15. Competition Day Two, a Warning, and Life and Death
As the next day arrived, the sun rose and a golden light shined on the Royal Capital. The mortals of the city were still partying into the morning, enjoying the atmosphere to the fullest. As the morning progressed, the mortals began to migrate to the viewing areas and the disciples of the various sects finished preparations and headed to their spots to watch the competition.
The Emperor, then stood on his palaces balcony looking out at the arena and the various sects.
He spoke with a majestic and powerful voice "We will now begin the second day of the competition. I invite Minister Anderson to the arena to handle the order of the competition." The Emperor then sat down on his golden throne.
Soon an old man wearing a crimson red robe walked on to the arena. He had a powerful aura and spoke with authority "The rules are simple just like in the lower competition. Do not kill your opponent, if you do not only will you be killed but your sect will be implicated as well. Now I will announce the line ups."
Minister Anderson continued to speak"Royal Family: Princess Iris von Tempest will be matched up against Primordial Flame Sect's Logan Wright.
Glacier Manor's Abel Glacier will be matched up against Void Sword Temple's Ryan Sabel.
Thunder God Sect's Thor King will be matched up against Emerald Gem Sect's Orval Emerald."
After telling the lineup, Minister Anderson moved to the side of the arena to act as a referee. Immediately, Iris and Logan's tokens lit up and they were transported to the arena.
They gave each other a bow of respect before beginning. Both parties were in the Rebirth Realm, Iris at the middle and Logan at the entry level.
They both activated their qi at the same time to launch their attacks. Logan circulated his art shouted "Primordial Flame Mystic Art: Flames Descent!" immediately after a ball of blue flames manifested in the sky above. It then descended on Iris before she had released her technique. While Logan was slightly lower in level he had higher proficiency with his current techniques than Iris who had recently switched arts.
Iris looked up at the descended fireball with confidence. She used two arts consecutively 'Tempest Glass Method: Stormy Shield' to block the incoming attack and 'Void Glass Method: Void Piercing Storm.' In the sky above her a whirling storm of glass formed a giant shield to block the fireball currently descending from the sky, while on all sides of Logan sharp blades of wind shot out from all directions at him from the void.
Logan created a shield of fire all around him to protect from the wind attacks. The attacks were high level and accurate, which sent the crowds watching the battle cheer and roar with excitement.
Since both Logan and Iris were considered even in terms of combat strength and were both more or less ranged attackers, it was a long battle with lots of flashy attacks. They each continued to send out powerful attacks one after another, each successfully defending most of the attacks from the other party with only a few injuries. After about 200 rounds finally Logan had to concede the round since he was running low on energy.
After the fight they thanked each other before leaving the arena. Everyone watching gave them a round of applause for a well fought battle. Iris did not return to the palace and went to the Emerald Gem Sect to sit by Susie.
The next ones to be summoned to the stage were Abel and Ryan. Ryan bowed respectfully while, Abel stood there arrogantly as if he was far above him. This made Ryan feel very vexed and angered since this is supposed to be a friendly bout and this bastard was being rude.
Ryan who was in the middle of Rebirth Realm attacked first circulating his qi, he used his first attack 'Void Sword Method: One Hundred Vanishing Swords.' Following this a hundred purple swords made of qi manifested all around Ryan. The site was quite impressive with a vast amount of energy emitting from each sword. It was enough to shock most of the Sect Masters of the various sects, since he was so young but could produce so much power just being in the middle Rebirth Realm.
Ryan then ordered his swords "Attack!" The hundred swords vanished into the void instantly. They rushed through the void towards Abel. Abel was not concerned about the swords in the slightest and still had not circulated his qi.
"Really disappointing, such a low level attack and you dare think you can challenge me? If this is the best the Void Sword Temple can produce they should just disband." spoke Abel in an arrogant and vile tone.
Upon hearing this everyone in attendance frowned. Even Duke Glacier was disappointed at his son's attitude. This was not how he raised him, while it was fine to be proud it was different from being condescending and arrogant. The look of the Sect Master and the Elders of Void Sword Temple were angry and disgusted by the words spoken by the young brat.
Abel did not care who he offended. He then took a step forward and immediately released his qi and technique 'Ancient Glacier Art: Permafrost.' The surroundings immediately began to freeze. As the swords that were rushing through the void about fifty of them shot out towards Abel. Unfortunately, they immediately stopped in the air around him and froze. The freezing did not stop there and covered the entire arena and even froze the rest of the swords, trapping them in the void.
Seeing the sight in front of him freeze, Ryan realized he was unable to handle this level of attack and was about to concede defeat "I conc..." Before he could finish he was felt his body freezing. His internal organs and qi also froze, until he was turned into a human popsicle.
After seeing that Ryan was unable to fight back the match ended with Abel winning. The Sect Master of Void Sword Temple immediately rushed to his disciples side. Duke Glacier also rushed over with Minister Anderson to check on Ryan. The Duke dispelled the ice, but unfortunately while Ryan was till alive he was heavily injured from the ice.
Duke Glacier turned around and looked at Abel and angrily spoke "What have you done! You know this is a friendly competition. You used to heavy of an attack and could have killed him!" He was fuming at this point. As mad as the Sect Master of Void Sword Temple was he was relieved that his disciple was not dead and that the Duke was angry on behalf of them.
"Ha! The rules only said not to kill and it is his own fault for reaching above his means and daring to fight with a higher being." Abel spoke in a conceited tone to his father.
"Abel Glacier, this is a warning. If you dare use another attack to cause permanent injury you will be imprisoned indefinitely and stripped of your cultivation. Is that understood." Minister Anderson spoke with authority.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just don't let weaklings fight next time" sneered Abel as he left the arena.
At this point nobody in the audience like Abel. Even the Emperor had a disgusted face full of disappointment. Considering he was at one time considering him as a potential marriage partner for his daughter. He was glad he never moved forward with that.
After a while they finally had the arena cleared. Duke Glacier had compensated Void Sword Temple with a large quantity of herbs and pills to hopefully help the injured disciple recover as much as possible.
The next battle was between Orval and Thor. Everyone was excited to see Thor as he was considered the overall favorite to win the competition, even over the Princess. Thor was a peak Rebirth Realm expert who was not only young, but also had proven himself in many bouts with other geniuses. Orval on the other hand was basically unknown.
Orval and Thor appeared on the arena. The both bowed respectfully before beginning. Thor, noticing that his opponent was only a peak Nascent Soul, decided it would be respectful to recommend he concede due to the difference in levels.
"I appreciate your willingness to compete despite being only at the peak Nascent Soul, but honestly I am at the peak of Rebirth Realm. I would like to recommend you concede, as I do not want to cause you any injuries." spoke Thor in a calm and refined manner.
Orval smiled and spoke "I understand, unfortunately I would like to give it a try. I may even surprise you."
Thor smiled, he like people that were respectful and courageous. He is sure they will become great friends in the future. With that he began to circulate his qi. He used his favorite technique 'Divine Thunder Scripture: Thunder Arrows' Thousands of arrows made of lightning appeared around the arena. The power displayed was enough to shake the space even outside the barrier protecting the audience. The Emperor quickly activated another formation to protect the audience just in case.
The sight of the Thor surrounded by the thousands of lightning arrows was to say simply divine. He looked like a god who had complete control of lightning. Orval looked at the arrows. They were definitely powerful, but he had seen far more powerful beings and attacks while inside the pagoda.
Iris and Susie both had worried looks on their faces. Iris personally knew just how powerful Thor was as she has known him since childhood and they would often compete. She has never once been able to defeat him. That being said she also has not beaten Orval either. Susie on the other hand was worried for another reason, which had to do with what her master had told her the night before.
On the arena, Orval circulated his qi quickly and activated a technique. It was a technique he learned after his last visit to the pagoda when he learned the truths of death. He combined the truths of both life and death. While this technique is still incomplete he learned 'Infinite Art: Universal God of All Chapter: Circle of Life and Death.' Behind Orval energy began to swirl.
Thor was looking at the emerging energy and noticed lots of vitality, but also a feeling of looming danger. It made his skin crawl as he looked at it. To avoid it he launched his arrows. They burst forth with a thunderous boom, straight towards Orval.
Orval simple looked forward and spoke "All things exist, meaning all things can die. Be it gods or universes, nothing can be spared." Then, the aura of death burst forth, causing all the thousands of arrows to disperse into nothingness. Even the different barriers around the arena shook and then shattered.
There was a look of pure shock on everyone's faces. No one expected Orval to be this powerful. They honestly thought that he stood no chance.
Thor suddenly began to clutch his body, he dropped to his knees. All he could feel was despair. When he looked at Orval, it was like he was looking at death itself and there was nothing he could do to prevent his demise.
Orval then spoke again "After death and destruction, it must give way for a new life to grow and develop. What was, will never be again, but what will be, will be now." After he spoke the once arena filled with despair and death, change into an energy of vitality. Everyone present felt a relief and renewed. Thor no longer felt he was staring death in the face, but now he was looking at an immortal saving everyone from the path of death.
The various barriers that were around the arena did not reappear, but instead were replaced with new barriers that were more powerful. They were filled with the power of life. Thor was fully convinced of Orval's strength and respectfully conceded the match and thanked him for the enlightenment.
Everyone was surprised that Orval won. But when Iris saw the look of pure shock on Susie's face, she had to ask why she was that shocked since Susie should know her masters power better than anyone.
"I am not shocked that master would win. Normally that would be normal. That is if he was actually here right now." Susie explained with a trembling voice.
Confused by the statement Iris asked "What do you mean he is right down on the arena and just fought?"
"Last night master told me he would not be personally fighting in the competition. He created a clone, which only has about a quarter of his full strength. Then he went into the heavens grotto in the pagoda to continue cultivating." Explained Susie.
Now Iris was shocked. That was not only not Orval himself, but a clone. And this clone did not even have his full power but only a quarter of his actually power. And he was able to completely overwhelm his opponent, who was favored to win this competition.