The crowd was momentarily dumbfounded when they heard Herman's question, only to erupt in cheers once more, amazed at the confidence the young cultivator showed. Heroes were generally loved by the public, especially when they show off.
The participants on the side of the Altar of Heaven and Earth, however, were quite displeased by his cockiness. For a cultivator that hasn't even stepped foot properly on the cultivation path longer than a month to provoke them like that... it was unheard of!
[Abominable!](?)
[The gall! Does he think I won't flatten him just because it's a Contest of Tao!? I can still cripple him and stay within the rules of the System!](?)
[Do you want to go up first then?](Li Xuanyuan)
[Can I, 'sect master'?](?)
[Just go before I flatten you myself.](Li Xuanyuan)
[Roger, roger! Hehe! Watch me bash his head in!](?)
Seeing the suddenly energetic youth making his way to the center of the stage, Herman couldn't help but smile while appraising the lad using his Censor advantages. He couldn't help his surprise when he saw that the lad was actually at the Qi Gathering X realm. With the corners of his mouth twitching and his eyebrows raised, he took a second look at the weapons his opponent was sporting.
"Sword and shield, huh? Don't tell me this punk already knows how to transform Qi..."
Once a cultivator managed to cast his/her Spiritual Roots, they can slowly use their Primordial Qi to affect the world around them. That can be done through the conversion of Qi passing through the needed roots, thereby gaining a specific property. If it's the fire root, then the Qi will gain a burning effect. If it's earth, it will gain higher defense and heavier weight.
Once someone's control over Qi and their roots reached an advanced degree, they could combine elements to gain a higher degree of power and better effects. Like, for example, combining water and fire Qi could form both ice and steam, granting a cultivator more options and the chance to exit the battle victorious.
"Would you look at this kid!?"
Before he had a chance to keep analyzing the situation, his opponent exploded with energy and jumped towards him like a lion pouncing on a gazelle. In Herman's eye, that jumpstart he got was a wind Qi explosion created through a combination of fire Qi and Water Qi. This kid was only a Qi Gathering X cultivator, yet he was capable of advanced conversion just like that? There was no way in hell that he belonged to a basic-rank sect like the Altar of Heaven and Earth.
Before he could even complain or grumble about it, the overzealous opponent went a step further and ignited his shield on fire. Hiding his body behind it and pushing forward with the left shoulder, he looked like a juggernaut, dead set on death and destruction.
[What's wrong, boy!? Where's all that bravado from seconds ago? Hahaha! Let's see if you know how to fly!](?)
Raising a brow and his Thundering sword at the same time, Herman imbued his sword with both gold and earth Qi, after which he let it drop towards the incoming shield.
Seeing Herman's casual movement, the attacker couldn't help but sneer and move with even higher speed. At the moment of impact between the two weapons of war, a loud clang reverberated throughout the arena.
The instant after, a stupefying scene occurred. The overbearing attacker was implanted in the floor of the arena, similar to a young sapling in a garden, while Herman didn't move even a step backward. To make matters even more incredulous, around his unconscious body it looked as if lightning struck, cracking the ground in a web-like pattern and creating a small crater.
"Hmm? What's wrong, 'boy'? Where's all that bravado from seconds ago?"
Alert!
You have dealt critical damage to your enemy!
A multiplier applied of 2.5!
The total damage dealt: 7475 points!
Winner of the first round: Herman Roy!
Once more, the resounding sound of cheers drowned the arena, amazed at the incredible display of skill and power. Even the opponents couldn't help but recover from his daze only after a minute passed.
[That's impossible! Lu Feng's Strength should be at least 500 points. How the hell did he one-shot him!?](?)
[Nevermind that, you numbskull! Go pick him up. You are up next! At least make sure you don't lose in one move as well...](?)
[What the hell did he do? Did you guys see it? How is his damage that high!?](Li Xuanyuan)
[From what I could see, that whelp actually used Gravitation Qi.](?)
[Are you for real? Did he actually use such an advanced technique? Doesn't that require to transmute Primordial Qi into Gold Qi!? That's the most difficult thing even for a Nascent Soul realm such as myself. How can it be that someone that hasn't cultivated for even a full month can do it with such ease? Not to mention that he actually converted it into Gravitational Qi in the middle of a battle nonetheless...](Li Xuanyuan)
[Little Jian! Be careful and go all out! I want to test this welp's bottom line.](?)
[Yes chief!](Jian)
Not even a minute after they cleaned up the stage and fixed the cracked ground, 'little Jian' walked about ten steps away from Herman. Checking his panel and seeing that he was also at the Qi Gathering X realm, he couldn't help but enforce the belief that these opponents were not belonging to the Altar sect.
This time, the weapons were warhammers, two of them. The cultivator started waving them around in a crazed-like manner, creating sonic booms each time. It was obvious that he was using both water and fire Qi, subliming them into quick-expanding steam Qi. By the point where the hammers headed in a certain direction, the steam Qi would explode and further accelerate their speed, creating a much stronger impact as result.
"From the looks of it, he should be able to further enhance the weapons performance by adding earth Qi to them. Even with my current Strength, if he's able to connect a blow, while I might not take much damage I will still get blown away at least a small distance. Thankfully, my speed should be much higher than his, given my new Dexterity stat as a young whale. And if we go the extra mile... I should make this as entertaining as possible since this nimrod is showing off this much."
It took almost a minute before 'little Jian' finished his demonstration and smashed both hammers into the ground at the same time. When that happened, a small tremor extended outwards towards the seated spectators, shocking them. Seeing how the cultivator should be still under the Foundation realm, such a mighty display was rarely heard of, much less from a small sect like the Altar of Heaven and Earth.
The sect heads and the elders were all frowning at the sudden discovery. The fact that the Altar sect has hidden their true strength so deep was a rude awakening to all of them.
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[It does seem that there's something strange indeed, little Qian.](Chun Pu)
[Mhm! Seeing their advanced use of Qi, I don't believe they actually belong to that old prune Li. Which means that they have the backing of another sect, probably of higher rank.](Feng Qian)
[What about that lad's Herman allegations?](Chun Pu)
[Hmm? What 'allegations'?](Feng Qian)
[Hoh! I see I see! Smart lad, to not mention it to you given your Censor status.](Chun Pu)
[What do you mean, sect master Pu!? What didn't Herman tell me?](Feng Qian)
[Hehe! Nothing for now, but if it's true... we'll all be able to see it soon!](Chun Pu)
[...](Feng Qian)
Turning her head to look at Herman while suspiciously looking at sect master Chun Pu, she couldn't help but speculate based on the fragments of conversations she heard between Herman and Tianxia Xue. She wondered what kind of 'show' did this new addition to her sect had in mind. Because it was certain that he wasn't referring to the current Contest of Tao.
However, if this was nothing but a distraction, what was the real purpose behind this sudden sect-crashing?
"Well then, hammer-boy, should we get started this century? Or do you plan to bore the spectating crowd to death first?"
The poor 'little Jian' didn't stand a chance against a horrible person like Herman that came from the cyber-bullying era back on Earth. Under the thunderous laughs of the crowd, he grew more and more incensed, trying to find an opportunity through which he could properly kill or maim Herman. On the other hand, the 'evil-doer' himself was planning something even more wicked, a 'technique' he learned from a recorded fight of LinkWill.
Saying nothing more, he raised his right fist in front of his face, with the palm facing his chest. Pointing it towards the enemy a second later as if he had something secret in his grasp that he wanted to show him, slowly releasing the middle finger, flipping the old bird at the already raging man. Smirking, he also moved his index finger as well, followed by two rapid contractions of them both. He went through all that trouble just to signal his opponent to come at him...
[You simply don't know how the word 'death' is spelled like!!!](little Jian)
Maddened by the disrespectful display, he charged at Herman in an attempt to smash him into a pulp. Before he took a step forward though, he found his right leg tripping over something and rotated himself to secure his footing using his left. The only problem was that his left leg seemed to have stepped on ice, as it slipped from under him and forced him into a free fall towards the ground.
The crowd was simply stupefied by the sudden turn of events, even more so when they noticed how the show-off failed to get up even after more than ten seconds passed. Was the shame too much for him to bear? They didn't expect such clumsiness either and wouldn't be surprised if the poor bastard would want to dig a hole for himself to hide in.
Fortunately, the System made the situation clear for everyone.
Alert!
You have dealt minimal damage to your enemy!
No multipliers applied.
The total damage dealt: 53 points!
The enemy is unconscious.
Winner of the second round: Herman Roy!
The crowd was confused and the young Master Wang Fu, or rather Wu Xintian, raised his hands as to silence the crowd. Curious at what the judge-turned-commentator had to say, the crowd waited for the explanation.
What they saw, was the System materializing a huge screen replaying the fight from the point where the two were facing each other.
[Ladies and gentlemen! As the fight was concluded too quickly and you were not in close proximity to the two fighters, there might be details that you missed. Let's start with the initial confrontation.](Wu Xintian)
The System replayed Herman's provocation to 'little Jian' and the crowd laughed again when seeing him casually flipping off the hammer-wielding cultivator. That's where the recording stopped and zoomed in front of 'little Jian' right leg, where a hole suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The laugher of the crowd stopped after piecing together that this had something to do with Herman and carefully scrutinized the entire image for other clues.
[That's where mister Herman used Earth Qi to dig a small hole while using his actions to provoke cultivator Jian and distract him from paying attention to his surroundings. That was followed by the next movement of his, the movement of his index finger.](Wu Xintian)
The picture froze once more showing Herman pointing towards 'little Jian' with both fingers and then focused again on the ground in front of the freshly dug hole, where a layer of frost was painted about a thumb high.
The sound of gasping could be heard even from the VIP boxes where the sect executives were seated. They didn't expect someone as young as Herman to be this crafty. They could get behind him being able to use Gravitational Qi in combat, but for him to be this accustomed to a degree where he could use small tricks like a hole or a small patch of ice to affect the outcome of a fight between two capable cultivators.
[Now, now, ladies and gentlemen... calm down! Calm down! That's not all. Take a look at the following.](Wu Xintian)
Next, the images showed Herman flexing his fingers and taunting his opponent to attack. The image moved once more on the ground ahead where two molehills popped up from the ground in two different locations. Everyone realized that the locations were the point where Jian would drop if he simply stumbled directly from the hole in the ground, while the second was if he was to slip on ice.
Finally, the recording played the attack of the young man and his following demise. The crowd was beyond silent at this point and was slightly scared instead. To plan the battlefield in such fine detail and ensure that it would be thoroughly followed was almost impossible without an amazing amount of battle experience.
[Little Qian, you and that boy hid quite deep. Even this old man wasn't able to see through his skill...](Chun Pu)
[...you and me both, uncle Pu.](Feng Qian)
The sect master of the Illusion sect didn't believe her at first, but when he realized that she just called him 'uncle' and saw how out of it she was, it was obvious that they were in the same boat. He couldn't help but re-examine the youngster with a much higher opinion this time around.
If he was this capable, then, the young hope of their sect Yu Yan would have a better shot at success by following him instead.
The participating 'disciples' of the Altar of Heaven and Earth were slightly afraid of Herman, but also eager to face him at the same time. They got up the stage one after the other and were defeated in a gaudy manner one after another as well.
Soon enough, the public's hype was through the roof and Herman was about to face his first opponent from the actual Altar sect. The first executive he will have to fight was by default the weakest among the bunch: the Junior Disciple.
In every sect, the major five executive positions would go to the people with the strongest potential. The Junior Disciple title will be held by the youngest cultivator with the best aptitude and the brightest future ahead of him/her. The Chief Disciple was the position held by the strongest cultivator of an entire generation, be it martial prowess or cultivation aptitude. The Main Elder position was held usually by the elder with the highest influence in the sect and finally, the Custodian was the protector of the sect, something akin to a hidden card that enemies had no specific knowledge of.
"So this guy is the Junior 'Brother' of the Altar of Heaven and Earth, huh?"
Herman was certain that this guy will be much stronger than the previous two Nascent Soul cultivators he faced, even if they came from a higher rank sect. As for the reason... this guy held a blue staff in the form of a spear that seemed just short of a trident. With it being used to enhance the power of certain Qi variations, but also as a melee weapon, the degree of difficulty was much higher.
Not to mention that if this guy was also involved in human sacrifices, his overall strength might be even more than those two combined. Even Herman might have a tough time subduing him unless if he went all out.
Watching the guy confidently walk on the stage and nodding to Herman sign that he can have the first strike, the latter couldn't help but bitterly smile at how much he was being underestimated even after the display he put so much work and thought into.
[My name is Bai Yunshen and I hold the position of Junior Disciple of the Altar of Heaven and Earth sect. I must admit that you are strong, however, it's time for you to step down and go home.](Bai Yunshen)
"And if I say no?"
[Then, I'm afraid that I will have to force you.](Bai Yunshen)
"Give it your best shot little white-face."
[...](Bai Yunshen)
The derision and the laughter of the crowd angered him greatly, but he quickly grabbed a hold of his feelings and calmed down. Remembering how a total of four previous cultivators lost the fight due to Herman's taunts, he realized that answering him or getting annoyed will only be detrimental. All he needed to do, was focus on the enemy in front of him, stomp the bastard with all of his might and then put an end to this farce.
Focusing on the movement of his internal Qi and directing it towards his strange staff. The Primordial Qi galloped towards the pointy end of the staff and radiated a strong Water Qi. The staff was made out of the Thousands Water Willow which had great Water Qi conductibility, while the pointed weapon in the head of the shaft was crafted from the core of an Abyss Devouring Water Serpent, a grade III monster that was similar to a peak level Nascent Soul cultivator. The whole purpose of having such an item was to enhance Water Qi and strengthen the tier of the skills the cultivator used.
"Judging by the amount of Water Qi he's pumping in, he's going to use his sect's ultimate skill right off the bat. The damage that skill will do should be equal to the damage a mid-tier Nihility expert could dish out and my Strength is not sufficient to withstand that and not lose at least some limbs. Clusterf*ck! How is this bastard so strong!?"