Evil Samurai In Cultivation World

BOOM!

Inside one of the rooms within the massive Azure Lion Clan Mansion, an enormous mirror that looked extremely expensive was flung back onto the wall with immense force, smashing it into a million little pieces with a loud noise!

The countless bits of shattered glass were sent flying all over. A few of the glass pieces shot towards the black robed figure, who was kneeling one one leg. 

Zoom!

The piece of glass passed by him, lightly grazing his face and causing droplets of blood to drip down from his cheek and down to the floor. And yet he didn't move an inch. He stayed right where he was, in the same kneeling position as he raised his head and looked up. 

In front of him sat a very mysterious figure. The face of the figure was covered in shadow, but he had a menacing presence.

The figure was wearing a long orange coloured robe which had countless jewels and gemstones on it, and most of his fingers were covered in multiple rings. This figure seemed to contain an overwhelming might that could subjugate everything before him. Although the new King of Argria, Blake Bancroft, had an imposing aura as well, he was nothing compared to this figure. Comparing the two would be like comparing the heaven and the earth.

"Swordmaster Baskins would wish to apologize to the Patriarch of the Azure Lion Clan!" The black robed figure bowed his head once again and whispered softly.

"Are you sure about the information, Swordmaster Baskins?" The figure, the Patriarch of the Azure Clan, spoke. His voice was rough and hard, and within it hid a slight hint of displeasure as well.

Clearly, the Patriarch wasn't too happy with what the black robed man had brought him.

"Unfortunately, yes, master. I'm afraid it's all true." Swordmaster Aragon Baskins didn't waste any time, immediately recounted the whole story to the Patriarch. He explained how he had found a disturbance of spiritual energy within the room of Elizabeth Carter, and how he had found traces of an intruder within the room. The swordmaster didn't hide anything, neither did he dare exaggerate.

He knew how big of a situation this was. He couldn't afford to lie to the Patriarch. From what he could understand, the intruder had taken the documents that were kept secret by Elizabeth, who was presumed to be dead. This meant that the intruder might have a vague idea about the Azure Lion Clan's plans. So instead of lying, he thought it would be best to just recount everything the way it had happened to the patriarch.

"An intruder? Who somehow entered our mansion and was also successful in retrieving information about our plans? Not to mention, this all happened right under our nose! What a disgrace to the Azure Lion name!" The Patriarch was fuming with rage as he spoke.

Swordmaster Aragon Baskins let out a sigh. He felt that his decision to tell the truth was the right one. Now, he just had to listen to the Patriarch's orders.

"Prepare yourself and your men. You are tasked with finding out the identity of the intruder, and to capture and interrogate them." The Patriarch said calmly, but his voice carried a bit of anger as well.

"Patriarch, what if the identity of the person in question is something prestigious? What if it's incredibly difficult to capture such a person alive?" Although such situations are extremely rare and are highly unlikely, Swordmaster Aragon Baskins felt that he had to ask this question if he did somehow find himself in such a situation.

"We are already dealing with the situation concerning Elizabeth Carter and her expedition group, most of whom are presumed to have been killed during the expedition. And now, we have to deal with an intruder as well. The timing doesn't sit well with me." The Patriarch spoke in a slightly annoyed tone as he stared at the swordmaster. "Perhaps the intruder and the missing case of the expedition group are related. Nevertheless, your mission doesn't change, even if the person whom you're looking for is an influential one. Everyone, now matter how powerful they are, will have weak moments. You just have to be patient."

At this point, his eyes flickered. "And if the intruder really is connected to the missing expedition crew, then do try and find out if they know the location of the White Dragon's teeth as well. Perhaps the intruder might help us reach the White Dragon's teeth."

"And what about the Clan's head?" Swordmaster Aragon Baskins raised his head and looked at the Patriarch as he asked. "Do I inform him about the intruder?"

"Hmph! The Clan Head?" The Patriarch scoffed in disdain. "He's merely a puppet. He thinks he holds the power, but he's nothing more than a scarecrow. A misdirection. He doesn't need to know about such things."

"Understood, Patriarch." Swordmaster Aragon Baskins lowered his head once again, but he couldn't help but feel sad after hearing that the Patriarch considered his son as nothing more than a puppet.

With that, he left the room, leaving the Patriarch alone. 

"As expected, there are various setbacks.." The Patriarch murmured under his breath. "No matter," He said. "Sooner or later, the whole martial world shall bow down to the Azure Lion Clan!"

*********************

From the dust emerged the figure of Senior Russell Davies, holding his long saber high up in the air in a triumphant manner. A deadly silence spread in the arena. The realization of what had happened finally hit the spectators, and all of a sudden, everything seemed like a dream. They were all in complete shock. 

After a full minute of silence, a thundering applause suddenly rang out all around the stadium. Elder Kenneth ran up to the unconscious Javier Banderas, and after checking to see whether he was seriously injured or not, he turned around and motioned his servants to bring him to the infirmary, before heading off towards Russell Davies.

Elder Kenneth pulled his hand up in the air and announced, "Javier Banderas has been knocked out! Russell Davies advances to the final round!"

The crowd went wild, erupting into loud cheers as soon as the words left the Elder's mouth. The final had now been decided, and it was Claude Rayforth against Russell Davies!

"Oh hell yeah! I'm definitely going to place a bet for the next match! This one's easy!"

"You know that everyone's going to be betting on Russell Davies, right? You won't even get that much money back."

"Sure, I'll only get a short increase in percentage. However, it won't be a small amount if I place a sh*t ton of money oh him!"

"Well seeing as everyone's going to be placing bets on Russell Davies, I'll take a chance and bet on Claude Rayforth. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky!"

People were getting ready to place bets. They believed that they knew what the outcome of the fight was going to be. Of course, everyone believed the winner was going to be Russell Davies. I mean, how could it not be? After all, Russell Davies was a senior disciple who just defeated the strongest member of the Grand Astral Faction, while Claude Rayforth, although a prodigy, was still a youngster who didn't yet face anyone who can be described as a 'real threat'.

"It seems people are already running off to place bets on the final," Senior Beldon said as he watched a wave of people head off outside, and let out a short chuckle. 

"They're probably going to bet against me," Claude said as he snorted. Of course, it was probably what they thought was the logical option. But if they really were being logical, then the best option would be to not place a bet at all. After all, if most people believe that Russell Davies was going to win, then they'd know that the profit margin would be really low if they really do win. 

"Well, when it comes to gambling, I guess everyone's a bit less logical.." He sighed and turned to Senior Beldon, who had a wide smirk on his face. 

"You want to place a bet on yourself?" He asked. Claude nodded his head. "How on earth did you know?" He asked.

"Because…" Senior Beldon shrugged. "That's exactly what I was planning to do as well."

"Confident that I'll win?" Claude raised his eyebrows. 

"No," Senior Beldon shook his head. "I'm not confident. But I do like gambling."

Claude chuckled. "Well then…" His eyes turned towards Senior Russell Davies, who was walking towards the infirmary in order to tend to his wounds. He had turned around just as Claude was looking at him, and the two locked eyes. "Don't forget to go all in." He said with a confident expression as he nodded his head for Russell Davies to see.

Russell Davies smirked in response, and nodded his head as well.

"Next match…" Elder Kenneth's voice echoed throughout the arena, and everyone's eyes were on him as he announced the final round. "Claude Rayforth vs Russell Davies!"