Virvor froze on his way off the stage, trembling. His fists clenched so tightly that the knuckles of his tanned skin turned completely white before a dark red color began to drip down the cracks of his fingers.
The crowd didn’t dare to make a sound. By all rights, after Virvor conceded, the match should be over. However, the judge had still not said a single word, as though he was waiting to see if Virvor was truly willing to take this slap to the face.
In truth, there was nothing particularly wrong with what the judge was doing. In fact, if you spun it properly, it could be seen as him favoring Virvor by giving him a chance to retract his statement. But, the reality was very different.
All of the judges present were too lacking in talent to make it into Soul Rending Peak by normal means, which was why their status was so low. So, how did they don the golden robes of a disciple? It was simple, they were of noble birth and thus took advantage of the biased and corrupt system to receive letters of recommendation to enter the sect.
It couldn’t be said that all nobles were terrible people, that would be ridiculous. But, expecting those with such poor prospects in cultivation to not be bitter and resentful of the world was asking for too much.
The day of the assessment were the only days these judges felt that they wielded any real power, and they were apt to use it. If they could force Virvor into an embarrassing situation, they’d do it.
However, things wouldn’t go as planned.
“If you want to step off the stage, are you really going to let a word from a clown stop you?” Dyon’s voice wasn’t very loud, but in an arena constructed for sound reverberation, it didn’t need to be for everyone to hear his words.
Virvor’s jaw clenched. Although Dyon’s words were right, he didn’t feel like Dyon was on his side either, so his immediate instinct was to lash out.
“What would you know?!”
“About your life? Next to nothing. But, I know plenty about my own.” Dyon replied simply.
This response only made Virvor angrier. “Who doesn’t know about your life? Another pampered member of the Jafari family and you deem to give me advice?”
“I don’t deem to do anything. But, the difference between me and you is that I don’t make assumptions about another’s circumstances, I only try to understand them.
“My family was forced to flee to a much stronger quadrant, what kind of noble existence do you think I have? Even if my family retained its prowess, I’ve already told you that my mother was a commoner, do you believe that this would receive good treatment in a noble family?
“I don’t deem to say that my circumstances are worse than yours, but it would be smarter to not assume things about me.
“My words were simple. If you have something you want to do, do you really need to bother changing your mind because of the words of someone unimportant to your goal?”
Virvor’s eyes bored into Dyon’s. Maybe if looks could really kill, Dyon would long since be dead. However, that didn’t change the fact that his words were very reasonable.
Who didn’t know that the Jafari family was forced to flee? Who didn’t know that their Patriarch, Bol Jafari, was heavily injured during the war? And Dyon had, in fact, made it clear that his mother was a commoner and that even the 74th quadrant, even as a Duke, knew nothing about it.
In the end, no one doubted him. Nobles couldn’t understand the idea of someone who was noble, pretending that he wasn’t. While commoners couldn’t understand the idea of someone purposefully lowering themselves to their level unless they were there.
Clenching his jaw, a resolute expression appeared on Virvor’s face as he resolutely stepped off, no longer bothering with anything else around him.
The moment he did, Dyon leisurely leapt onto the stage to see the steaming Olaf. He no longer cared about Virvor, but hearing Dyon call him a clown was enough to make him rage.
If he lost this battle, not only would an elder of the Slaughter Peak become a slave, he would have to give up his family’s core teaching to their mortal enemy!
There was no need to explain why this was a slap to the face of the Caedes family… This was a battle he simply couldn’t lose!
Below the stage, Donari had wanted to warn Dyon about their family core teaching. Although he had broken off from the Caedes family and thus refused to use their techniques, that didn’t mean that he didn’t understand their ins and outs. However, he felt that even if he did this, it wouldn’t help Dyon, so he simply held his tongue.
Up until now, Olaf had been very lowkey. Only using simple techniques and his overwhelming cultivation to win up until now. In fact, many of his opponents directly conceded aside from two that overestimated their abilities and tried to use the Caedes family to gain notoriety.
While the Jafari family was always noted for the excellent use of wills and excellent perception, what set the Caedes family apart was their bloodline abilities and how it connected to the core teachings!
Now, Olaf had no more reason to be lowkey. He would unleash everything and kill this Dyon from the dregs of the Jafari family right here!
