"I think we became world-class celebrities at this point."
Standing on top of a giant white eagle, Xuefeng couldn't help but comment, hearing all the cheers directed at them. It felt like this Tournament was his personal show with the finals being just a show.
They already went through a live interview at the start of the Finals and even let him speak, wishing all of his opponent's lots of strength to fight him. It was of course all staged as he was informed what the question would be about beforehand.
"Don't talk, just wave," Tianshi said calmly as she rubbed his side. "You now have a lot of fans so you have to suffer a little."
"Let's give them a satisfactory performance then," Xuefeng replied as he embraced her, giving her a passionate kiss as they descended to the arena.
They were naturally displayed on the screens for everyone gathered and the crowd immediately cheered for them.
"Wait…" Xuefeng suddenly paused, pulling away in shock.
His bracelet just vibrated!
He swiftly touched the stones on his arm and found two that were still eagerly vibrating. Once, twice, thrice. Three times indicated they were still far away from him but they were here! In the Water Land Capital!
'Who is it?' Tianshi questioned, noticing his strange behavior.
'Lisa and Yiren, they are here,' Xuefeng replied full of smiles and swiftly looked around the Arena but obviously, he knew there was no way she would be there.
'Good!' Tianshi hugged him excitedly. 'They are smart. They probably saw us on the broadcast and found their way here. They should meet with us soon.'
'Shall we go to meet now?' Xuefeng asked as his body beamed with joy but Tianshi stopped him.
'We can't leave the Tournament right before the final round. Calm down, they wouldn't want that either. Let's just focus on our tasks and meet them later. They are safe in the Capital,' Tianshi assured.
'Ah… I know, I know. I just want to meet them as soon as possible,' Xuefeng sighed, his face filling with determination. 'Let's finish this fast.'
'Yes. Will just call Nuwa and tell her about the girls. Maybe they can find them,' Tianshi suggested before they heard the Commentator's announcement.
"With Xuefeng and Tianshi on the stage, all Participants have now arrived. Everyone! It is time to start the Finals! Sir Liu, take it away!"
Compared to yesterday, all the stages were already cleared, replaced with one big stage with nothing but dust. The hundred-plus participants stood on the same spot as if they were part of some group while the Xuefeng and Tianshi were alone, directly opposite to them.
They received sharp glances from all of them, indicating one clear sign. It definitely wouldn't be a one versus one battle as everyone was bound to target them.
Glancing at Sir Liu, Xuefeng only nodded, remembering the warning he got from him before he arrived. The rules of the Finals were definitely against them so they had to be careful.
"Greetings everyone! I'm sure you didn't come here to listen to me so I will make it short. You all gathered here for one thing and that is the extreme action and heated battles between the top talents of our Water Land. I will make sure you receive just that!" Sir Liu promised, his voice spreading across the arena.
He glanced at the Participants and continued, "To our young Experts, I can only wish you all good luck and a bountiful harvest. Let the best win!"
"Don't worry Sir Liu, I will finish them quick and painless," Xuefeng called out right after, bringing out another cheer of his name and glares from his enemies. They were already heavily against him so it didn't hurt to instigate them even further.
"Hah, talking about that, let me mention you the rules of today's Finals," Sir Liu began with a chuckle. "Just as always, there are no rules and restrictions to the usage of power but we added a few improvements."
As he finished, a hundred and twenty-eight of small tokens flew out of his sleeve. They all headed one each to every Participants. When it landed on Xuefeng's palm, Sir Liu explained further.
"Those black tokens are the Teleportation Artefacts. If you know you are about to die and can't handle your opponent, just crush the token and it will teleport you safely back to the waiting lobby."
He gave them a second to familiarize themselves with the Tokens before he added, "The rules of the Finals are simple. The last one standing wins. Everyone against everyone. If you want to fight in groups and later battle it out, it is definitely allowed. For now though, I want you to channel Spirit Qi into your Token so it can teleport you into your assigned spot on the arena. Once you get there, you will be locked in place till the battle started."
"Everything clear?"
Everyone nodded their heads in understanding beside Xuefeng who was looking down at his bracelet.
It buzzed again!
The two crystals buzzed twice, indicating that they were only ten kilometers away from them. It was really close! How fast were they flying to reach them so soon?!
The Participants began teleporting away while Xuefeng didn't even hear Sir Liu's explanation, his mind fully focused on Yiren and Lisa.
They were coming to meet him!
"Xuefeng?" Sir Liu questioned and Tianshi finally shook his shoulder, snapping his back to reality.
"Yes?" Xuefeng asked innocently only to realize everyone was gone already, spread throughout the arena. "What's going on?"
"We are supposed to channel our Spirit Qi into the Tokens to Teleport with it," Tianshi explained out loud before sending him a message in his mind. 'Is everything alright?'
'Yes, yes, just that Yiren and Lisa are coming here. They are already close," Xuefeng replied excitedly, hating the time the Tournament started. If it was just a bit later, he could enjoy his reunion right now.
'Focus for now. Let's win this fast and meet them,' Tianshi reminded as she held his face. 'We are two versus a hundred plus experts. We cannot afford any mistake. Do it for me and let's focus on the current task.'
Xuefeng took a deep breath in and nodded. She was right. They were both in danger and he still only thought about his wives. Too bad, he just couldn't help it, his love for them too overwhelming.
'What's the plan?' Tianshi questioned as she gave him a deep good luck kiss.
'How about we quickly find each other, group up, and kill them all?' Xuefeng proposed to which Tianshi couldn't help but laugh.
'Hah, sounds like a good plan. See you later then.'
She grasped the Token and suddenly vanished, appearing on the other side of the Arena, right by the edge. It was quite a bad spot but he didn't worry. Seeing Tianshi proceed without much worry, he trusted she could survive till he came for her rescue.
Xuefeng followed Tianshi's words and activated the token as well. To his surprise, he teleported right in the middle of the Arena. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but at least he got closer to Tianshi so he didn't mind that.
He thought they would be fighting just like this, in the middle of the open space, but Sir Liu saved him some trouble.
"And now, to make it more interesting, let's add some background," Sir Liu announced before he raised his arms in the air. "Arise!"
Rumble!
The ground began to shake as if the earthquake hit the arena causing small cracks everywhere. To Xuefeng's surprise, small plants spurted out and grew beyond their normal speed of growth.
Small spurts became trees within seconds, turning the whole Arena into one big jungle! On top of that, he couldn't even feel his surroundings as his Spirit Awareness didn't reach far, somehow restricted.
"Interesting. This is going to be fun," Xuefeng muttered to himself as he took a deep breath, preparing to rush out immediately. His wings were already ready to burst from his back.
"Once the countdown drops to zero, the Finals will begin. Is everyone ready?!" the Commentator finally returned back to his job. "Please, count down with me!"
Xuefeng was ready to count as well, when his bracelet buzzed again, throwing him out of the loop again.
One buzz meant they were just one kilometer away! They must be inside the Arena right now!
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
"Seven!"
"Six!"
"Fiv— What? Who are they?"
The Commentator suddenly stopped counting as he heard a sudden disturbance. He didn't need to wait for more to figure out what it was.
"XUEFEEEEEEEEEENG!!!"
The sweet voice he would never forget hit him straight in the heart.
It was Yiren! She came!
He didn't hesitate and struggled to break off the token's restriction. Only with Ming's help was he able to break himself free and he immediately launched himself in the air. He broke through the trees like a rocket and saw hundreds of Guards already in the air, chasing two beautiful blond girls who flew straight at him.
Thud!
They smashed against each other, crashing into the ground right after but there were no pains or complaints in their voices.
"Xuefeng!!!"