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There were three weeks left before the Outer Court Rankings and many disciples have been training seriously.
As long as they could rise up in the rankings, more resources will be allocated to them.
Meanwhile, a disguised Arthur set out for Misty Mountain Range with 15 members of his faction.
Among them were Luke, Balor, and Sun Wukong who had grown tremendously.
Due to Arthur's nurturing, they were all in the high stages of the Gold Core Realm.
"Do you think they will take the bait," Evelyn asked Luke who was leading the group.
"Yes," Luke's reply was short and somewhat cold.
Evelyn had noticed that for some time now, Luke had been giving her the cold shoulder and she had no idea why.
'Is he suspicious of me?' She wondered.
She only knows that they were aware of the fact that there are spies in the faction, but they have no idea who the spies are.
After repeatedly trying to strike up a conversation with Luke and failing, she relented.
As they got closer to their destination, a heavy silence descended.
Everyone acted like they were facing a great enemy.
Before leaving, Arthur had allowed the spies to 'know' of their movements by spreading news of a treasure hunt amongst the members of the faction.
Balor had been the one to come up with the idea, so they were towards a specific mountain.
Along the way, they encountered many spirit beasts who attacked them and got defeated by the group.
But there were some very sensitive spirit beasts that sensed them ahead of time and moved to another direction after sensing the overall power of the group.
"We are here," Luke spoke as they arrived before a valley.
Leading the group, they walked into the valley. And as they did, Arthur gave Luke a secret signal.
'They are already here.'
"Be on the alert," Luke spoke sternly and everyone tensed up immediately.
"Hohoho, it seems they were expecting us."
A playful voice echoed in the valley and nine shadows descended.
When their figures were revealed, some of the members of the faction already began to feel despair.
"Quan, so you are now a lackey of the Blood Sword Faction," Luke said with narrowed eyes.
"Who are you? How dare say talk like that to Young Master Quan?!"
One of them spat out in disdain and wanted to attack, but was stopped by Quan.
"Leave him be," Quan said coldly, and then turned to Luke.
"Tell me, where is your so-called invincible leader? You lot have been suffering for a while now and he has not acted. What's wrong, is he scared?"
Ever since Quan lost to Arthur during the previous Outer Court Rankings, he had developed a bit of hate for him which is partially out of jealousy.
But he knew full well that he was not a match for Arthur, so he can only talk shit about him behind his back.
But how would he know that Arthur was disguised as one of the men that came here today?
One can only wonder what his reaction would be if he knew.
"The other top ten rankers are all inner court disciples now, but your leader is still a mere outer-"
"Oh just shut up already!" A voice spoke from Luke's group.
"Who said that?!" Quan was surprised and angry that someone dared tell him to shut up.
He was currently the third strongest disciple in the sect after the other top ten ranked disciples left for the inner court.
Within this time he had enjoyed the prestige and respect he felt he deserved, and his strength had improved faster than before due to the resources he received.
Even some maidens of the outer court had thrown themselves at him now, so his ego was at an all-time high.
So being told to shut up spiked his anger.
He quickly located the one who spoke and got even angrier when he saw it was an unknown person who was likely canon fodder.
"Alright, it seems to be that you all are eager to get beaten up. Take them down!" Quan ordered.
The Blood Sword Faction suspected that this was a trap and that maybe Arthur would be here too, so they have taken some countermeasures.
But since Arthur was not here, then maybe this group might really have a treasure map.
But if they do, why would they let the word of it spread among the members of their faction?
Quan was still suspicious and originally planned to probe things cautiously but that 'unknown' disciple telling him to shut up, threw that out of the window.
"Let me take him on," Sun Wukong brought out his staff and looked at Quan provocatively.
"No, we should work together as planned," Luke disagreed.
"I think we can let him fight first and if he proves too strong then we can join him. Besides, even if he is stronger, Wukong should be able to hold him off for some time to allow us to take care of the others," Balor suggested.
"Hmm, we can do that. Heads up!" Luke said.
Balor reacted fast to the attack that was sent at him.
*Shing!*
The sound of two swords clashing was heard as he blocked the attack successfully.
"Discussing a battle plan eh? Hmph, amateurs. There is nothing you can do except lose," the attacker mocked.
"We'll see about that," Balor replied and countered with an attack of his own.
And so a sword fight began between the two.
Sun Wukong wasted no time and ran to where Quan was with an excited look in his eyes.
"Where do you-?!"
One of them tried to stop his advancement, but Sun Wukong skillfully maneuvered around him with swift footwork leaving the young man stunned.
His footwork was one of his weaknesses that Arthur had pointed out, and with his help, Sun Wukong had improved his movement technique.
Quan was also a bit surprised at that, but he didn't take Wukong seriously.
He only shook his head and said, "You are just courting a beating."
"Really? I don't think so," Sun Wukong had a grin on his face as he arrived before Quan and waved his staff.
*Bang!*
Quan easily dodged the attack and sent a punch at Wukong.
"Dealing with you, I don't even need to use my sword or release my martial spirit!"
"You will change your mind soon then."
The battle between the two erupted and quickly became heated.
Meanwhile, Luke was leading the remaining fourteen members to fight against the remaining seven.
The battle erupted, and Luke's group was at a disadvantage.
This was understandable as their opponents were no weaklings. All of them were among the top fifty outer court disciples.
Luke's battle style was like that of an assassin. His movement technique was very skillful and he fought with two daggers.
He was quick to retreat when he is at a disadvantage and was quick to attack when he sees an opening.
Arthur took note of all that was happening while hiding his real strength.
His soul power was released and he was watching those who were still hiding, probably waiting for him to show up or something else.
At another corner.
"Hah!"
Sun Wukong increased his attacks and Quan couldn't fight unarmed anymore and brought out his sword.
"So you are that weak, but this doesn't mean anything."
Quan was more skillful and experienced than Sun Wukong, and his cultivation was at the peak of the Gold Core Realm.
Meanwhile, Sun Wukong was only at the eighth rank in the Gold Core Realm.
But this was very surprising to Quan as he knew Sun Wukong was still far from such a level a few months ago.
'The Vice Leader's suspicions could be true after all. That Invincible must have gotten something from the Alchemists!'
Their fight continued and Quan had the upper hand.
Sun Wukong struggles to keep up and finally released his martial spirit.
A monkey-shaped constellation appeared behind him and his strength and battle sense were enhanced immediately.
With all his physical attributes boosted, Sun Wukong gained the upper hand in the fight in an instant.
'What is it with this strength?!' Quan was shocked to find out that his opponent's physical strength outmatched his own despite his lower cultivation level.
Quan felt it would be a smear on his reputation if he went all out against him but he couldn't care about that as he can not afford to lose this fight.
So without wasting time, he released his Earth Martial Spirit and used his signature movement technique.
'Earthen Slide!'
*Cling!*
Sun Wukong managed to react just at the nick of time but he was thrown off balance and Quan took advantage of the opening.
*Slash!*
"Grh!" Sun Wukong growled at the sword wound that appeared on his shoulder and used that moment to retreat.
Quan did not follow up with another attack and just smiled arrogantly.
"Do not blame me, I did warn you after all."
Sun Wukong only glared at him, causing his smile to widen and his head was raised a bit.
But then Sun Wukong did something that confused Quan. He kept his staff away and cracked his neck
He grinned, "Hehe, this is just what I want."
Quan was confused, but he did not get to think much before Sun Wukong attacked.
"Violent Ape Fist!"
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------------End of Chapter------------
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~~~~ ANNOUNCEMENT~~~~
The Author has returned!
"I'm back baby!"
"Sorry for the delay all readers... I, unfortunately, experienced cultivation deviation and got weakened."
"But I am better now... Unlike Arthur, I the Author got no cheats...*sigh*"
PS: I need your votes...desperately...
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