While Ace answered indifferently, everybody else inside the room covered their mouths and Elder Ario's expression turned sour.
'Hmph! Once my disciple brings glory to our sect and my status increases, I will make sure you pay for insulting me like this' Elder Ario snorted inwardly and continued to watch the tournament.
Soon, the preliminaries round ended and many disciples of Inferno Sword Sect were selected, making the environment inside the Sect cabinet lively and cheerful.
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
"The disciples did a great job, it will surely bring glory to the sect. Hahaha!" Sect Leader Kalm laughed heartily and applauded. Seeing him, others also clapped for the great performance shown by the disciples.
"Ehehe~"
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
Seeing everybody clapping, Gracie copied them all and clapped with her small hands making Ace and Maeve bloom in joy.
"Record it! Must record it!!" Ace muttered as he took out the recording stone.
...
The tournament continued and reached a critical spot, the Top 16.
A disciple entering in these Top 16 is very beneficial for the Sect and the disciple himself.
From the Inferno Sword sect, only Sophia and Elijah were able to secure a position in Top 16 but everyone inside the Sect cabinet was blooming in joy as this result was a lot better than last time when they didn't even have a single disciple in the Top 16.
And to add more to their happiness, their main rival, The Seven Swords Sect, didn't have a single disciple in the Top 16. (Yeah, Maybe Jake and Jasmine weren't present)
"Hahaha! I knew! I knew that Elijah would bring glory to the sect!" Elder Ario laughed heartily.
"Yeah, that boy did great and you too, Elder Ario, you did a great job training him" Sect Leader Kalm complimented and Elder Ario's expression turned even more bright, he glanced towards Ace to see his Self-regretful, despair engulfed face but on contrary to his expectations, Ace was busy playing with Gracie who was now sitting on her mother's laps.
'Tsk! Tsk! Enjoy all you want right now, once we return to the sect, I will make you regret insulting me' Elder Ario snorted inwardly and continued watching the tournament.
"Ah, it's Sophia's turn!" Elder Ryan exclaimed.
"Ehehe~"
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
Gracie soon recognized Sophia and clapped with bright eyes.
"Her opponent is relatively weak, only a 4th layer practitioner, maybe she can win this" Sect Leader Kalm spoke and others nodded.
And just as everyone expected, Sophia won the match, entering in Top 8 and the environment of the cabinet turned even livelier.
"It's Elijah's turn!" Elder Ario exclaimed.
"Mhm, his opponent is a little stronger but has the same cultivation as him, I think he has a decent chance to win it" Sect Leader Kalm analyzed, and again, others nodded.
"He has zero chances of winning...
Well, it is already good that we have one disciple in Top 8" Ace, who was busy playing with Gracie until now spoke.
"Hmph! What do you mean, Elder Ace!? Just because you both didn't have the best start, it doesn't mean that you will say something like that about him. In the end, he is still fighting to bring glory to the sect!" Elder Ario refuted while other elders had complicated expressions.
Ace remained silent as he glanced towards the stage.
…
"This…" Elder Ario muttered as the results of the match were out.
"As I said, it is already good that we have one disciple in Top 8, don't be too hard on yourself" Ace repeated with an indifferent face.
The results were as Ace said, Elijah, lost.
"Still, he did enter Top 16, it is already good" Sect Leader Kalm spoke with a sigh as he glanced towards Ace.
It was within expectations, I mean, Who was Ace? An emperor, the strongest person in the world, in Herferd and in Ashleyn, how could he not predict the outcome?
The tournament continued and the Top 8 were selected, and ironically, the first match was between Sophia and the man who defeated Elijah.
"This…"
"Well, he is the weakest when compared to others so we couldn't hope for a better match. I think this as far as we can go…" Sect Leader Kalm sighed and others nodded.
"I won't be so sure about that. The girl might have a chance" Ace spoke as he glanced towards the stage with an interested look, this was the first time he was interested in a match.
Even Gracie, who always claps before Sophia fights watched the match with a serious expression but that only boosted her cuteness as her cheeks were puffed up.
...
"I think you should give up, it is already great that you were able to come this far" The opponent, named Ralf, a wind mage, mocked.
"Same, it is really a surprise to me that you were able to come this far with those pathetic skills of yours!" Sophia mocked back with a smirk.
"You bitch!" Ralf roared.
"Commence!" the judge spoke and at the same time, Sophia dashed towards Ralf.
She was a close combat mage, giving her an edge over normal mages and she knows how to use it as her advantage and win against stronger opponents.
And of course, Ralf was taken aback by her approach.
Within seconds Sophia successfully closed the distance and swung her sword and Ralf, who had no experience in close combat, barely dodged the attack.
'I have to create distance!' Ralf thought inwardly as he jumped back but Sophia didn't give him any chance and dashed towards him, closing the distance he created.
He jumped again but Sophia closed the distance.
"Tsk!" Ralf clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Wind Blade!" Ralf used his first spell.
A sharp blade made of wind was formed and moved towards Sophia, but as experienced as she was, Sophia didn't stop her advance and just dodged the blade.
"Wind Blade!"
"Wind Blade!"
"Wind Blade!"
Ralf repeatedly attacked while dodging the sword but Sophia dodged every blade perfectly, making him even more annoyed.
'If this goes on, I'll lose!' Ralf thought inwardly as he looked around, trying to find a way to deal with his current situation.
Soon, his eyes fell on the ground and he smiled.
"Wind Blade!"
Sophia just smiled as she thought he was stupid to repeat the same move again and again but she quickly noticed that the blade wasn't fired in her direction but towards the ground.
The blade shot towards the ground as the dust rose and flew towards Sophia, invading her eyes and forcing her to halt her movements while Ralf successfully created distance between them with a wide smile on his face.
"Disgraceful!" Elder Ryan, who was watching the match, roared.
"Well, it is a battlefield; you have to do anything you can to win. I'd say it was a smart move" Sect Master Kalm spoke.
"Now that young man will have the time to cast a stronger spell and end the match" Elder Ario spoke and just like he said, Ralf started his enchantment while Sophia was rubbing her eyes.
"Oh Goddess of wind…"
"Well, I thought he was better than others but he ended up making a stupid mistake" Ace smiled and even Maeve had a soft smile on her face.
Other elders turned towards Ace but didn't say anything and continued watching.
Just like Ace and Maeve, Sophia had a soft smile on her face when she heard him chanting. She quickly dashed towards the source of the sound.
"Thunder Strike!"
"Thunder Strike!"
And at the same time, she casted two spells.
Ralf's expression changed as he saw Sophia dashing towards him. He knew she still can't see properly so he decided to dodge her by jumping to the side but at the same time, he saw 2 Thunder Strikes coming from either side of Sophia, not giving him any chance to dodge.
He was trapped.
Out of options, he decided to jump leftwards and face the lightning directly and avoid Sophia.
"Well, another stupid move… this is as good as over" Ace commented as he shook his head.
The lightning struck Ralf but he made sure to endure pain and didn't let out a grunt but contrary to his expectation, Sophia turned towards him and attacked, making him and the viewers shocked.
The elders inside the cabinet turned towards Ace for an explanation and Ace's smile widened.
"It was her lightning, of course, she would know if it collided with something. That boy should have just faced her directly instead of trying to dodge" Ace explained as he watched Sophia attacking him restlessly and this time, Ralf wasn't able to dodge much since he was injured.
It turned out that Sophia used more Qi than required in the two bolts, making them deadlier.
"Lightning Sword" When Sophia was sure that Ralf wasn't able to dodge much, she quickly activated her lightning sword and destructive lightning covered her sword, making it even more deadly.
Her movements quickened considerably, it was clear that she was holding back and was waiting for the ideal moment to strike.
The injuries on Ralf worsened and the numbing effect of the lightning didn't allow him to cast any more spell and at the same time, Sophia's increased speed and precise movements cut all paths of escape.
Ralf's movements slowed down as he felt a numbing sensation all over his body, gritting his teeth, Ralf declared half-heartedly.
"I-I Give Up!"