19 Season 1 Episode 19: Not By A Long Shot

Colton fainted on the ground with no more movements from him.

Claude's hair wavered in the air as he stood still with his cold expression on the martial arts field.

A cold winter wind blew, freezing away all the hot-bloodedness. The entire arena was silent. In the faculty building, the Academy Headmaster was still standing, staring dumbfoundedly at the stage. 

"He won."

After a momentary silence, the crowd erupted. The realization of what happened had finally hit the spectators. 

Everything suddenly seemed like a dream.

"How can this be? Did he really pull it off?" Some people hugged their heads, revealing an expression of disbelief, while others were tongue-tied.

"I struck it rich this time around." The Academy Elder who had bet on Claude's victory had a radiant smile on his face. He had bet a lot of money on Claude, and according to the payout rates, he was bound to win a whole lot.

At this moment, countless gazes were riveted on the young man standing on top of the stage. 

"I guess I made the right decision," Second Elder looked up at the Heavens as he closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, exhibiting an expression of intense enjoyment.

" Something's wrong... I'll go take a look." The judge was feeling a bit uneasy, and after saying so, he jumped onto the stage to inspect Colton, who was lying on the ground.

The judge first squatted down and observed the fainted Colton Grey, sighing in relief as he found that he was not in a critical condition. His head just had a huge impact, causing him to fall unconscious.

'Weird. The young man used Invisible Sword Technique to attack, and yet this was the only damage done?' The judge wondered.  

However, when he diverted a part of his concentration towards Colton Grey's body, and inspected his cultivation, the judge couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

"How is Colton doing?" A few people watching from below asked the judge as they rushed up to the stage quickly.

The judge raised his head and stared at Claude, his eyes shining with a fierce light, before turning around to answer their question. "His meridians and energy channels have been severed. It would take months, maybe even years for it to join back together. It's going to be a hard process for Colton to return to cultivation!"

The judge's words caused the crowd's heart to shudder violently. 

Did the judge just say that his meridians were severed? Does that mean that Colton Grey wouldn't be able to cultivate anymore?

A cold wind whistled through the air, the eyes of everyone were completely focused on Claude, who shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"I might've hit him a bit too hard," Claude said lightly. 

The spectators nearly puked blood upon hearing his words. Striking the meridian required accuracy and was way harder to implement than normal attacks, so there was no way it was an accident.

Was he serious?

Even Academy Elders' eyes twitched upon hearing Claude's words and were shocked by his ruthlessness. However, they chose to not take any action. After all, the young man had defeated Colton Grey, who was the favorite to win the Inner Disciple Contest. Claude had beaten him, and he did it with a low cultivation level and not even a single scratch on his body. Even if he somehow didn't win first place, they were confident of the young man's potential to rank in the top spots of the contest. He was going to be a fine addition to the Academy's Inner Section.

As for Colton Grey? Although he had potential, he wasn't anywhere close to Claude. And now that his meridians were severed, he was just a measly outer disciple in their eyes. No one would want to waste their time on a lowly outer disciple, no matter how much potential they had in the past. 

"I can't believe it.. He beat Colton….." As for May Stafford, her countenance paled—she was frightened out of her mind. She had a feeling as if she had fallen from heaven and into the abyss.

How can this be? How can this be?

Her eyes turned red as she gazed helplessly around, her mind telling her that this was impossible. Yet with the truth in front of her eyes, there was no way her heart could deny the same thing.

She had looked down on Claude thinking he was a loser when compared to the top geniuses at the Golden Avarice Academy. 

And yet, how had it come to this? Shouldn't it be the opposite, where Colton Grey severed Clause's meridians instead?

In her eyes, that familiar figure was now the king of the outer disciples.

All of a sudden, Claude directed his glance towards her, and her body shuddered violently. 

She was truly afraid—this was true terror.

A cold smile hung on his lips when Claude saw the expression on May Stafford's face. He knew that the group of cultivators that tried to kill him in Gryfino forest were sent by either Colton or May.

'If you think I'm going to let anyone get away with trying to kill me, then you're dead wrong.' Claude smiled coldly, killing intent flickering in his eyes.

'This isn't over. Not by a long shot.'

"Outer disciple Claude Rayforth, you performed well, continue working hard." Finally, the judge patted Claude's shoulder and declared loudly, "Claude Rayforth, challenge successful! The challenger will now take the top spot in the group."