98 Betting Against The Divine, Maita!

It was finally the day for the final of the two star tournament of the Elite Gladiator League. Thousands appeared in the arena to see the battle between Yani City's finest warriors. It was a rare opportunity for both normal mortals and cultivators. More skilled cultivators could even use this as an opportunity to improve their own skills, so they watched these fights intently.

Kenshin and Co were sitting comfortably in a VIP booth. Kenshin had already won the three star tournament, bringing the Shasha household quite a bit of money, allowing them to spend lavishly, not to mention that one of the participants in this final belonged to them.

It must not be forgotten that these warriors or gladiators were still slaves at the end of the day and they had owners. The victory would not just belong to the warrior, but to his owners as well.

Bastian was already sitting cross legged in the center of the arena, ready for battle. He was wearing pants and his upper body was naked, He had his trusty blue and red gauntlets with him.

After they had left the Tyson household a few days before, Bastian had requested to go into secluded meditation for a few days in preparation for this battle. This was not uncommon for cultivators, especially before an important battle, but it was odd for Bastian. The others were not aware of why, but Kenshin did. Bastian had the ability to cultivate when standing. Every moment of every day, be it when he is eating, sleeping, sitting, his harmonized energy would be coursing through his vessels in the form of a taiji continuously refining his yuan.

Sitting cross legged, only slightly sped up the process for Bastian, whereas most cultivators could not cultivate unless they were sitting in a certain posture while concentrating.

What did befuddle Kenshin was why Bastian needed the time, it wasn't until Bastian came out of meditation that the others understood. Bastian had become an upper acolyte! He had used his meditation to break through to the final level of an acolyte in preparation for his battle. The others had nodded in approval, but Kenshin had still been confused.

Bastian was nowhere near a breakthrough, how did he level up so fast?

Kenshin, being the prideful man he was, refused to ask, and Bastian, being the spiteful man he was, kept it to himself, much to the former's chagrin. Bastian had arrived at the arena first. When he learned that his opponent had not yet arrived, he simply sat down and started to meditate. It was as if he had no worry in the world.

As far as the crowd was concerned, there was no suspense to this battle, because Bastian's opponent was the winner of the previous two star tournament, and the winner of the one star tournament before that, Divine Spear Maita!

Maita was without a doubt the favorite for this tournament. He had defeated all of his opponents in one move, cutting through them like a hot knife through butter.

He was not even a Teacher, but his fame as a prodigy in the ways of the spear had earned him a reputation that would not lose out to the top five warriors of Yani City. It was even believed that once he became a Teacher, it was only a matter of months if not weeks before he burst into the upper echelons of the city's strongest.

Bastian had not even bothered to watch any of Maita's matches, simply to give himself a tougher challenge. As far as Kenshin was concerned, if he was unable to win a tournament like this in such a backwater city, then he had no right to be a Mark Bearer.

"Maita! Maita! Maita!"

Bastian slowly opened his eyes as deafening shouts in support of his opponent enterd his ears. Maita had finally appeared, without a doubt stealing the limelight. Bastian had expected a large brute, but to his surprise it was an average looking youth. He looked so average you would lose sight of him in a crowd.

Caucasian, black hair, black eyes and an average looking face a body. Bastian knew more than to judge a book by its cover, especially when he saw Maita's spear. It was a simple rusty old spear, the kind that looked like it was on the verge of breaking. It was very long, and the aura it released reeked of blood. There was no doubt to Bastian that the spear had taken countless lives.

Step by step, Maita got closer and closer to Bastian. When he arrived within striking distance, a puzzled expression was on his face, because Bastian was still sitting down. Maita was a prideful man, so he was enraged at the fact that Bastian was refusing to give him face.

"Why are you still sitting? Do you know no shame?"

Bastian smirked as he looked at what he thought to be an extremely talented corpse, "Why are you late? Do you have no sense of time?"

Bastian's witty response was surprisingly met by laughter from Maita. The crowd was surprised by this. Due to the clamor, most could not hear the conversation between the two, but the stronger and more sensitive cultivators were well aware. In only a few moments, the exchange between had spread across all of the spectators like wildfire.

"Indeed, I am late, for that I apologize." Maita said with a carefree laugh. Bastian raised a brow in surprise, but he quickly adjusted himself and smiled, "Well as long as you understand." Bastian stood up and dusted himself off.

The crowd found this ridiculous. The fight had already begun, yet Bastian was so loose, putting his guard down in front of Divine Spear Maita. If some of them knew what Maita was thinking, they would have no doubt vomited blood.

He has no stance and is extremely carefree; there are no openings to attack! Truly formidable!

After cleaning himself and stretching for a bit, Bastian stood straight and looked right into Maita's eyes, as if trying to see through the simple looking young man before him. Maita was no coward and stared straight back. Soon the noisy stadium became silent. The intense atmosphere between the two men had affected the whole arena, some were so afraid of making noise that they lowered their breath. That's how silent it became.

What is this? Why are they not fighting?

Many wanted to ask this, but were afraid that their voices would be heard by the entire stadium, so all they could was swallow their saliva and observe the stare down. Seconds turned into minutes, and still nothing happened. Despite their impatience, the crowd still managed to hold its tongue, then finally a voice rang out, breaking the silence.

"Maita, The Divine Spear, Upper Fighter, Specialist." Maita cupped his hands and bowed slightly as he spoke.

"Bastian, The Violet Tempest, Upper Acolyte...Specialist." Bastian also copied Maita's gesture, cupping his hands and bowing.

This exchange between the two sent the crowd into an uproar. Announcing one's Title and cultivation to one's opponent was the ultimate sign of respect among cultivators. Since Maita took the initiative, it meant that he believed Bastian to be his equal, or perhaps even stronger.

But that wasn't the only thing that made the crowd go wild.

"He is a specialist! Sir Tempest is a specialist!"

"This means that he was holding back the entire time?"

"A specialist who can freely manipulate his energy, how frightening is that!"

"Wait, wasn't he called the Tempest Monk?"

"You fool; he is no longer bald, besides Violet Tempest sounds way cooler anyway!"

The crowd's chatter was like an ocean, wave after wave of conversations crashing into the ears of everyone. This news elevated the excitement the crowd the crowd had to new heights!

Suddenly, a tornado of sand appeared, completely isolating the two, no one could see what the duo could do anymore, only dust filled the arena.

His control over wind has improved once again, summoning such a wind so quickly. It seems this breakthrough was very beneficial to Bastian.

Within the entire stadium, Kenshin was the only person who nodded in approval from what was in front of them, and again, he was the only person who could see inside so it mattered not to him what was happening anyway...

Inside the tornado, Maita and Bastian stood in the exact same spots. Maita did not react to Bastian's summoning of the tornado, because he felt no ill intent from it.

"I have isolated us from the outside world, now no one can see and hear what we are saying, unless they are late fusion experts or masters of soul force."

Maita believed Bastian's words, because he could hear nothing from the tornado raging around them. Maita had sharp senses, and an even sharper intuition.

"Why did you create this tempest?"

Bastian grinned, "At first I wanted to kill you, because no doubt you had been sent with orders to kill me."

Maita nodded, this was no surprise as he belonged to the Dwight family, who were already after Bastian's life. "I hold no grudge against you Tempest, but orders are orders.'

"Indeed, but I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

"When were you kicked out of the Heavenly Spear Sect?"

Maita was somewhat shocked by Bastian's question, but he quickly recovered, "Why would you care anyway?' He didn't even bother asking Bastian how he knew.

"You see, I am from the Tirius Clan of the Southern Grasslands." Now these words were what really caught Maita by surprise. "My hair used to be the normal shad of purple, but after my bloodline awakened it changed," Bastian pointed to his face, "Hence the eyes."

Maita knew the true might of the Tirius Clan; they were not something that Yani City could ever contend with. Maita's instinct once again told him that Bastian was right. This caused him to see Bastian in a new light, in front of Maita, Bastian now seemed somewhat larger.

"When I was a child, some of the elders from your sect came to our clan, they were selling disciples they had exiled. If I am not mistaken it should have been around four years ago?" Maita knew that this news was accurate, because he had been among those exiled, they had passed through the territory of the Tirius Clan, but he had been deemed unworthy by the Clan so he was sold to another family, and wound up in Yani City.

"Why are you saying all this?' Maita was unhappy that his past had been brought up. Bastian smirked and said, "Because I have a proposition for you, let's make a bet!"