Michael's soul pressure caused the guards to feel suppressed as well. But, the guards had taken formal training in the military and knew about soul cultivators. While the top end powerhouses tended to disregard the danger of soul cultivators, for those at emperor realm, soul cultivators were a huge threat. For most soul cultivators, reaching the viscous soul realm in their lifetime was possible. Thus, most soul cultivators in the army were in different stages of viscous soul realm. And that was sufficient to threaten emperor realm experts. Thus, military training included compulsory soul defence methods. As all guards started defending their souls, they realized that Michael's soul energy was so huge that only emperors could possibly defend. Thus, none of the king stage guards dared to issue a challenge.
The first guard that came forward was an early emperor realm expert. As soon as the guard took the challenger stand, Paul gave the signal to begin the fight.
Michael had gained experience in fighting against early emperor realm experts when he was subduing the bandits. Thus, as soon as the signal was given, Michael condensed his soul energy as an endless number of swords and sent them hurling towards the guard. Each of these swords could kill any king who had not cultivated his soul. But the emperor realm guard in front of him grit his teeth and bore through the assault as he advanced towards Michael. He reached Michael in just a flash as he extended his hands to grab Michael's head. He was trying to subdue Michael by slamming him to the ground. But just at this moment, Michael tilted his head as if already expecting the guard to do this. At the same time, he unleashed a powerful and highly condensed soul sword and attacked the guard in the stomach.
As the sword entered the guard's body, he felt extreme pain in his soul as he fainted and fell down flat on his face. This time again, he had won in just two moves! All the guards paled at the result. Even the captain of the guards frowned. The guard captain was in the mid-stage emperor realm. He knew that Michael had a very powerful soul and it was quite possible that he would be able to beat an early stage emperor. But, he did not expect Michael to win in two moves. Now, he was feeling unsure if he himself could defeat Michael.
A few more guards at early emperor realm tried as well but they all were beaten just as easily. The guards being commoners, did not have powerful or useful blessings and this was also one reason that their fighting abilities were not versatile enough. They could only fight with their bodies which gave Michael the way to use prediction to evade easily and counterattack with powerful soul attacks. It became clear to all that perhaps Michael might be the greatest expert in the caravan after Paul. All eyes unanimously turned to the guard captain.
The guard captain was looking at Michael with complicated eyes. He had been stuck in the middle emperor realm for about a decade. In the Atrexia kingdom, the commoners found advancing further in the emperor realm extremely difficult. Only those with abnormal talents like Dracus Ming could reach the saint realm on their own. In fact, most commoner's cultivation path ended at the mid-stage emperor realm. Those lucky few who could reach the late emperor realm would then go into seclusion to ignite their vital force and reach the saint realm. The guard captain was a 50-year-old veteran in the army. If he could reach the late emperor realm in the next few years, he could try to reach the saint realm for the next 20 years before his vitality would start deteriorating.
If he could reach the saint realm, he would have a longer lifespan and he would serve the Atrexia military and uplift his family status. If he could make a few major contributions, he might be granted nobility and die happily. As the guard captain thought all this, he looked at Paul. He knew that the reason Paul organized all this was to cement Michael's status in the hearts of these younger generation kids. After all, these kids would be spending their time together with Michael in the tower. It would be shameful if they did not know and respect their own crown prince. The other guards understood it as well and thus they did not bring out their trump cards to in the fight. The reason he looked at Paul was for confirmation to go all out. Paul also understood his intention and nodded in response. This would be Michael's final test from Paul's side. He had decided that if Michael could beat the guard captain, he would support Michael personally. It must be known that even though Michael was the crown prince, he had no perfect realm backer. Thus, while people considered him important, he would not be able to wield any authority before he developed into a powerhouse. But that would all change if he could get a powerful supporter.
After this, the guard captain reached the central stage and a heavy aura settled around him. It was as if any storm would not be able to move him! This was the unique aura of this experienced expert. It was in contrast to Michael's aura that seemed to soar to the heavens as if to challenge the very world! All the people understood that this was the climax of today's show. They all held their breaths and waited for Paul to give the signal. As soon as Paul gave the signal, Michael sent a concentrated bullet of soul energy rotating at high speeds as if to drill a hole in head guard's defence. At the same time, he used all strength in his legs to jump backwards almost vanishing from the eyes of the audience! The ground dented at his feet as it could not bear the pressure and a meter wide crater opened there! And, the guard captain had rushed to Michael's position in a flash just barely missing Michael!
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The captain was truly stunned. At the start, he had activated his blessing Acceleration. It allowed him to move very fast for a moment. It was also an advanced blessing. This was one of his trump cards. He did not expect Michael to jump away. In all his fights till now, Michael had only charged at his enemies and never stepped back. This led him to think that Michael would do the same in this fight as well. As Michael's soul attack hit him, he felt a sharp pain as if something was drilling into his soul. This was Michael's unique attack that he had developed himself. But, this was not sufficient!
As soon as Michael's feet hit the ground, he charged forward with a punch at full power. The captain also sent his fist towards Michael causing his expression to change. Michael was intending to stun the captain for a moment and then hitting him with a fierce counterattack. He did not expect the captain to retaliate. Micahel changed the direction of his fist and both their fists collided.
Boom!
The resulting blast sent shockwaves in all directions. The children, at a distance of hundred metres, were all pushed back as they fell from the embankments. The expressions of the guards changed as they moved to check if any of the audience was too badly hurt.
Michael felt as if his hand was torn apart in the collision. He knew that his hand was broken. As he was blasted back by several metres, he looked at the captain vomiting blood and trembling. Michael's attack this time was far more damaging than what looked on the outside.
When Dracus Ming had rejected Michael for being untalented, Michael had decided to create a fighting method unique to himself. Also, as he listened to Mubal, he figured that soul artists always attacked from a distance. Also, the power of their attacks was routed by the body of the other experts. That's why Michael was developing a totally new way of using the soul energy. It was to use it in conjunction with martial arts. He wanted his blows to carry both physical force and soul energy. Most experts when facing a physical attack would not be able to focus on the soul. Michael only realized when he tried to move his body while activating his soul energy inside his body. Moving the body while concentrating the soul energy inside the body so that the momentum of the physical attack could be carried over to his soul energy - this was a unique direction of the martial way that Michael was creating for himself.
While Michael had only barely started creating his style, it was still incredibly powerful. He had only learned to apply soul energy to his fist and that too in a specific stance. It was the first time Michael tried to use it in combat.
The head guard had initially been injured by Michael's attack but it was not enough to incapacitate him. He was forced into a stunned state with pain. Through his incredible experience, he knew that the best time to attack a soul cultivator was after he/she had launched their attack. This was as each attack would take some time for the soul artist to adjust their bearings. It was also this reason that Michael found it impossible to develop his new art. From his experience, the guard captain was certain that Michael would not be able to counterattack his punch. Thus even at the cost of internal injuries, he threw a powerful punch in his direction.
Captain was certain that his punch would end the fight as Michael whose body only had increased strength would be badly injured with the punch. But with perfect realm existence nearby, he did not think that Michael would be in any danger. Thus the power of the punch was full power of a mid-emperor realm expert. But midway, he saw Michael change the direction of his punch and their attacks collided. It was then that he felt a terrifying soul impact and his soul was injured badly.
After the clash, both were in terrible shape. But, the head guard was clearly more injured. The result had been decided. With his soul injured that badly, it would be difficult for him to bring forth the power in his body. It was great that he had not fainted. If he was hit with another attack like that, he might really die! Though, Michael also could not actually use the same attack as his right hand was broken. Paul had appeared at the centre by the time dust settled. He looked at the head guard and said
> Paul : I take it that you acknowledge your defeat!
>
> Head Guard (with a sigh) : Yes Sir.
>
> Paul (to all) : I will now declare the competition to an end. Michael has won all the fights and so, I will give him the spirit medicine for breakthrough. We will stop here for a few days so that all people get treated. Also, I am giving Michael my token! The competition is now over.
After that Paul handed his token and the medicine to Michael. Those who knew the significance of the token were surprised. But, remembering Michael's performance, they found it reasonable that Paul would give him his personal support. They would probably remember the memory of a little kid beating up veteran guards all their life.
The caravan stayed for a week in the clearing. It was enough for all experts to recover completely. After that, they left again for the tower. The only difference was that all guards and children would refer to Michael as crown prince with extreme respect even in private conversations.