NOVEL NEXT Chapter 102: Second Phase!
Even with the audience expecting such an outcome when it came to Ken's fight, feeling that it was just a bit anticlimactic couldn't be missed.
But they didn't dwell on it a lot, as after that, matches came and went by quickly, and before they knew it, and as if this match was preplanned, Darek found himself in front of Ken.
Smiling wearily, Darek didn't know what he had done wrong in his life to have to fight against this monster.
Still, no one spoke. This was a very serious competition after all.
The elder master, doing the supervisor a favor, took this chance once again, and people started guessing the formidable relationship between this elder and Ken for him to go to such great lengths every time Ken got on stage.
Darek, on the other hand, who found himself against such a monster, couldn't help but curse inwardly and prepare himself for a beating.
"Get Ready..." The elder's voice came, and Darek took a running stance, ready to launch himself at full force towards Ken the second the match started.
"Let the match start!"
*Fwshh* *Thud* *Thud*
In barely two steps, Darek, who had a surprisingly strong physique for a first-stage qi-refining cultivator, found himself right in front of Ken.
It took but a jump, and a strike was falling down on Ken from above, ready to put him down once and for all.
But both the attacker and Ken knew that this was just a futile move.
"Pretty strong for an assassin." Ken spoke. Not because he forgot and didn't know the importance of not speaking, but because both he and Darek knew that this match didn't require any seriousness from him.
Ken caught Darek's right arm, which he was planning to strike him with, and Darek immediately rotated his body and went for a kick, which Ken easily blocked.
But that block gave Darek an opportunity to escape from Ken's grasp, and he took it.
But, in reality, it was Ken who had let go; such a kick wouldn't make him let his opponent flee if he was truly set on it.
And before Darek decided to launch another attempt, he noticed Ken taking a step forward, and he immediately turned around to flee.
He wasn't expecting this; he wasn't expecting Ken to go on the offensive.
But what he didn't know was that Ken had a very different view on Darek.
If he instructed others as a favor and because he could easily defeat them, then he instructed Darek because he needed him as a pawn for his later plans.
Thus, he would mold him into the shape he needed, whether willingly or forcibly.
And thus, 5 minutes of pure grief for Darek, which he never imagined himself to pass through, went by with the entire audience watching with wide-open eyes as the entire arena was swept clean by Ken dragging Darek's body over.
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Ken's last match was against Alister, the top 2 of his batch, and as expected, the fight went no different from Saad's; however, Ken noticed that Alister surely deserved the rank he was given.
His physique was twice as strong as that of a normal mortal, comparable to, if not stronger than, Darek's assassin body.
His techniques also displayed higher mastery than normal, and the young man seemed very adept at fighting, which made Ken happily instruct him and watch him improve with every word, and by the end of the fight, Ken couldn't be more proud.
The only thing he was thinking of after smacking Alister to the ground with one slap was how to make him into a pawn.
And that had to wait for some time.
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Just like that, the first phase ended.
From the official disciples, 3 were disqualified; two were disciples of the twin elders, and one was the alchemist's. Most of the others passed due to their already low number.
And similarly, only 10 from the core disciples and per batch of the inner sect remained, and 10 from each of the outer sect's batches.
The spirits had been fighting for a little longer than the disciples due to their huge numbers, and because their stronger groups had to wait for the arena to empty out, but in the end, they were ready to fight it out.
Thus, now, the core sect, inner sect, and outer sect, as well as spirits per rank, will fight each other, and the strongest of all batches will remain for the third and last phase to start.
Ken watched official disciples handle core disciples with relative ease, and it was obvious who was going to win, and in the end, not a single official disciple was beaten by a core disciple, and for obvious reasons.
Had they gone easier, it would have been possible, but there was some rivalry going on that made the former sweep the ground with the latter.
Similarly, the inner sect had most winners from the oldest batches, the 5th and 4th batches, and only 2 winners from the younger batches, the 3rd and 2nd.
The spirits got done quickly on their side too; the younger generation had geniuses win easily, and the oldest, the more experienced.
Every fight was getting done way too fast due to the higher disparity.
But that fact was even more true when it came to the outer sect.
The younger taches had absolutely no chance against Adam's batch, who were the same as inner sect disciples and some even stronger.
Ken guessed that disciples like Adam, who hid beneath veils and waited for the right opportunity to jump all the way to official disciples, were many in that batch.
Thus, his first match, which was against one of them... was something he looked very forward to.
From fighting newbies to fighting experienced cultivators, the difference was definitely massive.
Up till now, he didn't have to use his weapon, and most of the highlighted fights featured disciples who fought with fists, aside from Darek, who just didn't think it was worth it against Ken.
But from here on, the Sealed Mirage will take the stage.
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