"It seems that she lost", the Grand Elder spoke up after the conclusion of their fight.
However, Elder Fang's face did not show much change though he did respond to the Grand Elder's comment.
"This would be good experience for her to draw from. She should learn not to depend on this one technique for there is bound to be someone able enough to see through it."
The Grand Elder smiled, showing his agreement to Elder Fang.
Down below, Qing Zhao approached Ming Yue, bearing a few questions in her heart.
How was Ming Yue able to percieve her attacks? This among other matters weighed on her mind the most.
Ming Yue found no malicious intent in her words and wholeheartedly answered.
"Because of the fog, your swords become wet and shimmer, especially when you use them both. I had to watch carefully for that glint of light which was the only way for me to anticipate your next move."
Qing Zhao looked at her swords, noting their wet exterior which made them shine under the sunlight.
"Ah, I see. Since, I always make my move in the night, I never expected that this would be my flaw."
Afterwards, the pair began to compare notes with each other, commenting on any mistakes they had made.
Contrary to her face on the arena, Qing Zhao had her cheerful expression on and was friendly speaking to Ming Yue. After a bit of conversation, Ming Yue learned more about her and Assassin Hall. To her shock, she did not know that Qing Zhao was an Inheritor nor did the other know that Ming Yue was admitted through special circumstances.
"Well, I've only been an Inheritor for less than half a year. Before that, I've only been in Heaven's Gate for three years but you've been here for barely a year at this point. The fact that you haven't become an Elite Disciple or even an Inheritor yet is a bit shocking."
Qing Zhao was surprised to learn that Ming Yue had not been in Heaven's Gate for very long. At first, she had thought Ming Yue was perhaps another Inheritor like her. But Ming Yue barely did anything to distinguish herself nor did she feel very connected to a place like this. Hence, most of her time was spent outside of Heaven's Gate.
"If you have the time afterwards, you should definitely come to the Assassin Hall. Elder Fang, who leads the hall may be able to help you with a few of your techniques."
Qing Zhao then invited Ming Yue to the Assassin Hall for some guidance to which Ming Yue accepted. There were over a hundred different halls, each with their own specialty but Ming Yue had only went to three, four if she included the Beast Hall. It would be a good idea to seek out any other halls that she was interested in.
After giving a sincere invitation, Qing Zhao then left the coliseum. With her loss, she had no reason to stay and did not bother watching. Rather, she returned to the Assassin Hall to cultivate.
Ming Yue went to the sidelines and contiued to watch the many battles ahead. Surprisingly, the sixth round ended quite quickly though the results were grim. There were over a thousand eliminations leaving only 1200 participants left.
Unfortunately, it was also this round that Anqing had been eliminated.
The odds were not in her favor as her opponent was proficient with the Dao of Wind, wielding a massive fan in their hands. Just seconds in, Anqing's poisonous gas had been blown away and forced her to go for a head-on attack. Her opponent wielded their weapon great strength, producing massive gusts of wind that beated on Anqing.
She tried her best to break past them and attack but this opponent of hers understood Anqing's dependence on her poison. They kept their distance and pushed Anqing back, not letting come close with that spear of hers. This gave them time to build up power before releasing a massive swing that created a extremely powerful wind.
With her small frame, Anqing could not help but be swept off by her opponent and was sent off the arena. There was an satisfied but helpless look on her face as she accepted her loss. It wasn't so much that she lost than the fact that she lost so easily. However, this was the furthest she had ever been in the Heavenly Gate Tournament, completing five rounds and reaching the sixth.
Ming Yue saw the loss and walked up to Anqing to comfort her as did Xukun, who had won his battle earlier with his sword skills.
"Don't worry, I'm fine! You two should focus on your fights! I'm going back to the Poison Hall."
Evidently, Anqing was not as dispirited about the loss as she seemed. From her words, it seemed that she understood her weaknesses and wanted to work on them.
"Are you sure?" Xukun asked.
He still seemed concerned about her but Anqing had told him off.
"I'm fine."
She looked at him straight in the eyes, reassuring Xukun that she was not going to break down over this loss.
"I half-expected that I would have lost in the first three rounds if not for the both of you. In fact, I've more or less depended on others for these fights. Just seven months is not enough for me to dive into the full capabilities of my Poison Body, I just need more time. Next tournament, I'll do much better."
After speaking, Anqing wished them good luck on the coming rounds and left the coliseum. It was an unfortunate defeat for her but she knew where to improve.
Ming Yue and Xukun looked at each other before separating to focus on their next battle.
The former cultivated, gathering more of the World's Energy to strengthen the threads formed by her Quintessence Energy. The latter focused on his swords, fine-tuning his control over them.
The sixth round came and went, ending in the afternoon. Just like that 1200 disciples could no longer progress in the tournament. Now that it was the seventh round, 600 more would lose their right to continue on. This was the most important round as it cemented the place of remaining winners in the final three rounds.
As the seventh round was underway, the Grand Elder, who still watched from the tower, had a little smile on his face. An amusing thought had entered his mind and he gathered the elders in tower.
"For the eighth, ninth, and tenth round, why don't we change it up a little bit?" he said.
The elders around him had a number of looks on their faces. Some were curious, others were straight-faced, and several of the older elders seemed to have expected the Grand Elder to have thought of something special. They looked at him, waiting for his words.
"What if we combine the final three rounds into one?"
The others showed their confusion.
"What do you mean, Grand Elder? Combining all three rounds?"
"Rather than three rounds, let's give them three chances instead. It should make for a much more interesting finale."
The Grand Elder elaborated his thoughts and reasonings to them. The others began to talk and converse amongst each other over his suggestion. It was certainly different and uncommon but most of all, it really did seem like an interesting change. Within the span of an hour, the elders were in agreement with this new change, scrapping what they had planned previously.
Below, the seventh round had already gone through a hundred battles with Ming Yue and Xukun still waiting for their names to be called up.
"Ming Yue and Xing Juren! Come up to the arena!"
One of the black robed judges called her name up along with her opponent. As for her opponent, his name and stature was one she had seen not long ago.
"How fortunate that I will be facing you again."