"What the hell happened here? Why are all of you looking so pale?"

Faga grunted as he looked at the tensed disciples until he saw Seraph.

His face stiffened, then he broke out in a flattering smile.

"Brother Seraph!"

He shouted joyfully, rushing forward with his arms spread as if he was about to hug a friend.

Before he could reach Seraph though, he almost slammed into an earth pillar that had suddenly popped out of the ground.

"Eiiii. Still so feisty aren’t you?"

Faga chuckled, casually shattering the pillar with his soul pressure.

"Hm? Looks like you’ve gotten stronger."

Seraph was amused, a smile playing at his lips.

"Heh! What did you expect? I’ll continue remaining a dog and bowing to you?!" Faga roared, his expression twisted in rage.

Seraph nodded. "I’ll be honest with you. That... would have been better than what I’m going to put you through now."

Faga’s expression hardened, and his two mates appeared by his side.

One of them, a bald disciple with white beard, pointed at Sylvia with anger.

"You told him, didn’t you?! You bitc—"

Suddenly, he was forced to the ground, his kness cracking the ground as a heavy pressure he couldn’t compete with pressed down on him.

"Kuack-!"

Faga and the other guy were shocked, and immediately pointed accusatory fingers at Seraph.

"You! Do you have no shame? Attacking a fellow disciple out of the blue?!"

Seraph tilted his head, still smiling. "Attack him? Did I? Besides, he insulted a fellow disciple out of the blue, didn’t he?"

Faga’s expression darkened. "You want to deny that you attacked him?"

Seraph looked around, meeting the gaze of every other disciple.

"I can say I didn’t. After all, no one witnessed it, right?"

Faga immediately turned back to look at the other disciples, only for them to avoid his gaze.

"Damnit! These fools."

Gritting his teeth, he took up the courage and said to Seraph.

"Seraph! You have gone too far and injured my brother! I challenge you to a duel of justice."

His voice sounded annoyingly righteous, but none of the people around believed him anyway.

Although Faga wasn’t wicked, he believed so much in hierarchy and didn’t like being treated the same as the others.

He was also the one that created the rule that new core disciples were to serve their senior core disciples for a year before becoming a senior core disciple themselves.

When Seraph became a Core Disciple, he had gone through this process until he became a Peak Master Stage Cultivator in the second year and forced Faga to abolish that rule.

It was just that he hadn’t expected the guy to be bold enough to even recreate the rule when he left to help Elder Song in secret.

"Alright, friend. Follow me."

He turned and walked towards the training arena in the court.

Faga gritted his teeth and followed him, and the other disciples also tagged along.

"They’re going to fight again."

"It’s been many years and Faga has refined his skills and grown stronger."

"Yeah. But I can’t say the same about Seraph. His presence seems weaker than before."

"Perhaps it’s just a technique to make others underestimate you."

While the disciples made their speculations in hushed tones, Seraph and Faga climbed onto one of the stages.

"Are you ready?" Seraph asked casually.

Faga’s eyes, meanwhile, shone with battle intent.

"Heh! Don’t blame me when I break a few of your bones."

Seraph nodded, then took out a spear made of sky metal. The color was blue like that of the clear sky, and it was light to carry.

Faga took out a blood-red sword that glinted with ominous energy.

"Fight!"

Faga’s other lacket shouted, and the two participants immediately clashed with their soul pressure.

Within Soul Peak, every duel was opened by a soul pressure. Whoever won that exchange tended to win the duel.

Boom!

The two soul pressures clashed with each other, pressing against each other like similar poles of different magnets trying to repel each other.

"Oh? Looks like Brother Faga is actually competing with Brother Seraph."

Someone commented, seeing that the struggle seemed to be in a stalemate.

However, a few disciples could see that while Faga was giving it his all, Seraph’s expression was still relaxed.

"Hmm..."

Humming, Seraph retrieved his soul pressure and took a step forward. Faga tactically retrieved his own soul pressure and walked towards Seraph with calm steps.

Then, the two of them disappeared.

Clang! Bang! Crack!

A gust of wind was blown from the collision of their weapons, and the stage they were standing on cracked. However, it quickly repaired itself in just a few seconds.

Faga was forced back by two steps in the first exchange, his face grim.

"Hmph!"

Snorting, he coated his sword with flames, then charged at Seraph.

The white-haired young man copied his move, coating his spear with water.

"Seraphim Spear: Second Form—Piercer."

Taking a stance with his hand pulled back, he struck straight at Faga.

The young man was instantly forced to turn the flat of his blade and block Seraph’s attack.

Clang! Crack!

The blade was pushed against his chest and he was sent staggering several steps backwards.

When he stopped, he felt his blade trembling. Taking a look at it, he saw fine cracks running along the durable metal.

"Damnit..."

He looked up to meet Seraph’s amused gaze, and his jaw clenched.

’My chances of beating him are slim. But I will surely do it.’

Thinking of this, he created several fire meteors the size of a human head behind him.

"Meteor rain."

Seraph responded with a simpler move. "Water blades."

Deep blue water blades appeared behind him, then shot forward at the same time that the meteors moved towards Seraph.

The attacks met midair, crashing into each other and canceling each other out. The water blades sliced through the rocks, then used their water to douse the flames.

Soon, the stage was covered by thick steam and rock pieces dropping to the ground.

Faga gritted his teeth and tried to look through the fog with his spiritual sense while staying alert.

Suddenly, he froze up.

Behind him, a pair of rainbow eyes opened.