The fight between Jiang Qing’e and Zhao Huiyin had brought the ticket match to a sweltering climax, and the cheers swelled again and again.
“The first three fights are our strongest. This is not a surprising outcome, and the real difficulty comes in the next few,” Li Luo commented.
“Excluding our One Star Hall fight, there are three more fights to be taken by Duze Honglian, Zhu Xuan, and Ye Qiuding. As long as those three can secure one win and one draw, the ticket match will be ours.”
Lu Qing’er and sidled up alongside Bai Mengmeng to be near Li Luo. They were two of the great beauties of the One Star Hall, one cool and elegant, the other pure and cute. Put together, they covered just about all that any hot-blooded male student could ask for. “If it turns out that way, you won’t even need to fight,” Lu Qing’er replied. If the result was decided in the next three rounds, then the One Star Hall outcome would not matter.
Li Luo shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if I fight or not. As long as we get the ticket. This isn’t the main show anyway. That’d be the Holy Grail Meet itself.”
Lu Qing’er nodded. “Would be a shame though,” she said with a mischievous smile. “We should let them know just how strong you are. The Astral Sage College is not just a monster in the Three Star Hall fights—we have Senior Jiang’s equal here in the One Star Hall too.”
The students around them who overheard this remark gave her strange looks. Although Li Luo had done well for himself, it seemed overblown to say he was on the same level as the invincible Jiang Qing’e.
Still, Li Luo and Jiang Qing’e had such a special relations.h.i.+p that not even the students knew where to begin breaking it down. They decided to keep their mouths shut.
Lu Qing’er ignored them. She knew for herself that she was not exaggerating, but speaking from the heart.
Jiang Qing’e was awesome, but Li Luo was right there beside her.
Especially in the Golden Dragon Dao Fields. Lu Qing’er was one of the few who knew what he had accomplished inside.
Li Luo smiled almost shyly to her, but he did not reply. Instead, they all turned back to the arena, where Duze Honglian was now walking out.
As the second best in the Three Star Hall after Jiang Qing’e, Duze Honglian was strong herself, although her light was often eclipsed by Jiang Qing’e’s brilliance.
It was bad luck for her to have been in the same year as Jiang Qing’e.
All eyes were on her as she took to the field. She was extremely pretty in her own right, and today she was clad in a black bodysuit, trimmed cleanly to give her complete freedom of movement. In her hand was a red-scaled longsword. Tall and leggy, she had a suppleness in her lithe figure that hinted at power behind her grace. And with her cool beauty, she was still a real prize put up against any girl.
The Blue Abyss Sage College’s Three Star Hall representative Yan Tai had taken to the field as well. His weapon was also red, although it was a long pole. He was grinning widely.
Neither bothered to exchange words. They fired up their resonant powers immediately.
An interesting note was that both Duze Honglian and Yan Tai were fire resonance users. Facing each other, it almost looked like a performance rather than a fight.
The starting bell rang out, and the inferno roared to life around the two compet.i.tors.
A fiery atmosphere with fiery powers.
Duze Honglian and Yan Tai were perhaps the matchup with the closest power levels. Both were at the Gold Fiend Tier, and they also had the same resonance. The deciding factor would be who had the greater trump card. [1]
They viciously tore into each other, and injuries were soon evident on both.
Neither Duze Honglian nor Yan Tai showed the slightest indication of backing down. Instead, they doubled their firepower.
Fire was an ethereal element. It had little real substance, and it was hard to wield defensively. Neither fighter chose that route, instead harnessing its destructive powers to its full potential.
The spectators on both sides only grew more and more concerned as the battle continued. Both were covered in horrific burns, even on their Fiend bodies. Their movements were starting to grow sluggish as they stubbornly tried not to succ.u.mb to their wounds.
It was a gory, brutal fight, far more so than any of the previous battles.
The round was now a battle of wills.
The Astral Sage College students were baying loudly, shouting their support for Duze Honglian.
Li Luo winced a little in sympathy. He was quite surprised by Duze Honglian as well. He had not expected her to have such a strong battle will.
“Seems like Senior Jiang laid a lot of pressure on her,” Lu Qing’er said perceptively.
Li Luo nodded thoughtfully. Duze Honglian was a strong character herself. Jiang Qing’e had not just won, she had won with astounding aplomb. If Duze Honglian lost here, it would be doubly devastating.
She did not want to lose too badly to Jiang Qing’e.
Even if she could not bring the Astral Sage College a win, she didn’t want to take home a loss either.
“Yan Tai is very closely matched with her,” Li Luo said, scratching his chin. “It’s hard to call the outcome, but if this continues, I think it’s likely that it ends in a draw.
“A gruesome draw,” he added.
“Senior Duze is very strong too,” Bai Mengmeng said admiringly.
Li Luo nodded. Even though he did not get along with her well on the daily, her current performance deserved praise.
At the same time, over at the Blue Abyss Sage College contingent.
Zhao Huiyin, Zhong Nan, and the others were also watching the battle closely.
“This Duze Honglian is harder to deal with than I thought,” Zhao Huiyin said with a pang of regret. “A pity. I thought Yan Tai would win by a narrow margin.”
“Duze Honglian is not as famous as Jiang Qing’e, but then again, who is? She is still not to be underestimated.” Zhong Nan agreed gravely.
“Well, still. None of this is out of our expectations. We still stand a chance.” She lolled her head back to look at Lu Cāng, and stretched out a hand to pat him on the shoulder. “We’ve done our best to pave you an even runway now. Go on and take flight.”
Lu Cāng smiled breezily at her. “Don’t worry, Senior Zhao.
“If it reaches that final battle, I won’t let you down.”
The battle raged on.
Towards the end, the wounds were so horrendous that many averted or closed their eyes.
But finally the battle ended.
Duze Honglian’s sword sank into Yan Tai’s belly at the same time as his own red staff smashed with a sickening crack against her back in a roundhouse smash. Mouthfuls of blood sprayed from both, then they toppled to the ground.
As predicted.
A draw.
People hurried onto the battlefield to pull them out.
The applause rang out, thunderous and solemn.
Both of them deserved to be honored for their fight.
The battle continued.
Still, the Astral Sage College had viewed the last fight quite optimistically, but the next two fights left them completely frozen in silence.
Because…
Both of the Two Star Hall representatives lost their fights.
1. TN: Gold Fiend = Fiend Body = 2nd tier ☜