“It’s finally starting,” Lin Yun slowly rose to his feet.
“Lin Yun, don’t put too much pressure on yourself, just give it your all, even if you lose, there’ll be no regrets,” the sect leader advised.
“Mm, but I won’t give up easily either,” Lin Yun’s eyes sparked with anticipation.
Lin Yun loved a challenging fight!
No matter how strong his opponent was, they’d top out at Third-Order Mahayana Realm, per the tournament rules: under three hundred years old, and no higher than Tribulation Realm, so even the top contestants were Third-Order Mahayana at best.
Lin Yun fit the bill perfectly, so the sect leader never bothered mentioning that rule.
Of course, with the under-three-hundred age cap, Tribulation Realm was rare anyway.
With a manageable realm gap, it came down to who had more tricks, deeper trump cards, and sharper mastery of their skills!
Then, he leapt straight onto the arena.
“Sect Leader, what’re Lin Yun’s odds of taking the crown?” Elder Mei gazed at Lin Yun’s departing figure.
“Winning the crown’s too tough, that Wang Luo’s strong, and Lin Yun’s played all his cards,” the sect leader sighed.
…
The dark horse Wang Luo, soared toward the arena too.
“The final match, a dark horse showdown, bloody brilliant.”
“No clue which of these two will snag the title, can’t wait to see.”
As they stepped up, the crowd buzzed with chatter, a dark horse clash naturally piqued everyone’s interest.
Betting for this match kicked off.
Opinions split hard on which dark horse would win.
More backed Wang Luo, though, his higher realm a clear edge.
Betting split decently between the two.
At the Wanderer’s spot.
“I’m still betting on my lad, it’s support, win or lose, I’m backing him to the end!” the Wanderer vowed.
“Wanderer, you old dog, don’t you love a flutter with me? How about a private bet? I say Lin Yun loses! Ten million spirit crystals—if he wins, I pay you ten million, if he loses, you pay me, dare you?” Di Yong grinned.
The Wanderer’s eye twitched at the sum, “Ten million? Di, you old mutt, that’s daylight robbery!”
Ten million spirit crystals, win or lose, was no small change.
“You’re so confident in your disciple, eh? Just say if you dare!” Di Yong chuckled.
“Wanderer, ten million’s no joke, think it over!” Du Yuanzi cautioned from the side.
“Du Yuanzi, don’t bother, I’m taking Di’s bet, life’s about guts, even if I lose, it’s a cheer for my lad!” the Wanderer swore.
…
Up front.
“Folks, which of these dark horses takes it?” the suave immortal sipped his wine, musing.
“Tough call, I’d lean toward Wang Luo, he beat the leaderboard’s top dog, his strength’s solid, I’ll bet on him,” one said.
“Not so fast, Lin Yun took down number two, didn’t he? He’s been underestimated every match, yet pulls off miracles, I’ve got hopes for him here, I’m betting on him!” another countered.
…
The immortals split opinions.
Even Emperor Xingwu couldn’t call the winner.
On the arena.
“Finally facing you, been looking forward to this for ages,” Wang Luo flashed a grin.
“Same here, us two dark horses, only one can stand at the end! Time to settle who’s the real deal,” Lin Yun grinned back.
Wang Luo shrugged, “No suspense there, you’re the one going down, beating you rounds off my tournament perfect.”
He said it breezy, like crushing Lin Yun was a done deal.
“That confident, eh? You’re strong, no doubt, but don’t sleep on me, watch you don’t trip up, you’ll need real juice to take me out,” Lin Yun kept smiling.
“Haha,” Wang Luo laughed loud.
“You two, this is the Ten Thousand Flowers Tournament final, I declare, match begins!” the referee announced.
Wang Luo drew a deep green spear.
Knives and swords, most common weapons, spears came next in popularity.
His pick from the imperial treasury yesterday, a Saint Spirit-grade weapon, its edge: insane piercing power, Lin Yun had scoped his last two fights, getting a rough read on his moves.
Wang Luo gripped the spear with both arms, green light wrapping it.
“Lin Yun, here it comes!”
The spear, with terrifying force, thrust like a dragon from the water, its tip tearing space, bearing down on Lin Yun, splitting the air around it!
Facing Wang Luo’s strike, Lin Yun didn’t dare slack, his sword met it head-on, Taixu Power Tenth Layer, Godly Second-Tier Divine Sense, Mystery Fusion, all erupted!
Their weapons clashed, raw, fierce strength pouring through from Wang Luo’s spear.
Lin Yun, jolted back, but took no real damage, thanks to Saint Spirit-grade Taixu Body Refining Tenth Layer, his defence outstripped even Third-Order Mahayana by a mile.
These genius types had body refining arts and matching techniques too, but theirs topped out at godly-tier, and their mastery lagged behind Lin Yun’s.
Against Wang Luo, Lin Yun leaned on Taixu Body Refining and its Taixu Power edge to close the realm gap, with normal foes, divine sense could bridge it too.
But these prodigies, their divine sense was top-notch, especially Wang Luo, climbing this far, beating heavy hitters, his skills shone across the board, his divine sense even edged Lin Yun’s slightly, no advantage there.
Even with Taixu Power, Lin Yun got pushed back, couldn’t fully close the gap, Wang Luo’s refining art wasn’t far off Lin Yun’s.
Whoosh.
Wang Luo’s spear pierced the void, a relentless storm raining on Lin Yun!
“Lin Yun, your defence is solid, dealing with you’s a bit tricky, time to crank it up!”
His spear’s power surged, striking like a venomous snake at Lin Yun.
Demon Bone, erupt!
Lin Yun’s arm bulged instantly, like it’d been juiced up, a terrifying force bursting wild from his bones.
With that raw power flooding out, Lin Yun’s sword flared with might.
Under every eye, the two glowing weapons clashed again!
