It was the third day of the tournament. The gallery was packed to the brim to witness the fights between 8 of the strongest fighters in the academy.

The preliminaries began. James and Gus stood on the stands, they had lined up early for the front view as they wanted to watch the fights from up close.

There was only 1 ring in the stadium today. A protective formation was laid out on the perimeters of the stage to prevent harm to the spectators due to fights.

4 fights were going to take place but James was most excited in the first 2 fights. The 1st fight was between 2 fifth years, one of whom was known as the strongest fighter in the entire academy and the 2nd fight had a fourth year against a fifth year.

The headmaster gave the signal to begin the event and the fighters came up on stage.

"The one on the left is Senior Edward and the one on the right Senior Warren and they're both Emerald realm fighters! This match is going to be amazing! " exclaimed Gus.

" Senior Edward is known as the number 1 genius in the academy. He is said to be the strongest in the entire academy while Senior Warren is ranked 3rd. " said someone in the crowd.

" Begin! " said the referee and the two cultivators charged at each other's throats.

A green aura emitted from both of them as they fought each other. Both practiced the ways of the sword.

Their swords met as they fought. James and Gus had trouble following their movements as they used movement techniques battling at a fast speed.

Warren was barely able to keep up. He clenched his teeth and his aura rose up. Infusing the blade and his surroundings with qi he conjured up several images of himself creating an illusion.

"It's senior Warren's Doppelganger Technique! "said someone from the crowd.

Even James could not find the real one amongst these illusions. He had read about this technique in the library. The technique used the concepts of bending the light with qi reflecting and creating multiple images of oneself.

Edward only smirked at the display and flew up raising his sword. Suddenly his aura exploded as a terrifying force engulfed the stadium. His sword gleamed a white light and multiple energy beams appeared beside him.

"Not bad Warren but your illusions have no effect on me. Let me show how my 'Meteor Falls' destroys you and your doppelganger! " said Edward in a raised voice.

James looked at the display in a awe. There were numerous energy beams beside the sword and as the sword directed down towards the stadium the energy beams flew down crashing on the ring.

Seeing the approaching danger Warren quickly infused qi on his body creating a protective layer.

'Boom' 'Boom' 'Boom', the beams hit the ring creating explosions as it smashed on the ground and on the illusions. The entire ring was filled with smoke with Edward levitating in the air looking down like a war god.

As the dust cleared, all eyes were on the ring. Warren stood with his hand covering his head, his clothes tattered and many bruises could be seen on his body.

"You sure are merciless Edward" said Warren as he looked up at his opponent.

"Give up " replied Edward

" Haha. Not this easily!"

Warren's aura suddenly shot up and a bull's image conjured behind him.

"It's a Tor Bull! Senior Warren's Beast Mark is surprisingly a Peak Azure realm spirit beast! "

Cultivators can form a beast mark after they have reached mid stage of Azure realm. Using a sealing technique a cultivator can hunt a specific beast and with the technique can seal it's power claiming it for himself.

A mark is formed on the right wrist which is known as the beast mark. Using the mark the cultivator will be able to utilize the power of the spirit beast which has been sealed.

Warren's body suddenly buffed as his muscles started to grow larger.

"Not bad Warren, however, that is of no use! "

A golden energy surrounded Edward and a huge lion conjured behind him.

" It's the Golden Lion! An early Emerald stage spirit beast!! No wonder senior Edward didn't make hunt for a beast mark when he reached mid Azure realm! "

Cultivators can form 3 beast marks each after reaching the mid stages of Azure, Emerald and Carmine realm. If a cultivator fails to make a mark in any of the realms and advances to the next, he will lose the chance of possessing a beast mark and will only be able to get 2 instead of 3 marks in his life.

This meant that Edward had trained till the peak stage and had hunted an Emerald realm spirit beast! His title of number 1 in the academy was no joke.

Warren charged at Edward who just stood there in the air waiting for his opponent.

The ground from where Warren had stood cracked and broke apart as he leaped in the air.

"Well let's see how you take my Tor Fist on first! "

Red violent qi surged from Warren and charged at Edward as the fist neared him. The attack was infused with the power of the Tor Bull.

Edward just smiled and caught the fist with his right hand shocking the audience. He didn't use any techniques nor any special method. He simply caught the fist just like it was any other attack.

Warren stood stunned in the air, eyes wide looking at Edward.

"Told you it's useless. Your bull isn't the only beast that can strengthen the body. "

" I faced yours so now face mine"

With a sinister expression Edward shouted,

"Roar if the Golden Lion! "

A huge amount of golden energy collected in front of Edward and shot like a beam towards Warren hitting him directly.

A huge explosion occurred and as the smoke cleared up a body fell down on the stage.

Warren's body lay on the ground, deep gashes could be seen from which blood poured out. If it weren't for the enhancement from the Tor Bull's power he might have perished.

James gulped at the sight. He understood today that fights between cultivators were ruthless.

Edward was proclaimed as the winner and he advanced to the semi finals while medics took care of Warren. His injuries were deep but it was something that could be fixed in a short period of time. So he didn't suffer much as his condition seemed to be.

With the current achievements in the field of Medicine, as long as the person was breathing his body could be repaired from fixing torn limbs to regenerating new ones in just a few days. Hence, Warren's injuries were not that difficult to heal.

The next fight was the one James had been eagerly waiting for. It was between the number 1 genius of the 4th years and a fifth year fighter. This 4th year fighter had reached the end of the band and had challenged above his class reaching the quarter finals.

"Finally it's senior Mark's turn. The only 4th year in the top 8!" said James as he looked towards the stage.

In the ring now stood two fighters.

"Mark, Lester are you both ready? " asked the referee.

Both fighters nodded in response.

" Begin! "

Lester took out a gun and shot at Mark and shot at the ground below him. Mark dodged the qi bullet and charged at Lester however he could not approach him as a shield formed around Lester.

Gunners did not have advantage in close ranged fights so they used various arrays to shield themselves to maintain a gap between them and their preys and to keep them protected.

The gun apart from firing qi infused energy shots could also be used to fire various arrays towards a target. This was one of the main reasons why Gunners where held in regard and not sidelined as they were very beneficial in group hunts.

Gunners could easily shoot a protective array on a comrade saving him from an incoming attack or harm the enemy from afar. They could also shoot traps and could be used to send signals.

Highly experienced Gunners could also shoot homing qi bullets towards a target.

As mark saw that he was unable to hit Lester, Lester jumped in the air and shot a flame bullet at Mark. The shot hit the target lighting up Mark in flames.

Mark threw away his shirt and surrounded his body with a layer of protective qi. Mark was known as the number 1 genius in the 4th years because not only was he the strongest but also because he fought without the use of any weapons solely with martial arts.

He practiced a body cultivation technique and close quarter combat. Against a ranged expert he was clearly at a disadvantage from afar unless he bridged the gap between them and destroyed the Gunner's array.

To make matters worse Lester shot a smoke bullet on the ground covering the ring in smoke. He then proceeded firing non stop in the area were Mark stood.

However, much to his horror a punch came suddenly and smashed the shield to bits with a kick took his stomach sending him back flying. He had underestimated his opponents skill.

Mark being a close ranged fighter had trained himself to fight in situations where he had to rely on his senses alone. Fighting in the presence of smoke was no challenge to him instead gave him an opportunity as the Gunner was blinded by his own smoke and couldn't dodge mark in time.

The Gunner got up and a deep blue aura covered him. A Flame Salamander conjured behind him. It was a peak realm Azure beast which was Lester's beast mark. He pointed his gun infusing it huge amounts of red qi.

"Not bad for a junior I must say. But can your defense hold up against my Flame Dynamite? You won't be able to dodge as it is a homing shot. " smirked Lester as he looked at Mark.

The gun grew bright red and with a huge bang a large energy bullet shot towards Mark striking him. A huge explosive sound was heard as flames covered the ring and a smoke went up in the air.

The audience looked towards the stage in anticipation.

But contrary to Lester's beliefs when the smoke cleared, he saw Mark standing there with a black armor covering his entire being. An image of huge tortoise conjured behind him.

"Senior Mark has a Rock Tortoise Beast Mark! " shouted someone from the crowd.

Rock Tortoise were peak Azure realm beasts whose speciality lay in its defense. The mark gained from it gave the cultivator a protective armor around his body. It's armor could protect the user against any Azure realm beasts attack and even some early stage Emerald realm beast attacks.

Lester was flabbergasted at the sight. A gunner had a huge disadvantage which was the lack of qi. In a fight spanning for a long time a gunner would eventually lose due to running out of qi as every shot required infusing qi inside the gun. He had also run out qi and had didn't have much remaining.

He knew he wouldn't win and so he raised his hand.

"I never expected you had such a strong defense. Really worthy to be called the number 1 4th year genius. I concede"

With that the match ended with Mark announced as the winner. James had learned a lot from the 2 matches he saw today.

He now knew that he could not be lenient when he fought as his enemy would never go easy on him and that it didn't matter what power one had but it mattered how the person used it.

Senior Mark's beast mark though gave him a very strong armor but it was just that. Apart from the armor it gave no other benefit to the user which was also the reason why it wasn't very popular amongst cultivators.

However, by honing his martial arts and with the help of his armor senior Mark became a powerhouse beating even 5th years and reaching the semi finals.

James understood that it was the way in which power was used made it formidable and not the power itself. This sudden realization sparked something inside of James.

He got up immediately and headed out of the stadium. Gus seeing this was puzzled and called out to him,

"Hey aren't you going to watch the other 2 matches? Even the semis are left after this! "

" I am sorry Gus but I feel something surging within me. I need to go back" James looked back, determination flashed in his eyes.

Gus understood him as he saw his eyes. He smiled and said,

" Looks like my friend will be breaking through the Azure realm before me. You sure are lucky to have gained an insight here just by watching the battle. Goodluck! "

James nodded and quickly left the crowd arriving outside the coliseum. He took out his hover disc from his ring and went off towards his dorm.

Inside the room, James sat meditating. He felt a huge fluctuation of energy inside him. While meditating he felt that the qi inside him was collecting, solidifying and molding itself in the centre of his body.

He meditated and guided the qi from various parts of his body towards his centre. After an unknown period of time the energy inside him started running rampantly in the centre as it molded and solidified and with huge bang a core in the shape of a crystal condensed inside.

A light aura the color of Azure covered James's entire being as he sat on the floor. His body was covered in sweat but his face had a calm expression. He opened his eyes and a smile crept up his face as he looked around himself.

He had finally broken through to the Azure realm laying the foundation of his martial cultivation.

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Notes- Here is today's chapter. The next chapter will be posted tomorrow as usual. I just finished writing it actually. So if you find any mistakes or have any suggestions do comment and tell. I must say though that writing sure is hard specially xianxia type novels where I need to stretch my tiny imagination to conjure up names and stuff :( welp it's my first try as a novelist so I hope I keep improving to provide you a quality read:)