As Jian Chen's blood continued to fall to the ground, he was feeling weaker by the second.
It wasn't just that, the air itself felt dry and heavy. It felt like a giant hand was pushing him down.
He could hear the jeers of the crowd as they wished him to be defeated. Yet there were still some people that wanted him to win.
He knew he should fight. He would have to fight. Eventually, his body began failing him. His limbs were barely holding him up. His sword was getting heavier and heavier.
He had lost too much blood. His limbs felt so heavy he was struggling to even raise them. The stage was starting to spin around him.
He was going to lose.
"I need to win.", he muttered to himself.
He could feel the fighting spirit re-enter his body and the strange feeling that his opponent was trying to take his life away.
He knew he couldn't give up.
Then the next attack came like a crashing wave. It broke the sword Zhang Yan was using into a million tiny pieces and stabbed into his body thousands of times.
The next attack hit his neck and then his heart.
The next attack pierced through his stomach, where he felt the worst of the pain.
He watched as his enemy's blade sliced through his entire body, but it never killed him.
"No more. I can't take any more. I have to stop this..."
"You cannot give up!", Jian Ye cried out to him.
Shocked, Jian Chen turned towards the audience and saw Jian Ye standing at the forefront. Even Jian Wen and their bedridden father had showed up.
Their voices sounded so far away and muffled as he tried to get closer to them, but all he could feel was Zhang Yan's sword piercing his chest. He felt powerless as the bloodied blade left his body, making him feel oddly empty inside.
"I won't. I can't let him win. I won't..."
Jian Chen held onto Jian Ye's words like a drowning man clung to a life preserver. He stared up into the sky with a mixture of rage, frustration and hopelessness.
The dark clouds hanging overhead seemed ready to fall upon him at any moment.
Then he looked back down towards his feet where the ground felt unsteady underneath him. His entire body felt sore like his bones had been replaced with broken twigs.
His hair was soaked in sweat from the effort he put in to stop the pain and numb his body.
"You're still going to lose." ,Zhang Yan said as he leaned on his blade, somehow looking down on Jian Chen.
A moment later, he could feel himself begin to fall, and as he hit the ground he felt something heavy slam onto his head.
The entire world vanished in the blink of an eye as his mind and body screamed in agony.
As Jian Chen begun spirralling into unconsciousness, the last thing he noticed was a bluish-white light shining through his closed eyelids.
Loud gasps were heard throughout the entire audience as Zhang Yan was crowned the winner of the match.
------------
Jian Chen awoke with a start, gasping for breath and coughing. He felt like his lungs were about to burst.
His vision was blurry and a strange ringing noise was filling his ears.
He blinked several times before he realized that he was lying on a small bed inside a tent.
"Chen? Are you awake, Chen?", a female voice asked.
Jian Chen turned his head to the side only to see his younger sister sitting beside his bed. Her concerned look only made him feel guilty as if he had done something wrong.
"What happened to me? What did Zhang Yan do to me?" Jian Chen asked in a weak voice.
Jian Li sighed as she began to explain the events.
To Jian Chen's shock, Jian Li explained that he and Zhang Yan just stood at their spots for a couple of minutes after the beginning of the match.
The standstill was only broken when Zhang Yan calmly sauntered over to Jian Chen and attacked him with full force as he stood there defenceless.
Jian Chen's eyes widened as he tried to process what his younger sister was saying.
"So what I saw was an illusion? He caught me in an illusion?", Jian Chen asked.
Jian Li nodded.
"Mostly, yes. He used a very powerful Spirit Art to attack your mind and inner world to make you think he was striking you physically when most of the blows struck her mentally. You never actually took more than a single blow from him.", Jian Li replied.
"How did he manage to pull that off? Why didn't we see him do that earlier?", Jian Chen asked.
Jian Li shook her head.
"He was probably holding it off as a trump card for the later rounds, it was really unfortunate he used you to reveal it though."
Jian Chen looked at his sister as she gave him a thankful thumbs up.
"Because of you, I'll be more prepared for his tricks. Just tell me and He Yu precisely what he did and what it felt like and I should be able to fight back. Don't worry, I'll take care of him.", Jian Li promised.
"You're going to fight him next?"
Jian Chen was stunned. Even if Jian Chen mainly cultivated his body, the way Zhang Yan dominated Jian Chen had to mean his mental attacks had reached at least the Earth level.
The pinnacle realm of the tournament.
"Chen, I don't have a choice. At least I'll probably fare better than you did. You have to remember that I have cultivated my Spirit to the Earth level just like he has.", Jian Li said.
"Li, both of you use different types of Spirit Arts. It won't be that simple. But I'll try and do what I can to help."
Jian Chen's voice was hoarse and raspy. His whole body felt drained and weak and he was starting to feel a dull pain in his head.
By the time He Yu had gotten into the tent and Jian Chen had finished explaining what happened, he fell unconscious.
The most urgent issue was the weakness in his Spirit, but that could be remedied with more time and rest according to He Yu.
"You can stay here as long as you like.", Jian Li said while giving Jian Chen a smile and a wave as she left the tent.
"I'll finish this for you and me."