In the round of sixteen, Ryan and John had been matched as opponents. Based on their fight before, and also John's performance today, Ryan knew that his tournament journey had ended.
"Hey, you've made the top sixteen already though. You're guaranteed a spot in the pocket realm, so the only thing you're missing out on is the prizes awarded to the top three of the tournament." John tried to console Ryan given that he was the one about to eliminate him.
"I guess you're right. Besides, if I had to lose to anyone, I'd prefer it to be you. If I ran into that asshole Dylan, I would have to surrender without even fighting, which would be embarrassing."
John nodded his head at Ryan's comment. Fighting Dylan really would have been the worst result for Ryan, so at least it wasn't all bad. John and Ryan had their fight in the first stage of the round of sixteen, and so they immediately proceeded to their fighting stage.
After hopping onto the stage, the referee commenced the start of the fight, and Ryan and John stared at each other.
"I know I can't beat you, but I don't want to give up without a fight either. How about this, let me attack you with my strongest attack uninterrupted, and if you are fine afterwards, I'll concede." Ryan wanted to at least show to the crowd, and Ella, what he was truly capable of, and so he came up with this to give himself some face in defeat.
"Sure. I'll accept." John couldn't refuse this request from Ryan. He knew it was Ryan's last fight, and knew that Ryan wanted to go out with a bang.
"Thanks." Ryan smiled and took out his sword. "Prepare yourself John, cause I'm not holding back."
John nodded his head and stared at Ryan, who started to prepare his attack. When it came to essence fighting, there were two main ways of using essence Qi to fight. The first was the way that almost all cultivators fought, and that was to use their Qi in quick but powerful bursts to unleash powerful attacks in a short amount of time. Balancing the speed and power of attacks was important, as taking too long to channel an attack, like John's first enemy, would leave openings that an opponent could exploit.
The second and less used method was to channel and accumulate essence Qi for a long duration before explosively releasing it outwards in a massive attack. The upside of this method was it allowed a cultivator to unleash their strongest attacks, which were much more powerful than what they would be capable of normally, while the downside was the long channeling time that left the cultivator open for any counter attacks.
Using the second method was almost impossible in a one on one fight, as the enemy could easily interrupt anyone trying to channel an attack. However, when the cultivator had people to defend them while channeling, they could unleash devastating attacks. Channeled attacks would have much larger attack areas, and were perfect for causing massive casualties. These types of cultivators were known as War Mages, and they received such a name due to the incredible destruction they could unleash in large scale warfare.
Being a War Mage took a unique type of talent, because the cultivator had to be able to channel and control a massive amount of Qi at once before unleashing it. Without proper talent in controlling Qi, a cultivator channeling a powerful attack could lose control of their Qi, and in the worst cases, cultivators had been known to explode from within by losing control of their Qi during such attacks.
This type of control was a separate type of talent that some cultivators had, and was a fairly rare talent to have. Even one in a thousand cultivators might not have this talent of Qi control.
Although the Qi reserves of War Mages might not be the highest, and their fighting prowess might not be the best, they had immense talent in controlling their Qi, and were able to unleash massively devastating attacks without losing control.
Through his training, Ryan had discovered that he was exactly this type of talent. His combat prowess and essence Qi power was considered impressive, but what he truly excelled at was Qi control. Some Fenix Clan Elder's had noticed this talent a while back, and had started to train Ryan in some of the Clans most powerful channeled attacks.
Ryan stood there for a moment and took a deep breath before assuming a wide and unique stance. One of his hands was resting on his chest, while the other hand was cupped below his stomach, right where his dantian was.
John stared at Ryan and narrowed his eyes at what he was witnessing. Due to the unique nature of the talent, John had never run into someone who channeled their attacks, and was unsure what was happening.
Ryan stood there in silence for some time, and the crowd started to become confused at what was happening.
"What's he doing? Is this a posing battle?"
"I don't know, but he's been standing like that for ten seconds already without moving."
While the crowd was talking, an incredibly powerful aura exploded from Ryan. The crowd was shocked into silence at the sudden change of events, and John was shocked as well. His eyes were wide open as he stared straight at Ryan.
'What is going on? I've never seen anything like this. I don't know why, but Ryan is making me feel incredible danger right now. I need to go all out to defend this.' A nervous smile broke out on John's face as he took out his scythe and assumed a wide stance. Although he didn't know what was happening, he could tell that Ryan was about to unleash an incredible attack, and was fully prepared to receive it head on like he promised.
In the stands, Cade Fenix and the rest of the Fenix Clan Elders were watching Ryan channel his attack in surprise.
"Why did I not know that Ryan had such a talent in channeling attacks?" Cade Fenix asked around to all the Elders around him.
Ryan's father, Darus Fenix, a powerful Core Formation Elder of the clan, spoke up. "I was the one who discovered this talent of Ryan's. He had wanted to keep it a secret for who knows what reason, but now it's revealed for all to see." A proud smile was evident on Ryan's fathers face as he watched his son channel his attack.
Cade Fenix looked at Ryan and then back to Darus. "We'll, whatever the reason, this is fantastic news. War Mages such as Ryan are absolutely invaluable on a battlefield, and his talent will surely bring immense benefits to our Fenix Clan in the future."
Back on the stage, John stared at Ryan as he continued to channel his attack. An explosive battle aura radiated from John as he channeled body Qi into every inch of his body. He could tell that if he didn't seriously receive this attack, he would lose.
After a full minute of channeling, Ryan finally looked like he was unable to contain it anymore. Dozens of veins bulged under his slightly red glowing skin, and he looked like he was about to explode.
"Prepare yourself" Ryan grunted through gritted teeth as he looked towards John.
The hand that had been resting on his chest outstretched towards John, and his middle and pointer finger were pointing directly towards John.
Bang!
An incredible powerful and destructive beam of pure white Qi exploded out of Ryan's fingers, and traveled in a line straight towards John. While most Qi beams at the Mist Creation level were several inches across and somewhat hazy looking, this attack from Ryan was two feet across and contained an incredibly dense Qi essence, and was something more comparable to a Qi Condensation attack.
John's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the rapidly approaching attack.