Silas knew the wound wasn't enough to kill the man who had the body of a fiendgod, but that's why he had done it. It wasn't like he was allowed to kill the man, but to think that it would take more to win the fight—no wonder people occasionally died in this competition.
Silas, with a step, flashed forward and met Braiden's spear.
"Bang!" "Shing!" "Shing!" It took Silas three more moves to disarm his opponent, slicing off his dominant hand.
"You little…!" Braiden roared, his face flushing with embarrassment. Being bested by a child was humiliating, especially for someone of his stature.
"Forfeit," Silas said calmly, his scythe extended, ready to strike again if necessary.
"Never," Braiden growled, his pride burning too brightly. He was the greatest warrior from his prefecture. How could he surrender to a little boy?
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Shing!"
"Surrender!" Silas's voice rose, his gaze piercing through Braiden's, the tip of his scythe grazing the older man's neck and drawing blood.
But before Braiden could comprehend his loss, the official blew a whistle, then stepped in and ended the fight.
The crowd went wild at the sight of a 16-year-old easily defeating a much larger and older opponent. This was a rare sight.
'He's quite talented, but he's nothing compared to my granddaughter,' the Redstone Patriarch thought with a scoff as he turned his attention away from Silas; he was particularly interested in the youths who had achieved Transcendent lifeform status before 30.
Charles, Keaton, and the other two Armstrong lord prefects, on the other hand, beamed with pride, each one boasting of their clan's talented descendant.
***
Fight after fight went by, and Silas had no problem beating each of his opponents. So far, other than Thea, he hadn't run into any other youths who had managed to comprehend mastery level in any of their techniques.
Now, there were only a few battles left, with there being two brackets with each side in the quarterfinals. That meant Silas only had to win three more fights, and he would walk away from the event as the king of the region. But Silas didn't care as much about winning as he did about reaching mastery in his scythe comprehension. So far, he hadn't had a battle as thrilling as the one with Thea, who had also managed to reach mastery in a technique. Unfortunately, she was on the other side of the bracket, so unless they both made it to the finals, he wouldn't get to fight her again.
The official of this match once again stepped forward and announced, "From the Armstrong Clan's North Prefecture, Silas Armstrong, 16 years old, Peak Mortal body and qi refinement."
The crowd roared louder than ever. With this being the only battle taking place in the arena, everyone's attention was on this fight.
"From the Riverstone Clan's West Prefecture, Holden Riverstone, 30 years old, Early Transcendent body refinement, and Peak Mortal qi refinement," the crowd once again roared—any match featuring a Transcendent lifeform was always a crowd favorite.
"You know the rules. Now begin," the official signaled the start of the fight.
Silas had been ready for this fight for a long time. This was his first official fight against a Transcendent lifeform that wasn't him sparring with his mother or father.
'I wonder if this guy has reached mastery or not?' Silas thought. There were some people who were gifted with talent in comprehension; there were others who were gifted with talent in cultivation; and there were a select few, like Silas and Thea, who were gifted with both. He just didn't know which his opponent was gifted in.
Silas stood his ground and watched as the 6'0" tall man silently began the fight, rushing forward.
'It doesn't look like he has reached mastery in his footwork,' Silas thought.
"Bang!" 'And it doesn't look like he's reached mastery in his weapon comprehension either,' Silas thought with a frown.
Seeing the frown on his opponent's face, Holden thought he had now understood the power gap between them. So, with a smile, he increased his tempo.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" Holden continued to push Silas around the arena. Being a Transcendent lifeform, he was much stronger than a Peak Mortal lifeform like Silas was.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" But no matter how much he attacked, Silas's defense was impenetrable.
'What the hell?' Holden thought after another 30 seconds went by, and he still hadn't managed to touch the hem of Silas's robe.
'This just isn't challenging enough,' Silas finally determined. He had hoped that even though his opponent was only at the foundation stage in both movement and weapon comprehension, the extra strength granted to him by being a Transcendent lifeform would be enough to push him over the edge. He could feel the thin veil that stood between him and the next threshold of weapon comprehension; he just needed a tougher grinding stone to break through that veil.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Shing!" "Shing!" "Shing!" For the first time in the fight, Silas began his attack, and he immediately pushed back his opponent and had him on his back foot.
"Shing!" "Shing!" "Shing!" After 10 seconds went by, he had cut off the left forearm of his opponent and had him all cut up from head to toe.
"Shing!" "Shing!" "Shing!" "Shing!" After another 5 seconds went by, the official finally stepped in with the blow of the whistle to stop the fight.
After winning the fight, Silas just turned around and went to sit down next to his parents. He ignored the crowd's cheers, just trying to hold on to that feeling he was so close to but couldn't quite grasp yet.
As he sat down, his big brother Red flew over and perched up on his shoulder.
"You did a good job out there, Silas," Red said.
Silas just nodded his head, still deep in thought. Both Red and his parents knew that he must be on the cusp of a breakthrough, so they each chose not to bother him.
Soon, it was Silas's turn to fight again in the semifinals…
"From the Silverleaf Clan's North Prefecture, Oliver Silverleaf, 30 years old, Early Transcendent body and qi refinement," the official announced to the excitement of the crowd.
Up in the lord prefect section, someone asked, "Who do you think will win?"
There was a slight murmur that went through the various lord prefects and their aides, but soon one voice could be heard above them all: "Well, of course, my grandson Silas will be winning. There's no one in this tournament that can hold a fire to the boy. He's reached mastery in his footwork comprehension, and he's a mosquito's hair away from reaching it in his scythe comprehension as well." Charles said with a beaming smile.
Soon though, another lord prefect butted in, "I think you're full of shit, Charles. My son Oliver will surely win. He's an early Transcendent lifeform in both qi and body cultivation, and he has reached mastery in his movement comprehension. Your boy might also be talented in movement comprehension, but his weak Mortal body will be his downfall. He's 10 years too early to win this fight."
Soon an argument ensued, and it wasn't hushed until someone asked, "Redstone Patriarch, what is your opinion on the battle?"
This halted the many conversations, and all ears turned to the strongest and most talented cultivator of Moonvale Mountain.
The Redstone Patriarch thought about it for a moment, then finally said, "While I believe Silas has talents on par with even my granddaughter Thea unless he can somehow comprehend mastery in his scythe techniques, just like my Thea just did with her movement techniques in her battle, I don't see how he could possibly win this fight."
This silenced the arguments, everyone believing in the Redstone Patriarch's words.
The official finally stepped up and looked at both the youths. "You each know the rules, but I'll repeat them one last time. This part of the tournament is when the highest number of deaths occur. There is to be no intentional killing or maiming in this battle. Is that clear?"
Both Silas and Oliver quickly nodded their heads without looking away from each other.
"Okay, you may begin," the official said as he backed away.
"Please show me something," Silas muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Oliver to hear.
"Oh, I'll show you something," Oliver replied with a smirk.