Chapter 496: Sean Appears, I Will Take You On Single-Handedly
As if a thunderclap on a clear day, it reverberated throughout the venue, startling the disciples on the other two sparring platforms, who halted their battle and turned to look. The previously bustling martial arts arena fell momentarily silent due to Ken’s furious shout.
It became as quiet as a still lake, and one could hear a pin drop. Only the sound of accelerating heartbeats echoed in everyone’s ears-thump, thump, thump-each of the academy disciples knew Ken’s strength and, even more so, his temperament. He was fierce and brutal, quick to resort to violence at the slightest provocation. Few dared to provoke this star of calamity within the academy.
Now, with the appearance of “Great Ape” on the spectator platform, it was evident that he had provoked Ken thoroughly. Observing Ken’s overwhelming presence, it was clear that he wasn’t just looking for a challenge from Great Ape, but rather to utterly dismantle him!
After a brief silence, applause erupted like thunder, and a wave of cheers swept through the entire arena. “Challenge! Challenge! Challenge!” Hundreds of academy disciples echoed in unison, their voices filled with undisguised resentment and anger, sweeping fiercely towards Ken and Sean.
It exploded! Ken had finally lost his cool, and the academy disciples followed suit.
“Junior! This…” Mr. Sun was somewhat surprised by the outcome. He hadn’t expected that a casual question from him and a casual response from Sean would provoke such a massive reaction. He looked at Sean, his expression turning somewhat embarrassed, tinged with a hint of regret.
Nevertheless, Mr. Sun was secretly pleased. This scene was exactly to his liking. Just like Hastiff, he had warmly entertained Sean for half a day, anticipating Sean’s display of strength.
“Haha!” Before Sean could speak, Hastiff couldn’t help but interject with a smile, “These kids are just like you, full of youthful arrogance, full of hot blood. If you don’t mind, why not give them a little guidance? It might help to temper their impetuosity and teach them to respect those stronger than themselves on the path of cultivation…”
As he spoke, Hastiff appeared amiable and affable. However, even a fool could discern that his words were not just a reprimand to the disciples of the Buddha Academy, but a veiled, pointed criticism directed at Sean.
After all, who could be more arrogant than “Great Ape”? As for respect, a junior in the middle stage of dark energy, Great Ape didn’t seem to show any respect towards the instructors, elders of the Buddha Academy, including Institute Head Hastiff, or even the entire Buddha Academy.
So, who was teaching whom, and who was being reprimanded, remained to be seen!
“Is that so?” Sean and Hastiff exchanged a glance, naturally understanding the old fox’s intentions. However, Sean had come to the Buddha Academy to secure a place in the full academy martial arts competition and to enter the imperial capital. Ultimately, each had their own motives.
Sean nodded, saying, “Since Mr. Hastiff has personally made the request, I cannot be impolite. I will follow Mr. Hastiff’s words and offer some guidance to these foolish disciples of your academy.”
Foolish! Just earlier, Ken had instantly defeated a disciple and labeled him as foolish. Now, Sean’s use of the term extended to all the academy disciples, further enraging them.
“Step down!”
“Crawl away!”
“Get down!”
Curses rained down like a landslide, directed vehemently at Sean.
Subsequently, under the expectant gaze of everyone, Sean finally stood up and looked at Ken standing at the edge of the sparring platform. Without hesitation, Ken returned to the center of the platform. However, just as everyone thought a grand battle was about to commence, Sean remained standing there, seemingly with no intention of leaving the spectator platform. With a sigh, he shook his head at Ken and said, “You are too weak. You are not worthy of my personal guidance. Challenge me? You… are not capable!”
“Wait a moment!” After finishing his words, Sean turned to Mr. Sun beside him, gesturing, “Mr. Sun, after saying so much, I suddenly feel a bit thirsty. Please have someone bring a fruit platter.”
At the moment Sean’s words fell, including Hastiff, Mr. Sun, Kazimir, and the elders and instructors on the spectator platform, all of their faces turned dark. They had witnessed Great Ape’s arrogance and shamelessness, but they had never imagined that it could reach such audacious heights. It seemed there were no limits to his behavior.
As expected, after the academy disciples snapped out of their shock, their curses became even more intense. Each of them was eagerly preparing for a showdown, and the situation seemed on the verge of spiraling out of control.
Meanwhile, Sean completely ignored their fury. After briefly standing up from his rosewood chair, he promptly sat back down with a thud.
“Institute Head!” Mr. Sun looked at Hastiff with a dark expression.
To be honest, even the equally grim-faced Hastiff felt an overwhelming urge to slap Sean on the spot. But considering Great Ape’s terrifying strength and the importance of the full academy martial arts competition, he gritted his teeth, restrained himself, and waved his hand, signaling, “Fetch a fruit platter for Mr. Great!”
Hastiff’s response once again caused a stir among the crowd. The disciples’ hearts trembled violently. They could hardly believe their ears. Goodness! Did the Institute Head just say that? Was the person sitting on the spectator platform truly their Institute Head?
Their worldviews were on the verge of collapse! Even amidst their shock, their first thought was, “Could it be that our Institute Head has some kind of leverage in Great Ape’s hands?”
“I’ll go!” Kazimir stood up and personally went to fetch a fruit platter for Sean. As he descended from the spectator platform, he shouted at the dumbfounded disciples, “What are you all standing there for? Continue the matches!”
“Master Clock!” Ken protested angrily, “I refuse! I want to challenge-”
“Refuse quietly!” Kazimir interrupted before Ken could finish, glaring at him and gesturing, “Get down! What’s the rush? When the time comes, the junior will naturally spar with you!”
Clutching his fists tightly, Ken dared not defy Kazimir’s command and begrudgingly left the sparring platform. Before he departed, he couldn’t resist taunting Sean, “Coward! Don’t give me a chance, otherwise, I’ll knock your teeth out with a single punch!”
Sean paid no heed to this and simply crossed his legs, delivering a counter-provocation through his actions. Don’t agree? Angry? Want to fight? Well, I won’t fight you. I’ll just infuriate you, la la la…
A moment later, amidst this tense atmosphere akin to a powder keg, the second round of matches between the academy disciples began. This time, it was a mid-stage dark energy bout between a young man and a young woman. The young woman wielded a sword, displaying graceful and agile footwork. Her combat resembled a dance, exuding both beauty and fierceness. Within seven moves, she defeated her opponent.
At that moment, Mr. Sun returned with a fruit platter, handing it to Sean, unable to resist asking, “Young friend, how does this match feel?”
Nevertheless, Mr. Sun had learned his lesson this time, lowering his voice and refraining from praising the female disciple as he had previously praised Ken, to prevent being mercilessly rebuffed by Sean.
In the fruit platter, an array of freshly cut fruits was arranged neatly. Sean pierced a piece of apple with a toothpick and placed it into his mouth, chewing noisily. As he chewed, he commented, “This young lady’s swordsmanship is not bad.”
“Unfortunately…”Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.
“Her speed is too slow. She has ample flexibility but lacks strength. Her movements are elegant but lack substance. It took her seven moves to win this match. If I were to step in, one strike would be sufficient!”
At these words, Mr. Sun lightly cleared his throat. As expected, just as I thought, this show-off is disdainful of everything. He can’t give any good evaluation from his mouth! Moreover! Mr. Sun had just returned to his seat when Sean suddenly leaned in and, in a voice only they could hear, added, “Most importantly, she’s too ugly. She has the ability of a vase, but lacks the beauty of one…”
Cough!!! This time, Mr. Sun was genuinely taken aback and coughed heavily!
“Excuse me!” Sean maintained courtesy, though not as loudly as before. Nevertheless, his assessment still didn’t escape the ears of the senior sister nearby, who glared at him and couldn’t help but ask, “If Ken can’t pique your interest in a battle, what about me? May I have the honor of witnessing your skill in defeating an opponent with a single sword strike?”
Clearly, the young lady was also angry!
“Just a moment!” Sean smiled. “There might be many who wish to challenge me. Perhaps the young lady should take a number and wait in line. After everyone else has finished, I will give you all a chance!”
“Alright!” The senior sister didn’t persist like Ken did, speaking solemnly, “I’ll be waiting!”
With that, she turned and walked down from the fighting platform, standing together with Ken.
The subsequent matches unfolded one after the other. After almost every match, Mr. Sun tirelessly inquired about Sean’s evaluation, seemingly intentionally provoking Sean, fearing that Sean might renege on his word. Sean played along, evaluating each and every mid-level disciple who participated, or rather, he scorned them all, completely filling the grudge meter.
Until the final match! One of the disciples from the Plainwater Town branch, named Chan!
Chan! Although the name was simple, the strength was extraordinary. Like Ken, he also defeated his opponent with a single strike, without any hesitation, the battle lasted less than five seconds from start to finish!
Little did they know, among the many mid-level dark energy disciples in the Plainwater Town branch, if Ken’s strength could be ranked in the top three, then the last participant, Chan, was undoubtedly deserving of the first place!
The person lived up to his name! When Chan was in the early stages of dark energy, he was the first, and upon breaking through to the mid-level of dark energy, he quickly claimed the top spot. It seemed that his name, Chan, meant he had to continuously take the first place!
As a genuine Bright Realm practitioner, how discerning was Sean’s vision? Chan had only made one move, yet within that single move, Sean could clearly feel that Chan was very close to breaking through to the late stage of dark energy. Within this small realm of mid-level dark energy, Chan’s combat power was indeed exceptional!
Therefore, when Mr. Sun asked for Sean’s evaluation of Chan, Sean put away his previous nonchalant attitude and expression, nodding, “Quite interesting. If we divide the mid-level dark energy from weak to strong into three levels, the other five are in one level, and he belongs to the second level.”
Implied was that Chan’s strength was noticeably higher than the other five!
This kind of evaluation was very high, and it was the highest evaluation Sean had given so far!
“Oh?” Mr. Sun and Hastiff exchanged a glance, eyebrows raised, and asked, “And you…?”
“I’m full!” Sean put the last piece of dragon fruit from the fruit platter into his mouth, chewing, and stood up, stretching lazily, saying, “Having eaten my fill, it’s time to stretch my muscles!”
With that, Sean suddenly pushed off from the ground, leaping into the air with a whooshing sound, transforming into a blur and swiftly heading towards the opposite fighting platform. In the blink of an eye, he moved from the spectator stands to the fighting platform, appearing in front of Chan, just ten meters away from him!
The two stood facing each other!
Seeing this, the surrounding crowd immediately erupted into a commotion. After waiting so long, having accumulated a bellyful of anger, they finally saw the moment when “Great Ape” entered the battle. It seemed that Chan truly lived up to being the top mid-level dark energy practitioner in the academy, as with just one move, he had piqued “Great Ape’s interest in battle!
“Go, Chan!”
“Teach that show-off a lesson for us!”
“Beat him to a pulp!”
The insults and cheers filled the air. Even the elders and instructors at the spectator stands, led by Hastiff, sat up straight, focusing all their attention on Sean and Chan!
Chan’s expression was as cold as ice as he stared at Sean from a distance. After sizing Sean up for a moment, he spoke, “You mentioned three levels. They are in the first level, I’m in the second level, then where does the third level stand?”
To Chan, Sean’s words were somewhat contemptible, as the reason was simple: no one understood his strength better than himself. Within the mid-level of dark energy, he was one of the best. What outsiders didn’t know was that months ago, he had already reached the threshold for advancing to the late stage of dark energy!
In other words, as long as Chan wanted to break through, he could enter the late stage of dark energy at any time. The reason he hadn’t rushed to advance was to prepare for the upcoming academy-wide martial arts competition in ten days! With his mid-level dark energy prowess, Chan was confident that he could be unbeatable at the same level, securing the top spot. Once he advanced, as a newcomer to the late stage of dark energy, he wouldn’t be able to achieve the same dominance within a few months!
In this situation, Chan naturally couldn’t believe that, with his strength, he was only in what was referred to as the second level. Did that mean there were other mid-level dark energy practitioners stronger than him? That was impossible! Chan had absolute confidence. At this moment, he was at the peak of the mid-level of dark energy!
“Do you want to know?” Sean smiled lightly, speaking in a calm tone. “It’s simple. I am that person in the third level.”
“Compared to them, you are more than capable.”
“But!”
“Compared to me, your skills are not enough.”
“So…”
With that, Sean looked towards Ken and the others standing below the fighting platform, pointing his finger to indicate, “You want to challenge me, don’t you? Come, I don’t mind taking all six of you at once!”
“I!”
“I want to take on all of you as a group!”