66 Draw

Kael took a look at the eyes of the phoenix and dragon swimming around the original Prediction Orb.

Though he had no idea how such a precious treasure ended up in the Myriad Lower Region, a backwater region, the eyes of the twin creatures were a shining gold. This meant that the Prediction Orb was full of the blood essences of the phoenix and dragon! Such a treasure from his past experience, could only be found in one of the higher tier realms amongst the Hundred Realms.

It also meant that the predictions about Kael were accurate, however Kael had no time to bother about this point.

He now knew that the spiritual density of the Prediction Orb was as full as it could be, according to the density of the blood essences of a dragon and phoenix in equal proportions.

Coincidentally, he was once great friends with Icarus and Jakiro, and they had personally bestowed him with a drop of essence blood each that were beneficial for his cultivation as an Invoker.

Kael thus knew how dense each drop of essence blood was. He immediately poured spiritual energy into the replica Prediction Orb.

Each Prediction Orb was sized differently. However, the principle remained the same; that the eyes of the dragon and phoenix would only glow a golden color upon reaching full capacity. Furthermore, the blood essences would be in equal proportions. It thus wasn't a problem for Kael to accurately estimate the spiritual density of the blood essences now that the size of the original Prediction Orb was plain and clear for him to see.

The remaining three minutes passed quickly under the watchful gazes of the judges and the crowd.

"Time's up! Both challengers are to withdraw from their replica objects to allow the judges to give points." Wallie Dawson voiced out at the last drop of sand in the hourglass.

Darth Wilkes and Kael withdrew from their positions in front of their replica objects. Kael looked calm and composed as usual.

Darth Wilkes on the other hand was having a broad smile plastered on his face. He could no longer contain the emotions that he had kept hidden inside of himself.

"Let me see how you are going to triumph against me this time. I have the advantage in having more judges on my side than yours for the first half of the challenge. Furthermore, it is definitely impossible for you to feel out the spiritual density when your spiritual energy is devoured by the Prediction Orb. As for me, it is quite easy to feel out the insides of such a low-ranked object. You are doomed to fail in my hands. This twin-pronged approach is going to guarantee my win.

Now, the whole Myriad Lower Region is going to know that the young upstart Kael of Fledgling City has fallen in defeat at the hands of Darth Wilkes of Cloverleigh City. Hahahaha!"

As Darth Wilkes was thinking of these egoistical thoughts, Wallie Dawson led the four other judges from the different cities towards the two replica objects.

"Judges, let's give a fair and accurate score upon 10 points for the features and functions of the replica objects. After that, we will let the weighing scale do the talking for measuring the difference in weight between the replica and the original item. Any objections?" Wallie Dawson spoke to the judges, letting the others hear their conversation on purpose.

"I have no objections. Let's get on with it." The representative from Anchorage City spoke.

"I second it." The representative from Cloverleigh City spoke.

"Same here. Let's proceed." The representative from Hailford City responded.

"I have something to say. Let this be a reminder that our reputation is at stake here, since news of these challenges will spread to every single corner of the Myriad Lower Region. Though we hail from different cities and alliances, we are now supposed to be in a neutral position as judges." The representative from Fairview City finally spoke out.

These representatives obviously had the same train of thought as Kael and Darth Wilkes. They were aware of the majority leaning towards Darth Wilkes, thus Darth Wilkes was supposed to have the unspoken advantage. However, Fairview City's representative reminded them that they were under public scrutiny here. Hence, they began thinking that though they could still give Darth Wilkes an advantage, they couldn't be too obvious with marking down Kael.

With all these hidden agendas and politicking, the judging finally began.

Each judge walked around both replicas, observing them in minute details and comparing it with the original objects. This went on for a good 10 minutes.

Finally, the judges were done. Each of them had written the scores on a scorecard.

"Okay, now that we have done the scoring, let us reveal the scores for Darth Wilkes first." Wallie Dawson said.

The judges flashed their scorecards. 10, 10, 9, 7, 6. A total of 42 points.

Darth Wilkes chuckled lightly. The game was basically in the bag from his point of view.

"Aren't we supposed to be fair? What's the meaning of giving 10 points for this replica?" The representative from Fairview City spoke out.

"He did a good job replicating all the minute details. I don't see any wrong in giving him a full marks for it." The representative from Cloverleigh City spoke in a righteous tone.

The representative from Fairview City rolled his eyes. Despite his warning before the judging, these judges were still so thick-skinned to give high points for Darth Wilkes' replica. True, the spiritual energy was perfectly controlled to replicate the details, however the replica lacked the life and cold energy that was exuding from the original object. Hence, a high point wasn't justified.

"Each judge is entitled to their own opinion when judging. Let's continue." The representative from Anchorage City, who gave 10 points, wanted the score to take effect thus he hurried the proceedings.

Wallie Dawson could do nothing about it, thus he could only continue. "Let's reveal the scores for Kael."

The judges flashed the scorecards. 10, 10, 8, 7, 7.

42 points as well! It was actually a draw between Darth Wilkes and Kael for the first half of the challenge!

At this moment, when the scores were revealed for Kael, Darth Wilkes' expression turned extremely ugly.