Chapter 66: Trickier
Golden Avarice Academy.
One day Earlier.
Claude was in the middle of training. Right then, a voice drifted over to his ears, "Young master Claude! I've returned!"
Claude turned around to see his servant Randall running towards him, and he got up from the ground and walked forward.
"Young master Claude! I have got what you asked for!" Randall's smile was very radiant as he passed on the pile of bottles that he had brought with him to Claude. The servant then turned his gaze onto his master, Claude and spoke, "May I ask why do you need this, young master?"
"Why? Do you really want to know? Are you just curious?" Claude's gaze was stuck on the bottles in his hands as he inspected them, and he replied without looking at Randall.
"Or course not, young master. This servant wouldn't dare be curious about his master's businesses," Servant Randall immediately bowed his head as he spoke. "I'm asking just in case. You see, the medicinal drugs that you requested for seemed to be labelled highly dangerous and are quite possibly illegal. I just wanted to make sure that if you do somehow get involved with any trouble from the Royal Guards, I have something to help you out."
"Oh? Thinking ahead, are you? That's very clever, Randall.." Claude smiled as he walked towards his living room, where a bowl of medicinal soup had already been placed, sat down next to it and drained it all in one gulp. "Of course, if I do get in trouble with the Royal Army, just let one of your underlings take the blame. You'll take care of that, won't you.. Randall?"
"Ah, yes.. Of course I will. Thank you for the clarification, young master! Your servant understands!" Randall's eyes twitched for a brief moment, and he nodded his head and walked back, leaving Claude alone in his room, as he studied the medicinal drugs in front of him.
He had bought bottles of Dymexine and Axerbjan from Edward the medicine shop owner, both of which were highly dangerous drugs. Ever since he had purchased the 'Happy' drug from him, Claude had been in touch with Edward, learning about the various kinds of drugs he sold for future use.
That was how he had learned about Dymexine and Axerbjan.
Dymexine was a group of nerve agents that were said to be created by a group of alchemists from the South, designed to inhibit the bodily functions of its victims, resulting in flaccid paralysis of all the muscles in the body and rendering the person immobile for a limited period of time.
Axerbjan on the other hand was an extremely toxic synthetic spiritual compound, created in the Middle East for usage in war, which works by blocking the function of the meridians, restricting the victim from using the spiritual energy thereby making them unable to cultivate, albeit for a short period of time.
Both these drugs were something that Edward had been dying to get his hands on, but unfortunately, he didn't have the necessary funds for it. And Claude, who had recently received a massive amount of wealth, courtesy of the Second Elder's kindness, decided to help Edward out in return for a few of the bottles.
"Oh, did he include a letter as well?" As he was sorting through the bottles, Claude came upon a note, and he opened it curiously.
The note read; 'Keep in mind that the time limit of the drugs lessens the more cultivation rank the victim has.'
"So the effects may only last for less than a second for the highest of the cultivation levels?" Claude widened his eyes in surprise. That was an extremely short window.
But that doesn't mean it wouldn't work. One second is a short period of time, but to a cultivator, it could mean the difference between life and death.
As he packed up the bottles, Claude remembered the words spoken by Senior Beldon earlier.
"Be careful, huh.." Claude nodded his head as he took a look at the bottles once again.
"Maybe I'll end up using this sooner than I think!"
*****************
Present Day.
Inside the dense and thick fog, screams and cries of misery rang out unceasingly. Claude, who moved with the speed of lightning, turned ashen, as he could clearly sense the lives of his fellow disciples getting reaped away by the enemies.
They had been separated the moment they stepped into the fog, but Claude didn't stop for even a second and continued dashing.
He knew that there wasn't any hope for the rest of the juniors. They just weren't as experienced as Claude. And with what little cultivation he had, Claude knew that he wasn't a match for his enemies. So he'd only end up getting killed even if he tried to save his fellow disciples.
'Goddammit,' Claude cursed as his countenance turned incredibly unsightly. 'It looks like I'll end up using the drugs soon..'
Claude gritted his teeth. He didn't wish for such a situation to happen. This wasn't a fight. This was a hunt. And he sure as hell wasn't the hunter.
Wham!
All of a sudden, Claude felt an intense premonition of danger. "Where's the enemy?" Claude's perception stretched to the limits, yet he still had no way to perceive the true location of his enemy.
"I heard you were an interesting fellow, and it looks like the rumours were true! It looks like it's time for us to finally meet, young man!" Abruptly, Claude sensed a pair of eyes appearing in the fog behind him, causing him to feel cold all over, and he immediately turned around.
"You!"
********************
BOOM!
The resulting explosion was massive, and pushed the three cultivators backwards.
The Second Elder moved to the Headmaster's side once again, but this time his countenance had turned unsightly. "Forgive me Headmaster, I was too careless!"
"Now is not the time, Baron!" The Headmaster shook his head, and he pointed at their enemy, who looked disinterested. "We have to find a way to defeat him. He's no normal opponent."
"What do you have in mind?" The Second Elder looked at the Headmaster, who stared back at him with a bitter smile on his face. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to use THAT!"
The Second Elder's eyes widened in surprise after hearing the Headmaster's words, "But Headmaster, if you use that-"
"I know, Baron!" The Headmaster cut him off before the Second Elder could complete his words, letting out a heavy sigh as he continued, "But it seems that it's our only choice!"
"Are you two done with your little chat? I'm getting bored here..." Arthur's calm voice was heard again, and within the calmness of his voice was slight disdain.
As if he didn't take the Headmaster and the Second Elder seriously at all.
The two cultivators turned their heads to look at the young foe in front of them, gritting their teeth in the process of doing so.
"It seems that you aren't taking us seriously at all..." the Headmaster grunted coldly, then swept Arthur with an indifferent gaze. "I'm going to make sure I wipe that smug look off your face…"
Om!
A bright light flashed out, blinding Arthur for a moment, as the light enveloped the Headmaster, covering him from head to toe, as a giant silhouette of a warrior appeared out of thin air!
"What the hell? What is this technique?" Arthur, who saw what was happening in front of him, couldn't refrain from exclaiming in surprise.
The spiritual energy that had been produced as a result of that bright light roiled in the sky, and the giant warrior silhouette that had been condensed kept shaking violently, and was extremely unstable.
"Headmaster..." The Second Elder had a saddened expression as he gazed at the extremely unstable warrior silhouette formed on top of the Headmaster.
The Second Elder was able to discern that this was one of the sacred techniques created by the founding fathers of the Golden Avarice Academy, the God Shadow Technique!
If the Headmaster hadn't been a cultivator in the Dream Realm and hadn't studied countless cultivation techniques to form the foundation, it would've been impossible for him to comprehend such a powerful cultivation technique.
But even still, the God Shadow Technique was too powerful of a technique that it literally takes away the lifespan of its user!
"Please, do not use it too much.." The Second Elder clenched his fist as he whispered softly. He knew that the Headmaster was taking a huge risk with this technique.
"You want to get serious, right?" The Headmaster's voice echoed throughout the area, and even Arthur couldn't help but shudder a little. "Then let's get serious!"
Whoosh!
As soon as he finished speaking, the giant warrior silhouette moved its hands and an endless stream of gigantic palm imprints containing fearsome black-colored energy slammed down, engulfing the entire sky.
"Damn it!" Arthur, who was full of disdain for his enemies until now, couldn't help but feel fear in front of the warrior silhouette as he waved his palms, blasting hundreds of sword lights out towards the palm imprints while he flew backwards to distance himself from the attack!
"This might be trickier than I thought…"