Chapter 335: The Ten Great Practitioners (Five)
Two bangs could be heard as the two men’s Saint Weapons flashed forward.
Ka Zhafei’s silver sword seemed almost as if it was a divine sword that shot forward with seemingly two strikes that resembled a single cross that shined brilliantly in everyone’s eyes, leaving behind a sun spot like image.
With an overwhelming amount of power, the cross flew toward Ming Dong.
Ming Dong’s sword slashed toward Ka Zhafei as well. As his sword was swung, the winds began to warp as the skies grew dark. Only a compressed amount of Sword Qi could be seen as it flew toward Ka Zhafei and smashed against the cross. With a loud explosion, a large ripple of energy immediately scattered the entire area.
Ming Dong’s slash impacted against the cross, shattering it into pieces before continuing on toward Ka Zhafei. In the end, it pierced into his body before striking at the barrier behind him. With an explosion, the barrier rippled slightly before the attack dissipated.
The explosive energy caused by the blow was quickly absorbed by the barrier surrounding the arena. Even as the energy struck against the barrier, it was like a pebble being thrown into the ocean and disappeared without any other external effect. In a flash, the entire arena was clean of any of the energy.
Ming Dong continued to feel the brunt of this terrifying backlash. Compared to before, he no longer had the same easy going face as before and was completely pale. The Saint Force that was used up by the Heaven Tier Battle Skill was truly immense, and after that one startling attack, his Saint Force was almost all used up.
Ka Zhafei stood in front of him with sluggish eyes and a dazed expression.
“Kacha!” Suddenly, the strange white piece of armor that covered Ka Zhafei’s body began to fracture into a large crack appeared from his forehead to the point between his legs and the bright red tint of blood could be seen coming out. The silver armor right now was an extremely eye-catching sight.
In the next moment, a truly surprising thing happened as Ka Zhafei’s body suddenly split in half before falling to the ground. His inner organs had long since been reduced to a minced mess as blood poured all over the place.
After the two Heaven Tier Battle Skills had clashed, Ming Dong had came out unscratched while Ka Zhafei was split in two.
This sight caused everyone there to be breathless, even the various Heaven Saint Masters were left speechless. At this moment, there were millions of people watching the finals, but the entire place was silent. So silent was the area that the heartbeat of everyone could be heard bumping at an accelerated pace.
When the two Heaven Tier Battle Skills clashed, everyone had imagined its aftereffects. Most people had anticipated both sides to come out heavily injured and end in a tie. They hadn’t imagined that the impossible would happen, and that after the two initialized their battle skills, one person would die a wretched death by being split in two while the other would remain unharmed.
A single elder dropped down from the middle of nowhere with his silk robes. Standing in the air, it seemed as if he was treating the Earth Saint Masters and Heaven Saint Masters as beneath him, yet he was not rude at all. Not a single of the Heaven Saint Masters below him had any complaints and or any dissatisfaction toward this individual. Every single Heaven Saint Master had only respect for him and even a small yearning.
The elder stared at the arena below before muttering, “A Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master versus a Fifth Cycle Earth Saint Master. An Advanced Heaven Tier Battle Skill versus a Primary Heaven Tier Battle Skill, this type of outcome wasn’t unexpected at all.” While the elder didn’t speak too loudly, his voice could still be heard loud and clear throughout the arena.
Immediately, the entire crowd went into an uproar as they looked at Ming Dong with a mixture of envy, admiration, and jealousy.
“An Advance Tier Heaven Tier Battle Skill, he had one of those? I’ve been a Heaven Saint Master for over twenty years, but my strongest battle skill is only an Advanced Earth Tier Battle Skill, ai…”
“He’s already a Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master at this age? Dear heavens, that’s impossible…”
“Did I hear that right? He’s not even thirty years old, how could he be a Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master? And a Heaven Tier Battle Skill, good god, that’s just too shocking! This Gathering of the Mercenaries is far too much.”
In a short moment, all sorts of comments could be heard coming through all over the arena as everyone congratulated, complained, or grumbled their thoughts about Ming Dong.
The floating elder looked at Ming Dong with a smile envious look before speaking absentmindedly to himself, “Who would have known that the Great Elder would have bestowed the technique that made him well known to you. For a youth to have such control over the Sword of the Tyrant. It seems that the Great Elder did not waste any effort to train you. Ming Dong, just who are you for the Great Elder to spend so much time and energy?”
The winner of this match was clear to see to anyone with eyes. So even though Ming Dong hadn’t heard the cry of victory, a Space Gate opened up to let him out.
With a breath of relief, Ming Dong looked at the split body of Ka Zhafei and said, “I told you I’d split you in half, let’s see if you believe me now.” With that, he walked away and into the Space Gate.
The Space Gate behind Ka Zhafei opened up as well as several of the members of Mercenary City quickly came in and started to clean up the arena.
Ming Dong returned to Jian Chen’s side as everyone stared at him in a new light. Each one now had a deep fear imprinted on them; even Caraga looked at Ming Dong with a completely new emotion.
Jian Chen and Ming Dong gave each other a mutual look before the both of them sat down on stools to watch the rest of the matches.
At this moment, Qin Ji walked up to Ming Dong with a respectful posture, “Congratulations to brother Ming Dong for becoming one of the top ten. With your strength, getting into the top three will not be an impossible task.”
With a laugh, Ming Dong began to speak to Qin Ji for a little while.
As the two talked, the finals continued with the usual marvelousness, but after the match between Ming Dong and Ka Zhafei, nothing could compare to their beautiful clash. Thus, every match after did not seem as exciting.
After the eight matches had been concluded, eight winners were established. Aridia, Zhar, Jian Chen, Ming Dong, Baili Tong, Caraga, and Zhangsun Yunfeng.
Much to the shock of Jian Chen, the wind attributed Earth Saint Master that he had came across before while hunting for tokens had made it into the top eight, Zhangsun Yunfeng.
After the top eight had been established, Jue and Tianmu Ling had managed to make their way back into the top ten after winning the loser’s bracket.
At last, the ten names of the contestants were complete. Aridia, Zhar, Jian Chen, Ming Dong, Qin Ji, Baili Tong, Caraga, Zhangsun Yunfeng, Jue and Tianmu Ling.
Afterward, the competition prepared to move forward. The tournament would not end until the King of Mercenaries was found. Only the top eight contestants would be able to compete as well as Tianmu Ling and Jue who had both made the ninth and tenth spots.
The eight people began to pick their numbers so that an announcement could be made. Then the announcement came:
Jian Chen Versus Caraga.
Ming Dong Versus Zhangsun Yunfeng
Qin Ji Vs Zhar
Aridia Vs Baili Tong
The final rounds would be held three days later as each competitor went into a special inn prepared for them to rest. The entire inn was protected by a barrier so that only the competitors could enter. At the same time, they couldn’t exit the barrier. All of the inn workers were trusted aides of Mercenary City.
During those three days, Jian Chen spent the majority of his time ensuring that his body would be in peak condition. After that, he took out the Duanyun Sword and the Seal of Treasure Mountain to inspect them. After fiddling with them for half a day, he had came to a final conclusion. He would not be able to use either Ruler Armaments, and even if he were to use his own Saint Force to force it into them, it would be eliminated. The Seal of Treasure Mountain was as the four brothers of the Cai family said. Jian Chen would not not be able to use it, and the Seal of Treasure Mountain was nothing more than a broken piece of iron in his hands.
“Could it be that the words of those four were true? A Ruler Armament requires the right bloodline in order to be used?” Jian Chen thought as he eyed the item, this was the only explanation that made sense to him.
Afterward, Jian Chen placed both Ruler Armaments back into his Space Ring and began his study of the Illusionary Flash.
In the past few days, the four brothers of the Cai family had already relayed the news of Shi Xiangran’s death by Jian Chen’s hands as well as the capture of the Ruler Armament to the Shi family. The very moment the Shi family heard the news, the family head was shocked beyond relief and grew angrier by the second. Even though Shi Xiangran was the third son, his cultivation talent was far beyond everyone else; he was an outstanding person that appeared once in a millenia.
Four hours after receiving the news, two Heaven Saint Masters were dispatched to Mercenary City.