19 Leonard vs Dean (1/2)

Accepting the challenge Leonard led Dean to a hidden place.

The hidden place was surrounded by healthy oak trees with a desolate feeling. Completely silent there was no other people here during the night.

Dean didn't mind the surroundings as long as there was no one to interrupt this battle. Given the obstacles such as trees in the forest territory gave Dean an advantage to showcase his scheming he's learnt within these 4 years.

There was one bargaining chip that gave reason for Dean to participate in this duel.

Leonard's talent

His pure potential on cultivation enabled him to allow himself to enter the Core Refiner stage.

Personality wise, he would be a great ally. His indifferent nature that only has the desire to pursue cultivation was one Dean respected.

Only loyal to the path of cultivation and family was what Dean noticed from Leonard.

Everything else was nothing and only when it was considered necessary to deem it important would Leonard take interest in anything.

In this case it was Dean.

With Leonard's background, Dean felt that making him into an ally would be a pure gold mine.

When ferocious beasts gain intelligence they are able to contain Qi and create a core.

This is known as a Beast Core

A cultivator may use this as a supplement to increase their cultivation.

After 4 years, Dean has collected hundreds of Beast Cores when he ventured into the wilderness and stored them into his blue orb.

If Leonard was trustworthy then Dean could potentially sell them to him in secret.

This was better than selling it to random merchants or schoolmates.

His schoolmates may take advantage of his 'weak cultivation' and could lead to people questioning how he managed to get all these Beast Cores.

Random merchants would only look for one thing; Profit.

If there was someone willing to pay the random merchants for Dean's information then his life would instantly be in danger.

These people may torture Dean just for the information of where he got those Beast Cores and if they felt he was lying then they would kill without hesitation.

Compared to Leonard who had a stoic and solemn attitude, Dean could clearly see which was more trustworthy.

Dean was ready to ask when the battle was going to begin but Leonard already struck.

A bolt was sent flying towards Dean's head after he tilted it to the side. Looking back to a tree behind him there was a small metallic blade embedded into the bark.

Dean looked back to Leonard to know that he was serious.

Leonard still contained a clam aura but behind that was a cold blood-thirsty hint of maliciousness. In his hand was a longsword that gleamed a sharp Qi that pressured Dean.

But the one thing that Dean noticed was his cultivation. It was a very weak sense and only Dean could sense it.

Nascent Soul 2

The exact same cultivation level as Dean.

If Dean continued to act gullible and weak then his death would be expected. There were two options.

Leonard didn't know that Dean was lying about his cultivation. This could lead to a dead man that the school would immediately dispose of.

Or Leonard knew that Dean was hiding his cultivation. This would make sense as the quality of that small blade was clearly poor.

It was made of common metals such as iron, probably to test Dean's reaction but the longsword in his hand seemed to contain a hint of a precious crimson metal.

Dean didn't have time to analyze what the exact material was but instead picked up a nearby stick.

Knowing that Leonard was hiding tricks up his sleeve, Dean responded by doing the same. Not wanting to show his hand he could only borrow a stick from the ground.

It was dark during the night so the exact pigment of the stick was unknown but Dean thought for a second that it was red however shook his head.

This may have been because he was slowly embodying the stick with Battle Intent.

It would act as a strong metal and instead of poisoning a practitioner.

Once the Battle Intent was able to settle within a body would it be considered deadly however there is a short time frame that allows a person to get rid of the Battle Intent.

The young man that Dean had sparred against couldn't have done that as he was passed out. If he used it against a random beast they would have to sit relax and remove the toxic aura before being killed by Dean

Although Battle Intent was effective there was an obvious weakness.

Dean would have to physically touch the opponent.

Then there were other factors including: Cultivation, age, health, duration of touch, etc

Dueling each other with their blades there was bound to be injuries.