Ming Xu felt a chill run down her spine when her eyes crossed Akata’s. Her body felt as if it had froze over. It was such a strong feeling that she stopped in place and didn’t even attempt to approach her own arena. Fear swelled up inside of her and beads of sweat poured down her forehead as she stood in place.

Akata stood up slowly and pulled back his killing intent as much as he could. He had unconsciously let it slip when he sensed Ming Xu, Xi Fe, and Xiun Wu approaching. Even still, it was strong enough to send chills down her spine, but at least now she was able to move.

‘What a strong desire to kill!’ Sweat still poured down her face as she thought this. ‘How could HE harbor such a killing will.’ She was astonished on a whole other level right now. Akata’s killing intent was strong enough to stop her in place.

Of course Ming Xu wasn’t the only one to feel the killing intent directly. Xi Fe and Xiun Wu also felt a bit of it, however it was on a lower scale since Ming Xu was in the lead. They stopped in place, not because they were suppressed, but because they were surprised.

“What a strong killing intent!” Xi Fe couldn’t help but say as his face turned serious. “How could his killing intent rise to such a level? Nobody his age should have a killing intent that is this strong. And he’s deliberately directing it at us. Could he have found out that we tried to kill him in the forest?” Xi Fe asked Xiun Wu.

Xiun Wu simply looked at Akata with a calm face. “We’ll have to see as this match goes on. Given how he acts we’ll be able to find out what he knows.” Xiun Wu’s voice was soft and held a superior air in it. His hands were behind his back as he strode toward the front of the crowd. Nobody impeded him as a path was made.

“Don’t start this duel without me hehe.” A soft cheerful voice could be heard some distance away from the arena but as it fell it came closer. The air became colder and light snow fell in the middle of the crowd. In the snow a beautiful figure could be seen standing there. She had on a cyan robe that glittered in the sunlight.

By now the sun was fully visible and its rays showed on everything. However the warmth of the sun couldn’t do anything to the decreasing temperature caused by Ming Lu. Snowflakes danced around her body as she stood facing the arena. Her smile plastered on her face and her cheeks rosy, she looked happy to be there.

“Demoness Ming Lu! It’s Demoness Ming Lu!” Someone who was by her happened to scream out. This in turn caused others to follow suit and also yell out.

“What could have made Demoness Ming Lu come here?!” Another disciple bellowed out.

“Ah! Her younger sister is the one being challenged right now.”

“Don’t forget that Akata is also her apprentice.”

“Her younger sister and her only apprentice are about to duel! This is going to be one crazy challenge today!”

Ming Lu just looked on at the arena not paying any attention to the surrounding disciples. Considering the level of her cultivation base, with just a quick scan of her surroundings she could tell the situation.

‘Hm? She’s scared of something. Could it be Akata she is scared of? Maybe she’s scared to kill him. Well given his strength now I don’t see how she could manage to do that. Wait a minute.’ She took a closer look at Akata and her eyes went wide.

‘3rd Grade of the Mortal Rank?! Already?! He’s really progressing at a fast speed. With that kind of speed by the time he manages to make it to the Fourth or Third Ranked disciple he should be at the Fourth Grade.’ Ming Lu couldn’t help but to be amazed right now. Akata’s cultivating speed was just too shocking and was increasing at a fast rate.

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Xiun Wu had his eyes on Ming Lu when she appeared and originally his face was calm. But when he saw her eyes go wide all of a sudden he rose an eyebrow in thought. ‘What could have her so surprised?’ He mused to himself.

Xiun Wu followed her line of sight and saw that it was toward Akata. ‘Akata? What could be wrong with him?’ He hadn’t paid any attention to Akata this whole time. He may have glanced at him a few times but that was it.

Thinking of how Ming Lu’s eyes went wide he focused his attention on Akata at the moment. When he focused in his own eyes went wide for a second. “Impossible?!” He silently murmured to himself. He just couldn’t believe what he saw.

Xi Fe who was beside him could hear this however and asked in a low voice, “What happened?” He saw the look on Xiun Wu’s face and thought something was serious.

Not answering immediately, Xiun Wu took a deep breath and slowly let it out to forcefully calm himself. After a moment his face was as calm as it had been. “Akata seems to be in the 3rd Grade of the Mortal Rank. That Pulong Chu said that he was still in the 2nd Grade. It looks as if she tricked us about the level of his strength.” Xiun Wu said calmly as he continued to study Akata a bit more carefully.

“3rd Grade already?! He’s already at my level of strength this soon? How is that possible?” Xi Fe’s face changed abruptly as he heard this. He unconsciously looked towards Akata with a serious look on his face.

It had taken years for Xi Fe to get to the level of strength that he was at right now. Given a bit more time he would be able to break through to the 4th Grade. But Akata wasn’t even considered a cultivator a few months ago. Yet now he possessed strength at the 3rd Grade of the Mortal Rank. Just how fast could he progress through the Grades of cultivation?

At first Xi Fe was extremely confident in taking on Akata, but now that confidence began to waver. Soon it began to wither away bit by bit. It wasn’t that he was afraid of facing Akata but was scared of the fact that Akata had the ability to utterly surpass him. Once that happened, any grudge that Akata had with him, Akata could solve them with ease even if it meant killing him.

This thought crossed Xi Fe’s mind and he unconsciously started to make the decision of getting away from Akata. His mind was just too jumbled up for him to think straight at the moment.

“You don’t have to worry about him. I’ll personally handle him. There’s no further need to include yourself, Akata is just too fast with cultivating and if his speed is anything to base his strength off of, then only I will be a match for him.” Xiun Wu spoke calmly.

Xiun Wu was back to being clear headed and finally managed to completely calm his mind. It was true that with his strength he would be able to handle Akata. But if Akata was given enough time to grow then that gap in strength would surely become smaller and smaller.

Xi Fe regained his composure and nodded in agreement. While he might be able to handle Akata, Xiun Wu still could. “Right… right.” He said with a shaky voice. After a bit of time he thought of something. “What about Ming Xu? Are we going to inform her?” Ming Xu was about to face Akata head on and she was even weaker than him. Of course he had concern for her.

With a calm look and voice Xiun Wu responded lightly. “No. As of lately it has been seeming as if her loyalty has been faltering so I’m going to use this opportunity to test her. If she does what she was told to the best of her ability then good… but if not…” Xiun Wu shook his head and didn’t speak any further. It was an easy task to guess the meaning of his words.

Xi Fe nodded his head in agreement and didn’t speak any further as well. With that they both turned their heads to look at the arena where Akata was. Xi Fe slowly looked over to see Ming Xu making her way over to Akata.

Ming Lu was in the crowd looking at Ming Xu as well. Of course she noticed the fear that Ming Xu had displayed. In her heart she couldn’t help but be sympathetic towards her.

Not only did she notice the fear from Ming Xu, she also detected the killing intent from Akata. She was a bit taken aback from it and then her face turned deadly serious. ‘Is that directed towards Little Xu Xu? What could she have done for you to gain such a strong killing intent?’

Ming Lu went into a deep thought before noticing something. ‘Where is Peizhi Xiuying? If Akata is here then surely she would be as well considering she was with him. Wait a minute.’ Ming Lu’s eyes went wide. ‘Could they have planned to kill Akata in the forest but it failed, and instead Peizhi Xiuying got mixed up in it? If that is true the only reason why his killing intent is so strong is if she died.’ After thinking things through Ming Lu realized this was the only possibility.

She shook her head and then focused in on Akata. ‘Even if that happened he better not try to kill my sister! Apprenticeship aside, even if he was my own clan member I will kill him in body and soul.’Ming Lu was really protective of her sister after all. She cared deeply for her and wouldn’t let anything harm her in any way.

The only reason why Ming Xu was still in Xiun Wu’s group was because she could still grow in it. Ming Lu just wanted Ming Xu to grow faster with her. But if Xiun Wu tried to harm her, Ming Lu wouldn’t hesitate to protect her sister and destroy the whole Cloud Rift Crew.

Ming Lu stood there quietly, watching for any signs that Akata was going in for the kill. She knew that Ming Xu was no match for Akata in the first place and now that Akata was in a killing mood he obviously wouldn’t hold back.

First Tower

Up in the tower on the training field Jiandan Fuza stood in the window looking out. He watched what was happening below with a calm face. He could see Ming Xu react with fear, the serious look on Ming Lu’s and Xiun Wu’s faces, and briefly felt the killing intent radiating from Akata.

He took in a deep breath and smiled. He then chuckled,“This is turning out to be quite interesting now that I think about it.”