This was the last fight that interested everyone before the final phase, Krune and Shad's fight. First, because Krune was one of the dark horses, and second because of what had happened last night. Not to mention that if Shad loses, the Sky Fall continent mercenary guild will be basically out of the Martial Gathering.
Yusa and Ao, as expected, passed their last opponents in the fifth round without big troubles, and are now in the sixth and last round as well. Between the three of them, it could be said that Ao's fight was the hardest so far, and considering their combat power, they didn't think it would take long for them to finish it anyway.
But there was another thing. The participants might not have noticed, but Yusa, Ao, and Shinja had. Krune has been in a terrible mood since last night. It was just that you need to know him well to perceive it. They looked at Shad's direction and couldn't help but feel pity for him.
Shad and Krune went up in the arena. Yulie Forgon watched them and was almost praying for Shad's fight not to be too hard. Shad was also a little unsettled. He was confident in his own ability, but with the prowess that Krune showed so far, he might need to pay some price to pass this last obstacle. Thus, he decided to go out from the very start. He noticed that Krune was a long-range focused cultivator, and planned on getting close to him and finishing the fight as fast as possible.
The referee looked at both of them and raised his hand, then he dropped it down.
"Start!"
Shad immediately used his lightning movement to enclose Krune. His weapon was already out, and the power of water and lightning could be seen on it. He surrounded Krune and used one of his strongest skills.
"Saber Thunderstorm!"
Sparks flew everywhere from his saber. Water fell without stop helping to carry the power of the lightning element. It was a very strong skill, but just as the attack was about to hit Krune, the lightning element disappeared without a trace. It was as if it had received a command to do that. Shad looked at that and couldn't believe what has just happened. He then focused on Krune once more, but…
Krune had disappeared!
"Tribulation Lightning Instant Movement!"
That wasn't the real Tribulation Lightning Movement. It was the one Krune used both Normal Lightning element and Tribulation Lightning at the same time. After several tests, Krune found out that the best balance without damaging his body was 30% Tribulation Lightning and 70% normal Lightning Element. Of course, his speed was already far above what Shad could do with his own Lightning Movement.
Shad focused on his Divine Sense to find where Krune had gone, but as soon as he did that, a hand touched his back. At the same time, a Divine Sense message reached him.
"Playing with lightning in front of me? What a joke!"
Krune's hand was filled with some Tribulation Lightning. As soon as it touched Shad's back...
KaBoom!
Shad's body seemed like to have been hit by a real lightning bolt. His body shined blue and purple for a second. Krune hadn't used tribulation lightning alone, but 70% normal Lightning Element and only 30% Tribulation lightning, just like his movement technique. But that was more than enough to completely fry Shad's body to the point where he looked like charcoal. Shad's body fell forward and hit the ground. The battle was over in a single move.
Arlan immediately looked over from his arena. It was the first time he felt amazed at this Selection. With the power Krune has just shown, he wasn't sure if even him could win against Krune or not.
The referee was taken aback. He saw Krune's move, but because of the distance, even as a Divine Soul cultivator, he wouldn't be able to stop Krune in time. He examined Shad's body and let out a sigh of relief, Krune only disabled him. Although his appearance looked gruesome, he wasn't dead or crippled, of course. That degree of injuries would definitely take a few months to recover.
He then looked back at Krune and proclaimed.
"Krune Wins!"
Krune heard that and came down from the arena. He felt refreshed. Everyone looked at him the same way they looked at Arlan every time he fought. The seeded contestants immediately made up their minds. At the final phase, they were absolutely giving up a fight against him. Not only did he beat Shad easily! It was obvious it was far from his real power. He probably could even fight some new Core Formation Cultivators head-on!
Yulie Forgon was feeling terrible, none of his participants reached the final phase. He looked at Bary and noticed that he was looking at him too. The worst was the smile on his face, it shined like the sun. Yulie had the urge to punch his face right there and then, but he controlled himself. He had already checked Shad's condition and knew that he wasn't in any danger. If Krune wanted Shad dead, he would be gone.
The sixth and last round continued. The seeded contestants and their adversaries, who had stopped for a second to see what happened in Shad's arena, resumed their battle. Even Arlan didn't defeat anyone as fast as Krune did in this Selection. One by one, the victors appeared, except for Krune's sixth arena. The other arenas ended as predicted, and just like that, the final eight have been decided.
After the higher-ups announced the results, the day was over for the Selection. The final part would only happen the next day, so everyone was free to do whatever they wanted. The Sky Fall people wanted to go home already. But, as part of the Mercenary Alliance, they couldn't simply leave midway. They had to watch it to the end. The Yule continent, on the other hand, was cheerful. Usually, it would be themselves the ones who wanted to go home earlier. But not that time, they had three contestants going to the final, so no one wanted to leave at all.
After everyone went back to their residences, the elders, guild heads, and mercenaries, who passed the bracket's fights, gathered and started to discuss how to proceed the next day. Surprisingly, everyone was discussing how to deal with the Yule Continent. So far, all their contestants at the final phase were extremely strong. The only one they aren't sure about was Yusa because she didn't fight anyone strong enough to make her use her real abilities. Chances are that she isn't any weaker than Ao.
On the Yule Continent side, the mercenaries who lost, the elders and Guild Head Bary were…
Eating Krune's food…
If the other participants of the different continents saw that, would they think the Yule Continent was looking down on them?
In fact, be it Krune, Yusa, or Ao, they weren't too much afraid of the outcome of the next battles, other than Arlan. There wasn't anyone on the other side that could pose too much of a threat to them. Of course, they wouldn't lower their guards because of that. Who knows what kind of trump card they would have in their pockets?
Later that night, the Bary Casfiu received a visit from the Guild Heads of the Ice and Borle Continent, who puzzled him very much, but he called them in any way.
"What can I do for you?"
The two Guild Head looked at each other and seemed a little embarrassed, but they asked anyway.
"We would like to ask if Guild Head Bary can make one of your three contestants to give up the fights tomorrow."
Bary heard that, and his face darkened. During all the previous Selections, they had never gone to the other guilds to ask for something like that even though they are weakest ones. Bary calmed down and looked at the Guild Head of the Ice Continent.
"Even if I agreed with this request, I couldn't understand why the Ice Continent would be asking for something like this. Don't your guild have three contestants in the final phase just like us?"
The guild head heard that and felt even more embarrassed. He noticed the power of the Three Yule Continent participants, and he thought none of his contestants was a match for any of them.
"Your kids this time are too strong. It doesn't matter whether I have three or the Borle Continent have one. It would be hard for us to get a slot, each with Arlan from the Makui Continent and your people. In the end, there would be only a single slot remaining, and we want to have at least one of our contestants to appear in the Martial Gathering."
Guild Head Bary took a deep breath and said:
"How many times did our Yule Continent appear in the Martial Gathering in the past thousand years? Can the two of you guess it?"
The guild heads looked at each other but shook their heads. They didn't care about the Yule Continent to start with, so how could they know that?
"I tell you then. It was seven times. A total of one hundred selections have been done so far, but only seven times did we get someone to take place in the Martial Gathering. But even so, we never made such a request before, and now you are asking us to give one of our chances to finally show our heads proud out there, does it look a good thing for you?"
The Borle Continent Guild Head immediately replied.
"We aren't asking it without anything in exchange. We are willing to compensate the one who gives up properly. She or he would have enough resources to cultivate all the way to the Divine Soul Realm without any problems. We can also compensate for the Yule Continent Mercenary Guild properly accordingly."
Bary Casfiu shook his head.
"That's not gonna happen. Let alone if I agree with it or not. I can guarantee you, not a single one of the three of them will give up! And I can tell you the reason. It's because as long as they don't die for the Heavenly Tribulations, there is no doubt that all three of them will definitely reach the Nascent Soul one day. Their talents are just that big, specially Krune."
The guild heads looked at Bary and then asked.
"Can we try to talk to them? If what you said is really true, then they will refuse straight away, that shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Bary was taken aback.
"This…"
He pondered a bit and then nodded his head. Doing it that way would avoid friction between the guilds in the future. He then called Krune, Ao, and Yusa and explained the situation to them.
Yusa heard that, and her eyes lit up.
"How much spirit stones are we talking about here, which rank?"
Bary heard that and almost fainted!
Where is your dignity? Do you have any pride at all?
The Ice and Borle Continent eyes lit up after hearing that. It seemed there was room for negotiation, but before they continued, Yusa made another question.:
"Now that I think about it, is there any reward for those selected to participate in the Martial Gathering?"
Bary Casfiu shook his head.
"There isn't. The slots to participate are already the biggest reward the participants would want, so we never gave any reward to those who get the slots."
That answer made Yusa's conviction even stronger.
"Alright! Then, let's hear how much you can pay for me to give up. I don't care about future resources, I want to know what you can pay to me now."
Her cultivation speed wasn't a problem anymore. What she lacked were spirit stones to create more Spiritual Energy Meridians. As for the Divine Path Sect Entrance Exam Slot? With her Spiritual Energy Meridians and the Rainbow Sect Soul Technique, she was very confident in breaking through the Core Formation Realm in the next nine months. It would be the time when the Makui Planet would send their selected cultivators and demon beasts.
The guild heads pondered and after a breath discussion through Divine Sense, and they came up with a number.
"Ten Thousand Rank Five high-quality spirit stones, how does that sound for you?"
Yusa was taken aback. That much?
Even Bary Casfiu was surprised at that number. Although his Yule Continent Headquarters could pay such an amount, it would still leave a hole in the guild's pocket. He didn't believe that the thought of not having a single Martial Gathering participant would weigh so heavily in those two guild's head minds.
Yusa gritted her teeth and said:
"Fifteen thousand! Fifteen thousand, and it's a deal."
The guild heads were taken aback too, but they replied right after.
"Twelve Thousand! That is the most we can do. Don't be too greedy! This is something that hurts even our pockets."
Yusa immediately nodded.
"Deal!"
Krune and Ao saw all that happen and just shook their heads. They knew exactly what Yusa was planning. She would be participating in the Divine Path Sect Entrance Exam as well as getting the Twelve Thousand Rank Five high-quality spirit stones. They even felt a little jealous.
As to Ao, he didn't say anything because he really wanted to fight in the Martial Gathering. Not to mention that he gathered quite some wealth from Turi Belane back them.
And Krune, the Yule Continent guild, was already backing him up, so he didn't really need it. He thought a little and decided to ask for some resources to use in his ninth meridian creation after the Selection was over.
In Bary's case, he could only comfort himself.
'At least, my Yule Continent guild can keep on good terms with their continents.'
His dream of having three participants in the Martial Gathering at the same time was over just like that.