Jin Huguo being able to fight to this extent with his opponent had already exceeded the expectations of most people.
…
In the higher-level Spectator Space.
“Jin Huguo lost,” Li Yang sighed.
“There’s nothing to be done. In previous predictions, Harmon was expected to challenge for the top spot,” Dean Xu said calmly, “For Jin Huguo to severely injure Harmon, forcing him to withdraw from the competition, is already quite an achievement.”
“Hmm.”
Li Yang nodded and continued to watch the screen, “It’s up to Li Yuan now. There’s a high probability that he and Hoffman will have a battle.”
“I expect they will, the system will guide them subtly,” said Dean Xu, “These Fifth Stage elites, by the last phase of the melee, will mostly seek each other out for duels.”
Having been deans for decades, they were very aware of some of the underlying rules of virtual combat.
What’s the purpose of the great tournament? Firstly, it is to select the top elite fighters fairly and justly, which is why those at the Fifth Stage are not directly sent to the finals.
This is a rule set by Dongfang Ji.
Whenever huge rewards are involved, if protection is possible, there’s a possibility of behind-the-scenes manipulation.
An open tournament aims to avoid unfairness as much as possible.
Just like the college entrance exam, unless granted a special exemption by the Star Master, everyone must pass the exam to enter various levels of Martial Arts Universities. Read exclusive content at мѵʟ
Secondly, it is to temper and make many top talents compete against each other.
The confrontation of talents is not only a stimulus for them but also for countless ordinary spectators.
Therefore, often during the melee phase.
Once a Star Realm battlefield has several Fifth Stage elites, it mostly leads to battles among those at the Fifth Stage.
This kind of highly-watched showdown and private sparring provides a completely different form of mental tempering for the contestants.
…
Time passed, and the battlefield area began to shrink further.
From a diameter of 50 kilometers, it gradually reduced to 30 kilometers.
The surviving contestants, many of them, began another round of large-scale fighting as they collided with each other in motion.
…
When the time reached 11:25 PM, at the Spectator Platform belonging to Starry Sky University.
Whoosh! A figure in a fiery red robe appeared out of nowhere.
“Yue Yue sister.”
A crisp voice sounded next to her, it was Wu Dongdong, who couldn’t help but say, “You’re really unlucky; you just ran into Yin Man. Otherwise, you would have had a good chance of making it into the top hundred.”
The fiery red-robed figure was none other than Lin Lanyue, who also participated in the tournament along with Wu Dongdong.
Before the tournament, Lin Lanyue had even communicated with Li Yuan a couple of times.
“It doesn’t make much difference,” Lin Lanyue said with a light smile, “With my current skills barely into the Fourth Level high rank, even with good luck, I would have just barely broken into the top hundred… In the elimination matches, I was destined to be eliminated.”
“Hmm,” Wu Dongdong nodded slightly.
In a melee, some luck is involved… but in the elimination round, with 990 people fighting for only ten final spots, each person must go through at least eight rounds of battle, leaving almost no factor of luck.
“How about the others?” Lin Lanyue smiled.
“I know who you want to see,” Wu Dongdong said with a smile, “Your brother was eliminated much faster than I, and as for Li Yuan… his strength is even more terrifying than during the newcomer battle of the ten schools, and he’s now a Fifth Stage elite, probably no weaker than Dantai Feng.”
“Has he reached Unity of Heaven and Man at the Fifth Stage?” Lin Lanyue’s eyes lit up.
She could only see Li Yuan’s score soaring on the leaderboard while on the battlefield, unable to see the specific details of the battles.
Before this, despite her multiple communications with Li Yuan, she was not aware that he had reached Unity of Heaven and Man.
“Wow, sister, look quickly,” Wu Dongdong suddenly pointed at a huge screen rapidly enlarging above the tournament space, “Dantai Feng, he’s run into Nevsky from Ross Country.”
“The two are going to fight,” Wu Dongdong said excitedly, “I wonder if Dantai Feng can win.”
“Dantai Feng? Nevsky?” Lin Lanyue couldn’t help but raise her head to look.
…
At that moment, it wasn’t just Wu Dongdong and Lin Lanyue.
In the entire tournament space, almost all the spectators couldn’t help but turn their attention to the rapidly enlarging screen.
And the two elites who were already engaged in fierce battle.
Dantai Feng, the king of the preliminaries, an unparalleled genius of Xia Country in his freshman year, even with Li Yuan’s rise had still not completely shaken his position, most people still considered Dantai Feng stronger.
After all, the title of the king of the preliminaries was significant.
And Dantai Feng had once defeated Li Yuan.
His opponent, Nevsky, as the ‘strongest elite’ emerging from Ross Country in this tournament, was also extremely formidable, recognized as the number one talent of Ross Country, also a Fifth Stage elite.
This battle, a clash at the Fifth Stage.
Them being respectively the first and second in points in the battlefields of the Tenth Star Realm.
Such a duel, in terms of attention and anticipation, was even beyond the battle between Harmon and Jin Huguo.
…On an ice field in the Tenth Star Realm battlefield.
“Dantai Feng,” Nevsky held a Battle Axe, his swings causing Dantai Feng to retreat repeatedly.
His hair was messy, and he stood over two meters and twenty centimeters tall, burly and robust, and though he was just a young man in his early twenties, he gave off the impression of a man in his thirties or forties.
“Nevsky, leave me some face,” Dantai Feng growled in a low voice, “There must be millions of people watching us fight.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two exchanged blows like lightning, with Dantai Feng’s sword and shield working in tandem, time and again blocking Nevsky’s battle axe chops.
The axe was too heavy.
Chop, more ferocious than the sword!
Blocking, as solid as a shield.
The weakness of the axe was its slowness, but at this moment, the axe in Nevsky’s hands was even faster than Dantai Feng’s sword, completely suppressing him.
“Whether a million people are watching or ten million,” Nevsky said with a chuckle, “if you can defeat me, you will shine brilliantly.”
“Bring out all your strength, beat me.”
“Otherwise, you are about to lose,” Nevsky said, his composure unmatched.
“Damn it!”
“I’m going all out.” A trace of madness flashed in Dantai Feng’s eyes; he liked to show off in front of others, but deep down, he was also a bit mad.
Boom!
All of a sudden, Dantai Feng burst forth, casting aside his shield. His body almost appeared distorted as his speed surged eerily and he lunged at Nevsky with murderous intent.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Sword light surged like a tide, swift as lightning.
“Clang!”
“Clang!” “Clang!” A hint of seriousness swept over Nevsky’s face as he hurriedly swung his battle axe like a colossal shield to block.
But Dantai Feng, now going all out, focused entirely on his sword, was utterly insane.
“Faster! Faster! Even faster!” Dantai Feng murmured, pushing his vigor to the extreme.
His combat saber viciously chopped down.
Each strike was quicker than the last.
The terrifying sword lights nearly engulfed Nevsky, almost reversing the tide of the battle.
In that moment, Dantai Feng felt his spirit reaching a new pinnacle.
“Kill!” Nevsky bellowed, finally catching a slight flaw in the transition of Dantai Feng’s sword technique. Blocking one strike with his battle axe, he suddenly reversed the weapon.
And chopped fiercely!
Swoosh!
This sudden strike caused Nevsky’s presence and aura to skyrocket, resembling a War God splitting mountains and rivers, his howl sending Dantai Feng flying backwards.
Boom! Nevsky pressed the attack, his figure flickering to keep up, and struck down with another vicious axe blow.
“Clang!”
Dantai Feng met the axe with his sword, barely blocking it, but was sent flying once more.
“Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!” Nine consecutive strikes, each a horrid collision.
Having thrown away his shield, Dantai Feng could no longer hold out.
Accompanying the final terrifying axe light, he was chopped down.
“Fifth Stage Intermediate Rank, it’s Intermediate Rank!” Dantai Feng stared at the axe descending furiously, roaring in his heart.
Spurt~
The axe passed through!
Dantai Feng died in battle, his blood staining the icy plains red, bringing silence back to the expanse.
“He’s quite formidable,” thought the burly man, Nevsky to himself. “I wanted to save my burst for the final round, against Yin Man or Harmon. I didn’t expect a freshman to push me so hard that I had to unleash ‘Thousand Axe Combo,’ which I had only recently mastered. One must never underestimate anyone.”
After calming his inner turmoil, Nevsky continued across the ice plain.
…
When Nevsky unleashed his power, he displayed terrifying strength that made countless spectators tremble.
“Dantai Feng lost?”
“Nevsky is too powerful.”
“Why do I feel like Nevsky is stronger than Yin Man, Li Yuan, Harmon, and all of them?” a chorus of discussions filled the competition space.
In contrast to the brutal battle between Harmon and Jin Huguo,
Dantai Feng, despite displaying amazing strength, lost decisively in a head-on onslaught from Nevsky.
…
The battleground of the Seventh Star Realm.
“Senior Brother Jin lost before, and now Dantai Feng has lost too?” Li Yuan glanced at his smart ring; although he couldn’t see the details of the duel,
nor communicate with the outside world,
he could tell who won based on the dramatic changes in points between Dantai Feng and Nevsky.
“Hoffman, where are you?” Li Yuan walked through mountain gorges, searching for traces of the other.
Along the way, any Star Realm Creatures or participants he encountered, he pursued and killed, sweeping all before him.
Li Yuan’s points kept climbing.