"His stance is different!" Ms.Itsumi cried out. Very undignified for a vice-principal. Her eyes shifted to old Jin to the side. Her rival not looking away from the arena a tiny bit. Feeling pensive she focused on the arena as well. 'Hopefully, Cao Cui can injure him enough to make it easier for one of the others to take him out. But to think the West Merchant Guild risked a Nascent Soul Ranked weapon in a fight like this. I wonder who this boy happens to be?'

"Grrr!" Cao Cui's demeanor changed a little after circulating qi into the claws. Brown scales lined the arms and the neck. The back and torso seemed to stretch just a little. "Raawwrr!" He lunged at Leroy with a bestial cry.

The crowd watched as Leroy didn't move. Remembering that he was actually blind at the moment. Two things happened they didn't expect out of guesses.

*Schlick!* Flesh was cut as Leroy took a cut across the shoulder towards his backside. He turned into the attack before pulling away with a slide of his feet. Immediately counter-attacking afterward with a full-powered strike.

*Fwip!* The sawing arm whipped out in a smack that burned the air. Hitting Cao Cui in the left eye and breaking a few scales there that started to form.

"Raaa!" Cao Cui snorted like a beast. His nose wrinkled a little in agitation from the loss of scales. Despite his bestial state, he still had control of himself right now. The animal gestures were to cause his opponent to think they were dealing with a savage beast and drop their guard. "Arrroo!" He let out a howl before attacking again.

*Fwip!* The sawing arm whipped out in a smack again instantly. This time catching Cao Cui in the cheek leaving a cut half a foot long that snaked around to the back of his head. The burning sensation caused his brain to heat up.

*Schlick!* Another cut made contact afterward on Leroy.

*Schlick!* Then a second as Cao Cui moved from below and slashed upward in a wide swing. The cut was shallow due to the speed used to make it. Leroy had already moved differently than he expected.

Stepping forward and bending just minutely as he attacked, his qi burst forth to his arms boosting the speed. Flame Vortex Core Qi flowing down his spine and back muscles. The damaging attack from the Clear River Dragon members Qi was finally at the limit of what it could do to his body.

*Bam Bam Bam Bam!* A flurry of blows rained down on Cao Cui. Unloading the large heavy barrage of punches, Leroy's body slid forward with each punch as the temperature around the two started to burn from his flame Qi.

Cao Cui's body was nothing more than a punching bag that was getting carved out. The scales shot off flying out of the arena and sticking in the walls.

As each blow increased in power, Cao Cui's anger was building. Taking a strike against the face, he attacked back at the same time the next punch came. His claws cut a long mark as they scrapped the incoming fist.

*Schlick!* Blood splashed out in an arc into the air. Slowed just enough, Cao Cui escaped Leroy's heavy fist. The blood on the arena floor made the fight look worse than it was.

"Grr!" With a growl, Cao Cui took a few more steps back as Leroy didn't make any moves. 'I need to get control of the situation! Never have I been in such a miserable state before!' A look of hatred flashed in his eyes.

The claws glowed as Cao Cui Qi fed into them more. His body turned more bestial as he grew talons on his feet. Seeing as Leroy didn't move, he suspected the blood loss had caught up to him from the cuts of the weapon. As well as his opponents' fear of the last counterattack.

"Heh!" Grinning at his inevitable win, Cao Cui charged. "Fury!" Qi erupted violently as the technique engraved in the claws was activated. Large spikes erupted from the arena floor. 'I will trap him and cut him to pieces slowly!' He wanted to cripple Leroy after having his fill.

As the spikes finished sprouting out, Leroy was able to tell a good bit of his surroundings now without any effort. The humming from his Metal Seed barely spun as the vibrations still went out from the change in the arena.

Not to mention the Metalic Qi that existed in his blood.

'Almost finished.' Leroy had a good hold of the final bits of Li Yan's Qi. "Ptui!" He spat the Qi out along with a black glob of toxins. Small multicolored pearls could be seen inside before bursting. "Ate my blasted Qi too!"

Blinking angrily, Leroy's eyesight was finally coming back. Just not enough to matter.

"Raaah!" Cao Cui gave a bestial howl after kicking off a spike directly at him. The claws glowed longer as he came at Leroy. 'Just my stepping stone before the finals!'

Soon as he entered Leroy's Spatial Sense optimum range, it was over. The sawing arm whipped out in a smack that carried a polarized electrical charge. Charge repelled the other from him. Cao Cui's body started to steam up at the same time. He extended all of his qi at the worse time in that attack!

*Swirl!* The air became oppressive and extremely heavy. Murderous Intent started to appear and acted in the way Leroy attacked

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"Oh no...." Floating in the air Cai Cui felt his confidence completely vanish, he was so focused on ending it before he exhausted his qi subconsciously too fast. The claws speeding the situation up even more so really. ".. I give up!"

Leroy's fist was already going out. He did however twist just slightly after tightening his core muscles. It was for the next stage of the one-two combo he was going to perform.

*Booom!* The air exploded to the left of Cao Cui who floated there wide-eyed. Sending his hair around in a mess with a few scorch marks. The young man collapsed on his butt scared out of his mind as the charge was gone instantly.

The crowd having covered their ears from the sound the punch produced were quite bewildered. Almost like a compress-attack Flame Martial Artists use!

"Winner.. Leroy Agu Shentai !" The elder announced quickly. He entered the ring popping his eardrums. "Maap! Mapp!" A few plucks to the base of the neck had him right as rain for the annoyance. "Your eyes..."

"I still cannot see fully yet." Leroy blinked as he tried to focus. It was no good just yet. "I am still going to continue, however." The elder nodded. A smile as he watched Leroy walk off the stage.

"A short intermission before we continue. As you can see... the arena is a mess." The announcement had a few happy. They rushed to make additional bets on the next few matches. "What is this?"

Touching the blood that left Leroy earlier, the elder called a few of the teachers over. The Dark Tiger-fire members made their move to obtain his blood at this time. Unaware that the Principal and Vice-principals saw them do so.

.

Ringside-

.

Leroy was circulating his Qi diligently. His blood loss was taken care of in minutes thanks to the Metal Seed and the body cultivating with his bones previously. His lighting sped up his recovery as Tang Xui and Tang Bo had wrapped him with bandages to help hide it.

Looking at the heavy armaments on his body they said nothing.

"Sure you want to continue?" Tang Bo asked worriedly. The eyes were bad enough but Leroy did expend a lot of his Qi already. "Already made a large sum of money from the bets.."

"It is ok. I know what to do." Leroy shook his head and raised his hand to stop any more protests. "My Qi reserves are fine, trust me." Considering he barely used any of his Flame Vortex Core Qi and relied mostly on his body, there was a lot to go around. "Have a lot to look over and a lot more to practice later."

"Hmm, you are going to go all out?" Tang Xui asked. "The best way to end it quickly and make things work in our favor for later." Her eyes looked towards the Dark Tiger-fire elder that was watching. "Sure I shouldn't make any more bets?"

"I am sure. You already are going to win too much money." Tang Bo stomped his foot in slight anger. "If you make any more bets, how will you keep those funds safe?" He smacked her forehead looking at Leroy for some help. "Oh.. that's how. You are going to need money for the future. But are you two sure this is the way to do it?"

*Fwish!* A bit of flame appeared around Leroy's body in a pattern no different than that of the structure of an atom. Pulling out the Alchemist fire made from the Flamelighting Dantian he found a use for the residual poisons. He had to cultivate it into an elixir but what kind was the question?

"I am sure now." Leroy was confident in something that was pieced together in his mind. "Introduce me to some people in the Akademy worth having on my side." The two grinned before taking off to handle the matters asked of them. Considering they were already close with a few already, they could make it work fast. 'Need some roots somewhere. Especially if I plan on taking back a portion of the wild areas to gain those Artifacts.'

.

Additional Day-

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The damage to the arena was too much to fix quickly. Considering the number of years maintenance was skipped over, the Akademy was paying for it in person. A slight embarrassment brought the matter to the attention of several other families.

Not a single family skipped out on sending word back to their individual families to check on the maintenance of their own arenas. Especially considering the number of guests they knew would visit in the future for Imperial Inspections.

Meetings to deal with the rebels had been put in motion after all.

A day of respite until the final matches would continue later. Several betting areas allowed for more wagers to take place.

Tang Xui cashed out instead of trying to risk matters. Well, some of the funds anyway. A portion is still used for later debts that may occur. Tang Bo joined in it as well after his uncle chewed him out for being stupid. Except he put everything on Leroy winning his match.

Convincing several friends to do it as well. A few rumors went around that someone was arranging a specific outcome. Bribing a few students to through matches.

Tang Bo and Tang Xui were training under old Jin in the political field while the other members were sparring violently.

Leroy went on a walk out of the Akademy into its connecting town. Considering the increased wealth now available to him, he wanted to buy some resources and materials for some tests.

Heading to the flea market was the best chance to find something good. No Auction House was available but there should be something of note at the markets, or some metals to use at the very least.

"Can not believe they have the entire outside area on lockdown, so no Demonic Beast to practice and snatch up." Leroy grumbled to himself. 'Flame Vortex is at the Qi Refining Realm 7th Rank only but feels like more of its secrets are getting revealed to me. But no direct information. Almost like nudging and an inkling of ways to use the Qi further. As for the Flamelighting Martial Arts it is solidly at the Qi Refining 8th Rank after the changes with the Blood Lightning Manual, I feel like I need more techniques like those besides the standard inside it to adapt even further. More unusual methods to make it grow in various ways.'

The money earned from the bets was about to be spent very soon.

Making it to a stall that sold some wine, he couldn't help but buy some. The smell alone caused a funny feeling to erupt in his soul.

*Woom!* A pulse of energy erupted in Leroy's Internal Space. An overwhelming pain shot through his body next.

"Kuk!" Griping his chest tightly, he moved to the nearest alley. His vision still slightly off, he kept moving slightly as he fumbled. "Why the hell is this happening now?!" Focusing on Spatial Sense to maneuver from any wayward cultivators was the main focus while moving.

The further he moved from the town, the more he felt the pain decrease. But it didn't stop the overall movement of his Qi in an odd manner. He even tried to put the wine down to no effect.

Reaching an open space, everything returned to normal in an instant. Then a fire sprouted in front of him. The man-god Shango appeared. With a snap of his fingers, the area distorted slightly. Those sent by the Vice-Principal to protect Leroy were confused. Not to mention the few Sects in attendance that were here to spy on the situation developing here.

"Where did he go?" The leader of the group questioned. Not a single scuff or a look of a battle was visible. "Tsk! We had one job and this happens. Search the area diligently!" Hopeful that nothing too bad had occurred, they shot off to search.