Even though Leo is not a two‑seed stone master, the three‑level gap between him and Arya is very large. At low levels, fighting an opponent just one level above is possible with good skills and abilities, but a gap of two or three levels is too significant. Although Arya can defeat opponents stronger than him with his powerful seed weapon and unique combination of seed skills, fighting Leo will not be easy. Every level increases overall energy capacity and quality—which in turn enhances a cultivator's physical strength and the power of their skills.
After every match there is a five‑minute break for the contestants to rest before the next match begins. Once the rest period ended, both Leo and Arya returned to the stage. From the start, Leo harbored ill intentions toward Arya because of his previous interaction with Rose. "I never expected you'd come this far with your cultivation level—you've really surprised me," Leo remarked casually, as if he had already deemed himself the winner.
Leo continued, "Cultivation level is important, but it isn't the sole determinant of strength. Still, it remains the most critical factor; other tactics are merely tricks to overcome a stronger cultivator."
Arya retorted, "You might be right, but if you think that your words alone will make me back down from fourth position, then you're mistaken. If I truly meant to forfeit, I wouldn't have wasted my time talking to you."
Leo replied, "I really wanted you to surrender—but if you refuse, then that's fine. The match will be over in only ten moves."
After the announcement marking the start of the match, both Leo and Arya engaged in melee combat. Arya immediately sensed the power difference between himself and Leo. To win, he had to rely on the element of surprise—waiting for Leo to make a mistake or give him an opening. Throughout most of the competition, Arya fought in his weapon master form because he couldn't openly display his seed skills. Besides, his seed skill wasn't powerful enough on its own to finish a fight; it served only as a support skill.
On the other hand, his weapon was capable of delivering extremely heavy blows—powerful enough to contend with strong opponents. That was the main reason Arya was fighting in melee combat as a seed master: when the right opportunity arose, he could deploy his support skill and then switch to his weapon master form to finish the battle. (Once he summoned his seed weapon, however, time restrictions prevented him from using his seed skill.)
The problem was that Leo wasn't showing any gaps or errors that Arya could exploit. Moreover, Leo had not revealed his seed weapon at any point during the competition—perhaps his seed weapon wasn't good enough, or he had committed fully to the seed master path. Then, amid the fight, a booming sound erupted and Arya was blasted back as if thrown from a throne. He narrowly avoided falling off the stage; due to carelessness and underestimating his opponent, he took a particularly heavy hit. That blow came from Leo's air‑blast skill—a high‑class, common‑grade air elemental technique.
This air‑blast skill uses any hand as a medium to accumulate air energy from the caster and then delivers a compressed air blast. When executed at close range, it is extremely deadly by common‑grade standards. (There are subclasses among graded skills and additional nuances, but one can only judge them by their quality and usefulness compared to others of the same grade—for example, Leo's seed skill, which is unmatched among common‑rank skills because its true potential is very high, even though it remains dormant for now.)
Even though Arya took a heavy hit from that skill, he managed to avoid Leo's follow‑up attack as Leo prepared to unleash a second air blast. Struggling to maintain his composure, Arya's temper began to flare; the pain caused him to lose some of his reasoning, and instead of defending he launched a series of attacks that Leo easily dodged.
Throughout his nine mortal lives, Arya had always been somewhat of an extremist. Only when he lost his cool—or when there was no other option in desperation, when most would try to escape or become paralyzed by fear—did his beastly side emerge, shutting down rational thought and unleashing pure destructive instinct.
He recalled one of those lives vaguely: a time when he had been poisoned and cornered by multiple forces. On one side were individuals enforcing their self‑made rules and regulations, and on the other were wealthy oppressors using their money and connections. Amid that suffering, something happened that changed him entirely. To demonstrate their power and set an example, a wealthy man (whose name Arya couldn't even recall) had beaten his own brother to death with severe injuries. As a result, Arya swore that he would end the life of anyone who tried to force his family into submission. He knew that after taking that step he might never live in peace—but his life had never been peaceful anyway. He decided to shoulder all the problems himself so that, at the very least, his family could be left alone.
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After that incident, he proceeded to kill that man and his supporters one by one—very cruelly. Even some "world protectors," who under the guise of protection only enforced regulations that favored the wealthy, met their end. Ultimately, however, he died, having been overwhelmed by multiple enemies—a fate he had predicted, for no one can fight off an entire horde, no matter how hard they try.
Nonetheless, he had nearly killed everyone responsible—and even some extras, the typical criminals. That was one of his nine mortal life stories. Though Arya was not ordinarily hot‑headed, in each of his nine mortal lives he had proven that when cornered, he would resort to extreme measures.
Even though he wasn't even remotely at that point now, his true nature was still evident. He thought that such a personality would not serve him well in this new world—where enemies would be more powerful and dangerous. If, during a fight, he lost his composure and attacked desperately, his opponent could easily defeat him.
After regaining control of his emotions and contemplating ceasing his mad rush of attacks, Arya noticed Leo's hand once again accumulating power as he prepared for his third and final strike. Arya knew that if he hadn't controlled himself just now, he might have been defeated. Seizing the opportunity as Leo's energy built up, Arya retreated and summoned his red‑colored seed ring adorned with a black‑and‑white diamond stone on top. A small white ring—just slightly larger than a bangle—then encircled his right hand.
Seeing Arya attack recklessly, Leo began accumulating energy to unleash his air blast once more to end the battle. Suddenly, he was electrocuted—a shock surged through his right chest. That discomfort passed as quickly as it had come, but it did interrupt his skill. When Leo recovered, he looked up to see a metal rod in front of his face, and with a loud boom, he was flung off the stage. Arya was fortunate that when he was struck by Leo's skill he did not fall off. Perhaps Leo had not intended to knock him off completely, but Arya had aimed to make him lose balance—knowing that even if his seed weapon was powerful, he might not be able to defeat Leo, who was three levels ahead, in a single hit.
His reasoning proved correct. After being thrown off the stage, Leo rose with a pained expression and bore a mark from Arya's weapon on the left side of his face. At that moment, Leo was unable to continue. Perhaps in a genuine, full‐fledged fight Arya might not have been able to defeat him so easily. Even then, Arya could have employed other tactics—such as fusing his elemental power into his weapon to boost its strength—but he chose not to, preferring to keep his seed abilities hidden.
The referee, having witnessed the unexpected turn of events, announced the result: "Leo is off the stage, so Arya wins." Not only the referee, but the leaders of various villages also looked on in bewilderment. They recalled that earlier Arya, due to his injuries, had lost his composure and attacked Leo desperately—it was clearly a victory for Leo. Yet the final sequence showed Arya summoning his common‑rank seed while Leo halted his skill accumulation and touched his chest, followed by Arya summoning his seed weapon, and the match ended.
Rick, the chief of Black Crow Village, turned to Bryan and said, "Chief Bryan, your son is quite talented. I never expected he would conceal his skills only to unleash them in the final match—it's very impressive. Although I haven't asked what Arya's skill actually is, I hope you will eventually elaborate, for prying into someone's secrets is not a trivial matter."
Bryan, however, only smiled and waved his hand—he preferred to remain secretive.
Then the elder from Water Dragon Academy—who had been nonchalant throughout the competition—asked, "What is his skill all about? I didn't notice any energy fluctuations when he used it."
Bryan, knowing he couldn't avoid the inquiry, replied, "It's a support‑type skill that provides a physical boost—enhancing strength and defense—and when paired with his weapon master power, it gives him a significant buff."
"Ah, so Chief Bryan has decided that Arya is pursuing the weapon master path?" asked the chief of Blue Stone Village suddenly. Although the elder was not entirely satisfied with Bryan's explanation, he added, "I could make an exception for a talented individual with good quality, but if that's all he has, then it isn't enough."
Bryan, clearly aware that the elder was merely trying to show off and coax more details about Arya's abilities, smiled and said, "Then I can only blame him for not being lucky—but thank you for your recognition."
The elder said nothing further and closed his eyes once more; no one knew what he was thinking. Bryan then turned to the chief of Blue Stone Village and added, "I have given Arya the authority to choose his own path, so I don't really know what he has decided."
After the victory, Arya left the stage and headed to his village's camp for medical attention. Although he managed to remain standing, that single hit from Leo's skill was quite severe—especially since he was in seed master form at the time. It didn't take long; within five minutes, he was back in good form. Even though people normally require medicine to heal, every village in this competition had come prepared with healers or support specialists.