Akata stood off to the side and waited for his team to gather around. After a brief moment, his team started to walk in his direction. There were some people with some okay cultivation levels around the 7th Grade and others had lower one’s around the 4th Grade. The lowest cultivator was at the 3rd Grade however.

“So we have to listen to Akata? Who would’ve thought that you would outclass us one day?”

“Eh? You’re only one level higher than me, you’re not worth listening to.”

“You just came back and you’re already a leader? You’re probably not even that strong.”

“I wish I could’ve been on Peizhi Xiuying’s team. She’s the second strongest disciple right now. Sigh…”

Akata listened to the people speak and he couldn’t help but be taken aback. These people didn’t even know what kind of skill he had yet they were already criticizing him and his capabilities. How would they act when they had to actually team up and work together?

Akata’s mind started racing. ‘How am I supposed to get them to acknowledge me? If they don’t even do that then there’s no way they will follow me in battle.’ Akata thought to himself. ‘Maybe I can just show off my strength on the field? Or just assert my dominance right now? No no that doesn’t fit my style at all.’ Akata had never really worked in a group before and he had never lead a group before either. This would be a totally new experience for him.

“Alright everyone has gathered at their leaders. You have 15 minutes to discuss your plans and the exam will then start. The time limit is one day. Try not to die.” The last sentence spoken by Sect Leader Fu sounded extremely cold to the ears. All of a sudden a red light flashed past the bodies of everyone present and with a whoosh they all disappeared.

***

Within the Outer Ring of Misty Forest.

Akata and his group appeared in a forest surrounded by trees. They all looked around and found it to be quiet and still. Looking up, they could see a red barrier of some kind locking them in. It was obviously set up to keep them safe for a little time.

‘I didn’t expect to be teleported to a random part of the forest like this. So once 15 minutes are up then this barrier will be taken out and we’ll have to start immediately?’ Akata took in a slow deep breath and then released it. He looked at his teammates.

“This is our Red Cloud Sparring Day exam. I aim to receive the best results out of all the groups competing and to do that I will need your cooperation. If we are to be the strongest and greatest group then we will all need to work together. I will definitely lead you all to victory.” Akata said earnestly. ‘I hope that was enough to make them realize that I can do this.’ Akata looked at their faces closely.

“What the fuck? You think you have what it takes to lead me? I can lead a squad better than you can. In fact, anyone here is capable of leading. Just because the Sect Leader chose you doesn’t mean that you have the right to lead us. My skill alone it enough to get us great results. Heh. You don’t even look like you have skill in you. You might’ve been good when you first started cultivating but you’ve been gone for 2 months now and things have changed. We were raised to be monsters, anyone of us is capable of handling someone of a higher rank.”

Akata turned to look at the person who spoke. The man looked to be either 19 or 20 years old and he wore black fur pants with no shirt on. He looked extremely buff and his features were quite handsome. His short spiky hair and his bold gold eyes made it so that he stood out from amongst the crowd of people.

Akata frowned. “Basik Bufmann, your cultivation level is at the 8th Grade as well yet you weren’t chosen to be a leader. Instead you had be under my command. I was chosen because I proved that I had the skill. Do you doubt my skill then?” Akata was planning on taking it easy but he could not let someone deny his strength and skill.

“Heh.” Basik Bufmann chuckled slightly. “You may have skill in leading but we are at the same cultivation level. I can fight those at the 9th Grade because I was trained to but you just got here. You would obviously be weaker than me. Why would I follow those who are weaker than me? Why would any of us follow someone who is a weak spineless leader? If you ask me, I’m more fit than you will ever be.” A wicked smile appeared atop his otherwise bold face.

The disciples started to nod their heads at this words. It was true that all of them could fight those with higher cultivation levels because they were trained to do so. But Akata had been sent somewhere else for the past two months. Even if he was a monster when he first started cultivating, it had been two whole months since he had gotten any training. That’s two months worth of the monster like training that he missed out on. There’s no way he could be strong enough to fight Basik Bufmann who was on his same level.

Akata looked around at the disciples who were starting to agree with Basik Bufmann. ‘Urghh. Someone had to make it difficult, didn’t they?’ Akata started to get frustrated as time went on. They were getting nowhere and time would soon start. ‘I can’t let my frustration show otherwise it’ll really make them think that I can’t lead them.’

Akata thought for a quick moment before an idea popped into his head. ‘Ah! That’s something that I can do. Why didn’t I think of this before?!’ Akata looked deeply at Basik Bufmann and the smiled calmly. “You say that I don’t have the strength to compete with you because I wasn’t trained to be a monster, right?”

“Huh? That’s right! We’re all monsters here except for you. We’ve been cultivating for two months straight in order to become monsters that can fight with those with a higher cultivation level than us. Someone like you, who didn’t have to go through that wouldn’t understand. Heck, you probably wouldn’t even be able to withstand the things we went through.” Basik Bufmann laughed.

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t be wrong to say that I wasn’t cultivating to be a monster…” Akata paused and looked at the crowd. At the same time he rotated his cultivation bases. His 8th Grade Mortal Rank, 7th Grade Seed Rank, and his 1st Grade Imp Rank cultivation bases all started to rotate with full strength. He rotated his golden rune which brought along an intense pressure upon all of the disciples in front of him.

All of the disciples including Basik Bufmann started to tremble and cold sweat dripped from their foreheads and their backs. They didn’t see Akata as a regular disciple now but as a towering beast that could annihilate anything he saw fit. Their eyes constricted heavily and some even fell to the ground in utter despair.

“I didn’t cultivate to be a monster. Monster’s are only mediocre. They aren’t even qualified to mentioned in front of me. No… I don’t want to be something so trivial. Something that is so easy to attain that all of you can acquire it in a mere two months. What I strive for is something different. Something that is much more difficult to make into reality. I didn’t want to become a monster… I wanted to become a god.”

Akata let out his ambitions. He let his strong will encompass all of the disciples. He would let his goal, his drive, his own motivation, stir their emotions and make them choose to follow him. He didn’t ask them to follow him because of his strength, or his skill, or even because he was chosen to be a leader. No, he just poured out his strong convictions and made that sway their inner hearts.

All of the disciples looked on at Akata and they couldn’t disguise the fact that they were awestruck. What kind of ambitions did he have, what kind of goal did he want to attain. Sure they all wanted to be strong and they thought that they had attained it in these two months. But… Akata had wanted more than that. He wanted something that they didn’t even dare to think of. Something that was heard in mere legends. He didn’t want to be a mere monster, he wanted to be a god!

Such a goal was outright laughable and even insane. But the strong conviction and will that he had spread out had stirred the hearts of all of those present. It was as if he were saying that it wasn’t a dream that he had but a reality that he was going to make happen. It didn’t matter if they followed him or not, he would still complete this exam and get the top results without them. He will come out on top not because he wanted to, but because he had to.

All of the disciples were quiet and just stared wide-eyed at Akata. He no longer looked like a regular disciple, but a supreme being. They could see that his goal was within his reach.

“I… I’ll follow you!” A person called out. He walked over slowly and stood beside Akata. Once he got there he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. It felt as if just being on Akata’s side there was nothing to worry about. He felt confident on taking on anything and pride filled his body. He looked at all of the rest of the disciples in the eyes and his grin showed his attitude.

“Y’all just gonna stand there or wha’? Come’n!” He was only at the 4th Grade but his voice seemed to contain some of Akata’s will within it. It made the disciples jump and come to their senses. Why wouldn’t they want to follow someone like this?

“I’ll back you up!”

“I’ll lend you a hand!”

“Use my strength!”

“We’ll help you reach your goal!”

One by one the disciples walked over and stood by Akata’s side. As soon as they stood by him they felt a huge relief. Strength and courage surfaced through their bodies, the likes of which they had never felt before. It wasn’t actual power coursing through their veins but something else. It was absolute confidence in their leader!

Basik Bufmann stood off to the side by himself staring at the group of people looking at him. He looked alone like an outcast. His pride had washed away and his demeanor from before was gone without a trace.

Akata raised an eyebrow at him. “If you still don’t believe me then if you want you can always fight me for this position.” Akata said calmly.

It was too calm of an attitude. The type of calm that struck fear in people’s hearts. This type of calm, coupled with Akata’s transcendent demeanor clenched at Basik Bufmann’s soul. ‘What am I doing? He’s more than a freak, he’s more than a monster. Why… why am I still standing here?’

He tried to open his mouth to say something but he just couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. It was as if his body was intentionally hesitating about something. Akata looked a bit closely at him. All of a sudden black light emitted from his body as he appeared right in front of Basik Bufmann. He lifted his hand as he touched Basik Bufmann’s forehead.

“Ah!” Basik Bufmann let out a sudden cry. It felt to him like a huge burden had been lifted from his mind. He immediately dropped down to his knees. “Thank you Akata for showing me the way. I will follow you and together we will reach the top spots of this exam.” He spoke earnestly as he bowed towards Akata.

“There’s no need for that, it was something that I have to do. You’re all my teammates after all.” Akata said with a light smile. But deep in his mind he had other thoughts. ‘There was a magic seal in his mind that prevented him from following me. It was extremely weak though and was easily dispelled but who couldn’t set it there? Was it intentional for the test? Or was it something else?’ Akata’s thoughts raced but on the surface he looked calm. “Now let’s go over this plan of mine. We only have about five minutes before this barrier comes down.”