all that urred was the slight shaking of the bubble of water causing a sneer to appear on Raynard''s face.

    but before Raynard could celebrate another attack was sent out towards the bubble

    "Bang!"

    Again the blow shook the Hydrosphere but, showing the slight weakening of the barrier, it shook even more thanst time.

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    blow after blow was sent at the hydrosphere causing Raynard''s expression to change from sneer to shock until

    "POP!"

    The water sphere burst under the continuous attacks of Dante, but before Dante could continue to attack a pair of hands reached out grabbing Dante by the horns.

    letting out a loud shout Raynard twisted his body flinging Dante into the forest with terrifying strength

    "Boom! Boom!"

    Dante''s body shot into the forest flying through various trees and forestation

    standing up, Dante dusted himself off before taking a pill for his injuries but before he could finish Dante heard a deep shout

    "Tidal wave!"

    looking up Dante saw a gigantic wave rushing towards him like a beast that wanted to devour him cleanly.

    In response a particles of me energy started pouring towards Dante reaching terrifying levels .

    When his body was practically bursting from the overflow of me attribute spirit energy Dante let out a sky-shaking roar.

    "ROAR"

    With that action, a golden-red beam of mes shot out directly from his mouth towards the gigantic fast approaching wave.

    "Boom!"

    an apocalyptic explosion erupted as the two tyrannical directly opposing elements met in an explosion of steam and gas

    Stomping heavily on the ground Dante shot directly towards Raynard

    "Furious Dragon w !"

    "Rushing River Palm !"

    "Bang!"

    A horrific collision rang out as both attacks collided at terrifying speed.

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    A terrifying exchange blows was exchanged

    Taking a step back Dante took time to collect himself

    Although the fight looked pretty even only Dante knew he was at a major disadvantage. Although he was able to skip realms and fight agains Raymond in the 9thyer he was still running low on energy reserves . Another disturbing fact was his dragonification form that allowed for him to reach such levels was on a time limit and every second he wasted put him a second closer to defeat.

    Dante''s eyes darted around looking for something in the environment he could use turn the situation around

    Then Dante finally saw it, the thing that had brought him out here in the first ce, the Scarlet me Rose!

    But Dante knew that if he was to go and get the Scarlet me Rose he would have to break away from Raynard first.

    Not wasting anymore time Dante stomped on the ground leaving a footmark in the floor dashing towards Klent and Anne''s battlefield

    Seeing Dante''s strange behaviour Raynard followed close behind

    Like that two rays of light, one red and one blue, shed through the forest leaving a storm as they passed .

    Approaching Klent and Anne, Dante shouted

    "Klent, I need you to keep him upied for 10 minutes "

    Not wasting time to exin Dante shed right past them straight towards the Scarlet me Rose

    Meanwhile Raynard approached soon after but before he could pass a deafening hum rang out as Klent said

    "I''m gonna need you spend a few minutes with me if you don''t mind "

    "Apocalypse Sword Style!"

    Instantly a blinding golden brilliance erupted from the top of Klents sword

    Stunning everyone in the surrounding vicinity

    "Split The Earth!" With a furious shout Klent brought down his sword filled with muderous intent as a monstrous golden beam light shot out of it destroying everything in its path as it hurtled towards Raynard.

    Seeing such a horrifying sight hurtling towards Raynard was stunned for a second before he erupted in a cool blue light before stomping his feet

    "Tidal wave!!"

    From the ground of his feet a geyser of litres of water shot out of the floor a horrifying pressure before forming a terrifying tidal wave, which shot towards the oing beam of light

    "Boom!"

    despite the horrifying explosions and shockwaves, Dante didn''t even turn back to look, he had faith that Klent would be able to hold on against Raynard and instead decide to focus on finding a way to win

    Approaching the Scarlet me Rose he found Dante felt warmer and incrediblyfortable as fire element particles started dancing around him like a group of fairies.

    looking at the Scarlet me Rose in front of him Dante felt some hesitation, directly taking such a strong Natural treasure could always have devastating consequences and could often lead to death

    Even Dante was originally nning to take it back to the n to have it refined for a much safe experience.

    "Bang!"

    A terrifying explosion rang out breaking Dante from his stupor

 Chapter 27 - New Passive

    A terrifying explosion rang out breaking Dante from his stupor

    Coming back to his senses Dante threw caution out the window. there was no time for hesitation Klent and Anne were fighting with their life on the line and time was running out.

    If he couldn''t find a way to break the situation he would eventually die anyway so he had to risk it all here and now.

    Reaching out his hand Dante picked up the Scarlet me Rose and instantly felt a hot sensation in his hand.

    ''Damn, Don''t tell me I have to eat the flower''

    Despite his unwillingness, Dante pulled off the flower head and shoved it in his mouth

    He suddenly felt a scalding sensation at the back of his throat almost like drinking boiling hot water

    But it did it end there

    "Arrrrgh"

    Dante let out a chilling scream of pain as he burst out into mes turning him into a human torch that lit up in spectacr Fashion

    The pain was horrendous and this was even still with Dante''s rtive fire immunity showing the high level of the mes, he would have instantly turned into a pile of ash if not for the fire immunity he possessed

    "Ding!"

    A sound rang out breaking Dante''s attention away from his terrifying pain

    "Energy source detected!" "should energy be converted into to Energy Points or put into Dragon Level ?"

    Hearing this Dante didn''t hesitate to convert them into Energy Points, putting them into level wouldn''t have even been enough to level up his Dragon Level making it practically useless for his current situation.

    "Convert to energy points !" Shouted Dante

    Instantly the raging mes around him instantly converged rushing towards his chest like a raging river eventually disappearing

    "Ding!"

    "Three Energy Points gained!"

    Seeing his three new energy points Dante quickly pulled up his passive skills tab and unlocked theyaway passive skill to full potential

    Draconian Might 3/3 - As a dragon you are not only renowned for your amazing magical prowess and knowledge, but also your terrifying strength. Awaken the draconic strength hiding inside you granting:

    300% increase in all base physical attributes.

    Dante was stunned 300% increase! This essentially multiplied his strength by 4 times. Say his strength was originally 100 a 300%increase would add 300 to his original 100 making it 400 in total. With such a game changing development Dante felt renewed, almost as if he was invincible

    "ROAR!"

    Dante let out a horrifying roar overwhelmed by the strength he felt flowing through him . A phantom of red dragon shot out of his body dering the awakening of a new power within him

    Looking at the scene Reynard was stunned

    "What the hell is-"

    But before he could finish his sentence Dante took a heavy step,crushing the ground beneath his feet, shing towards Reynard

    "Furious Dragon w!"

    Four sky-shaking dragon roars exploded while Dante''s fist rushed towards Reynard

    "Hydrosphere !"

    Instantly a shining blue sphere appeared around Reynard in his defence but that wasn''t enough to stop Dante

    "Pop!"

    Reynard''s barrier was instantly shattered by Dante''s increased strength with his w not slowing down in the slightest

    "Bang!"

    As Dante''s w made contact with Reynard''s skin a horrifying explosion rang out as Reynard was sent flying crashing through various trees in the forest

    But that wasn''t enough for Dante, his figure flickered as he jumped up after the flying Reynard grabbing his leg he twisted his body and threw Reynard to the ground with a terrifying momentum

    "Boom!"

    As Reynard''s body hit the ground he created a human sized crater in their scaring the groundpletely with humongous cracks sprawling around the site of impact

    Still in the air, Dante rotated his body flying to the ground at terrifying speed directly to the site of Reynard''s impact.

    "Shit, Hydrosphere!" Cried Reynard in desperation

    "Boom!"

    Dante hit the Reynard creating a enormous shockwave and sending earth flying

    "Blerrgh!"

    Reynard puked a litre of blood in response,yet it didn''t affect Dante in the slightest.

    Looking at the hurt Reynard in front of him Dante showed no mercy . With his newfound horrifying strength he grabbed Reynard holding him firmly despite his struggling

    Suddenly Dante''s chest expanded as red particles of fire elemental energy rushed towards him causing his body to glow an ominous red hue while the surroundings started reaching ridiculous temperatures that seemed to cause the air to tremble .

    "No, please stop!" Cried Reynard squirming and struggling trying to break free of Dante''s grip sensing the horrifying changes.

    But all he received was a cold look of scorn from Dante as he he firmly gripped Reynard

    "ROAR!"

    A horrifying wave of mes erupted from Dante''s mouth straight towards Reynard Charing him into a pile of ash , the temperature was so high the surrounding ground was instantly turn fed into a slurry of molten magma .

    Instantly all fighting in the surroundings stopped as everyone turned to look at destructive scene

    "Young.. Young Master!" Cried a guard in disbelief looking at the charred pile that used to be Reynard

    Ignoring them and cries Dante turned to look at the remaining of Reynard''s guards with his even stronger ''Dragon Fear'' causing the remaining guards to start shaking. Surrounded by the burning scene of carnage and coupled with his crazy smile, he looked like a demon that had just crawled out from the deepest pits of hell adding even more to his terrifying aura.

    "Fuck this, I''m out " said a guard fleeing into the forest

    "We can''t fight this demon " said another running away as well

    This seemed to set off a chain reaction as the remaining guards all scattered running out in random directions fleeing to all corners of the forest

    Seeing this Klent was about to chase after them but was stopped by Dante

    "There''s no point in chasing after them Klent, they barely know anything and we need to save other members of the n and get out of here "

    Hearing this a brief hesitation crossed Klents face before nodding in agreement

    "Well, you ready to go?" Asked Dante looking towards klent and Anne

    Receiving an approving nod Dante was sure they were ready

    "Alright let''s move" said Dante rushing to the closest sound of fighting quickly followed by Anne and Klent

 Chapter 28 - Saving Clan Members

    Flickering through the forest they quickly arrived the scene at the battle to see two groups confronting each other from both the Kinsman and ter n

    The Group of the Kinsman n waspletely outnumbered and surrounded struggling to bepletely crushed by the ridiculous numbers from the ter n

    Looking at the scene Dante was mildly surprised to see that the team of kinsman n contained both Grayson and Brian .

    But this didn''t stop Dante from helping them after all he had moved on from their arguments and fights in addition they were facing an external threat, it wasn''t the time for infighting

    Looking at Anne and Klent ,Dante lightly nodded indicating he was ready after he received a nod of approval from them both .

    Taking a step foward, Dante shed directly in front of the enemy fighting Grayson

    "Furious Dragon w !"

    Four resounding dragon roars went off shaking The surroundings,as the w approached its unsuspecting victim

    "Boom!"

    As the w connected its victim was sent flying through the Forrest from such a devastating blow

    But Dante wasn''t the only one who attacked

    "de storm!"

    Suddenly a screeching hum could be heard all over the surrounding forest while blinding rays of white light shed across the battlefield

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    Victims hit by the rays of light were instantly incapacitated , leaving them greatly injured unable to even move

    Not wanting to be left behind Anne also made a move

    "me snake bite!"

    Her arm was covered in zing mes as dozens of snakes shot out covering a group of ter nsmen in a terrifying swarm of red hot snakes

    "Arrrgh!"

    "Help!"

    Screams rang out as any part touched by a me snake instantly began to char bing a horrifying burn

    "ROAR!"

    Dante let off a triumphant roar stunning the ter nsmen as he overwhelmed with his unchallenged Dragon Aura causing them to start to shake in fear and despair

    Despite all this 1 ter nsman still managed to retain some sense so ,despite the fact he was still shaking he from fear, he still managed to pull out a glowing red stick

    Seeing this Dante had a bad feeling and dashed towards the nsman at a terrifying speed.

    But it still wasn''t enough as the ter nsman instantly crushed it causing a huge beam of red light to shoot straight into the sky

    For a second was puzzled as the beam held no offensive power but then the thought hit him

    "Fuck, it''s a rescue beacon!" Turning his head he looked back to the Kinsman nsmen

    "We need to leave now, there backup is probably in the Martial journeyman realm, we don''t stand a chance!"

    Panic erupted amongst the Kinsman n members as they grouped up ready to move

    but before they could move a cold voice came from the sky

    "You think you can just leave after killing so many people from my ter n ?"

    Looking up Dante found a old man but contrary to his old look his hair was still jet ck , he was wearing a deep blue robe that fluttered as he floated high in the sky

    Seeing this scene the ter nsmen started to rejoice

    "Finally,we''re saved!"

    "Hahah, the Kinsman n is finished!"

    Meanwhile the Kinsman nsmen were not having such a good time as panic reached an new level seeing such a strong enemy

    But Dante wouldn''t just sit there and be crushed like a bug, no if he would die he would die fighting.

    Jumping up Dante flew towards the still airborne elder

    "Furious Dragon w!"

    Draconic roars exploded as his hand flew towards the elder

    Without a change in his expression his hand the elder effortlessly grabbed Dante''s w before fling in him into the ground

    "Boom!"

    The impact let of a shockwave that sent dust and dirt flying

    But Dante''s attack wantpletely useless as it bought time for Klent to charge up his own.

    Instantly the surrounding earth seemed to shake, with everything resonating with the mystical hum of Kent''s sword

    "Apocalypse Sword Style, Split The Earth! " Cried Klent as sent out a ferocious sh shooting out a gargantuan beam of golden light towards the ter n Elder.

    The elder raised his hand and suddenly a deep blue barrier arose shielding his entire body

    "Boom!"

    As the dust cleared it was clear to see the impact barely caused any damage to the ter n Elder but it did force the n elder out of the sky onto the ground proving he was notpletely out of reach

    "Boom!"

    An explosion of mes rang out as Dante rose from the ground ready to fight yet again despite the fierce beating he had already received

    Slowly Dante smoothly withdrew his moonlight sword releasing a cold, silvery light

    tipping the sword by the hilt Dante held it like a spear before his body burst into a glowing red brilliance, concentrating Dante channelled all this fire element energy into the moonlight sword

    The Moonlight Sword seemed to go crazy with this overflow of energy, spasming and vibrating asthe sword de turned a glowing red from its normal cool silver #

    eventually, the swordpletely covered in light ended up looking like a solid beam of energy, the temperature had reached such a high level that the air around Dante started to bend creating a hazy image .

    leaning back Dante tensed every muscle in his body andbined with a 300% strength increase from his passive this generated a terrifying amount of power, beforeunching the sword at dizzying speed

    "BOOM!"

    The sword let of a shockwave as it passed through the air at such terrifying speed

 Chapter 29 - Slater Clan Elder

    "BOOM!"

    The sword let of a shockwave as it passed through the air at such terrifying speed

    Shuttling through the air, the sword approached the ter n Elder. but seeing this sight the elder acted

    "Hydrosphere!"

    instantly a giant water shield appeared in front of the Elder

    "Bang!"

    A giant explosion rang out as the word collided with the shield sending out shes of red and blue light.

    Eventually, the sword managed to shatter the shield but was still deflected by the shield missing The ter n Elder. But that was enough for Dante who appeared in front of the elder sending a sift blow towards his temple

    even after all this it wouldn''t be so easy to catch the elder by surprise, sensing Dante''s approaching fist the elder sent out a kick that sent Dante flying

    but Dante wasn''t finished yet

    "Come, Moonlight Sword !"

    Suddenly a blinding sh of red light appeared, It was the Moonlight sword and it wasing at a faster speed than when it was thrown!

    Sensing something of The ter n Elder turned around, but he was instead greeted with a ming sword shooting directly towards him

    "Hydro-!"

    "BOOM!"

    The Elder tried to summon a shield but it was just toote and he was sent flying into the forest by the devastating collision.

    a confident smirk appeared on Dante''s face, it seemed the gap between Martial Journeyman and Martial Novice after all .

    But that slight smirk was quickly removed by the horrifying aura he felt radiating from the ter n Elder

    "You little shit, I''m done ying around with you kids!" "I''ll show you the true difference between Martial Novice and Martial Journeyman!"

    "Come out , Gushing Spirit River!"

    instantly a blinding blue light burst from the elder while the sound of rushing water could be heard by everyone in the surrounding forest

    Meanwhile a phantom of an overwhelming river formed in the sky

    over the head of the Elder

    Looking at the new state of the Elder Dante was slightly intimidated by this new development and his previous budding confidence waspletely washed away by this new scene as his smirk vanished and was instead reced with apletely serious and slightly tense expression

    Suddenly the ter n Elder spoke out

    "Tidal wave."

    A burst of water erupted from the Elder''s feet reaching a terrifying height of three stories the force causing his robes to flutter

    Eventually a titanic sized wave formed in front of the ter n elder

    "Go !" The elder said motioning his hand sending the wave hurtling towards the kinsman n Members .

    Seeing such a devastating attack rushing towards him at such terrifying speed , Dante went all out gathering all surrounding fire element he could creating a red coloured whirlpool of fire elemental energy and started condescending it into his Dragon Breath as his chest expanded.

    Dante continued doing this until his absolute limit until his body was practically bursting with mes

    "Red Dragon Breath!"

    Instantly a bright red beam of concentrated elemental fire shot out towards the approaching tidal wave

    "Bang!"

    Both met with a loud burst of steam as each tried to overpower the other

    Eventually it became clear that Dante was losing this battle as breath of fire was slowly being overwhelmed by the unstoppable waves

    Just when it seemed like it was all over, an incredibly sharp sensation swept across everybody present

    "Apocalypse Sword Style, Split The Earth!"

    Another golden beam of energy joined Dante''s ray of mes and together they managed to push back the waves of the n elder , causing the Kinsman n members to burst out in shouts of joy .

    But it seemed that they spoke too soon as the ter n Elder let out a cold snort as his martial spirit shed a blinding light instantly causing the strength of his attack to multiplypletely smothering the two previous beam attacks of Klent and Dante!

    Dante waspletely exhausted from hisst attack causing him to fall out of his dragonified state in addition to this Klent had alsopletely run out of energy from continuous fighting as well

    As the Kinsman n members fell deeper and deeper into despair as the terrifying wave approached getting closer and closer.

    But before it could hit them a red light fell from the sky like a strike of lightning shattering the wave.

    When the storm cleared up all you could see was a bright red spear lodged into the ground.

    From the smoke appeared a tall ck-haired beauty standing arrogantly in front of the ter n Elder with a cold expression on her face

    "I leave brightsteel city for a few years, and you people from the ter n really be fearless"

    " have you forgot that I''m part of the hidden Dragon academy in the capital city! Have you forgot the punishment of harming the family members of students of the Hidden Dragon academy?"

    "It''s Reba!" Cried out one Kinsman n disciple in joy

    "She''s back for the inter npetition, the ter n is finished now !" Eximed another in joy

    Ignoring thements from the disciples, Reba red fiercely at the ter n Elder

    "Since You people from the ter n never learn, let me show you in a way you can''t forget!."

    "Come out me Naga !"

 Chapter 30 - Flame Naga !

    "Come out, Crimson me Naga !"

    A red wave of fire shot out towards surroundings as energy coalesced into a phantom of a beautiful woman with crimson red hairy, but this wasn''t any normal beautiful woman. from the waist below, her legs were reced with arge snake tail covered in thick bright red scales in addition to this the eyes of thisdy were in the shape slits like that of a snake

    Retrieving her spear, Reba charged straight towards the elder

    "Bang!"

    Her spear shed fiercely with the elder''s energy shield sending out sparks of energy

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    Reba and ter n Elder exchanged a multitude of blows rising into the air

    Eventually, both Reba and the Elder backed off from each other ring at each other coldly while they floated in the air.

    Suddenly the Gushing Spirit River above the head of the elder shed a blinding blue light while the deafening sound of rushing water sounded in the ears of all the onlookers

    "Tidal wave!"

    A giant pir of water rose into the sky forming a humongous wave of water the size of a mountain that seemed unstoppable!

    In response Reba let out a shout as her martial spirit, the me Naga burst into mes as Reba''s form started to change. Her hair turned a blinding red from its natural deep ck flowing in the air, but it wasn''t over yet as her eyes turned into bloody serpentine slits as she stared at The ter n Elder with an emotionless gaze.

    Raising her spear a terrifying whirlpool of fire element energy started to condense at its tip bingrger andrger until it reached a ridiculous size

    Raising her spear, Reba turned towards the approaching wave sending out a powerful strike.

    "Boom!"

    As soon as the wave and the spear met the wave waspletely evaporated, showing theplete difference between Reba and The ter n Elder in addition a terrifying shockwave went out uprooting trees from the ground

    But it didn''t end there

    "Crac!"

    There was the sound of Breaking as cracks started appearing on The Elder''s Martial Spirit above his head

    Reba didn''t seem to care as she continued to mercilessly attack

    "Bang"

    "Crac!"

    Another attack hit the Elder''s Martial Spirit shattering it in the process, While the elder was sent flying coughing up litres of blood in the process

    lightlynding back on the ground Reba looked at the sorry sight of the elder sneering

    "You people from The ter n never learn, let the revenge of Kinsman start with your life !"

    surprisingly the Elder didn''t seem flustered at all, no in fact a crazy smile appeared on his dishevelled face

    "Hahaha, you people from the Kinsman n are so ignorant, the end of the Kinsman n is near, The future of Brightsteel city only has enough space for 1 n and that n will be the ter n!"

    Hearing The ter n elder''s taunt an ugly expression appeared across Rebbeca''s beautiful face

    "Boom!"

    Tired of hearing his bullshit, Reba sent out a terrifying spear bursting the elders head exploding it into pieces

    After killing the elder Reba still wasn''t done but slowly turned towards the ter n disciples with a cold look on her face saying

    "Don''t me me for what''s about to happen, me yourself for trying to harm the Kinsman n !"

    Before the ter n disciples even realised what was happening a terrifying wave shout out from Reba''s hand towards the disciples setting them aze

    "arrrgh!"

    "somebody help me!!"

    screams of pain erupted from the disciples but this did not affect Reba as she coldly looked on as the disciples were burnt to ashes.

    Eventually, the mes burnt out leaving nothing but charged earth, no traces of the disciple could be seen, it was almost as if they werepletely erased!

    Seeing that the ter n waspletely dealt with Rebbeca turned towards the Kinsman n disciples causing some to step back in fear.

    which was understandable as they had just witnessed her massacre a group of people. even if they were life and death enemies it was still a daunting thing for kids that age to witness up close.

    Suddenly Reba''s image flickered as she disappeared from the spot

    Suddenly Dante felt himself smothered inside of hug

    " Dante, my little cousin! have you missed me ?" Asked Reba

    "Damn, haven''t I told you. I''m not a kid anymore, you can''t go around doing that." Said Dante breaking out of the chokehold-like hug

    "Don''t be like that, I''ve just not seen my little Dante in 3 years. Just look at how big you''ve gotten! "

    Taking a second together himself, Dante stopped for a second to look at Reba. If he remembered correctly it had been three years since hest saw Reba making her 18 years old now

    That was enough time for her topletely change and develop into a beautiful woman, not just that, but also her strength had developed to a ridiculous degree in her years away

    Changing the subject Dante asked "We''ll do you have any information on the current situation with the ter n"

    "The trap of the ter n caused a terrible outrage from the Kinsman n and if it wasn''t for the interference of the Pierce n it would have led to the first war in 200 years !" " but it seems the situation has most been dealt with and it will be safe to return back to the n, my only fear is that this years inter-npetition will be especially fierce and bloody " replied Reba

    Seeing that the situation was currently safe Dante''s alert state rxed allowing for his suppressed greed to take over

    Looking at the space bag attached to ter n Elder Dante asked " are you going to loot the body "

    Dante''s thrifty behaviour received a slight look of disapproval from Reba as she said "No as there is no need, he is only a low ranking elder anyway. Anything he could possibly have is of no use to you as the son of the first elder "

 Chapter 31 - Return

    Dante didn''t seem to care though as he dashed towards the body, looting it of all of its precious valuables in an instant

    Returning back to Reba he was greeted with a harsh look of dissatisfaction

    "What, I couldn''t help it, besides it''s better than leaving the corpse to rot in the wild and losing all the valuables "

    Ignoring Reba turned the rest of the Kinsman disciples

    " it''s safe to leave now, but I''ll still escort you back to the n to ensure safety"

    " Alright let''s go" continued Reba leading the way outside of the Howling beast forest with a trail of people following closely

    бн

    Meanwhile a few hours ago in a nearby city

    A pair of hooded figures were walking down the street

    However, right at that very moment, a loud sound of galloping horses urred. There were a group of people riding somerge muscr steeds through the street at a ridiculously fast pace

    They didn''t seem to care about the people in front of them causing them to jump out of the way in fear of being trampled by the oing stampede

    This continued down the road until the riders approached the hooded figures, but unlike the other people the hooded figures didn''t seem to move out of the way and continued walking at the same pace as if oblivious to their current surroundings

    "Neigh"

    The horses let out a loud neigh as they sped up seeming to want to trample the pair of hooded figures

    But just before the stampede could collide with them a hooded figure stretched out his hand stopping the leading horse in tracks causing the herd of riders toe to an abrupt halt, even causing some riders to go flying of their horses due to the abrupt stop

    Suddenly an arrogant young man jumped out from the crowd of horse riders screaming "Which bastard was blind enough to stop the convoy of the Ward family! Bring me that fool and teach him a lesson about who runs this city!"

    Right as the arrogant young spoke one of the men beside him raised his horsewhipshing out in the direction of the hooded figures. The air cracked as the whip rushed in their direction with enough power to seriously injure a normal person if not outright kill them.

    But this didn''t seem to faze the hooded figure as he reached out his hand easily grabbing the whip pulling the man towards himself

    "Bang!"

    The hooded figure sent out a fierce blow to the man''s head causing to explode sttering across the floors of the street causing the arrogant man to shout in panic

    "do you know what you have done, How dare you hurt my people! Guards kill this fool!"

    But instead of panicking all, it got from the hooded figure was a madugh causing his hood to fall off revealing his handsome face

    "Hahaha!! Kill me, don''t be ridiculous. Instead, you will be used for something far more important! You''ll be used to send a message to The Kinsman n, to the whole of Brightsteel city that the piece of trash, Curtis ter, is back and He''ll repay every humiliation that He ever received a hundredfold!"

    "What the-," asked the arrogant young man puzzled but before he could finish his sentence Curtis Spoke

    "Come out, Demonic Blood river!"

    Instantly a chaotic evil aura erupted from Curtis while a horrifying phantom of a giant river overflowing with blood and corpses formed in the air above his head

    Suddenly Curtis'' body flickered as he disappeared from his spot

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    All of a sudden everyone in the convoy burst in a gruesome explosion of blood and flesh leaving only the arrogant young man still alive

    But this wasn''t the most disturbing thing as in a more gruesome image all the blood in surroundings started to trickle towards Curtis, slowly being absorbed by him making him appear like a true demon

    Walking slowly towards the once arrogant young man who was nothing more than a shivering frightened mess Curtis reached out his hand grabbing him by the throat and asked

    " Anyst words ?"

    But the young man was so scared he was unable to even answer Curtis''s question. Seeing that talking would be impossible Curtis prepared to end the man''s life

    But before Curtis could crush the young man a thunderous below rang out

    "Stop!!!"

    Suddenly a sh of light erupted as an average-looking middle-aged man appeared in the sky above Curtis looking down on him with a scowl.

    "You destructive ter n bastard! This isn''t brightsteel city where you can run rampant with only the cultivation of 1st stage martial journeyman!" Screamed the middle-aged man

    "Even if the patriarch of the ter n appeared in front of me right now he still wouldn''t be able to save you!!" Continued the man releasing a horrifying aura of the 9th stage martial journeyman realm thatpletely surpassed Curtis''s ownpletely coating the surrounding area.

    But he wasn''t done yet and summoned his martial soul

    "Come out, Bronze Berserker Ape!"

    Instantly a bronze shing light exploded congregating and forming a giant phantom of a humongous ape covered in gloss bronze fur and packed with enormous muscles

    "As the patriarch of the Ward n, it''s my duty to punish all those that harm my n !" Eximed the patriarch to surrounding onlookers and viewers

    "Let your story be a lesson, a lesson that under no circumstances must the Ward n be provoked!!"

    Despite the all Ward n patriarchs threats and his terrifying cultivation level, none seemed to faze Curtis. instead, it only caused a disdainful sneer to appear on his face while he looked at the patriarch as if he was a rambling buffoon.

    "Truly an ignorant monkey, your martial spirit suits you well ." Said Curtis looking at the patriarch

 Chapter 32 - Annihilation

    "Truly an ignorant monkey, your martial spirit suits you well ." Said Curtis looking at the patriarch

    Provoked by the words of Curtis the Ward n patriarch couldn''t help replying

    "Ignorant? Who''s the truly ignorant one, The fighter blinded by his arrogance or the stronger more capable fighter. Seems like a pretty simple answer to me ." Stated the Ward n patriarch

    Suddenly a cold voice rang throughout the battlefield

    "Don''t you seem to be forgetting someone?" Finally, for the first time, the second hooded figure spoke removing his hood revealing the expressionless face of an old man with long white hair held in a long ponytail.

    "To touch my disciple you have to deal with me first !"Eximed the old man

    Releasing an unstoppable aura. As the old man fully unleashed his aura covering the surroundings that started causing the ground to shake and buildings to start to copse and earth to crack

    Looking at this scene in fear the Ward n patriarch couldn''t help stutter

    "This... this strength! You... You have to be in the Martial Adept realm but what are you doing in such a small region like here! Asked the Ward n patriarch in state ofplete fear.

    Not caring about the Ward n patriarch''s mumbling The old man called out

    "Come out, Devouring Demon Sabre!"

    Instantly a wave of demonic energy erupted from the old man forming a humongous phantom of a bloody sabre in the sky that could be seen all over the city acting a titanic shadow and causing screams and shouts of panic to erupt all over the city.

    Looking at the stunned Ward n Patriarch, the old man turned to him and asked with a malicious smirk.

    "Anyst words ?"

    Stuttering the Ward n Patriarch responded, "plea..please spare my life!"

    "Not good enough" replied the old man coldly

    with a wave of his hand the gigantic sabre in the air seemed to tremble, causing and suddenly started falling towards the Ward n Patriarch with a terrifying momentum.

    "ARRGH!!!!" in desperation, the ward n patriarch ignited all the potential exploding in a blinding bronze light in his body.

    But it was all futile in front of the unstoppable power of the elder. the gigantic bloody sabrepletely crushed the bronze lights without slowing down in the slightest.

    "BOOM" a horrific explosion rang out as the sabre formed a gigantic crater on impact

    as the smoke cleared up the old man looked at the scene

    "Pathetic. And to think he was so arrogant with such little strength!" rsaid the old man as he received the crushed remains of the Ward n Patriarch.

    "Here Curtis, take this," said the old man as he threw the mangled body of the Ward n Patriarch towards Curtis

    "Thank you, master! "replied Curtis before plunging his hand into the body of the ward n patriarch

    as soon as his hand was inside the body of the ward n Patriarch began to shrivel up rapidly with all blood leaving his body until he became nothing but an emaciated husk of a human body.

    "ahh.."

    Curtis let out a sigh of pleasure as he felt a newfound strength flowing through him

    "Thank you master, if it wasn''t for you I wouldn''t be able to break through so easily!"

    "Master, I think it is time to leave for Brightsteel city, we wouldn''t want to miss the inter-npetition."

    but instead of agreeing with Curtis, a frown appeared on the face of the old man

    "Curtis you seem to be forgetting something." said the old man inly

    "What would that be ?" asked Curtis puzzled

    "We have just killed the patriarch of the Ward n forming a deep enmity with the n. So it''s a must that we clean up the Ward n preventing any future troubles!" said the old man in a chastising tone

    "But master, they''re only ignorant people and pose no threat to us " replied Curtis

    Curtis''s words caused the old man to frown even more " they may pose no threats to us now, but no one can guarantee the future so we must exterminate them to the roots to prevent future troubles, that is the way of our blood demon pce !"

    as he said those words he walked towards the grounds of the Ward n. Curtis could only follow after him as they walked towards the Ward n that was still oblivious to their imminent doom !

 Chapter 33 - Back To The Clan

    Back in time to Dante perspective

    Dante and the rest of the Kinsman n members managed to leave the howling beast forest after a long and tiring journey. there weren''t any major difficulties as any beasts they faced could be easily one-shot by Reba so they could travel through the forest with peace of mind.

    But as they approached Brightsteel city Dante noticed something strange about the city. There was an extremely tense atmosphere throughout the whole of the city with each and every person looking around anxiously while scenes of destroyed buildings and craters were spread out through the city showing the conflicts between the Kinsman n and the ter n Reba was talking about.

    As Dante and rest pulled up to the npound they were greeted with a hectic scene with people rushing all over the ce and dragging injured people to the n infirmary.

    Suddenly a brown-haired maid rushed to the group. It was Maria

    "Young master Dante! Young miss Reba!"

    "There''s currently a meeting between the upper echelons of the n and your presence is urgently required!"

    Seeing Maria''s distressed look Dante was sure this meeting was an important one they could not miss.

    despite the fact, all Dante wanted to do was rest after all the fighting he did, he was dragged by Reba towards the n meeting grounds.

    Standing outside arge decorated double door Dante and Reba could hear the muffled sounds of arguments and shouting making it clear that a heated debate was going on.

    Dante took a second to organise himself before stepping inside along with Reba.

    As soon as they entered the room it went silent as tens of malicious eyes turned towards them, more specifically Reba.

    Feeling threatened Dante instinctively released his ''dragon fear'' causing a change in expression in some people in the room, but due to the high cultivation of the elders present barely anyone was seriously affected.

    Even so, Dante wasn''t bothered.

    he knew the people in the room couldn''t do anything towards him here, after all ,both his father and uncle, who was the patriarch of the n, were currently in the room. Inside of the Kinsman n, he was basically untouchable and so he stood there fearlessly returning every single stare directed his way!

    Reba also didn''t seem to be affected after all she was the daughter of the current patriarch with a cultivation level equal to some of the elders in this room. So she stood there unmoved by the numerous gazes on her.

    Suddenly patriarch Gavin spoke up diverting the attention away from Reba and Dante

    "Since we''re all here, why don''t we go back to the topic at hand. The attacks of the ter n."

    "Recently there has been a steep rising in conflicts between the ter n and kinsman n with them attacking stores and damaging our properties!"

    "They even disregarded the founding rules of Brightsteel City and sent members of the older generation to attack our youngsters in The howling beast forest."

    "We''re led to believe that their recent actions are all caused by the recent return of one of their sons, Curtis ter!"

    Instantly a burst of chatter erupted from the gathering of elders

    "Curtis ter, the son of the ter n Patriarch. Isn''t he a piece of trash that couldn''t even awaken his martial spirit ?"

    "Not only that wasn''t he brutally defeated in the inter-npetition three years ago? I wonder where he gets the confidence to evene back to brightsteel city again "

    "What can a piece of trash like him do if he returns anyway?"

    "Silence !" eximed Patriarch Gavin

    "The Curtis that left brightsteel city and the Curtis that is returning could barely be considered the same person" he continued

    "Not only did Curtis Manage to awaken a martial spirit. The martial spirit he awakened was also a never-before-seen mutation in the ter Family, The Demonic Blood River! a martial spirit which granted him excellent maniption of blood and demonic energy !".

    but before patriarch Gavin could continue he was quickly interrupted by Grand Elder Harrison.

    "So what if the boy of theter n managed to awaken an amazing martial spirit, surely his strength wouldn''t have reached such a ridiculous level in such a short time that the ter n thought that they couldpletely deal with us?"

    "of course not " replied patriarch Gavin displeased at the sudden interruption "if you hadn''t interrupted me and allowed me to continue speaking your doubts would have been cleared" continued patriarch Gavin causing an ugly expression to appear on Elder Harrison''s face.

    "As I was saying before, through unknown means Curtis ter managed to awaken a mutated martial spirit and managed to receive the attention of one of the most ruthless groups known on the rippling wave continent"

    "The Blood Moon Pce!"

 Chapter 34 - Blood Moon Palace !

    "The Blood Moon Pce!"

    Instantly the hall burst into shouts of shock and panic. it must be known that the Blood Moon Pce are one of the top organisations of the rippling wave continent onlyparable with organisations such as the Hidden Dragon Academy. but unlike the Hidden Dragon Academy, The Blood Moon pce was known for its bloody and ruthless tactics with little regard for human life. so it caused great fear in the hearts of the Kinsman n Elders Knowing that they had an enemy with the backing of such a ruthless organisation.

    "Has the ter n gone mad!" eximed an elder "Don''t they know that the Blood Moon Pce are great enemies with Hidden Dragon academy that controls our region! it will be over for them when the Hidden Dragon Academy catches wind of this !"

    "Regardless of this, it seems that the ter n has allied themselves with the Blood Moon Pce," said Patriarch Gavin "And it doesn''t end there, Curtis seems to be apanied by an Elder from the Blood Moon Pce with a cultivation in the Martial Adept realm !"

    "gasp!"

    "It''s over... The Kinsman n is finished !!

    gasps of shock and exmations of disbelief kept resounding throughout the hall. it had only been surprise after surprise for the elders during this meeting and the fact that there was a Martial Adept realming towards the Kinsman n was the final nail in the coffin for most.

    it must be known that the highest cultivation level in the KInsman n was in the 9thyer Martial Journeyman realm so it was safe to say that they didn''t stand much of a chance against the approaching Martial Adept which was a whole big realm higher than them.

    Ignoring the surrounding panic around him Winton asked Gavin " Are you sure that this apanying Elder is in the Martial adept realm, as in is there any proof confirming the ims."

    in response, Gavin sadly shook his head "unfortunately it can be confirmed. In The nearby FreyBreak city Curtis was reported to get into a conflict with a member of the Ward n where even the patriarch of the Ward n, a ninthyer Martial Journeyman cultivator, got involved."

    "This forced the elder to take action easily disposing of the Ward n Patriarch resulting in theplete annihtion of the entire Ward Family down to the butlers and maids none were spared wiping the ward npletely off the map! showing the absolute strength of the Blood Moon Pce ."

    "Damn! eximed an elder in frustration "isn''t there no way for us to alert the Hidden Dragon Academy, after all, your daughter is still part of them and they wouldn''t allow for them to run wild in their territory!" he continued.

    but Gavin quickly shot down that train of thought saying "It would take approximately one month to reach the Hidden Dragon Academy, so it would take roughly two months before any aid to arrive from the Hidden Dragon Academy meaning all attempts of getting help are useless, were on our own for this one." replied Patriarch Gavin

    "Damn it Gavin,"ined Elder Harrison "you know this all your fault. if your daughter didn''t humiliate Curtis all those years ago we wouldn''t even be in this situation " continued Grand Elder Harrison

    "In fact, we should offer your daughter Rebbeca to the ter n to see if we can somehow seek forgiveness from Curtis and the ter n" stated Grand Elder Harrison

    as he said that there was a brief silence in the room before slow murmurs of agreement started to ur

    "I think Grand Elder garrison is onto something here," said one elder

    "As the Patriarch of the Kinsman n, you have to make small sacrifices for the betterment of the n" replied another

    "It''s Rebbecas fault we are even in this situation in the first ce, she should take responsibility and sacrifice herself for the n!" said another elder in agreement with Harrison.

    These words seemed to set off a chain reaction as all of a sudden multiple people were voicing their agreement with this new n. humans could be such cruel creatures sometimes, willing to easily sacrifice one of their own as long as it means their own survival.

    Meanwhile, Patriarch Gavin was left both stunned and enraged at the fact that these people expected him to willingly sacrifice his daughter in such a cowardly manner. such a thought had never even crossed his mind for an instant.

    he wanted nothing more than to jump up in rage and punch whoever even suggested such a thing but as the patriarch of the Kinsman n, he was stuck in a difficult decision.

    It was clear that the elders of the n were convinced on sacrificing Reba to save their own skin even if it wasn''t a confirmed option out for them and creating a firm rejection could cause an outright fight amongst the now panicking elders .

    Patriarch Gavin was now stuck between a rock and hard ce

    either sacrifice your daughter or condemn the n to a hopeless war against a Martial Adept level cultivator!

 Chapter 35 - Standing Against The Elders

    Patriarch Gavin was now stuck between a rock and hard ce.

    Either sacrifice your daughter or condemn the n to a hopeless war against a Martial Adept level cultivator!

    Murmurs of agreement amongst the elders grew louder while both Patriarch Gavin and Reba remained silent instead of trying to fight back against the swaying opinion seemingly epting the inevitable oue.

    Just as Dante was about to stand up for Reba and speak out somebody beat him to it.

    Seeing the difficult situation his brother and niece were in Winton wouldn''t just stand by and do nothing about it

    Instantly a horrifying aura burst out of him silencing the whole crowd.

    "You people really are a bunch of shameless pigs, I''m embarrassed to even share the same blood as you " spoke Winton with utter disdain

    "As soon as times get tough instead of banding together as a n and seeking to ovee these difficulties together , you bastard seek to sacrifice one of our own . Do you really think that ter n would really spare all of us ? " continued Winton.

    "But what other option do we have , we can''t fight against a martial adept realm cultivator ourselves!" Said one of the elders

    "Speak for yourself " replied Winton coldly

    "Just because you are too weak to skip levels and fight somebody at a higher cultivation level doesn''t mean everybody else around you is "

    But Winton was then interrupted by Grand Elder Harrison

    " How can we be sure that you have the strength to fight a martial adept realm cultivator ?"

    "Well you can''t, but you can be sure I can beat your ass and that doesn''t just go for you but for anybody else in the room. I''d happily take any challenges if you doubt my martial prowess" said Winton with a sadistic evil smile. And Winton was speaking his aura began to bubble as tendrils of smoke and darkness began to swirl around him creating a small storm around him scarring elder Harrison and any other elders into silence.

    "Well, I''ll take the silence as yes then. Anyway we have 2 ninth level, martial journeyman cultivators, on our side and numerous eighth and seventh level martial journeyman level cultivators, even if the ter n joins in they''ve never been our match in the first ce so we have nothing to fear " as Winton finished speaking he went back to his seat, retracting his horrific aura and allowing everyone too breath again

    Whilst Grand elder Harrison and the remaining elders still had ugly expressions on their faces. Patriarch Gavin and Reba had wide smiles on their faces.

    Turning towards Winton, patriarch Gavin gave him a nod of appreciation before going up to speak

    " now that the problem of the uing inter-npetition has been solved feel free to leave unless you have any outstanding questions for me to answer." said patriarch Gavin

    Despite the unwillingness many elders felt, they soon started leaving despite the unpleasant feeling they had.

    While many elders began leaving Dante took a chance to speak to Reba.

    "Now that the situation around the Martial adept cultivator has been solved. How do you feel about the inter-n tournamenting up? Do you feel like you can still take on Curtis?"

    "Curtis ?" replied Reba " trash will always remain trash, I dealt with that waste once and I can deal with him again but this time I won''t spare his measly life." said Reba with an evil scowl on her face " just wait and see," said Reba as she walked off.

    Just speaking to Reba allowed Dante to realise that the aura around her hadpletely changed. It had changed from being more kind and weing to a more sinister and cruel one even giving Dante goosebumps all over his body. This was surprising for Dante because for as long as he had known Reba, she had always been a kind and weing person and for her to show such hatred and anger something had to be really bad.

    But I guess it made sense. Who wouldn''t be mad if their own family turned against them and almost got them sacrificed?

    Dante could only send out his condolences to Curtis''s family because he knew that when Reba got a hold of him in such an angry state it wouldn''t be pretty.

    Thinking of this Dante slowly strolled back to his room. And as he entered his room he remembered his spoils that he had collected from his whole ordeal in the ''Howling Beast Forest'' but because of this sudden meeting and all the frantic panicking and arguing going on he had forgotten to even Check the loot he got from the ter n Elder .

    So he brought out the space pouch he had managed to scavenge. It was just a in animal skin pouch with nothing remarkable about it and no mystical embellishments.

    the only colour on it was a simple blue string used to open and close the pouch. If he hadn''t seen it open himself even Dante would have doubted that it was a real and authentic space pouch.

    I mean who could even me him, which normal person would keep such an expensive and rare natural treasure and make it look like it could be found in the local trash bin

 Chapter 36 - Spirit Silver !

    Regardless of its looks Dante slowly opened up the space pouch and emptied out its contents and poured them out on the table.

    What he found was nothing special , only some gold coins and some martial skill books for the tidal wave attack, so nothing uniquely special, at least it was that way until he found a old dusty book.

    From the book cover, it seemed clear that it wasn''t any type of martial skill but more like something else

    As Dante opened up the book and read through it he discovered that the book was used by the ter n elder to make some important notes and ns and was used almost like a diary by the elder

    As Dante read the book he found out more and more information about the ter n elders normal life. The Elder''s name was Mark and his normal job was to guard one of the spirit steel mines owned by the ter n right outside of the city.

    If Marks words could be trusted then during his guarding duties in the mines he managed to identally copse part of the mine creating a new pathway in the mine. And from this pathway, Mark discovered some abnormal activity and spirit energy reactions. Too scared to tell the n about this discovery in case it was a serious problem and he was punished Mark decided to research the abnormal signs and activity to see what they meant and after researching through old n documents and books he discovered what was going on.

    A piece of spirit silver was forming deep in the mine pathway that Mark had discovered a forming pocket of spirit silver.

    You see spirit silver pockets were rare as the material itself could be described as so dense metal just one fist-sized ball of it could weigh up to 2000 pounds.

    But the weight of spirit silver was never its main selling point. That had always been its extremely magical nature. The best way to describe would be you say that if Elder Han, the smith of the Kinsman n got a hold of a ball-sized piece of Spirit silver it would he would easily be able to craft three tinum rank Spirit weapons, something he has been struggling so hard to achieve his whole life. If his luck was really good he would even be able to craft a diamond rank weapon something that was rare for even people In Big ns and Sects to even own.

    But despite all its positives Spirit Silver still had its negatives. Due to its extreme magical nature, just the formation of a small piece of spirit silver drains a ridiculous amount of spirit energy from its surroundings and if not properly removed could cripple any magical energy of all minerals and metals left in the area as buy using up such high amounts of spirit energy in its formation if it is improperly removed it can drain the spirit energy of all metals left in the vicinity turning products like spirit steel into a regr metal with no magical properties greatly reducing its value and effectively crippling the metal vein.

    But Elder Mark didn''t seem to care about the possible side effects of crippling the mineral vein. He knew that if he informed the ter n he would only be slightly rewarded whilst the upper echelons of the n kept most of the rewards for themselves, so he came up with a n. his n was to secretly extract the spirit Silver metal and flee the ter n and secretly sell it to a big sect as a gift to see if they could allow him entry into the sect and allow him to trade the metal for some elemental treasures that could be used to revive his already stagnant cultivation path that had been stuck at the same level for many years.

    But unfortunately for Mark before he could act out his n he was called to the Howling Beast Forest to assist in the attack against the Kinsman n and was eventually killed by Reba causing this all to fall into Dante''s hands.

    Reading this Dante was ecstatic, he didn''t need the spirit silver for any trades and wasn''t in a rush to gain a tinum rank spirit weapon or trade it in to a Sect. Instead, he was going to use the spirit silver to unlock another Dragon soul, the spirit of The Silver Dragon.

    Unlocking another dragon soul would grant him ess to a wave of new abilities that would allow his strength to jump to extreme levels, which would do him much more than any few days of cultivation before the inter-npetition ever could.

    And with that Dante made up his mind. Tomorrow he would use the map of the mine tunnels left by Mark to sneak into the ter n mines and secretly steal the newly formed piece of spirit silver. In doing so he would not only cripple the ter ns Spirit steel mines but also allow him to unlock his next dragon soul hitting two birds with one stone! It really couldn''t get any better than that!

    And with that thought Dante got prepared for the next day by gathering his essentials like recovery pills and the sort whilst also switching out his old robe for a in ck one that was less eyes catching to draw less attention when sneaking into the mines.

    Happy with his preparations Dante went to sleep to be property rested for his the his Heist he would be having tomorrow. He would need to be in his best shape to make sure nothing went wrong whilst he was in their as it would basically be game over for him if he was ever caught

 Chapter 37 - Day Of The Heist

    The next morning Dante woke up to glistening sunlight rays shining down on his face.

    As he got up and got ready he took all his personal belongings like his Moonlight Sword and the healing pills he might need and stored them in his recently gained space pouch

    As he went to the dining hall for breakfast he noticed his father was absent once again and the only person left to greet him was Trusty maid Maria

    " Good morning young master Dante" greeted Maria.

    "Good morning" Dante greeted back

    "unfortunately your father won''t be able to join us for breakfast this morning as he has urgent n matters to attend to"

    "It doesn''t bother me replied" Dante "I''m used to eating on my own"

    "Oh yeah Maria, I won''t be able toe home tonight I''m going training in the Howling beast forest for around 2 days so I probably won''t be able toe back home" stated Dante

    Hearing this Maria was worried and asked " are you sure it is safe to go back into the Howling Beast Forest after all this animosity and tension between the Kinsman n and the ter n ?"

    "You don''t have to worry " replied Dante "didn''t the ter n reach a truce with us after the whole ordeal. I can guarantee that their would be no more attacks on the kinsman n until the inter npetition at the earliest"

    "Even still I''m still worried about what could happen to you in the Howling Beast Forest all by yourself" replied Maria

    "Don''t be there''s no need, your forgetting I''m not that helpless little kid I used to be anymore. I''m a fully-fledged cultivator now, I''m different from before! "

    And with that Dante ended this discussion on this topic and started eating his breakfast.

    After he finished his breakfast Dante decided to head to the surroundings of the ter n''s spirit steel mine and scope it out as he won''t be entering untilte at night where it would be harder for him to be spotted

    бн

    After quite a long journey from the Kinsman n, Dante arrived at the spirit steel mine.

    From what he could see it was still decently guarded nothing crazy but he still wouldn''t be able to just walk right in.

    asionally young ter n disciples in blue robes could be seen entering and exiting the mines carrying some newly mined spirit steel with them seemingly for some type of n task.

    From the look of things Dante''s only method of entry would be the one mentioned by Mark in his journal.

    If marks journal could be believed then the elder that takes over guarding duties at midnight usually shows upte. Nothing too extreme just two or three minuteste but that provided Dante with a short period of time to easily enter the mine. And if he could enter the mine he could easily dig his way out of the mine or copse a portion of it to draw attention away to allow himself time to escape. In short it would be hard to enter but easy to exit he just needed to time it right and it would be an easy mission with him swiftly going in and out with no problems.

    бн

    As many hours passed by it slowly approached the time of the n

    Looking closely he managed to spot an elder at the entrance of the

    At the entrance, the middle-aged man looked around left and right before saying

    "seems like my recement is gonna bete again! I''m done waiting for this guy I just did a 13-hour shift and ill be damned if I spend another second here!"

    And with those words, the elder shot into the sky before dashing off towards Brightsteel City.

    Seeing the opportunity Dante didn''t hesitate and dashed madly towards the entrance flickering like a ghost.

    As he entered the mine he was greeted with the sight of carts and carts filled with various ores and metals

    In front of Dante were two tunnels that seemed to lead deeper into the mine.

    After looking carefully at the map provided by the ter n Elder he confirmed that the correct path would be the left tunnel, and without wasting any more time, entered.

    On his way exploring the tunnel Dante ran into many miners on the way but due to his great strength and speed, he managed to slip by them unnoticed As most of the miners were just regr people who were hired by the ter n. It would just be a in waste of resources to hire cultivators to start mining tunnels as it was just using unneeded manpower. But this simple fact allowed Dante to traverse the tunnels unimpeded.

    Passing by numerous miners and taking various turns Dante''s managed to reach his destination.

    It was an unused dead-end tunnel branching off from one of the main ones. Although it looked like there was only a dirt wall informing of him, that was only because Elder Mark had previously copsed the tunnel after discovering the forming spirit silver ore to make sure nobody else could find it.

    After making sure nobody was around Dante brought out a miners uniform and mining pickaxe from his space bag

    These would be essential parts in getting to the Spirit silver ore and his eventual escape from the mine.. Without wasting any more time Dante got changed into his miner uniform.

 Chapter 38 - Getting Some Spirit Silver

    Without wasting any more time Dante got changed into his miner uniform.

    After fully changing into the required outfit Dante both looked and felt the part for his what he was about to do.

    Confirming that this was once again the right area from the map provided by Elder Mark, Dante started the slow but steady process of digging his way through the copsed tunnel.

    As it was copsed tunnel the dirt wasn''t solid rock, the only challenging thing about the whole ordeal was that the pathway Dante had to dig through was extremely long and in addition to this to cover his tracks Dante had to seal up the path behind him meaning that on his way out Dante would once again have to repeat this entire tiring process all over again.

    After around 20 minutes of boring continuous digging Dante managed to break through a wall into a spacious cavern that had a ring silver glow.

    Spirit silver!

    It seemed like the information in Marks journal wasn''t false as Dante had finally managed to dig through the copsed tunnel and find a piece of Spirit silver.

    Overjoyed that he hadn''t been yed his whole time Dante took a second to test and ess his surroundings.

    He was in arge open cavern that held a blinding silver glow in the centre which we could assume was the spirit silver ore. But what was most intriguing was that leading away from the glowing silver ball were hundreds of white lines that asionally seemed to pulse in a strong white light and Dante could feel a strong wave of spirit energy radiating from these lines.

    If Dante''s assumption was correct then these lines were all channels of pure spirit energy that was being drained from the surrounding environment and mineral resources forming a natural type of formation

    Luckily due to its stable formation, this wouldn''t have asting effect on the environment and if handled properly could easily be dealt with.. on the other hand, if somebody was to even slightly mess with the arrangement of the formation it could lead to devastating damage to the surrounding environment. But this didn''t faze Dante as one of his goals besides iming the Spirit Silver was to cause as muchsting damage to the ter n mine as possible.

    Slowly approaching the Spirit Steel ore Dante felt the air get thicker, this was likely due to the excess of Spirit Energy in the environment leading him to the illusion that the air got thicker. This sensation only increased as he got closer and closer towards the Spirit Silver ore, eventually, Dante had to squint to avoid beingpletely blinded by ring light radiating off the Spirit Steel ore

    Dante stretched out his hand gently cing it on top of the chunk of Spirit Silver in front of him causing his body to feel an extremely cool sensation.

    After bracing himself for a few seconds Dante ruthlessly yanked at the chunk of Spirit Steel causing it to bepletely removed, even taking some of the ground with it.

    But before he could celebrate gathering a Piece of Spirit Silver the channels of spirit energy shed a dazzling white light as without the core of the formation, the piece of Spirit Steel, to regte it the energy started rushing out of the formation madly.

    Sensing such an abundance of Pure spirit energy gushing towards him, Dante wouldn''t let it go to waste.

    Instantly Dante began to circte his cultivation technique "The Moon King Sutra" and instantly felt one progress.

    If cultivation before was like a slow yet steady walk then using the Spirit Energy channel, Dante felt like he was driving a Form One Racecar. It was just an iparable speed. Quickly he felt his realm increasing first breaking through into the 3rdyer then into the 4thyer But just before Dante could break through to the 5thyer the gushing current of Spirit Energy came to an abrupt halt. It seemed that the initial draining of Spirit Energy came to an abrupt stop. Dante''s only regret was that he couldn''t absorb more of the energy released from the energy currents. Dante only managed to absorb 1% of the energy released from the currents due to the ridiculous pace at which the energy was being released but even with that abysmal absorption rate Dante still managed to break through to minoryers within minutes so you could just imagine how much his cultivation could have jumped if he had managed to absorb even as little as 10% of the energy released.

    But Dante was in no position toin he had just progressed a ridiculous level in such a small time frame and he was, even so, close to the next level that Dante felt with only a few days m mmm worth of training he would be able to break through into the next level with ease.

    Now that Dante had managed to retrieve the piece of Spirit Silver and permanently Damaged the mine of ter n, Now the only thing left to do was escape the confines of the ter n.

    And for that to happen Dante had a special n prepared.

 Chapter 39 - Escaping The Mines

    And for that to happen Dante had a special n prepared.

    cing the extracted Spirit Silver into his space pouch he reached back inside again and this time he brought out a small red orb.

    While it may look ordinary, don''t let it looks deceive you this small orb was an explosive weapon with powerparable to modern grenades.

    The only downside to these magical weapons was that they were extremely costly to make. The creation of just 1 required the use of 3 fire element Spirit stones.

    Spirit Stones, we''re manifestations of pure spirit energy so you can just imagine how expensive these are to make if they require 3 of those.

    If it wasn''t for his position as the son of the first elder allowing him to pull some strings, he would have never been able to get thee see. Weapons in such a short time.

    The n was for him to explode these orbs in certain ces of the mine causing parts of the mine to copse.

    And Due to the panic of mine copse, the miners would naturally choose to escape. And during this time Dante would blend in with the panicked crowd of miners allowing for Dante''s easy escape.

    The n seemed simple was also very effective and could easily work if nothing goes wrong.

    But first, before Dante could start his n he needed to get out of this cavern. So what happened next was a long gruelling process of digging his way back out into the mines.

    бн

    After around 20 minutes or so, Dante managed to finally dig his way back out into the mine paths.

    Dante briefly looked around to ensure no one had seen him just crawl out of the wall. After confirming his cover wasn''t blown Dante got back to the n.

    With that Dante finally started acting out his n and began to rush through the mine pathways.

    Although Dante wanted to copse the mine, his intention was only to copse a small portion of it as just the scare and vibrations of a small copse would be enough to start a panic amongst the miner. A total copse of the mine would not only make things harder for him to escape but it waspletely unnecessary as after theplete extraction of Spirit Silver ore it was only a matter of time before this mine becamepletely useless.

    Quickly Dante dashed through the surrounding mines looking for the correct weak points highlighted on the map he obtained from the ter n elder.

    Eventually, he arrived at one of the multiple intersections within the mines that had multiple tunnels leading to it that seemed to branch into all areas of the mine.

    The intersection was dimly lit with torches burning in a pale yellow, giving the ce an eerie look

    Dante didn''t want to spend any more time in ter n territory than necessary and quickly retrieved the explosive balls from his space bag.

    The bright red spheres seemed to brighten up the ce more as they twinkled in a mystical light but Dante wasn''t here to appreciate the beauty of these timed explosives.

    After locating a few pirs that held much importance to the structural integrity of the mine. Dante quickly began to start burying explosives everywhere, in the ground, in the walls and even the pirs themselves weren''t spared as explosives began to pile up inside.

    Afterpleting his task, Dante took a step back to admire his work, the previously nd tunnel pathway had now been magnificently decorated with vibrant glowing rubies making it seem more like a royal hallway than a dirty mine shaft. But that would be where the simrities ended as unlike a royal hallway these jewels weren''t just for decoration but we''re instead extremely lethal magical explosives!

    And with ast look at his beautiful craft, Dante started the timer for his explosives.

    Not wasting a second more Dante started sprinting for the mine exit and this time he didn''t even bother to be stealthy causing heads to turn in wonder as they wondered what type of ghost just passed them.

    Only when he came nearer to the entrance and mine patrols started bingmon did Dante start. Walking but it seemed like he would need to walk for much longer.

    "Boom!"

    "Boom!"

    "Boom!"

    Only a few secondster did tens of deafening explosions ring throughout the mines stunning everybody present. There was a brief moment of silence as everyone was left stunned but suddenly there was a horrifying scream

    "Run!! The mines have started copsing!"

    Those words seemed to start a chain reaction as people began to scream and panic while they all scrambled for the exit

    "Argh!! Get out of my way!"

    "Hey, don''t push me !"

    "Damn, just let me through !"

    Shouts of panic and agitation sounded as each person began to push and brush past each other in an effort to escape the shaking mine as soon as possible.

    As each person pushed past each other eventually after much grabbing and pulling, people managed to exit the mine.

    It was only after they managed to escape that they realised that the shaking didn''t seem to be as serious as imagined and only seemed to be a partial copse of a part of the mine, not aplete and total copse.

    But the damage was done already, panic and doubt started to spread in the breaths of all the onlookers present.

    Due to the utter panic and fear caused it would be impossible to get the miners to go back in the mine without at least several days of checking to make the mine secure. After all, money was good but it''s not enough to risk the chance of dying in a copse

    As the miners were talking about the situation amongst themselves a robed figure appeared floating in the air grabbing everyone''s attention.

    "Hello everyone, I am the guarding elder of the ter n. It seems there has been some faults in the internal structure of the mines and until we have found and solved this problem the mines will be closed for inspection"

    Sighs of relief sounded through the crowd as their biggest fear was that the ter n would force them to continue working in the unsafe mines. And now that had been resolved it seemed that they would be able to rx for next few days.

    After hearing the official statement from the ter n miners began to disperse giving Dante enough space to go himself out their.

    Dante practically sprinted the whole journey home as he was just too eager to unlock his new dragon soul and see all the mystical abilities that coulde with it!

 Chapter 40 - Awakening Of The Silver Dragon!

    After a swift journey through the Howling Beast Forest, Dante finally managed to arrive at the entrance of the Kinsman n.

    Due to it beingte in the night Dante wasn''t able to just walk into the Kinsman n As he usually did but Dante wasn''t really bothered about the dy due to his good mood from just stealing a precious resource from the heart of ter n Territory.

    As he entered the n, Dante headed straight to hispound.

    Entering hispound he didn''t enter into his room but instead decided to remain in the courtyard as he expected a scene to be caused by the awakening of his new dragon soul and if he awakened it inside his room a big mess would be made and Dante didn''t want go through the hassle of having to clean up that mess.

    Dante found a clear open space in the courtyard and sat down in a lotus position.

    Now that he was prepared he slowly retrieved the chunk of Spirit Silver from his space pouch. The spirit silver was like amp in the night, illuminating the surroundings with a cool silver glow.

    Taking a second to calm himself down, Dante stretched for his hand and touch the piece of Spirit Silver and this time he didn''t just touch but instead imagined himself absorbing it. And right on time, an rm sounded in his head

    "Ding !"

    "Silver Energy source detected! "

    "Would you like to unlock The Silver Dragon ?"

    Without hesitation, Dante quickly replied

    "Yes !"

    "Boom !"

    As soon as Dante agreed a deafening explosion rang out while a humongous pir of Silver energy burst into the night sky. The mystical radiance of silver was so blinding it could be seen all across Brightsteel City, Shocking inhabitants that were still outside as it seemed like the night sky had almost turned to Day.

    Despite all this the people that were shocked the most had to be Dante''s fellow members of the Kinsman n. Due to the close proximity to the burst of light for some unfortunate few, when the pir of light erupted it was as if a shbang had gone off in front of them leaving them temporarily blinded and dazed.

    In a panic, several members of the Kinsman n went out to investigate the source of light and ended up gathering outside

    "That pir of lightбн it seems to being from Dante''s courtyard !" Said an onlooker

    "Not just that, wasn''t there a simr pir when Dante awakened his original martial spirit, so do you thinkбн "

    But before that person could have finished speaking he was interrupted by elder Harrison

    "Awaken a second martial spirit, impossible! Although there have been cases of people awakening one martial spirit after the awakening ceremony, Never has it been recorded that a person awakens a second martial spirit. Besides want there a thunder cloud during his first awakening, for it to be another awakening would there have to be another thundercl.."

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    But before Elder Harrison could continue speaking there was the deep sound of rumbling thunder as ominous dark clouds started to form over Dante''s courtyard leaving the onlookers speechless.

    бн

    Back to Dante, he was only just recovering from the re of silver light that just erupted in his face as the closest to the ray of light he was also the person hit the hardest by the light rays. But just as Dante was recovering he looked up to see a group of ominous thunderclouds crackling with electricity.

    "Oh no, not againбн"

    "Bang !"

    "Arrrgh!"

    A violent bolt of lightning struck Dante causing him to scream out in agonising pain.

    But to Dante''s dismay, the lightning strikes didn''t seem to stop there but in fact, they appeared to be charging up for an even more devastating blow.

    But Dante wasn''t one who would just stand there and take a beating. Instead he prepared to resist with all his might

    "Dragonification!"

    "Roar!"

    The roar of a mad Red Dragon exploded from Dante''s body while a wave of fire surged towards his surroundings.

    As this was happening, Crimson scales began to appear all over Dante''s arms and legs forming a tight scaly armour as his hands and feet became wed.

    But his transformation wasn''t over just yet as his figure expanded instantly bing filled with rock hard muscles while two devilish horns grew out of his skull.

    Tilting his head upward Dante could see the terrifying thunderbolt approaching and instantly his chest expanded as waves of fire element spirit energy gushed towards him

    "Red Dragon Roar!"

    "Roar!"

    A terrifying roar sounded as a torrent of hellish mes red towards the lighting bolt

    "Bang!"

    As the two berserk elements met they erupted in an explosion of opposing colours that shook the earth.

    As if the heavens were angered at Dante''s resistance the clouds above the sky seemed to expand as clouds turned from dark ck into a deep blood red shocking the onlookers throughout the city.

    "Those cloudsбн those are not just clouds of heavenly tribtion anymore, those are clouds of heavenly punishment!" Said an elder in utter shock

    "Hahaha!" Laughed elder Harrison

    "It''s that little boy''s fault for trying to defy heavens will, I told you it was impossible o be a dual awakener and own two martial spirits! I was right in the end, even if he was capable of awakening a second martial spirit the heavens would not allow it!"

    While Elder Harrison was overjoyed, Dante couldn''t be said to have been in such a good mood.

    In fact, his emotions had started to run out of control under such constant life and death pressure his Dragon soul seemed to have a stronger effect on his mood resulting in his anger to continuously build-up, amon trait amongst Evil Red Dragons.

    As this effect grew stronger Dante felt himself getting angrier at everything around him but most importantly he was angry at the heavens.

    He was angry at the fact they kept trying to harm him, he was angry at the fact they were trying to restrict him based on some bullshit rules they had established and know that they were about to be broken, they started trying to destroy him for something so stupid.

    Dante''s anger kept growing and from anger came hatred, a hatred so strong it made him want to shatter the sky.

    Dante looked up to the sky taunting "since you want to destroy me so badly, here I am, hit me with everything you have!"

    "Crackle crackle"

    As if to respond the loud crackling of lightning erupted as blood coloured electricity continued to build up in the clouds.

    Not wanting to be outdone by even the heavens, a Roar came from deep within Dante''s body causing the ground to vibrate as it could be heard all across Brightsteel city causing panic and fear amongst the civilians.

    But it didn''t finish there as a cloud of red mist burst from Dante''s body slowly forming into a winged gargantuan Dragon.. This scaled monster was packed with muscles towering above all buildings inside the Kinsman n while its rage-filled eyes scanned the crowd of onlookers causing them to panic in fear as the bloodshot eyes of the Red Dragon were truly demonic creating an illusion of the dragon wanting to devour them whole.

 Chapter 41 - Awakening Of The Silver Dragon 2

    But the panic of the Red Dragon didn''tst long as a devastating red bolt of lightning was ejected from the blood-red clouds hurtling towards Dante at terrifying speeds.

    Unfazed by this shocking scene Dante inhaled and as he did, fire elemental energy poured towards Dante but not just Dante, the phantom of a Red Dragon behind Dante seemed to breathe in as its chest expanded to a ridiculous size.

    "Breath of the Red Dragon!"

    "ROAR!"

    Just as the bolt of lightning was overhead both Dante and the Red Dragon released a ferocious breath towards the sky

    "Boom! "

    A deafening explosion shocked the eardrums of all inhabitants of Brightsteel City while a blinding wave of Red covered the sky over Brightseel City whilst its inhabitants were wondering what apocalyptic fight was taking ce.

    "Roar!"

    From the mocking aftermath shot out a ferocious Red dragon releasing a victorious roar as the clouds of heavenly judgment slowly dispersed.

    Now that Dante had passed the heavenly tribtion he could finally unlock his second Dragon soul.

    As if to signify the starting of the process the blinding pir of silver light seemed to fade away but instead 6 gigantic gates covered in thick golden chains appeared in the sky next to the flying red dragon.

    "Bang!"

    "Bang!"

    "Bang!"

    Sounds of fierce collision sounded as one of the gates seemed to shake vigorously as whatever was trapped behind it tried to break free.

    "Crac!"

    Eventually, chains on one of the gatespletely fell off as a dazzling silver figure shot outside

    As the silver creature escaped the rest of the gates seemed to fade out of existence.

    Taking a look at the silver figure next to the Red Dragon it was clear that it was a silver dragon.

    It was covered in smooth glowing silver scale, its figure wasn''t asrge as the Hulking monster of Red Dragon. But instead of being Mass Monster like the Red Dragon, the Silver Dragon had more of a streamlined figure with its muscles perfectly coordinated shape.

    The Two Dragons Both let out Two devastating Dragon Roars that seemed to shake the whole of Brightsteel City announcing that Dante had managed to defy all odds with the birth of his Second Martial spirit!

    бн

    Meanwhile deep within the hidden areas of the Kinsman n, there was a perfectly still old man sitting in a lotus position. the old man seemed to be meditating intensely but his concentration was broken by the deafening roars of the two dragons in the sky.

    Opening his eyes the old man looked around before a ridiculous smile appeared on his face.

    "Those kids. I leave them alone for a few years and look how much trouble they cause."

    "Sigh"

    "With such a bigmotion, it seems like trouble will be arriving sooner rather thanter"

    "I guess I''ll need to recover faster than expected, luckily Winton Managed to bring back such a mystical treasure or else might have really kicked the bucket this time!"

    And like that the old man closed his eyes again and went back to meditating.

    бн

    Back at the courtyard, Dante looked at theplete and utter destruction around him and almost cried.

    He made the effortsing outside in the hope that he wouldn''t have to clean a big mess, but from the looks of things, making a mess would be unavoidable.

    While Dante was thinking of an easy way to clean up his mess Winton floated down from the skynding right beside him.

    While Dante was going through his whole tribtion Winton was quietly watching, prepared to quickly intervene and stop the tribtion not caring if doing so would expose him to his enemies in a weakened state but fortunately for both Winton and Dante, Dante managed to pull through his tribtions by himself without no external assistance despite taking ridiculous difficulty.

    "Dante," called Winton

    "Huh ?" Hearing his father''s voice shocked Dante out of his thoughts. Turning his head towards the sound, he saw that his father had managed to sneakily appear behind him.

    "You must have used up most of your energy reserves during the tribtion, here take this," said Winton handing Dante a bottle.

    "The bottle contains some energy recovering pills you can use them to quickly recover your energy as don''t worry about the mess you made ill get someone to clean it up just go get some rest "

    "Thanks Dad " replied Dante as he headed towards his room

    "But Dante," called Winton as Dante was walking away

    "I won''t ask any questions on what just happened or how you did it, after all, your growing up and everyone has their own secrets, just remember if you need any help you can alwayse to me."

    Caught off guard Dante responded

    "Thanks Dad, I''ll be sure to go to you if I need help with anything ."

    And with that Dante slowly but surely returned to his room

    Sigh

    Watching the confident figure Winton could help but sigh as he though

    '' Watching him first awaken his martial spirit and causing such a heavenly phenomenon, I thought he was a child of heaven, blessed by heavensws. But from what I''ve seen today that boy, my child, he''s not just blessed by heavensws, but instead he stands above them! ''

    ''With such a heaven-defying destiny it''s only a matter of time before he runs into trouble and as his father, it''s my role to protect him. ''

    '' I need to prepare to return back to the sect, I''ve been gone for too long if I stay away any longer everything I''ve built so far will just copse! ''

    And with that thought, Winton''s figure flickered as he disappeared into the night.

 Chapter 42 - New Abilities!

    The next day Dante woke up feeling refreshed.

    After he got to his room all he could remember was touching his bed, after that he instantly fell asleep probably due to the extreme exhaustion he felt using up his energy

    The only problem was that in doing so he didn''t have time to check his newly unlocked abilities. So after waking up Dante decided to do just that.

    "System !"

    " Ding !"

    "Wee to Dragon Dawn!"

    After hearing that sound a holographic screen appeared in front of Dante.

    On the screen there were two icons one of a roaring Red Dragon while the other was a majestic Silver Dragon standing under the moon.

    Dante clicked on a new icon with the silver Dragon then a new panel appeared in front of Dante

    Looking at the panel in front of him Dante assessed the new Information t in front of him

    Race : Silver Dragon

    Age: Whelpling (Baby Dragon)

    Affinity: Mana

    Innate abilities:

    Dragon Fear - As True Dragon, you are at a higher level of life whenpared to mortal creatures. When angered you release a terrifying aura to your surroundings causing all creatures to undergo a will check if they fail the will check the target will be frightened and immobile and in some extreme cases unconscious

    Silver Dragon Breath -As a True Dragon, Dragons breath is your birthright and the first skill a growing Dragon develops and stays with the Dragon for the rest of it''s life. The user first inhales gathering pure Mana towards them. The user then roars letting before releasing a wave of pure elementless energy in cone-like fashion causing purely magical damage to the target

    Passive skills ( locked )

    Energy points: 1

    Looking at the panel Dante realised that innate abilities weren''t that much different from that of the Red Dragon with the element changing from the fire towards pure elemental energy and with his Dragon soul only at the level of a whelpling Dragon he wouldn''t have much energy points to work with.

    Dante decided to see the unlockable passive skills at his level and added his single Energy point to the only passive ability avable.

    Mana touched 1/3

    As a Silver Dragon, you are the most in touch with all sorts of natural mana and spells whenpared to other true dragons. Due to your close contact with mana you have developed a resistance towards mana and all the various attributes associated with it granting you :

    20% immunity to all magic damage at any level.

    Looking at the new passive skill he unlocked Dante was left speechless. This new ability wasn''t a damage reduction ability like his passive on the Red Dragon Soul, instead, it was aplete immunity meaning that the damage he received waspletely nullified so from 100 points of damage he received he would only be taking 80 points of damage with the remaining 20 points of damage having no effect on him.

    And the scariest part of all this was that this was only a partly unlocked passive he could still and two more energy points into the passive making the immunity much stronger.

    The only downside he could think of was that due to the low level of his Silver Dragon he only got 1 energy point and hadn''t even got the dragonification innate ability yet. Dante would have to wait until he levelled up his Dragon before he could see more innate abilities and passives.

    Then the thought hit Dante.

    Why doesn''t he just ask the n?

    His dad even said to him yesterday that he would be willing to help him out and with the fact that he awakened a second martial spirit and the support of his uncle and father he should be able to persuade the n to invest a lot of precious resources into him.

    With that thought, Dante decided to put his n into action.

    As he went outside he realised that the sun was high up in the sky he had slept well into the afternoon and lots of disciples of the kinsman n had started going around and doing their tasks.

    Dante decided to go and see the patriarch to go ask him some questions about resources but as he started walking he seemed to feel numerous gazes on him.

    " Isn''t that Dante"

    " I heared he managed to awaken a second martial spirit, the first person to do so in our Vaenam Kingdom in one hundred years !"

    "If he can only have a fraction of the talent of the sword saint our Kinsman n will surely rise !"

    Hearing all the mutterings about him Dante realised that he seemed to have underestimated the importance of a dual martial spirit.

    Although Dual martial spirits seem Rtivelymon, it had to be remembered That was only rtively speaking, every 50 years you may have anywhere between 3 to 6 double spirit awakenings within a kingdom.

    But just because they may appear within the kingdom doesn''t mean that dual awakenings were happening everywhere, most Dual spirit awakenings happen between major ns in the capital city or the royal family.

    It''s extremely rare that a dual spirit awakening happens outside of the royal capital city.

    So to the people of the Kinsman n, this was still an unprecedented urrence. Something of legend that had never happened in the history of the n, making Dante an heaven-defying genius with even more potential than the founder of the n.

    But it had to be remembered that not all dual spirit awakenings were equal if you awakened two trash martial spirits you may still be much weaker than somebody who had only awakened one single good martial spirit.

    But that wouldn''t be a problem when looking at Dante just based on the Chaos and heavenly phenomena caused by both of Dante''s awakenings, It was clear for anybody to see that both of Dante''s Martial Spirits were anything but ordinary.

 Chapter 43 - A Request

    Feeling ufortable with all the passionate looks cast his way by his n members, Dante quickly left the scene speeding towards the major n hall.

    As he entered he saw that there was already a meeting going on in the hall between several Elders of the n his father included.

    Looking back to see who so brazenly entered a major n meeting Patriarch Gavin looked back with a furious look on his face, but as he saw who it was his face softened into a warm smile.

    "Speak of the devil! We were just having a meeting about you Dante. Seeing as you are already here, you can feel free to join us" said patriotic Gavin

    "Meeting about me? What were you guys talking about ? "

    "Of course we were talking about your second martial spirit! As a genius never before seen in the history of the Kinsman n, it''s only right we give you the proper nurturing and resources you deserve. "

    Hearing this Dante couldn''t resist the urge to sneak in his request

    "Speaking of resources, I''d like to have ess to the ns magic material storage especially any elemental treasures we have "

    As soon as Dante said this murmurs started sounding out as the elders started talking with some aggregating and some adamantly opposed to this request.

    "Silence" "let''s hear what he has to say said "

    Now the attention was back on Dante he started speaking again

    " I just feel like with my second martial spirit and some new resources I can guarantee to rapidly increase my strength to ridiculous levels and now with the inter-npetitioning up, I feel like I should be prioritised with the distribution of resources inside of the n" after he finished speaking Dante looked around to inspect the faces of the elders, but to his disappointment, the faces of most of the elders seemed to be hesitant.

    Just as Dante was about to further borate on his point a figure jumped up

    "I oppose the decision to focus our resources on Dante! "

    Of course, the first person to oppose the idea of spending resources on Dante was Elder Harrison.

    After saying opposing he went on to continue

    " I just feel like it''s too risky to focus most resources on one individual what, if he doesn''t have the talent and ability, we''ve seen before in history where individuals can awaken 2 martial spirits be nothing special or sometimes even worse off. It''s better to spend more on other members of the younger generation and not put all our eggs in one basket."

    But before Elder Harrison could continue Dante interrupted.

    "What if I could guarantee That it was more efficient to pile resources into me than other n members !"

    "Huh what do you mean ? " asked Elder Harrison

    "You heard what I said, I can guarantee that I''m a better option to invest into than the rest of the n."

    "And how on earth would you do that ?" Questioned Elder Harrison

    "Simple, since you said the only reason you''re hesitant to invest in me is that you''re not sure about my strength and potential. Well, why don''t I prove that I have potential then, you can go and pick any member of the younger generation except for Reba and I could guarantee that they wouldn''t be my match."

    Instantly the group elders burst into an uproar

    "What a bold im"

    "Arrogant, this boy is just too arrogant!"

    "To say this with such a low cultivation level as well!"

    It was clear what Dante had said was controversial but Dante wasn''t an idiot, he hadn''t said something so arrogant just to flex, he knew he had to do something eye-catching to convince all the elders to side with him and nothing was as eye-catching as a making such a bold statement.

    Now that he had gathered the attention of the elders Dante decided to show some logic in his thinking.

    "I''m not just doing this out of greed, With the extra resources from the n I can guarantee to win the inter-npetition for my division and with that allow us to earn more resources for the n!"

    Hearing his statement caused many elders to stop and think for a second.

    Maybe investing in Dante didn''t seem like a bad idea. With such s strength and confidence surely he couldn''t be weak?

    But somebody wouldn''t let them just agree with Dante so readily and that person was of course Elder Harrison.

    "Well since your so confident Dante then how bout apetition amongst the younger generation, we''ll have apetition to see who amongst the younger generation deserves the most resources !"

    Not wanting to seem intimidated and cause the support he just gained to slip away Dante quickly replied.

    "Sure I''m ready to fight whenever, you just pick a time and a ce and I''ll be there".

 Chapter 44 - Challenge

    "Sure I''m ready to fight whenever you just pick a time and a ce and I''ll be there." said Dante staring straight at elder Harrison unwaveringly.

    "Alright since you''re so confident then let''s do it your way. Let''s make an announcement for a challenge that anybody that can defeat you can get the core training of the n and that includes a focus of resources directed towards them!"

    This stament received various nods of approval from the surrounding elders and since Dante was confident in his strength he readily agreed

    "Sure, I''m willing to fight whoever you can bring!"

    "Great" replied Elder Harrison "since you''re so confident the challenge will be tomorrow at the n training ground, I hope you don''t back out or that would be really embarrassing for you now, wouldn''t it ."

    Seeing that the discussion between elder Harrison and Dante was slowly turning into an argument Patriarch Gavin quickly interrupted.

    "Now that we have a fair way of determining the distribution of resources I can finally bring this meeting to an end.

    After some brief closing statements and quick discussions the meeting finally ca and The elders Started to leave until it was only Winton, Patriarch Gavin and Dante left in the room.

    Seeing that everyone had left Winton finally asked.

    "What''s with pulling that stunt? You know we could have got you any resources you want without all that hassle, and now you have to fight everyone for something you could have got regardless."

    "I knew I could have got resources without the fight but they wouldn''t have been enough but now I can use as many resources as I need without being judged, besides I have full confidence in my abilities to win the fight."

    Shaking his head Winton could only reply " just because your confident doesn''t mean that you can just go in unprepared"

    "Of course I won''t go in unprepared, the main reason I even came here was that I came to ask for some resources that could be used to increase my strength"

    "Oh, if that''s it you can just follow me, I''ll show you where we store all the good stuff!" said Patriarch Gavin

    And like that the three of them went outside towards the storage area of the n.

    Due to the presence of both the Patriarch and the First Elder, nobody even bothered to check whether they had permission to even be there.

    After going past thest set of guards They finally entered the storage room. Inside of the room was filled with mostly weapons and armour some even glowed with a soft colourful light showing off their magical nature. But it was not just that the room was stacked full of bottles each bottle contained tens of pills of all sorts of types be they energy recovering pills or healing pills, they all could be found here.

    But to Dante''s disappointment there seemed to be no elemental treasures like the scarlet me Rose anywhere.

    Puzzled by this discovery''s turned to ask the Patriarch.

    "The n''s treasure store seems very impressive but why can I not see any elemental treasures"

    Hearing Dante''s words the proud smirk on Patriarch Gavin''s face stiffenedpletely as he heard Dante''s question.

    "Well... it''s like this, elemental treasures are extremely rare and it''s difficult for them to form but the most painful part is that when they do form they are usually taken by arrogant disciples from sects or sometimes even the Vaenam Kingdom Military themselvese to im them! Only rtively useless elemental treasures are left for other people to im. "

    As he spoke Patriarch Gavin had an extremely pained expression on his face, it was clear that he was talking from painful experience.

    After seeing such a tragic expression Dante himself felt sorry for even bringing up the topic.

    Switching up the conversation Dante continued asking "let''s forget about the Elemental treasures, what I really wanted to ask was do you have any magic metals?" since the silver Dragon was a creature of great magical affinity magic metals were obviously going to be the best magic material to level up his silver Dragon and gain some energy points.

    Hearing Dante''s question Patriarch Gavin answered

    "Of course we have magic metals in fact I''m pretty sure we have one type of magic metal in abundance, Spirit Steel!"

    As he spoke Patriarch Gavin led them to an offshoot of the treasure room.

    Unlike the other room which was filled with various treasures of all shapes and sizes scattered all over the ce, this one was very neat andpact and contained only one material hundreds of shining grey ingots stood perfectly stacked inside the room creating an impressive sight to anyone seeing it for the first time.

    Seeing Dante''s impressed look Patriarch Gavin felt proud of himself and couldn''t resist exining.

    "This is the room where we store most of the mines spirit steel. Ever since I took over the role as patriarch of the n I have effectively doubled the amount of spirit steel mines due to my excellent role allocation and distribution of manpower, not bad isn''t it ? " asked Patriarch Gavin.

    But Dante was too focused on the massive piles of resources in front of him to be paying attention to the words of Patriarch Gavin and could only passively nod before asking.

    "Am I allowed to use these materials ?"

    "Of course you can or why else would I have even brought you here" replied Patriarch Gavin

 Chapter 45 - Level Up!

    "Of course you can or why else would I have even brought you here" replied Patriarch Gavin

    With those words of approval, Dante strode towards thergest pile of Spirit Steel within the room.

    letting out a deep breath Dante stretched out his hand above the mountain of spirit steel in front of him and imagined himself absorbing the Spirit Steel.

    soon familiar sound effect yed out in his head

    "Ding!"

    "Energy source detected!"

    "Convert into Energy Points or into Dragon Level ?"

    Hearing this notification, Dante thought about it before deciding to level up his Dragon level first before trying to max out his passive abilities.

    and with that he responded,

    "Convert into Dragon level !"

    "Roar !"

    A low dragon roar sounded out from Dantes body as he burst into a soft silver glow but unlike the normal ferocious crazed Roars of the Red Dragon, the cries of the Silver seemed like more of a majestic cry of a true Apex species.

    As he was absorbing the surrounding Spirit Steel Dante felt as if he had plunged deep into a cold pool of water as the cool sensation of metal wasn''t just felt on his skin he felt it flowing through every cell inside his body.

    But as this cool sensation was flowing throughout his body an annoying itching sensation was felt all over his body especially around his arms and legs. it felt as if something was trying to crawl out from inside.

    Suddenly polished silver scales started growing out of Dantes arms and legs as they started bing w-shaped while a pair of glowing crystalline horns started to grow out of the top of his head.

    then all of a sudden Dante was bombarded with notifications

    "Ding!"

    "Sufficient energy levels reached Upgrading Dragon Soul"

    "Congrattions on levelling up your Silver Dragon Soul towards the Next stage, The Juvenile Dragon Stage!"

    "New abilities unlocked

    Lesser Dragonification of the Silver Dragon - As the bearer of a dragon soul you are essentially a dragon trapped within a human body. Bymunicating with your dragon soul it allows you to partially take on your glorious draconic form. Silver Dragon Scales grow out of the skin only covering the arms and legs while hands and feet be wed. This form grants the user increased strength, speed agility and elements affinity. It also grants the user with increased physical and magical resistance and this statests for 15 mins

    But the process didn''t end there more and more Spirit Steel was absorbed as Dante kept poring the Energy into His Dragon Soul level.

    Both Winton and Patriarch Gavin were shocked at Dantes mystical and regal transformation but what shocked them most was the horrifying rate at which the surrounding Spirit Steel was being absorbed. Patriarch Gavin was hurt the most a painful expression appeared on his face as he thought ''This boy he''s going to drain the n storage of all the gathered Spirit steel over the years''

    but unfortunately for Patriarch Gavin Dante continued absorbing the surrounding Spirit Steel.

    "Ding !"

    "Congrattions on levelling up your Silver Dragon Soul towards the Next stage, The Mature Adult Dragon stage!"

    but before Dante could rejoice at his newfound level up a disappointing announcement hit his ears.

    "Error, detected Energy Source not of high enough quality to Level up Dragon Soul to the next level, Please find higher quality Energy Sources!"

    hearing this notification Dante was disheartened, it seemed like he wouldn''t be able to simply level up his Dragon souls by finding high amounts of Energy sources. It seemed that his system went by the Principle of quality over quantity.

    But fortunately for Dante, it seemed like it was still possible to convert the Spirit Steel into Energy Points but just not use them to level up his Dragon Soul level.

    After a few minutes absorbing Spirit Steel Dante finally finished absorbing enough Energy Points to fully Level up his abilities. after fully levelling up his abilities Dante had a look at his two new fully levelled up passives along with his fully levelled up original passive by opening the Silver Dragon attribute panel

    Race: Silver Dragon

    Age: Mature Adult Dragon

    Affinity: Mana

    Innate abilities:

    Dragon Fear - As True Dragon, you are at a higher level of life whenpared to mortal creatures. When angered you release a terrifying aura to your surroundings causing all creatures to undergo a will check if they fail the will check the target will be frightened and immobile and in some extreme cases unconscious

    Silver Dragon Breath -As a True Dragon, Dragons breath is your birthright and the first skill a growing Dragon develops and stays with the Dragon for the rest of its life. The user first inhales gathering pure Mana towards them. The user then roars letting before releasing a wave of pure elementless energy in a cone-like fashion causing purely magical damage to the target

    Lesser Dragonification of the Silver Dragon - As the bearer of a dragon soul you are essentially a dragon trapped within a human body. Bymunicating with your dragon soul it allows you to partially take on your glorious draconic form. Silver Dragon Scales grow out of the skin only covering the arms and legs while hands and feet be wed. This form grants the user increased strength, speed agility and elements affinity. It also grants the user with increased physical and magical resistance and this statests for 15 mins

    Passive skills :

    Mana touched 3/3

    As a Silver Dragon, you are the most in touch with all sorts of natural mana and spells whenpared to other true dragons. Due to your close contact with mana you have developed a resistance towards mana and all the various attributes and elements associated with it grants you 70% immunity to all magic damage at any level.

    Spell Craze! 3/3

    As a Silver Dragon, you have spent many years researching the mystery behind the power of the arcane. yourplete knowledge of the power and abilities of spells grants any pure magic and arcane attack you cast a 200% increase in damage dealt.

    Draconian Might 3/3 - As a Dragon, you are not only renowned for your amazing magical prowess and knowledge but also your terrifying strength. Awaken the draconic strength hiding inside you granting you a 300% increase in all base physical attributes.

    looking at the new passive the thing that grabbed Dantes attention the most was the whopping 70% magical damage immunity. this meant as long as they weren''t pure physical attacks Dante was basically a human tank. but it didn''t end there as he got another draconian Might passive and whenbined with his other draconian might passive it added up to a 600% increase meaning that his strength his base strength will always be multiplied by 7 regardless of what he does.

    but the scary thing was that since the Draconian might passive appeared on both his Red Dragon and Silver Dragon souls if appeared on all his other Dragon souls...

    just the thought of what his strength multiplier would be reached was truly terrifying and this was without even doing any physical training. If he managed to get a Decent Body refining technique Dantes strength could Drastically increase to terrifying heights!

 Chapter 46 - Cultivating Again

    Before Dante''s thoughts on world domination could take hold of him

    He was interrupted by Winton

    "Dante it seemed like your done absorbing Spirit Steel seeing how your just staring into space"

    Winton couldn''t help but look at Dante and couldn''t help but sigh.

    It seemed like every time he saw his son there would be something new changed about him.

    That''s not to say he hasn''t seen Dante''s dragonification form before. It''s just that the previous form he saw was attributed towards the Red Dragon and carried a wrathful and berserk aura around it which even caused Winton to start to worry about Dante''s new power because it was clear that the form was starting to affect his decision making, sometimes making him berserk and vicious.

    But unlike his old form, this new form seemed to carry a more of a more regal aura almost like an extremely ancient knowledgeable being and less of a violent beast.

    Breaking out of his wandering thoughts Winton continued

    "Seeing as you''ve gained some type of new form you must have managed to somehow increase your strength but don''t forget, no matter home many abilities you have Cultivation will always be the foundation of your strength. Don''t let all the magical abilities you have distract you from the basics.

    Because no matter all the abilities you have someone 3 cultivation levels above you has to just look at you to crush you like a bug, so don''t get too arrogant."

    "Hey cut the kid a break, " interrupted Patriarch Gavin ." I know he''s your kid and all and of course, you don''t want him to be arrogant. But you have to give credit where credits due. The kid managed to reach the fourth Layer within just barely under 2 weeks."

    Hearing Gavin, Winton could only give him a mean re for ruining his sagely image.

    "Of course I knew the kid was talented I just didn''t want it getting to his head, if the kid bes Bigheaded it''s all your fault, you can''t say I didn''t try" sighed Winton

    "Don''t worry dad, I won''t get ahead of myself and build a steady foundation." Said Dante

    "Well as long as you know," responded Winton

    "Well, I and patriarch Gavin better get going there''s been some suspicious activity around one of the ter n mines and we''ve found some ter n spies started to lurk around one of our n mines, so we have to be on guard for anything they have nned" after saying that they both headed out the treasure room leaving Dante behind.

    But what Patriarch Gavin and Winton didn''t know was that Dante had broken out into a cold sweat as they left.

    '' Damn, it looks like the stunt I pulled may have had bigger consequences than I thought. The ter n may even start a n war if they don''t find a solution soon.''

    ''I''ll need to find some time to talk to the Patriarch about what''s going on but for now let''s just focus on the challenge at hand.''

    As he thought this Dante walked his way out the shining treasure room with the guards closing the doors behind him after he left

    бн

    Minutester Dante was back inside his room as the Sun in the sky had started to set over the horizon.

    Feeling that the low level of his cultivation was limiting his Abilities, Dante finally set aside time to focus on cultivation.

    It felt like a with all the crazy heists and fights he''d been through In a short period of time it felt like it had been ages before he set aside time to properly cultivate.

    But before he started cultivating he brought out his moonlight sword

    "Buzz!"

    The moonlight sword let out a delighted humm as it was brought out of Dante''s storage bag.

    It had been a while since Dantest used his Moonlight Sword and it clearly affected these it''s as Dante could clearly feel a strong aura of sadness from the little use the sword had in recent times.

    All Dante could do wasfort the sword and reassure it would be used much more often Causing it to calm down.

    As the Moonlight Sword naturally attracted energy towards itself it could greatly speed up Dante''s cultivation and was must have during any of his cultivation sessions.

    Slowly Dante sat down on a lotus poster and started to circte the moon king sutra cultivation technique as silvery particles of energy flowed towards Dante.

    Eventually after some time Dante could felt something snap inside him then more moonlight energy poured towards him.

    Dante had sessfully broken through the bottle neck finally entering the 5th Layer of the Martial novice Realm !

    But Dante didn''t spend too much time enjoying his breakthrough as he knew his cultivation was just too low and needed to be quickly increased to y a major part in the uing inter-npetition.

    So after a brief moment of celebration Dante went back to the slow yet steady process of cultivation as the Moonlight Sword continued to let out a soft hum as more and more energy particles towards it speeding up Dante''s Cultivation.

    Slowly Dante''s cultivation continued well into the next morning .

    Taking a break from what felt like only a few hours of cultivation Dante looked up to find that the night had turned into Day.

    It seemed like Dante had once again managed to cultivate into the next day!

 Chapter 47 - Stepping Up To The Challenge

    It seemed like Dante had once again managed to cultivate into the next day!

    '' shit I have a fight in front of the whole n today, I can''t afford to bete to it!''

    Quickly Dante freshened up and donned his favourite pair of ck and gold robes that he usually wore.

    After admiring his good looks for a few seconds, Dante left the house and headed towards the n training grounds where the fights were being held.

    бн

    The n training ground was packed with people. From the stewards to the Elders most people free from the Kinsman n could be found at the training ground at this time it was evenparable to the crowds at the Martial Spirit awakening ceremony.

    This is all because They heard the news that, Dante The first person in the history of The Kinsman n two awaken 2 Martial Spirits, would be fighting the rest of the younger generation of the n today

    "To think that there would be a day when a person with two Martial spirits appears within our Kinsman n. This is the first time such a legendary talent has appeared inside the Kinsman n, with Dante it can only mean the rise of our Kinsman family!" Said one spectator in amazement

    "So what if Dante could awaken 2 Martial Spirits, he''s just too arrogant. To think he challenged 9thyer Martial Novice cultivators Whilst only being inside of the 4thyer himself. He''s just too arrogant, doesn''t he know that just being a dual martial spirit holder doesn''t mean sess, there have been many instances of dual Martial spirit awakened bing nothing." Commented another spectator.

    " not to mention the fact in this challenge he has to fight against the strongest people in his generation. Take one of the Ninthyer cultivators Gawain for example, not only has Gawain been cultivating for much longer than Dante he also has much morebat experience than him. And coupled with fact that Dante has to face many people like Gawain back to back, I just don''t think Dante can pull this off."

    "I still believe in Dante, I think you''re forgetting the greatest warrior in the Vaenam Kingdom right now, the legendary Sword Saint, was a dual spirit awakener. If Dante only has a fraction of his talent as dual Spirit awakener then Dante would grow to be a top genius" interrupted another onlooker.

    Both of the spectators just couldn''t see eye to eye on this matter but before their argument could continue any fear a boisterous cheer erupted from within the training ground.

    Dante had arrived!

    бн

    As Dante approached the training ground only then did he manage to understand the scale of the spectators at this challenge.

    It seemed like all the Kinsman n members with time hade here to watch this match.

    But not only were the spectators a lot but there were also many challengers. It seemed like the temptation of bing the focus of all the n''s resources was too much for anyone to resist hence the ridiculous number of challengers appearing.

    Dante could roughly count anywhere up to 30 challengers and the crazy thing was that they were all in the 6thyer of the Martial Novice realm and above.

    To make matters worse Dante recognised four Ninth Layer Martial Novice realm cultivators inside of the crowd.

    Dante was pretty anti-social before he awakened his past life''s memories and not much has changed since then. But even with his antisocial personality he still had to recognise arguably the strongest members of the generation.

    These were the four, ninthyer cultivators present here.

    Looking at the crowd it was easy to spot them as even the group of challengers made space around them to avoid them showing respect.

    The most conspicuous of the four, were two brothers, Algar and Albert. Just like Brian, the two brothers were said to be born with divine strength and so their physical strength always trumped people in the same level as them.

    This must have been reflected in their physique as both stood at a massive height of 6ft7 towering over the crowd. In addition to this, it was clear to see the scary amount of muscle these guys had despite both of them still wearing loose robes.

    But don''t be deceived by the looks of these brothers they were not even the strongest of the four.

    There were still 2 people stronger than them amongst the younger generation and one of them was the only woman amongst the top 4, Savanna.

    She had a beautiful face and jet ck hair coupled with piercing eyes that seemed to look into your very soul.

    But don''t let her beautiful looks deceive you, she still was a true cultivator that had gone through numerous battles and fights to get where she was and wouldn''t hesitate to kill to get her goals. She even has the reputation of the most vicious of the four with numerous stories of her shattering the spine of her enemies during battle giving her the reputation of the scariest of the four.

    Last but not least was the strongest of the four, Gawain. He was a handsome young man with a charismatic smile. He seemed tomand the respect of all the people, even the 3 other ninthyer cultivators showing themand and respect he received as the strongest of the younger generation of the Kinsman n.

    Of course, this was not taking Reba into ount.

 Chapter 48 - The First Challenger

    Of course, this was not taking Reba into ount.

    With the mutated me Naga martial spirit, shepletely dominated the younger generation while she was still at the n and after entering the Hidden Dragon Academy in the capital the gap between her and the rest of the n only got further and further.

    The fact is that if Curtis didn''t return to the ter n with the backing of the Blood Moon Pce. Just Reba alone would have been enough to stomp on thepetition from both the ter n and the Pierce n.

    After clearing his head of his random thoughts, Dante slowly but confidently approached the gathering of challengers but before he could approach, a young man jumped out to stop him

    "Dante!" cried out the young man

    "you''ve let your ego get to your head, with such a low cultivation level, how dare you im to be the strongest when you are barely even in the fifthyer."

    "You clearly need to be humbled. If you can''t even beat me in a fight you have no right challenging anybody else!"

    At first Dante was taken aback and amused at this strange young man jumping out in front of him. But as he heated what he was saying the smile on his face faded.

    "Oh, and who gave you the confidence to think that you''ll be the one to defeat me ?" Asked Dante Puzzled at this man''s unfounded belief

    "As someone in the seventhyer, I don''t need any encouragement to beat somebody in the fifthyer " responded the young man

    "Ohбн well we can see if you still keep this confidence after we fight then"

    As Dante spoke he retrieved his trusty Moonlight sword from his space pouch

    "Buzz!"

    Being released from the space pouch the Moonlight Sword let out a harmonious buzz of joy while it glimmered in a silver light.

    As the sword was ced in Dante''s hands the aura around him changed instantly bing as cold as a winter moon while his indifferent gazended upon his challenger.

    Just the cold and emotionless gaze caused his challenger to break into a nervous sweat.

    He had just realised that the information he was giving was dangerously inurate, Dante wasn''t some lucky naive kid as described but instead, he seemed more like an emotionless monster!

    But it was already toote for him as since h had already started the fight it was toote to back off now and although the aura Dante was giving off was rather intimidating, he was only in the 5thyer how strong could he really be?

    Retrieving the sword from around his waist he coated it in the signature fire element of the Kinsman n.

    "Phantom ghost steps!"

    Using the mostmon movement technique amongst the Kinsman n the young man moved at terrifying speed appearing in front of Dante.

    Without hesitation, he brought down a powerful sh at Dante''s face.

    Seeing this Dante let out a swift sh to meet the sword

    "Bang!"

    A shockwave exploded out from the violent sh of swords.

    The young man was slightly shocked at the strength in just the swing of one arm of Dante''s attack.

    Despite using two hands he felt himself being slowly overpowered in their brief sh.

    At this moment the Young man knew he had to go all out if he had any chance of winning.

    "Burst!!"

    As he cried out his sword started glowing in a deep red colour. Sensing the change in the sword right in front of him, Dante tried to escape but he was still too slow

    "Boom!"

    A deafening explosion rang out while a cloud of smoke shot out into the sky

    "Luckily I caught him off guard with that" rejoiced the young man as he looked at the cloud of smoke.

    But to the young man''s dismay as the smoke cleared in the crater stood Dantepletely unscathed!

    While the crowd was still in shock at how easily Dante shrugged of his attack Dante was thinking bout two passives

    Heart of mes 3/3 - Your heart burns with an inextinguishable elemental fire Granting you :

    100%immunity to mes at your level.

    50% damage reduction to mes at a higher level which decreases by 5% for every level Higher than you the attacker is.

    mes at the same level or lower levels heal for 25% of damage dealt

    Mana touched 3/3

    As a Silver Dragon, you are the most in touch with all sorts of natural mana and spells whenpared to other true dragons. Due to your close contact with mana you have developed a resistance towards mana and all the various attributes and elements associated with it grants you 70% immunity to all magic damage at any level.

    Only now could Dante reallyprehend the ridiculousness of these passives together.

    Just the Mana touched passive alone that made him only take 30% of the damage from energy attacks was enough to make his opponents feel like giving up.

    Butbined with the resistance to the fire element granted to him by his Heart of mes passive made him a nightmare for any fire element based cultivators to fight.

    Unfortunately for most of the Kinsman n, this was the primary element they used since the bloodline martial spirit of the Kinsman n was, the me serpent, a fire elemental martial Spirit so they would progress much easier in fire elemental techniques than other ones.

    But this just made life much easier for Dante and much harder for the rest of the n.

 Chapter 49 - Ambition

    But this just made life much easier for Dante and much harder for the rest of the n.

    Dante couldn''t get lost in his thoughts he was still in a fight after all and although his passives granted him high resistance to certain elemental attacks that didn''t mean physical attacks wouldn''t hurt him.

    Breaking out of his thoughts Dante looked towards the young man who was still in shock that he had Ben been touched by such a fierce explosion at such close proximity.

    "Howбн how are you not even touched by such an attack at close range" asked the young man in amazement

    But all he received was a in smile from Dante as he burst into a dazzling silver light

    "Lunar Sword technique, crescent moon!"

    As he said those words Dante swung his sword in a circr motion releasing a curved de of pure moonlight energy towards the young man.

    "Boom!"

    Sensing the approaching attack the young man dived out the way avoiding the terrifying st.

    But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard a sound that made his heart sink.

    "Crescent Moon!"

    Before he could react two shining crescent des of energy started hurtling towards the young man

    "Boom! Boom!"

    This time it was unfortunately toote for the young man to dodge this time as he was sent flying and hurtling across the ground.

    Seeing that his opponent waspletely defeated Dante was about to call out his next challenge but before he could he was stopped.

    "p! p! p!"

    Turning towards the origin of the sound Dante saw that Gawain, the strongest member of the younger generation, had approached him while pping

    "You really are talented Dante, to so easily defeat somebody in the 7thyer, two small realms above you, only shows how skilled you are. But if you think that''s enough to im the title of the strongest your surely mistaken"

    "You took so long to defeat only one 7thyer cultivator, if you keep fighting everybody one by one it will only be a matter of time before your run out of energy."

    After saying this he gradually approached Dante and spoke in a lower tone so the crowd wouldn''t be able to hear.

    "I''d hate to break it to you but It''s a trap Dante, there was no chance of you winning right from the very start"

    "How about this Dante? If you can defeat any of us in the top four you can still get resources from the n but the amount you will get will be greatly reduced. But don''t worry it''s still better than the nothing you would get from being slowly worn down and defeated"

    "You can''t me me, Dante, the resources you get have toe from somewhere meaning less for us you can''t me us for working against you?"

    Dante was in a tough spot.

    He had thought he was inplete control and could easily use this challenge to gather the support of the n but instead, he seemed to have simply walked into the trap of Grand elder Harrison.

    But instead of feeling despair or panic he had expected to feel, Dante felt something else. Ambition!

    Instead of seeing a hopeless loss, Dante saw a different way to establish himself as the undisputed strongest.

    Instead of fighting 1 by 1, why not just fight everyone at once!

    Dante didn''t know if it may be due to his Dragon Souls or maybe due to the fact he felt like he could be something more in this life, but Dante felt a burning desire grow inside of him.

    This desire made him want to change himself, a desire to be a ruler, a desire topletely control his own fate.

    He wasn''t the same person he used to be in his old life, ving away as a seamless meme we of society ndly living out his monotonous process of work, eat, sleep, repeat. instead in this life, he had the talent to truly be somebody and the backing of his family to support. I''d he really wanted to be something he would have to take it with his own hands. The only thing stopping his ambition was theck of action from himself.

    After thinking this, there was a new ambition inside of Dante, and with that renewed ambition he turned towards Gawain and gave his own proposal

    "How about we do it like this? Why not just let me fight all of you at once, that way it won''t be possible for you to slowly drain me of energy"

    Hearing his proposal Gawain''s face turned into an unpleasant smile

    "Fight all 30 of us at once! Dante, I don''t know if your too arrogant or just look down on us that much but it''s not possible for you to fight us all at once !"

    Hearing Gawain''s displeased shout the crowd of spectators burst into an uproar

    "Fight a 30 v 1 I don''t care talented he is, his pride caused him to underestimate his opponents"

    "I told you, he''s just too arrogant. he really needs to be humbled before his pride gets out of control"

    But before the discussions could continue the patriarch spoke out

    "If Dante wants to fight all of you at once, he has every right to do so"

    "since he was the one who started the challenge in the first ce, he can choose who he fights and what he wants to do"

 Chapter 50 - 1 Vs 30

    "since he was the one who started the challenge in the first ce, he can choose who he fights and what he wants to do"

    Hearing this Gawain''s face contorted even more

    "Fine since you want to underestimate us so much. We will all fight you at once, just don''t me me when you have been brutally beaten" scowled Gawain

    Hearing his words the rest of the challengers started to surround Dante from all angles forming a circle around him.

    The crowd started to go silent as they watched the battle start to y out.

    Looking around him Dante couldn''t help but smile.

    Dante''s blood seemed to boil in anticipation at the iing fight

    Once again he felt a mystical unknowns force flowing through him but different from his Dragon souls, this power felt more intrinsic and connected to him, it was the power of his own blood!

    "Badum! Badum! Badum!"

    Deafening heartbeats echoed throughout the whole training ground as giant burst silver exploded coating the training ground in silver.

    "Be careful everyone, he''s about to use his artistic conception-"

    But before the warning could go off

    Dante spoke

    "Lunar Sword technique, Rising New Moon!"

    Instantly an illusion of the moon formed in the sky above the training ground

    "Strike!"

    With hismand, a fierce rain of endless silver beams poured from the sky towards the crowd of challengers surrounding him

    "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

    "Argh!"

    "Help!"

    Screams sounded around Dante as the victims of his attacks were sent flying through the smoke of his attacks.

    But before Dante could rx a giant figure broke through the smoke around him.

    It was one of the top four, Algar!

    Appearing in front of him almost instantaneously Algar sent out a horrific fist directly towards him.

    But Dante wouldn''t be beaten so easily, instinctively Dante raised the moonlight sword above him to block his attack

    "Bang!"

    As fist and sword collided a loud bang sounded, leaving Dante shocked at the toughness of his opponent''s fist that allowed him to fearlessly sh with his sword.

    Swiftly, Dante raised his sword coating it in a silvery membrane of spirit energy before sending out an attack towards Algar.

    In response, Algar also coated his fists in the red fire element before meeting Dante''s own attack with his fist.

    "Bang!"

    Again their attacks met releasing a shockwave.

    To Algar''s surprise unlikest time was pushed back showing Dante''s strength over him despite him being born with Divine strength himself.

    Unfortunately for Algar Fante didn''t seem to let up sensing attack after attack forcing him to retreat more and more with every attack.

    Just as Dante was about to send another attack at Algar, an rm seemed to go off in his head alerting him of possible danger.

    Turning his head Dante saw a giant figure covered in a coat of mes hurtling toward him at a terrifying speed. looking at the gigantic size of the person it could only be Algar''s brother who also has Divine strength, Albert!

    "zing impact!"

    In the blink of an eye, the burning figure had appeared in front of Dante but its speed was just too fast for Dante to react.

    Using the terrifying speed and force from his charge, Albert collided with Dante using the full weight of his body while bathed in a dangerous concentration of fire elemental energy causing arge st.

    "Boom!"

    Although the fire element st didn''t do much damage to Dante due to his ''

    [Heart of mes] passive ability reducing the damage he took from fire element attacks. But that didn''t mean he brushed off the attack, Dante had no abilities to resist physical damage and was still sent flying high up into the air by thebined power of the explosion and the charge.

    Still in the air, Dante took a moment to collect himself and recover before looking down on the crowd of challengers beneath him.

    But while in the air Dante seemed to notice something strange about the formation of the challengers underneath.

    Looking down he seemed to make eye contact with Gawain on the ground, as he did he saw a terrifying smirk form on Gawain''s face.

    Seeing such a smug smile on his enemy set off rm bells in Dante''s head.

    As he tried to reach cover Dante realised falling through the air the control over his mobility was terrifyingly low.

    Then it all made sense to Dante, the goal of Gawain and his crew was to get him into the air for an easy attack from the very start!

    Back on the ground Gawain and his fellow challengers seemed to have finished charging up their attacks.

    Looking up at Dante, Gawain felt it was the perfect opportunity.

    "Attack!" Screamed Gawain

    As he said those words the training ground seemed to burst into a colourful disy of fireworks as the remaining challengers released various attacks towards Dante.

    Attacks of all sorts of attributes ranging from fire to wind and sometimes even lightning poured towards Dante in a cluster of blinding colours

    "BOOM!"

    A deafening, apocalyptic explosion formed at the centre of impact where Dante was leaving the onlooker speechless.

    "Itбн it''s over! How is anyone meant to survive that!"

    "Damn, those challengers were too vicious. Dante will be lucky to even survive such an attack"

    "Well it''s his own fault, he shouldn''t have let his arrogance control him know he has to pay for the consequences of his actions!"

    But to the shock of all the spectators when the smoke cleared the sight they saw wasn''t one they had expected

 Chapter 51 - 1 Vs 30 Part 2

    But to the shock of all the spectators when the smoke cleared the sight they saw wasn''t one they had expected.

    Instead of a mangled body, they found A shocking sight.

    What they found was Dante standing there seemingly unharmed, his favourite pair of ck and gold robes had been torn to shreds with gaping holes running through it. But that wasn''t the most shocking thing, Dante''s arms and legs were covered in shining silver dragon scales as a pair of crystal horns seemed to grow out of his head as Dante stood there with an arrogant smirk on his face looking at the stunned crowd of challengers.

    "Whatбнwhat is this bullshit!"

    "How does he seem unscathed after all the attacks!"

    The spectators and challengers couldn''t understand how he had managed to shrug off such a terrifying bombardment of attacks but Dante knew it was due to his broken passivesbined with his dragonified form boosting his magic resistance to ridiculous levels.

    Seeing Gawain smug smile turn into a shocked face almost made Dante burst outughing.

    While the challengers were still in shock Dante made the first move

    "Roar!"

    A horrifying aura spread with Dante at the centre, it was the iconic skill of the Dragon race, Dragon Fear!

    [ Dragon Fear ]- As True Dragon, you are at a higher level of life whenpared to mortal creatures. When angered you release a terrifying aura to your surroundings causing all creatures to undergo a will check if they fail the will check the target will be frightened and immobile and in some extreme cases unconscious

    unlike his normal Dragon fear ability, this time Dante was using the Dragon fear ability from not just his Red Dragon soul but also his Silver Dragon soul bringing the intimidation factor to new levels. Thebined effect of the two dragons wasn''t as simple as 1 + 1 = 2 but instead had much stronger exponential growth than that and was more like 1 + 1 = 5!

    As the aura encased the group of challengers it felt as if they had been plunged into freezing cold water as some of the weaker ones seemed to tremble in fear. some who made eye contact with Dante could swear that they saw a pair of two humongous Dragons, one silver and one Red, looking at them as if they were going to devour them whole

    "Argh!"

    "Someone save me please!"

    Screams of panic started as the challengers were thrown into disorder and fear causing a mess.

    "Calm down, it''s just an illusion !"

    Gawain tried to calm down and organise the mess the panicked challengers made But unfortunately for Gawain the challengers were scared out of their minds and couldn''t be controlled.

    But this didn''t mean the fight was over some challengers with a strong will and mind managed to resist the aura of Dragon Fear. One such person was Savanna, one of the strongest in the younger generation.

    Her figure flickered as she shuttled towards Dante appearing behind him.

    "me snake bite!"

    Crimson coloured mes engulfed her arms as she sent out a fierce attack causing a swarm of fire snakes to rush at Dante.

    Dante wouldn''t let himself take a beating for nothing. A deafening hum rang out from his moonlight sword as a giant field of silver formed beneath his feet covering the training field.

    "Ding! Ding! Ding!"

    With a melodious ring, a phantom of the moon rose straight in the sky covering the onlookers in ayer of moonlight

    "No matter how many times I see it, his artistic conception never ceases to amaze me!" sighed one onlooker

    "Truly a talent never seen before in the history of my Kinsman n"mented another in amazement

    "Badum! Badum! Badum!"

    Dante''s heart was beating furiously as his powerful bloodline circted throughout his whole body

    "Lunar sword technique, Rising New Moon!"

    "Strike!"

    The moon shed as hundreds of beams of moonlight energy sted towards the savanna''s attack

    And coupled with his new passive ability [ Spell Craze! ] that granted his arcane attacks 200% increase in damage only made his attacks more deadly

    "Boom! Boom!"

    A loud explosion rang out as the two different energies collidedpletely negating Savanna''s iing attack

    But Dante wasn''t finished yet with a motion of his sword countless beams of moonlight energy hurtles towards Savanna.

    "Bang!"

    the beams of energy hit Savanna sending her flying through the sky.

    But before he could finish off the job, a figure appeared sending out a punch towards his head.

    "Bang"

    Dante raised his scaly, wed hand to catch the blow.

    Looking at the attacker he could see the attacker he recognised that was once again Algar!

    He hade again to try and stop Dante but this time Dante wouldn''t be letting him off as easily.

    Tightening his grip around Algar''s fist Dante tensed his muscles slowly raising Algar straight into the air above his head. Algar tried desperately but in front of Dante who had the benefits of 2 draconic might passives that provided him with an increase of 700% to his base strength made it almost impossible for Algar to resist.

    Using all of his strength Dante , swung the body of Algar straight into the ground !

    "Boom!"

    A loud bang went off as Algar''s body made impact with the ground causing a small crater to form.

    Before Dante could continue his attack another figure came from nowhere attacking Dante from the side.

    But Dante wouldn''t be caught of guard that easily. instantly Dante waved his sword sending out a strike in the direction of his Attacker

 Chapter 52 - 1v 30 Part 3

    Instantly Dante waved his sword sending out a strike in the direction of his Attacker.

    "Bang!"

    Dante''s sword collided with the attacker sending him stumbling backwards

    As he looked at who the attacker was he realised it was Algar''s brother, Albert!

    "Damn, there''s just no way we can beat him on our own. Gawain! Stop looking on and help us or we''ll all be defeated" screamed Albert in desperation as he continued dodging Dante''s attacks

    Sigh!

    " I really didn''t want to expose my cards before the inter-npetition but Dante, you left me no choice!"

    As he spoke a pir of golden me burst from around him. The mes were so hot Gawain started to burn himself as the surrounding earth turned to magma

    "Arrrgh!"

    Gawain let out a horrifying scream as he condensed the mes into his arms causing them to glow a blinding yellow light

    "Thatбн. That move, didn''t Grand Elder Harrison use something simr when fighting the first elder?"

    "Wasn''t it a secret technique he newly developed why does Gawain have that technique?"

    Hearing the words around him Winton couldn''t help but frown and turned to Grand Elder Harrison

    "Care to exin yourself? Why does Gawain conveniently know your secret technique all of a sudden when he''s not even your disciple ?"

    " whoever I choose to teach my secret technique to is non of your business, Shouldn''t you be more worried about your son things aren''t looking too good for him."

    For an instant, Winton''s killing intent red causing everyone including Elder Harrison to shiver but Winton quickly gathers himself back together

    "Humph!"

    Winton let out a cold snort as he turned away from Elder Harrison and back to the fight

    ''There''s no need to fight the old bastard over something so little, anyway from what I''ve seen Dante should have the ability to deal with this. As long as they don''t pull any more tricks Dante should have this in the bag! '' thought Winton

    бн

    Back on the training ground, Gawain was still struggling to control his berserk mes.

    Dante knew he couldn''t just let Gawain power up such a powerful attack but all the rest of the challengers kept obstructing and blocking Dante''s path. When one was defeated another would quickly take his ce, no matter how strong Dante was he couldn''t just teleport through a group of people.

    "Hahaha finally!"

    Looking towards the origin of the sound Dante saw Gawain calmly standing as a Golden Chinese dragon swam around his body.

    "Dante you forced me to use this technique against you. Despite the struggle, it''s worth it as with this I can send out an attack equivalent to that of the Mid Martial journeyman realm !"

    Dante looked around and realised that the group of people that had surrounded him had quietly disappeared.

    Dante knew it would be impossible to dodge, he would have to face the attack head-on

    " it''s over Dante, let''s bring this challenge to an end!"

    "Fire Dragon Palm!"

    "Roar!"

    The golden dragon let out a roar as it swam along Gawain''s a before shooting towards Dante.

    Dante''s scales started to sh silver as arcane energies seemed to pour towards him.

    "Silver Dragon Breath!"

    "Roar!"

    As he roared, Dante let out a cone of pure arcane energy that collide with the golden Chinese Dragon.

    But to Dante''s surprise, the Silver Dragon Breath attack on its own wasn''t enough topletely deal with Gawain''s attack. In fact, the golden Chinese Dragon was slowly approaching Dante gradually pushing through Dante''s oing breath of arcane energy.

    As it got closer and closer Dante knew he had to do something because if he let that dragon touch him even with all his resistances he would still be greatly injured.

    In response, Dante roused his Red Dragon soul. Sensing a strange draconic entity approaching, the Red Dragon Soul felt challenged and waspletely infuriated causing it to let out a devastating Roar that shook the whole training ground.

    Numerous fire element particles started flowing towards Dante as his surroundings started to heat up.

    A streak of raging hot mes shot out of Dante''s mouth mixing with the already white breath attack from the silver dragon.

    "What?!"

    Gawain was shocked as his golden Chinese Dragon roared before exploding

    "Bang!"

    The two different types of breath attacks had a multiplier effect as two different elements mixed resulting in a loud explosion.

    The two different explosions covered the sky blinding everyone for a few seconds with their blinding lights.

    Everyone held their breath as they waited to see who hade out on top of this battle.

    As the smoke cleared only one figure could be seen still standing in smoke.

    A scaly horned figure could be seen holding an unconscious body by the neck

    It was Dante! He had defeated Gawain and was holding him up like he was a victory trophy.

    Turning towards the remaining challenger Dante released his Dragon Fear Aura.

    He took a step forward causing them to move back in fear.

    "Now, are you going to surrender yourself or do you still need me to convince you? "

    "ng! ng!"

    Seeing the clear difference between them some challengers dropped their weapons in surrender, eventually, all remaining challengers dropped their weapons in surrender.

    Seeing the end of the fight, Patriarch Gavin floated down from the stands where he was spectating

    "What a great fight!"

    "With the looks of this it''s clear to announce Dante as the winner of the challenge, not only did he fight the strongest of the younger generation he fought them all at once!"

    "Dante is officially the strongest of the younger generation of the Kinsman n and will therefore be the focus of the n! He''s a one of kind talent that will surely take the n to new heights!"

    As soon as Patriarch Gavin finished speaking the crowd burst into cheer

 Chapter 53 - Victory

    As soon as Patriarch Gavin finished speaking the crowd burst into cheer

    "Haha I always knew Dante would win, after all, he''s dual spirit awakener just like the Sword Saint !"

    "You only knew he was special after he awakens you Martial Spirits? I knew he was amazing talent after he awakened his first Martial Spirit, didn''t you see the heavenly phenomena caused, this could only mean he was an unimaginable talent."

    While the rest of the n was still arguing over Who had supported Dante first, one person was not happy at all. That person was of course Grand Elder Harrison.

    ''Damn this kid always getting in my way anytime I try something. First, it was his grandfather then it was his father and his uncle and now even this little shit is bing a hindrance! That family is always obstructing my ns, whatever happens next just know you forced me to do this!'' Thought Grand Elder Harrison as he quietly left the scene.

    But Grand Elder Harrison wasn''t the only one feeling conflicted about Dante''s victory another person who was feeling conflicted was Klent.

    But instead of feeling anger at Dante, Klent was feeling angry at himself.

    He used to consider himself and Dante as rivals but now with just a few days he already reached apletely different level where he could crush him with ease. But what had he done in this time? He was already spent 3 years stuck at a minor bottleneck so he had 3 years of training on Dante and was already being left behind.

    Klent refused to ept it. He refused to be left behind by his peers again, he refused to be insulted and seen as trash ever again.

    This time he will not be left behind! not now, not ever!

    And just like that, a burning desire for strength was born inside Klent, one stronger than he had ever felt before.

    With a newfound conviction, Klent left the crowd eager to go and practice and perfect his strength. But due to his focus and eagerness What Klent missed was during this rusty old Sword briefly let out a soft buzz while glowing in white lightбн

    бн

    After the crowd of challengers and spectators had fully left the scene Dante returned back to his room and thought about the fight he had.

    Whilst there were many excellent things he did in the fight, he also made many mistakes and let himself fall into big traps set by the enemy. This w was obviously due to hisck ofbat experience and training which led to him having a rather low battle IQ. After all, in Dante''s previous life he was only a regr citizen so he didn''t really have much experience in fighting so there would always be situations where he would instinctively make a bad decision.

    But fortunately, this could easily be fixed by sparing with sparring with other fighters to fix hisck of fighting reflex.

    But another major weakness he discovered was hisck of mobility. In a 1 on 1 fight, it wasn''t always obvious but in fights where multiple people were at king him at once, he found himself Boeing controlled by the crowd. If he wanted to get past the crowd to reach someone he would have had to fight his way through them, but with a strong movement technique, he would be able to slip past most, if not all of the challengers preventing himself from being controlled and restricted like that.

    This was a problem that was easy to fix, just by getting a decent movement technique he would be to greatly increase his mobility and with the status of the strongest among the younger generation, almost no techniques will be off-limits to him.

    After assessing the strengths and weaknesses shown in hisst fight Dante brought out his Moonlight sword and started cultivating. All though he felt confident in his abilities he knew that if anything went wrong in the inter-npetition he would just be too weak to do anything worthwhile..

    бн

    The next day, morning came and Dante had already got up and was ready for the day ahead.

    After some time Dante left his room early, today he wanted to eat breakfast with his father as there were quite a few questions he wanted to ask him.

    After some walking, Dante managed to leave his courtyard and enter his father''s one. Soon he came before the dining Hall and after greeting some maids and butlers along the way Dante entered.

    But to his surprise when he entered he wasn''t greeted by the usual sight of his father quietly eating, instead there seemed to be two other people there with him. Those two people were Patriarch Gavin and his daughter Reba.

    Seeing Dante''s surprised look Patriarch Gavin spoke

    "What? Are you surprised we popped in to join you? I''m your uncle I cane to join you anytime for a meal, quit acting so surprised."

    Dante was just a bit surprised by the sudden addition of two people he was used to it just being him and his father but soon he quickly adjusted.

    As he got to the dining table he chose a seat next to Reba.

    "Good morning Dante."

    "Good Morning Reba "

    "I forgot to congratte you on winning the challenge yesterday and officially bing the strongest among the younger generation!" Said Reba

    "There''s no need to worry, it''s just a superficial title anyway," replied Dante

    "We all know if you were in thepetition yesterday you could have easily beat everyone their me included" he continued

 Chapter 54 - Curtis Slater

    "We all know if you were in thepetition yesterday you could have easily beat everyone their me included" continued Dante

    "You don''t have to be modest, you really are talented. Talents like you are hard to find even in ces like the Hidden Dragon Academy "

    "It''s just hard to believe that the little Dante who use to cry and hide behind me has already grown up and be so strong "

    "Well it''s to be expected, everyone has to grow up eventually "

    "Sigh"

    "I know, I know. It''s just that you used to be much cuter back then "

    "Oh? how was I cuter?"

    "Well, for a start, your cheeks were rounder And your eyesбн"

    As she was speaking, Reba blushed as she stared into Dante''s eyes that seemed to twinkle with a silver light almost like a pair of stars.

    Patriarch Gavin sensed a strange atmosphere forming in the air and he didn''t like it one bit so he quickly spoke interrupting the conversation between Dante and Reba

    " That''s enough talk about Dante, you need to worry more about yourself! Curtis ter is returning back to Brightsteel City and he''s stronger than ever. It won''t be so easy to beat him in the inter-npetition this time, especially when you''ll definitely be one of the targets of his revenge!"

    Hearing the name Curtis The aura around Reba change quickly, causing even Dante to shiver

    "That piece of trash! Thest time we fought I showed pity and spared his life. But if he''s stupid enough toe again I''ll make sure he''s dead for real this time!" Replied Reba

    Seeing Reba''s swift change in attitude and disgust when Curtis was brought up Dante was curious about the story about him and could help asking

    "So what''s the whole story about this Curtis person in the first ce?"

    As he turned to Reba all he received was a cold scoff, clearly, she didn''t want to talk about the topic.

    Eventually, Patriarch Gavin got tired of the silence and answered his question.

    "Well, it all starts with a deal made during the time of your grandfather. At that time tensions between the ter n and Kinsman n had risen to an all-time high with stores being raided and enemy nsmen being killed in broad daylight.

    Eventually, both patriarchs decided to end the conflict once and for all by joining both ns through marriage.

    After the agreement was made tensions between both ns slowly but surely settled.

    But then a problem came, your grandfather only had two sons who were me and your father and the Patriarch of the ter n only had 1 son. So it was decided that the agreement fell to next-generation which were Reba and Curtis.

    But nobody would have expected that Curtis would be unable to awaken his Martial Spirit during the awakening ceremony bing the number one trash of Brightsteel City. Of course, I wouldn''t let my daughter marry such a piece of trash, it would be too humiliating for her to marry such a failure. So after much debating, and arguing it was agreed If he couldn''t beat Reba in the Inter-npetition the engage the would be cancelled. Of course, Curtis without a Martial Spirit stood no chance against Reba and was easily defeated resulting in the annulling of the engagement.

    But no one could predict that Curtis would manage to awaken a new mutated martial Spirit and even attract the attention of one of the biggest sects on the continent, he seems to being for revenge! "

    The more Dante listens to the story the more he felt something was off

    ''Previously seen as trash?

    Broken engagement?

    Magically be a genius?

    Now he''s returning for apletion?

    Wait a second, isn''t this the perfect temte for a typical protagonist?''

    ''And if Curtis is the protagonist.... doesn''t that make The Kinsman n the viin !''

    The pieces of the puzzle had started to finally fit together in Dante''s head

    ''Fk! This situation seems much more serious than I could have ever imagined !''

    Thinking about all the novels Dante had read in his previous life and the horrible ending of the antagonists and viins, Dante started but break out in a nervous sweat.

    Dante looked towards Patriarch Gavin and his Father who were calmly eating

    ''I don''t think they understand the severity of the person they have pissed off. If he really does have protagonist level powers, I really need to upgrade my strength before I could even hope to try and change the situation in ''

    Dante decided to upgrade his strength in the easiest and quickest way possible for him

    By Learning a movement technique!

    Turning towards Reba Dante asked.

    "Reba, the cultivation level of people of people at the Hidden Dragon Academy is generally higher than that of the people at the Kinsman n?"

    "Of course" replied Reba

    "In fact, most of the Elders there are in the Martial adept realm. Just one of them would be enough to solve this problem that the ter n is in "continued Reba

    " great "replied Dante

    "So if they are generally stronger it should mean that they have better techniques," asked Dante

    "Of course we have better techniques while the best techniques you could possibly get here at the Kinsman n would be gold rank techniques, back at the Hidden Dragon academy most starter techniques for disciples led that enter the martial journeyman realm will be at the gold level."

    "If they feel you are really talented you may even have permission to take a tinum rank technique. In some rare cases, there have been instances of elders passing down diamond rank techniques to their favourite disciples"

    Hearing this, Dante knew his initial assumptions were correct. Now he just had to get the techniques from Reba.

    "That''s great Reba! Then would it be possible for you to teach me some good movement techniques, as long as it''s not an inconvenience for you of course"

    After a short time, which Rebea spent internally debating, Reba finally replied

 Chapter 55 - Movement Technique

    After a short time, which Reba spent internally debating, Reba finally replied

    "Wellбн we''re not really supposed to pass on techniques to those outside of the academyбн"

    Hearing Reba''s statement Dante froze for a second thinking that his n was shattered but before he could even start

    But suddenly Reba started speaking

    "But seeing as you''re talented, it''s only a matter of time before you end up joining the Hidden Dragon Academy anyway. I''m sure they won''t mind if I teach you a technique a few months in advance. Just don''t show this technique off in front of people when you take the test to join the academy, let''s try to avoid any problems if possible"

    Hearing that Reba agreed to teach him Dante was overjoyed

    but before he could thank Reba he was interrupted by Patriarch Gavin

    "Just hold on a second. Just because the people at the Hidden Dragon Academy are stronger doesn''t mean that have the best techniques, the Kinsman n also has some excellent Movement techniques "

    Hearing Patriarch Gavin''s words Reba shot him a look of pity as she said

    "It''s okay Dad, there''s no need to lie"

    Puzzled Patriarch Gavin asked Reba

    "What do you mean lie? How was anything I said just now a lie?"

    " Dad, I think you''re forgetting I''m still a part of the Kinsman n too " replied Reba

    "I know you''ve been trying hard as Patriarch to increase the strength of the Kinsman n. but you don''t have to lie to Dante about the strength of the n. Your forgetting that if you, as the Patriarch of the Kinsman n, only has a cultivation level at the peak of the Martial journeyman, it''s kind of hard to believe what you are saying. this is especially true especially when back at The Hidden Dragon academy, a cultivation Level at the peak of the Martial journeyman realm isn''t enough to even get you a ce as an Elder at the Hidden Dragon Academy

    After hearing Reba''s words, Patriarch Gavin''s face flushed bright red in embarrassment

    "Silly little girl what would you know about managing a n !" eximed patriarch Gavin in embarrassment "Managing a n is much harder than you think. Anyway, my skills as Patriarch have nothing to do with this! And Who said I was talking about myself when I said we have better martial skills than Hidden Dragon academy anyway? " Replied Patriarch Gavin

    "Ohбн is that so ?" questioned Reba doubtfully "If not you who as the patriarch of the n have these so-called amazing techniques. Tell me who in the Kinsman n could possibly have better skills than the Hidden Dragon Academy? one of the best organisations on the whole continent!"

    "Well I bet you''ll be surprised to know that, that person is someone very close to you, in fact, he''s sat right here in this very room! " said patriarch Gavin proudly

    Hearing this Reba turned to the only person left in the room who it could possibly be, Winton!

    But instead of agreeing with Patriarch Gavin''s ims, Winton was still quietly eating his food as if he had never heard a thing in the first ce.

    Looking at Winton''s behaviour, this Patriarch Gavin began to panic

    "Hey Winton, you''re not gonna leave me hanging like this." questioned patriarch Gavin

    "Don''t do this to me, I was just trying to show off your talent, at this rate your going to ruin my image as a trustworthy patriarch in front of the kids!"

    At this point Patriarch Gavin was basically crying on Winton''s shoulder

    unfortunately for Patriarch Gavin what he didn''t realize as his disy had already reduced the impression that Dante had of him as a trustworthy patriarch in the first ce. And as for Reba, as his daughter, she had been with Gavin her whole life and even till today she would sometimes wonder who thought that it would be a good idea to hand over the position of Patriarch to someone as childish as her father

    After looking at Patriarch Gavin''s unsightly disy, Winton decided that he couldn''t leave him to embarrass himself any longer

    "Sigh!"

    "I guess I''ll have to help you out this time, but just know the n was to be as low-key as possible and you''ve ruined it" whispered Winton to Gavin as he got up

    "Yesss!" Cried Patriarch Gavin "Don''t worry about it as long as you don''t do anything crazy there''s no need to be worried"

    Getting Winton''s agreement Patriarch Gavin took all of them outside towards his personal training ground.

    бн

    After walking for some time, they finally arrived at the training ground.

    It was a clear dirt field that had some trees dotted around here and there. But most importantly the surroundings werepletely empty, except for Dante and the rest, nobody else was there.

    But even after sewing all of Patriarch Gavin''s efforts Reba still had her doubts when it came down to it. After all, it was just hard to believe that a rtively small n still had better techniques than one of the strongest organisations on the entire continent, it just didn''t make any logical sense in Reba''s head

    "Well Dad, now that you''ve brought us all the way out here, you better show us something impressive or else this all a waste of time"ined Reba

    "Just rx and watch, I''m sure you''ll be surprised in the end" replied Patriarch Gavin

    Ignoring Reba''s and Gavin''s brief exchange, Dante and Winton were standing opposite each other in the centre of the training ground .

    "So you''re looking for a movement technique?" Asked Winton

    "Yeah, I feel like Myck of mobility is starting to be a real big issue and is a ring weakness, which is especially true when facing stronger opponents who could easily punish me for such a small mistake"

    Hearing Dante analyse his own weakness and ws, Winton was very impressed but even then still kept a in look on his face.

    "It''s impressive that you managed to recognise your weakness and even managed to find the best solutions for fixing the problem"plimented Winton

    "After thinking about it for a while, I managed toe up with the best movement technique that would suit you from my memory "

    Curious Dante couldn''t resist the urge to ask

    "Patriarch Gavin said you would know better techniques than even people at the Hidden Dragon Academy. Is it possible that those techniques would be legendary Diamond Rank Martial Skills!"

    Hearing Dante''s question, even Winton had a slight smile on his face

    "Trust me, the technique I''m about to teach you is at least 1000 times better than any Diamond Rank Martial Skill you could ever have! "

 Chapter 56 - EmperorтАЩs Descent

    "Trust me, the technique I''m about to teach you is at least 1000 times better than any Diamond Rank Martial Skill you could ever find!"

    With such a bold im, even Dante found it hard to believe Winton''s words.

    Perhaps sensing Dante''s disbelief, Winton didn''t waste anymore time bragging

    "The technique I''ll be teaching you today is movement technique known as Emperor''s descent!"

    "The principles behind it are quite simple really"

    "An Emperor is the supreme ruler of his kingdom and the highest level a monarch could possibly reach. In this movement technique youprehend the true aura Emperor and imbue all your movements with such majesty, granting you some special abilities in return." continued Winton

    Even though Winton had exined the technique, he had used such abstract definitions Dante found it hard toprehend the movement technique from just description. Winton seemed to recognise this problem and said

    "Here, let me let me lower my cultivation and demonstrate, it might make it easier for you toprehend!"

    "The first stage of Emperor''s Descent isn''t much different from other movement techniques, by directing Spirit Energy towards your legs you strengthen them, allowing for faster and more explosive movements thus increasing your movement speed."

    As Winton spoke his figure shed, appearing several metres away before quickly appearing in front of Dante again.

    Then Winton continued

    "The next stage of Emperor''s Descent is where things start getting a little interesting."

    "This time as you move you release the aura of an emperor around you creating a field that adds pressure to others causing them to move slower inside of it."

    Winton figure shed once again but this time Dante felt like he was in a pool of mud. his movements were slowed considerably yet his thoughts still happened at regr speed. due to his speed reduction, he could only watch as Winton shed around him while he tried to keep up, yet his slow effect made him always be a few steps behind him.

    Seeing that Dante was still struggling in his aura, Winton removed it allowing Dante to regain his normal movements again.

    "The third stage of Emperors Descent has a slightly stronger move. This time while moving you release a stronger version of the ''Emperor aura'' causing your opponents to be briefly stunned."

    As Dante saw Winton move, he seemed to be hit by a fierce ck light causing him to freeze in ce for several seconds.

    After a few seconds had passed, Dante finally recovered his movement again but he was still shocked at the ridiculousness of this technique. during the previous attack, although he was slowed, his thoughts were still functioning fine. This meant that although he couldn''t move his body he could manipte some of his energy and abilities with his thoughts and possibly defend himself.

    But at this new stage, he was leftpletely stunned. It was as if his mind had gone nk, leaving himpletely helpless and in w world where a split second can determine your life or death, it was something Dante never hoped to experience again.

    seeing Dantes shocked state Winton approached and asked

    "Hey Dante, are you alright?"

    "it''s alright dad, I was just a little shocked but I''m fine now" responded Dante

    "we''ve alreadye so far that you may as well finish demonstrating the technique," said Dante

    After making sure that Dante had fully recovered, Winton carried on with his demonstration

    "well, you''re lucky because the next stage is thest and most powerful stage of Emperor''s Descent!"

    "After going through the three previous stages, by the time you reach this stage you should have fullyprehended the essence of A true Emperor, imbuing it in every movement you make ."

    "Thest move of Emperor''s Descent follows a simple principle. and this principle is,"

    "Before the Emperor,"

    "All Must Kneel!"

    "Using your mastered Emperor aura, you force everyone caught in your vicinity to kneel before you and only by your permission will they be allowed to stand"

    Despite all Winton''s exining, Dante was still puzzled and Winton could clearly see that

    "I''ll just show you, maybe then it''ll be easier for you to understand."

    As Winton spoke the aura around changed bing more regal, as his gaze became more and more emotionless. It was as if he was mighty a king looking at a lowly ve and this callous gaze cause Shivers to run down Dante''s spine.

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    "RUMBLE! RUMBLE!"

    As soon as Winton spoke, the ground beneath him began to shake as if it had been hit by a magnitude 7 earthquake. In panic, Dante turned to look towards Winton but instead of finding his father, he found that he had been transported into a ck void. But what shocked Dante the most was that in Winton''s ce sat a giant phantom a top of a golden throne. The phantom was ordained in a golden ceremonial robe while a crown made of stars sat on his head. The phantom was so in sorge it seemed to cover Dante''s entire view but to Dante''s shock and horror, the humongous phantom slowly began to rise from his throne.

    As he the phantom stood up Dante felt it''s gaze lock on to him and stare into his very soul

    "Kneel!"

    A deafeningmand rang out in the space around Dante as he felt a enormous pressure slowly force him to his knees.

    "ROAR!!"

    Dante exploded with all his might, even entering his dragonified form, as he tried to resist themand of the overbearing phantom. But in the ned, all his efforts were useless!

    The strength of the Emperor''s aura around him just couldn''t be resisted as he was slowly forced to submit. As his knees got closer and closer to the ground, Dante still kept up his futile struggle. But just before his knees touched the ground Dante heard a familiar voice

    "That''s enough!"

    Instantly Dante found himself outside of the endless void and back in the training ground.

    But that didn''t mean that what Dante experienced never happened, Dante''s back was still covered in sweat and his muscles were still sore from resisting that enormous pressure forced on him. looking around, Dante saw that neither Reba nor Patriarch Gavin were in a much better situation they were both still visibly shaken by the horrifying phantom that appeared in front of them.

    But the after-effects of Winton''s move didn''t end there, even the training ground was affected by it. Except for the area surrounding Winton the floor of the training ground had sunk by a almost 2ft due to the overwhelming pressure brought by Winton''s movement, in addition to this, all the trees in the training ground had all been snapped in half facing in Winton''s direction as if they had been forced to kneel before him! not even the nt life was spared from the phantom''s decree!

    Looking at the destruction caused by just one move, Dante knew he just had to have this technique.

    I mean who could me him, who could resist the urge to own such a mighty movement technique.

    One thing was for sure, and that was Dante wasn''t such a person!

    "Dad, that was amazing!"plimented Dante

    "Now that you have shown me a demonstration and exined the principles, is possible for me to learn the movement technique now?"

 Chapter 57 - Emperors Descent 2

    "Now that you''ve shown me a demonstration and exined the principles, is possible for me to learn the movement technique now?" Asked Dante

    "Of course you can" responded Winton

    "Here take this."

    As Winton spoke he handed out a ck book covered in gold edgings to Dante.

    After Dante received the book on the movement technique, Emperor''s Descent. He began to study the book with extreme concentration, carefully looking over each illustration, trying to grasp the mystery of each movement described inside of it.

    While Dante was pouring all his focus into grasping his new mystical technique Reba was still recovering from what she had just witnessed

    she waspletely gobsmacked!

    Never in her life had she seen such a mystical movement technique. She hadn''t even seen anything like it while she was at the Hidden Dragon Academy, one of the strongest organisations on the continent!

    When she heard her dad say that they may have better techniques than the hidden Dragon Academy, she thought it was just her dad''s usual bragging, but now that she had seen it up close she found it hard to even believe her eyes.

    Despite all this, Reba was just as excited as she was shocked.

    You had to remember, Reba was also a cultivator and powerful techniques were as important to her as any other cultivator.

    The super-strong Diamond rank techniques were still hard for her to get at the Hidden Dragon Academy as they were strictly reserved for the disciples of elders or cost a ridiculous amount of contribution points to redeem. But now things were different, now she had a way to get a technique stronger than any diamond rank technique she had ever seen in her life she couldn''t let this chance slip past her

    "Uncle Winton!" Cried Reba as she ran towards him

    "Hmm?" Said Winton surprised at her sudden cry

    "Uncle Winton, is it possible to teach me the same technique you taught to Dante?" asked Reba

    "It''s possible...but I won''t teach you."

    Hearing this, Reba was extremely disappointed but before she could evenin Winton continued speaking

    "I won''t teach you that technique as I have one much better suited for you," said Winton

    Hearing this Reba was overjoyed. Of course it was impossible for Winton to not teach her a powerful technique, after all, Winton was her uncle who had watched her grow up. He was family, as close as you could get and he would only want what''s best for her.

    "The movement technique I have chosen for you is called the Dance of Abyssal mes!" Eximed Winton

    "Abyssal fire was one of the most deadly mes to evere in contact with the mortal world! It was an all-consuming fire that was of both shadow and fire elements that burned its victims with excruciating pain."

    "The aim of the Dance of Abyssal mes movement technique is to mimic the nature and illusiveness of abyssal mes eventually allowing the user to be abyssal fire itself! "

    As Winton spoke he handed a dusty old leather book towards Reba

    "Here, this is the book on the Dance of Abyssal mes , read through it and if you have any questions on it you can always find me to answer any questions you have."

    Receiving such a mystical movement technique, Reba was overjoyed

    "Thanks a lot, Uncle Winton!"

    Hearing the happiness in Reba''s voice, a rare smile appeared on Winton''s face for once

    "Don''t mention it, your my niece after all" replied Winton

    Reba didn''t waste any more time, quickly joining Dante in studying the new movement technique she had just received.

    Seeing that both Dante and Reba were deeply absorbed in their new movement techniques, Winton felt like now was a good time to leave, after allprehension was a personal thing. They could be taught the initial steps but they couldn''t be babysat in the whole process. In high level techniques as external guidance can only take you so far, eventually you will have to rely on your own personalprehension to advance these techniques any further.

    Seeing that Winton had started to leave the training ground, Patriarch Gavin quickly joined him but before he left patriarch Gavin kept looking back at Dante and Reba training. Eventually Patriarch Gavin sighed and asked

    "Are you sure it''s alright to teach these kids such high-level techniques? Weren''t you meant to be keeping a low profile, you don''t want to be discovered right?"

    Hearing Gavin''s question Winton eyebrows involuntarily twitched

    "Why are you so worried, weren''t you the one who said I could teach them some strong techniques?"

    "I said you should teach them some strong techniques, not some world-ending secret moves! What are you gonna do if this blows your cover!" Said Gavin in exasperation

    "It''ll be fine, don''t worry. Besides, by the time they''ve progressed far enough in the techniques to draw major attention towards themselves, I would have recovered and there would be no more reason to hide"

    "I guess you would know the most about your situation and the best thing to do, I''m just asking that you think about more than just yourself when deciding these things. I just ask that you think about the n as well, I''m not just asking as your brother Winton, but also as the Patriarch of this n." As Gavin said this, the usual jovial aura around him seemed to fade, being reced by a more stoic and serious temperament, just showing how important this was to Gavin

    Perhaps sensing the change in Gavin''s aura, Winton stopped and looked Gavin straight in the eyes as he replied

    "Trust me Gavin, I would never do anything to harm the n, not after seeing how much effort you and Father put into this." Said Winton

    "Well, that''s great. I was just feeling a bit nervous with all the pressure with the Blood Moon Pce and let my emotions get a hold of me, my bad" apologised Gavin

    "Don''t worry I can understand" replied Winton

    "How about we hit up Grandpa Bill''s bakery, for old times sake?" asked Patriarch Gavin throwing his arm over Winton''s shoulder as his jovial aura returned

    "Extrarge vani cream puffs?" Asked Winton smiling

    "I wouldn''t have it any other way!" Replied Gavin with a boisterousugh.

 Chapter 58 - Sparring Partner

    The next day, Dante got up and his legs were feeling extremely sore.

    He and Reba had spent the rest of the night trying to make some progress in their movement techniques yet in the end, they barely even managed to enter the first realm and were nowhere nearpleting the first stage.

    The scary thing was that even with such little mastery over the technique, Dante still managed to see a great increase in his overall speed. Making him wonder as to what extent his speed will increase too if he managed to fully master this technique.

    After checking the time Dante realised that, due to the exhaustion he felt, he had managed to miss out on breakfast with his father.

    From Looking at the time, his father would already be out doing n duties by now so there was no need to rush out of bed and try and make it as his father would have been long gone by the time he got there. Dante just decided that he would skip breakfast for today instead of causing any more hassle for himself.

    After freshening up, Dante left his room and headed towards the training ground.

    The reason for heading to the training ground today was that Dante was looking for a sparing partner. Dante realised that he needed to adjust to using his new movement technique inbat situations.

    Yesterday he had asked Reba if she would spar with him but she rejected him saying that fighting wouldn''t benefit her as much and focusing on her own movement technique by herself would bring more benefits.

    Dante also asked his father and Patriarch Gavin, but they rejected him saying that with the inter-npetitioning up, they had to focus all their time on organising it with the other ns.

    As a result of all this, he had nobody left to train with and so he would have to go to the training ground to see if he could find himself a training partner.

    бн

    Soon Dante managed to approach the training ground for the rest of the nsmen. But as Dante got closer he became more and more disappointed.

    The reason was quite simple.

    everyone was too weak!

    After the recent fight against the rest of the younger generation, it was clear that barely anyone here had the skill currently to pose any threat to him. And the people that could possiblypete with, like the top 4, already have private training grounds in the first ce.

    so it just seems very unlikely that he would be able to find anyone who could actuallypete with him and challenge him enough to develop his movement technique.e

    Just as Dante was about to leave, a person showed up at the trading ground that made him stop.

    That person was Klent!

    Although klent was beaten by Dante, Dante still believed klent was an exceptional talent. you have to remember, Klent was able toprehend sword intent, something that has never been done before in the history of the Kinsman n.

    If not for his weak Martial Spirit that slowed down his cultivation speed, Klent could easily be the top talent of the younger generation recing even Gawain ad the strongest.

    But regardless of his situation, his terrifying will alone made Dante confident that the klent could be something special.

    Klent''s will was so strong, that he managed to overpower his dragon fear aura, an aura that belonged to an adult chromatic dragon one of the strongest creatures in the entire multiverse.

    And after talking with Patriarch Gavin, it seems like Klent will be one of the key training members of the younger generation.

    Patriarch Gavin''s only fear was that because Klent isn''t directly rted to the bloodline of the Kinsman n and doesn''t have the same surname as them. it may be hard to ensure his loyalty, especially in the future when his strength greatly advances, which is the major reason he is cautious when ites to investing the n''s resources in Klent investing in Klent yet.

    After all, who wants to help someone, only to be forgotten when it actually matters? And it''s not like such things have never happened before in the past, stories like that are quitemon here in the rippling wave continent, and no self-respecting n wants to be used as a stepping stone for others only to be forgotten and ignored by them in the future.

    But Dante didn''t believe Klent was such a person, especially with such a strong will. It would be impossible to have such a strong will if you weren''t a person with strong and strict values. Even Dante had to admit if they wereparing the strength of will alone, even he wasn''t a match for klent.

    Clearing his head of all his misceneous thoughts, Dante walked over to Klent.

    "de Storm!"

    As Dante got closer he could see that Klent had already begun to practice, sending out waves of sword energy at all the practice dummies.

    "Yo, klent!"

    "Hmm? Oh, hey Dante," responded Klent

    "It''s rare to see youe to the public training ground, what brings you here ?" Asked Klent

    "About that, I was looking for a sparring partner to practice my new movement technique with. But after looking around I felt like no one would be at a good enough level to practice with, that''s when you came into the training ground"

    "What do you say, will you help me out?" Asked Dante

    "I''m ttered that you think that I could be your sparring partner, but I think you''re forgetting you just beat most of the younger generation all at once. In addition, my cultivation level really is not that high"

    "Don''t worry, I''ll restrict my cultivation level to the same as yours so that way we''ll be able topete fairly. In addition, I won''t be using any abilities from my Martial Spirit as I''m just focusing on developing my movement technique" said Dante

    After a brief period of debating Klent finally replied

    "Well I guess it''ll be alright, I need to practice my movement skills anyway"

 Chapter 59 - Spar With Klent

    "Well I guess it''ll be alright, I need to practice my movement skills anyway"

    And with Klent''s words of approval, they headed towards an open field to finally spar.

    "You ready?" asked Dante

    "Of course" replied klent

    "Great, let''s start then!"

    As Dante spoke Klent brought out his rusty old sword as the aura around him changed. It was as if he was a previously sheathed sword, now brought out into battle!

    Seeing Klent''s aura change, Dante also got ready for battle.

    Dante prepared to use his new movement technique, Emperor''s Descent, by visualising the gigantic phantom he saw sitting on a golden throne. Although his aura was nowhere near the level of the terrifying phantom he saw the other day, he still managed to create a slither of an Emperor''s aura, causing his temperament to change bing nobler.

    Even Klent was greatly shocked at this new aura being formed around Dante, he could clearly sense that it was very different from his usual dragon fear aura.

    ''Damn!'' thought Klent

    ''This guy just keeps getting stronger! Am I really going to be left behind a second time?''

    Klent thought about his life during the past three years and how his cultivation barely progressed. He used to be one of the strongest yet now the people who he used to look down on not only got to his level, but even surpassed him while he only remained stagnant.

    ''No! I refuse to be left behind ever again!'' thought Klent tightening his grip on his sword.

    "Phantom Ghost steps!" Cried Klent

    As he spoke Klents body flickered as it shed along, appearing beside Dante in an instant.

    Klent didn''t want to underestimate Dante in any way, so he sent out a murderous strike directly at Dante''s neck!

    Despite seeing Klent''s deadly attack, Dante wasn''t panicked.

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    Dante''s body seemed to shake as a powerful burst of energy was sent directly towards his leg.

    Dante took a step forward causing a fist of wind left in his ce.

    Klent was surprised by Dante''s burst of speed and turned his head in his direction.

    All he saw was Dante standing there unharmed with a proud smile on his face

    "You''re going to have to do better than that if you want to catch me!" taunted Dante

    But all he received

    "Don''t get too cocky, I was only testing you to see if I should go out and lucky for you, you passed!" responded Klent with a smirk of his own.

    "Phantom ghost steps!"

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    Both Dante and Klent''s bodies flickered as Klent chased after Dante causing gusts of wind to fly as they zed across the training field.

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    Dante dodged Attack after attack sent from klent, but just as Dante thought that this was getting too easy, he heard klent shout

    "de Storm!"

    Instantly a bright sh of white light erupted behind Dante causing him to look behind him.

    As he turned around he saw 5 beams of white sword energy shooting towards himself

    Fully stimting his new movement technique, Dante managed to swerve through three of the attacks directed at him. Unfortunately, despite all his efforts, Dante''s mastery of his technique was still limited. This meant that he couldn''t bring out its full potential causing him to be trapped between 2 rays of sword energy.

    Dante refused to block these attacks as he knew that only by forcing himself to his limits could he rapidly advance his technique, something he had to do in preparation for this uingpetition.

    "Bang!"

    Although Dante tried to break his limits, it wasn''t so easy, and he was hit by the rays of sword energy sending him rolling across the floor.

    Luckily the magic resistance granted to him by his Silver Dragon soul meant that Dante was still okay even after taking a beam of sword energy to the face.

    "de storm! "

    Just as Dante was recovering, he heard a shout that made him jump to his feet.

    "de Storm!"

    Dante looked up to see ten beams of sword energy shooting towards himself,ing at him from all directions!

    The beams of energy kept getting closer and closer towards Dante.

    But Dante seemed to be oblivious to the attack.

    In fact, Dante was visualising the scene of the enormous phantom standing up before him and the awe he felt as he gazed upon its majestic figure.

    That''s when everything seemed to click inside the head of Dante, he seemed to have grasped something from the simple yet awe-inspiring movements of the gigantic phantom.

    With his newfoundprehension, Dante took a steep forward causing the ground to shake

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    Dante''s body seemed to flicker as he weaved through the beams of light appearing in a clearing away from the chaotic st of sword energies

    Klent was left stunned at Dante''s spectacr manoeuvre, dodging all of his attacks, and went up to Dante and congratted him

    "Congrattions Dante, it seems like your goal was reached and you managed to advance in your movement technique!"

    But to Klent''s surprise, Dante didn''t respond at all. Instead, he was still stood with a nk look on his face staring off into the distance.

    Again Klent called out towards Dante

    "Dante, Are you all right?"

    But just likest time klent was ignored as Dante continued to stare at the sky with the same nk look on his face.

    Eventually, after calling Dante a few more times klent went up and touched Dante to get his attention

    "Huhhh!" Dante seemed to wake up from his trance jumping up in surprise!

    "You awake now? I''ve been calling out to you and you''ve just been here, staring out into the distance

 Chapter 60 - Swordmaster Rho

    "You awake now? I''ve been calling out to you and you''ve just been here, staring out into the distance" asked klent

    "Sorry Klent, I was just focusing on a new understanding I felt after progressing in my movement technique," said Dante

    "Klent is it alright if we end practice here. I''ve just felt a new understanding of my movement technique. I feel like if I can go back and think on it, then my movement technique will advance greatly!" Exined Dante.

    "It''s alright, the purpose of this practice was to see if you could advance your movement technique any further and it was obviously a sess" replied Klent

    "Thanks Klent, I couldn''t have done it without you." Thanked Dante as he ran back to his room.

    Klent watched Dante leave the training ground before sighing

    "He really is a generational talent" sighed Klent as he left the training ground

    But just as he entered his courtyard a deep voice rang out inside his head

    "Generational is a bit of stretch, but the kid does indeed have talent"

    Hearing this voice Klent looked around in surprise

    "Who?!"

    Klent looked around in shock, only to see his rusty old sword shing a blinding white light as an old man wearing a clean white robe emerged from the sword

    "Do you really want to surpass him, if so then I can help you" stated the old man

    "Whoбнwho are you?" Questioned Klent cautiously

    "You can just call me Swordmaster Rho. But that''s not important. My question is do you want to surpass him"

    "Surpass him?" questioned Klent

    "Of course I can make you surpass that boy . all though he''s talented, he only has two martial Spirits and with my help, you''ll easily be able to surpass him in a few years." Stated the swordmaster Rho inly

    "How can I surpass Dante if I only have one martial spirit and it''s weaker than either one of Dante''s Martial spirits" questioned Klent

    "It''s quite simple really, the way of the sword!"

    "You already have a superb understanding of the sword seeing as you were able toprehend sword intent by yourself. But with my help, I can take your sword technique to a whole new level giving you the potential to easily be one of the strongest on the continent."

    "Now the question is, do you ept?" Asked swordsman Rho

    Klent hesitated for a few seconds but son his desire for strength overtook his fear

    "I agree, as long as you can make me stronger"

    "That''s great! then as a symbol of our meeting let me teach you a technique."

    "The technique is called Divine sword body forging. When cultivated to the peak they can even grant you something known as a Divine physique!"

    "Divine physique?" Questioned klent

    "You don''t need to know about these things yet, just learn the technique I''m about to teach you"

    "Anyway, the technique goes like thisбн"

    And like that Swordmaster Rho exined and taught a new technique to Klent for the rest of the night.

    бн.

    Since the spar between Klent and Dante several days had passed with Dante spent in seclusion cultivating and practising his movement technique.

    But most importantly the day of the start of the inter-npetition had finallye and there was a buzz and an aura of excitement around the kinsman n.

    Dante felt a rush of excitement as he woke up in the morning.

    Over the past few days Dante had been cultivating like crazy, and with the abundance of resources given to him by Winton and Patriarch Gavin, it allowed him to Progress his cultivation and breakthrough into the 7thyer of the Martial Novice realm.

    With his advanced cultivation level and his developed movement technique, Dante felt that he could easily win his division in the inter-npetition.

    The inter-npetition was an event that only happened every three years and was apetition between the younger generation of the three ns in Brightsteel city.

    As it is apetition between the younger generation thepetition has an age limit of 20 years old to make sure that only the young talents can be involved in thepetition.

    In addition to this, thepetition is split Into different levels depending on the cultivation meaning there will be three different ranks of tournaments going on.

    One tournament will be for the cultivators in the body refiningyer of thepetition.

    Anotheryer of the tournament will be for those that are in the Martial Novice realm.

    And the finally was the highest realm of tournament, the tournament got those in the Martial Journeyman realm.

    There was no tournament for any realms above that as to reach the Martial Journeyman by 20 years old already demanded extreme levels of talent. There has been no known records of anyone breaking into the Martial adept realm before 20 years old. Talent that crazy is just unheard of.. Even in the whole of the rippling wave continent, it would be difficult to find such a talent.

 Chapter 61 - Start Of The Inter Clan Competition

    Even in the whole of the rippling wave continent, it would be difficult to find such a talent.

    Dante got ready by putting on his favourite set of golden-ck robes and headed out to meet the Winton and Patriarch Gavin

    As he exited his room he saw multiple members of the kinsman n rushing around the ce.

    It seemed like everyone was excited for thepetition, doing all sorts ofst minuets tasks before the tournament officially started.

    On his way to meet Patriarch Gavin, Dante ran into Reba. She was wearing a bright red coloured robe with brilliant golden edgings. She had a serious aura around her as she seemed to be thinking about something.

    As she was looking around she seemed to notice Dante and waved over to him. seeing Reba''s invitation, Dante went over towards her

    "Good morning Dante. I hope you''re ready for the inter-npetition" greeted Reba

    "Of course I''m ready, after training hard I even managed to advance for my cultivation level and now I''m stronger than ever!" Said Dante

    Like that, Dante and Reba carried on with their conversation until they reached Patriarch Gavin''s personalpound.

    But as they were approaching they were greeted with a shocking sight.

    In front of the patriarchspound, there was a magnificent red carriage ordained with golden markings and the symbol of the Kinsman n, a fiery red serpent.

    But what was most interesting about the carriage were the horses drawing it. the Horses were a pair of gigantic ck Warhorses that were packed to the brim with muscles. in addition to this, the horses had a terrifying, monstrous aura around them, it was an aura he had never seen around any horses, not in his past life and not even in this life.

    As Dante was admiring the magnificent carriage he heard a voice call out to him

    "You guys finally arrived, we''ve been waiting for you for a while now."

    Looking towards the direction of the sound Dante saw Patriarch Gavin opening the carriage door.

    "If you guys had taken any longer we could have beente " continued patriarch Gavin

    "All right Dad, we heard You already so can stop whining, we''re already here now so there is no need to carry onining," said Reba

    "Okay ill stop, but hurry up and get in, we need to be leaving soon" said Patriarch Gavin.

    So Both Dante and Reba entered the carriage and what they saw did not disappoint either of them.

    The inside of the carriage was as luxurious as you would expect for a carriage that was so wondrously decorated n the outside. The inside was lined with soft padding while they were still many soft cushions littered throughout the whole of the carriage.

    As they entered they managed to spot Winton quietly sitting down meditating. He seemed to be focusing on something so they decided not to disturb him

    After they had entered Patriarch Gavin shut the door behind them and told them the driver it was fine to go.

    As they started moving Dante couldn''t help but question Patriarch Gavin on the massive horses that were pulling the carriage

    "Uncle Gavin, what''s the deal with those massive horses outside. I''ve never seen anything like them before so those can''t be regr horses right?"

    "Of course, they can''t be regr horses" responded Patriarch Gavin

    "Just looking at their size should have made it obvious. Those horses are warhorses that have been bred to be asrge and as strong as possible. On top of that, the ancestors of these horses have been interbred with magic beasts many years ago so that they have a magical beats bloodline running through them. But due to the domesticated nature of horses and the fact that they only have part of the magical beast bloodline, these horses are thousands of times easier to tame than any magical beast would ever be.

    As Patriarch Gavin was exining the history of his treasured warhorses, the carriage finally manage to leave the n and entered the main road of Brightsteel city.

    The thing that shocked Dante the most wasn''t the decorations around the city and stores.

    Instead, the thing that shocked Dante the most was the humongous crowd of people that hade out to watch thepetition. If you told Dante that the whole of Brightsteel City hade out to watch it he would actually believe you, the crowd of people was just thatrge!

    But as Dante thought more about it, the whole situation started to make more and more sense. The culture and technology of these times were quite ancient, meaning that for regr people there were actually very few means of entertainment. Sure there were ys and poems but that was something mostly enjoyed by the rich and privileged, not regr people who are working upwards of 12 hours a day just to keep food on the table.

    But the inter-npetition was different it was a rare event that only happened once every three years and on top of that, it was free!

    Fighting has always been a type of entertainment people have loved to watch, be it the diators from ancient times or even boxing and UFC of the modern-day, watching fights has always been in human nature.

    And when the people that are fighting are from the three biggest ns of the city, arguably the most powerful people they will ever see in their lives, it only makes watching these brutal fights much more satisfying to watch

    As Dante was thinking all this, his carriage slowly made its way through the overwhelming crowd

 Chapter 62 - Meeting Of Patriarchs

    As Dante was thinking all this, his carriage slowly made its way through the overwhelming crowd.

    Slowly, they approached the centre of the city. As they got closer to the centre Dante spotted some giant elevated tforms in the centre surrounded by numerous spectator stands.

    By one of the stands, he saw arge group of people in red clothing, flying banners decorated in the Signature symbol of the Kinsman n- the Poison me Serpent.

    Soon the carriage arrived in front of the people of the Kinsman n and stopped. Then Patriarch Gavin and Winton got out of the carriage and was greeted by the members of the Kinsman n

    "Brother Gavin, Brother Winton! I''m d to see you, if you hade anyter I would have to doubt if you wereing."

    Looking towards the direction of sound you could see the voice came from arge, bearded, muscr man with fiery red hair.

    Of course, this man was Elder Han.

    "It''s good to see you as always brother Han!" Replied Patriarch Gavin

    but as Patriarch Gavin and Elder Han were speaking they were interrupted by an irritatingugh

    "Hahahaha! I''m surprised that you could still stay so happy brother Gavin. I mean I wouldn''t be able tough if I knew we were going to lose the inter-npetition so badly!"

    Hearing this voice The smile on patriarch Gavin''s face quickly turned into an ugly grimace as he easily recognised the owner of this voice.

    "Nn ter!" scowled Patriarch Gavin.

    looking towards the direction of the sound, Gavin saw a crowd of people wearing blue robes and flying banners lined in river patterns.

    It was the people of the ter n!

    Nn ter.

    It was clear Patriarch Gavin didn''t have a good rtionship and it was to be expected as he was the current Patriarch of the current ter n.

    The ter n and the Kinsman n have always had a bloody history between them, it''s just funny to think that both of their children used to be engaged but now it''s clear that they would love to have each other killed at second thought.

    "I just find it funny that you''re still in the mood tough" responded Patriarch Gavin

    "I''ve heard that some of your Spirit Steel mines are drying up. don''t you have more important things to be worrying about?" continued Gavin

    hearing this, the smile on Nn''s face quickly disappeared.

    "Gavin you sneaky little bastard! I knew you rats from the kinsman n had sabotaged our mines!"

    As Nn spoke, his aura went berserk and a blue hue of spirit energy covered his entire body as he gradually approached Patriarch Gavin.

    Seeing Nn approaching, Patriarch Gavin''s Temper erupted as well

    "I had nothing to do with your current problems. Maybe if you were a better patriarch and managed your n properly you wouldn''t even be in this situation!"

    Gavin wouldn''t let Nn provoke him and not react. a fiery aura exploded from him as he also approached Nn but just as it looked like a fight was about to break out between the two Patriarchs there was a loud voice that interrupted

    "Brother Nn, Brother Gavin. you guys need to calm down. today is supposed to be a day of friendlypetition you guys shouldn''t ruin this due to your bad rtionship!"

    Both Gavin and Nn turned their heads to see who dared to speak to them in such a tone

    It was a handsome middle-aged man in a Lime green coloured robe who had a warm smile on his face

    "Randell Pierce!"

    Randell Pierce was the patriarch of the Pierce family the third andst major n still inside of Brightsteel city and had the ''Shadow Steel Spear'' as their bloodline Martial Spirit. The Pierce n had always been in a weird position in the ce of Brightsteel city, the Power of the Pierce n has never been able to match that of neither the ter n nor the Kinsman n but due to extreme hate between the two of them, the Pierce n managed to find a way to safely establish themselves inside Brightsteel City.

    you see although the strength of the fierce n couldn''t match that of the ter n and the Kinsman n, the Pierce n wasn''t so weak that they could have easily been dealt with by either n. To prevent either n from bing too strong, whenever the ter n or the Pierce n showed any sign of dominating their rival n, the Pierce n would temporarily join the side of the weaker opposition. And by doing this, tilting power back to normal and creating a rtive level of stability throughout Brightsteel city.

    Due to the sly actions, although they have annoyed both the ter and Kinsman n many times in the past, they have also helped them out just as many times.

    A perfect example of this would be during the ambush of the Kinsman n in the Howling beast forest.

    It was the Pierce n that tipped off the Kinsman n about something like this happening or else they wouldn''t have been able to respond fast enough. but on the flip side, although they could have informed the Kinsman n of such a trap sooner they chose not to and only informed them when they knew it would lead to a great conflict between the ter n and the Kinsman n weakening both ns in the process.

    "Huff!"

    seeing that Randall hade in to intrude on the fun, Nn let out a cold sneer and headed back to the designated area of the kinsman n but not before shooting a bone-chilling stare in Dante''s direction.

    sensing such a cruel gaze from the patriarch of the ter n Dante broke out in a cold sweat

    ''is it possible that he found out I''m the one that destroyed their Spirit Steel mines?'' thought Dante

    ''impossible! I made sure that I wasn''t discovered and left no traces. there''s no way the ter n could trace it back to me''

    but just as Dantes thoughts were running wild they were interrupted by someone

    "So you''re the legendary Kid in the kinsman n who managed to awaken two Martial Spirits huh"

 Chapter 63 - Elder Mahan

    "so you''re the legendary Kid in the kinsman n who managed to awaken two Martial Spirits huh"

    Hearing these words, Dante broke out of his own thoughts and looked up only to see Randall, the Patriarch of the Pierce n right in his face.

    Surprised by this sudden appearance Dante quickly backed of in shock.

    Seeing this Randall couldn''t help butugh.

    "Hahaha! There''s no need to be so scared, me and your uncle are great friends after all" said Randall

    "I''m sorry Patriarch Randall, but your sudden appearance just shocked me that''s all" replied Dante

    "There''s no need to apologise, it''s my fault for not respecting your personal space. I have a daughter a few years older than you and although she''s not as talented as you, she''s still a talent in her own right. With a mutated version of our bloodline Martial Spirit, she will definitely be one to watch out for during this tournament"

    "Well then, I guess I should leave you alone to get ready for the tournament, goodbye" As he spoke Patriarch Randall flew away leaving a perplexed Dante watching on as he left

    ....

    As Patriarch Randall left he approached the stands designated for the Pierce n, he was soon greeted by an elegant young woman wearing a green veil.

    "So how was he, this new dual Martial Spirit talent that of the kinsman n?" Asked the veiled woman

    "He''s mysterious one really, I could clearly sense the two terrifying martial spirits inside of him but the craziest thing is that it felt like each martial spirit was greater than anything I''ve ever seen and seeing that he has two of these he would be able to go far in life," said Patriarch Randall

    "Unfortunately for him, the talent of the ter n, Curtis ter, will be returning and he will be lucky if he can survive to see another day let alone the future"

    "let''s not jump to conclusions just yet." said the veiled woman

    "The kinsman seems to calm for someone that could possibly face extinction, they clearly have something nned, we shouldn''t underestimate them just yet...

    бн

    Meanwhile, as Patriarch Randall was exining his recent discoveries the members of the kinsman n were having their own talk

    "Where is this Curtis ter everyone was talking about?" Asked Dante

    "Don''t tell me he''s just some lie that the ter n made up"

    "I doubt he''s a lie they made up" replied Patriarch Gavin

    "I trust my ability to gather information too much to start doubting myself now and besides, does Nn look like someone who''s been lying this whole time?"

    As Patriarch Gavin spoke he pointed towards Nn

    Turning towards Nn, you could see he sat confidently with a slight smirk on his face and this obviously wasn''t the look of someone who had something to hide. in fact, it was more of the look of someone who was confidently waiting for something good to happen.

    Suddenly as Patriarch Gavin and the rest were talking, the ground around them began to shake

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    There was a loud rumble that rang across the whole of Brightsteel city. As this was going on a giant blood-red pir formed in the sky.

    But as you looked more closely at the pir you could see that the new phantom formed wasn''t actually a pir in fact it was actually a giant blood-red sabre!

    "Devouring Demon sabreбн" said someone around Dante

    "Wait, isn''t that the martial spirit of the Elder from the Blood Moon Pce?"

    "Shittt! The Blood Moon Pce is here!" Eximed one person

    "It''s over, can you feel that aura? We don''t stand a chance!"

    While the members of the kinsman n were panicking, a cold voice rang throughout the whole of Brightsteel city

    "I Elder Mahan of the Blood Moon Pce, upon receiving an invitation from Curtis ter, havee As a guest of the ter n to watch the tri-annual inter-npetition."

    An old man with a bloody aura around him slowly floated down from the sky into the centre of the arena.

    As he floated down, there was a handsome young man with a proud smile that floated next to him. This man was of course Curtis ter.

    "Hahaha! Brightsteel City I am back!!"

    "This time we shall see who is the real trash of Brightsteel city!" Eximed Curtis

    Dante felt Elder Mahan''s gaze sweep over members of the Kinsman n as his aura caused some members to start shaking in fear.

    Instantly both Winton and Gavin fully stimted their auras cancelling out the aura of Elder Mahan and freeing the members of the Kinsman n.

    "Snort!"

    Seeing that the members of the Kinsman n had managed to resist his little test, Elder Mahn let out a cold snort and headed towards the ter n stand.

    As they approached the ter n stand, both Elder Mahan and Curtis received a warm wee.

    "Elder Mahan, it''s a great pleasure that you managed toe to such a small event like this one. I also have to thank you for looking after my boy all this time, I know he can be a great hassle at times." Said Patriarch Nn

    "There''s no need to be so formal and call me Elder, you can just call me Brother," said Elder Mahan

    "How could I call you Brother! I still need to show some basic respect." Replied Patriarch Nn.

    "A teacher for a day, a father for life. As Curtis''s master, I always treated him like a son and as his biological father it''s only right you can call me Brother" stated Elder Mahan

    "Well if you insist that''s how it will be then, Brother Mahan"

    "Hahahaha! That''s how it should Brother Nn!"

    Seeing his master and Father getting along well, Curtis finally got his chance to speak

    "Father! It''s good to see you again after all these years."

    "Curtis, my boy! It''s good to see you, just look at how strong you''ve gotten, you''re almost as strong as your old man!"

 Chapter 64 - The Fighting Starts!

    "Just look at how strong you''ve gotten, you''re almost as strong as your old man!"

    As he spoke, Patriarch Nn reached forward and embraced Curtis in a tight hug.

    After A few minutes of some Father-son bonding, Nn and Curtis separated and now that the excitement of meeting Elder Mahan and Curtis had worn off, Nn asked a question that had been bothering him for a while.

    "Brother Mahan, why don''t we just exterminate the Kinsman n right now?"

    "It''s clear that they don''t have a single Martial adept level cultivator, we could easily get rid of them if we attacked them as it''s clear that they have nobody who could even resist your strength!"

    "Brother Nn" replied Elder Mahan

    "Don''t be too hasty!"

    "The only reason the Kinsman n is even still here is because of the fact that they still have their uses" continued Elder Mahan

    "What uses could the Kinsman n even have?" Asked Patriarch Nn puzzled

    "Of course they have their uses!" eximed Elder Mahan

    "Your son, my disciple, was greatly humiliated by the members of the Kinsman n in this exact same tournament in the past."

    "This humiliating defeat has left an impact In Curtis''s mind and if this is not fixed it could seriously affect his ability to progress in his cultivation, especially at higher levels where just talent is not enough.A stable and firm state of mind is needed to achieve such high levels of cultivation, if h doesn''t have even one of these then he will never be able to progress" Exined Elder Mahan

    "Well if you put it like that, then it does make sense to leave the kinsman n alone for now" Replied Patriarch Nn, slightly disappointed that he missed the chance to deal with his long time enemy

    Elder Mahan seemed to sense Patriarch Nn''s sadness and could resist the urge to chuckle

    "hahaha Don''t worry brother Nn.once the Kinsman n has done its job in helping Curtis deal with his heart demon they will be done for!" As Elder Mahan spoke, a cruel smile appeared on his face.

    бн

    Seeing that thest of the contestants had arrived at thepetition, Patriarch Randall of the Pierce n went to the centre of the arena, standing before the crowd of spectators.

    "Now that thest of the contestants had arrived,Let the Inter-npetition finally begin!"

    hearing this announcement, the crowd of hundreds of spectators burst out into a loud cheer.

    A few minutester,the crowd of spectators managed to calm down and the number and times of each contestant''s matches were handed out to eachpeting member.

    From the time and number Dante was handed, his first fight would beter in the day and after most people had finished fighting. This was quite good for Dante as it meant that he had enough time to watch a few matches before his first match even began.

    Soon, the matches had started as all sorts of fights between each of the three ns were taking ce on numerous tforms.

    Dante was focusing on the Martial Novice realm fights, after all, the only people he would be fighting would be in the Martial Novice realm in the first ce. so it made sense that he would watch the fights so as to get a solid grip on thepetitors he would have to face against.

    Dante was sat with Patriarch Gavin and Winton and was currently watching a fight between two Martial Novice Realm cultivators, one from the Pierce n and one from the Kinsman n. The fight between them was starting to heat up as both parties exchanged many fierce blows between them.

    "ARRRGH!"

    Suddenly a horrific scream rang out through the arena, even going so far as to reach the spectators on the opposite sides of the stands.

    surprised by such a scream, all eyes gradually turned to the origin of such a traumatic screech confused as to what could possibly be going on.

    As they looked at the origin of the sound, they found out that it hade from one of the Battle tforms meant for Bodyrefining realm cultivators.

    These fighters were by far the weakest contestants in thepetition as they hadn''t even awakened their Martial Spirits and still had to rely on only other physical strength to fight andcked any real sort of energy maniption.

    On the tform was two young Bodyrefining Realm cultivators, one from the ter n and one from the Kinsman n. As you could expect from two rival ns, the fighting was fierce.

    It seemed like the ter n fighter had managed to shatter all the bones in the hand of his opponent from theKinsman n.

    "I...I surren-"

    "Boom!"

    The Kinsman n Disciple tried to surrender, but before he even could finish speaking, the ter n fighter punched him right in the gut, sending him rolling across the tform.

    Slowly, the ter n Disciple walked up to the Kinsman n Disciple. when he got next to the writhing Kinsman n disciple, he sent a quick look towards Patriarch Nn. The two exchanged quick eye contact between them and after receiving a nod of approval, the ter n Disciple slowly raised his foot into the air.

    "Bang!"

    "Crac!"

    The ter n Disciple then brought his foot back down with tremendous force, breaking the Kinsman n disciples arm!

    "Arrgh!"

    The Kinsman n Disciple let out a horrific scream of pain as he felt his arm shatter

    "I surren-"

    Again the Kinsman n Disciple tried to surrender but before he could even finish speaking a kick was sent to his mouth forcing him to shut up.

    Seeing this brutal sight, Patriarch Gavin burst into a mad rage!

    If the first time when the Kinsman n Disciple''s surrender was interrupted it could be possibly considered an ident. A second time could only mean one thing, this ter n Disciple wants to torture a Kinsman n Disciple right in front of him!

 Chapter 65 - Two Can Play At That Game

    In a mad rage, Patriarch Gavin burst out in mes as his terrifying aura covered the tform.

    in addition to this, Gavin shot towards the ter n stands

    "Nn you bastard! why is your n''s disciple trying to torture my nsmen on the stage, don''t tell me you''re trying to start a war!"

    In return, Patriarch Nn calmly floated from the ter n stands to confront Gavin.

    "Now Gavin, shouldn''t you calm down? this kind of conflict is between the younger generation how could I have any control over it?" replied Nn calmly

    "Don''t try and pull that bullshit with me Nn!" eximed Gavin in anger.

    "Do you think that disciple would have the balls to pull off such a stunt without your permission!"

    but before Gavin could continue he was interrupted by a cold voice.

    "Is there anything wrong with the boy''s actions?"

    "The rules clearly state that unless there is any intent to kill, all other actions are allowed?"

    hearing such a statement, Gavin was briefly left stunned.

    he then turned to look at the person who even came up with such ridiculous words. And as Patriarch Gavin turned his head, he finally saw the person who said it

    It was Elder Mahan of the Blood Moon Pce!

    "I see!" Eximed Patriarch Gavin

    Now all of the ter n''s nonsense had finally started to make sense to Patriarch Gavin

    "Now that the ter n has gotten the backing of the Blood Moon Pce, you feel like you don''t need to y by the rules anymore?" asked Patriarch Gavin

    "Fine! two can y at that game!"

    As he said this, Patriarch Gavin flew back to his stand, leaving behind a smirking Nn.

    Seeing that the situation had been dealt with, Nn briefly nodded in satisfaction before turning towards the crowd and saying

    "Let the fight continue!"

    ....

    Now that Gavin had left the arena, the terrifying aura that had been covering the ter n Disciple and restricting him had finally disappeared.

    This meant the ter n disciple could finally move again. with his regained freedom, The ter n disciple went back to his previous actions. slowly approaching his downed opponent, he again raised his leg.

    "Boom!"

    "Crac!"

    The ter n Disciple mmed down his leg shattering the Kinsman n disciple''s other arm!

    The ter n disciple raised his foot again to deal an even more deadly blow but before he could even bring his foot down again, he froze.

    As he raised his foot he could feel hundreds of gazes on his back, each gaze was filled with a burning hatred that just by looking at him, caused him to shiver!

    In fear, the ter n disciple turned his head to look at the origin of all these gazes.

    As he looked he realised that he had turned in the direction of the Kinsman n stands.

    But what scared the disciple most about all this is for a second, he could have sworn that instead of people, what he saw were hundreds of venomous snakes ring at him as if waiting for a chance to devour him whole.

    But who could me him, all of the Kinsman n was staring at him with looks of pure hatred. From Patriarch Gavin and Winton down to people like Brian and Grayson, every member of the Kinsman n was furious and ring at him with looks of pure fury.

    it was only after going through all this that the disciple slowly realised. Although Patriarch Nn said he would protect him, would he really be safe? If the whole of the Kinsman n, which consisted of tens of martial Journeyman cultivators and hundreds of Martial Novice realm cultivators, wereing after his life, could he really be protected?

    Realistically all it took was for one person to catch him and that would be it. no amount of n rewards were worth more than his life. how could he allow himself to die for something so stupid?

    With this thought, The ter n Disciple slowly lowered his foot down and quickly retreated from the tform to the safety of the ter n.

    Seeing this sight, the announcer was left briefly stunned. who could have expected such a sudden retreat by the obvious victor? although the announcer was still stunned he still had a job to do and he soon announced the results.

    "Due to a sudden exit from the arena. The ter n loses by forfeit, victory goes to the Kinsman n!!"

    "Yeahhh!!"

    the crowds of spectators surrounding the arena burst into a deafening cheer.

    Although the spectators had no clue how this reversal of results had happened, it was still entertaining for them to watch so they were still excited for this new development!

    As soon as the victory was announced, the medics from the Kinsman n rushed to the injured disciple and brought him back to the n for immediate treatment.

    Although the fight had unexpectedly be a victory, the atmosphere around the Kinsman n hadn''t changed in the slightest.

    They were still furious and hungry for revenge!

    ...

    While the fury of the Kinsman n was still building up watching the Bodyrefining realm fights. The announcer of the Martial Novice realm tournament made a sudden announcement.

    "Next fight,"

    "Dante Kinsman vs Zander ter!"

    Hearing this announcement Dante felt like the timing just couldn''t get any better. Just when the Kinsman n was furious and looking for revenge, he had Conveniently been given a chance to get just exactly what the whole of the n wanted.

    Without hesitation, Dante jumped from his seat in the stands,nding perfectly on the tform.

    Soon, a Bald muscr man appeared opposite him.

    "So you''re this legendary dual awakening everyone''s talking about. Don''t you look a bit young to be iming the title of strongest in the generation?" Asked Zander

    "And you look old enough to be considered my grandfather, so what''s your point Baldy?"

    After hearing Dante''s reply, the arrogant smile on Zander''s face quickly disappeared.

    "You cocky little shit. I was going to give you a chance to not humiliate yourself but now I guess I''ll just have to break you in half!" eximed Zander

    "Well how about I give you a chance instead?" Asked Dante

    "Get on your knees and apologise for that ter n Disciple''s actions and I''ll let you walk off this tform!"

 Chapter 66 - Dante Vs Zander

    "Arrogant, too arrogant!" eximed Zander

    "How dare a mere 7thyer Martial Novice cultivator dare talk to me a 9th Layer Martial Novice like this!"

    "I guess I need to teach a kid like you a thing or two about humility or else you''ll end up thinking you rule the world!"

    As Zander spoke, his aura erupted as the whole of his body was coated in a blue hue.

    Dante wouldn''t just stand still and do nothing.

    In response, Dante fully unleashed both Dragon fear auras from his Red Dragon and Silver Dragon.

    "Roar!"

    A draconic roar erupted from Dante''s body as his Dragon fear expanded from his body, even going as far as to even cover the surrounding spectators.

    "Whatбн what the hell is this?"

    "Such a terrifying aura, as expected of a dual spirit awakened!"

    As not all spectators had seen Dante''s dragon aura before they naturally began to stumble and panic.

    Which only caused the members of the Kinsman n to look in in disdain as they watched the aspects of their rival n fumble in panic.

    But not just regr members of the can we''re shocked even Elder Mahan couldn''t help raise an eyebrow in surprise.

    "Strange? I''ve never felt such a strange aura before" said Elder Mahan

    "That boy''s Martial Spirits really do grant him such strange abilities, maybe he is one to watch for after all"

    бн

    Meanwhile back at thebat tform Dante and Zander red at each other as the tension between them reached a terrifyingly high height

    All of a sudden, Zander made the first move dashing towards Dante

    "River Treading steps!"

    As he spoke a wave of water gushed from Zander''s feet sending flying towards Dante

    "Rushing River Palm!"

    Zander sent out a powerful palm directly at Dante''s face!

    Dante wanted topletely dominate this fight. And the most obvious way to do this was to confront Zander upfront and dominate him andpletely overpower him, so to do this he decided to use a move he hadn''t used in a while.

    "Furious Dragon w!"

    "Roar!Roar!Roar!Roar!"

    Four dragon roars sounded throughout the air as Dante delivered a terrifying w attack

    "Bang!"

    A loud collision sounded sending out a shockwave towards the stands but in the end, Zander was fixed to take several steps back while Dante remained firm and unmoving.

    Zander was left stunned and couldn''t help looking at Dante in shock.

    All he received from Dante was a cold sneer.

    With both Draconic might passives, his strength was increased by 600%! Unless his opponents had spent many years in physical training, it would be rare that he would be bested in a match of pure physical strength.

    While Zander was still in shock Dante took it as the perfect opportunity to attack

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    the tform began to shake as Dante took a step forward causing his body to flicker before appearing to the side of Zander

    "What the he-!!"

    "Furious Dragon w!"

    Again Dante sent out a vicious w towards Zander''s body.

    "Boom!"

    Zander''s body folded from the brutal impact and was sent rolling across the floor of thebat tform, despite all this, Dante wouldn''t let Zander get off so easily

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    Dante shed beside Zander while simultaneously coating his legs in the silver colour of his moonlight energy. After approaching Zander, Dante brought his leg back in a swift motion and in doing so, sending out a thunderous kick towards Zander.

    But this time Zander wouldn''t continue to passively take such a beating.

    "Water shield! " cried Zander

    Instantly a burst of water erupted quickly forming a defensive barrier between Dante''s kick and Zander.

    This short block was enough time for Zander to back off and create some distance to regather himself.

    "Shit, Dante! You forced me to do this!"

    As Zander spoke he rose his foot in the while blue particles of water element energy started leaking around him, just showing how much energy he was pouring into this attack.

    "Die Dante!"

    "Tidal wave!"

    Zander mmed his foot into the tform with a loud thud.

    "Boom!"

    As Zander mmed into the tform, a swirl of blue element energy particles started flowing into the ground as an overwhelminglyrge amount of water started to pour out of the ground. But this wasn''t even the most surprising part as the amount of water kept on increasing until a wave of water at around the height of around 30 metres had formed on the tform.

    "Go! " cried Zander

    "Rumble! Rumble!" The overwhelming weight and force of the water wave caused the tform to shake as it hurled itself towards Dante.

    Seeing this shocking sight, Dante knew that he had to put in some effort if he actually wanted to beat Zander.

    "Come, Moonlight Sword!"

    A silver burst of light poured from Dante''s space pouch as his trusty moonlight sword quickly flew into Dante''s hand.

    "Buzz!" The Moonlight Sword let out a happy hum as it snuggled into Dante''s firm grip.

    "Badum!Badum!Badum!"

    Dante''s echoing heartbeat sounded throughout the arena as his mysterious bloodline was greatly stimted by the arrival of the moonlight sword.

    Dante''s hair and eyes started flickering in brilliant silver light as he slowly raised his Moonlight Sword into the sky.

    "Lunar sword technique, Rising New Moon!"

    A silver field formed Around Dante''s feet as the phantom of a full moon rose into the sky.

    "Thisбн artistic conception"

    "Damn! Two Martial Spirits and even Artistic conception, this Dante is just too talented!" Eximed a spectator

    Hearing all this praise for Dante''s artistic conception Curtis couldn''t help but snort

    "Artistic conception, it''s nothing special even I have one so what''s all the hype about?"

    Regardless of people''s praise or disdain for him, Dante was focusing fully on the fight right in front of him.

    "Strike!"

    Dante swung his sword in a downward motion and as if receiving a signal, an overwhelming downpour of beams of Moonlight Energy fell from the sky bombarding the gigantic tidal wave approaching Dante.

 Chapter 67 - I Told You, Two Can Play At That Game

    An overwhelming downpour of beams of Moonlight Energy fell from the sky bombarding the gigantic tidal wave approaching Dante.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

    Beam after beam fell on the gigantic tidal wave resulting in loud explosions and bursts of energy as each attack resulted in the removal of part ofZander''s giant wave attack.

    With a wave of his sword, Dante regrouped the falling beams of Moonlight energy into one giant group of beams, before sending them out to meet the remains of the tidal wave attack once again.

    "BANG!"

    A giant explosion of water vapour blinded the vision of all of the people watching.

    Realising his vision was obscured, Zander began to use his defensive technique to be on the safe side

    "Hydrosph-!"

    But what Zander didn''t know was that Dante had already been approaching him and when he saw Zander about to use a defensive technique, he immediately rushed up a grabbed him by the throat preventing him from finishing it

    Eventually, the smoke cleared up and to the shock of many of the spectators, they found Dante holding Zander by the neck in a chokehold.

    Looking at the pure panic and struggle on Zander''s face,Dante finallyspoke,

    "Don''t me me for this, you''re the one who started it!"

    Once Dante finished speaking, the air around him began to rapidly heat up as particles of fire element energy began to rush towards him.

    Sensing what was about to happen, Patriarch Nn rushed up from his seat

    "Stoop you little bastard!"

    Just like Patriarch Gavin, Nn tried to stop Dante with his aura alone. But unlike that ter n disciple, Dante didn''t fear the Patriarch of the Rival n. Instead, Dante dared to sh head on with him sending out two of his dragon fear auras directly shing with the aura Patriarch Nn had just released

    Patriarch Nn was surprised that not only did his aura fail to stop but Dante, Dante also dared to sh directly with him.

    Patriarch Nn was furious!

    In a burst of anger, Patriarch Nn charged directly at Dante to stop his attack on Zander.

    Although Dante could sense Nn speeding towards him, he wasn''t scared in the slightest.

    Zander wasn''t the only one with Elders to protect him!

    Just as Nn was getting too close to Dante there was a loud bang!

    Looking at who just stopped him, Nn couldn''t resist crying out in rage

    "Gavin! Get the fuck out of my way!"

    Looking at the raging Nn in front of him, a sly smile appeared on Gavin''s face.

    "Brother Nn, you need to calm down. Weren''t you the one who said all actions were within the rules as long the opponent wasn''t injured?"

    "Brother Nn, when I said you''ll regret this you didn''t believe me but now look! Just remember you were the one who started this!"

    "Remember I told you, I told you, two can y at that game."

    Seeing the smile on Gavin''s face, Nn felt like he was about to explode in rage

    "Gavin I''m warning you! you don''twant to do thi-!"

    But before Nn could finish, Dante''s voice interrupted their argument

    "Breath of the Red Dragon!"

    Instantly the temperature of the arena increased to ridiculous levels as a bright red cone of fire was breathed from Dante''s mouth.

    "Arrrgh!"

    Zander let out a scream of pain as his body began to Char under the temperature of terrifying mes Dante released.

    Remember Dante had another passive that made this worse for Zander

    Furious mes 3/3 - The burning anger of a Red Dragon is eternal and can never be stopped. Your mes are granted 200% increased damage and cause the victim excruciating pain

    With the increased damage and pain caused by Dante''s ''Furious mes'' passive, only god knew the true torture of the experienceZander was going through.

    Although Dante felt some pity for Zander, he didn''t let that affect him.

    He and Zander were enemies, both were from different ns. There was no right or wrong in war, only benefits and negatives.

    If it had been Dante in Zander''s situation, Zander would have done the exact same and been hailed as the hero of the ter n.

    Unfortunately For Zander, he and Dante were on two different sides, the blood spilled between the ter n and the Kinsman n was too much for it to ever be peacefully resolved.

    Only The hatred between the ter n and the Kinsman n that went back generations remained. And unfortunately for Zander, Dante was the one who came out on top in this encounter.

    As the mes cleared, the spectators could only see Dante holding up apletely charred and burnt body.

    Instantly the crowd of the ter n members screamed in anger!

    "How dare that bastard do this to a member of the ter n!"

    "War, the Kinsman n clearly is trusting to start a war!" Bellowed another elder in rage

    Under the countless eyesight hatred directed at him by the ter n members, Dante turned towards them with a cruel smile on his face!

    "Boom!"

    Dante threw the charred body of Zander at the floor at the front of the ter n stands

    "Pick it up" called Dante

    "That piece of trash, pick it up."

    There was a brief period of silence in the training ground as the onlookers were left stunned trying toprehend what they just saw.

    Suddenly there was a rage filled roar as the ter n stands exploded with anger

    "Kill him!"

    "How dare he do this to a member of my ter n, I want his head!"

    Hearing the rage-filled screams of the ter n members, Dante slowly turned around and walked confidently back to his seat seemingly not paying attention to them.

    Unlike the ter n disciple from before, Dante wasn''t scared of any retaliation the ter n would bring his way, in fact, he encouraged it!

    he was confident in his strength unless some actual elders came to get him the rest would just be heading to their deaths! Besides, with people like his Father and Patriarch Gavin, the truly strong attackers would be easily killed before they could evene close to him!

    Watching Dante''s actions the announcer was left stunned for a few seconds before he hurriedly announced

    "WiбнWinner by Knock out, Dante Kinsman!!"

    Hearing this the Kinsman n stands burst out inughter

    "Hahaha! ter n dogs, how does it feel to be humiliated!"

    "To think that ter n buffoon thought he could challenge Dante, the strongest of the Kinsman n by himself! Trulyughable!"

    The Kinsman n didn''t spare the ter n one bit and mercilessly mocked them.

 Chapter 68 - KlentтАЩs Conflict

    The Kinsman n didn''t spare the ter n one bit and mercilessly mocked them.

    ...

    Back at the ter n stands,

    Curtis was fuming!

    "Master Mahan, let me go teach that kid a lesson!"

    " How dare he humiliate the ter n like that! He deserves to die a brutal death!" as Curtis said this a brutal aura started to form around him.

    But to Curtis''s surprise, Elder Mahan stopped him.

    "Curtis, have you forgotten who you are?" asked elder Mahan

    "You''re a member of the Blood Moon Pce, the greatest Demonic sect in thend!We have no ce to look after weaklings, even if all the men of the ter n were killed he wouldn''t be at fault, instead it would be the ter n members own fault for being too weak!"

    "Instead of worrying about others, you should focus more on yourself. Yourmatch against Reba ising up soon, remember, this time you can''t afford to lose!" Eximed Elder Mahan

    "Yes master." Replied Curtis

    Although Curtis was displeased by his instructions, he still listened to his master and sat back down.

    But unlikest time, a dense aura of hatred and madness started forming around him causing the air to shake.

    Looking at Curtis, Elder Mahan couldn''t help but smile

    ''Don''t me me Curtis, this is all for your own good. Only through rage and hatred will you be able to unleash the full abilities of your martial spirit!'' Thought Elder Mahan.

    ....

    Back at the arena.

    Both Dante''s and the ter n disciple''s actions had provoked anger in each other''s ns.

    From that point onward, all battles between ter n and Kinsman n Disciples ended in a bloody mess!

    Filled with nothing but hatred each n''s disciples wouldn''t stop until their opponent was grievously injured or incapacitated.

    Gradually a bloody Ominous aura started to form over the arena, it seemed like this year''s inter-npetition would end in a way nobody would have expectedбн

    бн

    As time passed and thepletion progressedThere had been many matches ending in victory for both the Kinsman n, ter n and even the Pierce n.

    Suddenly there was anew announcement thatrang out through the arena

    "Kinsman n''s Klent vs ter n''s Devyn!"

    Hearing a familiar name, Dante looked up out of interest. He was really curious to see as to what lengths Klent''s strength had increased to.

    Dante really had some high expectations for Klent seeing as he couldprehend sword intent, something even Dante had managed to do yet. Of course, Klent has spent many more years training with the sword than Dante but that didn''t take anything away from his achievements.

    Even in the Kinsman n, with people way over double Klent''s age, nobody other than Klent had mana hard toprehend sword intent only further highlighting the ridiculous difficulty of his achievement.

    While Dante was thinking all this, Klent slowly approached the battle tform.

    As he did he was greeted with the presence of an average-looking young man in the ssic blue robe unique to the ter n.

    Once Klent stood opposite the young man, he finally heard him speak

    "Hahah my lucky day! To think I actually ran into someone only in the 5thyer of the Martial Novice realm. I''m surprised you''re not in a hurry to surrender, don''t tell me you haven''t heard about the rewards we get for severely injuring a Kinsman n Disciple?" asked Devyn

    "Well if you''re going to give me some easy contribution points I won''t turn them down!"said Devyn as he burst into a joyfulughter

    Klent didn''t respond. Instead, his aura gradually turned sharp as if a sword had just been pulled out its sheath and it was looking for blood!

    ''Only in the 7thyer'' thought Klent

    ''Unless he''s got any special techniques, this should be a piece of cake.''

    As klent was thinking all this he heard a deafening cry

    "River treading steps!"

    Devyn let out a war cry as a wave of water burst out his feet, propelling him towards Klent

    "Rushing River Palm!"

    Devyn''s hand was coatedin a cold blue light as he used the signature technique of the ter n

    "Phantom Ghost Steps!"

    "Boom!"

    Devyn''s attack let out a loud bang but instead of hitting Klent like he had expected,it only passed through the hazy after image of his body, hitting the battle tform below.

    "You really love to run Huh?" asked Devyn

    "Fine then, we''ll y it your way!"

    "River treading steps!"

    "Phantom Ghost Steps!"

    Devyn chased after Klent in a burst of water and afterimages, the two of them dashed around the battle tform in an borate game of cat and mouse

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    Devyn sent out blow after blow but unfortunately for him, every attack he sent just seemed to slip past Klent as he danced around him leaving himpletely frustrated.

    "You little rat, stop running around and fight like a man!" Eximed Devyn in frustration

    "Very well." Responded Klent.

    Suddenly Klent stopped moving and slowly drew his sword.

    "Buzzz! Buzz!"

    Klent''s sword began to hum and as if setting off a chain reaction, almost all of the swords in the crowd began to vibrate deafeningly. Be it from Kinsman n or the ter n, all swords seemed to be joining in in this symphony irrespective of their owners will.

    "Sword intentбнHeprehended Sword intent!!"

    Hearing this the crowd burst into an uproar.

    Only the Kinsman n members new Klent had managed toprehend Sword intent beforehand leaving the rest of the spectatorspletely stunned!

    Meanwhile, Devyn on thebat tform started to rethink his ns

    ''Shit this kid managed toprehend sword intent, what the hell are they feeding the kids at the Kinsman n to produce such monsters!''

    ''Despite all this, it shouldn''t be that bad.I''m still two realms above him, just the initial stage of sword intent shouldn''t be so heaven-defying right?''

    Devyn decide to not dwell on it anymore and attack!

    "Hydrost!"

    As Devyn spoke a giant pir of water formed around his arm,rotating at high speeds before rushing straight towards Klent

 Chapter 69 - Blood On His Hands

    "Hydrost!"

    As Devyn spoke, a giant pir of water formed around his arm. After rotating around his arms at high speeds, it started rushing straight towards Klent.

    Despite the fact there was a massive pir of water rushing towards him, Klent didn''t seem too bothered by it and Just as the pir of water was right in front of him,Klent brought down his sword

    "Heavy Hack!"

    Klent''s sword glowed in a dazzling white light as it cut straight into the pir of water.

    As Klent''s sword and the pir of water made contact, the pir instantly split in half spraying water in all directions.But the effects of the attack didn''t end there. The sh from Klent''s attack ran along the whole length of the pir cutting right to its very base even reaching up to Devyn''s arm slicing it in the process.

    "Arrgh!"

    Devyn screamed in pain as numerouscerations appeared on his arm in a burst of blood and flesh.

    Holding his damaged arm in pain, Devyn backed off in retreat before calling out his defensive technique

    "Hydrosphere!"

    Instantly, a deep blue coloured sphere of water encased Devyn protecting him from any outside attack.

    But before Devyn could sigh in relief

    Klent got into a sword-drawing stance.

    "de storm!"

    Klent quickly drew his sword and as he did a blind wing wave of white light erupted as numerous rays of de energy shot towards Devyn''s protective bubble"

    "Boom!Boom!Boom!"

    "Pop!"

    After many collisions, Devyn''s protective bubble finally burst.

    "I surren-!"In a panic, Devyn tried to surrender but before he could evenplete his sentence Klent''s de lights caught him!

    The de lights danced along Devyn''s body cutting deep into muscles and leavingcerations all over his skin!

    "Plop!"

    Completely incapacitated, Devyn fell backwards into a pool of his own blood.

    Looking at such a bloody sight,Dante found it hard to believe Devyn was still alive. If not for Devyn''s slowly rising chest,Dante would have thought Klent killed him right there and then!

    Seeing this one-sided defeat, the announcer quickly spoke

    "Winner by knockout, Klent of the Kinsman n!"

    As soon as the winner was announced some ter n elders rushed towards Devyn, quickly applying first aid before taking him back towards the ter n stands.

    "Bang!"

    Patriarch Nn mmed his fist down in rage

    "These bastards of the Kinsman n! Just how many talents have they been hiding!!"

    But Patriarch Nn want the only one who was surprised by Klents actions, even members of The Kinsman n were left stunned by Klent''s magnificent disy

    "That boyбн his mastery of the sword is superb!" Sighed Winton

    "In such a short time he managed to find out how to fully utilise his sword intent. Unlikest time he now can extend his sword intent from his body allowing for sword intent to extend from his body and cover ranged attacks"

    "With such a terrifying rate of progress, it will only be a matter of time before he enters the next stage of sword intent." Stated Winton

    Hearing this Dante was left even more stunned than before.

    Dante knew that Klent was talented and had even expected him to win the match, it''s just that he didn''t expect him to win with such ease. Klent''s technique and control over his moves had reached an extremely high level which brought his strength up to a new height even Dante hadn''t ever seen before.

    The only strange thing is that everybody else assumed klent had gradually made this steady increase over his technique but Dante knew that a few days ago when he was training with Klent his skill was nowhere near this level.

    It just made him wonder, what could have happened to him to increase his skill so drastically in a few days?

    бн

    Meanwhile back at the battle tform,

    Klent slowly walked off the stage.

    As he got back to his seat and quickly began meditating and ignored all the people around him. But instead of actually meditating as everyone thought, klent was actually trying to speak to someone with his mind.

    ''Swordmaster Rho!'' Called Klent in his mind

    ''Stop shouting, I''m still here!'' Replied Master Rho In annoyance

    ''Where did you go, during the battle I was calling out to you yet you remained silent?'' asked Klent

    ''What would you know! there a were a Pair of eyes on you that seemed to lookpletely through you, I spoke carelessly it was possible that I would be discovered and from the bloody aura around that person I doubt it would be a good idea to be discovered in my weak state!''

    Hearing Master Rho''s strong impression, Klent couldn''t help asking

    ''Is that Elder Mahan even that impressive?''

    Hearing Klent''s question, Swordmaster Rho was stunned for a few seconds

    ''Elder Mahan, why the hell would I be talking about him?'' Asked Master Rho

    ''If you''re not talking about Elder Mahan who else could you be talking about?''

    ''I''m talking about Winton of course!''

    ''He may be hide it from the people around him but he can''t hide it from me. His body reeks with the stench of destruction and blood. Put it like this, the blood on the hands of the so called Elder Mahan is only like drop before the ocean whenpared to blood on the hands of Winton. That man has something to hide, I''d be careful around him if I were you!'' Exined Sword master Rho

    Hearing the terrifying description about Winton, Klent instinctively turned in Winton''s direction.

    Sensing Klent''s gaze on him Winton turned in his direction.

    As their eyes met Winton gave a slight smile and nodded in Klent''s direction. The only thing was after hearing Swordmaster Rho''s description, this simple smile felt more demonic than anything he had seen in his life. In response to Winton''s smile, Klent shivered in fear and quickly avoided eye contact.

    ''Strange?'' Thought Winton

    ''Why is this kid so scared all of a sudden?''

    ''Don''t tell me he knows something!''Instantly Winton''s killing intent surged but it was suppressed just as quickly as it surged.

    ''Damn! I''m getting too paranoid now! How could a kid possibly know anything''

    ''All this time hiding has really messed up my state of mind. I really need to recover fast, this state can''t continue or else I''ll start to suspect anyone!''

    бн

 Chapter 70 - Adelia Pierce

    As the tournament went on, more and more fights urred every fight between the ter n and the Kinsman n would always end in serious injuries for both parties. The only relief was the Pierce n. As a truly neutral party, each match against them could be said to be the only normalpletions matches in the whole tournament.

    As Dante was meditating to recover his energy, he heard his name being called

    "Next match!"

    "Dante Kinsman vs Adelia Pierce!"

    Hearing his name being called Dante slowly opens his eyes that seemed to burn with a dazzling silver light.

    Retrieving his trusty Moonlight Sword from his space pouch, Dante confidently strolled towards his challenger.

    As he approached Dante finally saw his opponent

    It was a beautiful youngdy dressed in a bright green robe. She had pitch-ck hair that ran down to her back and although she had a veil covering her face, Dante could instantly tell she was a beauty.

    Despite all this, the thing that attracted Dante the most were her green eyes. They were like a pair of twinkling emeralds instantly grabbing Dante''s attention.

    For a second, Dante felt like he could stare at her eyes endlessly. But then Dante remembered where he was, he was in the middle of the brutal inter-npetition. he couldn''t let himself be distracted so easily

    Dante wouldn''t be so stupid as to underestimate a pretty woman, just his painful experience of training with Reba alone had taught him not to underestimate a person based on their looks.

    In a brutal world like the Martial Spirit world where might is right, the more beautiful a woman is the more dangerous she is!

    This is because although beauty can be a blessing, more often than not it''s a curse. Beautiful young women are often married off in the benefit of the n.That''s why if you meet a beautiful woman like that, More often than not, you should be very careful as either she''s so talented and strong she can ignore the rules and opinions of the n she is in. Or that she is so helpful to the n that no marriage would be able to rece the benefits she brought to the n.

    Either way, both of those options meant that she was not someone that should be messed around with.

    Dante knew all this but seeing as she was from the Pierce n, and neither the Pierce n nor the Kinsman n weren''t particrly enemies, Dante felt like he should at least introduce himself.

    So Dante slowly walked up to her with a bright smile on his face

    "I feel like you should already know my name but Let me introduce myself regardless."

    As he spoke Dante attached out his hand for a handshake

    "My name is Dante Kinsman, it''s my pleasure to meet you."

    Adelia also reached out to shake Dante''s hand as she replied

    "Of course I''ve heard of the name Dante kinsman, how could you have not heard of the name of the only dualMartial Spirit awakener in the whole of BrightsteelCity?"

    "My name is Adelia Pierce, it''s also a pleasure to meet you."

    "Adelia Pierce... where have I heard this name before?" Thought Dante aloud

    But unfortunately for Dante, after hearing Dante''s words Adelia suddenly frowned.

    "Don''t tell me you''ve been living in brightsteel cityfor all these years and don''t even know the names of children of the Pierce n patriarch?"

    hearing this reply, Dante knew he messed up

    ''Shiittt!'' Thought Dante.''How do I keep forgetting these important names!!''

    Dante knew he had to try and fix the bad impression he had made from the start

    "it''s all starting to make sense now " eximed Dante

    hearing this, Adelia was confused

    "Earlier today I was talking to Patriarch Randall and he kept mentioning how beautiful and talented his daughter was and I must admit, his description about you as absolutely spot on"

    hearing Dante''s ttery a slight smile started to form on Adelia''s face.

    "Spare me the ttery, there''s no need to pretend." Replied Adelia

    "I''m being deadly serious." Replied Dante with a straight expression

    "The descriptions Patriarch Randall made were spoton, if anything, the Description didn''t do your beauty justice..."

    "cough!cough!"

    Before Dante could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the cough of the match announcer.

    "It''s great that you guys are getting to know each other and everything,but the match has to start soon"

    hearing these words, Dante shot the announcer a murderous look

    ''fkkk! Just when the conversation started to get going this goones along and interferes!''Thought Dante

    The more he thought about it the more Pissed Dante got. The announcer obviously knew what he was doing when he interrupted the conversation.

    it''s just that the referee was out of options. It was either Piss off Dante and interrupt his conversation or piss off the rest of the crowd and allow for the conversation to carry on.

    Unfortunately for Dante, the referee chose to favour the majority of people and in this case, it was the crowd. but in doing so he also interrupted the conversation and c*ckblocking him in the process

    seeing that the crowd of people were urging her in Adelia finally spoke

    "it seems like we should finally start the fight "

    Hearing this Dante knew the conversation was truly over.He really did fuck up this time. but before Dante could continue to jump to conclusions, Adelia continued speaking.

    "But it won''t be bad if we could continue this conversation another time"

    Hearing this, Dante''s emotions did a quick U-turn, it seemed like he did really leave a good impression or else it would be impossible to continue the conversation. well, it was either that or he was being yed by Adelia and Dante preferred to believe in the much more positive answer.

    Now that the greetings had been exchanged, it was time to get down to fighting!

    Although Dante had an interest in Adelia, it didn''t mean that he would lose a match to her.

 Chapter 71 - Adelia Vs Dante 1

    Although Dante had an interest in Adelia, it didn''t mean that he would lose a match to her.

    The inter-npetition was a straight knock out stage tournament. This meant that if you lost even one match you would be out straight away. This was because it was the only way to hold such arge tournament within the small time frame of just one day.

    And if he got himself knocked out because he wanted to impress a girl, Dante couldn''t even begin to imagine the amount of pain that he would have to go through back at the n.

    Besides, if even just a bit of Patriarch Randall''s boasting was true then his match against Adelia would actually be quite a challenge. Well, she should at least be more of a challenge than his previous opponent, Zander.

    While Dante was thinking all this, Adelia slowly made some distance between them as a tense aura started to form around them.

    Suddenly, Adelia spoke

    "I hope you don''t go easy and underestimate me or else you might lose"

    Hearing this, Dante smiled as he replied

    "Don''t worry, I''ve never nned on underestimating you from the very start."

    As he spoke, Dante withdrew his Moonlight Sword causing a shimmer of silver light to spread out from him.

    In response to this, the aura around Adelia changed as she brought out her own weapon.

    Her weapon was a pitch-ck spear that gave of an ominous aura. Tendrils of ck smoke started to flow around the spear as it left a trail of ck smoke as it moved through the air.

    For a second, there was a brief period of silence as Dante and Adelia stared down each other, each trying to find a weakness in the other.

    Eventually, Dante got tired of this boring stalemate and decided to make the first move

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    Dante strode forward causing his image to flicker as he shed towards Adelia at a terrifying speed

    Glowing in a silver light, Dante brought down his Sword on Adelia in a violent collision

    "Bang!"

    A pitch-ck spear flowed through the air, deftly deflecting Dante''s attack causing his attack to miss his targetpletely

    Quickly recovering from that failed move, Dante swiftly turned his body sending out another attack at Adelia, this time even more powerful than before!

    "Shadow shuttle!"

    Just as Dante''s de was about to collide with Adelia, The shadows at her feet seemed to bubble as they quickly moved around a coated her in a moving ckyer.

    "Bang!"

    There was a loud impact as Dante''s de only managed to hit the tform below.

    This was because after the shadow had wrapped itself around Adelia, her body seemed to fly past Dante moving at a mind-boggling speed.

    A few metres away from Dante, Adelia appeared again but this time she had a mocking look on her face.

    "you''ll have to try harder if you what to catch me" taunted Adelia as she waved at Dante

    Faced with such an obvious provocation, Dante couldn''t just stay still and do nothing

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    "Shadow shuttle!"

    "Bang! Bang! Bang! ..."

    Numerous explosions went off as Dante and Adelia danced around the Battle tform, with each missed attack causing a deafening st.

    The two of them were moving at such a fast speed that only people at The Martial Journeyman realm and higher could clearly make out what was going on. But for those at lower realms, only lines of silver and ck could be seen as they tried to make out who was winning from what little effects they could barely see.

    Dante and Adelia continued speeding around the battle tform and eventually, Dante managed to catch Adelia off guard with a lightning-fast sword attack

    "Boom!"

    Although Adelia seemed to have an advantage when it came to weapon technique, the difference in strength between them was just too great. So when she was hit full on by Dante''s attack, she was sent flying across the tform due to the sheer difference in strength between them

    Dante wouldn''t let up such a perfect opportunity and continued his offence.

    A blinding silver wave of light spread forth from him, covering the Battle tform.

    "Lunar sword technique, Rising New Moon!"

    As Dante spoke his hair shed a dazzling silver colour as he raised his Moonlight sword into the air. Simultaneously, the phantom of a full Moon quickly rose into the sky, covering the battle tform in it''s silver light

    "Strike!"

    Instantly, a rain of hundreds of beams of moonlight energy fell towards Adelia. With Dante''s developed mastery over the Lunar Sword technique, he controlled the falling beams to simultaneously attack from all directions

    If you could look around at Adelia, you could clearly see that Adelia waspletely surrounded in all directions. It would be almost impossible for a normal person to dodge all these attacks no matter how good their movement technique was.

    To Dante''s surprise, Adelia didn''t make any sudden movements. Instead, she stoodpletely still as the swarm of attacks approached her.

    And just as the first ray of energy was about to hit her,Adelia suddenly opened her eyes.

    "Dance of a thousand spears!"

    Instantly, a ck storm of shadows formed around Adelia as hundreds of spears went out to meet each ray of energy.

    But the shocking thing was, although it looked like Adelia was shooting out hundreds of spears at once. If you looked at it more closely, it was clear to see that instead of shooting out hundreds of spears. Each spear attacking from adelia was actually just an image produced from her lightning fast attacks leaving behind an afterimage.

    This meant that Adelia was personally destroying his hundreds of attacks with an attack of her own!

    "Bang!Bang!Bang!...."

    Explosions rang out as each of Dante''s beams were precisely countered by Adelia''s attacks. And in doing so, blinding the stadium in the light of countless explosions.

    Although Dante was surprised at the way Adelia countered his attacks, he wouldn''t just watch on and waste such an ample opportunity. So while Adelia was concentrating on countering Dante''s countless attacks he stealthily rushed towards Adelia.

    As he rushed over he powered up a mighty sword strike filled with an enormous amount of energy. But just as Dante''s attack was about to hit Adelia, she turned around staring Dante directly into his eyes.

    As she turned around and looked at Dante, he only had one thought on his mind

    ''Her eyes...Why are they golden?''

    That was thest thought Dante had before he was hit by an overwhelming wave of Burning light.

 Chapter 72 - Adelia Vs Dante 2

    That was thest thought Dante had before he was hit by an overwhelming wave of Burning light.

    ...

    meanwhile in the spectator stands.

    Winton and the rest watched on as Dante snuck up on Adelia. But just as they thought he was going to win the fight, a blinding burst of lightpletely covered the battle tform leaving thempletely stunned

    "Shit! That attack was just too brutal!" eximed a kinsman n Disciple

    "I don''t know if I could survive such an attack head-on if I was in his ce," said another worriedly

    But while some saw the oue as an unfavourable result, others were left overjoyed at the development.

    One such person was non-other than the Pierce n Patriarch and Adelia''s Father, Randall Pierce.

    After seeing the burst of light, only Randall knew just how seriously Adelia was taking this fight.

    ''It''s just as I had expected! Only a dual awakener would force her to use the full extent of her Mutated Martial Spirit, the Celestial Phantom Spear!''

    ''The only problem is now that her hole card has been used so early on in the fight, I hope she can still secure the win..'' thought Patriarch Randall

    ...

    back on the battle tform,

    The burst of light finally cleared up allowing them to see the aftermath of Adelia''s horrifying attack.

    The air still shimmered and bent due to aftereffects of her attack, just going to show what terrifying temperatures the battle tform had reached

    The floor of the battle tform waspletely scorched ck by these horrifying temperatures but shockingly there was still someone standing inside the st radius!

    In the middle of this field of ck was a slightly singed figure, standing defiantly inside the st radius.

    This person was of course Dante!

    His favourite ck-gold robes had been burnt to ashes, leaving his upper bodypletely exposed while his skin had turned bright red under the scorching heat.

    When Dante saw the wave light approaching him it was too quick for him to resist, forcing him to face that attack head-on!

    If not for his tremendous magical resistance negating most of the damage, Dante would definitely be in a worse situation than right now.

    Only now did Dante realise how seriously Adelia was taking thispetition. no matter how good a rtionship he thought they had, Adelia wouldn''t hesitate to seriously injure him if she thought she still had a chance of still winning this fight.

    Turing towards Adelia he could see that she hadpletely changed.

    Her dazzling green eyes had changed to a more mesmerising deep gold colour while the jet ck spear in her hand had changed to a clear white colour.

    While he was assessing the new changes in Adelia, Dante saw her lift her newly coloured spear and point it directly towards him.

    As soon as the spear was pointed at him All of Dante''s senses started going off as a loud warning seemed to ring in Dante''s mind.

    Instinctively, Dante rapidly dived to the left

    "Celestial Smite."

    "Boom!"

    An explosion of pure golden energy urred at the location Dante had just been in causing the tform to shake once again.

    But to Dantes horror, just as he was recovering from that attack, he looked up to see Adelia pointing her spear towards him again

    "Fuck! Emperor''s Descent!"

    "Bang!"

    Dantes figure shed as an explosion erupted so close behind him he could still feel the heat on his fully exposed back.

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!.."

    Dante kept running around the battle tform like a cornered rat, he knew if he stopped for even a second he would be bombarded by Adelia''s almost instant attacks.

    Despite Dante''s ability to dodge almost all of the attacks thrown at him, he knew he could not let this situation continue as it is. So in retaliation, he raised his Moonlight sword into the air

    "Lunar Sword technique, Rising New Moon!"

    "Strike!"

    As he roared, the phantom of the moon seemed to shake as an unbelievable downpour of attacks rained down in the direction of Adelia.

    But instead of panicking, Adelia was still as expressionless as before. She slowly raised her spear in the direction of the falling attacks and coldly spoke

    "Celestial Smite."

    Almost instantly, The sky seemed to brighten up in an array of golden coloured explosions, instantly destroying the beams of Moonlight energy.

    With just a simple wave of her spear, she had managed topletely eliminate Dante''s signature attack!

    Dante could only watch on in disbelief as one of his attacks were easily dealt with

    ''Fuck!''

    ''I always knew I needed a stronger sword technique!'' thought Dante in frustration

    Although Dante knew with his dragonification form he would be able to win the match, that was hisst card and something he was saving forter if arge conflict broke outter during thepetition. If he used it now to win this fight, he would be unable to use it anytime soon due to the slightly long cooldown of the ability. And without his dragonification ability, he would becking his strongest hole card in this unpredictable situation. So Dante knew that if he wanted to win that he would have to rely only on his Martial Skills to win this fight.

    But this wasn''t a situation Dante had never thought about before. Ever since Dante had understood his sword technique to Artistic Conception, he had been getting a strong feeling that his attacks werecking something.

    Although his attacks were numerous and had arge area of effect, they also had a majorck of direct crushing power.

    If his attacks were stronger in pure power, then there would be no way that Adelia could have dealt with it so easily. But Dante wasn''t an idiot and had been aware of this growing problem for a while now.

    The only problem was that when he went looking for a stronger sword technique, he just couldn''t find one that had a strong connection mysterious bloodline like the one he has right now!

 Chapter 73 - Self Created Move

    The only problem was that when he went looking for a stronger sword technique, he just couldn''t find one that had a strong connection mysterious bloodline like the one he has right now!

    You see, Dante knew that he wasn''t extremely talented when it came to the way of the sword. In fact, a major reason he was able to make rapid progress as he did now was because of the connection between his sword technique and his bloodline.

    He knew he would only be able to make rapid progress in his sword technique if he had a simr connection like he did now. The problem was that when Dante went looking through the Kinsman n library,he just couldn''t find any other technique in the whole of the kinsman n that fit the requirements

    What made matters worse for Dante, was that when he went to his father in hopes of finding a new sword technique. His father actually told him that he wouldn''t give him a new technique as he felt there was still room for development within the sword technique he already had.

    But this confused Dante as since he had achieved artistic conception, it meant that his understanding of the Lunar Sword technique was equal to that of the creator itself.The only way to progress in the technique would be to create aplete stage of the technique,even stronger than the ones of the creator!

    Due to this fact, Dante had been studying the Lunar Sword technique like crazy ever since Winton had told him he could still possibly improve it. During Dante''s study of the technique, he realised that the sword technique mimicked the phases of the moon cycle and felt like that was the best ce for him to start if he ever had hope of creating a new move.

    Crescent Moon

    Waning Moon

    Rising New Moon

    These were the stages of the Lunar Sword technique and With each new stage, a new phase of the moon''s cycle was covered.

    But after some research, Dante noticed that an important phase of the moon''s cycle was actually missing.

    The setting of the moon!

    Just like the Sun, the moon also rose in the east and set in the west.The setting of the moon was also an important phase of the moon cycle and so Dante decided to try and develop a technique that incorporates that process into the Lunar Sword technique.

    Although this was a ridiculously difficult task, Dante felt that with the help of his mysterious bloodline that it should be possible to at least make some progress in creating the move. Besides, Dante believed thatWinton would have never even mentioned it in the first ce if he ever felt like there was no chance of him being able toplete the process.

    Dante had even managed to make some progress in creating this technique and it was even in its experimental stages.

    But faced with the challenge of Adelia,Dante knew that he had to bring it out now even if it wasn''t fully developed or else there would be no chance that he could win this match.

    After readjusting his state of mind, Dante was finally ready to unleash his newly developed technique. But before he did that Dante needed to buy some time for himself to release it, even if it was only just a little

    So Dante raised his sword as hemanded,

    "Strike!"

    Dante waved his sword causing a downpour of light beams to fall down at Adelia again. And Just likest time,Adelia calmly raised her white spear at the beams of light, causing the sky to light up in a wave of gold and silver.

    Despite the weakness of the attack it still served its purpose, and that was to buy Dante some time to unleash his true move.

    While Adelia was dealing with his attack, Dante closed his eyes and thought back to the Vision that he had first received when heprehend the sword technique to the level of artistic conception.

    He thought back to one particr scene where he scattered moons and other celestial bodies throughout the boundless ck void of space.

    And Besides some jaw-dropping scenes of creation, there were also some devastating sights of utter destruction.

    Dante watched on as moons collided head-on with variouss, resulting in catastrophic explosions on impact.

    "Badum!Badum!Badum!"

    Dante could feel his blood roaring as he tried with all his mental strength to recreate the wondrous scenes he had witnessed

    ''Crac!''

    All of a sudden, the sound of something shattering sounded out deep within Dante as he felt ayer of confusion and scepticism break somewhere inside of him.

    Dante felt as if the fog that had been clouding his thoughts was suddenly cleared and he could clearly feel his understanding of his technique enter a new level.

    Gradually, Dante started to float into the air while suddenly opening his eyes. Butpletely different from before, Dante''s eyes seemed to now be shining in a now ring silver brilliance, blinding anyone who dared to look into them.

    Dante raised his sword into the sky as a gigantic pir of moonlight energy shot straight up connecting with the phantom of the full moon overhead.

    In a strange and ethereal voice, Dante softly spoke and yet he still somehow managed to sound directly in the ears of everyone present.

    "Lunar Sword technique."

    "Setting Full Moon!"

    As Dante spoke, the air seemed to shake while the phantom of a moon in the sky started to burn with an even brighter silver light than ever seemed before.

    Gradually, this shaking carried on increasing in intensity until a devastating storm had started to form around him. But this wasn''t even the most shocking thing that started to happen!

    The phantom of a moon in the sky not only got brighter, but its size also began to rapidly increase as the image appeared to be more and more realistic.

    Then, without warning, Dante swung down his sword in a calm motion as hemanded

    "Fall!"

    The world seemed to shake as the floating moon in the sky got closer and closer to the ground.

 Chapter 74 - Self Created Move 2

    The world seemed to shake as the floating moon in the sky got closer and closer to the ground.

    "What... what the hell is happening!" screamed a spectator in awe

    "Don''t tell me the moon is going to hit us. That should be impossible right?" questioned another

    But as the moon got closer and closer, Dante''s body seemed to shake as his face quickly drained of colour

    ''Shit!'' Thought Dante to himself.

    ''It was too reckless to use such an experimental move right away!

    Now I don''t even have enough energy to perform this attack.

    I need to do something quickly or else I''ll be drained of energy before the move is evenpleted!

    Withplete concentration, Dante stimted his mental strength to itsplete limit causing the veins on his head to bulge.

    Now, using his mental strength, Dante began to slowly adjust the size of the falling Moon and in doing so, caused The size of the moon to get smaller and smaller.

    This process continued until eventually, the moon shrank so much that it was barely even reached a third of its original size it had when it started falling to reach. But Don''t let the looks deceive you, just because the size of the attack had shrunk doesn''t mean the threat of the attack had disappeared.

    After Dantes adjustment, although the size and power of the moon had shrunk, the falling speed of the Moon increased by a ridiculous amount and it was heading straight for the battle tform!

    Adelia wouldn''t just sit back and do nothingas this devastating attack approached her, and so shequickly raised her spear in the direction of the failing moonand called out

    "Celestial Smite!"

    "Boom!"

    A bright explosion of gold appeared on the surface of the falling moon and yet the Moon seemed to disregard Adelia''s attack and kept falling towards her with an ever-increasing speed.

    "Celestial Smite! Celestial Smite! Celestial Smite!"

    Adelia released numerous attacks on the Falling moon but just like Dante predicted, None of them had enough power to stop the devastating fall of the moon.

    When the attack was strong enough no amount of attacks could stop it, in this world only Absolute Power was unstoppable!

    Soon, The hurtling moon was only a few metres above the Battle tform and still, none of Adelia''s attacks seemed to be having any effect

    Adelia looked up and could only see a Blinding silver light getting closer and closer towards her.

    Aware of her inability to stop this attack, Adelia quickly gave up the match. after all, no matter how bad she wanted to win, one match wasn''t worth her life

    "I surrender!"

    Adelia quickly surrendered but Dante Dantes attack didn''t slow down in the slightest. This was not because he wanted to, instead, it was because he had lostplete control of his own devastating attack!

    Without waiting for the referee''s confirmation, Patriarch Randall shed past as he quickly sped past the battle tform retrieving Adelia. And just as he left,The Blinding moon hit the tform.

    "BANG!"

    Everything else in the world seemed to lose its colour as a giant ball of silver energy sted out from the site of impact, painting everything else in a glowing silver hue

    After a brief period of time, the dazzling light show left by the silver explosion finally cleared up allowing spectators to view the horrifying aftermath of the explosion.

    What was left was a devastating sight, as the earth had sunk under the powerful impact of the attack, leaving behind a deep crater that still glowed with the ethereal silver light.The battle tform had beenpletely shattered, splitting into various fragments that had been scattered all over the ground in apletely erratic fashion.

    But In the middle of this chaotic scene stood a stalwart figure, radiating an aura of tranquillity thatpletely contrasted the environment.

    And this person was none other than Dante!

    He had beenpletely drained of all his energy causing his hair to lose its unique and silver glow and in doing so, appearing a pale nd white colour.

    Despite hisck ofpleteck of energy, Dante still refused to fall and firmly lodged his sword into the ground and used it as a method of support, allowing him to stand fearlessly under the gaze of the crowd.

    "The battle tform! It..it''s been shattered!" eximed an onlooker in shock

    "Impossible!" Said one spectator,refusing to believe his eyes

    "These battle tforms are designed to handle any attack of the Martial Novice realm.

    The only way to break one would be to use an attack with Martial journeyman realm level strength and with Dantes cultivation only in the 7thyer of the Martial novice realm, such an attack should be impossible!"

    The spectators were left stunned at Dantes disy of power and were still questioning how such a thing was even possible?

    But Dante didn''t have the time nor strength left to receive their looks of admiration and so, under the shocked gaze of the spectators, Dante slowly walked towards the Kinsman n stands.Gradually treading over the rubble and the destroyed terrain, Dante quietly left the scenes of the battlefield behind him.

    Seeing Dante leaving the destroyed battlefield, the stunned announcer finally recovered from the shocking sight he had just Witnessed and announced

    "Wi...Winner! Dante kinsman!"

    ....

    WhenDante finally made it back to the Kinsman n stands, he finally stopped keeping up the false impression as he just couldn''t maintain it any longer and quicklycopsed straight into his chair

    "m!"

    Dantes limbs went as soft as jelly as his body slumped down into the chair. His face was covered in beads of sweat and quickly turned into the same terrifyingly pale colour it had been during the battle with Adelia.

    You see, The attack Dante used to beat Adelia was still in its experimental stage and this meant that he stillcked a lot of control over the technique

    As a result of this, Dante had almost no control over the size and power of the technique he had just used and was forced to reduce its size midway through casting it.

 Chapter 75 - Rebecca Vs Curtis

    As a result of this, Dante had almost no control over the size and power of the technique he had just used and was forced to reduce its size midway through casting it.

    The scary thing was that even after all that effort that Dante went through to reduce the cost of his new sword technique, he was stillpletely drained of all his Spirit Energy.

    If he wasn''tpletely drained of energy, why would he slowly walk back to the stands?

    While it might look cool and awe-inspiring, a Martial Novice Realm cultivator like him could easily jump back to the stands without much trouble, saving himself the long and bothersome walk back.

    As Dante was thinking all this, Winton seemed to notice his current state and lightly tapped Dante on the shoulder.

    As he did, Dante felt a wave current of energy flow inside of him washing him over with a wave of warmth.

    Instantly, Dante felt re-energised again and he quickly began refining the energy that Winton had given to him, converting it into his own Spirit Energy that he could use at his own free will.

    While Dante was busy refining the energy he had just received, he suddenly heard somebody call out to him

    "Dante, you look horrible! are you sure that you''re, okay?"

    looking towards the direction of the sound, What Dante saw was a beautiful ck-haired woman standing in front of him.

    The woman was staring at him with a furrowed brow and Ink ck eyes that were full of concern. Of course, this person was none other than Reba.

    After seeing the concerned eyes on Reba''s face, Dante could only reply with a wry smile.

    "I''m fine Reba, you don''t have to worry.I''ve only lost a bit of my Spirit Energy, that''s all.

    After a few minutes of recovery, I''ll be back in top shape before you even know it"

    After hearing Dante''s words, Reba was stunned. she could barely even believe her ears!

    "Only a bit of spirit energy?Just look at you! You look as pale as a ghost and you''re trying to tell me that you have only lost a bit of Spirit Energy!"

    Reba was livid. In just the few years she had left the n for, her little Dante had changed so much. He was now a crazy daredevil that barely even cared for his own life!

    Reba was in the mood to teach this crazy kid a lesson before he ends up doing more damage than his body could even handle at his young age. But before Reba could continue to berate Dante anymore, she was quickly interrupted by a deafening announcement

    "Next match!"

    "Reba Kinsman vs Curtis ter!"

    After hearing the announcer''s words, the crowd instantly burst out into a deafening cheer.

    But Who could me them?This was the fight they''d been waiting for all this time.

    Sure, the fights between the Kinsman n and ter n had been interesting so far with Dante even putting on an unbelievable disy of strength for his cultivation. All this was only an unexpected bonus for the spectators, for them the main attraction of this inter-npetition had to be the match between Reba and Curtis.

    Three years ago, the Kinsman n had reignited the feud between both the Kinsman and ter n again. when they publicly cancelled the engagement between the jewel of the Kinsman n, Reba, and the notorious trash of the ter n, Curtis.

    Although this didn''te as a surprise to anybody as it was already expected to happen any time soon. which n in their right mind would engage their most talented daughter to the biggest piece of trash in the city. as long as the elders hadn''t changed their brains for mush, they would know that this engagement couldn''t benefit the n in any way whatsoever.

    But the ter n didn''t see it that way, they thought that it was a terrible humiliation and took it as if the Kinsman n had no regard for the ter n name.

    They proposed that the Kinsman n should change the candidate for engagement between both ns, but the Kinsman n rejected as they thought nobody in the te n could ever be an appropriate match.

    The ter n was outraged at such a statement and in response, Curtis even challenged Reba to a duel. Their fight ended in a result that everyone had expected, and Curtis was publicly defeated and humiliated in this very stadium.

    Who would have thought that three yearster, Curtis would not only return with a Mutated Martial Spirit, but also having managed to attract the attention of one of the biggest organisations on the continent?

    For the regr people of Brightsteel City, this was the stuff straight out of legendary tales and fables and they''d be dammed if they missed the chance to witness this in person!

    Hearing his name being called, Curtis gradually opened his eyes and looked down towards the designated battle tform with eyes burning with hatred.

    As Curtis floated down a maddening and bloody aura started to be released all around him.

    While Curtis had been watching the matches around him, his rage had been continuously increasing. He had been stuck here watching his n be humiliated all while his fellow nsmen were battered and brutally beaten right in front of his very eyes.

    Although Curtis had wanted to jump up and interfere in the fights on many asions, he had been forced to sit on and watch by his master. But in doing so, his rage had managed to reach unprecedented levels.

    This was all brought to its peak when he was called to fight Reba, his most hated enemy and the one who was obstructing his path of cultivation.

    Curtis couldn''t contain his hatred anymore, as the announcement of the battle caused him to explode in pure anger!

    "Hahaha!"

    "it''s finally time! Time to have my vengeance!"

    Curtis burst into a mad fit ofughter as hended on the battle tform.

    Reba on the other hand, was much calmer as she gradually floated to the Battle tform with a stone-cold expression on her face.

 Chapter 76 - Rebecca Vs Curtis 2

    Reba on the other hand was much calmer as she gradually floated to the Battle tform with a stone-cold expression on her face.

    Disregarding the mad callsing from Curtis, Reba gentlynded some distance away from Curtis.

    Seeing this scene, Curtis couldn''t help butugh

    "Isn''t it funny Reba?"

    "To think that three years ago, I just was a piece of trash that you humiliated easily. Now I''ve been reborn as a genius that will defeat you here on the very same tform as all those years ago. These turn of events, it''s almost poetic don''t you think?"

    Hearing Curtis''s ramblings the only change that happened to Reba was a slight dissatisfied frown appearing on her face.

    "Curtis." Called Reba

    "I don''t know what delusions you have been living in but the only oue of this fight would be the same one three years ago, your brutal and utter defeat!"

    Hearing Reba''s reply a sadistic smile appeared on Curtis''s handsome face

    "I don''t think you should be speaking so soon Reba, we''ll still have to see about who will win and who will lose!"

    "Come out, Demonic Blood River!"

    As soon as Curtis Called out, a horrifying burst of ck and red smoke swayed around Curtis before it rushed into the sky, congregating to form a humongous blood river!

    The river was something straight out of nightmares. It was an unending twisted river that was filled with thick Crimson blood and contained various broken bones and half-destroyed corpses that were floating on surface of the river.

    As soon as Curtis''s Martial Spirit made an appearance, the entire arena was covered in dark and gloomy aura that stretched so far as to even cover the spectators. The terrifying aura caused them to shiver and grimace at the vile disy of power being shown in front of them.

    Some of the more squeamish spectators were even forced to leave after seeing such a gruesome sight of half rotting corpses and an overwhelming amount of blood.

    Back over at the Kinsman n stand,the reactions to these gruesome sights were slightly better but the overwhelming disy of Curtis''s Martial Spirit had already started to cause doubts in the minds of some Kinsman n elders.

    "Such a terrifying Martial Spirit! Is this really the same " eximed a Kinsman n Elder in shock

    "I can truly see why he was recruited by the Blood Moon Pce.With a martial Spirit like that there wouldn''t be anywhere better for him to train at!" said another Elder

    Not wanting to let Curtis get too much momentum on her, Reba also released her Martial Spirit.

    "Come out, Crimson me Naga!"

    As soon as Reba spoke, the air around her seemed to heat up as there was a gigantic burst of mes . A pir of blinding red energy erupted from her rushing up into the sky.

    The energy then swirled into a giant hurricane and slowly formed the image of a giant phantom.

    The giant phantom formed the image of a Crimson haired woman with a snake tail instead of legs. This woman had beautiful pair of amber eyes but instead of regr pupils, they were serpentine slits that seemed to be staring down on everyone with disdain.

    As all this was happening Reba''s own hair turned a deep red colour to match that of her Martial spirit and as this happened she retrieved a golden spear from her space pouch.

    Once she brought out her spear, Reba''s Killing intent skyrocketed as she called out

    "Curtis, this has gone in for too long! Today let''s settle this here and now!"

    Hearing Rebas words, a develish smile broke out ontoCurtis''s face as he replied

    "Finally! I thought you would never ask!"

    Instantly, the aura of both fighters reached their peak as a small storm started to form around them.

    "Storm of Blood!" Cried Curtis

    With a wave of his hand, an endless amount of blood started pouring out of the ground quickly forming into tornadoes. These tornadoes reached so high in the sky they almost seemed to be touching the clouds.

    Despite all this, the most shocking thing about them was that they seemed to beposed solely of thick deep red blood.

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    The ground thundered as Curtis''s horrific creationposed solely of blood swept towards Reba

    "Humph!"

    Reba let out a cold snort of disdain in the face of Curtis''s attack.

    Seeing that the Blood tornadoes had begun approaching her, Reba slowly raised her spear.

    As she raised her spear mes began to quickly congregate at the tip of the spear.

    This carried on increasing until aGiant whirlpool of mes had formed at the top of her spear.

    And just as Reba was about to be hit by the storm of blood, she sent out her spear with a devastating thrust!

    "Bang!"

    in a terrifying burst of blood and mes, the blood tornadoes were exploded into pieces causingdroplets of blood to go flying all over the ce

    "arrrghh!"

    screams of pain erupted in all directions as people all over the arena were hit with droplets of blood from Curtis''s attack.

    The people that were hit by these droplets were left with scalding burns and scars all over there bodies almost as if they what hit them had not been blood, but instead droplets of concentrated acid!

    Interested in this development, Winton reached his hand into the sky and grabbed a drop of some falling blood but unlike everyone else Winton didn''t seem to have even been harmed in the slightest

    "Hmmm.. interesting." mused Winton

    "This blood has been so concentrated with Demonic Energy that now it gained some strange properties.

    Demonic energy already has a veryharmful effect on life energy but when packed in such high levels, the thing that the demonic energy is inside gain some new corrosive and damaging effects to all living life!"

    After hearing Winton''s assessment, Dante actually started to feel pretty worried for Reba.

    In a situation like this, Reba was basically fighting against the time!

 Chapter 77 - Rebecca Vs Curtis 3

    Demonic energy would be slowly eating?away at her and wearing her down.

    If she was not careful and allowed this to continue, it?wouldn''t be an upfront confrontation that caused her to lose but more likely the umtion of many minor injuries

    Reba seemed to also recognise this problem and charged towards Curtis in an attempt to end this fight as soon as possible.

    Unknown to Reba, the blood on either side of her started to stir and as she got closer to Curtis it suddenly explodedrushed into the sky.

    "Bloody palm!" Roared Curtis

    The blood in the sky merged together forming a gigantic red hand in the sky

    "Hahaha! Die Reba!"

    Curtis''s eyes went mad with rage as he sent the gigantic blood palm falling down on Reba

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    A storm of wind was created as the horrifying hand fell radiating an aura of extreme hate and malice.

    Reba sensed the terrifying power inside of the palm and quickly came to the decision that dodging the attack would be much smarter than confronting it head-on

    "Dance of Abyssal mes!"

    Instantly, ckish-red fire erupted all around Reba swarming her and causing her image to be masked by the flickering mes. But all this was just a add on to Reba''s next move as her figure began to dash erratically around the battle tform slipping past the fingers of Curtis''s attack.

    "Boom!"

    The bloody hand crashed into the tform leaving behind a gigantic handprint in the floor.

    It had to be known this was a Martial Journeyman battle tform and waspletely different to the Martial Novice tform Dante was on before so just the fact that that one of his attacks left a mark in the floor only further highlighted Curtis''s ridiculous strength.

    This tform was designed with the idea that Martial Journeyman realm cultivators would be fighting on it so the fact Curtis could damage it showed his strength was not something that could be taken lightly.

    But to horror of everybody watching, Curtis hadn''t finished his attacks yet. No, it was as if he was just getting started...

    Back on the tform Curtis just finished watching as Reba easily dodged his attacks technique using her new movement technique.

    Curtis could clearly sense something unique about Reba''s movements, but he just couldn''t put his finger on what exactly caused them to be so strange

    "Interesting... "mused Curtis

    that technique you have, it''s very strange...I''ve never seen anything like it, not even in my time back at the Blood Moon pce" mused Curtis

    "It seems like your time at the Hidden Dragon Academy wasn''t aplete waste of time since you managed to learn techniques like that."

    "Now let''s test the depth of your new technique, shall we?"

    Hearing Curtis''s strange words Reba had a bad premonition in her heart.

    Curtis''s usual crazy smile appeared on his face as he continued speaking

    "Seeing as you can dodge one attack so easily. How about 10!"

    "Bloody Palm! Bloody palm! Bloody palm...."

    Curtis began to madly call out the name of his attack over and over again as giant hands of blood started forming in the sky.

    looking at the scene in the sky, Dante was ovee with disbelief at the sheer number of attacks Curtis was releasing.

    But Dante wasn''t the only one affected by Curtis''s astonishing disy of power

    "Bang!"

    The armrest Patriarch Gavin was holding shattered under his firm grip as he roared in frustration

    "Mad! That kid he''s Gone Mad!"

    "Does he think his energy is endless, he be drained dry after all those attacks!"

    Although Patriarch Gavin was worried for Reba All he could do was have faith in her to handle the situation in front of her.

    But in the face of such a terrifying disy it was impossible for Gavin to not worry as her father

    Back on the tform, 10 gigantic hands of blood hadpletely formed and were hovering in the air.

    "Hahaha! Let''s see you dodge these Reba!" Curtisughed as he sent all the bloody hands towards Reba? at the same time

    "Dance of abyssal mes!"

    Rebeca didn''t waste any time and instantly activated her movement technique, moving in a burst of ckish-red mes.

    "Boom!"

    With a thunderous bang the first of Curtis''s attacks hit the tform. But just likest time it was easily dogged by Reba.

    Even so, Reba still couldn''t let her guard down yet. it was still too early to celebrate as there were still 9 other attacks just as strong hurtling towards her!

    Two more hands came down on Reba and although she managed to dodge both of them it was only barely as the shockwave of the attacks still managed to connect with her causing her to stumble and mess up her movement technique.

    Sensing Reba''s moment of weakness, Curtis wouldn''t just let this opportunity pass by him

    "Haha! Die Reba!"

    With a wave of his arm, the numerous bloody p hands all attacked Reba from all directions at once

    sensing this, Reba knew she wouldn''t be able to dodge and get herself out of this.

    If she wanted to survive this move, she would have to face the attacks head-on!

    "Immtion!" Cried Reba

    Instantly her Martial spirit burst into me! The mes roared as they rushed all over her martial spirit covering it from head to toe.

    But not just her Martial Spirit, Reba also underwent some changes.

    her hair began to rise as it instantlybusts in mes bing a wave of burning fire.

    Whilst all this was going on her body didn''t go unaffected as itwas coated in ayer of orange mes

    as Reba raised her spear, fire elemental energy began to congregate inside of spear until the metal of the spear began to turn a bright orange due to the overwhelming heat.

    just as the spear seemed like was about to burst from the overwhelming amount of energy, Reba raised her spear towards the falling hands in the sky

    "Boom!"

 Chapter 78 - Rebecca Vs Curtis 4

    Reba raised her spear towards the falling hands in the sky

    "Boom!"

    A blinding beam of fire shot out from Reba''s spear destroying the bloody hand falling towards her.

    But Reba wasn''t done yet, with a wave of her spear she moved her beam of fire towards the falling hands one after another causing them to be destroyed in an explosion of fire and blood!

    Reba knew that she had the perfect opportunity to finish the fight right then and there, so she quickly directed her burning beam of fire towards Curtis shing him right across the chest while the fire element particles blew up right on his chest

    "Boom!"

    Curtis was sent flying as he felt the terrifying impact of the concentrated ray of fire?explode on his chest

    "Yeaahhh!!!"

    The Kinsman n stands burst into a deafening cheer as they saw Curtis go flying and smash into the ground.

    After taking such a devastating attack and using all his energy on his numerous bloody hand attacks, it seemed like it was end of the road for Curtis.

    But to everyone''s suprise, When the smoke cleared you could see a badly bruised Curtis barely standing there.

    a giant burnt sh ran across his whole chest while the wound radiated the sickening stench of burnt flesh across the battlefield.

    The only strange thing was that despite his current dire situation, Curtis still had a crazy smile stered across his face as his messy hair draped over his shoulders.

    Ignoring the looks he was getting from the spectators Curtis slowly removed something from his space pouch.

    But instead of retrieving a spirit weapon like everyone else had expected what he had brought out was a human corpse!

    The body was sickeningly pale as its eyes had turned back into its own sockets but what most shocking of all was the ridiculous amounts of blood

    All of a sudden, Curtis thrust his hand directly into the heart of the body

    "Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!"

    The crowds were left speechless as they watched body slowly began to shrivel as blood was visibly drained from its body and flowed up Curtis''s arm

    "What... what the hell is going on!" Stuttered a spectator in horror

    The scary thing was that the effects didn''t even stop there!

    After absorbing the blood from the dead body Curtis''s injuries slowly started to heal as the flesh near his wounds began to wriggle before slowly regenerating back into its unharmed state

    As If to make matters worse Once Curtis was done with the first body, he retrieved another and repeated the process.

    1,

    2,

    3

    3 more times Curtis repeated the exact same process with all three bodies draining them until they were nothing more than a group of empty dry husks.

    now full of energy Curtis let out a light chuckle before he continued speaking

    "Now that I''m back in top shape, why don''t we carry on where we left off?"

    After Seeing how easily Curtis recovered back to full health and energy, Reba knew the difficulty of this fight had increased exponentially.

    If Curtis could easily regenerate his energy back to full, He could just slowly wear down Reba with his numerous attacks and eventually win the match.

    Although Reba had some alchemy pills that could also speed up her energy regeneration, all alchemy pills needed time to be digested before they could fully work.

    Meaning that if Reba wanted to evene close to Curtis''s regeneration speed, she would have to take out time to digest the alchemy pills somethingpletely impossible for her to do in the middle of a fight.It just seemed like the odds were stacked against Reba for this fight.

    while Reba was nning her next course of action, Curtis had already begun to make his next move

    "Blood World!"

    Gallons of blood started to pour of the floor around Curtis umting in a gigantic pool and even going so far as to reach a height of several metres into the sky.

    Curtis and Reba were even forced to float in the air in order to avoid being submerged by the astonishingly high levels of blood.

    "Go!"

    with one word from Curtis, the ocean of blood beneath his feetseemed to stir as waves started to rise and rush towards Reba

    In response to this, Reba''s spear burnt a bright orange as she waved her spear sending out a burst of fire to meet the waves of blood.

    "Bang!"

    Fire and blood collided, leaving behind a red smoke as blood was quickly vaporised under the terrifying mes.

    But the attack didn''t end there, as wave after wave of crimson blood rushed towards Reba, attacking her from all angles.

    Reba was forced to dip and swerve between the waves as they just reached an overwhelming amount and she couldn''t face all of them head on and was forced to retreat.

    suddenly Reba started to noticed something strange about Curtis''s attacks

    but suddenly Reba noticed something strange about Curtis''s attacks.

    Although Reba''s was being subjected to numerous waves of attacks, she noticed that there seemed to be brief period of time where Curtis''s attackspletely stopped.

    After paying close attention she noticed that in that brief period of time, Curtis would retrieve a corpse out of his space pouch and quickly drain it of its blood.

    After seeing this it all started to make sense to Reba.

    There was no way that Curtis had enough energy to create this ocean of blood and stillunch continuous attacks towards Reba. So in order tobat this Curtis was using the dead bodies to quickly recover his energy during the fight and due to the distance between them, it was safe for Curtis t to do so.

    Now that Reba knew how Curtis was furling his continuous attacks, she finally had an idea on how to end all this once and for all.

    she would have to catch Curtis off guard when he was using the bodies to replenish his Spirit Energy.

    The only problem was that since Curtis dared to do this so tantly, he would definitely have confidence in his ability to protect himself.

 Chapter 79 - Rebecca V Curtis 5

    He would definitely have confidence in his ability to protect himself.

    If she really wanted to act out this n, she must be prepared to face the attacks that Curtis had set up as hisst defence if not, then she could forget any idea she had about getting towards Curtis.

    But even with all these factors Reba still had confidence in her abilities to act out her n as she still had some cards left that she hadn''t yed yet.

    "Blood Storm!"

    While Reba was plotting her next course of action, the sea of blood below her began to stir again as it quickly responded to Curtis''s call

    The surface began to bubble as numerous tornadoes of blood began to rise and head towards Reba at the same time.? whilst this was going on Curtis pulled out yet another corpse and began to quickly recover the enormous amount of spirit energy he just spent

    But now Reba knew his secret she wouldn''t just stand still and let this happen

    "Dance of abyssal mes!"

    In a dazzling disy of fire, Reba managed to weave in and out of the approaching tornadoes and still manage to rapidly approach Curtis?in the process.

    "Tidal wave!"

    Curtis had noticed the swift approach of Reba and used the signature move of the ter n to try and stop her

    Instantly a gigantic wave of crimson blood began to from surging towards Reba at an rming speed but to Curtis''s Suprise Reba didn''t slow down at all. Instead, she even seemed to speed up as she got closer and closer to the humongous wave.

    "Bang!"

    Reba didn''t slow down at all and charged straight through Curtis''s attack like aplete madman!

    This wasn''t something that could be done lightly, after all, not everyone had a ridiculous level of magic resistance like Dante and doing something like that would still cause serious damage to themselves.

    Reba wasn''t an exception to this rule and came out of the attack with numerous burn marks and scalds all over her body, but she didn''t seem to care in the slightest and continued to charge towards Curtis with eyes full of hatred!

    But Curtis wasn''t stupid, he quickly noticed the berserk nature of Reba''s approach and realised that something strange was going on.

    Curtis quickly stopped trying to absorb some blood and sent out a desperate effort to stop Reba, unleashing a technique he had never even used before.

    "Blood Tsunami!!"

    And just like the catastrophe the technique was named after, a wave iparable to one Curtis had ever released before quickly formed and sped towards Reba.

    Reba''s small frame waspletely dwarfed inparison to the titanic size of the wave of blood.

    Despite all this Reba didn''t seem fazed in the slightest and calmly called out,

    "Immtion!"

    Reba''s whole body seemed to light up in mes as her body was coated in fire whilst her hair became a wave of mes once more but unlikest time Reba''s transformation wasn''t finished just yet.

    "Spear of Ifrit!"

    The spear in Reba''s hands underwent a drastic change. the original red colouring of the spear began to fall off revealing a goldenyer beneath it. The spear seemed to be an object of pure fire element energy!

    As the wave of blood got closer and closer Reba didn''t slow down at all, only raising her spear ahead of her as she charged

    "Bang!"

    There was a loud explosion as Reba tore a hole in wave of blood breaking through Curtis''sstyer of defence!

    As she broke through, Reba could see the sheer panic on Curtis''s face as he turned around to flee.

    since Reba had gone through all this effort to get close to Curtis, there was no way she would let him escape so easily.

    So Reba drastically increased her movement speed in an effort try and catch Curtis but just as Reba got within arm''s reach of Curtis, he suddenly turned around towards her with a crazed smirk on his face.

    Such a smile on the face of an enemy could never be a good thing and Reba realised this as instincts instantly went off warning her something was not right sadly it was just toote.

    "Idiot."

    Those cold words from Curtis were thest thing Reba heard as she hundreds of armsposedpletely of blood then shot out of the blood ocean below, wing towards Reba and entangling her in a tight grip trying to entangle her,

    try as she might, Reba struggled to break free due to the sheer Suprise?of the attack.

    no matter how many arms Reba destroyed there would be ten more taking their ce, the attack was just unstoppable!

    Eventually, Reba waspletely entangled and held up high in the air by the hundreds of arms.

    seeing this sight, Curtis couldn''t help but let out augh of twisted joy.

    "Hahaha! You really are a fool Reba!

    You actually thought that I would have such an obvious weakness like ack of energy?

    Your arrogance blinded you Reba, and because of your arrogance you walked straight into my trap!

    It''s just crazy to think that all those years ago it was actually me in your current situation, Now you will know the pain I felt back then!"

    As Curtis spoke he slowly floated towards the restrained Reba and stared deep into her eyes.

    Reba could feel an unconceble malice radiate from Curtis''s eyes causing goosebumps to form all over her skin

    "Here''s a technique famous in My Blood Moon pce.

    Since you love to y with fire so much, surely you''ll love the feeling of all the blood inside you being burnt away!"

    And with those words, Curtis slowly stretch Red out his thin bloody hand and ced it on Reba''s forehead

    "Burning Blood."

    "ARRRGH!"

    Reba let out a devastating screech as she writhed in pain from the brutal technique disyed by Curtis.

    Her face flushed as Red as a tomato while all the veins on her body began to protrude due to the stress they were undergoing.

 Chapter 80 - Morals

    Reba let out a devastating screech as she writhed in pain from the brutal technique disyed by Curtis.

    Her face flushed as Red as a tomato, while all the veins on her body began to protrude as a result ofall the stress they were going through.

    The pain?Reba feltwas unimaginable.

    For her it was if what was now flowing through her veins was a hot molten magma instead of the regr blood she was used to

    only furher showing the true extent of torture technique from a sect with as bloody a reputation as The Blood Moon Pce!

    Dante couldn''t sit still and continue to watch this horrific disy and quickly stood up to jump onto the stage

    But just as he was about to move, he felt a firm grip hold him back by the shoulder.

    Dante turned back to see who could possibly be crazy enough to try and stop him.So you could imagine the shock he felt when he looked back only for him to look back and see that the person was in fact his father!

    Looking at Dante with apletely serious gaze, Winton asked

    "Think about this carefully Dante. Are you sure you want to go down there?"

    "Think about it?!" AskedDante in anger

    "What the hell is there to think about! My cousin is being tortured in front of my very eyes, why on earth would I want to sit still and think about this!"

    As Dante replied his eyes were practically burning with fury at the idiocy of Winton''s question.

    Seeing this look on Dantes face Winton could only shake his head as he continued

    "It is clear that you haven''t thought about this logically yet. Just look at how tense the situation between the two ns is right now.

    If you go down onto that tform you could very well be starting an all-out war, countless would have die because of your actions!"

    "So what?" Questioned Dante

    "The kinsman n and the ter n have Been enemies for generations. There has always been wars between the two ns.

    So, if it means that to save Reba I cause the death of some people from the ter n, then so be it!" Replied Dante with a strong conviction

    "Judging by your response it''s clear that you still don''t understand the situation"ined Winton

    "When this war starts it won''t just be the ter n members that die, you will be the sole cause of the death of hundreds of people from the Kinsman n!

    Are you sure you can bear that guilt?"

    Hearing this Dante was stunned.

    For the first time since he came to this world his Morals and ethics were truly tested.

    Could he really carry the responsibility of all these deaths?

    The deaths of the ter n were a different matter entirely.

    The Hatred between the ter n and the Kinsman n was basically taught to the disciples of both ns from birth. And just because Dante awakened his memories from his past life, doesn''t mean his opinion of the ter n could just change.

    From the memories of his past life, Dante could quite obviously realise that most of the hatred he felt was caused due to the propaganda and maniption of the n.

    But despite all this, the experiences he had since he awakened his memories didn''t exactly paint the best image for the ter n due to all the scheming and traps they had been doing.

    Besides, Dante knew that in a world like The Martial Spirit world you had to always seek ways to develop and strengthen yourself, because the moment you stop is the moment you would be cut up and devoured by all yourpetitors!

    So, behind all the bloodshed as anger between the two ns the major reason there is even conflict is k one that has been around since the dawn of mankind.

    Ack of resources.

    it''s because of this fact and the grey nature of the matter that Dante could convince himself and his consciousness that there was no right or wrong in the killings between both ns.

    what he couldn''t do however, was causing the death of his fellow nsmen.

    Dante wasn''t some type of brutal killing monster.

    Being responsible for the death of his enemies was one thing , but being responsible for the death of his rtives was something Dante had never even thought about.

    This fact was made even more obvious than stunned expression he had on his face as he froze under the thought.

    Winton seemed to notice this dilemma that Dante was experiencing but instead of letting off the pressure on Dante, Winton continued to increase it!

    "Now you can finally see the bigger picture. Just look at Patriarch Gavin" As Winton pointing in his Gavin''s direction

    following Winton''s instructions, Dante turned to look towards Gavin but was instead shocked by what he saw.

    What he saw was an expressionless Gavin.

    His face was so still that was it seemed as if he had been frozen in ice and yet with such an emotionless face on him, Patriarch Gavin still managed to radiate one of the scariest auras Dante had ever seen!

    Patriarch Gavin had always been one to express himself whether it be through smiles andughter or frowns and anger, Gavin had never been one to control his emotions.

    So it was clear to see from his expressionless face and terrifying aura, just how much Gavin was holding back the anger he was going through.

    While Dante was looking at Gavin, Winton continued questioning him

    "As Reba''s father, do you really think that Gavin cares any less about her than you do?"

    "Of course he doesn''t!

    The only reason Gavin is even hesitant in the first ce is because he knows that if he interferes it could very well be at the cost of hundreds of lives!

    As the patriarch of the Kinsman n, it''s his duty to not only care about his family but the n as whole. He can''t just put the whole n in danger for his own selfish desires!

    "So, I''ll ask you again Dante.

    Can you bear the cost of all those lives that will die as a result of your actions?"

 Chapter 81 - Declaration

    "So I''ll ask you again Dante,

    Can you bear the cost of all those lives that will die as a result of your actions?"

    Before Dante could even start thinking about his decision he was interrupted by a painful shriek

    "Ahhh!"

    looking towards the direction of the scream, Dante could see that the person screaming was Reba.

    It seemed like Curtis wasn''t satisfied with the pain she was experiencing and decided that he had to increase the intensity of the technique.

    There was no more time to waste. Reba couldn''t stay under such torture, Dante had to make a decision now!

    Dante hesitated for a second but on seeing the torture Rebbeca was going through he just knew he couldn''t sit still regardless of the cost.

    "I don''t care how many lives I risk, As long as I can ensure that I don''t regret my actions I can bear that cost!"

    Now whether Dante could keep his promise and conviction in future was something that would have to take time to see.

    but for now, Dante would stick by this moral standpoint.

    "hahaha!"

    hearing Dante''s opinion Winton couldn''t help butugh

    "Such a hypocritical viewpoint.

    You really are biased and selfish!"

    hearing Winton''s words Dante started to question if he had really made the right choice.

    but before his thoughts could go on, Winton carried on to talk

    "But if even my son has the fearlessness to start a war, how on earth could I hide!"

    As Winton spoke a brutal smile appeared on his face while he summoned his martial spirit

    "Come out, ck Hole!"

    Instantly, a ck field of absolute darkness started to spread out with him as the centre.

    in this field, all light in the area vanished while a devastating storm of air was pulled towards Winton causing his ck hair to flutter wildly into the sky.

    "Devour."

    Hundreds of ck tentacles burst out the field of darkness as they rushed towards Curtis.

    in front of such overwhelming power, Curtis was stunned!

    his body didn''t even know how to react causing him to freeze in front of Winton''s attack.

    But before Winton''s even got close to Curtis a Roar seemed to shake the whole of Brightsteel City!

    "How dare you!"

    "The kinsman n must have has gone mad to dare make move against My Blood Moon Pce!"

    Elder Mahan was enraged and with a soft strike cut apparat the countless tentacles approaching Curtis.

    But Winton wasn''t intimidated by Elder Mahan in the slightest and confidently replied

    "To dare make a move on the Kinsman n is already a deration of war.

    Today you have forced us, from now on the Kinsman n will fight!"

    Elder Mahan scowled as he watched Winton''s bold deration

    "Then it seems like today will mark the end of the Kinsman n!"

    With those words, Both Winton and Elder Mahan rose into the sky over the people to begin their fight.

    Meanwhile, During Elder Mahan''s and Winton''s exchange Patriarch Gavin quickly brought Dante to the side and spoke to him

    "Dante!

    Time is of the essence, Since the Kinsman n has decided to go to war we haven''t done this unprepared.

    As the strongest among the younger generation, you have to lead the n and retreat towards the npound.

    We''ve already set up ns for a situation like this, all you need to do is take the rest of the n back to the npound and activate the defensive formation.

    You don''t have to worry about the ter n elders interfering well take care of them for you. The only problem is that you will have to deal with the ter n disciples by yourself."

    After speaking to Dante, patriarch Gavin rose into the sky and Roared

    "All Kinsman n elders!

    I, Gavin Kinsman, Command you as Patriarch of the Kinsman n attack the ter n!"

    With thismand, Countless Kinsman n elders rushed into the sky following closely behind Gavin in a dazzling disy of fire and serpents and began charging straight towards the ter n stands!

    ...

    Back on the Battle tform,

    Curtis had noticed the strange developments back at the Kinsman n stands and quickly became alert

    Seeing that the Kinsman n hadunched an attack, Curtis knew he couldn''t continue to y around with Reba anymore.

    Although he wished he could exact more pain on her so she could truly experience the humiliation he felt all those years ago, Curtis knew that if he wasted any more time he may truly miss his chance to kill Reba and Rid him of his heart demon.

    Knowing this Curtis didn''t want to waste any more time and quickly sent a killing blow toward the brutally bruised Reba.

    But just before his attack could hit Reba a devastating attack came his own way.

    "Furious Dragon w!"

    A red scaly w rushed towards Curtis''s palm

    "Bang!"

    The two terrifying forces met releasing a shockwave throughout the arena

    "Dante Kinsman!"

    Seeing who interfered, Curtis roared hatefully

    Curtis didn''t have a good impression of Dante at all.

    The fact he was from the Kinsman n alone was enough for him to hate his guts But when coupled with fact that he was also the number one genius of the Kinsman n, his presence pissed him off to no end.

    When he first returned to the ter n, instead of people talking about his genius mutated Martial Spirt, the n was buzzing with the news of a Kinsman n dual spirit awakened!

    There were even some fools in the n that thought that he was even less talented than Dante due to the fact that he only had one Martial spirit!

    All these facts togetherpounded together creating the terrible hate Curtis had for Dante.

    "You arrogant little kid.

    To think you would be so blind as to challenge a Martial journeyman cultivator while still in the Martial Novice realm

    Has the title of Dual spirit awakener gotten to your head?"

    Hearing Curtis''s remarks Dante didn''t even respond. He just carefully held Reba in his arms.

    But this didn''t mean that he felt nothing, instead, a wave of burning anger started to fester deep within Dante''s soul.

    But who could me him?

    Reba had been there for him throughout most of Dante''s life, especially when he was a child.

    Due to Dante''s previously weak physique, he was always weaker than the people on the same level.

    And although his status as the son of the first elder saved him from the worst of the bullying, it didn''t truly stop it.

    Defeat

    Taunting

    mocking

    and even being excluded from groups.

    Due to his weak strength, these were things Dante had to endure for most of his early life

    In a ce like the Martial Spirit World, strength was everything.

 Chapter 82 - Chaos

    In a ce like the Martial Spirit World strength was everything and although he had status, without actual strength to back it up he was always just seen as a piece of trash that relied on his father and nobody would like to be associated with such a weakling.

    Well, at least not in a ce like the Kinsman n.

    The Kinsman n taught their children that weakness itself is a sin and that the only important thing here is your value to the n and strength.

    But what hurt most about the whole ordeal for Dante was that he want azy piece of trash everyone thought he was.

    He actually trained hard, even until his bones bled but for some twisted reason, his body just refused to respond!

    Even when he was in the 7thyer of the body refining realm he was weak than the 3rdyer body refunding realm cultivators and it almost drove him insane!

    The only person that was there for him and epted him for himself was Reba.

    And now here she was, her veins charred ck with most of her bloodpletely eveaporated from her body!

    Without saying a word, Dante rushed up towards Curtis sending out countless devastating w attacks

    "Blood shield!"

    "Bang!"

    Curtis put up his own defence and in doing so stopping all ofDante''s attacks.

    But Dante didn''t stop seeing this barrier in front of him,

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    Dante continued smashing at the shield sending out w after w directly at shield until,

    "Crack!!"

    suddenly, Dante managed to w his way through Curtis''s defensive shield,sending his w directly towards Curtis''s chest!

    "Boom!"

    Dante''s ferocious attacksnded sending Curtis flying across the battle tform.

    Despite his early sess, Dante didn''t even leave him any chance to recover before rushing him again.

    With both Draconic might passivesbined , Dante had a ridiculous 600% increase in physical strength!

    Even for a martial Journeyman Cultivator, this would still be a ridiculous amount of power and Dante could also recognise this.

    So of course in a fight like this, Dante would use very little advantage he could possibly get.

    And since his ridiculous physical strength was such an advantage, Dante would use it to its full abilities!

    As Dante was about to approach Curtis a wave of blood surged around him

    "Blood Storm!"

    Again, Devastating tornadoes of blood started roaring all around Dante as they started surrounding him on all fronts.

    Dante didn''t hesitate for a second and rushed directly at one such tornado in front of him.

    "Emperor''s Descent!"

    The ground shook under the devastating power behind Dante''s movement.

    "Furious Dragon w!"

    Raising his wed hand in front of him, Dante used the power behind both his movement technique and Martial Skillto pierce straight through the tornado of blood, unexpectedly appearing right in front of Curtis

    A horrific smile appeared on Dante''s face as he released his w attack

    but unlike usual moves, instead of just one w approaching him, Curtis saw 10!

    6 dragon roars went off as a new stage of Dante''s Martial Skill was subconsciously reached

    "Ghostly Dragon w!"

    like a true ghost, Dante''s w moved in a spectral fashion,shing in and out of sight before hitting Curtis''s face

    "Bang!"

    A devastating collision rang out as Curtis was sent flying off the battle tform off into the distance, letting out a horrifying scream of pain as he flew.

    As much as Dante wanted to chase after Curtis and end his life right then, Dante knew he had much more important things to be doing.

    Reba was in need of immediate treatment and he still had the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the rest of the n, He didn''t have time to be wasting on some personal grudges.

    Quickly picking up Reba, Dante rushed towards the battlefield of the Kinsman n disciples to try and salvage the situation

    When he arrived at the scene Dante saw a sight that left him stunned.

    There were countless colours as all sorts of energy attacks were let off between the disciples of both ns.

    Each person on the battlefield had eyes fully red with rage as they sent attacks at the opposing n''s members, trying to take each other''s lives in a primal scene of rage and carnage.

    looking at the injuries on the people and corpses on the floor, The weight of Dante''s decision set in for the first time.

    He was the cause of all this, He had made the decision to start this conflict and that was a fact he couldn''t deny no matter how hard he tried.

    But now was not the time for him to debate the ethics of his actions and Dante knew it.

    His priority was ensuring the survival of The Kinsman n members and bringing them all to safety and he had to get them out o here as fast as possible!

    As he was watching the fights Dante took a step forward and release his dragon fear aura.

    The aura expanded rapidly covering the whole battlefield as even the ground seemed to shake under the pressure Dante released.

    "Who?!"

    "Some...someone help!"

    "I..I can''t move anymore!"

    [ Dragon Fear - As True Dragon, you are at a higher level of life whenpared to mortal creatures. When angered you release a terrifying aura to your surroundings causing all creatures to undergo a will check if they fail the will check the target will be frightened and immobile and in some extreme cases unconscious ]

    To the horror of the ter n disciples a field of pure terror engulfed them Causing them to feel the most instinctive type of fear!

    For them, It was as if what was in front of them wasn''t even a human anymore.

    Instead, it was more like they were facing an ancient beast on apletely different biological level of life!

    What made matters worse for the ter n disciples is that Dante aura didn''t seem to affect the abilities of the kinsman n disciples and they wouldn''t let such a good chance slip past them.

    "hahaha! Today is thest day of the ter n!" Laughed a Kinsmann disciple

    "With Dante here, there''s nothing that can cause us to lose!" Eximed another

    "How is the power of the strongest of the Kinsman n?"

    Bang! Bang! Bang!..."

    Various explosions went off as the Kinsman n let out countless killer attacks at the now immobile ter n disciples.

    Under the threat of death, some ter n disciples managed to find the willpower to move under Dante''s dragon fear.

    But even after all that, the situation didn''t get much better for them.

 Chapter 83 - Chaos 2

    But even after all that, the situation didn''t get much better for them.

    Under Dante''s Dragon aura they couldn''t even fight to the best of their abilities as no matter what move they made, they could always feel a pair of cruel eyes on their back.

    It always felt like some type of archaic beast was watching their every move, watching and waiting for a chance to consume them whole.

    It was practically impossible for a normal person to perform their best under such conditions!

    Just as the battle seemed to turn in favour of the Kinsman n an enraged roar rang out across the battlefield!

    "YouKinsman n Dogs!

    How dare you kill the members of my ter n!"

    Looking towards the origin of the cry, Dante could see an Elder from the ter n flying over withpletely bloodshot eyes.

    "Since you dare to take the lives of the ter n, you must pay with your own!

    Tidal wave!"

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    The ground shook as a geyser of water erupted from the floor, turning into a wave of water the size of a two-storey building!

    In front of an attack from a Martial Journeyman Realm n Elder, The disciples of the Kinsman n werepletely helpless and could only watch on as the terrifying force of nature hurtled towards them.

    Dante couldn''t just sit and watch as the Kinsman n members were killed right in front of him!

    Rushing to the front of the crowd, Dante burst into a bright ball of red lightas countless particles of Fire elemental Spirit Energy poured towards him

    "Breath of the Red Dragon!"

    "Roar!"

    A blinding cone of mes burst out Dante''s mouth rushing towards the oing wave

    "Bang!"

    The two opposing elements met in a terrifying sh of energy, releasing a blinding wave of steam as the two attacks cancelled each other out.

    The ter n elder was furious!

    To think that a Martial Novice realm disciple even dared to stop his attack.

    But after his anger calmed down, all he felt was an unparalleled sense of worry.

    If the kid in front of him already had strength to match him at such a young age, imagine what level of strength the boy could reach within a few more years?

    If that boy was allowed to grow for a few more years there would be no future for the ter n inside of Brightsteel City!

    The Elder didn''t think about it anymore and rushed towards Dante with an unparalleled killing intent!

    But Before the Elder could reach Dante, a muscr red haired figure appeared in between them smashing at the Elder with a gigantic warhammer!

    "Bang!"

    The ter n elder''s body ragdolled as it was sent flying by the terrifying impact

    "Elder Han!" Eximed Dante in shock

    Turning back towards Dante, Elder replied with a smile on his face

    "From what you''ve done so far, I can see thatyou''ve done a decent job at protecting the nsmen so far."

    But as Elder Han continued speaking a serious expression appeared on his face

    "Patriach Gavin needs you to speed up the evacuation process as the battle up above is going much worse than expected.

    The ter n seems to have received some High-grade Spirit Weapons from the Blood Moon Pce.

    Because of this, things aren''t looking too good for us and it''d be best if you could leave as soon as possible!"

    After hearing Elder Han''s words, Dante couldn''t resist the urge to look towards the battlefield of the elders.

    In the sky above, Patriarch Gavin and the rest were shing with the ter n elders.

    Looking at the struggle of the Kinsman n, Patriarch Nn couldn''t resist the urge tough.

    "Hahaha! After all these years, to think that our feud would end like this Gavin!"

    After hearing Nn''s boisterousughter, Gavin wasn''t nearly as pleased.

    He knew that if he wanted to have even the slightest chance of winning, he would have to go all out from here.

    "Come out, Three-Headed me Cobra king!"

    A pir of mes erupted from Gavin as the fire slowly condensed into the phantom of a three headed behemoth.

    The Phantom was a gigantic Three-headed serpent with ckish red scales.

    The Scales were so thick they almost resembled armour ting while each head had a pair of gigantic fangs that dripped withva like poison.

    But despite all this, what was most shocking was the regal aura carried by the phantom.It was like you were in the presence of a true King!

    You could easily tell that this beast was a ruler amongst its species!

    "Come Nn, Today let''s decide the fate of both ns!

    After today, there shall only be oneleft n left in brightsteel city!"

    Hearing Gavin''s words Nnughed before he replied

    "Hahaha!Gavin, I wouldn''t have it any other way!"

    Tightening the grip on the red Sword he had received from the Blood Moon Pce, Nn roared as he charged towards Gavin...

    Some distance away, Winton looked towards Gavin''s battle sensing his brother release his Martial spirit.

    But as Winton was assessing his brother''s situation his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice.

    "You''re still in the middle of a fight yet you think you can look away?"

    Elder Mahan was infuriated at Winton''sx approach to this battle

    "Is it because I''ve been taking it easy on you that you think that you can coax through this fight?

    Well if that''s what you really think then ill have to tell you that you''re sorely mistaken!"

    e out, Devouring Demon sabre!"

    As Elder Mahan spoke,a wave of Demonic energy burst into the sky forming an image of a giant bloody sabre that cast a shadow across the ground below.

    "This is yourst chance Winton.!

    To be able to fight against me, even if only for a short period of time,can only mean your talents are unparalleled!

    If you join the Blood Moon Pce I can guarantee that you and your son could survive!"

    hearing Elder Mahan''s words, Winton burst into a fit ofughteras he arrogantly replied

    "Hahaha!

    Me, join you?

    Even if you begged to be my disciple,you still wouldn''t be worthy!"

    hearing Wintons words, Elder Mahan eyebrows twitched in irritation.

    "To refuse a toast only to be forced to drink forfeit!

    No matter what happens from here on out, you can''t say I don''t warn you Winton!"

    Elder Mahan Roared in rage as he retrieved his very own sabre from his waist, unleashing a powerful energy sh in the process

    Sensing Elder Mahan''s enraged stare Winton only sneered as he made a move of his own

    "Void shattering fist!"

    A purple mist of energy swirled as it started condensing into a humongous crystal fist

    "Go!"

 Chapter 84 - Chaos 3

    Receiving the instruction from Winton, the purple fist charged forward towards Elder Mahan

    "Boom!"

    Sensing that the battle had now progressed to a critical stage, Elder Han knew that he couldn''t continue to stay there and quickly turned towards Dante

    "Dante, I need to return back to the fight so you''re going to have to speed up the retreat.

    In addition to this, you should be prepared for the worst. From the looks of things, it''s possible we may even lose this fight..."

    With a grimace on his face, Elder Han rose back into the sky and charged towards the battlefield.

    Dante watched on as Elder Han fearlessly charged back into the fray with no fear for his own life.

    But he quickly realised that he didn''t have time to be admiring others, He had a bigger problem on his hands!

    He had to ensure the safety of the members of the Kinsman n!

    Not all of the members of the Kinsman n had the ability to defend themselves. The inter-npetition was the biggest event brightsteel city had in many years and almost all the members of the Kinsman n hade to watch thepetition.

    What they hadn''t expected however was such an instant outbreak of conflict and because of that, the nonbatant members of the Kinsman n were still at the scene of battle.

    And since the Kinsman npound was on theplete other side of Brightsteel City, if he decided to walk all the people back to the npound it would just take too much time.

    He had to take the quickest means of transport to move such arge crowd of people and the only option was the carriages parked near the edge of the arena.

    Like Dante, many people had taken carriages to arrive at the arena leaving many horses and carriages that could easily transport all the people present.

    Now that Dante had even some semnce of a n, he wouldn''t waste any more time standing around.

    Taking a step forward, Dante spoke to the crowd of Kinsman n members in front of him

    "I believe everyone present knows the severity of the situation we are in right now!

    And it''s because of this exact situation that we can''t afford to waste any more time and run around like headless chickens!

    As the strongest member of the Kinsman n present, I shall appoint myself as temporary leader, if anyone has any objections speak up now!"

    The crowd heard Dante''s words and there was a brief period of silence.

    no one had objected to Dante''s decision but what else could they do?

    As long as they had any brain cells left, they could easily tell that Dante wasn''t in the mood to y games and objecting at a stupid time like this was just an easy way to get yourself killed as an example.

    Nobody was willing to be the example, so they chose the much smarter option.

    Obey the strong!

    As the strongest person present, Dante could easily determine the life and death of everyone here so pissing of someone with such power was never a good decision.

    Dante looked at the silent crowd in front of him and gave a satisfied nod.

    "Seeing as I can''t hear any words of disagreement, I''ll take it as everyone approves of my decision.

    And since everyone has agreed then my instructions from this point onward are final!"

    while Dante was speaking he slightly released his Dragon fear aura causing amanding effect toe with his words

    "We are currently in a war situation so theirs no time for internal conflict.

    Any refusal to follow orders or purposely hindering the n only has one result.

    Death!"

    "gulp!"

    Under theplete suppression from Dante, some Kinsman n members could only gulp in fear at his terrifying aura.

    Seeing that his control had been established, Dante continued giving out instructions.

    "Time is of the essence we need to get out as fast as possible, in order to do this we will need to retrieve some horses in order to aid our escape."

    as Dante spoke he began to move but turning back he saw that the crowd was still standing there stunned

    "Well, what are you waiting for?

    Do you want to stay here and die? Get moving!"

    With those words, the crowd of Kinsman n members burst into life as they rushed after Dante.

    So with a crowd of almost a hundred people behind him, Dante began to speed towards the exit of the arena whilst also being on the watch out for any ter n attackers.

    Suddenly, Dante felt some rustlinging from his arms. looking down, Dante could see that Reba, who had been in his hands the whole time, slowly began to wake up from her sleep.

    looking at this sight, a soft smile appeared on Dante''s face as he spoke

    "Good morning sleeping beauty, I hope you had a good sleep."

    groggily, Reba rubbed her eyes before looking up and asking

    "what''s going on? where the hell am I?"

    Dante didn''t even stop running as he replied

    "There''s no time to exin it all to you . All I can say is that right now we need to escape."

    "Escape?

    Why the hell would we need to escape?

    Besides, put me down. I''m awake now there''s no need to keep carrying me!"

    as she was speaking Dante quickly interrupted her

    "I refuse.

    you''ve still not fully recovered. You need to rest. "

    Dante smiled as he watched the flustered Reba blush in his arms.

    But suddenly a change happened that caused his smile to disappear from his face even faster than it appeared.

    Just as Dante was approaching the exit to the arena, he saw a figure blocking his path.

    Dante quickly brought his run to a stop and in doing so, caused the crowd of the Kinsman n members to stop right behind him.

    "Curtis." spat Dante hatefully

    But Curtis didn''t seem to share the same hatred for Dante and was instead much happier to see Dante this time.

    "Hahaha!

    I hope you didn''t think you could escape so easily again Dante!"

    While Curtis was speaking, Dante gently let Reba out of his arms onto the ground.

    Seeing Reba again, Curtis''s desire for revenge once again exploded causing a twisted smile to appear on his face

    "I truly have to thank the Kinsman n this time!" Laughed Curtis

    hearing Curtis''s words, Dante couldn''t help but give him a strange look, but not just him, even all the members of the Kinsman n present looked at him strangely

    ''he really is not alright in the head

    Maybe I really did knock a few screws loose?'' thought Dante to himself

    But Curtis didn''t seem to notice the storage looks he was receiving and continued to speak.

    "War.

    Death.

    Bloodshed.

    The kinsman n really has done me a favour in creating such a wonderful environment.

    With such conditions all around, how could I lose to anyone!"

    hearing these words, everything finally started to make sense to Dante

    ''Shit!''

 Chapter 85 - Chaos 4

    Realising Curtis was about to do something crazy, Dante instantly rushed towards him but in the end, it was still just toote

    "Hahaha! Come out, Demonic Blood River!"

    a horrifying burst of blood energy flowed into the sky forming the abomination of a river everyone was now familiar with.

    "Absorb!"

    With a mad cry strings of red energy flew all over the ce connecting towards the various corpses of all over the battlefield

    ter n corpses, Kinsman n corpses, hell even corpses of spectators were all gradually sucked dry causing strings of blood to fly towards

    Dante could only watch in horror as an unimaginable amount of blood rushed towards Curtis.

    "Hahaha!"

    Under the influence of an amount of blood, Curtis seemed to go crazy.

    His eyes wentpletely Red as both his pupils disappeared leaving only a blood-red colour emanating from his eyes

    In addition to this his hair gradually changed from its usual ck into a deep red colour the same colour as the blood he was absorbing!

    "I''ve never felt as alive as I do right now!"

    Curtis raised his hands in the air as he screamed in joy

    "Reba, today is the day you die!

    Blood storm!"

    horrific tornadoes of blood were instantly generated on and rushing towards Rebbeca at speeds that were ridiculously faster than the attacks Curtis had seen before.

    Dante knew that Reba was still recovering and wouldn''t be able to deal with such a powerful attack just by herself.

    Dante quickly withdrew his Moonlight Sword

    "Lunar sword technique, Setting Full Moon!"

    Instantly a burning silver ball formed in the sky, Blinding the crowd behind Dante for a moment before it began rapidly falling towards the tornadoes of blood!

    This time Dante only used a fraction of the energy he had used before, but that didn''t mean the attacker was weak.

    On the contrary, as the falling moon made contact with the blood tornadoes a dazzling explosion of silver erupted, sting Curtis''s attack into smithereens.

    But Curtis''s attack wasn''t over yet, Instead, it was just getting started!

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    The beneath Dante''s feet shook causing him to have to steady himself but as he looked towards Curtis he saw a horrifying sight.

    A devastating pir of blood erupted around Curtis as all the blood around him started to go beserk, forming into a tidal waverger than anything Dante had ever seen before!

    It was as if he was looking at a terrifying force nature, Dante was only a spec inparison to the size of the wave.

    for the first time since he came to this world, Dante felt absolutely helpless

    "Blood world, Blood Cataclysm!"

    Dante knew he couldn''t stop this attack and grabbed Reba preparing to dodge. but just as he was about to leave, he heard something that made him grimace

    "dead, we''re all dead!"

    "is it over am I going to die like this?"

    "help, someone please help, I don''t want to die!"

    Behind Dante, there were hundreds of Kinsman n members.

    If Dante dodged, most of them definitely wouldn''t escape in time and would bepletely crushed only forming more fuel for Curtis.

    Dante had been given the responsibility of protecting them by Patriarch Gavin, how would he be able to face them if he let them all die and escaped by himself?

    so Dante quickly changed his mind and stood firm in the face of the attack.

    quickly, Dante began overloading himself with fire element energy, causing a Red storm of fire element particles to gush towards him while the floor beneath his feet began to melt.

    The ground started to shake as the blood tsunami got closer and closer towards the kinsman n members and just as it was right before the n''s members, Dante finally made a move!

    "Breath of the Red Dragon!"

    A fierce cone of mes burst forth from Dante, colliding head-on with Curtis''s blood wave.

    And For a brief period of time, there was even a stalemate where each attack seemed to stop each other with equal force.

    But this onlysted for a brief second as Curtis''s blood wave slowly started pushing back on Dante''s Breath attack.

    Dante could only watch on in horror as the wave of blood slowly started getting closer and closer towards him.

    but suddenly, as Dante had decided that he would have to dodge this attack, he heard a loud cry behind him

    "Apocalypse Sword Style! Split The Earth!"

    Out of nowhere, a giant beam of golden energy powered its way into the oing blood wave.

    Dante didn''t even need to double-check who helped him out here.

    He only knew one person who used that technique, and that person was of course Klent!

    Out of Dante''s peripheral vision, he could see Klent sending out the golden beam from his sword.

    sensing Dante''s gaze, Klent gave him a quick nod.

    But what left both Klent and Dante stunned was that even with both of their attacksbined they only managed to stop the blood wave for a few seconds before it began to push them back again.

    "Hahaha! You may have been able to beat me before but now that I''m surrounded by death and blood I''m invincible!"

    Now there was help from Klent, Dante knew there was finally a chance at stopping Curtis''s attack.

    Previously, Dante had guessed that even if he went all out he still wouldn''t be able to stop the attack.

    The only reason Dante even bothered to not go all out at the start was to test the intensity of Curtis''s attack to see if it was even possible to block the attack.

    And what Dante saw, even if he went all out, there would be no chance at stopping Curtis''s move.

    But all that changed with the addition of klent!

    With a renewed vigor, Dante stimted his Silver Dragon soul causing a loud roar to echo from deep within his bones.

    The Wind around him seemed to pick up as arcane mana, also known as Spirit energy, started to course all over his body!

 Chapter 86 - Grand Patriarch

    The Wind around him seemed to pick up as arcane mana, also known as Spirit energy, started to course all over his body!

    Dante''s body shed a metallic silver glow as a silver beam shot out from deep within his cone of mes, signifying the attack of the Silver Dragon.

    "Boom!"

    A devastating explosion rang out as these vtile opposing energies mixed.

    The light was so blinding that even Dante had to cover his eyes for a few seconds at the blinding re created.

    After the smoke cleared, it was possible to see that just these two attackshad greatly changed the environment as a crater the size of house was formed on the battleground because of these two attacks.

    But while Dante was looking at the destruction they had caused on the battlefield,he suddenly saw that a ridiculous amount of blood had started to gush around Curtis all over again.

    To Dante''s horror, it seemed like Curtis was about to unleash the same attack he just did once again!

    Dante knew that if let this stuff continue that it will only be a matter of time before he is defeated.

    With Curtis''s ability to gain Spirit Energy from blood, he was basically unhindered on a battlefield like this. And because of this fact, he could keep on sending out ridiculously powerful attacks again and again without the fear of using up all his Spirit Energy.

    Dante, on the other hand, had to be as conservative with his energy as possible. Even with the help of Klent, it would only be a matter of time before he would run out of all his energy!

    Because of this, Dante knew if he wanted any chance of changing the direction of this fight, he would have to act now!

    Dante didn''t waste any more time and began to rush Curtis, stimting his movement technique to the best of his abilities but just as he was rushing towards Curtis, a painful wail shook the arena

    "Arrrgh!"

    The shout was so loud that even Curtis and Dante had to stop and see what on earth was going on.

    In the sky above the battlefield,Patriarch Gavin was brutally stabbed in the back and fell straight out of the sky

    "Boom!"

    A loud explosion sounded as Patriavh Gavin''s body hit the floor of the Arena

    "Father!"

    Reba screamed in horror as she watched her father smash straight into the ground below.

    "Hahaha! Brother Harrison, you have really outdone yourself this time!

    Your contributions to the ter nwon''t be forgotten after all this over!"

    Said Patriarch Nn as he burst outughing

    "Gavin,your weakness was that you trusted your n too much.

    Now look at you, that very same trust is what led to your own downfall!"

    ...

    "Brother!"

    Winton stopped his fight as soon as he heard his brother scream in pain and quickly rushed in his brother''s direction to try and help him as soon as possible.

    but whilst Winton was trying to get to his brother, a cold voice sounded out behind him

    "You seem to be forgetting about somebody!"

    "Bang!"

    In the split-second Winton turned away,Elder Mahan let out a devastating attack at Winton, smashing him straight into the floor.

    Seeing the sight of Winton being brutally Dealt with Elder Harrison finally breathed a sigh of relief.

    "Gavin, Winton, you can''t me me for this.

    Ever since your father''s generation all the way down to the generation of your children, your family has always been getting in my way.

    I thought that at least when your father passed on thatI could finally be patriarch but instead, you pair of little shits took over!

    Everything that happened now is a result of your own actions, If it wasn''t because you forced me so far this would have never happened!"

    After his loud outburst, Elder Harison seemed to sigh in relief as if in saying all this he had finally managed to get something off of his chest.

    but before Elder Harrison could truly rx a bone-chilling voice sounded out across the Battlefield

    "Oh is that so?"

    Winton slowly crawled out the crater in the ground with his body still covered in dust and fragments of earth.

    He didn''t even speak much after brushing of Elder Mahan''s attack.

    Only for the first time since he returned to the Kinsman n,Winton fully released his killing intent letting his rage truly run wild!

    A devastating earthquake hit the surroundings as even the arena they stood in was affected and started to crumble under the devastating pressure released by Winton.

    But that was just the start of the horrific phenomenon as a vast wave of darkness swept over the whole brightsteel city sending the city from the middle of the day to deep a night.

    The only problem was that instead of the normal pitch-ck night sky with twinkling stars, the sky was now dense bloody red, symbolising Winton''s boundless killing intent.

    Winton didn''t seem to care about anybody else at this moment in time as weaker people copsed under his field of pure murderous intent!

    Even Elder Mahan wasn''t spared body began to shake uncontrobly. Noticing this Elder Mahan grabbed his arm as he thought to himself

    ''I''m shaking?

    this feeling, It''s been years since I felt it.

    Fear.

    I never thought I''d see something that could make me feel such fear ever again!''

    Kinsman n, ter n, it didn''t matter to Winton anymore, all that mattered was that he had to get revenge.

    Ignoring the happenings around him, Wintons pitch-ck eyes stared at Elder Harrison

    "I''ve really gotten too soft.

    To think I even spared your life after everything you''ve done.

    The crazy thing is,I''ve killed people for doing much less than you ever did yet here you are"

    Thinking of the ridiculousness of the situation, Winton couldn''t help butugh at his own stupidity

    "Hahaha! In the past, I really was a fool.

    Well I''ve finally realised people like you, they just don''t deserve a second chance

    Today is the day you die Harrison!"

    But just as Winton was about to make a move a majestic old voice sounded in the air.

    "Really?

    After all that effort to hide you''re going to expose yourself just for this?"

    hearing this statement Winton almost went beserk!

    "Just for this?

    This man stabbed my brother and you say just for this!

    Who the hell do you think you are!"

    "Well, I''m your Father."

    After hearing that Winton finally snapped as he turned around in rage

    "WHO THE FUCK!!

    Huh, Dad?"

    Winton turned around only to be greeted by the sight of a majestic old man.

    he was wearing a crimson red robe and had white hair that went down to his shoulders.

    "Father?

    What the hell are you doing here."

    But Winton wasn''t the only one stunned by his father''s appearance,the rest of the kinsman n were left even more dumbfounded.

    "What the hell the grand patriarch is still alive!?"

    "Didn''t he die in seclusion, how did he appear here?"

    The grand patriarch didn''t seem to pay attention to anyone''s musing as he continued speaking

    "Winton your horrible temper still seems to be an issue like it always is." said The Grand Patriarch as he shook his head.

    If you took a moment to calm down you could have easily realised that Gavin''s injury isn''t actually that serious.

    Gavin managed to defend against the stab wound of the attack,the only problem is the demonic energy spreading throughout his body.

    But seeing as you are so familiar with demonic energy, I''m sure you can easily deal with that can''t you?"

    Hearing his father''s words Winton didn''t waste another second as he teleported beside his fallen brother ignoring the ter n elders around him.

    "wait,hold on.."

    It seemed like the ter n elders still had something wrong with their brains as despite Winton ignoring their presence, they still tried to stop him.

    Winton didn''t even look in their direction and only waved his hand

    "St!"

    Instantly the bodies of all the elders surrounding him burst open, spilling their guts all over the floor in a gruesome disy of power.

    Seeing this harrowing sight, Elder Harrison''s heart sank.

    ''he really could have ended my life back then.

    Why did I even try and fight this monster, I''m lucky to even be alive right now!''

    only now did Elder Harrison realise just how easily Winton could have ended his life.

    If it wasn''t for the Grand patriarch appearing to stop Winton right then he was basically as good as dead!

    Even now his life wasn''t assured as Winton was still focused on saving Gavin''s life, once Gavin was saved and back in good health it was still unknown as to whether he would be allowed to even live for another second.

    But Grand Elder Harrison wasn''t the only one having a rollercoaster of emotions at this point.

    Patriarch Nn was still in shock at the arrival of Winton and Gavin''s father.

    "Pa...Patriarch Jarrod. How are you still alive?

    My father, he''d said that he''d seen you poisoned with his own eyes!

    You should be dead!"

    seeing the disbelief on Nn''s faceGrand Patriarch Jarred couldn''t help butugh

 Chapter 87 - Grand Patriarch 2

    "The truth is I was actually poisoned all those years ago.

    If nothing changed I would actually have died a gruesome death a few years into seclusion but the only difference between me and your dog of a father is that I still have a pair of good Sons!"

    Hearing Grand Patriarch Jarred''s reply, Nn''s face went purple in rage!

    "Brother Mahan! surely, you can deal with this old bag of bones!

    He''s just an old fart that just refuses to die, his power should be nothing to someone like you!"

    But unlike what Nn had been expecting, Elder Mahan wasn''t quick ac, in fact, it seemed like he was even hesitating to take action!

    Turning his head towards Elder Mahan, Grand Patriarch Jarred spoke,

    "I actually have a bone to pick with you, Elder Mahan

    I enter seclusion for a few years and everyone and their dog thinks they can bully my sons!

    Not to mention that you even have the balls to try and touch my Grandchildren!

    Who gave you such confidence!"

    As Grand Patriarch Jarred spoke, his hair started to move erratically as a grim aura of Red started to form around him

    e out, three-headed Cobra king!"

    A pir of mes erupted around Jarred as a familiar phantom appeared in the sky once again.

    the only difference between Jarred''s Martial Spirit and Gavin''s is that Jarred''s own martial spirit was muchrger simr to the difference was between a youth and a fully grown man!

    But just as everyone expectedElder Mahan to react, his next actions were even more shocking!

    instead of confronting Grand patriarch Jarred as everyone had expected, he instead grabbed Patriarch Nn and Curtis.

    As soon as he was sure he had retrieved both those two, he brought out a pitch-ck talisman into his hand and crushed it.

    instantly a ck portal engulfed Elder Mahan and the rest teleporting them far away from there, leaving everybody else stunned as they tried toprehend what just happened!

    ...

    Thousands of miles away, Elder Mahan suddenly reappeared out of thin air alongside Curtis and Patriarch Nn.

    "Master what the fuck are you doing!

    we''ve just left our nsmen at the mercy of the Kinsman n.

    do you have an idea of what sort of fate you''ve doomed them to! "

    Curtis was so enraged that he even forgot it was his master talking to and began to scream at the top of his lungs.

    Elder Mahan want even fazed by Curtis''s emotions and still had a cold expression on his face as replied

    "Curtis, I don''t think you understand how outmatched we were in that fight.

    If took any longer to act we may not have even been able to escape."

    But Curtis just couldn''t take that exnation for an answer, he had just abandoned his n and still needed a better exnation than what he was getting

    "Master, so you''re telling me that you, an Elder of the great Blood Moon Pce was so easily intimidated by an old man that recently broke through into the Martial Adept realm?

    Not only were you intimidated by that Grand patriarch, but he also scared you so bad that you tucked your tail between your legs and ran! "

    Curtis had lost all trust in his master.

    He had basically abandoned his n and fled like a coward where was the dignity in that?!

    After hearing Curtis''s wordsElder Mahan finally lost his temper and ahorrifying aura radiated from him as he replied

    "You''re statement here only goes to further highlight your ignorance!

    I was never afraid of the so-called grand patriach!

    No, the one that really was too strong to handle was the one you call Winton.

    If it wasn''t because of the sudden interference of the Grand patriarch stopping his attack, we wouldn''t even have had the chance to escape!

    we would have died right there!"

    Even as Elder Mahan talked about his experience, his body was still shaking with fear.

    He could swear that he had never felt such a cruel aura on another human being before.

    Not of the leader of The Blood Moon Pce couldpare to that monster!

    Hearing Elder Mahans reply had left Curtis stunned.

    Who could have thought that such a monster was quietly living in the Kinsman n this whole time?

    But even with all these factsid before him, Curtis still refused to ept this oue.

    Just one look at his father''s dead eyes easily rekindled the hatred he felt.

    No one could imagine the guilt Nn was feeling.

    After generations of battling it was finally his generation that waspletely defeated, He was the one who had let down his forefathers!

    The history of the ter n had ended in his hands!

    Such guilt had left himpletely dead inside, unable to even find the energy to move anymore.

    Seeing his father in such a sorry state had a profound impact on Curtis and Elder Mahan could clearly see this.

    He knew that if he didn''t do something to bring back Curtis''s fighting will, his martial path could very well end right here!

    Elder Mahan couldn''t let that happen to Cutis.

    As his most precious disciple, Curtis was supposed to be the one to inherit his mantleter when he couldn''t carry in any longer.

    He couldn''t afford to see Curtis''s will copse here!

    sensing the dire situation Elder Mahan quickly spoke out

    "Although Winton Is ridiculously strong you can''t give up hope now Curtis!

    You are not any less talented than him and within a few years I''m sure you''ll be able to power through cultivation realms and reach his level, he''ll it''s only a matter of time before you surpass me!

    so remember, use this anger and hatred and convert it into strength to one day get the revenge you desire!"

    After listening to the words of Elder Mahan it was as if a switch had clicked in Curtis''s head.

    he still had time to get stronger!

 Chapter 88 - Aftermath

    he couldn''t give up now, if he did what would his dead nsmen think of him?

    As one of the few remaining members of the ter n,he had the responsibility ced on him to survive and grow stronger to get revenge for all of them.

    "hahaha!"

    As Curtis began tough a storm started to form overhead

    "Let the heavens be my witness!

    I, Curtis ter, hereby swear that I shall have my revenge on the Kinsman n for all the atrocities theymitted against my n!

    If I break my words, then let me be destroyed by heavenly thunder!"

    "Boom!"

    As soon as Curtis finished speaking, a thick lightning bolt struck the ground, blinding the scene in a golden wave of lightning.

    This was the symbol of his covenant with the heavens!

    Curtis had made a vow and he would either achieve it or die trying!

    Elder Mahan watched in both and awe and worry

    he was awed by Curtis''s conviction to get his revenge by all means, but at the same time, he still felt worried for Curtis.

    Words alone couldn''t begin to describe the terror he felt looking into Winton''s eyes, back then, he was truly helpless!

    he had no doubt in his mind that all it ould take was a simple move of Winton for all of them to be crushed out of existence

    Against such a horrifying monster like Winton,Elder Mahan found it hard to believe Curtis could reach those levels, especially in the short time that Curtis wanted to do it.

    but at the end of the day, who was he to judge the full extent of Curtis''s potential? Only time could tell whether Curtis could achieve his goals or not...

    ....

    back at the battle arena,

    After Elder Mahan and Curtis disappeared, The ter n disciples and elders were left stunned

    "haha! Finished, the ter n is finished!" Suddenly one ter n disciplepletely broke down I''m despair

    Chaos soon erupted as all the ter n members began to panic rapidly began fleeing the arena

    But then again, who could me them?

    The strongest fighters they had fled and basically left them all for dead!

    Even if they wanted to stick it out and fight to the death, there was barely anything that could be done.

    Fighting now would not be brave, instead, it would only be throwing your life away!

    In this fight, they werepletely outmatched in top-endbat power.

    At least if you managed to escape you could live to possibly fight another day. but if you died here,it would be for nothing, your name won''t even be remembered much less glorified for dying inbat!

    The ter n members left in a panic,so naturally some Kinsman n members tried to step in to catch some escapees, but this always resulted in fiercebat between both parties.

    The ter n disciples knew that if they were caught here they were as good as dead and so they would consistently fight with everyst bit of strength they had to secure an escape path from the arena!

    Seeing the brutal fighting methods of these desperate ter nsmen, Grand patriarch Jarred suddenly spoke.

    "Leave them alone.let them run!"

    As soon as he spoke, all Kinsman n members suddenly stopped fighting and began letting the ter n members slowly escape,showing the amount of respect that this manmanded from within the n.

    But Jarred didn''t seem to stop as he continued speaking

    "There Is no need to stress yourself to catch them all.

    they''re like trapped rats in a cage, no matter how hard they run and struggle, they still won''t be able to escape in the end.

    As he spoke, the cruel smirk unique to Dante''s family graduallyappeared on his face,just going to show that some things really do run in the family

    "Han!"

    "Yes Grand Patriarch!"

    Han quickly responded to the calls grand patriarch, almost teleporting behind him in the way he appeared so quickly.

    But Jarred didn''t seem to even notice this as he continued speaking as he looked at the fleeing ter nsmen

    "Han.

    I want you to take the n guards and lock up the city gates.No ter n member can be allowed to escape, do you hear me?"

    "Yes Grand Patriarch!"

    soon after speaking to Grand Patriarch Jarred, Han quickly gathered a group of elders and flew out of the arena.

    But it wasn''t just the ter n members that were flustered by the new developments of the kinsman n.

    After seeing theTerrifying moves the Kinsman n were starting to make, some members of the Pierce n began to worry as well.

    Since the Pierce n survived in between the cracks of the kinsman n and the ter n, they needed both ns to be of simr strength and constantly fight to survive and develop their own strength.

    But now since one of the ns had be extremely powerful it seems like the Pierce n would be in need of a new n if they wanted to survive the new changes in brightsteel city.

    Patriarch Randall quickly took his Pierce n members and quickly left the scene. They needed to be prepared for the changes happening in brightsteel city

    Seeing that Elder Han had started to act out his instructions,Jarred gave a nod of approval and slowly floated down towards Dante.

    Dante watched on as this so-called Grand Patriarch approached him.

    As Dante was inspecting Jarred, Jarred himself was doing the exact same whilst continuing to approach him in the process.

    eventually, Jarred stopped only a foot away from Dante and stared him down.

    But in front of Jarred''s piercing gaze, Dante didn''t back down at all and instead stared straight back into Jarred''s eyes not being intimidated in the slightest

    for a time there was only silence as each person stared at the other whilst the tension between the two quickly rose.

    but soon the tension was quickly broken by the sound ofughter

 Chapter 89 - Have The Honour Of Becoming My Strength!

    But soon the tension was quickly broken by the sound ofughter

    "hahaha! Good, good!

    To have such strength at such a young age, even Winton''s Talent wasn''t so outrageous back then

    I truly do have some talented Grandchildren!"

    Suddenly Jarred stretched out his hand towards Reba and as soon as he touched her body shook as she began to vomit litres of blood.

    Seeing this scene Dante''s aura fluctuated as his aura spiked showing he was about to act, but before he could even move he heard someone speaking to him

    "there''s no need to worry Dante, he''s just repairing her veins and clearing her contaminated blood after the treatment she''ll be fine"

    looking towards the direction of the sound, Dante could see that the one who spoke was a deathly pale patriarch Gavin.

    His face was as pale as paper while a terrifying sword gash ran across the whole of his stomach.

    If not for the fact he was being supported by Winton, Dante was sure that with such terrifying injuries, Gavin wouldn''t even be able to walk!

    disregarding Dante''s shocked gaze, Gavin continued to speak.

    "The after-effects of Curtis''s torture was so brutal that it managed to leave some hidden injuries inside Reba and if those injuries aren''t quickly treated, they could be a serious problem towards her future cultivation."

    soon, after a few minutes Jarred let out a sigh

    "Phew, Done!"

    Jarred slowly backed off as he wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead

    "Thank you Grand Patriarch!"

    Reba could already feel the positive effects of Jarred''s treatment. Only after being fully cured did she realise how much of an issue her old situation was.

    if time went on and she wasn''t properly treated... Reba shivered at the thought of what terrible effects that could have had on her!

    "Grand Patriarch?

    We''re all family here, there''s no need to call me Grand Patriarch, just call me Grandfather instead."

    but to Jarred''s dismay, no matter how hard he insisted it was still hard for Reba to call an old man she just met her Grandfather.

    Seeing this sight, Jarred could only sigh.

    He really did miss the formative years of his grandchildren but he wouldn''t let that get to him.

    he was here now and there was still lots of opportunities to make up for the lost time!

    "well since everyone is here, let''s head back home, we really have some catching up to do!"

    With those words Jarred slowly started to head back home with Reba and the rest following closely behind him...

    ...

    A few days had passed here in brightsteel city and much had changed in that short period of time.

    After the inter-npetition, The ter n and all its members were brutally suppressed by the kinsman n.

    The ter npound was raided by the Kinsman n forces with many of their members being captured or even killed.

    Although Dante objected to theplete massacre of the ter n allowing for some servants to be spared. Even he had to agree that most of the ter n members had to be dealt with.

    He had read too many novels about lucky survivorsing back to get revenge for their whole n and decided that, although Curtis was still atrge, he had to prevent the chance of anyone else evolving into a typical revenge protagonist.

    Just thinking about the fate of the enemy ns in those novels when the protagonists finally got their revenge made shivers run down Dante''s spine.

    All this resulted in him siding with the Kinsman n on their decision.

    No ter n member could be spared!

    Because of the Kinsman ns brutal policy, all the direct lines of the ter n were heartlessly killed,pletely ending a war that had been going on since the founding of Brightsteel city.

    The whole of brightsteel city seemed to enter a solemn, quiet period as even the citizens of the city were scared by the brutal massacre...

    ....

    Deep within the Kinsman n dungeons,

    Winton was slowly traversing The dark and narrow pathways inside the ce.

    Soon after much walking, Winton came before a humongous door made of many mysterious magic metals.

    the door was dull silver and was ordained with various inscriptions of magic writing that asionally shed with the magical colour of Spirit energy

    "grr!"

    Winton slowly the locks on the door causing the gears of the gigantic door to begin to turn, before slowly pushing it open

    "m!"

    The thick metal door finally opened and hit the wall behind it, showing the path into the room behind it

    Inside was a massive, dimly lit room with light so faint Curtis could barely even see past arm''s length.

    But this did not stop Curtis as he continued walking deeper into the room and as he walked further inwards a horrifying sight was gradually revealed.

    Along the long walls of this giant room were numerous people chained to the walls in tattered robes.

    Winton carried on walking unfazed by this sight and didn''t stop until he was in the centre of the room.

    "Vern ter.

    3 months ago led an attack on a kinsman n store resulting in the death of 3 Kinsman n elders and 5 Kinsman n disciples

    Colin ter.

    7 years ago led a raid on a Kinsman n Mine resulting in the deaths of 40 miners, 25 Kinsman n disciples and 15 Kinsman n Elders.

    The list could go on and on! Everyone present here hasmitted simr crimes against my Kinsman n!

    Back at the ter n, people like you may be hailed as heroes. but here at the Kinsman n, you people are nothing more than murders!

    And Due to your sins against the Kinsman n, your fate will not be as simple as the others from your n.

    Even in death, your souls will not be able to rest and can only be used to strengthen the Kinsman n!"

    As Winton spoke an ominous aura started to form around him causing all the watching prisoners to start to shake in fear.

    "Today your judgment shalle, all of you shall have the honour of bing my strength!

    Come out, ckhole! "

    Instantly, all the shadows present seemed to go berserk as a pitch ck ball the size of a man appeared in front of Winton.

    as this was going on, all the air in the dungeon seemed to rush towards Winton causing the chains that bound these prisoners to il madly in the air

    Now with a pair ofpletely ck eyes, Winton coldly spoke

    "Spatial copse, Devour!"

 Chapter 90 - Dungeon 2

    The strong wind around Winton rapidly turned into a terrifying storm as the pull of air towards him increased drastically

    "Crac!"

    The suction was so powerful that even the chains that held the prisoners to the wall started to be break causing the prisoners to go flying towards Winton

    "Arrrgh!"

    "Nooo!"

    Some prisoners were the first to break free from their bindings but instead of feeling joy, all they felt was a strong sense of terror!

    Soon they were captured by the strong suction emanating from Winton''s ckhole and began flying towards it.

    The prisoners were quickly engulfed by the gigantic ball of darkness

    "Crack!"

    "squelch!"

    A sickening sound echoed throughout the room as the bodies of the prisoners werepletely crushed and devoured by the horrifying force of the ck hole in front of Winton

    The prisoner''s struggle didn''t evenst for a second before they were quickly sucked into its pitch-ck abyss of the ck hole!

    "what the hell!!"

    "Please stop, I''m sorry!"

    The prisoners began to break down and beg for forgiveness as they soon realised the horrific fate awaiting them, but to their despair, Winton didn''t even seem to flinch!

    He watched on with an emotionless face as each prisoner screamed in agony before being brutally devoured by his martial spirit!

    After a while, there was only deafening silence left in the room as almost all the prisoners were cruelly devoured by Winton.

    Well, all but one very special person,

    Elder Harrison!

    Harrison watched on in utter horror as he saw Winton''s Martial Spirit consume all these prisoners that were next to him. His fear truly hit its peak when he saw Wintons''s pitch-ck eyes turn towards him.

    Then To Harrison''s ever-increasing horror, Winton began to slowly approach him. Harrison waspletely terrified by this new development and in a panic, attempted to reason with Winton

    "Winton, you can''t possibly kill me, right? We are a blood-rted family, so please forgive me!

    The only reason I even betrayed you was because-"

    "Boom!"

    Before Elder Harrison could even finish his sentence, Winton teleported beside him kicking him straight into the wall.

    "You know, ever since I came back to the n I''ve really wanted to end your life.

    But time after time, Gavin begged me to be the bigger Man and let things slide, after all, we''re all from the same n.

    Hell, for I time I even thought of turning over a new leaf andpletely changing my ways!"

    As Winton spoke he got closer and closer to Harrison and aura grew wilder and wilder

    "But people like you, They just have to force me to go back down this path!"

    with those words, a devilish smile appeared on Winton''s face

    "Bang!"

    Winton stomped fiercely in Harrison''s legs shattering them

    "Arrgh!"

    Looking at that demonic smile, Elder Harrison knew there was no hope in Winton sparing his life, he could clearly see the pure madness and hatred in Winton''s eyes as they made eye-contact

    "You demon, Your devouring people to try and gain strength! For even doing such an abominable thing you''ll burn in the deepest pits of hell! "

    Hearing Harrison''s cries, Winton couldn''t help but let out a light chuckle but this chuckle escted into a madugh

    "Hahaha!"

    It truly has been a while since I''ve been cursed at so badly!"

    but unfortunately for Harrison, Winton''s jovialughter didn''t stop his actions

    "Devour!"

    A storm resurfaced as Winton''s ck hole began to devour all in its path again.

    Harrison screamed defiantly as he was pulled towards the ck hole.

    "Winton even if you kill me, I''ll turn into a ghost and haunt you for the rest of your life!"

    Hearing Harrison''s words a cold smirk appeared on Winton''s face as he spoke,

    "Well, it''s a good thing that even your soul will not be spared then. your soul will be devoured whole, it''ll be as if you never existed in the first ce!"

    "Wait.. wha-"

    Hearing Winton''s words Harrison finally broke down, but before he could even regret his actions he was pulled in towards the ck hole

    "crack!"

    "squelch!"

    Harrison''s body was slowly crushed as it was sucked into the bottomless abyss of the ckhole

    After Winton finally devoured everyone present, he felt an overwhelming amount of energy start to flow through him

    "ahhh..."

    Winton let out a sigh of satisfaction as he controlled this energy.

    but this brief period ofughter onlysted for a second suddenly Winton burst out intoughter.

    "Hahaha! It feels so good to get back at least some of my strength.

    I Finally can stop this hiding. Let it be known that I, Shadow Demon Winton, am finally back!"

    With a satisfied smile, Winton slowly made his way out of the prison dungeon, but as he left the room he was greeted with a surprising sight.

    Leaning against the opposing wall was his brother Gavin.

    Unlike the time at the inter-npetition, Gavin was looking much better. His face had regained its healthy rosy colour and he seemed to be full of energy.

    But despite all these positive changes arge bandage ran across his chest still showing the history terrifying wound he received only a few days ago.

    "So were you there for the whole process?" asked Winton

    "Yep." Gavin didn''t give a long reply and only nodded his head.

    Seeing this Winton didn''t pay much attention to gains actions, throughout his whole life he was used to his older brother randomly popping up out of nowhere to be nosy.

    The two were quietly walking through the Kinsman n dungeons when Winton''s curiosity got the better of him and he asked

    "So you were there for the whole process, Don''t you have anything to say? I know that I already told you I use demonic techniques but that doesn''t change the fact that stuff is still illegal in the Vaenam Kingdom."

    Hearing Winton''s question a smile broke out on Gavin''s face.

    "I''m not so shallow as to judge someone by the techniques they use, besides, as your older brother do you think I really don''t know you?

    Even if you''re a terrible demon and have ughtered thousands, it doesn''t matter to me as I know that you would always have the interests of the Kinsman n at heart and that''s good enough for me."

    After hearing Gavin''s opinions, a smile broke out on Winton''s face as he spoke

    "Such a twisted and biased opinion I wouldn''t expect from the Patriarch Kinsman n"

    In return, Gavin only chuckled

    "Hahaha! I could say the same about you, O Master of the Shadowfire Cult..."

    And like that, both brothersughed as they made their way out the Kinsman n dungeons, seemingly unfazed by the actions justmitted

    ......

 Chapter 91 - Congratulations!

    The next day,

    Dante slowly got up from his bed and stretched his body.

    "ahhh.."

    Dante let out a satisfied sigh as he stretched his sore body. Over the past few days, his time at the Kinsman n had been extremely hectic!

    The destruction of the ter n had left an abundance of resources and power for the Kinsman n to take over.

    And As the son of the first elder and nephew of the patriarch, Dante had a major role to y in management and control over all these actions leaving him with many duties and things to manage

    But over the past few days, Dante had beenpletely overwhelmed with this logistical burden and barely even had any time to rest.

    But all that changed today, today he was finally free of all his duties!

    Dante quickly got ready and left his room and as he walked outside he was greeted by the sight of people eagerly moving all over the ce.

    It seemed like although his duties were finished a lot of the n was still busy with some n duties as various members and disciples were rushing around everywhere.

    Dante was just strolling through the Kinsman npound when a loud horn sounded throughout the whole n!

    Just as Dante was recovering from the loud sound just now, he heard a loud exmationing from the n entrance.

    "Greetings Kinsman n, today the Pierce nes to pay respects to Grand Patriarch Jarred!"

    hearing those words Dante was intrigued and dashed towards the n entrance to try and see what exactly was going on?

    At the n entrance, he could see that a loud crowd of Kinsman n disciples had also started to gather around the scene in curiosity.

    P When Dante arrived could clearly see Grand Patriarch jarred with a gathering of Kinsman n elders also near the entrance, it seemed like they hade out to greet whoever was at the door outside

    At first, Dante was a bit confused at what the Pierce n could have done to deserve such treatment but soon it all started to make sense

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    suddenly, Cart after cart filled with resources and treasures started to roll into the Kinsman n

    Seeing the abundance of treasures before him, Grand Patriarch Jarred knew that he couldn''t just sit still, and so he quickly flew in the air and rushed to greet patriarch Randall

    "Randall, my good nephew! You really have be a fine patriarch in the few years I was away.

    I''m sure your father would be proud to see how much of a fine man you''ve be!"

    hearing Grand patriarch Jarred''s words

    Randall''s eyebrows twitched

    ''You old fox! There''s no way if ever believe your words! one of my father''sst words was to never trust a word out of your mouth!''

    Of course, Randall couldn''t say these words out loud so instead he put on a warm smile as he replied

    "Hahaha! Uncle Jarred I''m not even worth half the praise you give me, besides today I''m not important, today it is about congratting you on your recovery!

    As a way to celebrate, I brought you some gifts as a way of congratting your healthy recovery"

    As Randall spoke he pointed towards the many carriages full of resources behind him.

    seeing such a sight in front of his eyes, a greedy smile appeared on Grand Patriarch Jarred''s face

    "Randall, my good nephew, you really have outdone yourself this time!

    Quickly, Come inside, it would be rude of me to keep such an honoured guest outside."

    with hose words Patriarch Randall and Jarred all started going inside to the Kinsman n hall with both n''s elders following closely behind them.

    ...

    The n hall was a massive ce that the Kinsman n used to hold all their major events and meetings.

    The hall had an elegant atmosphere about it as many giant banners hang on the walls around, depicting the symbol of the Kinsman n, a giant coiling fire serpent!

    As Dante walked into the room he could see various people warmly chatting with smiles on their faces. Be they from the Kinsman n or from the Pierce n the people here didn''t seem to mind and we''re having a great time speaking amongst each other.

    After looking around for a while, Dante''s attention was quickly grabbed by a beautiful ck haireddy.

    she was wearing a green robe and had a ck veil on yet even that still failed to hide her beauty.

    but most importantly of all, she had a pair of emerald eyes that seemed to capture Dante every time he looked at them.

    Of course, this person was none other than the top beauty of the Pierce n, Adelia Pierce!

    seemingly sensing Dante''s gaze on her, Adelia also turned her head towards his direction with a warm smile on her face

    seeing Adelia''s smile, Dante returned a smile of his own and began to approach her. But before he could even get close to Adelia he suddenly felt a sharp pain at his waist.

    Looking back, Dante turned to see who could be bold enough to touch him in such a manner. but as Dante looked back he was stunned to see that, that person was none other than Reba!

    she had a pair of cold eyes as she coldly spoke in disgust

    "That stupid smile on your face...

    it''s disgusting."

    subconsciously, Dante quickly raised his own hand to his face in disbelief

    "Disgusting?e on Reba, it can''t be that bad right? besides, how can someone as handsome as me have a bad smile, it just doesn''t make sense."

    Dante refused to admit tha

    "Humph! A little kid like you thinks he''s big enough to start flirting now?

    Trust me on this one, that girl is way older than you. Realistically, I don''t think you even stand a chance"

    hearing Reba''s statement, Dante was a little annoyed as he replied

    "how would you even know about flirting? I bet a boring person like you has never even been in a real rtionship anyway.

    I mean just look at yourst rtionship, That was with Curtis and we can all see how horribly that ended -"

    Before Dant could continue speaking he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his forehead as Reba fiercely flicked him with her finger

    "tch!

    How dare a kid like you try to lecture me on rtionships! A kid like you is 5 years too young to even start talking to me about this stuff!"

    as Reba was speaking she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Patriarch Randall

    ....

 Chapter 92 - Are You Even Worthy?

    As Reba was speaking she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Patriarch Randall

    ...

    "Today, I as Patriarch of the Pierce n herby congratte Grand patriarch Jarred on his miraculous recovery.

    Tomemorate such a joyous event the Pierce n has brought many gifts to kinsman n as seen earlier!"

    There was a loud apuse as everyone apuded the ims of the Pierce n Patriarch But behind this friendly disy from the Pierce n, most people here knew there was a much greater reason behind the sudden nice treatment.

    Now that Grand Patriarch Jarred had recovered the Kinsman n now had aplete Martial Adept realm cultivator.

    Just this fact alone was enough to finish the Pierce n. Just look at the ter n, as soon as the protection of the Blood Moon Pce left they were swiftly dealt with and exterminated by the Kinsman n.

    Don''t look at Winton and think that it''s normal to be able to fight people in the realm above you, that man was just a monster that couldn''t be judged by normal standards!

    For a regr martial journeyman realm cultivator, all it would take was for a martial adept realm cultivator to fart in their general direction for them to be pped into oblivion.

    And it was Because of this depressing fact that the Pierce n knew that if they wanted even the slightest chance at surviving, they would have to find a way to buy it from the Kinsman n.

    after a brief pause waiting for the apuse to die down, Randall once again began to speak.

    "in addition to this, the Pierce n will not be in contention for the spirit steel mines previously owned by the ter and are even willing to give up half of the resources earned from one of our mines!"

    "ahh!"

    Gasps of disbelief sounded out through the hall as they heard Patriarch Randall''s statement.

    They weren''t that surprised at Randall giving up contesting for the ter n mines and resources as that was already sort of expected after seeing the tyrannical strength showed by the Kinsman n.

    what really shocked them was Randall giving up half the proceedings of one of their mines!

    The Pierce n only had 2 Spirit Steel mines so giving up half of one mine was giving up a quarter of their annual profits!

    Even Grand Patriarch Jarred, who had already been expecting some sort of bribe from the Pierce n, was still surprised at the extent the Pierce n was willing to go to ensure the mercy of the Kinsman n.

    But the next words Patriarch Randall said shocked the crowd even more.

    " Although I''ve always felt that although the Kinsman n and the Pierce n already have a very good rtionship, there is still room to improve it.

    And it''s Because of this reason, I, as the patriarch of the Pierce n, am willing to propose an engagement between the treasure of the Pierce n, Adelia Pierce, and the Legendary Dual spirit awakener, Dante Kinsman!"

    Hearing this statement the crowd present burst into an outrage.

    Randall Pierce was actually trying to join the two ns through marriage!

    hearing Randall''s statement, Dante was just as surprised as the rest of the crowd. He only came to observe the meeting and now he was the topic for an engagement!

    Dante looked towards his proposed partner, Adelia Pierce, and suddenly felt a sense of duty to the n swell inside of him

    ''Maybe this engagement won''t be so bad after all

    I mean.., it''s my duty to do whatever is in the best interests of the n right?''

    Some people had to be engaged to ugly partners, at least his partner was a jaw-dropping beauty. with these facts, you really wouldn''t find Danteining.

    Just as Dante was about to step forward and beat the responsibility of the n on his back Grand Patriarch Jarred''s cold voice suddenly spoke out inside the hall.

    "You want an engagement to my grandson and With only the backing of your Pierce n?

    Let me ask you a question. Are you even worthy?"

    After hearing Jarred''s words, Patriarch Randall was left stunned and couldn''t help but ask in

    "pa..pardon?"

    "You heard me" replied Jarred

    "Is your Pierce n even worthy of an engagement from the kinsman n?

    My Grandson, Dante, is already a dual spirit awakener his talent lies far beyond the small reaches of a ce like brightsteel city!

    Does your Pierce n even have someone who is able to match such a talent?

    Even if we look at the power of each n, the Pierce n doesn''t even have someone of cultivation of The martial adept realm!

    Other than a slightly pretty daughter, what does the Pierce n even have going for them?"

    after Grand patriarch Jarred finished speaking the crowds were left stunned silent.

    The silence was so loud you could even hear a pin drop but despite this silence, Patriarch Randall was going mad internally.

    ''You old fart! How dare you humiliate the Pierce n in such a way!

    Ie to you bringing gifts only to be treated like this! You may as well have pped me in the face!''

    Despite Patriarch Randall''s burning anger, he dared not show it on his face.

    Realistically what could he do?

    In front of Grand patriarch Jarred who was a martial adept realm cultivator he was nothing more than an ant.

    Grand Patriarch Jarred had just pped him in the face and all he could do was take it!

    "Hahaha! It seems like I overstepped my boundaries with this proposal. just take those words as the mad ramblings of this tired patriarch"

    trying to save some of the dignity the Pierce n still had left, Patriarch Randall proposed to leave

    but before he could even take a few steps he was interrupted by Jarred''s voice

    "When you leave remember to leave the gifts you brought, out of respect for your father I''ll let you keep the half of your mine you offered."

    hearing Jarred''s words, Randall almost snapped as he turned around to Jarred in a rage,

    but just as he turned around he made eye contact with Jarred''s pair of emotionless eyes and when he did it was like a bucket of cold water was poured onto him.

    looking at Jarred''s eyes, Randall could clearly sense that Jarred wasn''t ying any games with him.

    If he dared to make a scene here, Jarred would squash him like a bug!

    Despite all his internal fury, Randall could only sigh at how strong the Kinsman n had be and quickly drag his members out of the Kinsman n hall.

    The Pierce n members quickly lowered their heads as they quickly hurried out trying to hide their embarrassment!

 Chapter 93 - Leaving

    As they were leaving the hall, Dante couldn''t bear to look at them. The Pierce n had just been publicly humiliated badly!

    After all the cold words Grand Patriarch Jarred had said to them even Dante was starting to feel a bit sorry for them.

    But after seeing the sorry sight of the fleeing Pierce n, Dante''s desire for power only grew.

    A few days ago, the Pierce n would never take such a humiliation from the Kinsman n without putting up a mad resistance.

    But in thest few days, the situation had changed so much. Just because of the presence of just one Martial adept realm cultivator, after being pped by the Kinsman n, the Pierce n could only sorrowfully turn the other cheek and endure another beating!

    Dante knew he could never be on the receiving end of such a humiliation and take it without reacting, so the very least he could do was at least have the strength to p his offender back!

    Just as Dante was having these thoughts he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. looking to the right he could see an old man with a silly smile on his face

    Of course, this was none other than his grandfather, Grand Patriarch Jarred!

    whilst Dante was in his thoughts, Patriarch Jarred started speaking.

    "I hope you''re not mad at me at what I did there, it''s just that as your grandfather I want what''s best for you"

    Despite Jarred''s sudden apology, Dante was still confused as to what reason he would even have to be mad.

    "Mad? Why would be mad?" Asked Dante

    "Come on Dante, I''m you''re grandfather don''t have to lie to me... I just ruined your chances of getting married to an absolute Beauty,

    But don''t worry, as your grandfather how could I wrong you? With my help, forget aboutmon beauties, I can even get you engaged to a princess!"

    Even though Dante didn''t really care about grand patriarch Jarred''s decision in rejecting Randall''s marriage proposal, his next words really grabbed Dante''s attention

    "A princess? Grandfather, are you sure?"

    hearing jarred''s words Dante was almost in disbelief.

    "Of course I''m sure!" replied Grand Patriarch Jarred with the utmost certainty

    "A talent like you is even rare to see every generation so as long as you maintain your rapid progress and show some talent, using some connections I''m sure I can at least propose an engagement to one of the king''s many daughters!"

    hearing this Dante couldn''t help but imagine the scenes...

    he could already imagine himself on a throne with a beautiful queen sitting next to him as he lorded over his many subjects, satisfying a vanity deep inside of him that he never even knew existed in the first ce.

    But just as Dante''s thoughts began to run wild, Dante suddenly felt a sharp pain at his waist:

    "Oww!"

    Turning around, Dante looked behind him, only to see Reba ring at him with a pair of emotionless eyes

    "You''re thoughts, they''re so disgusting," said Reba in a cold voice.

    But Dante wasn''t one to take this baseless nder and do nothing so he quickly replied

    "Disgusting? How is that even possible? Can you read minds, how do you even know what I''m thinking in the first ce?"

    But to Dante''s dismay, Reba easily countered his question

    "well, that''s easy.

    You just have to look at your face. You have that same disgusting smile on your face that you did when you were staring at Adelia a few moments ago."

    hearing Reba''s reply Dante wasn''t even mad, he just had one thought on his mind as he reached up to touch his face

    ''My smile... is it really that ugly?''

    ...

    Over the next few days the buzz and the hype around the Kinsman n didn''t settle down inside the kinsman n didn''t die down, instead, it only seemed to get even worse!

    This is because an event arguably even more important than the defeat of the ter n would be taking ce soon,

    The Entrance tests for the Hidden Dragon Academy!

    With entrance tests for such a big organisation only a few months away, it would be impossible for the n disciples to rx.

    Almost all of them were training like mad to try and get the chance to travel to the capital to take the test for the Hidden Dragon Academy. Even at night time sounds of nging weapons could be heard throughout the kinsman npound showing that some people weren''t even going to let theck of light stop theme from their practice...

    ...

    Somewhere deep within the Kinsman n, three figures were sat around a table discussing some affairs.

    these people were non-other than Jarred, Gavin and Winton.

    "So Gavin, how is the n looking like now that we''ve destroyed the ter n" asked Jarred

    "Well ever since we destroyed the ter n we have managed to absorb there two mines that they previously owned, bringing the number of mines under our control to almost double what it previously was reaching an all-time high at 5.

    In addition to this, the ter n stores throughout the whole of brightsteel city have now been taken over by our kinsman n.

    But despite all this, the most lucrative gain from this whole affair was the high grade spirit weapons the ter n gained from the Blood Moon Pce are now all in our hands!"

    As Gavin recounted the n''s current state a ridiculous smile couldn''t help bute across his face.

    In just a few days the assets of the n had well over doubled, if he hadn''t seen it with his own eyes he wouldn''t even believe it himself!

    "Hahaha!"

    hearing these results Grand patriarch Jarred burst outughing

    "I still can''t believe the ter n was destroyed in my generation, and this is all couldn''t have happened without your contributions Winton "

    Hearing Jarred''s words, Wintonughed as he responded

    "Haha! I did nothing special.. As a memeber of the Kinsman n, I naturally would do what''s in their best interest."

 Chapter 94 - Leaving 2

    "Haha! I did nothing special. As a member of the Kinsman n, I naturally would do what''s in their best interest. besides, now that we''re all here it''s the best time to say something, I will be leaving the Kinsman n soon."

    "leaving!?"

    hearing this both Gavin and Jarred asked back in shock

    "yes I''ll be leaving.

    With the recent boost I''ve gotten from dealing with the ter n members, my strength has now somewhat recovered "

    Despite hearing Winton''s words, Jarred was still concerned and asked

    "Do you really have to return back there? You know it''s still possible to put that life behind"

    hearing Jarred''s words Winton calmly replied

    "Even if I wanted to put that life behind me, it doesn''t mean that my enemies would stop searching for me.

    besides, deep inside I know that there will always be a part of me that would always long for that strength and power! knowing that, how could I ever truly put that life behind me!"

    As Winton spoke his shadow began to stir as a mad smile started to appear on his face

    Gavin knew that at this point nothing he could say could change Winton''s mind, but that didn''t mean he wouldn''t try to help

    "Winton, you know that even though we may be weak, the Kinsman n will always be there to help you."

    Hearing this Winton replied

    "I know that but it''s just too dangerous to take you guys along.

    I''ve left my sect alone for almost 15 years! Who knows what those bastards have done to it in my absence!

    But don''t worry, when I get everything back in order it will be time for the Kinsman n to step on a bigger stage.

    It may take 1 year, 3 years or even 15 years! But there''s one thing I can guarantee and that is that I will bring the kinsman n onto the bigger stage of the main continent!"

    Hearing Winton''s bold ims, Jarred couldn''t resist the urge tough out in joy!

    "Hahaha! I really have been blessed with a pair of good sons!"

    Looking at both Winton and Gavin, Jarred couldn''t help smile.

    he was sure his greatest achievement in this life was raising these two great sons in front of him.

    e, today we shall drink until Dawn!"

    Jarred didn''t hesitate and downed his ss of wine in pure joy.

    seeing this Both Gavin and Winton looked at each other before smiling and joining in.

    And like that, the trio of father and his sons drank the rest of the night away talking andughing about life and catching up with each other

    ....

    Many days had passed since the meeting between Jarred and his sons and the Kinsman somewhat calmed down since destroying the ter n.

    currently, Dante was standing in a crowd of almost 15 kinsman n disciples.

    amongst the crowd were some familiar faces like klent and even members of the top four like Savannah and Gawain, even slightly weaker individuals like Anne were inside of the mix.

    all of these people were here for one thing,

    The Hidden Dragon Academy!

    The Hidden Dragon Academy was located inside of the kingdom''s capital city which was almost a months journey from the current kinsman n.

    This meant that the n would only be able to take a small fraction of their disciples into the capital city.

    you see, the entrance tests for the Hidden Dragon Academy only urred every three years meaning that if you failed to go this year you would have to wait three more years for your next chance.

    And as if to make matters worse, the Hidden Dragon Academy had very strict entry requirements and insisted that all new entries must be under the age of 20 years old.

    This meant that if you were 17 or over and missed this year''s exam you would be effectively eliminated as by the next time the entrance exams rolled around you would already be over the age requirement!

    It was because of thispetition for the ces to go to the capital had been fierce over the past few days.

    But all this wasn''t of much concern to Dante

    As the strongest of the younger generation, Dante didn''t even have to fight once to get his ce.

    The elders came to the unanimous decision that there was no need for Dante to fight for anything, so Dante had a very rxing past few days as he waited for the people going with him to the capital to be determined.

    While Dante was thinking all this, a small group of n elders began to approach him and leading them was non-other than Grand patriarch Jarred.

    suddenly, Jarred came to a stop and spoke out with a smile on his face

    "Well, it''s good to see the talents of my kinsman n have gathered here today. Just the fact that you were chosen to even make it here show that you are the best of the talents my kinsman n has to offer!

    To get this point you have fought against tens of people to get this point, you really should be proud of your achievement.

    the only problem is that at the Hidden Dragon Academy, these achievements don''t mean anything!"

    as Jarred spoke the smile on his face vanished whilst an intimidating aura radiated to the crowd of disciples.

    "in the capital of the Vaenam kingdom, talents like you are asmon as grass. People like you will need to put in 110% of their effort to even have a chance of entering the academy!"

    After hearing Grand patriarch Jarred''s brutal words, the crowd of watching disciples grimaced at the difficulty of their described task.

    well, all but Dante.

    Dante stood quietly and listened to Jarred''s speech with a smile on his face.

    for this Dante''s carefree attitude was quite simple,

    Jarred''s words just didn''t apply to him!

    While for other people their talents may bemon in the capital city, for people like Dante, talents like him were rare.

    a dual spirit awakener was a top tier talent no matter where he went.

 Chapter 95 - Leaving 3

    a dual spirit awakener was a top tier talent no matter where he went.

    Not to mention his martial spirits weren''t any ordinary martial spirits, on the contrary, Dante''s Martial spirits were dragons, Apex creatures renowned throughout the universe!

    And when Coupled with the fact he was a transmigrater, it was hard for Dante to be intimidated about going onto a bigger stage.

    He had alreadye to apletely new world and it would be hard for any experience to match something as shocking as that ever again!

    But Despite all this, a factor of his confidence that Dante seemed to ignore was his very own pride.

    You see, Dragons were mystical creatures and came in various forms and alignments.

    some were wise and caring whilst some were cruel and sadistic, but one thing all dragons had inmon was their astonishing levels of pride!

    Having the knowledge that they were one of if not the strongest creatures in the universe really inted the egos of dragons to ridiculous levels and as a bearer of not one but two dragon souls, Dante wasn''t spared from these effects!

    Without Dante''s knowledge, both his Dragon souls began to pollute his temperament over time,slowly making him more prideful.

    It was like a malignant tumor that caused an unprecedented arrogance to fester deep in his soul and spreading throughout every action of his life.

    And although Dante tried to suppress it, he could always hear whispers deep within his soul telling him that he was superior to all lifeforms before him, a species truly above everyone .

    But whether these thoughts were good or bad was something that still had to be determined in the future. as Dante hadn''t really started to see the effects of a dragons arrogance just yet...

    back to the current situation,

    Dante was looking around to take in the reactions of other n members going to The capital city with him.

    The reaction for most people was as expected with them grimacing at the realization they were really nothing special in the grand scheme of things, but just one persons reactions caught Dante''s eyes.

    Contrary to everyone around him, Klent also seemed to be unfazed by the news that his talent was really nothing special.

    Although Dante was a bit surprised by this oue he just put it down to Klent''s ridiculously strong will power

    What Dante failed to notice was that Klent''s will power actually had a very small role to y in this.

    The real reason was that Swordmaster Rho, the soul In his sword, had already told Klent about the world outside of brightsteel city and even the world beyond this continent and it was because of this reason Klent''s perspective was widened.

    Because of such a widened perspective Klent knew that if he wanted to truly make it to the top this was only one of many challenges toe. if he backed down at this challenge how would he face the challenges in the future?

    Dante and Klent were both unfazed but each for different reasons.

    Klent saw this as a necessary challenge needed for him to get stronger while Dante''s pride and strength made him not even see this new development as a challenge in the first ce!

    Dante was clear of all thepetition at the Kinsman n and his pride wouldn''t allow for him to not do the same even at the capital city.

    Dante wasn''t prepared to slow down his cultivation, no, his strength could only be allowed grow faster and even more tyrannical from here on out!

    Suddenly, Grand patriarch Jarred began to speak again

    "What I said was never to scare you, it''s just that you need to be aware of the difference in level you will have to be working at from this point onward."

    after saying this the serious aura around grand patriarch Jarred seemed to fade away as he reverted back into the kind, smiling old man everyone knew

    "Well let''s forget about that stuff for a second, now our priority is even getting towards the capital city in first ce!

    for this journey it will just be us and a few elders of the n that will be here to manage you. The journey will be a long one, with most of the time being spent on the road so their really is no time to waste!"

    As Grand Patriarch Jarred spoke, a group of carriages pulled up beside them all being pulled by strong group warhorses and leading them to as a carriage Dante was familiar with.

    it was the giant luxurious carriage that Dante had used to go towards the inter-npetition

    Although Dante only traveled in it for a short time, he had to admit that no carriage he used before couldpare to thefort he felt ridding that .

    slowly, the n disciples made their easy towards their designated carriages but after Dante had a trip in the luxurious red carriage before, there was no way he could willingly downgrade to a normal one .

    What was the use of being the nephew of the patriarch if you can''t even use the title for some small benefits?

    Breaking away from the crowd that went to the other carriages, Dante made his way towards the Luxurious carriage.

    As he opened the door he was surprised to find somebody already inside

    "Reba?"

    Sittingfortably inside the carriage was Reba, she seemed to happily reading a book on her hand.

    hearing Dante''s surprised voice Reba looked up with a smile on her face.

    "What? Surprised to see me?"

    You do know out of everybody in the Kinsman n, I''m the only one who''s currently going to the hidden dragon academy."

    "of course I know that!" Dante quickly replied

    "what I really want to know is what your even doing in this carriage!"

    Hearing Dante''s question Reba raised an eyebrow

    "Don''t tell me you actually thought you''d get this carriage all to yourself?

    You better learn how to share With other people before you get to the academy or else life is gonna be tough for you-"

    Before Reba could carry on lecturing Dante she was interrupted by the sound of the door.

    suddenly a white haired figure popped his head inside.

    sensing the tense atmosphere ,Grand Patriarch Jarred couldn''t help but tilt his head back in confusion as he asked

    "What''s going on here? I hope I didn''t interrupt anything."

    hearing this question Dante quickly responded

    "You didn''t interrupt anything, Reba just went off on one her tangents again and started talking nonsense!"

    hearing this Reba''s eyebrows twitched in irritation but before she could start Grand Patriarch Jarred Started speaking first.

 Chapter 96 - Journey To The Capital

    hearing this Reba''s eyebrows twitched in irritation but before she could start Grand Patriarch Jarred Started speaking first.

    "You two need to calm down and end this argument, I Can''t have you arguing every 30 mins. The journey is going to be almost a month-long, if you do this the whole journey I''ll probably go mad before we even reach the capital!"

    Hearing jarred practically begging for peace, Dante had no choice but to sit down without any more hassle but as he looked up all he could see was the gloating smirk of Reba.

    Despite, Reba''s taunting smirk Dante decided to be the bigger man and not let it affect the journey. And just as he came to this decision, the convoy of carriages started to move along the way slowly exiting the kinsman n

    ...

    currently, the convoy of carriages was moving along a narrow road within a lush forest.

    Each carriage was slowly trudging behind the other in a long line and inside the middle of the convoy was a bright red luxurious carriage decorated with various me snakes twisting and coiling all around the outside of the carriage.

    Inside this carriage was the small group of Dante, Rebbeca and Grand Patriarch Jarred. Currently, they were all sat quietly cultivating and absorbing the ambient spirit energy in the air as they each glowed in silver and red lights respectively.

    All seemed to be going well when suddenly

    "Howl!!"

    a loud howl rang out from the forest.

    instantly, everyone awoke from their cultivation.

    "Dante it''s your turn this time"

    hearing Reba''s words Dante responded in disbelief

    "My go already? I swear dealt with thest monster attack only a few hours ago, how is my turn again so soon?!"

    "Stopining, the monster attacks have just increased in frequency, you better get going!" Responded Reba

    "Sigh!"

    Dante could only sigh in defeat as he retrieved his moonlight sword and quickly left the carriage.

    It had been almost a month since the convoy had left the Kinsman n and started their journey towards the capital.

    The journey had actually been quite peaceful up until about 15 days mark. For some unknown reason right as the journey reached fifteen days the magical beasts became restless started frequently attacking the convoy.

    The attacks had be so frequent that the n guards alone just wouldn''t have been able to handle it and so Grand Patriarch Jarred proposed that the n disciples take turns in dealing with the beast attacks.

    In This way, was it not only an easy way to preserve energy and make sure everyone wasn''t exhausted, but it also meant that the beast attacks would allow the n disciples to get some battle experience they so desperately needed.

    so for thest 15 days of the journey, The n disciples had been taking turns to deal with the constant magic beast attacks and now it was Dante turn to deal with such an incident.

    Stepping outside, Dante jumped towards the front of the convoy and once hended he quickly noticed arge pack of grey wolves rushing towards him.

    In this pack, he could see about 10 wolves rushing towards him and from his brief observation, he could see that all of the wolves were much better than the ones been in his previous life. Obviously, these wolves had to be magic beasts. Fortunately for Dante, were only in the martial novice realm strength.

    Seeing this sight Dante let out a sigh of relief.

    He really was tired of dealing with these constant beast attacks and really couldn''t be bothered fighting another strong opponent, so since the wolves were only in the martial novice realm be Dante knew he could take it easy with this one

    Slowly, Dante raised his sword into the sky, and as he did so a wave of energy radiated from him causing the floor to glow in a dazzling silver light.

    "Lunar Sword technique, Rising New Moon!"

    Instantly a Blinding phantom of the moon appeared in the sky over the battlefield

    "Strike."

    And with those cold words, Dante calmly swung down his sword causing a rain of moonlight beams to begin to bombard the charging wolves

    "Owooo!"

    The attacking wolves never stood a chance against Dante. All they could do was howl in pain as they were repeatedly pierced by the countless moonlight beams until they ended up resembling a piece of swiss cheese!.

    looking at the brutal scene in front of him, Dante wasn''t fazed in the slightest and slowly sheathed his sword. he took onest cold look at the scene of destruction before quickly returning to the carriage

    Dante opened his door to his carriage and entered and just as he entered he heard a voice call out to him.

    "You dealt with them already? That was fast"

    looking up, Dante could see Reba break out of her meditation as he entered.

    "It wasn''t that hard to deal with them this time, the beasts that attacked were only within Martial novice realm so I could easily deal with them." Replied Dante casually

    "Well, I guess it makes sense... We''re already close to Capital so it would be hard to find many strong magic beasts in the surrounding area." Thought Reba aloud

    Hearing this Dante couldn''t help but ask

    "I get why the beasts attacking are weak but the only thing that puzzles me is that the ridiculous Amount of magical beast attacks on the convoy, when we were leaving didn''t you say that journey would be rtively calm so how do you exin all these attacks ?"

    After a moment of thought, Reba carefully replied

    "The only answer I could possiblye up with is that deep within the forest, a strong magic beast had taken over some new territory, causing the weaker magic beasts to be forced out of the area"

    Even though Reba came up with this answer, even she herself wasn''t too convinced of this exnation, for all she knew her guess was just as good as Dante''s.

    she really was only just having an educated guess as to what could possibly be going on.

    Tired of thinking of something she really had no clue about, Rebbeca took the opportunity to change the topic.

    "Seeing as we''re so close to the capital it seems like now is as good as time as any for me to give you some tips"

    hearing this Dante was slightly intrigued by Reba''s words and seeing that she had got Dante''s interest, Reba continued speaking

    "The situation in the capital is much different than inside Brightsteel city.

 Chapter 97 - Departments Of The Hidden Dragon Academy

    Many ns and families live inside the whole of the capital of Vaenam Kingdom but the one you would have to be most careful about is of course going to be the Royal family that currently rules over the Kingdom.

    The royal family has ties and connections all over the kingdom, even the legendary Hidden Dragon Academy inside the capital was actually founded by the Royal family as a way for them to recruit talents to help them run the kingdom!

    Of course, much has changed since the original founding of the Hidden Dragon Academy but the original founding purpose still remains, and that is to find and recruit top talents to serve the royal family."

    hearing this Dante was a little surprised, who would have thought that just one family would basically own one of the strongest organisations on the continent? But before this fact could even settle with Dante, Reba started speaking again

    "The hidden dragon Academy is designed to create talents that could help run the kingdom and it''s because of this that it has been split up into four different departments that could best serve the kingdom''s interests

    These are:

    The Department of War and Combat.

    This department is focused on training excellent generals and soldiers to fight for the Vaenam kingdom. With the founding of this department, the Veanam kingdom would neverck excellent soldiers on the battlefield

    The next department is the Department of Medicine and Alchemy.

    As the name implies, this department is focused on training new alchemists to create medicines and important pills that can help in cultivation.

    Another department is the department of Weapons and Arrays

    This department focuses on training future weapon refiners and formation artists, both professions that require an extensive knowledge about runes and inscriptions to be the most effective.

    Andst but not least is the most influential department in the Hidden Dragon Academy, The department of Governance and Internal Affairs!

    his department focuses on training the individuals that would go on to manage the people and the goings-on inside of the kingdom.

    Senior officials, Military police,elected Ministers and even City lords.Almost all of these influential figures came from the Hidden Dragon Academy''s Department of Governance and Internal Affairs.

    Hell, even the sword saint, a legendary dual awakener and the strongest cultivator in the kingdomes from the famousDepartment of Governance and Internal Affairs!

    "The power of the Royal family really is overwhelming but don''t let the big name behind them blind you from another truly important fact

    The Capital city is a whole different level to the small region of brightsteel city!In the Capital, It''smon for the elders of ns to have at least martial adept level strength.

    it is because of this fact that you have to act with a sense of caution in the capital, you never know who you could offend! just pissing off the wrong person could get your n exterminated!"

    After speaking Reba moved in closer towards Dante and spoke again

    "You hear me Dante! You can''t just go around acting as arrogant as you did back at the n, if you do you could very well end up getting yourself killed!"

    before Dante could even respond to Reba, Grand patriarch Jarred opened his eyes from meditation.

    "Now calm down Reba, that may have been the case before when you first came to the capital but things have changed since then, I have arrived!"

    But Despite all of Jarred''s boasting, Reba just wasn''t fully convinced by Jarred''s ims and slowly spoke

    "Grandpa, I don''t mean to embarrass you but you do know you''ve only just broken into the martial adept realm?

    With a cultivation as weak as yours,you would even struggle to get a position as an Elder in most ns much less a ce in somewhere as prestigious as the Hidden Dragon Academy,I just struggle to see how you could allow us to act as fearlessly as your saying"

    Hearing Reba''s words Jarred''s facewent red with embarrassment as he spoke in his defence

    "Who said I''m going to rely on my own strength You should know that there ismore to life than just your own physical strength, justhaving the right friends and connections can get you a long way "

    hearing Jarred''sReba couldn''t help but retort

    "Oh really? If your friends are so powerful grandpa, I''d be interested in knowing who exactly these''right friends'' you have that can give us such confidence ."

    hearing Rebbeca words, Jarredsmiled as he replied

    "Don''t worry Rebbeca, it''s a secret.

    Just wait until we get into the capital, thenwhen you find out you won''t even believe your own eyes!"

    Reba rolled her eyes as she sat down, giving up on this discussion.

    As much as she wanted to believe in her grandfather and his bold ims, Reba already had three years of experience living in the capital by herself. she just struggled to see how her grandfather who is so weak could even have friends string enough to make a difference.

    In the end she just put it done to Jarred''s willful ignorance, after all, hed been in seclusion for longer than she had even been alive! Maybe times were just different back then?

    ...

    After the discussion between Jarred and his grandchildren, the convoy continued its journey for almost another hour before the foliage and trees around them quickly began to thin down.

    Soon, the giant structure of the city walls quickly became visible as the road they were travelling on became wider and wider.

    Shortly after the convoy had gotten close enough to see the city gates at the centre of the giant wall.At the City gates was an extremely long queue of people and carriages waiting to enter the city.

    Seeing this Dante could only sigh.

    "It seems like even after that long journey, we''re still going to have to wait a few hours just to enter the city!"

    Hearing Dantesint a confident smirk appeared on Reba''s face

    "That may have been the case before but you seem to be forgetting who you''re sitting next to.Me,a fully-fledged member of the Hidden Dragon Academy! I got this Dante, Just sit back and watch."

    Soon under Reba''s orders, the Kinsman n convoy started to move once again.

    Under Reba''s lead the convoypletely ignored the long lineing right in front of the gate leading towards the capital

    "Halt!"

    Suddenly a heavily armoured guard appeared in front of the carriage blocking its way forward

    "Where do you think you''re going? This is Vaenam kingdom checkpoint,you can''t just walk in as you like-"

 Chapter 98 - Strange Armour

    But before he could even finish speaking, Reba opened the window and revealed a token.

    The token seemed to be crafted out of an expensive piece of metal and in the centre of the badge was a tower with a giant eastern dragon coiling and twisting around the whole structure.

    Seeing the token the guard was left stunned

    "Hid...Hidden Dragon Academy!"

    "So..sorry for my insolence Ma''am. forgive me for not recognising your distinguished self, please go inside. You can ignore the line and go straight in!"

    After the guard finished speaking Reba simply waved him away and instructed the convoy to start moving on.

    Watching on as the carriage started to pass through the city gates, Dante was puzzled and could help to ask

    "Reba, what just happened here?"

    "Are you forgetting who I am Dante?

    I''m a member of the Hidden Dragon Academy! Just this fact alone puts me in the top one percent of people in the Vaenam kingdom. All I did was use a bit of that power to let us enter in without having to wait at that line."

    As Reba said this a proud smile crept onto her face showing how proud she was of her achievements.

    Dante could only watch on helplessly as Reba continued to shamelessly boast about her talent

    ...

    And like that the convoy started moving into the capital city and carried on doing so until only after a few minutes, the convoy stopped at arge inn.

    soon all of the Kinsman n disciples had gotten down from their carriages and gathered around in front of the inn.

    Feeling the carriage stop, Grand Patriarch Jarred Also decided that they should

    "Well, we finally made it to the capital!

    We managed to arrive in the city a little early so you guys have some time to explore the capital before the entrance tests start

    I''ve got a few old friends that I need to catch up with so just go to the entrance tests without me, don''t worry, you''ll meet me there once the tests start.

    anyway, I''ll see you guyster?"

    as Jarred finished speaking his figure flickered disappearing from the scene.

    As Dante watched He could feel a hand on his shoulder, Turning around he looked to see Reba smiling as she asked

    "how about I show you around the city? it''s the best way to the real experience!"

    hearing Reba''s statement Dante didn''t hesitate as he replied

    "Sure, I''m down!"

    And with that, Reba and Dante hopped in the carriage headed out to explore the city.

    ...

    A few hours had passed since Dante and Reba had started exploring the city

    They had tried a few stores and even eaten at a luxurious restaurant, but despite all the shopping and searching Dante never really found anything that interested him

    right now Dante and Reba were riding around in a carriage going from store to store in hopes of finding something interesting.

    Dante was sat bored in the carriage staring into the distance.

    Reba seemed to notice Dante absentmindedly staring into the sky and spoke

    "Dante, I know you''re bored but I know the next store we''re going to is a ce you''ll definitely like."

    Hearing this Dante''s interest was stirred and he quickly replied

    "Oh really? Where are we going then."

    Hearing Dante''s question a beautiful smile broke out on Reba''s face

    "We are heading to one of the best weapon stores in The whole of the Capital city!"

    Eventually, The carriage stopped in front of a luxurious store with two giant fully armed guards stood motionlessly in front of it.

    "We are finally here!"

    Reba and Dante got off the carriage and entered into the store.

    AS soon as they stepped foot inside, they were instantly greeted with the sight of a magnificent marble interior while ss cases of all sorts of weapons and armour sets were visible across the room.

    Dante was slightly awed at the luxuriousness on disy here, just the showcase weapons were much better than anything that could ever be sold at the Kinsman n store.

    Maybe some lucky elders could get some n treasures that could possibly rival these weapons but even Dante knew that there was no chance that there were more than 5 such weapons in the Kinsman n.

    Sensing Dante''s surprise Reba spoke

    "Don''t be too shocked this is just a small section of the store!"

    "small section?"

    Dante could barely believe what he was hearing, just this small section was better than all the stores in the entire of brightsteel citybined!

    "You know what? It''ll be better if you experience it for yourself, You have enough money right?" Asked Reba

    In response Dante didn''t even speak, he just showed his space pouch.

    nodding in approval Reba continued

    "Well since you have enough money to explore for yourself, buy anything you want!"

    Getting Reba''s approval, Dante didn''t hesitate any longer and began to wander around deeper into the store.

    Walking past, Dante saw many shy weapons.

    He saw a pair of white gauntlets that shed in a golden glow. He even saw some armour that had streaks of electricity rushing across it.

    Yet despite all this, Dante didn''t feel any strong attraction to any of the products here.

    But just as Dante was walking past this section, his attention was suddenly grabbed by a intricate chestte.

    The chestte was a dazzling light blue colour and in the middle of its chest was a deep blue Pearl that seemed to radiate an icy energy.

    As soon as Dante saw that chest piece his eyes shed with a silver gleam but despite all this Dante wasn''t even the one with the strongest reaction to this piece of armour.

    No, that award would have to go his Moonlight Sword!

    As soon as Dante came within range of the chest piece, his Moonlight Sword seemed to go berserk.

    If it wasn''t for Dante calming it down, he was almost a hundred percent certain that the sword would have burst out his space pouch!

    Dante took a few steps closer to carefully inspect this strange piece of armour in front of him.

    "Good piece of work isn''t it."

    Whilst Dante was assessing the armour piece of armour, a man crept up beside him and started speaking

    "You see that pearl in the centre of the chest piece? Well, that pearl is actually a rare treasure only formed in magical sea m after absorbing light from the for almost 100 years!

    This magical Pearl when infused into a set of armour grants mystical properties to the piece!"

 Chapter 99 - Eye For An Eye!

    Now knowing the full details about the armour, Dante could finally really appreciate the craftsmanship.

    Looking towards the side, Dante finally saw the man who gave him all this information.

    "Judging from the clothes you''re wearing and the amount of knowledge you have on these armour pieces,you probably work here don''t you?"

    "Hahaha! Great observation young master, now the real question is are you willing to buy this armour piece, it''s expensive you know."

    Dante didn''t even hesitate as he replied

    "After your amazing description of the armour how could I choose not to!"

    Hearing Dante''s words a wide smile appeared on the man''s face as he instantly knew he had just won a big payday.

    "haha! don''t worry young master, I''ll get you this armour piece right away!"

    But just before the store assistant could go and finalise the deal, a loud voice interrupted

    "Hold on!"

    looking in the direction of the sound, Dante saw a luxuriously dressed young man being apanied by two giant guards.

    The young man had an arrogant smirk on his face as he walked towards Dante and the store assistant.

    "Hold on don''t be too hasty,"as the young man said this a confident smile appeared on his face.

    "That piece of armour, I want it"

    As soon as these words came out of the young man''s face, the expression on the face of the store clerk quickly changed into an awkward smile

    " ermm... I''m sorry to tell you this young master, but another person has already ordered the armour piece so unfortunately, I won''t be able to give it to you "

    Hearing this the young man turned towards Dante and asked

    "Are you the one who wants the armour?"

    Before Dante could respond a bag of gold coins were thrown at his face.

    "Take those coins and get out of here, I''ve had my eye on that piece for a while, you''re just not worthy of even owning such a piece of armour!"

    Looking at this arrogant fool in front of him,Dante was leftpletely stunned.

    He couldn''t actually believe that brainless antagonists like this existed outside of novels but here he was, face to face with such a braindead individual.

    It seemed like some people were really were NPCs, there''s just no way an actual person would behave like the right?

    Dante didn''t even bother to acknowledge the clown as he turned towards the store clerk.

    "Please continue wrapping up the armour, I have to be somewhereter so I don''t have time to waste here."

    Realising that he was being ignored the young man''s temper erupted

    "How dare you ignore me! Do you even have any idea who I am?!"

    In response to the young man''s arrogant shouting, Dante turned in his direction and looked him up and down and after assessing him let out letting out a disdainful snort.

    Seeing Dante''s look of pure disdain and disgust, the young man felt a humiliation he had never felt before in his life!

    "How dare you! Guards, I want him crippled!"

    "But young master-"

    "No buts!Today this man must be crippled or where will the face of my Baleview n go!"

    hearing the firm words from their young master, the two guards had nochoice and dashed towards Dante

    Dante wasn''t oblivious to the goings-on behind him and quickly reacted.

    As the two guards approached they each sent out a terrifying punch towards Dante.

    Seeing these attacksing in his direction, Dante''s expression didn''t change at all. He just lightly ducked weaving in between the various attacks sent in his direction.

    Bored of these futile attacks, Dante raised his hand and hit the guards right across their heads.

    "Smack! Smack!"

    With each attack, Dante used a masterful disy of skill to cause the brains inside the head of each guard to rattle.The force caused their brains to jolt forward and hit the front of their skull instantly knocking them out in the process.

    The only reason Dante even bothered to spare their life was because they were hesitant to attackDante and it was only under the firm orders of their young master that they even made a move.

    But for the supposed young master that instructed these actions, Dante wouldn''t be so lenient.

    Ignoring the knocked out guards beside him, Dante slowly approached the young master who started all this

    "Wait! Stop approaching me, let''s talk this out!"

    Seeing the dire situation, the young man knew his only option was to try and resolve the issue with Dante.

    but unfortunately for the young man, his pleas just went in one ear and out the other.

    "What''s the saying again... An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

    You wanted to cripple me so I think it''s only fair you get a taste of your own medicine."

    As Dante spoke a slight smile appeared on his face. The only thing was for the young man in front of him, the smile on Dante''s face seemed to be more twisted and horrifying than anything he had ever seen in his life!

    It was at that moment that he knew that any chance of reasoning with Dante had gone out the window, he had to resort to hisst chance if he even wanted the slightest chance of surviving.

    making threats!

    "If you hurt me you''ll regret it!"

    "Oh really?"

    hearing the young man''s threats Dante honestly couldn''t care less but the young man seemed to take Dantes words as some type of hesitation

    "You won''t be able to see tomorrow if you hurt me! I''m Grant Baleview, son of the Belleview n! Touch me and You-"

    Before Grant could even finish his sentence, Dante shed in front of him with his fist glowing in silver light.

    "Boom!"

    Grant''s body folded from the impact of Dantes attack but the actual effects of Dantes move went even deeper than that.

    The energy that coated Dante''s fist flowed into Grant''s body and like a malicious virus, prated his veins flowing into his Dantian and shattering it in the process.

    crawling up from the floor Grant red at Dante in utter disbelief

    "You... What have you done!"

    But before Grant could react any further the after-effects of a shattered Dantian caught up with him causing him to puke a mouthful of blood, instantly passing out.

    "Thud!"

    Grant''s motionless body hit the floor face first falling into a puddle of his own blood.

    Dante watched this scene with a cold gaze before turning towards the store clerk.

    "Carry on packaging the armour, I''m ready to pay for it right now."

 Chapter 100 - Old Friends

    But before the store clerk carried on packing the armour, he couldn''t help but question Dante.

    "Young master... that so-called grant..."

    "Don''t worry, he''s still alive. I wouldn''t kill him here. It would create trouble for your establishment."

    Hearing this, a relieved smile burst out into the store clerk''s face.

    "thank you young master, your mercy won''t be forgotten!"

    After saying this, the store clerk quickly went to start the long process of packaging the armour

    After a few minutes, the store clerk returned with a small space pouch.

    "Inside the space pouch is the armour you requested."

    After checking the goods inside, Dante gave a nod of approval and handed over the bag of gold coins needed to pay for the armour.

    After confirming the payment, Dante left the store.

    As he went outside, he saw Rebba leaning against the carriage, waiting for him with an annoyed expression on her face

    "Finally, you made it out! If you had taken any more time, I would have had to go inside and look for you!"

    Hearing Reba''s nagging, Dante couldn''t help but ask,

    "what''s with all this panic?"

    hearing Dante''s question, Reba couldn''t help but repeat it in disbelief

    "What''s with all the panic?! Have you checked the time? We''re almostte for the Hidden The Dragon Academy entrance tests!"

    "Oh, shit!"

    "Yeah, oh shit! You better hurry up and get in, we''ve got to get moving!"

    "By the way, Reba. Do you know anything about the Baleview n?"

    Reba raised an eyebrow as she replied

    "if my memory is correct, then they are nothing more than a minor n in the capital."

    "why are you asking? Don''t tell me you got into some trouble with them1 What have I told you about-"

    but before Reba could continue her rant, Dante quickly interrupted

    "Chill Reba, I just got into a brief argument with them and it''s already been solved now so there''s nothing to worry about."

    hearing this, Reba''s fierce expression finally rxed

    "Well, since there''s nothing more to worry about, you better hurry to the entrance tests. Youll have to wait another three years if you miss this one."

    Without wasting anymore time, Dante and Reba quickly hopped into the carriage and sped away from the store....

    ...

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the capital city, an old man sitting in a scattered office

    The man''s gray hair was held in a ponytail while a fierce scar ran across the right side of his face, giving him a fierce appearance.

    Right now the old man was grimacing as he stared at the overwhelming amount of paperwork in front of him.

    "Knock! Knock!"

    Suddenly, the old man''s concentration was broken by a knock at the door.

    "Come in!"

    slowly, the door was pushed open and in came a man with a jovial smile on his face.

    Seeing who entered the old mans face contorted into a look of something that could only b described as pure shock

    "Impossible! Jarred, is it really you?"

    "hahaha! Squad Captain Vincent! Who else could it be!"

    "impossible! Last time I checked, you were dead! Your sons even confirmed it!"

    "Brother Vincent, I really was basically dead! if it wasn''t for the fortunate encounter of one of my sons leading him to find a rare treasure, I really wouldn''t be here to see you today!"

    forget about all that, it''s just good to see you''re still alive Brother!"

    words alone couldn''t even begin to describe the joy Vincent was feeling at seeing his good friend still alive

    Vincent didn''t waste alive as he embraced him in a firm hug

    You see, the story of Jarred and Vincent went way back.

    it all started many years ago when Jarred was still a boy not much older than Dante''s age right now.

    like any young man, Jarred had dreams of making a name out of himself, of elevating his n to a higher status!

    unfortunately for Jarred, his talent just wasn''t high enough to enter the hidden dragon academy!

    unfortunately for Jarred, his talent just wasn''t high enough to enter the hidden dragon academy so Jarred turned to next best thing,

    The Army!

    Legend of a hundred battles! God of war! Ghost of the battlefield!

    These are all titles won by valiant soldiers and fearless generals through their military service towards the Vaenam kingdom.

    For a regr young man with no powerful connections, his only choice to make a name for himself was to join the army.

    and it was here that he met Vincent, the squad captain of the squad they assigned him to.

    Vincent was the talented son of arge n in the capital city and led Jarred and his squad into many battles for the Vaenam kingdom.

    though many members of the squad died in these battles, time after time Vincent emerged victorious and kept getting promoted.

    And as a member of his squad that somehow survived, they also promoted as well Jarred. Eventually, impressed by Jarred''s performance mountains of experience he had as a member of his original squad, Vincent kept Jarred as his close right-hand man!

    As time went on and as Jarred and Vincent progressed in the ranks, their battles got progressively harder and harder, so they needed to increase their cultivation level.

    But unfortunately for Jarred, after spending many years in the army, hisck of talent eventually caught up with him again.

    As he and Vincent progressed in the military, the fights they got into became tougher, and even the ranks they were awarded required a certain level of cultivation.

    To Jarred''s dismay, he soon realised early on where his peak would be.

    The Martial journeyman realm.

    Despite years of struggling, he soon came to realise a harrowing fact.

    No matter how much effort to put in, even if you trained till your ones shattered, without the required talent, it was futile!

    Jarred just wasn''t able to handle this fact.

    The cruel fact that no matter how hard he struggled. No matter how much effort he put in, In the end it would all be meaningless, his limit was reached.

    In despair, Jarred retired from the military to go back to the n and take over the role of the patriarch.

    But despite Jarred avoiding the military andpletely ignoring his military past, it didn''t mean that his close friendship with Vincent ended. On the contrary, it actually still remained strong.

    so you could just imagine the guilt that Vincent was feeling when he heard that Jarred was poisoned in a beast tide and pronounced dead.

    but who could imagine that the man confirmed dead would appear in front of him still alive and well!

 Chapter 101 - Dragon Son

    but who could imagine that the man confirmed dead would appear in front of him still alive and well!

    Breaking away from the hug, Vincent couldn''t help repeating himself

    "It really is good to see you again, I honestly thought-"

    But before Vincent could continue, he noticed an astonishing fact

    "you! your strength ..."

    After the surprise of meeting Jarred again wore off, Vincent finally had time to look at Jarred again

    "Your strength! You''ve broken through to the martial adept realm!"

    "Hahaha! Don''t be surprised Vincent! The treasure that saved my life was also powerful enough to give me the boost to jump to the next big realm!"

    Fate really works in mysterious ways.

    A lifetime of struggle can be ovee in just one moment. Sometimes I don''t know if I should feel joy or if I should feel despair..."

    Quickly shaking the negative thoughts out of his head, Vincent changed the topic.

    "Vincent, as your brother in arms, I have a favour I need to ask of you."

    Hearing this, Vincent quickly replied.

    "Just ask away brother, what''s a small favourpared to the years spent on the battlefield together!"

    hearing this, a smile burst out onto Jarred''s face.

    "Well, it''s about your role as the head of the department of war andbat in The Hidden Dragon Academy"

    Hearing this, Vincent''s brows raised.

    From just the tone of Jarred''s voice, he could already tell that this wasn''t a small favour he was asking.

    "I have a grandson now and he''s extremely talented. When I first saw him, I almost couldn''t believe my eyes!"

    "Okay, Okay. So where are you going with this" asked Vincent.

    "Well, I have never seen a talent like this before in my life, Vincent, not even during my time at the capital! The legendary sword Saint is the only person evenparable to him"

    hearing Jarred boast about his grandson to such ridiculous levels only made Vincent more certain about the difficulty of the favour he was about to ask.

    " Well, seeing as my grandson is so talented and you''re the department head of the department of war andbat, I''m asking if it''s possible to appoint him as the dragon son of your department."

    "Dragon son! Jarred, have you gone mad!"

    Hearing Jarred''s crazy request, Vincent almost copsed in his chair right then and there!

    "Jarred, do you have any idea of the importance of a dragon son to a department?! Dragon sons of a department are the focus of almost all the resources the department has to offer, but the treatment doesn''t end there.

    The dragon sons have so much power that the only people who can truly order them in the whole of the Hidden Dragon Academy are the department heads and the principal himself!

    And you want me to appoint a kid I''ve never met before in a role of such power"

    Vincent almost couldn''t believe what Jarred was asking

    "Jarred, just because I''m department head doesn''t mean I can just create the rules I have the responsibility of hundreds in my shoulders, even if you''re a brother that walked through life and death with me I can''t possibly jeopardise the whole department because of you."

    "Hold on, Hold on!" Jarred quickly interrupted Vincent before he could even continue talking

    "Vincent, I''d never ask something so ridiculous from you as to just randomly make my grandson the dragon son. All I ask is that you personally watch his entrance exam and trust me Vincent, at that point, the decision after that will be obvious to make!"

    hearing Jarred''s words, Vincent was stunned for a second before he quickly burst outughing

    "Well, seeing as you so confident in the young boy, I guess I have no other choice than to see this so-called genius for myself."

    ...

    back to Dante and Reba,

    Dante and Reba were in their carriage as it sped along the roads just out of the Capital city towards a mountain range a few miles away

    As Dante and Reba arrived at the foot of the mountain, they were greeted with the site of hundreds of carriages and almost ten times the amount of people.

    This grand sight only went to further highlight the prestige of the Hidden Dragon Academy in Dante''s mind .

    Dante and Reba got off the carriage and entered into the line of hundreds of thousands of contestants taking part in the assessment.

    And right as Dante started inspecting the surrounding people, he heard Reba start to speak to him

    "Dante, I''ve got to leave now, from this point on only examines are allowed to remain here"

    hearing this, Dante calmly replied

    "Don''t worry Reba, trust me. This assessment will be a walk in the park."

    But even after listening to Dante''s confident reply, Reba still wasn''t convinced and wanted to wanted to say something else. But seeing the confident smirk on Dante''s face, she could only nod her head before flying off.

    A few minutes after Reba left, Dante was still stood in the crowd of people waiting for the tests to start

    Suddenly, a figure appeared in the sky over the crowd of people and spoke

    "I''m happy to see so many applicants havee to the entrance tests of my Hidden Dragon Academy!

    My role here is to guide you to your first tests.

    After you enter the Hidden dragon Academy, you''ll be separated into different gates by the letter on your entrance certificate and through this gate will be the location where you conduct your tests.

    These tests will be hard and many of you may even fail. But the ones who emerge will be some of the best talents among the kingdom and have the honour of attending the prestigious Hidden Dragon Academy.

    Well, I won''t keep you guys here any longer. Good luck to you all and may the tests begin!"

    after those words, the mysterious figure seemed to disappear as the crowd of people started heading towards the gates.

    looking at the Giant opening gates leading towards the Hidden Dragon Academy, Dante couldn''t help feel an uncontroble excitement swell inside of him.

    ...

    The entrance tests into The Hidden Dragon Academy could be divided into four stages.

    The first stage was the most simple of all,

    a simple measurement of strength!

    after the gates of the Hidden Dragon Academy opened, Dante entered and navigated his way towards his designated gates.

    slowly approaching his gate, he saw the giant word G on top of the gate as he entered.

    entering the gate, he saw a much smaller group of people than the one outside the academy.

 Chapter 102 - Entrance Tests

    But this wasn''t the thing that attracted his attention. As he passed the gate, he saw a giant steel wall covered in various inscriptions

    Around 60 people were gathered around the wall and in front of them was a middle-aged man with a stony expression on his face.

    "seeing as almost all of you are here, I''ll exin this stage of test." said the man

    "The Hidden Dragon Academy is a ce for only the kingdom''s best elites, so each aspect of you as a cultivator must be a step above the rest of thepetition!

    In cultivation, we focus on the maniption of energy and how to use it for special moves, but often neglect the most fundamental aspect of starting cultivation.

    The body!

    For all cultivators, the body is the vessel used to carry all the energy we refine during our cultivation process,yet such a vital aspect is only tempered in the very first stage of cultivation.

    Thisck of development of the body leaves a ring weakness that our standards at The Hidden Dragon Academy just won''t allow!

    To handle the strong cultivation techniques of The Hidden Dragon Academy, a powerful body is a must, and that''s what we''re testing at this stage of the entrance tests

    You, as an examinee will can choose any weapon we provide to attack this wall with only your physical strength and depending on the strength of the attack, the board above will light up either red, orange, yellow or purple.

    Red is a fail

    orange is a passing

    yellow is a good

    And purple is excellent

    beyond purple is gold, but that achievement is so rare that, if we exclude the royal family, only 20 people have gotten gold in this test since the founding of the Hidden Dragon Academy!"

    But unlike everyone else, when Dante heard this, he was pretty rxed.

    He was quite confident in his physical strength.

    His 700% increase in physical strength from his passives allowed him to crush anyone in his level when it came to brute strength!

    All he had to do was watch a few people go first so as to determine the best way to go about the assessment.

    "first!"

    suddenly the middle-aged man called out, causing the unlucky individual who had been given the first number to step forward.

    Immediately, he ran up and chose a in sword from the rack.

    "Well, what are you waiting around for?! Attack the wall!"

    hearing the examiner''s instructions, the young man and shed at the wall with all his strength

    "Bang!"

    Satisfied with the strength he put into his attack, a smile appeared on his face

    the examiner cut him off

    "Red light, fail! Go again!"

    in desperation, the young man swung again with all his power, but unfortunately, his results didn''t change at all

    "Red light, fail! Next!"

    Facing the fierce gaze of the examiner, the young man didnt even argue as he walked off in despair as another unfortunate soul stepped up to take his ce

    "Red light, fail!"

    "red light, fail!"

    "what''s the wrong with these examinees today! Did you all not eat a proper meal!"

    the examiner roared in frustration at the examiner

    eventually a young man around 18 years old stepped up to make an attack

    "Bang!"

    "orange light. Good, you pass!"

    The young man let out a sigh of relief as soon as the examiner spoke out

    mans moved aside.

    The young man passing seemed to start a fresh change as more and more people began to pass the strength test, but for every person who passed, there were at least 10 others that failed.

    "Next!" Soon, the examiner called up the next examination.

    Looking around, Dante quickly realised that it was him and quickly got up and started moving.

    ...

    meanwhile, in a luxurious room somewhere, two old men sat as they watched a projection appear in front of them.

    "So Jarred, that''s the son you''ve been boasting about. It seems like his turn is up."

    "Hahaha! Vincent, just watch. You''ll be surprised at what you see..."

    ...

    Dante slowly walked up towards the test site.

    At first Dante felt like he should hide his talent and be a bit low-key. After all, wasn''t that what all the wuxia novel protagonists do?

    But he quickly remembered what his grandfather told him

    he had friends in high ces that could make life much easier for Dante, but to enjoy all those perks, Dante had to show the full extent of his strength!

    That meant to put all his strength on disy for the world to see and Dante was all for it!

    Besides, Dante always felt like pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger was kind of stupid.

    Why pretend to be a pig when you can crush the tiger with your strength in the first ce! "

    As Dante got closer to the wall, he suddenly felt his energy drain from him.

    no, to be more urate, it felt like his energy was in fact sealed!

    ''formation!''

    Those words instantly popped into Dante''s head.

    from the little knowledge he had about the world, he was sure that the only way that this kind of trick could be done would be through the use of formations.

    ignoring the ufortable sensation of having no spirit energy, Dante lightly jumped on the spot, warming up his limbs.

    Raising his fists up, Dant exited a simple move he learnt from his past life.

    Tensing his limbs, Dante burst forth with an explosive amount of power from his legs.

    transferring the terrifying amount of kic energy into his arms, Dante sent out a killer right hook straight at the wall

    "Bang!"

    The wall shook from the impact as the inscriptions on the wall lit up in bright light trying to resist the impact.

    "Purple! Excellent, you''ve passed witch flying colours!"

    "Woah!"

    gasps of surprise sounded as they saw the rare urrence.

    But Dante wasn''t finished just yet.

    You get two chances to attack and his first one was only a warm-up!

    Dante closed his eyes and slowly focused on controlling his body

    Slowly under his control, his blood began to circte faster and as a result of this, his heart seemed to go into overdrive, beating madly inside his chest.

    Dante''s skin seemed to go red as a result of this increased blood flow

    The move Dante was using now had the same principle as his forbidden technique he was forced to use all those months ago in the body refining realm.

    The only difference is that now Dante''s body was iparable to what it was all those months ago.

 Chapter 103 - Strength Test

    The only difference is that now Dante''s body was iparable to what it was all those months ago.

    before, the amount of pressure his body could now take was on a different level than before, but this also meant that the strength it could release was worlds above the level before.

    "Ahh..." Dante let out a calming breath before making a move

    suddenly the ground underneath his feet cracked from the explosive power generated from his feet.

    Instantly, Dante''s body hurtled towards the wall

    "BANG!"

    A deafening explosion rang out as Dante''s fist connected with the metal wall

    the other examiners were by to cover their ears from the sound of the collision

    "Go...Gold! You got gold, you''ve passed!"

    Even though he was the one announcing it, the examiners could barely believe his eyes.

    but as if that wasn''t shocking enough for the examiner, a new change happened

    "Crack! Crack!"

    Slowly but surely, fractures started appearing in the wall used to measure the strength of the attacks

    eventually the crack grew sorge itpletely cut the wall in two.

    "Impossible!! What ridiculous amount of strength is needed to crack the trying to wall!"

    ''No, I need to tell the principal about this right now!''

    instantly the examiner got into action.

    "For those of you who have passed the test, please move onto the next test.

    For those of you still yet to have do the strength test, move on to the next hall and exin the situation. I''m sure they quill understand!"

    After giving out those instructions, the examiner didn''t stay another second and quickly fled the scene.

    Dante slowly walked away from the destroyed wall.

    As he walked, the looks of all the examinees on his back like he was some mutant creature. Every time he turned to look at a person who was staring, they quickly avoided eye contact.

    Seeing as he could do nothing about it, Dante decided to ignore all the strange looks and head to the next stage

    ...

    back in the room, Vincent practically couldn''t believe his eyes and asked,

    "Jarred...your grandson, how old is he?"

    "Well, from my knowledge, he shouldn''t be any older than 15."

    "15! His strength is that ridiculous at the age of 15!

    Jarred your lineage has given birth to an absolute monster, his strength can only be exined by a special physique. Jarred, you realise how rare that is!!"

    "I don''t care about how rare it is Vincent, what I care about is whether it''s enough to make him a dragon son of your Department of War and Combat?"

    Hearing this, Vincent had to cough in embarrassment

    "Erm...We''ll Jarred, it''s still to early to decide physical strength is still only a small aspect of cultivation.

    You have to remember in the long run what we cultivate is energy, not the body, so his spirit energy affinity is what has to be tested."

    "Humph! Whatever Vincent, just be warned his talent in that department isn''t any weaker. Hell,I would say it''s even stronger!"

    Hearing Jarred''s words, Vincent just couldn''t believe it.

    A talent that crazy shouldn''t even exist, but just the thought of pulling in a talent that crazy into his department caused a greedy smile to appear on Vincent''s face.

    Vincent just couldn''t believe Jarred''s ims, but he also just couldn''t wait to be proven wrong

    ...

    The next section of the entrance test was a simple test. It was a test of talent also known as spirit energy affinity

    After walking down a designated path for a few minutes, Dante finally came to the new section.

    it was open in tform, and in the middle of it was a strange device.

    the device had a small crystal ball connected to strange tower like structure.

    But before Dante could focus on trying to decipher this strange structure, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone speaking.

    looking up, Dante saw a man stood beside the strange device which he assumed to be the examiner for this next stage.

    unlike thest examiner, this one had a much kinder aura about him as a gentle smile remained on his face the whole time.

    "Hello examinees, I hope your day is going well.

    Well, since you made it to this stage, you must have at least passed the strength test, so something must be going well for you."

    Despite the examiner''s friendly approach, all he received was a chilly silence from the crowd.

    These were the tests to get into The Hidden Dragon Academy, the most prestigious organisation in the kingdom. Nobody had time to be friendly and rxed.

    For most people, they had to treat every test like their life depended on it to just have a hope of passing the entrance tests!

    "I guess I''ll take that silence as if nobody is having a good day then...

    Well, luckily for you guys, this stage is one of the easier stages of the entrance tests. It''s simply a test of your talent.

    Talent can have many different names, aptitude, energy affinity or even, potential.

    Talent has countless words that could be used to describe it but regardless of its various names, this stage will be testing just that.

    For this test, all you will do is ce your hand on the crystal ball in front of you and the device will light up in a certain colour depending on the talent.

    Red is poor talent

    orange is amon talent

    Yellow is a rare talent

    purple is an extraordinary talent

    And gold...

    well, that''s just like the previous assessment, talent practically unheard of

    unlike thest exam, you won''t be eliminated based on the talent you have but a poor talent can mark you down, causing you to be eliminated if you underperform in the tests after this.

    let''s get started then.

    First persone up!"

    instantly, a young man emerged fromthe crowd and confidently walked up towards the device.

    He slowly ced his hand on the device and as he did, the device seemed to light up in a colour

    "Yellow!"

    shouts of surprise sounded out from the crowd as they watched the first person pass the test with above averageresults.

    "Yellow, rare talent, you can move on now!"

    After hearing the examiner speak, a smile finally appeared on the face of the young man as he moved to the side.

    "Next!"

    Soon, the next contestant walked up onto the device and ced his hand on it.. Seeing as the first person''s test went so well, he was hopeful that his could also do the same.

 Chapter 104 - Talent Test

    Seeing as the first person''s test went well, he was hopeful that his could also do the same.

    but just as his thoughts were running wild, a cold voice interrupted

    "Red, poor talent. Next!"

    depressed the contestant moved to the side for the next person.

    "Red!"

    "Red!"

    "Orange!"

    The first person seemed I be an anomaly as after him, most of the contestants who went up only managed to get the colours red and orange. So onlymon or poor talents urred up to that point.

    just as Dante was thinking all this, suddenly a young man walked up to the Crystal ball and ced his hand on it and as he did a dazzling purple light shed on it

    "Purple light! "

    "an excellent talent!"

    gasps of admiration rang out from the crowd as they watched on

    "Good! Who would have thought that I would to get an excellent talent in my batch this year? Seems like my luck is really on the turn for the better." Laughed the examiner

    "Next!"

    hearing this call, Dante knew he was up next and confidently walked up to the Crystal ball.

    Slowly, Dante ced his hand on the Crystal ball, but to Dante''s surprise, he saw a red glow release from the tower.

    ''Shitt!!'' Thought Dante

    ''why the fuck is my talent so low? It doesn''t make any sense at all!''

    But Dante couldn''t afford to waste time wondering why his talent was so low, he wouldn''t go out just like that!

    "Dragonification!"

    instantly a beacon of silver light burst forth from Dante as his body underwent many changes.

    Glowing silver scales started to pop up out of his skin as his hands quickly became wed, but perhaps most magnificently of all, a pair of splendid crystalline horns grew out of his head, glistening under the sunlight showing off the elegance and beauty of the silver dragon

    Dragons themselves were magical creatures.

    From the moment of their birth, Dragons were already born as masterful maniptors of magical energy.

    But of all dragons, it was the Silver dragons were the ones closest to magic.

    Their mana maniption was so advanced that ifpared to other dragons, it would be as ridiculous asparing a master to an apprentice.

    They were just on a different level!

    So as soon as Dante activated his dragonification and gained the aspects of a silver dragon, his spirit energy affinity started soaring

    First the Red light changed to orange, then yellow and then even purple until it suddenly burst into a blinding gold light!

    But the effects didn''t stop there as the light kept getting brighter and brighter until the device couldn''t even take it anymore andpletely shattered!

    "BANG!"

    Shards of ss and sparks of golden light exploded in Dante''s hand as he watched the device overload!

    Dante turned around to see the stunned faces of everyone else, but realistically, who could me them?

    It would be one thing if he did the unheard of and got a gold rank talent, but this monster even surpassed that and broke the device!

    The crowd didn''t even know how to react to that. They were left stunned for words!"

    ''Beyond Gold.... what the hell am I even seeing! The principal must hear of this, no, forget the principal even the king has to hear of this!!''

    "Well, seeing as thest person had done the test, It''s about time you move onto the next stage!"

    After getting the confirmation from the examiner, Dante ignored the looks as around him as he began moving on the path to the next stage.

    ...

    Back in the room With Vincent and Jarred.

    Vincent watched on with pure horror as he watched Dante not only achieve Golden level aptitude in his talent test but he even went on to surpass that and even shatter the talent testing device!

    looking at the scene, Vincent raised his shaking hand as he pointed at the holographic screen in front of him

    "Jarred, your grandson...are you sure he''s even human!"

    Jarred wasn''t surprised as he continued sipping his tea casually.

    "Vincent, I already told you, that boy,.

    he''s more talented than anything I''ve seen in my entire life!

    So now the only question is whether he''s talented enough to be the Dragon Son of your Department of War and Combat?"

    Hearing this, Vincent quickly replied,

    "Talented enough? Of course, he is talented enough!All I have to do now is make sure the other departments don''t manage to steal him away!"

    Vincent didn''t sit still for another second and quickly began to move

    "Jarred, what are you waiting for? Don''t tell me you just want to sit there and watch?"

    Jarred calmly got up and smiled as he and Vincent rushed out of their room to go meet Dante at his next test

    ...

    Dante didn''t get far before he saw a skinny young man running up towards him.

    After taking a minute to look at him, he could see that it was the person who got purple, an excellent rated talent in the exam, who approached him

    "Wait!!

    Dante stood still as he watched the young man sprint towards him.

    as he approached Dante, the young man began to speak again.

    "My Dad always said that I should surround myself with talented people and I''ve never seen a person more talented than you in my life!"

    Dante just watched on as this random guy ran up to him and started talking

    "Well, erm... that''s fine and all, but are you not even going to introduce yourself?

    I don''t even know who you are."

    Hearing Dante''s words, the young man quickly realised his mistake

    "My bad"

    as he apologised, a silly smile appeared on his face

    "My name is Lennox Asmond, 4th son of the Asmond n."

    as he said this, he reached out his hand as a greeting.

    Not wanting to seem rude, Dante also responded with his own greeting as he shook Lennox''s hand

    "Pleasure to meet you, my name is Dante Kinsman."

    listening to Dante''s name caused Lenox to raise an eyebrow

    "Kinsman? I''ve never heard of a big n in the capital that goes by the surname of Kinsman."

    Hearing this, Dante couldn''t help but chuckle as he replied

    "That''s because the Kinsman n isn''t from the capital. I actuallye from quite a rural area quite far from the kingdom capital."

    "Impossible!"

    "To train such a monster like you, I''m not being rude or anything, but such a small n doesn''t have the resources!"

    "from birth I''ve been bathed and fed with rare elixirs and treasures and even I barely even made it to reach purple level talent.

 Chapter 105 - The Problem With Departments

    "from birth I''ve been bathed and fed with rare elixirs and treasures and even I barely even made it to reach purple level talent.

    yet here you are, telling me you got to this talent from just the resources of just a small n!"

    listening in on Lennox''s desperation, Dante only smiled as he replied

    "Don''tin to me, maybe some people are just born with this level of talent?"

    Dante didn''t even feel any shame as he lied straight through his teeth.

    He himself knew how mediocre his talent was without the ability of his dragon souls, but looking at it from another perspective, his dragon souls were also his abilities, weren''t they?

    Dante and Lennox continued the conversation as they walked until Lennox brought up quite an interesting topic

    "So Dante, have you thought about what department you''re nning on joining yet?

    I''m sure with the talent you have any department would be willing to take you."

    but Dante''s next words shocked Lennox

    "Actually, I haven''t really put much thought into what department I should choose. I''ll probably just join the department that can offer me the most training resources."

    Listening to Dante, Lennox almost couldn''t even believe what he was hearing.

    "you''ve not even nned already? You''re just going to leave your future to chance?!"

    Dante raised his eyebrow as he asked,

    "Leave my future to chance? What do you even mean?"

    "What do you mean? You''re telling me you actually don''t know?" Asked Lennox

    "The departments of The Hidden Dragon Academy were designed to focus on the training of future high-ranking members of the Vaenam kingdom.

    So this means that most of the people in the Department of war andbat will go into the military and those in the department of Governance and internal affairs will go into government

    So now imagine this, you, as a member of the department of governance and internal affairs, try to enter the military.

    Let''s ignore the drastk of training you would have for the position. The real question is how would you advance your career?

    Advancing in this world is not just about talent and strength, connections y a big role in all of this. If you don''t have any friends or connections in that department, why would they promote you over someone who has been in their department for years?"

    Hearing the exnation from Lennox, it all started to make sense to Dante.

    Military generals would have their own interests and government officials would also have their own interests.

    So why would they help someone who hasn''t been grown up as a member of their own faction? It just didn''t make sense when you look at it ?

    but even after all this, Lennox wasn''t finished as he continued talking

    "It''s not just the military though, resources and funding in the alchemist''s guild, rare runes in weapons and formation guilds and even just simple promotion during your time as a government official.

    All these are things that would require you to have very good connections in your field to even stand a chance at getting"

    after hearing all this, Dante had a question for Lennox

    "So if you know all these problems with joining the wrong department, which department are you choosing to join after all these entrance tests?"

    "Well, my future has already been decided.

    My father is already a general in the army and I already have two older brothers that, although they didn''t have enough talent to enter the Hidden Dragon Academy, they have already be squad captains in the military.

    So based on my family line I have no other chance but to join the Department of War and Combat!"

    Now that Dante thought about it, he never really took the chance to ask Reba about which department she joined in the end.

    If it came down to it, he would probably just join the same department as her.

    And since she''s already been in the academy for 3 years, she had to have made some friends that could make life easier for the both of them right.

    As Dante was thinking all this, he kept on walking down the path but soon he started to make out something in the distance.

    It was a strange structure.

    It was just one humongous white marble tform .

    Dante didn''t stop walking and kept on approaching the structure, but as he got closer and closer, he seemed to see other pathsing from different directions, all leading towards this structure.

    soon Dante was close enough to make out some fine details and inscriptions on the humongous tform and instantly a word popped into his mind

    "Awakening tform???"

    But just as Dante''s thoughts were starting to run wild, a voice popped up right beside him.

    "Well, it''s very simr but not quite an awakening tform"

    looking towards the origin of the voice, Dant could see that Lennox had started speaking again

    "This tform should be the next stage of the entrance tests, The Martial spirit test."

    just as Lennox started speaking, a figure walked out onto the tform

    "Wee, aspiring Students to the next entrance test of my Hidden Dragon Academy!

    as you can see, since we''ve eliminated most of the unqualified contestants, some of you will be rejoined here at the tform for the martial spirit test."

    Hearing the man''s words Dante began looking around to see the kind of people that came from other testing area''s.

    The people all had air of confidence and determination around them. But this was to be expected.

    just to reach this stage of the assessments meant that you truly had to be a top talent amongst the generation.

    whilst Dante''s assessment we''re going on the man on the stage started speaking again.

    "Well, let me not keep you guys any longer, pleasee on up!"

    After saying his words, the man flew up off the stage and into the spectator stands on the side.

    The contestants looked at each other for a few seconds before they all jumped onto the stage

    Seeing this, Lennox turned towards Dante

    "let''s not waste anymore time here"

    After saying this, he also joined the contestants and jumped onto the humongous tform, with Dante closely following behind him.

    As soon as Dantended on the tform, his whole body shook and terrible hunger pangs hit Dante!

    A devastating urge to consume started growing from deep inside of him as if something deep within his soul was crying out for to him devour!

    Dante instantly recognised what exactly that sensation was.

    It waspletely identical to the feeling he felt when he held that rare piece is Spirit Silver in his hand.

 Chapter 106 - Martial Spirit Test

    Dante instantly recognised what exactly that sensation was.

    It waspletely identical to the feeling he felt when he held that rare piece is Spirit Silver in his hand.

    It was the feeling of a treasure needed to unlock his next Dragon Soul!

    turning his head to the source of this strange feeling, Dante saw a young man standing confidently on the testing tform.

    his hair was a strange sky blue colour, yet what really stood out to Dante was thepletely unique aura around him.

    during his time in the capital, Dante had seen many arrogant young masters, all with airs of superiority and arrogance around them, but this young man''s aura was even above theirs.

    moving closer to Lennox, Dante could resist the urge to ask

    "You see that young man over there? Do you know anything about him?"

    Hearing Dante''s question, Lennox turned around to look at him like he was an idiot

    "Doesn''t the signature sky blue hair stand out to you at all!"

    "Not particrly. Why?"

    "Not particrly?!" Asked Lennox in disbelief

    "Sky blue hair, it''s the signature symbol of the Vaenam kingdom royal family, the fucking royal family. Dante, how the hell do you not know this!"

    Now that he thought back to it, he did remember Reba saying something about sky blue and the royal family in the same sentence, but Dante didn''t really bother to pay attention to it

    "Since you know so much about the Royal family, do you know anything about their special bloodline martial spirit?" Asked Dante

    "Well, this stuff isn''t rare knowledge. Anyone can find out this stuff if you look hard enough," responded Lennox

    "The Royal family has been dominating the control Vaenam kingdom since its founding and this obviously has something to do with its ridiculously powerful bloodline Martial Spirit!

    Storm Giant!

    An ancient creature that can control countless storms and lightning with just a simple thought and wave of its hand.

    But the ridiculousness of the royal family bloodline doesn''t just end there!

    In family members with a high enough bloodline concentration, they seem to awaken a special physique known as the storm giant physique.

    This physique not only grants them increased resistance and strength but it also grants them the ability to increase their size which also causes a drastic increase in their abilities!"

    hearing Lennox''s words, a dark frown appeared on Dante''s face.

    this wasn''t because he was intimidated by the Royal family''s abilities, no, not in the slightest.

    It was actually because Dante seemed toe to a depressing realisation.

    Maybe the thing needed to unlock his new Dragon soul wasn''t necessarily on the young man.

    Maybe it was actually the bloodline of the young Manhattan was needed or, more correctly, the bloodline of the Royal family!

    Thinking about this, Dante could already feel the on setting headacheing his way.

    Just how in the hell was he supposed to get a hold of the blood of the royal family?

    Dante decided to put this headache inducing thought to the side and focus on the task at hand, the Martial spirit test.

    As he was thinking this, amotion broke out on the testing tform.

    "look, in the stands! The head of the Department of War and Combat is here!"

    "The Department head, impossible! Why would he even be at such a small testing event in the first ce!"

    amotion broke out on the tform as they noticed the arrival of the head of the department of War.

    Dante himself was just as stunned as the rest of the crowd when he saw the department head, but it was not just because of his presence.

    What shocked Dante the most was the person who was standing next to him!

    As Dante was taking in this surprising sight, Lennox had leaned in and started speaking to him.

    "Do you see that Dante! That''s the Department head, the actual head of the Department of War and Combat!

    He seems to walk with somebody else though, and I don''t have a clue who he is? But seeing as he can walk equally with the Department head, he must be another important figure in the academy, I guess"

    "I..I seem to know that person.."said Dante slowly

    "You know him??"

    Hearing Dante''s words, Lennox struggled to believe it. I mean, how could this man who doesn''t even know the Royal family know some mysterious important figures

    "That man.. he seems to be my grandfather."

    "What?!?"

    Lennox just couldn''t believe his ears

    "You said that man next to the department head. For some strange reason, is actually your grandfather?!?"

    To be honest, Dante was just as stunned as Lennox.

    Who could have thought that one of the old friends his grandfather knew would actually be a department head in a such a prestigious ce as the hidden dragon Academy!

    But as Dante''s shock kept increasing, for Lennox, things actually started to make more and more sense.

    I mean, how else was Dante''s strength and talent supposed to make sense?

    Was he really supposed to believe that some rural n on the outskirts of the kingdom not only managed to train a genius with Golden rank physical strength but also Golden rank Cultivation talent?

    Impossible!

    Even if Dante didn''t know about it and actually thought that his n only got this far by themselves,it actually made more sense if his n was secretly getting help from the department head!

    It wasn''t umon for strong and powerful individuals to secretly train talents to assist their hidden agendas.

    In fact, it could be said to be extremely an extremelymon practice.

    Shadow guards, Death warriors, Suicide assassins.

    the list could go on and these are all examples of individuals trained by powerful ns and individuals for their own secret benefit and agendas

    Obviously, Dante wasn''t trained to be a death guard or anything of the sort, but the same principle could be applied here.

    Well, at least In Lennox''s mind it could, but unfortunately for Lennox, the discoveries and theories he magically seemed to have realised were in fact justpletely wrong.

    Lennox''s powerful imagination seemed to take control of him, causing him toe up with some ridiculous theories, when in actual fact, Dante''s ridiculous talent actually has toe from the terrifying dragon souls and system living deep within his body.

    but before Lennox''s thoughts could get any more out of hand, the tform beneath their feet started to sh in a strange light.

    "The testing tform is now activated. Let the test start, please release your martial spirits!"

 Chapter 107 - Martial Spirit Test 2

    With that change, the scene on the tform seemed to descend into madness as martial spirits started bursting out from all over the tform.

    Mystical swords, Vicious beasts, hell, even strange structures like statues and even towers appeared.

    Martial Spirits of all shapes and sizes started appearing all over the tform, but one thing they all had inmon was a strange sphere over the heads of each martial spirit

    Be it Red, orange, yellow or even purple, every single martial spirit had their own coloured orb overhead showing the quality of each Martial Spirit

    Dante wasn''t in a hurry to release his martial spirit and instead began observing the martial spirits of others.

    But soon after Dante began observing others, he heard a loud shaking behind him

    "MOO!"

    The loud cry of a bull erupted behind Dante.

    Turning around, Dante could see that the source of the sound was actually Lennox!

    from the bright brown light behind Lennox stepped out a terrifying creature.

    It had the upper body of a human, yet not just any ordinary human.

    Its upper body muscles were packed to the brim, practically popping out of its skin. A top of the humanoid torsoy a terrifying bull head with burning amber eyes and a pair rigid protruding horns.

    The creature was supported by the lower body of two powerful bull hind legs.

    Minatour!

    Lennox''s martial spirit was Minotaur! A tyrannical half man half best abomination with a brash and brutal temperament!

    As soon as Lennox''s Martial Spirit formed, a small sphere formed above the raging Minotaur.

    Soon, a bright yellow light radiated from the sphere.

    Seeing this, Lennox cursed in frustration

    "Fuck!! So close!! I was so close to a purple rank martial spirit!"

    but despite his frustration, Lennox soon calmed down

    "Well, whatever, at least it''s still above average!"

    Lennox sighed as he approached Dante.

    "What are you doing sitting around? You''ve not even released-"

    But before Lennox could even finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the loud crackling of lightning

    "Crackle! Crackle!"

    The bright thrashing of lightning radiated around on the awakening tform.

    "BANG! BANG!"

    Two frightening lightning bolts shot down, blinding everyone looking on.

    From the blinding light, a titanic figure emerged

    A giant easily over 8 metres tall, fully d in steel armour with a giant war spear in hand. The giant''s face was obscured by the helmet on its head, but a terrifying pair of eyes glowing with blue thunder staring down at everyone looking at it.

    As soon as the young prince''s martial spirit finished forming, a purple sphere of light hovered over its head, showing the quality of his martial spirit.

    "Purple Martial Spirit!"

    "As expected of a young Prince, the bloodline of the royal family really is unmatched!"

    But unlike most people around him, Dante wasn''t half as impressed

    Started pouring from everywhere on the awakening tform at the scene of the prince''s martial spirit.

    But unlike most people around him, Dante wasn''t half as impressed

    "Purple rank martial spirit, is that it? With terrifying name of storm giant, I was at least expecting something more."

    Dante was disappointed. If that was all the bloodline of the royal family had to offer, it didn''t seem like that it was so special after all.

    But before Dante''s assumptions could continue, he heard Lennox start speaking.

    "Didn''t let the performance here fool you. That young mans talent is very mediocre by the royal family standards.

    I can''t say for sure on other tests, but at least for the martial spirit test, it''s not rare for the slightly more talented members of the royal family to have at least golden rank Martial Spirits!"

    "Well, I guess I''ve waited around enough. Let''s have some fun, shall we?" As Dante finished speaking, a wide smirk crept into his face

    The air around Dante rapidly heated, causing the surrounding air to distort under the ridiculous temperatures

    "Boom!"

    A wave of mes erupted behind Dante as a terrifying beast flew out of the ze behind him

    "Roar!!"

    A terrifying draconic roar erupted as Dante''s first Dragon soul, The Red Dragon, burst out onto the Awakening tform.

    As all this was happening, a blinding sphere of golden light started forming over the Red dragon.

    "Gold...Golden light! Someone has a golden rank Martial Spirit!"

    Instantly, the tform burst into chaos

    Who would have thought that the most talented person here would actually not be a member of the royal family but actually some random fellow?

    ...

    At the spectator stands, one elder of the Department of War of and Combat was stunned by what he saw and couldn''t help turning to the department head.

    "Head, is this why you came? To recruit this talent before the other departments?"

    But before the elder could continue speaking, Vincent interrupted him

    "He''s not finished."

    "Pardon?" The elder couldn''t understand what he was hearing

    "That boy, he''s not finished yet. Just continue watching and see."

    The elder then turned back to the tform in disbelief, but aside from disbelief, there was a growing anticipation of what kind of ridiculous talent he could possibly witness.

    ...

    Back at the tform, Dante couldn''t help butugh at the in look he was getting from Lennox

    "Why am I even surprised?" Asked Lennox

    "A monster like you getting gold rank in the other tests, it wouldn''t make sense if you didn''t at least have a gold rank Martial Spirit?"

    "Well, don''t be too surprised, Lennox. I''ve not even finished yet."

    "What?!?"

    Hearing this, Lennox finally couldn''t stay calm anymore. He almost couldn''t believe his ears!

    If what he was hearing was true, then Dante...

    but before Lennox could continue thinking any more, a blinding sh of silver burst forth from Dante.

    Suddenly there was another Deep Draconic roar as smaller yet just as deadly creature burst forth from the dazzling Silver light.

    And just likest time, a bright golden sphere formed over the head of this Dragon.

    "Dual spirit Awakener! A Golden rank Dual Spirit Awakener!"

    "My god..."

    but the ones most shocked were the ones who had been with Dante from the first assessment

    "That Monster!"

    "Not only did he get a Golden rank in all the previous tests, but he''s a golden rank Dual Spirit Awakener too? This man... how the hell are we supposed topete!"

    The people in Dante''s group from the start had already had enough of Dante''s ridiculous antics and started to pour out their frustration.

 Chapter 108 - Benefits

    But for the people that didn''t know these facts, it was like a blow to the gut

    "Heavens! what nonsense am I hearing!"

    "Impossible. Even the Sword Saint wasn''t this talented!"

    Right as themotion was getting out of hand, Vincent got up from his seat and floated down in front of Dante

    "Dante Kinsman, correct?"

    "I have just one question to ask you.

    Are you willing to join My Department as my disciple?"

    But before Dante could even reply, he was interrupted by a loud cry.

    "Hold on!!"

    A bright light came shing across the sky,nding beside Vincent.

    it was an old man with a schrly aura around him dressed in expensive robes

    "Vincent, you crafty old dog! No wonder you snuck over to watch these entrance tests. Your n was to steal away a talented disciple all along!"

    After raging at Vincent, the elder collected himself before turning towards Dante with a smile

    "let me introduce myself. My name is Marcus, the current head of the Department of Governance and Internal affairs, and I have one question to ask.

    Are you willing to join my department as my disciple?"

    Dante was caught off guard.

    Another department head had appeared and asked him to be his disciple from out of nowhere!

    In just a brief second, two of the most powerful people inside of the whole academy were offering him the position of their disciple!

    But before Dante could even reach a conclusion, two more voices started shouting his way

    "Don''t listen to them. My Alchemy department can offer you more training resources than you could ever imagine!"

    "Ignore that old hag. My Weapons Department will grant you more treasures than you could ever hope for!"

    two more people jumped out of nowhere and also began offering Dante ces in their department

    it got to the point where all four department heads started arguing with each other, throwing all sorts of insults and curses all over the ce

    "Hold on!" Shouted Dante

    "everyone is speaking at the same time, so there''s just no way for me to hear anything!"

    Dante''s outburst stunned all the department heads for a second.

    Finally, with the newfound silence, Dante got to see the two new individuals who appeared.

    One was an olddy in a full purple robe while the other was a bald, muscr old man with a wide smile on his face.

    hearing Dante''s outburst, the smiling old man burst out into loudughter

    "Hahaha! You''ve got some spirit to you, don''t you kid?

    To shout at the four Department heads of The Hidden Dragon Academy, even I didn''t have the balls to do that at your age!"

    As he was speaking, the smiling old man finally introduced himself

    "My name is Ingram, the current head of the Department of Weapons and Arrays!

    If you do end up choosing to be my disciple, just know that the treasure and weapons you would receive would be 10 times better"

    but before Dante could even respond, the olddy also started speaking

    "Don''t be blinded by the greed of treasures! The most important thing to a cultivator is his cultivation resources and no other faction has more cultivation resources than alchemy department!"

    As the olddy was speaking, a proud smile appeared on her face.

    "As My disciple, I can guarantee that the number of alchemal pills you will get will not be less than anybody in the whole of the Hidden Dragon Academy!"

    Listening in on the tempting offers the other department heads were offering, Marcus knew that he had to up his game if he wanted any chance of getting Dante to join him

    "Olivia, stop boasting! Dante, don''t be blinded by the offers these old fools are trying to sell you.

    The department of governance is and will always remain the most influential department in the whole of the Vaenam kingdom.

    Riches, treasures, Power.

    All these can be guaranteed if you just join the department of Governance "

    Dante was overwhelmed by these choices.

    All department heads wanted him as their disciple and he definitely wouldn''t be able to choose the better faction at such short notice.

    But as Dante stood there puzzled, Vincent Finaly acted.

    Vincent knew he couldn''t stay patient any longer. He couldn''t let such a rare talent slip into the other department''s hands.

    he had to pull out his hole card!

    "Dante, listen to this.

    How about I give you a position better than one of the disciple of any department head?"

    "Huh?"

    Dante''s attention was quickly grabbed by Vincent''s bold words

    "You heard me right. I''ll give you a position better than the head of any disciple.

    I''ll make you the Dragon son of the Department of War! "

    As soon as the other department heads heard what Vincent said, they almost went crazy

    "Dragon son? so soon Vincent. Have you gone mad!"

    "Even if his talent is unheard of, appointing a Dragon Son so recklessly is asking for danger Vincent."

    Vincent ignored the crowd of the other department heads as he continued speaking

    "A Dragon Son is a position of absolute power in the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    Their power is so great that the only people truly above them are the four Department Heads and the Principal of the academy.

    Even if you became a disciple of a department head, it would only grant you a fraction of the power that a dragon son had."

    But Dante wasn''t stupid, he wouldn''t just agree to Vincent''s offer so easily

    "But why should I agree to be the dragon son of our department? Can''t I be the one of another department?"

    hearing Dante''s question, Vincent burst out into a smugughter

    "Hahaha! It''s not that simple, we can''t just have as many Dragon sons in the academy as we please.

    Only one Dragon son is allowed in each department and just look at the ugly expressions on their faces.

    They already have a dragon son in their department! Even if they wanted to make you a Dragon son, they still couldn''t!"

    The best thing they can offer you is a ce as a Disciple and don''t be fooled by their mourous offers. Nothing will everpare to the power of the Dragon Son!"

    listening to Vincent''s points, Dante''sst thoughts about hesitationpletely vanished.

    "Well, since there''s no other offer can evenpare to yours, it''s obvious that I''ll be the Dragon Son of your department."

    As soon as Dante said this, the friendly smiles on the department heads vanished.

    They were still Department Heads after all

    They still had pride!

 Chapter 109 - 5th Prince

    Even if Dante''s talent was heaven-defying, it didn''t mean they would continuously fawn over him.

    At the end of the day, talent was just a show of future potential.

    Whenpared to the top powerhouses in the country , Dante''s strength was nothing to even blink at!

    In this world, strength is, and will always be, the most important thing in this world!

    "If that''s the game you want to y the then Vincent, I guess I can''tpete with you.

    I just hope you don''t grow to regret your decision in the future..."

    realising he couldn''tpete anymore, Marcus let out a cold snort before quickly vanishing from the scene

    The other department heads didn''t react any differently to Marcos, and also quickly left the scene.

    "Haha! Look at them run!"

    Vincentughed as he savoured the frustration of his fellow department heads.

    After Vincent finishedughing to his heart''s content, he then turned to Dante and spoke

    "I''m going to need some time to approve the documents needed to grant you the official position as Dragon Son of my department.

    But don''t worry, you already have the privileges of a Dragon Son. I just need to get some documents to make it official.

    When I leave, you can just follow the instructions of the examiner and I''ll get back to you soon."

    after saying these words, Vincent quickly rose into the air and left the scene.

    After Vincent left, Dante looked up towards his grandfather, only to see him sh after Vincent as well .

    ''what the hell is even going on?'' thought Dante

    But before Dante could even finish his words, he felt an arm around him

    "Dante, you absolute monster!"

    "Dragon Son! You actually became a Dragon Son. Do you even know what that means?"

    Lennox almost couldn''t believe it.

    who would have thought he''d witness the appointment of a Dragon Son right in front of him, and of the very department he wanted to join no less!

    "Now that you''re famous, Dante, you''re gonna have to help a brother out!

    Put a good word in for me. You''re the dragon son of my department after all"

    listening to Lennox''s words, Dante burst outughing

    "Hahaha! Don''t worry brother, I got you"

    Dante and Lennox wereughing and joking as they walked towards the next area.

    But as Dante was walking, he saw somebody standing in his path waiting for him.

    It was a young man with sky blue hair and a confident posture

    Suddenly, the young man approached Dante.

    "Dante, I believe?" asked the young man

    "Yeah.. my name is Dante," replied Dante

    "Haha! no need to be so stiff. Let me introduce myself.

    My name is Edwin Vaenam, 5th prince of the Vaenam kingdom"

    Hearing this, Dante wasn''t fazed in the slightest.

    After all, the sky blue hair was a clear giveaway as to what family he was part of.

    In response, Dante put on a weing smile as he calmly replied,

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you, your Highness."

    "There''s no need to be so formal." replied prince Edwin

    "I just came over to you as I saw your excellent disy during the entrance tests and have been really impressed by your talent.

    I would like to talk to you more about your achievements and talents at ater date."

    As soon as Prince Edwin finished saying those words, Dante felt countless pairs of eyes stare at his back from the shadows.

    It was at that moment that Dante finally realised who he was talking to.

    He was talking to a prince!

    A fully fledged member of the Royal family!

    If all the novels he''d read and movies from his past life had taught him anything about Royal families, it was that they were never a peaceful group.

    Schemes, plots, and acts of sabotage.

    These were just some of the twisted thingsmon in the Royal family. But when it involved thosepeting for the throne, it somehow managed to get even worse!

    And now that such a prince was speaking to him, Dante had to be careful.

    He wasn''t just a regr nobody anymore.

    He was now the Dragon son of the Department of war, one of the most influential positions in the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    And Now different from before, his every move will now be under public scrutiny.

    Who knows if some people will take his action as a sign of him joining the 5th princes faction?

    Dante couldn''t afford to make such a stupid move

    He just didn''t have enough information on the state of the Royal family to be making choices like that, so instead he decided to just y it safe.

    "I''m sorry 5th prince, but I won''t be able to arrange a time to meet with you anytime soon.

    I have just arrived in the capital and still need some time to truly settle down.

    Please forgive me, your highness."

    As Dante said this, he stepped past the Prince Edwin and carried on heading down the path.

    The stunned Lennox looked at Edwin for a few seconds before hurrying to follow after Dante.

    Although he was calm as he watched Dante leave, Prince Edwin was internally fuming.

    Because of his etiquette training as prince, he still managed to keep a calm external appearance, but internally, Edwin was going berserk.

    ''How dare he! A mere peasant from the country!

    I appreciate his talent and yet he has the audacity to reject friendship in public.

    Too arrogant! The boy is too arrogant!''

    But despite all of Prince Edwin''s fury, he knew that realistically, there was nothing he could actually do!

    The name Dragon Son wasn''t just for show.

    As the star child of an entire department, the Dragon Son really wasn''t someone to be messed with.

    The power they held made them someone practically untouchable for most people

    In fact, whenpared to some of the more irrelevant princes and princesses, A Dragon Son of a department was even more important to the kingdom than them!

    And for such a prince with a weaker faction like Prince Edwin, someone like Dante was practically untouchable!

    Edwin could only watch on with gritted teeth as Dante leisurely strolled away.

    ...

    Further along the path, Dante and Lennox were walking towards their next destination.

    suddenly Lennox spoke up.

    "Back there with the prince..."

    "Don''t worry, I didn''t agree with anything stupid."

    "phew!"

    hearing this, Lennox couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief.

    "You know, the situation in side the royal family has always been pretty vtile.

    I can''t tell which choices to make, Dante, but I can advise you on one thing.

 Chapter 110 - Teleportation.

    Think twice before you associate yourself with any member of that Royal family, as once you get involved in their royal struggle, there really is no going back "

    Dante nodded thoughtfully as he carried on walking, seemingly lost in his own thoughts

    ...

    Dante and Lennox had been walking down this path for a while now and as they did, started seeing more and more people

    This continued until they finally saw a strange building.

    In front of them was an exquisitely crafted marble hall coveredwith an giant domed roof.

    in front of the hall was a set of giant wonderful writing,

    ''Teleportation hall''

    these were the words written across the top of this marble hall.

    As Dante and Lennox got closer and closer, they saw more and more people heading towards and entering this hall.

    eventually Lennox couldn''t restrain his curiosity and asked a passerby,

    "Excuse me, but would you mind telling me the purpose of this building?"

    The young man stopped and turned towards Lennox

    "Well, its purpose is in its name, the teleportation hall." Said the young man.

    "it''s the hall that contains all the teleportation circles between The Hidden Dragon Academy and the capital city!"

    "Teleportation circle?" Hearing this term, Dante couldn''t help but ask,

    "Yeah, a teleportation circle.

    Due to the efforts of the Departments of Weapons and Arrays, the school has recently managed to set up some stable and affordable short distance teleportation arrays.

    It''s because of these teleportation arrays that travel between the capital city and the Hidden Dragon Academy is now easier than it has ever been before!

    As a result of the developed means of travel, students no longer have to live in the academy anymore and can now live in the capital city "

    Hearing this wonderful description of the teleportation array, Dante and Lennox could no longer restrain the urge to see this ce for anylonger

    After quickly thanking the young man for his exnation, they wasted no more time and headed inside of the hall.

    As they entered into the massive hall, they were greeted with the sight of countless peopleswarming the insides of the hall.

    if Dante had topare to anything he would say that it reminded him of a busy train station from his past life.

    looking around this busy scene, Dante actually managed to seesome familiar faces.

    They were all the members of the Kinsman n that Dante had came here with

    Klent, Anne and the rest of the top 4.

    The others alsoseemed to also notice Dantes arrival and quickly approached him.

    "Yo Dante, how''d your tests go?" asked Gawain in a casual tone

    Dante just let out a slight smile as he replied

    "They were excellent. Honestly, I don''t think they could have gone any better."

    Hearing his reply, Gawain wasn''t even fazed and just let out augh

    "Haha! I would expect nothing less from the top talent of our kinsman n."

    But as Gawain was saying all this, Dante looked around and noticed that a lot of the other kinsman n members that came with them were actually missing.

    "Don''t tell me that it was only you guys managed to pass? What happened to the others?"

    Hearing Dante''s question, an ugly expression appeared on Gawains face before he sighed

    "Unfortunately, the others just weren''t talented enough. The standards of the Hidden Dragon Academy this year are really just too high. It''s unlucky, but the others couldn''t quite make the cut and we''re eliminated"

    Dante could only sigh at the bad luck of his fellow n members.

    Seeing the atmosphere had be quite negative, Dante quickly changed the topic.

    "Well, let''s head back to the inn. I''m sure the rest of you also have some work to be doing.

    Even if it''s just determine the department you will join in The Hidden Dragon Academy, I''m sure you won''t want to do it here."

    Dante''s suggestion quickly received the nod of approval from the rest of the nsmen.

    and so with the next course of action determined, they quickly headed off into one of the many teleportation circles.

    ...

    Soon, all of Dante and the rest were squeezed over a teleportation circle that barely had enough space for them to stand.

    the circle wasposed from a strange pattern with numerous unintelligible words and erratic swirls sprawled throughout its whole design.

    As soon as the group managed to get into a somewhatfortable position, the man in charge of the teleportation circle started speaking to them.

    "You guys ready?" asked the man

    Dante and the others in the teleportation circle quickly turned towards each other, before giving the man a nod of approval

    seeing that everyone was ready, the man smiled.

    "Great! lets start."

    as soon as the man said those words, a bright white light seemed to burst forth from the teleportation circle.

    The light was so bright that it seemed to blind anyone who was unfortunate enough to be looking at it.

    ''Fuck! He could''ve at least give us a warning!''

    as all this was happening, he seemed to feel the air around himpress and then twist strangely.

    Just as Dante was starting to adjust to this constant swirling andpression around him, he suddenly found himself in apletely different room.

    Dante quickly checked everything was ok with himself before turning toward the others.

    As he did so, he could see the others were just as stunned as him.

    Some of the more unlucky individuals were kneeling over and holding their stomachs

    ....

    The group was clearly still I recovering from the mystical transport method.

    after a few minutes spent recovering, the group finally left the hall and entered into the Capital City

    But unfortunately for Dante, and the rest of the group, their surprises waiting for them didn''t end there

    As they stepped outside the building, they were greeted with the horrifying sight of almost 30 fully armed Guards in a maroon coloured te armour.

    But despite all this it was actually the next words of the guards that shocked them the most.

    suddenly a guard at the front stepped out towards them and called

    "Wee The Dragon Son of the Department of War!"

    and with that, the other guards joined in as they roared

    "Wee The Dragon Son of the Department of War!"

    as these soldiers roared their wee, a bloody aura that could only be gained from countless days on the battlefield was released.

    And even though it was idental, the aura released by the soldiers was so intense that the crowd was stunned into silence.

 Chapter 111 - Baleview Clan

    And even though it was idental, the aura released by the soldiers was so intense that the crowd was stunned into silence.

    Even Dante felt slightly threatened by the bloody aura of these soldiers and unconsciously released his own aura of dragon fear.

    But even under Dante''s aura of dragon fear, the soldiers were barely affected. Instead, it only increased the respect that they had for Dante.

    "As expected of the Dragon son!"

    "Such a powerful aura.. From the Dragon Son, I would expect nothing less"

    soon the leading guard stepped forward and called out towards Dante.

    "Esteemed Dragon Son.

    on the instructions of the Department head, we''ve been ordered to escort you to your new ce of residence within the capital!"

    hearing this, the stunned people beside Dante finally got their senses back together

    "What the hell is this?"

    "Yo Dante, care to exin what''s going on?"

    Seeing the panic of the people around him, Dante knew he had some exining to do.

    "You guys need to just chill out for a second." Said Dante

    "This is all nothing to be worried about.

    What actually happened is that during the assessment I showed some talent and got epted into a special role known as the ''Dragon son''

    I''m guessing that this role came with a new ce to stay and theses guys appear to have been sent to bring me there."

    Although Dante casually exined it as if what was not a big deal, for everyone finding this out for the first time, it was most definitely a big deal!

    The people that had just found out were left stunned!

    Even the more stoic individuals like Klent had their mouth hanging open in disbelief at what they just heard.

    They already knew Dante was talented, but for his talent to be so ridiculous as to grant him a position even stronger than most elders was almost unbelievable.

    Before he even became a member of the Hidden Dragon Academy, he already had a position of power that most people couldn''t even dream of.

    It truly let it sink in just how much of a monster they were currently standing next to and casually speaking with!

    No matter how they looked at it, he waspletely on a different level!

    Dante spent some more time exining his current situation to his fellow n members before turning towards the lead guard.

    "These guys are some of my nsmen and as such, I think it''s okay if theye to my new ce of residence to stay.

    They just need to go back and receive some things from their hotel.

    So I was just wondering if it''s okay for a few of you to go back with them and show them the way to my new residence.

    Hearing Dante''s request, the leading soldier didn''t even hesitate for a second before eagerly replying,

    "Of course we can. We''d be happy to help to help the Dragon Son!"

    Despite the obvious eagerness in the soldier''s voice, upon hearing the soldiers reply, Dante still felt ufortable.

    "You know, there''s no need to call me ''Dragon son''. You can just call me young master, It makes more sense in my opinion."

    for a second the soldier was stunned at Dante''s request but he soon recollected himself and saluted towards Dante as he replied.

    "Well, if your distinguished self wants me to call you young master, then young master it is!"

    seeing this, Dante gave a satisfied nod before turning towards his n members.

    "Well, I guess I''ll be going ahead of you guys.

    I''ll check out my new ce, then you guys cane overter when you have time."

    Dante didn''t hesitate any longer and hopped into the carriage prepared for him.

    As soon as the door closed, the carriage was quickly surrounded by a convoy of soldiers and Calvary as they started escorting Dante to his new ce of residence.

    As the soldiers started marching, the brutal aura of the battlefield was subconsciously released from them yet again.

    Seeing such a devastating it, no one dared to approach the carriage. In fact, they even started to speed up and move just to make more space for the convoy!

    ....

    Baleview n residence

    In a luxuriously decorated roomy a pale young man.

    His unconscious body was ced across the bed whilst a womany over it, continuously sobbing.

    "My baby!" cried the woman

    "Who could have done this to my baby!"

    Not far away from the woman stood a man with an icy expression on his face.

    The man stood motionless as he watched the woman cry over the unconscious body.

    He was just patiently waiting for somebody toe in and give in the information he needed

    "Bang!"

    soon, a servant burst through the door, exhausted and panting, which only went to show just how much effort he was putting in to quickly bring this information.

    "Master Marco!" cried the servant

    "I''ve got the information on who could have done this to the young master!"

    "Well, stop wasting time. Tell me then!" Replied Marco impatiently.

    "His name seems to be Dante Kinsman, and he seems to havee to the capital in an attempt to take the tests to join The Hidden Dragon Academy!"

    "Bang!"

    hearing this news, Marco mmed his fist into a wall.

    "You''re telling me that a nobody from some small not only dared to confront my son. But you''re also telling me that little shit even had the balls to cripple him as well"

    The servant winced under Marco''s brutal gaze whilst cautiously replying

    "Well, Master Marco, this is the information I''ve been given I only-"

    "m!"

    Before the servant could finish speaking, Marcoshed out at him, sending him flying across the room

    "Get out of my sight! I don''t need to hear anymore!"

    Hearing this, the servant quickly crawled out of the room before Marco even had a chance to lose his temper again!

    "Marco! You can''t let this go!"

    Turning around to the source of the sound, Marco looked back to see his wife crying out to him

    "Look at your son! He''s been crippled and by a rural peasant, no less! Marco, you just can''t let this go."

    "of course I won''t let this go!" replied Marco

    "For what he''s done to my son, that bastard has to die."

    As Marco was talking, a figure came in.

    It was an old man with a stern gaze and a constant frown on his face.

    The man was none other than the current head of the Baleview n and also

    Marco''s Father,

    Patriach Rn Baleview

    Seeing his father enter the room, Marco walked up to him and began speaking

    "Father! Look at my son. Look at what''s been done to him. Some bastard from an unknown n dared to hurt him. We have to-"

    "Bang!"

    Rn couldn''t listen to Marco''s nonsense any longer and smacked him right across the face.

 Chapter 112 - Baleview Clan 2

    Rn couldn''t listen to Marco''s nonsense any longer and smacked him right across the face.

    The p was so brutal that Marco''s body span as he was sent flying across the room.

    holding his face, Marco felt unjustly treated andined

    "Father, why?!"

    Marco just couldn''t begin to understand his father''s anger.

    "Is it because of some trash from a rural city? Even if I kill him-"

    "Bang!"

    Just by listening to Marco, Rn felt a sudden rush of blood to his head and was forced to smack Marco across the face again.

    but it didn''t just end there as this time, Rn grabbed Marco by the shirt as he roared into his face

    "Some trash?! Marco, you bastard, have you lost your mind?

    Do you have any idea who your son has messed with?"

    Marco shrank his neck Back in fear and replied.

    "No, not really. Anyway, he''s from a small n, so what does it matter?"

    looking at the ignorance of his son, Rn almost burst a blood vessel in frustration.

    "Of course you wouldn''t know anything. That nobody you''re talking about is the Dragon son of the Department of War! "

    As Rn spoke, his frustration at his some grew more and more

    "Fuck! Marco, do you realise what you''ve done?

    Of all departments you messed with, it had to be the Department of War!

    Those lunatics that spent most of their life fighting! They''d rather die than be humiliated and you messed with one of the most important people amongst a group of such madmen."

    Just looking at Marco, Rn really felt like strangling him!

    This time, He really did put the n in a hopeless situation

    Rtively small ns like theirs already had it tough surviving at the capital as it is.

    But his son seemed to want to live a short life and went to provoke the Department of War!

    There are countless stories of arrogant young men humiliating some generals or soldiers of the kingdom.

    Those young men initially thought nothing of it, that was until their n was stormed by the military because they randomly discovered some strange information and wanted to inspect theirpound in an effort ''to ensure national security''.

    Or even worse, in other cases, the n''s assets and convoys would be consistently raided by "Wild Bandits" even though the military is supposed to be patrolling and protecting that specific area.

    The people from the Department of War were a spiteful bunch and most definitely weren''t someone you wanted against you!

    After hearing his father''s words, Marco was left stunned.

    He almost couldn''t believe his own ears.

    If what his father said was true, then it seemed like the situation was much bigger than he imagined!

    Rn ignored the shocked look on Marco and dropped Him straight onto the floor.

    Without taking a second look at his son, he turned around to leave the room, but before he left, he coldly spoke towards Marco.

    "Listen here Marco. I don''t care if that boy even killed your son.

    Tomorrow you''re going to take some gifts and apologise to that young man!"

    After saying this, Rn didn''t stay another second and quickly stormed out of the room, mming the door behind him as he left.

    Marco watched on with a furious gaze as his father left the room.

    "Husband... are we really going to let that boy go after what he did to our son?"

    Marco slowly turned to his wife with a twisted expression on his face

    "Don''t worry, I''d never let something slide that easily."

    And with that, Marco tidied himself up before he also quickly got up and left the room.

    ...

    back to Dante

    Dante was currently sitting in the carriage as they traveled to his new ce of residence inside of the capital.

    after a short while spent travelling, Dante suddenly heard a guard call out to him.

    "Young Master, we have arrived."

    as soon as the guard said these words, he quickly came to open the door.

    as the door sung open, Dante was greeted with a magnificent sight.

    a metallic giant gate stood at the entrance with two guards watching fiercely over it.

    the two guards were giant armoured men, fully decked out in the maroon coloured armour that Dante had seenmon amongst the soldiers he''d met

    as Dante approached the gate, the guards suddenly stamped their spears and roared.

    "We wee the Dragon Son!"

    Dante was briefly surprised by the sudden outburst of the guards by the gate before quickly replying.

    "I''m ttered by your greeting, but you guys don''t really have to call me Dragon Son, you know? You can just call me Young Master. I''m sure it''ll be easier for everyone that way."

    Dante walked past them a short distance before turning back and replying,

    "And next time, don''t shout so loud. I''m already so close already that if you shout any louder, you''ll probably burst my eardrums."

    "Of course Dragon son!"

    The guards didn''t hesitate to reply after hearing Dante''s instructions, which only caused Dante to shake his head in helplessness

    "I already told you guys, you don''t have to call me dragon son!

    hearing Dante''s words, the guards awkwardly scratched their heads as they gave him an embarrassed smile.

    seeing the awkward look on the face of the guards, Dante gave up trying to convince them anymore and sighed as he walked through the gates.

    Despite being in apletely new environment, Dante didn''t have to walk far before he was greeted with a familiar sight.

    Only a few feet in front of him stood Rebbeca with her arms folded, slowly tapping her feet as Dante entered the courtyard.

    "look who decided to show up. Our very own little Dragon Son."

    Hearing Reba start her rant again, Dante smiled, as he already knew what wasing.

    Not wanting to be bombarded by her question, Dante spoke and quickly cut her off

    "Alright Reba, I get it. There''s no need to drag this out."

    but unfortunately for Dante, despite saying all this, Reba still didn''t listen to him and carried on.

    she slowly approached Dante and poked him in the cheek as if checking whether he was still even real.

    "I still can''t believe it! My little Dante has be a Dragon Son!"

    despite being around and seeing Dante''s amazing development, Reba still couldn''t help but marvel at Dante''s amazing rate of growth

    "sometimes I can''t help but wonder if the little Dante that used to run to me all those years ago and the you now are even the same person."

    Hearing Reba''s words, Dante''s body subconsciously flinched before he quickly rxed again

 Chapter 113 - New Place

    Hearing Reba''s words, Dante''s body subconsciously flinched before he quickly rxed again

    Dante instantly thought back to the mysterious circumstances he had experienced over these past few months.

    Even now, he still had times where he would wake up and question whether all this was real or whether it was just a strange dream?

    Dante looked at Reba with a serious gaze as he slowly spoke.

    "Don''t worry, I''ve not changed much. It''s just a simple change. We all will change eventually, but what''s important is whether at the core we can still remain the same person."

    After saying that, Dante felt an invisible weight lift off his chest.

    It was almost as if he had cast off a weight and gotten ten pounds lighter!

    but unfortunately for Dante, Reba couldn''t appreciate his words of wisdom and only looked at him with a strange gaze

    "When the hell did you be a philosopher? I only said you changed a little. There''s no need to bore me with an entire speech."

    Upon hearing Reba''s words, Dante felt a sudden embarrassment and quickly defended himself.

    "you''re the one who even brought it up, starting the talk about ''how much I''ve changed and all that nonsense."

    Reba easily spotted Dante''s embarrassment and only rolled her eyes.

    Deciding to spare Dante of any further embarrassment, Reba changed the topic

    "Well, let''s ignore that for a second and take a look at thispound. It''s simply amazing!

    And the crazy thing is that I can bet money that this is just one of the many benefits you get as a Dragon son!"

    hearing thispliment, Dante couldn''t resist this chance to boast and burst outughing,

    "Hahaha! What else would you expect for someone like me? Jealous much?"

    hearing Dante''s stupidments, Reba''s eyebrow twitched in irritation.

    but Dante, being his usual self, still failed to notice this and continued boasting

    "For a genius such as myself, this is only the start of many luxuries I will enjoy in the future! Don''t worry, when I make it to the top, I won''t forget you!"

    as Dante spoke, a greedy smile appeared on his face, showing one of the many negative traits brought on by his draconic nature.

    Whilst Dante was admiring his own talent, he suddenly felt a sharp pain at his waist

    "Ayo! what the hell Reba!"

    As Dante turned towards Reba, he could see Reba looking at him with a gaze of what could only be described as disgust.

    "Your pride and arrogance, it''s really disgusting to look at.

    But the crazy thing is it just appears to be getting worse and worse! If you don''t keep it in check, it could easily be the very thing that leads to your downfall!"

    But Dante wasn''t one to take what he considered as baseless nder and in response, he only sneered in Reba''s direction

    "What would you even know? My pride is not a negative thing. If anything, I''d go as far as to say that it is even one of my strong points."

    Listening to Dante''s twisted logic, Reba knew she couldn''t take much more of his nonsense and decided to walk off.

    but even as she walked away, Reba still left Dante with some useful information.

    "The master bedroom in thepound is yours. It''s still your ce, after all, this is the least you deserve.

    Enjoy your new ce, but remember, the Weing ceremony is tomorrow!"

    Hearing this, Dante nodded as he left to go check his new room out.

    ....

    After travelling along the many halls of his new house, Dante finally arrived in his room.

    The room was massive, with enough space to fit a king-sized bed and still be left with an abundance of space.

    By his window, there were a few exotic nts that Dante had never even seen before, while furniture engraved with exquisite craftsmanshipy ced throughout the room.

    Dante walked inside andy t on the bed.

    "ahh.."

    Dante let out a satisfied sigh as hey on his bed.

    The bed felt so soft that he felt like he was practically melting into it.

    while rxing on his bed, Dante let out a satisfied smile as he spoke to himself.

    "These advantages of being the dragon son really are worth it. Strength really is the route of all benefits in this world!

    With strength, I can have endless treasures! But not just treasures, with strength, I can have anything I truly want!"

    Now that Dante had mentioned treasures, he quickly remembered the piece of armour he had bought earlier today.

    Without waiting anymore, Dante finally brought out his new set of armour.

    Instantly, a cold blue light shone as the temperature in the room seemed to drop, causing Dante to once again be amazed by the abilities of the armour.

    After bringing out the armour, Dante retrieved his Moonlight sword from his space pouch, seeing as it had such a strong reaction to the armour in the first ce.

    As he brought out the sword, it quickly shed away from him, slipping out of his grip.

    But Dante wasn''t unprepared.

    Thest time he brought out the sword unprepared, it stabbed into his arm and sucked his blood.

    Only a fool would let down their guard a second time!

    he quickly used his other hand to grab the sword, firmly nting it in the ground as he sternly spoke to the sword

    "Nice try. Now stay there and stop trying to cause trouble and I''m being serious this time. No more games "

    Hearing Dante''s words, the sword seemed to slouch over, almost as if it had been saddened by its sudden scolding.

    Seeing that the sword had finally listened to him and wasn''t making any more strange movements, Dante finally started inspecting his new armour set.

    As Dante held the armour, the first thing he noticed was despite his surrounding environment still being rather warm, the set of armour felt extremely cold to the touch.

    instead of holding a piece of armour, For Dante, it felt more like he was holding a giant block of ice!

    suddenly, as Dante was inspecting the piece of armour, his rms seemed to go off.

    But strangely enough, it was not an rm that seemed to sense danger.

    no, instead it was an rm that every dragon of each kind was familiar with,

    It was the rm that goes off when you are about to lose a precious treasure!

    Knowing this couldn''t end well, Dante tried desperately to react.

    But despite all his efforts, in the end, it was just toote.

 Chapter 114 - Greatsword

    All he could do was watch as a bright silver light shed straight by him

    ''Damn! It''s that little shit again!''

    Dante instantly recognised the moonlight sword from its signature silver light and quickly knew that it was back to its devious antics.

    The sword didn''t seem to care for Dante''s frustration and shed right past him, piercing into the armour set and dragging itout of his hand.

    As the moonlight sword pierced through the armour, the armour seemed to sh as various runes and inscriptions on it all shattered in a brilliant burst of light.

    Dante looked at the damaged piece of armour in front of him.

    The after effects of the damage had caused the previously bright and vibrant armour into nothing more than dull husk!

    It was at that very moment that Dante knew that his precious new treasure was truly destroyed!

    Just by looking at it, Dante could clearly tell that any previous use that the armour had was now gone.

    It had be nothing more than a slightly fancy piece of scrap metal.

    Knowing there was nothing he could do to change this oue, Dante could only sigh as he went up to retrieve his moonlight sword.

    As Dante walked up to the sword, he was already thinking about how he would teach it a lesson.

    Recently, the sword had been getting out of hand as its behavior just kept getting worse and worse!

    If nothing was done and it was left unchecked, who knew how much destruction it could possibly cause?

    With hundreds of punishments in his head, Dante slowly stretched out his hand and reached for the sword.

    But just as Dante was about to touch the hilt of his sword, he was suddenly hit by a giant burst of silver light!

    For a second there, the world seemed to turn silver as Dante''s eyes were quickly blinded by a wave of silver light.

    Fortunately for Dante, this state didn''t seem tost long as soon the wave of silver light dimmed down considerably, allowing Dante to get a better look at what was even going on.

    Taking a second to gather himself, Dante could now see that his moonlight sword was still glowing, albeit in a much softer light.

    But strangely enough, somehow the armour set that was being pierced by the sword was glowing as well!

    As if that wasn''t enough, the strange things didn''t seem to end there as while the armour was glowing, it also appeared to be shrinking. Or more correctly, it seemed as if the armour was being absorbed!

    The moonlight sword was absorbing the armour set!

    This absorption process didn''t stop as while the armour was being absorbed, the size of the moonlight sword kept on growingrger andrger.

    This strange process continued on until the silver light signature to the moonlight sword itself morphed into a deeper aquamarine blue.

    Eventually, the light got weaker and weaker, until Dante could finally make out his sword again.

    In just a short time, the sword had undergone some drastic changes!

    First of all, the size of the sword had ballooned! From tip to hilt, the sword stood at a terrifying 6ft and had a width of at least 11inches.

    The sword was also at least an inch thick, meaning its weight wouldn''t be light in the slightest.

    The body of the sword was an aquamarine colour with silver highlights running through it simr while the hilt of the sword itself remained a dazzling silver of his previous Moonlight Sword.

    Despite all this, perhaps most strange thing was the Pearl merged deep into the middle of the sword hilt.

    The Pearl still seemed to release an icy wave of energy as a terrifying cold spread throughout the entire room, causing even Dante to feel goosebumps

    Dante walked up towards the sword and slowly lifted it up from the ground.

    As soon as he the sword in his hand, Dante could already feel the difference that the change in size had made.

    Just lifting the sword up from the ground requires Dante to put in much more effort than before.

    Before, Dante had always felt like his sword was a bit too light for him.

    One of Dante''s advantages had always been his ridiculous physical strength.

    The percentage increase brought on by his ''Draconic might'' passive was truly terrifying when you calcted it all

    But the only problem was that with his previous sword, he always felt as if he was never getting the full potential out of his ridiculous strength.

    The advantage of strength was to be unstoppable and even brutal some times But with his previous thin sword, Dante never really could enact truly brutal attacks.

    This all changed now, however, as now that Dante had such a massive sword, he knew he could finally utilise all his strength.

    Just lifting the sword alone caused Dante to put in some effort and we all know how ridiculous his strength is and if this can be used as a measure of its weight, you can just imagine how heavy that sword would feel for everyone else.

    But the scary thing was that now if the weight of the sword and wasbined with Dante''s strength...

    Just that thought alone put a wide smile onto Dante''s face

    Dante casually swung his greatsword, and in doing so, caused a giant wave of air to spread around his room, scattering all his intricately arranged furniture.

    But despite all this, Dante didn''t seem to care as he kept on swinging his sword and practicing his sword technique, in an effort to try and familiarise himself with his new sword.

    Slowly but surely, Dante got more and more familiar with his sword until his sword once again felt like an extension of his arm, just going to showing that the connection he and the moonlight sword had was just as strong as ever!

    Now satisfied with his practice, Dante went to take a short rest, but before Dante put his sword down, he couldn''t help but look at his sword.

    "Sigh!"

    "You really have gotten much fatter than before."

    Dante couldn''t help but shake his head, feeling the additional weight of his sword.

    "Buzz!!"

    The moonlight sword wasn''t too happy with Dante''s choice of words and made sure its unhappiness was known.

    "Haha! Calm down, I was just joking"

    But Dante could still sense that the moonlight sword was still unhappy, so he spoke.

    "look, let''s not be sad. I have a job for you to do."

    "buzz!"

    just like a kid, the moonlight sword had already forgotten about what Dante had said and wanted to go out and explore.

    ''tch! This kid is too easy!'' Thought Dante.

    ....

 Chapter 115 - Murder

    but of course, he wouldn''t say this to his moonlight sword.

    "Don''t worry, you''ll find out when we get there..."

    carrying the sword in his hand, Dante hopped out the window andnded on the roof of his building.

    After taking a quick look around the area, Dante sped out across the capital towards his next destination.

    .....

    Baleview n residence

    Marco had a terrifyingly grim expression on his face as he stormed through the halls.

    In his rage, he trampled over many servants but even so, he still didn''t care.

    Soon the servants quickly realised the bad mood of their master and quickly began to avoid him.

    Marco carried on storming on through the hall before he came towards the door to his room

    "Bang!"

    Marco didn''t slow down and mmed into his room door, bursting it open.

    "Husband!"

    seeing that Marco hade in, his wife quickly came to greet him.

    "Our son, How is he?" Asked Marco with a serious expression.

    "he''s getting better. He was awake for a few hours, but the n doctor said he still needs lots of sleep to recover from his devastating injury"

    As Marco heard this, a relieved smile appeared on his face

    "But husband, don''t tell me that you''re going to let that boy get away with what he did to our son?

    Our son is a cripple!

    We have to do something or else-"

    but before his wife could continue talking, Marco joined in and cut her off

    "Of course I won''t let this slide." Said Marco inly.

    "This mood I''ve been putting on, it''s all a facade."

    As Marco spoke, his frown slowly faded and was instead reced with a twisted smile

    "I''ve been using my connections to contact the death de guild."

    "The death de guild? Darling, are you serious?"

    "of course I''m serious," responded Marco

    "Even if I move quickly, only a distinguished assassin organisation like the death de guild would dare to take on the assassination of a Dragon Son!"

    "But husband the death de guild, there not cheap. The price..."

    "Don''t worry," said Marco with a reassuring voice

    "The fundse from a n source that I''ve beenundering for the past few years. Trust me, the price is nothing to be worried about."

    As Marco spoke, a mad gleam shined in his eyes, perfectly showing off the true madness of a crazed father.

    "At dawn tomorrow, I''ll be meeting with a representative from the death de guild.

    If things go well, that so-called Dante shouldn''t live past the end of this week!"

    "Haha! Everything is going ording to-"

    But before Marco could even finish his sentence, an aquamarine light shed from the shadows as a giant greatsword pierced straight through his chest

    ''Huh? What a strange light...?''

    These were thest thoughts Marco had before the sword carried on travelling up, splitting him in half!

    Marco''s wife watched on in horror as her husband was brutally bisected!

    Just as she was about to scream, a ghostly hand shot out from the shadows, clutching her neck

    "Crack!"

    with a simple flick of the wrist, Marco''s wife was swiftly killed as her neck was cleanly folded in half, instantly ending her life.

    Gradually, from the shadows, walked out a white-haired young man everyone was familiar with by now

    Of course, this was man was none other than Dante!

    He lightly flicked his greatsword, flinging off the blood that was clinging to its edge before slowly walking up towards the young man sleeping on the bed. Dante stopped beside the young man, looking down at him with a pair of emotionless eyes.

    "Grant, don''t me me for what''s about to happen. me yourself for your weakness, but above all else, me your parents for their own ignorance!"

    Dante swiftly brought down his greatsword easily cleaving the poor boy''s head from his shoulders, ending his life while he was still blissfully asleep.

    "sigh!"

    Looking around at the brutal massacre he had justmitted, Dante sat on the floor whilst he tried to calm his shaking hands.

    ''Fuck!'' Thought Dante

    It''s not as if Dante had never killed a man before. Ever since Dante hade to this world, He had been in many life and death fights, and in doing so, took many lives in the process.

    The only difference was that in all those situations, Dante was fighting for his life.

    It had always been a ''him or me'' situation, so Dante never really had time to dwell on his actions.

    For the first time in his life, Dante had carefully plotted and nned a murder and cruellymitted it out.

    But the thing that shocked Dante the most about it all was to just how easy it was!

    It waspletely different from any fight he had been in.

    no resistance, no struggle.

    Just a swift, clean, heartless murder.

    It was only now that Dante realised how much he had changed.

    Regr lives were as nothing to him!

    They were like simple candles that could easily be snuffed out with just the simple wave of his hand.

    And for Dante, that realisation alone was harrowing.

    He was there when they were talking about hiring an assassin to kill him.

    In this world, it was either kill or be killed, eat or be eaten.

    For your enemy, there was no such thing as mercy. That was just a stupid thing that led to a premature death.

    the thing that really got to Dante was how weak life was and how easily it could be taken.

    But instead of diluting Dante''s lust for power, it only made it grow into a more horrific and twisted mess.

    It had to be remembered that Dante''s strength wasn''t anywhere near the top of this world.

    For others, his life was no different from the people he had just killed right now.

    it was just another candle to be snuffed out in a simple passing

    That realisation alone was like a weight on Dante''s heart.

    after just ending a life so easily, Dante refused to let his life end in a simr fashion.

    And for Dante to reach that goal, there was only one solution,

    Power!

    Physical Power, Man Power, hell, even Political power,

    Dante wanted it all!

    His desire for power hadn''t died down. On the contrary, it was only just beginning!

    Instead of causing guilt, this simple action of murder had caused something else in Dante.

    A darker and more twisted thirst for power!

    Many yearster, Dante would look back on this day and wonder if today was the start,

    The start of his descent into Hell!

 Chapter 116 - Treasure

    Despite dealing with the after-effects of justmitting his first premeditated murder, Dante wouldn''t let the chance for treasure slip by him.

    His dragon souls refused to allow for such stupid actions.

    Wasting no more time, Dante bent down and quickly searched Marco''s body before eventually bringing out a space pouch

    As Dante opened the pouch, he was greeted with the sight of countless piles of gemstones and golden ingots!

    With Dante''s greedy nature, it was impossible for him to stay unaffected.

    Dante''s greed even managed to get the better of him and he even salivated unconsciously.

    Thank god no one else was around him or else, his reputation as Dragon Son would be utterly ruined!

    Dante didn''t stop there however, and continued searching the other bodies until he made sure every pocket had been overturned.

    In the end, Dante managed to recover 3 more space pouches, but unfortunately, the treasures in the other space pouches were nothingpared to the things inside Marco''s space pouch.

    Although Dante was disappointed, even he had to admit that his luck would be broken if he managed to get such a ridiculous haul twice in a row.

    Dante could only sigh as he snapped his fingers.

    Instantly, a devastating me arose all around him and burned the corpses to nothing but ashes.

    But despite all this, the most impressive thing was that under Dante''s masterful fire maniption, nothing other than the bodies around him were even slightly burnt

    Everything else around him remained perfectly fine, as if no mes were even there in the first ce!

    Now that Dante could confirm that the scene was perfectly cleared of all traces, Dante gave a nod of approval and prepared to leave

    Now ready to leave, he tried to put his sword into his space pouch

    but to Dante''s surprise, every time he tried to put his sword away, it would instead refuse to cooperate.

    "Buzz! Buzz!"

    Dante tried to put his sword away again, yet just likest time, anytime it was brought near the space pouch, it would instantly go berserk.

    Eventually Dante couldn''t take it any longer and asked the moonlight sword directly,

    "What actually is your problem? Why are you resisting every single time?"

    "Buzz! Buzz!"

    Although it sounded like random buzzing from the sword, through Dante''s connection with the sword, he could actually make out what it was trying to say.

    the moonlight sword was telling him that it didn''t want to go back into the space pouch.

    Dante was left stunned at this new development, and in his disbelief he identally let his thoughts skips

    "Well, it''s not my fault you decided to put on some size. Now you''re not so small, it''s impossible for you to be carried around secretly anymore."

    "Buzz!Buzz!"

    The moonlight sword couldn''t take Dante''s bullying anymore and flew out of his hands,nding some distance away.

    Dante seemed to also realise that he had gone a bit too far and also apologised.

    "look here. I''m sorry for calling you fat, but you really are too big to be carried away without getting noticed"

    "How about this? You go in the space pouch for a short while till we get back home and after that, I promise not to put you in there ever again."

    "Deal?"

    The moonlight sword seemed to ept Dante''s apology and quickly flew back into his hand

    "Good."

    After saying this, he put his sword back into his space pouch before sneakily jumping onto the rooftop.

    After double checking that he wasn''t discovered, Dante dashed back to his new home...

    ....

    In a secluded room near the royal pce,

    Inside a in room was an old man dressed in a spotless white robe.

    The man seemed to be in some sort of trance and was meditating peacefully in a lotus position.

    but if you looked clearly, you could sense something was clearly off with the room.

    It was deathly silent.

    Normally, even if a ce was as quiet as possible, there was still an element of background noise.

    but strangely enough, the noise in this room waspletely dead.

    it was almost as if all particles hade to aplete stop, creating aplete void of sound.

    "Knock! Knock!"

    suddenly, this eerie silence was broken by a knocking sound

    "Come in!" said the meditating man without opening his eyes

    As soon as he said those words, a man dressed in servant attire quickly burst into the room!

    "Sir Sword Saint, there''s urgent news!" said the servant urgently

    "well go ahead and tell me, Stop wasting time!" urged the sword Saint

    "Well, there has been an amazing talent at the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    This monster not only managed to reach Golden Rank in all his challenges, he''s also a Golden rank dual Awakener!"

    "What?!"

    suddenly the Sword Saint finally opened his eyes, revealing a gaze as sharp as a knifes edge

    Even The Sword Saint couldn''t stay calm anymore.

    He himself was a dual Awakener with 2 golden rank martial spirits and even though he only had purple rank cultivation talent, His two golden rank martial spirits were the major thing that allowed him to reach this far.

    If there was a genius with Two golden Rank martial spirits, Golden Rank physique and Golden Rank talent...

    Even the Sword Saint had to be wary of what kind of monster he could be in the future.

    ''This is serious matter...'' the sword Saint couldn''t help but think about the serious implications of this matter.

    he quickly turned to the Servant and instructed.

    "Go and arrange a meeting for me with King Raiden early tomorrow morning"

    "Such a talent can either be the benefit or fall of our kingdom! We can''t afford to manage this wrong!"

    hearing the seriousness in The Sword Saint''s voice, the servant didn''t even hesitate and asked quickly left to carry out his instructions.

    As The servant left, the sword Saint fell into thought.

    ''Truly a heaven-defying talent! If we can use him properly, the benefits he could bring to the kingdom would be unimaginable!

    On the other hand, if we can''t control such a talent, I''m afraid I''ll be forced to end...''"Knock! Knock!"

    before The Sword Saint could even finish his dark thoughts, he was interrupted by yet more knocking at his door.

    The Sword Saint was starting to get frustrated at the repeated interruption of his thoughts and shouted,

    "what do you want again! I swear I told you to go and- "

    "Erm.. I think you''ve got the wrong person."

    As The Sword Saint was speaking his thoughts, a hooded figure entered the room and interrupted him

    Stunned by this new development, the sword Saint asked,

    "Who...who are you?"

    the hooded figureughed as he pulled down his hood, revealing a devilishly handsome face we were all familiar with by now

    The person was, of course, none other than Winton!

 Chapter 117 - The Sword Saint

    The person was, of course, none other than Winton!

    Winton just smirked condescendingly as he stared down at the Sword Saint.

    unfortunately, the Sword Saint could not recognise Winton and now seeing Winton''s arrogant smirk just caused his frustration to grow even more

    "I asked, who the hell are you!"

    "Well, that''s not important." Said Winton as he cut off the sword Saint yet again

    "What''s important now is what I have to say."

    hearing Winton''s arrogance, the sword Saint was stunned and even forgot how to reply.

    Winton didn''t seem to notice the sword saint''s disbelief and carried on speaking

    "Well, there''s been a new talented young man to emerge from the Hidden Dragon Academy this year.

    My Request is quite simple, really.

    You must protect that young man with your life!"

    Hearing this, the sword Saint finally couldn''t sit still anymore.

    Ever since this man hade here, he had been speaking to him with no regard for his status.

    It seemed as if he didn''t even put him, The Sword Saint of the Vaenam Kingdom, in his eyes!

    "Who the hell do you think you are?! How dare you instruct me!"

    Hearing The Sword Saint''s rage-filled outburst, Winton did not even react .

    He just put on a mocking smile, as if he was an adult watching a child''s silly tantrum .

    Seeing Winton''s smile, The Sword Saint almost burst a blood vessel frustration!

    Finally, he couldn''t take Winton''s arrogance any more and rushed towards him.

    As the Sword Saint was rushing towards Winton, he seemed to notice something strange.

    Wintons eyes had suddenly changed.

    His previously ck, Pearl like eyes were now drastically different.

    Now they had changed into two pitch ck swirls that seemed to want to drag your very soul into the abyss!

    Even The Sword Saint didn''t know how to react and was caught up in the suction of Winton''s eyes, stunning him in ce

    Eventually, after gruelling struggle, the Sword Saint managed to break out of this suction, but as he looked around, he found his surroundings had suddenly changed.

    Instead of his tranquil meditation room, he found himself suddenly floating over the Vaenam Capital City.

    But to his horror, he saw a sight that would possibly haunt him for the rest of his days!

    Instead of the beautiful, peaceful capital he had sworn to protect, the surroundingndscape looked more like a scene from hell!

    The capital city had been reduced to ruins.

    A raging fire tore through the capital while copsed buildings and structures were all that remained of the capital''s once luxurious infrastructure.

    But perhaps most harrowing of all was the sight of people, or more urately, theck thereof.

    Not one living soul could be seen throughout the capital city.

    Only an unimaginable amount of decaying corpses could be seen, whilst an almost endless amount of blood flowed rapidly through the streets.

    This sight nearly turned The Sword Saint crazy!

    Everything he had sworn to protect, everything he had been protecting over thest years.

    It had all crumbled down in front of him, leaving him with nothing more than a ruined city.

    Just as He couldn''t take it anymore, the sword Saint suddenly heard a voice

    "that''s enough for you to change your mind now, isn''t it?"

    looking up, the Sword Saint turned to see Winton looking down on him with a devilish smile.

    "De...Demon."

    Although it was only an illusion, with the experience from his whole life, the Sword Saint didn''t doubt for a second that man.

    that that monster would have the ability to bring that vision to life!

    Winton didn''t care about The Sword Saint''s thoughts as he slowly approached him yet again.

    "Now I''ll ask again.

    You are going to protect that young man with your very life. You hear me?"

    hearing this, the sword Saint grit his teeth in frustration.

    He still had his own pride as the strongest cultivator in the whole of Vaenam Kingdom, but here he was being ordered around like a ve!

    But regardless of his displeasure, realistically, what could he do?

    There was no point in resisting.

    It was like a person who was about to be crushed by a building.

    Maybe if a small shack was copsing on you, you would struggle with everything you had for the chance to survive.

    But if what was copsing was arge Skyscraper instead, was there any point in struggling?

    No matter what you did, there was only one possible oue,

    Beingpletely and utterly crushed!

    And that''s exactly how the Sword Saint felt.

    In front of Winton''s unimaginable power, he was just like a regr person in front of a copsing skyscraper,

    Powerless!

    Besides, the Sword Saint hadn''t forgotten about the horrifying vision Winton had showed him.

    The man practically had the whole of the Vaenam Kingdom held hostage. He really had no other choice than to agree with Winton''s demands.

    "Sigh!"

    "I agree. I''ll protect that boy."

    Hearing this, Winton let out. cheerfulugh

    "Haha! Good."

    "Even though I''ve told you to protect him, it doesn''t mean you have to baby-sit the boy. You just have to protect him."

    "He can get hurt, beaten, he can even lose a limb, I don''t really care.

    all I care about is that you make sure his life is saved"

    As Winton carried on speaking, the air around seemed to drop to chilling temperatures

    "If for some reason he manages to die well... you''ve already seen the consequences, I''m sure I don''t need to show it to you again."

    "gulp!"

    Regardless of the terrifyingly strong will of the Sword Saint, even he had to feel nervous when ced under Winton''s terrifying gaze.

    Thankfully for The Sword Saint, Winton quickly retracted his aura and carried on speaking

    "Now that you''ve epted the task, all that''s left is the finishing touches"

    "Wait, what?" Asked the Sword Saint.

    After hearing Winton''s words, the Sword Saint had a sinking feeling that something bad was about to happen.

    But in the end, it was all toote for the Sword Saint as, with the simple snap of Winton''s fingers, all the shadows in the room seemed to rush towards him.

    The Sword Saint was powerless in front of the wave of shadows as no matter how hard he tried to resist, the shadows poured straight into his body!

    Ears, nose, mouth and even eyes. No orifice was spared, as the devilish shadows swarmed him, causing him to writhe in pain.

    If you could see into the Sword Saint''s body, you could see that the shadows in his body weren''t just behaving randomly.

 Chapter 118 - Sword Saint 2

    The shadows in his body moved in an organised fashion as they all flowed towards his heart where they congregated, eventually forming into a spiked ck chain that wrapped tightly around his heart.

    After a few minutes of struggling, the Sword Saint finally managed to recover.

    But to his surprise, as he looked around, he found that all traces of Winton had disappearedpletely disappeared.

    It was as if he was never even here in the first ce!

    After double checking to make sure Winton had truly left, The Sword Saint

    finally breathed out a sigh of relief.

    The situation had urred so randomly, he almost thought it was a dream.

    But just a quick feeling in his chest made him remember that his experience was most definitely a real one .

    The man that had randomly appeared had a cultivation realm miles above anything The Sword Saint could ever hope to achieve.

    Body refining

    Martial Novice

    Martial Journeyman

    Martial Adept

    Martial Expert

    These were all the cultivation realmsmon on this continent.

    And as one of the stronger members on the continent, The Sword Saint had beenfortably sitting at the peak of the Martial expert realm for years now.

    but things weren''t always this way.

    Many years ago, when he was much younger and much more optimistic about his cultivation potential, he even had hopes of ascending to a higher realm of cultivation.

    Due to this hope, the sword Saint had done much research about the higher realms, scouring every record and experience for information about the higher realms.

    And It was because of this research that he knew that man was miles above his cultivation level

    "Martial Master....

    No! That man.. he has to be above even that realm. It may be possible that he''s even in the Martial Grandmaster realm!"

    Just that thought alone sent shivers down his spine.

    ''The meeting with King Raiden is now more urgent than possible'' thought The sword Saint

    ...

    meanwhile, as all this was going on, Winton was floating high in the night sky above the capital

    Winton looked down on the faint lights and the people running around the city floor and lightly smiled

    "it will be a long time before I coulde back here..."

    Winton quickly shook these sad thoughts out of his head.

    As he did so, the kind aura around Winton instantly vanished.

    Instead, it was reced with an emotionless gaze.

    "Well, I guess I should start now."

    after saying that, Winton carried on rising high above the clouds until he couldn''t even see the capital city any longer.

    after making sure he was a good distance away, Winton slowly spoke

    "spatial copse."

    with a snap of his fingers, a ck hole started to form in air.

    all the air in the surroundings seemed to rush into the pitch ck abyss but things didn''t end there

    "Crack!"

    suddenly lines started to form in the air as if the very space around the hole started cracking open!

    "Shatter!"

    With Winton''s instructions, the cracking space waspletely destroyed with even the ck hole itself vanishing!

    All that was left was a gaping portal that seemed to show apletely different area.

    The scenery on the other side of the portal was a barrenndscape,pletely tainted with a reddish hue.

    It was almost like ayer from the deep pits of hell.

    But Winton didn''t seem fazed by this sight. In fact, he even started to smile.

    "It really is good to be back home."

    Winton took a step through the portal and as he did so, a wave of shadows entered with him.

    The hellishndscape seemed to shake as if had been hit by a devastating earthquake while an unstoppable wave of shadows continued to spread with no possible end in sight.

    "Hahaha! I, Shadow Demon Winton, am back!"

    That was thest sight that could be seen before the portal suddenly closed shut.

    ....

    The next day

    Dante was quietly cultivating in his room.

    Ever since Dante had started his cultivation journey, he discovered that he found himself sleeping less and less.

    As long as Dante spent some time cultivating, his body seemed to be able to function perfectly fine with anywhere around 4 hours of sleep!

    It was because of this, Dante actually spent more time cultivating than he did even sleep.

    "Knock! Knock!"

    Suddenly, Dante''s deep meditation was interrupted by a sudden banging on his door.

    "Who is it?" asked an annoyed Dante

    "It''s Reba."

    Hearing this, Dante already had a bad feeling.

    "What on earth are you doing in there Dante? Do you know what time it is?

    You''re going to bete for the weing ceremony!"

    "Shit!!"

    Hearing Reba''s shouting, Dante knew he had fucked up and quickly replied.

    "Don''t worry, I''ll be ready in Five minutes."

    after saying that Dante quickly went to freshen up.

    ...

    5 minutester, Dante stood properly dressed and even took a second to admire his handsome image in the mirror.

    ''Damn! I really do look good!''

    despite all this, Dante knew no was not the time to be admiring himself and quickly grabbed his massive greatsword and, after carefully strapping it to his back, left his room!

    As soon as he left the room, he was greeted by the icy gaze of Reba staring him down.

    "Well look who it is, our very own sleeping beauty." Said Reba

    "Hey, Don''t me me. I was up all night dealing with many things, just look at the massive sword on my back!"

    now that Dante mentioned it, Reba finally noticed the giant sword he was lugging around.

    "What the hell is that?"

    "would you believe me if I told you it was the silver sword I used to carry around?"

    hearing this Reba couldn''t believe her ears

    "Impossible! For starters, the sword isn''t the same colour."

    After seeing the confusion on Reba''s face, Dante felt like he had to exin what happened.

    "Well, yesterday I was looking at the armour I brought from the store you took me to yesterday when suddenly the sword yanked the armour piece out my hand.

    but things didn''t end there as the sword actually started to absorb the piece of armour and grow bigger!

    That can probably exin the colour change, but on how that even happened in the first ce? Well, your guess is as good as mine."

    But even after hearing Dante''s exnation, Reba wasn''t going to let things slide so easily.

    well even if you''ve exined the ridiculous size of the sword, it doesn''t mean you''ve exined why you are dragging it around on your back.

    Put in your space pouch, for crying out loud!

    lugging around such a massive weapon, it just makes you look like a barbarian!"

 Chapter 119 - Welcome Ceremony

    "Put in your space pouch, for crying out loud!

    lugging around such a massive weapon, it just makes you look like a barbarian!"

    Dante was never one to take such an insult lying down, so he didn''t even hesitate as he and swiftly replied to Rebbeca,

    "You''re the one who says that carrying around a massive sword makes me look like a barbarian, but aren''t you the one who has a spear almost twice their size? You look like a clown when you try to wave that shit around!"

    listening to Dante''s words, Reba''s eyes twitched in irritation

    "what would you know?

    The spear is a refined weapon, the very embodiment of grace and elegance."

    But unfortunately for Reba, Dante didn''t even listen to a word Reba just said

    Instead, he just looked at Reba with a pitying gaze as he said,

    "This is the problem with you Reba. I don''t think you''d recognise the meaning of the words grace and elegance, even they hit you across the face!"

    After saying this, Dante shook his head and slowly walked away

    hearing Dante''s words, Reba almost snapped, but before she reacted, she took a deep breath

    ''This Kid is really testing my patience today!

    He''s lucky it''s still early in the morning, so I''ll let him off for now.''

    after calming down, Reba soon followed after Dante, but don''t think it was over just yet.

    Who knew what Reba was nning to get back at Dante for this humiliation...

    ...

    luckily for Dante, Reba didn''t try anything during their journey to the academy, allowing for a rtively peaceful experience.

    Well, as peaceful as you could call being churned and spat out by a teleportation circle at least.

    But if we ignore the teleportation process, then the journey could still be considered pretty smooth.

    Dante and Reba soon walked out of the teleportation hall but even as they walked out the hall, Dante''s feet were still a bit shaky.

    Reba also seemed to notice this about Dante but instead of trying tofort him, she only sneered as she said,

    "Are those shaky legs I see? Don''t tell me that our mighty Dragon Son is actually suffering from some teleportation sickness?"

    Dante refused to allow Reba to make fun of him and snorted in disdain as he quickly stood up and walked forward as if nothing was wrong in the first ce.

    Reba only rolled her eyes at the weak attempt for Dante to y off his difort.

    Not wanting to embarrass Dante any further, Reba soon changed the topic

    "So Dante, you know that the Wee ceremony is happening today, but what do you even know about it"

    Dante cleared his throat as he calmly replied

    "Well, that''s easy. The weing ceremony consists of only one challenge and that is the mountain of will.

    The test is designed to show off the one thing required by each and every department. The power of will."

    Now that Dante started speaking, he seemed to remember something!

    "Shit! Reba!" Cried Dante

    "Now that I think about it, the weing ceremony is not apulsory event for new students.

    They are just there as a way for new students to show off their skills to the academy!"

    As Dante spoke, he suddenly grabbed Reba and shook her in frustration

    "That means you woke me up and rushed me all the way here for absolutely nothing!"

    "Flick!"

    Before Dante could continue talking nonsense, Reba flicked his forehead, causing him to wince in pain

    "Idiot" said Reba coldly

    "That may be the case for other new students, but aren''t you forgetting something Dante?

    you''re just not the same as them!

    As the new Dragon Son, your appointment already caused an uproar throughout the whole academy! If you didn''t show up to the weing ceremony, who knows what oundish rumours would start to surface?

    you need to put up a show in the Weing Ceremony to shut up all those stupid critics."

    "Realistically, I don''t really care what other people think-"

    as Dante was speaking, he saw Reba''s icy gaze and decided to just avoid an argument with her entirely and quickly changed his sentence..

    "But I guess it''ll be bad if some idiots use this as an excuse to start doubting me, so I may as well stop the problems before they even start."

    Seeing that Dante was taking this seriously, Reba couldn''t help but breath a sigh of relief.

    With Dante''s casual attitude, who knows if he''ll be even bothered to try during this contest and embarrass not just himself, but their entire n!

    But now that she knew that Dante was taking this at least somewhat seriously, with Dante''s current ridiculous talent, him taking it somewhat serious would be enough to impress almost anyone.

    As Dante and Reba were walking, she seemed to notice something.

    "Damn! I almost forgot," shouted Reba.

    "The test is on a mountain near the edge of the academy.

    It''ll take some time to walk there so Let''s just fly. It''ll be quicker."

    So just like that, Reba quickly took off into the air but as she turned back, she Dante still stood on the ground looking at her with an awkward face.

    "Reba, I think you''re forgetting I''m still in the Martial Novice realm. I still can''t fly!"

    That''s right!

    Despite Dante''s ridiculous strength, he was still in the Martial Novice Realm, meaning that flight was still not an option to him!

    It''s quite easy to forget what realm he was in when his strength was almost simr to yours.

    Seeing Dante''s awkward look, Reba smirked as she looked down at him.

    "How about I carry you there? It would definitely be a faster way to get there than walking plus, you''d also get to see the scenery on the way there. It''s a win-win! "

    Hearing Reba''s suggestion, Dante''s body shivered in disgust.

    he could already imagine the scene of him being princess carried towards the test mountain and being dropped off in front of the whole academy!

    he''d rather fight a Martial Adept level cultivator than suffer such a humiliation!

    In response to Reba''s suggestion, Dante looked up to Rebbeca as he said

    "Carry me? You must be dreaming! I''d rather run than live through that embarrassment."

    Reba didn''t try to force it and onlyughed in response.

    "hahaha! Well if that''s your choice, you better do your best to try to keep up!"

    Reba suddenly shone in a soft red glow as her body shot forward.

    Dante wasn''t about to be left behind and stamped hard into ground, propelling his body forward at dizzying speeds

 Chapter 120 - Mountain Of Will

    keeping a close tail on Reba, Dante shed along the ground, speeding various buildings and structures as he traveled through the academy grounds.

    soon, they started seeing less and less buildings as they approached a more nt filled area.

    As Dante was admiring his surroundings, he seemed to lose track of Reba for a few seconds. But just a few secondster, Dante suddenly felt someone grab him by both shoulders.

    Instantly, Dante could feel his body rising as he started to go higher and higher into the air

    Dante didn''t even have to think twice and already knew what was happening.

    "Fuck!"

    "Reba, put me down. This isn''t funny!"

    seeing Dante be flustered, Reba only chuckled as a wide smile appeared on her face

    "hahaha! Don''t be such a killjoy Dante. It''ll be more fun if you see things from the air for once."

    But Reba''s cheerful smile didn''tst for long before it quickly twisted into a ugly grimace.

    "Fuck!"

    "Dante, what on Earth is wrong with you! Why do you weigh so much!"

    hearing Reba''sments, Dante felt his me and was unjust and quickly defended himself

    "hey! It''s not my fault. Don''t me me, me the sword for all this extra weight!"

    "Buzz! Buzz!"

    The moonlight sword didn''t take kindly to thesements and let its opinion be fully known.

    knowing that if he carried on the sword would continueining m, Dante went and corrected himself.

    "Fine. It''s not the sword that weighs a lot. In fact, it is actually me."

    Dante''s sentence seemed to put the sword at ease, causing it to finally quieten down.

    But as good as this was, for Reba, this didn''t change anything at all.

    All she could do was grit her teeth and carry Dante and his sword into the air.

    Reba and Dante flew across the sky, covering the hundreds of trees below them.

    Soon after a short travel, Dante could finally start to make out the impression of a giant mountain in the distance.

    As Dante got closer, he could see a crowd of people gathered near the bottom of the mountain.

    but to Dante''s horror, it seemed like the people below the mountain could also see him as well.

    "Who''s that up there in the sky?" asked a confused disciple

    the crowds were puzzled by the strange sight up in the sky.

    this confusion continued until a new disciple eximed

    "Hold on! Isn''t that the new Dragon Son of the Department of War?"

    "What?!?"

    who could imagine it?

    The new Dragon Son of the Hidden Dragon Academy would be pittifully dragged through the air.

    Dante couldn''t take the humiliation any longer and broke free from Rebbeca''s hold.

    As soon as he broke free, he suddenly felt himself rapidly falling through the air.

    wind brushed furiously against his face as he shot towards the ground, but despite him getting closer and closer to the ground, Dante didn''t panic and slowly brought out his greatsword into his hand.

    Instantly, the sword burst into a brilliant aquamarine light.

    With a terrifying force is strength, Dante then quickly brought down his sword

    "Boom!"

    a shock wave spread outwards from him, showing the strength of this attack

    The after shock of his attack was so powerful it caused Dante to go back up, cancelling out his falling force.

    "Thud!"

    Dante thennded firmly, causing cracks to form on the ground.

    This was because although Dante managed to cancel out some of the force, he still hit the ground with the quite a strong impact, causing cracks to spread out across the floor from his feet.

    Despite all this, Dante still managed tond safely on the ground. So after lights dusting himself off, Dante slowly made his ways to the base of the mountain

    As Dante left for the mountain, the rest of the crowd was still left in shock.

    That madman! He really jumped down from such a ridiculous height. Does he even want to live?

    The rest of the crowd could do nothing but watch one in disbelief as Dante left to start the challenge...

    ...

    now at the foot of the mountain, Dante could feel countless eyes on him.

    The weing ceremony was a special event in The Hidden Dragon Academy and almost all students and teachers hade to watch it.

    As the new Dragon Son, Dante was naturally the centre of attention, causing the hundreds of spectators here to want to watch his disy.

    Dante tried to ignore this feeling as best as he could do and instead looked around to see his fellowpetitors.

    As expected, Dante could barely recognise anyone here.

    It seemed like most of the people he met yesterday didn''t want to take this exam. But just as Dante thought he wouldn''t be able to meet anyone, he suddenly saw a familiar cold faced youth.

    he was in his usual in white robe and held a rusty sword by his waist.

    Klent also seemed to notice Dante''s gaze and briefly nodded in his direction before going back to focus on the mountain in front of him.

    Dante was about to approach Klent, but once he saw the serious look on his face, he knew that any conversation with him would just be distracting him. Klent seemed to be taking this extremely seriously, so Dante decided not to interfere.

    suddenly, as all this was going on, a woman popped out from the sky and appeared out of nowhere.

    It was Olivia, the current head of the Department of Alchemy and Medicine.

    after looking down on everyone for a few seconds, Olivia Finally started to speak.

    "Hello and wee to the weing ceremony of The Hidden Dragon Academy"

    "I''m sure those of you that have been here for a few years are already familiar with this process, but let me exin it once again for the neers.

    The weing ceremony consists of just one simple test, the Mountain of will.

    let''s talk about the mountain of will more, shall we?"

 Chapter 121 - Mountain Of Will 2

    let''s talk about the mountain of will more, shall we?"

    The mountain of will is really just a simple test.

    All that is required for you is to simply scale the mountain to climb up its steps.

    The only catch here is that each step you take will require an increasing amount of willpower, with the required willpower increasing exponentially until you get the point where you can''t even move anymore

    so are you ready?"

    As Olivia asked this question, a strange smile broke out onto her face.

    Dante looked around to see everyone else around him have a slightly uneasy look.

    But the nervousness of the contestants didn''t seem to stop Olivia and instead even caused her smile to widen

    "Well, seeing as I don''t hear anyints, let the test begin!"

    "Yeah!!!"

    With Olivia''s call, cheers erupted all around as the hundreds of spectators eagerly watched on as to see what could possibly ur...

    After hearing Olivia''s words, the contestants didn''t waste anymore time and quickly rushed up the stairs of the mountain.

    Only Dante and a few others did not have the same urgent mentality.

    This test wasn''t a race.

    Running and rushing to scale the mountain will have no benefits and, in fact, it could possibly even have negative side-effects.

    It wasn''t called the mountain of will for no reason.

    This was a test that required a ridiculous level of willpower and fortitude.

    At the end of the day, these would be the determining factors as to how far you could travel, not how fast you were moving.

    After taking a deep breath, Dante slowly took his first step onto the mountain.

    As soon as his first stepnded on the ground, Dante could already feel a slight weight on himself.

    The only strange thing was, instead of feeling it on his body, Dante seemed to feel this weight in his mind!

    It was a simr feeling as to the one you would get when you are feeling tired, yet somehow more focused and intense.

    But despite the mountain''s strange effects, seeing as this was only the first step, it was almost nothing to most contests.

    Dante ignored the feeling he was getting and slowly continued with his journey up the mountain.

    During this period of time, nothing seemed to change with the exception of each step making his mind feel heavier and heavier.

    Suddenly, as soon as Dante reached the 30 step mark, He suddenly heard many screams and roars of frustration erupt all around him

    Caught off guard by this new development, Dante quickly turned to see what was going on.

    As soon as he got a quick look, Dante''s surprise quickly faded.

    This was because the people failing and falling were all from the same mould,

    Arrogant Young masters!

    Most of these arrogant young masters and misses were all failing and copsing at around this step, but for most people, this was to be expected.

    This kind of thing happened every year.

    You see, back in their ns, these young masters were all seen as top talents and, as such, would receive the constant pampering and care of all the elders around them.

    While This may be seen as a significant benefit to their individual growth and development, it was also because of the very same treatment that their willpower wasn''t up to par.

    living a life where every need of theirs was instantly solved, only allowed for such a weak willpower to not only develop in these young masters, but even grow and fester into the sorry state we see now

    Even Dante had a chance of developing into one of these young masters, but due to his previous poor talent, he was just illegible to enjoy such luxurious treatment.

    Besides, as a university student in his past life, his willpower was definitely stronger than these young masters.

    Just talk to anyone who survived university and they''ll definitely tell you it was anything but easy.

    It may not be as hard as some of the things hispetitors here had experienced, but one thing was for sure, and that was that it was definitely harder than anything these young masters had ever had to deal with in their lives!

    After these short thoughts, Dante quickly turned away from this sorry sight and continued on his journey.

    he couldn''t let this scene distract him from progressing, he had to do well in this test!

    So Dante didn''t slow down and kept on moving up the mountain and although it wasn''t easy, he still kept on making steady progress

    But all this changed as Dante reached a distance of about a third way up the mountain

    As soon as Dante tried to take his next step, it was as if his feet had been glued to the ground!

    ''huh?''

    ''what the hell is going on?! Why won''t my body move?!''

    As Dante was struggling to move, Klent also looked back to see what was going on.

    To Klent''s surprise, he turned back to not only see Dante stood motionless but also appearing to be struggling to move!

    Although Klent was surprised by this sight, after only a few seconds of thought, things cleared up for Klent.

    Although still Klent held a lot of respect and even some admiration for Dante, even he had to admit that Dante''s weak will wasn''t really a surprise to him.

    Dante wasn''t like him, who had to struggle for resources.

    He was the son of the first elder, a true young master in every sense of the word

    It was a well-known fact in the n that despite Dante''s previously poor talent, his father always made sure he got the resources he needed.

    Although Dante''s situation wasn''t as rotten as the other young masters that could barely take a few steps up the mountain, the fact is that the previous Dante never had to struggle for anything in his life!

    Upon realising this, Klent couldn''t help but shake his head in disappointment as he looked at Dante

 Chapter 122 - Mountain Of Will 3

    Upon realising this, Klent couldn''t help but shake his head in disappointment as he looked at Dante

    ''Is this really the extent of your willpower Dante? How disappointing.''

    As Klent was thinking this, a voice suddenly sounded in his head,

    ''You really don''t have the time to be worrying about others.''

    Klent didn''t even need to even think before he recognised whose voice it was.

    It was of course, none other than Sword master Rho!

    Sword master Rho didn''t stop however and continued lecturing Dante

    ''That boy will still manage to get the resources he needs even if he fails here.

    You, on the other hand, need to make a name for yourself if you want hope of even having half the resources he will eventually get!''

    Hearing Sword master Rho''s words, Klent knew he really didn''t have time to be worrying about others.

    He had to focus on his own performance!

    With that idea in mind, Klent just took onest look at Dante and shook his head before continuing his steady journey up the mountain...

    ...

    As Klent was progressing further and further up the mountain, Dante was still struggling on the mountain steps.

    Dante was in a tough situation, but no matter how bad it got,

    Dante refused to ept this!

    A Dragon Son only making it a third of the way up the Mountain of will?

    This would be one of the biggest jokes in the history of the hidden dragon academy.

    As much as Dante was disappointed at his weak willpower, realistically, could he be med?

    In his previous life, he was from a middle ss family and although his life wasn''t filled with endless luxuries, it couldn''t be termed as a constant struggle either.

    He always had a home to sleep in and there was always food on the table.

    And although Dante managed to survive the hell that was called university, it still couldn''t bepared to struggles these people in this world had to go through.

    Constant life and death battles and despairing struggles had put themselves way ahead of Dante when it came to pure willpower.

    Although some people from Dante''s previous life definitely had a strong enough willpower toplete with willpower of the people from this world.

    Dante himself definitely didn''t.

    He was a prime example of someone protected and pampered by the 21st century luxuries!

    Standing still on the mountain steps, Dante''s body had started to sweat from his overwhelming feeling of embarrassment.

    Dante could already feel the hundreds of questioning looks on his back and although he couldn''t hear the people, he could already imagine what they were saying.

    ''A Dragon Son with such weak willpower? What an embarrassment!''

    ''Probably the biggest mistake made in the history of the dragon academy!''

    Dante already felt like killing himself after being stared at in such an embarrassing way.

    Humuliating!

    To not only fail, but to fail in front of so many people?

    Dante refused to ept it!

    His pride in himself and his pride as a dragon refused to allow him to be humiliated in such a way!

    Eventually, this slowly changed Dante''s mentality as this challenge changed from a contest of his perseverance and willpower and more into a challenge against Dante''s pride, something that seemed to radiate from his very soul!

    Dante''s reasoning took a step back as he let his primal instinct from his dragon souls take over

    You see, when it came to pride, in the entire gxy, dragons were probably from the creatures that suffered from it the most .

    As a creature known to be amongst the strongest in the multiverse, it was only expected that they had a certain level of pride.

    Even if a dragon did nothing but eat, sleep and shit, they''d still be to reach the status of one of the strongest creatures in the gxy!

    With their long lifespan,in what could be considered a short nap to them, it would be enough time for countless kingdoms would copse and be born.

    All this was made worse by the fact that all True dragons were born with this knowledge at birth.

    Meaning that, from the very moment of their birth, they knew they were above 99% of all creatures and that their strength will even progress in their sleep!

    Now a mere mountain wanted to and harm the pride of and try to forcefully subdue not just one, but two True Dragons.

    It was simply impossible!

    To talk in possibilities, there was more chance of hell freezing over than that ever happening!

    All this goes to show a simple fact known amongst all dragon kind,

    A Dragon''s pride must never be humiliated!

    With a renewed conviction and drive fuelling Dante, he finally opened his eyes again, revealing a pair of serpentine slits.

    Taking in a deep breath, Dante ignored thements and looks all around him and finally made a move.

    "Boom!"

    Dante''s foot mmed into the floor, causing the ground to shake.

    using the force generated by this move, Dante began to speed up the stairs.

    Due to his unbelievable movement speed, it was impossible for Dante to go unnoticed.

    The contestants turned back but all they saw was a blurry haze shoot past them!

    but even though the contestants were surprised, the people who were most more stunned were the spectators.

    Just when they thought Dante was finished, he just showed them he was just getting started!

    Eventually, after only a few seconds of movement, Dante had finally caught back up with the front runners and eventually even passing them.

    But not everyone would just simply watch as Dante went past them, and one such person was the 5th prince Edwin.

    For him, Dante had already humiliated him by publicly rejecting his offer.

    Now, if a peasant like him could carry on surpassing him, the humiliation would only multiply.

    As a prince of the kingdom, Edwin had never been humiliated before, and he knew he could never simply take anything he considered humiliating.

 Chapter 123 - Mountain Of Will 4

    As a prince of the kingdom, Edwin had never been humiliated before, and he knew he could never simply take anything he considered humiliating.

    In his rage, Edwin seemed to forget that Dante was not just any regr old citizen that he could control.

    Dante was a Dragon Son!

    Arguably a position equal to, if not even greater than, the average prince of the kingdom.

    If the prince took a step back and spent some time to think, maybe he would change his actions.

    but under the tension and stress of the mountain of will, Edwin just let the blood get to his head!

    Full of rage, Edwin prepared to attack Dante from behind.

    Stimting his Storm Giant Martial Spirit, Edwin felt the overwhelming power of lightning and thunder flow through his veins

    Concentrating this power into his hands, a sh of lightning shone all over his palms

    Edwin didn''t even think, as he sent out a terrifying palm straight towards Dante''s back!

    But before Edwin''s fist could even touch Dante, Edwin suddenly froze.

    Just as Edwin was about to touch Dante, Dante himself turned around to look at Edwin straight in the eyes.

    As soon as Edwin met Dante''s serpentine eyes, he instantly lost the courage to move again.

    Despite being an utter fool, as a prince of the Vaenam Kingdom, Edwin had still been taught some vital skills. And one such skill Edwin was taught was the ability to recognise life-threatening situations.

    As he met Dante''s cold eyes, Edwin instantly recognised the look.

    It was that of a man staring at an annoying ant!

    If Edwin dared to make a move, he was certain that Dante would not even think twice to crush him where he stood, Prince or not!"

    And, for once, Edwin waspletely correct, as Dante''s inner thoughts were already raging.

    Dante was already in an extremely prideful state, yet Edwin still had the foolish idea to attack him.

    ''How dare a mere human attack me, a pure-blooded True dragon!''

    Dante slowly reached out his hand, eventually clutching at Edwin''s throat.

    But just as Dante put pressure on Edwin''s neck, he suddenly pulled back.

    ''Mere human? True Dragon?''

    ''What the hell is wrong with me?!"

    Holding his head, Dante walked away from Edwin as he struggled to deal with his internal conflict.

    Edwin, on the other hand, had just escaped death!

    His body was still shaking from pure fear!

    Edwin could not care less what anyone thought and copsed straight onto the steps, ignoring his embarrassing look.

    Only a man that had truly tasted death could experience Edwin''s fear.

    As soon as Dante grabbed his neck, he waspletely sure he was going to die.

    Never had he been closer to death in his life.

    Luckily for Edwin, for some strange reason, Dante had changed his mindst minute and spared his life.

    Dante didn''t even look back at the mumbling mess that was now Edwin and continued progressing up the stairs ....

    Despite still dealing with the strange voices and thoughts in his head, Dante didn''t slow down in the slightest.

    His body moved gracefully as he ascended tens of steps with each simple move.

    With Dante''s impressive aura and ridiculous speed, it was impossible for him to not draw at least some attention as he climbed the mountain.

    The situation on the Mountain of will was such that even the best people had only managed to make up about 60% of the way up the mountain.

    The reason for this seemingly mediocre result was that the design of the mountain of will made it extremely difficult to scale.

    Each next step would be at least 100x more difficult than the next step.

    And based on this fact alone, those that made it up 60% up the mountain were already inhuman.

    The power of will needed to climb this far was already outstanding.

    But to the horror of the two or three people stuck at this level, Dante didn''t slow down at all and swiftly walked past them.

    one such person who was left stunned by this was Klent

    Watching Dante so easily stroll past him, Klent just couldn''t ept it.

    It wasn''t out of jealousy or anything like that.

    It was just because Dante''s willpower was clearly so weak before. For him to just casually pass Klent only a few minutester just didn''t make any sense!

    You see, willpower itself was a strange thing.

    It waspletely different to things like cultivation orprehension in the sense that there were no shortcuts.

    Willpower was something that had to be slowly ground and tested in order to increase its strength.

    Back in the days when Klent''s cultivation refused to progress anymore, Klent spent countless days of gruelling effort and sweat to develop his outstanding willpower andprehension of the sword.

    So you can just imagine how despairing it was for him to see a man not only develop up to his level but also surpass him in such a short time!

    Sword master Rho seemed to sense Klent''s unrest and spoke

    ''Boy, Don''t be discouraged.

    That kid, what he''s using to climb the mountain, it isn''t his willpower at all.''

    ''What?!''

    Hearing this, Klent waspletely confused.

    It was called ''The Mountain of Will'' if will power wasn''t used to scale the mountain, then what could?

    Sensing Klent''s confusion, Sword master Rho carried on speaking.

    ''That boy. His arrogance,his pride! It''s reached such a ridiculous level that his pride alone refuses to allow him to fail to climb this mountain!''

    Klent could barely make sense of what he was hearing.

    Never in his life had he heard of something simr before

    As Klent was still stunned, Sword master Rho continued speaking,

    ''That boy''s pride has reached a ridiculously high level.

    It''s so high that the only people I have ever seen that can evenpare to him are the rulers of the Central continent.

    And these aren''t like the pathetic rulers found in this ce.

 Chapter 124 - Mountain Of Will 5

    And these aren''t like the pathetic rulers found in this ce.

    Even in the wider gxy, these rulers would be respected.

    They can crush mountains and move seas with just a wave of a hand, so my only problem is,

    How does that boy even have such arrogance?

    Pride.

    Pride was not just something that was born from nowhere.

    For every person, there''s always a cause of your pride that allows you to feel that way.

    For some it is wealth, others it''s power and for some, it''s even looks and appearance. But regardless of what it was, there was always a source of their pride.

    So the only problem that Swordmaster Rho had with Dante should have no reason to even feel so arrogant.

    In order for him to feel that way, he must at least feel equal to the powerhouses on the major continent. But that itself is impossible unless....''

    Suddenly Swordmaster Rho had a horrifying thought.

    ''Such Talent, such pride overflowing from his bones.

    I''ve heard stories of ancient techniques that allow for the reincarnation of the soul of ancient cultivators but to actually see one with my own eyes!''

    ''Now I can''t help but wonder which senior this boy could have been in his past life..."

    Regardless of Swordmaster Rho''s musings, Dante didn''t stop at all and carried on moving forward.

    All Klent could do was watch on with mixed emotions as he saw Dante leave him further and further behind..

    ...

    ck Down at the base of the mountain, Olivia finally stood up from her seat.

    ''Seeing as they''ve made it about the 60% of the way up the mountain, I guess I should end the challenge here.

    If I don''t stop it here, these stubborn Kids could end up seriously hurting themselves!'' thought Olivia

    You see, the Mountain of will was always meant to be difficult.

    In fact, it was designed in a way that made it impossible to climb the mountain for people in their first year of the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    Seeing as the difficulty increased exponentially with every step, after a certain point, each step will start to take more willpower than every other stepbined!

    It was never expected for kids that had just joined the Hidden Dragon Academy to have the willpower needed to scale the mountain.

    Even monsters like the sword Saint only had enough willpower to scale the mountain about up to 60% on their first try.

    Usually, most students only manage to climb to the top of the mountain in their third or fourth year with only mind-boggling talents like the sword Saint managing to climb it near the end of the first year.

    But since the founding of the Hidden Dragon Academy, no new student has managed to scale the mountainpletely on their first try.

    Olivia got up to go end the test, but just before she could do so.

    Another elder came up to stop her.

    "Department Head Olivia, please wait!"

    "Huh?" Replied Olivia

    "Don''t end the test! A contestant is still climbing the mountain"

    "What?!" Olivia could barely believe her ears and shot up into the sky to get a clearer look

    But it was not just Olivia who was shocked by this news, everyone else at the base of the mountain was in disbelief.

    The whole of Hidden Dragon Academy knew about the trap of Mountain of Will.

    It was an open secret amongst its older students that the true purpose of the Mountain of will was actually just a way to calm the pride of the new students.

    After all, just by making it into The Hidden Dragon Academy, you would be told by everything around you what a great talent you are, which constantly led to the overdeveloped ego of the new students.

    So the aim was that by failing your very first Test you would have the most humbling experience first thing in the academy and therefore curbing your pride.

    The only problem was that now, there was a person was doing the impossible and breaking down all known limits set before time after time!

    And of course, this person was none other than Dante, The Dragon son of The Department of War and Combat!

    Of all the people who were surprised by Dante''s disy, Reba could definitely be said to be the one shocked the most.

    Out of everyone here, she could arguably be said to know the new Dante the best.

    Arrogant.

    greedy.

    These were just some of the negative words that could be used to describe Dante and his personality

    Reba didn''t once for a second doubt Dante''s raw talent.

    His talent alone allowed for him to possibly be the strongest cultivator she''d ever heard about.

    But when it came to his personality, it was clear that Dante had many qualities you wouldn''t expect in someone with terrifying willpower.

    But after seeing his terrifying disy for the first time since she had seen Dante, Reba truly realised how little she actually knew about him.

    It must be remembered that Dante was only 15 years old.

    People don''t just develop such strong willpower.

    To evene close to Dante''s level of willpower, someone has gone through some truly twisted experiences.

    Even Rebbeca shivered at the possible torture such a young kid would have to go through to develop such a terrifying will

    It seemed like she still had much to learn about Dante...

    ...

    Oblivious to themotion at the base of the mountain, Dante didn''t slow down and was gradually scaling the steps.

    with each step he took, the pressure grew exponentially, but as the pressure grew, so did the whispers in his head

    ''As a Dragon, how can you lose to a mere mountain!''

    ''Have some pride''

    ''HAVE SOME PRIDE!''

    these whispers eventually turned into deafening roars that shook his mind urging him to go on!

    As soon as Dante made it 80% of the way up the mountain, he finally couldn''t stand it anymore and was forced to the floor.

 Chapter 125 - Mountain Of Will 6

    As soon as Dante made it 80% of the way up the mountain, he finally couldn''t stand it anymore and was forced to the floor.

    But Dante wouldn''t allow himself to end it all here. His pride wouldn''t let him fail here!

    "Dragonification!"

    "boom!"

    Instantly, blood red scales began to grow out of his skin while a pair of twisted ck horns formed on his forehead.

    Dante had now released the soul of The Red Dragon, the most ferocious and violent of all the Dragon species.

    With rage filled eyes, Dante just wouldn''t submit under the pressure practically crawled his way up the mountain.

    "crack!"

    Yet just desire wasn''t enough.

    Bones started to creek all over Dante''s body under the pressure of the mountain.

    but regardless of his terrible physical state, Dante didn''t seem to care anymore.

    All reason had left his mind, he l was only moving off pure instinct and desire.

    For Dragons, Pride was the thing they would be willing to die for and Dante, this was no different.

    A Dragon''s pride must never be humiliated!

    If his pride meant that he would die on this mountain, then so be it!

    "Dragonification!"

    In his madness, Dante did something he had only theorised before.

    Stimting his two Dragon souls, Dante finally underwent two Dragonified states at the same time!

    Instantly, Dante''s whole body seemed to shiver as a blinding silver gleam burst from deep within his chest.

    This silver light quickly coated Dante''s body, causing a silvery metallic sheen to be added to all his scales

    But Dante''s transformation wasn''t over just yet as the signature Crystalline horns of the silver Dragon grew out his head. Maybe it was because Red Dragon horns were already there, but instead of growing out of his forehead like usual, Dante''s crystal horns actually grew out the side of his head.

    "ROAR!!"

    With blood pouring out every single orifice, Dante and his Dragon souls all let off a Draconic roar that seemed to shake the sky.

    Through sheer stubbornness and pride, Dante managed to muster the strength to break through thest step!

    He had done it!

    He had done the impossible and scaled the mountain of will!

    As soon as Dante reached the top step, the mountain seemed to shake.

    "Rumble! Rumble!"

    "ROAR!"

    A blinding Chinese dragonposed of pure golden energy, coiled around the mountain before shooting into the sky.

    "The coiling dragon. The symbol of the Hidden Dragon Academy... He really did scale the Mountain of Will.."

    "Hahaha!"

    seeing the Dragon in the sky, Dante burst into a mad bout ofughter.

    "I''ve really done it!"

    " I''ve scaled the mountain!"

    High on the feeling of ses, Dante sneered at the mountain beneath his feet."

    "Hahah! Eat shit!"

    after taunting a mountain like a madman, Dante suddenly felt lightheaded and quickly rested on the ground.

    As Dante sat down he quickly checked himself out.

    "Fuck!"

    Seeing his bodypletely drenched in his own blood Dante couldn''t help but exim.

    "How did I even bleed that much!" Said Dante in disbelief

    "Shit! This definitely needs to be checked out!"

    Luckily, as Dante was preparing toe down he could see the flying figures of Grandfather Jarred and Reba rushing toe check up on him.

    Knowing that he was finally safe, Dante gave into his exhaustion and slumped onto the ground.

    if you looked closely at Dante, you could see him snoring on the ground with a proud smirk on his face.

    ...

    A day had now passed since Dante''s awe inspiring spectacle at the Mountain of will.

    The news of Dante''s achievements had spread through the capital like wildfire.

    And this was the ultimate confirmation all the ns needed,

    Thest confirmation that a new generational talent was truly born!

    With his new achievement came an overwhelming number of visits of various ns and patriarchs, all offering gifts to try and build a good connection with Dante.

    Of course, the greedy nature of a dragon did not allow for him to refuse any treasures presented his way.

    so Dante had no other choice than to greedily ept anything presented his way!

    Dante was currently in thergest hall of his new residence.

    It''s just that now, the room was very different from its original state when Dante first got it.

    Open Chests filled with gemstones and gold coinsy sprawled throughout the room. Whilst luxurious paintings and weapons were stacked and hung on the walls of the room.

    Dante was slouchedzily in apletely golden chair embedded with gems, with the gigantic Moonlight Sword leaning against him.

    Dante was ying with a ruby by rolling it in between his fingers as he stared at the beautiful treasure, seemingly mesmerised by it.

    Beside him sat Rebbeca in a much more modest chair with a displeased look in her face.

    Reba had juste to be a watch over Dante as he epted the gifts.

    Dante was still new to the capital and as such, he wouldn''t see the plots and schemes of all the ns that came to visit.

    Reba there to prevent Dante from doing anything stupid and ensure that he wasn''t tricked into making any stupid decisions.

    but instead of doing her job, she had instead been forced to watch this spectacle...

    Dante seemed to be obsessed with treasure to a dangerous extent.

    He would ept almost any and all treasure presented his way, but not just ept them.

    Dante seem to hoard every single treasure he got, disying it all in obvious ces just to look at and admire.

    If it was not for her constant scolding, Reba was sure that Dante wouldn''t even be sitting in his chair. He would instead be on the ground,ying down on his pile of treasure!

    But What Rebbeca did not know was that Dante''s obsession with treasure was not entirely his fault.

    As a bearer of a dragon soul, Dante''s actions will, whether willingly or unwillingly, be influenced by a dragon''s nature.

 Chapter 126 - The Plea Of The Baleview Clan

    As a bearer of a dragon soul, Dante''s actions will, whether willingly or unwillingly, be influenced by a dragon''s nature.

    And now, seeing as Dante had two Dragon souls, this influence on Dante could only be twice as lethal.

    And one such influence Dante gained was an obsession with treasure.

    You see, for dragons, the pleasure gained from havingrge amounts of wealth was unimaginable.

    For a better choice of words, it was almost drug-like!

    And it was this drug like feeling that caused a dragon''s obsession over treasure to be strong that it was practically engrained in their very souls!

    Even the strongest of Dragons would sumb to their desires when faced with intoxicating pleasure that treasures would give them.

    Much less Dante, who only currently held a fraction of the power that the strongest Dragons could have.

    Faced with the temptation of treasures, Dante couldn''t even resist, or more correctly he didn''t even want to!

    Dante didn''t seem to care about the displeased look on Reba''s face as he called

    "Next!"

    The guards outside seemed to hear his instructions, allowing for the next visitors toe in.

    Slowly the doors of the hall opened and in walked in an old man apanied by a middle-aged man who followed slowly behind him.

    The old man was a face we''d seen before.

    The man was none other than the Patriarch of the Baleview n,

    Rn Baleview.

    But Unlikest time we saw Rn, he was now in a much worse state.

    His body was more slouched and he had dark circles underneath his eyes that told the story of the stress his body was feeling

    Rn had been going through a rough period the past few days.

    After he warned his son not to mess with Dante, Rn still felt ufortable and went to check on Marco.

    After all, who would know their own son better than a father?

    Rn knew the son he had, and was worried that Marco would go and do something stupid, so he went to check up on him.

    But to Rn''s surprise, as he went to check up on Marco, he found that all traces of him had disappeared!

    But not just Marco, the whole of Marco''s family, from his wife to even his son, had all gone missing overnight!

    Rn had ordered aplete search of the npound and the capital in an effort to find any traces of Marco or his family

    But after an unfruitful search, Rn hade to a conclusion.

    And that was that Marco and the rest of his family were most certainly dead.

    Now with that Marco had been killed, it only left Rn with one culprit.

    From Rn''s knowledge, there was only one person who had hatred with Marco yet also had and courage and power to try to assassinate him.

    And that person was could only be Dante, The Dragon Son of the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    But even though Rn knew this, he still had a big problem on his hand.

    even with this knowledge, what could Rn do?

    Dante was clean enough to leave no evidence and he''d be a fool if he thought he could use a Dragon Son of murder with no substantial evidence.

    Not only that, even if he had evidence to prove Dante was the murderer, was he sure that Dante would even be convicted?

    Rn had been in the capital for countless years now, and he was someone truly knew the scene of the kingdom''s current judicial system, and he only had one word to describe it.

    Corrupt!

    It was corrupt to the core!

    The people in power were almost practically immune to the convictions of those weaker than them.

    Rn would definitely know this as he had been one of the people who abused his power tomit unspeakable crimes.

    To try and advance in the capital, all means of underhanded tactics and schemes had to be used.

    Although it seemed like a ce of rule andw, realistically, there was only one rule here,

    Might makes right!

    The person with the biggest fist rules!

    The only reason the royal family was able to the rule the kingdom for all these years was because they were the strongest and therefore they could impose their own rules on anyone.

    This bitter truth was the reason why Rn''s fear of Dante was so extreme.

    With Dante''s position as a Dragon son, he could easily orchestrate the destruction of the Baleview n.

    And now, with his ridiculous disy of potential at the Weing ceremony, it only made Rn fear Dante even more.

    But unlike Rn, who was in a sour mood, the man next to him was having a much more pleasant experience.

    The man was also one of Rn''s sons, and more specifically, he was Rn''s eldest son, Karther Baleview.

    As the eldest son of the Patriarch of the Baleview n, it was expected for Karther to be the next one to inherit the position of patriarch after his father retires.

    The only problem with this was that Rn believed that each of his children deserved a fair opportunity to develop and get the chance of inheriting his position as patriarch.

    Because of this, it had led to quite a toxic rtionship between all of Rn''s children.

    And for Karther, his rtionship with his brother Marco was especially bad. There had always beenpeting in open and in secret, with borate schemes and plots all trying to cause each other''s downfall.

    With the terrible rtionship between the two brothers, you can just imagine the joy that Karther felt when he found his brother had gotten into a conflict with a Dragon Son, of all people.

    But surprisingly for Karther, the news just kept getting better and better as soon his brotherpletely disappeared!

    Unlike everyone else in his n who feared or even resented Dante, Karther was overflowing with gratitude to the man.

    He practically got rid of all his problems!

 Chapter 127 - The Plea Of The Baleview Clan 2

    Karther was overflowing with gratitude to the man.

    He practically got rid of all his problems!

    His mainpetitor vanished overnight. If nothing went wrong, the position of the patriarch was guaranteed to be his!

    And all this was thanks to the powerful young man in front of him.

    Regardless of the good impression Karther had, His Baleview n was still in a dire predicament.

    Rn took a few shaky steps, appearing before the seated Dante and Reba

    "Bang!"

    Instantly, Rn knelt on the ground as he kowtowed towards Dante

    "Lord Dragon Son! Please forgive the insolence of my Baleview n.

    I know that the previous actions of some members of my n may have offended you, but I beg that you let your anger end at them and spare the rest!"

    Despite The old man Rn''s dire plea, Dante didn''t bother to look in his direction.

    he was seemingly more interested in the splendour of the ruby in between his fingers than Rn''s apology.

    Rn instantly noticed the disinterest of Dante and broke out into a nervous sweat as he stammered

    "Lord Dragon Son, I know that this can neverpensate for the displeasure you felt, but I hope that the treasure we brought today can ease some of your pain."

    Hearing the magical word, Dante''s ears seemed to twitch. And so, for the first time since Rn entered the room, Dante looked up to get a clear look at him.

    But this didn''t ease the pressure Rn felt, but instead made it even worse!

    When Rn looked up, what he saw was an emotionless pair of amber, serpentine eyes ring down on him!

    The eyes seemed to stare into his very soul whilst a terrifying archaic aura seemed to radiate from Dante''s body, stunning Rn into silence!

    In his life, Rn had only met one person who could even rival the aura Dante had right now

    ''His Majesty, King Raiden...''

    This was the first person who came to mind when Rn saw Dante.

    The aura, the pride, the confidence!

    Dante seemed to have everything.

    Rn didn''t even have to think twice before he could realise Dante for who he was,

    A natural-born leader!

    well, as natural as you could call having two dragon souls!

    With a wave of his hand, Rn quickly instructed Karther toe forward.

    Karther didn''t even hesitate as he brought out 10 giant chests from his space ring.

    Karther slowly opened each chest, and as Dante saw the contents, a wide smile crept on his face

    Each chest was filled with piles and piles of treasures that they presented to Dante.

    The Baleview n really bled this time as, to appease Dante, they had probably spent almost anything from around 40% of their n''s total wealth!

    Now if you consider that most of the n''s actual wealth is contained in fixed assets like mines or weapons stores, this would probably mean these treasures donated by the n could be anywhere from 60% to 80% of this ns total liquid assets!

    Dante was truly pleased by the sight of all these treasures in front of him and couldn''t help but take a moment to admire the sight.

    Seeing Dante''s smile, Rn knew that now was the time to act.

    He quickly urged Karther to move as he presented the treasures to Dante

    "Lord Dragon Son, please forgive this old man but these are all the treasures my pitiful n could bring you"

    As Rn was speaking, Dante rose from his chair and slowly descended the steps between them, eventually standing before the kneeling Rn.

    "Is that all?" asked Dante in an emotionless voice.

    "Pa.. pardon?" Said Rn, struggling to get his words out

    "You heard me," said Dante

    "I asked, is that all you have to offer?"

    "Lord Dragon Son, please have mercy! My Baleview n is only sorge I can assure you these are all the treasures we can bring at the-"

    Before Rn could even finish speaking, Dante lightly flicked his wrist, bringing out a parchment of paper.

    Once Rn got a good look at the parchment of paper, Rn honestly felt his heart stop beating!

    Holding the piece of paper in front of Rn''s eyes, Dante smirked cruelly as he began speaking.

    "As I''m sure you can see for yourself, this parchment doesn''t contain very good news for you and your Baleview n."

    "An official document of solicitation for the Legendary Death de guild, asking for the assassination of the new Dragon Son. And all this signed by none other than your wonderful son, Marco!"

    looking at the piece of paper in front of him, Rn almost copsed!

    Before this, he had actually felt some sadness at the disappearance and supposed death of his son, but now all that instantly vanished!

    If anything, Rn wished he could bring that bastard back to life just so he could beat him back to death again!

    Before, even if Dante wanted to deal with the Baleview n, it would have to be done in the dark by using various schemes and underhanded plots.

    But now, with the evidence that Dante had, the Baleview n was as good as finished!

    What Dante had was evidence of a serious crime.

    The assassination of its young talents was one thing that the Hidden Dragon Academy truly despised.

    If they were killed in open battle, there was a chance that the Hidden Dragon Academy could overlook it and move on.

    But if one of their top talents was actually sneakily assassinated, then the Hidden Dragon Academy wouldn''t rest until they had the culprit''s head!

    This wasn''t just something said by the Hidden Dragon Academy for show, they really had evidence to back it up.

    On more than one asion had the Hidden Dragon Academy gone to war against other countries for just having the courage to assassinate their young talents!

    Of course, all this was done with the help of the Vaenam Kingdom, and there were also many other factors to take into consideration.

    But this took nothing away from the fact that The Hidden Dragon Academy didn''t y around when it came to protecting their young talents.

    Any assassination attempt would have to pay in blood!

 Chapter 128 - The Plea Of The Baleview Clan 3

    Rn''s body broke down into a nervous sweat as his body shook nervously

    Dante''s cold, serpentine eyes glowed as he looked down at Rn.

    "Don''t worry my friend, as long as you do me some favours when I ask, nobody else would have to hear of this news."

    sensing the lifeline that Dante threw, Karther was much faster than his father and quickly replied.

    "Of course Lord Dragon Son, it would be our pleasure to help you in any way"

    hearing this, Dante let out a cold smile.

    It truly was much easier working with smart people that understood their situation.

    "Now, what I''m gonna need you guys to do is pretty simple really," said Dante

    "I need elemental treasures, and the more powerful, the better.

    The type of elemental treasure doesn''t matter in the slightest, but you will either need to bring me an elemental treasure or tell me the exact location of an elemental treasure.

    The only catch is that all this must be done without allowing for other people to link your actions back to me."

    Hearing this,

    "But Lord Dragon Son, Elemental treasures... they''ve never been something easy to hear news of, much less find-"

    "I don''t care," said Dante in apletely emotionless voice.

    "This is not a request. For the safety of yourself and your own n, I must get that information. Am I clear?"

    As Dante spoke, the terrifying Aura of Dragon fear radiated from him, making both Rn and Karther feel as if they had been ced in a chokehold.

    "Of...Of course, sir Dragon son," stuttered Karther as he struggled to even breathe under the pressure

    "Good."

    Dante just smiled as he released the pressure on them.

    Sensing the chance to leave, Karther quickly spoke up.

    "Now we''ve gotten our instructions we shall take our leave, but don''t worry sir, as soon as we return we will immediately begin the search for Elemental treasures!"

    Dante didn''t even bother to look back at them and nonchntly waved them off as he returned slowly to his chair.

    As soon as Rn had Karther had got Dante''s approval, they both scrambled out of the room, not even wasting a second to look back.

    Reba watched this sorry sight before she turned towards Dante as she asked,

    "So what''s the deal? Why even bother to choose such a weak n to help you?"

    "I''m sure if you use arger n, not only would they have more information, they would also have mower resources as to possibly even directly give you these elemental treasures you need!"

    Reba''s point made sense. After all, a small n like the Baleview n would only have a fraction of the power as one gained by arge n.

    Even Lennox''s n would be more resourceful than a n like the Baleview n.

    "Reba, your points make sense, but there''s just one problem with asking for help fromrge ns,

    I won''t be able to control them!"

    Hearing Dante''s strange words, Reba raised an eyebrow in confusion.

    "See Reba, you and I know that a major reason I can even have such terrifying talent and power is because of these elemental treasures."

    "But Even back at the n, only 5 people were aware of this fact. You, Uncle Gavin, Grandpa jarred my father and, of course, myself."

    "Some things should just never be spread outside, and of course, such vital secrets were definitely one of them."

    If one-day such information about myself spread, it could easily used by mypetitors and enemies to hinder my growth.

    Or even worse, these very same people could use this information to set up traps or even ckmail me!

    That''s why, at least for the time while I''m still establishing myself in the capital, no one else can be allowed to know this news"

    After taking a moment to think on Dante''s exnation, Reba nodded as she epted Dante''s reasoning, but she still couldn''t help ask,

    "Well, what you''re saying makes a lot of sense, but it still doesn''t exin why you''re using such a weak n."

    Hearing Reba''s question, Dante just smirked as he replied,

    "well, you''ve seen the situation with that n.

    Due to the stupid actions of one of the patriarch sons, I have almost full control over that n.

    All it would take us for me to pass on some information to the Hidden Dragon Academy for them to bepletely annihted!

    And It''s because of this that I have full confidence to use them.

    Even if they managed to discover anything, I could easily control them to prevent them from spreading any information and if they were so crazy as to try to spread rumours...

    Well, the only fate left for them would be utter destruction!"

    at that moment, Dante''s actions all made sense to Reba

    He didn''t choose the Baleview n cause they were his best option.

    He chose the Baleview n as it was Pthe only n he was 100% sure that he couldpletely control!

    After hearing all this, she couldn''t help but look at Dante in a different light

    In her opinion, Dante had always been very brash.

    He was arrogant, greedy, and all his actions carried a ridiculous level of pride and confidence.

    He wouldn''t hesitate to fight if he felt like anything had stepped on his pride and regrly jumped cultivation levels to fight his foes

    But after seeing his actions today, Reba had seen a new side of him today.

    Pragmatic.

    What she had seen from Dante was a sense of pragmatism, to the extent that it almost seemed like paranoia instead.

    But while all this may seem shocking to Reba, for Dante, this was only a matter of fact.

    If the few cultivation novels he read had taught him anything, it was that people could never be trusted!

    Sure, there were sometimes trustworthy friends that would be willing to go to hell and back for the protagonist, but howmon were they really?

 Chapter 129 - First Day

    Sure, there were sometimes trustworthy friends that would be willing to go to hell and back for the protagonist, but howmon were they really?

    For every protagonist that was fortunate enough to have that kind of a friend, there were at least 10 others that had been crippled by a lover or sometimes even a blood brother!

    Dante refused to believe that those Heavenly Emperors that had been living for thousand years were all fools and only surrounded themselves with bad people. Yet, in the end, weren''t they all cut down and betrayed by everyone they ever held close?

    People change, this was the simple hard truth.

    A person who could take a bullet for you one day could easily wake up and stab you in the back the next.

    It was because of this fact that although he told Reba and co some things; they were still mostly left in the dark.

    whilst it may seem like they know a lot about Dante, like the fact about him needing elemental treasures to be stronger

    The truth was, they still knew almost next to nothing.

    Dragon souls, his system or even his passive abilities, Dante kept the true origin about most of his powers a close secret

    Even the fact about Dante needing elemental treasures wasn''tpletely true.

    What Dante needed was EP, Energy Points, not elemental treasures.

    And whilst elemental treasures may be the easiest way for Dante to get Energy Points, they certainly weren''t the only way.

    Ever since Dante hade to this world and exined his abilities, there had always been omissions and loopholes that allowed for him to go back.

    No information would ever leave his mouth that might leave him trapped. There was always a n B.

    Not having a back-up n in a world as crazy as the Martial Spirit World was only asking for death!

    Eventually, Dante just shook his head of these slightly depressing thoughts as he sat back in his luxurious chair.

    After gettingfortable, called out,

    "Guards! Bring the next person in!"

    So just like that, another person came in to offer gifts and try to build a friendship with this notorious new Dragon Son.

    Dante continued the rest of the day like that, meeting with various n representatives and building up a decent rtionship with the various ns in the capital city...

    ...

    The next Day Dante woke up early and headed to the academy.

    He didn''t even need anybody to wake him up today, as even he himself knew he couldn''t afford to bete.

    Today was the start of the first lessons at the Hidden Dragon Academy!

    The structure of learning at the Hidden Dragon Academy was quite normal.

    Depending on the department you ended up choosing, each person would be assigned to different sses and need to attend both theory based lectures on the principles of cultivation and also attend practicalbat training lessons.

    The aim Department of War had always been to train valiant soldiers and generals for the Vaenam kingdom. So out of all the departments, they had the least theory-based lessons with most of them being on practicalbat and the practical aspects of warfare.

    but this didn''t mean there were no theory based lessons.

    The very first lesson that Dante was going to have was supposed to be a theory-based lesson.

    after navigating his way through the academy for a while, Dante reached the area for the Department of War and soon came across his lecture hall.

    it was in a new building but the building wasn''t as luxuriously decorated as others he had seen and had a very minimalist aesthetic about it.

    As Dante entered his lecture hall, he was greeted with a familiar sight.

    the room was very simr to that of a typical lecture hall from his previous life.

    It was arranged to have many elevated rows, and a board ced at the front of the ss.

    As Dante walked in, he could see that there were already a few people who had arrived before him.

    As soon as he walked in, the entire room seemed to go silent as everyone stared in his direction.

    Dante was already used to the Strange looks he had been receiving ever since he had be a Dragon son, so he just ignored them and picked an empty row near the front of the ss to sit down.

    Dante had arrived in ss pretty early, so all he could do was wait for the lecturer toe in and teach.

    As time went on, the ss started to fill up. But one strange thing that Dante realised was that no matter how much the ss filled up, his row still remainedpletely empty, as everyone just refused to sit near him.

    In a full ssroom, his row waspletely empty and stuck out like a sore thumb!

    Dante chose not to dwell on this thought and closed his eyes to go into meditation and pass the time.

    But just as Dante got into afortable mood, he suddenly heard someone call out to him.

    "Yo Dante!"

    looking up, Dante turned to see Lennox with a smile on his face.

    "Haha! Good!" Laughed Lennox.

    "It seemed like we''re both going to be in the same ss. As the Dragon Son of the department, I''m going to be relying on you to help me out!"

    Dante just shook his head, seeing Lennox''s merry mood once again, and started catching up on everything that had gone on in the past few days.

    As Lennox and Dante were speaking, Dante''s attention seemed to reduce a little, so it took him a while to realise somebody else was approaching him.

    Suddenly Dante turned around to see who wasing down his row and the sight really shocked him.

    "Klent?!"

    "What on earth are you doing here?!"

    Dante''s surprise waspletely reasonable.

    For someone who followed the true path of the sword, like Klent, the department of war really was the wrong choice.

    The Department of Governance was the true department to go into if you wanted to develop the path of the sword.

 Chapter 130 - Battle Formations!

    The Department of Governance was the true department to go into if you wanted to develop the path of the sword.

    As the department that managed to develop the legendary sword Saint, Swords are the go too weapon there and they have the best sword techniques and instructors by far.

    Although the Department of war andbat does have its own benefits, like more practical experience and higher quality of life and death training.

    For someone focused on the sword like Klent, it was still hard to see why they would choose this department over one like the Department of Governance, which has a clear history of training a sword Saint!

    Klent seemed to understand Dante''s surprise and sighed as he exined himself.

    "Well, the true reason I couldn''t choose the Department of Governance is that I and them are notpatible"

    Dante couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow at Klent''s exnation

    "Well, more correctly, our sword paths are notpatible." Exined Klent

    "The sword training and techniques in the Department of governance are more about experience and practice and have a really high focus onprehension and less on actual battle effectiveness"

    From looking at myself and my way of development, I realised that I actually stand to develop more from havingbat experience than just practice. Just take my battle with you for example.

    It was only through you pushing me to my absolute limits that allowed for me to actuallyprehend the first step of sword intent, sword force."

    If Klent was being honest, he himself didn''t even understand half of what he was saying.

    In fact, yesterday, Klent was actually nning on choosing the Departments of governance as his desired department to study in. It was actually Sword master Rho who told Klent all this information and advised that he choose the department of war.

    "But above all else, the major reason I chose this department is that, to truly master the sword, you have to rely on your own understanding andprehension. , "Continued Klent

    "If I joined the Department of Governance, I would just be following in the Sword Saint''s footsteps, not seeking a way to surpass him!"

    This was, of course, another thing told to Klent by Sword master Rho but Klent wouldn''t be as stupid to tell this information to anyone.

    Dante just listened to Klent''s words with a strange expression on his face.

    "Ermm... I don''t even understand half of what you said, but whatever makes you happy, I guess?"

    As Dante said this, he smacked Klent on the back as heughed

    "But don''t worry, seeing as you joined the Department of War and Combat, as the Dragon Son of the Department, I can assure you that you won''t suffer under my watch!"

    As Dante was saying this, a cold faced muscr man walked into the room.

    Even though the man was in a ssroom, he was still wearing the deep Maroon chest te, the signature equipment of the department of War.

    As soon as the man entered, the chatter inside of the ssroom instantly disappeared.

    "Hello ss, My name is Mr Kriel."

    "In my ss, I just ask 2 things. 1 you pay attention and 2, you remain quiet."

    As Mr Kreil was speaking, he gradually released a brutal aura that stunned the crowd into silence.

    under the aura released by Mr Kriel, most of the ss was even struggling to breathe.

    Obviously, Dante wasn''t affected by this and easily resisted Mr Kreil''s aura.

    But even though Dante resisted the aura, he didn''t release his dragon aura and fully confront him.

    He was still new to this ss and fully confronting the teacher was never a good way to start his ss.

    "Well now, that the rules are in ce, "Let me talk about the department you have joined today."

    "The aim of this department is in its name. ''The Department of War!''"

    "Our Department aims to train experts of war that will go to benefit

    Soldiers, Calvary, War Generals!

    These are just some of the vital aspects of the military that the Department of war trains for the Vaenam Kingdom every single year.

    Of all these things that the Department of war can teach, they have many specialities, but the one thing that allows us to stand out from all other organisations and even other departments is our formations, or more specifically, Our Battle formations!"

    As Mr Kriel was speaking, a cold smile appeared on his face as he turned towards Dante and made eye contact.

    seeing such a smile, Dante didn''t even need to think twice before he knew what was about to happen.

    "Seeing as we have such an important member of the department here with us, why don''t we let the Dragon Son exin this to the ss?"

    Dante only gave an annoyed sigh as he got up from his chair.

    But this didn''t mean Dante was unprepared.

    Dante had been getting the feeling that his reputation as the Dragon son would most definitely lead to simr cases like the one he was dealing with right now.

    So Dante went ahead and asked Reba to give him a brief exnation of all the important facts he would have to know about the department.

    After clearing his throat, Dante finally spoke.

    "The definition of a formation is simply the use of a refined structure or form to manipte ambient spirit energy to achieve a certain effect.

    The things used to craft these forms or structures can vary greatly from runes and inscriptions to gs and sometimes even mountains.

    but one thing is consistent, and that is as long as they achieve the effect of manipting the ambient spirit energy to achieve a certain effect, it can be deemed as a formation.

    In the department of war, we use a slightly different type of formation to the ones wemonly see known as battle formations.

    Instead of using gs or inscriptions to manipte the ambient spirit energy, we use people to achieve a simr effect.

    With a strong cultivator acting as the core, which is usually a general of the kingdom, Various soldierse together to power up a battle formation which allows for a horrifying boost in the core cultivators strength, with powerful cultivators even being able to control battle formations asrge as 10 thousand men granting them unbelievable boosts in strength.

    The advantage of battle formations is that the mobility and flexibility of humans allow for them to be much more versatile than the traditional formations.. Thus allowing it to be the core theory of training in our Vaenam Kingdom military and Department of war in the hidden Dragon Academy."

 Chapter 131 - A Dragons Appraisal

    "Thus allowing it to be the core theory of training in our Vaenam Kingdom military and Department of war in the hidden Dragon Academy." said Dante

    "p! p! p!"

    "An excellent exnation! I would expect nothing less from the Most talented Dragon son in the history of the Hidden Dragon Academy!"

    As Dante said, the Battle formations we use in the Department of War share some strong simrities and principles to the typical Array formations used in the Department of Weapons and Arrays.

    It''s just that unlike the strange forms and acute uracy trained in the Department of Weapons and Arrays, in the Department of War, you will be constantly trained in therge group battle drills and army management, as well as battle tactics.

    This is all to ensure the excellent deployment and use of your future battle formations!"

    As Mr Kriel carried on with his exnation, Dante slowly zoned out.

    As the Dragon Son of War, Dante had already been briefed on all this information beforehand, so it was just difficult for Dante to pay attention to as most of the information being said was something he had already been taught before.

    Regardless of Dante''s waning interest, Mr Kriel continued his lecture exining the future course and its aim and development for another whole hour before he finally stopped.

    "Well, that''s the overview of the entire course that you need to know for now.

    I won''t bore you guys and keep you here any longer. But just remember one thing before you leave.

    Your first practical lesson of the year will be at the training grounds early tomorrow. Don''t bete.

    ss dismissed!"

    After saying this, Mr Kriel calmly packed away his things and soon left the ssroom.

    As soon as Mr Kreil left the room, the ce erupted in noise.

    Instantly, all the students around all started talking to each other about everything that was said during their first meeting with Mr Kriel and even Dante''s row was no exception.

    "Yo, Dante did you hear that?" asked an excited Lennox

    "We''ll soon get to learn all the secrets of the Kingdom''s legendary battle formations! Maybe one day I can even get to control a general level formation with hundreds of soldiers fighting under my control!"

    Lennox could barely contain his excitement as he seemed to already be lost in his own thoughts.

    Even the cold-faced Klent wasn''t spared from this buzzing atmosphere, as a bright gleam of excitement and anticipation was clearly visible in his eye

    Dante justughed as he said,

    "Now let''s not get ahead of ourselves. You heard what Mr Kreil said. We''ll probably have countless training sessions before we even get the chance to control a 50 man battle formation, much less the legendary thousand man battle formations."

    Hearing Dante''s words, Lennox''s shoulders sank as some of the excitement visibly disappeared from his face.

    "I hear what you''re saying Dante, but can''t a man dream?"

    Dante just smiled as he patted Lennox on the shoulder.

    "Now don''t be so quick to feel down. It''s only our first day in the academy. There''s still a lot we haven''t even seen yet"

    "So how about it? You down to explore?" Asked Dante

    Lennox''s down mood didn''t evenst for a second longer, as soon a wide smile appeared on his face as soon he burst intoughter.

    "Hahaha! Of course you''re right Dante, There''s still much more that we haven''t seen about the Hidden Dragon Academy.-

    so what are we waiting for? Let''s go!"

    As Dante got up, he turned towards Klent,

    "Klent, you know I was speaking to you as well. Are you going toe with us?"

    Klent just smiled as he shook his head.

    "Unfortunately, I have something to deal with today, but next time I''m sure I''ll be able toe along with you guys."

    As Klent said this, he got up and after saying goodbye, headed out of the ss.

    Dante paid little attention to Klent''s exit until his moonlight sword passed by Klent''s old rusty sword.

    Instantly, his Moonlight Sword started acting strange glowing and buzzing loudly.

    Although nobody else could understand what was going on, Dante himself had a clear idea of what his sword was trying to say.

    ''That Sword! He''s just like me!''

    Maybe it was because, before its recent transformation, the moonlight sword was just too weak to notice, but now the Moonlight Sword could easily tell the sword for what it was.

    A sword with a mind of its own. A sword with its very own soul!

    Dante instantly stirred his dragon soul to get a better look.

    instantly, his normal blue eyes morphed into a pair of ring serpentine slits, and what Dante saw shocked him.

    A strange film of unknown energy was coated around Klent''s rusty old sword. If it wasn''t for his moonlight swords reaction, he would have never have bothered to examine this boring old sword.

    Dante exerted some effort from his dragon soul and peered through the coat of energy around the sword.

    Instantly, all the blood in Dante''s body seemed to boil. Scales started forming on his arms underneath his robe.

    luckily Dante managed to control himself and quickly suppress his reaction.

    You see, all Dragons have an innate ability that they were born with and that is to instantly know the value of any treasure they see.

    Maybe it''s because of the horribly greedy nature of a dragon and them never wanting to be scammed, but somewhere along the lines, Dragons evolved an innate appraisal skill that allowed them to instantly identify the value of a treasure.

    This ability was something that couldn''t be ignored, as the appraisal was practically wless!

    When given a random treasure, a dragon could instantly identify its value down to the veryst gold coin.

    But this ability dide with some drawbacks,

    The only ability that came with identification process was to determine the item''s exact value and worth, meaning that a Dragon''s appraisal would not allow them to know an item''s specific purpose or function unless they had the already required knowledge to do so

 Chapter 132 - Exploring The Academy

    meaning that a Dragon''s appraisal would not allow them to know an item''s specific purpose or function unless they had the already required knowledge to do so

    And it''s because of this strange ability that Dante had such an extreme reaction.

    He could instantly tell the value of the sword at Klent''s waist.

    Believe it or not, the simple sword hanging at Klent''s waist was actually a fate-changing treasure!

    seeing such a rare treasure, Dante''s greedy Draconic nature almost took over!

    If it wasn''t for Dante''s strong self-control, he could have lost himself and attacked Klent right then and there!

    Eventually, after a heavy struggle, Dante managed to get himself back under control and suppressed his draconic urges.

    Meanwhile, As Klent was leaving the lecture hall, he suddenly seemed to feel an rming threat.

    It was as if he had been marked as prey by some kind of archaic beast.

    Instantly, Klent''s body went into alert as he quickly spun around, drawing his sword.

    But as he turned around, he was only met with the strange looks of both Lennox and Dante.

    ''Huh? That''s strange. I swear I felt something..."

    Quickly sheathing his sword, Klent didn''t bother to think too much about it and quickly left the room that had been giving him an ufortable feeling.

    ...

    Back to Dante and Lennox,

    Lennox suddenly put his hand on Dante''s shoulder as he asked,

    "Dante, you good? Back there you seemed a little off-"

    Dante quickly swatted Lennox''s hand off of him as he calmed himself down.

    "I''m fine Lennox. It''s nothing to worry about."

    Seeing the quick change in Dante''s mood, Lennox only shrugged his shoulders as he continued,

    "Well, are you still okay with exploring the academy? It''s okay to leave it for another day if you''re feeling unwell."

    hearing this, Dante just smiled as he replied.

    "Trust me, I''m okay. I just had a little episode but now I''ve got everything under control, there''s nothing to worry about "

    hearing this, a wide smile burst onto Lennox''s face.

    "Well, if you''re all good, then what are we waiting for? Let''s go and see what this ce is all about!"

    like that, Dante and Lennoxpletely disregarded Dante''s brief episode and headed out to see the hidden Dragon academy....

    ...

    After they left the ssroom, Dante and Lennox had been making full use of their opportunity to explore.

    First, they went to the training grounds and thebat arena.

    This was a ce in the Hidden Dragon Academy dedicated to sparring and training between its students, and so it was always a busy ce.

    Dante and Lennox even observed a few impressive battles between their seniors in the short time they spent there.

    In addition to the normal tforms, there was also the life and death battle tforms.

    These were where two students with absolutely irresolvable conflicts could fight each other to the death without the school interfering or pursuing any action against any murders or brutal actionsmitted on the tform.

    Anything that happens on the tform is between the two fighters.

    The school has officially washed its hands of all consequences.

    Now, if you ended up injuring somebody and their seniors came looking for revenge, as long as the fight happened on the battle tform, the school would still not get involved.

    Every fight that you fought and the recuperations that came with it were on you, so fight at your own risk!

    Luckily for Dante and Lennox, there was no such urrence today, so they didn''t get to witness the more gruesome side of the battle arena.

    After checking out the battle arena, Dante and Lennox moved on to check the Grand library next.

    This was a ce where most of the martial techniques and cultivation techniques used in the Hidden Dragon Academy were stored.

    Rumour has it that almost anything you need could be found in this library if you searched hard enough, it''s just that over the years the library had gotten sorge even the Academy themselves had lost the records of a lot of the books even kept there!

    Seeing as Dante and Lennox had little time left to explore the academy, they only took a brief look at the Grand library and decided to save it for a proper exploration on another day.

    After leaving the Grand library, Dante and Lennox were headed towards their next destination, Arguably the busiest ce in the whole of the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    The Hidden Dragon market!

    This ce was an organised exchange market where all students from the Hidden Dragon Academy have the opportunity to set up a stall and buy and sell goods between each other at their own predetermined prices.

    Because of the nature of the Hidden Dragon Market, it was clear which two departments stand to benefit from it most.

    These were, of course, The Department of Alchemy and also The Department of Weapons and Arrays.

    These two departments were the only two departments that specialise in the actual production of goods.

    Be it Weapons and armour or even simple healing pills, the ability for the students of these departments to sell their crafted goods allowed for them to not only have a major say in the current state of the exchange market but also make a big profit.

    Unlike the Departments of War or the Departments of Governance that really don''t make any profit during their time spent learning, the Department of Alchemy and Department of Weapons and Arrays had ways to possibly even leave the academy much richer than when they entered.

    But Dante wasn''t too worried about spending money.

    With his innate Dragon sense of treasures, Dante was confident that he would be able to not only identify big treasures but also manage to get a good bargain for them.

    As Dante and Lennox were walking through the market, they spent some time stopping and assessing the avable goods.

    But despite all their searching, Dante and Lennox still didn''t manage to find anything that caught their eye.

 Chapter 133 - Ministers V Generals

    But despite all their searching, Dante and Lennox still didn''t manage to find anything that caught their eye.

    So Dante and Lennox continued their search.

    but as Lennox and Dante were walking deeper into the market, they suddenly heard a loudmotion.

    "What! I''m the one who has already bought that armour piece! You can''t just sell it to another person after I bought it!"

    "look. I''ll give you a refund if your money is all you''re worried about, but I''m afraid I can''t sell that item to you any longer!"

    Dante looked over to see the cause of themotion and was surprised to see some familiar faces.

    The person who wasining about buying a treasure was Gawain!

    He was standing in a crowd of students that also appeared to be his ssmates. Opposite Gawain was a group of people in luxurious robes. Just from the material used to make them, you could tell that the clothes these people were wearing were definitely not cheap.

    Suddenly, the stall owner started speaking again.

    "I''m really sorry for this inconvenience, but I''m afraid I can''t sell you this armour piece."

    Gawain just couldn''t ept this exnation.

    Back at the Kinsman n, he was one of the top talents and even rival ns like the ter n and Pierce n had to treat him with respect.

    yet here he was, being publicly humiliated like he was not even of importance

    "Why won''t you sell it to me?" asked Gawain in frustration.

    "Is it because the person who wants it is the son of a government official?"

    "It is exactly like that!" replied the stall owner without hesitation.

    "I will not offend the son of an official for some random kid from the country."

    after hearing this, the crowd of people dressed luxuriously opposite Gawain''s crowd instantly burst outughing as a man stepped forward.

    "Hahaha! You freshman brutes of the Department of War need to learn something. This world isn''t just about fighting and war, connections really do go a long way!"

    After saying that, the man just burst outughing again as he watched Gawain clench his fist in frustration.

    While Dante was watching all this, he suddenly heard someone curse near him.

    "Damn! Those dogs from the Department of Governance are doing it again!"

    "Aren''t those assholes embarrassed yet? They do this every year!"

    From the words of the surrounding people, Dante instantly knew what was going on.

    While it may seem like Gawain was being targeted, he was just an unfortunate victim in the wrong ce at the wrong time!

    every year the Department of Governance would do a simr thing as what they''re doing now and try to bully the freshmen from the department of war to intimidate them in their first few days.

    And although this kind of behaviour wasn''t endorsed by the Academy, it wasn''t explicitly punished either.

    This allowed for the Department of Governance to continue this stupid tradition up until today.

    And this tradition all stems from the poor rtionship between the Department of Governance and the Department of War.

    Since ancient times, Ministers and Generals have never really got along.

    This is because it''s very rare that there were instances where generals and both ministers can benefit from each other and each faction will of course act in its own interest, which will inadvertently lead to the inconvenience of the other faction.

    Ministers are useless in times of war, and Generals are useless in times of peace.

    This saying couldn''t be taken literally, but there was still an aspect of truth behind it.

    Times when one faction is stronger usually corrted to the weakening of the other, leading to an unpleasant rtionship between the two.

    This feeling of dislike filtered down to the Hidden Dragon Academy and into the departments that represented both factions.

    With Ministers being represented by the Department of Governance and Generals being represented by the Department of War.

    This all led to the current scene we are seeing here today.

    Knowing the situation, Dante couldn''t sit still any longer.

    He was already going to help Gawain regardless, but now he knew this was a matter concerning the entire Department of War, It was impossible for Dante to stay still.

    He was still The Dragon Son of the department after all.

    He couldn''t just sit by and watch as his department was bullied in front of him.

    Hesitating no longer, Dante stepped forward towards the crowd ofughing students.

    the man leading the group from the Department of governance continued taunting Gawain as he spoke

    "Hahaha! So much for the valiance of soldiers of war. Just look at them!"

    "They''ve already been bullied to such a state, yet they still stand there and take it."

    Hearing this, Gawain was furious!

    The group opposite him had an average cultivation level in the Martial Journeyman Realm, whilst the strongest in his group were only in the Martial novice realm. After all, they were still only first years.

    Not everyone was a monster that could skip across realms.

    If Gawain let his anger get to him and fought back, not only would they be humiliated, but they would also be beaten like dogs!

    But despite knowing all this, even Gawain had a limit, and just as he was about to react, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

    "Really? The Department of War has no courage?"

    As Klent looked back, he could see a familiar white-haired young man step forward with a dazzling aura of confidence.

    "If that''s really what you think, then I hope you won''t be offended by my next actions."

    Seeing Dante approach so suddenly, the young man from the Department of governance was stunned. But this onlysted for a quick second before a confident smirk grew on his face.

    "Hahaha! Sir Dragon Son, although your talent may be outstanding, you seem to be forgetting something.

    you are only still in the Martial Novice realm and there''s at least 10 us here all in the Martial journeyman realm!

 Chapter 134 - Prince Lloyd

    "You are only still in the Martial Novice realm and there''s at least 10 of us here all in the Martial journeyman realm!

    Maybe in a few years time, I won''t even have the confidence to stand in front of you, but right now, you don''t have the strength to tell me what to do."

    Dante didn''t even respond and only snorted at this im as he released his Aura of Dragon Fear.

    The ground seemed to shake as a devastating aura spread out, with Dante as the centre.

    "Thud!"

    As soon as the group of students from the Department of Governance were engulfed by Dante''s aura, all of them shivered, with some of the weaker ones even copsing where they stood.

    Dante had an emotionless look on his face as he asked,

    "So, is this enough power to speak with you?"

    The young man from the department of Governance struggled to open his mouth under Dante''s pressure, but before he could even reply, someone else spoke for him.

    "Now, now. As a Dragon Son, don''t you think it''s a bit too much to interfere in the disagreements of the regr students?"

    Dante looked up at the sound of the voice.

    As he looked up, he saw a handsome man with sky blue hair and violet eyes look down on him.

    "Prince Lloyd!" cried out the students in joy

    Although the students from the Department of Governance were d to see him, Dante didn''t share an ounce of such joy.

    First son of King Raiden,

    Child of the Storm,

    Dragon Son of Governance

    Prince Lloyd had many titles, but one thing was for sure.

    This was someone that even Dante, in all his arrogance and pride, had to at least respect.

    Slowly floating down from the sky, Lloydnded in front of the students from the Department of Governance.

    with a light tap of his foot on the floor, a terrifying flood of lightning spread with Lloyd as the centre, removing Dante''s Dragon aura on the students

    "Dante. This all appears to be a misunderstanding between the two parties. How about we both let things end here?"

    As Lloyd spoke, he released the aura of a fully-fledged Martial Adept level cultivator, seemingly pressuring Dante to follow his suggestion.

    Now don''t get things twisted.

    Dante respected Lloyd, but this didn''t mean he feared him.

    Martial Adept or not, they were both still Dragon Son''s of The Hidden Dragon Academy And his status of Prince was nothing to be feared.

    The man was still only just that, a prince!

    He wasn''t even named next in line for the Throne!

    There were tens of princes and princesses running around the Vaenam Kingdom, all with the right and potential to inherit the throne.

    His status as Prince was not enough to force Dante to do anything!

    Hearing Lloyd''s words, Dante only smiled coldly as he replied.

    "That suggestion you made is just fine. I can agree with everything you''ve said as long as all the people involved personally apologise to everyone affected from my Department of War."

    As Lloyd heard Dante''s words, his warm smile slowly morphed into a cold frown

    "Now Dante, Don''t take things too far." Replied Lloyd.

    But despite Lloyd''s warning, Dante just wouldn''t ept it.

    "Take things too far?!

    As the instigators of this conflict, it''s only right that your people from the Department of Governance apologise to my people."

    As Dante was speaking, he mockingly put on a puzzled look as he turned towards Lloyd

    "Don''t tell me that as the Prince of The Vaenam Kingdom, you don''t even know the principle of basic etiquette?"

    as soon as Lloyd heard Dante, he couldn''t help but burst out intoughter

    "Hahaha! Basic etiquette?"

    "Dante, As both your fellow Dragon Son and your senior In The Hidden Dragon Academy, let me teach you a little lesson about the world."

    As Klent spoke, ck clouds of thunder and lightning started to form overhead as the loud wails of a terrifying storm could be heard

    But despite all these strange events, Lloyd''s words were unaffected and managed to pierce through the storm easily, sounding out loud and clear through the Dragon Market

    "Before you can speak to a person and demand basic etiquette, you should make sure you have at least the strength to speak first!"

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    As soon as Lloyd spoke, countless lightning bolts poured down from the sky onto the ground around him

    "Come out, Storm Giant!"

    With his cry, the sea of thunder around him seemed to go berserk as soon, a blue giant d in full protective steel armour, slowly crawled out of the sea of lightning.

    This Thundery blue behemoth slowly rose to its feet, towering over the entire market.

    Now overflowing with the power of thunder and lightning, Lloyd asked again,

    "Now I''ll ask again Dante, let''s end things here. Let all the students leave."

    hearing Lloyd, Dante only sadly shook his head as he replied,

    "My stance hasn''t changed, Lloyd. I''ll let them go only if they apologise to the people from my department."

    Hearing this, Lloyd couldn''t help butugh.

    "Dante, you''re too proud! If you keep up this attitude, one day it''ll cost you!"

    "Hahaha! Maybe you''re right Lloyd. But one thing I know is that today is definitely not going to be that day!"

    Hearing Dante''s ims, Lloyd let off a disdainful snort as he waved his hand, causing the raging sea of lightning to rush towards Dante and the students for the Department of War!

    Dante didn''t hold back as he quickly pulled his gigantic moonlight sword from his back

    In face of the sea of lightning, all the blood in Dante''s body seemed to roar as his whole body shed in a dazzling silver!

    This silver light ended up mixing with the aquamarine colour of his sword to merge and form a truly mystical colour disy.

    But Dante didn''t have time to admire this wondrous scene, and coldly called out,

    "Lunar Sword technique, Rising New Moon!"

 Chapter 135 - Prince Lloyd 2

    "Lunar Sword technique, Rising New Moon!"

    Suddenly, a glowing silver moon we were all used to seeing by now, rapidly formed in the sky above the market.

    "Fall!"

    With Dante''s decree, the phantom moon seemed to shake as countless silvery-blue beams of energy hurtled towards the ground

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    for a second, there seemed to be only two colours in the world as the entire field waspletely covered in a terrifying wave of yellow and silver

    With Dante''s decree, the phantom moon seemed to shake as silvery-blue beams of energy bombarded the ground

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    Explosions of silver and yellow blinded the view for a second.

    but as the light cleared, a smirking Lloyd could be seen floating nonchntly as he looked down on Dante

    "Dante, you did well to survive my test. But I hope you don''t think that was an actual attack."

    "I guess that first move could be considered a small teaser." continued Lloyd

    "Now that you''ve got a taste, let''s make things a bit more interesting now, shall we?!"

    Hearing this, Dante was furious!

    He was clearly being looked down on.

    Lloyd wasn''t taking him seriously at all, he was just ying with him!

    Regardless of Dante''s frustration, Lloyd started acting as lightning started flickering across his whole body, slowly forming into a bolt in his hand.

    Dante wouldn''t let Lloyd just power up in front of him and activated his movement technique

    "Emperors Descent!"

    The ground shook from Dante''s force as he hurled himself towards Lloyd, with no care or fear for the great difference in cultivation realms.

    As Dante approached, he could clearly see a smirk on Lloyd''s face, but this didn''t affect him at all.

    Without slowing down, Dante approached and smashed down his humongous sword on Lloyd''s lightning bolt!"

    "BANG!"

    A terrifying Shockwave spread out for miles, with Dante and Lloyd as the centre.

    The Shockwave spread through the floor, causing all the stalls to shake, sending goods and produce flying everywhere.

    Some unfortunate spectators with unsteady footing even ended up falling t on their face in front of this mini earthquake!

    A blinding wave of silver and yellow subsided. The spectators were greeted with a sight they could have never expected.

    "Well, are you two done yet?"

    Instead of Dante and Lloyd fighting, what could be seen were two old men restraining them both.

    To no one''s surprise, these men were none other than the heads of both the Department of War and the Department of governance

    Marcus and Vincent.

    "You guys know the rules, no fighting unless it''s in the battle arena. If you''ve got a problem, you should go settle it there.

    As the Dragon Sons of the academy, you should know better.

    You should be the ones setting an example, not fighting in the streets like hoodlums!" shouted Marco in frustration.

    Seeing his master''s fury, Lloyd backed off and quickly apologised

    "I''m sorry Master, I just got a bit heated this time and let my emotion get the better of me"

    As Lloyd was getting scolded, Dante wasn''t being spared either.

    "Dante! Are you tired of living?! Why are you trying to fight someone in the Martial adept realm?"

    "But Granduncle Vincent, How could I allow are Department of War to be humiliated like that? As the Dragon Son, I have a duty to stand up for our department"

    "Fool!" replied Vincent

    "What''s the point of standing up for something if you die in the process?! As the Dragon Son of War, you should at least be able to identify battles you can''t possibly win!"

    "Who said I was going to lose in the first pace..."

    Hearing Dante mutter under his breath, Vincent gave up.

    just by looking at his stubbornness, he knew that it was going to take time to change his opinion.

    Giving up, Vincent turned towards Marco.

    "Seeing as we''ve dealt with the boys, I''ll be taking my leave now."

    "And don''t worry, I''ll be taking the little problem stater with me." Said Vincent as he grabbed Dante by the shoulder.

    "It''s alright." Replied Marco.

    "It''s clear that my Department of Governance had a part to y in this." Said Marco as he shook his head

    After speaking to Marco, Vincent Grabbed Dante and slowly began rising into the air as he left the scene.

    Dante was helpless to do anything and could only watch as he was dragged unwillingly into the sky.

    As Dante was rising, he could see Lloyd look at him with that signature fake smile

    "It was a pleasure meeting you, Dante. Hopefully next time we meet we won''t have to carry on where we left off.

    For your sake."

    looking Down at Lloyd''s irritating smirk, Dante really wanted to go back there and punch him in the face.

    But instead, Dante could only scowl passively in the air as he replied,

    "Trust me Lloyd, you really don''t want a simr situation.

    If there ever is a next time, then you won''t have the department heads there to save your sorry ass!"

    "Watch yournguage." Said Vincent in annoyance.

    Before Dante to say hurl any more abuses in Lloyd''s direction, Vincent quickly took off, soaring through the sky.

    As Lloyd watched Dante leave, the smile on his face quick faded into a cold scowl.

    "That boy...I don''t like him" stated Lloyd coldly

    "He feels like he could be a big threat. It''d be best we get rid of him quick before the others try and rope him in."

    although Lloyd''s quick change of personality maye as shock, realistically this was nothing new.

    Lloyd was a prince after all.

    From the very moment of their birth, all royal children had been taught the techniques of tricks and subterfuge.

    If Lloyd was as noble and righteous as he made himself out to be, there''d be no way he could ascend to his position from the lowly bastard son of a Pce maid.

    The Kind and caring dragon son of governance was all a facade, this cruel plotting man was his true self.

 Chapter 136 - Princess??

    The Kind and caring dragon son of governance was all a facade, this cruel plotting man was his true self.

    Marcus seemed to sense Lloyd''s unrest and quickly spoke.

    "Now Lloyd, calm down. That boy is not the same as the other people we''ve dealt with."

    "If you get caught, you can say goodbye to the hope of inheriting the throne!" warned Marcus

    Calming his difort put on his fake smile once more as he replied

    "I guess we can leave him for now. He''s still in the Martial Novice realm. It''ll take at least another three years before he can even be a slight threat."

    Slowly, Lloyd and Marcus rose back into the air and left the scene.

    But little Did Lloyd know that he woulde to regret this choice forever. In fact, when askedter, he would confidently say it was the biggest mistake of his life.

    ...

    "Bang!"

    Suddenly, Vincent burst into his office, dragging Dante along with him.

    "thud!"

    Vincent flung Dante Into a cushioned chair.

    Looking up from his chair, Dante saw his grandfather sitting opposite him, calmly drinking a cup of tea.

    "I heard you got in trouble again," said jarred nonchntly.

    He so calm it was almost as if he had already been expecting something simr already.

    "It''s not my fault"ined Dante

    "As the Dragon Son, it''s only right that I Stand up for the department of war!"

    Hearing Dante''s words, jarred only passively nodded.

    "I hear you, I hear you," said Jarred

    "I''ve already given up trying to stop you from getting into trouble. Just do me a favour and get ready, will you? You''ve got a big eventter today."

    "Big event?" Asked Dante

    Dante was left puzzled at Jarred''s words. From his memory, he was almost 100% certain that Jarred hadn''t told him any important news recently.

    "Didn''t I tell you yesterday?" Asked Jarred

    "Today you have a meeting with the princess"

    "meeting with a princess?" Said Dante in disbelief

    Seeing Dante''s shock, Jarred couldn''t help but have a proud smile on his face

    "What? You thought I was joking when I said I could marry you off to a princess?"

    ''well, shit,'' Thought Dante

    Dante himself was stunned to hear such news.

    Who would have thought that the seemingly random boasting of his grandfather would actually have some substance to it?

    "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get ready!"

    still surprised by this shocking news he had just heard, Dante slowly stumbled his way out Vincent''s office to get dressed in his best clothes.

    ....

    Hourster, a luxurious carriage pulled up outside a giant mansion.

    Suddenly the door of the carriage was kicked open and out stepped out a handsome young man.

    He was dressed in a ck and gold robe whilst two sharp, pointy ears poked out of his flowing white hair.

    With a proud smile on his face, the young man assessed the mansion in front of him.

    Of course, this man was Dante.

    As Dante was taking in his new surroundings, two old men followed quickly behind him and stepped out of the carriage.

    Vincent and Jared slowly walked up beside Dante.

    Slowly, Jarred patted Dante on the shoulder as he asked.

    "Boy, are you ready?"

    with a confident smile on his face, Dante calmly replied

    "Grandfather, has there ever been a time I''m not ready?"

    seeing Dante''s usual confidence, Jarred couldn''t help butugh

    "Hahaha! What a cocky kid. You''re truly just like your father."

    " Well, if you said you''re ready, then let''s head in."

    With that, the group didn''t linger anymore and entered into thepound

    ...

    After a brief check at the gate, Dante and the group slowly made it into the mansion, where they were guided to the room by the head butler of the mansion.

    As Dante was walking, he seemed to remember something and asked.

    "Grandfather I''ve got a question to ask"

    "Hmm? Go ahead" replied Jarred

    "Well, it''s about the princess. I never got round to asking her age."

    "Oh, that''s it? I must have forgotten to tell you," said Jarred.

    "I think the princess should be turning 26 this year so she is probably around 25 currently."

    "Oh right, 25." Said Dante

    "Wait, 25!"

    Damn!

    Even in his previous life, Dante was still younger than her.

    but besides that, in his current life, he was only 15!

    That would make the princess almost 11 years his senior.

    ''Well, shit!''

    ''11 years and she still getting married to me! I''m a minor, I swear that''s illegal!'' Dante''s thoughts were already in disarray at this new development.

    Vincent also seemed to notice this and spoke

    "Come on now Dante. Why are you acting so surprised? An 11 year age gap is actually not that bad when you think about it"

    "Not that bad? Granduncle Vincent, the age gap between us is almost as old as I am!"

    Seeing Dante''s worries, Vincent couldn''t help but continue

    "Trust me, with an 11 year age gap, you should consider yourself lucky. I have seen some poor souls be married off with an age gap much worse...."

    hearing Vincent''s words, Dante soon imagined the dark scene of him being married off to an 80-year-old grandma.

    Instantly, his body shivered in what could only be described as utter fear and disgust.

    Now that Dante thought about it, an 11 year age gap didn''t sound so bad.

    Well, at leastpared to thepare to other grim possibilities he could possibly get, this was definitely not the worst.

    While Dante was still recovering from the grim scene Vincent put in his head, the group didn''t slow down and kept walking until they came before an enormous set of ornate double doors.

    Seeing they had made it to thest room, the leading butler suddenly stopped as he turned towards Dante and the others.

    "sirs, this is the room I was instructed to bring you to.. I have been instructed not to enter the room so this as far as I can take you."

 Chapter 137 - Minister Hendrix

    "sirs, this is the room I was instructed to bring you to. I have been instructed not to enter the room so this as far as I can take you."

    after quickly thanking the butler for his guidance, Dante and the others slowly opened the hall.

    As they opened up the hall, Dante was greeted with a strange sight.

    The roof and walls of the hall were all decorated with war-themed images.

    From an artist''s depiction of a raging battlefield to various dull sets of armour, countless war-themed items and ornaments lined the hall.

    But the mostmon thing in sight was still the depiction of a scarred war spear.

    As Dante was looking around the room, his attention was soon drawn away from the decorations and toward the very centre of the room

    At the centre of the room, Dante saw a typical ornate throne with a sky blue-haired woman sitting on it and a grey-haired man stood beside her.

    Seeing that Dante and his group had entered the room, the grey-haired man slowly floated down the steps and arrived before Dante and the others.

    Seeing the man, the aura around Vincent promptly changed as he spoke respectfully.

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you again, Minister Hendrix."

    Hearing this name, Dante instantly recognised the old man in front of him.

    The all-seeing General

    The Bastion of Vaenam

    War hound

    The man before him had countless titles, but one thing was for certain, in The Vaenam Kingdom he was one of the few people truly considered a God of War!

    He was the man that had protected the kingdom from countless incursions.

    Beast tides, external invasions, hell, even internal coups, you name it, and Hendrix was there fighting on the very front lines!

    Hendrix Invidus

    The man was a living legend amongst the kingdom military with his legendary feats being spread so far that even Dante back at Brightsteel city had already heard of him.

    Even after retirement from military service, the man''s influence over the military didn''t diminish in the slightest.

    Instead, after his retirement, he was soon appointed as the minister of war,

    A position that had a major say in the kingdom''s military affairs and controlled the logistical distribution and spread of soldiers throughout the entire kingdom.

    He was a man whose connections throughout the kingdom''s military chain ran directly from top to bottom.

    Dante was truly stunned to see this living legend standing simply in front of him.

    When Jarred said that he would marry him off to a princess, Dante was expecting it to be one of the many unknown princesses that were just living life inly in the capital, not to the Granddaughter of the Minister of War!

    As Dante was left stunned at the appearance of such a legendary figure, Hendrix just patted Vincent on the shoulder as he smiled.

    "Vincent, what have I told you before? There''s no need to be so formal with me. You can just call me Hendrix next time."

    Hearing this, Vincent justughed awkwardly as he scratched his head in embarrassment.

    After greeting Vincent, Hendrix looked toward Jarred as he asked,

    "and this is?"

    Vincent didn''t even hesitate as he replied

    "This is Jarred, my sworn brother for many years. He''s also the grandfather of the New Dragon Son of War!"

    Jarred didn''t waste any time and introduced himself.

    Hello, Minister Hendrix. It''s my honour to meet you. I''m Jarred Kinsman, the GrandPatriarch of the Kinsman n.

    hearing Jarred introduction Minister Hendrix justughed warmly,

    "Hahaha! Brother Jarred, there''s no need to be so formal. After all, aren''t we here for the engagement of our two grandchildren?

    We will soon be rted through marriage, so what''s the use of all these formalities? Just call me brother!"

    After listening to Hendrix, Jarred almost couldn''t believe his ears

    "Brother?!? Minister Hendrix, I would never dare!"

    As Dante heard the conversation between Hendrix and his grandfather, a thought suddenly popped into his head.

    If this marriage between him and the princess somehow went through, that would mean that the Dragon son of war and the minister of war would be from the same family.

    One family controlling all aspects of a soldiers life from their training to even their future branch and deployment location.

    Dante could already see the terrifying threat and problems this could pose to the national security of the kingdom.

    The only problem was that, if Dante could spot these problems so easily, then he was also pretty sure that other people could easily spot what was trying to be done here.

    But, in the end, Dante decided not to worry about it.

    These things were obviously considered before this meeting.

    If they were bold enough to evene up with such an idea, then they definitely would have already thought up a n on how to push it through.

    As Dante pushed these thoughts out of his head, he looked up to find Minister Hendrix staring straight at him.

    His piercing ck eyes seemed to be staring through his very soul.

    "Truly a talented young man." Said Minister Hendrix

    As Hendrix was saying this, he reached out his hand and pinched Dante''s shoulder

    "And such an impressive physique without even stepping on the path of physical training! No wonder you appointed as the Dragon Son so quickly!"

    As Hendrix was saying this, Dante felt quite ufortable with Hendrix''s touch and fiercely broke away from his touch.

    It was only after doing so that Dante realised the force he used was a little bit excessive and quickly apologised

    "I''m so sorry Minister Hendrix, I didn''t mean to use such force. "

    but before Dante could continue, Hendrix quickly cut him off

    "no, no don''t apologise. It was my fault in the first ce.

    It''s just that I was so eager to see this legendary New Dragon Son up close I seemed to have overstepped my boundaries."

    "I just feel it''s important that I eventually meet you," said Hendrix

 Chapter 138 - The Broken Doll

    It''s just that I was so eager to see this legendary New Dragon Son up close I seemed to have overstepped my boundaries."

    "I just feel it''s important that I eventually meet you," said Hendrix

    "As the Dragon Son of War, you represent the future of the Vaenam Kingdom''s military.

    I wouldn''t be able to rest, haven''t even met such an important future figure yet," said Hendrix with a firm gaze

    But if your talent is anything to base your future off, then there is no need to be worried in the slightest."

    "Well, let me not keep you here any longer." said Hendrix

    "Today is about you and princess Levina after all"

    As Hendrix said this, he lightly pushed him, urging him forward.

    As Dante was walking forward, he turned to look back at Vincent and Jarred.

    As he looked back, he could only see them nod at him, urging him on.

    Taking a deep breath, Dante collected himself and stepped forward, heading deeper into the giant hall.

    After just a few steps, Dante was already in front of the stairs that lead up to a typical ornate throne.

    The princess had just been sitting there quietly, watching over the talks that just happened with a stony face.

    Dante looked up and for the first time since he entered, the room got a close up proper look at the princess.

    She was wearing a deep purple robe with long sky blue hair flowed down her back.

    Despite all this, what grabbed Dante''s attention the most was the strange mask on her face.

    Dante could only describe it as one simr to the ballroom masks seen in his previous life.

    It was an exquisitely designed silver mask that covered all the right side of her face, reaching so far as to even cover her nose.

    The side of her face that was covered by the mask only ended up leaving space for her right eye and mouth.

    As Dante looked at her mask, his attention was eventually grabbed by her eyes.

    But to his surprise, He found the signature violet eyes that usually burned with royal pride and vigour were seemingly devoid of any possible emotion.

    No interest, no pleasure.

    simply a lifeless stare that peered straight at him.

    Faced with her ufortable gaze, Dante didn''t stare for long and quickly averted his gaze.

    Afterwards, Dante took a light bow as he introduced himself introduced himself.

    "It''s a pleasure to meet princess Levina. I''m sure you know this already, but my name is Dante Kinsman of the Kinsman n."

    "I must say, I''ve heard rumours of your highness''s beauty, but it''s possible for the words to do you any justice"

    hearing Dante''s words,Princess Levina covered her mouth as she smiled

    "You''ve got quite the sweet tongue for such a little boy."

    Dante just put on a warm smile as he replied,

    "while it may seem like pointless ttery, in my opinion, it really is the best way to describe my view right now-"

    but suddenly, as Dante was speaking, Princess Levina cut him off.

    "I''ve heard many stories about the pride of the Dragon Son of War, with it being so bad that the Dragon Son was even fearless enough to fight a prince of the Kingdom on his first day at the Hidden Dragon Academy."

    As Princess Levina was saying this, a taunting smile swept across her face

    "I just can''t help but wonder. if you find it humiliating to be begging and grovelling in front of me right now."

    hearing this, Dante''s body lightly shook as he subconsciously asked,

    "Pardon?"

    "You heard what I asked. I asked if it hurts the pride of our mighty Dragon son to be here begging a princess for their hand in marriage?"

    As soon as Princess Levina said those words, the air in the room quickly froze.

    The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

    slowly the ttering smile on Dante''s face soon morphed into an ice cold frown

    "Hahaha! There it is!"ughed Levina

    "The pride of our little Dragon Son of war!"

    As Levina said this, she slowly walked down her steps, standing right before Dante and standing right before him.

    Dante just watched on with a bone chilling expression, But Levina didn''t seem to care in the slightest.

    Staring up into his face with a wide smile on her face yet somehow her bright Violet eyes still managed to remain as emotionless and dead as ever!

    "Has anyone ever told you, you have too much confidence for a mere peasant!"

    Dante wasn''t even offended by Levina''s words and just sneered as he responded,

    "such a twisted personality. You really do live up to your title of, ''the broken doll'' of Royal Family!"

    Hearing Dante''s words, Jarred''s old heart almost stopped got beating!

    The boy really had done it this time!

    To dare insult the princess in front of her own Grandfather and legendary general, Hendrix Invidus!

    It seemed like Jarred really had to teach this boy a lesson today!

    His title of Dragon Son had really gone to his head!

    But just before Jarred could go up and stop Dante, he suddenly felt an arm on his shoulder.

    looking back, Jarred was shocked to see the person holding him back was none other than Hendrix!

    "Leave them alone." Said Hendrix.

    "They are not Kids anymore. it''ll be better if Let them sort it out themselves."

    As Hendrix was speaking, a slight smile appeared on his face

    "Besides, don''t you also find it more interesting that way?"

    Helpless, Jarred could only sit back down and watch the show but unfortunately for Jarred, Dante wasn''t even done speaking yet.

    "Besides, My Princess, you seem to be getting a few things confused.

    Please don''t mistake my courtesy for begging.

    We both know you stand to benefit from this marriage as much as I am.

    Your younger brother, Lloyd Vaenam.

    As the oldest son of the King, not only does he have the backing of the more traditional ministers, he also has the position of the Dragon Son of Governance, granting him the backing of the Hidden Dragon Academy."

    as Dante was speaking, a cold sneer crept onto his face.

    "Even with the backing of a living legend like Minister Hendrix, you''re already fighting an uphill battle.

    If you want even the slightest hope of bing the future queen, you can''t afford to let Lloyd control the people in the Hidden Dragon Academy. You need allies in the academy," Exined Dante

    "Or More correctly, you need me."

    as Dante said this,

    "p! p!"

    listening in on Dante''s speech, Levina couldn''t help but apud.

    "I''m impressed. You seem to have a clear understanding of my situation, but aren''t you forgetting your own problems?"

    In such a short time, you''ve managed to get into a conflict with not one but two Royal princes."

    "In such a short time, your oundish temper and personality have caused you to get into a conflict with not one but two Royal princes."

    "Rumour has even spread that your position of Dragon Son has made you fearless and hold no respect for Royal power. If this is not true, then why would you have already fought 2 princes?"

    "But to make matters worse for you Dante, there are even some oundish rumours about you surfacing that you say you wouldn''t even bow down to the King if he was in front of you!"

    As soon as Dante heard this, his face quickly changed into an ugly grimace.

    The allegations Levina brought before him were no joke!

    disregard of the sovereignty was a crime only punishable by death.

    Such rumours were truly malicious!

    If Dante''s enemies could somehow provide evidence for these statements, it would only take days before Dante was sent to the gallows.

    Don''t be blinded by the apparent power of the Hidden Dragon Academy. The real ruler of the Vaenam Kingdom is and always will be the Vaenam Royal family.

    after all, the purpose of the Academy is to train loyal servants for the Royal Family in first ce.

    It wouldn''t make sense for the Royal family, if they couldn''t even control an organisation that was meant to support them

    It''s okay to disrespect a prince, but even the title of a Dragon Son won''t save Dante from the crime of disrespecting the King!

    ''Lloyd Vaenam''

    Looking at the news in front of him, Dante didn''t even have to think long

 Chapter 139 - A Simple Transaction

    It''s okay to disrespect a prince, but even the title of a Dragon Son won''t save Dante from the crime of disrespecting the King!

    ''Lloyd Vaenam''

    Looking at the news in front of him, Dante didn''t even have to think long.

    Instantly the taunting smile of that little bastard appeared in his mind.

    He was the only person who Dante had offended recently that had the power to do this.

    Of course, there was Prince Edwin, but Dante knew that even if that fool was given 6 more months, he would struggle toe up with this plot.

    But despite Dante''s shock, this scheme only went to shoe the truly devious nature of Lloyd Vaenam.

    It was only hours ago that Dante and Lloyd had gotten into a disagreement, and yet in merely a few hours, such a malicious rumour was already circting about him.

    And the scary thing is that this wasn''t even a baseless rumour.

    Just looking at Dante''s demeanour and past actions, it was actually quite easy to buy into this thinking and if you didn''t at least believe it outright, you would probably start to suspect something.

    All this added up, creating a mountain of problems for Dante.

    Seeing The twisted expression on Dante''s face, the smile on Levina''s face only widened.

    "Don''t be confused Little boy, The truth is that you need me just as much I need you.

    This marriage is nothing other than a simple trade.

    "I get the help of the Hidden Dragon Academy"

    "And I get some protection from the Royal Family," said Dante as he finished off Levina''s statement.

    For a second, both Dante and Levina coldly stared at each other before they both burst into a smile and reached out to shake each other''s hand

    "Then it''s a deal, my little Dragon Son," said Princess Levina

    "Of course, my Princess," replied Dante as he made a slightly courteous bow.

    While on the outside, it seemed like a warm deal between two happy parties, but the utter disgust in each other''s eyes just showed the disdain they already held for each other.

    "Your only value to me is in your title of Dragon Son and your future potential.

    I''ve heard many stories of your unbelievable talent, but in end, I can''t be certain until I see it myself. I hope you don''t mind if I test this out!"

    As Levina said this, her eyes shed with a golden flicker before she suddenly exploded in a bright wave of lightning!

    Suddenly, out of nowhere, a blinding golden spear appeared in Levina''s hand as she lunged at Dante with a blinding speed!

    "Bang!"

    As the smoke cleared, the image of Dante''s scaly red w firmly clutching Levina''s spear could be seen.

    "Well Princess, is this enough for you?" Said Dante as he flung the Princess back with powerful force.

    "of course it is!" replied Levina as a dazzling smile appeared on her face.

    "I hope to have a pleasant experience working with you from now on, Dante?"

    After hearing this, a brief smile appeared on Dante''s face as he slowly spoke

    "The feeling is mutual, Princess."

    "Well, seeing as the deal has been concluded, I guess I don''t need to stay any longer. I''ll be taking my leave now."

    in response to this, Levina didn''t even reply and lightly waved as she walked back to her throne.

    "BANG!"

    As Dante left the room, he mmed the doors behind him.

    Theforce was so powerful that the action alone seemed to cause the entire room to shake.

    Princess Levina just watched Dante''s childish disy of frustration and smirked

    seeing Dante walk out those double doors, Vincent and Jarred just awkwardly looked at each other before hurriedly saying goodbye to Minister Hendrix and swiftly following after Dante.

    Hendrix took a second to watch the group quickly leave the hall before he slowly floated to the side of Levina.

    Levina was now seatedfortably back on her throne, watching on with a cold expression as if nothing had happened.

    "Sigh.."

    "So Levina, care to exin to me the purpose of this stunt you pulled just now?" asked Minister Hendrix

    Levina just yawnedzily as she casually replied.

    "It''s simple grandpa, I don''t like that little boy you brought."

    "The simple reason is, for a simple peasant, he''s just too arrogant! You saw the disy he pulled just now. He simply believes he''s above everyone!"

    "Now Levina, don''t think you can fool me so easily," replied Hendrix

    "That boy was actually willing to be humble in front of you up until you humiliated him like that. Of course, such a young, talented manwith the title of Dragon Son won''t take kindly such an insult.

    so really Levina, tell me what your real problem is."

    After hearing Hendrix''s words, the yful aura around Levina disappeared and was instead reced with a chilling look.

    "This marriage is supposed to be nothing more than a simple transaction between two parties and nothing less. It would be a great nuisance to my ns if that little boy tried to develop it into anything more."

    Seeing Levina''s cold look, Hendrix couldn''t help but ask out of curiosity,

    "Aren''t you the least bit interested in the boy?"

    "He''s quite handsome and extremely talented on top of that. I just find it hard to believe you don''t even feel the slightest hint of interest."

    In response, Levina just smiled inly as she calmly replied,

    "His looks don''t change a thing."

    "Even if he was a fat old man, I wouldn''t care.

    As long as he can bring me closer to my goal of bing queen, I would marry him in a heartbeat."

    Looking at the twisted psychology of his granddaughter, Hendrix couldn''t help but sigh.

    ''She really is too far gone,'' thought Hendrix in guilt

    ''Well, seeing as I was the one who even let this mess happen, the least I could do was allow her to reach her dream, no matter how twisted it was.''

    ''I wasn''t there for her mother, but I surely won''t make the same mistake twice!

    No matter what she wants, I''ll make sure she gets it!''

    As Hendrix thought this, a determined look shed across his eyes

    ....

    meanwhile, as Hendrix and Levina were having their conversation

    Dante and the others had finally made it into their carriage.

    As soon as the carriage doors closed behind them, the smile on Dante''s face quickly warped into an icy cold re as he spoke to Jarred.

    "Grandfather. There''s no way you actually expect me to stay married to a woman like her for the rest of my life!"

    Jarred could see the cold fury slowly growing in Dante''s eyes, but in the end, he could just awkwardly shrug as he responded.

    "well she does have a bit of personality to her, but that''s about it-"

    But before Jarred could even finish speaking, Dante swiftly interrupted.

    "A bit of a personality?"

    "What do you even mean by a bit of a personality?!'' I''ve spent less than an hour with her and I already despise almost everything about her!"ined Dante

    ....

    ,,,,,

    "In my opinion, the only words you can use to describe her are an annoying little shit! God forbid I actually spend the rest of my days with that woman!"

    Jarred was a bit displeased by Dante''s use ofnguage and bluntly spoke to him.

    "Well, tough!"

    "In this world, barely anyone is privileged enough to marry whoever they want and besides, you''re the one who forced yourself into this situation.

    Who told you to go provoke 2 princes and earn the ire of the royal family in just a few days?"

    But even after hearing jarred words, Dante just couldn''t ept it!

    "Okay, but even if I need to marry a princess, who says it needs to be her?

    I there''s countless royal Princess

 Chapter 140 - IтАЩm Not Spending My Life With Her!

    "In my opinion, the only words you can use to describe her are an annoying little shit! God forbid I actually spend the rest of my days with that woman!"

    Jarred was a bit displeased by Dante''s use ofnguage and bluntly spoke to him.

    "Well, tough!"

    "In this world, barely anyone is privileged enough to marry whoever they want and besides, you''re the one who forced yourself into this situation.

    Who told you to go provoke 2 princes and earn the ire of the royal family in just a few days?"

    But even after hearing jarred words, Dante just couldn''t ept it!

    "Okay, but even if I need to marry a princess, who says it needs to be her?

    there''s countless royal Princess so I doubt out of all them, she was your only option

    "she may not have been the only one," said Jarred

    "But she is by far the most powerful one!"

    "As the granddaughter of a living legend like Hendrix Invidus, she was already quite an influential figure.

    But now if we take into ount the chemistry between the Minister of war and The Dragon Son of War, it was only natural we chose her"

    "Think about it Dante, the Dragon son of War and the Minister of War from the same family!

    Together the two of you could theoretically have the power to y a major role in the lives of almost 70% of the kingdom''s generals and soldiers from their growth in the academy all the way up untiltheir eventual deployment!"

    Seeing that even this wasn''t enough to convince Dante, he slyly added.

    "Besides, even if you don''t like her, who says she''s the only one you spend time with? I''m sure you''ll be able to take on a few concubines in the future, so your opinion of the princess won''t even matter much."

    ....

    Hearing Jarred''s words, Dante only sneered.

    It was clear from the doubtful look on his face even he himself didn''t believe what he was saying

    "Grandfather, please, I''m not a fool." Said Dante.

    "There''s no way I''d ever believe what you just said right now.

    Even if Levina herself didn''t care and let me get a concubine, do you really think Minister Hendrix would let me treat his granddaughter like that?"

    "The day I publicly go .

    and take a concubine is the day I wake up to an army outside of my house!"

    Jarred just awkwardly smiled as he heard Dante''s words.

    He also knew that as long as Minister Hendrix still had his head screwed on right, he would do everything in his power to prevent Dante from getting a concubine.

    But even if he knew this, he still had to try to convince Dante in some way or the other.

    He at least had to try.

    But fortunately for Jarred, eventually, after much persuading, Dante decided that he was really left with no other

    choice other than to go through with the marriage.

    He was already in a

    He was already in a tough spot with royal family and had little choice to even choose.

    Besides, Princess Levina had said it herself.

    What happened between them was no marriage, it was just a simple exchange between two parties.

    Eventually, after much

    Eventually, after much persuading, Dante decided he could do nothing other than go through with the marriage.

    he was already in a tough spot with royal family and had little choice to choose.

    Besides, Princess Levina had said it herself.

    What happened between them was no marriage, it''s was just a simple exchange between two parties.

    once Levina got what she wanted and was calmly inherited the throne there would no need for her and Dante to be married any longer.

    He just had to hold on for a few years and then he would be free!

    now when Dante put it like that the marriage didn''t seem as and he could only silently ept his fate....

    Slowly the carriage made its way back to Dante''s residence.

    By the time the carriage pulled up outside Dante''s house, the orange hue of the sunset was already visible in the sky.

    Vincent looked around as he stretched his tired old body.

    lloking at the setting sun in the sky Vincent realised that he had spent much more time at the Invidus n mansion than he had expected and then turned towards Jarred.

    "It''s gettingte brother I should really be heading back now I still have many things to do"

    hearing this Jarred didn''t keep Vincent any longer and just waved him goodbye.

    but before Vincent left he turn towards Dante and spoke

    "Boy you better go to bed early, I heard that tomorrow is going to be your first practical lesson. I made sure your ss is full of talented students so I''ve told your instructor to speed up his teaching process so there''s a surprise waiting for you"

    "surprise?" Asked Dante

    "what of this so called surprise."seeing Dante''s questions, Vincent just smiled mysteriously as he replied.

    noe it wouldn''t be much of a surprise if told you"

    with that Vincent took of into the sky flying back in the direction of the academy.

    after watching Vincent leave, Jarred turned towards Dante and spoke.

    "you heard the man. It''s time you go to bed a prepare for tomorrow "

    " What?!" Replied Dante in disbelief

    "you can''t seriously expect me to go to bed this early!"

    "I most definitely can. " said Jarred stoically

    "You seem to be forgetting that for all your strength, you''re still a little boy. you still need to get some proper sleep to stay healthy."

    Dante couldn''t believe what he was hearing.

    Did Jarred actually believe that nonsense?

    But before Dante could even say anything, Jarred continued speaking

    "Don''t think you can fool me Dante. Although you may be a cultivator, you''re only still in the Martial Novice realm." Martial novice cultivators are only slightly different from normal humans,Although you need less sleep than normal people , you still need to get some sleep."

    Seeing Jarred''s firm position on this one Dante knew that no amount of arguing would ever change his mind.

    Dante could only sigh as he headed into the house and towards his room.

 Chapter 141 - News Of The Capital.

    " You still need proper sleep to stay healthy."

    Dante almost couldn''t believe what he was hearing.

    but before he could even make his point, Jarred started speaking

    "Don''t think you can fool me. Although you may be a cultivator, you''re only still in the Martial Novice realm. Although you need less sleep than normal people you still need sleep."

    Seeing Jarred''s firm position on this one Dante knew that no amount of arguing would ever change his mind.

    Dante could only sigh as he headed into the house and towards his room.

    Although Dante was slightly annoyed at this development, t the end of the day it wasn''t the worst thing he had ever had to do.

    In the end, it just meant that he just had more time to cultivate before he went to sleep.

    Dante didn''t believe that Jarred wouldn''t enter his room just to make sure he was asleep right?

    that would be ridiculous, even for someone as silly as Jarred...

    fortunately for Dante, his fears didn''t end up happening as after jarred was sure that Dante entered his room, he eventually stopped monitoring him and went to do something else.

    Even jarred wasn''t bored enough to be waiting outside his room to check if he was sleeping or not!

    ....

    The next day

    Dantezily opened his eyes as he reluctantly crawled out of hisfy bed.

    As he got up Dante went over to check himself in the mirror as he stretched his tired body.

    What Dante saw was a tired-looking white-haired man staring inly back at him.

    seeing his tired appearance, Dante wasn''t even surprised.

    the previous day had left Dante mentally drained.

    from meeting a living legend in Hendrix Invidus to his unpleasant encounter with Princess Levina, the previous day was just filled with what could only be described as ''thrilling'' encounters.

    But despite the strangeness of yesterday, if there was one thing he learned from the whole encounter, It was that he really could not afford to underestimate people.

    Yesterday, Dante had just gotten into a brief altercation with Prince Lloyd.

    The fight wasn''t even anything personal.

    In Dante''s mind, it was just amon fight between the two rivalling departments of the Hidden Dragon Academy, which to be honest, are actually way more frequent than you would think.

    And yet despite the trivial nature of the disagreement, only a few hourster a truly insidious rumour was circting wildly in the capital that Dante had said he didn''t respect the royal authority!

    If Dante wasn''t the Dragon Son of the Hidden Dragon Academy, with how popr the news was and how many sources were saying they had personally heard him say it, it would only be a matter of minutes before the royal guards appeared at his house and dragged him through the streets.

    And the scary thing was that Dante was certain that this wouldn''t even be thest of Prince Lloyd''s schemes.

    Before this, although Dante had a dislike for Lloyd, it still remained just that, a mild dislike.

    In life, you are never going to like everyone you meet, and Dante just considered Lloyd as one of those people.

    Sure, Dante wanted to beat him up.Hell, if he was given the chance, maybe even break a few of his bones.

    But if after that Lloyd had learnt his lesson, Dante was content with letting him live.

    But after hearing such a malicious rumour, all that was left for Lloyd was a boiling hatred.

    If right now Dante was given an easy chance to end Lloyd, he wouldn''t even need to think for a second before he chose it!

    While these thoughts were flying in Dante''s head, a cruel glint quickly shed in his eyes

    The memory of Him cleanly killing Marco and his family was still fresh in his head.

    Not only had had that assassination allowed Dante to eliminate a possible future problem in the Death de guild, but it also allowed Dante to make a huge profit in a short time whilst also getting the added benefit of excellent ckmail material!

    When you think about assassination really does seem to be a profitable business...

    But before these Dangerous thoughts could grow, Dante quickly shook them out of his mind.

    It had to be remembered Lloyd wasn''t a member of a small n like Marco was. He was instead a fully fledged Prince of the Vaenam Kingdom and the eldest son no less!

    If Lloyd was to be killed, the investigations into the killer would be meticulous and thorough, spanning the entire length of the kingdom, and this already disregarding the countless strange and mysterious ways that the Royal family could have to track down the killer.

    But ignoring the fact of possibly being tracked down, even killing Lloyd himself, was a problem.

    Lloyd wasn''t like that piece of trash Marco.

    His cultivation realm was miles higher than Marco, with it being even higher than Dante himself!

    If Dante wanted to kill Lloyd, let''s just say he could win the fight, it would be impossible to kill Lloyd as silently as he did with that waste Marco.

    Despite how much he hated Lloyd, even Dante had to admit it was almost impossible for him to quietly kill him off.

    Their battle would at least create a major disturbance, with lights and energy sts being clearly seen.

    And if Dante thought he could quietly escape the royal pce after making such arge disturbance then he had truly gone mad!

    Sighing, Dante quickly shook his head in disappointment, finally pushing back his dangerous thoughts back to the depths of his imagination.

    Any thought or n on killing Lloyd was just simply suicidal... Well, at least for now it definitely was.

    In the future nothing could be certain. There were still endless possibilities where Dante might have a chance to end this problem once and for all.

    so, while Dante wasn''t actively plotting the man''s murder, If a quick and easy chance came up...

    well, let''s just say that Dante had always been one to go with the flow so he definitely wouldn''t miss such an opportunity!

    After this, Dante decided not to spend any more time dwelling on these thoughts anymore.

    After quickly freshening up for the day Dante retrieved his Moonlight Sword from the side of his bed and after strapping it to his back finally left his room.

    As Dante was walking down the corridor, he was greeted with a familiar sight waiting for him outside his door.

    "Look who we have here, His Royal Eminence, Prince Consort Dante!"

    as Reba said this, she mockingly did a light bow in Dante''s direction

    hearing Reba''s taunt, Dante only sneered

    "Prince Consort? Reba please."

    "I''ve barely even known her for a day! A verbal promise of engagement is all that has happened between us, it''s still too soon to start calling me Prince Consort."

    In response, Reba justughed

    "Why don''t you tell that to the people outside spreading the rumours, they don''t seem to care about any of the fine details. If we base it on the way they''re describing you outside, you and the princess may as well have been married to each other for years!"

    But instead of focusing on Reba''s point, Dante''s attention was drawn by another part of the statement.

    "Rumours?" Asked Dante

    "What rumours about me could be possibly circting again?"

    "What? So You''re telling me you actually don''t know?" asked Reba.

    "of course, I don''t know!" Replied Dante

    "If I knew then I wouldn''t even need to ask in the first ce!"

    "The rumour is that you and the Princess are already madly in love!"

    "It was practically love at first sight for you two, ever since then the two of you have been practically inseparable!"

    After hearing Reba''s words, Dante almost burst outughing

    Him?

    Madly in love with that twisted little Princess?

    Just thinking back to his experience with the Princess already made Dantes blood boil

    but being madly in love with her?

    Even if a gun was pointed at his head, Dante still doubted if he could ever force himself to love that privileged little girl.

    "Don''t tell me that people actually believe this nonsense?" asked Dante in disbelief

    "Believe it? Asked Reba.

    "This is the raging news in the capital. Much less believe it, the people here seem to have taken it as fact!"

 Chapter 142 - Lloyds Problem

    "Believe it"? Asked Reba.

    "This is the raging news in the capital. Much less believe it, the people here seem to have taken it as fact!"

    As Reba was saying this, Dante seemed to realise something.

    ''Don''t tell me this is their best n?" Thought Dante.

    Dante already knew that the marriage proposal between him and Princess Levina would definitely be met with fierce resistance from the royal courts.

    From the start, the biggest hurdle to getting his marriage with the Princess to go through was never Dante and the Princess''sparability, it had always been the hurdle of the Royal courts.

    And if Dante''s guess was correct, then he seemed to have an idea of the n of Hendrix and the others.

    it seemed as if their n was to use the excuse of Dante and Levina being madly in love to try and push this engagement through the courts.

    Now, if most people attempted to pull this off, it would probably never work.

    While a silly rumour like this might be able to Gogol the general public, the people who had the right to attend the royal court meetings weren''t stupid, they would easily be able to spot this as a lie from the very start. But if a legend like Minister Hendrix was to personally beg the King, then the result would be very different...

    Thinking about it this way, then this marriage proposal might actually stand a chance

    But even if the marriage did go through, it wouldn''t change the feelings of the people involved.

    Just because some other people were trying to get the world to believe that Dante and Levina were in love did not mean it was true!

    "Reba, if I''m being honest with you, there''s no chance that rumour is true.

    We''re both smart people here. The toxic personality of the princess is known throughout the whole Kingdom and yet you actually believe it was possible for there to be real affection between us?"

    faced with Dante''s stone cold expression, Reba was briefly stunned before hurriedly replying.

    "Well, of course not!" Stammered Reba

    "I just had to confirm with you if it''s true."

    seeing Reba''s shaky response, Dante just shook his head.

    It was clear that Reba was lying, but Dante wasn''t in the mood to argue anymore.

    slowly Reba and Dante started walking through the halls of the towards their carriage...

    ...

    meanwhile, as Reba and Dante were making the journey to the Hidden Dragon Academy, Lloyd was storming through the royal pce.

    Today was the day of the royal court meetings and Lloyd was in a terrible mood.

    Due to the icy rtionship between King Raiden and Princess Levina, despite being the eldest daughter, Levina rarely ever attended The Royal court meetings.

    With Lloyd''s position of the eldest son, He was as already privileged enough to start attending the royal court meetings and familiarising himself with them.

    For Lloyd, today was meant to be just like any other court meeting he had been to.

    but just as Lloyd woke up this morning, he was greeted with terrible news.

    his biggestpetitor for the throne and his Rival Dragon Son of War had now be an item!

    Hearing this, Lloyd was furious!

    It was as if his previously smooth road to the throne was now suddenly blocked with countless thorns.

    No matter what happened today, Lloyd couldn''t let the marriage between Dante and Levina go through. If it did, it would just be too much of threat to all his ns!

    As Lloyd was thinking all this, he started paying less and less attention to his surroundings and ended up walked straight into another person!

    Getting himself together, Lloyd quickly apologised

    "I''m so sorry for what happened just now. I wasn''t paying attention-"

    but before Lloyd could finish speaking, the old man looked at him and cut him off

    "It''s alright boy. There''s no need to apologise."

    but instead of being grateful or happy, once Lloyd heard who was speaking, his mood turned at least 100 times worse!

    "Minister Hendrix." Said Lloyd hatefully

    "What boy?" Asked Minister Hendrix "Don''t tell me you''re unhappy to see me."

    For Lloyd, this man was truly the route of all his problems.

    It was his connections and status as The minister of War that allowed for Levina to stand on equal footing with him andpete with him for the throne.

    If anything, Lloyd wanted nothing more than to rip out this man''s throat, ending his problems once and for all!

    But Lloyd wasn''t stupid. He wasn''t fooled by this ''kind old man'' image Hendrix was putting on.

    This very same Kind old man was the same person with mountains of corpses to his name.

    The amount of lives he had imed alone were enough to form a line from here to the city gates at least three times over!

    Hendrix hadn''t gotten his title god of war for nothing. Only through countless bloody battles could Hendrix finally im the title of the War God of Vaenam.

    So despite all the hatred Lloyd had for the man, He could only politely greet the Hendrix as he continued

    "No, not of Course minister Hendrix, it''s always my pleasure to meet you." Replied Lloyd

    "tch!" Remarked Minister Hendrix

    "Such a fake smile. With all the fake smiling you do, you need to be careful your teeth don''t fall out one day."

    Seemingly annoyed by Lloyd''s fake persona, Hendrix soon turned away and carried on heading towards the courts.

    Meanwhile as he left Lloyd was still standing there sending a burning re into his back.

    Leaving Lloyd behind him Hendrix slowly made his way up to thest pair of doors before he would ensure the courts.

    Without even slowing down Hendrix gracefully swung the Doors open and walked inside.

    As Hendrix entered, he suddenly found everyone staring at him.

    He was used to the cold looks he was getting from the normal ministers, after all, he was from the Military Faction.

    The Generals of the Military faction and the Ministers of the faction of civil officials had been old enemies so such strange looks were just a given now.

    The only thing that surprised Hendrix now was the strange looks he was getting from the military faction he was also a part of.

    Although Hendrix didn''t consult the military faction before he went ahead with the attempt to join Levina and Dante through marriage, he didn''t do so because he thought there would be no need.

    He simply thought that the military faction would be simply be unbothered by it.

    But from the looks alone, he could clearly see that some members of the military faction.

    But even when facing the discontent of both parties, Hendrix merely sneered.

    ''Tch! And to think that I''ve done so much for those idiots,'' thought Hendrix as he looked towards the Military faction.

    ''I just try and solidify my hold on the faction a bit more and now they''re all scared.''

    ''Truly a bunch of ungrateful dogs!'' Thought Hendrix.

    But before Hendrix could curse them any more, his thoughts were interrupted by somebody''s loud calls.

    "All rise for the Greeting of the King!"

    Suddenly a loud cry resounded through the halls as all people present, regardless of their political faction, rose to give a greeting.

    Even Hendrix was no exception and rose to his feet to for the arrival of the king.

    It didn''t take much longer for the man everyone was awaiting for to finally arrive.

    suddenly, a tall cold-faced man walked in.

    His hair was the signature sky blue of the Royal family with only his beard being a slightly darker shade.

    but despite his slightly daunting physical appearance of the man, the thing that definitely stood out the most were the bright golden robe he was wearing.

    he was wearing a gollden robe that was enscribed with various depictions of lightning and thunder that ran across the whole outfit, depicting a the terrifying power of thunder and lightning that flowed in the royal family.

    As he walked inside, the King''s burning Violet eyes scanned the whole room, assessing everyone inside of it.

    This man was the current ruler and supreme monarch of the Vaenam Kingdom.

    King Raiden!

    King Raiden slowly made his way up a short flight of stairs up onto his throne, which was in a slightly elevated position that allowed him to watch over the court.

 Chapter 143 - Court Meeting

    King Raiden slowly made his way up a short flight of stairs up onto his throne, which was in a slightly elevated position that allowed him to watch over the court.

    After sitting in his chair, King Raiden waved his hand as he spoke.

    "You may be seated."

    with those words, the crowd of ministers gave a light bow before going back to take their seats.

    The King was finally here!

    The Royal court had begun!

    After being dismissed by the king, Hendrix had only sat down for a few seconds before he suddenly hearda familiar, annoying ring out through the courts.

    "My king, I know it may be unpleasant to start the court meeting with suchdispleasing news, but this matter is something urgent and something I think needs to be addressed."

    The man who was speaking was none other than one of Hendrix''s biggest rivals from the opposing faction of civil officials.

    He was the Minister Gnt, the Minister of the Right.

    As the minister of the Right, he was also one of the big yers when it came to court politics and because of this, he and Hendrix have butted heads here in the royal courts on more than one asion.

    So it didn''te as a surprise to Hendrix didn''t even have to think to know where Gnt was going with this.

    "My Lord," said Minister Gnt

    "This servant is aware of some strong rumours circting through the capital. Princess Levina and The New Dragon Son of War are soon to be engaged.

    If this rumour is true, then this servant only fears about the dangers that linking two such powerful members of the kingdom''s military could hold for the safety of the Kingdom. My Lord, such power is not just a threat to the national security, but it''s a threat to the very foundations of the Kingdom!"

    Hearing this news, there was barely any change in the King''s eyes as if he was already aware of this fact in the first ce.

    But even so, the Kings still seemed to y along with Minister Gnt and turned to Hendrix as he asked,

    "Hendrix, you''ve heard what Gnt has said. What do you have to say to yourself?"

    slowly, Hendrix rose to his feet as he replied,

    "My Lord, this servant can offer no excuses. The rumours circting in the capital are true."

    As soon as Hendrix said this, small mutterings of disapproval could be heard breaking out all over the court.

    Hendrix wasn''t fazed by this and payed little attention to these mutterings and continued speaking.

    "But my king, I can assure you that this matter has nothing to do with me. Even if I wanted to stop this engagement, there''s nothing I could do as this matter is already out of my hands."

    hearing this, King Raiden couldn''t help but raise his eyebrow.

    "Out of your hands? " asked King Raiden in interest

    "Please,exin to me what you mean by this Hendrix"

    "Of course, my Lord." Said Hendrix hurriedly

    "The reason I say this matter is out of my hand is because I really had little say in the decision whether or not this engagement goes ahead.

    You see, the truth is all these ns for the engagement and marriage are all the doings of Princess Levina.

    When she first saw the Dragon Son of War at the annual weing ceremony, I can only describe what happened to her as love at first sight!

    It was ever since then, that we have tried to arrange a meeting with Dragon Son to see how he feels.

    But surprisingly, after only a few meetings, I found that the deep feelings of love appear between them appear to be mutual. So my Lord, this is what I mean when I say the decision really is out of my hand, even if I wanted to stop the engagement."

    After Hendrix finished speaking, the crowd of the court was left silent.

    Was Hendrix actually expecting them to believe this nonsense?

    Everyone here had already heard the rumours about the Princess''s twisted personality, yet somehow they were supposed to believe that the mad woman Levina, the one who''s mind is so twisted it one earned her the title of ''The broken doll of the royal family'', had somehow fallen in love at first sight?

    Bullshit!

    What Hendrix had said just now was just a pile of crap and everyone here knew it.

    The only problem was that even if everyone here knew what Hendrix was saying is bullshit, there was just no way to prove it false.

    At the end of the day, without evidence it would simply be a match of your word against Hendrix''s. and for a man with such a distinguished reputation like Minister Hendrix, it would be a hard task to try and win against.

    But even with all these facts, it didn''t mean that everybody would just sit there and ept this bullshit.

    just because it would be hard to win against Hendrix does not mean that it''s impossible.

    People are still going to try, and who better else to try than Hendrix''s long time enemy in Minister Gnt.

    As soon as Hendrix finished his statement, Minister Gnt rose up in disbelief as he shouted.

    "Love at first sight? Hendrix, please. We are not fools here, we know the kind of person Princess Levina is. You surely can''t expect us to actually believe she fell in love at first sight?"

    Faced with Gnt''s allegations, instead of arguing with him, Hendrix only sneered in his direction.

    "Oh really?" asked Minister Hendrix

    "What would an old dog like you even know about love in the first ce? Aren''t you the man who''s already on your 7th marriage?"

    hearing Hendrix''s speak, an ugly expression quickly broke onto Gnt''s face

    "Even if what''s between them may not be love at first sight, I don''t think someone with a marriage record as bad as yours is even qualified to speak right now!"

    After sessfully dealing with Gnt, Hendrix thought he had sessfully dealt with thest hurdle towards that was preventing the marriage from going through.

    But just as Hendrix rxed, he suddenly heard someone else speaking to the king.

    "But Royal Father, I don''t doubt the love between my sister and the Dragon Son of War, the only thing is that I fear for the potential dangers this can bring for the kingdom."

    looking over Hendrix saw that the person speaking was Prince Lloyd.

    ''tch that little bastard must be up to something again'' thought Hendrix

    "I''m not doubting the loyalty of anyone to the kingdom," added Lloyd

    "it''s just that that the hearts of Men are always unpredictable and the saying goes prevention is always better than cure. Both the Minster of War and Dragon Son of War being one from one family is just too risky. If either one was to have any strange ideas, the consequences could be potentially damning for the kingdom!"

    Lloyd had just dropped a lethal usation But before anyone could react, Hendrix''s cold voice rang out right throughout the court.

    "Are you seriously doubting my loyalty to the Kingdom?"

    "I have been serving this kingdom for longer than you''ve even been alive!"

    as Hendrix spoke, the aura in the room seemed to change as the cruel and bloody aura of the battlefield burst from his body engulfing the whole court room.

    "When the enemy kingdoms plotted and simultaneously attacked our borders, it was I along with 10,000 men that rode constantly for 5 days without rest and eventually won the war."

    When the northern front was breached by one of the worst beast tides in the Kingdom''s history, it was I and 1000 men who held the line long enough for reenforcement''s to arrive. In that bloody fight only me along with 50 other soldiers ended up surviving, yet here you are, a little boy who knows nothing about my sacrifices, questioning my loyalty to the Kingdom!"

    Faced with Hendrix''s furious aura even Lloyd had to retreat.

    This time Lloyd knew he had messed up, to question the loyalty of a legend of the kingdom like Hendrix Invidus was never a good choice

    He was too flustered by the news of Dante and Levina''s marriage that it actually led to him making a mistake.

    If news of him questioning the loyalty of a legend like Hendrix was to get out, his public image would definitely take a hit, especially amongst the military which practically revered Hendrix.

 Chapter 144 - The First Battle Formation!

    If news of him questioning the loyalty of a legend like Hendrix was to get out, his public image would definitely take a hit, especially amongst the military, which practically revered Hendrix.

    But instead of taking this step to pressure Lloyd more like everyone had expected, Hendrix soon retracted his aura as he said,

    "but I guess if I can''t convince you of my loyalty, then the only choice this old man has left is to beg."

    "Bang!"

    There was a loud thud as Hendrix fell to his knees.

    Hendrix didn''t seem to be bothered by kneeling in front of the king and, without hesitation, turned towards the king as he begged,

    "My king, my only request is that you allow the engagement between my granddaughter and the Dragon son. It''s her only wish!"

    It was a truly pitiful sight to behold.

    The old man Hendrix, with his frail aura, seemed to be struggling as he kneeled before the king.

    His old body seemed to be shaking, as if even the slightest breeze would be enough to knock the poor old man over.

    While this sight was truly pitiful, the people who knew about Hendrix didn''t feel pity for Him at all!

    In fact, all the people who knew were shocked by Hendrix''s shamelessness!

    Don''t let the pitiful appearance of Hendrix fool you.

    This old man was still a Martial Expert cultivator and one of the strongest beings in the kingdom!

    Although he was old, He would be able to kneel for hours in the freezing tundra without even slightly shaking, much less the warm Court room!

    But even if everyone else knew Hendrix was faking it, this didn''t mean that the people could just sit by and do nothing.

    No matter how shameless he was, this man was still a living legend of the Vaenam Kingdom!

    If the people found out that such an old veteran of the Kingdom was forced to kneel the Royal court, there would be an unprecedented outcry!

    The people would simply gloss over the fact that Hendrix was actually a martial expert cultivator. For them, the royal courts had bullied a frail old veteran into kneeling on the floor!

    seeing the poor sight of Minister Hendrix, King Raiden as he spoke

    "Minister Hendrix, there''s no need to kneel, please stand."

    but Minster Hendrix''s next word shocked everybody watching.

    "My king, please forgive this old man, but I must remain kneeling"

    "My Lord, this is the wish of my precious granddaughter. I''ve already failed her mother when it came to the affairs of love. I refuse to allow such things to happen again!"

    As soon as Minster Hendrix said this, a sharp look shed across King Raiden''s face.

    But soon the sharp look twisted into one of fluctuating emotions before, eventually, King Raiden could only let out a sigh as he looked down at Minister Hendrix.

    "Rise Hendrix. if the marriage is what you desire then it may go ahead."

    Hendrix slowly climbed to his feet and quickly thanked the king

    "Thank you my Lord! Your grace will never be forgotten-"

    but before Hendrix could even begin speaking for long, King Raiden cut him off

    "3 times Hendrix" said King Raiden

    "On 3 separate asions have you saved me from death"

    "And it''s because of this, that I have owed you three separate favours. Hendrix, you have already used the other two favours so if you want this marriage to go ahead, then you will be using thest favour.

    So will ask again Hendrix, are you okay with this?"

    As King Raiden asked this question, his emotionless violet eyes peered straight at Hendrix

    Hendrix didn''t even wait a second before he quickly replied.

    "Of course!" Replied Hendrix

    "To fulfill this wish for my granddaughter then it is definitely worth it!"

    "Very well then." Said King Raiden

    "From this day, the debt between me and you has been repayed. I will know longer owe you anything."

    Hearing this Hendrix quickly bowed in appreciation,

    "Thank you for your kindness my Lord!"

    in face of Hendrix''s thanks, King Raiden merley nodded in acknowledgment before turning to the rest of the courts.

    "Today has been an eventful day, I am no longer in the mood to discuss any further matters. Court dismissed!"

    As he said this King Raiden didn''t wait for anyone and started leaving the courts.

    watching As King Raiden Hendrix couldn''t help but break out in a sly smirk.

    ''hahah! Finally thest piece of the puzzle in ce. The n can finally start!''

    .....

    regardles of the crazy happenings, Dante was currently sat in his ss room.

    He didn''t know that his name had single handle caused chaos in the royal courts.

    Dante was sitting in the ss waiting for Mr Kriel.

    The only annoying thing for Dante was that every so often he could hear his name being brought up along with that of Princess Levina as people staring straight at him in curiosity.

    Allthough Dante was doing a pretty good job ignoring these idiots the constant talking and muttering of his name was starting to get on his nerves.

    "I know I''ve asked you this already" said Lennox

    "But is I really possible that nothing is going on between you and the princess, I mean the rumours do say..."

    Before Lennox could even finish speaking he received the cold re of Dante.

    "Alright, alright man. There''s no need to be angry, sheesh!"

    before Lennox could continueining, the ssroom instantly went silent as Mr Kriel soon walked in.

    "Good Morning ss." Greeted Mr Kriel in his usual stoic voice.

    "as I saidst lesson today is the day of youre first practical lesson of the year.

    And for today we''ll be starting off the year with a bang!" Said Mr Kriel as a rare smile appeared on his face.

    "Today our ss will be learning our first battle formation!"

    "what!!"

    as soon as Mr Kriel finished his sentence, the ss burst into a storm of chatter and rightfully so.

    Most sses don''t even start learning their first formation unless they''ve at least covered some more basic knowledge , and that usually takes the average ss about 2 months into the year.

    Yet their ss was much different.

    They had already moved on to learning their fist formation on just one lesson after the first day!

    "Now calm down," said Mr Kriel.

    "Your ss is very different from the others. All of you here are by the most talented batch of this year''s cohort in the Department of war so this makes things easier.

    besides, there''s specific orders from above to go as faster than usual with you guys, so I hope you''re ready."

    as soon as Mr Kriel said that he was receiving orders above, the image of Vincent with a ridiculous smile on his face popped into Dante''s head.

    ''Damn!'' Thought Dante in surprise

    ''He said there was a surprise waiting for me, but I really wasn''t expecting all this!''

    But Dante didn''t get to think long before his thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Mr Kriel.

    "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Go get changed into your battle armour!"

    With Mr Kriel''s instructions, the ssroom seemed to descend into chaos as all the students rapidly rushed out of the room, all eager to get there first battle formation Experience!

    ...

    A few minutester, the full ss of students was lined up outside in wide training field.

    the students were all dressed up in the Maroon coloured te armour signature of the Department of War.

    As the Dragon Son, Dante was not spared of any uniform requirements and was simrly dressed In the clunky te maroon armour like the rest of his peers.

    It''s just that as the Dragon Son of War, Dante''s armour was slightly different topletely in armour of the others. His armour had a blood-red eastern dragon coiling around it, that seemed to be roaring ferociously, almost as if it was signifying his glorious position of Dragon Son to the world.

    standing in front of the neatly lined group students, Mr Kriel gave a nod of approval before he started speaking.

    "today you will be learning the basics of your first ever battle formation"

    although they had already heard it before, the crowd of students still couldn''t help but react when they were being told they were about to experience a legendary battle formation!

 Chapter 145 - The Gaping Maw Formation!

    Mr Kriel didn''t pay much attention to the small reaction of the students that he saw and carried on speaking.

    "The formation you will be learning today goes by the name of ''The Gaping Maw Formation!''

    It''s an easy formation to get a hang of and is often the very first formation that the guard regiments of the Kingdom will have to master:

    But don''t let these facts mislead you. The Gaping Maw formation is almost as old as the Vaenam kingdom itself and naturally, with its agees improvements!

    over the many years, the simple battle formation has been through countless improvements and rendition until evolved from one of the most basic formations to something that''s name alone can cause the Vaenam Kingdom''s enemies to shake in fear!" Said Mr Kriel with eyes burning in passion.

    "but let''s not get ahead of ourselves and start with the basics.

    In its most basic form, the Gaping maw formation is nothing more than a simple defensive spear formation, so let''s start with that.

    Today, you will all begin with some simple spear drills!"

    As Mr Kriel said this, a few people in the crowd raised their hands up.

    "bang!"

    With a wave of his hand, Mr Kriel brought out a giant box filled with some scratched and used spears.

    "for those of you who don''t use a spear as weapon, you''ll need to use the spears I provide for you."

    So what are you waiting for? Get moving!"

    With those instructions, the crowd of people didn''t hesitate any longer and rushed up to grab a spear.

    ...

    Minutester, the students had now all spread out, filling the training ground.

    they were still fully suited up in their dark maroon coloured armour, but instead of just standing still like before, they were constantly thrusting their spears forward in a unified fashion.

    Despite the impressive disy of concentration and coordination showed by the students, Me Kriel was simply not impressed.

    "Poor!"

    "Extremely fucking poor! Are these really the best talents my Department of war has to offer?"

    Even Dante wasn''t spared of Mr Kriel''s brutal Criticism

    Pulling up beside him, Mr Kriel roared in his ear.

    "As the Dragon Son, is this all you have to show for yourself?"

    "Disgraceful!"

    Despite being frustrated at Mr Kriel''s insults, Dante could do nothing but grit his teeth and carry on viciously thrusting his spear forward.

    With each thrust from Dante , a gust of air was generated that moved across the training ground.

    but in the end, even this wasn''t enough for Me Kriel.

    "stop thrusting so wildly, increase the angle of elevation. Remember, power isn''t everything. You need to take time to focus on your technique if you want to improve."

    subconsciously Dante changed his movements following Mr Kriel''s suggestions.

    seeing this change, a slight smile crept into Me Kriel''s face.

    "hahaha! Good!"

    As Me Kriel said this, he patted Dante on the back.

    "good work. You''re showing improvement but don''t think you can ck if now. Continue working!"

    after saying that, Mr Kriel stopped watching over Dante and went off to inspect the other members of the ss

    ...

    an hourter a ss of tires yet exited students was lined up again in a near line in front of Mr kreil.

    Mr Kriel just smirked as he looked down at the exhausted group of students in front of him.

    "The performance made by you guys wasn''t excellent, but it''s sufficient.

    Now you have the basics down. well be progressing onto the next stage of learning,

    The spiritual formation."

    Hearing this, a small buzz could be felt amongst the students as their excitement reached an all-time high!

    "now for the next part you''ll need an experienced formation leader and i will be the one taking up that position."

    As Mr Kriel said this, he slowly walked into the centre of the crowd of students as he roared

    " The Hell are you waiting for? Get into the spear formation!"

    instantly, the crowd of students scrambled to get into formation.

    eventually the students got into two clear rows, with the front row of students kneeling pointing their spears up from below.

    The second row was ced closely behind them and they were also pointing their spears forward.

    it''s only that these spears were pointed forward from shoulder height, forming a terrifying array of spears pointing toward at any possible attackers.

    seeing the group swiftly get into his desired formation, Mr Kriel gave a quick nod in approval before speaking.

    now your information you guys have done the easy part.

    the difficult part starts now!"

    "all I''m going to need you guys to do is rx whilst I connect to each of you and form a spirit array."

    The sprit array was a strange thing.

    At first it might feel quite invasive and ufortable but it''s imperative that you don''t resist and try cut it off. This is also true whilst the formation is active as if enough of you are cut off it could lead to a formation copse and is having to start all over again!"

    the students could only nod nervously at Me Kriel''s instructions as they rxed their guard

    suddenly there were slight twitches of difort as Mr Kriel linked the whole group in a spirit array.

    even Dante wasn''t spared from this feeling but after the first few seconds, the sensation wasn''t that bad.

    it was simr to the feeling you would get when a clothing tag was running against your neck,

    sure it was ufortable to but if you ignored it for a while, you would eventually get used to it.

    Dante could feel the connection that the Spirit array had with him.

    He knew that he was connected to greater system and he could control the feedback of energy into the array. But perhaps most important of all, Dante could easily block of the connection if he wanted to.

    the connection he felt was incredibly frail.

    maybe it''s because of hisck off knowledge in the area of battle affirmations, but Dante found the connection to be surprisingly weak.

    it was as if the slightest hint of resistance would instantly end all connections to the spirit array and sever him from the battle formation.

    bur before Dante''s thoughts could go off on a mad tangent again, his thinking was interrupted by the loud cry of Mr Kriel.

    "Right! The connection has now been established. Get in your positions I''m about to activate the formation!"

    with Me Kriel''s cry the training ground seemed to go silent as each person clutched their spear with a mixedbination of both nervousness and excitement.

    "Ready yourselves! Attack on my mark!"

    As Mr Kreil said this Dante suddenly felt a change.

    He suddenly felt a trickle of energy leaving his body.

    but it was not just Dante, all the students in the formation felt this sensation as Mr Kriel users thes streams of energy to finally set the Gaping Maw battle formation.

    "ready!" Called Mr kreil

    "3"

    "2"

    "1"

    "Attack!"

    instantly the whole ss roared as they thrust out their spears.

    what They didn''t realise was as all this was happening Mr Kriel finally activated the formation.

    slowly trickles of winding purple energy spread throughout the spear formation, entwining around every single spear causing it to glow in a purple lustrous glow.

    "Swoosh!"

    a terrifying storm of wind was created sweeping throughout the whole training ground.

    seeing such an impressive disy of power the group students instantly burst into chatter amongst themselves.

    they had done it!

    they had finally been in an actual battle formation!

    but as group of students was eagerly chatting amongst themselves the cold voice of Me Kriel rang out throughout the battlefield.

    "what are you guys so happy for? Don''t tell me you think that embarrassment can be ssified as a battle formation?!"

    After hearing Mr Kriel''s cold words the chatter of the sudden talk suddenly stopped.

    The students were so shocked they didn''t even know what to say!

    even Dante wasn''t spared from this feeling of disbelief.

    Dante himself was already quite impressed from the power of the attack showed in the formation.

    he knew when faced with such an attack even he had little hope of doing something, but to think that even this result wasn''t enough for Mr Kriel.

    Mr Kriel just smirked as he saw the looks of disbelief on his students.

 Chapter 146 - Dante Heart Of The Formation

    Mr Kriel just smirked as he saw the looks of disbelief on his students.

    "don''t get me wrong. What you guys performed could be ssified as battle formation. And it could even be considered a decent result.

    but that''s only judging you by the standards of regr soldiers!"

    "You have to remember, battle formations are designed for regr foot soldiers of the kingdom where even low ranking Martial Novice realm cultivators are hard to find.

    Maybe it''s because of excitement or maybe it''s nervousness, but some of you had lost concentration causing a weakening in the spirit array.

    While it may be a good disy for regr soldiers, you people are not regr soldiers,

    You are students of the Hidden Dragon Academy. You are students of the Department of War! I am expecting you to do better!

    As Mr Kriel was speaking, a fierce aura spread out of his body, causing some of the more frightened students to even take a step back.

    "Now, we will try again," Said Mr Kriel

    "only this time you will do a much better job. And if you manage to pull yourself together, only then will you see the true might of the legendary Gaping Maw formation. One of the most feared formations of Vaenam Kingdom!"

    "Gather in formation!" roared Mr Kriel

    In just a few seconds, the students arranged themselves back into two defensive rows again, with the array of spears being pointed forward.

    As soon as the students had gotten in formation, Mr Kriel didn''t waste any more time as he quickly reformed the spirit array, connecting to each and every student in the battle formation.

    Almost instantly, all the students felt the connection of the spirit array and quickly entered a state ofplete concentration.

    The students had failed to keep their concentration once, and this led to them only being able to perform a weaker version of the Battle formation

    But now that they have heard Mr Kriel''s impressive description, a burning curiosity was starting to grow inside each of the student

    A burning curiosity at the true might of the Gaping Maw formation!

    "Ready!" Cried Mr Kriel

    I''m about to activate the formation so don''t fuck it up this time!"

    as soon as Mr Kriel said this, Dante and other students could feel slithers of their own energy start to leave them.

    "Ready?" asked Mr Kriel

    "3"

    "2"

    "1"

    "Attack!"

    The crowd students roared once more as they thrust out their spears once more, it''s just that this time the effects were greatly different!

    instead of a slow trickle of purple energy that everyone was expecting, if wepare it tost time, the amount of purple energy shown now could only be described as a flood!

    waves of purple energy poured out of spear formation, spreading out to form some strange type of phantom around the group of students.

    The phantom seemed to be that of a strange beast and in ce of its mouth and teeth was the gigantic spear formation of the students

    ring yellow eyes, eerie purple skin, but most important of all, a giant mouth with jagged teeth that seemed to lead straight into a hellish abyss.

    The Gaping Maw!

    This was the true form of the mystical formation; a spear move that allows your spears to be the horrific teeth of some demonic horror

    "Roar!"

    Instead of a normal swoosh you would expect to hear as the students thrust their spears, a low monstrous roar could be hearding from deep within the formation.

    it was only after such a monstrous formation did the students realise what they had done.

    some were overwhelmed with awe, some overwhelmed with pride, and some even started panicking as all of a sudden, they looked up to find themselves in the jaws of a terrifying beast.

    But the reactions of the students didn''te without a cost.

    Due to the erratic nature of the students'' emotions at seeing such a strange phantom, the concentration of the students quickly broke, causing the spirit array Mr Kriel was forming to quickly copse and the phantom of that purple horror to slowly fizzle out of existence.

    Seeing this sight, Mr Kriel just smirked as he asked the rest of his ss.

    "So now you guys have seen the true power of a battle formation. Are you kids impressed now?"

    Facing Mr Kriel''s question, the ss just didn''t know how to respond.

    forget impressed, the students were left baffled!

    the battle formation was truly impressive.

    the pure boost in strength was already shocking as it is, but when youbine it with the strange effects and phantoms a true battle formation could produce, it was just easy to see how this strange a mystical formation could cause havoc on a battlefield!

    Seeing his that his students were still too stunned to even respond, Mr Kriel justughed heartily as he continued speaking

    "now you guys have experienced a true battle formation. We can finally move on to the next stage of formation training."

    "Recreate the previous battle formation, but this time you have to without my help."

    As soon as the other students heard this, there was an outcry!

    What did Mr Kriel even mean?! He was the core of the formation, the most important aspect of the formation, the heart of the of the formation. Speaking in terms of traditional formations and arrays, Mr Kriel was the formation core! Without a formation core, how on earth was a formation meant to work? How were they even meant to even recreate the battle formation?

    soon a student spoke up, brave enough to ask the question that had been ying on everyone''s mind

    "But Mr Kriel I have a problem. How are we meant to recreate the formation of you are the one who acts the heart of the formation? How are we supposed to create this battle formation if you are not even going to act as the heart of the formation."

    hearing this question Mr Kriel smiled as he replied.

    "Why are you guys worried about? We have the perfect person to take over the role over the new role of heart of the battle formation."

    hearing me Kriel''s words the whole crowd of students was puzzled and gave him a strange look.

    Mr Kriel didn''t take notice of these looks as he continued speaking.

    "The most talented prospect in the history Hidden Dragon Academy, a legendary gold rank dual spirit awakener, The legendary Dragon Son of war!"

    ''Oh shit.''

    hearing Mr Kriel''s descriptions Dante already knew he was in for a hard time. Dante was a proud man, but he wasn''t foolish.

    he wouldn''t pretend he knew something when he didn''t. Being able to admit when you are wrong and knowing your limits is just as important is a vital thing everyone needs to know. And a rule like this is even more important in a ce like the Martial Spirit World.

    so Dante didn''t hesitate before he quickly asked Mr Kriel .

    "Mr Kriel it''s not that I''m not up for the challenge but there''s a big problem with me bing the heart of the formation.

    that is I don''t know how to form the spirit array.

    The spirit array is the secret behind the power of the formation and if I don''t know how to form that then there''s no hope for their formation to ever go through!"

    but unfortunately for Dante, Mr Kriel just made a lightugh as he heard Dante''s statement.

    "hahaha! There''s no need to worry Dante. When ites to the secrets of the battle formation I''ll be there to teach you."

    "Trust me. While it may seem hard at first, considering your talent and capabilities, I have no doubt that you will be able to handle this."

    while Me Kriel''s words sounded very encouraging and convincing, Dante just couldn''t end up believing his words.

    Just by looking at that sly smile on his face, Dante could tell that there was definitely a catch to this. his instincts were screaming, telling him this wasn''t going to be a very fun experience, but in the end, what could he do?

    Sure, his position as dragon son made him powerful in the academy, but at the end of the day, Dante was still a student, A very powerful and influential student, but a student none the less.

 Chapter 147 - Spirit Array!

    but at the end of the day, Dante was still a student, A very powerful and influential student, but a student none the less.

    Powerless, Dante could only sigh as he epted his fate and went back into the battle formation.

    seeing Dante had gave up trying to weasel his way out of his task, Mr Kriel nodded before turning to roar at the rest of the students

    "What are you guyszing around and waiting for?!"

    "Stop looking around and get back into formation!"

    With Mr Kriel''s brutal shouts, the group students scattered like mice as they rushed to quickly try and get back in the Spear formation.

    as all this was happening, Mr Kriel slowly approached Dante as he asked.

    "seeing as you are the

    Dragon Son of war, I''m assuming you know the role of the core of a battle formatation."

    "Yes." Replied Dante.

    "The person who has the role of the core of a battle formation is supposed to act as a central link in a battle formation.

    Their duty is to form links and connections with the other soldiers in the formation and, using these links, draw energy and power from the other soldiers and use it to activate the formation.

    The activated formation can be used to strengthen the soldiers in the formation and also create some strange special effects."

    Hearing Dante''s thorough exnation, Mr Kriel was impressed

    "good." Replied Mr Kriel.

    "your understanding on the purpose of a spirit array is up to the level I would have expected of a dragon son of "

    "The only question left now is, if you know how to set up a spirit array." Asked Mr Kriel.

    hearing this question, Dante wasn''t scared to tell the truth and just lightly shook his head.

    "My education on battle formations had only reached the point where I learnt about spirit arrays. I have never been taught how to personally set one up." Said Dante

    Hearing this, Mr Kriel just walked up to Dante and patted him on the shoulder.

    "boy there''s no need to worry about that small detail. It''s quite easy to catch on to how to create a spirit array once you see one in action." said Mr Kriel in a reassuring tone

    "as you said, the first part of a spirit energy array is to form links and connections with each soldier in the formation.

    Now to do this, as the core of the battle formation, you are required to use your mental energy to form a slight connection with each soldier and control the way in each soldier contributes to the Battle formation.

    This process requires a lot of mental strength toplete and normally, students in the martial novice realm never have the required mental strength toplete the process.

    In fact, if it wasn''t for the fact that you had two Martial Spirits, I would never have bothered to teach you this so soon.

    You are different to other students in the sense you have two Martial Spirits. This fact alone puts your mental strength, levels ahead of your peers, so this next step should be possible." Exined Mr Kriel

    "Now Dante, this next part is not that difficult. Just watch what I copy me. As long as you follow my instructions, I''m sure you''ll be fine"

    Hearing this, Dante took in a deep breath to ready himself before turning to nod at Mr Kriel to confirm he was ready.

    Slowly, Mr Kriel helped Dante to release his mental energy.

    As soon as Dante released his mental energy, he immediately entered into a strange state

    In this strange state, the way Dante viewed the world hadpletely changed.

    The only Dante could describe it was like seeing everything from a third person perspective.

    It was like having a sixth sense where images were instantly ced in his mind.

    There was nog between the image being picked up by his eyes and transmitted to his brain.

    It was a instantaneous, epassing, 360 degree image. In This state, Dante really had no blind spots!

    The only negative about this new way of seeing was that the distance that Dante could see was extremely short, but even with this, Dante was still impressed by this strange state.

    But Dante didn''t spend too much time thinking about this new strange vision, as he knew didn''t have time to admire the changes.

    Getting himself back in a concentrated state, Dante focused and started using his mental strength to see what Mr Kriel was doing.

    As Dante spread out his mental energy, he could see that Mr Kriel had already started forming the spirit array!

    Mr Kriel had his usual cold expression on his face as tendrils of mental energy quickly spread out with him at the centre, quickly weaving and crossing over each other in order to attach to the body of each student.

    The strings of mental energy kept moving in strange directions ,forming some sort of strange web of mental connections with each soldier.

    Dante knew he couldn''t afford to sit back and watch so he hurriedly tried to mimic Mr Kriel''s actions and in doing so, allowed for his mental energy to form connections in the same way Mr Kriel did.

    This process wasn''t easy for Dante in the slightest, as even with two martial spirits that could boost his mental strength, Dante was still struggling to make these countless connections with His Mental energy as sometimes his links would randomly copse or simply be too short to connect with the other students.

    The process was truly grueling and monotonous, but In the end, Dante managed to persevere and eventually sessfully replicate the same connections as Mr Kriel did. The only problem was that these connections still weren''t up to the same quality as Mr Kriel''s.

    The connections Dante had made were all much thinner than Mr Kriel''s and sometimes they even lightly flickered, as if even the slightest breeze would be enough to put them out!

    but even with all its problems, in the end what Dante had created could still be seen as a sessful spirt array.

    Even Mr Kriel himself was shocked at Dante''s actions.

    Although he had expected Dante to eventually be able to form the spirit array, he was expecting him to get it after trying around 20-30 more times. He hadn''t expected him to form it on the first try!

    Mr Kriel had already told himself that he would no longer be impressed by Dante''s talent, but every time the boy did something so ridiculous like this he couldn''t help but marvel at Dante''s seemingly endless talent once again.

    But even though Mr Kriel was impressed, he wouldn''t let such tant admiration show on his face.

    Mr Kriel still knew the temperament of the student he was teaching.

    Dante was a very prideful boy and if Mr Kriel ended praising the kid, then Dante might end up getting too full of himself.

    So to prevent this, Mr Kriel kept the usual cold expression on his face as he spoke to Dante.

    "Not bad Kid. In the end, you still managed to form the required spirit array for the Gaping Maw formation."

    As soon as Dante heard Mr Kriel''spliments, a slight smile appeared on his face.

    Forming this spirit array took an unbelievable amount of concentration and hard work out of Dante, so of course he would be a bit proud when someone elseplimented his work.

    but before Dante could even fully admire his aplishments, Mr Kriel started speaking again,

    "But even with that, this is nothing to be too proud of. Your formation is still sloppy and weak. It even still looks like it could fall apart at anytime!" Criticised Mr Kriel.

    "But even so, this formation is still good enough to go onto the next stage."

    "next stage?" Asked Dante

    "Obviously there is going to be a next stage. Don''t tell me you expected this lesson to end here?"

    Dante could only stare awkwardly at Mr Kriel as he continued talking.

    "Now you have finally learnt how to set up the battle formation, the next stage is to use it mockbat situations."

    hearing this, Dante almost couldn''t believe his ears

    "Combat situations! Mr Kriel, you have to be joking?" Asked Dante in disbelief.

    "We''ve not even donebat situations with you yet Mr Kriel so how...

 Chapter 148 - Puppets

    "We''ve not even donebat situations with you yet, Mr Kriel. so how on earth are we supposed to do it at first with me as the core of the formation?!."

    looking at the unhappy appearance of Dante, Mr Kriel justughed as he continued

    "Hahaha! Dante, there''s no need to be so stressed. aren''t you the Dragon son of war? A simple battle formation like this should be nothing to someone like you. besides its always more fun if it''s a challenge after all"

    Although Mr Kriel was in a happy mood, unsurprisingly for anyone, Dante didn''t share quite the optimistic look.

    just one look at the ugly expression on his face would allow for anyone to tell how bad he was feeling in this situation.

    Mr Kriel however, didn''t seem to care about Dante''s opinion at all and not wanting time waste anymore time, arguing with Dante as spoke,

    "Now let''s not waste anymore time.

    Get back in formation and prepare for the attack."

    Dante knew that no amount of arguing could change the current situation he was in. In the end, Dante could only mumble in dissatisfaction as he retrieved his spear and entered back into the spear formation.

    seeing that Dante finally gave in, Mr Kriel nodded in satisfaction as he waved his hand.

    Instantly, 30 wooden objects fell out of the sky onto the training field, but it didn''t end there

    "Creek! Creek!"

    Slowly, the objects on the ground seemed to twitch as they gradually rose up to their feet.

    "puppets..." muttered one of the students near Dante.

    The student wasn''t wrong.

    What Dante could see in front of him were things that could only be described as wooden puppets!

    The puppets were all humanoid shaped but also had no facial features.

    They just had a smooth surface instead of a face and all stood at 7ft tall with long wooden limbs attached to their torso.

    Wooden puppets!

    Dante had heard of these before. They were the strange creation of the department of weapons and arrays.

    If what Dante had been told was correct then these puppets could respond to basic instructions, such as instructions to attack or defend, and don''t require much strain on the wielder

    Although Dante had heard a little bit about them, he never imagined that he would see one here and Dante wasn''t even the only one who was shocked.

    the students around Dante also stood in shock as they watched the jerky movements of the puppets.

    seeing the surprised look on the face of his students, Mr Kriel smiled as he looked towards them.

    "So How about it? Are you guys impressed yet?" Asked Mr Kriel.

    "These guys are what I will be using to conduct yourbat drill, but Don''t look down them just because they are wooden puppets. Although these puppets may and seem a little silly now, these same silly puppets all have at least martial novice realm strength with 1 or 2 if them even being in the Martial journeyman realm.

    if you don''t take them seriously, these same puppets will knock you on your ass!"

    "So get ready guys. These puppets will be attacking in 5,"

    "4"

    "3.."

    as soon as Me Kriel started his countdown, Dante knew, that as the heart of the battle formation, Dante couldn''t afford to just watch so he quickly spoke to the students around him."

    "Alright guys! Ready up! "

    "We don''t have to panic. Just think of the formation you acted out with Mr Kriel. What we''re doing is exactly the same thing. Just control your concentration and rx, this will be a breeze!"

    as Dante was giving out some encouraging words, the group of puppets had started rushing towards them.

    Dante also seemed to notice this and quickly spoke out.

    "Ready! Attack on my mark!"

    As Dante spoke, the students in the spear formation rose their spears as their sweaty palms tightens their grip.

    "3."

    "2"

    "1"

    As Dante was counting down, the Puppets had reached the perfect distance for Dante to attack with the spear formation.

    but just as Dante was preparing to unleash the battle formation, he noticed a truly distressing fact.

    ''Shit!'' Thought Dante

    ''Who''s broke off from the battle formation!''

    Faced with cold and emotionless charge from these 7ft tall puppets, some students had started to panic and in doing so,pletely severed there connection with the Battle formation!

    In ast-ditch attempt , Dante tried desperately to see if he could possibly try and reform any connections at thest minute.

    but end Dante failed.

    He was still too inexperienced and had little knowledge on instantly reforming broken connections. So in the end, nothing more could be done.

    "Fuck!" Shouted Dant in frustration at the rest of the students

    "What are you waiting for?! Attack! Attack!"

    With Dante''s frantic urging the rest of the students roared as they thrust there spears forward.

    but instead of the powerful beast phantom everyone was expecting, due to some people breaking connections from the main battle formation, barely even a trickle of purple energy was released from their spears.

    "Bang!"

    The students still didn''t give up and attacked the crowd of rushing puppets.

    But to their horror, the puppets simply shrugged off their attacks as they emotionlessly continued to barrel forward into the centre of the formation!

    "Arrrgh!"

    "Help"

    "shit!"

    screams of panic and chaos erupted as the puppets charged into the formation, sending anyone in their way flying into the air.

    "Fuck!" Shouted Dante.

    Dante knew that the formation was basically done for but he didn''t give up just yet. he quickly turned towards the nearest puppet and In furyunched a devastating spear strike at the puppets chest!

    "Bang!"

    The devastating blow connected, sending the puppet soaring into the sky.

    But even with his magnificent disy of strength, Dante didn''t change anything. He had only managed to deal with one puppet and there were still numerous other puppets creating havoc in the battle formation!

    As Dante turned around from dealing with that puppet, he saw apletely scattered formation struggling to even stay together as the powerful puppets easily dispatched each student one by one.

    Dante knew he couldn''t sit by and watch as his battle formation waspletely annihted and quickly sped forward to get rid of the nearest puppet.

    But just before Dante could reach the puppet closest to him, a cold voice rang out through the training field.

    "that''s enough."

    As soon as the voice spoke, the puppets on the ground all seemed to freeze as they instantly lost all energy they had before.

    looking up in the direction of the voice, Dante could see Mr Kriel floating in the sky as he looked down on the students with a displeased expression.

    "Embarrassing." Said Mr Kriel

    "Absolutely embarrassing!"

    "As the best students of My department of war, is this really all you have to offer?

    As soon as you are faced with even a slight threat or challenge, you all start to panic and break formation!"

    But even after all this Mr Kriel still wasn''t done with his rant and turned towards Dante.

    "And you Dante." Said Mr Kriel

    "As the Dragon son of war you couldn''t even maintain the ranks of your soldiers. You let them easily panic which all led to the inevitable copse the spirit array!"

    "But Mr Kriel this isn''t something I could control-"

    Dante tried to defend him self but before he could even make a point he was quickly interrupted by Mr Kriel.

    "No buts" said Mr Kriel

    "A good General can turn a group of peasants into a squad of fearless soldiers. If you can''t even maintain the concentration of a group of students, then you should hand in your own title of Dragon Son right now!"

    ''Bullshit!'' Thought Dante

    ''This is all out of my control and you know it!''

    Dante wasn''t a fool.

    But in the end, Dante decided to jot voice his thoughts and just muttered in dissatisfaction as he went back to his spear formation.

    But this time, Dante wasn''t ying around and released his aura of Dragon fear on full st, shocking the group of students.

    With the students stunned by This new aura around Dante, Dante coldly spoke to them.

    "You all heard Mr Kriel, ourst performance was nothing but a pile of shit!"

    "I don''t know about you, but I personally don''t ept anything less than excellence.. I refuse to be pushed around by a group of mindless puppets once again.

 Chapter 149 - Failure

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    "I don''t know about you, but I personally do not ept anything less than excellence. I refuse to be pushed around by a group of mindless puppets once again.

    This time, it can only end in their destruction!" said Dante

    maybe it was because the students were the students were also suffering from the same kind of frustration as Dante, but Dante''s words quickly received the approval of the crowd of students.

    seeing that he had gotten all the students on his side, Dante nodded in satisfaction before he quickly spoke again.

    "Now let''s not waste any more time. Get into formation!"

    As soon as Dante said this,

    the group of students quickly moved as they got back into the spear formation.

    while the students were still moving, Dante didn''t waste any time and quickly released his mental energy.

    Instantly, tendrils of pure mental power stretched out from Dante started forming connections with each students setting the final stage of the battle formation.

    As soon as Mr Kriel saw that the students had gotten back into formation, he simply waved his hand and as he did, the group of puppets quickly jerked, before they went charging forward yet again.

    Seeing the puppets charging at them once more, Dante took in a deep breath before he shouted to the rest of the students.

    "All right guys, they''re approaching now! Just remember to stay calm and keep the formation up and we''ll have this easy!"

    with Dante''s words, the rest of the students just nodded as they tightened the grip on their spears.

    "Ready! Attack on my mark!"

    "3"

    "2"

    "1"

    "Attack!" Cried Dante

    At first, things seemed to be going well. A cloud of purple energy slowly started forming and curling around the rest of the formation.

    But before these coils could even reach the tip of the spears, this cloud of purple energy flickered, quickly shing in and out of reality before fizzling out like smoke

    ''crack!''

    As soon as all this happened, Dante felt countless mental connections shatter and break away.

    ''Shit!'' Thought Dante

    ''Which Bastards broke away from the formation yet again!!''

    Dante could only grit his teeth under the mental bacsh of the copsed formation and this time, Dante didn''t even bother to try and reform the mental connections!

    Seeing that the formation had copsed, and the puppets were already so close, Dante knew that he had no time to try and reform the spirit array.

    So instead of just standing there and taking a beating, Dante brutally thrust his spear outward, hitting the puppet with unprecedented power.

    "Bang!"

    A loud sound rang out as Dante''s powerful spear strike sted the wooden puppet backwards, sending it miles away from the spear formation.

    But even after that, Dante''s attack didn''t end there.

    quickly looking around, Dante soon locked on to the nearest puppet towards him, and slowly pulling his arm backwards, hurled his spear directly towards it

    "boom!"

    the spear practically teleported across the field before it crashed straight on into the puppet''s chest

    In face of such overwhelming power, the puppet never stood a chance and was easily sent flying through the sky.

    just as Dante had dealt with the second puppet and was looking around to find his next target, a cold voice echoed through the sky yet again.

    "You guys allowed the formation to copse again. It''s a fail"

    Mr Kriel just shook his head as he retrieved all the damaged wooden puppets.

    He then reced all the broken puppets with a brand-new pair before turning to the rest of the students

    "you guys will have to try again but this time don''t let the formation fall apart!"

    After hearing the repetitive words of Mr Kriel, the students could only back into formation with Dante connecting them all into the spirit array.

    But in the end, after all that hassle, none of the results had changed at all

    "Crash!"

    Once again, the crowd of puppets could be seen crashing through the spear formation, sending the group of students flying everywhere.

    Before Dante could even react and help his ssmates, Mr Kriel''s voice rang out again

    "Fail."

    "You guys really have to try harder."

    Dante''s frustration was starting to build up now, as he could already feel himself getting more and more agitated.

    as he rounded up his soldiers back into the formation, Dante decided to calm himself down as he went to try again, but in the end, nothing even changed...

    4 times,

    5 times,

    6 times,

    7 times!

    7 times did Dante form a spirit array, connecting with each and every student, and on all 7 asions did the students end panicking and breaking the formation!

    To Dante''s frustration, instead of the students getting better with each try, his fellow ssmates seemed to be getting worse!

    But it wasn''t just Dante that was getting frustrated, the students around him had also had enough.

    Even a Saint would eventually get angry after being thrown around ceaselessly, much less this group of students!

    This ss of students could all be considered top talents. They were all special talents in their ns that had been taken care of since birth, so being beaten around endlessly for hours was not something they were used to.

    An aura of discontent and anger at Dante was brewing among the students.

    Dante was the heart of the formation.

    He was meant to be coordinating the whole formation procedure, yet they hadn''t even been able to even pull off one sessful formation.

    Surely he had to be at fault by this point?

    Whether this line of thinking was true or not didn''t matter to the students.

    All that mattered was that somebody had to take the me and they definitely wouldn''t be ming themselves.

    As a result of this, many of the students were sending dissatisfied looks, with the bold ones among them even sneakily ring In Dante''s direction.

    but even with all the frustration in the air, no one dared to confront Dante with their discontent.

    They were frustrated, but they weren''t stupid.

    Eating the ire of the Dragon son over a small drill just wasn''t worth it and everybody else also seemed to realise this.

    Well, almost everyone.

    As Dante was recovering from the bacsh of the shattered spirit array, he slowly walked back towards and as he was slowly walking towards the Spear formation, he could hear someone sneakily mutter under their breath.

    "If it wasn''t for this fool, we would have alreadypleted the formation by now. I really don''t know what his problem is!"

    Dante was already feeling extremely stressed and pissed off from the continuous shattering of the spirit array and once he heard this, it was truly the straw that broke the camel''s back.

    Dante finally snapped!

    You see, as the heart of the formation, Dante has the role of preparing and bearing the weight of the spirit array used to set up the battle formation.

    It''s because of this role that whenever the battle formation fails and the spirit array copses, Dante is faced with a terrifying mental bacsh. Every time the Battle formation failed, Dante would be faced with a terrifying pain in his brain. It was almost like a sharp nail was being hammered straight into his brain!

    Yet even with this pain, Dante never took his frustration out on his fellow ssmates.

    But right now, some students

    was actually trying to pin the me on him and try to make it like he was at fault!

    Dante was never one to shy away from criticism, but he wasn''t about to take some random trash talking, not after all the shit he had to deal with as the heart of the battle formation!

    merely seconds after hearing those words, Dante''s body flickered as he instantly appeared in front of The student.

    With his Dragon fear aura in full effect, Dante coldly stared down at the student as he asked,

    "I heard you mutter something. Are you speaking to me?"

    But surprisingly, unlike the other students that were cowering under Dante''s dragon fear aura, the student just stared up at him with treeless piercing eyes.

    Due to the clunky armour and helmet, all the students were wearing it was hard to tell all of them except for Dante apart.

    But even with the helmet on, Dante could still see the student below sneering at him.

 Chapter 150 - The Features Of A General

    But even with the helmet on, Dante could still see the student below sneering at him.

    "Yeah, you heard me right!" Said the student

    "As the heart of the formation, it''s your job to keep the formation from failing, yet you''ve not even managed to pull off a sessful formation once!

    So much for The Dragon Son of War, you really are just an over-hyped flop!"

    To be fair to Dante, the student''s opinion of him really was quite harsh.

    Dante was actually doing well for how little experience he had. The ability constantly to fix the slightest problems in spirit arrays and battle formations is only held by the most talented generals of the kingdom.

    Most generals have an excellent squadron of perfectly trained soldiers

    that rarely ever break concentration, so it would be simply unfair to judge Dante based on his performance with this group of students.

    After all, even though Dante was touted as one of the best talents in the history of the Hidden Dragon Academy, this was only in terms of raw cultivation talent andbat prowess.

    When it came to intricate procedures like forming spirit arrays, Dante''s talent could simply put, only be called slightly above average.

    If not then why wasn''t he even offered high positions not the departments like the Department of Alchemy or the Department of Weapons and arrays?

    These sort of things simply weren''t Dante''s speciality.

    But even despite knowing these facts, that didn''t mean these words didn''t affect Dante.

    As soon as the words left the students mouth, Dante''s eyes quickly flickered into a pair of emotionless serpentine slits.

    The only strange thing was that Dante felt something off about the situation.

    usually, Dante never got this heated over someone else''sments about him.

    But strangely enough, this time Dante felt an unnatural level of animosity towards the person in front of him.

    It was as if there was some outside force that was slightly stimting his anger towards this person before him.

    But even with this thought in the back of his mind, Dante didn''t really care!

    His unnatural anger at the person in front of himbined with the stinging pain from the constantly shattering spirit array had really put him on edge, and this students words were really thest straw.

    Dante was fully pissed off and shed out his hand, reaching forward to teach this annoying kid a lesson!''

    but before Dante''s hand could make contact with the person in front, Dante could only see a bright, shing, golden light

    before Dante could even think, he felt himself hit by a powerful force as his body was sent flying through the air

    ''Huh? What even happened?'' Thought Dante.

    Suddenly Dante''s thoughts were interrupted as he felt himselfe crashing back down towards the ground!

    "Boom!"

    Dante''s body mmed into the ground with dizzying speeds, causing arge crater to form in the ground around the collision site.

    Slowly, an extremely pissed off Dante eventually crawled out the ground, his eyes practically red with rage whilst his moonlight sword was already drawn, ready forbat.

    but as Dante was ready to charge down the student in a brutal retaliation, he looked up to see Mr Kriel standing next to the student with his body shining in a soft golden glow.

    As Mr Kriel stood there, he looked down at Dante with an extremely cold gaze.

    Mr Kriel usually had a cold look on his face, but this time you could tell things were different.

    There was a dark and furious aura brewing around him, allowing you to easily tell that this time, Mr Kriel was genuinely infuriated.

    "As the Dragon Son of War, you even resorted to violence with your very own soldiers!"

    "Dante, today you really have embarrassed your title as Dragon Son!"

    but Dante was never one to apologise when he thought he did nothing wrong, so in his anger, he quickly replied to Mr Kriel.

    "The title of Dragon Son doesn''t mean I have to calmly take insults. Just because I''m a dragon son doesn''t mean I would turn the other cheek when someone pped me in the face!"

    "Any other Dragon son might not have to, but you certainly do!" Said Mr Kriel

    "Not just you, but everyone here needs to learn how to do it. We''re not training you to be any old warriors, we''re training you to be soldiers! We''re training you to be generals!"

    "A general should know how to control his emotions. A slight moment of emotion for a general could end up costing thousands of lives!

    Pride, rage, arrogance!

    These are all luxuries that a good general just can''t afford to have! If the Random insults to your pride can be enough for you to lose your cool and retaliate, maybe you were not meant for my department of war in the first ce!" Said Mr Kriel

    "Besides, do you really think what he said was wrong?"

    "He was absolutely correct! The strength of your spirit array was nothing short of a joke and your management of your soldiers was even worse."

    but before the student that had started this in the first ce could even let out a light chuckle, there was a burst of golden light as he was sent flying as well.

    "And you!" Roared Mr Kriel as he turned toward the student.

    "When on earth did you ever think it was your ce to start criticising others!

    The performance made by the rest of the students in the formation was nothing short of woeful!

    While Dante may have been at fault for not keeping the Spirit array from falling apart, you guys are just as responsible for making the spirit array unstable in the first ce!"

    eventually, even Mr Kriel couldn''t take it anymore as he flew into the sky.

    "Today the ss has disappointed me. It''s clear that none of you are ready to be ced in a real battle formation.

    ss is dismissed and we won''t be having another lesson on battle formations until I''m sure you are capable!"

    After Mr Kriel said this, he didn''t waste any more time there and quickly flee away from his students filled with disappointment.

    As soon as Mr Kriel left, the students broke into low mutterings amongst themselves

    Dante wasn''t in the mood to talk to anyone.

    instead, Dante walked up towards the person who started this in the first ce.

    Seeing Dante''s terrible mood, no other student was stupid enough to aggravate him and simply moved out his way.

    As Dante came closer to the armoured person, he saw him simply sitting on the floor, seemingly thinking to himself.

    But as Dante was approaching him, he saw the person remove his helmet, letting Dante have a clear look at his face.

    "Klent." Muttered Dante in disbelief

    surprisingly, the person who criticised Dante so brutally and insulted him was actually one of the people he was supposedly close to.

    But if Dante was being honest, he wasn''t even as surprised as he felt he should be.

    in a strange way it actually made more sense to Dante.

    You see, ever since Dante discovered the treasure and secret that Klent was carrying, for some reason, Klent''s presence slowly became more and more unpleasant.

    It was a strange feeling that Dante himself couldn''t even exin. it was like something had changed, almost as if something had activated inside of him, slowly twisting his opinion of Klent to one of dislike.

    And the strange thing is, that Dante was almost sure that this feeling wasn''t one he was feeling alone. He was almost 100% sure that this feeling was one that went both ways.

    But even with all this, not much had changed for Dante.

    Dante was never one to beat around the bush and knowing the identity of the person hadn''t changed what happened to him. So with a calm yet cold aura around him, Dante went up to Klent to confront him.

    As Klent saw Dante approach him, he slowly rose to his feet, seemingly unaffected by the blow from Mr Kriel as his gaze still just as sharp as ever.

    Dante only stopped when he was only a few feet away from Klent as he spoke,

    "So, it seems like you have a problem with me?" Asked Dante in a ice cold voice

    Faced with Dante''s overwhelming aura and confrontational tone, Klent didn''t even flinch.

 Chapter 151 - Children Of Heaven

    "So, it seems like you have a problem with me?" Asked Dante in an ice cold voice

    Faced with Dante''s overwhelming aura and confrontational tone, Klent didn''t even flinch.

    "So?" Asked Klent

    "Am I not allowed to dislike you?"

    "Don''t tell me that, just because you are a Dragon Son, you expect everyone has to like?"

    But when faced with Klent''s question, Dante didn''t even bother to respond. Instead, he just stood there as he put on an irritating fake smile.

    But for Klent, this response just seemed to irk him on even further

    "This is the problem with you Dante. You''re always staying silent when it truly matters and trying to withhold information from the rest of us. It''s as if you''re trying your hardest just to stay aloof. It''s almost as if you think you''re better than the rest of us!"

    And You''ve always been that way Dante, even back at the Kinsman n you were no different."

    But surprisingly, when Dante heard Klent''s words he didn''t burst out in rage the way everyone had been expecting from the prideful Dragon Son.

    Faced with Klent''s outburst, Dante just slightly approached Klent as he spoke in a slightly lower tone so fewer people could hear.

    "Now Klent, Don''t you think what you''re saying is a little hypocritical?" Said Dante

    "After all, Aren''t you the one with a few little secrets of your own?

    Take that sword by your waist for example, I''m sure you wouldn''t even be the same Klent today if it wasn''t for-"

    Dante didn''t even get finish his sentence before he sensed himself being viciously attacked.

    As soon as he mentioned the sword, the aura around Klent swiftly changed.

    If before Klent could be described as slightly annoyed, The Klent right now could only be said to be out for blood!

    His sword burst into a sh of white light as his eyes chilled into the cold gaze of a killer.

    Without even thinking, Klent swung out his sword straight for Dante''s neck!

    "Bang!"

    Before Klent''s sword could make contact with Dante, Dante''s trusty moonlight sword was already there to block the blow.

    Instead of being angry at Klent''s attack, Dante just sneered at him as he spoke.

    "Now, now Klent." Scolded Dante

    "I may have struck a nerve but there''s no need to resort to violence."

    But if Dante was being honest, he knew what he said was just a load of crap.

    In fact, the only reason he was able to block the attack so easily was because this was the exact reaction from Klent he had been expecting in the first ce!

    Dante had basically just told Klent that he knew of his biggest secret, one so important that Klent hadn''t even told his closest kin.

    To put it into perspective, it was like a random personing up to Dante and to starting to talk to him about his system and Dragon souls, of course Dante would be surprised and retaliate!

    So it was no surprise that Klent had reacted in a simr fashion.

    Tensions in the air seemed to rise as Klent''s murderous re was met with Dante''s nonchnt smirk.

    But before the situation between them could escte any further, there was a loud rumble of thunder.

    For some unknown reason, the sky seemed to turn darker as a terrifying bolt of lightning tore through the clouds.

    Before anyone could seem to understand the current strange situation, droplets of rain started falling from the sky, which in turn quickly changed into arge downpour .

    The attention of the students was soon quickly grabbed away from Dante and Klent, and instead moved to the strange events happening in the sky.

    But for Dante and Klent, their attention wasn''t moved in the slightest by the scene in the sky.

    But it wasn''t that they weren''t attracted by the strange phenomena, on the contrary, it was actually because of the strange phenomena happening right in front of their eyes that they refused to move as what they saw next could only be said 100 times more strange than any weird things happening in the sky.

    As Dante and Klent were staring each other down, a slight golden hue started to form around the both of them.

    At first, the could only be said to be a light flicker that shed asionally, not all that different to a small firefly dancing in the night.

    But gradually, the light around the two of them started getting brighter and brighter whilst the hue around them also gotrger andrger, until it had formed into arge circr halo behind their backs that burned so bright that even the two of them were struggling to look at it.

    But the strange thing was that even with such a dazzling halo behind both Klent and Dante, nobody else seemed to take interest.

    All the people were still absorbed in watching the lightning and thunder in the sky, almost as if they couldn''t see it.

    It appeared that only Dante and Klent could see the strange phenomenon happening behind each of them.

    Everyone else was simply oblivious!

    "Child of Heaven..." muttered Dante and Klent in unison.

    It was at the moment of saying these words that a stream of unknown knowledge started to pour into the minds of both Dante and Klent.

    After recovering from the pain of having a load of knowledge crammed into their minds. Dante and Klent soon recovered, before smiling at each other.

    But this wasn''t a warm smile. Instead, it was a cold and cruel one!

    Aftering to terms with the knowledge they gained, everything had started to make more sense.

    The recent agitation, the intense dislike of each other that almost bordered hatred. It was all down to this title they had received. or more correctly, the title that they had been born with!

    Children of heaven.

    These were a group of people that were known by many different titles

    Heavens chosen,

    sons of fate,

    children of luck,

    These were just some of the things they could be called by people around them. But one thing that never changed was the thing that these titles meant.

    To be a child of heaven is to be someone chosen by the heavens themselves.

    Top grade talent, mysterious special physiques, sealed forbidden treasures. These things would be granted to the chosen children of heaven in abundance.

    But while life as a child of heaven may seem amazing and morous, it was far from just sunshine and rainbows

    In life, nothing was ever free.

    All benefits had a price to pay and just because the benefits were granted by the heavens themselves didn''t mean that this rule would be any different.

    Everything the heavens did had a purpose, and creating the Children of Heaven also had a simr purpose

    Although the Children of Heaven didn''t know what their purpose was or even what time their purpose wille. What they did know, however, was that when the time of their purpose came, there was never meant to be so many of them alive.

    The Children of heaven had been granted some of the strongest advantages and benefits to ever exist in this world, so of course the Heavens would be expecting ts chosen children to be just that,

    The absolute strongest.

    Even the creation of the Children of Heaven was made with creating the strongest warrior in Mind

    The children of heaven would be forced topete against each other in brutal fights to the death until only the strongest among them remained.

    However these fights were not without purpose as every time the children of heaven killed one another, the murderer would be blessed with many benefits.

    Their talent would increase and be even more unbelievable, their physiques would mutate and be even stronger with many more other benefits included it was almost impossible for the Heavens children to not fight amongst each other.

    besides, if the temptation of the heavens benefits was not enough to get them to fight with, then their innate dislike for reach other would.

    for some strange reason, Dante and Klent didn''t have the typical reaction between meeting their fellow children of Heaven.

    For some strange reason, they seemed to not dislike each other upon contact.. In fact, up until now, the rtionship between Dante and Klent could actually have been said to be quite good.

 Chapter 152 - Heavenly Anomaly

    For some strange reason, they seemed to not dislike each other upon contact. In fact, up until now, the rtionship between Dante and Klent could actually have been said to be quite good.

    But that was all until Dante found something strange with Klent''s sword.

    That realisation seemed to flick a switch between the both of them and soon, the true feeling of hate and disgust upon seeing another child of heaven was felt

    But this fact only goes to show how powerful the effects being a child of heaven can have. As soon as The effect kicked in, it merely took a few days before the rtionship between the deteriorated to the point of conflict.

    No matter if it was now or in the future, eventually the children of heaven will have to fight against each other to determine who will bear the full load of heaven''s will!

    As all this information was pouring into the heads of Dante and Klent, they just stared nkly into the sky

    The state onlysted for a few seconds before they quickly regained the light in their eyes.

    Dante and Klent just looked at each other with a much calmer gaze.

    The initial hot-blooded anger had now died down considerably.

    Now that they knew what was going on they were much calmer.

    But just be they were calmer didn''t mean that the animosity between them had gone away. On the contrary, now they knew what was truly at stake, the fights were only going to be much more vicious from here on.

    Everyone knew that a calm enemy was always much more of a threat than an angry one, so the calm state of Klent and Dante only went to show the true plots flying through their minds.

    Dante just turned toward Klent as he smiled coldly.

    "Unfortunately my friend, it seems like it''s not appropriate to continue our discussion here any longer," said Dante

    "How about we continue our discussion in a ce where we won''t be interrupted next time?"

    "Hahaha!" Laughed Klent

    "Dante, it''s almost as if you can read my mind. I was also thinking the same thing."

    "Meet me outside near the beast forest. there we can continue our discussion without any annoying interruptions" said Klent.

    hearing Klent''s suggestion, Dante just put a cold smile on his face

    "Well, I guess I''ll meet you there then." Replied Dante

    If you could look at them from the outside, the smiles and the warm atmosphere could fool you into thinking that this was simply amon arrangement between friends, but behind their seemingly kind smiles, warm gestured were dark and cruel intentions.

    This was the start of the showdown between Dante and Kent ever since they had realised their new titles,

    It was the start of the showdown between the Children of Heaven!

    ...

    Hours had passed since Dante and Klent''s confrontation on the training ground.

    The sun in the sky above the capital had now set causing a wave of darkness to spread across the whole city.

    But even with the overbearing darkness, there were still countless people active in the vicinity near the capital and one such person was Dante.

    After taking a short ride out of the capital to the edge of the beast forest, Dante decided to get out there.

    Dante had decided to make the rest of the journey on foot.

    As Dante was making his way through the forest he wasn''t just idle.

    he was constantly plotting and revising the ns he hade up with to deal with his current situation.

    But despite Dante''s seemingly paranoid nning, he really wasn''t afraid at all.

    Although he and Klent could be said to be quite simr in cultivation realms, he also knew that he was leagues ahead of Klent when it came to purebat strength.

    The disparity between them and Dante''s faith in his strength brought him at least somefort.

    The only problem was that despite Dante''s confidence in himself, he still couldn''t shake off this ufortable feeling he was getting.

    His instincts were constantly being agitated and telling him that someone, or at least something, was definitely watching him.

    But despite Dante''s constant searching and scanning, he could never truly spot something off around him. It was almost like he was being stalked by a ghost!

    All of a sudden, as Dante was thinking about this, the feeling he felt of being watched suddenly spiked again, causing Dante to look up to the sky in confusion.

    But to Dante''s horror, for a brief second, he could have sworn that he saw a faint golden eye staring down on him from above.

    but after rubbing his eyes, the image in the sky was simply nowhere to be seen.

    seeing that there was no definite conclusion to be made, Dante just gave up trying to find the source of this sensation.

    He simply just chalked it up to his nerves and paranoia after finding out his position as child of Heaven.

    However, What Dante didn''t know was that his instincts were actually correct.

    Dante was in fact being watched by something in the sky, or more correctly, he was being watched by the heavens themselves!

    It was impossible for the Heavens to not be interested in the fight between two of its own chosen people.

    For the heavens, each of its chosen children was a heavy investment on the heavens part, requiring the right circumstances, ridiculous amounts of blessings and talent being personally granted by it.

    It didn''t make sense for you to invest lots of money and effort into something and to not even bother with its results. And the heavens viewed its chosen children in the exact same way.

    So a fight between its chosen would be the easiest way for the Heavens to see if its investments had paid off and in the end regardless of who won or lost, the heavens would be the true winners as at the end of the day the winner would still be serving the purpose of the heavens.

    besides even if we ignore all this, there was still a factor that made the heavens interested in watching this fight.

    And this simple fact is that the greatest anomaly of the children of heaven would be involved in this fight.

    You see, for a child of heaven to be chosen, the heavens must have had a direct path of involvement in their creation.

    This could be something as simple as boosting the chosen person''s talent upon their birth, or it could be causing a strange mutation to develop, granting them a special physique.

    some times it could even be as arbitrary as just increasing their fortune to allow for more fortuitous encounters during their life.

    but the fact remains, that no matter the Child of heaven, in order to at least be called a ''child of heaven'', you would have at least have been chosen by the heavens themselves.

    But this fact only made the situation with the anomaly so rming.

    If normal heavens children could be said to be people chosen by heaven, then the only way the heavens could exin the situation around this anomaly would be to say that it had chosen himself!

    An analogy would be to think of the heavens as a baker.

    The heavens children are all chosen individuals that had been granted cakes by this baker, with these ''cakes'' being the various gifts and blessing the heavens could grant to an individual.

    This anomaly hade out of nowhere barged into its kitchen, forcefully took the ingredients from the baker and made a cake before gifting it to itself!

    And of course, this so-called ''anomaly'' was none other than our very own protagonist,

    Dante Kinsman.

    Even right now, just the thought of what happened alone was extremely ridiculous!

    The heavens could still remember the feeling of the rules of the world swirling and some being extracted to form something even the heavens themselves weren''t sure of.

    At first, the Heavens was outraged at this new development and restricted some of the blessings unique to children of Heaven on Dante.

    In fact, the heavens had tried at least twice to exterminate the walking anomaly that was Dante Kinsman.

    But after repetitive failures, the heavens had a different idea, as long as Dante was still a child of heaven, then he had to at least follow the basic rules set meaning that he could still also be used for that....

 Chapter 153 - Spirit Possession

    But after repetitive failures, the heavens had a different idea, as long as Dante was still a child of heaven, then he had to at least follow the basic rules set meaning that he could still also be used for that...

    As soon as the heavens came to the realisation that Dante could still be useful to it, the hesitation and anger it felt at Dante died down considerably. And so finally, in a strange twist of ns, it decided to include Dante in its little game.

    It was this dyed decision that caused Dante and Klent to not recognise each other as Children of heaven at first.

    And it was also this dyed decision that lead to the abrupt feeling of hatred between the two of them that we were seeing right now.

    But even with all these factors and variables affecting Dante''s circumstance as a child of heaven, Dante was still oblivious to it all.

    All Dante knew was that he and Klent were both children of Heaven Meaning that a conflict between them was inevitable.

    And if a conflict was going to happen Dante was sure he wasn''t going to be on the losing side!

    He had changed considerably from that weakling that could barely even fight people on his own level in the body refining stage.

    He was simply iparable to him from the past. Ever since he had awakened the memories of his past life, Dante had never truly lost, and this wasn''t something that he was nning on changing.

    Child of heaven or not, Dante wasn''t afraid.

    He would be a part of the heavens little game, but Dante wasn''t just nning on being a part of it.

    No, Dante was nning on dominating it to the very end!

    With this new burning desire and ambition growing inside of him, Dante quickly shuttled through the forest, heading towards the designated location between him and Klent

    .....

    soon, after journeying for a few minutes, Dante approached a small clearing.

    Here, the spread of trees was considerably thinner and it was also here that he could make out the figure of a person.

    The person was stood calmly with his arms behind his back, while an emotionless gaze could be felt from his eyes.

    "Klent." Said Dante coldly

    "Dante." Replied Klent in a simrly cold fashion

    For a few seconds, Klent and Dante just stared at each other, testing the other in a strange game of will

    soon, Klent broke the silence as he started speaking

    "I can''t help but find this situation slightly funny," said Klent as he chuckled to himself.

    "You were the first person I fought after I broke through my 3-year bottleneck, you were also the same person that allowed me toprehend the first stage of sword intent and now you''re also a fellow child of heaven!"

    "if this can''t be considered fate then I don''t know what is!"

    but Dante wasn''t too keen on Klent''s little musing and just interrupted.

    "cut the chase Klent, there''s no need to sit here speaking. We''re both children of heaven. I''m sure you know what the title entails by now. The fight between us is inevitable."

    hearing Dante''s word Klent just lightly chuckled.

    "I know this, but even so, I still can''t help but find this amusing."

    As Klent was casually speaking with Dante, a totally different and much more urgent conversation was happening in his head.

    ''Klent what are you doing?!'' asked sword master Rho in panic

    ''You know your match for the boy. Said Sword master Rho in disbelief

    ''I know I am not his opponent'' responded Klent ''

    ''But Isn''t this where youe in? You''re the one who said you''d be able to help me in a hopeless situation like this.''

    Hearing Klent''s thoughts, Sword master Rho could only sigh

    ''Well then boy, you better notin about the result''

    As these thoughts were going on in Klent''s head

    Dante and Klent were still staring each other down.

    suddenly Klent spoke, breaking the eerie silence between them

    "Well, then Dante, I''ll be going now, but I do hope you can at least put up a good fight for him." Said Klent with a strange smile on his face

    "a good fight for him?" Asked Dante in confusion.

    Hearing this strange sentence from Klent, Dante was left puzzled as to what he could possibly mean.

    But before Dante could ask Klent, he lightly tapped his rusty sword.

    "Ding! Ding! Ding!"

    the light tap seemed to ring throughout the Forrest, with it getting louder and louder with each subsequent ring until it could no longer be described as a ring and was instead more like the deafening chimes of a tower bell!

    The whole forest seemed to shake as disturbed birds and small animals were sent scattering through the forest in fear.

    It was as if the whole forest was resonating with Klent.

    Almost as if they were seemingly at one with his sword!

    Suddenly, a giant pir of golden energy burst forth around Klent.

    The pir of energy was so bright, the rest of the forest around Klent seemed to lose its colour. even Dante wasn''t spared and was forced to look away from Klent for a few seconds.

    After the light show around Klent calmed down, Dante turned back to see what had happened, but what he saw truly surprised him!

    Klent himself hadn''t changed much after the light show, but what had truly changed was the aura around him

    If we were simplyparing auras, then the Klent now and the Klent from before were simply iparable!

    There was a dominating yet somehow tranquil aura about the Klent Dante was seeing.

    Small fragments and visions of sword dao were actually urring around Klent while the constant yet also calming hum of swords rang throughout the forest.

    The new Klent seemed to stare at Dante with a new pair of piercing golden eyes as he spoke.

    "It''s my pleasure to meet you, little boy.

    I have been quite intrigued at your recent performances," said the new Klent with a strange smile

    "it''s just a shame that our first meeting would have to be in these sorts of circumstances"

    As this new Klent was speaking to him, Dante seemed to suddenly realise something

    "so you''re the soul that''s been living in Klent''s sword this whole time"

    As soon as Dante said this, The new Klent seemed to twitch but Dante paid little attention to this and just carried on speaking

    "I''m also guessing that Klent''s recent changes and improvement in strength all have something to do with you as well" Said Dante

    As Dante said all this and came to this realisation an arrogant smile slowly started to form on his face

    for a second the new Klent had a shocked look on his face before he burst outughing

    "Hahaha! You really do have a good pair of eyes on you kid"ughed Sword master Rho

    "since you guessed it, I guess there''s no need to hide it anymore.

    Yes. I am the soul that has been following Klent around all this time. To make things easier on you, you can just call me Sword Master Rho."

    But I just can''t help but wonder?" Said Sword Master Rho

    "This realisation. Is it something granted to you by your recent awakening as a child of heaven, or is it something you have known all along?"

    If Dante was being honest, then he had to admit that this was something that he only realised right now.

    But honest or not, it''s not like he was going to tell Sword master Rho the truth worthier way.

    Besides, it''s not like this was something he had to think hard about before he even figured it out

    Dante already knew that Klent had a fate changing treasure identification granted to him by his dragon souls

    Dante already knew that Klent had a fate changing treasure identification granted to him by his dragon souls.

    And after finding out that Klent was a fellow child of heaven and seeing the possession of Klent happen right in front of him, it really wasn''t hard to put two and two together.

    Dante had read a few novels back in the day, so Klent''s situation actually seemed pretty cliche when he thought about it.. In fact, Dante was slightly embarrassed that it took him this long to figure it out.

 Chapter 154 - Battle With Sword Master Rho

    Dante had read a few novels back in the day, so Klent''s situation actually seemed pretty cliche when he thought about it. In fact, Dante was slightly embarrassed that it took him this long to figure it out.

    A previous genius that had lost all his talent

    The random change into a mind-boggling talent

    The strange fate changing treasure that was always carried around with him.

    Considering how cliche Klent''s situation was, If Klent didn''t have A spirit grandpa with him, Dante would be surprised!

    As Dante was thinking all this, sword master Rho startedughing

    "haha! Seeing as you are still staying silent, I''m guessing that this wasn''t something told to you by the heavens. Besides if this was told to you by the heavens, shouldn''t we also know your secret by now?"

    "But with this, I can''t help but wonder. What possible secret is allowing for your talent and also allowing for you to know all this?"

    hearing Sword master Rho''s question, Dante couldn''t help but lightly chuckle as he smiled

    "I''m sorry, but it''s a secret."

    As Sword master Rho heard Dante speak, he couldn''t help but chuckle

    "Boy, Don''t you know sometimes keeping secrets can get you killed?"

    "Hahaha!" Laughed Dante

    "That may be the case for others, but it certainly isn''t for me."

    Suddenly the smile on Sword master Rho''s face vanished as he lightly tapped his rusty sword.

    As he did so, the sword seemed to go berserk and, in doing so, caused all the rust that was previously coating the sword to fall off.

    As The rust fell off, a magnificent golden sword with countless mystical inscriptions was shown. The Sword was so magnificent that both Dante''s dragon souls started acting up, urging him to im it at any cost.

    But Despite all this, Sword Master Rho seemed to ignore Dante''s reactions as he continued speaking in a much colder tone.

    "You sure do know how to talk boy. I just hope your mouth can be as sharp after today!"

    As Sword master Rho said this, he swung his sword, causing arge swarm of golden energy to hurl towards Dante.

    ''tch''

    Seeing this shocking sight, Dante scowled as he mmed his feet into the ground, hurtling out of the way of Sword master Rho''s devastating attack.

    "Dragonification!" Cried Dante

    instantly, two streams of energy, one crimson red and one a cool silver, started cooling around Dante as scales started popping out of his skin.

    Dante knew he could afford to underestimate his opponent.

    If all the novels that he had read could be used as a point of reference, then no spirit grandpa was ever a person to take lightly.

    Strictly speaking, these guys were often protagonists in their own right, almost all having terrifying and unbelievable feats to their names.

    And when you added that to the countless years of knowledge andbat experience these guys usually had, they were truly almost unbeatable monsters!

    But even when faced with such a terrifying opponent, Dante wasn''t without hope.

    Sword master Rho still had a weakness and that weakness was Klent!

    The current Klent was simply no match for Dante.

    Dante was ahead of Klent in terms of just pure cultivation, and if you add on the boost and abilities gained from his dragon souls, to put him and Klent in a fight to the death was just simply unfair.

    The current gap between them was sorge Dante could probably defeat Klent in just a few rounds.

    And just because Sword master Rho was possessing Klent''s body didn''t mean things had suddenly changed.

    Sure, Sword master Rho''s sword mastery was light years ahead of Klent''s and he would probably also know some terrifying secret techniques.

    But he still couldn''t magically change the body he was inhabiting.

    He was still inhabiting Klent''s body, so he would still be sharing some of the same weaknesses, mainly Klent''sck of brute strength.

    Sure, Dante would get absolutely curb-stomped if it was a pure contest of skill, but if he could just change that into one of brute strength...

    He probably stood a chance of winning this fight!

    With these thoughts in mind, Dante didn''t waste any more time thinking about a n.

    He had to act now!

    Drawing the moonlight sword from his back, Dante activated his movement technique and dashed towards Sword master Rho.

    But Sword master Rho wouldn''t just watch as Dante rushed towards him.

    With a cold expression on his face, Sword master Rho casually swung his arm, causing a swarm of golden sword energies to rush towards Dante.

    Seeing this overwhelming wave of Golden light rushing towards him a mad gleam seemed to shine in Dante''s eyes.

    Dante didn''t back down as his moonlight sword burst into blinding silver light.

    Without slowing down, Dante swung his sword across his body, causing a humongous cross of silver light to head towards Sword master Rho

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

    A dazzling light show of gold a silver went off in the forest as a cloud of smoke started to cover the battlefield

    Suddenly, the smoke seemed to stir as Dante burst out from behind, swinging down on the unsuspecting Sword master Rho!

    But instead of the normal panic you would expect to see on an ambushed individual, Sword master Rho merely sneered as he spoke

    "Fool." Said Sword Master Rho.

    And Just before Dante could reach him, Sword Master Rho lightly tapped his sword without even sparing looking behind him

    "Sword Hymn."

    Suddenly the melodious chimes of a bell could be heard throughout the forest.

    And as all this was happening sword seemed to vibrate madly as Dante saw a powerful shockwave head out towards him

    Before Dante could even react, he suddenly felt his body shudder as the sound wave passed straight through him.

    Unable to put up any resistance, Dante was sent flying back from the attack whilst his body rag-dolled in the air beforending on the ground with a heavy thud.

    But as he was getting up to continue his attack, Dante suddenly felt himself coughing heavily into his hand.

    After recovering and looking at his hand, Dante could see it waspletely covered in blood.

    Originally, Dante felt he could casually walk of Sword master Rho''s attack, but now it seemed like the attack had left more hidden damage than Dante had originally expected.

    ''Interesting.'' Thought Dante as he assessed the damage to his body.

    ''It seems this fight is going to be a bit harder than I originally thought.''

    As Dante thought this, a slight smirk appeared on his face.

    But as Dante looked up, he could see Sword master Rho staring down on him with a simr smirk.

    "Tch!" Scowled Dante in irritation.

    Dashing around Klent once more.

    Seeing this sight, Sword Master Rho lightly chuckled as he spoke

    "There''s no point in running around little boy. nothing you do can change the oue of this fight."

    Dante didn''t pay attention to the ramblings of Swordmaster Rho.

    He knew that someone of sword master Rho''s experience wouldn''t be stupid enough as to talk nonsense during a battle.

    If he was saying anything it was definitely meant to try and provoke Dante. And if Sword Master Rho felt the need to get in Dante''s head and throw off his game, then that meant there was at least a chance of him winning this fight.

    no matter how small it was, a chance was still a chance and Dante would fight with everything that he had!

    Dante dashed around dancing between the countless beams of sword energy Sword master Rho sent his way.

    But just as soon as Dante was entering the melee range of Sword Master Rho, the only range in which he could be considered a true threat, the loud chimes of a sword would ring out causing a devastating sound wave to pass through Dante and shaking his organs.

    As if this wasn''t bad enough, the attack seemed to have a stunning effect as after the sound wave passed through his body, Dante noticed that his body continued to move sluggishly for a few seconds after.

    Fortunately, due to Dante''s rather strong physique, he could quite easily tank a few attacks as these sound waves weren''t quite strong enough to put him outmission just yet.

    The Major problem to Dante was that the constant stunning effect of the sound attack was preventing him from getting close and dealing any actual damage to Sword Master Rho

 Chapter 155 - Battle With Sword Master Rho 2

    Chapter 155 иC Battle With Sword Master Rho 2

    The Major problem to Dante was that the constant stunning effect of the sound attack was preventing him from getting close and dealing any actual damage to Sword Master Rho

    besides, just because Dante could resist the Attacks of Sword master Rho didn''t mean that he could just ignore them.

    Even drops of water would eventually hollow out a stone.

    Anything could be worn down if enough damage was dealt, and Dante was no different.

    If things carried on as they are now, it won''t take long before Dante would be forced to surrender

    Faced with the thought of his somewhat inevitable defeat, Dante was overwhelmed with a sense of frustration.

    but it wasn''t just Dante that was feeling frustrated.

    Dante''s Dragon souls seemed to share in his frustration as Dante began to hear constant roars of irritation start toe from within his mind. But that''s when Dante was suddenly hit by a new thought!

    ''That''s it!'' Thought Dante

    ''A Roar! A roar is all I need to deal with these strange sound attacks.

    If My roar won''t cancel out the sound attack, it should at least be able to change the direction right?"

    Dante wasn''t too sure whether his line of thinking was the correct one, but it was certainly the best idea that he had.

    Without hesitating any longer, Dante got himself together and charged at Sword Master Rho once more.

    Activating his movement technique, Dante''s figure blurred as he flickered along the forest, weaving in and out of the golden sword beams sent his way.

    As Dante was approaching Sword Master Rho he saw him reach for his sword and instantly knew another sound attack wasing.

    But as Sword Master Rho was reaching for his sword, Dante wasn''t idle either.

    Stimting his dragon soul, Dante took in a deep breath as his chest expanded.

    Dante could feel his throat swell as an ufortable sensation started to build up in his chest from all the pent up air.

    Finally unable to take it any longer, with apletely red face, Dante let out a devastating roar!

    The air around Dante seemed to shake as a deafening roar visibly swept out before it collided with the sound wave of the sword attack, cancelling each other out.

    Seeing his n was actually effective Dante swiftly acted, approaching the now surprised Sword master Rho and struck out with a powerful blow

    "Bang!"

    sword master Rho quickly raised his sword to block Dante''s strike but the difference in both Dante and Klent''s physique was finally shown as Sword master Rho was still sent flying into a tree

    "boom!"

    Sword master Rho''s body collided, making a loud impact

    Dante knew it wasn''t enough to defeat sword master Rho, so he quickly dashed towards him

    Breaking through the smoke, Dante appears in front of Rho, shing down

    But this time Sword master Rho was fully prepared, and it showed!

    As Dante''s and Rho''s sword was just about to make contact, Sword master Rho suddenly changed the angle of his sword.

    sparks flew as both swords made contact, but surprisingly, Dante found that his sword seemed to have no effect on Sword master Rho and simply slid off until it hit the floor.

    Although surprised Dante wouldn''t let his one failure get to him so rapidly rotating his body, Dante brought Down his sword on Sword master Rho once more

    "Bang!"

    Despite the increased power of Dante''s attack, Sword master Rho simply deflected it as easily as before, no if anything it could have been said to be easier than before!

    Seeing his attacks so easily stopped, Dante grit his teeth in frustration and seeing this, Sword Master Rho wouldn''t let go of the chance to get in Dante''s head.

    "Boy, why are you frustrated? Don''t tell me you were expecting anything different?

    Although you may be stronger than that boy Klent, you can give up any hope of defeating me as long as that sword is still in your hand.

    Boy, I''ve been ying around with swords longer than even your grandfather has even been alive.

    To think you can beat me with a sword is not just naive, it''s an insult!"

    Hearing this, the person most affected wasn''t even Dante. No, it was the moonlight sword in his grasp.

    hearing Sword Master Rho''s words, the moonlight sword seemed to take it as a personal attack.

    In its mind, Sword Master Rho was making fun of Dante''s sword and the moonlight Sword wouldn''t allow for him to be so easily insulted.

    the moonlight sword quickly let off a load of unintelligible buzzes.

    "Don''t worry" said Dante to his sword.

    "Just rx and leave everything to me and that old ghost will be put down in no time."

    After saying this Fante took a second to recollect himself before rushing at sword master Rho, unleashing a devastating flurry of attacks once more

    "Bang! Bang! Bang!бн"

    Thunder like bangs could be heard as Dante let off countless attacks at such blinding speeds that all that could be seen was a strange blur of silver.

    But to Dante''s horror, despite the ridiculous speed and strength of his attacks, Sword Master Rho seemed to be easily dispatching his attacks,

    and to make matters worse, Dante''s problems didn''t end there!

    As time went on, Sword Master Rho started getting more and more ustomed to the body of Klent that he was inhabiting and how to control it, which in turn only caused his already terrifying sword technique to only increase even further.

    As the fight went on Dante could see that Sword master Rho not only began to defend against his attacks even easier but he also even began to unleash some quick counter attacks of his own!

    With each sword deflection, Sword Master Rho would use the split second in which Dante was recovering from his sword attack and quickly send out a sh of his own that Dante could never hope to block!

    Due to Dante''s terrifying physique and the quick nature of Sword Master Rhos attacks, Dante simply ignored the light scratches at first.

    But as the fight went on longer and longer, these wounds started umting until Dante noticed that he had suddenly gained injuries all over his body.

    Dante''s current attacks were simply useless.

    Dante was attacking and dealing almost no damage to Sword master Rho whilst also umting a terrifying amount of injuries himself

    Knowing he couldn''t afford to let this continue, Dante quickly broke away from Sword Master Rho and checked himself, only to find his body covered in blood.

    But before Dante could even think about treating himself, he saw Sword Master Rho dashing furiously towards him

    watching Rho dash towards him, Dante knew he couldn''t afford to let Sword Master Rho get close to him.

    The close-rangebat that he originally thought was his strength was actually his greatest weakness.

    To think he could beat an old monster like Sword Master Rho with something as basic as brute strength was simply just naive!

    Despite now realising the error he had made, this didn''t stop Sword Master Rho from dashing towards him.

    Knowing that he had to keep his distance from sword Master Rho, the air around Dante suddenly began to heat up as his chest started to expand at a rapid rate.

    soon a terrifying roar was heard across the forest as Dante let off a zing hot cone of fire.

    Faced with this powerful attack, Sword master Rho simply activated his movement technique, shing behind Dante.

    But as he did so, Dante also tracked him and turned around to unleash another devastating wave of fire.

    But even with that, Sword master Rho''s image just flickered as he easily dodged Dante''s attack.

    seeing the berserk and almost desperate attacks of Dante, Sword Master Rho just lightly chuckled

    And continued to dodge

    "Boy, just give up. You stand no chance at winning!"

    But as Sword master Rho was speaking, hisughter was quickly cut short.

    After only speaking for a few seconds, Sword Mater Rho noticed something strange with his current surroundings.

    Dante was nowhere to be found.

    But not just that. The area surrounding him had changed.

    The mes released from Dante had slowly spread around the forests, turning into a zing inferno.

    And these mes weren''t just the ordinary mes of a forest fire, they were true dragon mes, mes from one of the most powerful creatures in the multiverse!

 Chapter 156 - Sea Of Flames

    Chapter 156 иC Sea Of mes

    And these mes weren''t just the ordinary mes of a forest fire, they were true dragon mes, mes from one of the most powerful creatures in the multiverse!

    Sword master Rho quickly became ufortable as he saw this all-consuming inferno getrger and slowly form a circle around him.

    Soon sword master Rho''s expression quickly became serious.

    Although he had underestimated the boy, it seemed like the kid still had some tricks up his sleeve!

    beads of sweat started to trickle down Sword master Rho''s forehead as he quickly kept looking into the flickering mes for any sign of Dante.

    Suddenly, Sword Master Rho heard a slightmotion in the mes beside him

    Turning to his side, Sword Master Rho could

    faintly make out a figure in the mes

    Got you!''

    But as Sword master Rho shed the image, it just quickly fizzled out and he was just left with a cloud of fire

    ''Shit! A diversion!''

    From the mes behind Sword Master Rho burst out a still burning figure.

    Dante Dashed towards Sword Master Rho,pletely healed of injuries

    Heart of mes 3/3 иC Your heart burns with an inextinguishable elemental fire Granting you :

    100% immunity to mes at your level.

    50% damage reduction to mes at a higher level which decreases by 10% for every level Higher than you the attacker is.

    mes at the same level or lower levels heal for 25% of damage dealt

    A passive skill Dante hadn''t had to use for a while showed up here

    Dante had bathed in his own terrifying Dragon mes allowing for him to slowly heal all the Damage that sword master Rho had done to Him.

    The Dante attacking Sword master Rho right now looked as if he had never fought in the first ce!

    Dante''s brutal strike smashed down on sword master Rho and although he was able to put his sword up and block it, he was still sent staggering back into the roaring mes

    Sword Master Rho quickly covered himself in sword energy before dashing out of the mes, but not before some of his clothes became singed.

    "Damn it!" Cursed Sword Master Rho

    As soon as he came out from the mes he found Dante hadpletely disappeared again.

    As if to make matters worse Sword Master Rho found the circle of fire around him slowly shrinking being the feeling of heat closer and closer to his skin.

    normally Sword Master Rho would only sneer at mes of this intensity but now things had changed.

    The body of Klent could only be determined to be pathetic by his standards

    And that''s how it started.

    Dante lurked deep within the mes constantly attacking Sword master Rho at random from different angles slowly

    Wearing him down with his power whilst he also choked him with the Ever-increasing entrapment of mes.

    eventually, it got to the point where allnd in the area was covered in Dante''s field of fire.

    Forcing Sword Master Rho to fight in the raging forest fire

    Sword Master Rho was struggling to maintain hisposure.

    His robe had been torn to shreds, whilst his face was covered in ash and smoke.

    And to make matters worse all this was caused by a junior merely a fraction of his age.

    As Sword Master Rho''s frustration was rising, Dante''s aggravating chuckles could be heard echoing everywhere from deep within the mes

    Hearing the tauntingughter of this junior, Sword Master Rho finally snapped

    "Fine then. You can''t me me for what happens next boy!"

    A golden sh of light erupted as he rose up higher into the sky as his furious golden eyes red down on the sea of fire.

    "Severe."

    just a simple word, yet this word had devastating consequences

    instantly a golden line of energy formed across the sea of fire splitting open the sea and even causing a Ravi e to form below it.

    But despite the Impressive disy of power it seemed to have little effect as Loudughter rang out from within the sea of fire as Dante controlled the mes to recover the cleared area making it as if nothing had changed in the first ce

    once Sword master Rho heard this his eyebrows twitched in frustration as he called

    "Severe! Severe! Severe!"

    countless lines of golden energy burst throughout the sea of fire, altering the surroundingndscape and showcasing the devastating power Swordmaster Rho truly held.

    Even Dante broke out into a nervous sweat when he saw all the attacks Sword master Rho let off

    Although he was lucky and managed to avoid the attacks Sword Master Rho released, it was still a reminder that he couldn''t afford to underestimate him.

    If Dante was hit by even one of those of attacks it would still be able to do devastating damage.

    Although Histest attack managed to strike some fear into Dante, Sword Master Rho couldn''t possibly know that and was still boiling with fury.

    "It seems like you will stay hiding until your death!

    Fine if I can''t force you out of your little rat hole then I will destroy it!" Roared sword master Rho

    "Sword Domain!"

    the terrifying screech of sword echoed throughout the air as The ground began to shake.

    slowly the space around Klent started to fracture as visions of sword doa started to circle above Sword Master Rho''s head

    but before He could continue manifesting his sword domain, sword Master Rho came to a realisation that caused him to roar at Klent in his mind.

    ''Klent you fool! Why is your spirit energy reserve so pathetic!''

    ''Hey don''t me'' shrugged Klent

    ''You''re the controlling the body, if the reserves are almost dry then that''s all on you.''

    hearing Klent''s words Sword Master Rho could just scowl as he quickly shrunk his sword domain to it was only a fraction of the power he was about to bring out, but even then, the power it held was still no joke.

    Below the floating Sword Master, Dante was still lurking in the Sea of mes.

 Chapter 157 - Crazy Man!

    Chapter 157 иC Crazy Man!

    Below the floating Sword Master, Dante was still lurking in the Sea of mes.

    As he was preparing to deal with Sword Master Rho, Dante suddenly felt a horrifying aura briefly in the sky. Although it quickly disappeared, Dante was still slightly shaken.

    That aura made him experience an emotion he had barely ever felt sinceing into this world

    Fear.

    The fear ofplete annihtion.

    Dante didn''t know what caused that aura but for a second, his dragon souls were screaming for him to escape.

    Now, if a creature as prideful as a dragon could be made to feel like running, then it only showed what terrifying power could have possibly been unleashed.

    Despite the aura now havingpletely faded, Dante knew he couldn''t allow for sword master Rho to continue what he was doing.

    whatever that old ghost was doing was clearly dangerous and Dante wouldn''t be able to forgive himself if him hiding in the Sea of fire was what slowed Sword Master Rho to power up so easily!

    In the raging mes, Dante slowly raised his Moonlight sword.

    As all this was happening the silver image of a moon started to coalesce in the sky.

    At first it was illusory.

    slowly flickering and fading in and out of existence until it fully coalesced in the air.

    Eventually creating the illustration that there were actually two moons in the night sky!

    With newly formed moon hanging in the sky above, Dante swiftly brought down his sword

    "Lunar Sword technique,

    Setting Full Moon!"

    Dantes created moon shook crazily, as it rapidly descended towards Sword Master Rhowho was floating in the sky.

    but as if that wasn''t enough a pir of silver and red Dragon breath, sted straight into the sky, speeding towards Sword Master Rho.

    The unsuspecting Sword Master Rho was now being attacked from both above and below!

    But despite being faced with attacks from all angles, Sword Master Rho wasn''t even slightly panicked by them.

    In fact, he even sneered at them!

    "Is that all you have boy?" Stated Sword Master Rho with a in expression on his face.

    "Even with only a fraction of my sword domain, this still isn''t enough for you to deal with me!"

    Just as Sword Master Rho was about to be hit by both of Dante''s attacks, he casually swung his sword in a circr motion, cleanly shing both above and below him.

    As Sword Master Rho cut through Dante''s attacks, All that could be seen was a bright line of golden energy before a blinding st of Red, silver and gold shook the sky.

    As the smoke started clearing up, Sword Master Rho could still be seen still floating up in the sky over the destroyed forest as if nothing had even happened in the first ce.

    but before Sword Master Rho could even fully take in the destruction he had caused he suddenly felt a scaly w on his shoulder

    Shocked by this, Sword Master Rho turned his head only to see a crazed pair of Draconic eyes staring at him.

    ''Shit!'' thought Sword Master Rho in panic

    ''How the fuck did he even get here!''

    But as if things weren''t already bad enough for Sword Master Rho, he suddenly found his body start to fall through the sky at ever-increasing speeds!

    "Boy! what the hell are you doing!" Roared Sword Master Rho.

    As sword Master Rho''s body was falling, Dante slowly wrapped himself around him, holding him in a tight unbreakable lock, unbothered by the terrifying speeds at which they were hurtling towards the ground.

    "Hahaha!" Laughed Dante

    "Sword Master Rho, why are you so panicked? Just rx things will be over soon"

    "You crazy little shit!" Cursed Sword Master Rho.

    In Sword Master Rho''s mind, Dante had already gone mad!

    If they carried on falling at the speeds they were at right now they were going to hit the ground with a terrifying impact. And with Dante locked around him there was no possible way for either of them to protect themselves.

    Cultivator or not, before you ascended to immortality you could still always be killed and fall like this still had enough force to send any Martial Journeyman realm cultivator to go meet their maker!

    That''s why Sword Master Rho couldn''t understand the madness Dante was trying to pull off right now.

    If they both fell then Dante wouldn''t be able to protect himself either, they would both fall to their doom!

    But what Sword Master Rho failed to take into ount was that Dante wasn''t any old regr Martial Journeyman Cultivator.

    his passive <Draconian Might> granted him a mind-boggling 300% increase in all basic physical attributes, so when stacked with the other 300% he got from his other dragon soul, it increased to 600%!

    With such a disgusting reinforcement Of his physical attributes, Dante was confident that his physique would allow him to walk off the damage front of this impact.

    Struggling with Dante in the air, Sword Master Rho managed to free his sword arm, and without hesitation plunged into Dante''s waist.

    "Sphlit!"

    a sickening sound could be heard as Sword Master Rho''s golden sword pierced Flesh, Causing Dante to let a wail of pain.

    But to Sword Master Rho''s horror, the sword attack hadn''t had the effect he wanted.

    Instead of freeing himself, the attack had only caused Dante to tighten it to the point he could start to feel his bones creak under the pressure.

    "Damn it boy! You forced Me!" Roared Sword Master Rho

    His hand started shing in a golden light as Sword Master Rho twisted the sword in Dante''s body.

    Instantly Dante could feel something wrong.

    sharp prick like pains could be felt from the wound spreading throughout his body.

    on closer inspection, Dante quickly recognised the pains as raging currents of sword energy.

    Countless strands of sword energy were coursing through Dante''s body!

    even with the Spirit Energy resistance granted by the Silver Dragon soul, letting sword energy rip through his internal body was bound to cause serious amounts of internal damage.

 Chapter 158 - Impact

    Chapter 158 иC Impact

    even with the Spirit Energy resistance granted by the Silver Dragon soul, letting sword energy rip through his internal body was bound to cause serious amounts of internal damage.

    Suddenly Dante found himself coughing a load of blood out onto Sword Master Rho.

    instead of being angry at this new development, Sword Master Rho instead justughed.

    "Dante. This is your own fault." Said Sword Master Rho.

    "At this rate, your stubbornness will get you killed if you keep holding on in vain. Just how long do you actually think you canst with this amount of sword energy coursing through your body?"

    But to Sword Master Rho''s surprise, Dante was panicked at all.

    instead, Dante just stared back at him with a pair of piercing Draconic eyes as a crazed, bloody smile crept onto his face.

    "I may not be able tost forever,"ughed Dante

    "But I''m sure I''ll be able tost long enough. Just look behind you."

    Dante''s words got Sword Master Rho''s attention as he quickly turned around to see his falling body was merely a few meters away from the ground.

    ''shit!'' Thought sword master Rho in panic.

    He quickly needed toe up with an idea on how to get out of this!

    but unfortunately, before sword master Rho coulde up with any decent ideas, things just seemed to go from bad to worse!

    As he turned around, Sword Master Rho could already feel a terrifying rush of fire energy and spirit energy rush behind him as his surroundings began to heat up at an rming rate.

    looking back, he could see a devastating congregation of energy start to from around Dante''s mouth.

    ''Damn! Is that boy really trying to kill me!'' Thought Sword Master Rho in disbelief

    If he was hit with a breath attack from such close range then it was truly over. Even Sword Master Rho, in all his experience, would still be left helpless after being sted from such close range.

    And it''s because of this that so he tried to resist.

    Sword Master Rho squirmed and struggled with everything he had, trying his hardest to break out of Dante''s grip, but Dante was just like a boa constrictor.

    The more Sword Master Rho struggled, the stronger Dante''s grip on him became.

    It got to the point where Dante''s grip was so strong that Sword Master Rho couldn''t even move anymore as Dante charged up his attack.

    knowing his fate was sealed, Sword Master Rho could only begin to hurl expletives as he got closer and closer to the ground

    "God Fucking Damn It!" Screamed Sword Master Rho.

    And that was thest sound that could be heard before Dante and Sword Master Rho hit the ground.

    "BOOM!"

    a terrifying Shockwave spread out as a massive dome of silver and red energy spread out from the point of impact,pletely obliterating any tree or wildlife found in its path!

    бн.

    after the terrifying st had finally faded, a humongous crater could be seen in the ground.

    suddenly, there seemed to be a disturbance amongst the rubble as multiple rocks slowly started rolling around.

    "Boom!"

    suddenly a hand burst out of the rubble, revealing a dusty and damaged figure.

    This person was none other than Dante, it''s just that was just that he looked very different from the Dante we usually saw.

    his luxurious gold and ck robes had been damaged so badly that they could barely even be called rags, whilst his handsome face waspletely covered in dirt and dust.

    But the damage to Dante didn''t just end there as in addition to this, the usual imperious and regal dragon horns on his head had now snapped whilst his left arm was broken and bent in a strange angle showing just how terrifying that fall was.

    But no matter how bad Dante''s situation was, Sword Master Rho somehow managed to beat him as his state was even worse!

    from the rubble below him, Dante''s scaley hand pulled out what could only be described as a damaged corpse.

    the arms on the body were dislocated and broken whilst the outer body waspletely charred.

    but surprisingly enough, the seemingly dead body still managed to have a heartbeat.

    "Kill me.." groaned Sword Master Rho as he stared at Dante with an emotionless gaze.

    He had really lost face today.

    Although losing to a junior only a fraction of his age had really hurt his pride, at the end of the day, Sword Master Rho wasn''t to hurt about it.

    He still had a way out.

    Although it would be a major inconvenience for him if Klent was to die here, it still wouldn''t be the end of the world.

    A man as old and experienced as Sword Master Rho wouldn''t be as foolish as to put all his eggs in one basket.

    He still had backup ns and despite the fact that these ns may cause him to have to wait a few more centuries before his goals could truly be aplished.

    At the end of the day, he would still live, and that''s what''s important.

    besides, after what Sword Master Rho saw living in the soul of that kid he wanted to get as far away from that monster as quick as possible.

    During thest moments of the battle, Sword Master Rho had been desperate enough to try and enter the kid''s mental space, and what he had seen shocked him.

    Besides the two Martial Spirits, he already knew that Dante had he saw something else.

    5 Entities

    That monstrous kid was somehow sealing away 5 strange entities in his mind!

    And these weren''t any old measly souls. From their aura alone, Sword Master Rho knew that any one of them could give him a run for his money, even back in his prime.

    Strangely enough, the thought that these could actually be Martial Spirits instead of actual strange entities never urred to Sword Master Rho and the reason for this was quite simple.

 Chapter 159 - Serve Me.

    Chapter 159 иC Serve Me.

    Strangely enough, the thought that these could actually be Martial Spirits instead of actual strange entities never urred to Sword Master Rho and the reason for this was quite simple.

    It''s by some extremely strange turn of events, those entities were in fact Martial spirits, then added on to the two Martial Spirits Dante already had that woulde to a grand total of 7 Martial Spirits!

    7 Martial Spirits!

    in all his years in the Martial Spirit world Sword Master Rho had never heard something more ridiculous.

    statistically speaking it was actually much more likely that Dante had 5 strange entities sealed in his soul than 5 more dormant martial spirits!

    Besides, in Sword master Rho''s head, strange entities living in someone else''s mind wasn''t even that rare of an urrence.

    wasn''t he doing it himself?

    If he could do it then surely someone else could.

    but even so, five entitiesбн

    Sword Master Rho knew that even if he had lost to the boy, it was not in vain.

    There was obviously something abnormal about this kid or else which normal boy his age had sealed 5 powerful entities in his soul!

    As these shocking thoughts were still swirling in the mind of Sword Master Rho, Dante merely looked down on the man with a cold sneer.

    He just ignored the words of Sword master Rho who was begging for death as he coldly spoke

    "I''m not interested in speaking to you. Bring out Klent." Said Dante

    hearing this, Sword Master Rho gave what could only be described as a mental shrug before rescinding control of the body back to Klent.

    As soon as Klent regained control of the body the first thing he did Was let off a pained groan

    This was because with full control of the body also came the full weight of sensations of the body.

    Burns, Bruises, Broken bones.

    Klent could feel them all as soon as he regained control.

    But despite the excruciating pain, Klent still refused to show weakness before Dante.

    Just because he had lost the fight didn''t mean he would be humiliated!

    Before he called Dante here he knew what he was getting into.

    As a child of Heaven, he knew better than anyone else the consequences of losing.

    The heavens didn''t tolerate loss.

    The only option for losers was death

    so Klent didn''t even bother asking Dante for pity.

    Instead he just raised his head as he stared down Dante with a pair of fierce eyes asking

    "Why did you call me out here? Is it just to humiliate me?

    Well if that''s all you want, then kill me now! I Won''t let you get that twisted satisfaction"

    Hearing Klent''s outburst, Dante wasn''t fazed and instead just lightly chuckled as he watched his disy.

    "Why are you in such a hurry to Ask for death?" Asked Dante

    "Don''t tell me that you actually want to die?"

    But Klent don''t seem to share even half of the amusement that Dante had and asked in a cold tone.

    "So you''re telling me there''s a way out for me to survive?"

    Although Klent''s change from wanting a swift death to questions about survival might be surprising, it actually made more sense than you think.

    nobody wants to die.

    This was especially true for people with a bright future to look forward to.

    Due to this fact, it wasn''t surprising to see Klent search for any path of survival.

    Although he may not be as talented as Dante, Klent was still a generational talent in his own right.

    In 5 years Klent was confident he could skyrocket his strength and ce himself in the top echelons of the Vaenam Kingdom power system.

    Besides, with all the stories and experiences Sword Master Rho had told him about, Klent knew there was more to this world he couldn''t have imagined!

    Klent didn''t want to die!

    He wanted to see it all!

    He wanted to see everything this world had to offer!

    While such a passion for life might be admirable, it was this very same passion that Dante could also use to his advantage.

    Seeing the spark in Klent''s eyes, Dante slowly let out a crafty smile.

    "Klent! No matter how hard you try to deny it, you simply aren''t on my level!"

    As soon as Klent heard this his body flinched.

    Although this was the cold reality of his situation, it still hurt his pride to hear it so inly.

    "But this doesn''t mean you''re not talented" continued Dante

    "In fact, I even admire your talent."

    "It would be a waste for you to die because of your pride so that''s why I''ll ask you again."

    Submit to me Klent.

    Swear to serve me!

    As Dante said this an imperious aura could be felt overflowing from his very bones

    "serve you.." hearing this Klent was left stunned.

    He had always considered Dante as someone on his level.

    Apetitor just out of his reach that with lots of hard work and training, he could possibly even hope to fight

    But as time progressed the gap between them didn''t close.

    Instead, it only got further and further!

    It had even gotten to the point where Klent subconsciously didn''t even dare fight Dante head-on anymore.

    Even now, although he had nned this fight with Dante, Klent''s original aim had always been to allow Sword Master Rho to possess him and take control.

    He never thought he could beat Dante by himself in the first ce! He wouldn''t be so stupid as to risk his fight in a battle he thought he could lose

    But even though these thoughts had always been in the back of Klent''s mind, what Dante was asking was still very big.

    Dante was asking him to submit to him, and give up hopes of trying to beat him and swear to serve him.

    Klent was truly torn between the two options.

    On one hand, there was a path to escape the death that had always been guing him as a child of heaven.

 Chapter 160 - Servitude.

    Chapter 160 иC Servitude.

    On one hand, there was a path to escape the death that had always been guing him as a child of heaven.

    But if he was to swear loyalty to Dante, then that was it.

    At that point, he had to truly admit to himself that he ced Dante a level above him.

    He had to admit to himself that he could never catch up to this person he once considered his rival!

    With conflicted eyes, Klent stared at the eerily smiling Dante.

    "Dante. IбнI choose to-"

    But before Klent could even finish his sentence, there was a terrifying thunderp in the sky!

    The sky seemed to rage as a terrifying storm of air picked up around Klent and Dante, dragging the surrounding trees into the air.

    The sky was raging!

    The earth was torn asunder!

    The heavens were furious!

    The fury that the heavens was experiencing right now was simply indescribable.

    The heavens had felt that the anomaly could still be of use to it.

    That''s the only reason it had finally released the restrictions it had ced on him and granted the full effect of the child of heaven.

    But now this very same anomaly that the heavens had pardoned was tying to rebel!

    All children of heaven knew the rules.

    The victor takes everything! To fail is to face death!

    As fellow Children of heaven, Klent and Dante Knew this better than anyone else.

    In fact, they could hear it.

    From the roaring wind, to the very earth below their feet, it was all crying out.

    ''Kill him!''

    ''The winner takes all!''

    But this all didn''t seem to affect Dante.

    Instead of panicking, when faced with the furious phenomena of the Heavens, Dante merelyughed as he looked towards the sky

    "Haha! Didn''t I tell you this from the start?"

    "It was never your ce to force your instructions on me! You''re the one who needs me in the first ce."

    "crackle! Crackle!"

    As a result of Dante''s words, pitch-ck clouds started to fill the sky as ominous crackles of thunder could be heard up above.

    But even when faced with this phenomenon, Dante didn''t falter and still stared fearlessly at the sky.

    "BANG!"

    suddenly, a deafening explosion of thunder could be heard as a ray of light sted down between Dante and Klent.

    But Instead of dealing any damage to the both of them, this thunderbolt had a much stranger effect.

    Instantly the halo of light only signature to children of heaven suddenly red up behind Dante and Klent.

    It was due to this the effects unique to Children of Heaven seemed to be madly stimted, causing that included the emotions that came with it.

    All of a sudden, Klent found his mind overwhelmed with emotions of anger and fury!

    As he looked at Dante, his image quickly became more and more displeasing.

    ''This is the man! The man who forced me to such a desperate state!'' Thought Klent.

    ''This is the man that forced me to die!"

    Slowly Klent reached for the sword at his waist as his now red eyes, burning with hatred, red menacingly at Dante.

    But before Klent could evenplete this, he found a cruel pair of Draconic eyes staring straight at him.

    "Now now Klent. Let''s not do anything you''lle to regret now, shall we?"

    although Dante''s words might sound quite kind, the ice-cold tone he spoke in hinted at the terrifying consequences he could be alluding to.

    And for Klent, once he heard it, it was like having a bucket of ice-cold water poured on him.

    His mind instantly cleared as his movements froze.

    It was at that moment that Klent realised it.

    he was simply no longer Dante''s match.

    All this time that he thought the distance between them was shortening, he couldn''t be further from the truth.

    Had been growing, butDante had simply been growing at an unbelievable rate.

    In addition to this, as Klent kept on chasing after Dante and setting him as his goal, he didn''t notice that, slowly but surely,he had been slowly cing Dante on a pedestal.

    While this might not show any effects initially, but as the distance between them widened the pedestal Dante was ced on only continued to rise and rise until suddenly, Klent''s subconsciously started to consider himself beneath him.

    Klent didn''t know when, but somewhere along the line he actually considered himself beneath Dante.

    It was only his pride and hubris that refused to admit it.

    He himself had already subconsciouslye to ept it.

    Dante was simply levels above him.

    he was simply in a ce he could never hope to reach.

    So with a pair of tired and defeated eyes, Klent looked towards Dante as he weakly spoke.

    "Dante, Iбн Iбн

    I choose to serve you."

    It was at that moment that these words left Klent''s mouth that his power of will,

    The same will that had carried himself through his three-year cultivation bottleneck,

    his same seemingly unbreakable willpower copsed!

    in face of this unbelievable talent, Klent simply realised that there was no hope.

    Seeing this sight Dante felt conflicted.

    He had just shattered the poor boy''s hopes and dreams

    But even so, Dante didn''t regret it.

    he knew that this was the only way forward for the both of them.

    As Children of heaven, they can only afford to be the strongest, so there were only two possible oues for losers.

    Servitude or Death.

    Dante had simply chosen the lesser of two evils

    But even so, Dante didn''t want Klent to lose all hope and soon spoke out.

    "trust me Klent, one day you''ll look back on this as the wisest decision you have made in your life!"

    but one person who clearly didn''t share the same enthusiasm as Dante was the heavens.

    As soon as Dante''s words left his mouth, a terrifying atom of thunder and lightning smashed into the ground around him.

    Seeing this crazy scene around him, Dante just stared ahead with a wide smile on his face as He looked into the sky.

 Chapter 161 - Blessing Of Heaven

    Chapter 161 иC Blessing Of Heaven

    Seeing this crazy scene around him, Dante just stared ahead with a wide smile on his face as He looked into the sky.

    "Even your best efforts can''t restrict what I want to do. "

    "Why are you still so stuck on your lousy rules?!"

    the wind blew fiercely into Dante''s face, causing his hair to fly around madly.

    And if you added that to the fact he was standing in the middle of a thunderstorm, crazily roaring into the sky. It really seemed like the scene only a crazy man could take part in.

    Suddenly, the heavens had seemed to have enough of Dante''s nonsense as a deafening wave of thunder could be heard in the sky.

    before Dante could even react, a terrifying st of white thunder could be seen hurtling down from the sky straight onto Dante and Klent''s foreheads!

    Instantly Dante stimted his energy to try and protect himself, but in the end, it was just toote.

    Dante could just watch helplessly as the bolt of lightning sted straight into his face!

    But surprisingly, instead of the electrifying sensation of pain, Dante was expecting. He instead found that he couldn''t even feel any difort.

    Instead, Dante even started to feel a warm, fuzzy sensation start to run through his body.

    Looking up, Dante turned to see the halo of light behind Klent begin to swirl and flicker, as particles of light could be seen slowly leaving his halo to go and join Dante''s.

    Slowly the Halo of heaven behind Klent became smaller and smaller until only a fraction until only a fraction of its former size was left.

    whilst all this was going on, Dante''s Halo also rapidly expanded, stopping only once its size had practically doubled!

    The crazy thing for Dante wasn''t even this spectacr light show as, whilst all this was happening, Dante could slowly start to feel a change inside of him.

    The measly talent he was born with was actually starting to change!

    Dante could feel a warm current inside of his body slowly refining it and making it more attuned to his fighting style.

    His size increased by a few inches as his bone density and muscle mass grew by a few levels.

    But the size increase wasn''t a rough one. Instead, despite growing in size, Dante''s muscles had be even morepact and streamlined, adding a sense of nimbleness and agility that he never knew he had.

    But even with the impressive increase to his already freakish physique, the thing that still impressed Dante the most was his change in talent.

    At first, Dante had thought his talent was unchangeable, and Dante was even fine with that.

    With his dragon souls, Dante''s mediocre talent had never actually been exposed.

    Whenever talent was needed, he would just rely on his dragon souls to get him through the challenge.

    And Although this was an obvious weakness, Dante had just decided to gloss over it.

    Nobody else knew of this w and since there was no known method of increasing natural-born talent, Dante could simply just live with it.

    But now things had changed.

    The lightning bolt from the heavens hadpletely reformed his talent

    Now Dante was certain that if he took the talent test again, his talent would at least be at the peak of the purple rank!

    His newly developed talent and dragon souls seemed to react as Dante suddenly found himself plunged into a state ofprehension.

    The world seemed to slow down as Dante''s perception was enhanced.

    He started noticing things he would never pay attention to.

    The small ant colony going about their lives a few metres away.

    The distressed calls of birds miles away from Dante and Klent''s battlefield

    Dante could even hear slight muffled murmured which he could only assume as people talking, despite beating miles away from the Kingdom''s Capital.

    Still under this mysterious state, Dante stretched out his wed hand as he calmly called,

    "w of the Dragon King."

    With that Call, The air around him suddenly began to stir as tendrils of golden energy could be seen flying off from Dante into the sky.

    With an emotionless pair of eyes, Dante watched as the golden strands of energy coiled around each other, eventually forming into the giant phantom of a golden dragon w!

    Dante simply waved his hand, causing this gigantic w to fall straight out of the sky and plunge into the earth

    "Boom!"

    the ground shook as a st of gold could be seen rushing throughout the forest.

    Klent was left stunned and could only watch on with shocked eyes.

    ''Is thisбн the true power of a child of Heaven?''

    Suddenly, Klent felt an inexplicable sadness.

    It''s true you never know what you have until you lose it.

    With the simple blessing of the heavens, Dante''sprehension was drastically boosted to an almost unbelievable level.

    In just a short time, this blessing had allowed him to easilyprehend this terrifying attack move.

    If this sameprehension could only be applied to his sword techniqueбн

    Klent felt his stomach turn in regret.

    But soon these thoughts were quickly forced out of his mind.

    ''No. This is my fate as the loser.'' Thought Klent

    ''Since I have failed, I can only be nourishment for the strong to get even stronger

    Although Klent hade to ept this fact, terrifying grief couldn''t be concealed from deep within his eyes.

    Dante also seemed to notice Klent''s grief as he turned to look at the young man.

    "what''s with those dead eyes? You seem to be forgetting something." Said Dante

    "Although your Halo of heaven has faded, it''s still there."

    As Dante said this, a knowing smile appeared on his face.

    "This means it''s not all over for you! All these benefits are still things you can have!"

    hearing this Klent was left stunned for a second.

    it was only after thinking for a brief pause that he finally caught on

    ''Yes! He''s right!'' thought Klent

 Chapter 162 - Thunder Of Annihilation

    Chapter 162 иC Thunder Of Annihtion

    ''Yes! He''s right!'' thought Klent

    ''As Long as the halo of heaven is still there, I can still achieve the same benefits. I''ve not lost everything just yet!''

    Sensing Klent''s quick change in mood, Dante wouldn''t miss the chance to strengthen his position in Klent''s mind and quickly added.

    "Besides Klent, don''t forget who you''re with! As long as you are with me, there will never be ack of opportunities to fight children of heaven and as my ally I will definitely not mistreat you.

    The blessings of heaven are just one of the many benefits you can gain by my side!"

    As soon as Dante said this, Klent began to look at Dante in a different light.

    He knew better than anyone else the crazy talent of the boy in front of him.

    Don''t forget, Dante was still three years younger than Klent at the age of only 15. But even with such a young age, he still had the ability to go toe to toe with an old monster like Sword Master Rho.

    If he was given 5 more years.

    No, just 3 more years.

    The levels of strength that Dante could reach were simply unimaginable.

    ''Those poor children of heaven'' thought Klent

    ''They have no idea what kind of Demon is here waiting for them!''

    Just thinking about it made Klent even start to feel pity for his fellow children of heaven.

    He had been spared of his sad fate because he was a friend of Dante, but just imagine if they were actually enemiesбн

    Klent already began to shiver at the grim fate that could have been waiting for him.

    And the sad truth was that this grim fate was in fact awaiting all the future children of heaven!

    but before Klent could spend too long on these thoughts, there was a loud disturbance up in the sky

    Looking up, Klent could see that the once dormant storm clouds had now burst back into life, crackling and sparking with countless currents of lightning while deafening ps of thunder sounded out through the skies.

    The only strange thing was that this time, instead of the warm white thunder Klent had seen before. This time the thunder was a dark, ominous, red

    "Thunder of annihtionбн" muttered Klent in shock.

    One of the Most terrifying of thunders known to man.

    Even those who were brave enough to break their heavenly oaths would rarely ever see this thunder.

    Instead, legends say only those whomit the worst crimes against heaven and earth would be faced with such devastating thunder.

    This wasn''t like tribtion thunder that was meant to restrict and challenge people, only stopping the unworthy from passing.

    The thunder of annihtion was never meant to be resisted.

    When the Heavens brought out this thunder, there was only ever one result.

    Theplete and utter obliteration of its target.

    This was the only true purpose of the Thunder of annihtion.

    Klent didn''t have time to ponder these thoughts any longer as before he could even say another word. There was a deafening thunderp as a pir of blood-red lightning fell down from the sky!

    "BOOM!"

    The world seemed to go red, as for a second, all that could be seen was a blinding wave of deadly red energy.

    The wave of lightningpletely destroyed anything in its path, sweeping freely in all directions and onlying to a stop merely a fingertip away from Dante and Klent.

    Looking at the aftermath of the attack, Klent could see a humongous crater at least triple the size of the crater that Dante and Sword Master Rho had created from their battle.

    But besides this, Klent also noticed another disturbing fact.

    Despite the creation of such arge crater, not even the slightest of debris could be found.

    Everything was obliterated!

    Aftering to this realisation Klent couldn''t help but gulp in fear at the heaven''s brilliant disy of power.

    As children of heaven, both he and Dante knew what that demonstration of power meant.

    The heavens were clearly threatening them

    ''I have given you your power. So I can easily take it away.''

    ''I can easily obliterate you!''

    The heavens had given out a little reward in Handing Dante the Blessing of heaven and bending the rules by allowing Klent to still live.

    But after doing this it still had to assert its dominance and nothing was more threatening than a disy of power that could easily erase your existence. Well, at least that was what the heavens had thought.

    It was simply the best way to bring Dante back in line

    The carrot and the stick

    it was a timeless technique used to get people to cooperate with you, and the heavens were obviously trying to implement it.

    The heavens had thought that this disy would be enough to at least reign Dante''s arrogance in a little Bit.

    But contrary to its predictions, even after he saw what horrifying destruction the thunder of annihtion was capable of, Dante wasn''t even fazed.

    In fact, Dante even sneered at the obvious attempts that the Heavens made to threaten him.

    Dante knew he was still of great value to the heavens.

    This was his greatest advantage and what gave him the confidence to be so fearless in face of the unquestionable power of heaven.

    As long as he showed the high value and carried on showing his great potential, he had nothing to fear.

    After all, it made no sense for the heavens to destroy its future investments.

    Even the heavens, in all its might and power, still couldn''t perfectly predict the future. so it couldn''t quite guess whether Dante would be of use to it or not.

    The heavens just couldn''t afford to risk it.

    The hurdles that it had to face were simply too great!

    Failure was not an option!

    So as long as Dante stayed winning, then the heavens wouldn''t know whether he would be the one it was looking for or not and could simply only turn a blind eye to his behaviour.

 Chapter 163 - Return

    Chapter 163 иC Return

    So as long as Dante stayed winning, then the heavens wouldn''t know whether he would be the one it was looking for or not and could simply only turn a blind eye to his behaviour.

    As long as he stayed winning, he was safe. Well, at least for now he was.

    After showing off its power and trying to intimidate both Dante and Klent, the ck clouds in the sky slowly started to fade away.

    Eventually, the Night sky had cleared to such an extent that it would simply be impossible to guess that a heavenly thunderstorm was present merely moments ago!

    seeing the disappearance of the ominous thunder clouds, Dante just looked towards the glowing moon as he sighed.

    Today had been very eventful.

    He had even suddenly be a Son of Heaven, leaving him questioning many things about his future and its ns.

    but one thing Dante was sure of was that he had no time to rest!

    He had suddenly been dropped into a brutal death game amongst some of the world''s most talented individuals chosen by the heavens themselves!

    what if Dante was ambushed by some Child of heaven in the Martial Expert realm? What was he supposed to do then?

    He had to rely on himself.

    Slowly progressing his strength under the protection simply wasn''t an option.

    The heavens wait for no man.

    This wouldn''t change for Dante, no matter how terrifying his potential was.

    But even with this newfound threat breathing down his neck, Dante wouldn''t let it get to him.

    He had the talent, cheats and resources needed to get stronger all in front of him.

    If anything, this was simply the motivation he needed to focus harder on his cultivation!

    With a nonchnt smile on his face, Dante turned towards Klent as he asked.

    "Now, I''m guessing we should start heading back."

    Hearing Dante''s question, Klent looked at Dante with a strange expression on his face.

    he was still unsure about his future and had many questions he wanted to ask Dante about.

    But taking a second look at the battered figures of both him and Dante, Klent just sighed.

    This was neither the time nor the ce for these discussions. Klent just nodded back to Dante as he spoke

    "yeah! I was thinking we should start heading back too."

    and like that, two tattered figures slowly started making their way on the long journey back to the kingdom capitalбн

    бн.

    A few hourster, deep inside the kingdom''s capital city

    Department Head Vincent could be seen scratching his head as he struggled to deal with the overwhelming pile of paperwork ced in front of him.

    "Damn it!" Cursed Department Head Vincent.

    "If I had known it would be this bad, I would have never gone out drinking with that old ghost Jarred!"

    as Vincent was wallowing in self regret, he suddenly heard some knocking at his door

    e in." as he waved his arm in a casual fashion

    As soon as Vincent called, a soft click could be heard at the door before it was slowly turned open.

    And soon entered a person that Vincent could only describe as a vagabond!

    Tattered robes that could barely even be called rags and messy hair that covered most of his face.

    Vincent was shocked that such a poorly dressed man had even managed to enter the Hidden Dragon Academy, much less get into his office!

    It was only after close inspection of the person in front of him, that Vincent found that the vagabond of a man actually seemed pretty familiar to him.

    "DanteбнIs that you?" Asked Vincent in disbelief.

    Hearing this, a wild smile broke out onto the face of the dishevelled man.

    "Granduncle Vincent, who else could it be?"

    Despite having already suspected it Vincent was still left in disbelief.

    "What on earth happened to you? And why have you brought a burnt corpse into my office!"

    "calm down Granduncle " said Dante

    "Despite its appearance, this isn''t a burnt corpse. In fact, it''s actually a student of yours." Exined Dante

    "But there''s no time for exnations, as you can see, his state isn''t very good. He needs urgent treatment!"

    "As the Dragon Son of War, I should at least be able to treat someone with the best facilities we have here!"

    seeing Dante''s firm position, Vincent just sighed as he reached out to shake the bell at the front of his desk.

    Merely a few seconds after he shook it, a pair of men dressed in white robes stormed into the room.

    "These two are some of the experienced medics from the department of Alchemy and Medicine. If the best medical treatment is what you require, then it can''t get much better than the people in front of you." Said Vincent as he motioned to the new individuals.

    Turning to look back at them, Dante didn''t say much as he handed them Klent''s now unconscious body.

    As Dante turned was doing this, his Draconic eyes seemed to glow in a terrifying light as His aura of dragon fear was red to the max

    "The person I''m handing over to you is an important individual. As the Dragon son, I''mmanding that he gets the best treatment. I simply won''t ept it if I hear that he hasn''t made aplete recovery, you hear me?"

    As Dante spoke, a warm smile appeared on his face.

    But when coupled with his terrifying aura and daunting dragon eyes,

    To the medics in front of him, it looked like something straight out of a nightmare!

    without wasting any more time one of the medics turned towards Dante as he spoke

    "You can rest assured Lord Dragon, Son, I will treat this young man as if my very life depends on it!"

    seeing this sight, Dante just nodded in approval before the two individuals carried Klent''s unconscious body away and rushed to the infirmary.

    As he watched the Medics quickly leave, Vincent turned towards Dante as he asked,

 Chapter 164 - Elemental Nexus Realm

    Chapter 164 иC Elemental Nexus Realm

    As he watched the Medics quickly leave, Vincent turned towards Dante as he asked,

    "You sure you want to just watch them leave like that?

    I know your state isn''t as bad as your friends over there, but you should still get it treated.

    Not properly treating your injuries could leave some hidden damage that might obstruct your future cultivation path.

    hearing Vincent''s words, Dante just smiled.

    "I was never nning on leaving myself as I am now. I actually nning on doing something I''ve been nning to do for a long time now" said Dante

    "I would like to use all the contribution points I''ve earned from my position as Dragon Son to enter the Elemental Nexus Realm!"

    Elemental Nexus

    An extremely rare phenomenon that urs randomly in the Martial spirit world.

    This strange phenomenon created a source of energy,plete with all known types of spirit energy.

    From themon Elements like fire and water to the extremely rare elements like void or even death elements, the elemental nexus was able to produce them all.

    Many years ago, around the times of the foundation of the Vaenam Kingdom.

    An Elemental Nexus was formed in the very Kingdom Capital.

    At the rate of the expansion of the Elemental Nexus, it could have led to theplete destruction of the kingdom.

    Fortunately, during this time mysterious cultivator from the main continent was also seen passing by at that time.

    With the knowledge of this Mysterious cultivator and the persistent effort of the founders of the Vaenam Kingdom they not only contained this Elemental Nexus but even managed to develop a small realm that contained aspects of the Elemental Nexus.

    No one knows what deals were made between the two parties but eventually, this newly created realm was allowed to be kept by the Vaenam Kingdom.

    Although this newly created realm barely even held a fraction of the power of a Real Elemental nexus, it was still able to produce also countless rare elements that were extremely hard to encounter outside of the world.

    The realm created by the Hidden Dragon Academy was still amazing.

    It had the abilities it had didn''t just end at creating energy either.

    The realm had the ability to greatly increase the students'' cultivation speed and also theirprehension of the martial skills to an almost unbelievable degree.

    But just like any good thing, the Elemental Nexus array came with a cost and it wasn''t a light one either

    The number of elemental and spirit energy crystals used to power the realm was simply astronomical.

    And it''s because of this cost that the Hidden Dragon Academy has heavily restricted its usage.

    No amount of gold can be used to buy a spot in the Elemental Nexus array, instead only things known as contribution points, which were handed out by the Hidden Dragon Academy, could be used to enter the Elemental Nexus array.

    But even with all these restrictions, the number of contribution points needed to obtain a spot in the elemental Nexus Realm was ridiculous.

    Fortunately for Dante, this is where he is better off than most as the positions of Dragon Son came into y

    The position of Dragon Sones with many perks and one of them is the monthly top of contribution points.

    It is because of this that Dante even had the confidence to ask to enter the Elemental Nexus Realm as he knew that even his distinguished position As Dragon Son of War would still not be enough to get him into the Elemental Nexus Realm for free.

    When it came to such valued assets like the Elemental Nexus Realm, the rules wouldn''t be bent even in the slightest.

    After Vincent heard Dante''s proposal, he was at first shocked that Dante would try something so ridiculous.

    But after Vincent thought for a while he just took a second to look at Dante''s messy figure before sighing,

    "Sigh! I guess if this is what you want, then there''s nothing I can do to stop you." Said Vincent

    e with me.."

    with that, Vincent headed out of his office with Dante following closely behind him

    бн.

    a few minutester Dante and Vincent were standing in front of a heavily guarded teleportation circle.

    "This is thest line of defence before you enter the Elemental Nexus Realm."

    After saying this, Vincent didn''t exin further and simply walked towards the teleportation circle.

    As expected of someone of Vincent''s rank, the stationed guards didn''t even move to question him and only nodded in approval before letting him pass through the Teleportation circle.

    The only unfortunate thing was that when Dante tried the same thing, he didn''t seem to share such privileged treatment.

    "Halt." Said the guard just as Dante was approaching the teleportation formation.

    Although he was disappointed he couldn''t walk in as easily as Vincent, Dante wasn''t surprised by this sort of treatment as Vincent had already told him about the stringent inspections that most regr people had to pass through in order to enter the Elemental Nexus Realm

    Without much hassle, Dante brought forth his special identification token signature to the Dragon Son of war.

    As he did so, the guard brought up a mystical glowing crystal and ced it against the token.

    Suddenly, a set of glowing numbers appeared.

    300

    seeing this number, Dante simply nodded in approval

    50 contribution points foring first in the entrance exam, 150 contribution points for breaking the mountain of will record and 100 contribution points for the monthly top of Dragon Son,ing up to the total of 300 contribution points

    "So how much time are you nning on spending in the Elemental Nexus Lord Dragon Son." asked the guard in a much more humble tone than before.

    Seeing this swift change of the guard''s attitude, Dante wasn''t surprised, as this could only be expected.

    Although his title of Dragon Son wasn''t enough to let him enter the Elemental nexus array at a reduced cost, it was at least enough for him to get much politer treatment.

 Chapter 165 - Elemental Nexus Realm 2

    Chapter 165 иC Elemental Nexus Realm 2

    Although his title of Dragon Son wasn''t enough to let him enter the Elemental nexus array at a reduced cost, it was at least enough for him to get much politer treatment.

    "I only n on spending three days in there." Said Dante

    "Then That will be 300 contribution points," said the guard as he stretched out a strange crystal ball.

    Dante didn''t hesitate and stretched out his Token to meet the crystal.

    Instantly, the number on his token flickered before it suddenly dropped to zero.

    Seeing this Sight Dante couldn''t help but feel a sharp pain in his heart.

    although he knew this was going to happen already, it still pained him to see his contribution points all disappear in an instant.

    But sadly, there was nothing Dante could even do about it other than passively watch on.

    "sigh!"

    Dante was soon hit with the same nauseating sensation unique to teleportation arrays.

    Dante didn''t know if it was just him, but every time he stepped foot into one of them, it felt like his stomach was being twisted and squeezed like a wet cloth.

    ''This Teleportation nonsense is really going to be the death of me!'' Thought Dante as he held back the vomit he could feel stirring in his stomach.

    After steadying himself Dante was finally able to get a proper look at the strange ce he had been teleported to.

    It was a vast and seemingly endless cavern with an extremely high roof and open flooring as far as his eyes could see

    The floors were all rough and stony was stony surrounding, with arge uneven elevation, and Dante was certain that this could only be a fraction of the Fabled Elemental Nexus Realm.

    Looking up, Dante realised the fairly green light was actually a natural light source.

    Since it was impossible to get any sunlight in this seemingly u deriding realm, the only source of natural light actually came from some florescent green moss thatpletely covered the roof whilst glowing in a soft shade of green.

    But besides all this, there was also another strange thing that Dante noticed about the environment here and that was the air

    It was heavy. But not so much in an ufortable way.

    The air here could only be considered as "heavy" but due to the almost unbelievable concentration of elemental energy in the surroundings!

    Dante almost couldn''t believe it!

    Here the concentration of elemental energy had reached such a high state, that if Dante slightly squinted then countless energy particles could even be seen floating aimlessly around. And This was all without even activating the most basic of visualization techniques.

    Dante simply loved it!

    Dragons were innately magical creatures.

    Ever since their birth, they had always felt a strong affinity to elements, and the elements had in turn, always loved them.

    so now that Dante found himself in such an elemental rich environment, Dante and both his dragon souls were overjoyed!

    Dante could even hear the overjoyed screams and roars his dragon souls were constantly releasing in his mind.

    But before Dante could get lost in the dazzling feeling of this new environment, he suddenly heard someone start speaking to him.

    "So you finally made it through?" Said Vincent As he approached Dante.

    "Wee boy, to the Elemental Nexus Realm!"

    As Vincent said this, he stretched out his hand in a grandiose manner.

    The only problem was that since there were no special effects or any crowd to cheer after he said that, the whole introduction seemed to fall t.

    It definitely wasn''t as cool as Vincent had imagined in his head.

    But despite this, Vincent didn''t seem to care and even rubbed his nose in pride.

    ''Hahaha! I''ve definitely caught the attention of that arrogant little boy!'' Thought Vincent to himself.

    it''s just a shame that he failed to notice the strange looks he was getting from Dante because of his embarrassing performance.

    "Well seeing as you finally made it here, there''s no need to waste any time in this barren ce," said Vincent and in doing so managed to grab Dante''s attention.

    Hearing what Vincent just said, Dante was left stunned.

    If this ce could be considered barren, then Dante couldn''t even begin to imagine what the other ces could be like.

    But Dante didn''t have to think for too long before he suddenly felt a hand grab him by the shoulder.

    before Dante could even resist, he suddenly felt his body shoot up into the sky!

    "Shit! Granduncle Vincent, you can at least give me a warning before you pull this stuff!"

    Seeing Dante''s flustered look, Vincent just lightly chuckled as he spoke.

    "Boy, you better get used to this kind of thing. When you breakthrough into the Martial Journeyman realm, flying will be second nature to you!"

    But what Vincent was overlooking was that there was no way that a Martial journeyman cultivator could ever move as fast he was.

    It was simply impossible!

    Vincent was in the Martial Expert realm and one of the strongest beings in the whole of the Vaenam Kingdom.

    so the idea that a Martial Journeyman realm could ever rival his speed was simplyughable.

    But even with all this, Dante didn''t have time to dwell on these little things.

    He was too busy fighting against the terrifying air resistance that was mming against his face to have any stray thoughts.

    Vincent however, didn''t seem to notice Dante''s pitiful struggles and simply sted across the sky at an almost unbelievable pace whilst still allowing Dante to barely glimpse at the shing scenes below.

    As they flew across the vast undergroundndscape, Dante managed to spot many strange sights caused by the build-up of elemental energy.

    In one region, he saw a vast group of giant swirling tornadoes rolling across the ground and flinging up pieces of the earth into the sky.

    In another area, he saw an area filled with constant thunderstorms so powerful that one could be mistaken for thinking the heavens themselves were angry!

    He even managed to see a strange area filled with slow mumbling corpses that reeked of the strong aura of death and yin energy.

    But Vincent didn''t seem to take any interest in these strange sights and carried on flying ahead

    After a short while, Vincent came to a stop, allowing Dante to finally get a clear look at his surroundings.

    Dante noticed that thendscape had changed considerably.

    The temperature of the surroundings had drastically increased and sometimes the asional burst of hot air would blow and end up smashing into Dante''s face.

    Besides this, the ground was not spared from these changes.

    The ground was cracked all over the surface, withrge pools of magma appeared sporadically, bubbled menacingly as if they were on the verge of overflowing.

    slowly, Department Head Vincent began to descend onto the ground with Dante in hand.

    As soon as theynded on the floor Dante turned towards Vincent and asked

    "Where exactly are we?"

    "We''re currently located in one of the areas in the Elemental Nexus with the highest concentration of fire element energy," Said Vincent

    "I could of course tell you more, but I doubt you would want me to waste that time that you can have spent cultivating here.

    All you need to know is that I brought you to the most Fire element rich area of the Elemental Nexus Realm"

    I can assure you this would be the best ce for someone like you to cultivate in."

    At first, Dante wanted to object.

    Although it may not seem like it with his amazing control over fire, but his cultivation technique actually wasn''t a fire attribute one.

    He cultivated moonlight energy. and although it may be hard to find a moonlight energy domain where he could freely cultivate, a fire elemental area certainly wasn''t the next best choice.

    If anything, it would be the worst choice!

    The brutal and fierce nature of fire directly conflicted with the mellow and calm nature of moonlight energy.

    But before Dante couldin to Vincent about his poor choice, he felt a small tug towards this ce.

    This rug wasn''t exterior and was insteading from deep within him, from deep within his very soul.

    His Red Dragon soul was calling him to this ce.

    It was overjoyed it had never been in a ce more weing than this before!

 Chapter 166 - Elemental Nexus Realm 3

    Chapter 166 иC Elemental Nexus Realm 3

    It was overjoyed it had never been in a ce more weing than this before!

    But besides this point, his Dragon soul was also telling Dante something else.

    It was telling him that this was a ce where he could gain energy points!

    The more his dragon soul called out to him, the more Dante got excited at the potential of this ce.

    And seeing the eager look on Dante''s face, Vincent couldn''t help but burst intoughter

    "Hahaha! You don''t have to thank me!"

    "I knew based on your Martial spirit that you would definitely be cultivating a fire-based cultivation technique, so I simply chose the best spot for you."

    Hearing this, Dante just turned to give Vincent a strange

    look and wanted to say something.

    But in the end, he decided against it and just shook his head.

    Vincent''s logic and reasoning had beenpletely wrong, but somehow, it all managed to work out, so Dante couldn''t even bring himself to be angry at the man.

    He just decided to leave him alone and let him have his little moment of pride.

    Afterughing to his heart''s content, Vincent just took onest look at Dante to make sure he was happy with the cultivation environment He had chosen and seeing everything was alright, decided not to trouble the boy any longer,

    "Dante, seeing as you''re quite happy with the location I chose, I won''t be troubling you any longer.

    Remember, you''re paying for each second you spend here, so I don''t want to waste your time any more than I have to."

    But just before Vincent left, he seemed to remember something important.

    "oh yeah! The nearest exit to you is simply a 30 min flight north. It won''t be too long for you I''m guessing."

    Although Vincent casually reminded Dante of this, he was secretly sweating.

    ''Damn! I almost left the boy stranded with no direction! If his luck was bad, he could even end up being lost in here for months and at that point, I''ll have that old ghost Jarreding for my head!''

    With this terrifying thought still in mind, Vincent quickly bade farewell to Dante and began flying off into the sky.

    Dante just watched Vincent fly by him before his attention was quickly grabbed by the sudden spew ofva behind him.

    Turning around, Dante looked to see the bubbling sea ofva at his feet as an eager smile crept onto his face.

    "Well, let''s get started then."

    soon, Dante got seated into a lotus position at the edge of thevake.

    He instantly began to circte his cultivation technique, drawing the ambient Spirit energy towards him, but Dante didn''t stop there.

    He soon activated another feature of his system that he had never used before.

    One of the many other ways his system had to gain energy points and increase his Dragon level.

    Absorbing Energy from areas with extremely high Elemental Energy concentration!

    <strong><<Ding!>></strong>

    <strong><<Area of High Elemental Energy Concentration discovered! Should Elemental Energy be converted into Energy Points or Dragon Level?>></strong>

    Hearing this, Dante didn''t hesitate. In his mind, there was only one option that made sense,

    "Convert all Elemental Energy into Dragon Level!"

    <strong><<Ding!>></strong>

    <strong><< The conversion process has begun!>></strong>

    as soon as Dante heard those words from the system, he suddenly felt all the ambient Fire energy rush towards him.

    Dante''s system was like an avaricious beast, greedily devouring all the fire elemental energy present.

    for minutes Dante was sat in this strange state of allowing his dragon soul to constantly absorb the elemental energy in the surroundings.

    But even with this disy, Dante wasn''t satisfied and the reason for this was simple.

    There was no progress.

    Dante had been sitting in a lotus position and absorbing energy for over thirty minutes, but not once had he seen the Bar for his dragon level move.

    If things continued as they are now, then Dante was certain that even if he gave it another hour, his level would still barely move!

    Before he did this, Dante knew the method of directly absorbing Elemental Energy from his surroundings to gain EP would be much worse than using an Elemental treasure, but he never expected it to be that bad.

    Just by looking at the poor rate of increase, Dante was starting to doubt whether 1 month would be enough.

    If Dante wanted to increase the absorption rate, then he would have to go into a ce of even higher Elemental energy concentration, and he already had an idea on what to do.

    Dante''s eyes slowly wandered over the surroundings and onto a nearbyvake

    The deeper you go, the hotter theva and therefore the higher the concentration of fire elemental spirit energy.

    Despite knowing all this, what really made Dante confident in this assumption was still the one thing that had gotten him this far.

    His dragon souls.

    His Red Dragon soul felt an inexplicable connection, an almost homely feeling calling him toe towards that ce in front of him.

    Dante Slowly let the urge of His dragon souls control him and before he realised he was already walking towards the edge of thergestvake.

    But the surprises didn''t end there as, without even the slightest hesitation, Dante walked straight inside!

    As soon as Dante''s body made contact with theva, it instantly began to stir around him, but Dante still continued wading deeper and deeper into thevake.

    "Boom!"

    Besides Dante, a geyser ofva sted straight out into the surface, causing a great disturbance. But Dante, in his strange stance, still didn''t seem to notice this and continued walking mindlessly into thevake.

    Eventually, Dante had walkedpletely into thevake, beingpletely submerged!

    Even with his ridiculous fire resistance, Dante could still feel the surrounding temperature heat up to a ridiculous level, as his body was suddenly ovee with a strange sensation.

    it was only that by the time he finally came to his senses Dante found himself a few metres deep into theva pool.

    ''Shit!'' Thought Dante

    ''I only let myself go for a few minutes, so why the fuck did I end up in here?''

    Dante looked around to see his clothes werepletely burnt to ashes and it just wasn''t his clothes that were suffering.

    Even his space ring was barely able to resist the ridiculous heat he was experiencing and showing signs of breaking.

    Dante knew that he couldn''t afford to damage his space ring, so without thinking, he quickly removed it and chucked it outside of theva pool onto the surface.

    Now that Dante was sure that he wouldn''t lose some of his most valuable assets, he finally had a chance to focus on the feeling he was getting from deeper within thevake.

    Dante swam deeper into theke and as he got deeper, he felt the Elemental energy concentration start to increase at an extremely rming rate.

    But it was not just fire elemental energy, other small trickles of elemental energy could still be felt even tho it was still predominantly fire elemental energy.

    As the energy was smiling in this sea energy, Dante he felt it soon encase his body, almost like he was being held in someone''s warm embrace.

    Dante didn''t even try to resist this sensation and allowed it to fully consume him.

    soon Dante could feel his eyelids get heavy and start to dip as a wave of tiredness suddenly hit him.

    All Dante could do was subconsciously start to circte his cultivation technique.

    In this strange state of half-consciousness, Dante slowly fell asleep and quietly drifted towards the bottom of the humongousvake as shadows of roaring dragons could be seen flickering around himбн

    бн.

    on the ins of the underground, the floor was still as barren as always.

    Areas of berserk elemental energy could still be seen raging around, ranging from titanic snowstorms to bubbling magmakes.

    It just seemed to be like any other day in the Elemental Nexus realm until a slight disturbance could be felt in a region.

    At first it was nothing more than a slight tremor, so no one took any notice of it.

    but soon tremors never stopped and even progressed to that of an earthquake!

    suddenly in the region of thevake, a humongous pir ofva burst into the sky.

    "ROAR!"

    A terrifying bestial roar sounded out across the Elemental Nexus realm, causing the few individuals present in the realm to turn to look in direction of the terrifying sound.

 Chapter 167 - Elder Dragon Soul!

    Chapter 167 иC Elder Dragon Soul!

    But while the people were still reeling in from shock at the sound they just heard, the culprit of all this wasughing to himself

    "hahaha!" Laughed Dante as he floated high into the sky.

    "It sure does feel good being able to fly now!"

    That''s right, Dante had now managed to break through into the Martial Journeyman realm!

    Using the enormous amounts of energy that he gained from the Elemental nexus, Dante had finally managed to break past thest barrier and enter into the next realm.

    And flying wasn''t the only ability that he gained.

    Dante also gained another ability synonymous with the Martial Journeyman realm.

    Phantom manifestation.

    Phantom manifestation was the ability to call forth the illusory image of your martial spirits.

    The Phantom manifestation was a strange phenomenon that even until now, people didn''t really understand.

    All that was known was that once you reach the martial Journeyman realm, the phantom manifestation of your martial spirits bes possible and this always leads to the boosted abilities of its wielders.

    Dante couldn''t contain his anticipation any longer and quickly tries phantom manifestation.

    "Come out, My Dragon souls!"

    "ROAR! ROAR!"

    terrifying roars could be heard as two gargantuan figures could be seen forming on either side of Dante.

    One brutal and ferocious, yet another noble and elegant.

    The Red and the Silver Dragon!

    As Dante was enjoying the feeling of his newly increased power from

    Summoning his Dragon souls, he didn''t forget to check his system.

    During All the time he had been cultivating, he had also allowed his system to absorb the surrounding elemental energy.

    The only thing was that Dante had been in a half-sleeping state, meaning he barely paid any attention to what was happening around him.

    this meant that now would be the first time he checked his system since he entered thevake.

    "System!" Called Dante

    <strong><<Ding!>></strong>

    <strong><<Wee to Dragon Dawn!>></strong>

    As soon as those words were said, a familiar holographic screen appeared in front of Dante.

    Dante just took a brief scan of the screen before clicking on the icon of a Furious Roaring Red Dragon.

    Race: Red dragon

    Age: Elder Dragon

    Affinity: Fire

    Innate abilities:

    [ Dragon Fear ]

    [ Red Dragon Breath ]

    [ Greater Dragonification of the Red Dragon ] иC as a bearer of a dragon soul you are essentially a dragon trapped within a human body. Bymunicating with your dragon soul it allows you to partially take on your glorious draconic form.

    Red Dragon Scales grow out of the skin covering the whole body of the user, whilst a pair of Draconic wings will grow from the user''s back.

    This form grants the user increased strength, speed, agility and element affinity.

    This form also grants the user increased physical and magical resistance.

    This form has no time limit.

    Passive skills:

    [ Heart of mes 3/3 ]

    [ Furious mes 3/3 ]

    [ Draconic Might 3/3 ]

    [ Domain of fire 0/3]

    -Energy points : 3

    As soon as Dante looked at his panel he noticed two significant changes

    The first was the change in a skill he had been familiar with up till now.

    From the skill description, Dante could assume it was simply an increase in power to its previous version. But what Really interested Dante was the line at the end of the description

    ''This form has no time limit.''

    As soon as Dante read this he was left shocked!

    If what the description said was true then the possibilities for Dante were game-changing!

    The only reason Dante had always refrained from going all out was simply because of this time limit.

    Of course, his ever-growing pride and arrogance had yed a part as well. But Dante''s reasoning was simply that since his dragonified stat had a cooldown and onlysted for 15 minutes, then there was no point in wasting his dragonification on enemies he had just started fighting. this was because if he wasted it on a weaker enemy that he could have possibly defeated without and waster attacked by a strong enemy, his strongest whole card was on cool down leaving him at a great disadvantage.

    But now Dante had no such worries!

    As long as he still had the energy, he could still undergo dragonification!

    And this new upgrade wasn''t the only thing that Dante had gotten out of levelling up his Dragon soul

    Domain of fire.

    this was the new passive skill that Dante had gotten from levelling up his Dragon soul

    Just by looking at the name, Dante could tell it was going to be a powerful ability

    And seeing as he had nowhere else to put his Energy points, Dante s quickly dumped them into the skill

    <strong><<Ding!>></strong>

    <strong><<Congrattions on fully levelling up a new passive ability! [ Domain of Fire] >>></strong>

    Dante paid little attention to this notification and quickly turned to look at his new ability

    [ Domain of fire 3/3 ]

    As an Elder Red Dragon, your control and maniption of fire has reached a ridiculous degree. You have the ability to create a domain around you in which all fire elemental attacks from you and your allies are strengthened whilst also decreasing fire elemental damage for your allies

    (300% fire element damage increase- self)

    (150% fire element damage increase- allies)

    (50% fire element damage reduction- allies)

    Once Dante saw this skill he knew his expectations hadn''t let him down.

    It really was powerful.

    Plus, besides just increasing his own strength when it came to fire attribute attacks, it also managed to do a simr thing for his allies.

    This feature of also helping his allies was something that Dabte had never seen before trait caused his curiosity in the new skill to spike even higher.

    What kind of strange effects will his system boosts have when theye into contact with the famous Battle formations of the Vaenam Kingdom?

    Dante was still overjoyed at the benefits he had just received from the Growth of his Red Dragon soul, so couldn''t hold back his excitement as he turned to the Home Screen of his system

    Dante looked beside the image of the Red dragon and saw The image of a noble silver dragonying gracefully under the moonlight.

    Dante didn''t even put in much thought before he turned to click it and was instantly brought to a new screen

    Race: Silver Dragon

    Age: Elder Dragon

    Affinity: Mana

    Innate abilities:

    [Dragon Fear ]

    [Silver Dragon Breath ]

    [ Greater Dragonification of the Silver Dragon иC As the bearer of a dragon soul you are essentially a dragon trapped within a human body. Bymunicating with your dragon soul it allows you to partially take on your glorious draconic form. Silver Dragon Scales grow out of the skin covering the whole body of the user, whilst a pair of Draconic wings will grow from the user''s back.

    This form grants the user increased strength, speed, agility and element affinity.

    This form also grants the user increased physical and magical resistance This form has no time limit.

    Passive skills :

    [ Mana touched 3/3 ]

    [ Spell Craze! 3/3 ]

    [ Draconian Might 3/3 ]

    [ Domain of Mana 0/3 ]

    -Energy points 0

    Despite being impressed by the panel of his silver dragon soul, the first thing Dante noticed about his panel for the silver dragon was the obviousck of energy points.

    But if Dante was being honest he wasn''t even surprised. In fact, he could even be described as grateful.

    The fact that his silver dragon soul had managed to level up was lucky.

    From the poor rate of increase, Dante doubted whether his Red Dragon soul would even be able to level up in the three days he had.

    After seeing the pitiful rate of the upgrade for His Red Dragon soul which was in a ce full of the energy of its nature, Dante didn''t even bother having any hope for his silver dragon soul.

    Due to the nature of the elemental nexus realm, all areas were still capable of producing the pure spirit energy needed to level up his Silver Dragon soul it''s just that the concentrations would be pitiful.

    Dante was sure that in thisvake region the concentration of pure elemental energy had not even reached half that of the fire elemental energy.

    for his silver dragon soul to level up was really a surprise

    Forget about 3 days! Dante didn''t believe that 1 month would be enough to level up his dragon souls. but here he was so with undeniable facts in front of him!

 Chapter 168 - Dragonification

    Chapter 168 иC Dragonification

    Forget about 3 days! Dante didn''t believe that 1 month would be enough to level up his dragon souls. but here he was so with undeniable facts in front of him!

    Dante still had a sinking feeling that something was off about all this, but he decided not to think too much about it and focus on his new skills

    Like his Red Dragon soul, the silver Dragon soul''s lesser dragonification had also evolved into a greater dragonification ability.

    It also had a new passive ability but seeing as he had no energy points, it was simply impossible to see its effect so Dante just assumed that it was something simr to what he already had

    Now that Dante had checked all of the his changes he could finally turn away from the system panel.

    He could no longer resist the urge he had, the urge to try out his new abilities!

    "Dragonififcation !" Cried Dante

    Instantly Dante''s figure was encased in swirls of Red and silver energy as silvery-Red scales began to pop up all over his arms and legs.

    But unlike usual the scales didn''t stop there and started growing up all of his body, tightly wrapping around each other to form a some kind of armour. The scales only stopped when they reached his face where instead two pairs of horns grew one a ckish- Red while the over a silvery crystal.

    The transformation didn''t need there however as Dante could still feel a terrifying itchy sensation on his back as the flesh on his back began to wriggle.

    There was the sickening sound of tearing flesh as suddenly, a pair of burning, Red Draconic wings burst from his back!

    This painful sensation for Dante didn''t end there as Dante could still feel a simr sensationing from just below this pair of wings.

    Again a simr sounded as sudddenly a new pair of wings burst from Dante''s back only this time, instead of burning in a red hot fire, the wings seemed to be glowing in an almost holy silver light.

    The two images brought up a heavy contrast.

    But not just that the whole of Dante''s image right now couldn''t be described as pretty right now

    At best it could be considered strangely abstract.

    But strangely enough this didn''t bother Dante.

    Normally Dante was person that quite prided himself on his looks, so such a monstrous form would be at least a little of putting to Dante, but this time he didn''t seem to care at all and the reason for this was simple.

    Power.

    The power Dante felt flowing through him right now could only be described as intoxicating!

    It was a level of strength he had never experienced before. It made Dante feel like he could even take on the world!

    It was so bad that Dante had even begun to have some slight disdain for his previously weaker human self.

    And it wasn''t just Dante that was relishing the newfound power gained from this new form, both his dragon souls seem to have hit cloud nine!

    As soon as Dragonification process wasplete they seemed to shudder in pleasure before releasing a deafening roar.

    Dante could no longer contain his energy.

    So after a few minutes spent getting used to his new pairs of wings

    Dante''s figure could be seen soaring over the ins of the Elemental Nexus Realm.

    At first Dante had only flew using the natural ability of flight granted to each person once they broke through into the Martial Journeyman Realm and though his speed was still decent, Dante wasn''t impressed.

    The speed was quite faster than that of normal people in the Martial Journeyman Realm but not to the point where it was unbelievable.

    Disappointed at this rather poor performance, Dante didn''t hesitate any longer and quickly unfurled his wings.

    The instant Dante pped his wings his image flickered, and almost as of by teleportation, he suddenly appeared mikes away from his current location!

    But Dante didn''t stop there! pping his new pairs of wings Dante blitzed across the sky causing a storm of air to follow closely behind him.

    The unfortunate people he passed over could only curse their luck, thinking an irresponsible Elder was raving around the sky.

    Not once had it urred that this possibly wasn''t even elder and merely just a student that had just joined a few months ago!

    Whilst other people were cursing and swearing, Dante was having a much better time.

    A wide smile was stered in his face as he enjoyed the feeling of his ridiculous speed.

    Speed had never been a particr strong point of Dante''s and he never really expected that it would be something that he could even consider as one of his hole cards,but look at Fante know.

    His speed was so ridiculous that nobody in the Martial Journeyman Realm could ever hope to match it.

    In fact, most of the average Martial Adept cultivators when they first broke through wouldn''t be able to match it.

    Dante''s pure speed was already starting to near that of experts in the Martial Adept realm.

    Now, this was all just based on his pure speed alone. If Dante could somehow integrate his movment techniques into his flying, then the speeds he could reach would truly be fearsome.

    It wouldn''t even be ridiculous to say that his speed could even begin to near that of ta Martial Expert realm cultivator whilst still being in the Martial Journeyman Realm!

    Dante''s time of manically speeding around the realm only continued for a short while before he eventually calmed down.

    It was only after calming down, that Dante noticed how much of a dangerous of state he had been in

    That short period of time where he suddenly powered up was really ridiculous. Dante was almost drunk off his own power.

    Dante had never been one to take drugs in his past life or in this one, but he could only assume that that it would be a simr sensation to what he felt when he first entered his Greater dragonified form!

    Aftering to this worrying notification, Dante just stopped to look around.

    His surroundings had changed drastically as Dante couldn''t even make out how far he was from thevake.

    Dante could just describe this ce as a wastnd of frozen tundra as he peeked at a giant mountain of glisteneing ice.

    As Dante loooked towards the piece of ice, he saw a strange four winged creature looking back at him!

    He even managed to spot a long, twirling serpentine tail coiling around from behind!

    ''Shit! is that mine''

    Now that the the trip his newfound power had caused had worn off considerably, Dante couldn''t help question himself.

    This strange form.

    This strange state that seemingly had no time limit.

    It was disturbinglyfortable.

    And scarily much morefortable than his basic human state.

    Although it seemed like the dragon souls were Dante''s greatest benefit, Dante had now begun to even question that.

    How much was it him controlling his dragon souls vs him being controlled by his dragon souls.

    Of course Dante have was certain that he was still the person in control, but he knew he could nevee we be certain when it came to abstract things such as we motions and souls.

    The line between his dragon souls and himself was blurred.

    The dragoon o souls were each individual souls with attributes and emotions of there own, but at the same time they were also very part much his own soul.

    Aspects of his soul that he could control and manipte aa he willed,

    Or so Dante thought.

    The recent developments had left Dante questioning a lot of things but Dante knew that this was neither the time nor ce to be having an philosophical conversation with himself so he soon began to retrace his flight back towards the originalvakeбн

    бн

    After a quick flight, Dante was once again floating over the scene of bubblingva.

    But Dante had a problem.

    If he waisted to leave he had to deactivate his dragonified form.

    Despite the powerful feeling he had while he was in it Dante knew that the second he walked out looking as he did know he would instantly break out into a fight.

    His form didn''t look exactly human so the first thought the guards would have upon seeing him wouldn''t be to rationalise with a fellow intelligent being but more of a duty to exterminate a crazy monster.

 Chapter 169 - Debt

    Chapter 169 иC Debt

    His form didn''t look exactly human so the first thought the guards would have upon seeing him wouldn''t be to rationalise with a fellow intelligent being, but instead thinking that they had to exterminate a crazy monster!

    This originally wouldn''t be that much of an issue. all Dante had to do was deactivate his dragonification form and everything would be fine

    But here was where another problem came in.

    When Dante deactivated his dragonified form he was left standingpletley butt naked!

    Earlier , Dante had absent-mindedly walked into ava pool and in doing so caused all his clothes to be burnt to ashes.

    but even with all this the problem, the real problem was that Dante had been forced to Chuck his space ring out thevast minute and he had caused quite the disturbance when he first used his greater Dragonification so he couldn''t find his spacial Ring!

    After a few minutes of unfruitful searching Dante began to sweat.

    If he couldn''t even find his clothes then he might have even have to walk out the formation naked!

    Dante knew that Even his reputation of the Dragon son of war wouldn''t be able to save him from that humiliation

    Fortunately after almost 30 minutes of searching Dante was able to find his lost spatial ring and it was good thing he did.

    Treacherous thoughts were starting to bubble in Dante''s mind.

    If he couldn''t find his spatial ring he was prepared to go searching around for a victim to rob of their clothes!

    Fortunately this didn''te to fruition as soon wore the now damaged spatial ring on his finger before bringing out his spare pair of robes.

    As Dante put on his clothes he couldn''t help but sigh in relief.

    It seems like he won''t be forced to act on the treacherousst-minute ns.

    after making sure he had forgotten anything Dante slowly made his way to the teleportation centre that Department Head Vincent had hinted atбн

    бн

    Soon Dante could be seen walking out of arge sh of light and after shaking on the usual feeling is sickness gained from teleportation, carried on walking casually out of the building.

    But before Dante could even walk a few steps he suddenly heard a loud cry behind him

    "Halt!"

    With those words, Dante also saw a crowd of soldiers appear blocking his path.

    Although Dante was shocked to see the fierce reaction of the soldiers, he didn''t overreact.

    These soldiers knew of this identity as the Dragon son of war.

    They wouldn''t be so stupid as to offend someone like Dante randomly so if they were stopping then they probably had a good reason.

    For a few seconds, there was just an awkward silence as the group of guards and Dante stared down each other as tensions in the room began to rise.

    Eventually, an unwilling guard was forced out to go and talk to Dante.

    Looking carefully, Dante could see that this was the guard who had checked his ID when he was entering the Elemental Nexus Realm for the first time.

    "Greetings, Lord Dragon Son. I hope you weren''t offended but the way you stopped you but this time the circumstances were really important."

    Hearings this Dante just waved his hand.

    "There''s no need for formalities. I understand that you wouldn''t do such things if the situation didn''t call for it either."

    Hearing this the guard let out a relieved sigh.

    The worst possible oue was that Dante responded in rage and started cursing like other young masters he hade across.

    Normally young masters holding grudges wouldn''t be an issues but if he managed to earn the ire of Dragon son, dealing with a low-key soldier like him would be child''s y for them.

    That''s why the guard appreciated Dante''s understanding even more.

    "Lord Dragon Son, I won''t waste your time any longer than it has to be and get straight to the point.

    The reason we are stopping you here today is that you are in debt Lord Dragon Son!"

    "Debt??" Responded Dante in disbelief

    "How can I be in debt. I remember paying for the full 3 days in the Elemental Nexus Realm and I am sure that I have the funds I paid at that time were urate."

    As Dante said their a weird expression appeared on the face of the guard.

    "Lord Dragon Son, I think there is an error on your part because on our record it doesn''t say you''ve spent only three days in the Elemental Nexus Realm.

    Our records say the time between your entrance and exit from the Elemental Nexus Realm has in fact been 2 weeks!"

    ''2 weeks! I''mpletely fucked!'' Thought Dante

    At first, Dante thought there was a possibility of error. but after asking the guard multiple times and his answer didn''t change, Dante realised he must have indeed spent two weeks in the Elemental Nexus Realm!

    And surprisingly, when Dante thought about it, it even made a little sense.

    Most of the time Dante had spent in the Elemental Nexus Realm was spent cultivating and absorbing energy in Half- asleep state so his measurement of time was significantly blurred.

    But besides all this what really gave it away was his dragon souls, particrly, his silver dragon soul.

    Whilst Dante was still in the Elemental Nexus Realm he had barely seen his Red dragon soul level up in the time, and that was whilst still being in a ce of high fire elemental energy concentration, the ideal ce to level up his Dragon soul.

    So when Dante saw his Silver Dragon soul had levelled up in a ce of low concentration of its desired element and all this in only 3 days.

    At first, Dante had taken it as merely a pleasant surprise, but now Dante knew that he wasn''t so lucky.

    The only thing that allowed his dragon soul to level up was the overwhelming amount of hours he spent in the Elemental nexus realm!

    Realising this, a dark expression crept onto Dante''s face as he turned towards the guard

    "So sir, How much is this supposed debt we''re looking at?"

    The guard just gave a light cough, as he calmly replied

    "Lord Dragon Son, the debt we''re looking at is one of 1100 contribution points"

    ''Dear Godбн'' thought Dante in despair

    1100 contribution points!

    That sum was no joke!

    This was his total earning for the next 11 months gone like that!

    "Lord Dragon son normally when a person overstays their time in the Elemental Nexus realm a squadron of guards would be sent in to forcefully retrieve them." exined the guard

    "But seeing as you are a Dragon Son the rules could be slightly bent and we won''t interrupt your cultivation and just put the debt on your tab."

    "I hope You can understand our situation. It''s not that we have something against you. The only reason we stopped you in such a manner is that we just have to do our jobs."

    seeing the apologetic nature of the guard, Dante even started to feel slightly bad for him and quickly waved his hand.

    "There''s no need to apologise," replied Dante

    "I understand you were simply doing your job"

    "I can assure you with my reputation as Dragon Son, I will surely repay my debt there''s no need to worry."

    Hearing this the guard in front of Dante nodded as he moved to let him past.

    Dante walked outside with a calm expression on his face, it''s only when he was clear from everyone''s view that his expression turned ugly.

    For normal Dragon sons with many years to establish themselves in the Hidden Dragon Academy such as Lloyd, paying back a debt of 1100 contribution points would simply be a breeze.

    They had many years of missions to their names which also meant they had many contribution points to their names

    But things weren''t as convenient for Dante.

    He had much less time to umte his wealth and was simply poorpared to his fellow Dragon sons and daughters.

    Debt was never a nice thing to be in and even more so in the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    Everything good thing in this ce required contribution points.

    From high-quality spirit stones to rare techniques and treasures, it all required contribution points.

    Once ced in debt he wouldn''t be able to buy anything and all earned contribution points would go straight into paying off his debt.

 Chapter 170 - Mission Hall

    Chapter 170 иC Mission Hall

    Once ced in debt he wouldn''t be able to buy anything and all earned contribution points would go straight into paying off his debt.

    Dante could already imagine the amount of inconvenience that this would have on his life going forward.

    Dante just sighed before heading towards the ce that would allow him to get rid of his debt as soon as possible,

    the mission hall!

    After a short journey, Dante arrived in front of arge ornate building.

    The building had lots of traffic with countless people of all cultivation levels seen heading inside and outside of the building.

    ''As expected of somewhere as popr as the mission hall,'' thought Dante to himself

    ''It really is quite busy''

    Dante didn''t spend much time looking at the people and soon entered the building and was greeted with a luxurious interior, with ornate marble flooring and even some brilliant chandeliers could be seen hanging from the roof of the building all encrusted with various types of precious gemstones

    For a second, Dante''s Draconic greed reared its ugly head again as he almost began to salivate at all the treasures ced in front of him.

    But fortunately, Dante knew this was neither the time nor the ce to be greedy for treasure so Dante could only suppress his urges as he followed the signs to the area he was looking for.

    Dante was looking for the area with Martial adept level missions.

    Although these mission difficulties would be above his cultivation realm, Dante didn''t really have a choice.

    the yield of contribution points earned from martial journeyman missions were simply too pitiful inparison to the debt he was facing.

    If he wanted to clear his debt fast thenMartial Adept level missions were the only choice he had left!

    Soon, after a short time spent looking around, Dante finally came to the area with the Martial Adept level missions.

    once he arrived Dante instantly noticed a difference when hepared it to the other areas.

    Dante noticed that the Martial Adept level area only had a fraction of the number of people in the other areas.

    He could only see around 10 other people in this area scanning for missions. Whenpared to the other sections,it was practically barren!

    however, such pitiful turnouts weren''t really unexpected.

    Martial adept cultivators weren''t just some dogs on the street anyone could find.

    Although these powerful individuals were much moremon in the Capital city, Dante knew that as soon as these people Capital and went further out into the kingdom,they would instantly be treated as god tier individuals.

    they were the first barrier separating the truly strong and weak in the entire Vaenam Kingdom. All of them were capable of easily holding positions of rtive influence and power in the Kingdom.

    Even so, Dante didn''t spend too much time lingering on these thoughts and soon turned to the multitude of pickable tasks in front of him.

    After scanning for a few minutes, Dante saw a few easier tasks avable that he was sure he couldplete by himself but the reward of contribution points for all of them were toocklustre.

    it was only after searching for a while that Dante saw a task that bought his interest

    Task type: Combat

    Advised cultivation level: Martial adept

    Bandits have been running rampant in the Zrudon Region terrorising its inhabitants as well as all the people in the surrounding viges.

    Your role is Complete annihtion of the Bandit Camp.

    Reward: 600 contribution points

    (note: Bandit camp contains multiple individuals around the peak of the Martial journeyman realm with the Bandit leader being in the Martial Adept realm. It is advised that youplete this mission with others even if you are in the Martial Adept realm.)

    Dante hesitated a little before he eventually chose to ept the mission.

    Even though it sounded quite difficult Dante had some confidence inpleting it if he could just get the confidence of others.

    As Dante was inspecting the mission board he also spotted another mission.

    Task type: investigation

    Advised cultivation level: Martial Adept

    for thest couple of months, an rming number of individuals have been going missing in the region surrounding Vainwatch city. Individuals in the Martial novice realm and Martial journeyman realm have been sent to investigate only toe up unsessful with some even going missing themselves.

    the mission is to find out the reason for their disappearance and if possible recover the missing individuals.

    Reward: 200 contribution points.

    Seeing this mission Dante smiled in glee.

    Vainwatch city was just a few days away from the Zrudon region that the Bandit camp was terrorising, just safely out of their reach.

    with this Dante could stop off at Vainwatch city to gather supplies and possibly even have time to recruit some soldiers a distance a safe distance away from the bandit camp.

    Seeing that he had gotten two decent-paying Missions, Dante retrieved them before walking to the counter.

    There he saw a deskdy absentmindedly reading a book.

    ''Stop senior brother! I''m a guy!''

    From the title of the book alone, Dante could already imagine the type of story she was reading.

    "Ahem!"

    suddenly, thedy seemed to notice Dante''s presence and quickly hid away her book, pretendingas if nothing had ever happened in the first ce.

    "So what brings you here today?" Asked thedy with a weing smile on her face.

    Dante didn''t even bother bringing up what he just saw and handed over the two missions that he had picked.

    After seeing the tasks he handed over thedy took a second to look at Dante again and seeing his cultivation raised an eyebrow

    "it says here that the rmended cultivation level for both tasks is The Martial Adept realm. You''re only in the Martial Journeyman Realm, are you sure you want to take these?" Asked the Lady

    hearing this question, Dante just smiled

    "don''t worry, since I''ve chosen themissions, I have full confidence to take care of it."

    hearing Dante, thedy just shrugged her shoulders.

    She was only paved here to confirm the missions taken not to be a nanny.

    If the boy wanted to head to his death, she wouldn''t stop him.

    After a few brief minutes, thedy finally handed the sheets back to Dante as she spoke,

    "Please hand me your identification token so we can finalise the task."

    Dante just nodded as he stretched out his exquisite coiling dragon token, only held by the Dragon Son of War.

    seeing this the eyes of the Receptiondy narrowed.

    It seemed like she had made a mistake and judged the boy too soon.

    If she took the fact he was a Dragon son into consideration he might actually Stand a chance!

    after scanning Dante''s token on a crystal, she handed it back to Dante.

    "The missions have been sessfully confirmed onto your token. With this, you can go out andplete the mission. Just remember, if you fail or abandon the mission failure penalty will be applied proportional to the reward of the task!"

    Hearing this Dante quickly frowned.

    With his current financial situation, more payments and debt simply wasn''t an option.

    But it''s not like Dante had to worry too much, failing was something he was never nning on doing anyway.

    Dante quickly said goodbye to the deskdy before hurrying out of the mission hall.

    He had some nning to do!

    бн.

    Dante was currently leaning against the window of his carriage as he rode back towards hispound within the Capital city.

    He watched absent-mindedly as they passed countless stores and busy people going about their bustling lives.

    But Dante''s state of absent-mindedness didn''tst too long as right when they arrived at his residence, Dante quickly snapped out of this state as his carriage came to a jolting stop

    "Young Master, we have arrived!" called the carriage driver

    Hearing this Dante stretched his tired body before slowly descending down from the carriage.

    Dante had barely gotten down from the carriage before he could see a dishevelled figure rushing towards him.

    "Mr Baleview." Said Dante emotionlessly

    "Seeing as you''vee all the way here I''m taking it that your search for elemental treasures has gone sessfully"

    "of course, Lord dragon son"ughed Karther Baleview

    "As you have stated, I''ve finally gotten a clue as to the location of Elemental treasure!"

 Chapter 171 - New Elemental Treasure

    Chapter 171 иC New Elemental Treasure

    " As you have stated, I''ve finally gotten a clue as to the location of Elemental treasure!"

    Hearing Karther exim with such certainty, Dante looked around carefully before turning back towards Karther

    "Mr Baleview. why don''t we carry on this conversation inside?"

    As soon as Dante said this, Karther also seemed to notice his mistake and quickly nodded before following Dante inside.

    бн

    Dante and Karther were now in the same hall that he and Dante had first met in, with Dante still sitting on his luxurious golden throne.

    The only difference between the scenest time and this one was that this time, Dante''s attitude was nowhere near as rxed as he had an extremely serious gaze as he stared down Karther.

    For a few seconds, there was a long awkward silence that even made Karther begin to sweat nervously.

    but before Karther could worry anymore, Dante finally spoke.

    "So Karther, could you please carry on our conversation from outside. I remember you saying that you had found a clue to an elemental treasure."

    Hearing this Karther didn''t waste a second as he quickly stepped forward

    "Yes Lord Dragon Son my Baleview n has finally gotten some clues as to where an elemental treasure could be located"

    "From my recent investigations, some informants hired the n to have reason to believe that there is an elemental treasure forming in the area known as the Zrudon region"

    ''Zrudon region again.'' Thought Dante

    ''that ce seemed to be a hotspot for all kinds of terrible urrences. It seemed that Karther may really be into something this time''

    "My Lord we have had reports of undead creatures and walking corpses moving around in this region!"

    Although the information Karther presented was a truly decent development, Dante wasn''t too quick to fully believe Karther just yet

    "Source?"

    "Pardon My Lord?" Asked Karther

    "I said source Karther. What is the source you''ve been using to get this information?"

    "well my Lordбн it''s like this-"

    "Karther. I Don''t have time to y games, just tell me the source."

    eventually, Karther gave in under Dante''s pressured gaze and quickly confessed

    "My Lord, these are only rumours that we''ve been able to gather from some viges in the Zrudon region "

    ''I knew it!'' Thought Dante

    ''his source is simply unreliable!''

    Karther also seemed to notice the quick change in Dante''s mood and quickly responded.

    "My Lord, it''s not as if I just believed the random ramblings of the vigers.

    I also sent some of my men to the region to investigate and they reported an abnormally high concentration of yin and death energy in the area, so it''s not impossible that some poorly treated corpses were reanimated as undead in these conditions." exined Karther

    "From all this, it can be concluded that the signs do hint at the possible formation of a hidden treasure my Lord." said Karther

    hearing this Dante went into thought.

    ''while the rumour he used may be quite dodgy, he still investigated and came back with decent results. There really may be the possibility of a natural treasure forming!''

    Dante nodded as he came to this conclusion.

    he really was satisfied with Karther''s performance this time.

    it seemed like he wasn''t wrong to spare the baleview n just to use themter.

    "Karther."

    "Yes my Lord" responded Karther, his body straightening instantly

    "your performance was good. In fact, you have even managed to impress me Karther.

    I guess it would be improper for me to not show my appreciation in some way."

    As Dante said this he threw a heavy bag towards Karther.

    Karther caught it with ease and quickly checked inside.

    The instant, Karther opened the pouch, he was greeted with sight of a wide array of glistening gold coins.

    But instead of feeling any joy, when Karther saw this he was disappointed.

    Although the Baleview n couldn''t be considered rich, they definitely weren''t poor enough that a bag of gold coins would be enough to satisfy him.

    just as Karther was about to put away the bag of gold coins he suddenly saw something burrows amongst them.

    A small wooden token with a roaring blood-red eastern dragon.

    The symbol of the Dragon Son of war!

    "m-my Lord this is бн"

    "What else could it be Karther? This is my reward for you.

    The only question now is, do you ept?" Asked Dante

    hearing this Karther was left stunned

    ''Hahaha! This is it!'' Thought Karther to himself.

    ''This is what my Father has been struggling to aplish for all these years.

    A way for my Baleview n to rise in the Capital city!'' thought Karther

    As these thoughts were raging in his mind, quickly got on his knees and eximed.

    "Of course I ept! My Lord, It''s an honour for someone like me to even be able to serve you!"

    even though Karther''s ttery was really pleasing to hear, Dante wasn''t fooled by his glib tongue.

    Behind the seemingly zealous promations of loyalty, there was a burning ambition deep within his eyes.

    The same raging ambition caused him to be secretly joyful at his own brother''s death while his whole n was mourning.

    Others may not be able to spot it, But Dante could.

    It takes one to know one.

    The only reason could spot this man''s well-hidden ambition so easily when his because he also had such ambition inside of him!

    you could wonder why Dante would even want such an ambitious man as a servant.

    It was a well-known fact that ambition was an unquenchable desire.

    The number of kings that had been killed because of the betrayal of their ambitious servants was countless.

    But the reason Dante could look past this was he admired the man''s ambition.

    Such burning ambition, such terrifying desire. Whilst ie was also it meant that if Dante handed out the task, the man wouldpete them with ridiculous zeal.

    As long as Dante continuously provided rewards and suitable paths to his goals the quality of work these kinds of people produced was simply unquestionable.

    The only problem was that these people were like a double-edged sword.

    One second they could be your greatest ally but if a greater chance or opportunity presented itself, these people would be the first to switch and even cut you down if necessary!

    But Dante didn''t fear this.

    Call it pride or you could even call it ignorance, but Dante still felt like he had the ability to control the man in front of him.

    He had evidence that could get not only him, but the whole of his family executed.

    Besides Dante believed that in time that Karther woulde to see the value of following him of his own free will.

    No threats or pressure needed.

    Dante just looked at Karther while was still kneeling in front of him and smiled.

    "Get up Karther. From today you are officially a follower of mine. There''s no need for the excessive ttery."

    Karther just looked around before quickly getting back to his feet.

    "Karther. Your performance has really impressed me so I''m willing to give you another task. Do you ept?"

    "Of course my Lord! This servant is willing to tread throughkes of fire and terrifying storms if you do much as call for it!"

    "Okay, okay Karther. There''s no need for these ridiculous statements all I need is for you to collect information on a person."

    "My Lord, who is this person?"

    "The eldest prince of the Kingdom, Lloyd Vaenam. I Want you to collect as much information as possible on this guy. His strengths, his weakness His hobbies, his likes and dislikes even his shoe size I want to know everything about him down to the veryst detail ."

    Hearing this The zeal around Karther died down considerably.

    "My Lordбн"

    "What?" Asked Dante

    "Don''t tell me you are getting cold feet now?"

    "My Lord it''s not that!" Eximed Karther

    "it''s just that with the nature of the information you want, we can run the risk of offending people we can''t afford the Prince-"

    "Karther I''m not just looking to offend the Prince. I want him dead."

    hearing this Karther''s heart almost stopped.

    What Dante just said now was no joke!

    The talk of murdering the Prince could only be considered as treason of the highest order.

    Karther quickly looked around before speaking

    "My Lord such things must never be said!"

 Chapter 172 - Convincing Karther

    Chapter 172 иC Convincing Karther

    The talk of murdering a Prince could only be considered as treason of the highest order!

    Karther quickly looked around before speaking

    "My Lord such things must never be said!"

    "Don''t worry Karther." Interjected Dante.

    "I''m not a fool Karther. for me to say such things I definitely would not have any people around. even all the guards in the building have been excused since I started this meeting"

    "Besides, don''t tell me you''re actually surprised by the statement I Made just now?"

    "You do know I''m engaged to Princess Levina.

    From the very moment, the engagement was passed through I had already been attached publicly attached to the princesses faction.

    Levina''s ambition for the throne is pretty much an open secret amongst the people who know and it doesn''t look like Lloyd is nning on forfeiting his chance to inherit the throne either.

    In the history of the Vaenam kingdom, There has never been such a thing as silly as two rulers.

    There can only be one monarch and since nobody is willing to back down, somebody must lose.

    In simpler terms one of them has to die!"

    As Dante said this, the temperature in the room seemed to drop a level as a cruel and vicious aura could be felt flowing from him.

    "Besides, I personally have a grudge with that bastard. That alone is enough to warrant his death!"

    As Dante thought about the insidious rumours that had been circting about him in the capital, he could still imagine that bastard Lloyd''s fake smile in his head and this just pissed him off even more!

    Since Lloyd had decided to spread allegations that could potentially get him killed, the line between them was drawn.

    All that was left between him and Dante now was only a life and death feud!

    As Karther heard Dante speak he couldn''t help but break out into a nervous sweat.

    ''This bastard!'' Thought Karther in disbelief

    ''He''s supposed to be my ticket to greatness but it seems like he''s simply a madman!

    I think I may have just joined a ship full of lunatics!''

    But As Karther was thinking these thoughts, he suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring straight at him.

    "Now Karther. You can''t possibly be thinking of backing out now. Not at least after all this information I just told." Said Dante with an eerie smile on his face

    "This here is all secret informationбн If you want to leave, then I''m afraid you would have to pay a price!"

    looking up, Karther made eye contact with Dante''s Amber Draconic eyes.

    The world seemed to dim for Karther as he was soon smothered by a terrifying aura finding it even hard to breathe.

    Karther reached up to his neck but to his horror, he soon discovered there was nothing he could do to stop this choking sensation.

    As the light was quickly leaving Karther''s vision he quickly dropped to his knees

    "My Lordбнplease.."

    "I would never betray you!"

    As soon as Karther eximed those words The aura around Karther quickly disappeared and he began coughing heavily as he leaned against the floor.

    Seeing the poor sight of the man in front of him, Dante didn''t pity him the slightest and just watched with an ice-cold gaze.

    This was the same man that showed not even the slightest pity at his brother''s death.

    whilst the whole n was mourning he was making moves to absorb his brother''s assets into his own wealth.

    such a cold Callous person could backstab you at any moment.

    Since you can''t trust the emotions they show, you can only teach them through fear!

    You had to remind them that their life was still in your hand, at the slightest mistake you could end everything for them!

    But Dante knew that he couldn''t just control people with an iron fist.

    the correct bnce of force and benefit was needed to get people truly on his side

    Now Karther was backed into a corner, all he had to do was dangle some benefits in front of him and he''ll snap it up easily.

    "Look Karther. What I''m doing may be dangerous but think about it.

    "If we can eliminate Lloyd then the throne would be ours! Think about it!

    you would then be serving directly to the throneand the benefits that could be awaiting for your n are endless!"

    It was at that moment that Karther''s eyes seemed to light up

    ''he''s right!'' Thought Karther ''Things may not seem so bright now but if I could just make this man kingбн''

    The terrifying ambition locked deep inside of Karther reared its ugly head again.

    The chances of this oue were small but Karther and in his terrifying greed and ambition was willing to risk it all!

    This was it.

    This same, almost unreasonable, ambition was the very same reason that Dante had such interest in the man in the first ce.

    The only people that would be on his side and plot to kill the most favoured son of the king could only be as crazy and ambitious as Karther in front of him!

    With a renewed vigour in his movements, Karther kneeled before Dante once more.

    "My Lord, I know I have said it before but this servant is willing to serve you with unquestionable loyalty."

    Seeing this Dante justughed

    "Hahaha! Well since such a loyal servant is willing to serve them it will be improper for me to ignore it. I, Dante Kinsman, ept your loyalty."

    and with this, the two of them just smiled at each other with cryptic expressions on their faces.

    On the outside, it could be mistaken for the glorious begging between a future leader and one of his most loyal subjects but behind these pair of zealous eyes was a cruel and calcting mind.

    It was all an borate game of chicken.

    a game of seeing who could dare to use the other, as both parties knew that they wouldn''t hesitate to drop or possibly even kill the other as long as it could benefit their goals.

    whilst Dante may seem to hold the upper hand in this little game, things in this world were never set in stone and could flip at the drop of a hat.

    Whether Dante could still control his servant would have to be seen in the future but for now, he would use his seemingly loyal servant to his full potential!

    бн.

    Many hours after the meeting Between Dante and Karther,

    Dante could be seen walking through the hallways of his residence.

    From the looks of things, Dante seemed to be heading to another meeting again!

    In front of an ornate set of wooden double doors could be seen standing to attention with an emotionless expression but once they saw Dante approaching the guards seemed to burst into life

    "Greetings Lord Dragon Son!"

    Seeing this Dante simply nodded as the guards moved to the side and let him into the room.

    As Dante opened the door he was greeted by the sight of a round table with some individuals sitting around It,seemingly all uninterested.

    it was only when Dante entered that they finally started showing some interest.

    The people sitting at the table were all familiar faces

    Klent, who was slowly cleaning his now shining gold sword

    Lennox, who was sat with his usual happy go lucky smile on his face, while a giant battle-axe leaned against his chair.

    Andst but not least, the beautiful Rebbeca who was sat with crossed arms as a displeased frown was visible on her face.

    "so Dante what''s the reason you called us all here today. You do know I''m in the middle of practising an important new battle formation."

    seeing Reba''s usual short temper, Dante didn''t take it to Hearst as he turned to oil at everyone.

    "Well seeing as some of you are getting impatient I''ll skip the meaningless details.

    the reason I called if all of you here is simple.

    I need your help in taking on a Martial Adept level mission, more specifically for exterminating a bandit camp."

    when Rebbeca heard this she was furious!

    it seemed like the title of Dragon son had really gotten to Dante''s head! He really dared to call her all the way here just for some silly prank.

    Reba didn''t believe for a second that Dante was actually telling the truth!

    Her eyebrows twitched in frustration ration as she red at Dante.

 Chapter 173 - The Plan

    Chapter 173 иC The n

    Reba didn''t believe for a second that Dante was actually telling the truth!

    Her eyebrows twitched in frustration ration as she red at Dante.

    "Dante, you really are overflowing with Time to call us here for such a silly prank. Do you really expect us to believe you''re nning on taking on a Martial Adept level bandit stronghold?"

    But to Rebbeca''s surprise, Dante didn''t concede like usually would do with his pranks but instead put on a serious face as replied.

    "Reba. I think you are mistaken this time. I''mnot jokingaround

    I actually n on taking these guyson."

    Reba couldn''t believe what she just heard!

    "Dante, have you gone mad! It''s not like I doubt your talent, such doubts have been proven useless by you a long time ago.

    The only problem is thatyou literally just broke through into the Martial journeyman realm today! what gives you the confidence to think you can take on a martial adept realm cultivator who has years of experience in that realm!"

    Reba just couldn''t understand Dante''s rush and hurry to do things.

    To her, it just seemed like blind recklessness if anything.

    "Stop ying with your life and think. If you just break through a few more minor realms, then I''m sure you''ll be able to handle this without breaking a sweat ."

    But before Reba could continue, Dante cut her off

    "Reba, there''s no need to worry about these things.

    You know me. I won''t go charging into something I''m not confident in winning?" Said Dante

    But Unfortunately for him,his words didn''t seem to have the effect he intended and somehow even managed to make his situation even worse.

    "Now Dante, don''t try that bullshit with me! You''ve been reckless from the day you were born. I even remembered you saying that a 50% chance seemed like fair odds!

    For you,so-called ''certain'' could probably be a maximum of 70% at best.

    These aren''t odds you should be bettingyour life on!"

    Reba didn''t stop there and also turned towards the people around her with her gaze eventuallynding on klent.

    "Klent. You''re also friends with Dante. Tell him it''s not worth risking his life for this."

    It was only after Hearing Reba speaking to him that Klent finally looked up from his sword.

    His in eyes just stared at Reba nkly as he replied to her

    "Me?" asked Klent in an emotionless voice

    "I don''t really care what Dante does. As long as he''s willing to do something thenI am willing to follow."

    Hearing this Dante burst intoughter

    "Hahaha! That''s what a good brother is for!"

    However Dante''sughter didn''tst long as Reba sent him a fierce re causing him to try to rein hisughter, but even then, small snickers could still be heard from Dante''s direction.

    Reba paid little attention to his however and instead turned towards Lennox as she continued to ask.

    "Lennox,you''re Dante''s your friend right? Please talks some sense into the boy."

    But Unfortunately For Rebbeca her plea to Lennox also seemed to have no effect

    "Well..Reba." started Lennox

    Dante is the Dragon Son of war so it''s simply isn''tmy ce to tell him what he can and can''t do."

    Seeing Lennox''s innocent smile Reba just shook her head in disbelief

    ''This boyбн ''thought Reba hopelessly

    Seeing Reba about to explode in frustration Dante quickly cut in as he spoke with a serious look on his face.

    his previous joking demeanourpletely vanished, almost as it had never been present in the first ce.

    "Reba, There''s no point trying to convince me to stop this mission.

    My mind is set on this. I''ve thought this three more than you could think so I''m confident in my abilitytoplete that mission."

    In the end, Reba was just left stunned.

    even though she wanted to say something, she just couldn''t find the words.

    She knew that when Dante''s mind was set on something like this, it would be ridiculously hard to try and change his opinion so eventually she just gave up trying to convince him.

    "Well since I can''t change your mind, I guess I''ll have to apany you!

    After all, I can''t let my favourite little cousin die a sad death in the hands of some bandits. God knows what would happen to you if I''m not there."

    Hearing Reba shamelessly concede Dante just rolled his eyes as he continued where he left off before

    "Well, seeing as everyone is on board for the mission, I''ll begin togo deeper into the finer details of the mission." Said Dante

    "The mission is obviously one ofbative nature and will be taking ce in the Zrudon region near the outskirts of the kingdom.

    like I said before, the bandit camp is believed to have a Martial Adept level cultivator as their leader.

    But the threats of this group don''t end there as there are records of a few more martial journeyman realm underlings existing in the camp underneath their leader. In addition, they reported to gave countless weaker underlingsamongst low-level bandits in the running around their camp., with reports of their numbers easily surpassing 100."

    As soon as the rest of the people heard this frowns started forming on their faces.

    Although they trusted Dante, they weren''t perforated to charge straight into death with him.

    If Dante couldn''te up with a reasonable n then this mission with them would go nowhere!

    Dante also seemed to notice the changing mood and quickly interjected.

    "Don''t worry." Said Dante

    "I won''t force you to deal with the swarm of lower-level grunts, all you have to do is deal with the martial journeyman realm cultivators in the bandit camp."

    Hearing this Lennox and the others were confused.

    "Ermбн Dante" asked Lennox

    " you just said there were a lot of grunts and low-level members in the bandit camp, no matter how weak they are, we can''t just ignore them."

    Although Reba and Klent didn''t speak up this time the slight nods of their heads made it clear they were in agreement with Lennox on this one.

    Hearing this question Dante just smiled

    "for the low-level soldiers, you don''t have to worry.

    I''ve already got a n for that and that is to simply recruit them!" Said Dante

    "The n is simple, with my reputation as Dragon Son it won''t be hard to recruit some soldiers from the city lords of the nearby cities.

    Besides, if that doesn''t work there is still n B, My title as Prince consort!

    I and princess Levina have been officially betrothed meaning to some extent,I am already an extension of the royal family.

    Those city lords at the edge of the kingdom may have the courage to refuse the Hidden Dragon Academy but to refuse the Royal family?

    I know Those bastards definitely won''t have the balls to do that so the recruitment of soldiers is pretty much guaranteed."

    While his exnation may have cleared up the confusion for Lennox and Klent it didn''t seem to have such a good effect on Reba.

    In fact, as soon as Dante mentioned the name of princess Levina an icy aura started to radiate from Reba!

    Dante decided to not spend too much time on the topic and quickly movedto the next one

    "Cough! Erm.. let''s move to the next party thatI have to go through, and that is the distribution of rewards for the mission"

    As soon as Dante said this everyone''s ears perked up, even the cold expression on Reba''s face slowly faded.

    However, This didn''te as a surprise to Dante

    Money, or in this case, contribution points is what makes the world go round.

    Even for people that could be considered close like Dante and Reba, not paying each other their fair share could always lead to problems down the line.

    Besides, nobody likes working for free, especially when it came to dangerous situations like the one Dante was proposing.

    So in a way the information on how they were going to split the reward could be deemed as even more important Than the fact that they were even taking on a martial adept level mission!

    "The reward for this mission is 600 contribution points."

    Hearing this everyone''s jaws dropped.

    Even Reba wasn''t spared from this as the price she heard was simply toorge!

 Chapter 174 - The Village

    Chapter 174 иC The Vige

    Even Reba wasn''t spared from this as the price was just toorge.

    600 contribution points were more contribution points than she had seen in her whole time at the Hidden Dragon Academy!

    Dante just looked at the stunned people in front of him as he started speaking

    "For distribution of contribution points in thinking of taking 50%"

    Dante knew what he just said was controversial so before anyone could speak he interjected.

    "Now it may seem unfair but if you think about it, I think it''s appropriate.

    I will be dealing with the Martial Adept cultivator and it''s my standing as Dragon son that will slow us to recruit the soldiers. It''s only fair I get 50%.

    As for the remaining contribution points, I was thinking about splitting it evenly between you three with each person getting a 100 contribution point split. With the rewards still avable to change depending on the contribution each person makes to the mission ."

    Hearing this, the others were left in thought.

    100 contribution points was not a small amount.

    Even top tier martial journeyman missions would struggle to pay that muchбн

    The first person to speak up was Klent

    "I''m in."

    His words were simple yet straight to the point.

    Whilst others were still thinking Klent answered without much thought and the reason for this was simple.

    The rtionship between him and Dante was different to the rtionship Dante had with the others.

    Ever since they had the between them, Klent only believed the rtionship between him and Dante as that had been that of a ruler and his servant.

    In fact, Klent was nning on following Dante to this mission regardless of the difficulty!

    To him, the pay was all just an unexpected bonus.

    Although Dante had tried convincing Klent many times that all this was only formalities and that there was no need for things to be so serious between them, Klent just wouldn''t ept it.

    Until he was at least equal to Dante in strength, he just wouldn''t be able to see himself as an equal to Dante.

    Not when it was Dante''s mercy that even allowed for him to be living today

    In Klent''s mind, To consider himself equal to Dante would not just be foolish, but it was also naive!

    So before his strength reached a certain level, Klent simply felt like this was his deserved fate!

    After Klent agreed to follow Dante the next person who spoke up was Lennox.

    "Hahaha! 100 contribution points and I get to destroy a bandit camp with the dragon son of war. What more can I ask for? "ughed Lennox in glee

    "This is the experience my father and older brothers have been talking about.

    The chance at bing a great general of the kingdom a glorious warrior of hundred battles!"

    Lennox could already envision scenes of him defeating the countless enemies of the Vaenam Kingdom, drinking the strongest wine with his sworn brothers and sleeping the most exotic beauties.

    At the thought of such a possible future, Lennox even began to slightly drool from his mouth.

    There were no more possible questions in Lennox''s mind

    "Dante you can count me in on this!"

    Reba just sat there, stunned at how little thought the two boys around her had put in before agreeing to join Dante.

    In the end, Reba just shook her head as she sighed

    "It seems like I can''t leave these two guys to look after you by yourself ." Said Reba

    "so I guess I''m gonna have toe along with you then Dante."

    Hearing this Dante finally smiled.

    It may have taken some convincing and a lot of words on his part, but he eventually managed to get everyone on his side.

    Seeing his proposal had gone well Dante let out a light chuckle before starting to speak again

    "Now everyone for the next start of the n we going to start here."

    As Dante started speaking he pulled out arge map of the Vaenam Kingdom and pointed on it

    "For this part, we''re all going to have to focus on this section of the Zrudon regionбн."

    бн.

    Somewhere in the deep forests of the Zrudon region,

    2 boys could be seen racing through the forest .

    Suddenly as they were both running, the shorter of the two boys spoke up

    "Hans, are you sure we should have gone out hunting today? You know the new rules the vige chief has set."

    Hearing these words the taller boy justughed.

    "Why are you getting second thoughts now y?

    Weren''t you excited when you caught that rabbit earlier? Don''t pretend that you haven''t felt theck of meat the vige has been receiving too.."

    As he heard Hans''s words, y looked at the dead rabbit in his hand.

    just the thought of finally being able to have some fresh meat in his stew caused him to instantly begin to salivate.

    It had been weeks since anybody had left the nearby vicinity of the vige due to rumours of zombies eating travellers of merchants of the region.

    The only source of meat in the entire vige had only been the chickens kept by the vige chief and so of course the vige chief wouldn''t easily share this with other people.

    For most families, the only source of meat was the dry and salty jerky they had prepared beforehand

    As soon as he saw saliva begin to form at y''s mouth Hans let out a light chuckle

    "Now you see y," said Hans

    "What we did was nothing wrong so there''s no need to be worried. In fact, I wouldn''t be surprised if that stingy old vige chief imposed these rules just to keep all the meat for himselfбн"

    Hand didn''t even get to finish the sentence before he saw a strange sight.

    Fire.

    Countless houses of the vige could be seen burning fiercely in the sea of orange mes!

    Hans could even spot what appeared to be corpses lying on the floor of the vige entrance!

    "Thud!"

    The rabbit in y''s hand hit the floor with a loud thud

    y just couldn''t remain calm after he''d seen such a horrible sight! But before he could end up panicking he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

    y looked up to see Hans staring at him with a calm gaze.

    "Stay here and hide. " said Hans

    "I''m going to see what''s going on in there."

    "B-but Hans," called y

    "No buts" retorted Hans in a cold tone

    After saying this and making sure that y had gone into hiding Hans nimbly made his way towards the vige.

    Out of the two boys, Hans was the older one.

    Hans was also the one who even convinced y toe outside today so he naturally felt the responsibility to protect y.

    As soon as Hans entered the vige he could already feel the warm st of air, brush against his skin.

    It was ufortable

    Hans could vividly feel the heat of the raging fires all over his body but he simply ignored it and carried on moving.

    As Hans rushed along the vige streets he could see corpses all along with the floor vige but Hans paid no attention to the bodies he saw.

    He was just looking for someone to help him!

    Suddenly, as he was desperately rushing through the streets, he finally saw someone.

    It was a hunched figure that seemed to be hanging over what Hans could only guess was an unconscious body.

    "Hey!" Called Hans trying to get this person''s attention.

    But even after calling there was no reaction.

    "Hey! I''m speaking to you!"

    As Hans said this he started moving closer and closer to the figure

    And Soon, after much calling, the figure turned around to look at him, but it wasn''t the person who Hans was looking for.

    Instead, what turned around to face Hans could only be described as a creature that crawled from straight out of his nightmares!

    The man, if it could even still be called that, was covered in pale rotting skin as maggots could be seen crawling in what Hans could only assume used to be its eye sockets.

    but besides that, what could possibly be the most disturbing thing of all was the creature''s lower face.

    It was nted at an unnatural angle, almost as if something had hit out of ce by a sledgehammer, whilst also being stained in the deep red colour of blood!

 Chapter 175 - The Village 2

    Chapter 175 иC The Vige 2

    It was nted at an unnatural angle, almost as if something had hit out of ce by a sledgehammer,whilst also being stained in the deep red colour of blood!

    Hans''s assumption waspletely wrong!

    The strange figure was not helping an unconscious man, he was instead eating it!

    "Zombie!" Cried Hans in horror as he quickly realised what he was dealing with causing him to stumble backwards in fear!

    The recent talks of undead creatures attacking merchant caravans.

    The continuous warnings of the vige chief.

    It all led Hans to one conclusion, the vige had been attacked by zombies!

    Realising this Hans didn''t stay a second longer and quickly got to his feet.

    He needed to get y

    and leave this ce as soon as possible!

    But things just wouldn''t go that easily for Hans

    "Urghgh!"

    Seeing that Hans had started moving, the zombie also seemed to stir as a strange sound left its now decaying vocal cords.

    The zombie slowly rose to its feet before it struggledafter Hans

    As Hans was rushing through the vige he heard more and more simr cries ring out around him as he could see a crowd of zombies started to slowly encircle him.

    Knowing things were taking a turn for the worse Hans used hisst bit of energy in an effort to quickly leave the vige.

    But Just as Hans was making it towards the vige entrance he suddenly felt something off.

    Hans desperately turned his body in ast-ditch effort to react but it was already toote.

    From the crowd of slowly moving zombies, a strange figure instantly burst out at an unprecedented speed and jumped straight onto Hans dragging him onto the floor.

    Hans and the vile creature fought desperately but Struggle as he might, Hans just couldn''t manage to remove the undead creature''s vice-like grip around him and was left to pitifully writhe on the ground as more and more zombies enclosed him.

    As The athletic zombie''s jaws neared Hans''s face, a rancid wave of rotting flesh assaulted Hans''s nostrils

    With this terrifying sight nearing closer and closer,Hans struggled even moredesperately but he simply couldn''t change his fate

    but Suddenly, Just as the zombie was about to take a bite of him, a hooded figure suddenly appeared behind the zombie.

    "Leave it." Called the hooded man

    His voice was raspy and hoarse, almost like the sound of two objects scraping against each other

    "They are better sacrifices when they are left alive."

    As soon as the man spoke the zombie hesitated as its slow mind struggled between leaving the meal in its hands, and following its master instructions.

    But the zombie''s struggles didn''tst long as soon,a terrifying yet abnormallythin fist was sent towards the creature''s head

    "Bang!"

    Fist and head collided causing the zombie''s head to instantly burst to send the zombie''s brains sttering all over the floor, which also included Hans who unfortunatelyy beneath it.

    The hooded man quickly wiped his hand with a napkinhe quickly brought out as he spoke in disgust

    "Such disgusting and stupid creatures.

    They can''teven follow orders when needed."

    Before Hans could even question what was going on, a wave of ck energy washed over his head causing him to instantly lose consciousness.

    After making sure Hans was knocked out, The hooded man then turned towards the rest of the crowd of zombies.

    "Take him to where the rest of them are being kept, and quickly hurry up and clean this ce.

    We can''t afford to linger here any longer"

    After saying this The hooded man watched the zombies slowly move for a short while to make sure they hadpleted his instructions and after confirming that everything was in order, he slowly began walking off in apletely different direction.

    As he walked away he reached towards his pocket and brought out a small yet strange totem and stared at it longingly.

    "Soon master, soon. "

    "Soon you will be able to join us in all your glory!"

    The hooded figure walked off into the forest.

    But unsuspectingly to him, there was a young boy cowering in the bushes in the opposite direction.

    His hands were forcefully ced over his mouth tightly forcing back any sound that threatened to leave his mouth.

    These sights had left the young boy in apletely terrified state streams of tears and snot flowed down his cheek.

    But even after seeing these horrifying things, the boy didn''t look away."

    The boy was still there

    The boy had seen it allбн.

    бн.

    Dayster, hundreds of miles away from the incident Dante and a group of three other people could be seen riding on some well-bred steeds down adirt road .

    Dayster, hundreds of miles away from the incident,

    Dante and a group of three other people could be seen riding on some down abadly maintained dirt road.

    Dante was in the front of the group,trodding along confidently with his giant moonlight sword attached to his back as He rode on a gigantic ck stallion with burning bloodshot eyes.

    Strange red scales could evenbe seen growing from near the horse''s hooves hinting at the possible strange bloodlines that could be flowing through it

    Reba, Klent and Lennox were also following closely behind him and although their horses weren''t as Shocking as Dante''s, they were still all impressive in their own right.

    The journey towards the Zrudon region had been a long and jarring one and whilst most of the group managed it well, one person who made their struggles obvious was Lennox

    It had been almost 12 days since Dante and the rest had left the capital to start their mission and other than stopping in cities and viges along the way to rest and collect essential resources, the rest of their time had all been spent on the road.

    And it was a result of this tedious journey that Lennox was starting to get bored

    Surprisingly enough, Lennox had even been kind of excited at first.

    It was his first time leaving home by himself without any other guidance from his family.

    Normally his parents wouldn''t even let him leave the capital without some form of guardian watching over him but this time things were different.

    as soon as he mentioned that he was going on a mission with the Dragon son of war their attitudes did aplete 180!

    Instead of shouting orining they even urged Lennox to go along with Dante toplete this mission warning him not to mess up or cause any problems.

    So At first Lennox was overflowing with excitement for the mission.

    This was the start of his legendary journey after all.

    his legendary journey be one of the greatest generals of the Vaenam kingdom and meet countless beauties along the way!

    It''s just unfortunate that Lennox''s excitement couldn''tevenst for more than three days into the journey

    He could only keep himself interested in the scenery for so long.

    After a certain point, all treesand bright flowers just ended up looking the same, no matter how hard he stared at them.

    "Dante!" Called Lennox with slight impatience in his voice

    "We''ve been travelling for days now and we''ve still not reached the destination. How much longer to we get there?"

    As Dante heard Lennox''s question his eyebrows couldn''t help but twitch in frustration.

    You see this wasn''t the first time that Lennox had asked this question.

    In fact, from the fourth day or so,Ennis had continuously been asking this question.

    It wasso annoying that Dante to the point that Dante felt like hopping of his horse just to teach the kid a good lesson

    But every time he was near doing it he had to remind himself that hisbined age of 15 in this life and 20 of his previous life was pushing him to around 35!

    Of course, he only awakens his memories recently so he had only really lived for around 21 years or so.

    But that doesn''t change the fact that if he did so he would be a 35year old man beating up a child that was barely 16and all this for him slightly getting on his nerves.

    Just imagine if a situation like that happened in his past life

    The image created in hishead was just too unsightly!

 Chapter 176 - Lets Do It Like This

    Chapter 176 иC Lets Do It Like This

    Just imagine if a situation like that happened in his past life! The image created in Dante''s head was just too unsightly!

    Dante couldn''t bring himself to stoop so low as to fight a child.

    he was better than that.

    Well, at least he thought he was.

    So even though these thoughts were raging in his mind, Dante suppressed his violent urges as he grit his teeth and replied to Lennox.

    "Again Lennox, I''ve said this countless times before.

    The distance to our destination is quite far so you may have to wait for some time.

    But even with that, you shouldn''t have to wait too long this time. we should be nearing Vainwatch city any moment now."

    But unsurprisingly Dante''s words didn''t do anything to ease Lennox''s impatience in the slightest

    "Dante you can''t fool me again!st time you said the exact same thi-"

    But Lennox didn''t get to Finnish his sentence before he spotted a strange sight on the horizon.

    As Lennox and the rest moved along the road, the hazy blur started clearing up and the vague image of a city could be spotted.

    "See Lennox," said Dante

    "When I told you that it wouldn''t be long till we got to the next city and now look where we are. We''re almost at the city gates"

    Even though Dante was right Lennox still couldn''t resist the urge to mutter to himself in displeasure.

    But Dante and the rest had heard enough of Lennox''s nonsense and the group paid no more attention to Lennox than the rest of the group headed towards the city gates.

    бн.

    Dante and his group soon passed the city gates as only after a light inspection, Dante and the rest were finally let into Vainwatch city only having to pay the price of a few copper coins

    But as soon as they entered the city, the group quickly noticed something off about the ce.

    Simply put, It was justpletely different to the other cities they passed through

    It strangelycked the vibrance and vigour that the other cities had.

    For example, whenever Dante and the others previously passed through a city, they would instantly be greeted with the sight of bustling streets and smiling people.

    but now I''m Vainwatch City all they could see were displeased frowns on the faces of the people as they hurriedly scuttled around.

    It was almost as if they didn''t even want to be outside in the first ce!

    Even the children who are usually the most carefree bunch and supposed to beughing remained rather quiet and had a strangely sombre aura around them

    "What''s the issue with these guys?" Asked Lennox in confusion

    Hearing this question, Klent just once again rolled his eyes at Lennox''s idiocy

    "Well, if you lived near one of thergest bandit camps in the Kingdom, I doubt you would be able to keep a rather happy mood either." stated Klent

    "It''s not just that" added Dante saving Lennox from total embarrassment.

    "Recently there have been reports of disappearing individuals from within this city and nearby viges."

    "Is this rted to the bandit camp?" Asked Reba in curiosity

    "Not that I know of" replied Dante

    "however, there has been talk of undead in the nearby regions which may have a part to y in these disappearances"

    Dante and the group carried on their discussion for a while longer, up until they began nearing arge estate

    Soon, the group stopped in front of the estate, only a small distance away from a group of guards.

    Not long after the group stopped, Klent got off his horse and went to approach the guards.

    "Stop!" Cried the guards as they readied their swords.

    but klent didn''t seem to pay any attention to them and continued approaching. His cold eyes just emotionlessly scanned over them as he slowly spoke.

    "Ie from the Hidden Dragon Academy. I and my group request an audience with your City Lord!"

    As Klent said this he brought out his private token, showing off the signature symbol of the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    But surprisingly, when the guards saw this they didn''t react how anyone suspected them to and barely had any reaction at all.

    in fact, when they first saw Klent''s token they sneered in disdain.

    In their heads, Klent''s token couldn''t be anything other than an borate trick.

    Why on earth would a prestigious member of the Hidden Dragon Academye to such a far outskirt of the kingdom even the birds didn''t bother to shit?

    The man in front of them was clearly trying to get them with a basic trick! Well, at least that''s what they thought.

    Seeing the guards'' failure to acknowledge his words, the aura around Klent rapidly grew colder.

    "Heyбн are you ignoring me ?"

    It was a simple question but Klents words were already starting to drip with murderous intent.

    As he spoke Klent slowly began to reach for his sword causing a bloody aura to start circling him!

    Seeing this tragic sight, the guards'' hearts started racing and beating erratically! But before a bloody scene could ur a calm yet powerful hand reached out to pat Klent on the shoulder as amanding voice sounded out.

    "Since our previous attempts weren''t enough to convince you, let''s put it like this.

    I''m instructing you to tell your City Lord that the Dragon Son of War is requesting his presence."

    As Dante said this he brandished his personal token

    As soon as the guards saw this they began to sweat nervously.

    It might be possible that some individuals had the confidence to fake being from the Hidden Dragon Academy, but to fake being a Dragon Son?

    That was simply asking for death!

    The people who could do this were eitherpletely crazy, or they were the real deal!

    Either way, these were both people a mere guard couldn''t afford to mess with!

    As this realisation hit the guards Dante''s voice sounded out again

    "I''m sure you men won''t make me have to repeat myself."

    "Gulp!"

    When faced with the terrifying aura released from Dante, the guards couldn''t help but gulp in fear.

    ''That auraбн. He''s the real deal'' thought the guards in fear

    But their bad times didn''t end there as when they turned to the side they could see Klent staring at them with a menacing smile on his face, his sword already drawn!

    Despite being smiled at the guards still couldn''t feelfortable.

    The sword clearly wasn''t for y as the guards could feel the sharp and threatening aura around it. And if that wasn''t enough the chilling aura emanating from Klent was enough to make them reconsider their life choices.

    Seeing the situation was about to take a dangerous turn, the guards didn''t waste another second in the area and quickly fled inside thepound to try and notify the city Lord as soon as possible!

    бн.

    After a short while, Dante and the others could be seen sitting in a well-designed waiting room.

    It was not long after the guards rushed into the building that they soon came back out saying that the City Lord would be out to see them shortly.

    Afterwards some servants quickly came and led them into a luxurious waiting room which they were currently in

    But this brief period of calm didn''tst long as soon some loud knocking could be heard stirring the group back into their alert state.

    "Come in." Called Dante

    Even after saying those words, there was a slight pause of silence before the loud creaking of a door could be heard as it was slowly opened.

    As the door opened a slightly older man could be seen.

    From his face alone, Dante guessed that the man couldn''t be younger than 50 and this was made even more obvious by the highlights of gray that could be spotted in his head of hair

    The man was dressed in ck servant clothes and had a in, weing smile on his face

    "Good afternoon young sirs and young miss" greeted the man with a light bow

    "Sorry for the dy in seeing you. It''s just that The city Lord was quite busy today but I can assure you that city Lord dropped all possible matters just to see you today."

    "If it''s not an inconvenience, I would take up to meet the City Lord now."

 Chapter 177 - City Lord Vale

    Chapter 177 иC City Lord Vale

    "If it''s not an inconvenience, I would take up to meet the City Lord now."

    After the man spoke, Dante and the rest looked at each other before getting up to follow the old man.

    бн

    Soon Dante and the others could be seen walking through the hallways of the city Lord estate and were soon led into arge hall.

    In the hall was a giant table with all sorts of dishes and delicaciesid out on it, whilst mouthwatering scents could be smelt wafting through the air

    Besides this table was a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious blue robes.

    He a full beard and a charismatic smile.

    "Greetings Lord Dragon Son," said the man

    "My name is Lord Vale, City Lord of Vainwatch city"

    "But let''s not waste too much time with introductionse, sit down and eat!"

    бн.

    Minutester Dante and his group could be seen sitting down on the finding table with Dante and Lord Vale sat at the opposite ends of the table

    The rest of Dante''s group had already begun digging into the food ced in front of them

    Lennox in particr was quite the sight.

    he could be seen devouring all sorts of food with glee, practically shovelling all everything that had been put on the te down his throat!

    Considering his family was the wealthiest out of all of them, Lennox would have definitely had the best upbringing out of everyone here and yet it was still his manners that were the worst here!

    Dante was sure if the elders of the Asmond n were here that they would definitely give Lennox a beating for his barbaric disy!

    Opposite Lennox sat Reba who was also eating, but unlike Lennox, the manners and etiquette she disyed were perfect.

    It was practically the textbook guide to table manners.

    The only problem was that once she took a bite of her food her casual expression quickly copsed into a grimace of disgust! Reba quickly reached out and took a napkin and spat out her food into it. She was simply unable to stomach a single bite!

    "Disgusting."

    "I wouldn''t even feed this to my dogs" Muttered Reba in disgust

    Reba had been fed with the best dishes and meals in herst three years spent at the Hidden Dragon Academy, so this sort of cooking was really a step too back down for her.

    Even her meals back at the Kinsman n had been made by low-grade Spirit Chefs and although they had nothing on the Spirit Chefs at the Hidden Dragon Academy, they were still miles better than the regr chefs here!

    Seeing Reba''s reaction, Lord Vale''s eyebrows twitched.

    He was slightly offended by Reba''s words

    Wasn''t she hinting that his best cooks couldn''t even match up to the food her dogs ate?!

    Lord Vale just looked at the strange bunch of individuals ced in front of him.

    A barbaric brute that was eating like he hadn''t been fed in months,

    A stuck up young miss that ssified his meals as dog food and a strange young man that had just been looking at his sword and polishing it ever since they had sat down at the table.

    Lord vale was even starting to doubt whether such strange individuals could really be from the prestigious Hidden Dragon Academy.

    The only person who seemed rtively normal would be this supposed dragon son, but even he had been quite strange since the start of the meal.

    He had been staring him down with a strange smile on his face ever since they sat down at the table.

    Lord Vale could even feel a strange aura emanating from the man, almost as if some terrifying creature was lurking within him, causing goosebumps to pop up all over his skin.

    But before Lord Vale could dwell to on these slightly disturbing facts, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Dante''s in voice

    "I''m ttered by the warm wee we have received lord vale, I really am, but now I think it''s time we get down to business."

    "Our reason foring here is quite simple, there have been strange circumstances surrounding your Vainwatch city and the entire Zrudon region as a whole.

    Our mission here is to simply assess the threat of the region and report it back to The Hidden Dragon Academy."

    As Dante lied about his mission, there was no change in his expression.

    And it wasn''t just him, both Klent and Reba also had no reaction and just continued on as if Dante had never said anything in the first ce.

    The only person that had a strange reaction was Lennox

    As he was shovelling food into his mouth he couldn''t help but think to himself

    ''Just investigate? I could swear that Dante said we are going to destroy the bandit camp?''

    As Lennox was thinking this he looked up from his pile of food to see Reba smiling at him.

    There was nothing strange about Reba''s smile. In fact, it could even be described as quite beautiful.

    But Lennox didn''t have time to admire her beauty because he soon made contact with Reba''s chilling eyes.

    Although she wasn''t speaking, Lennox could perfectly understand what she was trying to say.

    ''If you say something stupid, it''s over for you.''

    "Gulp!"

    Seeing that Lennox just put his head back down and continued eating with his chicken drumstick still in his hand as he began to sweat.

    To put it simply, Lennox was scared.

    He had seen just how vicious Reba could be on the journey they made here.

    For example, on one asion they were attacked by a group of low-level robbers.

    This wasn''t a strange urrence though as usually either Lennox or Klent would be tasked with dealing with such low-level enemies and the group would just carry on their way journey

    But things changed once the robbers spoke about killing off

    the rest of the group and only leaving Reba to have their way with her.

    Lennox could still remember how the temperature dropped a few degrees once Reba heard it as she swiftly acted on them.

    Even now Lennox could barely even begin to describe the cruelty disyed by Reba on those men, but one thing that stuck with him was their final fate.

    He could Reba just smile crazily as she watched them all being slowly burnt to ashes, all of whom were in either the Martial Novice or the Martial journeyman realm!

    Lennox wasn''t the smartest person, but he knew who and who not to mess with and Reba was certainly one of the people he couldn''t afford to piss off.

    But Reba''s cruelty shouldn''t really evene as a surprise to anyone now

    It was important to not mistake the kind and caring appearance Reba puts on for Dante as her real personality

    She was just naturally a cruel person.

    You have to remember that this was still the same person that beat up Curtis so bad that even the dogs started feeling pity for him and all of this because she simply thought that Curtis wasn''t a good match for her in an engagement!

    To this day, Curtis was still struggling to remove the after-effects that this had on his will and cultivation.

    Viciousness was simply her nature.

    If life was a story, then Reba would definitely be ying the role of a ''Viin''

    But Lord Vale didn''t see this strange reaction between

    As soon as Lord Vale heard Dante''s words his expression quickly rxed

    "Haha! If the investigation is all your here to do then don''t worry. You will have the full support of City Lord mansion and its forces!"

    Seeing this Dante let out a light chuckle as he raised his ss.

    "A toast to our sessful co-operation." Said, Dante

    "A toast!" Replied Lord Vale with much passion.

    And like that the meal between Dante and Lord Vale with them exchanging pleasantries and ns for the rest of the duration of the mealбн.

    ..

    Many minutester Dante and his group could be seen walking out the Dining hall

    All of the group seemed to be fine other than Lennox who was rubbing his stomach trying to better digest the mountains of food he had eaten

    Lennox was still trying to digest his food but He didn''t forget about the questions he had been waiting to act on so after quickly looking around to make sure Nobody else was around and asked the question he had on his mind

 Chapter 178 - Sus?

    Chapter 178 иC Sus?

    Lennox was still trying to digest his food but He didn''t forget about the questions he had been waiting to act on so after quickly looking around to make sure Nobody else was around and asked the question he had on his mind

    "So Dante, what''s with all the lies? You said that we''vee to only investigate but haven''te to investigate we''vee to exterminate the bandit camp."

    "Sus."

    "Sus?" Asked Lennox a confused Lennox

    "It means that Lord Vale is acting suspicious, something about him seems off."

    "And How did you figure this out?" Asked Lennox

    "I personally didn''t seem to see anything off about him."

    "Instinct Lennox, instinct."

    "Instinct? You know Dante, my Father always told me to not act on my instincts."

    Hearing this Dante just smiled,

    "I''m sure when your father said this he was doing so with the best intentions. After all, you''re not the

    most the intellectually proficient person I know."

    "Not Intellectually proficient?" asked Lennox as he stopped walking.

    Whilst Lennox was stood still, Klent just walked past him and patted him on the shoulders

    "It''s a polite way of calling you stupid."

    Hearing this, Lennox just snorted in dismissal of Klents assumption

    "Instinct isn''t something you can just dismiss," said Dante as he continued

    "Especially for cultivators. We are constantly dealing with strangews and abilities so your instinct can be just as important as your logical reasoning. It''s all about finding the right bnce between logic and instinct."

    After hearing this Reba had a question,

    "So if you''re saying you believe in your instincts and it''s telling you that something is off about Lord Vale, why didn''t you act?"

    Turning around to Reba Dante had a crafty smile on his face

    "First, I only have a suspicion on Lord Vale. I''m not 100% certain so the man could still be innocent.

    And secondly, if the man is captured this could alert the bandits causing some of them to flee in advance.

    We''ll let them think nothing of us whilst secretly tightening the noose around their neck and catch them in one fell swoop." Asked

    As Dante spoke an amber glint could be seen forming in his eyes causing Reba to get lost in their deep glow for a few seconds

    quickly realising she was staring, Reba quickly shook her head and looked away as slight blush could already be seen forming on her cheeks.

    Dante saw this and let off a light smile as he shook his head and carried on walking

    Klent and Lennox, who had just seen everything just looked at each other and shrugged before quickly following after the pairбн

    бн

    Meanwhile, back in the Dining hall

    Lord Vale was still sat in same chair he was in during the meal with Dante and the others.

    The only thing that had changed was that after Dante and the rest had left, the servants quickly came to clean up the table, restoring it to it clean condition.

    "Ahh.."

    Lord Vale couldn''t help but stretch his tired arms as the smile that was shown eagerly during his conversation had now given way to a new cold expression.

    As all this was happening, an old ck-clothed servant appeared behind Lord vale. On closer inspection, it was clear to see that this was the same old man that had brought Dante and the rest into the Dining hall.

    Lord Vale had already sensed the man''s presence but didn''t react and continued facing forward, seemingly lost in his long train of thought.

    "So my Lord, what''s your opinion on this Dragon Son." Asked the man as he stood to the side of Lord Vale.

    Lord Vale didn''t turn to look at the man and continued looking forward as he responded

    "Talented.

    I can easily see why he was able to achieve the title of Dragon Son despite being so young. The aura that boy was releasing was quite fierce even for people at my level.

    But that''s where it ends" added Lord Vale

    "While he may be talented he''s still just a boy and it shows.

    From just speaking to him I can see already see his arrogance.

    He''s clearly inexperienced and out to make a name for himself. We''ll just listen to his demands and help him and send him off on his way."

    A worried face appeared on the old man as he asked

    "But my Lord, if we help him, what if he starts nning to deal with the others?"

    Hearing this Lord vale broke out into a wide smile

    "Deal with us and the others? You have to remember he''s still a boy. He''s not that big of a threat besides, don''t forget we still have him."

    Although Lord Vale didn''t mention any names, the old man instantly knew who he was talking about as his body shivered.

    The image of a frail hooded figure was still fresh in his mind, the crazy sphemer of the dead

    The Corpse Master!

    бн

    As Lord vale and his servant were having their discussion Dante and his group finally made it out of the City lord''s estate and were greeted with a group of guards on horseback.

    Suddenly one of the guards quickly got off his horse and spoke approached the he group

    "Sir Dragon son. I Have been tasked with guiding you around Vainwatch City by Lord Vale."

    Hearing this Dante smiled as he asked

    "So what would you say is the best ce to see in your Vainwatch city."

    The guard hesitated for a moment before he hurriedly replied

    "Sir Dragon son, I''m not really experienced when ites to this area, but I would rmend the city za. It has our best auction hall as well as many luxurious shops you can choose from."

    "Well since you''ve chosen the ce, I won''t question your judgment," said Dante "Let''s not waste any more time then, let''s go"

    So Dante and his group went to retrieve their horses and soon Dante could be seen walking towards their horses and so after retrieving the horses they set offбн

    бн

 Chapter 179 - Incident

    Chapter 179 иC Incident

    So Dante and his group went to retrieve their horses and soon Dante could be seen walking towards their horses and so after retrieving the horses they set offбн

    бн

    Minutester,

    Dante and his group could be seen riding through the city with arge convoy of guards on horseback surrounding them.

    With such a strange sight it was inevitable that they would grab attention.

    Even more so in a ce like Vainwatch city where the people were rarely going out. Such a sight was a rare urrence and so it would just make people more curious toe out to watch.

    To make matters worse it seems like one of the guards from earlier had released information that the Dragon son was in town, causing even more people toe out and try and get a glimpse at this legendary figure.

    Dante could already feel countless eyes staring at him, watching his every movement.

    He knew that he was certainly the centre of attention right now.

    Fortunately for Dante had already been in this position for a while now so he already had some experience when it came to being stared at by crowds.

    He don''t panic and just softly smiled as he turned and gave a slight nod to the crowd.

    As Dante was watching the crowd, he suddenly heard a loudmotion as the horses broke out into disarray and panic.

    As Dante was looking around, he managed to see the source of all thismotion

    It was just a small rugged figure who had actually dashed into the convoy of horses and was heading straight for Dante''s horse!

    But unlike the other horses, Dante''s horse didn''t even flinch.

    Such amotion had. O possibility of scaring a beast with such a ferocious bloodline!

    The horse''s red eyes seemed to glow as it prepared to charge down this strange figure.

    but before It could act out, Dante quickly calmed it down.

    This was because Dante quickly realised what wasing for him was no threat.

    It was simply a child and one who wasn''t even a cultivator!

    Dante couldn''t let his horse trample over a kid.

    He wasn''t a nice person but he definitely wasn''t that cruel!

    But not everyone else shared Dante''s casual opinion.

    For the guards, the fact that such a situation urred was simply outrageous!

    How could They allow for any random person to approach someone as prestigious as the Dragon son?!

    If the Dragon Son was displeased it would be their heads that went rolling!

    so a guard quickly raised his whip as heshed out at the boy

    "How dare a bastard child try and obstruct the way of the Dragon Son!"

    the air whistled as the powerful whip sped through the air at the defenceless boy.

    "Crack!"

    The loud blow of the whip sounded causing everyone in the vicinity to close their eyes in a grimace, but as they slowly opened the back up again, the sight of the boy being sent flying that all had been expecting never happened.

    Instead, a tall white-haired figure could be seen tightly grasping the whip in his hand as he stood over the boy.

    "S-Sir Dragon Son" stuttered the guard in disbelief

    As he saw who his attack hit, The guard instantly turned pale with fright.

    What had he just done! He actually attacked the Dragon Son.

    The guard almost copsed to his knees but luckily, before he could do that, Dante turned around as he smiled at the guard

    "There''s no need for such a fierce reaction," said Dante

    "he''s still just a child at the end of the day.s so It''s understandable that he would make mistakes. let''s just give the child a break,"

    After saying this, Dante helped the boy off of the floor and dusted him off before speaking.

    "I hope you don''t end up doing such things again. Not everyone is as kind as me so such stupid actions might really cost you your life next time."

    After saying this Dante? Patted the kid on his head as he turned around and slowly walked back to his horse.

    But before Dante had even taken a few steps he felt someone dive at his legs even causing him to stumble forward a few steps.

    As soon as this happened, the very air seemed to freeze.

    Forget about the guards, even the crowd of onlookers couldn''t believe what they were seeing.

    That boy! He was simply just crazy!

    Even after being personally warned by the Dragon son, the crazy kid had dived andtched onto him again!

    ''He''s so dead!''

    That was themon consensus among the watching crowd

    They had seen the mysterious cultivators from the capital before.

    All of them are distinguished individuals that felt an extreme displeasure and loathing in being bothered by regr individuals like them.

    Although this time the Dragon Son was more kind than those stuck up individuals, it didn''t mean that anyone could keep on bothering him.

    He was Dragon Son for crying out loud! One of the highest-ranking members of society. Of course, he wouldn''t take kindly to people randomly grabbing him!

    although it wasn''t as extreme as what the crowd was thinking, Dante was starting to get annoyed.

    Did this kid really think he was here to y games? He didn''t have time to y around with some random kids

    So Dante turns around to give the boy yet another warning, yet as he was turning around Dante was met with the desperate eyes of the boy.

    "Please Lord Dragon Son! I need you to help me!" Cried the little boy in desperation.

    " They came and destroyed my vige! I even watched them take my best friend!

    Please Lord Dragon Son, please help me save my vige from the walking corpses!

    Save them from the zombies!"

    As soon as the boy spoke, a loud stir broke out amongst the crowd

    Walking corpses!

    There had been rumours of caravans being attacked and people being kidnapped. But who the walking corpses had gotten so fearless that they would destroy an entire vige!

 Chapter 180 - Clay

    Chapter 180 иC y

    There had been rumours of caravans being attacked and people being kidnapped. But who the walking corpses had gotten so fearless that they would destroy an entire vige!

    and it wasn''t just the crowd that was affected by the boy''s words,

    As soon as Dante heard the boys cry his eyes narrowed

    If what the boy was saying was true, then he could be a vital clue as to what was really going on in the Zrudon region.

    Dante didn''t think much and reached out his hand.

    Seeing Dante''s hand reaching for him, the boy closed his eyes as he braced his body for the oing attack

    But after a while, the boy didn''t feel anything. Instead, he actually felt himself rising into the air.

    Slowly opening his eye,s the boy looked around to see Dante cing him on his horse.

    "Huh? I''m still alive?" Said the boy in disbelief

    Seeing the boy''s surprise, Dante chuckled

    "You didn''t think I was really going to eat you, did you?"

    "Err.. well-"

    But before the boy could defend himself, Dante put on his most vicious smile as spoke in an eerie voice

    "I really don''t like eating children, I only eat adults." As the boy heard these words he instantly began to shake.

    ''M-monster!''

    But before Dante could carry on messing around with the kid, he suddenly felt a hard p on the back of his head.

    "Bang!"

    Looking back he turned to see Reba looking at him with a furious expression.

    "This isn''t really the time for your stupid games Dante! Can''t you see? You almost scared the boy to death!"

    Turning around Dante looked to see the kid now pale as all the colour drained from his face as he erratic shook

    Dante could only scratch his head in embarrassment.

    In his mind, it was only a joke. he didn''t think the kid would actually believe him!

    Ignoring Dante, Reba turned to the boy with a warm smile on her face.

    "Don''t mind any of the nonsense he''s saying, it was only a bad joke.

    We''re here to help you. We''re just going to need to exin things further."

    Hearing this the boy couldn''t help but sigh in relief.

    Seeing that things had calmed down now, Dante also hopped onto the back of the horse with the boy.

    "Look, I''m sorry for scaring you but we''re going to need you to exin further so just hold on tight, we''re going to go to a more quiet space" as Dante spoke he nodded towards the crowd of spectators who were still watching on.

    Seeing this the boy also had to agree that this probably wasn''t the best ce to start spilling his secrets.

    As Dante got on his horse he looked towards the guards

    "Take us to a ce where we can speak more privately."

    "But sir Dragon Sonбн" the guard didn''t speak and only looked towards the young boy

    Front the looks of things he was displeased that Dante was amodating for some random child.

    Seeing this, Dante''s eyes instantly chilled.

    "Just do what I told you, guard."

    "I hope you aren''t going to make me ask a second time ?"

    An ominous flicker could be seen in Dante''s eyes as his pupils started narrowing on the figure of the guard in front of him.

    But fortunately, things didn''t have to go too far as once the guard saw the dangerous glint In Dante''s eyes, his body instantly shivered as his body quickly moved into action.

    Without a second hesitation the man had already begun stirring his horse and leading the group to the nearest ce he knew that for Dante''s requirement.

    The crowd just watched on in both awe and worry.

    If the boy''s words could be believed, It seemed like times were only going to get tougher for the people living in Vainwatch cityбн

    бн

    A short whileter,

    Dante and his group were in the luxurious private room of one of the most renowned restaurants in Vainwatch City.

    Lennox again could be seen guzzling down piles of food.

    The sight was so disturbing that even the usually stoic Klent couldn''t take it anymore and asked.

    "Brother, are you sure your okay? Eating so much can''t be healthy. Besides aren''t cultivators supposed to eat less than normal people? I won''t be surprised if you end up bursting if you carry o at this rate! "

    Being asked so much about his eating habits, Lennox couldn''t help but blush in embarrassment as he quickly waved his hands.

    "Hey! Don''t look at me like that, this is all due to my cultivation technique! In addition I missed some days during our travels Sony have to make up for it okay."

    Seeing Lennox''s embarrassment, Klent decided not to question things further and shrugged his shoulders in dismissal.

    Meanwhile, asKlent and Lennox were having their little discussion this was going on in the other corner Dante, Reba and the new boy was having a much more meaningful conversation

    "So what''s your name." Asked Dante as he leaned backzily into his chair.

    "M-my name is y, Lord Dragon Son"

    "So, tell us more about what happened to you."

    Hearing this the boy breathed out heavily as he froze trying to calm down his hands that unconsciously started shaking as he remembered the tragic scene

    "You don''t have to force yourself, It''s okay to take some time if it''s hard for you."

    Looking up y saw Reba smiling at him as she handed him a ss of water.

    Seeing such a warm smile y soon calmed down.

    ''It''s okay, I don''t have to worry anymore. I''m finally safe."

    y just downed his ss of water before taking in a deep breath

    "Well,it all starts when me and Hans wereing back from hunting."

    "Hans?" Asked Reba

    "Hans is my best friend" exined y

    "He and I had snuck to go hunting earlier that day. Things were all normal until we got back to the vige. Once we neared the vige we saw it burning and crawling with zombies!

    It was at that point that Hans warned me to go and hide as he went to expect what was going on inside the vige.

    I didn''t see what happened to Hans inside of the vige but I remember seeing him running back outside of the vige with a group of zombies chasing behind him! He was eventually grabbed by a zombie but just as I thought it was over for him that''s when he appeared.

    A strange hooded figure! With a simple wave of his hand he stopped all the zombies from moving."

    As soon as Dante heard this how eyes shed

    "Tell me more about the man"

    "Well, I couldn''t see much about the man because he was cornered by a cloak but from what I did see his arm appeared abnormally frail. In addition he was able to create a ck mist that instantly knocked Hans unconscious with a wave of his hand." Added y

    "Well it seems like we''ve found the answer to the disappearing people in the region." Said Dante

    "It seems like whoever this figure is needs to keep abducting people for something.

    The only problem now is whenever we are strong enough to deal with this new person?

    Dante wasn''t too sure on what to do and turned to the people he brought

    "Any thoughts?"

    After a short pause, the first person to speak up was Lennox.

    ''I say we move to deal with him now. From the way he''s been scuttling around and secretly abducting people it''s clear he''s a weakling. If he was strong, why not be more brazen? I''m sure he''d be able to achieve his goals faster"

    "Not necessarily." countered Klent

 Chapter 181 - Talents

    Chapter 181 иC Talents

    "Not necessarily." Countered Klent

    "This man could just be doing this as a way to not draw attention to himself"

    "Remember he''s still in the territory of one of thergest bandit camps in the kingdom. Even though they''re bandits, I don''t think they won''t take too kindly to anyone acting crazily in their territory.

    Remember, bandits still need people to rob! If all the people leave or die, they''re finished too."

    hearing the words of both men Dante broke into thought

    ''One of thergest Bandit camps in the Kingdom and a strange cultivator with the ability to control corpses..''

    it just seemed like this mission was getting harder and harder for Dante.

    Even though Dante found the culprit of the disappearing people, Dante wasn''t satisfied.

    he still felt something was wrong, his instincts could just feel it.

    the only problem was that Dante could quite pinpoint what exactly was the source of this feeling!

    Pushing these thoughts to the side, Dante then turned to look at the boy that had brought him this recent knowledge.

    A young boy, barely even 10 years old.

    For a young kid to keep rtively rational thought process , even after such a tragic event

    Even Dante had to admit that it wasn''t easy.

    y had made the journey from his destroyed vige into Vainwatch City but he didn''t just stop there.

    he also jumped at the highest chance of getting some help even though There was still a high chance that someone as important as Dante could kill him on the spot!

    Even now, Dante was able to see that y hadn''t fully recovered as there was still some fear left in his eyes as he recounted his experiences.

    but besides fear, Dante saw something else.

    an uncontroble emotion that overwhelmed the fear, practically smothering it

    Rage.

    A pure, unadulterated, burning rage that seemed to affect his every movement ms

    ''Such a talent.. '' thought Dante

    Dante could see a special talent in the kid.

    It wasn''t the kind of supreme cultivation talent that would allow him to easily break through realms.

    No, what Dante had seen was instead was an almost cruel level of determination.

    The determination that allowed him to make such a ridiculous journey to Vainwatch,

    The determination that allowed for him to risk his life at the first opportunity that came his way.

    But most importantly, it was a determination that meant that he wouldn''t rest until his enemy was dead!

    such a dogged determination, such a self-cruelty, it was hard toe by especially in children so young

    ''If he was just given a few more years to develop, I''m sure he could turn into a terrifying cultivator!''

    ''if I could just cultivate this talent, if I could just cultivate such a talent with loyalty to meбн''

    Collecting talents.

    This was a bad habit that Dante had slowly been forming.

    it was only after taking a step to look around him that Dante had realised this.

    First with Klent, then Lennox and even with Reba to a certain extent.

    Somewhere along the lines, Dante had slowly started surrounding himself with talents.

    It was only after earning the loyalty of Klent, a son of heaven, a protagonist in every sense of the word, that Dante realised a fact.

    Strong underlings could actually be useful.

    of course in the Martial spirit world, personal strength came first.

    It was what the culture and life that this world was built on.

    But just because individual strength was important didn''t mean strength could be ignored.

    As the Dragon Son of war, Dante had been bombarded with lectures in the art of war.

    And one thing that had been grilled not his head was the strength of not only the individual but also the collective, more specifically the people he controlled.

    In the department of war, they didn''t train the specific concentrations or forms of substances like in the department of alchemy. Nor did they care about the precise angles of the department of Weapons.

    No, what they cared about was the control of the people. From the arrangement of your men in the battle formation to encouraging loyalty and fearlessness in your warriors.

    the role of a general wasn''t really as simple as it seemed. It was as much a game of tactics as it was emotional maniption.

    Dante knew that although it wouldn''t be easy, for the sake of his security and that of the people around him, he had to cultivate talents loyal to himself, He had to cultivate an army loyal to himself!

    He could just imagine himself in the future being surrounded by hundreds of terrifying yet loyal warriors.

    If one person annoyed him in the future, he could just wave his hand and send an army of talented warriors to annihte them!

    Just imagining this caused a silly smile to appear on Dante''s face, he would be like the upgraded version of yground bully!

    it''s just that instead of mumbling group little children he would have a group of earth-shattering cultivators as hisckeys.

    By then he could walk unhindered in the whole of the Rippling wave continent! No one would be able to stop him!

    With these thoughts in mind Dante looked at y as he asked

    "y, you''ve not started cultivating yet have you?"

    "No I haven''t

    "Then do you want to?"

    Hearing this y''s body shook as he turned to look at Dante who had a mysterious smile on his face

    "R-really? You''re going to teach me cultivation!"

    "Only if you are willing."

    Hearing this y''s eyes widened.

    This was it, his chance!

    His chances to get stronger. His chance to have revenge.

    It was all in front of his very eyes

    y didn''t even hesitate before he quickly responded,

    "Of course I''m willing!"

    "Haha! That''s good"ughed Dante

    First, we''ll have to start you off with the basic body refining techniques, you know how to read right?"

    "Yes, my father made sure to teach me."

    As y recounted his past time with his family his eyes inadvertently saddened.

 Chapter 182 - Clays Cultivation

    Chapter 182 иC yбпs Cultivation

    "Yes, my father made sure to teach me."

    As y recounted his past time with his family his eyes inadvertently saddened.

    Seeing this Dante felt a bit bad.

    he didn''t let the boy dwell too long on these saddening thoughts and soon ruffled the boy''s hair.

    "Well then, since you know how to read, we can get you started straight away !"

    Dante looked around till his eyesnded on Lennox,

    "Lennox, can you lend me you''re body refining technique for a second. "

    "Huh? Are you talking to me?"''asked a confused Lennox

    "Of course I''m talking to you! Who else is called Lennox. " asked Dante

    I''m pretty sure your n has a stronger body refining technique than the one we learnt at the Kinsman n

    "Erm, boss it''s been a while since I cultivated my body refining technique, I''m not sure I can remember it."

    Hearing this Dante''s eyebrows twitched,

    This kid was really testing his patience, was he really trying to y dumb?

    Dante knew the real reason this boy was pretending to forget was that he doesn''t want to have to teach y

    "It''s okay Lennox"

    ''Huh? What the hell''

    this wasn''t the reaction that Lennox was expecting.

    Was that crazy man Dante actually having a change of heart?

    But before Lennox could get too happy, Dante''s cold voice sounded out again.

    "I know when ites to people like you, a few knocks on the head are usually needed to get your memory going

    As Dante spoke he cracked his knuckles whilst a threatening smile slowly crept onto his face

    ''Damn! I thought you changed!''mented Lennox

    ''I must have been dreaming because you''re still just a tyrannical bastard!''

    Of course, Lennox wouldn''t say these words out loud, he still wanted to live!

    instead he just lightlyughed as he jumped to his feet

    "Haha! I magically seem to remember now!"

    " Quickly, ink! I need ink and paper!"

    As Lennox said this he quickly dashed out of the room to find the resources he needs

    бн

    Minutester Lennox came back into the room but this time he had a strange book in his hand.

    Lennox walked up to y as he showed off the book in his hand

    "This book contains all the instructions to start the body cultivation process.

    I tried my best to include all the information needed but I couldn''t include the picture demonstrations but don''t worry. I''ll be here to give you all the personal guidance you need !"

    As soon as y heard this he started feeling uneasy.

    From his earlier disy, Lennox didn''t quitee across as the most reliable of teachers.

    So despite the overwhelming confidence in Lennox''s voice, y was still having doubts about whether Lennox could be a reliable teacher.

    Regardless of y''s doubts, Lennox soon started exining the technique to him

    "The technique is from my Asmond n and called < Raging bison body art!>

    As soon as y heard the name of the technique he couldn''t help but give Lennox a strange look.

    He had already heard that cultivators liked to give their techniques strange names but this was the first time he had seen it first-hand

    "Hey! Don''t look at me like that. I''m not the one who gave the technique its name.

    Besides, if you ignore the ridiculous name, it''s really a powerful body refining technique. If cultivated to mastery the technique allows you to have the strength of 5 bisons!"

    Hearing this, y''s eyes widened.

    If he could truly have that sort of strength dealing with those zombies would be a piece of cake!

    He would definitely be able to save his family and friends.

    Trapped in his hopeful ignorance y looked towards Lennox, his eyes overflowing with anticipation.

    After letting y have a quick read they were finally ready to start practising cultivation!

    бн.

    Minutester y could be sweating a storm as Lennox walked continuously around him constantly correcting his form.

    "Your horse-riding stance isn''t Good enough! Squat lower!"

    Hearing this y took in a deep breath as his shaky legs bent even lower.

    As he did this he felt the strain on his body increase.

    in his current state, y guessed that his legs could still hold on for at least another 5 minutes.

    He wouldn''t give up until the very end!

    But before y could get toofortable he suddenly felt Lennox rapidly poke him in several ces all over his body.

    In that instant, y felt his blood rumble as his skin went as red as a tomato!

    To him, it felt the difficulty of the horse-riding stance had just drastically increased!

    "What..what did you do to me?" Asked y with clenched teeth, still trying to hold on with hisst breath.

    "Don''t worry" chuckled Lennox

    "what I did now is a secret technique only known by my Asmond n.

    It stimtes the blood flow increases the difficulty of body refining but it in turn boost its cultivation speed drastically.

    Only with this technique will you be able to get the full potential of the body refining technique."

    As Lennox was exining a smug smile couldn''t help but form in his face.

    ''Hehehe! The brilliance of my Asmond n is out on disy again. Only with the proper guidance of a true n member can you progress in this technique.

    Trying to steal it is futile. Without these secrets, the body refining technique is probably worse than the ones you find in the road!''

    Even though y wasn''t in as happy a mood as Lennox. once he heard lee box talk, his expression could be seen to visibly rx.

    It seemed like, whatever Lennox did to him, it was still a good thing.

    But even though he knew roar Lennox was doing the best thing for him, this didn''t reduce the difficulty of this new state in the slightest!

    y barely managed to hold in for 30 more seconds before his body gave up on him.

    His limbs flopped, sending him straight into the wooden floor below!

 Chapter 183 - Changes Of The Martial Journeyman

    Chapter 183 иC Changes Of The Martial Journeyman

    y barely managed to hold in for 30 more seconds before his body gave up on him.

    His limbs flopped, sending him straight into the wooden floor below!

    Seeing this sight Lennox just shook his head as he went to help the boy up

    "You have a 15-minute break before we go again. Rest well."

    As Lennox said this he reached out to lift the boy. but as he was doing this he suddenly froze.

    The sight he saw next shocked him!

    Instead of being greeted by unwilling or possibly even tired eyes, all he saw was a pair of unwavering eyes.

    In fact, the eyes were abnormal!

    They were practically burning with ambition and anticipation.

    ''What the hellбн'' thought Lennox

    When Lennox saw these eyes didn''t know how to react.

    The boy''s will had shocked him to the core!

    It must be known that the body refining technique of the Asmond n was a truly vicious one.

    During cultivation, you were constantly stretching and tearing your muscle fibres whilst also simultaneously maintaining the correct breathing and blood cirction.

    This cultivation technique was anything but easy!

    Lennox could still remember that When he had first tried the body refining technique he needed at least a 3-hour break before he was ready to go again and even then, that was after the constant forcing of the n elders.

    If things went Lennox''s way he would never touch such a vicious cultivation technique! it was only after getting a good hiding from his father that he eventually gave in to continue cultivating.

    Yet this monster in front of him not only was eager to go again it seemed as if the muscle tearing pain had no effect on him and all this whilst only being 8 years old!

    ''Such a talent!'' thought Lennox

    ''if he''s given enough time. If he''s just given enough time to be a cultivator then I''m afraidбн "

    It was at that moment that Lennox realised it

    He finally understood Dante''s eagerness to get that boy into the path of cultivation

    The boy was simply an extreme talent, an excellent investment for the future.

    ''As expected of the Dragon Son! It took him merely a few minutes to recognise such a talent!''

    As he was thinking this Lennox turned to look at Dante only to be greeted with a slight smirk.

    "Haha!" Laughed Lennox

    "It seems like I''m gonna need to do a proper job this time." Laughed Lennox

    "Prepare kid! from now on I''m gonna train you to the very best of my abilities!"

    Seeing this sight Dante lightly chuckled.

    It seemed like Lennox was finally embracing his role as a teacher.

    Since Lennox was finally on board, he wouldn''t have to pay any more attention to Lennox and y.

    With this in mind, Dante decided to Fiy focus on his own cultivation.

    Ever since he broke through into the Martial Journeyman realm he hadn''t really had time to really sit down and cultivate.

    As soon as he walked out of the Elemental Nexus realm he was bombarded with the news of his debt.

    After that, he soon had to deal with Karther and news of elemental treasure and soon set off on the journey toplete this mission.

    Forget about cultivating, Before now Dante had never really had a chance to truly rest!

    Sitting back down in afortable position Dante released his mental strength to inspect his inner self.

    Since Dante was now in the Martial journeyman realm, the scene inside his dantian had changed drastically since hest saw it.

    the first thing that Dante noticed was the change in his energy.

    The energy itself hadn''t changed much, what had actually changed was in fact the state of the energy.

    Before, all the energy collected inside of his Dantian was light and moved erratically, almost like a gas.

    The energy remained in this state of erratically floating around until a limit was reached and it took up all of the space inside of his dantian.

    But now things had changed!

    During Dante''s breakthrough, This gaseous energy had been gathered andpressed until eventually turned into a liquid state.

    Due to thepression caused by the liquid state, the amount of space that Dante''s energy took greatly reduced until it took up only a fraction of the entire dantian!

    However, this didn''t mean that the energy reserves that Dante had were less.

    On the contrary, the levels of energy that Dante contained in this small pool of spirit energy was levels above the amount of energy that Dante had!

    Dven in the peak of the Martial Novice realm, Dante struggled to even near these levels

    It was clear that what happened wasn''t just a change of state of energy.

    His energy was all being concentrated, allowing for a ridiculouslyrger amount of energy to be kept in his dantian!

    With this knowledge in mind, Dante instantly began his cultivation.

    Soon Dante began trying his best to assimte more particles of energy into the pool inside his Dantian

    Tendrils of Dante''s mental strength stretched outwards slowly plucking away at the ambient moonlight energy as his body started glowing in a soft silver light.

    This silver energy seemed to pour into Dante''s body heading straight for his dantian.

    But the proceeds didn''t end there.

    As Dante was cultivating, his small pool of energy began to stir causing a whirlpool to slowly form inside of his body that began constantly devouring all the energy in his surroundings!

    But even still Dante wasn''t satisfied with his cultivation rate.

    With a frown on his face, Dante stimted his silver dragon soul, a creature whose energy maniption was known throughout the multiverse!

    As he did this, a phantom of an elegant silver dragon started forming in the room causing everyone to start to look in his direction

    "What the- "

    y, who was busy cultivating his body refining technique, suddenly felt a terrifying aura form behind him.

    Instantly, his body shook.

    Such a terrifying aura!

    It waspletely different to the ominous aura of the hooded figure he saw in the vige.

    It was cold and vibrant, like the feeling of cold silver being pressed against his skin.

    Looking back, y turned to see the gigantic phantom of a silver dragon wrapping around Dante.

    As y looked towards this magnificent figure, his sight was instantly captured by the creature''s eyes.

    The terrifying thing was, as y looked into the deep blue eyes of the creature he could see an uncanny level of vigour.

    He could even swear he saw the smirk at him.

    It was as if what he was looking at wasn''t just the simple manifestation of a martial spirit.

    It was almost like it had a mind of its own!

 Chapter 184 - Cultivating As A Martial Journeyman

    Chapter 184 иC Cultivating As A Martial Journeyman

    It was as if what he was looking at wasn''t just the simple manifestation of a martial spirit.

    It was almost like it had a mind of its own!

    Rotating his energy pool at unbelievable speeds, Dante was dragging in all the moonlight energy into his dantian.

    whilst alll this was happening, Dante didn''t forget to start the pres ofpressing this energy into his energy pool and in doing so caused it to grow not onlyrger but also more concentrated in the process.

    Dante continued this cultivation process for hours.

    It was only when his mental strength had depleted to about only a third of its original strength that Dante stopped cultivating.

    If his mental strength dropped any lower than that, Dante could potentially find himself in a tough spot.

    He wasn''t back in the kingdom''s capital.

    people wouldn''t be around everywhere to protect him.

    Leaving himself vulnerable in such a situation was simply stupid.

    So Dante decided he was done cultivating for now

    Yawning, Dante finally opened his eyes as he stretched his cramped body.

    But strangely enough, the scene was much more different than what he expected.

    The tables had beenpletely cleaned of all tes.

    Even the people he hade with had all disappeared.

    It seems like he had been cultivating for much longer than he expected.

    "Zzzzzбн"

    Just as Dante was about to get up, he suddenly heard a sounding from his right.

    It was only now that Dante realised something was on his shoulder!.

    Looking to his right, Dante could

    see a head full of vibrant red hair leaning carelessly against his shoulder.

    Of course this was Reba.

    Seeing as she was sleeping so peacefully, Dante just decided to leave her alone for while.

    For the first time, Dante got a look at what this lioness looked like while she was sleeping and she was actuallyбн quite prettyбн

    She had a slight smile on her face as whilst her eyes curved upwards, further emphasising her smiling expression

    A pair of dimples could be seen as her practically wless skin glowed under the firelight.

    Suddenly, as Dante was staring right at her, Reba''s eyes jolted open, revealing a pair of cold serpentine slits!

    These emotionless eyes quickly scanned over Dante but Fortunately for him, this cruel look onlysted a short while before Reba came to her senses

    "Wh-what are you doing!" Cried Reba as she shot up onto her feet

    Dante just shrugged

    "I don''t know? You should tell me.

    I was just cultivating when I woke up to you sleeping on my shoulder."

    As Dante finished speaking Reba''s cheeks flushed red.

    ''Damn! I was supposed to be watching over you whilst you cultivated but I must have fell asleep.'' Thought Reba

    "Fuck! Where are those boys! Why didn''t they bother to wake me up!"said Reba in "frustration

    Well they''re clearly not here anymore and I don''t me them. It''s probably been hours since I started cultivating!" Commented Dante

    "Seeing as you are awake now, then I guess now would be a good time to start heading out. Well, As long as our little sleeping beauty doesn''t have any problem that is.

    "Humph!" Scoffed Reba as she walked on ignoring Dante''s jeers.

    Dante just chuckled as he walked out after her

    бн

    Leaving the building, Dante and Reba walked out towards the courtyard.

    And as he did he could see Lennox and Klent approaching him.

    "Lennox, perfect timing! Go get that kid, y so we can head out"

    But before Dante could finish his sentence, he saw a kid peacefully sleeping on Lennox''s back.

    Seeing Dante''s expression Lennox just chuckled.

    "The kid really worked himself into the ground today. But he''s still a kid after all. He really can''t manage to stay awakete without dozing off."

    Seeing the boy sleeping, Reba''s expression quickly softened.

    "He must have really had a tough time.

    Travelling all the way here with no family or friends as such a young kid."

    Seeing the sleeping expression of the child Dante just sighed

    "I guess we can leave things to tomorrow. It would be too cruel to wake up the kid."

    With that decision, the rest of the group smiled

    Seeing this, Dante decided there was no longer any point in remaining outside.

    The sky had already turned dark, it would be better to just go home and prepare to fully use the next day.

    So after rounding up Lennox and the others, Dante headed towards the vi prepared for them by the City Lordбн

    бн.

    Meanwhile in a dark corner of the Zrudon region

    A scrawny figure could be seen rushing through a set of hallways

    "Bang!"

    The figure suddenly burst into the room.

    "Sir Corpse Master! Bad news!"

    "The operation has been exposed!"

    A hoarse raspy voice sounded out from the hooded figure of the Corpse Master

    "Is that all."

    As the Corpse Master spoke, a chilling sensation crept up onto the servant.

    "I''m in the middle of an important experiment. If you don''t give me a good reason then you will be my next experiment."

    Despite being covered by a hood, as the Corpse Master spoke a deranged smile was still slightly visible on his face.

    Instantly the servant broke out into a nervous sweat.

    With his heart in his throat, the servant slowly spoke up

    "S-sir I only interrupted because a Dragon son had arrived in one of the nearby cities and seems to have take interest in the region.

    My only fear is thatбн"

    But before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by the madughter of the corpse master

    "Kekeke! A Legendary Dragon son!

    Such exquisite materials, I''m certain my Lord would love such highly quality offerings.

    Kekeke! Good work servant, you have really done well this time"

    Hearing this, the servant finally rxed

    ''Phew! It seems I can still live another day'' thought the servant in glee.

    But it was at that moment that the servant felt something off

 Chapter 185 - Clark

    Chapter 185 иC rk

    ''Phew! It seems I can still live another day'' thought the servant in glee.

    But it was at that moment that the servant felt something off

    ''Why is it so cold? Why is my body not responding!''

    That was thest thought of the servant before his body suddenly tilted forward.

    As his body was falling forward, a thin bloody hand also pulled back and this hand was now grasping a beating heart!

    "You did well in bringing me this information." Snickered the Corpse master crazily

    "But you forgot one thing,

    nobody interrupts my experiments And I mean no one!"

    With a flick of his hand, the corpse master called a mumbling zombie to his side.

    With a smile on his face, he chucked the still-beating heart towards it.

    "Squelch!"

    The zombie unceremoniously tucked into the heart gorging on it greedily causing a burst of blood to spill on the floor."

    "Tch!"

    Seeing the bloody sight the Corpse master couldn''t help butin.

    It seems like I''m gonna need to get somebody to clean that up for me." Comined the Corpse master

    "But before all that, let''s find out more about this so-called dragon sonбн"

    бн..

    The sky above Vainwatch city waspletely ck.

    The sun had set and the streets werepletely empty.

    Due to the spectacle caused by y and Dante, the fear of zombies in Vainwatch city was at an all-time high!

    It was also because of this that the streets werepletely barren

    No one dared to venture out of their homes and run the risk of encountering such horrors

    But even with this fear in the back of everyone''s mind, some people still had to go out.

    These unlucky people didn''t have a say In whether they were going out or not

    Guards were, unfortunately, part of this group of unlucky individuals

    They were tasked with protecting important locations and the news of some zombies wasn''t going to change anything for them

    One such unfortunate guard was rk.

    He was a loyal guard of the City Lord''s mansion and had been serving the City Lord for almost three years now.

    This same loyalty was the reason that he had been entrusted to be part of Dante''s guard whilst Dante was still in Vainwatch city.

    rk was currently guarding the premises around Dante''s vi

    Normally rk would think nothing of night watch duty.

    He had been doing this for years now.

    It''s only natural that the initial fear and nervousness he used to have around his duty would have all been eroded with time and experience.

    The only problem was today.

    Since rk had been part of the guards given to Dante, he had also seen the whole spectacle this morning.

    A young desperate boy crying to the Dragon Son about the annihtion of his entire vige.

    rk had to admit that even his stony heart, felt chills when he heard the news.

    And rk wasn''t a regr person.

    As an experienced Body refining cultivator, rk should have nothing to worry about.

    He was a step above regr mortals and mindless zombies should be something easily handled by him.

    But for some reason, even this fact didn''t put rk''s heart at ease.

    There was just something innately unnerving about the thought of facing undead creatures.

    It was just the natural aversion all living life had about such unsightly abomination of the natural life cycle.

    This wasn''t something that rk with his measly body refining cultivation could look down on, this unnerving feeling.

    It was had been growing in his heart, festering in his mind, but what could rk do about it?

    Even though rk despised it, he still had to do his job.

    He could only stand guard attentively, whilst he looked around, much more alert than usual, constantly scanning the area.

    But this time it wasn''t just to look out for any intruders. it was for his own safety!

    "nk!"

    Suddenly, rk heard a sound in the distance.

    As much as rk didn''t want to go check, it was still his job.

    he had to do it.

    Gathering his courage, rk carefully approached the corner.

    "Wh-who goes there!" Asked rk in an uncertain tone.

    As he turned the corner he saw a strange armoured figure standing there.

    But rk wasn''t scared by this he was instead relieved.

    "God Damn it Dave! Right now isn''t the time for your stupid Pranks!"

    rk instantly recognised the man in front of him.

    It was Dave, a fellow guard of his.

    He and Dave usually had the same guard rotational duty so seeing Dave here must mean that it was time he was relieved from his post.

    It seems like all these worrying thoughts about zombies caused him to lose track of time.

    But Dave''s silly pranks didn''t help either.

    He always did things like this, pranking his fellow guards and scaring the life out of them.

    rk soon walked over to Dave as he patted him on the shoulder.

    "Well then, seeing as your here I''m guessing I''m free to go now.

    Just before I leave, All I can say is, don''t be too rmed by the central gate. When the wind blows it can sometimes creak-"

    As rk was speaking Dave strangely moved, cing his face right in front of him.

    Sickeningly pale skin, dull seemingly almost lifeless eyes.

    But most rmingly of all was the strange erratic smile he had on his face.

    Backing away rk roared

    "Dave? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

    Seeing no response, that''s when rk moved closer

    "Dave, Can you hear me?"

    "Dave?"

    That was thest word that left rk''s mouth before Dave quickly pounced on him

    rk let out a scream as he struggled with Dave on the floor

    "Cruuch!"

    The sound of flesh tearing was thest thing heard as rk''s consciousness slowly drifted off into the darkness.

    Even though rk''s body stopped resisting, Dave didn''t stop.

    He continued biting into rk, gorging on him as much as possible whilst a bloody deranged smile appeared on his face.

 Chapter 186 - An Expected Guest

    Chapter 186 иC An Expected Guest

    The sound of flesh tearing was thest thing heard as rk''s consciousness slowly drifted off into the darkness.

    Even though rk''s body stopped resisting, Dave didn''t stop.

    He continued biting into rk, gorging on him as much as possible whilst a bloody deranged smile appeared on his face.

    The troublesome thing was that this was not an isted incident.

    Across the new vi given to Dante, such scenes weremonce, as more and more guards were ambushed on the floor by the swarm of zombies.

    But strangely enough, this wasn''t the end of these guards.

    The downed guards with chunks of flesh torn from their bodies didn''t stay down.

    Instead, their bodies twitched, jolting erratically before they slowly crawled up once again.

    but this time, they stood not as human beings.

    No, this time, they arose as undead!

    бн

    A crowd of zombies had begun to form inside the vi, sweeping through the corridors and assimting any unlucky guards into their undead legion.

    Eventually, the herd of zombies hadpletely taken out the guards and gathered in front of the gate leading to Dante''s courtyard.

    The zombie corpse that we now know used to be a man called Dave walked up towards the gate.

    Looking around, he confirmed that everything was in ce before opening the courtyard gates.

    Like a storm, countless zombies swarmed through the gate, crawling and trampling over each other in the darkness.

    But this didn''tst for long, for as soon as the first zombie entered the courtyard, the original darkndscape burst into life.

    The torches that lined the courtyard all lit up spontaneously, illuminating the dark courtyard .

    This wasn''t even the most surprising thing, as a strange figure could be seen in the centre of the ce.

    He was sitting in a lotus position, peacefully meditating, almost as if he was oblivious to his surroundings.

    His pale white hair ran down his shoulders whilst a glowing blue greatsword could be seenying across hisp.

    Seeing this sight, the zombies froze.

    They could all feel something dangerous about the person in front of them .

    Slowly, the figure rose up to his feet as his eyes opened, showing off a pair of burning draconic pupils.

    "It''s about time you arrived." said the man

    "I got bored waiting for you. You took so long, I even thought that you wouldn''t being,"

    "Sir Corpse Master."

    As Dante was speaking, a taunting smile burst onto his face.

    His burning draconic eyes peered directly ahead, staring at the leading zombie.

    But it didn''t seem like Dante was staring at that zombie specifically.

    It was more like Dante was staring through him, or more correctly, he was staring at the person controlling them!

    Suddenly, an eerie, raspy voice sounded out across the courtyard.

    The voice came from everywhere yet nowhere, somehow managing to encase the entire courtyard.

    "Soбн youбн you are the legendary Dragon son?" asked the voice

    Dante didn''t respond and instead stared straight at the zombie, his strange smile widening even further.

    "I have to say I am impressed." Continued the voice.

    "Such strength yet such a young age.

    But even so, the strength you are so proud of doesn''t allow for you to do as you please.

    I''m warning you boy.

    leave whilst you still can"

    Hearing this, Dante wasn''t intimidated in the slightest.

    Instead, his smile contorted even further until he broke into a light chuckle

    "Sir corpse Master," said Dante

    "let me tell you a little fact a senior told me a while back.."

    As Dante was speaking, the previously peaceful Spirit energy began to swirl around him, gradually forming into the hazy vision of two gigantic dragons

    "Before you speak to a person and demand something.."

    As Dante was speaking, the phantoms of dragons grewrger andrger, until their size reached higher than even the courtyard walls!

    "you should make sure you at least have the strength to speak first!"

    As soon as Dante finished speaking, two deafening roars could he heard behind him as a truly terrifying aura spread out.

    "Kekeke!"ughed the corpse Master madly

    "As expected of the dragon, son! Such a fine specimen!

    Whether it''s as a material or as a sacrifice, I''m sure My Lord would love to have you!!"

    Eventually, the true nature of the Corpse master couldn''t be concealed anymore and his madness started leaking out.

    "Well, seeing as you want to talk with strength, let''s do it your way then, Dragon son!"ughed the Corpse Master

    In response to the corpse Master''s madughter, Dante responded with someughter of his own

    "Hehe! I simply wouldn''t have it any other way!"

    As soon as Dante finished speaking, the crowd of zombies seemed to go berserk!

    Terrifying roars and groans soon sounded from their midst before they mindlessly swarmed at Dante.

    The weaker ones were even trampled over by the seemingly endless wave of corpses.

    yet despite being faced with the encirclement of countless corpses, Dante remained calm as his body glowing in a strange silver light.

    Instantly, a humongous field of silver began to expand with him as the centre.

    As all this was happening, the hazy image of the moon rose into the sky, causing the temperature of the courtyard to drop.

    "Fall."

    This simple word seemed to shake the sky, as a terrifying down pour of silver rain fell from above

    Countless silver bolts smashed into the zombies, sting off limbs and leaving devastating scene of ck and red blood .

    But even with that, the swarm of approaching zombies didn''t slow down.

    Despite having limbs blown off or sometimes even legs, the zombies wouldn''t stop.

    Such mortal injuries couldn''t harm them.

    They just continued to maniaclly rush forward without even the slightest regard for themselves and their own safety.

    The situation was looking good, but despite the poor result of his first attack, Dante wasn''t fazed.

    His smile only widened as he calmly stretched forth his hand

    "Snap."

    Dante simply snapped his fingers, causing a small spark to fly out.

 Chapter 187 - An Expected Guest 2

    Chapter 187 иC An Expected Guest 2

    His smile only widened as he calmly stretched forth his hand

    "Snap."

    Dante simply snapped his fingers, causing a small spark to fly out.

    Once this small spark hit the ground, it instantly erupted into a devastating sea of fire.

    The wave of fire was unstoppable, engulfing anything in its path, and this time, the zombies couldn''t just shrug off this attack.

    Once touched by the mes,They instantly feel to the ground as moaned and groaned,rolling and struggling to put out the mes, but it was all pointless

    As mes from a true dragon, they were beyond anything they''d seen before, so each zombie slowly consumed by fire until all that was left behind was a pile of ashes!

    For the first time, the surge of zombies froze.

    Undead are no longer living.

    They should fear nothing.

    They fear no injuries; they fear no des

    Even Dante''s horrifying Dragon fear was useless in front of them.

    But even with all this, there was one thing they still feared.

    Fire.

    The source of life and civilisation.

    A source of pure yang energy

    The overwhelming yang energy contained in fire was the antithesis of the yin nature of the death attribute, making fire one of the few elements able to do great harm against undead.

    In front of these Draconic mes, an innate instinct came out.

    An innate fear.

    Dante saw the awkward position of the zombies and couldn''t resist the urge tough

    "Hehehe!" Laughed Dante

    "Tell me Sir Corpse Master, is this all you really have to offer?

    If so, then I must say I''m truly disappointed."

    "Tch."

    A bitter remark of irritation sounded I the air before a wave of red energy shed over the sea of corpses sending them berserk.

    These crazed zombies didn''t seem to notice the wall of fire in front of them and blindly rushed forward with little regard for their own safety.

    Dante watched as the zombies neared him, but just when the zombie was about to reach Dante, there was a bright sh of silver!

    "Swish!"

    There was a sharp sound in the air and before the zombie was instantly cut in two halves.

    each half instantly fell to the floor before being consumed by a wave of silver and red until nothing was left!

    And Dante didn''t stop there.

    He suddenly burst into the crowd of zombies, swinging his greatsword as if it were weightless and brutally crushing all zombies that met his path.

    With Such a brutal battle going on, it was impossible to not cause amotion.

    One such person who was disturbed was y.

    As he heard the banging sand explosions, he clumsily got up and rushed towards the balcony

    To see what was going on.

    As y arrived, he was greeted by a crazy sight.

    A sea of zombies

    An ocean of fire and a crazy man in the middle of it all brutally ending all zombies that entered his path.

    The mes seemed to move at his will, as with a light wave of his hand, they came rushing forward to consume all in his path.

    Despite the chaotic scene, y instantly recognised the man behind all of this,

    "S-Sir Dragon Son!"

    Even though y knew cultivators were inhuman, being simply beyond mortal constraints, he never knew the true extent of their powers before now

    "Is thisбн the true power of a cultivator?"

    y was left in awe at the magical disy in front of him.

    One man alone had the power of an entire army.

    It was reminiscent of the myths of demons and gods that he had been told since young

    ''Such powerбн If I could just have a fraction of that strengthбн

    ''No.'' Thought y

    ''I only need to have a fraction of that strength!''

    scenes of his vige up in mes and his best friend being viciously abducted by these very same zombies shed in his mind.

    Such things were a result of weakness.

    If he was stronger, such things would never happen.

    If he just had strengthбн.

    y looked at the powerful disy of Dante and clenched his fist in frustration

    ''To obtain such strength, I must follow that man in front of me!''

    Suddenly, as y was lost in thought, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

    "Rx kid, there''s no need to be so tense."

    "Mr Lennox?" Said y in surprise

    But it wasn''t just Lennox,

    As y turned back, he could see Klent and Reba floating down towards him from the sky.

    "Are You sure you guys should just watch on?" asked y

    "The fight down there looks pretty vicious."

    Hearing this Lennox lightly chuckled

    "Trust me, if there''s anyone you don''t need to worry about, Dante is one of them" said Lennox

    "Besides, He already informed us all this earlier and can''t you see it? That bastardбн" said Lennox, his words practically dripping in jealousy

    "He''s not struggling at all! He''s having fun!"

    Once y heard this, he almost couldn''t believe it.

    It''s only once he squinted eyes that he realised what Lennox was saying was true.

    As Dante was striding throughout the wave of corpses, as countless explosions of silver and red were urring all around him.

    One thing never changed.

    As all this was happening, a cruel smile never once faded from his face!

    бн.

    Back down on the battlefield

    Dante was still in the midst of the battlefield.

    ''Right, that''s enough.'' Thought Dante

    He has really gotten carried away this time.

    It was the first time that Dante could use his abilities since breaking into the Martial journeyman realm, so he really lost himself for a second.

    Fortunately, Dante realised that he was getting a bit too excited or if he continued at that rate, it wouldn''t take much longer for the vi to copse!

    ''I''ve had my fun. It''s time to end this.''

    The Red dragon seemed to share his thoughts as it let off a mad roar, causing the mes to expand at an almost unbelievable rate!

 Chapter 188 - A Created Grievance

    Chapter 188 иC A Created Grievance

    ''I''ve had my fun. It''s time to end this.''

    The Red dragon seemed to share his thoughts as it let off a mad roar, causing the mes to expand at an almost unbelievable rate!

    Now that Dante was done ying, it took only a few moments before the entire crowd of zombies was cleared.

    Dante knew that with this development, the corpse Master could not remain calm.

    And just on cue, a zombie suddenly lit up in a burst of blood coloured energy.

    ''Found you.'' thought Dante

    Stretching forth his hand, the mes stirred as streams of golden energy were continually injected inside the mes as they gradually shaped into the form a humongous dragon w!

    Dante clenched his hand and the me w, mirroring his movements, tightly wrapped around this abnormal zombie.

    With a wave of his hand, Dante brought the zombie closer to him.

    "So sir Corpse Master, has your opinion changed?"

    As Dante spoke, his serpentine eyes narrowed. As he looked at the struggling corpse, he now held between his ws.

    But Dante''s attempts at intimidation were futile and even he himself knew.

    It would take a miracle to intimidate a man he knew would be hundreds of miles away, controlling these corpses with absolute safety.

    "Kekeke! Lord Dragon Son, you really are impressive!

    It seems that I can let you live for now, but soon the day wille when all-"

    Before more words could leave the zombie''s mouth, the gigantic w mped down, brutally crushing the corpse inside.

    ''Mad!'' Thought Dante

    ''that corpse master is nothing other than a madman!''

    turning away from the crushed corpse, Dante took a second to look at his surroundings.

    ''Tch!'' It looks like I had too much fun.''

    The floor was charredpletely ck, with small pockets of magma still visible.

    Piles of ck, charred corpses wereid out sporadically

    With a click of his fingers, a wave of fire burst forth and engulfed the corpses, burning until all that was left was a pile of ashes that soon blew in the wind.

    As Dante was walking back to the vi, he noticed the group standing on the balcony looking at him.

    So he slowly floated up to meet them.

    "So how was it?" Asked Reba.

    "Did you have fun?"

    As soon as Dante heard this, a smug smile crept into his face

    "Most definitely!" replied Dante

    Seeing this sight, Lennox finally couldn''t hold it in any more

    "Damn!" Cried Lennox

    "I''m so jealous!"

    "You got to enjoy such a good fight all by yourself! Do you know how much effort it took for me not to jump in and join you?"

    "Haha!" Chuckled Dante.

    "You shouldn''t be too down. The way things are looking, there''s still going to be much more fighting left for you."

    Tired of such a childish discussions Klent asked the real question that had been on everyone''s mind.

    "So Dante, how was his strength?"

    As Dante heard this, the casual smile faded from his face, being reced by a much more stoic expression.

    "Unknown."

    "Unknown?" Replied Lennox in confusion

    "What happened right now was just a teaser, a test if you will."

    "All I know is that we passed this test." said Dante

    " I know this because as I was fighting, I could feel countless more auras forming around thepound, at least ten times what we saw just now, all with countless martial journeyman levels inside of them."

    obviously, he thought that we wouldn''t be easy to take on right now or else, it would only take a few seconds for all those creatures toe pouring into this building."

    As Dante finished speaking, an ugly expression formed on the faces of everybody present.

    Countless Martial Journeymans?

    Dante said this casually, but this was a really terrifying thought.

    Reba, the one with the highest cultivation present, had just passed the midlevels of the martial journeyman realm.

    Hell! even Lennox and Klent were still in the Martial Novice realm!

    Although it might seem like nothing to Dante, who had the terrifying ability to fight across realms, but for the rest of them this was really life threatening.

    The thoughts of what could have happened if the corpse Master wasn''t deterred by Dante''s strength sent shivers down their spines.

    For the first time during this mission, serious doubts were forming in their minds.

    "Dante." Said Reba

    "You originally said that this mission investigating the disappearance of people was only a martial journeyman level mission. But the way things are looking, this seems like a Martial adept level mission."

    Silence

    No words needed to be said.

    Everyone understood the severity of this situation.

    They were already struggling to reach the levels needed for the first Martial Adept level mission, with them even being forced to recruit soldiers from the nearby cities

    But now if you added in the mysterious Corpse Master with an unknown level of strength.

    Things were really turning grim..

    Dante knew he had to say something.

    "Look." said Dante

    "We don''t have to do both things at once.

    We can take out time to deal with this mysterious Corpse Master, and if things don''t go well after that, we can just abandon the mission for the bandit camp." exined Dante

    We''ve already created a grievance with this man.

    It would be unsafe to let such a dangerous individual continue running around. It''s best for everyone involved if we can get rid of this threat as soon as possible

    Besides, I wouldn''t feel good if we went back on our word so soon.

    As Dante was speaking, he looked towards y.

    Hearing this, y gave a massive sigh of relief.

    As Dante and Reba were speaking, his heart had practically been in his mouth the whole time!

    Dante and the rest were his only hope of saving the rest of his vige

    They were his only hope of revenge.

    If before he had any na?ve ideas of doing anything, tonight''s disy had really put things into perspective

 Chapter 189 - Showing Is Better Than Telling

    Chapter 189 иC Showing Is Better Than Telling

    If before he had any na?ve ideas of trying something, tonight''s disy had really put things into perspective for y

    he wouldn''t pose even the slightest threat to the Corpse master! so If Dante and the rest decided to give up on the mission, then everything was over!

    Fortunately for y, the worst oue didn''t seem likely to happen

    Hearing Dante''s words, Reba just looked at Dante before she sighed

    "I''ll trust you in this one but if things look too dangerous I''ll be pulling everyone out."

    "Hahaha!" Chuckled Dante

    "Of course! I wouldn''t expect anything else."

    "Anyway, from what just happened now it''s clear to see that the guards we''ve been provided are just not adequate enough. From now on well form our own nightwatch taking it in rotations.

    I''ll be on first watch so you guys should go get some sleep.

    I won''t hesitate to wake you up when it''s your turn whether you''ve gotten 3 hours of sleep or 3 minutes!"

    Now that all the excitement was over, everyone headed back inside to get some sleep before they were called for their night watch duty

    And so, just like that, the rest of the night passed on without any further incidents бн

    The next morning,

    Dante could be seen meditating in his room.

    He had only slept for 4 hours before using the rest of the time to cultivate.

    As a cultivator his basic needs for 8 hours of sleep had vanished.

    His body needed only roughly around 2 hours of sleep to function properly.

    The fact that he slept for 4 hours was already treating himself!

    As the rays of morning sunlight shone into his room, Dante decide it was one to get up.

    After freshening up Dante headed out.

    Soon Dante had made his way to the dining room to see a full course meal disyed out on The table

    Besides that, everyone else was already sat at the table.

    It seemed like he was the only person everyone was waiting for.

    "Thisбн"

    "It''s about time you got here."

    Dante had no response for Reba''s words and could just awkwardly scratch his head before sitting down at the head of the table.

    "So, had there been any word from the city Lord about yesterday''s attack?" Asked Dante

    "Nothing." Replied an angry Lennox

    "His guests had just been brutally attacked and yet he still doesn''t even have the courtesy to even send someone to check in the situation!

    If I didn''t know any better, I would suspect that he has something to do with the attack!"

    "Now, it''s still to early to start throwing out such damning usations Lennox."

    "It wasn''t just our vi that was attacked. Other parts of the city had to suffer from the zombie incursion so its possible that he just hasn''t gotten round to us yet."

    "Anyway, our ns today don''t have anything much to do with the city lord.

    Today we will be investigating deeper into city"

    As Dante said this everyone turned serious.

    "To do this we will be split into two teams.

    I and Reba will take y to investigate the vige to see if we can find any clues

    Lennox and Klent will spend time investigating the surroundings to see if they can get any more information about the bandit camp.

    Is everyone clear with their tasks

    "Well, there''s noints from me " said Lennox

    "Same here" added

    Well then let''s finish up here and then head out

    After saying this, Dante and the rest chatted away on some more less important news as they finished their meal

    бн

    A whileter Dante and the group could be seen standing in a field of the courtyard.

    "Well then guys it''s time we head out." Said Dante

    "Sure were all ready to go" said Klent in response

    Well then, Reba, ye over here for a second.

    "Come over? Dante are you forgetting, your not the only one in the Martial Journeyman realm.

    Remember, I can fly as well?"

    As soon as Dante heard this, a smile appeared on his face

    "That''s right, you guys don''t know yet."

    Ever since he got his new dragonified form, nobody else knew about it.

    Dante was the only who knew his ridiculous speeds.

    ''Well, I guess showing is better than telling.''

    AS Dante thought this, the surrounding air began to suddenly heat up

    His muscles around his back began to twitch m abnormally

    Suddenly there was a terrifying st as a pair of burning draconic wings shot out his back

    "What in theбн" Lennox almost couldn''t believe his eyes

    A human being had just spotted wings.

    And it wasn''t just him , everyone worse was shocked by this scene.

    But to add insult to injury, the shocks didn''t end there as a soon a wave of silver energetic washed over Dante''s body as suddenly another pair of wings shot out from his back.

    But instead of the hellish, demonic wings from earlier

    These wings flowed in a cool silver hue, giving off an almost holy aura.

    "Amazingбн" muttered y underneath his breath

    With a smirk on his face Dante turned towards the crowd

    "So what do you think guys? Do you like my new form?"

    The others were just left speechless as they looked in the almost monstrous form of Dante.

    Well then stop watching ande over.

    y don''t hesitate and ran over.

    Seeing this Reba just shrugged as she walked over

    Seeing them arrive Dante ced his hand on y''s shoulder and wrapped his arm around Reba''s waist.

    "You guys ready."

    Reba nodded, her face now red.

    y also nodded his eagerness clearly visible on his face

    Swing this Dante just chuckled as he turned towards Lennox and Klent

    "I''ll be seeing you guyster then."

    Before they even had a chance to say goodbye, They heard a deafening boom as the figures of both Dante and the others vanished into the sky.

    "God dammбн" stuttered Lennox in amazement

    "I can''t wait till I''m able to fly like that." said Lennox

    "Well, with your cultivation rate it''ll still be awhile." Said Klent expressionlessly

 Chapter 190 - Its Okay To Cry

    Chapter 190 иC Itбпs Okay To Cry

    "Well, with your cultivation rate, it''ll still be awhile." Said Klent expressionlessly

    "Damn it Klent! Why do you have to go and kill the mood like that?"

    Faced with the moaning of Lennox, Klent just shrugged his shoulders as he mounted his horse

    бн

    Whilst all this was going on, Dante could be seen blitzing across the sky

    His wings pped madly, leaving a streak of silver and red in the sky behind him.

    y and Reba were both left in disbelief at the speeds Dante disyed.

    Of course, Dante didn''t forget to erect a barrier to block out the air resistance.

    Reba may have been able to withstand such air resistance.

    But poor y certainly wouldn''t.

    With his mortal physique, it would take mere seconds before his body was torn apart! Besides the feeling of having air m in your face was ufortable one for everyone involved, regardless of your cultivation level

    "Dante whatбнwhat on earth is this?" asked Reba in disbelief

    "Hahaha! Don''t worry, it''s just a little trick of mine!"

    Once Reba heard this, she almost felt out of the air!

    Just a little trick?

    He was showing speeds nearing the peak Martial Adept realm whilst being a whole major realm below that and he was calling it ''just a little trick!''

    Reba wanted to p him for even speaking such nonsense!

    But In the end she just bottled up this frustration and watched as they soared through the sky.

    "Lord Dragon son!" Shouted y, trying his best to speak up over the noise created by rushing air

    "With the speeds you''re going at, it''ll only take us a few more minutes before we arrive at the vige!"

    Hearing this Dante nodded And began to pay attention.

    Although it was okay for him to have some fun.

    If would be really idiotic if his fun meant that he ended up flying past the vige he was looking for!

    бн

    Fortunately for everyone, Dante was indeed paying attention, quickly soon recognised the area of the vige from the surrounding descriptions.

    Quicklying to a halt Dante stopped in the sky.

    "So y, recognise this area?"

    y squinted as he looked down on the unfamiliarndscape.

    "Lord Dragon son this ce feels vaguely familiar, but I''m not quite sure. I''m not used to seeing things this way."

    Dante understood immediately.

    When had y ever been able to fly?

    Before he had only been able to see the world on his two feet, It''s only natural he wouldn''t be able to recognise things from a bird''s-eye view!

    Dante instantly looked for anyndmarks and soon spotted a road down below.

    Without hesitation, he dropped down, bringing Reba and y along with him.

    As he dropped y on the floor, Dante turned to look at him and asked.

    "So y, is it any different now?"

    Hearing this question, y looked around before instantly eximing,

    "Thats it Lord Dragon Son! I know this ce! This road should lead to my vige!

    If you keep following it my vige should be the first one youe across."

    Getting the confirmation he needed. Dante grabbed y and Reba, and flew straight along the path.

    With his ridiculous speeds, it took merely a few seconds before Dante found himself floating in the sky above a small vige.

    The vige he saw was a mess.

    Charred, half demolished buildings could be seen everywhere, whilst the tall walls that surrounded it for protection had beenpletely knocked down.

    Despite the displeasing sight of this ce, y didn''t have any aversion to such a scene. Instead, his eyes were filled with a sense of longing.

    "Homeбн" muttered y weakly

    Dante slowly lowered the group down into the centre of the vige.

    It wasn''t long after he set foot on the floor of the vige that y''s eyes started tear up, and for the first time since he left the vige, he cried

    y didn''t cry when he was forced to run days on end into the city causing his feet to tear and bleed

    y didn''t cry when he almost copsed out of hunger after spending days without food .

    He didn''t even cry when he had almost died to the guard back in Vainwatch city.

    But now y just couldn''t help it.

    Scene''s he spent with his family continuously shed in his eyes

    These scenes weren''t anything extraordinary, they were just the Simple things like arguments with his parents. Or maybe the small scuffles he used to get in with the other vige kids.

    All of this was gone now

    You had to remember y was just 8 years old, and although he was an 8-year-old with a will and cruelty that could impress even Dante, he was still a 8-year-old kid.

    All this was simply too much for him

    Without even realising tears started to pour down his cheeks, and despite his best efforts, y just couldn''t stop the seemingly endless flood of tears.

    "Pl-please Lord Dragon Son, forgive me. I don''t know what has gotten into me today"

    y knew he couldn''t afford to appear weak and quickly tried to hide his tears. But instead of chastising him like he expected, Dante ced a hand on his shoulders and spoke in such a warm tone he questioned whether it was a Dragon Son

    "You know, sometimes, it''s okay to cry. Disying emotion doesn''t always mean weakness."

    y didn''t know why, but in that instant his emotions came pouring out of him

    His stream of tears turned into a overwhelming down pour as he copsed onto the ground.

    Rage, grief, and frustration tore through his mind as he gripped the floor in frustration.

    Dante watched on expressionlessly

    He knew that the best thing he could do was allow the kid to express his emotions in that instant

    Sure, Dante''s goal for the kid was to train him into a loyal warrior, but to do that didn''t mean he had to break him.

    Even if that was an effective method, Dante refused to use it

 Chapter 191: The problem with the corpse

    Chapter 191: The problem with the corpse

    Sure, Dante''s goal for the kid was to train him into a loyal warrior, but to do that didn''t mean he had to break him.

    Even if that was an effective method, Dante refused to use it

    His conscious refused for him to use such twisted techniques, at least not on a child

    As For his enemiesбн. That would have to be a matter that he would have to consider in the future Suddenly Dante frowned.

    Something was off. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

    With this feeling, Dante closed his eyes and stretched out his mental strength .

    In the fires some distance away, Dante found a blood red pair of eyes watching them

    ''Found you.''

    His figure shed by as he appeared metres away from his original location, standing right in front of the creature.

    The creatures sensed something was off and quickly tried tooscramble away But this didn''tst long as a strong arm shot out clutching the creatures by the throat

    "Hasn''t someone ever told you it''s not nice to stalk people, Sir corpse Master"

    Soon, a familiar hoarse voice sounded out.

    "Dragon Son, I''m warning you. Stay away from things that don''t involve you."

    As The corpse master spoke, a wide smile appeared on Dante''s face

    "And I already told replied Dante "To instruct others, you must also make sure you have the strength to speak first!"

    Dante didn''t bother speaking much with the corpse Master and quickly brought out a pair of ropes and blindfolds These were some equipment given specifically by the Hidden Dragon Academy to restrain rouge cultivators.

    With such restrictions ced on It was impossible for a mere corpse to be able to break free.

    After fully restricting the zombie, Dante then flew back towards the vige.

    Upon his return, he was greeted with the sight of y and Reba waiting for him in the centre of the vige

    y appeared to be much better than when hestsaw him His eyes were still red, His hair was still messy but at least his state now appeared to beunstable "So Dante, where did you even go?" Asked Reba "Me?" Said Dante with a smirk "I just went to deal with some creeping mice"

    As Dante spoke, he threw the now bound zombie to the ground.

    "So why did you even bother to catch this one?" Asked Reba " I brought it as a gift for you of course!"

    Hearing this, a strange expression broke onto Reba''s face

    Was this one of the boys'' stupid little pranks, but it wasn''t long before her question was answered? "We need to know more about this mysterious Corpse Master and what better way than to start with his favourite toy, His zombies"

    Out of everyone here, you are the most experienced cultivator. I thought if anyone would be able to spot the strange things and weaknesses about these zombies, then it would be you."

    At first Reba was stunned, before she looked towards Dante. "Sigh!"

    Since I''m the only one you can rely on, I guess I have no choice."

    From the way things were going, she really had no other choice than to ept Dante''s offer. She was the only one he could rely on right not.

    But before she epted, she had some things.

    "But let me warn you now" added Reba "I only covered a short term on undead creatures techniques in the earlier years of my study at the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    That was a long time ago now. In addition to this, my level of knowledge in this field is very shallow, so if I miss anything, you can''t me me."

    Hearing this, a bright smile broke out onto Dante''s face "Perfect! I couldn''t have asked for anything more."

    As Dante was speaking, he grabbed Reba''s hand in thanks

    "This is why I can always rely on you, Reba."

    As soon as he did this, Reba''s cheeks flushed a light colour of pink.

    "You stinky little boy! Don''t get ahead of yourself."

    Without saying anymore, Rebbeca swiftly grabbed the zombie corose and shed inside the nearest house, mming the door behind her

    "Bang!"

    Dante was just left watching on with an awkward expression.

    Seeing this sight, y couldn''t help bute and pat him on the back.

    "At least you tried, right?"

    "Haбн" hearing this, Dante couldn''t help butugh awkwardly At leat he triedбн

    бн

    An hourter Reba could be seen walking out of the building, but this time the happy aura from before hadpletely vanished She chucked the brutally dismembered corpse before Dante''s feet.

    After seeing such a sight, y couldn''t remain calm, his face turning white as he wretched in disgust.

    Even Dante was slightly affected at the grim sight of the gruesome corpse as a dark frown appeared on his face.

    Reba didn''t seem to be doing much better either, as an ugly frown could be seen on her face.

    Sighing, she then removed her gloves that were now stained in the colour of ck, rotting blood.

    Seeing such a grim appearance, Dante couldn''t help but ask.

    "So how did it go?"

    "Bad" responded Reba "Extremely bad."

    "How so?" asked a puzzled Dante.

    "Dante. Corpse refining techniques may seem esoteric and strange, but when you break it down, the basics are pretty simple."

    "To refine a corpse, A cultivator selects an appropriate corpse and with the correct location, environment and selected treasures refines a corpse that they are able to control."

    Hearing this, Dante nodded.

    His light knowledge on corpse refining aligned with everything Rebbeca just said.

    "In a way, refining corpses is not unlike refining weapons. Engravings and rituals are cast, with the corpse master eventually nting his spirit mark on it. Much like how a cultivator marks their spirit weapons."exined Reba "The problemses with this corpse.

    There are no signs of refining or any copse strengthening taking ce on this body.

    If I didn''t know better, I would think it''s the regr body of a human male.

 Chapter 192: A smoky village

    Chapter 192: A smoky vige

    There are no signs of refining or any copse strengthening taking ce on this body.

    If I didn''t know better, I would think it''s the regr body of a human male.

    Do you know what that means Dante?" Asked Reba with a slight panic on her face.

    "This corpse master, he doesn''t need to refine corpses."

    "he doesn''t need to refine the corpses to control them!"

    As soon as Dante heard this, it was like thunder had gone off in his mind.

    Now that he thought about it, the signs were all there.

    The ridiculous number of cannon fodder.

    The unnaturally weak level of the zombies.

    At first Dante just took for the signs as a strange method of fighting chosen by the Corpse Master.

    But now, now it all pointed to theck of the proper refinement of corpses!

    For people who didn''t know, this might not seem like much But for the people in the know, this was game changing.

    What was the major weakness of the corpse refining profession?

    It was of course the resources and time needed to refine a corpse! Countless hours of perfect technique and conditions were needed to refine some controble zombies.

    These zombies would often have strongbat power and a useful tool to use in each realm. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

    But for most cultivators, such a path was not worth following.

    Such resources would be better spent being put into yourself to focus on your own path of cultivation.

    This overwhelming difficulty and the overall dark nature of corpse refining led to the decline of the corpse master profession until it became a rather niche sight amongst cultivators.

    But if Reba was saying was true, then everything had changed.

    Gone were the times where a single cultivator would have to spend months or even years refining a corpse.

    All that was needed was a dead corpse and then zombies will rise.

    Dante could already picture it.

    One crazed man, brutally ughtering and raising all those he killed, steam rolling into arge army of undead creatures.

    In the Martial Spirit world, strength was everything, but numbers couldn''t be overlooked.

    If a whole province of people were against you rushing with no regard for their lives, even a martial adept would fall!

    y couldn''t understand the cultivator jargon that was being thrown around whilst Reba and Dante talked, but from the tone of their voice it definitely wasn''t a good thing.

    "Dante simply put, the techniques used by this corpse master are not from this world.

    Dante, the techniques he usedбн.are not from this world ."

    There was a strange silence as Dante took in the severity of these words "So what does it mean for the corpse Master" asked y nervously "Does that mean he''s too strong?"

    "Does that mean you''re going to abandon the mission?" As y spoke, his voice grew higher and higher as he nervously considered his worst possible oue As Reba heard y''s question, she said nothing.

    In the end, she just looked towards Dante He was leading the mission So despite everything she''d said before, he was truly the one leading this entire operation.

    If they stayed, it would be because of him and if they left, it would also be because of himбн

    Dante heard y''s question and paused before patting him on the head "You don''t have to worry so much," said Dante to the boy

    "It''s bad, but it''s not got to that point yet.

    He uses a few mysterious techniques, but that''s it . It''s still not enough of a threat to force us to pull back."

    As Dante finished speaking, he turned to look at Reba

    "Are you done with the corpse," asked Dante "I''m finished. I''ve gotten all the information I need."

    Getting confirmation, Dante didn''t hesitate and incinerated the mangled body, burning it until all that was left to prove its existence was a pile of ashes.

    "We''re done here." Said Dante coldly.

    No more information could be gained from here and He had aplished what he had set out to do.

    Now he had to go back to the city to n around this new discovery.

    Calling y and Reba to his side once more, Dante brought out his wings and soared into the sky.

    As Dante started heading back to the city, he turned he suddenly turned around.

    It was in that moment that he spotted something strange.

    A short distance away, in theplete opposite direction of the city, something strange was happening.

    If it wasn''t for Dante''s unnatural eyesight, then there was a high chance that he could have missed it,

    A faint pir of smoke

    ...

    in the middle of a northern vige, Smoke. Smoke.

    That''s all Zayd Could see.

    His day had been normal.

    Just a monotonous day in his small, secluded vige.

    The men hade back from hunting in the forest or their daily logging and were now home.

    The vige was at peace and things were looking like they would be like every other day Zayd Could remember.. that was until they attacked.

    Before Zayd could realise what happened, a swarm of corpses had broken past the vige walls.

    Zayd himself was only in his house And It was only the screams of the vige militia that had alerted in to this situation and causing him toe outside and Zayd Had regretted a decision more in his life.

    As he came out, he could only describe what he saw as hell.

    Decaying, decrepit bodies mauling at his neighbours The screams and roars of the vige militia echoing Zayd saw men fall rise again to attack their families Brothers killed brothers, fathers killed sons

    The people of the vige were in a hopeless situation.

    Realising there was no hope, many began to crumble, to fall to their knees and in their desperation did something man had always done. They cried to the Gods for help.

    They cried to the skies for salvation!

    And that''s when it answered, the sky answerd with fire.

 Chapter 193: Fire from the sky

    193 Chapter 193: Fire from the sky

    As Dante soared through the sky, he was greeted with a horrifying sight.

    Swarms of zombies could be seen rushing down innocents.

    Screams of terror and hatred could even be heated as high above in the sky where Dante was flying

    Seeing this, Dante didn''t hesitate.

    A wave of fire element rushed towards him as his mouth started to glow in a ominous crimson hue.

    "Roar!"

    Suddenly, as Dante was flying over the vige, geyser of mes poured from his mouth onto the ground below.

    The mes appeared endless, swept through the streets covering all the ground below.

    Fearing for their lives the vigers instantly dropped to the floor, putting up a defensive position.

    But it was only after a while that they noticed a strange fact.

    Despite being so close to the fire that they could basically touch it, they didn''t feel the slightest difort.

    In fact, the warmth the fire radiated onto their skin was weed by them.

    This was not surprising.

    It had to be remembered who released the mes in the first ce

    Dante, the bearer of a Red Dragon Soul! N?v(el)B\\jnn

    A creature whose fire maniption allowed it to stand up even against the gods!

    Under Dante''s careful maniption, he ensured that no me harmed any living human being.

    So although it was impressive, it was not an impossible task.

    Dantended in the middle of the vige, apanied by the loud sound of pping wings

    Looking around, he could see the crowd stare at him But before Dante had a chance to speak to these people, a loud cackle rang in the air

    "Kekeke! Little boy, I warned you, Stay out of things that don''t concern you. Yet you refuse to listen!"

    But faced with Fine boy! Today I shall show you!" roared the voice " Today, I shall show you why!"

    As soon as the voice sounded, portals filled with death and yin energy could be seen piping up all over thendscape.

    The vigers could only watch in shock as countless zombies poured out from the portals.

    But while the vigers were shocked by the portals on the floor, Dante and Reba were looking at something else.

    In the sky three terrifying portals could be seen forming and from each portal flew out a zombie, but these zombies were different. Each zombie radiated at least ninthyer martial journeyman strength! As soon as Dante and Reba saw these figures, there face contorted into an ugly grimace.

    The strength of these figures wasn''t enough to create such an unhappy image.

    No, what caused this facial expression was the clothes that they were wearing.

    Each figure could be seen wearing fine robes with a token stocked into their clothing.

    This wasn''t any ordinary token.

    It was the token of the Hidden Dragon Academy!

    Once Reba saw this, she was ovee with rage!

    It had to be known Reba had spent over three years living as part of the Hidden Dragon Academy.

    Three years was enough to make anyone attached to organisation, much less one that trained and cultivated you into the person you are.

    So although Dante felt an anger seeing this, it was nowhere near the levels that Reba felt!

    "You dare!" Roared Reba as she shot into the sky.

    "you not only killed the members of the Hidden Dragon Academy but you even dare to spheme their corpses!" Reba was furious, but her fury was only met with the light cackle of the Corpse Master "Kekeke!" Laughed the Corpse Master "They were such excellent bodies. How could I just leave them and let them go to waste?"

    Hearing this Dante frowned.

    When he took the mission, it had said that various other people had taken the mission before and all went missing. The number of missing individuals was estimated to be at least 10, ignoring the allies people brought unounted for.

    So although there were only 3 people here, From The Corpse Master''swords, it didn''t take a genius to guess what happened to the rest of them.

    Reba had had enough of Corpse Master bullshit and burst into mes as the gigantic phantom of a Crimson Scaled Naga slowly started forming behind her

    "Such a tant of the disrespect of the living! I can not allow you to continue to torment these men any longer!" Cried Reba "Kekeke! I''d like to see you try."

    It was such a simple taunt,but this in itself was enough to push already aggravated Reba over the edge.

    Quickly drawing her spear, which was now covered in mes, Reba dashed towards the flying corpses.

    But the corpses didn''t stay still. Instead, a thin mist of ck energy shot out between them, eventually forming into small formation with phantoms of eastern dragons that continuously swam between them.

    Seeing this, Rebbeca froze.

    "The swimming dragon formationбн" said Reba in disbelief.

    Any member of the Hidden Dragon Academy would recognise this.

    different from the exclusive battle formations known by only each specific department, such as the gaping maw formation. The swimming dragon formation was a simple battle formation taught by every department of the academy.

    This was to ensure that all students would be able to cooperate with each other in times of need.

    So you could imagine Reba''s surprise seeing this formation out not only in such a desert ce but she was also seeing this same formation burst out from a group of zombies!

    "Impressive isn''t it?" Said the Corpse Master after seeing Reba''s confusion "It''s truly amazing what the body can remember even once the soul had beenpletely shattered!" hearing this,Reba clenched her teeth as her frustrations rose even higher.

    No words were said as she sent a powerful spear strike at the leading zombie.

    "Bang!"

    mes red, but when the scene cleared, instead of the zombie being forced back, she saw a pale-skinned zombie smiling creepily at her withpletely ck eyes.

    As she looked at the zombie, she could see a stream of ck mist flowing towards him from the other two.

 Chapter 194: The Mumbling Terror!

    194 Chapter 194: The Mumbling Terror!

    As she looked at the zombie, she could see a stream of ck mist flowing towards him from the other two.

    ''This God damn Formation!''

    But Reba couldn''tin for long as she suddenly felt an rming threat causing her to back off.

    And it was a good thing she did as just as she left, her previous position was sted by two dark rays from the previous zombies.

    After seeing this, Dante couldn''t remain still any longer. If Reba was facing normal zombies, Dante had no doubt in her ability to when.

    After being resurrected, it was impossible for the zombies to have the strength of their prime.

    So Reba taking on three Martial Journeyman zombies seemed pretty realistic.

    But know that they were capable of battle formations there strength and thus their subsequent threat had multiplied.

    But just as Dante''s feet had lifted off the floor. A creepy voice sounded through the air.

    "Don''t you know? It''s not fun to intrude on other people''s games."

    As soon as Dante heard this familiar sound, his facial expression darkened.

    "Look, I have brought some toys for you to y with as well!"

    As The Corpse Master was speaking, a gigantic portal started opening, releasing a horrifying creature.

    It was a giant, standing at almost 14ft tall.

    he But the most disturbing thing was the structure of the zombie, or, to be more specific, the zombies.

    It could only be described as a giant amalgamation of bodies, each one writhing and groaning within its body, allbining to create a giant humanoid figure!

    Dante had seen many things since he came to this world.

    He had destroyed property, burned forests, and even killed people.

    But nothing could match the disgust he felt looking at this abomination!

    It was a tant mockery of life! As a living creature, he felt a disgust on a biological level.

    Some vigers were even forced onto the ground, retching at this abominable sight.

    "How do you like one of my best creations, The Mumbling Terror!"

    Dante didn''t speak, but his body soon erupted in a red and silver light as scales started covering his entire body, whilst two sets of horns grew from his head, entering his true dragonified form.

    The aura he felt from the creature was at least at the peak of the Martial Journeyman realm.

    This was not a weak enemy.

    Dante''s figure instantly blurred

    Appearing behind the creature, Dante swung his greatsword tearing across the creature causing a burst of ck blood to spray towards him.

    "AWWAWAH!" As soon as the creature was cut, a piercing wail erupted from the countless mouths on the creature''s body!

    Hearing this, Dante frowned.

    He could tell it was different from just any regr wail of pain.

    ''Thisбн A mental attack?''

    Dante could shrug it off hit this want the same for the regr people around the vige.

    On the ground, the helpless vigers seemed to go crazy, as blood started to pour out their ears snd mouth!

    With such tragic scenes urring all around him, Dante couldn''t just stand by and do nothing.

    "Roar!" A deafening roar erupted As Dante urged his Red Dragon soul. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    The vigers were left wicking in fear, but things changed.

    Under the fearsome aura of an Elder Dragon, the mental attack from the mumbling terror was averted.

    But this wasn''t enough for Dante.

    Soon another terrifying roar could be heard as silver re erupted behind him, forming into the humongous phantom of a silver dragon!

    To the vigers, this roar was just as intimidating, but the aura the creature carried waspletely different.

    Instead of the brutal and cruel aura released by the Red dragon, the silver dragons aura was much more noble, almost holy even.

    Unconsciously, the vigers found themselves drifting towards it gathering around the gigantic silver phantom.

    But just because Dante had countered the mental attack, it didn''t mean the vigers were safe.

    They still had to deal with the swarm of regr zombies heading towards them.

    Suddenly, as Dante was watching the crowd beneath him, he felt an rming threat

    As he turned around, Dante turned to see an enormous hand swatting towards him.

    Instantly, Dante brandished his sword in resistance, but due to his unstable footing of the air was forced backwards.

    Quickly regathering himself, Dante refocused on the threat in front of him.

    It was still too soon to be worrying about others.

    Dante''s wings red as he sped towards shing down on the monster, creating another humongous gash, but his attack didn''t end there..

    Using his freakish speed, Dante continuously shed around the creature, shing off chunks of its body with each attack!

    ck blood flowed, as the creature Horrific wails shook the vige, but Dante didn''t seem to hear it.

    He just continued to expressionless butcher the creature! It was only after the creature was basically left falling apart that Dante finally backed off. And just as he was preparing tounch the finishing blow, something strange happened.

    The abominable creature let out a horrifying howl, but this wasn''t a mere mental attackst time.

    Instead, as soon as the roar sounded out m,countless zombies over the battlefield started rushing towards the Mumbling terror.

    But this wasn''t what shocked Dante. No, what truly shocked him was what happened next.

    As The zombies approached the Mumbling terror, they didn''t slow down and continue to run straight on into the creature.

    But instead of a collision everyone was expecting, these zombies were all slowly being absorbed into the body of the creature.

    Each zombie let out a horrific scream as their bodies were crushed and contorted.

    To speed up the process, the Mumbling terror also grabbed some nearby zombies,squashing them into its wounds.

    As a result of this, the surrounding flesh began to wriggle and form a newyer of undamaged skin, if you could even call what the creature had skin.

    This sight was not only sickening, but it was also worrying.

 Chapter 195: Clays rage!

    195 Chapter 195: y''s rage!

    With the ridiculous regenerative abilities disyed by the mumbling terror, it was looking like this fight would not be resolved by anything other than a battle of attrition!

    just as Dante was preparing to continue his attack, he heard a group tragic cries echo behind him.

    The people that took refuge under his Dragon souls couldn''t hold on for much longer, they were mop beginning to be overrun!

    "Roar!"

    Seeing this sight, Dante''s Red Dragon soul would not stand idly by and instantly let off a deafening roar of rage How Dare they!

    How Dare mere undead creatures have the courage to attack people under his protection!

    A Red Dragon was a Chaotic Evil creature.

    It cared little for the lives of such weak insects like humans, but the fact that fact that mere zombies dared to attack anything ced under his protection was enough to drive him crazy! The humongous Red Dragon sent out a terrifying w swipe trying to crush those bugs beneath its feet!

    But instead of the deafening impact everyone would expect to hear from such a gigantic creature, no sound was made!

    Despite being an Elder Dragon, some of the most powerful creature to walk the mortal ins, it was still only a phantom manifestation.

    It still couldn''t manifest a physical presence!

    The w attack just pathetically passed through the zombies.

    "ROAR!" Furious, the Red Dragon let out a roar of rage as its aura of Dragon Fear was red to the max.

    But as undead creatures, they had no living fears, so this very same aura that could drive even Martial Journeyman cultivators insane with fear had no effect on them!

    If things continued at this rate, then the group of vigers would be overrun before he could even deal with mumbling terror!

    "Bang!"

    Just as Dante was thinking, a humongous hand mmed out of the sky. Fortunately, Dante''s senses were alert, and he managed to get out of the wayst minute.

    ''Tch!! I really don''t have time to be worrying about others!'' thought Dante But even after acknowledging this fact, Dante couldn''t just leave those people to die. His potential investment, y, was still with them.

    If he let such a talent die in such a backwater ce like this, then it would really be too sad. N?v(el)B\\jnn

    "Domain of fire."

    [ Domain of fire 3/3 ]

    [ As an Elder Red Dragon, your control and maniption of fire has reached a ridiculous degree. You have the ability to create a domain around you in which all fire elemental attacks from you and your allies are strengthened whilst also decreasing fire elemental damage for your allies (300% fire elementdamage increase-self)

    (150% fire element damage increase- allies)

    (50% fire element damage reduction-allies) ]

    Instantly, The Red Dragon let out an empowered roar as a crimson halo stretched out of him, wrapping around the vigers on the floor.

    But it wasn''t just the vigers, Even Reba was wrapped around by this strange Crimson halo.

    "Bang!"

    As this was going on, Rebbeca let out an attack, but instead of the zombies blocking it likest time, they were instead sent flying through the sky!

    ''Thisбн what the hell!'' Thought Reba in shock ''My strengthбн it has more than doubled!''

    Whilst Reba was still wondering what happened to her, Dante withdrew a gold grade Spirit weapon from his space ring.

    It was an orange short sword that was softly glowing in a magical light. Dante didn''t waste time and quickly begun to wrap it in mes before throwing it straight towards the crowd of vigers!

    "Bang!" The swordnded with a loud impact as a burst of mes spread out, engulfing all the vigers in his path.

    Seeing this, the vigers began to panic, but before they could scream, they seemed to realise something.

    The mes didn''t affect them at all. Even though the mes were all over their body, to them it felt no different from being in a warm bath! The vigers were shocked they had no exnation for this strange situation. But perhaps most shocked of all was y.

    in front of the boy was an exquisite burning short sword short sword.

    Just as he was questioning why such a treasure was even here in the first ce, that''s when he suddenly heard a voice in his head

    ''Are you just going to sit by again?''

    As y heard this, his body froze.

    He looked around to see if he could find the origin of the voice, but all he could hear were the murderous cries of the vigers.

    It was then that the voice sounded out again ''You''ve let these creatures take everything from you. Your friends, your family, your home. Are you just going to sit by and watch them do it again?''

    As y heard the voice, he felt his heart tighten. His eyes grew red as all sorts of emotions overwhelmed him.

    but even at this point, even with grief umting in his heart, the emotion he still felt the most was still rage!

    An uncontroble, surging rage!

    "No!" Cried y "I won''t let anyone take from me ever again!"

    ''Good,'' Said the voice ''Take it. Take the weapon in front of you and take your revenge!''

    y reached out to pick up the short sword and as he touched it he felt a hot, almost burning sensation, but he didn''t let go.

    The pain only caused him to grip on tighter.

    Despite being surrounded by mes as he looked towards the zombies, he could see the scene of his vige.

    He could see the bundle up and take away his best friend.

    But this time he wouldn''t hide, this time he wouldn''t cry,

    This time he would kill!

    A mad roar left y''s mouth as he dashed past the circle of vige militia that was protecting the vigers "Hey Kid! What are you doing-"

    Seeing such a small boy dash past them, the vigers panicked as they tried to stop him from running to his death!

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!