A loud explosion sent shockwaves throughout the area as the dirt and the dust on the ground were sent flying into the air. The impact of the attack was so powerful that it slammed Leroy's body down on the ground so hard, causing him to bounce back up into the air. Claude pulled back his katana once again and stared at the floating body of Leroy with an indifferent expression before he swung!

Leroy, who was still conscious but couldn't move, suddenly felt a large amount of pressure on his body. The pressure was so large that it felt as if his entire body was about to be crushed.

BAM!

The katana in Claude's hands began to glow and flicker rapidly, before a giant blade light shot out and collided with Leroy's body!

The spectators watched the fight without even blinking once, as a flash of light enveloped the body of Leroy Wayne for a brief second before a loud explosion erupted from the centre, resulting in a wave of energy to burst out from the arena and back to the spectator stands.

Leroy, who was floating in mid air was slammed down onto the ground as a result, causing him to lose his consciousness as his body was buried under the dust and rubble that was flying around in the air because of the large explosion!

"What a loud and large explosion! This young man, to think he's a first year student in our academy! I had heard people saying that he's a genius, but it was only today that I understood why they were calling him that."

"He'll definitely be a monster when he grows up. If he keeps up this level of skill and technique as he grows, then he'll definitely be someone who can shake up the martial world."

"It's a good thing that he's in our Royal Academy. I'm pretty sure having this young man as my opponent would be an absolute nightmare!"

"He's got a lot of potential. But as he grows in strength and age, he'll definitely get noticed by more and more people, which also means that he'll have more enemies as well. He'll have a tough life, but let's hope that he survives in the end."

In the spectators stand, people were whispering amongst themselves, passionately gossiping about Claude and his monstrous skills and techniques.

They knew that they were witnessing the birth of a cultivation genius!

"I knew that you would be able to pull this off, Claude Rayforth," On the top floor of the spectators' stand sat the Headmaster in his expensive chair, watching the fight with a smile on his face.

"He'll definitely play an integral part in helping the new Golden Avarice Academy rise to the top of the martial world once again." The Headmaster closed his eyes as he leaned back on his chair, letting out a sigh.

He tilted his head upwards and stared at the sky. "I knew I had made a great decision by sparing the lives of both Claude Rayforth and Wilfred Beldon." He murmured under his breath. Initially, he had planned on killing both Claude and Senior Beldon right after he took control of the academy. They had killed their previous master in cold blood. He knew that they could never be Completely trusted. He had no plans on keeping two traitors alive. 

However, after seeing the skills and the techniques displayed by Claude Rayforth, he had decided to change his plan. He didn't wish to kill him anymore, but instead, he wanted to use him. Although both of them knew that they wouldn't be able to trust each other, the Headmaster felt as though he'll be able to use his skills to his advantage. And although Claude might also understand what his motive was, he'd have no choice but to obey him, as he didn't have that many options left to choose. 

And the only reason the Headmaster decided not to kill his senior brother Wilfred Beldon was to not make Claude resent him. The Headmaster knew that both Claude and Wilfred Beldon were extremely close friends. He was afraid that killing Wilfred Beldon would simply make Claude hate the Headmaster. Now, while this might be fine in the present since the Headmaster could easily overpower Claude, he was also thinking about the future, when Claude would overtake him in terms of pure strength. Obviously, he did not wish to be the enemy of a future martial arts genius. 

As of right now, they were simply people who were using each other. Although they weren't able to completely place their trust on one another, Claude definitely didn't hate the Headmaster. He didn't wish for that to change just because of him killing someone whom he considered to be a nobody. It would simply be a dumb decision.

The Headmaster grabbed a cup of wine from the table beside him and raised it high up in the air. "Here's to me and my wonderful investment." He said to himself and lowered the glass, bringing it close to his lips as he took a sip.

Step! Step!

Claude stepped out of the dust filled arena and waved his hands at the audience, who erupted into a loud and ear piercing cheer as soon as they saw the victor.

"I guess junior brother Claude is eager to win first place, huh?" Senior Beldon smiled as he watched Claude standing triumphantly on the field and then turned his head towards Russell Davies and Javier Banderas, who were also looking at Claude.

"He sure is interesting to watch," Russell Davies said with a grin on his face. "I guess we have to show him that we mean business as well, don't we, Javi?" He spoke as he shifted his gaze towards Javier Banderas.

"Don't call me Javi," Javier replied with a cold expression, and then went back to stare at Claude. "I'll take that as a yes," Russell Davies nodded.

In the arena, Elder Kenneth walked towards the spot where an unconscious Leroy Wayne was lying, checked to see if he was alright, and then walked to where Claude was standing.

He grabbed Claude's hand and raised it in the air as he said, "His opponent has been knocked out! Claude Rayforth has advanced to the final round!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, full of excitement! Although they didn't believe that Claude had better chances of winning first place than Javier Banderas or Russell Davies, they were confident that he'd most likely put up one hell of a fight!

They were sure that this was going to be an entertaining final.

"Next up is our fight, you know?" Russell Davies said. He didn't look at Javier this time. But nevertheless, Javier nodded his head this time. 

"You won't win this time." Russell said. His casual expression had now turned into a serious expression. 

"We'll see about that." Javier replied with the same indifferent expression that he always has.

Claude began walking out of the arena, and Elder Kenneth turned to the audience. "Next match! Russell Davies vs Javier Banderas!" He announced, and the crowd began cheering loudly once again.

"This is going to be the best fight ever! Unfortunately, it isn't the final match, but still! I have a feeling that it's going to be an incredible experience!"

"Junior brother Claude's match was really good, but we all know this is going to be the best match of the contest. Senior brother Davies vs Senior brother Banderas. I'm getting chills!"

"Exactly! Everyone's saying that the final match is going to be a great one, yet we all know the truth. This is what everyone was waiting for."

"I think Senior brother Banderas is going to win. After all, he has defeated Senior Davies once before. I am sure he can do it again."

"But Senior Davies could've trained more after the defeat and studied Senior Banderas in order to win against him. I'm sure that he won't let the same thing happen again."

The crowd began whispering amongst themselves, trying to predict the outcome of the match. Some even decided to place bets on the match. The majority of the audience was leaning towards the victory of Javier Banderas. However, the people supporting Russell Davies weren't less in number either. 

Step! Step!

The sound of footsteps. The two men began walking towards the arena, and in an instant, all eyes were on them. As Claude stepped down from the arena, he could see both Russell Davies and Javier Banderas walking side by side, moving in his direction.

They walked by Claude, and as they passed, Russell turned towards Claude and smiled as he waved his finger, while Javier merely nodded his head.

Claude nodded back at the two of them, and continued walking towards the spectators stand, where Senior Beldon was waiting for him.

"Congratulations on the victory!" Senior Beldon said with a smile. "Thanks!" Claude replied, and then immediately turned around to face the field.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Senior Beldon asked. Claude shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

Senior Beldon nodded his head. "Do you think you've got what it takes to win the final round?" He asked, and Claude turned his head to look at him.

"We'll see." He said with a smile.