The ball continued throughout the entire night. After the dinner, there were a few other activities planned that kept everyone busy and entertained.

Ceni avoided Hao Xuan like the plague and chatted with many of the other participants. Hao Xuan was actually surprised to know that she was quite popular with both men and women as they rushed to make her acquaintance the moment she was alone.

While Hao Xuan was stuck with Dai Jin and Zhurong who returned out of nowhere. He was in Hao Xuan's pocket when they arrived but was gone by the time the fight broke out.

Zhurong kept trying to push Dai Jin away while he wanted nothing more than to bite down on his fluffy tail.

Every time Dai Yuan tried to take Dai Jin away from Hao Xuan's side he started bawling. It was only after he fell asleep and was taken away by her that Hao Xuan could enjoy some of the other activities like beast fighting, speed racing in the newest prototype models of the cruisers and sparring amongst the participants.

Of course none of them actually challenged Hao Xuan himself. He was the second guardian for the academy which came with its own reputation. None of the guardians were weak so it was a given that he would be as well, albeit an incorrect assumption in his case.

Hao Xuan observed some of the fights and understood the stark differences between him and these 'geniuses'. Although he had a relatively strong foundation and could hold his own against normal cultivators, but eight out of ten of these guys would be able to defeat him.

Be it offensive, defensive or support skills, they lacked nothing. Each of them had their own specialty that gave them an edge over the others.

For example, he was looking at Micha's fight in person and realized the disparity between them.

The first and most important aspect was the Qi. Their purity was on the same level but the quantity differed significantly. Micha could continue fighting in his best condition for up to an hour, but Hao Xuan could barely even last for 20 minutes.

The second was what set each of them apart. For Hao Xuan it would be his constitution, but he could not use it directly during the fights. His physique could also give him a great boost but he hadn't gotten acquainted with it either.

Micha was a bow user. He could conjure arrows of different energies using the bow and fire them for different effects. Some would be offensive while some even had defensive capabilities. He was a ranged fighter but could still hold his own in close range combat long enough to put some distance between himself and his opponent.

He was fighting a dual dagger wielder Assassin type cultivator that could become invisible. He would attack, turn invisible and attack again. Only when he was attacking could he be attacked himself. Hao Xuan thought it would be a complete loss for Micha but what he was seeing was something entirely different.

Micha could neither defend against him properly nor find his location, but he knew one thing for certain. He would have to show himself when he wanted to land an attack and when he did, instead of firing at him Micha shot a blueish arrow into the ground.

As a result the ground turned black and the assassin couldn't move an inch. Micha took the opportunity and unleashed a flurry of attacks but the assassin was able to break free a few seconds later. Micha used some type of movement skill that made it look like he was walking backwards and distanced himself from the assassin once again, ready for the next attack.

Hao Xuan rubbed his fingers remembering the 'Ray of Light' arrow that Micha had fired at him. Although he was able to stop the first one, but the next ten or twenty arrows, many of them would hit their target.

Micha's arrows were like rockets, whizzing left and right non-stop, cornering his opponent until he unwittingly admitted defeat.

'I have a few attacks with high damage but he would easily avoid them. I could catch up but he could get away again. Not to mention all my movement skills have their own downsides,' Hao Xuan calculated how he would fare if he fought Micha.

All the techniques and skills they showcased today were, of course, nothing important and would surely have a few hidden tricks up their sleeves.

Demonic steps were very versatile but all the varients he was able to create lacked one thing or another.

Emperor's arrival was good when fighting against crowds but would do terribly in one on one fights.

Heavenly Blare could cover short distance extremely quickly as well as maybe stun the enemy for a few seconds but it would not be viable after the first time when they would know what to expect. Not to mention he could only move in a straight line and in the direction he was facing.

Impetus charge (when demonic steps are using with the Force Qi) was slow and had a long build up time. It could destroy most things in its path which made it more of an offensive technique than anything else.

'I really have to start working on the new plan,' he thought inwardly.

When the sun was about to rise people finally started to take their leave. Hao Xuan jumped at the opportunity and left with Henrik and Wu Jin in tow. Both of them actually quite enjoyed themselves, it was only Hao Xuan that stayed alone most of the night. No one came to talk to him and he didn't bother with anyone either.

"PAR will reach out to you guys today. Get the nanotech from them at whatever cost you have to and bring it to me. I'll be staying at home until further notice," Hao Xuan told Henrik before getting off the carriage.

He went straight to his room and took out a clay token that had cracks all over it.

"Looks like I have no other option but you," he mumbled while brushing his finger over the cracks.

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