Chapter 446 Mistakes

The arena fell silent. They had a hard time processing what had just happened.

However, the result was clear. It was a landslide victory for Auric, who was only a Rank 3 human. It looked more like bullying than a fight.

Auric just looked at the unconscious Ming Tian on the floor. Rather than suffering physical injuries], he would probably get traumatized by the way Auric had defeated him.

Auric simply looked away and walked back, making no effort to even check his opponent.

One student snapped and couldn’t help but shout, "Did he just defeat the vice president of the best club in our school?"

Another person snapped out of his shock. "What did you mean by defeating him? He practically handled him like trash."

"Did he just erase everything, not just his power but also the pillars in the arena?"

"What was that power? He didn’t use something like this during the training program."

Song Xue could hear it as well, which made her even more panicked.

’There are many fools out there. I thought using one fool to analyze his power was something I could afford, but...’ Song Xue gulped, feeling goosebumps.

’What kind of power was that? He could erase his power and make him useless? He didn’t use something like this in the training prog—!’

Song Xue suddenly remembered one thing. ’Wait a minute. When he was attacked by Head Instructor Ryan from Dermania, the gray energy allowed him to fuse with his avatar, and he even did something that might compromise the instructor’s defense... People thought it was the two instructors’ doing, but...’

Song Xue couldn’t imagine what would happen if she were the one in the arena.

Some of her thoughts were correct. Auric indeed used that power as an inspiration, but the nature of this ability was different from his father’s power.

Then again, Auric managed to partially turn the God Mode battle technique his father created into something that he could use all the time by simply focusing his senses.

Still, if Ming Tian had just remained calm, the match wouldn’t have been over that fast. He could probably try to figure something out. That shock prevented him from being able to think with a cool head, and that was what Auric wanted.

Regardless of the result or the method, what Song Xue worried about was Auric’s stance.

Maya said earlier that Auric considered her failure to stop him something to take into account in his principles.

After all, Song Xue intentionally stopped them at the airport, offering to be their guide. In other words, everything about this fight was her responsibility. Her family had paid a huge price to make it happen.

However, because she used that opportunity to test Auric, Auric’s view of the Song family had turned bad.

The Song family wanted to get Auric even if it meant marrying her to him. After all, if the Song family got two out of the seven rising stars, they would become one of, if not the strongest, families in the world in the future.

But that might become impossible after this fight. She had truly messed up.

Song Xue was racking her brain to figure out a way out of this situation, but Katarina had already turned around and waved her hand. "Ah, Auric. You worked hard."

"Not really. I wonder if that guy is actually strong or not. I guess that position is not decided solely by strength." Auric shook his head calmly.

Lan Mei’er, who had been observing everything, was stunned. ’Strength or not, that person is Rank 4, not to mention the fact that he’s also one of the strongest in the club.’

She had never thought Auric was actually this monstrous.

"You’re probably the only one who can say that." Ellia shrugged.

"Boss, I revere you." Stella smirked.

"You learned from me well." Maya grinned since Auric had just crushed another school.

Mathias was completely silent. Even he couldn’t figure out what Auric had done despite watching it with his own eyes.

"Miss Song." Auric’s voice became cold. "I’ve won the fight, so I guess I’m able to read one of the breathing techniques?"

Song Xue hadn’t figured out what she should do, but she encountered another problem. She didn’t want to show anything to Auric since her goal was to rope him in before offering him everything.

If Auric lost his interest in them quickly, there would be no chance of recruiting Auric.

When she met Auric’s cold gaze, she realized that the moment she rejected his request, she would lose any chance of connecting with him.

As one of the seven rising stars, she had faced a lot of pressure, including the pressure from her family members. Yet this was the first time she had actually felt so terrified.

Song Xue’s lips were trembling, but she managed to force a smile. "Of course. I have a breathing technique. It is something I used in the past before acknowledging a master. I’ll give you the hard copy later."

"Well, I guess that’s acceptable." Auric nodded calmly and turned around. "I guess there’s nothing else to see from this school. Let’s continue to the next destination."

Song Xue was completely overwhelmed. She really wanted to take a break for a moment to regain her composure, but it didn’t look like Auric was going to let her.

In the end, Song Xue left behind Lan Mei’er. Her mind was so full of Auric that she forgot to say goodbye to her junior sister.

Auric didn’t do anything special after this. After all, he had tested the strength of the best university in this country.

Like Ellia said, he was probably the only one who could say such a thing. If it was Ellia, she didn’t know whether it was possible to win against Ming Tian. Still, she believed she had a fighting chance.

Regardless of what happened, the battle was over, and they continued with the trip.

The places they visited were nothing important. The research center and other important destinations were scattered across the week, so Song Xue was able to sort out everything afterward.

...

Song Xue was on her knees. Her head hung low, and her body was trembling. "I’m sorry, Father. Everything is my fault."

She had no choice but to report everything to her father.

Her father looked at her for a moment before saying, "I’d be lying if I said I’m not disappointed, but it’s not entirely your fault.

"In fact, your master came earlier to apologize. If your junior sister hadn’t brought that boy from the Ming family, this wouldn’t have happened. However, your junior sister wanted to meet you despite knowing you had guests."

"I... had the authority to stop the match." Song Xue still blamed herself. Maya’s words were still ringing in her mind.

"Indeed, but it doesn’t change the fact that we all want to know about Auric Elfe’s power. Even after looking at the video, none of us understood what kind of power he possessed. It was simply a set of unfortunate circumstances.

"You didn’t know he would be this powerful. We didn’t know about it either. However, it would have been better if you were the ones fighting him or simply observing him while fighting beasts inside the ruins or in other places he planned to visit.

"I can still understand why you chose that boy. He was Rank 4 and had great prospects. His strength was in the top 20 in the university, but no one would ever expect that Auric Elfe would utterly crush him. I have received the report, but I’m still confused as to what led to the fight."

"That’s..." Song Xue was a bit hesitant, but she eventually spilled everything that had happened from the beginning.

"I guess the Ming family had chosen the wrong heir." Her father closed his eyes for a moment. "They have a lot of pride, so I’m going to warn them not to touch the Song family’s guests."

"I..." Song Xue didn’t think she was the right choice to approach Auric anymore. She had failed miserably earlier, so it wouldn’t be weird if she was replaced.

"That’s where you are wrong. There’s no one qualified other than you. If I replace you right now, it will only displease the other party. I’ve heard about Gloria Schaff. The first fallout between Auric Elfe and Dermania was because Gloria Schaff was replaced by someone for political reasons. Doing the same would simply provoke him."

Song Xue paused. She didn’t know about this information, but this might be because her abilities were lacking.

"However, I’ve given him one of the breathing techniques our family possesses..."

"I’ve talked to the elders. For now, I’m able to stop them by simply telling them that this is our opportunity. If he finds something about it, like improvement or something that is concerning, we can do something about it. This also shows his talent for battle techniques. So do whatever you can to find out what he has figured out about our breathing technique."

"I-I understand." Song Xue clenched her hands into fists.

As he looked at Song Xue, who was still petrified because of her mistakes, her father continued, "It looks like I’ve been too strict with you. You have shown the greatest talent, but at the same time, the elders are so conservative that they still think it’s best to have a male heir.

"That’s why I’ve been sending you around so that they won’t cause you any trouble." He stood up and walked past her but stopped for a second to pat her shoulder. "Any of that doesn’t change the fact that you’re my daughter.

"Don’t let a few mistakes cause you to crumble. You are my daughter, the most talented among my children. Your path is the hardest. If you want to shut up those conservative elders, you need absolute strength, so go back and fix your mistakes."