The rest of the night quickly passed and brought forth the next day of the competition, the various contestants rushing to the dome-shaped building. The third day was one of the more important days in the Three-Fold Territory Clash, it could be considered the end of the first stage and thus decided the final fates of quite a few cultivators.

After all, the rule was that you would be kicked out if you lost a total of three battles, and it was exactly on this third day that most teams had their third battle. The weakest teams would get kicked out and some of the teams that had lost multiple members would also have to surrender, getting split up and spread out among the remaining teams to make up for any lost members. Multiple teams would have to leave the competition after the day ended so how could the contestants not be tense and nervous, especially the weaker ones?

Yin Long and Lan Yun arrived on Jin Wang about an hour before the battles would start, but that still put them among the last to arrive. They were also among the calmest, neither of them as invested in the clash as the other people present. The rest of their team was already present in their seats when Yin Long's group arrived, the leader of their team sweeping them with a quick gaze before her eyebrows furrowed.

"Bai Mu didn't come with you? Do we need to send someone back to make sure he's actually awake to be here on time?"

They were a team for this competition but that didn't mean that they were together at all times, and it certainly didn't mean that all of them were close with each other. They really only interacted when they trained or took parts in battles, outside of that they usually gave each other a fairly wide berth so as to not infringe on their privacy. It was a question Yin Long had already expected, and there wasn't a point in lying so he just shrugged his shoulders as he dismounted Jin Wang and sat down.

"No need, he won't be coming, he's out. He's already left the city due to circumstances out of his control and won't be returning anytime soon."

The members of his team, other than Lan Yun who he had already informed about the events that had taken place earlier, were all completely stumped by Yin Long's words. He had left the city and given up on the competition? Even if it was due to circumstances out of his control, how many would really be willing to give up an opportunity as good as this one? Especially since theirs was a team that was basically guaranteed to go to the next round unless they were completely massacred in their next fight.

They questioned him a bit more, but Yin Long only gave a few casual answers. He couldn't really say that Bai Mu had likely failed an assassination while in his other personality and was thus hunted by the Bai clan, it was a tale that would be a bit hard to believe without proof. Gui Kong Lie furrowed her eyebrows further but quickly realized that this was something she would just have to accept, letting out a soft sigh as she stood up and headed for the overseers from their territory. She was the leader of this team so the duty of reporting the absence would obviously fall on her.

She spent a bit of time chatting with the various overseers, probably discussing which member from the decimated teams would be moved over to her later on. By the time she returned, it didn't take long for the charming Jie Yue to step onto the stage, her golden hair swaying in tune with her hips as she addressed the audience.

"Isn't it a wonderful morning everyone? Are you all ready to spectate some truly intense battles today? We'll sadly have to say farewell to some people today, but those that remain will be ready to harvest some of the crops that their hard work has earned them, it really makes this little one look forward to the next batch of battles."

Yin Long had read a bit of information about the Three-Fold Territory Clash, it would inevitably pop up from time to time when he immersed himself in the martial library of the Heron's Ascension Dojo. But that information was usually only a bit of general knowledge or about the fights that the writer had experienced, so there were gaps in his knowledge. He luckily had Lan Yun by his side, and she was already very used to being the one to gather the needed information for Yin Long.

"The harvest she's speaking about is a week's break where we get to return to the power's we're tied to for training. They'll grant us resources and other rewards based on how well we've done and make us train as hard as we can for a week. It helps prevent the competition from growing stale after the team with the highest cultivations has been revealed, pressure like this is one of the greatest aids in cultivation after all."

What fun would there be in a competition that was decided on the first day? It might be faster, but it certainly wouldn't showcase everything the contestants could bring out, and it certainly wouldn't be enough to see the potential that some of the contestants had. But whether or not you could use one week of cultivation to make a difference was all up to you and your effort, as well as what sort of resources you acquired thanks to your demonstration.

Yin Long gave a slight nod of his head after Lan Yun explained what Jie Yue was talking about, it would certainly be useful to him to get a week of cultivation with extra resources. But he was also a touch curious, was he supposed to head to the Heron's Ascension Dojo or could he head to the Thousand Blades Hall for this one week?

There was an extremely vast gulf between what these two organizations had to offer him, just the number of sword manuals the Thousand Blades Hall had was enough to drown out the dojo a few tens of times. He was curious about it but didn't spend too much time thinking about it, someone from either organization would definitely inform him about this after their battle.

Just like previously, the first few fights of the third day were between teams that didn't get to fight on the second day. Yin Long closely observed each fight and made mental notes of some noteworthy participants, all of them could be used to sharpen his sword so he noted them down to search them out at a later date. But before long it became time for the new battles to start, Jie Yue skipping onto the stage and drawing everyone's attention.

"I don't think I'll ever get sick of spectating these fights, it's just so exhilarating to see the future influencers of our province. Who knows, someone among the contestants here might even become someone who can influence the entire planet or even the dominion in extreme cases. At that point, we won't have shamed our title as the third-largest planet in the dominion, so please do your best everyone. I'd love to hear my own voice a bit more, but I'm certain that you all want nothing more than to get the next fight underway, so I'll move along. Would Bloodgrass Team 4 and Starsong Team 1 please step onto the stage?"

A slight jolt ran through the entire audience after Jie Yue's voice fell. Was this something that had been planned ahead of time, or was it truly just bad luck? Could it be that there was someone truly high-ranked in this province that wanted to see Bloodgrass Team 4 fail? But while most of the people were still immersed in their shock, two laughs rang out from around the stage, one an uproarious laughter while the other was an amused chuckle.

Two people hopped over the barricade in front of the seats and strode towards the large stage, jumping onto it and heading for each other. It didn't take long for the two people to meet each other, Yin Long and Fang Yau standing just a few steps away from each other. Just like the first battle that had taken place in the competition, Yin Long's team ended up facing Fang Yau's team again.

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They didn't have a chance of winning the first time so there was no way they would have a chance of winning just two days later. As such, the remaining members of the two teams didn't even bother leaving their seats, it would just devolve into the same type of battle as the first time anyway. Fang Yau wore a small smirk as his yellow eyes roamed over Yin Long's body, his brown hair already swept back so that it wouldn't get in the way.

"Man, you're luck is pretty damn shite, isn't it? Think you'll get my neck this time?"

Fang Yau tapped his own neck as he spoke, gesturing towards the location of the two small cuts Yin Long had given him during their first sparring match. Yin Long's gaze also landed on Fang Yau's neck, but his black eyes shone with a resplendent light, the corners of his lips curved up in excitement.

"You'd best guard more than just your neck, I'm aiming even higher this time."

Fang Yau's smirk immediately exploded into a grin as his two shortswords appeared in his grasp, his aura exploding outward. This was a battle where the outcome was predetermined, Yin Long's team was doomed to end up with two losses and one win no matter how hard Yin Long fought here. But it was still a battle that drew the attention of the crowd, especially those that enjoyed battling, such as Xiao Yin Yu and several of the more prominent contestants. After all, Fang Yau was the second strongest person in this competition and Yin Long was an enigma of a fighter with strength high above his own realm.

With Fang Yau bringing out his weapons and preparing for battle, Yin Long did the same. His aura burst forth as a yellow crack split his forehead in two, a slight sensation of pain wracking his body as he drew upon the unknown yellow law that resided in his soul. He stepped forward and swept out his arm, a simple-looking sword formed from stone appearing in his grasp and slashing at Fang Yau's chest.

Yin Long knew that he was going to be suppressed in this battle, it might not last more than three or so exchanges since they were actually duelling with all their might this time. So he had to go full force from the start, otherwise he wouldn't learn where his limits lay, and how he could overcome said limits.

Fang Yau responded by raising one sword to block the incoming slash while his other sword stabbed out, he even stepped forward at the same time so that only the lower part of Yin Long's sword would hit him should he somehow slip past the defence. But then, a strange scene took place that caught him completely off-guard.

Firstly, the grey leaves covered in scales that had appeared all around Yin Long rushed forward and impacted the sword that was approaching his chest, pushing it aside so that it wouldn't reach him. Fang Yau had seen something similar from Yin Long before, it was this that made him give Yin Long the title he did. No, the strangest scene was that Yin Long's stone sword suddenly shrank.

The sword turned into a dagger that passed by Fang Yau's rising blade and was then pointed directly at his chest, suddenly extending rapidly back into a normal size. His eyes erupted with light as he exerted his force, the momentum of his rising sword suddenly altering impossibly and heading directly for Yin Long's extending sword.

The blade that had been pushed aside was also reinforced with more might, pushing through the grey leaves as the stab morphed into a sideways slash. But just as the slash reached Yin Long's waist, Fang Yau noticed that some of the grey leaves had turned a smoky black.

A strong sense of danger assaulted him as he flung his head and torso to the side, a sharp burst of Qi erupting from his body and cutting off a fair few of his hairs. And just as the hairs flew through the air, a black sword that seemed to be filled with smoke stretched out from the shadow that they cast on each other. The blade grazed Fang Yau's neck, mottled brown scales appearing on his skin and repelling the blade, his yellow pupils shrinking as they turned orange.

His sweeping sword had been forced out of position when he flung his torso to the side, so it only slid past Yin Long's stomach while leaving a shallow gash. And it was just at this moment that Fang Yau's other sword fully blocked Yin Long's stone blade, but it as also at this moment that the smoky black leaves around Yin Long turned a brilliant golden.

The black handle he had been holding in his other hand vanished, the blade that had slid along Fang Yau's suddenly sprouted scales also vanishing. A golden sword appeared in his grasp and was immediately slashed upwards, a blinding flash of light erupting from the tip of the blade and drowning out all sight as the soft sound of crackling lightning came from within.

But a figure was immediately launched out from the blinding light, Yin Long spinning violently through the air before he crashed into the barricade in front of the seating area. His clothing was dishevelled and torn, a bit of blood running down from the corner of his mouth and out from his ears.

The light on the stage faded to reveal Fang Yau, whose robe had been cut from his thigh all the way to his shoulder. Mottled brown scales had covered his skin there as well but there was an obvious cut in the scales, a few small cracks spreading out from the somewhat shallow wound. His orange pupils quickly returned to yellow, the scales on his skin vanishing as he realized what he had just done.

He quickly stepped forward, but Yin Long had already stood up from his crumpled position, wiping away the blood from his lips as he gazed intently at Fang Yau.

"Tch, you were even hiding a bloodline. I was sure that I was gonna get a good cut in by catching you off-guard like that."

Fang Yau hadn't brought out his bloodline during their first fight, Yin Long's attacks back then probably didn't contain enough strength to force it out. But this time he had launched two attacks formed from somewhat special swords, those made using Bai mu's light and darkness. And the might they contained were at least enough to force the bloodline out on instinct, they even forced Fang Yau to launch a defensive attack purely on instinct.

Of course, faced with such an attack Yin Long had no recourse other than to fly through the air, his body spinning violently under Fang Yau's control. But he did get to take a peek at his limits, at least the limits of his offence. Fang Yau smiled somewhat awkwardly at first, inwardly startled that Yin Long seemed almost perfectly fine after taking on that hit. But he quickly wiped away the awkward expression when he saw that Yin Long wasn't bothered about being treated so roughly, chuckling as he pointed at his ruined robe.

"You don't think this is a good cut? A bit more to the side and my prided jewels would be on full display. And you wanna complain about me hiding a bloodline, just how many bloody swords are you hiding, eh? Stone, shadow, light, lightning, and those were just from this fight. You're a damn unfair fighter, I'd be cursing your name if I were using any elemental laws and had to face you."

Yin Long flashed a grin in response as he dissolved both his swords, but only he knew the truth. He didn't actually have a sword formed from lightning, the lightning that had just appeared had been unleashed by his light sword. But as for why lightning appeared when he used a sword made from light, he had no idea. It had been the same when he used it the first time, the light contained an immense heat that shouldn't be found in the law of light, tipping him off to the fact that Bai Mu may not be using the conventional law of light.

But Bai Mu had already left so there was no one around that could tell him the truth, it was up to him to excavate exactly what his swords were capable of. He was also curious, since Bai Mu's law of light was this peculiar, was the same true for his law of darkness?

It was a question he would have to play with in the future when he had time, tossing the thought to the back of his mind. They both glanced at Jie Yue, who hurriedly regained herself and hopped onto the stage, Yin Long had left the bounds and had thus lost. Fang Yau started to walk away as Jie Yue entered the stage, waving his hand at Yin Long.

"I'll be seeing you in the hall, I look forward to seeing what you can dig out using this one week."

He returned to his own seating area after he finished talking, a sliver of surprise surfacing in Yin Long's eyes as he guessed at what Fang Yau meant with the first part of his words. He was fairly confident that he would quickly learn if his guess was true or not, a young woman clad in light grey robes waiting for him by the seating area where the rest of his team was.

"Good morning, Senior Brother Long and Senior Sister Yun, I am Qiong Xia and I've been sent here by Thousand Blades Hall to invite you over so that you may spend your one week of training in the best possible conditions."