Wu Guang stood still for almost ten minutes. As no one approached him, he only observed the battles. As well as maintaining an exact count of the combatants.
When this number came down to 17, Wu Guang started advancing. As he was observing he paid special attention to Kuang Jing and the one everyone had called a bandit. He confirmed that indeed they were far ahead of the rest and so it seemed they would be his final and hardest opponents.
Kuang Jing was indeed a swordsman. And his skill wasn't low, at least judging from the fact that during all this time he had not moved or used any technique. And when approached, only spent one or two swings to finish off his opponents. And as in contrast, the bandit moved around and attacked messily. So every time Wu Guang glanced towards that side he could only see sand, dust, and flying disciples. Flying after they were hit with the bandit's double-handed mace, such strong force was applied behind.
Wu Guang wanted to avoid fighting one of them while letting the other one ambush him. Seemingly the other two had the same idea as of right when he started moving towards the center of the arena, the until now unmoved Kuang Jing did the same. For the one referred a bandit this could not be said for sure but at least judging from the direction he followed, he should also arrive at the center.
When the three of them arrived at the center of the arena and stopped exactly 25 feet apart from each other an observer could even think that this was planned from before. If included that at this moment they were the only ones standing from the hundred that entered the arena such thoughts would even appear in their own minds, but they didn't, after all, they knew that this was simply because the other two were the only ones that could really accompany them in a real fight. As for the other 14 disciples that were present before they started moving - three of them had attacked Wu Guang and ran the same fate of their attack being blocked and then receiving a blow on the top of their head with the spear's shaft.
Another four risked to approach Kuang Jing and similarly were taken out with a single hit while the remnant six went after the bandit. And suffered a fate far worse, as their bodies were flung out of his way with such strength that if not for the fact that the judges and recovery personal stopped their flight, they would have crashed into the arena walls.
Until now Wu Guang had actually ignored all the sounds except the ones coming from battle, but before this deciding one, he decided to listen to the people present in the stands. Listening for a few breaths and mostly hearing praise towards Kuang Jing, Wu Guang exhaled and shut that sound off again.
Right now he was standing still with both of his to the front and respective sides so they formed an almost perfect triangle. The three of them were silent and on guard but before such a battle it was normal to at least introduce themselves, especially to unknown opponents and as expected this custom was followed as Kuang Jing broke up the silence
"I am Kuang Jing, Do you mind if I ask you who you are?" The question being directed to Wu Guang was done so in a calm but a bit feminine voice but even the last detail somehow went well with his manner and looks, so Wu Guang could not really call the latter effeminate.
"My name is Wu Guang"
"Oh, so you are the one that entered the Sect with top scores and also managed to claim a perfect one in the 'Nascent Pride' tests in one go?"
"I did not know that it was such a talked-about theme amongst inner disciples"
"It should have been so. Still, in my case, it was my big sister who told me about you"
Now it was the turn of the other party and Wu Guang hoped to find out the name of the latter, after all, he had been calling him bandit as overheard from the other disciples. But unexpectedly he did not talk at all and simply took a full fighting stance before rushing towards them. In reality, he was rushing in between them. Still, as Wu Guang could not guess who would be the target of the attack if any, he would have to assume that the charge was directed towards him.
"Oi... I know you have no manners, but at least say something before trying to bum-rush someone!" Albeit the exclamation was made in a shrill and angry voice, Kuang Jing did not seem to be really flustered or taken aback as he also assumed an evasive stance and placing his sword behind his back, most likely preparing for a hidden counterattack.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
And so without any further ado, the fight between the strongest three participants started.
Wu Guang's intention of dodging and then attacking the opponent while he recovers from the rush was sound and judging from the actions of Kuang Jing, the latter also intended to do so.
But both of them were forced to stop, and even retreat a few steps. This was not because of anything else than the fact that the ramming attack was actually a feint. The real attack was hidden in the air current that was called by the movement.
Wu Guang sensed something off quickly and backed away before being grazed. While Kuang Jing did not notice in time and was slightly touched by one of the invisible blades hidden in the air, thankfully for him it was a brief contact and so he was not wounded at all.
These blades were part of a qi technique from the Martial Library. And so, Wu Guang who had memorized all the descriptions identified it after seeing the effect. It was called 'Gale Armor' and its effect was to condense the air around one's body into blades of air for offense or into a kind of cushion to slow down and disperse blows for defense, with the latter being its main use. As the effect was reached by a similar method to his fire qi techniques - by covering oneself with a layer of qi created by a special circulation. Wu Guang surmised that the best strategy would be to wait for the technique to be dispelled before approaching and not give time to renew the layer.
Waiting for the technique to be dispelled by the user or for the qi to ran out was unrealistic in a battle and so some way of shortening this time was needed.
Such a way was known to Wu Guang, after all his own techniques similar method would use far more qi when actively spent so the best way to counteract this one was the same as for his own - whittle it down with attacks while constantly changing one's distance and position. For this to work he still needed to find out the range at the moment of his attacks and retreats but even so, having a plan was far better than not. "The only problem now is Kuang Jing, after all, I doubt he will cooperate with me or stand aside while I dance around" actually this thought was extremely on point. As Kuang Jing was slowly inching towards Wu Guang while moving around the bandit. And the latter seemingly decided to wait, standing still with the 'Gale Armor' activated. Still, most probably he would act as soon there was an opening.
The two of his opponents were acting with caution and on guard against everything they could think of, but Wu Guang's mind had already found a simple solution to the current predicament. So in place of waiting, he started moving at the same pace as Kuang Jing, but in the opposite direction.
Everyone who observed their battle could see Wu Guang and Kuang Jing slowly moving in a circle around a sphere that could be understood as the bandit's reach. "I should probably continue this until one of them get's tired of waiting and either gives an opening or attacks me" this was Wu Guang's current thought. But even so, he did not remain content and used this standstill to find other ways to break the stalemate in case it continued for longer than expected.
Such a stalemate was possible only in the case that the 'Gale Armor' user could sustain it indefinitely and also that everyone involved had enough patience. And in this case, neither of that two points could be possible. The former was impossible even for Wu Guang's bigger qi capacity while the latter was an unlikely quality for normal young cultivators. In the end, the stalemate was broken by Kuang Jing just a couple of minutes later.
First, the latter increased his speed, trying to get closer to Wu Guang. But Wu Guang reacted instantly, and did the same, not letting the distance close at all. Seeing this, Kuang Jing understood that this would continue indefinitely until one of them acted and did so himself.