It was the third and final day at the stadium. Only 64+1 left in the competition. Those could be considered the best of the generation in the whole Sun empire with its population of more than 2 billion.

With the knowledge from previous years, the disciples still in the game knew that the rewards would more than double for every additional duel they would win in the main bracket.

Once again, the arrival of the 16 Elders from the SCA’s council and the guest from the Black Rainbow sect was the signal for the duels to begin.

Han Lingyun kept a close eye on Yu Tao but the spear user easily crushed his opponent ranked 55th with the absolute strength of his lightning elements qi attacks. Yu Tao had become a hot topic for the crowd. Yesterday he had killed in retaliation a member of the Cheng Huang School that had a hand in the death of a White Tiger School’s disciple during the first phase. The strength he displayed and his violent actions polarized everyone’s view on him, to which Yu Tao turned a blind eye. He had become one of the favorites for the competition but had also become an enemy of the Cheng Huang School. Some claimed that Yu Tao would not survive the competition.

Anyway, to Han Lingyun, it was apparent that Yu Tao had learned some extraordinary martial arts and had an insane comprehension of the lightning element for his level. Han Lingyun even wondered if Yu Tao was able to build his own attack skill.

Creating a skill or martial art required a profound comprehension of one’s own field. However, it was also greatly beneficial when one fought with their own skills as the qi flowed in vaster quantities, following the caster’s will to a much greater extent and requiring a smaller qi consumption for the same results. In general, the top performers at the foundation establishment stage try to form their own personal martial art as it provided a decisive edge.

So, this issue mainly concerned inner disciples. There were some incredible geniuses that succeeded at the qi condensation stage though, but all had special circumstances and some luck.

Someone trying to recreate a martial art created by a disciple would find it far inferior level to those available in the sect’s library. Only elders with their broad and deep comprehensions could pretend to optimize martial arts for a large audience.

A general rule was that comprehension took a larger and larger place in one’s martial path, and many disregarded the body as only the first step on the road.

Back to the competition, Han Lingyun was more than impressed by Yu Tao’s level. ‘Today, I don’t have the tools to defeat such an opponent, yet. He is following his path and I am following mine. It’s too early to announce a winner.’

Han Lingyun put the Yu Tao problem at the back of his mind and turned his thoughts to his own upcoming fight, mentally studying his next opponent. He recalled the information he had gathered.

‘Lin Liqiu from the Blood Saber Sect, ranked 42nd at the first phase. A 4th grade talent at the early qi condensation stage. She is an iron girl, and likes to work alone, be it for training or for missions. Her greatest strength is her exceptional saber art. Lin Liqiu’s qi attacks are among the sharpest of all the early qi condensation cultivators. In addition, she has a high Wood affinity which she manages to fully utilize with a martial art that boosts regeneration.

As a consequence, her fighting style is extremely bold where she would gladly exchange injury for injury. She is brutal to herself and others. Lin Liqiu’s great strength at this cultivation level comes from the fact that her spirit is in perfect adequation with some of the Blood Saber Sect’s martial arts specialties.’

Han Lingyun had two main advantages against Lin Liqiu: his cultivation at the mid condensation realm and his great versatility in comparison to that relatively straightforward opponent.

Before long, it was Han Lingyun’s turn to step on stage. The Elder supervising the duels imperiously announced the beginning of the match.

Lin Liqiu instantly tried to close the distance with Han Lingyun. She had witnessed his superior range during the previous fight. Han Lingyun straight away responded with series of qi blades to force Lin Liqiu on the defensive but she just answered with some rapid saber strokes that formed four crossing lines. In her usual style, Lin Liqiu didn’t even slow down as she wasn’t afraid of getting injured.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Finally, she had closed the distance with Han Lingyun to less than 20 meters. She would perhaps have slowed her pace if she could see Han Lingyun’s lips slightly curling up.

As Han Lingyun evaded Lin Liqiu’s first threatening blade by dodging to the side, he used his momentum to perform a graceful rotation and propelled black qi in every direction.

This move was quite unique in its qi consumption, as it wasn’t an attack but still used a great portion of the user’s qi reserves. The black cloud formed at tremendous speeds, even faster than traditional qi attacks, being immaterial and encountering no air resistance. Lin Liqiu had learned about that peculiar black cloud already so without hesitation she tried to bolt away before the dark qi reached her. But before she had taken a step, she was already surrounded by darkness.

She clenched her teeth and still tried to exit the environment while simultaneously cutting with saber blades at Han Lingyun’s likely positions.

Alarm bells rang in her mind and she felt her dominant arm being sliced through to her horror. She rolled on the floor only for her danger signals to light up once again from the side. Sensing the threat of death for the first time in absolute blindness she screamed, “DEFEAT. I admit defeat.”

The elder watching over the fight had given her some consideration by dissipating Han Lingyun’s attack before Lin Liqiu finished her cry to prevent further injuries. Her arm could be attached back rapidly with the right pill coupled with her high rejuvenating ability but the process was extremely expensive and tremendously painful. It wasn’t the first time Lin Liqiu lost a limb anyway.

But for some reason, she had only felt helplessness and despair in that darkness. Thinking back, these emotions were not natural. Simply being blind wouldn’t have made her panic in that way.

The black qi was shortly dissipated and the audience stared wide eye at the result of these short seconds. Lin Liqiu was kneeling on the ground holding her bleeding arm that was already cauterizing. Her hard face was showing an unusual grimace. Han Lingyun was standing leisurely to the side.

Lin Liqiu hurriedly picked up her severed arm and saber to join Elders of the Blood Saber Sect. Her domineering nature had taken a hit on that day. Charging the enemy to crush them with superior strength and sharpness isn’t always viable when they have strange means. Her multiple fights with Fu Yan, the other strongest disciple of the Blood Saber Sect had invariably been close, but it had always been a competition of saber play, speed and power. That day she learned that there is always a bigger or stranger fish.

For the first time since the tournament began, the Elder draped in a black cloak on the honorary seats opened his eyes.

The SCA Elder coming from the White Tiger Sect smiled as a result. “Quite a good seedling to incorporate hints of domains in that martial art. He should already be able to cultivate in his own spirit world for this to manifest. Don’t you think so, Senior Qiao Fa?”

The Black Cloaked guest nodded slightly. “It’s a shame he is in your White Tiger School though, the school where the cannon fodder disciples have better treatment than the geniuses.”

The Elder from the White Tiger Sect kept a polite smile and the Black Cloaked cultivator closed his eyes back. The discussion had ended.

Wang Yimo walked on stage to face a disciple from the Illusion Valley. He was only ranked 87th in the first phase but he had won against the ranked 41st for a place in the top 64. The Illusion Valley did not shine so well during the first phase. That disciple was one of its two strongest elements for example, but had only ranked 87th. He was a 4th grade talent at the early qi condensation level too but remained a very tricky opponent to face as he was adept at deception and misdirection. In close combat, his true position was nearly impossible to pinpoint as he enveloped himself in a rolling white qi that complimented a special veil he wore. He managed to create figures in the qi that enveloped his prey. This attack style had many similarities with Han Lingyun but rather than seeing nothing, the idea was to exhaust the opponent on false alarms while sapping its defenses.

This strategy had worked wonderfully in his previous duel. Wang Yimo on the other hand wasn’t such an easy prey. She already countered these types of restrictions with her art plus she had further worked on these situations to face off Han Lingyun.

As soon as the fog appeared, she immediately launched a diluted version of Moon Gaze that sacrificed strength to cover a wider area. Her qi sense with that technique was more precise than her eyes and she immediately recognized several blurry figures while a qi attack landed on her defensive shield.

She frowned as she noticed that her opponent hadn’t just created visual images, but also complimented them with the appropriate qi. Another attack came crashing down from the side and she stumbled forward. It appeared that none of those human shapes was the true culprit.

She used her moon gaze once again and concentrated. Suddenly Wang Yimo spotted a wisp of smoke dancing around the gas. ‘So that’s it. Impressive how he can hide his qi signature.’

To not take any chances with her opponent managing to dodge a qi crescent, she immediately used a concentrated version of the moon gaze that shot in the wisp’s direction and blasted the fog away in that section.

The disciple crashed heavily out of the stage, his state unknown; he had been launched into the air by the great force packed in Wang Yimo’s dense qi attack from the mid qi condensation level.

With a bright smile, Wang Yimo joined Han Lingyun in the top 32 of the competition.

“Congratulations on that straightforward win, miss Yimo.” Han Lingyun tried not to stare too much at her smile and soft movements.

Wang Yimo took out a fan from her sleeve and started to refresh herself as usual. “It was all right. Anyway, Lingyun who are you dueling next?”

“It’s… Wait, are you teasing me? I know you know!”