I waited for the giant light sword to fly toward me. As the smoke seemed to tear apart, I used Instant Acceleration to slide outside. Immediately after, the ground exploded with a tremendous "boom," creating a hole 3 meters deep and 2 meters wide. Everyone saw me suddenly appear beside the smoke, my hollow black eyes profound, body covered with wounds dripping blood. Brown hair mixed between pitch black and battlefield dust.
The Illusionist Nickname: The entire grandstand was astonished. Someone like me survived after 8 minutes! Everyone looked at me with astonished eyes. Some gave me a nickname: "The Illusionist." The fighting style was too illusory, subtle, making them doubt their own eyes. "Reality or illusion? What boundary still exists?" The rumors spread quickly, further angering Sheng Guang Yi. I had stolen all the spotlight, making him seem like the vicious villain in the story.
Brutal Attack: Immediately, Sheng Guang Yi slid extremely fast before me. A knee strike to my stomach sent me flying high without time to react. From the sky, he quickly approached, hand carrying a yellow energy ball. He gently placed the energy sphere on my back. It exploded, shooting me down like a bullet. Upon hitting the ground, my body's impact sent mud flying everywhere. He teleported back to his original position with a proud stance. The entire audience was stunned by his extraordinary speed and terrifying power.
Final Hope: I had truly lost all hope, but my hand still gripped the second smoke bomb. Activating it created dense smoke. Sheng Guang Yi stood there, hands still gesturing. In the sky, countless golden swords stabbed down at that smoke. I struggled to stand, injured to the point of being unable to move much. Perhaps just enough to hold out until time expired.
Intervention from Outside: At this moment, Van Phong had finished hacking the cameras. Seeing my body in tatters, he could do nothing. He looked at the clock: only 7 minutes remained. Van Phong infiltrated the timing system, trying to speed up time to end the match as quickly as possible. "Hang in there, young man! Try to endure this match!"
Life-or-Death Battle: I tried my best to dodge the barrages of light swords shooting into the smoke. Determining a hidden spot, I threw the third smoke bomb timed for 3 seconds. Immediately after, the smoke from the third bomb exploded. I used Instant Acceleration through it, avoiding the light sword barrage. The smoke from the second bomb gradually dissipated, I held the second bomb in my hand. The third bomb exploded underground, the dagger already discarded on the ground.
The Mockery: Sheng Guang Yi saw that smoke gradually dissipating, saw the new smoke, and changed his attack direction. The old smoke gradually faded, leaving my weapons and blood on the ground. He mocked: "Wang Meng, you're like a dead dog abandoning your weapons! You're a worthless, powerless piece of trash—how can you create weapons from magic? Relying only on these scrap metal pieces!"
I didn't care about his words. Both hands tightly gripped two smoke bombs to hide.
The Tampered Time: Van Phong had infiltrated the time system, trying to adjust time to the most cheating setting possible. "Hang in there, young man! Try to endure this match!"
The Final Escape: Only 7 minutes remained. Sheng Guang Yi looked at the clock, raised his hand to gesture. Increasingly more light swords covered the arena. After that sword screen, countless giant light swords charged in. Before I could even breathe, I had to continue running. This was like a chase between me and him. Despite trying to dodge tens of thousands of small swords, followed by countless giant swords charging in, surely after this attack, only Sheng Guang Yi would remain alive because he was immune to damage from the giant light swords.
Final Tactics: I had no other choice, from within the timed smoke of the second bomb, I threw it where Sheng Guang Yi was standing. Deactivating the third smoke bomb, I used Instant Acceleration to fly close to him. With the advantage of infrared glasses, I could see within the smoke, following closely to avoid critical damage from the giant light swords. The entire black sky suddenly became a grand assembly of light. Countless killing energy shaped like giant swords flew to every place on the arena.
Sheng Guang Yi was furious because he had entered my smoke, losing direction, seeing nothing, struggling to breathe. I had a smoke filter and infrared glasses so I could see him, receiving no damage.
Arena Destroyed: After the giant light swords struck down, only earth and rock remained, with Sheng Guang Yi in the smoke. He gritted his teeth in anger: "That bastard Wang Meng threw him into the smoke to cling on!" I recognized his position, charged forward and kicked his leg from behind. He fell backward because he couldn't maintain balance. Furious, he moved at extremely high speed out of the smoke, shooting countless light beams into it.
Power Breakthrough: Only 3 minutes remained due to Van Phong's intervention. I still looked at the clock. Suddenly, a golden light stream from above the dark clouds pierced down directly onto Sheng Guang Yi. He stood still, the light stream as if bestowing power. The entire sky lit up with the glittering golden light. The entire audience and teachers were astonished and excited. Finally, all the light gathered at one point: Sheng Guang Yi had broken through to Mid-Level power of his elemental system—something said to appear only once in a thousand years. "It's too powerful! The world only needs it to appear, and the world must bow to the new king!"
The Final Cut: Only 1 minute remained. Sheng Guang Yi with his new power summoned a light sword in his palm, charging straight into the smoke at speed many times faster than Shen Ziyuan when activating his killing technique. In just 5 seconds, before everyone and I could react, I received 3 to 4 cuts. Fortunately, they didn't hit vital organs and weak points, but the damage was enormous. Immediately after, dozens more wounds appeared causing continuous blood flow.
The Final Moment: I was powerless, standing still waiting for death. Not fearing death, only my pitch-black eyes remained, face pale from excessive blood loss. Unfeeling toward countless cuts from swords.
Only 30 seconds remained. Sheng Guang Yi, seeing my death not yet confirmed, summoned a light staff spinning at terrifying speed, creating a wind current that blew away all the smoke. Revealing me with: black eyes, hollow gaze, darkly looking at him as if unafraid of death. My expressionless face was chilling.
Unexpected Conclusion: Sheng Guang Yi summoned a golden light katana charging at terrifying speed. Before him was me with eyes dark as night, standing weakly without a trace of fear. He was furious, sliding forward so fast that the katana slash reached right before my neck. Just as my head was about to be severed, suddenly a light stream teleported both of us out of the arena. That slash tore through the dark gloomy sky, revealing the beautiful sunset that made the entire audience gasp in admiration. As for him, he didn't understand what had happened.
Time Expired: Van Phong breathed heavily because he had made it through the final moment, making the system automatically time out, teleporting both of us out of the arena. He couldn't breathe until this moment. Immediately after, the referee announced time was up and the match result was a draw.
Aftermath: I fell like a piece of burnt wood, blood flowing endlessly. The medical team arrived to treat me very quickly because Hao Yan Ling had mobilized people. Dozens of Plant and Healing System users immediately cast healing magic on me.
As for Sheng Guang Yi, standing under the sunset, the corners of his eyes contained how much anger, jealousy, and humiliation. He swore before the sunset: "I will make you wish you were dead!"
The sun set, dyeing my pool of blood red. The match ended with a draw, but the real battle had only just begun. The crack on the highland of stone was not just on the terrain, but in the souls of two people—one who had broken through power to become king, and one powerless person who survived to the final second to protect his small ideal.