64 Skysea Alliance Tournament, Part 10

The event grounds were buzzing with activity. Since junior division competitors in the individual competition wielded three soul rings at most, the space provided wasn't much. Each arena spanned about thirty meters in diameter. Arranged next to each other, the rings of battle showcased dazzling duels between all sorts of martial souls and soul skills.

Gloxinia watched the battles with the eyes of a hawk, understanding that every participant was a potential risk to his plan. He wasn't incredibly smart or anything so the only thing he can do is rely on the plans he has seen in novels, albeit tweaked a bit.

Not long after, the third heat commenced.

Gloxinia glanced at his number plate. According to the lots drawn yesterday, his first appearance would be in the third heat in arena 16.

A soul barrier encased the circular arena so that the audience wouldn't be harmed by any stray attacks.

Although it was his first time participating in this sort of competition, Gloxinia carried not an ounce of anxiety on his being. After his adventures in the spirit ascension platform and his real life combat experiences, all he felt was some slight anticipation.

His opponent soon arrived. It was a petite kid even shorter than Gloxinia. His opponent's eyes failed to mask the confusion and anxiety running rampant beneath their outward posturing.

Every arena had a referee and theirs was a middle-aged man.

"The rules are simple. You may use any means to attack without worry. I will interfere if the need arises to ensure your safety and the result will be decided when one side concedes. In the event that participants cannot or will not concede, I will judge when one side is no longer able to continue fighting. I will also judge if the gap between contenders is too great. You both have thirty seconds to prepare. I will countdown the last five seconds. You may begin preparing now."

The moment the middle-aged man finished speaking, Gloxinia's opponent summoned two dazzling yellow soul rings.

'This guy is a complete newbie.. summoning his martial soul 30 seconds before the match begins.'

Inwardly sighing, Gloxinia shook his head and was about to summon Basquias and let it fight while he relaxed when he noticed that his opponents martial soul seemed a little familiar.

His opponent's martial soul was a long, silver staff. A black dragon coiled around its length. It was the Coiling Dragon Staff.

'Isn't that the Qiangu Clan's martial soul?! They're the final boss of the spirit pagoda how did it show up in a small competition like this??'

His opponent seemed to have felt Gloxinia gazing at it and realized his mistake, quickly recalling his martial soul. He stared back at Gloxinia.

However, Gloxinia's attention was no longer on him, instead it was on the audience. Specifically, the small vip boxes with transperent glass.

If a Qiangu Clan higher-up was here then they would be a massive variable in his plan..

At this time, the referee started speaking once more,"Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"

Following the end of the countdown, Gloxinia waved his hand and summoned Basquias in it's blanket form. It immediately shot forward like an arrow relesed from its bowstring. Basquias wasn't an agility-type martial soul but in that hairbreadth of a second, it exploded with speed. It left behind green after images as it closed the thirty-meter distance between it and it's opponent.

Once again his opponent released his martial soul. The Coiling Dragon Staff appeared in his hands yet no soul rings lit up; this was a clear sign he had yet to use any soul skills.

This was because he was startled by Basquias' frightening speed, completely forgetting about his soul skills.

The youngster felt the wind blow against his face and witnessed Basquias cover the sky and sun, giving him an indescrible feeling of terror.

The sudden powerful might coupled with his nervousness caused the boy to fall back onto his butt.

Basquias wrapped itself around the boy and lifted him up slightly, planning to slam him down to knock him out.

"Stop!" The referee appeared in front of the boy and Basquias, immediately pulling them away from each other. Of course, the referee could feel the lack of strength circulating through the blanket.

"You're too lacking in combat experience! How can you even think of participating in the competition like this?" The referee reprimanded the pale-faced boy on the ground.

"B-but my soul skills are really strong. I thought I could…"

The referee snorted. "Go back and gain some real combat experience first. Even if your soul skills are powerful, you still need to be able to use them. Tell me, did you even get a chance to use them?"

Essentially, Gloxinia's first match in the knockout round was a victory.

The referee nodded in approval before granting him a new number plate for his second match.

Number plate in hand, Gloxinia walked back to the stands leaving behind cheers from the audience.

Contrary to the cheerful atmosphere in the arena, Gloxinia's expression was grim.

A Qiangu Clan member appeared in this tournament. There's no way that's coincidental.

'I'll have to check with the Head Key and see if they were here originally.. if not then I have already changed too much.'

This thought in mind, Gloxinia planned to head back to the hotel.

Because he had finished his morning matches very quickly, there was still a lot of time left until the team competition matches, thus he should have enough time to quickly check his memories.

When he reached his destination, he found that Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie had arrived before him. Xu Xiaoyan didn't leave the hotel at all.

"How did things go for you guys?" Gloxinia asked, hiding his real feelings and keeping up the pretense of a happy go lucky child for the time being.

"Of course I won without a hitch! We're strong after all!" Xie Xie stated proudly.

Gu Yue nodded in agreement.

A smile appeared on Tang Wulin's lips. "Then we've already passed the first round. Congratulations everyone."

Gu Yue said, "Isn't our goal to become the champions? Then we need to win in the team competition too."

Tang Wulin sighed. "Experience is extremely important here. My opponent was a one-ringed Soul Master, but he was somehow defeated before using his soul skill. Of course, he couldn't believe he lost, but if it had been a real battlefield, I would have already killed him."

Gu Yue said, "The process isn't important; only the outcome is. Strength has always been a combination of multiple things, with soul power and soul skills being just a part of it. Even a powerful soul master could be killed by a child's dagger strike if they let their guard down. Therefore, actual combat experience is crucial as it hones one's reaction time and vigilance."

Tang Wulin let out a chuckle. "I just hope that I don't get matched up with you next round."

At this point, Gloxinia felt that it was a good time to excuse himself to go to his room and did exactly that.

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Words: 1294

Author's Note: The person who has the Coiling Dragon Staff actually did participate in the tournament. However, it was never said what his name was.. But Qiangu Clan is known for their Coiling Dragon Staff and it is literally their foundation. They are also willing to go very far to stay in power so I wouldn't put it past them to kill children outside the family with it. Thus, we can safely assume the kid is from their clan.

Also, sorry for late upload today I had a club!

Thank you for so many collections and powerstones!