Fighting Spike's 'friend'

For Bai Jingshen the competition didn't hold much excitement. A bit of change only occurred, when General Mao showed him the profile of his fifth opponent. It turned out to be one of Spike Jr.'s 'friends' from that day at the hot spring.

So, I didn't see wrong at the first day. But what was Spike's friend doing in the highest cube? Daro Mellar? A noble from the capital? Weird.

Bai Jingshen was confused while reading his opponent's information. He quickly got ready for his match and met up with Phill. As he left his bedroom, he spotted Spike Jr. staring at the room's screen. Originally, Bai Jingshen planned to ask him about this Daro, but observing the surprised expression on the braggard's face, Bai Jingshen realized that something else seemed to be going on.

The young man was already used to the procedure, so he calmly left with Phill and Sam. Over the past few days Bai Jingshen got to know Sam the best and was happy for his new friend as he was still undefeated. Asking about Sam's opponent however, he knew that this match wouldn't be easy, as Sam faced a young elite of New Haven City.

Phill explained, that while he got recruited by New Haven City later on, elites like Sam's opponent were already trained by the city from a young age and would later all become team leader's while Phil was only an ordinary team member for now. Bai Jingshen thus could only wish his new friend good luck.

After dropping Sam off, Bai Jingshen finally reached his fighting stage. For the first time he got a good look at his opponent and was instantly surprised by the hostility revealed through Daro's eyes. Shortly before both young men were sent to their preparation rooms, the young noble even made a throat-slitting gesture at Bai Jingshen. The former emperor slightly raised his eyebrows. He didn't care about Daro's motivation, but already marked him as must-kill in his mind.

Major Titus Gaian could notice the slight shift in Bai Jingshen's aura from his viewing platform. He turned his eyes to the left, seemingly seeing through the cube's walls, thinking about how to deal with the young man enjoying wine and woman, who dared to run rampant in his city.

Bai Jingshen choose his usual weapon loadout before entering the fighting stage after the signal. Over the last few rounds, he noticed how these cubes made an ingenious use of the incomplete laws, manipulating them to simulate different environments. This time Bai Jingshen found himself in a rugged, stone filled terrain, with multiple pillars rising into the air. He wasn't even able to spot his opponent at first glance.

Bai Jingshen only walked a couple of feet before standing still and concentrating his senses. The RSS team members watched on their screen as Daro slowly made his way through the fighting stage, closing in on Bai Jingshen.

Suddenly he stopped behind a pillar and readied his gun. Spike Sr. and Bennet were shocked as they recognized this type of weapon. Daro actually dared to use Mana bombs here. Those weapon's didn't find much use in normal fights, as even the weakest type swallowed half a Mana Cube with each shot. However, in a cramped room they were extremely destructive, as they set off massive amounts on energy on impact.

Bai Jingshen's senses suddenly screamed danger at him, as he heard an object flying threw the air. He quickly realized how much energy it carried. Bai Jingshen however grew immensely angry at his opponent for playing dirty.

From would he knew about weapons, the one used by his opponent surely wasn't something used daily. For now, he decided to dive behind a pillar in his opponent's direction. His friends watched with shock, as Bai Jingshen suddenly concentrated immense force in his legs, hiding behind a pillar at the last second.

"Come out, come out. Play with me loser.", mocked Daro after his first shot.

Bai Jingshen was happy, that his enemy made the mistake of initiating a conversation. It already showed his weak mentality to the former emperor.

"Why would I do that. Just use up your energy before I make it so even your mother wouldn't recognize you anymore."

"Tzz look who's talking. Weren't you so afraid at the hot springs that you had to play dead?"

"See who's talking. You only hid behind that braggard and wouldn't even fight yourself."

Daro was happy to squabble with Bai Jingshen. His weapon needed a bit of time to cooldown before he could use it again, so buying time was in his best interest.

In Thobar Bionics' cube however, the mood suddenly turned frosty, as Spike eyed his son with a questioning glance. The young man fidgeted in his place, before deciding to take his father to a private room and explain what happened at the hot springs. The RSS team's attention was suddenly drawn to the screen again, as Daro shot his next Mana Bomb.

Daro was sure to seriously injure his opponent this time, as that idiot continued to hide behind a pillar. How could he dodge if he didn't even see him firing. Therefore, he confidently fired his weapon and waited with bated breath for the impact.

However, he was confused when he didn't even hear a scream or something similar. He waited for a few moments, but he also didn't hear the organizers proclaiming him as the winner. Suddenly he heard his opponent's voice again. He slowly grew uneasy, as Bai Jingshen's voice sounded from multiple directions at the same time.

"You have lost me, right? How do you want shot me if you don't even know where I am?"

Bai Jingshen cleverly used the surrounding stone pillars to let his amplified voice echo through the fighting stage. He had long since stealthily changed his hiding spots and began a plan to break Daro's confidence. He continued on as Daro squirmed behind a pillar:

"What's going on? Not in the mood to mock anymore? Are you imagineering that pillar to be Spike's back?"

Daro swiftly turned around, trying to blend out Bai Jingshen's voice while firing a Mana bomb at another pillar. The massive stone crumbled under the strength of a direct hit, but even after the dust settled it revealed nothing. Daro decided to change his position. He hoped to draw Bai Jingshen out and maybe use his bionic legs, which he hid under fake skin as a trump card. Suddenly he was all the more shocked, as Bai Jingshen's voice sounded out again:

"Trying to bait me into close range? How foolish. Even with your bionic legs, you wouldn't win. You better quickly call for Spike's help, I don't think you will ever get anything done on your own."

Bai Jingshen's senses were concentrated on his opponent at all times. Therefore, he was able to make out the young man's trump cards as soon as Daro activated his bionics. He wouldn't have felt them in everyday situations like the hot spring, but every bionic would switch into battle mode, quickly pushing Mana through their circuits in a fight.

Normally, in a battle an the Body Refinement Realm most cultivators still couldn't spot these activities, but with Bai Jingshen's Sea Of Consciousness he didn't even need to focus at this point. Daro however knew none of that and finally had his confidence thoroughly shaken. Therefore, he suddenly blurted out:

"What do you know? I'm loyal to the future Lord Ellshire, while you are nothing. Just wait until my Lord is done with you. For daring to flirt with his wife he will make your live worse than hell!"

The former emperor got what he wanted, but he was surprised by this revelation. He only read the name of Lehno of Ellshire during the competition as one of the top favorites.

He had never seen this man, but apparently he had flirted with his wife. Bai Jingshen however always liked to have a clear conscience. He would never do something so shameless as flirting with another man's wife, so he wasn't sure where these baseless accusations would come from.

Bai Jingshen decided to end this battle soon and ask the future Lord himself. He only remained curious about one last thing:

"What are you standing around there, blurting out lies? A lot of people saw you flattering Spike that day."

"Why would I flatter that loser. We just searched for a way to get him out of the competition sooner. He wouldn't be… "

Suddenly Daro broke out in cold sweat. He almost would have exposed their dirty dealings. Although their Lord would be spared from harsh consequences, but the Major would most likely still disqualify all of them from the competition, and probably punish him and his partner.

Even though Titus Gaian most likely was aware of their machinations, he was after all a noble himself, but he would have no chance but to act if they publicly admitted their deeds.

Bai Jingshen saw how his opponent managed to pull himself together, so he decided to end this match as he suddenly appeared behind a pillar and leisurely walked towards Daro. The young noble actually put up a guard, expecting a trap, but looking at his opponent he realized how much this young man simply looked down on him. Therefore, he rapidly readied his weapon and shot another Mana bomb at his adversary.

Screaming could be heard from Thobar Bionics' viewing platform, as they watched a Mana bomb flying at Bai Jingshen from only a few meter's away. Sam's mind went blank, as he didn't understand what his idol was thinking. Just as the bomb was right in front of Bai Jingshen's face, a white streak seemingly cut the air apart. Only Bennet was able to recognize it as Bai Jingshen's sword.

The other RSS members were just as stunned as Daro, almost feeling time slow down when the Mana bomb suddenly exploded a few feet next to him, throwing the young noble through the fighting stage like a ragdoll.

The big crowd turned silent, shocked stiff, while Titus Gaian stood up with sparkling eyes, quietly muttering: transcendence-stage.