"It seems our goal has become the same now, we both have the same destination, Overlord's Domain.", Edward said to Robert as they rested on a sofa inside Robert's cottage.

"Well, this seems to be the case. The only difference is, you know which clan is your target, but I don't."

"We can find that out once we go there, can't we?", Edward said in a relaxed tone.

"I guess we can.", Robert nodded. "Now that I know both Eilin and my mother is alive, I have more reasons to get stronger, so that I can reach them, and protect them. I know my mother is worried about me. I can not let her worry, can I?", Robert said.

"According to what your father said, Eilin's clan doesn't bother with their bloodline, so she's safe. You are the only one being targeted. To be honest, I feel sorry for your clan.", Edward said with a smile.

"Why?", Robert asked.

"Because Out of all the people in this world, they want to kill you, who is this Edward Alexander's best friend. Best of luck with that for them. I hope they don't manage to piss me off.", Edward said with a laugh.

Robert also started laughing as soon as he heard that.

"You're right. Even if I was a thousand times stronger than the Twelve Zodiac Clans combined, I wouldn't dare to mess with you. You are just out of this world!", Robert said as he kept laughing.

They looked at each other, and both of them burst out in intense laughter.

The next morning, both Edward and Robert started their day with cultivation. Robert was trying to grasp the essence of the metal element, while Edward was cultivating his 'formless Qi'.

The entire day went on with both of them in deep cultivation. By the end of the first day, Robert had somewhat grasped the metal element, while Edward had slowly built up more formless Qi.

The second day went in the same way, with both of them making more progress.

On the third day, things started to develop differently. Robert had now fully grasped the Metal Element. He was about to complete his change in Qi nature.

Finally, as the day ended, Roberts Qi transformed, turning heavy, s it contained a heavy, metallic aura.

Edward also improved by leaps and bounds, both in quality and quantity. Edward had already amassed a lot of formless Qi before, and now, with the amount of formless Qi he amassed in these three days, along with the life energy from the Seed of Origin Life, he broke through Two Whole Levels. He shouldn't be cultivating so fast, but his formless Qi, along with the life energy from the Seed of Origin Life, turned into an insane combination, enabling him to breakthrough tow whole levels, reaching the Fourth Level of the Energy Foundation realm. Edward knew that as he became stronger, the efficiency would decrease, and his cultivation speed will become slower. So he decided that before that happens, he would use every single opportunity he can master to cultivate as much as he can.

Finally, as the third day ended and the fourth day began, they both snapped out of their intense cultivation session. Robert was now at the peak of the Qi Accumulation Realm, while Edward in the Fifth Level level of the Energy Foundation Realm.

"Finally. It's time to go!", Edward said.

"Yes. It's time to go!", Robert nodded.

In the blink of an eye, they both vanished from the room.

A large crowd had gathered in front of the Royal Academy. Today, it was a festive environment. The Grand Academy Tournament Selections was about to take place. Everyone came to see what kinds of students will be participating, and what kinds of students will be will be selected. They were all excited.

"All the participants are here, except for the ones from the Southern Academy. Southern Academy principal, how come you came without them? Where are they? How long do they plan to make us wait? If they make us wait too long, we will have to start without them.", the Principal of the Royal Academy said in anger. He was already pissed off at Edward for cutting off his vice principal's arms.

"Roar!", at that moment, an ear-splitting roar was heard from above. Everyone looked at the sky at the same time. As they looked, they kept staring in shock. In the sky, they could see a Giant Wyvern flapping its wings to slowly descend from the sky. Riding atop the giant wyvern, two sturdy figures were visible. One of them was Edward, and the other one was Robert. The spectators were staring at them, gasping in shock.

Just as the giant wyvern descended on the ground, it vanished into thin air. This shocked the spectators even more. Their brains couldn't process the scene that played in front of them.

"What sorcery is this?", the academy elders, even the principal, were trembling in shock. They have never seen anyone make such a grand entrance.

"It's so like you! Always showing off! Hahaha hahaha!", Old Summer burst into laughter as he said that. He was quite annoyed with the Royal Academies mockings till now. He was very satisfied now that he can mock them back.

"Anyway, are we late?", Edward asked the Royal Academy Principal as he smiled at him.

The Royal Academy Principal didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He kept shouting in his mind: "You intentionally come late, then you make such a grand entrance, now you ask me if you are late or not? Damn you, brat!"

But he could only think in his mind and not say those words out loud. He was very alert about Edward. He didn't want to make a move without knowing his true powers.

Edward saw through the Royal Academy Principal as he said: "Why hesitate? You are an old, experienced cultivator while I'm just a young, ordinary boy. Come on! Don't be afraid!", Edward mocked.

The Royal Academy Principal Couldn't finally control his temper anymore as he shouted in rage and attacked Edward.

"You brat! I'm going to teach you a lesson. You had already dared to mock the Royal Academy once, I won't let you do it again." as he said that, he jumped and attacked Edward. The principal of the Royal Academy wasn't weak. He was at the Second Level of the Energy Foundation Realm. But he was no match for Edward, who was at the Fifth Level of the Energy Foundation Realm and was strong enough to take on anyone below the Aura Formation Realm due to the incredible nature of his formless Qi.

As he charged towards Edward, Edward didn't even spare him a glance and waved his hand. A fierce wind made of formless Qi hit the Royal Academy principal as he shot out like a meteor while coughing blood. As he crashed on the ground, he started to cough out more blood. Soon, he passed out.

Silence, there was absolute silence. No one dared to even breathe loudly, afraid that they might offend Edward. There were in awe and fearful of what they saw.

"Take him away and give him medical treatment. He will need it.", Edward ordered around the Elders of the Royal Academy, the same way vice-headmaster Gilbert ordered around elders of the Southern Academy back then. This was collecting the debt.

The elders nodded in fear as they took away the Royal Academy Principal to the medicine hall. As they left, the place became silent once again.

"There will be no selection round today.", Edward finally broke the silence.

"I will be leading the team of five representing the Green Veil Country. So, I will select the other four members. The first member is, as you can see, my friend Robert Brown who's standing beside me. As for the second member...", Edward looked at the group of participating students standing on a side of the venue.

"What? He will be the one in charge now, and he will be the one selecting the candidate? Just like that?", The spectators were all shocked. But they didn't say anything out loud. They didn't dare to.

Although they did not say anything out loud, Edward could easily tell what they were thinking by looking at their faces.

Edward looked at the crowd and gave a charming smile. Then he nodded and said:

"Yes. Just Like That!"