For the final round, those six most impressive geniuses were all within the top ten. Among the other four there was two dark horses along with two that seemed to have snuck through with lucky breaks. The Trial Master had gauged the capabilities of the geniuses and put what he thought to be the top 8 in four different groups facing up against the weakest competitors. Then he put all the people with strength near that of the top 8 into the last group and essentially had them battle it out to see who rose to the top. One of the ‘dark horse’ contestants, Hong Chiang, knocked out one of those top 8. He’d been thought to be one of the weakest yet he defeated someone the Trial Master gauged as having the highest tier of strength. His name was literally ‘Red Spear’, and he lived up to it, wielding a red tasseled spear with a red lacquered wood haft and dark red metal tip. He never took out his spear during the first round and just trained in a cave so his strength came as a surprise to everyone.
The other three weren’t nearly as flashy, the two ‘lucky’ winners fought five grueling battles each, their group being the ones near the middle top of the pack. They were all very similar in ability and while their fights carried on for a long time, even the crowd could tell the gap in power between them and the other eight members of the top ten. The last of the ten was the second ‘dark horse’ competitor that had emerged. She was put into a group with the top 8 seeds, and not only did she defeat the predicted second place of the group she even beat Fu Zedong. Her name was Xuan Mei, or Returning Beauty, and despite having fought five battles, only the most powerful experts in the crowd could even tell how she battled let alone how she won.
Contrary to how round one and two ended, the third round was actually capped off with a grand awards ceremony. Since the top ten had all won the right to enter Thunder Mountain Bridge, they were already the winners. There would still be a final round of battling to determine the final order of strength, but they wouldn’t be fighting it out to the limit. All the geniuses as well as the Sects and Clans they came from wanted them to bring back great rewards for them, there was no way they’d want them getting seriously injured and then forced to drop out. The final round was more of a formality and comparison of pointers, letting the Trial Master gauge their strength after a nominal display.
“These are the ten winners of the Thunder Mountain Bridge selection tournament!”
The Trial Master showed off his skill, announcing each of the top ten to the ground and even embellishing a little bit by including their places of origin and a little bit of praise for the skills and prowess they exhibited during the matches. He even went so far as to have the view screens show a zoomed in view of the stage so even the commoners could plainly see their faces. Better yet, while they were being introduced he even had a few split screens pop up and show off replays of their most exciting moments from the tournament. If Sage was there he would have thought this Trial Master was part referee, part commentator, and part highlight reel editor.
Meanwhile, in another part of town, the door to a workshop opened. A man covered in soot and sweat walked out, looking a complete mess. He had a congenial smile on his face and seemed easy to get along with from the way he carried himself, though looking closer there was a hidden sharpness to his gaze. He was stripped down to his inner shirt and breeches, looking quite the mess. Of course, this was Lang Sheng, and he’d just removed a set of heavy gloves, boots, work apron, and a heavy cap. As such, there was obvious bands of soot stains showing on edges of where his protective gear was. At least he wasn’t wearing goggles so he didn’t have racoon eye stains. After taking in a deep breath of the cool air, a set of cloud grey robes appeared in his hand. He took off at a fast walk, throwing on the robe as he made his way through town, a bit of urgency in his step.
Before long he’d already made his way to the city square where the tournament was being held, just in time to catch the tail end of the awards ceremony for the top ten. Smiling, he was pleased to see that his efforts weren’t in vain and Song Lu Tian was indeed within the top ten. It would truly have been a big joke if he went to all this trouble to recruit Song Lu Tian only to have the musclehead fail in getting a ticket to the special zone. The sea of people were truly far too large, and Sage didn’t wish to draw attention so he could only wait patiently for the formalities to end and the crowd to disperse. The crowd was filled with far too many experts that he didn’t wish to offend so all he could do was find some high ground and use it to keep an eye on Song Lu Tian from afar. Thankfully, the bald head, shiny armor and bulging muscles helped the man stand out from the crowd and gave Sage an easier time keeping track of him.
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Eventually, Sage tailed him to an Inn where there was some sort of celebration going on with Song Lu Tian as the guest of honor. Sage had no idea what powerful force was holding the gathering, but he didn’t want to waste any more time. He was so eager to find the man that he’d skipped washing up, there was no way he was going to stay back to avoid a bit of awkwardness. Instead he just approached the party quite forwardly, gaining the attention of all.
“Please forgive this humble one’s intrusion, for I am unworthy of attending your gathering, but I have urgent news for the Great Hero Song.”
Sage laid it on thick, both to appease Song Lu Tian, and also the people holding the party. By pushing Song Lu Tian up even higher on a pedestal, it raised the prestige of the ones who had the honor of hosting him. Luck, or perhaps booze, was on his side as those gathered merely cheered at the compliments and a servant soon led Sage over to Song Lu Tian. The burly man, and his ever present pair of attendants, gave him a strange look as they saw how dirty and unkempt he looked.
“I have just come from the workshop… can we use a private room for a few minutes?”
Sage cut out all the crap at this point, his excitement getting the better of him. Song Lu Tian made the connection and he stood up eagerly. The group of four now rushing out and quickly finding a private room to use. Once within, Song Heng the Agent, nearly yelled with excitement as he blurted out, “Did you finish them?!”
Song Lu Tian seemed to have been about to say the same thing, and Sage could only laugh, a big smile showing on his face. He had chosen to show his excitement this time, not giving them a confirmation, but just smiling. He cleared the table between them and upon it appeared a set of eight gleaming swords.
“I didn’t finish them yet, but I created the first successful set of flying formation swords!”
They all took that time to appraise the swords in front of them. A set of eight identical swords, made of Spirit Steel so the base metal was of a dark grey color yet polished to a mirror like sheen. The blade was about three inches wide, a half inch thick, and three feet long. The hilt was sized for a single hand, with a full tang, a riveted wooden handle, and a handle wrap made from Spiritworm Silk cord. The crossguard wasn’t very wide, nor ornamental, minimalistic while functional. The pommel was a simple cylindrical cap, but from a bottom view there was a large disk inlaid on it with the character for ‘Sword’.
After some time the group stopped looking and Song Heng picked one up, he ran his energy through it and finding no problems he then handed it over to Song Lu Tian before checking each sword individually in the same manner. Sage was impressed by his diligence, even now wary of this being a trick. Song Lu Tian seemed to be reserving his judgement of the swords until he finally ran his Qi through one and felt their effects. He looked astonished, “What… what did you do? I can’t tell what magical abilities you’ve given it.”
Sage smiled again and pointed at the others, “Try them together.”
Song Lu Tian quickly took control of the eight swords and then activated his signature technique, the Heaven Destroying Sword Formation. Unfortunately, there was only eight swords, so he also brought out one of his current swords to make up the number. His face seemed to be locked in astonishment, “This… I’ve never truly used a set of swords created for a Sword Formation. Do they all feel this way? Before it was like I was wielding the swords while wearing heavy mittens and now I’m barehanded. Only, the one odd sword seems like a cripple in comparison.”
Sage nodded at his description, “That is also how I heard the difference described. In addition, they should be able to be used in the formation without slowly degrading like normal swords would. On top of that, the real trick is the enchantments. I didn’t add any.”
The three Song’s had a weird look on their face, “What?”