Current Language: English
Read this chapter in:
The Star Seal Cultivator Tournament
The morning sun blazed fiercely, its rays reflecting off the expanse of eternal ice that glinted like an ocean of crystal. The Snow Horizon Arena—the most magnificent and vast amphitheater standing at the heart of the Ice Kingdom—now unveiled its authentic grandeur. Colossal pillars carved from azure gemstones towered to pierce the clouds, as if challenging the supremacy of the gods in the heavens. Meanwhile, the circular tribunes encompassing the arena were choked by a sea of humanity hailing from every corner of the continent. Today marked the genesis that would dictate the destiny of the realm: The Six Kingdoms Star Seal Cultivator Tournament.
BWOOOOM!
The shrill, resonant blast of a primordial horn forged from a dragon’s fang echoed, cleaving the morning air. Thousands of spectators synchronously rose to their feet. A thunderous uproar of cheers and applause detonated, vibrating the glacial foundation beneath their boots.
One by one, the contingents from the great kingdoms commenced their march into the arena through the colossal gates, accompanied by a deafening euphoria.
From the Northern Gate, the host, the Ice Kingdom, strode in. Their vanguard was sheathed in blue crystal armor that refracted the light. Their footfalls echoed heavy and rhythmic, radiating the absolute elegance of the lords of ice. The core team of the Ice Kingdom stood at the absolute vanguard, their exhales billowing freezing mist that crystallized the ambient air around them.
Following from the Western flank, the Wind Kingdom contingent emerged. Their cultivators wore thin robes layered with greenish-white silk. They stepped soundlessly, their mortal shells nearly levitating weightlessly, as if the wind itself guided the soles of their feet. The Wind Kingdom team swept their gazes across the spectators with smiles brimming with absolute confidence.
From the East, a dense wave of aqueous energy seemingly escorted the arrival of the Water Kingdom’s legion. They marched with a tranquil yet unstoppable rhythm akin to oceanic tides, carrying a serenity that veiled a latent, devastating destructive yield.
Instantaneously, a colossal shadow eclipsed the arena. From the open sky above, a flock of gargantuan eagles dove sharply. Atop the backs of those feral avian beasts stood the elite combatants of the Sky Kingdom Team. Their silver robes fluttered fiercely, defying the wind. The spectators’ cheers crescendoed into absolute madness witnessing such a majestic aerial descent.
Suddenly, the temperature within the arena spiked drastically. The Southern Gate groaned open, radiating a blinding, blazing crimson light. The Fire Kingdom’s legion marched inside. Their bodies were engulfed in a radiating wave of searing heat that warped and distorted the air around them. Every single arrogant step they took seemingly challenged the dominion of every soul present in that domain.
Finally, the earth quaked with a slow, astronomically heavy rhythm. A legion clad in pitch-black armor from the Earth Kingdom marched in, resembling a moving mountain range. Their core team led at the vanguard, radiating an aura of an impenetrable, absolute aegis.
Atop the highest podium of honor, King Bawigan rose from his throne. He gripped his grand crystal sovereign staff tightly. As he resonated his voice with Qi, it boomed, sweeping across every microscopic corner of the arena.
”People of the six kingdoms across the continent! Today, our eyes shall bear witness to the genesis of a legend that will dictate the glory of a new generation! The six great kingdoms have arrived; six colossal pillars of power shall clash within this arena. Welcome our combatants with the absolute highest reverence, and let them spill their sweat and blood to prove the pride and honor of their respective kingdoms!”
The cheering echoed uncontrollably. The colossal banners of each kingdom were hoisted synchronously, and the morning sky was flooded by flashes of elemental magic detonating festively like cosmic fireworks.
In the ranks of the Ice Kingdom Team, Diyah and Julia stood side-by-side. The two exchanged glances with furrowed brows.
Diyah turned to Julia. “Julia, where did Onoke and Arsa disappear to?” she asked, realizing their formation was fractured.
”I have no idea. I am completely in the dark regarding their whereabouts,” Julia answered with a bewildered visage. She then swiveled her head to look at the rest of the team. “Have any of you caught a glimpse of those two this morning?”
”We haven’t seen a single shadow of them either,” Andin shook her head, her face painted with anxiety.
Once the opening parade concluded, all teams were directed to occupy their respective defensive base areas at the perimeter of the arena.
DUNG! DUNG! DUNG!
The Snow Horizon Arena quaked once more from the reverberations of a colossal bronze gong.
For this tournament, General Hameng was appointed as the Supreme Referee. Tens of thousands of spectators instantaneously held their breath, awaiting the edict from the General, who stood rigidly in the epicenter of the arena.
”People of the Six Great Kingdoms!” General Hameng roared, his voice cleaving the silence with absolute military authority. “Today, directly beneath the gazes of the Great Kings, we commence the Star Seal Cultivator Tournament to determine who is most worthy to ascend the throne of glory!”
The cheers detonated once more.
General Hameng raised a parchment scroll radiating a crystalline luminescence.
”Listen closely! Here are the draw results for the first preliminary round!” he proclaimed. “First Match: The Ice Kingdom versus the Wind Kingdom! Second Match: The Water Kingdom confronts the Sky Kingdom! And the Third Match: The Fire Kingdom challenges the Earth Kingdom!” The referee paused for a heartbeat, allowing the intonation of his voice to peak.
”The teams that claim victory in these three matches… will automatically advance to the semifinals! And to complete the four semifinal slots, the single best team among the defeated shall be handpicked directly by the judges’ council based upon combat spirit points and performance to receive the Wildcard ticket!” General Hameng elucidated, laying bare the absolute rules.
The arena exploded once more with applause, whistles, and roars of pride from the supporters.
”All teams involved in the First Match, prepare your lives. Five minutes from now, the bloodshed shall commence!” General Hameng declared before retreating to the referee’s boundary.
At the Ice Kingdom’s base, panic began to crawl into the mental fortitude of Diyah’s team.
”Dammit! What exactly are Onoke and Arsa scheming?! Where did they vanish to at a critical juncture like this?!” Julia muttered restlessly, her gaze relentlessly sweeping the empty entrance gates. She turned to Diyah, her visage brimming with tactical anxiety. “Diyah… what are your thoughts? We are short two primary personnel.”
Diyah drew a deep breath, allowing the freezing air to pacify her Qi circulation. Her expression remained as tranquil as the surface of a frozen lake, even though the crushing pressure of the tournament blatantly weighed upon her shoulders.
”If they have truly decided to be cowards and fail to show up, we will swallow our spit and face this match with the five of us,” Diyah answered with ironclad resolve. She then turned to Kahar, one of the reserve members. “Kahar, ready your weapon. From this exact second, you are officially drafted into the core team.”
Kahar clenched his fists tightly, his eyes blazing with overflowing pride and spirit. “As you command, Princess!” he roared loudly.
From the throne of honor on the upper podium, King Bawigan narrowed his eyes, harboring suspicion regarding his daughter’s fractured team formation.
”Tegra, there is an anomaly within Diyah’s team. Where are the other two core members? What exactly is transpiring?” he asked softly, yet demanding an absolute answer.
”It appears there has been a defection or an internal crisis, Your Majesty. Two of their combatants have yet to reveal themselves,” General Tegra answered, his jaw clenching.
King Bawigan merely offered a slight nod, concealing his wrath. “Very well. Let us witness exactly how long my daughters can survive without a complete formation.”
”First Match! Both teams, please enter the arena immediately!” General Hameng announced.
The spectators’ cheers peaked until they nearly shattered the ceiling as the Ice Kingdom Team and the Wind Kingdom Team strode forward and faced one another in the center of the arena. The colossal gong was struck three consecutive times, and a white flag was slashed fiercely downward.
The Battle Commences!
The Wind Kingdom Team seized the initiative for the first strike. Their mortal shells darted phenomenally lightly, the tips of their boots barely grazing the surface of the ice.
”Tornado Assault!” roared Meyer, their captain. He spun his blade with lunatic velocity, conjuring a colossal, raging wind vortex that swept across the ice tiles straight toward the Ice Kingdom Team’s formation.
”Ice Fortress!” Andin chanted without a sliver of hesitation. She slammed both palms onto the earth. Instantaneously, an ice wall as thick as cosmic steel jutted high into the heavens, intercepting the vortex of death. The feral winds battered the wall, generating a deafening screech of friction and microscopic fractures upon the ice’s surface, yet ultimately failed to breach it.
”Now! Execute the counterattack!” Julia screamed, assuming command. She, Suta, and Kahar synchronously vaulted forward, cleaving through the remnants of the tempest.
”Ice Fangs!” Kahar shrieked while driving his sword into the earth. From beneath the arena’s glacial layer, dozens of colossal ice fangs as sharp as spears jutted out and snaked rapidly like terrestrial vipers, hunting the feet of the Wind Kingdom warriors.
However, the mobility of the Wind Team was no mere myth. Their bodies spun nimbly, as if dancing atop the air currents themselves.
”Wind Stride!” Captain Meyer levitated mid-air, treading upon air molecules as if they were solid ground, effortlessly maneuvering to evade Kahar’s lethal ice impalements.
Another Wind knight surged forward to seize the momentum, raising his spear high. “Storm Spears!”
Hundreds of wind blades, as razor-sharp as scalpels, rained down, shimmering like a deluge of lethal light prepared to mince the arena below.
”Crystal Aegis!” Julia and Andin roared in absolute unison. The resonance of their combined technique instantaneously manifested a layered, pristine ice dome encapsulating the entire team. The rain of wind spears battered the aegis mercilessly, birthing thousands of mesmerizing sparks of light that utterly captivated the spectators’ eyes.
The roars from the tribunes grew increasingly mad witnessing the elemental clash.
Realizing the deadlock, Kahar shot forward once more, both of his eyes radiating a bluish luminescence. “Freezing Breath!” He unhinged his jaw and exhaled an exceedingly dense, freezing mist, enveloping half of the arena. The temperature plummeted drastically to absolute zero. The breaths of the Wind warriors began to hitch, visibly puffing white in the air.
”Do not let this mist blind our visibility! Dispel it!” Captain Meyer screamed with a panicked tone, realizing the mist was seeping into their lungs.
”Storm Breaker!” The remnants of the Wind Team rotated their formation, conjuring a massive tornado vortex to siphon and repel the freezing fog.
However, it was an absolute trap. The residual mist vapor clinging to the arena floor abruptly flash-froze, transmuting into a web of thin ice threads as sharp as wire. The moment the Wind warriors landed from their vaults, their legs were instantaneously ensnared and frozen fast to the floor.
”Ice Fortress!” Andin chanted, rapidly stacking layers of ice to permanently lock the enemies’ feet in place.
”Ice Laser!” Suta shrieked, concentrating his Qi to his fingertips and unleashing a barrage of sharp, azure beams that shattered their aerial defenses.
”Ice Breath!” Julia vaulted high and joined the assault, sending a freezing shockwave that paralyzed the remnants of their mobility.
That sequential combination assault thoroughly suppressed the Wind Team, freezing half of their mortal shells until they were absolutely incapable of maneuvering or evading.
”Now, Diyah! Eradicate them!” Julia roared, issuing the absolute command.
Diyah stepped forward with the grace of an ice goddess. Her gaze was as sharp as a predatory hawk’s. A golden-blue aura detonated, enveloping her entire mortal shell as she raised her Silver Spear level with her shoulder. She siphoned energy from the vortex of her Golden Star Seal.
”Sage… Spear!”
The silver spear rocketed forth, tearing from her grasp, cleaving the air resistance with supersonic velocity that left a streak of blinding light in its wake. The destructive assault slammed flawlessly into the epicenter of the frozen enemy formation. BLAARR! Its destructive yield not only pulverized the ice locking them down, but also triggered an explosive shockwave that swept up and blasted every single member of the Wind Kingdom Team out of the arena bounds.
The explosion of ice and dust echoed, bouncing off the stadium walls, followed by a momentary blanket of silence… before the cheers of tens of thousands of spectators finally erupted once more, tearing the heavens asunder.
”All opposing members are out of bounds! The absolute victor of the first match is… The Ice Kingdom Team!” General Hameng proclaimed the result with a resonant voice, pointing toward Diyah.
Every spectator from the Ice Kingdom rose from their seats, cheers of unadulterated pride echoing across every corner of the capital.
Julia broke into a light jog to approach Diyah’s side, a broad smile of absolute relief blooming on her beautiful visage. “Flawless work, Diyah! The destructive yield of your ultimate attack was a hundred times more devastating and precise than when we practiced yesterday,” she praised, proudly patting her best friend’s shoulder.
Diyah merely flashed a faint smile, still exhaling residual breath and restabilizing her violently churning meridian circulation.
Outside the arena, Meyer crawled back to his feet using the last dregs of his strength, grinding his teeth until they nearly cracked. Bastards… the explosive yield of that final attack was entirely beyond mortal logic. It is absolutely impossible that a team of our caliber could be humiliated this effortlessly by that vanguard of Ice Kingdom women… his soul raged, flooded by wrath and a shredded ego.
”The next match shall commence immediately! Will the next two teams please enter the arena!” General Hameng instructed, wasting no time.
From the Western gate, the Water Kingdom Team strode in with a tight, impenetrable formation. Their postures were towering and incredibly sturdy. The vast majority of them donned oceanic blue robes that glimmered, reflecting light like the ripples of waves. At the absolute vanguard, leading with supreme authority, was their Captain—Prince Raden. A massively built youth with muscles flowing as powerfully as a raging river current.
Opposite them, from the Eastern gate, the Sky Kingdom Team marched into the arena. They were clad in silver-white combat armor engraved with motifs of storm clouds. The Captain, Prince Nasse, possessed a slender, exceedingly athletic physique. His silver-white hair fluttered wildly, while his gaze appeared as frigid and sharp as the air at the peak of the highest mountain.
These two captains were prodigies of the continent; both had achieved the foundation of Eight Star Seals, dominated by a luminescence of pure azure.
General Hameng raised his hand. “Today, within this arena, it is not merely the capacity of your elemental magic that is tested, but also the endurance of your bones and the absolute determination of your hearts! Remember, only a single victorious team earns the right to advance!”
Both teams bowed, offering a ceremonial martial salute, then immediately dispersed to assume their combat stances.
The flag was slashed downward. The Second Match commenced!
Raden, the water prince, immediately took a step forward, surpassing his vanguard line. “Let me pave the path of this massacre. You all hold the line behind me,” he commanded his team. He stared dead ahead at Nasse across the arena.
Nasse responded by stepping lightly forward. His handsome visage displayed nearly zero ripples of emotion. “Let us resolve this as a one-on-one duel between captains first. Once one of us falls, only then may the teams intervene.”
Raden nodded in agreement. “An excellent proposition. Let us test our guts and our muscles.”
The crowd’s cheers abruptly died down, replaced by a suffocating tension as the two prodigious captains stood face-to-face in a one-on-one duel at the vortex of the arena’s center.
BAM! The clash detonated instantaneously. Raden opened the assault with a feral roar, his massive fist tearing through the air. “Torrential Current!” Raden’s right fist launched with the brutal force of a tsunami crashing against a reef. The air surrounding his knuckles vibrated as it compressed, generating a horrifying, thunderous boom.
Nasse did not retreat a single millimeter. He pivoted half his body, parrying that lethal punch with absolute surgical precision using his elbow, then retaliated with a blindingly fast, low sweeping kick aimed at Raden’s shin.
”Low Wind Stride!”
A violent collision of pure physical might erupted. BAM! The surface of the ice quaked furiously; microscopic fractures spiderwebbed beneath their boots. The spectators shrieked hysterically, witnessing such a high-tier physical exchange.
Raden pressed his advance relentlessly, his fists raining down alternating blows. His consecutive punches surged as rapidly as a storm surge, granting absolutely zero time to draw breath. “Wave Strike!”
Yet Nasse moved with phenomenal weightlessness. His mortal shell contorted, evading every single strike as if he were levitating in the air, even though the tips of his boots remained firmly planted upon the earth. Amidst that tempest of punches, Nasse ducked sharply, coiling his body like a spring, then launched a lethal, straight jab aimed directly at Raden’s solar plexus. “Wind Lightning Fist!”
The fatal collision was unavoidable. Raden’s massive frame was shoved two steps backward by the impact. However, instead of collapsing, the water prince immediately drew a long, deep breath. Miraculously, high-pressure, scalding hot water vapor billowed from every single pore of his skin.
”A formidable strike… but my heating engine has only just been ignited,” Raden chuckled, flashing a savage smirk.
Nasse rocketed forward again with illogical velocity. His fists vanished, transmuting into blurred phantoms. “Thousand Heavenly Strikes!”
Dozens of supersonic punches bombarded Raden’s defenses in a matter of seconds, their speed entirely imperceptible to the mortal eyes of the spectators in the tribunes.
Raden raised both of his thick arms, crossing a shield of flesh and bone to weather the onslaught. His body remained standing as immovable as bedrock amidst a hurricane. “Oceanic Tempest!”
With a single stomp that fractured the earth, Raden funneled his energy into the arena floor. A wave of aquatic energy radiated outward, conjuring splashes around him, which he instantaneously siphoned back into his mortal shell, pumping his muscles until they hardened beyond cosmic steel.
Now, every lightning-fast strike from Nasse was perpetually met with a counter-punch from Raden. The horrifying thuds of bone colliding against bone echoed endlessly throughout the arena, exactly akin to two colossal dragons violently colliding in mid-air.
The spectators in the tribunes screamed like lunatics.
”Absolutely phenomenal!!”
“The fists of those two are like pure steel smashing against one another!”
“Which monster will fall first?!”
Julia, now seated in the spectator stands alongside the Ice Kingdom team, could not tear her gaze away from her fiancé’s duel. “Raden’s raw physical power is truly insane… but Nasse’s velocity and agility are also absolutely impossible to lock down,” she commented, her eyes narrowed in tension.
”Yes… it is an exceedingly evenly matched battle,” Diyah nodded in agreement.
After several minutes of ceaseless, brutal brawling, Nasse vaulted backward a dozen meters. His visage still fought to maintain a tranquil facade, though his chest heaved as his breathing turned severely ragged. “Your bones are exceptionally hard, it seems, Raden.”
”Yes… Ever since I was brutally battered by Lord Ken the other day, the experience awakened me to my own pathetic weakness, forcing me to temper my physical endurance through absolute hell,” Raden confessed honestly, offering an indirect tribute to the monster who had forged him.
”Very well then, let us see if your bones can withstand this one.” Nasse lowered his posture drastically, clasping both hands together, then launched forward, tearing through the void. His fist was now aimed squarely at his opponent’s jaw with absolute destructive yield. “Heavenly Fist Cleaving the Storm!”
Witnessing death approaching, Raden harbored not a microscopic intent to evade. He drew his right arm far back, accumulating the absolute essence of the ocean into his fist, then slammed it straight forward to welcome the assault. “Oceanic Fist Devouring the Clouds!”
The two god-tier fists finally collided dead center in the arena. BLAAAAR! An explosion of pure physical energy detonated. The resulting shockwave shredded and pulverized the ice floor surrounding their footing, carving a massive crater with fissures snaking dozens of meters outward. Thousands of spectators simultaneously held their breath.
The explosive force blasted both of their bodies far backward. Raden dragged backward for five paces before successfully locking his heels into the earth. Meanwhile, Nasse was sent hurtling, tumbling across the ground, before finally forcing himself to crawl back up, his visage deathly pale as he endured the agonizing pain in his internal organs.
Realizing their captains were wounded, the remnants of each respective team exchanged instinctual glances. As if linked via wordless telepathy, they nodded and signaled a full-scale assault.
Now, the remaining five Cultivators from each kingdom shot forward, escalating the captain’s duel into absolute, total war.
The Water Kingdom Team forged a semi-circular, crescent formation. The movements of their hands and feet were exquisitely synchronized, akin to an unstoppable tidal wave. They surged forward with rhythmic strikes, their fists cloaked in dense, water-element auras that sliced the air.
The Sky Kingdom Team responded to the aggression with phenomenal maneuvering velocity. They moved in an erratic, scattered fashion, confounding the enemy’s blind spots, then synchronously dove straight into the heart of the enemy formation with spinning fists, resembling dozens of whirlwinds battering from every conceivable angle without mercy.
The arena was now transmuted into a theater of total war, saturated with flashes of energy, the thunderous thuds of blows, and groans of agony.
While the team members were busy locking each other in mortal combat, Raden and Nasse resumed the remainder of their death duel on the opposite side of the crater.
Nasse leapt and launched a lethal aerial kick aimed precisely at his opponent’s chest. However, Raden parried it by crossing both of his steel-hard arms. Capitalizing on the momentum, Raden pivoted his waist and drove a lower punch (uppercut), coated in the aura of a crashing wave, straight toward Nasse’s chin.
WHAM! Nasse was blasted into the air. With acrobatic reflexes, Nasse spun his body mid-air and landed in a crouch. Even though his legs wobbled and he nearly collapsed, he stared straight at Raden, wiped the blood from the corner of his lip, and flashed a faint smirk. “Incredible… but I am still drawing breath; I have not surrendered.”
Raden raised a single fist; his visage was flushed with exhaustion yet brimming with absolute resolve. “In that case, as a gesture of profound respect… let us conclude this entire charade with a single, ultimate, finishing strike.”
Nasse nodded. The two then stepped forward synchronously. Their fists no longer glowed with mesmerizing magical auras, but rather radiated a dense, suffocating luminescence—the result of their entire reserve of pure Qi energy and residual life force being compressed into a single knuckle.
”Ocean Sealing Fist!” Raden roared.
”Heaven Sealing Fist!” Nasse’s voice boomed in retaliation.
Their bodies shot forward and collided like two comets. The deafening sound of bone and flesh violently crashing echoed terribly, manifesting an air shockwave that silenced the very breaths of the spectators in the arena.
White dust from the ice debris billowed, obscuring the battlefield. Time seemed to freeze. As the thin smoke was slowly swept away by the wind, Raden’s silhouette could be seen still standing tall like a statue of absolute victory, even though both his knees trembled violently to endure the burden of his own mortal shell.
Meanwhile, before him, Nasse had collapsed to his knees upon the ice. The skin on his knuckles was torn and drenched in blood. His body’s entire nervous system shook severely, utterly incapable of forcing his legs to stand. Nasse had hit his absolute limit.
General Hameng leapt down into the arena, casting a fleeting glance at the remaining fighting soldiers, then raised his right hand high into the air. “The Sky Team has lost its command capacity! The absolute victor of the second match is… The Water Kingdom!!”
The arena, which had fallen silent, erupted once more into thunderous roars. The hysterical cheers of the spectators shook the heavens, celebrating the greatest duel of the morning.
Raden turned his head to look at Nasse, who was panting heavily beneath him. The massive youth lowered his martial stance, then bowed his head deeply to offer a martial salute. “You are an exceptionally formidable opponent, Sky Captain. An extraordinary clash of physical might.”
Nasse looked up. With the last dregs of energy he possessed, he returned the gesture with a faint smile brimming with profound respect. “It turns out your bones are astronomically harder than sea coral, Raden. Maintain those fists of yours… Do not allow yourself to lose humiliatingly in the impending semifinal round.”
The two captains extended their bruised hands to one another, pulled each other up, and walked side-by-side back to the edges of their respective teams.
In the tribune of honor, Diyah stared at that blood-soaked duel with a pair of eyes sparkling with profound evaluation. To think the two of them have already grown this powerful… the path I must traverse to secure the absolute zenith of this tournament will be exponentially more brutal than my previous calculations, she mused vigilantly.
General Hameng’s heavy baritone reclaimed dominion over the arena once more. “The third match shall commence immediately! Will the representatives of both teams prepare themselves and enter the arena!”
A few moments later, the colossal bronze gong was struck three consecutive times once again. Dung… Dung… Dung…
The spectators’ cheers, which were still boiling from the epic clash moments prior, abruptly subsided in a mysterious fashion, transmuting into curious whispers that rippled like waves across the tribunes. Every single pair of eyes was now locked dead ahead upon the central podium, waiting with bated breath for the final preliminary match.
General Hameng stood tall, puffing his chest as his voice boomed. “The Third Match! The sovereigns of the magma element, the Fire Kingdom… against the absolute fortress, the Earth Kingdom! To both teams, march forward into the epicenter of the arena immediately!”
Instantaneously, a searing heat crawled and saturated the stadium as the Fire Kingdom Team strode in. The moment the two teams stood facing one another at close proximity, the atmospheric pressure instantly turned suffocatingly grim. The waves of searing heat deliberately exhaled by the Fire Kingdom team boiled so fiercely that the visual perception of the air around them vibrated and distorted.
Conversely, the vanguard of the Earth Kingdom Cultivators appeared exceedingly agitated. Cold sweat the size of corn kernels began to drip profusely, drenching their foreheads, even though the core temperature within the ice arena was freezing. The murderous aura of intimidation radiating from the Fire Kingdom had thoroughly pulverized their mental fortitude before a single sword was even unsheathed.
General Hameng raised his right hand into the air, drawing a breath to signal the commencement of the carnage.
However, an event completely devoid of logic transpired. Suddenly, Prince Hedie, the captain of the Earth Kingdom Team, took two steps forward with a deathly pale, incredibly serious visage. He raised one hand high toward the referee, delivering a gesture of absolute surrender.
”Lord Referee! The Earth Kingdom Team… hereby officially declares absolute surrender! We forfeit and shall not raise our weapons to fight against the Fire Kingdom!” Hedie yelled, his voice trembling.
The colossal arena instantaneously erupted into absolute madness. Tens of thousands of spectators stood in sheer shock, showering Hedie with roars of protest, mockery, and pure disbelief at such a profoundly cowardly act.
General Hameng lowered his hand, glaring sharply straight through the youth’s eyes. “As the heir to the Earth throne, are you absolutely conscious and serious about this humiliating decision?!” he asked to confirm.
Hedie swallowed hard, nodding rigidly with a severely strained visage. “Yes… We are acutely aware and perfectly comprehend the exact location of the precipice of our demise. It is far better that we walk out of this arena with our heads held high, retaining the remnants of our pride and the lives within our bodies, rather than rotting to die a meaningless death beneath the soles of their boots.”
Hearing that pathetic confession, Fredy—the captain of the Fire Kingdom Team—laughed exceedingly softly. The sound of his laughter was heavy and coarse, resembling the crackling of burning charcoal detonating within a hearth.
”Hmph… an exceptionally brilliant decision. It is excellent that your narrow brain is finally capable of realizing your position on the food chain, Hedie,” Fredy mocked. He stared at his adversary with a gaze of unadulterated condescension, as if looking down upon a microscopic insect. “Thanks to your submissive attitude, my vanguard is spared the effort of dirtying this arena with the ashes of your pulverized bones.”
The elite Fire soldiers behind Fredy joined in, erupting into vile laughter; their arrogant cheers exponentially multiplied the mental burden crushing the residual pride of the Earth Team.
General Hameng raised his hand once more, utilizing his Qi to ensure his voice pierced through the cacophony of the spectators’ jeers. “With the unilateral decision of forfeiture from the Earth Kingdom Team, the Third Match is hereby declared concluded without resistance! The absolute victor is… The Fire Kingdom Team!”
The gong was struck a single time. Its resonance this time felt discordant and exceptionally heavy, saturated by the bitter disappointment of the unsatisfied spectators, interwoven with an aura of terror regarding the peerless, unrivaled dominion of the Fire Kingdom.
Once the official verdict was cast, the members of the Earth Kingdom Team lowered their heads deeply, dragging their feet backward slowly, exiting the arena while bearing a lifelong humiliation.
In the center of the arena, the Fire Kingdom Team stood tall, puffing out their chests. Fredy pivoted his body slowly, glaring arrogantly toward the VIP spectator tribunes. His voice boomed, overflowing with absolute menace. “Open your eyes and look closely! There is not a single entity on this continent capable of standing to obstruct our path! This sweat-free victory is merely an opening greeting. Whosoever dares to attempt to block our path in the semifinals later, prepare to be incinerated to ashes down to the absolute core of your souls!”
That open threat was directed specifically at the ice palace’s tribune. Diyah clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned bone-white, her sharp gaze locking onto Fredy’s visage in the arena below. “The power of the Fire Kingdom… they are truly the most barbaric and lethal adversaries we must butcher in this tournament,” Diyah hissed through gritted teeth.
Hearing Fredy’s arrogant oration, Andin snorted harshly, her lips curling into a cynical smirk overflowing with mockery. “Bah! Just look at the hubris of that red monkey, acting as if he is some invincible god. Has his brain suffered amnesia? He nearly wet his pants from the brink of death when he was brutally pulverized by Lord Ken just a few days ago! Hahaha, he is truly a brainless clown.”
Julia stepped forward, gently resting a hand upon Diyah’s shoulder. Her voice sounded tranquil yet harbored a blazing conviction. “Pacify your emotional circulation, Diyah. Remember, we have bled and sweat to cultivate this far, not to tremble before a barking dog. Place absolute faith in this: when we descend into that arena later, we shall freeze their arrogance together.”
In the highest tribune, concealed within the shadows, Ken—who had been sitting cross-legged in absolute silence the entire time—stared dead ahead with an astronomically more lethal gaze directed at Fredy. Within the abyssal silence of his soul, an oath of death was carved.
That blazing inferno of arrogance… savor the remnants of your hubris. Sooner or later, I shall personally rip out your heart and extinguish it for all eternity, Ken vowed in absolute silence.
The arena’s uproar, initially rioting with mockery and cheers, now gradually began to subside, yet the residual embers of the spectators’ combat spirit continued to blaze brightly, awaiting the continuation of the event. General Hameng stepped forward once more, occupying the central position atop the ice stone podium. His baritone voice once again mesmerized the ears of every corner of the Horizon Arena.
”Ladies and Gentlemen! With the conclusion of today’s blood-soaked preliminary rounds, our eyes have borne witness to just how horrifying the absolute limits of power are among the new generation from the six great kingdoms!” Hameng roared. “Now, the time has arrived for me to announce the formation of those who have earned the right to slaughter one another in tomorrow’s quarter-finals! And, based upon an evaluation of spectacularly breathtaking combat performance, the fourth slot—the Wildcard path—is legally bestowed upon… The Sky Kingdom Team! They officially enter to complete the final four!”
The cheers from the thousands of spectators belonging to the Sky Kingdom faction erupted once more, as if a fresh injection of cosmic adrenaline had just saturated the freezing air.
General Hameng permitted the euphoria to linger for a moment before proceeding to announce the match brackets with a booming voice. “The Semifinal Matches, where lives shall be wagered, will resume exactly tomorrow morning! And here are the draw results for the match order! The First Match: The Host, the Ice Kingdom… shall clash its might against the Water Kingdom! And for the Second Match: The Sky Kingdom Team… shall seek vengeance by confronting the Fire Kingdom!”
Screams of support and piercing whistles instantaneously shattered eardrums, filling the air. The vast majority of the spectators in the tribunes began arguing and dissecting analyses, debating the survival probability percentages and strategic clashes of their respective favored teams.
On the combatants’ bench, Julia instinctively grasped Diyah’s hand tightly. Her eyes sparkled with combat enthusiasm, yet residual tension could not be veiled from the corner of her lips. “Diyah… destiny is truly cruel. We will descend to face the Water Kingdom. In my entire life, I never once fathomed that one day I would be forced to raise my sword against my own fiancé, Raden.”
Andin, on the contrary, pounded her chest with a clenched fist, radiating an aura of supremely confident arrogance. “Then that is absolutely excellent! The more torrential the ocean currents that crash against us, the harder and more impregnable our walls of ice shall freeze to annihilate them!”
Diyah did not respond with words. She merely offered a slow nod, her sapphire-blue eyes glaring sharply toward the tribune of the Water Kingdom’s contingent on the opposite side.
The Element of Water shall be pitted against the Element of Ice. Tomorrow… this battle is purely a test of who possesses the more unyielding resolve. We cannot afford a single microscopic sliver of carelessness on our side, Diyah mused, locking her absolute focus upon tomorrow’s tournament of death.
A devastating strike upon the colossal gong reverberated once more; its echo was long and solemn, marking the official closure of the tournament’s first day. Tens of thousands of spectators gradually rose and dispersed, abandoning the tribunes, yet the remnants of their martial spirit and the tension of impending slaughter remained, churning and seeping deep into the ice pillars of the arena.
Tomorrow… the Snow Horizon Arena was absolutely guaranteed to mutate back into an authentic, hellish battlefield.