"Do not get entangled with the North Region geniuses. They know no bounds," Aurelia warned. "If you need to be cautious about the geniuses from the South Region, then the ones from the North Region are the ones you should fear. If any conflict arises with them, work together with the West Region to sort it out. Understand?"
Everyone nodded, their faces hard with seriousness. They understood that the geniuses from the North and South Regions were the two forces they needed to be cautious of, or things could quickly take a turn for the worse.
’The South Region is like a world of criminals… but what about the North Region?’ Max wondered curiously. He wasn’t worried about the geniuses from those regions; rather, he was intrigued by the culture and customs of both.
Max glanced around at everyone, noticing that they were busy with their own matters, and decided to keep himself occupied.
He slowly entered the Dimension of Time and began training to improve the fusion of his two auras.
---
Time passed, and the jet finally reached its destination and landed.
Everyone, including Max, disembarked and found themselves standing in a grassy field.
Not far from them stood four groups from the four major guilds. Each group had ten geniuses—seven at the Apprentice Rank and three at the Adept Rank—just like the Phoenix Order guild.
"You people from the Phoenix Order are late as always," a middle-aged man with long golden hair and a heavy-built body walked over, his eyes scanning Max. He was the leader of the Lionheart Guild, James Garfield.
Max felt a chill down his spine as he noticed the man’s glare. ’This old man… he’s looking at me like I’m some kind of prey,’ Max thought, silently smiling as he glanced at the leader of the Lionheart Guild.
"The Temple hasn’t opened yet, so we’re all on time," Aurelia replied, her eyes darting toward the other three guilds.
"Aurelia? Do you seriously need to bring a level 4 Apprentice Rank trash to this temple?" A mocking voice reached their ears. Many of those present didn’t need to see who it was; they knew all too well that it was Parker Benette.
Max’s eyes shifted toward the Emerald Legion guild, where a middle-aged man with a thin build had just spoken. His face wore a sneering expression as he glanced at the geniuses from the Phoenix Order guild.
Aurelia didn’t even look at the Emerald Legion guild. She turned her attention to the Knights of Valor guild. "How much longer until the portal opens?" she asked the leader of the Knights of Valor, Kate Hardy, famously known as Knight Kate.
On the other hand, Parker fumed with rage at being ignored by Aurelia, but he did nothing and instead focused his sneer on Max.
As for Max, he observed that the leader of the Knights of Valor was surprisingly a lady clad in white and golden armor, with long white hair. He hadn’t expected a guild focused on knightly honor to be led by a woman.
Kate glanced at the geniuses of the Phoenix Order guild before meeting Aurelia’s eyes. "It will take ten more minutes," she replied calmly.
Aurelia nodded and waited.
Meanwhile, Max observed the geniuses from each guild and recognized some familiar faces, such as Nash from the Lionheart Guild and the two masked individuals from the Black Lotus Guild.
Although he couldn’t see their faces, he instinctively knew they were the same individuals who had helped him during his battle with Veylin. He was sure of it.
’It must be because of my bloodline,’ Max mused. One thing he was certain of—his bloodline was stronger than any member of the Black Lotus guild he had encountered so far. Stay updated with freewebnovel.com
’Maybe I should visit the Black Lotus guild to check it out,’ a tempting thought surfaced in his mind. Though he wasn’t sure whether their intentions were pure, he was very interested in the inheritance of their bloodlines.
"You’re Max, right? I challenge you to a fight," a young man appeared in front of the Phoenix Order guild and directly challenged Max.
Max glanced at him and noticed he was one of the geniuses from the Emerald Legion.
"Let the young ones have a go, since we’re already waiting," Parker’s sly face revealed his conspiratorial nature, his voice cold.
Max looked at Aurelia, who gave a calm nod.
Seeing he had permission, Max stepped forward with a cold sneer on his face. ’They underestimate me because of my low rank… I have to clear up their doubts,’ he thought slyly as he appeared before the youth.
The young man, around 20 years old with black hair, looked at Max with a sneer. "I’m Harry."
Max nodded and replied, "I’m Max."
Harry grinned. "I’ll attack first." With that, his hands became covered in brown rocks, and he dashed toward Max.
"Mountain Fist!" Harry shouted, slamming his fist into Max with all his strength. However, the sensation of his fist striking a face never came, nor did Max’s imagined scream.
It was only a moment later that Harry realized his fist had been stopped barehanded by Max.
"You!" Harry was shocked and immediately attempted to retreat, but he couldn’t free his hand from Max’s grip.
"Why are you running so fast?" Max sneered, delivering a punch to Harry’s gut.
"Aggh!" Harry coughed violently, his insides churning from the blow.
Max grinned and landed another punch.
"Cough." A mouthful of blood escaped from Harry’s mouth as his face turned pale.
Everyone watching the battle was surprised, particularly those who had doubted Max’s strength. They found it hard to believe that someone at level 3 of the Apprentice Rank could easily defeat someone at level 10 of the Apprentice Rank.
’This kid… he really is a genius,’ James, the leader of the Lionheart Guild, secretly praised Max. His eyes gleamed with admiration as he watched the fight.
On the other hand, Parker fumed with rage, seeing his guild member being beaten so brutally.
"Stop it!" he shouted. "This was supposed to be a friendly spar, but you, kid, with evil intentions, took it too far."
Max glanced at him, then lifted Harry before sending him flying toward Parker. "Here, you can have him," he sneered as he walked back to his group.
Parker caught Harry’s battered form and handed him to others to heal, his gaze turning angrily to Aurelia. However, he remained silent. He understood that it was his own decision to start the fight, and since they had lost, he couldn’t say anything further.
"Armin, Roy, and Jordan, once you’re inside the temple and see an opportunity… eliminate Max. I don’t want to see him come out," Parker instructed the three strongest geniuses of the Emerald Legion, whose strength was at the peak of Adept Rank.
They nodded calmly.
Meanwhile, Kate Hardy, the leader of the Knights of Valor guild, kept glancing at Max from time to time. Having realized that a genius of his caliber was rare, she found herself increasingly curious about him.
Just then, a blue bolt of lightning descended before everyone, revealing a blue-colored portal. It appeared just like a normal portal but everyone here knew that it was the portal leading to the temple.