Assassination System

Chapter 267 - Aurora Chrysanthemum

The main objective of the Selection Process was survival. One only needed to hide for an extended period of time to acquire that spot in the top 10. Yet, why are everyone killing each other instead of hiding?

The answer for this question piqued Dan's interest as he blended with the darkness and dashed towards the direction where energy fluctuations often came from. His aura inhibited and if one didn't look at him and only used their senses to scout, they wouldn't be able to detect his presence. Apart from sight, Dan was virtually indetectable.

Knitting his eyebrows. He realized that the energy fluctuations came from within a winding cave that looked ominous and deadly, just the vibes that it gave off along due to the mysterious white fog that enveloped its vicinity sent shivers down Dan's spine.

Nevertheless, he continued on his journey on finding out the answer to his question and slowly neared the cave.

"Strange, why is the temperature here different? Why does it seem like it's much colder here by several degrees?"

Dan frowned in thought but soon shook his head and focused on his task at hand. Entering the winding cave, he didn't have any trouble and concerns about getting lost for he had something to follow as he stuck closely at the wall and kept his camouflage.

He found that at the distance. At least a dozen disciples had set up a circular barricade that seemingly protected something from the privy eyes of others.

"Fuck off! We found this Aurora Chrysanthemum first so it will be ours when it blooms!"

"Yeah! Finders, keepers bro! It's not like we aren't members of the same Academy. Can we just follow that rule and mind our own business?"

Voices of shouting disciples echoed from within the barricade, and Dan could see that just outside the barricade. Dozens of disciples stood and glared at their direction. Their cultivation bases silently rotated and all sorts of resplendent lights surged towards the barricade.

But when their attacks landed, it struck an invisible barrier and silently dissipated into nothingness.

"Hah, with our Senior Brother Gin's formations. There's no way that you bastards can take our rewards! Just stand there and kiss my ass!" A naughty male disciple even flashed his buttcheeks at the disciples who simultaneously retched in disgust.

"Scoundrel! I'll kill you!" A female disciple who saw the forbidden rocket and crevice violently trembled in anger. Unsheathing her weapon, she repeatedly lashed at the barricade. Unfortunately, all of her attacks couldn't even scratch the formations that protected it.

"Calm down, calm down. It's not like they'll stay forever within that turtle shell of theirs, right? All of you brother and sisters are acting so impatient. Tssk, what if all of you ran out of Spiritual Energy and dropped the ball at a crucial moment?"

A calm and composed voice rang out at this moment and when the disciples turned around to look at the origin of the voice. Their expressions turned sinister as curses rang out.

"Bastard, you're the arrogant twat earlier at the gathering!"

"Brat, you finally emerged from where you came from. Do you really want to retire that badly? This grandfather of yours will help you for that!"

Simultaneous shiiing sounds reverberated along with the cold gleam of blades that reflected light at Dan's direction. Despite the combined pressure of facing dozens of Core disciples. Dan maintained his composed expression and never wavered in the face of adversity.

"Well boy, I can say that each and everyone of you has been so hasty when trying to assault those guys within that turtle shell..." Dan professionally shifted the subject away and piqued the interest of his fellow disciples. Seeing their confused expressions. He cleared his throat and said.

"Judging from the ripples of the barrier earlier, that formation isn't so simple and I think not e-"

The sound of a sword slicing through air interrupted Dan's speech as he tilted his head to the side and evaded the surprise attack with ease. Rotating his body, he continued: "I think that not even a Peak Divine Sou- Oh, that was close... I think that not even a Divine Soul Realm cultivato-Woah, calm down bro. At least let me finish what I'm saying before attacking me."

"Whoops, that's close. Okay, that's even closer, if you angled your blade farther to the right, you would've hit me back th- Nah, you're getting too far away from my bo- Are you even trying?" Dan continuously ducked his head and made small leaps around the cave as he smoothly evaded the attacks from the enraged disciple.

The disciple trained his swordsmanship for at least a decade and he was confident that those that can compare to his skills when it comes to the sword within the Academy wasn't that high. Although, he couldn't consider himself as an expert. His skill should be enough for him to kill or at least injure a random joe like Dan.

Unfortunately, reality was far too cruel. He couldn't even land a single strike and was constantly being taunted by his enemy, asking if he was even trying.

Taking a step back, he made a downward slash that Dan easily parried by slapping the side of the blade, forcibly changing the trajectory of the attack before Dan stepped forward and pointed his fist at his neck.

"Checkmate~" Dan lightly smiled and tapped the young disciple on the shoulder. Retreating backward, he swept his gaze across the disciples around him and said: "Now all of you should be convinced that trying to kill me is more troublesome than opening that turtle shell, right?" He gestured at the barricade.

"Yeah, you're indeed troublesome to kill. Out of everyone of us here, Senior Brother Perion has the strongest swordsmanship but he cannot even land a strike on your body..." A male disciple admitted defeat and soon. Every disciple in the area admitted defeat and stopped on trying to kill him.

"Are you sure about this, everyone? If we just let him go like that, wouldn't he become a strong contender against our quest to acquire that incredibly rare Aurora Chrysanthemum?" A sensible female disciple spoke up and the eyes of the disciples around her lit up as they stared at Dan in a gaze similar to wolves.

Dan clicked his tongue and inwardly cursed the female disciple before replying with a light smile as if he didn't have any guilty conscience: "Calm down, all of you. As an Honorary Disciple, I enjoy far more benefits than each and everyone of you here so why would I care about a mere Aurora Chrysanthemum, the Purple Sun Orchids and Crimson Dandelion that the Academy provides for me alone is enough to top that Chrysanthemum for several folds already..."

Every disciple sharply inhaled, Purple Sun Orchids, Crimson Dandelion?! Aren't those the name of ultra rare ingredients for a certain medicinal pill that could instantly increase and reinforce the cultivation base of the consumer?! Is that support for Honorary Disciples really that extravagant?

They hardly couldn't believe their ears. But when they saw Dan's look of confidence, they conceded and could only believe what they said. After all, he had nothing to win if he lied, and even if he did lied and stole the Aurora Chrysanthemum. With their numbers, could he even escape?

"Okay, fine. I won't question you anymore. But can you even help us with your measly cultivation base?" The female disciple coldly snorted. Indeed, Dan's cultivation base was lower than them. With this, could he even offer much help other than becoming a cannon fodder for the incoming fight?

"Indeed, with Seniors' cultivation bases, there's nothing that I can do when it comes to physical battle, but how about mental ones? As someone who subdued two Heavenly beauties, I do have confidence when it comes to mind games, I could easily bend the battlefield the way we want it to be~"

Dan lightly chuckled as he explained, anger surfaced on the female disciple's expression when she heard him mention the two Heavenly beauties. One could see that she felt quite threatened by the presence of those beauties .As for what reason, maybe it was her insecurity bugging her.

"Oh? Since you claim to be like that, Mister Genius. Tell us how we can acquire that Aurora Chrysanthemum. And if we did so, we will certainly not cheap out on our rewards..." The female disciple turned to look at Dan with slight curiosity and the latter lightly laughed, "Miss, you know what they say. If you're good at something, never do it for free. I wonder if I can trust the words of everyone in here..."

"Hmmph, do you think that we'll renege on our promises? We're not as shameless as you!" The female disciple retorted but Dan calmly countered: "Well, with our current business relationship. Verbal promises mean nothing do they? You could just easily claim that nothing happened within the virtual world and you would be safe from any form of compensation..."

"Then what do you want us to do?! We're in a virtual world so we cannot make an oath with our cultivation base as the stake!" The female disciple retorted and Dan fell into deep contemplation for a moment before replying, "Okay, I'll trust your words for now. But remember that I'm an Honorary Disciple, with my influence. I could easily ruin everyone's reputation so please keep in mind not to renege~"

"I understand, but keep in mind that the plan has to be worthwhile or else..." The female disciple coldly glared at him and the other disciples did the same. Dan's lips repeatedly twitched and he awkwardly scratched his head as he called for them to gather.

Soon, midnight arrived within the virtual world and the time of the Chrysanthemum to bloom has arrived!