Samuel blinked. The five battalions looked at Van with confusion writ on their faces.

Didn't this round still have 2 hours to go?

Just what was he plotting?

______

Madam Sophia finally relaxed when she saw that Cordelia and Daphne had figured out the trick behind the third round of the Mausoleum. During the second and third rounds, she had focused all attention on the performance of her twins, applauding them internally when they made the same decisions she would have in their situation.

As for that red-haired youth? Ah, he seemed to have some knowledge in ancient languages, but his martial skill was average at best. He seemed to rely overly much on his Copper Knight Wall, a lowly body cultivation technique that proper cultivators scorned. His preferential use of his body technique caused Madam Sophia's interest in him to plummet to the depths of the ocean.

She turned her gaze to Cordelia and Daphne.  

 [As expected, my girls' power is undefeatable. With their power and speed, they will quickly exceed the score of the Cedar Sect. That youth might have some ancient language skill, he cannot match them!]

Madam Sophia hid her smirk behind her hand; she had to maintain her tranquil and elegant façade after all.

However, in the next moment, her expression changed dramatically.

…

She slammed her hands onto the small table in front of her.

Her narrowed eyes scanned the image broadcasted upon in the sky.

Just why had they stopped?

______

Elder Malkovich was startled by a sudden bark of laughter from the hooded man sitting beside him. He looked away from the mirage showing Yun Hai's battlefield and turned to his side. In this round, their sect's score had overtaken the Cedar Sects, so he was in a congenial mood once more.

"May I enquire as to what is amusing you?" Elder Malkovich said, stroking his neat goatee.

The owner of the sharp chin smiled, but did not say anything.

Elder Malkovich followed the hooded man's eyesight and was perturbed. Had someone in the second battlefield managed to catch this guy's eye? But the second battlefield didn't exactly have the Star-Cutting Sword Sect's strongest disciples…

Had a new diamond formed under pressure?

Just as Elder Malkovich opened his mouth to enquire, he heard the guest beside him chuckle once more.

"Keke. Calculating fellow...!"

After this single utterance, the hooded man was utterly content to gaze upon the second battlefield in complete silence.

Elder Malkovich followed his line of sight but was disappointed to find that the current scene showed how the Star-Cutting Sword Sect was performing rather lackl.u.s.ter in this battlefield.

The middle-aged elder smiled and quickly tried to catch the hooded figures' interest.

"Esteemed Guest, actually, if I may direct your attention to the first battlefield, our best disciple Yun Hai is…"

A pale hand cut him off.

The hooded figure was concentrating on the scene in the mirage and did not want to hear the other's inane chatter.

Elder Malkovich felt the vein in his forehead throb.

This guy!

_______

Van leaned his chin on his fist.

 Standing below the bust he was sitting on; Cordelia and Daphne were glaring at him with barely concealed hate. They had completely halted their attacks on the treasures, and were now helplessly standing below him with anger in their eyes.

Van blinked innocently. He touched his face to see if their was soot smudged on it. Finding his finger come away clean, he tutted.

"Alas, it seems my incredibly handsome face has enthralled two more young ladies!"

"Pfft!"

Samuel couldn't help the air that escaped his mouth.

[Too cool, captain!]

The twin demons swung their heads and turned their icy glares on the young boy. Samuel felt his knees lock from their icy gaze.

"Cat got your tongue?" Van said lazily, bringing the twins' attention back to himself.

Cordelia folded her arms over her chest.

[Ugh! If I hadn't already expended so much power, I would peel his face off his skull…!]

Daphne, normally the less volatile of the two, was so incensed that her nails dug b.l.o.o.d.y crescents into her palms.

"Do you think you are clever?" She asked in a low tone.

Van considered this for a second.

"Cleverer than you two, at least," He replied at length.

The heavy silence between the two parties was thick enough to slice.

Cordelia laughed, "You better watch yourself! Your schemes may have worked on us this time, but you cannot hope to match up to our power and skill. Try and attack us, and I will have your head off in an instant!"

"Daphne, we are going!" Cordelia said while shooting a disgusted look at Van.

The arrogant twins were forced to retreat!

Samuel's eyes were full of hero-wors.h.i.+p as he looked at Van. He couldn't believe it – it was exactly as the battalion captain had said!

Van watched them retreat, smug. He stood up and brushed his robes off.

Samuel was amazed, "I don't understand – what happened!? Why aren't they chasing after the treasures anymore!?"

Van laughed softly.

"If you inspected the remaining treasures, Samuel, you would find that they are all cursed by 7th ranked beasts or higher. They thought they could catch up to me, but they did not realize that I had already taken everything!"

Samuel's brows furrowed, "But those two are both in the 7th rank. Surely they would not be worried about a 7th rank beast?"

Van ruffled the smaller boy's hair, "Don't you remember what I said before?"

The younger boy shook his head. But suddenly, his eyes gleamed.

"Oh, you said you would make them so angry that they would go crazy!"

Van chuckled.

"Alas, this captain's taunting skills are simply too good. They lost sight of their long-term goal in their short-term desire to step on me," Van commiserated, "If they had just conserved their energy, rather than go all out to catch up to me, they would not be in such dire straits right now."

"Hehe, Young Samuel, having too much pride is no good!" Van patted Samuel on the back.

With Cordelia and Daphne exhausted, the Zephyr Sect would be wary of going up against a 7th ranked beast as the main bulk of their battalions were in the 5th and 6th rank.

Actually, very few people in the battlefield had the cultivation rank to steal the treasures guarded by 7th rank or higher beasts. The big sects had the most 7th rank disciples, but the Boulder Sect had lost half its people and the Star-Cutting Sword Sect had yet to figure out the ancient symbols. Both were wary of accidentally triggering a 9th rank or higher demon beast that could wipe the entire battalion out and eliminate them from the compet.i.tion.

 This left Van as the sole person able to exploit the third round!

Grinning, Van pulled the azure earring he had been eyeing out of the stone woman's earlobes.

SCREEEECH!!

A ma.s.sive 7th rank purple demon lizard with red markings along its belly appeared. Over twenty 3rd ranked lizards appeared behind it.

It swung its heavy tail threateningly.

Full of vitality, Van rotated his spiritual power and used a spiritual art for the first time that night. A torrent of dark water burst from his palms. Its icy energy was anathema to the cold-blooded lizard, who needed external heat to survive. It's movements instantly slowed.

Van moved quickly.

[Heavy Axe Art!]

An immense aura appeared around Van's body.

BANGG!!

The axe ripped into the tough hide of the 7th rank beast, who was shocked by the power and aura of the small human before it.

Blood splattered everywhere.

The partic.i.p.ants watching gulped. This guy was actually this powerful?

"a.s.semble and attack!" Van shouted.

The Cedar Sect's battalions took formation and rushed forwards. With the demon beast critically injured, Van wanted to use this as an opportunity to improve the strength and skill of his sect mates.

[It's a shame that defeating these demon beasts don't release their crystal cores.]

It took over thirty minutes for the 7th ranked beast to be defeated. However, in this battle, Van saw that his sheltered team mates started gaining confidence in their martial techniques. Finally -

Weng!

The lizard's body flashed brightly and disappeared. The leaderless 3rd ranked lizard minions took another 10 minutes to dispatch.

When the horde was cleared, the Cedar Sect's battalions cheered. They all knew that such a large horde meant that they had acc.u.mulated many points!

Van rested his axe on the ground. He surveyed the scene.

[There's still 1.5 more hours left in this trial. To recover their spiritual power, Cordelia and Daphne will need at least 1 hour of meditation. More if they can't calm down enough to meditate effectively …] 

Van smirked.

[I'll make sure they can't calm down, alright.]

The red-haired youth stared at the giant coffin in the clearing below the crystal. He couldn't help thinking about the mysterious key in the skeleton's grasp. It had even intrigued Jet.

The problem was it was cursed by a 9th rank monster. Even the fearsome Blizzard Wyrm had only been in the 8th rank!

Van was not sure how strong he was at the moment since he had improved again since his battle with the Wyrm, but he was unwilling to risk compromising his result in the Mausoleum to gain a treasure. He had promised to bring the Cedar Sect to at least the 5th wave if he wanted to become Inner Disciple. However, after that…

Van narrowed his eyes; his fingers made a marching beat against his sides.

…He still wanted that key!

Van floated lightly to the top of the coffin and peered in. The dull key lay in the skeleton's grasp.

[Perhaps...!]

His eyes shone with greed.