Looking down at the young duke as he franticly tried to find the source of that stare, was Shui. The young duke's silver robe, along with other artifacts that he wore, would make it difficult to deal damage with a physical strike, but the artifacts had little effect on soul techniques. Although he found it difficult to kill him from so far away, restraining him was simple.
"I'm surprised you haven't taken his head yet. Are you that scared of his father?" Alia asked teasingly.
"Stop joking. It would just be too much trouble to erase the evidence. I'll leave him for someone else to handle."
All sixteen participants would begin the match of lock-and-key at the same time, so when the introductions were finished and they split up to enter their respective cages, the young duke no longer felt that piercing stare. Believing it was Grandmaster Astar who did that to him, he grumbled but reluctantly moved to his cage. He was very prideful, but he wasn't delusional. He knew that his ability as an array master was far inferior to Emily's, so the best he could aim for was second place. However, he had already given up on moving on to the main evaluation as he was only focused on how to kill Emily.
Emily knew that many still had similar intentions, but once she entered the cage, none of it mattered anymore. In the Still Heart state, she carefully examined the puzzle given to her. Since her puzzles were all above the difficulty level set for the round, the Array Association leader decided to continue the trend. This led to the puzzle being of the level that would require a tier 4 array grandmaster to solve, but based on her performance so far, he believed that she could solve this one as well.
Emily's comprehension of arrays indeed approached tier 4, but she had no experience with drawing standard tier 4 arrays, so she would have a harder time than someone like Alex. Even so, Emily worked by identifying to easiest parts of the puzzle, solving them, and moving on to the harder parts. She quickly completed about seventy percent of the puzzle, but then her progress slowed down as she contemplated on how to solve the next part.
She focused on each line and symbol to derive the solution, deepening her own comprehension in the process. The audience watched her with bated breaths and complete silence. Her victory was written in stone, but knowing that future and seeing it were too different things. Everyone wanted to boast about being present to witness this historic tale, so none dared to move their eyes away from it.
Emily eventually approached the final piece of the puzzle, but it was there that she was stumped. The problem wasn't that she didn't know what to do next; she didn't have the energy to do it. The Array Association leader believed that she could solve the puzzle, but there were two things that he failed to take into account. One, it was rare to see array masters two realms below the energy cultivation realm that their mastery level was effective for, because the mental energy required to draw arrays increased with the tier. Emily may have had a strong soul, which thereby allowed her to have a higher mental energy capacity than her peers, but she was still in the Soul Realm, so it was natural that she would find it difficult to solve a tier 4 puzzle. Secondly, mental energy didn't recover as easily as nature energy, so Emily hadn't returned to perfect condition in time for the final round.
If she didn't change her method, then she would run out of mental energy before she solved the puzzle, but without proper understanding of tier 4 arrays, it was difficult for her to think of a more efficient method. She recalled every array that she knew of as well as the techniques that were passed down by her master, but none of it was applicable here.
'This is a terrible joke. Are you telling me that after risking my life to get here, I won't even be able to make it into the top ten? No! I won't allow it!'
A moment of frustration produced ripples in her serene mind, but those ripples dispersed without bringing any change to her situation. The Still Heart state was longed for by all array masters, even so, this exceptional ability was of little help if she didn't know what to do.
Emily was determined to solve the puzzle, but with every second that she spent looking for a method to do so, her mental energy slowly decreased. She searched through her memories once more, this time not only for what she learnt but also every array that she had ever seen. She didn't know what would bring her inspiration, so she had to keep trying.
As similar complex diagrams swooshed threw her mind, Emily tried to find the vital hint that she needed for this array. One that she hoped existed. None of the arrays that she remembered clicked, but as anxiety began to push her out of the Still Heart state, she felt the artifact that rested inside her robes. She thought about the array she drew with it, but it still didn't seem to give a hint. However, she didn't move on.
'Dull Harmony, can you help me once more?'
It was a thought born from her hopelessness, but she felt some solace when the artifact vibrated in response to her faith.
'This would be easier if I could cut this lock with you.'
She remembered the small swords that could be born from this artifact, each with their own distinct effects yet there was a perfect balance founded on the five elements.
'...?'
A strange feeling appeared. It was like there was an itch at the back of her neck that she had to scratch.
'The sword, no, the light, not that either. Hmm, the five elements?'
Emily looked at the core piece of the puzzle again. It hadn't changed, but she finally found a hint to solving it with the mental energy she had left. Would it really work? She didn't know, but she felt it was worth trying out.
According to the common five element theory, the entire world could be defined through the five elements. From a simple rock to the stars in the heavens above, everything could be linked back to the five elements, and arrays were no exception.
While closely examining the last piece of the puzzle, Emily noticed that some of the symbols and arrangement used was common in most fire element arrays. She also spotted signs of water and wood elements in other parts. These elements probably weren't integrated like this on purpose, but it was exactly because it happened naturally that Emily saw a chance of success.
As she sought to bring greater harmony to the puzzle, she finally found a method she could use to solve it. She picked apart the rest of the puzzle by applying her own logic to it, rather than following the road laden for her. Quietly and unknowingly, Emily had taken one firm step into the territory of being an array grandmaster.
"And to no one's surprise, the Little Puzzle Princess has finished with another record-breaking time!"