In a private residence at Golden Dragon Academy, Drake Easton's face was dark as water. Today, in front of so many people, he had actually been jointly humiliated by a country bumpkin from Heavenly Tome Academy and his student.
Just as he was brooding over how to get revenge for this humiliation, a voice sounded from outside.
"Young Lord, Gavin Hill requests an audience!"
"Come in!"
A moment later, a thin middle-aged man stepped in and immediately knelt on the ground.
Drake Easton waved his hand and said, "Get up. Did you find out anything about that person I asked you to investigate?"
"Reporting, Young Lord. That man is the chief instructor of Heavenly Tome Academy's Lower-Division Class Five!" Gavin Hill replied.
"What? Just a teacher for the lower division, yet he dares to be so arrogant!" Drake Easton grew even more furious.
"Please calm yourself, Young Lord!" Gavin Hill continued, "Although this Ian Song is just a lower-division instructor, his strength is formidable. Recently, it was widely rumored that he slew eight evil cultivators—that was him. Otherwise, Heavenly Tome Academy wouldn’t have made him their team leader for this event. His cultivation is at least early Tribulation realm!"
"So what? He still has to pay for offending me!" Drake Easton said hatefully. In truth, a strong wave of jealousy surged in his heart—he was not yet fifty, already at late Void Fusion, and considered a top prodigy even at Golden Dragon Academy.
But he could tell that Ian Song was younger than him, yet already at the Tribulation realm.
Gavin Hill was startled and quickly tried to persuade him, worried Drake Easton would act rashly.
"Young Lord, if he were just an ordinary Tribulation expert, it’d be simple—we could send a few masters to kill him. Our estate has no shortage of Tribulation realm powerhouses. But he’s a teacher at Heavenly Tome Academy and leading their team at this Tri-Academy Summit. If anything happens to him, not only will Heavenly Tome Academy refuse to let it go, even His Majesty the Emperor might order a thorough investigation!"
On the surface, the deans of Golden Dragon, Heavenly Tome, and Greedy Wolf academies are all just Tribulation realm cultivators, but that doesn’t mean they’re the highest combat force in their academies.
You have to realize, a dean’s term is only three hundred years at most, and the longest-serving ones have held the post for just three terms. Yet even the youngest academy, Heavenly Tome, has a history of over thirteen thousand years, and the current dean is already the twentieth or so.
Where did all the retired deans go?
Naturally, they all went into seclusion to cultivate. What’s more, the founder of Heavenly Tome Academy—the Heavenly Tome Marquis—is still alive. Rumor has it he became an Immortal ages ago, just hasn’t shown his face in all these years.
The Eastern Prince’s Estate may have thousands of years of history, but compared to Heavenly Tome Academy, its foundation is far weaker.
If you kill their team leader, it’s a direct slap in Heavenly Tome Academy’s face. Once they make a fuss, even the Prince might not be able to protect you.
"So we just let it go?" Drake Easton said, extremely unwilling. "He gets to humiliate me for nothing?"
By the time he spat out that last word, Drake Easton was practically shouting. Right now, his heart was not just filled with rage, but with a sense of utter frustration.
"Don’t worry, Young Lord. Even if we can’t kill Ian Song, we can still cause him trouble! The capital is full of experts, many of them proud and arrogant. All we have to do is hype him up as the strongest of the younger generation—someone’s bound to come looking for a fight!"
Gavin Hill said this with a sly, scheming smile.
Hearing this, Drake Easton's eyes lit up and a grin broke out on his face. "Gavin, you always have the best tricks. Good idea! I remember that battle maniac, Travis Yuleman, is coming back to the capital. If he hears someone’s stronger than him, he’ll definitely challenge Ian Song!"
"Rest assured, Young Lord. I’ll arrange for word to spread that Ian Song is number one among the younger generation. All you have to do is sit back and watch the show!" Gavin Hill replied.
"Good! I’ll leave it to you. Do it well and you’ll be rewarded!"
"Thank you, Young Lord!"
Gavin Hill bowed and left the residence.
The Imperial Capital is the heart of the Great Jin Empire, gathering countless nobles and experts—even the famed Golden Dragon Academy is located here.
Because of this—
—the capital is packed with young experts.
And the standards for judging these young experts are the Great Jin Dragon List and Phoenix List.
Both lists only include male and female cultivators under a hundred years old.
The battle maniac, Travis Yuleman, is ranked third on the Great Jin Dragon List, just behind Blake Rivers, the Sword Immortal, and Young Lord Orion.
Blake Rivers, the Sword Immortal, hails from Sword Sovereign Sect and is the personal disciple of the current sect master. His cultivation has reached mid-Tribulation realm, and his sword-immortal arts are unmatched—he’s slain countless top experts.
Young Lord Orion is even more extraordinary. He’s said to be a true dragon reincarnated. Though his cultivation is only at early Tribulation realm, he still surpasses Blake Rivers and his strength is unfathomable.
Third-ranked Travis Yuleman also possesses early Tribulation cultivation. He’s a battle fanatic—he’s challenged both Blake Rivers and Young Lord Orion before. Though he lost, he managed to retreat unscathed.
Ten years ago, he left the capital to challenge experts everywhere. Now, he’s returning, and everyone’s wondering if he’ll challenge Blake Rivers and Young Lord Orion again.
But at this critical moment, another name began to spread throughout the capital.
At first, people said this man had slain eight evil cultivators and was a rising star among the younger generation. But as the rumor spread, the story grew more exaggerated—soon, people were claiming no one on the Dragon List could rival him.