Siser

The battle-knife Slaughter was a faint blood-red all over. Anyone who looked at it could feel a faint chill, as if the air around them had grown oppressive.

This was the effect of too much killing and the killing intent it had accumulated. Only a powerful warrior could leave such an impression.

From this alone, one could imagine how powerful Slaughter's previous owner had been.

"My lord, this battle-knife, Slaughter, was originally the personal weapon of Baruch, the first Dragonblood Warrior, five thousand years ago. Later, it became a treasured heirloom of the Baruch Clan."

Marquis Jeb explained the origins of Slaughter. When he reached the end, he sounded a little regretful. "But the Baruch Clan later fell into decline, and they put the weapon up for sale. After changing hands several times, it eventually ended up with me. I bought it for 180,000 gold coins."

At this, Marquis Jeb looked rather proud.

He had spent 180,000 gold coins on a weapon worth around a million. It had been a fantastic bargain. For a collector, this was certainly something worth bragging about.

The Doham brothers stared at the battle-knife in amazement. They had owned weapons before, but compared to this one, those were nothing. Their weapons had been nothing but scrap metal.

They were especially moved when they heard that it had belonged to Baruch, the first Dragonblood Warrior. Their feelings grew complicated. So even the Dragonblood Warrior Clan had fallen into such decline...

They wondered how the Purple Flame Warrior Clan and the Undying Warrior Family were doing.

As descendants of the Four Ultimate Warriors, they felt a mutual kinship.

Still, the Baruch Clan was better off than their own Bolei Clan. Aside from the two of them, the Bolei Clan had nothing left.

They didn't even know what weapon their Old Ancestor Bolei had used.

"180,000 gold coins was too little."

Doham spoke with mixed feelings. The words "Ultimate Warrior" alone were worth more than that.

Marquis Jeb smiled. He didn't deny it, and said, "A weapon like this is worthy of no one but you, my lord. I'd like to give you Slaughter."

He assumed Fang Yun had come looking for Slaughter because he wanted a weapon for himself.

Fang Yun didn't explain. Instead, he took out a crystal core from a Level Nine Magical Beast and tossed it to Marquis Jeb, who caught it by reflex. "This will cover the cost of the battle-knife."

A Level Nine Magical Beast Core was worth five million gold coins. It was the least valuable thing he had on him, but it was more than enough to pay for Slaughter.

He didn't have much gold on him, anyway.

"This is..."

Marquis Jeb recognized it at once as a magical beast's crystal core, but he couldn't tell its exact level at a glance. Still, its size and purity surpassed those of a Seventh-Level Magical Beast Core he had once seen at an auction.

That meant it was at least a core from an Eighth-Level Magical Beast!

"This is the core of a Level Nine Black-Ring Giant Python," Fang Yun said casually.

While traveling through the Sunset Mountain Range, he had killed quite a few magical beasts. The lowest-level ones whose cores he had kept had all been Level Nine. He also had some cores from Saint-level magical beasts, but those were priceless treasures on the Yulan Continent.

Though Fang Yun didn't care about that, he still wouldn't trade a Saint-level Magical Beast Core for Slaughter.

The only reason he cared about Slaughter at all was its connection to Linley. Otherwise, he wouldn't have spared it a second glance.

"The core of a Black-Ring Giant Python?"

Marquis Jeb couldn't help swallowing. The core seemed to grow heavier in his hand. A Level Nine Black-Ring Giant Python could easily kill a hundred thousand soldiers in a war. It was a true weapon of mass destruction.

Even ordinary Level Nine experts were reluctant to face one. Only a Saint-level expert could easily kill such a beast.

"Mr. Fang, this is far too valuable..."

Though Marquis Jeb's eyes betrayed his reluctance, he forced himself to suppress it and spoke up.

The favor of a Saint-level expert was more valuable than a Level Nine Magical Beast Core. He knew how to weigh the two. One couldn't become the head of a clan by being a fool.

"Enough. Take it. You deserve it."

Fang Yun casually put Slaughter into his Space Ring, then stood and looked at the Doham brothers. "Let's go."

When Slaughter suddenly vanished, Marquis Jeb was startled. He was even less inclined to doubt Fang Yun's identity.

One month later.

Ernst Institute entered the liveliest time of the year: the Grade Tournament.

This year's tournament was even livelier than usual, because students from Wester Academy were competing alongside those from Ernst Institute.

This wasn't just a competition between grades. The first-place winner would represent Ernst Institute's honor.

If a Wester Academy student took first place, Ernst Institute would lose face completely.

As a result, many talented students who normally didn't compete entered the tournament this year.

This meant that the strongest students in each grade were now far more impressive than usual. In the first-year competition, for example, the top five were all practically at the level of second-level mages.

A group of talents recognized throughout Ernst Institute had emerged as well.

Among them were Linley, a first-year student, and Dixie, who had already advanced to the third year.

Neither was the strongest, but they were only nine years old. At that age, one had reached the level of a second-level mage and the other a fourth-level mage. By any measure, they were extraordinary prodigies.

No other students of the same age could match them.

Dixie in particular had caught Edita's attention. She marveled that Ernst Institute had managed to recruit such a prodigy this year.

Wester Academy had its own prodigies, but none came close to that level. Her younger brother, Elite, was already quite talented. At just twelve, he had reached the level of a third-level mage, but the gap between him and those two was still enormous.

He wasn't just inferior to Dixie. He couldn't even match Linley. Edita could tell that Linley had an exceptionally solid foundation and was also a second-level warrior. He was a genius who cultivated both magic and martial skills.

"Linley really is a genius. He handles second-level magic so skillfully."

Doham praised him. He couldn't use magic himself, but he had fought many battles, including plenty against mages. He had a very clear understanding of a mage's strength.

The audience at Ernst Institute's Grade Tournament wasn't limited to people from the school. Anyone with status and influence could come watch, so quite a few nobles from Fenlai City had shown up.

It hadn't been difficult for Fang Yun to get in. Marquis Jeb had personally arranged passes for them.

Linley had just easily defeated another second-level mage, securing a place in the top three. At this rate, first place in the first-year competition was all but guaranteed to him.

"That Dixie from earlier was even stronger."

Dohar rarely said anything, but this time he spoke up.

Dixie was a cultivation fanatic. He had entered the competition because Elite, a formidable student from Wester Academy, had appeared this year.

Only Dixie could keep Elite in check.

Although Dixie was only a third-year student, he had already reached the level of a fourth-level mage.

"Dixie really is talented."

Prequet lay on Doham's shoulder and whispered, "But when it comes to combat experience, he still falls short of Linley. Dixie wins purely through the advantage of his level, while Linley relies on his refined combat skills. It's strange for a nine-year-old human to have skills like that."

Prequet was a Saint-level magical beast, after all, and had a very different eye for such things.

Suddenly, Fang Yun glanced to one side and narrowed his eyes. A smile appeared on his face. "Interesting. A Dark-style expert at the Saint-level peak. Siser, is it?"

There weren't many Saint-level peak experts on the Yulan Continent, and Siser was the only one who cultivated the Dark style.

Fang Yun hadn't expected Siser to be watching the Grade Tournament at Ernst Institute. This hadn't happened in the original story. Perhaps because Linley hadn't competed, no one had known Siser was there.

On a tall tree not far away, a middle-aged man in his thirties lay in the shade of a branch, dressed in a loose robe with his black hair hanging loose. Suddenly, he sat up warily and looked around.

"Is there an expert here?"

He was extremely sensitive to the presence of others.

Of course, this was only because Fang Yun hadn't concealed himself. Otherwise, even if Siser had become a god, he still wouldn't have sensed Fang Yun watching him. Even so, it was impressive that Siser could tell someone was looking at him.

Siser grew interested.

The dean of Ernst Institute was a Saint-level expert, but only at the initial Saint-level. And he wasn't at the institute right now.

That meant another Saint-level expert had come to Ernst Institute.

Anyone capable of noticing him couldn't be weak.

Siser was extremely confident in his ability to conceal himself. Even other Saint-level peak experts would have a hard time finding him.

A moment later, Siser disappeared into the shadows, ready to test this expert.

It was perfectly normal for Saint-level experts to spar with each other.

"Child's play."

Fang Yun knew exactly what Siser was thinking and chuckled. "I'll humor you."

Then he, too, disappeared into the light.

In addition to the Light Element, the Laws of Light included the Light and Shadow Technique, which could also conceal one's presence. Fang Yun himself had reached the Paragon level in the Light style. His mastery of the Laws of Light was among the top three in the Coiling Dragon World.

A moment later, Fang Yun and Siser flew off into the distance, one after the other.

"Saint-level!"

In the stands, Kawent had quietly arrived at Ernst Institute. He suddenly looked toward the horizon, his expression tense.

Two extremely well-concealed auras had just disappeared.

Neither had deliberately hidden their presence. Ordinary people might not have noticed, but to Saint-level experts who had grasped the momentum of the world, sensing them wasn't difficult.

"So many Saint-level experts have come to Ernst Institute."

Kawent now understood why his teacher had sent him to protect Dixie.

Saint-level experts were a rare sight across the continent, yet two had appeared at this one school! It seemed Ernst Institute had deep roots indeed, to become the continent's top magic academy.