As Jian Shen was the one who managed to skip fighting one more time, and was chosen to directly participate in the final match, some serious concerns about match fixing were spreading around the audience.
But such thoughts didn't last long because not many dared to question the integrity of the four great sects, even if they did something bad.
Much less right now where everything was just pure speculation.
Unlike Jian Shen who directly entered the finals, the remaining four, however, did fight.
The first match between Xue Lin, and Liao He went just like the elders had expected. It was a landslide victory for Liao He who used his strength and experience which he honed over the years to completely crush Xue Lin.
But this did nothing to change the elders' thoughts about trying to recruit Xue Lin.
Liao He, however, thought his performance was very great, and once he won the tournament, Jian Shen would be a thing of the past, and the sects would fight to take him as a core disciple.
The second match was a close and long match since Cui Long managed to fight Lian Bu who was older than him to a standstill, because her fighting capabilities weren't on the same level as Liao He.
In the end, it was Cui Long who managed to steal the victory when Lian Bu lost her posture due to a moment of carelessness.
After the two matches were over, a one hour rest was given to let both the participants be at their peak state.
The break, however, turned out to be for nothing, because before the match even started Cui Long gave up by saying he knew his limits, and it was impossible for him to defeat Liao He.
While this made the audience have a better impression of Cui Long, and think that he was a sensible boy. The elders, however, shook their head feeling slightly disappointed at his attitude to give up so easily.
But due to this, the final match was preponed to take place right away forcing Jian Shen who hadn't made a single move since the morning get up on the stage.
Standing in front of the confident Liao He, Jian Shen couldn't help but admit that the fight truly wouldn't be an easy one.
Given that both of them had the same level of cultivation, and Liao He used a spear which had a longer range than his sword, Jian Shen would have to risk injuring himself to get close to Liao He if he wanted to land an attack.
"Hehehe, this is where your streak of luck ends brat."
"And this is the end of line for you."
Saying so Jian Shen brought out the Heavenly Dragon Sword for the first time ever in the tournament.
Looking at this all of the elders' eyes sparkled, because this is what they were all waiting to see. The genius sword welder to reveal his true strength.
"Humph! Do you think that toothpick will be able to reach me before my needle pierces you? What a joke!"
Doing a flashy move by rapidly rotating the spear in his hand above head, Liao He pointed the tip towards Jian Shen.
"You going to come first? Or are you scared?"
Not falling for the obvious taunt, Jian Shen calmly waited for Liao He to make a move.
After all, while the spear had a longer range, it limited the number of movements one could quickly make. Liao He also knew this, and wanted Jian Shen to attack first.
Because if he attacked first and missed, Jian Shen would have the opportunity to attack. And if he managed to capitalize on it, the match would turn disastrous for him very fast.
Unfortunately, Jian Shen didn't seem like a hot headed idiot, or an overconfident one. The worst kind of opponents for Liao He who only knew how to strike hard, but not defend and retaliate.
Gritting his teeth Liao He started feeling a little nervous since the audience were all booing the both of them for just standing and not making a move.
Jian Shen, on the other hand, didn't care about anything around him in the least. If he went to make the first move after being overwhelmed by what the audience thought about him, he would definitely lose his cool and the match.
Nodding his head Liang Cheng said, "Being able to keep his calm at all times is something Liao He doesn't have, he'll definitely crumble first."
Just like the elder from the Myriad Flame Sect, Liao He couldn't hold back for long and ended up making the first move.
Rushing hastily towards Jian Shen, his long bronze spear began glowing with an overbearing aura.
"DIE!"
Instead of thrusting since he would obviously miss, Liao He slashed horizontally so that even if Jian Shen evaded, he wouldn't manage to reduce the distance between them.
Smiling at the obvious tactic, Jian Shen didn't hold back at all as he directly swung his sword to meet the spear midway.
While the strength Liao He had was a little lesser than he expected, it wasn't weak in any way.
With a huge clang of metal clashing against each other, Jian Shen and Liao He were both forced a few feet back.
But Jian Shen who was using a sword recovered first and proceeded to run towards Liao He whose spear was still vibrating from the force.
'Shit!'
As the thought crossed his mind, Jian Shen was already beside Liao He and the sword was rushing towards his neck.
At the last moment Liao He managed to twist his body to the side and ended up injuring himself in the shoulder, but managed to save to keep the match going.
Surprised at how directly Liao He was ready to injure himself, Jian Shen was caught off guard towards the spear tip which was aiming at his back.
"Aaahhhhh!"
Clenching his teeth after shouting, Jian Shen jumped forward and away from Liao He with the white robes on his back covered in blood.
Liao He looking at this was not in any hurry to attack because his right hand was almost unusable.
Gritting his teeth at how bad it heart, Jian Shen's eyes flashed with anger towards Liao He who injured him. The next moment the blood inside his body began burning up just like it did during his fight with Feng Rong.