187 Sinister Attacks

The next morning, Dan received a letter from the Luzon Clan, inviting him for lunch.

After sending Juliet, Natalie, and Grace to their morning classes, Dan went to the Luzon Clan Residence.

Upon his arrival, a warm reception welcomed him inside with numerous beauties embracing his arm on each side.

Dan maintained his lecherous facade and embraced these beauties as members of the Luzon Clan stared curiously at the fanfare.

One of them was Gerald Luzon, one of the shining youngsters of the Luzon Clan. His cultivation was at the Peak Spirit Tempering Realm at the age of seventeen, making him one of the geniuses of the Empire. Unfortunately, he failed the Paradyne Academy's entrance test and had since waited for the next entrance exam.

He held a curved sword in his hands and when Daw turned towards him. The latter stared curiously at the curved sword, before turning his head back on his path.

Gerald clicked his tongue, the lascivious lights within Dan's eyes annoyed him and the fact that the Patriarch himself was receiving such a delinquent made him curious and indignant. What qualifications did he have that the Patriarch himself would be so respectful in facing him?

Following the fanfare, Gerald soon arrived before the Patriarch's Residence. Using his authority, Gerald went past the security and arrived at the dining table where Patriarch Warren and Dan sat before each other, enjoying a sumptuous lunch.

"Gerald? Why did you come here? Didn't the guards told you that we have an esteemed guest, today?" Warren knitted his eyebrows upon seeing Gerald's intrusion.

Dan turned towards Gerald before saying to the Patriarch, "It's fine, we don't need to be so stiff, he's still a member of your clan so you need to be more kind to them than me..."

His words made the Patriarch scratch his head in awkwardness, in an effort to dissolve the strange atmosphere, Warren turned to Gerald and said, "Why did you come here? Is there anything that you need from me?"

Even though Gerald couldn't compare to Jamie, a Core Disciple of the Paradyne Academy. Gerald has his own charms. Particularly, his relentless attitude in battle and his stubbornness to win that sometimes created miracles for him.

"I don't have anything in particular for you, Patriarch. I just came here because I am curious about this esteemed guest of ours..." Gerald clasped his hands together before bowing down as a strange light flashed within his eyes.

"Curious about me? Could it be that you're doubting my status as an Honorary Disciple of the Paradyne Academy?" Dan saw the jealousy within Gerald's eyes and said words that would provoke him to ask for an exchange of pointers.

Gerald's figure stiffened for a moment before he raised his upper body and stood stoically amidst Warren's solemn gaze. Focusing his gaze on Dan, he said, "Indeed, I just cannot believe that someone that looks as young as you could possibly acquire the position that even my Big Brother Jamie couldn't achieve..."

Dan lifted a provoking smile and Warren rubbed his aching temples. Setting aside Dan's cunningness, he was still a youngster and young men like him were hot-blooded creatures.

"So you're saying that you want to challenge me in an exchange of pointers?" Dan went straight to the point, leaving Gerald with no path for retreat. As a proud member of the Luzon Clan, Gerald had the duty of upholding their dignity so how could he refuse Dan's offer to battle?

Patriarch Warren stared at Dan and fell into deep contemplation. Ever since Gerald arrived, the former unknowingly fell into Dan's tempo and the latter manipulated his words so that Gerald would undoubtedly take the bait. Like now, if Gerald refused it would be tantamount to slapping Luzon's dignity to the ground.

Patriarch Warren couldn't help but feel an ominous premonition in his heart. Shaking his head, Warren lifted a small smile and said, "How about this, we will use one of our disciple training grounds as your battlegrounds, there we can have sufficient space and both of you could use everything that you have without restraint."

Both nodded their heads and soon, a huge crowd gathered on the Clan Disciples Training Ground of the Luzon Clan. Those that gathered were mostly disciples and some Elders that wanted to see the extent of an Honorary Disciple's power.

The disciples felt reluctant in coming here, but when they heard that an Honorary Disciple from the Paradyne Academy has arrived and would gladly offer pointers to anyone, they immediately rushed to the Training Grounds and as a result, all hundred seats were filled with some even standing just so they could see the battle without hindrance.

Gerald clad in the pure white robes of the Luzon Clan stood still like a shining knight in armor while Dan clad in the fiery robes of the Paradyne Academy looked dignified and cool.

Patriarch Warren stepped forward and declared, "This is just a mere exchange of pointers, attacks that would cause fatal injuries are strictly forbidden, other than that, all methods to win are permitted with the exception of poisons!"

"The condition to win is to render your enemy incapable of further battle and to send them into unconsciousness, that's all! Since everyone in here is already looking forward to the battle, I won't delay any longer!"

Patriarch Warren lifted his right arm and as soon as it descended down.

Bang!

A fierce sound resonated at Gerald's side, and his figure reappeared before Dan with his curved sword raised in the air for a downward slice. His attack was fast but it was too predictable as Dan merely backstepped and avoided the slice within a hair's breadth and counter-attacked with a palm strike.

Gerald knew that his attack wouldn't connect. However, instead of retracting his downward slice, he went all the way through as the blade of his sword struck the ground with a clanging sound.

Dan frowned at Gerald's actions but when the blade struck the ground, it miraculously shot up like a meteor, heading for his chest in neck-breaking speeds!

"What in the actual..." Dan cursed in his mind and turned his torso to the right, evading Gerald's attack while counter-attacking with another palm strike that Gerald dissipated with a block.

These took longer to describe but only several breaths passed in reality. The disciples who saw their display of skill stared dumbstruck while those Elders revealed amused smiles on their faces.

Dan stared at Gerald's curved sword in an effort to unlock the secret as to how it changed trajectory in mid-air and went for his body. Knitting his eyebrows, Dan decided not to use the System's capabilities and unlock the mysteries by himself.

In his heart, Dan knew that the System will become obsolete in the future when his cultivation and experience were high enough that he could fight against experts on his own. So to prepare for that, Dan decided not to rely too much on the System.

Gerald's curved sword didn't look much different from a scimitar, aside from the tip that looked wider than the body of the blade itself, nothing really stood out that Dan could pick out as suspicious.

"Since I can't find any clues just by observing, let's just try and find it out by attacking!" Dan sped towards Gerald's figure and coated both his arms in Spiritual Qi so that they wouldn't suffer injuries when defending against Gerald's attacks.

Sparks flew everywhere with their figures looking like a blurry image for those spectators of lower cultivation. In each time Dan blocked an attack, his eyes focused on the tip of Gerald's blade and found that upon impact, it would vigorously vibrate and turned bouncy like rubber.

"So the tip of your sword is the reason why you could easily change the trajectory of your attack," Dan exclaimed in his heart and with this knowledge, he avoided Gerald's complicated attacks without any problems even without the System's assistance.

The pleasure of seamlessly evading your enemy's attack surged within Dan's heart and he soon found the battle as enjoyable. Dan admired Gerald's hot-bloodedness and fierceness in battle and thought that if they weren't enemies, they could become close friends.

Unfortunately, Dan and the Luzon Clan were fated enemies and to weaken the foundation of the Luzon Clan itself, Dan resolved in his mind and sent a discreet yet invasive attack on Gerald's soul using the techniques that he learned from George and Leona.

A wisp of jet-black light struck Gerald's wrist and fused with his body without his knowledge. Seeing this, Dan decided to end the battle as his figure disappeared and reappeared behind Gerald's figure and sent a kick on his back while at the same time, disarming him of his weapon.

"Victory, Dan Longinus!"

Patriarch Warren announced the victor and Gerald retreated with a smile on his face. Though he was defeated, he didn't feel indignant at all. After all, his enemy was an Honorary Disciple of the Paradyne Academy.

"Patriarch, since the disciples of your clan gathered in here, it would be much better to have them experience the true power of an Honorary Disciple from the Paradyne Academy. How about this, anyone that wants to exchange moves with me can come here and fight me for five moves."

His words sent cheers echoing throughout the entire Training Grounds.

Patriarch Warren approved of his idea and Dan battled with every disciple of the Luzon Clan.

However, little did Patriarch Warren knew that Dan was setting them up for their downfall.