Lehno slowly grew flustered. Even with two swords he had to give it his all to match Bai Jingshen's speed. His opponent's sword just had this weird effect which seemed to confuse his senses. If he hadn't trained his own sword arts enough, where his body could already move on instinct, he would have been defeated long ago. But even like this he slowly got pushed towards the edge of the mountain.
The proud noble grew angry at himself for not being able to defeat a random country bumpkin. Although New Haven City was the biggest city on Ramon Planet – named after a follower of Mhalor's – in Lehno's eyes it still stayed a second class city. If Julia wasn't here, as a noble from the capital he might have never visited this city in his life.
Looking at his arms, which slowly accumulated injuries, Lehno had enough. He decided to finally use his family's strength. The young noble suddenly put his full power behind his next strike. Bai Jingshen got pushed back a little, wondering what Lehno was up to. He tried to close the gap to his opponent again to stop whatever plan the noble had, but Lehno only needed a split second.
Bai Jingshen had to watch on, as Lohno's armor seemingly came to live. The metal plates protecting his upper body suddenly fell off. However, to Bai Jingshen's astonishment they deformed on the ground. They took on some weird half-liquid state and wiggled around until they suddenly looked like four fist-sized small metal dogs.
Gasps of astonishment also went through the audience as some asked their friends, if those robot were even allowed at the competition. New Haven City however was already prepared, with these robot's information appearing on all screens. Apparently the Ellshire family was well known for their mastery in AI creation. They even partly worked on the AIs in everyone's ID bracelet. Therefore, the strongpoint of these robots wasn't there exterior but their AI.
As long as these machines were made from tier one material, everything was fine. However Lehno had to lay out prove beforehand, that these AI were only trained by him alone. Apparently, since he dared to use them, he showed enough prove to the competition's organizers.
Bai Jingshen didn't know any of these, but he wouldn't let those robots distract him from his real opponent. Before anyone reacted, he appeared before Lehno again, his sword streaking through the air. Lehno seemed to have an easier time moving around now and thought he would hold his ground, but Bai Jingshen only got faster and faster.
Just as the noble was pressured into a corner again, his robots finally moved. It felt like an eternity to him, but only three seconds passed. He knew that this was a major flaw in his family's combat Ais, but apparently this flaw was erased in their higher leveled AI's.
As Bai Jingshen was concentrating on his fight against Lehno, he wouldn't make the low-level mistake of forgetting the new additions to their fight. As soon as the first AI attacked, Bai Jingshen quickly made a step back, swinging his sword at the robot. He was surprised, as this robot jumped at him in midair, leaving itself open for attacks. A small clinging sound could be heard as the robot took Bai Jingshen's sword under the confused gaze's of the audience. Although this attack only made a light dent in the robot's armor, some people couldn't hold back a chuckle when the robot simply flew of the cliff.
Lehno flinched for a moment out of embarrassment, but he also knew hat his robots were controlled by the same AI. It naturally wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Bai Jingshen also quickly noticed a change in their attack patterns. Now he was on the backfoot, as Lehno still attacked him while those dogs were snapping at his legs.
The noble gleefully looked on as his opponent slowly accumulated wounds. Driving him slowly towards the cliff, Lehno couldn't hold himself back from spitting some mocking words:
"Do you see this county bumkin? This is my family's strength you are losing to. How dare you even compete with me?"
Bai Jingshen had to admit, that his opponents unfamiliar fighting style made his life difficult right now. He could only do his best to calmly defend against those dogs and Lehno's swords.
Suddenly Lehno's stance changed as he decided to end this. Both of his swords took on an attacking position. With newfound vigor, he hacked at his opponent, determined to make him lose his sword by putting pressure on his already injured wrist.
The RSS team watched on with bated breath, as Bai Jingshen's blood started to soak his uniform.
Kayleen held her hand before her mouth as her friend's sword seemed to grow slower.
Richard Lemmiz and his colleagues fell into silence as a robot dog managed to rip a chunk of flesh from Bai Jingshen's calf.
Ra balled his fists as he watched his best friend fighting back and still injuring his noble adversary.
Lehno would probably erupt in anger if he saw Julia biting her lip as she cheered for her respected peer.
The noble Ellshire looked down on his opponents last struggle, before laughingly raising both his swords in a grand gesture.
And Bai Jingshen? The former emperor suddenly smiled slightly as he had used his opponent's hybris against him. Finally this arrogant noble made the mistake he had been waiting for, as Lehno once again treated a fighting stage like a show.
In a sudden turn of events Bai Jingshen's whole demeanor changed. He suddenly turned his sword's broadside towards his opponent. No one saw what happen. Only Bai Jingshen knew that the sudden flash of white light originated from the Blinding Immortal Art resonating with the world's rules.
This wasn't really wielding the laws, something only high level cultivators started to learn. However, this was how strong techniques acquired their special properties by confirming to the world's laws. Obviously, such techniques were hard to train in, seldom seen in fights at the Body Refinement Realm. No one in the audience could have guessed, that this seemingly monstrous attack was a basic requirement to reach the first-step-stage of the Blinding Immortal Arts.
Bai Jingshen reveled in this familiar feeling for the slightest moment before a sword strike could suddenly be heard. It sounded silently like a leave gently landing on the ground, yet it weirdly reached everyone's ears loud and clear.
As soon as Lehno recovered from the blinding flash, he quickly scanned the environment for his opponent. However he grew confused, as the first thing he saw were two hands lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He suddenly let out a short scream before falling to the floor unconscious. Standing behind Lehno, Bai Jingshen led out a deep breath, as he heard a loud thud. He threw away his by now unusable sword and quickly sat in a meditative position. Luckily, he managed to do so, before also falling unconscious while sitting cross-legged. At least it wouldn't look so embarrassing.
After recovering from the sudden turn of events, wild cheering could be heard in many viewing platforms. Who could have though, that Bai Jingshen still had an ace up his sleeve. However, some greedy eyes were also cast onto Bai Jingshen, as they realized this young man seemed to have a strong technique on him. Titus Gaian sighed, as he hoped the young man could keep himself safe.
Bennet also realized Bai Jingshen's newfound predicament, but he didn't want to dampen the mood. The RSS team was celebrating in Thobar Bionics' cube. Sam was even jumping around, completely letting out his feelings.
In the St. Igula Hospital and the New Haven Academy people were cheering for this dark horse together with Bai Jingshen's few friends.
Even Phil couldn't hold himself back from showing a large grin as he followed behind the rapidly advancing medical vehicle prepared for Lehno. The fighting stage's hatch opened as he slowly steered his platform towards the sitting Bai Jingshen. He happily congratulated him but was stunned as he got no answer. Phill took a closer look, quickly realizing that the young man was sitting there unconscious. He didn't panic however, hurriedly waving at the medical personal, which was already treating Lehno.
One nurse made their way over towards Phill, who briefed her about Bai Jingshen's situation. After a quick checkup however, the nurse was able to tell that the young man was only unconscious from overexertion. After resting he should be fine again. Phill and the on watching RSS team were relieved, as they watched the medical vehicle leave with the two young man.
Suddenly a loud 'dong' echoed throughout the venue. Without most people noticing, Titus Gaian appeared in the air amongst the cubes. He waited a second to gather everyone attention before finally speaking:
"This concludes our bi-annual newcomer competition. I want to thank everyone for your attendance. I am very happy with seeing our New Haven City showing so much potential. In three days, we will have a short ceremony before sending our new talents to the New World. May Mhalor's Light guide them to their dreams."