Sihala gave the second ranker a look of despise, and muttered, “I will do it myself.”

The slighted duellist whispered a snarky reply under his breath, “Attacking, defending, dodging, or even running away. None of them works. What do you expect me to do after entering the arena? Dance? All your advice are crap anyway. If you’re that great, go and take him down yourself.”

The top ranker of their academy gave him a snort then entered the arena wordlessly.

“Kairos Astroire. You are an interesting one. I challenge you to a duel. If you are feeling tired, you can accept it three days later, but I hope you do not baulk and forfeit.”

“You’re overthinking it. I accept your challenge.”

Sihala’s eyebrow twitched at Kairos’ reply. To go through nine of the top rankers, and fight him right away without a rest is very much an insult.

Granted, he might be the only one in the academy with the calibre to think this way.

The announcer was thrilled at their short exchange. He cleared his throat then excitedly declared, “Ladies, gentleman, and friends, today I am proud to present to you the battle of the century!

On the east side is Sihala Huluhuala! Blessed son of the Free Factions, the Chosen One, and the prophesied hero of Saint Empire!

At the age of six, he deciphered the ancient Emperor Leo cultivation method when countless predecessors failed. It is a rare manual that had lost its correct practice method thousands of years ago. Many of you might not know, but through a reliable source, I had heard that the reason was that cultivators with this foundation technique are too frightening and thus others band and wiped out anyone with the Emperor Leo technique until there left only a few pieces of incomplete manuscripts.

Why frightening? If a practitioner with multiple affinities cultivates it, for every different element he masters, his strength will increase a fold.

He could be as much as sixteen times stronger than those his rank!

Countless grandmasters researched ways to restore it because it was foretold that the one who succeeds will one day become the greatest hero of our land, but none had enough talent until the Chosen One, Sihala came along.”

Most people nodded in admirable but hardly shown any surprise. Only those like Kairos who had been living under a rock were genuinely shocked.

“Aisa, isn’t that cultivation technique really strong? Could our Origin method compare to it?”

Ehhh?! What is Kairos saying?~ Silly… how can it be compared to your cultivation method? Increasing cultivation strength by the number of elements mastered is a basic function of entry-level techniques you know?

“Basic… That’s considered basic!?”

Yepps! It’s not as if training in many different elements make you superior. There are plenty of powerful people who reach the top by focusing on one element, you know?

“Rrright…”

Compared to getting a measly boost like this loser dog cultivation method, most top-level fighters prefer to go for special skills that will aid in combat. Just like your Veritable Eyes and Heart’s Echo abilities appeared for you.

A look at revelation surfaced on Kairos’ face.

He always had wondered about how his ocular ability, and the recently acquired spirit-talking ability, originate from. His manuscript did not mention anything except its practice method. The stage of competency he is at with it is unknown as well, but he could guess that it is separated by the type of extrasensory ability he unlocked.

The first stage must be Soul Perception. The second is Veritable Sight. Then the third is Heart’s Echo. Afterwards, there are still Divine Touch, God’s Tongue, and Heaven’s Scent to unlock for touch, taste, and smell.

He shared his thoughts with Aisa, asking for confirmation, and the little dragon purred slightly.

“Aisa, what about the others that practice the Origin Manuscript with me? Except for Soul Perception, I don’t see them unlocking similar abilities?”

Uhuh~ That's cus' Kairos made it unique. The Origin Cultivation Method is now different for everybody. Aisa is really looking forward to what special abilities everyone will develop.

The copies given had been tailored accordingly to the receiver. It may be the same cultivation method but the meaning is different to each person, and thus each journey in the way of Dao is unique.

The announcer seemed satisfied at the respectful silence, and he continued introducing Sihala, “At the age of seven, he achieved Perfected Mastery on both the White Crane fist and the Snow Bear claw martial arts. For those of you who do not know, these two techniques are both world-class skills commonly used by Great Generals. At the age of eight, he created the Raijin step technique; a Titan ranked Huang grade martial art that rivals the White Crane and the Snow Bear.

After he had an early enrolment into Saint Cadets Academy at age ten, he redesigned his self-made technique to become Xuan grade and entered the second year as the top of his class. At eleven, he fought into the top ten ranks in the combat tournament. At twelve, he was declared tournament champion that year and made the successor to the Free Factions martial leader by the unanimous decision of the Ten Great Clans.

Now fourteen, our youngest final year student president had revealed to us earlier in the tournament that his Raijin Technique had been remastered to the illustrious Earth Grade. Our second-time reigning champion, winning all 321 battles and currently ranked 1st of 522 places, once again aims for the top to prove that he is undisputedly the best!”

Although the news about Sihala is already widely known, the announcer still easily riled the crowd into great cheers. He played the emotions of his audiences like a lute, then when they reached the fermata he delivered them a crescendo to end his performance, “Over at the west side is Kairos Astroire, the dark horse of this year! There had not been many who reached top ten in the combat tournament in their second year, and fewer still that are challenging for the top position. With one draw, 300 victories and no defeats, he stands at the position of the 2nd rank in 522 places!

Keep in mind how fast he burned through the top ten to get to his position. Or, should I say, can you even get that image out of your mind?

A speed demon, both in climbing the ranks and on the battlefield.

He is the prodigy that created numerous artisan and business miracles, and now we welcome him to create another one here in our arena! To prove himself more than a theorist.

If both contestants are ready, we shall begin without further ado!”

The announcer excitedly declared the fight to start, and Sihala walked menacingly towards Kairos. A direct show of challenge, as he approached.

Up against this opponent, Kairos did not charge forward as he did against the previous duellists. He knows that it would be reckless against someone with the title of the Chosen One. Sihala’s overwhelming fighting spirit was almost suffocating, but compared to those he had fought before it wasn’t anything that could affect him. Out of curiosity, Kairos activated his Veritable Sight for the energy reading ocular ability, and he saw a tremendous power coursing through Sihala’s body.

“Double S at fourteen? What a monster! Did he start cultivating in his mother’s womb?”

His opponent isn’t just superior in cultivation, but also a genius that could defeat enemies well above his rank. The number of stars he had was only one, but Kairos highly doubted it to be an actual assessment of Sihala’s strength.

Kairos was secretly relief that he did not approach carelessly. Without using mana infusion to reach his full power, it would be dangerous to jump right in and most likely he will be subdued before he knew.

Sihala, on the other hand, strode over with swift but confident steps. His presence on the battlefield became increasingly oppressive, but the fearsome oppressiveness seemed to calm and disappear when nearing Kairos. It was as though he was pouring lava into the sea.

Just as Sihala deduced, Kairos did not back off from his challenge and approached, matching his pace. Though, nothing happened except the two were walking, the crowd felt their hearts race with every step taken.

The two fated rivals gradually met face to face at the centre, and without a word passing from their mouths, their fists clashed in mid-air.

The resulting wind whipped the dust around them into a frenzy. There were no fancy techniques or overpowering Ki, but a backlash that resulted from excessive violence.

Without a doubt, the crowd were gobsmacked. It was a rare sight of two external cultivators clashing. Physical strength, unlike inner strength, cannot be determined from sensing one's presence.

Surprisingly, many pursue physical training despite how difficult and painful it is to progress because of two main reasons.

The first is that there are no tell-tale signs that give one’s weakness away to your enemies when strengthening one’s body with infusing Heavenly Energies into one’s flesh.

The second – arguably the main motivation for most – is how external practitioners are much more resilient and harder to kill; the duellists Kairos had fought so far were all unable to take a single hit from him despite having higher cultivation.

But Sihala is different.

“Titan ranked physical strength!” Kairos hissed.

Like himself, Sihala is close to reaching Immortal rank physical strength that will let him transcend into the immortal realm through external cultivation. At that time as one sheds his mortal shell and enters into immortality, one’s strength will greatly increase after becoming a higher level of existence, and to sustain the burden of perpetual life.

Unlike internal practitioners that could at most attain Titan physical strength through the transcension metamorphosis, external practitioners that focus on their physical strength gain significantly more and many enter Immortal Rank physical strength.

Everyone had seen Kairos with Titan Rank Earth Grade strength, but this is the first time they found out that Sihala was at least his equal, or probably even stronger.

The two exchanged fists fearlessly, increasing the speed and power with each punch.

While the onlookers could not tell the differences from how evenly-matched the two seemed, Kairos’ eyes widened in surprise as he recognised his opponent’s strength.

“He is already at Earth Grade? … no, it might even be at Heaven Grade.”

As he faced the enemy’s intensifying barrage, Kairos found himself losing ground.

“Sihala is pushing him back!”

“As expected of the Blessed One. I guess when two geniuses meet, the older one wins.”

“I say, it’s a matter of talent. Sihala is definitely more brilliant than Kairos.”

“What makes you say that? It’s their age, I tell you.”

“See, Kairos focuses a lot on business and crafts, I believe that’s because he isn’t as good in martial arts and cultivation.”

“Peak B rank at thirteen isn’t talented?”

“Sihala was A rank at that age.”

“Look, Kairos is about to retaliate.”

Kairos remained calm despite not having the upper hand, instead if one were to take a close look at the boy’s face, they would see an excited grin as if he had found a toy.

He took out a bunch of talismans and crushed them in his hand.

“Dao of the heavens, light of the earth. Heed my summons, strike my foe! Ki Burst!”

“Shields of the four winds, guard my p… precious life, Multiple Barrier… Alan your incantation is stupid.”

“Daggers, daggers, more daggers! Homing Ki Daggers! … hahhhhh… Jim… we need a talk after this…”

Kairos shook his head internally. The activating incantation trade speed for power and each is set by the creator of the talisman. Unfortunately, two of his friends are rather easy-going, or rather, it is amazing that the activation worked as intended.

After the talismans were crushed into dust, the energy released that was about to take form reacted to Kairos’ voice and danced with excitement.

Instead of four shields, twelve appeared around Kairos, hovering to guard him. At the same time, twelve cannon blasts and a hundred daggers made of pure Ki fell on Sihala like a downpour; it was enough to pulverise a Colossal Mammoth.

For the first time, those in the amphitheatre witness the strength that Kairos had, and it was enough to renew their understanding of him.

“What a tremendous show of firepower!”

“Hold on. Something feels strange. Why isn’t there any response from Sihala?”

Not only the onlookers felt strange, but a frown also appeared on Kairos’ brows.

The clouds of dust rising by his attacks might cover his target from sight, but with Soul Perception, he could see exactly what is happening, and it wasn’t anything good.

His blows had passed by Sihala harmlessly. A hand reached towards Kairos.

The shields flew over, stacking to protect him, but the arm went through, seemingly immaterial.

Kairos reacted instantly. He leapt backwards with amazing acceleration using the Eternal Empyrean: Burst and stayed out of reach.

“Wind Touched,” Sihala explained with a smile.

Standing in a crater nonchalantly, he appeared no different from before, but evidently, something is different from before.

“What’s that?!”

“I’ve heard about Elemental Touched! It’s an incredibly rare technique when one’s affinity to a certain element is strong enough; one could turn into the element itself.”

“Somewhat like the form that nature spirits take?”

“Yes. Humans cannot maintain it for long, but during that time, he will be nearly invincible. I’ve heard that only three people with such talents appeared in the past. Never thought I would be able to see one with my own eyes.”

“Impressed?” Sihala asked Kairos.

“Quite.”

“Well, this isn’t all. Watch this. White Crane fist!”

A strike mimicking the beak of a crane struck at Kairos. Though the blow looked elegant, it was covered by razor-sharp wind and pierced like a lance.

At the same time, Sihala attacked with his other hand, “Snow Bear claw!”

His arm turned pale white as mist swirled around his fingers. When he swiped with a claw, winter vapour trailed behind leaving five lines in the air.

The White Crane fist pierced Kairos on his right temple, and the Snow Bear claw smashed heavily into the left side of his head.

It was a deadly blow, but knowing that his opponent also has Titan ranked physique, Sihala jumped into the air and made a final attack for good measure, “Raijin Step!”

Lightning coated his feet, as he thrust downwards with a kick and land right on Kairos’ crown. Because of the Emperor Leo cultivation method, they were three folds stronger than usual.

Unfortunately, Sihala felt no impact after unleashing his attacks, and the image of Kairos faded away.

“Mirage Steps,” Kairos explained.

“Hmph, parlour tricks. Do you know why did I create the Raijin Step?”

“I’m not interested.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re curious.”

“I’m really not…”

“It’s because, of the Unity affinity. Have you heard of it?”

Kairos sighed, but Sihala had his attention now.

The latter continued, “When one has mastery over the five elements of creation, the three elements of nature, or any of the four transcending pair, one will attain great power.

Physical strength was never my main pursuit.

Peel your eyes and watch. Storm Winged Bear AWAKEN!”

The remaining energies from his previous three strikes formed into a monstrous avatar made of wind, frost, and lightning, that appeared on the sky above them.

It looked like a beast with crane wings spewing electric snakes out of its eyes as it loomed above the amphitheatre, covering the entire place with its massive body.

Sihala had not pulled any punches against Kairos, despite confident in winning the bout. This was the trump card he used that decimated the northern barbarian army and made him a national war hero. It was because of this that ended the immediate danger that Saint Empire was facing from the savage lands.

“Give up while you still can. A single blow from the Storm Winged Bear would kill soldiers and generals alike. Everything I target will disappear into ash.”

“That thing looks really awesome… But, that’s not enough.”

“Not… enough…?”

“Yes, you’ll need something more destructive. Something like this.”

Kairos turned his palm upwards and summoned a strange tongue of flame. It was a curious little thing that appeared still, as though unaffected by wind, and purple in colour. However, betraying its size was a frightening amount of heat.

The audience stands that was protected by a high-level barrier was intact the whole day until now. Cracks started appearing, and it threw everyone into hysteria.

“I advise you to give up while you still can. Everything it touches will disappear into ash, after all,” Kairos replied calmly.

Seeing that Sihala had no intention to surrender, Kairos shrugged and threw the flame out.

The purple fire that touched Sihala’s sleeve, immediately spread across his body as a terrible scream erupted his throat.

“Oh, don’t make such a horrid sound. I’ve already lowered the heat… you wouldn’t die from that.”

The top-ranked duellist tried all means and ways to put the fire out, but because of its unique properties, it was a futile struggle. The divine flame of Surtr was impossible to extinguish, although it also cannot multiply, thus only an extremely thin layer covered Sihala.

Because the Unknown Flame Sovereign does not consume material things, the victim was only harmed by the heat, not too different from being scalded.

What really feed the flames are the nearest energy source, namely Sihala’s Ki and stamina.

After a while, Kairos retrieved his purple flame as a naked, bald, war hero lay face down on the ground, twitching now and then. His clothes and hair, seared by the high heat, surrounded him like a blacken smudge. If one scrapes everything off the ground and weight it, it would be only slightly lighter than before thanks to the moisture drying up.

“MATCH END! The winner, and our champion, KAIROS ASTROIRE!!!” With this fight, Sihala would have one defeat, while Kairos is the winner with a slightly better result with only a draw on his record.

Suddenly a series of flying sword Ki bombarded the arena. It broke through the barriers and came so swiftly that no one could stop it.

With instincts honed in battles, Kairos reacted immediately and shielded himself. Unfortunately, tied down by the rain-like killer move, he was unable to move an inch, much less dodge a new attack sent his way.

A silhouette appeared right in his face, and before he could see who it was, a kick sent him flying out of the arena, “That movement technique…! Lightning Flicker Body? JONES!!!”

“NYAHAHAA and I declare myself the true champion of the combat tournament!” these words were the last thing he heard before Kairos sailed off.