CHAPTER 129: LAST DAY OF THE TOURNAMENT

Chapter 129: Last Day of the Tournament

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Zhu Rong had cultivated for several hours, and when he finished, it was already the fifth day of the tournament, which also the last day.

Today, considering how the matches had gone the day before, there were 7 people left who hadn’t lost yet, one of whom was the one who had earned immunity.

Yesterday, in the second round, 13 remained.

One advanced directly because of the immunity, while the other 12 fought, with Zhu Rong being the first to win before going to the pavilion, leaving the others to continue the battles.

After those main ones, there were also the secondary matchs for those who had lost once, and in their case the matches were much faster, so fast that they managed to get a final winner out of them, bringing today’s final number of contestants up to 8.

This finally brought the remaining number of participants back to an even count, and from here on all battles would go more smoothly.

It was early morning, but the stadium was already packed with people, everyone waiting to see today’s final clashes.

In total, there would be 3 final rounds today, so the number would be halved again and again until only one winner remained.

Although the number of people chosen for the expedition team was 5, and with the semifinals it was already possible to more or less decide who those five would be, everyone still wanted to know who was the strongest among them, and also who would be most suited to lead the squad in place of the instructors if needed once inside the secret realm.

So the competition would continue until a single final winner remained.

That said, the semifinals would have only 4 participants, meaning one slot would remain vacant.

That spot would be decided among the 4 losers of today’s first round, so regardless of who they were, everyone understood the importance of today’s battles.

If you won, you’d pretty much guarantee yourself a place in the squad. If you lost, you’d still have a chance, but needless to say, no one wanted to be in that second situation, as it would be tougher.

But even so, this method was a way to let everyone compete fairly for a spot, so no one complained.

There were 8 participants, so 4 initial battles would take place.

Of those 4, 3 had already been matched up, with the last one waiting for the winner of the group of students who had fought among themselves until only one was left standing.

Now that they finally had that contestant, all slots were filled.

Given the low number of participants, today’s arenas were obviously larger and reduced to the minimum number needed, that is 4.

The first 4 battles would happen simultaneously, while the last 2 would be held on a single platform, so that with the time they had, everyone would have the chance to properly watch each of those fights.

That said, all the participants were already in their arenas, standing on either side, waiting only for the judge’s to give the signal.

Zhu Rong once again found himself matched against a third year.

Seeing this, many didn’t know whether to laugh at his bad luck or cry because all the third years who fought him before, had lost very quickly.

So, if before they would have mocked him, now no one dared to underestimate or ridicule him. Everyone wanted to wait until the end to see whether he would win or not before saying anything.

This went for both the audience and Zhu Rong’s opponent, who also had a serious expression as he prepared for any trick from the other side.

He had seen Zhu Rong’s previous battle, so he knew the guy didn’t just rely on tricks but actually had some realy skill, putting him straight at the third stage.

He knew that even though he was facing a second year, it wouldn’t be easy to win.

That said, coincidentally, two other arenas had a similar match up.

In Arena N.2 was Li Daniu, a second year, against a third year.

In Arena N.3 was Wang Fuyun, the lucky one from the previous battle who had earned immunity, also a second year against a third year.

And finally, Arena N.4, the only one that actually had two third years.

And one of them was none other than the winner of the secondary battles held yesterday for those who had lost their first matchs, and wanted a chance to get back in the main competition.

As fate would have it, the winner of that group was none other than Shi Gong.

Yes, him.

He, who had suffered great humiliation because of Zhu Rong in his last match.

Because of the tournament rules, he couldn’t do anything to Zhu Rong outside of the arena, so he could only wait to face him in battle.

But that would depend heavily on how the match ups turned out, and more importantly, on whether he managed to come out victorious from the secondary battles.

So he vented his anger on his opponets, quickly climbing his way up until he emerged as the sole winner, winning himself the chance to re enter in the competition.

He was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to beat up Zhu Rong.

He thought that even if he didn’t get matched against him in the first round today, he would later.

But his dreams were brutally crushed when he found out who his opponent was today.

Right now he was trembling slightly in place, staring at his opponent.

"F*ck... why him of all people? Damn it, give me a break" he cursed in his mind as he looked at Li Duoji in front of him, who stared back calmly, as if he didn’t really care who he was facing.

Shi Gong was strong in his year, and apart from a few, he was sure he could beat anyone.

His defeat against Zhu Rong had only happened because he underestimated him, giving the other side the chance to catch him off guard.

He hadn’t thought he’d run into any problems so soon now that he was back in, but fate was cruel and the first opponent he had to face was none other than Li Duoji, the most talented prodigy of the third years, someone he knew he could never compare himself to.

He could only swallow his frustration while already imagining how he would have to win in the matches after this one.

Since he couldn’t win now, he wouldn’t make it into today’s semifinals and wouldn’t secure a spot right away.

So he could only grit his teeth and put everything into the battles among the four losers of this round to secure one.

The only one at this moment not worried about the tournament, apart from Zhu Rong and Li Duoji, was none other than Wang Fuyun.

Having made it this far as a second year, he was already happy.

He knew who his opponent was now, so he already knew he couldn’t win. And seeing who the others were, it didn’t matter who won or lost in those arenas, he knew he couldn’t beat any of them. So he didn’t think about winning, just about enjoying the moment.

The judges of the arenas were already in place, and seeing everyone ready, they wasted no more time and signaled the start of the battles.

Since these last fights would be between the strongest of the three years, their intensity was bound to be higher, and it wouldn’t be strange if they dragged on for too long. So the time given for each was increased again, this time to one full hour.

With this much time, everyone would be able to fight properly and the tournament would still finish today without dragging on too much.

If all went well, by this afternoon the five winning students for the secret realm expedition would already be chosen.

The four judges saw that everyone was ready, wasted no more time, and signaled the start of the battles.

As soon as that happened, it didn’t immediately break out into a mess of blows and attacks, but instead everyone took their time to evaluate their opponent and choose the best series of actions to win.

Well, everyone except two people.

’Fuck this, im out, better save my energy for the next battles,’ Shi Gong told himself when he saw Li Duoji preparing to attack him.

"I surrender," he said, swallowing his frustration.

It was humiliating to surrender before even fighting, and if it had been against someone else, he would’ve fought first and then decided whether to give up or not. But in this moment, it wasn’t something he could afford to do.

He knew the other side, and he knew that once Li Duoji started attacking, he would definitely end up with some injuries here and there.

If he still wanted any chance to win the battles after this, he couldn’t let himself get hurt now, so he surrendered.

This surprised no one.

In fact, even Li Duoji’s opponent in the previous battle had withdrawn and admitted defeat. He had been a second year who, seeing who he was up against, didn’t bother fighting.

No one had any real hopes of seeing Shi Gong fight the first round either,

after all, Li Duoji was the strongest of his year. So in a way, they expected Shi Gong to take this approach.

"It’s a little disappointing, but I understand his choice. If I were in his place, I’d step back too," said a third year in the audience, with others nearby nodding in agreement, clearly thinking the same.

That, however, was not the case for the other person, who also decided to act immediately, not to surrender, but to attack directly.