Sensing the rising tension in the air, Felicia, the most powerful of the experts present from the side of the Yun Empire, turned her tranquil gaze to the brown-haired youth standing indifferently beside Linley.

  “Olivier Akerlund, the prodigy swordsman,” Felicia said softly. “Your reputation precedes you.”

  Olivier’s ever-indifferent eyes fell on the enting woman h in the skies before them but didn’t respond. He merely stared at her, calmly waiting for her to tinue, not seeming to mind the awkward silence.

  “My Yun Empire doesn’t have a problem with you; as such, we would appreciate it if you would refrain from getting involved in what happe,” Felicia smiled, not seeming to mind his ck of response. “In fact, as a citizen of the former O’Brien Empire, you could be sidered a member of my Yun Empire. As such, if you wish, we would wele you to join us in our exploration of the ru…”

  “Not ied,” Olivier replied apathetically.

  Seeing his indifference, one of the other disciples of the High Priest opened his mouth to angrily interject when Felicia raised her hand to stop them.

  “As expected from the perpetual lone wolf,” Felicia replied, her tone as gentle as ever. “How about this then, even if you don’t join our team permaly, what about a temporary alliance? If you help us get rid of Linley, we’ll split the treasures itage 80% to us and 20% to you. What do you say?”

  “Boss,” Bebe mentally transmitted to Linley. “This is bad! Even without Olivier’s help, our ces of fighting our way out are slim, but if he joins their side…”

  “I know Bebe,” Linley sent back helplessly. “But what we do?”

  “60-40,” Olivier replied.

  “You want 40%?” Felicia’s eyes narrowed slightly. “That’s not imp…”

  “I want 60%,” Olivier stated directly. “Linley already agreed to split it 50/50. If you wao jump ships, you o at least best his offer.”

  “My senior sister you 20% is already giving you more than you deserve,” the High Priest’s 18th disciple snorted. “Do you really think we fear you?”

  “Don’t waste your breath, Jelnim,” Felicia said, staring deeply at the brown-haired youth. “Olivier never had any iion of joining us. It appears his retionship with the Baru is deeper than we knew.”

  Olivier’s decision had little to do with Linley, but he was never oo expin himself. As such, he simply tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.

  During his st fight with Ace, his former longsword and family heirloom, “Icedream”, had shattered into thousands of pieces. Sihen, he had been forced to wield swords of inferior quality, at least when pared to his previous one, but after making it up here to the fifth floor, he was lucky enough to find himself a Demi-God-level Divine Sword that seemed to suit him near perfectly.

  The hilt of the sword was ed in white leather, a fortable and secure grip, and at the pommel, a sapphire gemstone was embedded, gleaming with a soft, ethereal light.

  It had a slender and elegantly tapered bde, approximately three feet ih, which appeared to be fed from an otherworldly material that shimmered with an iridest silver hue, resembling that of a fwless moonlit surface.

  But what made Olivier fall in love with this sword almost immediately was that it seemed to resoh both the Laws of Light and Darkness, making his attacks when utilisiher Law several times stronger. A sword like that ending up in his hands was no different than giving wings to a tiger.

  “Haha, Boss, this Olivier isn’t too bad after all,” Bebe seally as he looked at Olivier with appreciation. “Maybe after all this is done, you should let him join our Baruch Territory.”

  “Let him?” Linley asked back, stupefied by Bebe’s words. “Do you really think a pride-filled genius like him would even want to join?”

  Linley could only shake his head helplessly at his partner’s brazenness. Still, he couldn’t help but turn to the brown-haired young man with gratitude. “Olivier, thank you.”

  “I didn’t do it for you,” Olivier said, gng lightly at the Azure Dragonblood Warrior beside him before turning back to those from the New Yun Empire, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I’m doing this for me.”

  Olivier’s words led those listening to believe he was merely doing it for a bigger share, but only he khat only stituted the smallest part of the reason.

  The truth was, ever since his loss to Ad Wukong, Olivier couldn’t help but pare himself to them, and not just as far as talent and bag were ed. Olivier khat whether it was talent or bag, Olivier was g in parison pared to both Ad Wukong, but he also khat wasn’t the only differeween them.

  After a lot of ption, Olivier finally came to a realisation after watg the battle between Wukong’s group and the other saints led by the Yun Empire.

  Whilst talent and good teachers definitely pyed a very rge part in their growth, the thing that really forced them to improve so quickly was the stant pressure they faced from seemingly all dires.

  For most, that sort of pressure would cause you to crumble and colpse, but for those select feere able to e out on top, it would cause them to grow at aremely accelerated pace. Fet about Ad Wukong; eveher geniuses around them – most of whom were no more talehan him – were no exception.

  It was for that very reason that Olivier decided to unnecessarily provoke the Yun Empire. As far as he was ed, if others could do so and survive, then so too could he – The Prodigy Sword Saint, Oliver Akerlund.

  Uanding that there was no way to vince Olivier to take a step back, a helpless sigh escaped Felicia’s lips before she gave a gentle and. “Kill Linley and Olivier, but make sure not to kill Bebe,”

  “Boss, these bastards are too scared of angering Grandpa Beirut to attack me,” Bebe seally as his eyes lit up with excitement at Felicia’s words. “We use that to our advantage,”

  Nothing else o be said; Linley instantly uood that Bebe wao go on what would normally be described as a frenzied advatag their group seemingly recklessly. But what made Linley agree wasn’t just the fact that the experts from the Yun Empire wouldn’t dare to go too far when attag Bebe, but also because even if they did, they would be hard-pressed to evehe fur on Bebe’s back.

  After reag the peak of the ninth rank, Bebe’s defence – which was his best feature – was hard to pee, even for peak saints.

  “Mmh, let’s try it your way,” Linley nodded as he watched his oppos hurrying towards them. “But be careful.”

  Getting Linley’s okay, Bebe’s already excited eyes turned faintly bloodthirsty as he turned into a bck blur, hurrying to meet the group head-on with Linley and Olivier following right behind him.

  Felicia, who didn’t appear to be in a hurry to ehe fray, frowned slightly. Despite having a numerical advantage, Linley’s trio were able to fight them to a standstill, with Bebe’s reckless onsught needing half of their forply keep him at bay, with the rest having to be split into two groups to face Linley and Olivier.

  pared to when he fought Ace, Olivier’s power had gohrough earthshaking ges. Not only had the might of his dual-yered battle-qi increased drastically after breaking through to the middle stages of the saint realm, but he had also gained insight into three separate Profound Mysteries and seamlessly infused all of them into his [Lightshadow Sword Art].

  Between that and the effects of his newly acquired Diviifact – The Luminous Shadow Bde – he was able to fight a peak saint like Leahman, who was only oep from being a prime saint to a standstill, despite only being a mid-staged saint himself. In fact, if it weren’t for the stant interference of the other saints, Olivier would likely be the one suppressing the ander of the Radiant Churches Zealots.

  Oher side, Linley was fairing no worse than Olivier. After breaking through to the ninth rank in his human form, Linley would bee a Peak Saint-level warrior after transf. Because of that, when using the [Rippling Tide Stance] of his [Serenity Sword Art], he was seemingly invincible in close quarters.

  Despite the seemingly overwhelming odds, Linley's masterful swordsmanship gave him a definitive upper hand. His foes, though skilled in their ht, were no match for the precision and fluidity of his strikes. His bde dahrough the air, leaving a trail of afterimages that founded his oppos.

  Standing oskirts of the battle, Heidens hovered, attag relentlessly from a safe range. In his hands, Heidens held a Demi-God level Divine Mage's Staff, a rare and potent artifact that amplified the potency of his light-based spells.

  From a distance, Heidens unleashed a barrage of light elemental spells, each with the potential to obliterate his foes. Beams of pure light sliced through the air, their iy rivalling the scorg sun.

  However, Heidens dared not veoo close to Lihe young warrior's prowess was simply frightening, aing within striking distance of his sword was a gamble Heidens wasn't willing to take. Instead, he relied on his formidable range and the destructive power of his spells to try and kill this Dragonscaled threat to his anisation.

  Unfortunately for him, Linley, ever agile and alert, deftly evaded the onsught, his movements a testament to his exceptional bat skills.

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