Qilong Hu being knocked out was a stunner for everyone watching. They'd all thought that the resilient and more tenacious Luminary would be the last one standing in the match of three domains. Unfortunately, the power of the Shard was too much to fathom. Shin even purposely missed Qilong Hu by a few metres, and that was enough to completely melt the muscular man's defences.
Longyu Dao was the quickest to react. His five right fingers opened up, creating a force field around the unconscious young man. Mana flowed out and nourished the weakened Luminary as he slowly flew out into the stands. Physicians rushed to monitor the young man's condition, tapping his sweat-ridden forehead with concern. Fortunately, Qilong Hu wasn't fatally wounded, and a universal sigh of relief flowed out of everyone's mouths.
Shin dropped down from the heavens, face red and sweat dripping off his shoulders. Fully igniting the Shard was a right call to take down one Luminary, but it came at an exorbitant cost. Over half of Shin's mana had been drained out of his system, and the sudden burst of energy sent wave after wave of nausea to the young man's consciousness. Shin had to fight off the desire to hurl with every passing second. Still, even after one Luminary had fallen, the Prince of Water couldn't relax for a single moment. Bingying was still in the pink of health, filled with spiritual energy. The only disadvantage that she had was the shock Shin had bestowed upon her, and the conniving viper had every intention of capitalising on that weakness.
The Spear of Aiglos spun around rapidly, bringing godlike amounts of water elements with each movement. The healing mist covered Shin's advance, allowing him to block Bingying's vision of him and heal any bruises that he may have sustained.
Bingying had less than a fraction of a second to react. By the time she watched Qilong Hu being carried away, Shin's attack was already on her doorstep. The Shard had disappeared into Shin's body, possibly to recharge and thus, Shin's abilities weren't as powered as before. However, what he lacked in damage, Shin overcame with speed. Bingying was a top-tier swordswoman in her own right and could easily parry Shin's spearmanship. However, the youth had a distinct advantage…
A dozen water humanoids jumped out from the healing mist, all holding onto various weapons. Some swords, some spears, some rapiers, some bow and arrows… They moved much slower than Shin or Bingying, but their skill level was equivalent to that of ordinary trained soldiers in the Himmel Empire military.
In a one-on-one match, Shin would most likely lose to Bingying's overwhelming sword prowess. So, to completely turn the tides in his favour, Shin opted to use numbers to his advantage. Each water golem charged like a suicide bomber, throwing Bingying off guard. Though, there was a reason why Bingying was widely considered as the most talented young woman in the Lantis Republic. In less than a blink of an eye, the Luminary got to work. The Spectral Reaver Blade slithered through the cracks slicing and dicing as many of those pests as they could.
In the beginning, the young Luminary was doing great. The water golems would be frozen by her domain, and the sword in her hand would do the rest. Icicles that fell out from the broken golems would then be used against Shin in a counterattack barrage. Alas, the young man was far too sharp. The golems that were destroyed would be instantly replaced, and more and more water attacks were generated by Shin's overwhelming domain. Unlike Qilong Hu's Tempest, Shin's Domain of Dreams was much more gentle, enabling him to use it to the fullest effect inside of Bingying's own domain.
'This can't continue!' Bingying, being a seasoned fighter, understood how dreadful it was for her to keep defending. Shin had the initiative from the very first strike, and in due time, the youth would dictate the pace of the match. Once that happens, none of Bingying's counters would work.
The Luminary changed tactics on the fly. Instead of tackling the water golems straight on, she leapt backwards and created tonnes of ice walls to bar Shin progress. Bingying needed to regain the initiative to dictate her own terms. However, just as she was flying back, a familiar silhouette rushed down from the crowd. The man wasn't that handsome, and neither was he breathtakingly large. Every fibre of his being screamed ordinary. Yet, the man still dared to stand right in the middle of the two powerful Luminaries.
'Huanyuan?!' Bingying cried inwardly. She didn't understand why the young man, who had been sitting quietly in the audience stands, decided to rush down in the middle of the bout.
Xunyu Huanyuan summoned his heavenly sturgeon and held his ground against Shin. "I won't let you hurt Bingying anymore!!!" The man declared.
Bingying and Shin were frozen for a good two seconds before an impish smile appeared on the young man's face. Leaping high up into the air, Shin commanded his body to perform the world's strongest falcon dive. The Spear of Aiglos continuously charged straight at Huanyuan, who was still wholly ignorant about his entire situation.
"Damn it, Shin! Don't you dare!!!" Bingying felt her blood turn cold. Everything in her mind had blanked out. The Luminary match, her relationship with Shin and even the hundred thousand spectators witnessing this entire ordeal. Right now, she wanted to save the man who had stood by her through thick and thin, never giving in even for the slightest moment.
Naturally, in a match where the strongest prevailed, Shin didn't care about any human relationship. If he could get Bingying to come out of her shell, Shin would do anything. Even if it meant severely wounding a friend of his. Bingying was too far from the duo. She regretted her choice to run that far away. So, the only thing she could do was watch as Shin's spear ruthlessly pierced through the sweet flesh of the young man.
"FUCK!!!" Bingying's mind wholly short-circuited. Never in a million years did she think that Shin would kill Huanyuan just to win. In a fury, the woman forgot all of the fundamentals of battle. Keeping her guard up, gone. Wary of her surroundings, thrown out of the window. She had even forgotten about the match. All Bingying wanted to do, was to check on the wounded man and pray that he could be saved.
Bingying's two arms were about to hold onto the pierced young man before she felt a significant tug on her wrists and waists. Five water tendrils, which seemingly came out of nowhere, held onto the Luminary, halting her advance. Just as she was about to question everything, Shin and the impaled Huanyuan turned into mist. In its place, a sharp frosty tip was pointed right at Bingying's throat, and just the slightest jerk would stab through her vocal cords.
So who was the one at the other end of the spear? Who else but the suave Prince of Water?
"W-What?" Naturally, the Pearl in the East was confused.
Even the entire audience had question marks all over their heads. For a completely different reason though. "Why did Bingying run into Shin's spear?" Murmurs broke through the crowd. All they saw was the moment Bingying jumped back to retreat, and following that, she ran straight back into Shin's attack range and willingly allowed herself to get caught.
"T-This is..." Bingying mind was still blank, naturally. The image of Huanyuan being killed was a lie?
"Sister Bingying, it's my victory!" Shin beamed, showing off his pearly white teeth. "I'm sorry for using an illusion like that on you! But I had to win this match! I hope you don't mind!"
"You… used an illusion?" The Pearl in the East was absolutely floored. She knew all of Shin's abilities and mind-bending illusions weren't part of his arsenal. At least, not until twenty minutes ago…
"Sorry, it was a simple one using Brother Huanyuan, but I didn't really think that you would have fallen for it.," the young man stuck out his tongue playfully. "At least now you know your true feelings about him! I know that you've been agonising over it for the past few years!"
Bingying's face instantly turned vermillion as steam shot out from both her ears, though Shin didn't know if it was from anger or embarrassment. "You bloody brat! You actually toyed with my emotions?! Fuck, I demand a rematch!!!"
"Hehe, too late! I win!" The youth declared, putting two fingers up.
Shin didn't win the five matches because he was the most powerful. All the Luminaries had better cultivation levels, and respectively, Shin could never beat them at their best trait. Shin won primarily because of the thing he loved to do most. Analysis. He knew all of the Luminaries strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly of all, he knew his own strengths and weaknesses. Maximising his talents while exploiting his opponent's shortcomings, that was the way that Shin always did things.
"He won..." One audience member coldly stated in a monotone voice. He couldn't believe it. Five of the Lantis Republic's top Luminaries had fallen under the hands of this young man. "Shin actually defeated them all..."
"That's bloody..."
"..."
Speechless. Everyone was absolutely speechless. When the fight was first announced, many anticipated Shin to defeat one or two Luminaries only to be defeated by the upper tiers. Yet, the youth went beyond all expectations and fought through into late stages. He trumped over Xunyu Feifei, outmanoeuvring her at every turn. Longyu Linji was a similar story. No matter what the Luminary tried to throw at Shin, there was a counter ready to neutralise his threat. Though they weren't able to witness the mental mayhem in Shin's mind during the Jingyu Taiyi battle, they did witness the aftermath. And then, the final match… Shin challenged the two strongest Luminaries in the Lantis Republic only to thoroughly beat them at their own game. It really was a feast for everyone's eyes.
No one could dare object Shin's claim to the Celestial River now. If he wasn't suited for the Trial, who was?
Longyu Dao smiled at the conclusion of the match. The Longyu Clan had planned and prepared everything. It would be a damper on their plans if Shin didn't manage to succeed. Fortunately, Shin didn't disappoint. He was now the undisputed Champion Of Yingxiong Amphitheatre.
"Winner, Shin Iofiel!!!"
✵✵✵
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