Thrilled by the challenge that Kairos issued, the crowd roared in response. By the competition rules, the other party has three days to answer Kairos’ duel request, but in order to show their fighting spirit, very few top fighters will delay unless they were severely wounded.

The ninth rank fighter is a girl called Luci Ferrimore from a diminishing minor noble family that is part of the Ten Thousand Aristocrat gentry.

Since young, her training resources were no better than the average commoner, and because of her empty noble title that was backed neither power nor fortune, she was often ridiculed by the low-born and looked down by those in the peerage.

Despite that, with her overwhelming talent, she managed to prove herself to all who had dismissed her in the past and even made it into the top ten combatants in the academy.

She believes that regarding cultivation talent, she will lose to no one.

But now, the attention from the crowd that she had already grew used to was no longer placed on her.

“Seven stars? His combat ability is seven stars?!”

Defeating an Entry S ranker with two stars means that Kairos is at least at the same level, in fact, being able to defeat someone about seven minor stages above easily, it is already a modest estimation. If someone claims Kairos to be eight stars, there will be few who disputes it.

The spectators realised that they were horribly mistaken, Kairos will not become the centre of attention in years to come. He has already at the top stage as he said.

Luci who was also in the crowd, fumed when she heard their exclamations.

“Why must you appear and snatch everything! This is my graduation year, why don’t you show yourself next year?”

It is an especially important time for her. Without coming from any background that could support her, being in the limelight is more than being in the centre of attention. Her fame and reputation are essential marketing tools for her, and which great clan or noble family she joins after graduation or the position she receives, is entirely dependent on what she achieves now.

As expected, Luci Ferrimore stood up and shouted, “I accept your challenge! I’ll give you time to prepare.”

“There’s no need.”

It was a firm reply from Kairos that neither insulted his opponent nor left her with anything to say. He walked back towards the entrance he came from while she made her way down towards the side access of the amphitheatre, prepared for the duellists.

As Kairos arrived at the edge, he saw his group of friends at the front row. While everyone was present, Kairos noticed a strange thing. Edward who was recently very close to Luciette appeared to be shoved aside, while a new face stood between the two.

In fact, in a glance, it looked as though Luciette was standing intimately with this rather unfamiliar face.

“… Toprak?”

A name jumped to his lips the moment he recognised the person. It was the senior from his blacksmithing class — the one who found and sold the Unending Dust Ore to Flora.

“Hmm? Why is he in between?”

Kairos carefully observed Edward’s face. Years of interaction allowed him a clear read on his friend’s body language, and now it screams a myriad of emotions. There are obvious signs of frustration and confusion, but most of all, he looks defeated.

Kairos shot him a look, and Edward snapped out of it and returned his gaze.

Then he rapidly bobbed his head and jerked it towards the girl gesturing, “Why are Luciette and Toprak together?”

The other party shrugged and made a cutting motion with his hand, followed by throwing both arms up in defeat, “I don’t know! He just cut in!”

Kairos raised a fist at Edward and flicked a finger to the other side, “Then why are you pushed to a corner?!”

The archer hung his head low, then took one step back, “I… I… They seem like friends, so I just stepped back?”

The fire smouldered in Kairos’ eyes, then he knotted his brows together fiercely, “You Fool!”

Edward gritted his teeth, “What do you want me to do then?!”

Two arms were raised in a cross, “Well, fight for her if you like her?”

A waving motion and rapid shake of the head was the reply, “No way!”

Kairos gave an exasperated sigh, then smashed a fist into his palm. Afterwards, he made a question flick of hand then pointed at Luciette and shook his head, “Come on, you fought on the battlefield before and didn’t squirm. NOW, you’re retreating?”

A silent scream erupted from Edward, “AHHH!”

By all means, the two communicated rapidly without a single word passing from their lips. Neither boys could use the legendary Ki communication that Immortals are so famous for having.

They were merely gesturing to each other, but their years of friendship was enough to translate.

For others, they will appear as though a series of fast-forwarded hand signs; it was hilarious but strangely impressive at the same time.

With a long, defeated, sigh, Edward shivered like a leaf as he approached Luciette. However, Toprak, who is also their senior in the upper years, responded with a dismissive wave of the hand, as though asking Edward to mind his manners while others are engaged in conversation.

At this time, Kairos’ opponent arrived at the battle arena, and the announcer started his next round of duel.

Forced to pull his eyes away, Kairos turned his attention towards his next challenge.

“Kairos Astroire,” she greeted him with a brilliant smile, “You are just like me several years ago, eager to prove yourself.”

Kairos raised an eyebrow at her, then mutter, “Hardly.”

“Don’t need to deny, I know what you are trying to do. After all, I was in the exact same situation as you before. However, it is not polite to think of others as your stepping stones. Moreover, don’t you think you were hasty in picking your opponent?”

Kairos raised another eyebrow at the question, “Then who should I pick?”

“Rank 8th, Gigas Sermont – Pink Chicken clan head. Rank 7th Lucas Flare – Purple Turtle clan head. Rank 6th Lee Hei – Dark Swords clan successor.”

The title ‘successor’ is the equivalent for a clan to the heir apparent to a noble family, therefore, Lee Hei, understandably, has a lower title than Clan Heads. However, the Dark Swords clan is incomparably superior to the Pink Chicken and Purple Turtle clans combined.

Although Lee Hei is far more talented, he was only deemed as a promising individual in his clan, whereas Gigas and Lucas have already managed to claim the seat of control in theirs.

Of course, Watts Yournae who is the young lord of the Green Dogs Guards is in fact also a successor. It is also possible for him to become the clan head since the Green Dogs clan is barely better than the Pink Chicken and Purple Turtle clans, and far behind the Dark Swords Clan. The stronger a clan, the harder it is to defeat the other successor candidates, earn the respect of the elders, and become Clan Leader. Thanks to his lack of a defining strength, he was stuck as the successor until the current leader decides to steps down. Now thanks to Kairos’ kick that sent him flying out of the arena with great vigour, his plans had been thrown back several decades.

In the girl’s eyes, Lee is only slightly better than Gigas, Lucas, and Watts, and all of them are beneath her concerning cultivation talents.

When their names were mentioned, the 6th to 8th ranked contestants were furious as expected.

“That damned broad…”

“Luci Ferrimore, how arrogant!”

“I’m angry too, but she does have the skills to back it up.”

“Lee! How dare you! At least you’re part of a major clan like us, what for praise an outsider and diminish our prestige?”

“I’m only speaking the truth. If the three of us do not have our Earth Ranked weaponry, which of you are confident to take her down?”

“This…,” both Gigas and Lucus looked stumped. Indeed, they are more powerful than the girl who is ranked 9th, but that is because they have an overwhelming advantage in the treasures they own.

However, in a real fight, it doesn’t matter what one uses as long as it works and therefore they still turned their noses at her.

Some people inherit stronger bloodlines or natural talents; others receive treasures, artefacts, and money from their parents. While the girl could look down on them for being less talented, the guys, in turn, looked down on her for being poor.

Nevertheless, for her to reach the ninth place in this competition, her strength is undeniable.

“I’ll have to fight all of you to find out if what you said is the truth,” Kairos smiled causing his opponent’s face to darken.

“Kairos Astroire, it was a waste of my breath to advice you. You seem to think that you’re the only one trying to climb up the ranks, but let me tell you, I hereby declare that I shall seize second place for this tournament. And, you will regret trying to …”

A sudden flash of shadow appeared before her. All these while as she was speaking, Kairos had been walking steadily towards her. It was a repeat of how he dealt with the tenth ranked contestant, Watts.

Luci’s reaction could be said to be top-notched. The instant Kairos made his move, she dug both her hands into her chest, and in the most savage manner she tore herself apart.

However, there was no blood or shreds of flesh, and instead, the girl had turned herself into a dozen pieces that each grew with alarming speed until every piece became a replica of her – even with the same clothes she wore.

The crowd sucked in a breath of surprise. It was a rare body cloning technique, one that made countless envy.

The use of such a martial art cannot be understated. Even without considering the many applications it had, just being able to substitute a fatal blow for the cultivator means that the holder of such skill had an extra life or two.

Kairos’ reactions were also instantaneous. The moment his target split apart, his eyes glowed goldenly and through his ocular abilities, he could see the hostiles that surrounded him had different levels of energy. Without hesitation, he rushed towards the strongest one and struck with great ferocity.

“How fast is he?!”

The onlookers cannot describe the ferocity Kairos displayed before their eyes.

“This is ridiculous! I dedicate my training to swiftness and suffers a lack in killing strength for it, but the young earl is not only strong enough to ring-out the tenth ranked duellist in a single hit, but he is also faster than me!? I’m already at Peak S rank… this… how?” the academy staff that said this, dropped his face in disappointment. Indeed, comparing oneself with geniuses could utterly destroy one’s self-confidence.

The acceleration Kairos shown can only be called monstrous. With the Lightning Flicker Body, twists and turns that he made could be faster than a full-sprint of a speed-orientated fighter at his rank.

It sounds unbelievable, but considering that this movement technique was inherited from a godling from the Celestial Realm, it wasn’t impossible.

He attacked with a palm strike with such an oppressive presence that it seemed to cover the entire sky, causing the girl to flinch with primal fear.

“How did he know…”

She was certain that all her clones were perfect imitations of her, but it was an unanswered question as the hit connected. Her face paled from the terrible force, and everything that she saw turned white.

The girl flew back like a speeding dart at such high-speed that she became a blur, but at the same time, all of her clones jumped into action.

Quite a few family heads and academy staff whistled in fascination, “The clones could think on their own? Impressive!”

Without any commands from Luci, the closest replica dash behind its main body and cushioned her, but upon touching her, it disintegrated from the force. Another three clones joined in to stop the momentum, the first was knocked away and struck the ground heavily – disappearing only after a moment, the second vomited blood and collapsed into dust, and only the last one managed to catch her.

These clones are weaker, and expectedly so because they were only parts of her. It was amazing that her technique allowed each of her clone to display this level of thought processing and remain combat-ready in her absence.

Knowing that they were not a match of Kairos even at their full strength, the clones did not bother to fight him head-on.

Instead, two of them tried to entangle him, while the remaining six clones started swelling at an alarming rate.

“Self-destruct! Her clones are overloading their Dantians!”

As practitioners that manipulate natural energies into their bodies, it isn’t rare for a meltdown to occur.

When the energy balance had been destabilised for any reason, losing one’s mind to one’s darkest desires hidden within and developing Heart Demons is only the beginning. At the end stage of depravity and evil, the wild, rampant elements within will reach critical mass, causing the practitioner to explode with an earthshattering blast.

It had a strength of a full-powered attack from a cultivator of several major stages above the one who explodes.

And, because of how great is the damage, many practitioners purposely overload their Ki Centre in order to die with their enemies. Unfortunately, in battle, it is seldom used and for good reasons.

It takes a while to reach critical mass, a time that is rarely given by one’s enemies because of how obvious it looks during self-destruction.

Additionally, when one’s Ki is in disarray, it’s impossible to use any movement techniques, and coupled with the body’s rapid swelling it is hard to prevent an enemy from escaping.

Because the power is so devastating, allies will also be caught in it if they are too close and it’s not often to have someone to hold the target down.

Usually, the only time it is used is when one has already pinned down one’s target and is willing to suicide with the enemy, but with a clone technique, things are different. And, despite each of the girl’s replicas had only a fraction of her strength, when they overload and explode, their destructive power is above S rank.

The six clones slowly went towards Kairos. Their bodies swelled and started heating up. It looked as though a torch was burning from within them, in their Dantian, and the glow could be seen through the skin.

Then, with stunning intensity, the clones turned into blazing infernos that shot up into the skies.

Kairos, trapped at the middle, was covered from sight. Even his friends paled at the devastating force.

“Kairos!”

“CAPTAIN!”

“Commander!”

However, as the light and dust died down, and the heat ebbed away, Kairos was revealed completely unharmed in the middle.

His skin was covered with brightly glowing golden runes, and a smile was plastered on his face, “I challenge the eighth rank!”

His True Heavenly Armour runes had activated and shielded him perfectly.

Despite the resounding boom still ringing in the ears of the spectators, everyone roared with hurrah.