Chapter 110: Big Mistake

"Where do you think you're going, punk?" Ian and his group of lackeys walked up to Claude, stopping right in front of him and blocking his way. Ian looked at Claude and said in a cold voice, "You think you can just jump from your weak faction to ours just because you stood behind our master one time? You thought it'd be that easy and we'll all be okay with it? Huh?"

*Sigh*

'To think there still are idiots like these around this academy…' As he stared at the confident gazes of these buffoons who were standing in front of him and couldn't help but sigh.

Oh well… I guess I could start by taking care of the trash first!

"That's exactly what I thought," Claude looked at Ian without any fear, remaining as calm as still water, and said indifferently. "Why? You got a problem?"

"You son of a b*tch! How dare you talk to your seniors with that tone!" One of Ian's lackeys yelled out loudly, his eyes burning with anger as he spoke.

Claude was not afraid, and with a cold expression that covered his face, he spoke. "Oh? And may the kind senior tell me what I might have done that angered you so much? As I recall, I simply asked if there was any problem with me assuming that it would be alright to join the Grand Astral Faction. It was merely a question senior. Or perhaps, there might be something wrong with your ears."

"You rascal! We should just best you u-" The lackey gritted his teeth as he cursed out viciously. But before he could do anything, Ian raised his hand and stared at him, causing the lackey to turn silent all of a sudden.

Ian then turned his head to look at Claude, who stared back at him, and said sinisterly, "Now, now, Jason, it seems that little Claude over here is a bit arrogant, probably because he feels as though he's a hero for standing up to the revolutionaries and helping our master… even though he didn't do all that much. I wonder though, what would happen if he finally understands that in front of 'true' cultivators, he's nothing more than a mere pest? That would definitely be a surprise for him. Perhaps, it might even destroy his ego and self-esteem. Or who knows.. the realization might even force him to kill himself!"

Claude looked at Ian and smiled indifferently as he replied. "Perhaps! But hey, at least I'm not a buffoon who talks about how great he is while needing his lackeys to support him as he talks down to his junior because bullying the weak makes him feel strong! I may be arrogant, but at least I'm not a loser!"

Silence!

Ian's complexion changed, and his eyes became bloodshot, but he suppressed the anger in his heart as he said, "Ha ha ha! Little Claude is a jokester. Who knew! But my junior, you might want to keep your jokes to a minimum if you really want to have a nice life as a proud member of the Grand Astral Faction. Because unlike your dumb, little Flying Sword Faction, ours is for the best and the brightest. So, be careful with your jokes when you're around the ones who're brighter than you. If you're not careful, you might end up burning to death."

At the end of his words, he turned around with a smug smile, and began walking back. 

Although he wanted to make Claude know who he was dealing with, he didn't think that this was the right place for it. He knew that Claude had a close relationship with the Third Elder, and he couldn't simply deal with the young man as soon as he entered their section of the division.

Of course, it would've been better if he wouldn't have had the verbal confrontation with Claude, but Ian couldn't help himself. He wanted to make sure Claude knew that he would never be a part of the Grand Astral Faction, even if he wanted to. He wanted him to know that he, who was part of the Flying Sword Faction which he found pathetic, would never be worthy enough to be part of their great faction.

BZZZ!

But before he could go back, a bright light passed by his face, and Ian's eyes widened with surprise as a drop of blood dripped down from his cheeks.

With shock in his eyes, he turned around and touched his cheeks, rubbing it slowly, and found a small graze on his face.

He was injured!

"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS??" Enraged by what just happened, Ian turned his gaze towards Claude and shouted out loudly, only to be met with a cold laughter from Claude, who had already summoned his katana, wielding it in his hands as he spoke. "What's the matter? You didn't think that I would just sit back and do nothing after you just threatened me, did you? I don't take threats lightly."

ZAM!

He raised his katana up in the air as he looked at the raging Ian and his lackeys with eyes that were as calm as water. 

"You little- GET HIM!!" Angered by the words of Claude, an enraged Ian screamed loudly as his lackeys shot forward, frantically rushing towards Claude.

Claude simply smiled as he watched the fast approaching men, silently studying his opponents' movements as they quickly reduced the distance between them.

Four guys. Two in the front, one on each side. Two following closely behind, presumably as backup. Which made sense. After all, Claude was at a lower rank than them. 

The one on the left had his left arm lightly stretching back, implying that he was gearing up to land a strike; perhaps a palm strike or a fist attack. The one on the right seemed a bit more intelligent, making seemingly no recognisable motion to attack. 

Seemingly. 

Claude noticed that his right leg was exerting more strength onto the ground as he moved forward, which implied that he was channeling more spiritual energy into his right leg; presumably for a normal kick attack reinforced by body strengthening technique or maybe even a roundhouse kick. 

The two at the back seemed to be going for a more obvious approach, with their weapons - the one on the left wielding a double bladed Scimitar and the other with a war hammer - visible to everyone. 

'Oi, oi… Aren't you guys taking this a bit too easy?' Claude had a sinister smile on his face as he gripped his katana tightly and the originally hot air now became suffocating. Although they were extremely quick and nimble with their motion, in the end, they were still too young to be Claude's opponents.

Swoosh!

The guy on the left stumbled towards Claude with his palm shooting forward, ready to attack using a palm strike. But before the attack could connect, Claude instantly ducked down and evaded the attack before catching the guy by the wrist, much to his surprise.

Claude then immediately pulled the guy to his right, using him as a shield as the guy on the right twirled in the air and aimed a powerful kick straight at Claude's face. 

BAM!

The guy whom Claude threw collided with the powerful kick, knocking him out. Before the guy who initiated the kick could make his next move, Claude had already arrived in front of him, smashing his palm right onto the middle of the guy's face, executing a palm strike at close range.

BOOM!

With a loud explosion, the young man flung backwards, right in the direction of the two backups, who were caught off guard by their fellow lackey friend. 

Zoom!

Claude immediately matched the two backups' charge with momentum of his own and swung his katana straight at one of the guy's chest, causing a loud explosion and pushing the guy backwards. He then bent backwards, avoiding the strike of the war hammer, and before the lackey could pull the weapon back, Claude had already charged forward and clamped his giant palm over the lackey's mouth, immediately executing the palm strike as he smashed his head down to the ground.

BOOM!

Another loud explosion! When the Grand Astral Faction disciples who had exited their residences to watch the fight between Claude and Ian saw the scene in front of them, they were astonished in their hearts.

They did not expect Claude to be able to exhibit such amazing techniques and win, especially against four cultivators who were of a higher rank than Claude.

Ian, who had witnessed the entire fight, was beyond shocked to say the least. He knew that Claude was powerful for his rank, but Ian believed that no matter how strong he was, he wouldn't be able to defeat his four lackeys who were all of a higher rank than Claude. It wouldn't make any sense!

And yet, to his horror, it was exactly what had happened! 

"Senior! Why are you staying behind? I thought you wanted to show me how great you were!" Claude, who had defeated the four lackeys, said with a sinister smile as he looked at Ian, who felt a cold shiver run down his spine when he heard his voice.

Although he was two ranks higher than Claude, Ian couldn't help but feel that continuing to fight Claude was not a wise action.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you! I'm just going to hurt you really bad!" But before Ian could say anything, Claude figure disappeared from the spot where he stood and reappeared right on top of Ian, his katana swinging downwards as Ian tried to block the attack!