The Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation ended, and soon, the people who managed the event began regrouping the people who still wanted to watch back into the stage, and left those who wished to go back and check on their homes and families go.
The stage became less populated but it didn't lessen the event's intensity. As many still wanted to see blood and sweat, and men beating each other to showcase who is the mightiest.
One of the cultivators with a great mastery of Earth Law, rearrange the arena back to its former state, which was honestly an impressive feat of talent.
If this is how Earth Law can be used, I wonder if i can manipulate Gravitational Law, and obtain teleknecise. Because having Teleknecise is probably the closest thing one can be to control other elements...something to think about.
Soon, Meng Hao and the Demon Faced cultivator were back on the stage.
"You've done something impressive, but sadly, you didn't have enough time to cement your cultivation base, are you sure that you still wish to battle?" the cultivator said.
"It would be a shame to walk away after taking all that beating without giving you the same, wouldn't it?"
"Hah! I like your guts, but still, just because you became a Nascent Soul cultivator, doesn't mean that you can still beat me!" The Demon Faced Cultivator said and rushed forward with fist readying to punch forward.
Meng Hao immediately lowered himself a bit to prepare for impact, but then a grin was painted on his face as he disappeared from in front of the incoming cultivator, only to appear above him, Meng Hao's body twisted to give his fist maximum power as he struck down on the cultivator's back, smashing him into the ground.
'That's teleportation, damn, he did it immediately after becoming a Nascent Soul…I really want to teleport, it'll be really helpful to me and will definitely increase the potency of my abilities…'
The moment the Demon Faced Cultivator was struck against the ground, Meng Hao followed with a downward kick, that was so strong it caused the cultivator to bounce, then Meng Hao followed with a roundhouse kick to his face mid bounce, and made him tumble on the ground, breaking the newly repaired arena as his tumbling heavy body was creating a small crater on the ground.
Before the Demon Face could fall to the outer rims of the arena, he managed to dig both fists into the arena stone and slowed down his speed.
But Meng Hao wasn't going to give him room to breathe, as he rushed the man with a shoulder bash causing his hands to rip out of the arena ground, and unceremoniously knocked him out and onto the outer arena floor.
Unbelieving his eyes, the cultivator blinked twice and said, "Did I just lose?" he spoke in wonder, and not a second later, the skin on his body returned to its regular color, while the whole demonic air around him dissipated and he regained his 'humanity'.
"Meng Hao Advances, this fighting round is over!" he said.
Looking around, there were nine cultivators left including me, I wonder how they were going to do this tourney with an irregular number of cultivators left.
But it seemed that my worries were for naught, as the next fight was actually a single elimination round, three players in one arena, and one will lose.
This is pretty bad because I'll definitely be focused because I'll be facing two Nascent Soul cultivators at the same time, and since they'll think I'm easy prey because I'm a core cultivator, they'll try not to waste their Qi and come at me directly.
Soon the referee began drawing lots, and apparently, I ended up in the same group as Meng Hao and Lang Ho. Which was pretty damn fortunate.
"Seems that we'll be fighting sooner than expected," Meng Hao said.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," I said.
"Why? Do you think we should team up against that man?" Meng Hao asked.
"We don't need to, the moment that person was going to face me, was the moment he loses, so this round, we'll both advance without breaking a sweat," I said.
"Though I don't know where that confidence of yours comes from, I'll trust you, we still have two more rounds, we might end up facing each other in the finals." Meng Hao said.
"Yes, let's do that then," I said and smiled as we waited for the first match.
"Meng Hao, Shen Bao, Lang Ho, move up the stage!" The referee spoke.
"You should rest up, I'll take care of this guy, take the time to recuperate and cement your foundations as much as you can," I said to Meng Hao.
"Are you sure? He is still a Nascent Soul cultivator, and he doesn't use puppets like the last one," Meng Hao said.
"Don't worry, just sit down and relax," I said as I cracked my knuckles.
"You're underestimating me way too much for a Core Cultivator, aren't you afraid that you'll be punished by the heavens for your hubris!"
Lang Ho said with a venomous tone.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just show me what you got," I said and stood still, hands behind my back full of openings, and not taking a ready stance whatsoever.
The referee frowned as he saw my lax attitude, and spoke, "Shen Bao, are you ready?"
I nodded, to which the man shrugged as if saying, 'your funeral'
Just as he spoke the words Lang Ho shot forward, "Let me teach you the difference between our…"
Then he fell down right next to my feet.
'Suck to be you, friend.' I mumbled under my breath.
Everyone in the arena was in disbelief. Not understanding what went on right now. The referee came to check up on Lang Ho and realized that he lost consciousness, he inspected him over and over again but couldn't find any trace of tampering or the real cause of this man's consciousness fading.
Well of course he wouldn't, because my poison Qi is pretty damn powerful, and regular Qi can't detect it.
"Lang Ho, eliminated, Meng Hao, Shen Bao, advance!" the referee said.
A huge commotion started all over the arena on how this happened, and some even called foul play and cheating.
"What did you do, Shen Bao?" asked the Soul Transformation cultivator.
"This is something that is related to a personal secret of mine, I cannot reveal it, otherwise it will put me at a disadvantage further down my cultivation road." I said, simply and clearly, and in front of so many cultivators, no one dared force me to divulge such secrets, because a cultivator's secret or ability, or cultivation method is something sacred and should not be openly discussed or divulged without the consent of the owner, it is considered a huge taboo and shameful behavior to force someone to speak of their cultivation secrets. Thus, for 'Face' the old man got off my back in a loud humph.
"Worry not, I can't do this anymore today, it requires a lot of preparation, and also this man was a fool for not realizing that he has been trapped. So it's on him."
With my words, the roiling crowd was satisfied, because 'I can't do this again' and that Lang Ho could have actually not fallen in the trap, making me both escape responsibility and made Lang Ho's inability to see danger, the cause to blame him for his shortsightedness.
'I say I'm a mastermind at shifting blame.' I grinned as I went down, while Meng Hao looked at me like I was some monster.
'I've sensed something flaring within him before he fell down. What was that?" Meng Hao asked through divine sense.
'Damn sharp sense Main Character syndrome.' I chided myself then spoke through divine sense, 'I already had an encounter with this man yesterday, and planted some of my Qi into his body, he didn't realize it because it was hidden, and I just had to activate it today.'
'That's nasty, cautious smart, but still underhanded and shameless.'
'Well, it worked,' I shrugged.
Meng Hao shook his head and sighed as he walked down the arena and sat down to cultivate.
Soon, came the turn of one of the most mysterious cultivators of the tournament so far. The man with the Zither.
He was the first to get up on the stage, placed his stool and his Zither above his knee. Then he waited.
The two other cultivators facing him walked up, nodded at each other, and waited for the referee to start the match.
Just as the referee spoke the words to begin, the two cultivators looked at each other, as if understanding downed between them, they rushed the cultivator with the zither.
He didn't even raise his head as he played a single note on his zither, and the two cultivators fell at the same time. Unconscious.
'Damn…this man is trying to steal my thunder,' I grinned as I watched the referee in total confusion on how to manage this outcome.