Caedlum roared, sending a reverberating boom throughout the arena as he yanked Uma’s rod from her before throwing it with such velocity that the rod itself cracked under the pressure.

Uma’s eye’s widened. ‘That’s a grandmaster level weapon! What?!’

All this time Planet Mino was trying to stay lowkey, they had disguised their weapons as simple master level ones, which was why no one noticed the oddity of Uma’s rod until it expanded in size. But, Uma knew the truth behind the weapon’s strength! It shouldn’t be possible to crack it like this!

Patriarch Pakal sighed. He knew very well the state his son would be in after using this technique, but, it seemed he preferred to win this battle and injure himself than to lose his old man some face. ‘I’ve truly burdened you too much… You’re just a child yet you carry such a weight on your shoulders…”

Twin horns continuously grew from Caedlum’s forehead as his aura seemed to grow more and more powerful with each passing moment. .

‘Is this his Faith Seed?… How domineering…’ Dyon thought, his eyes flashing with appreciation.

Uma’s voice raged as she slammed her fist forward to meet the coming rod. This was her weapon! How could she be harmed by it?!

But, reality was cruel. In the face of absolute power, Uma’s rod had forgotten who its master was. It didn’t slow, nor did it stop in the face of Uma’s rage. It only carried forward, snapping the bones in her arm and causing a blood curdling scream to fill the stadium.

Caedlum leaped in the air, the dark abyss of his eyes entranced on Uma’s weak figure. She had managed to stop the rod in the end, but it had clearly cost her the use of both of her arms. But, just how domineering were the healing capabilities of body cultivators?

Under the view of the crowd’s shock and awe, the whites of her bones began to mend at a pace the naked eye could witness.

That said…. Would Caedlum wait for such a thing?

He fell from the skies, a flurry of six arms and fists riddling the crown of Uma’s head with power that could only match a saint!

Just how ridiculous was it for Caedlum to reach such power? Uma’s technique had taken her from the peak Essence Gathering stage, to a pseudo saint level. And yet, Caedlum had started at a mere lower essence gathering level and brought himself all the way up to a true saint!

Uma was sent crashing into the ground, being grinded in further and further with every punch.

Roars of anger filled the stadium as Caedlum’s fists became coated in blood. In what seemed like an instant, Uma’s fur dimmed to brown, and then disappeared entirely, leaving her naked and muscular body completely exposed.

Caedlum seemed intent on slamming his fists downward again, but that was when a sharp pain filled his senses, causing him to stumble backward and fall to his knees.

He panted heavily, his arms disappearing as though they were never there right along with his gained height. He looked up expectantly at Elder Den.

The previous battles had been obvious, so his judgement wasn’t necessary. But, here, Caedlum was severely injured and Uma seemed to be trying to get up as well.

Elder Den waited, watching the two contestants struggle to climb to their feet.

There was no question that a glint of expectation was in the eyes of the bottom ninety contestants. No matter who won, they were severely injured! If they were quick to challenge, they just might earn a spot in the top ten!

This was especially true of the top 20 contestants. If a normal bottom ninety ranker won, they would be immediately challenged. But, if one of them, as high rankers to begin with did, then it might act as enough of a deterrent for others to not challenge then at all.

Caedlum and Uma both had blood seeping from their mouths, but at the same time, they both managed to stand to their feet.

‘You can do it.’ Dyon thought resolutely, silently supporting Caedlum. He hadn’t had many interactions with the guy, and the few he had had were quite cold, but he had a small respect for Caedlum after hearing about the burden his father had placed on him.

Even if Dyon had initially held a grudge against Caedlum for not helping him when he had to fight one versus eleven at the Legacy World opening, something Dyon of course hadn’t done, he definitely wouldn’t now. Caedlum had his family’s future to think about. His father quite literally placed all of their hopes and dreams in him. How could he risk his life for a person he had only met just days before?

Caedlum brandished his fists, prepared to fight as he looked into Uma’s dark brown eyes. In fact, they were almost too dark for brown at all… But, that was when Caedlum noticed that it wasn’t because of the color of her eyes that it was so dark… She had lost consciousness!

“Winner: Caedlum Pakal!” Elder Den’s voice boomed

**

At this time, the city of the Cavositas was completely empty. After all, there was no fee for attending the World Tournament. Anyone who could be there was… Which was why the figure of a lone girl, raggedly dressed, running down the barren streets was so odd…

She was petite and had long brunette hair. But her most striking feature were her violet eyes.

Her clothes were torn in many places, and she had blood streaking down her leg, but she had a determined expression on her face as she clutched a box tightly to her chest.

If Madeleine or Delia had been there, they would have instantly broken down into tears and embraced her as tightly as they could…

This was their missing sister, taken away from them by the cruelty and harsh realities of the martial world.

Bai Meiying.

𝘳𝘦.𝒸𝑜𝘮