Hu Bai smiled back because, in the first fight, Ezio killed his opponent without mercy. It was the only kill in the tournament so far and even Alein Hervi didn't kill his opponent despite burning him with his fire. When his opponent forfeited, he put the fire down and helped his opponent get on his feet.
Because of that fact, the disciples were discussing vividly how bloodthirst Ezio was. Now seeing his kind smile and hearing his answer, Hu Bai was sure Ezio wasn't a brute but was just angered.
"You have already seen my Signiums, while I haven't seen yours, so I will probably lose. But let's do our best." Hu Bai once again bowed as he looked at the Knight. When the Knight gave the start, he vanished into the earth and hid immediately.
Ezio wasn't flustered. He already saw what he was capable of, so he anticipated this. He waited where he was until he felt something below. He immediately jumped back, as the ground split open with Hu Bai reaching out to catch him. Not missing the opportunity, Ezio kicked the ground and like a lightning bolt he appeared next to Hu Bai, who was still in the open because of his last attack. His dagger was about to touch his neck, but a sudden gravity increase affected his trajectory and Ezio missed the spot. Instead, his dagger hit the ground.
Without feeling it himself, Ezio wasn't sure how effective gravity was. After all, gravity wasn't adding weight, it was multiplying it. Feng Jiao was a girl with small stature and was fighting bare-handed. Ezio on the other hand was a growing teenager with a defined body. Although he wasn't an adult, he was tall and heavy. He was also holding a dagger, which in total increased his weight significantly.
Since he had no other choice, he willed his Signiums to come to life. A wolf silhouette and a dragonfly blazing with all their glories. The wolf had a green sheen while the dragonfly was shining with cyan light! They both shined at the same moment, and Ezio howled!
"Signium Skill: Star Crushing Howl"
"Signium Skill: Star Chaser!"
"Signium Skill: Dragonfly Wings!"
All Signiums from the Fourth Curtain had a single Signium Skill. Signiums from the Fifth Curtain had two Skills. Those at the 6th Curtain had no Signium Skills. Users could morph into their Signiums or summon them depending on their types. Now, Ezio was hiding his Signiums' true levels. Although the Star Chaser Hurricane Wolf had two skills, he had to hide one as Xiao Chen was aware of one of them.
To hide this fact, Ezio used the morphing ability to add wings to his body and didn't morph into Signium fully. And by adding Star Chaser Skill to his wings, he could fool others.
"Fifth Curtain!" While Ezio was calculating all these, the audience was going crazy. Although at higher levels it wasn't so rare, awakening Signium from the Fifth Curtain for the second was quite rare. Those in the audience and even the Sect Leaders started to look at Ezio in a different light.
"He is not a regular Blacksmith." Li Long said with a squint.
"Although at the banquet he one-punched a core disciple of yours, I thought he was just fast, but it seems like there is more to it." Cai Wei added.
"Aodhfionn, your disciple is good." Qiu Tu said honestly, but even she felt Ezio might be a threat to her students. After all, Hu Bai was one of the best disciples she had, and she was expecting her to get one of the tickets. With his Earth Escape technique, he could survive in a domain like a fish in the ocean.
"Cyan light! Fifth Curtain!" The audience was also boiling with excitement.
"That boy is a different breed, it was obvious when he challenged everyone at the beginning. His arrogance is not in vain."
Ezio didn't care about any of that. Star Chaser increased his movement speed tremendously. With the boost of the wings, Ezio was like a phantom phasing in and out all around the stage.
Because of his first skill, Star Crushing Howl, Hu Bai wasn't at his best, and couldn't think straight. That skill affected opponents' minds, confusing their thoughts.
It was an overkill, but he had to use these moves to end the fight quickly. Otherwise, in a stalemate, Hu Bai could tire him out with his ability to vanish on the stage's ground. After all, out of all 40 disciples, his cultivation was the lowest. The others were already at the peak or middle of the Qi Solidification Realm.
When Ezio phased in once again, his dagger was already on Hu Bai's neck, threatening to cut any second.
"I forfeit." Hu Bai gulped as he said.
"Thanks for letting me win." Ezio nodded as he turned to leave. His wings on his back vanished as two Signiums also disappeared. He felt a slight burden but it wasn't anything major.
After this fight, he was in the first ten. One more fight and he would get the ticket, but he was going to do more than that. Since he knew Xiao Chen was trying to make things hard for him, he was sure among the top 5, only he would have the extra fight. The same went for the top 3.
That is why he decided to show all of his Signiums and end the fight quickly because he couldn't afford to tire himself.
While Ezio was calculating, the fights were going on. Like the first round, the second rounds weren't as exciting as his fight. No one had a Signium from the Fifth Curtain for example. Although some of the Signiums were still rare and drew the attention of the audience, for simple-minded people, the hue around the Signium was more important. Though, some participants haven't shown their second Signiums yet, thus there was still possibility.
While fights were going on, Xiao Chen was looking at Ezio with hatred. He didn't assume this weak-willed peasant could win against the opponents he hand-picked. The first opponent, Yi Cai, was famous for his speed. Since his underling reported before he vanished that Ezio was quick on his feet, he thought he could counter it with faster speed. But it turned out he underestimated the bumpkin.
His backup plan was even worse. Hu Bai couldn't stop Ezio at all. He was defeated in a matter of seconds. Now he was only hoping that plan C would last longer at least before his ace in the hole finished the pompous idiot.
He didn't hate Ezio, it was just that he couldn't stand him. First of all his master was Aodhfionn, secondly, he killed his guards, and thirdly, he almost saved that whore. Although none of them would make things difficult for him, he didn't like the idea of being challenged by that worthless worm.