Meeting at the Pavilion of Heavenly Justice is still being held right now, but how could they come to a conclusion on what to do now? It was the alliance leader's idea to hold a grand competition and even taunt the other factions that they'd be branded as cowards if they didn't dare join this. And now, look at what happened. Their arrogance cost them the pitiful lives of their future. And how could they blame the alliance leader? Forget about how they all agreed to this, but just the strength of Zheng Tianlong is enough for them not to even dare blame him, and war is not an option. After all, many of their geniuses just died in this competition. It would be foolish to wage war against the evil faction or the demonic sect. Thus, all the sect leaders and patriarchs just went back to their own headquarters without deciding on a valid next action.
"Tch… all that righteous boasting, and now they scatter like frightened dogs."
"Shh! Watch your tongue! Zheng Tianlong might hear you."
"He doesn't need to hear. The corpses of their disciples already speak louder than words."
Inside the Moyong Clan:
After the patriarch of the Moyong Clan, Moyong Jihan, arrived, the elders held a meeting, and as the young leader of the Moyong Clan, Moyong Seojin attended too.
The elders decided to let Moyong Seojin continue participating in this battle.
"FATHER!!!!" A loud voice of objection could be heard in the hall. "DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE TOO?! THOSE PEOPLE ARE MONSTERS IN HUMAN FORM! IT WOULD BE A BLESSING IF I GOT LUCKY AND IS MATCH WITH LUCIAN SINCE THAT BRAT DIDN'T KILL ANYONE IN THIS MATCH, BUT HOW COULD I BET MY LIFE ON MERE LUCK?!"
Moyong Seojin lost his morale and confidence in this competition. He is a genius, yes, no one can deny that, but against these terrifying people, he paled in comparison. It was akin to a tiger cub fighting a fully grown tiger. Although both of them are tigers, one is at a disadvantage, and that's the situation of Moyong Seojin.
"You disrespectful brat! Don't tell me you're scared?!—" an elder of the Moyong Clan shouted at Moyong Seojin, but before he could continue, Moyong already interrupted him.
"HMPH!— Then why don't you go there and fight them yourself? Oh, so-called great one." His tone was filled with sarcasm.
Moyong Seojin had a point. What's the point of fighting when the result is certain death? Honor and reputation can be restored anytime, but his life?
Moyong Jihan looked at his child and sighed. He too didn't want his son to have anything to do with this competition. The Baek Clan's situation was already an example of what could happen, and he didn't want to lose his heir.
"Alright, no need to participate in that bloody battle. After all, your life is what matters here. Those so-called reputations, we will build them again as long as you're alive. So train diligently, and remember this humiliating experience." He said to his son and dismissed the meeting.
Just like that, the Moyong Clan, with Moyong Seojin, withdrew from this bloody match. And that decision blew the minds of people. The Moyong Clan actually withdrew?
The other righteous clans and sects, after hearing this, could only curse Moyong Jihan.
"Tsk! What a sly bastard! We are withdrawing from this battle too! Our priority is preserving our heir!" That's what other clans and sects said, and they also withdrew their heirs from this battle. Although others might call them cowards, this was a wise decision. What's the point of being brave when one is dead?
Thus, in this competition, the Righteous Alliance withdrew, and this battle became a battleground of the Evil Faction, the Demonic Cult, and those unaffiliated ones. Tomorrow, only eleven candidates would fight.
Gossip about how cowardly the righteous faction had become surely spread after this, while others understood them. After all, their losses were far too disastrous to ignore. How could they be foolish enough to add more to that?
"The Moyong Clan withdrew?! Impossible!"
"Cowards, the lot of them! What happened to the righteous path?"
"Righteous path? Look around you. Corpses littering the arena, that's the 'righteous' path."
"Still… to withdraw in shame like this… Murim will never forget."
"Let them laugh. The clever survive, the proud perish."
Inside an inn, Matheus and Lucian sat, eating their food peacefully and drawing the attention of others, as they were the most promising candidates in this competition. Their names were the highest in betting pools for this competition.
"Look, that's him… the Peerless Little Demon Lord."
"Shhh! Don't stare, you fool! You want your head rolling too?"
"And that's Matheus… they say he ate through half the inn's pantry last night."
"Even monsters need to eat, I suppose."
Suddenly, a huge young man with a manly look came in their direction and bowed to Lucian.
"I want to duel you again!" he said politely.
This was Jin Hyeon-ryu. Yes, the successor of the mid-sized Iron Serpent Sect, and he was Lucian's first opponent in the Dragon and Phoenix Competition.
Murmurs could be heard, after all, this was a public place, and others heard what Jin Hyeon-ryu said.
"What? There's still actually someone brave in the righteous faction?!"
"He actually wants to duel with that Lucian? No, the Peerless Little Demon Lord?!"
Lucian looked at this young man and etched his face into his mind. Lucian liked courageous and brave men. To even challenge him after experiencing absolute defeat was indeed commendable.
"I like you!" Lucian said, laughing.
Jin Hyeon-ryu stiffened. "I'm not into men."
Lucian almost gripped his sword, ready to cut this bastard, but then he saw his master in this guy, so he calmed himself.
"Ha! Your imagination is quite wild. Stop your nonsense!"
Matheus, who was eating, didn't even care about these two and just stuffed food in his mouth. Although Lucian is his senior brother, his personal life is not his problem."You can kill each other for all I care. I'll just eat here," was what he was thinking.
As Lucian, who hadn't trained his swordsmanship yet this evening, agreed, he followed Jin Hyeon-ryu to his sect to hold a duel there that night.
At the Iron Serpent Sect:
The disciples of the Iron Serpent Sect were actually stupefied after hearing that Lucian was coming to their sect. They were already thinking about what they had done to offend him, but then when he arrived, they saw their senior brother together with him.
And as for Matheus? Meh, he was definitely still eating at the inn, as food was the most sacred thing in this world for him.
"Why is HE here?!"
"Did senior brother offend him?!"
"Pack your things, hurryyyy!!! We're dead men walking!"
"Shut up, idiot! Maybe he's just… visiting…"
Jin Hyeon-ryu led Lucian to the training ground, and the disciples, after hearing there was going to be a duel, definitely hurried to witness it.
"Please evaluate my swordsmanship, Senior!" Jin Hyeon-ryu actually called Lucian his senior even though the latter was much younger than him. Well, it's understandable since he was much stronger.
Lucian only used a wooden sword while Jin Hyeon-ryu used his sword. The reason? Lucian's sword was for killing, and he didn't plan on killing this lad since he had taken a liking to him. He wasn't belittling or showing mercy to Jin Hyeon-ryu, since he could kill this lad with a mere stick.
Jin Hyeon-ryu immediately attacked Lucian. All Lucian did was defend himself with ease. He analyzed Jin Hyeon-ryu's swordsmanship, pointed out its weaknesses, and occasionally gave him advice on how to amend them.
"Incredible… Senior Brother's sword is like a storm, but he's being toyed with like a child!"
"That's the Peerless Little Demon Lord for you…"
Jin Hyeon-ryu's swordsmanship was heavy. It focused on destructive power in every attack, making his opponent feel overwhelmed and lose initiative. Well, that only happened if his enemy was weaker or at his level. It wouldn't happen if the enemy was as strong as Matheus, Seo Hwa-rin, or Lucian.
While guiding this Hyeon-ryu brat, Lucian was actually amazed by how rapidly he incorporated Lucian's advice into his own swordsmanship during the battle. This was another hidden gem in the mud. He saw the potential of Jin Hyeon-ryu—a terrifying one at that.
"What's your name?" Lucian asked after he finished dueling with this kid. Though it was more like teaching him than dueling.
Jin Hyeon-ryu was taken aback. "Am I that insignificant to him that he didn't even remember my name?" was what he was thinking, but he replied politely.
"I am Jin Hyeon-ryu. Thank you for your teaching!"
Well, he was right. Lucian actually didn't care about those he deemed weak.
After that, he went back to the inn, and before leaving, Jin Hyeon-ryu gave him a huge amount of money. Finally, Lucian now had his own money—his first money earned in this world.
The night passed just like that, and now it was time for the final competition. After the four candidates from the Righteous Alliance withdrew, only eleven competitors remained, and since they were lacking one candidate, they decided to draw lots. The lucky bastard who won this draw would be the last contender. He wouldn't need to fight and could just wait for the strongest one among the ten to emerge and fight him. And that lucky bastard was none other than Matheus. He advanced as the final competitor without even fighting. Though others couldn't say anything about it—it was a fair draw. Their luck had failed them.
"Tch! That glutton gets a free pass?!" an old man in the crowd said, he stayed at the same inn Matheus is—after the inn run out of food every night he needed to eat outside because of Matheus.
"Luck is part of strength, fool."
"Still feels unfair…"
So, the battle commenced. To decide their opponents, they did the Heavenly Draw. It's a game in the Murim world where you put something in a box and pick one by one to decide your fate. But this time, they only put the names of the candidates. One by one, they picked a paper from the box, and that name would be their opponent.
The first battle would be Lucian, the "Peerless Little Demon Lord," and Mo Haryun, the "Laughing Ghost Wanderer."
Yeon Wol and his twin brother Yeon Sol, also known as the Twin Shadow Serpents, would fight each other.
Seo Hwa-rin, the "Crimson Flower of Murim" from the Evil Faction, and Jin Saeryeong of the Demonic Cult.
Seo Woon and Hwang Jichan, both from the Heavenly Demon Cult.
And lastly, Gwan Seojin, known as the Drifting Immortal Blade, and his opponent, another from the Heavenly Demon Cult—Ma Yunseok.
As this was the last battle with only eleven candidates, only one stage was built so the crowd could focus on one battlefield. With loud cheers from the crowd, the battle started!
"The Peerless Little Demon Lord versus the Laughing Ghost Wanderer… heavens preserve us! Both of them are lunatics!"
"Arghhhh!!!! Would you shut upppp?!?! I'm going to get killed too because of you! You idiot!!!" One nervous and frightened bystander said.
"This stage may not survive their fight."
"Or us, if they decide to go wild."
Mo Haryun walked on the stage, laughing like a madman to himself.
"HEHEHEHEHE~ FINALLY!!!! I CAN FINALLY FIGHT YOU!"
It turned out that Mo Haryun didn't plan on entering this Dragon and Phoenix Competition, finding it boring and only wanting to watch from the sidelines. But while he was eating at one of the nearest inns near the registry, he heard a commotion, and just like that, a dead, rolling head fell to the ground. Only him saw what really happened clearly.
Lucian didn't move fast, but the world's time became slow! Yes! It became slow, allowing Lucian to just walk normally, but in the eyes of others, he vanished and teleported to kill his opponent. Mo Haryun saw this clearly. Although he's a lunatic and can't be controlled, he's a genius beyond everyone his age or even those old monsters, since he even saw the essence of the movement of the 3rd-generation Heavenly Demon Cult leader, Jeonglak Cheonma, that the Murim Righteous Alliance leader, Zheng Tianlong, failed to see himself!
When the fight started, the two of them vanished, and only the clashing of swords could be heard. Only a few renowned masters could vaguely see what was happening. The ordinary audience, even the disciples, could only hear swords clashing—they couldn't see a thing! This scene made the crowd gasp, and gossip began to spread again, asking what was happening!
"Where are they?! Did they disappear and leave the battle ground?! Then... are they disqualified???"
"Tsk! You idiot! They're just too fast for our eyes!"
"I see nothing but sparks and hear ringing steel… these monsters…"
"Oh?" Lucian was actually surprised. It was his first time someone had blocked him not once, but multiple times.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! YESSS!!! THIS IS WHAT A FIGHT SHOULD BE! ENTERTAIN ME MORE!!!!!!"
Mo Haryun was a genius who found life boring. He was already this strong, and every time he dueled others, the result was the same. He always won without even the slightest difficulty. Now, how was that genius feeling, meeting someone who could actually fight him? Yes, he felt the thrill of excitement for the very first time! Even Matheus and Seo Hwa-rin were definitely no match for these two monsters!
"Clang!—"
"Clingggg! Clanggg!—"
They clashed swords again and again. Then Lucian suddenly changed his stance, only standing and defending with his left hand infused with qi, making normal people see what was happening. They saw Lucian standing still, and suddenly the clash of swords could be heard, but they couldn't see where Mo Haryun was.
"Ting! Ting! Ting!" Lucian parried all his attacks.
"I really hate it when someone can actually match me." he said plainly.
Then, his Blood-Soul Eating Demonic Sword shook, its aura grew, and people could hear it actually shriek loudly! Yes! The sword spoke.
"Shriiiekkkkk!!!!—" A loud, eerie and creepy shriek resounded in the whole battle ground. Then suddenly, Lucian disappeared and—
"BAMMM!—"
A body was seen on the ground, coughing blood out of his mouth, heavily injured, but this man was laughing, as if happy about this. This person was none other than Mo Haryun. The second figure that appeared next to him was Lucian, unscathed, without even the slightest injury on his body.
It was the Silent Death Sword, Lucian own sword technique. Lucian used his sword technique for the first time. But he purposely didn't hit Mo Haryun's vital points since he likes this person. He is a heaven-defying talent just like him.
He then spoke, "You, become my subordinate."
And Mo Haryun stopped laughing and replied, "Alright!"
Gasps could be heard because what kind of situation was that?! And Lucian actually wanted to keep this madman????
"Is… is he recruiting him?!"
"No, no, no! Those two together? We're all doomed!"
"The Peerless Little Demon Lord just tamed a madman!!!!!!"
"Shut up!! What if they hear you and suddenly cut your neck?!"
And so, Lucian collected his first Pokémon… I mean, his first-ever subordinate.