Elder Kenneth looked at the two, nodded his head and yelled out, "Contestants! Assume your battle stance!" Claude immediately summoned his katana, while Ian clicked his tongue and summoned his saber, which began trembling violently in his hands.

Elder Kenneth looked at both of the contestants and yelled out, "Start!" And Ian shot forward, instantly swinging his saber. He was so fast that even Claude was surprised. However, he still maintained his calmness and turned his katana over to his side in order to block the attack.

"Hmm?" As the attack got closer to Claude, he could sense that something was terribly off about Ian. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he gripped hard on the katana, which collided with Ian's saber!

BOOM!

The resulting explosion was far greater than what anyone expected, and the tremendous amount of force that came with the strike flung Claude backwards, high up in the air.

"Shit! How the hell did he get so powerful?" Claude cursed out loud as he maneuvered in the air as he was descending downwards.

"Claude Rayforth! I'll show you how powerful I am!" Ian, who was glaring at Claude trying to straighten himself in the air, scoffed with disdain in his eyes before stomping his foot on the ground and creating a large crater, and his figure disappeared from the spot.

WHOOSH!

Claude, who was now alert, swifty turned around in the air and positioned himself upwards, as Ian reappeared above him, with his saber raised high up above his head!

"You think you can humiliate me and get away with it?" Ian screamed at the top of his lungs as he swung the saber down towards Claude, aiming for his head.

"Damn you!" Claude gritted his teeth as he summoned his katana once again and blocked the attack before it could come into contact with him, resulting in a loud explosion.

Zoom!

Ian burst through the smoke clouds that were produced as a result of the explosion and swung his saber once again, and Claude immediately utilised his floating footsteps technique in order to move through the air gracefully, narrowly avoiding the saber strike attack, before immediately countering with his own Sunrise sword technique, aiming for Ian from his sides!

"You think you can defeat me with just these petty techniques of yours?!" Ian scoffed as he swung his saber once again, creating a bright blade light that shot out from the saber and headed towards the sword light produced by Claude's katana.

BOOM!

The two attacks collided in mid-air, and the collision created a bright white light that was shining so brightly that it almost blinded the whole front row spectators.

"Uh! What the-" Ian, who also didn't expect the blinding brightness, covered his eyes out of instinct. Before he could realise the mistake he made, Claude, who had suddenly appeared right behind him, swung his katana before Ian could turn around, striking him in the back with a loud noise and sending him down to the ground with tremendous force!

BAM!

Ian crash landed on the ground with a loud bang, and immediately attempted to launch himself up from the ground. 

"You really think that I'm going to give you a chance to recover?!" Claude's voice echoed in the air, and before Ian could even move his hand, he had already swung his palm down to the spot where Ian had crashed, and a giant blue translucent palm appeared in the air, glowing brightly as it shot down towards Ian.

BOOM!

The giant palm struck the spot where Ian was lying, causing another massive explosion and resulting in a massive dust storm that enveloped the entire arena.

Brenden and the lackeys, who were watching the fight, looked at each other with confusion in their eyes. 

"I don't get it. How the hell did Ian get so powerful?" Brenden turned his gaze towards Jason, who shrugged his shoulders. He had the same look of confusion in his eyes. "How the f*ck would I know?"

"Well, whatever brought about this change, perhaps this might end up being a good thing for us." Link interjected into their conversation, and all the attention went to him. "If Ian actually wins against Claude Rayforth, then we can continue to work usne Ian. After all, winning against someone as powerful as Claude isn't an easy feat. And Claude's threats would have little weight if he really does lose against Ian. And we wouldn't have to serve under him and endure humiliation." Link explained, and both Brenden and Jason nodded their heads. 

He was right. Ian winning against Claude is exactly what they needed right now. They didn't really think about this situation just because in their minds, they had already written off Ian as not worthy of standing opposite Claude Rayforth, who could be the next genius that'll shock the cultivation world. However, now that the situation doesn't sound so far-fetched anymore, perhaps they might still have a chance to save themselves.

"Look at you, actually considering supporting Ian instead of Claude!" Jason scoffed at Link, although he didn't disagree with his points. Link narrowed his eyes and replied, "I never said I support Claude. I only chose him as our go-to because I believed that he was our best option in the long term. That's it."

"Alright, alright. Let's not bring out our disagreements just yet." Brenden interjected in the middle and said, "The match isn't over yet. We'll know who is the better choice for us once the match is over!"

"HAA!!" In the arena, Ian leapt out from the giant crater that had formed as a result of Claude's palm strike, trying to catch his breath. He looked tired from all the fighting, which was understandable considering he did just take a palm strike head-on from a cultivator who's at the fifth rank of the sky realm!

"Oho? You actually survived that? I'm impressed!" In front of Ian, a few metres away from the spot he stood, Claude descended onto the ground with a calm expression on his face. "I thought that you'd be out of juice by now."

"I can take more than that!" Ian said as he spit on the floor with a look of hatred in his eyes, and Claude shrugging his shoulders in response, "Oh, I highly doubt that. Especially since most illegal physical enhancer drugs are usually created to be utilised in a short amount of time."

Ian's eyes widened at Claude's words. "What the hell are you talking about?!" Ian yelled out loudly. He seemed nervous, which just confirmed it for Claude. 

Ian pointed his finger at Claude as he screamed. "I didn't take any illegal drugs. You would be able to notice the effects pretty easily if you really did. The drugs would affect the spiritual energy and your aura, which would've been detected by someone powerful, like Elder Kenneth. The fact that he didn't already makes me innocent."

BAM!

Instead of answering Ian, Claude suddenly pressed his foot on the ground and immediately disappeared from everyone's view, catching Ian off guard. 

"Damn it, he distracted me!" Ian, who realised that Claude had used the situation to catch him off guard, immediately became alert, but it was already too late. "I didn't say that you took spiritual energy enhancing drugs, but physical enhancer drugs!" Claude's voice echoed in his ears and Ian turned around in an instant, only to be faced by a bright blue blade light that was already in front of him by the time he noticed.

BOOM!

The blade light struck Ian right in the chest, resulting in another bright and loud explosion that flung him backwards, and his body skipped on the ground like a rock before crashing down after a few seconds.

"Energy enhancers help you boost your spiritual energy levels, which is what changes the whole aura that you emit. But the drugs you took are most probably physical enhancer drugs, which simply enhance your physical body. Of course, it's much rarer and extremely difficult to find, which is why not many people know about this. It's fortunate that I knew someone who was extremely proficient in 'rare' medicines and drugs. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to come to this conclusion at all," Claude said as he disappeared from the spot where he stood and reappeared in the sky right above the fallen Ian, who looked at Claude with horror in his eyes. "But you want to know why I haven't yet reported you to the Elder yet?"

Whoosh!

As he spoke, a giant translucent katana appeared in the sky, and lightning began to dance around it. Claude's gaze turned serious. "It's because I want to show you just how powerful I am and how futile your efforts to stop me are."

BOOM!

Claude swung his hand towards Ian, and the giant katana shot down with frightening speed, rapidly approaching Ian. 

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He screamed out of frustration and fear. He was supposed to win this match. That was why he took the drug. But still, how…

He raised his hand and swung his saber at the incoming attack and the blade light shot towards the giant katana right before it struck Ian, and the whole arena turned white with bright light as a loud explosion echoed in everyone's ears!