Yawn~
"Ahhh, I managed to hit my next stage bottleneck in a single day!"
Meanwhile, back in the apartment, Ning'er finished her cultivation session and began to examine her dantian.
"Hm? It's oddly quiet... Ah, I forgot I'm naked."
Sigh.
Without much delay, Ning'er left Noire's bed and began strolling towards her room, still skeptical about why the house is so empty even though it's the evening.
The thought of Yue and Noire being on a late date together then struck her mind.
!!!
Suddenly, her mood instantly gotten sulky.
Ning'er began to reluctantly put on a casual set of clothing before heading towards the living room, with some chocolate bars and a bowl of fresh popcorn to eat her depression away.
Being one from the prestigious Yu Household, she had some faint ideas about deathmatches throughout the evening, perhaps she can take pleasure in the suffering of some others.
"..."
Crash!
Once she saw the notification from the live feed, her expression changed drastically and the bowl dropped before she could even realize it.
"WHAT!"
Ning'er abruptly jumped like a startled cat and glued onto the projection which showed Noire, in a state of meditation, in front of a peak Ether cultivator.
Similar thoughts of shock resided in the hearts of many, for example, Feng and her sisters in the sect.
All of her sisters in Dao made cruel remarks of slander and disdain as they watched through the projection.
Some felt pity.
Some felt amused.
Some were simply nonchalant but joined the flow.
If Feng was to say she disagrees with them she'd be lying, but she remained out of the circle of ridicule for one reason.
Phoenix.
The phoenix had a glimmer of anticipation as it eyed Noire.
'Just what is piquing her interest?'
- - - -
Back at the heart of the arena, Golden Row stood with a complicated flare in his eyes.
The scene of Noire's plucking a heart almost instantly is still a vivid memory that shocked him.
He can't believe that someone who can kill with a straight face and a calm manner like it was nothing would be his opponent.
Even himself, with the number of people he killed, he never actually killed outside the boundaries of the arena.
He spent his days and years in this city, under the shelter of the colosseum's nourishment and protection as a doll.
The least he expected was a stranger who could rival him in strength, much less murderous enthusiasm.
Damn, even his murder has principles and logic.
What he felt from Noire back then, was as if Noire didn't consider human life anything at all.
'He should be peak Ether realm at least... I can't afford to be sloppy if I want an honorable death at least.'
Taking a deep breath that seemed in sync with the ebb and flow of the wind, Golden Row sheathed his broad sword into the ground in a vertical arc.
He then proceeded to engulf the hilt with his colossal palms to channel his wind Qi from the environment into his dantian, back through the meridians, then into the blade.
The crowd turned silent from excitement, they have witnessed this scene whenever Golden Row turned dead serious.
Then they caught a glimpse of Noire who remained as calm as an ancient ray of light.
The crowd couldn't help but sneer at such a sight.
Of course, the commentator didn't miss a golden opportunity to spout nonsense.
"HERE WE HAVE IT! GOLDEN ROW ISN'T WASTING A SECOND! CLOSE YOUR EYES IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE GORE!"
'What is he doing?!'
Feng, Ning'er, and the three elders thought with complex expressions as each watched the scene from a different perspective.
Then...
Qi essence began to leak through Noire's pores steadily to form a cocoon around his frame. It was transparent and hazy, but everyone could see and feel the fluctuations coming from it.
"THIRD LEVEL ETHER REALM? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
The commentator was the first to burst out in disbelief.
Golden Row.
Feng.
The elders.
They all had a shocked expression for various reasons.
Golden Row and Feng were disappointed, although the latter was a bit skeptical about her feelings because the Phoenix's expression remained the same.
The elders on the other hand had solemn expressions.
"The fact that his cultivation base is insufficient yet he managed to tap into the mystery of fire Qi in two days..."
"Yes, his fire affinity must be absurdly high."
"Sigh... A pity, if only he didn't toss his life away like this."
"..." The elders jointly nodded. Alas, if they knew that he got the fire Qi cultivation technique about an hour ago, they'd personally stop the match.
Golden Row felt utter humiliation at this.
'That's right! If I look back, his strike was a sneak attack! He took advantage of his partner's beauty to strike! Why am I scared?!'
Wind Qi erupted from Golden Row and poured madly into his blade.
Backed by his cultivation base of the 9th stage Ether realm, the turbulent billowing of wind resounded with an ear-piercing howl.
"Thousand Blades Cyclone!"
Golden Row roared at the peak of his lungs.
Out of shock, he forgot that his instinct warned him not from Noire's attack, but his affinity with fire.
A raging tornado swept away from Golden Row's blade, slashing through the concrete and steel.
BANG!
It slammed onto Noire like a tide.
"WHAT?!"
The crowd.
The commentator.
The VIPs.
The Elders.
Ning'er.
Feng and her sisters.
Everyone stood in shock from the endeavor.
Tides of wind abruptly avoided submerging into Noire, and the tides of wind which succeeded, abruptly began to combust and turn into fluorescent.
"I-impossible..."
"Fire Qi breakthrough! He simultaneously mastered Fire Qi and broke through to medium grade!"
Like everything in the world, elemental Qi also has grades. The low grade allows the user to channel their element through mediums, similar to what Golden Row did.
Medium grade allows one to assimilate their element directly into their Qi essence. Noire's Qi will now have the attributes of both world energy and Fire Qi.
The two will co-exist in complementary harmony, continually supplementing one another.
As long Noire has regular Qi, his supply of Fire Qi will be endless and vice versa.
One must have a perfect affinity to an element for this to happen, which is why breaking through from low elemental mastery to medium is a laborious task.
First, one must find a suitable element.
Then, one needs to continually temper their body in the respective element till they reach a bottleneck, which could take years or decades, and resources.
Four Seasons Sect has an elemental tomb, which provides an environment for each separate element, but not many earn a quota other than the sect's core members. So, someone with the medium elementary mastery outside the Four Seasons Sect was impossible!
Unheard of!
Unprecedented!