Chapter 28: The final round

The quarterfinals -

The seven unknown silhouettes and Long Mengchen were present in the arena.

"We congratulate you and expect a lot from your future achievements. As said earlier, starting from the top 8, all the participants have the benefit of acquiring prizes. We initially thought of keeping it a secret, but we were instructed by his majesty to reveal them."

"The top 8 positions, will receive not only huge financial resources for them but also they will be allowed to go into the royal treasury and choose one martial arts scripture."

"Of course, the sequence of choosing will start from the top and end in the 8th position. The top 3 has few extra prizes- a martial master realm level weapon forged by the best blacksmith in the country. They will also be allowed to train in the royal forbidden area."

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A huge gasp left the mouth of the audience upon hearing that.

"The first position also gets an additional benefit- a short tutelage under one of the ancestors of the royal clan. "

There was silence permeating the air. The ancestors were all at the Qi General realm.

The slots were drawn once again, and the fight started. After four consecutive rounds, only four figures remained on the arena platform. 

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Long Mengchen and three silhouettes were the semifinalists. Long Mengchen was surprised in her earlier match. The opponent admitted defeat without even exchanging pointers with her.

The semi-finals continued, and the scene appeared again. Long Mengchen's opponent admitted defeat once again. It was as if the participants were voluntarily giving up on the fight.

The last round finally dawned upon them.

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Long Mengchen concentrated on the final round. She desired to win the gathering; it was the first step in her revenge against the Bai Family.

She needed to increase her cultivation and had also heard that the ancient grounds of the royal family were quite full of Qi. It could help her quickly break-through the Qi master realm. 

Soon, she was confronting the Black silhouette. This guy had easily crushed the royal prince. According to her informer, this guy's origin should be a grand one.

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"So, what are you going to do. Admit defeat just like the others before or at least put up a fight."

"Given your age and your real cultivation, you are quite the talent, are you not? Let's see how much power you have got"

Long Mengchen frowned because of the words spelled out by the silhouette. Her 'real cultivation,' he said. The gong sounded just then.

The black silhouette was casually standing in the arena, not even bothering to make a move or even a stance to fight.

"Allow me to proceed then." Long Mengchen dashed towards the figure, executing the famous fist art from the Long Clan, the stone breaker punch, but the black silhouette quickly swept it apart and pushed her back.

He tricks didn't have any effect against him.

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Long Mengchen unsheathed her sword and swung it towards the black silhouette. But he easily dodged.

The act continued for some time. "Boring," the silhouette punched against her sword. She could feel her hands shaking from the impact. The physical power of her opponent was quite shocking.

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" You won't be able to scratch me with these puny techniques. Unleash your real power."

Long Mengchen breathed and took an unfamiliar stance, and then she swung her sword again. It was a whole new type of art. The swings were extremely fluid, and the power within them increased with each strike.

Another critical aspect of the technique was the random trajectories of her sword.

The clash continued, and the black silhouette continued to dodge while carefully observing Long Mengchen. It was as if he was trying to analyze the art while defending.

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A fair distance away, two men in their mid-thirties were playing chess.

" The guy was able to make the young miss use the moon sword formula. It is interesting. But I didn't understand the motive of the guy. Does he think he could gain comprehension into something."

The other man looked at the board and asked: " What if he does?".

The other man was taken back." You don't even have faith in the art that your master created."

" You didn't answer my question. What if he does gain a comprehension?". "Then we have to agree that even a backward area like this little hell of a country is also capable of giving rise to heaven-defying geniuses."

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Back in the arena, it was a long time, the clash continued.

"I do understand a little about your sword art. Let's verify my theory, shall we." The silhouette tried to interrupt the flow of the Long Mengchen sword.

Although the initial trials were futile, as time passed on and on, he came to find out that he was approaching the real flow of the sword. As the hours passed by, Long Mengchen's art seemed to be disrupted. The silhouette managed to gain the upper hand.

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At the location of the two men-

"How did he manage to understand the flow of the moon sword? It is one of the most difficult arts, something that the moon maiden created herself." The other guy seemed to be at ease.

"You knew he would be able to understand. I just don't know why and how?". 

"Honestly replying, I didn't expect it in the least, but I do have a theory that might explain the event. He managed to notice the pathway of the sword. Although the movements are randomized and never the same movement before, the way of progressive change is still present." 

"The brat was able to understand that process and then took his time. Until he finally managed to understand the path, guess the next sequence, and then interrupt the flow." 

" But even if he was able to do it, he needs to have some experience in the random sword theory and how to do random swords arts work. He needs to be practicing similar techniques, or he needs to have fought multiple opponents who use sword arts like this. " 

The other guy was also puzzled due to the same reason. He couldn't understand what background this guy had to be able to have such exposure.

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Back in the trial arena-

The spectators were spelled bound. Even some participants were able to comprehend some insights from the fight. The black silhouette was able to break the flow of the sword.

Even Long Mengchen was astonished by the occurrence, and she thought this was just out of pure coincidence, but as she continued to attack, the art was continuously broken down.

"You need to do better than that if you wish to fight me and win. "