Chapter 357: Instant Kill

Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_

In the fifth section, Michaux Odin was patiently dispatching his first opponent, an Ivantian named Miao Xiu. He too was a disciple of the Templar"s court.

After having experienced combat against Patroclus, Miao Xiu feared no one by then, not even the young master of the Divine Master sect.

The atmosphere inside the arena was heavy. As a Templar"s disciple, Miao Xiu had a basic understanding of his opponent"s capability. He knew that the Divine Master sect"s techniques excelled at attacking using soul energy. However, he was also very confident in his ability to defend against soul energy attacks.

The key in defending against the soul energy attack was to protect the head. As a matter of fact, a typical soul energy attack"s effectiveness was greatly limited by this countermeasure. Some audiences who knew about the defense strategy reckoned that the young divine master had met a worthy opponent, as Miao Xiu channeled all his defensive soul energy to his head.

Luv Ma heaved a sigh of relief while watching the match from the audience seat, although everyone else from the Starry Sky Academy had been worried for Miao Xiu ever since they learned that he would be standing up against Michaux in his first round of playoff match. The tournament had always been a great stage for students from the S-Cla.s.s academies. However, with the partic.i.p.ation of the members of the great houses, many top fighters from the S-Cla.s.s academy had tasted defeat. Even as the S-Cla.s.s academy of the host city, the Starry Sky Academy had also been plagued by stronger fighters. There had been twenty students from the Starry Sky that had made it to the final playoff. However, in just a couple days, the number had reduced by half.

Miao Xiu had spent a lot of time coming up and practicing this soul energy defense strategy. Although the soul energy of the young master was a force to be reckoned with, many believed that the physical strength of the sect members was sub-par. Therefore, Miao Xiu had shutoff his sea of consciousness altogether, and instead, planned to rely solely on his physical prowess to overcome his opponent.

Miao Xiu was well prepared for this fight. To him, the young master was not nearly as powerful as his would-be opponent, Patroclus.

"Are you ready?" Michaux cracked a smile and then asked.

"I am whenever you are. I will try not to hurt you too much, only a little." Miao Xiu answered with a threatening voice as he cracked his finger joints loudly.

With a whirl of air around him, Maio Xiu hurled a fist at the young master at lightning speed. He doubted that the wimpy looking young master would be able to evade his attack.

Michaux remained calm as he crossed his hands and made a simple sign.

"Break." The young master announced lightly.

An unseen force suddenly struck the unsuspecting Miao Xiu, and landed a heavy blow on his forehead. The Ivantian suddenly collapsed to the ground and stopped moving altogether.

"The winner is Michaux Odin!

The young master"s decisive victory crushed the dream of his would-be opponents of using deference strategies to counter his attacks. So powerful was the young master that a level five fighter was completely defenseless in front of him.

Meanwhile, w.a.n.g Tong had also met a tough opponent, the seeded combatant of the third section, Guan Dongyang, the heir to the sect of the Hidden Path. Guan Dongyang was 25 years old, and had established himself as one of the most fearsome fighters on Mars. Rumors had it that his mastery techniques were so deadly that even the Enchantress, Li Ruoer would not be able to best him in combat. Some still doubted the strength of the enchantress, and believed that it was mostly her family fame that had helped her make it to the list of seeded combatants.

Guan Dongyang"s powerful abilities had not only shaped the Hidden Path into a formidable presence on Mars, but had also earned him a nickname—Agni, G.o.d of fire. He had annihilated all his opponents ever since he had entered the tournament.

In contrast to his opponent"s reputation, w.a.n.g Tong was an unknown no-account. Therefore, in the public"s eyes, w.a.n.g Tong had finally spent his luck that had helped him in winning over the previous fighters, and he was about to face his defeat. The public"s sentiment was also shared by w.a.n.g Tong"s cla.s.smates at Ayrlarng, as they sat nervously in the arena, fearing for his imminent defeat. On the other hand, the audiences from the Mars seemed much more relaxed, as they were confident that they already had gotten the victory in the bag.

Although w.a.n.g Tong had defeated a powerful opponent in his last fight, the public believed that w.a.n.g Tong"s victory was due to Han Linu"s puppeteer-equipment failure rather than his inferior power. In addition to marveling at w.a.n.g Tong"s luck, the public was also deeply impressed by Han Linu"s skills. Despite the minor setback, Han Linu had defeated both opponents he had encountered after the fight with w.a.n.g Tong, and pushed the popularity of the Lunar Mastery to a new height.

Both Karl and Hu Yangxuan were sitting in the audience for w.a.n.g Tong"s fight. Although Hu Yangxuan was well aware of w.a.n.g Tong"s power, he still could not stop worrying about his friend. Little was known about w.a.n.g Tong"s opponent, since the Hidden Patch was very secretive, and they kept their tactics and abilities hidden from the public"s eyes. Based on the recording of Guan Dongyang"s previous tournament fights, although it was clear that his soul energy had reached four hundred, the exact cause of his opponent"s defeat escaped Hu Yangxuan. Not only did Guan Dongyang possess solid soul energy, but he also had the elements of surprise on his side, since no one knew what to expect from him.

Despite his concerns, Hu Yangxuan had a gut feeling that w.a.n.g Tong would win the fight.

Ever since he had entered the playoffs, w.a.n.g Tong had become more excited about fighting against increasingly tougher opponents. There would be so much to learn from so many powerful fighters.

Guan Dongyan studied the excited expression on the face of the boy who was eight years younger than him, and thought how naive he was to be so brave even as he was faced with an inevitable defeat.

Guan Dongyang didn"t come to the tournament to seek personal glory. At his age, he couldn"t care less about fame. Instead, he had come to the tournament to promote schools of Mastery, and let the world know that the five tactics no longer dominated the confederation. The five tactics had grown old and tired, and it was the Mastery"s turn to lead the humans towards victory.

With such a great mission in mind, Guan Dongyang didn"t want to waste too much energy on the fledgling in front of him. He planned to finish the fight fast, preferably under one minute, if possible. Although Guan Dongyang had set his first choice of opponent to be Li Ruoer, he was convinced that, unlike the "Magnificent Five," Li Ruoer was not his worthy opponent; she was only a stepping stone.

While w.a.n.g Tong warmed up his body, he was increasingly excited about the fight, as he could feel that there was something powerful hidden deep underneath Guan Dongyang"s seemingly placid sea of consciousness.

Ever since the start of the playoff matches, the organizer had set aside a dozen rows of seats for fighters who were still in the game. Those seats had a much better view of the arena than even the most expensive seats, and therefore, Hu Yangxuan gladly took up a spot in the middle.

There weren"t a lot of people sitting with Hu Yangxuan when he first arrived. However, a moment later, someone else showed up and sat right next to him.

"Long time no see. I hope there is no one sitting beside you?" Hu Yangxuan heard an icy but familiar voice, and recognized the voice immediately. It was the Enchantress, Li Ruoer!

Hu Yangxuan wondered why the enchantress didn"t stay in the resting room, since she had a match right after w.a.n.g Tong finished his.

Enchanted by Li Ruoer"s beauty, Hu Yangxuan cracked a smile and said incoherently, "No, no one. Sit, sit here, please."

After Li Ruoer sat down, she was appalled to see w.a.n.g Tong"s exaggerated and cartoon-ish warm-up exercises. "Is he ever serious about anything?"

"Hehe, it depends. He could be very serious about certain things and certain people." Hu Yangxuan said, alluding to w.a.n.g Tong"s personal life.

Li Ruoer remained quiet. If she had registered the allusion, she didn"t show it on her face.

"Look! It"s Li Ruoer!"

"Why is she here?"

"Of course, she is here to watch Guan Dongyang! He is the toughest opponent in her section."

"Ah...maybe. I wish w.a.n.g Tong could last longer down there. I just can"t get enough of the nice view."

"Watch your tongue! You don"t want to mess around with the Li."