The Inner Disciple Division.

Two men were seen searching inside Senior Beldon's residence. They were rummaging through every single spot, every crevice they could find, and yet for some reason, they weren't making a single noise while doing so.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it…" A small and thin man whispered under his breath, frustration evident in his voice. This man was, of course, Gaston, who was inside Claude's temporary room to search for the White Dragon's teeth. "Where on earth did that son of a b*tch hide the White Dragon's teeth?!"

And unfortunately for them, things weren't exactly going according to plan!

"Uh… Gaston?" Barris, who was searching the room along with Gaston, turned to look at him who looked like he was about to murder someone. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" Gaston stopped what he was doing and turned around, his gaze now stuck on Barris, glaring at him. "Did you just say to calm down, you f*cking prick?" He said as he gritted his teeth.

"Uh…. No Gaston.." Barris lowered his head in response, unable to look at the enraged Gaston in the face. "Barris sorry…"

"Why don't you take your sorry and shove it up your a**?" Gaston wanted to scream, but because they were still in the inner disciple division residence, they had to be extremely quiet and stealthy. In the end, he had to voice his frustrations in the most quiet way possible, which only increased his anger even more.

"F*cking r*tard!" Gaston whispered under his breath. 

It had taken him a long time to even find the thief that was responsible for interfering with their plans, and even after finally discovering the identity of the thief, they still had to be careful and act like a bunch of small-time crooks. They couldn't even teach the thief a lesson for messing with them, and instead, they have to snoop around the thief's own residence, as though they're the ones who are the real thieves.

And to top it all off, even though they had found the identity of the thief, even though they knew where he lived, and even though they now had access to his place, they still couldn't find the White Dragon's teeth!

Clearly, the thief had hidden it somewhere, but Gaston didn't know where. 

"The time limit placed by our boss is in a few days, and yet we still haven't found the item yet." Gaston walked up to Barris, who moved back until he hit a wall behind him, and pressed his finger on his chest as he moved his head closer to Barris's face. "We're a f*cking disgrace to contractors. You know that?"

Twat!

Gaston turned his palm around and slapped Barris on the face with the back of his hand.

"Deadline day is coming up, and we are going to lose our heads if we don't bring what the boss ordered," Gaston said as he grabbed Barris by his chin. "You got that, you dim witted f*ckface? Huh? We'll get our heads cut off! You want that?"

"N-No, no, Gaston." Barris shook his head furiously, still not making eye contact with Gaston. "Barris don't like to die." He said timidly.

"Good!" Gaston said as he stabbed his finger on Barris's chest one final time, before letting go of his chin, pushing him back. "We're not going to find anything here. The sneaky motherf*cker probably moved the White Dragon's teeth to someplace safe."

"So, what do?" Barris cleared his throat and asked, and Gaston clicked his tongue. "What else? We leave this place right now. There's nothing to find here, so why on earth waste our time?"

He then paused for a second, walked up to one of the chairs inside the room, and lightly rubbed his hands over it. "We'll follow the thief around. Try to find any leads on where the White Dragon's teeth might be hidden. Who knows, maybe he'll lead us right to the exact spot."

"And, if thief not, Gaston?" Barris asked, and Gaston turned around to respond to him. "Well then, I guess We'll be officially f*cked!"

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Claude walked up to the spectators stand, showered by praise and encouragement, where both Senior Beldon and Senior Banderas were waiting for him.

"Now that was an exciting match! I have to say that I was really nervous! You had me worried there, Junior Brother Claude!" Senior Beldon coughed lightly before speaking to Claude Rayforth, stretching out his hand for a handshake. "But you did, in fact, win the match! I have to say, I'm impressed, junior brother! You did well!"

"Thank you, Senior brother Beldon!" Claude said with a smile as he shook his senior's hand. "I hope you found some happiness with my victory as well!"

Of course, Claude's words had another meaning; he was asking about the bet that he had asked Senior Beldon to place on him.

"Ha ha ha! Of course, of course! How could I not be happy?" Senior Beldon, who had already figured out the meaning behind his words, had a wide smile on his face as he spoke. "My junior brother won the sparring contest and is now officially the strongest member of our faction! I am extremely proud of you, junior brother Claude!" He said as he lightly slapped Claude on his shoulder, and Claude let out a short chuckle.

"Claude Rayforth!" All of a sudden, Senior Javier Banderas took a step forward, and immediately, both Claude's and Senior Beldon's attention diverted to him. "Senior Banderas." Claude replied with a light nod of his head. Javier Banderas was staring at Claude's eyes. He looked like he didn't even blink. Javier definitely did have an enormous presence and pressure surrounding him. However, Claude didn't budge and accepted the staredown, staring right back at his face.

"You may have won against Russell Davies, but you still haven't won against me!" After a very long period of silence, Javier opened his mouth to speak. Claude raised his eyebrows, and Javier continued. "I'll defeat you when we finally do fight!"

"We'll see about that," Claude responded almost immediately with a grin on his face. Javier nodded, then turned his head towards Senior Beldon, and did the same. Then, he left, leaving both Claude and Senior Beldon alone.

"What do you think? Will you win against him?" Senior Beldon turned to look at Claude and asked, who simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "We'll see. Of course, I'll grow even more by then. But at the same time, he could do the same as well."

Senior Beldon nodded his head. "Let's leave it for now, and focus on the money that we've won!" Claude said with a smile. "After all, it's not everyday that you hit the jackpot."

"That motherf*cker! He actually won the contest!" As both Claude and Senior Beldon walked away, the lackeys, who were previously working under Senior Ian Jefferson, began to whisper amongst themselves.

Although their previous owner had now been expelled from the academy and they were now serving under their junior brother, Claude Rayforth, they still had wished for Claude to lose. After all, their positions under Claude were much more humiliating compared to their time serving under Ian Jefferson.

Although Ian Jefferson had treated most of them like tools, he definitely didn't cross the line, and did treat them like his colleagues. But Claude on the other hand didn't even consider them as human. They were dirt to him. Just a bunch of servants who weren't even on the same level as him. 

This made the lackeys enraged, but they were also fearful of offending such a cultivation genius. Instead, all they could do is wish for something bad to happen to Claude, just so they can get some satisfaction from seeing Claude frustrated.

However, it seemed that God didn't like them too much, as Claude had actually won the contest, defeating Russell Davies, his senior, and obtaining first place.

"I guess this is what makes him different from us…" Brenden murmured under his breath and let out a heavy sigh. 

The other lackeys wanted to reply, but they didn't even know what to say.

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After grabbing their winning money bag from the betting place, Claude and Senior Beldon walked towards his residence within the Inner Disciple Division. 

"The Headmaster seemed impressed with your skills." Senior Beldon said, and Claude nodded his head.

"I'm guessing he - as well as the rest of the faction members - will look at you more favourably after this contest," Senior Beldon explained. 

"I sure hope so," Claude replied. He didn't want to tell Senior Beldon about his deal with the Headmaster.

After saying their goodbyes, Senior Beldon departed, and Claude entered his room.

Step!

As soon as he took one step inside his room, Claude stopped in his tracks, and his eyes narrowed. 

"Wait a minute," Claude murmured under his breath, as a frown appeared on his face. He walked towards the centre of the room, and began scanning his surroundings, before whispering to himself, "Something's wrong."