Wind's Chaotic Shadow

Facing Borg's gaze, Patur remained calm.

Without giving anything away, he said, "Andres is a genius of our Human Race. Why wouldn't I want him to reach the Saint Realm?"

Borg smiled faintly. "Lord Patur, you can trust me completely. I have already investigated Andres's circumstances, and I know about his conflict with your son."

Patur said nothing.

Borg continued, "Now, only one slot remains in the Sacred Tree Fruit Contest. The only one who can stop Andres is Yulian, once he obtains Mithril."

"After Yulian devours the Mithril, he will need time to digest it. Although he will not immediately become a Saint Realm expert, his strength will increase enormously. He will be invincible among Ninth Rank warriors. If Lord Patur agrees, Yulian can take the final slot in the Sacred Tree Fruit Contest and stop Andres."

"Of course, I will not let Lord Patur suffer a loss. Within a year at most, I will deliver a Mithril weapon to you."

"What do you think, my lord?"

Borg looked at Patur expectantly.

Patur did not answer immediately. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back and turned away, saying calmly, "Our Human Race values unity above all else. No one can know that I am working with you. As for that Mithril weapon, it is not as though I must have it immediately. Delaying it by a year or so is no matter."

Borg's eyes lit up, and delight filled his face.

He understood what Patur meant—cooperation was possible, but no one could find out!

Borg immediately said, "Please rest assured, my lord. I will handle everything properly. No one will ever know!"

"My lord, I shall take my leave first."

"Mm."

Borg left.

Only then did a faint smile appear on Patur's face.

Holy Alliance, Human Race residential district.

Andres chose a residence with a courtyard, making it convenient for his training.

Teresa and Inori's residences were also not far from his.

Seven days had already passed since they arrived at the Holy Alliance.

Over the past few days, Andres had been testing techniques in his courtyard.

After watching Yasen and Abad fight, Andres had gained inspiration and finally taken his first step into the Profound Mystery of Swiftness.

After taking the first step into a Profound Mystery, one had to incorporate it into actual techniques to turn it into combat strength.

"Whoosh!"

Sword wind howled.

Holding a flexible sword, Andres danced through the courtyard.

His body was as light and nimble as the wind, while the flexible sword in his hand moved so quickly that afterimages appeared in streaks.

For a moment, sword shadows filled the entire courtyard.

The crisscrossing sword shadows appeared chaotic and disorderly, cold glints flashing in every direction. But with a low shout from Andres, all the sword shadows thrust simultaneously at a tree in the courtyard from every direction.

Countless sword shadows passed through the middle of the trunk, then vanished.

As a gust of wind swept by, countless specks of powder scattered through the air. A hole the size of a human head had appeared in the tree trunk.

That powder was the wood chips that had been shredded by the sword shadows.

"It finally worked!"

Andres sheathed his sword and stood still, his eyes brimming with excitement.

After seven days, he had finally created this move.

Just now, he had not used much Battle Qi. If he went all out, he doubted anyone below the Saint Realm could block this sword.

"I'll call this move Wind's Chaotic Shadow!"

Andres gave the sword technique a name.

After creating Wind's Chaotic Shadow, his combat strength rose once more.

"Next, I can challenge Richard."

Richard was ranked fifth on the Cadet Ranking. As long as Andres defeated him, he could enter the top five and obtain the final slot to compete for the Sacred Tree Fruit.

He was determined to obtain the Sacred Tree Fruit.

It was not only so that he could reach the Saint Realm sooner, but also so he could complete Teresa's third Binding Quest as soon as possible.

Over the past few days, Teresa had also come to Andres for guidance.

Although Holy Alliance Trainees could attend one lesson from a Saint Realm expert every week, weekly guidance was far from enough for Teresa.

Given Teresa's talent and his desire to grow stronger, Andres believed that before long, he would completely master Treating Light as Heavy. Even Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth would not be able to stump him.

Andres had spent five or six years comprehending Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth. Teresa would only need less time.

By then, Teresa would face the same problem of insufficient Battle Qi.

Andres wanted to prepare in advance and help Teresa compete for a Sacred Tree Fruit as well.

"As long as I complete the third Binding Quest, my talent will rise to the Paragon level!"

Andres eagerly anticipated that day.

"Lord Andres!"

Matos's voice came from outside the courtyard.

"Matos, come in."

The diminutive Matos pushed open the courtyard gates with both hands and entered respectfully.

"Lord Andres, I have taken care of the matter you instructed me to handle. This is Richard's detailed information."

Holding a roll of parchment, Matos approached Andres.

"Good. Thank you."

Although Andres was fully confident, he still needed to make the necessary preparations.

During the past few days of cultivation, he had specifically instructed Matos to gather information on Richard, especially details of his past battles.

Before challenging Richard, he wanted to understand his opponent as thoroughly as possible.

Andres took the parchment and carefully unrolled it.

The parchment contained Richard's detailed profile.

Richard was a Centaur prodigy, a Ninth Rank High Level expert skilled in archery. His realm had also reached the level of "Treating Light as Heavy," and Centaurs possessed considerably greater physical strength than humans.

Even Patur, before breaking through to the Saint Realm, would not have found it easy to defeat him.

Andres compared his own strength with Richard's in his mind. Richard held the advantage in Battle Qi and physical strength, but in terms of realm, Andres was far ahead of him.

Moreover, after gaining entry into the Profound Mystery of Swiftness, Andres had become even faster. It would be difficult for Richard's arrows to hit him.

Andres rolled up the parchment again.

Richard's strength had not exceeded his expectations. He still had every chance of winning.

"Matos, help me submit an application to the Holy Alliance. I want to challenge Richard," Andres said.

Battles between Holy Alliance Trainees had to be conducted under the Holy Alliance's supervision to ensure fairness. Before a battle, an application had to be submitted to the Holy Alliance, which would send a Saint Realm expert to serve as referee.

"Lord Andres, I'm afraid you'll need to wait for some time. Today, Yulian, ranked tenth on the Cadet Ranking, officially submitted an application to the Holy Alliance. He will challenge Richard in seven days," Matos said.

"Yulian?"

Andres was somewhat surprised.

Over the past few days, aside from cultivating, he had also been learning about the Holy Alliance's basic circumstances, including the geniuses on the Cadet Ranking.

He knew that Yulian came from the Druid Elf Race.

The Elf Race had many branches, some strong and some weak.

The strongest, the Life Elf Race, had God-level experts overseeing it, while the Dark Elf Race also had Demigod experts.

As for the weaker ones, some did not even have a Saint Realm expert.

The Druid Elf Race was even weaker than the Human Race. There were only three Saint Realm Druids in the entire race.