After seeing the way Shui had won his match, the audience was stunned. Even when Kate won her match without touching her opponents, there was more curiosity than amazement. However, Shui's technique seemed to show that he had completely seen through the moves of his foe, something that shouldn't be possible for an eight-year-old.
The speechless state of the audience continued until Lilia started clapping, then the entire Heaven clan cheered.
"Winner: Shui of the Heaven clan."
Shui's victory was shocking to Kalos. Even if he won, he didn't expect Shui to show such a high level of skill. With the level of ability he showed he wondered why he wasn't in the tournament from the beginning, and so he turned to Nalos.
"Wow, this is quite the brat you have here. I wonder why he wasn't entered into the competition."
"I don't see any reason why I should tell that to you."
Though he felt angered by Nalos' quick response, Kalos didn't bother continuing the conversation. After announcing a ten minute break, he sent for Rune.
"What do you think of him?"
"He's holding back so I'm not sure, but he shouldn't be much weaker than me."
Kalos nodded at the child's words. Though confidence was important, it was even more important not to underestimate one's opponent.
"Indeed, he's might be more troublesome than the lass. How do you plan on beating him?"
"He seems to be good at using martial techniques, so I'll pressure him with the strength of my body so he won't be able to use them."
Kalos nodded once more. He knew that against a fighter like Shui, there was no specific plan they could come up with. Even Rune's innate saint body might not be enough to win. Nevertheless, though it would be disappointing if he lost, it wouldn't affect his plans. More than that it would be enough if he had a better understanding of this new talent.
"That's fine. Use your full power to crush him."
"Yes Patriarch."
On the Heaven clan side, no one tried to advise Shui. After seeing his fight, they wondered who could have taught him and they knew they couldn't do a better job. They only said things like, 'don't disgrace the clan', 'do your best', and 'don't underestimate your opponent'. Shui didn't need their advice either. He had no fear of losing, instead he was more interested in testing Rune's innate saint body against his own body cultivation, but didn't want to reveal his cards.
Before going to the stage, Nalos spoke one line to Shui.
"Prove yourself."
Several hidden implication behind his words came to mind, but Shui didn't think about it too hard. He bowed to Nalos and left. He didn't like his grandfather, but he didn't hate him either. It would be fine if they simply stayed as strangers.
As Rune and Shui went onstage, the mood of the stadium changed. If it was a bit more windy, a perfectly timed breeze would have surely blown through. Neither of the two were normally talkative in a serious match, so there were no exchanges before the battle.
Once the match began, Shui ran towards Rune and many dissatisfied shouts came from the Heaven clan. These people didn't think Shui could win so they didn't like it when he rushed in as they thought he would only hasten his defeat. However, Shui had already blocked out such distractions. Even if he was confident in this match, he couldn't foolishly let his guard down.
As Shui came towards him at a visible speed, Rune started entering his fighting stance, but all of a sudden, Shui appeared in front of him. This was the same scene that the audience saw as well because Shui had purposefully used nature energy to boost his speed to the limit in the midst of his run. This would normally require some sort of sign but Shui had changed his speed without any signal.
While Rune panicked because of Shui's sudden velocity, Shui drove his fist into Rune's gut with enough force to knock him flying and yet, Rune was forced to stay there and withstand the full force. This was due to Shui's excellent technique that caused the force to spread throughout his entire body. Though he wasn't sent flying, the attack blurred his focus and had him stumbling backwards. Before he came out of his dazed state, Shui hit him with an uppercut that flung him to the edge of the stage.
"Finish him! Finish him!"
"Quickly! Hurry!"
From the Heaven clan were shouts telling him to quickly end the match but Shui shut them out. He had already made the script of this match and was in the midst of carrying it out. Now that he was certain that the Clite clan had a hand in hurting Kate, there was no way he would let Rune off-stage so easily.
'Now that I think about it, all of the original best four have been injured except for him. Tsk tsk, we can't have that.'
Suiri had once told Shui not to mistake gratitude and malice, to uphold his principles and to show fairness in his actions. Since the rest were injured, how could he allow Rune to escape unharmed?
As Shui continued to ignore them and waited for Rune to stand up, the Heaven clan got more irritated while Clite clan was more hopeful. They were shocked when Rune was put down so easily, but they sneered when they saw that Shui didn't end the match. However, the clan heads were different. All three of them knew that Shui was still holding back and he couldn't be beaten without great difficulty.
When Rune got back on his feet, he was both ashamed and grateful that Shui didn't pursue him. After experiencing those two hits from Shui, he knew he couldn't hold back anything if he wanted to win. He immediately channeled his nature energy throughout his body and stimulated his physique. Soon after, his body gained a brown shade and his skin hardened. Once he activated his stone saint body, Rune was confident he had a chance of winning.
"You'll regret not beating me when you had the chance."
"Oh really?"
Shui knew that Rune's defense had jumped once he activated his physique, but that wouldn't pose a problem Though he had an innate saint body, their body cultivation was actually the same since Rune hadn't trained his body enough. However, though they may seem to be equal in strength, the advantages of martial intent and Shui's nebula one-star soul weren't included in that.
"Won't believe me? Then why don't we make a bet? If you can break my defense, you win."
"Wow, I almost feel sorry that I have to destroy that pride of course."
Though Shui expressed his confidence, not many believed him. Especially those who doubted him in the Heaven clan. They all thought that he got too arrogant and wasted his chance, so majority of them were shaking their heads. Bartos and Lilia were also worried about how he would overcome Rune's defense. However, Kate was different from them. From the moment Shui revealed his strength, all of her self-confidence had gone to her faith in him. She didn't doubt his victory as much as she didn't doubt that the sky was blue.
Everything was going according to Shui's plan. He predicted that once he was threatened, Rune would activate his physique, which would give Shui the opportunity to wound him. Though it might have seemed contradictory, Shui believed this was the best way to injure him the most without the signs appearing.
Since Rune had offered to be his punching bag, Shui unleashed a torrent of blows on his upper body. Though none of the blows reached his face, if someone watched carefully, they would notice that the blows had only hit certain points.
Despite Shui's onslaught, Rune's seemingly perfect condition increased the hope of the Clite clan while diminishing the hope of the Heaven clan. Most of the Heaven clan released sighs as they watched the match, and Corin was about to do the same when he noticed Nalos' expression. Though Nalos didn't show any confidence in Shui, he wasn't sure of his defeat either. As Corin wondered why this was, the match ended.
When Shui finally stopped punching Rune's body, many thought that he had given up, but Shui's aloof demeanour as he walked away from Rune caused them to doubt their sight. When they looked back at Rune, they finally noticed the drip of red flowing from his lip. The referee probed Rune's body and was shocked to see his condition and the fact that he was already unconscious. There were no wounds on his skin but he had so many internal injuries that it was surprising that he was still alive! This was the result after Shui sneakily poured his nature energy into Rune's body with each attack. Even the toughest defense was useless if it couldn't block what it needed to.
"Champion of the ten and under category: Shui of the Heaven clan."
The referee announced the winner while all of those who were at least of Soul Realm probed Rune's body.
"What?!"