One Wish to Own the World



To Paul's astonishment, Ken just disappeared from his sight, and he soon felt a deep cut in his chest before he could react.

Paul stumbled back, bleeding heavily from his chest. Fortunately for him, he wore strong armor, and it negated some of the power behind Ken's attack. 

He estimated he had around 1 minute of fighting before his movements will become too sluggish from the heavy blood loss and he will be forced to admit defeat.

He rushed to Ken and started waving his club in a frenzy, desperate to finish the battle in a single hit. 

'Mountain Crush.'

'Magnetic Power.'

He performed his techniques one by one, trying to crush Ken with powerful blows and hindering his movements with a strong pulling force. To his dismay, he was always one centimeter too short from smashing his opponent's bones.

'Cloud Running.'

Ken performed his dodging skill in the most subtle manner he could, so it always seemed to the people around him that he struggled to dodge, and only succeeded in the nick of time.

"Young Master Sue, this will be my final attack. Be careful!"

Paul was short on time, and he chose to use his last move as he started feeling his body turning heavier with every moment passing. 

He didn't want to attack completely recklessly since he knew he couldn't afford to kill someone from the Sue Clan, but he also didn't want to lose his rank.

Paul upsurged with a powerful leap, reaching a height of 10 meters, before kicking the air behind him and shooting toward Ken.

'Huh, so he also has Earth Qi in addition to his Club Qi, that's why his swings were so heavy.'

Ken thought to himself when he noticed a small stone forming right behind Paul's foot. Paul achieved his shooting effect by kicking this stone, but not many could see it clearly as it broke and dissipated right after he used it.

'It's time to put my acting skills to the test.'

He crouched again and used his One Step technique again, moving 25 meters away from his previous position.

*BOOM!*

A powerful shockwave was sent throughout the arena in a radius of 50 meters around Paul's landing spot. The crowd watched Ken being sent flying and lose his footing from the shockwave, landing on his side and rolling on the ground.

'Club Throw!'

Paul mustered his final energy to throw his club at Ken, hoping to take him down with this last strike while he was still on the ground.

'Didn't he say it was his last attack earlier?'

Ken clicked his tongue and watched the club spinning horizontally as it flew swiftly toward him.

Ken timed it perfectly; right when he rolled on his stomach, he gave a slight push to the ground with his hand, making his body bounce in the air as if it hit a non-existent bump in the arena.

Right when he bounced, the club passed right beneath him, almost touching his nose, and crushed against the arena's wall. It wasn't a real wall, but a wall of Qi made with a formation to keep the spectators safe from stray attacks.

Paul sighed with disappointment as he saw he missed his target and collapsed on his knees while admitting defeat.

"Winner, Sue Ken."

'Great, I won, but it seemed close. Even better, it seemed that if Paul challenges me in the future, he will have a great chance of winning.'

His victory will be mainly attributed to the surprise effect of his dashing technique. Now that everyone saw it, most spectators will believe that he wouldn't be able to defeat a prepared Paul in the future.

"It's amazing, I can't believe he could enter the top 500 of an age group twice his age!"

"I know, I'm sure his future will be limitless. The Sue Clan might rise higher than the other elite clans with such a genius."

Some disciples commented from the spectators' seats. However, they heard a snort coming from behind them and turned their heads to see a young man with an embroidery of a tiger on his robes.

"What do you bunch of commoners even know? He only won with luck, and his techniques are complete trash. If his opponent knew in advance of his quick dashing technique, he wouldn't be injured, and the Sue's boy's loss would be certain."

"Young Master Gin, didn't you see how fast he was? What good is it to know about his technique?"

"You remain in the bottom-rung of the ranking because you can't notice those things. Didn't you see how he crouched before executing his move? With such an obvious indication, who needs to fear it?"

"Oh, Young Master's words make sense."

"Besides, he only dodged the club throw by luck, or else he would lose even with the surprise element by his side. I think he rushed his breakthrough and now his core and techniques aren't so great, limiting his future."

Young Master Gin kept talking with a haughty voice as he explained why the Sue Clan didn't endanger the current power structure despite having such a genius.

Such conversations could be heard throughout the arena, and Ken was completely satisfied by it. If anything, it only meant that his goals were achieved successfully. 

He enjoyed a month's protection from challenges before others could try to steal his rank, and by then he didn't plan to be in the sect anymore.

'I guess it's time to go home.'

Ken had to deposit 1,000 Qi Stones to challenge Paul, but he chose to leave them there. If the deposit was still there, it meant he could freely challenge others without having to pay again.

---------

"That bouncing that made Paul's club miss the kid from the Sue Clan, did you notice anything weird about it?"

Going to the arena and spectating duels was a common hobby among the elders of the sect whenever they wanted to relax. As for the reason they were there just when Ken was dueling, it can only be attributed to his luck.

"Yes. It was swift and well-disguised, but I could see he pushed the floor at the last moment."

"I'm also suspicious of his crouch. It didn't seem as authentic as the kids downstairs think it was."

The two elders were on the top floor. They were inside a formation that allowed them to see without being seen, so the disciples downstairs never knew whether an elder was present or not.

"I thought the same also about the way he dodged the club strikes. It means he is cunning enough to hide his techniques' true potential, but why?"

"Probably to avoid having a target on his back by all those crazed elite families."

"That makes sense. They are truly capable of assassinating a genius from their own sect only to keep their status. They put their status above the sect."

The elder said with dissatisfaction. He always saw the elite families as a tumor in the sect. The problem was that they held at least 40% of the overall power of the sect and it was impossible to get rid of them without weakening the sect to an unacceptable degree.

"If we had a genius of this caliber on our side, maybe he would be able to lead the sect to new heights. I will run a background check on him. Although improbable, if we find out that he hides his strength from his clan, we can approach him."

"I think he hides his strength because his parents told him to do that. He can't be so cunning at such a young age."

The other elder voiced his doubts, but they could form a plan only after gathering enough intel on the child. Feeling that they watched enough to amuse themselves, the two went out of the arena to deal with their daily activities.

--------

"Hello, I would like to register for the expedition to the central area. My name is Ken Sue."

Ken went to the defense Division to take the offer of the Divine Sword Sect and join the war. Of course, his ultimate plan was to worsen it and make the clans lose decorum with each other and go all out.

The man at the reception took the token from Ken's hands and scanned it with his mind. Seeing his ranking as a top 500 disciple of ages 17-24, he nodded and wrote down Ken's name.

"It was a good call to get your spot at the top today, Young Master. The registered disciples will embark on the journey to the Divine Sword Sect in 4 weeks, right when your protection from being challenged will expire. I must warn you that you will have to fight for your rank again when you're back."

Only the top ranking of all age groups could go to the central area. The other age groups were 25-40 and 41-80, but they had more spots in the top lists since they had a wider range of ages and more disciples.

"Am I free to do whatever I want in the next 4 weeks?"

"Yes. Just make sure to be here on time."

Ken thanked the man and left the Defense Division. Since he had four weeks, he had to meet with his two subordinates and make sure they will still be alive when he is back from the Divine Sword Sect; he didn't know how long he will be there.

With this goal in mind, he went to the Mission Hall to get a new mission out of the sect and meet with his subordinates in the mountains.