(MC POV)

Needless to say, the entire city was destroyed in that one Lightning Technique.

I honestly didn't expect Lian Li to be able to do something like this.

I mean, sure she's powerful already, but I never expected her to be 'city levelling powerful' less than a year after becoming my disciple.

Remember how I called her a cheat? Because she's definitely a cheat alright.

What about me?

Hey, I'll have you know that I got here through years of hard work and dedication ok? That's ignoring the fact that others would take more than ten times the amount of time I would need to get to where I am…

Ok, I'm being a hypocrite, shut up.

"Master! Did I do good?" Lian Li asked, practically glowing with anticipation of my praise.

Well, there's no denying that she did improve a lot ever since I picked her up as a starving, desperate girl. To think back then she was only just learning how to control her Lightning Quarks and yet now she's at the level where she can destroy entire cities.

I'm pretty sure she's really close to reaching Master tier on her Divine Lightning soon.

The only reason why I have yet to promote her is to not let her stand out too much. If the other Elders and Masters of our Sect knew about her explosive growth, I'm going to be once again swamped with responsibilities.

Hmmm? Wait a minute… Could I be hastening the end of the world?

Nah, that can't be. I did teach her to have a compassionate heart after all. She hasn't killed anyone ever since becoming my disciple so there's no way such a scenario could happen now.

See? My teachings are paying off. Look at my cute disciples, they wouldn't hurt a fly!

Oh, Lian Li's still staring at me with the 'praise me' look.

I reached forward and patted her head, "Of course. I can see you've worked really hard. I am proud of you, Lian Li."

"Ehehehe~ Master praised me~~"

See! She's so cute!

While she was distracted by the headpats, I turned to Tian Ya, "Sorry, you were saying?"

My words shook him out of his stupor, the man having been gaping at the destruction all this while.

"Habahwha? Ahem… I mean… Is… Is Master Lin's disciples all this strong?"

I was about to tell him that Lian Li was a special case when the girl in question puffed up her chest proudly, "Of course! Ah, maybe Eris and Brendan can't do it, but everyone else could do what I just did too! Master is the best teacher!"

What?

Oh man… For me to not know my own disciples' strengths… I'm quite embarrassed to call myself their Master in this case…

Tian Ya gulped, "I… See… Master Lin has really talented disciples…"

Manami appeared behind us, "Ufufufu~ That's not true at all, it is all due to Master's teachings that we are able to grow so strong. Without Master to guide us, we wouldn't have grown so much. Isn't that right, Master?"

Did I? All I did was to teach you some basic stuff and you all became so monstrously strong!

Look, even Elaria got to be some kind of tactical genius even though all I taught her was a little bit of chess!

But of course there's no way I can say that out loud.

I cleared my throat, "No, no. All of you are indeed talented, I merely guided you all along the path you should take to grow stronger."

"Master is humble as always, there is no shame for the strong in admitting they are strong," Kiyomi told me, joining her sister's side.

Wanting to change that subject, I turned my gaze back to the city, "Anyway, you were saying something about the Dark Sect?"

Tian Ya frowned, "Yes… They came to us days after we overthrew the tyrant… First pretending to be merchants trying to aid our country in restoring order. Then sending an advisor to us so that he can stay close to me, implanting some sort of control inscription on me and effectively controlling the country…"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "An inscription that managed to still continue working within your anti-Technique barrier?"

He gave me a wry smile, "Funnily enough… That barrier came from the subjects who were loyal to me who were trying to figure out a way to break the inscription. That bastard fooled them into believing my life was tied to his where if he dies, I die as well, just so that they wouldn't find out the key to breaking free of him was to end the controller's life."

"Ah… I see…" I muttered, realising we were going to touch on some sensitive topics.

I turned to my disciples, "Ahem, before we go any further, could you all just go and make sure those people from before got out of the city safely? It'll be bad if something still happened to them, like someone getting hurt because of the shockwave or something."

They should be fine since I shielded them but no one else should have known that.

"All of us, Master?" Brendan asked.

"Yes, to show that we care for them despite all that, you know? Or else it would be difficult for us to move here later on."

Lian Li clapped her hands together, "As expected of Master to think so far ahead. Understood! We will work hard for Master and let them know who their real saviour is!"

Those are some weird words coming from you but ok?

"Umu, I'll be counting on you all."

All of them left without hesitation, leaving only Tian Ya and me behind.

I breathed a sigh of relief, dodged the bullet there where they would have found out I had snuck out and killed someone. Definitely would have caused some problems there if my cute disciples knew that.

Only when they were out of ear shot did I turn back to the former Dong King, "Right, so I assume you are free now after I killed that guy?"

"Yes Master Lin. And I meant what I said about me taking responsibility for all the troubles I caused… I never intended to be the aggressor in any wars, but it seems like your country had something the Dark Sect wanted so they made use of us. I have to admit… The fact that we wanted access to the Sea as well made it easier for them to control us."

"Hmm… You seem to give up your country pretty easily though?"

His smile turned into a sad one, "Master Lin, I am not a stranger to war, this country was built on one after all. I can tell when we stand no chance of winning. The fact that we were pushed so far back without Master Lin leading the front lines is already a clear enough indication that we had lost. If the war goes on any further, it would just lead to more deaths on our side."

"Still… You're surrendering your entire country to us, you know?"

"I'm afraid that against the Dark Sect, I am powerless to fight them," He sighed. "Without power, even if I were to remain king, this country would just be exploited against once more. But with you as king… The people would be safe with you as their protector."

"I already said I won't be king though."

"Hahaha, I know, I know. But you would still be able to protect this place better than I ever will."

I suppose he has a point there…

But no matter what, I'm still not going to be king though!

Well, now that this is done, the war is officially over. Now it's finally time to go back home!

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