On the other hand, the dragon patriarch did not break the table due to anger. It might have seemed that way since he was shaking and a dragon's facial expressions were different from a human. In fact, he was shaking in anticipation. He saw through his champion's thoughts and knew what was in his mind at the moment. The thing his champion was going for...It was pure genius!

He ended up laughing vigorously before addressing one of his guests: "Marshall Xilong, what do you think about him?"

Another dragon sentient sitting at a table behind him pondered for a moment before answering: "Ingenious. His method might work"

The patriarch laughed some more before he asked him: "Do you think he would be worth saving for the future of our clan?"

The Marshall understood the hidden meaning. His Patriarch was asking him if it was worth it to exchange lifespan for him... It was a difficult question. Especially if you took into account what previously happened. If he said yes and the patriarch ordered him to spend his lifetime...Wouldn't Shalonna just suck his lifespan dry? Then again, that dragon was truly talented. He was probably without equal in his generation. Especially the fact that he merged opposite elements so flawlessly. It was a talent that shouldn't be lost. Still, if you asked him if it was worth him sacrificing his life, he would say 'no' without hesitation.

He tried to express his feeling as best he could: "He is certainly talented, Patriarch. Probably without equal amongst his generation. But then again, how many geniuses do we dragons have in our ranks? One more or one less won't change any tides"

The patriarch nodded. He understood what his Marshall meant. He is good enough that he could be worth saving but not with our lifespans. The patriarch's voice boomed within the grand hall: "Buying a hundred years of lifespan! Your price shall be mine as long as it is fair!"

No one listened to him. Sell their lifespans? Impossible. No one here was foolish enough to do so. Treasures could be bought but time could not. The Patriarch sighed and asked the other two generals he brought along: "Any of you willing to pay for his life?"

They both shook their heads sideways as they remained silent.

He sighed again as he muttered: "A shame, a shame. If I knew, I would have picked another one to send out there..."

At the same time, Saint Shalonna clicked her tongue. She lost an opportunity to earn more lifespan it seemed. Well, she had more than enough and could always get more through her minions. They were all brainwashed...*cough*...very loyal to her.

That being said, while they were brave and quite strong, they had problems too. They weren't that smart and tended to be quite rash. Just like this particular knight who was rather impulsive. She noticed the dragon's plan long ago as well. She did not worry about it too much. While her knight clearly hadn't noticed shit, she believed in his ability to deal with it when it came at him. In front of true power, tricks were meaningless. The only danger over there was that gourd. Her knight would likely not even try to dodge if it was aimed at him. She was quite curious to see what would happen. Anyways, this trial was no more than a bonus stage for her. She was already a Saint and certain to reach the End Point as long as she tried to. If she won, she would make herself another treasured weapon of the seventh grade. If she lost, whatever.

She was the only one who was only half into it. The others were stressed. It couldn't compare to what the fighters felt though. Especially Dae-Jung. He was being focused on by two others and they were strong. He was running out of energy and the barrier was breaking...It was his last one.

There weren't many more options left. He still had one charge in the gourd. He would use it to slow them down, sealing again that fucker with the weird arm. He would make use of the gap to go to the other side and tried to use the knight and the dragon to block the space manipulator. That's what he planned to do.

However, things don't always go your way.

!CRACK!

A disgusting black and red arm extended towards him as soon as the barrier fell. He hurriedly pointed the gourd that way and activated it. The beam hit true. In the middle of the open palm. However, he did not expect the entire hand to be discarded and fall down while a new one sprouted and continued on its way to him. He cursed as he felt the weird substance that arm was made of enter into contact with his own. He felt an horrible pain and didn't hesitate to chop off his own arm in order to retreat.

It wasn't going to be so easy though as another man appeared to his side. Some kind of hook was reaching towards his head at breakneck speed... The last thing he saw was his entire body headless from a weird angle. The hook went through without stopping and beheaded him. A massive fountain of blood erupted. However, neither Min-Su nor Jin nor the other two cared. Jin and Min-Su distanced themselves from one another and began to observe the other battle.

...

As it happened, many experts reacted strongly. Hae-Hyuk screamed joyfully, not able to keep it within himself. Cao Lei roared and jumped out of his seat towards him, ready to fight to the death. He was blocked and pushed down onto the ground by Saint Patron Bôrakos who whispered him the rules of the sacred grounds. It did not calm him one bit though he stopped emitting energy.

On the other hand, Isla did not hesitate to berate him and mess with him some more, fueling the fire.