The Referee's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open as he looked at the two-meter-tall brute lying on the ground, blood pooling beneath him.
He clearly saw what happened.
But how? How could a tree branch do this? The Referee turned to the masked contestant, his eyes full of questions. In that split second, the tree branch had passed through the translucent giant fist as if it were nothing, continuing toward Yohan's chest and cutting it like a real blade.
Even though it happened fast, with the Referee's cultivation level, he didn't miss a thing.
The small masked man hadn't even used the Qi in the surroundings to strengthen his tree branch, and his movement was a simple, basic swing anyone could do. There was no apparent strength behind the attack, yet it still managed to injure Yohan, who had a big, tough body! Could the tree branch actually be that sharp?!
And from the looks of it, the masked man had even held back to avoid killing his opponent.
"You… how did you do it?" the Referee asked, his face a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
"It's a secret," Apollo replied with a mysterious smile. "So, I won, right?"
The Referee didn't respond immediately but turned toward the floating platform. A few seconds later, he raised his hand and announced, "Can Deez, the Outsider, has won this round!"
Suddenly, the audience erupted into cheers and shouts of excitement. They hadn't expected the tree branch wielder to win using just that branch! At first, they had assumed Can Deez was merely being playful, the stick just a prop. But this round proved them wrong—not only had Can Deez won, but he'd shown them that his stick was a real weapon, capable of cutting even someone with a tough body.
Although they hadn't seen the attack clearly, Yohan bleeding on the ground was proof enough!
Apollo smiled and jumped off the stage.
Meanwhile, on the floating platform, the three Headmasters exchanged glances.
"You guys saw it, right?" Elmo asked, his eyes gleaming and a satisfied smile on his face.
"Can Deez? He has a very strange name," Axton muttered, stroking his chin as he stared at the small masked figure making his way back.
"It's probably not his real name," Master Popo commented. "But it doesn't matter. I'll make sure he ends up in my school!"
Elmo and Axton glanced at each other before the Sword and Shield Headmaster sneered at Popo. "You don't even teach swordsmanship, and that kid just displayed the True Understanding of the Sword. He's probably the only one in this city, or even the neighboring cities, to have achieved such a state."
"He's a rare talent," Axton agreed. "To learn the True Understanding of the Sword at such a young age and to master the Hydra Mirage technique with ten clones in such a short time—he's among the top talents in this county."
"He's also mastered the True Hardening technique," Elmo added.
"And the Fire Blast. But wait—what is the True Understanding of the Sword?" Master Popo tilted his head, genuinely puzzled.
"See! You don't even know what it means, and you want Can Deez as one of your students?" Elmo raised an eyebrow. "Stop kidding around, Popo!"
"What do you mean I'm kidding? Didn't you see how talented he is as a Fire Cultivator? He's the perfect student for me!" Master Popo retorted, his nose flaring as the temperature around him began to rise.
"Oh? So you want to fight?" Elmo cracked his neck.
"You two, stop it," Master Axton said just in time, preventing the two from starting a fight. "It's still up to Can Deez to decide. We can't force him to make his choice."
"Tsk, he's a rare talent, just like you said. But I won't give up that easily," Master Popo said with determination.
"Do as you see fit, then," Elmo shrugged before turning to Axton. "You already have plenty of talented students—can't you let us fight this out?"
"We can't force him to make his choice," Axton repeated.
Elmo sighed. That small masked man was truly talented, so much so that all three Headmasters were eager to have him study in their schools. A talent like his only comes once in a thousand years.
However, unbeknownst to them, Can Deez had only shown a fraction of what he was capable of, holding back many of the Battle Techniques he had learned from the second test.
"But what about that little girl? Do you think she'll be okay?" Master Popo asked, this time using Thought Transfer.
"She's still alive, but it won't be long before she succumbs to the poison, even if we try to prolong her life. Unless we find a great Healer and Alchemist, which is unlikely in this place." Master Axton explained.
"That's why you made that proposal," Elmo said. "We are cruel."
"There's nothing more I can do," Axton said, his eyes fixed on the ongoing battle on stage. "If that's her fate, we must respect it. But if she's meant to live, she will live. We cultivate to gain enlightenment, to defy fate, the heavens, and the natural law of death."
At the same time, in one of the Winner's Rooms...
The door opened, and two women walked in.
Filly slumped into a chair with a thud, her face a mixture of anger, frustration, and sadness. "Ah! I'll f*cking kill him!" In the end, all she could do was shout to express her feelings.
Gail sat beside her. Though her face remained expressionless, the coldness in her eyes and her clenched fists betrayed her anger.
"If I find him, I'll skin him alive, then I'll skewer his body and roast him over a fire!" Filly said, her nose flaring in rage.
The two had just come back from seeing Bel in the Healer's Room. After witnessing their friend, pale and breathing heavily, still unconscious, they couldn't help but feel both sadness and fury.
And the one responsible for this was that disgusting and annoying Arke!
"I will avenge her," Gail said quietly.
Hearing this, Filly turned to Gail and nodded. "Yup! We should avenge Bel! Should we… you know… assassinate him? That's your specialty, right? I can be your assistant!"
"Filly," Gail turned to the restaurant owner, "I will fight him on stage. I'll kill him in front of everyone, to honor our friend."
"But that will land you in jail," Filly said, worry filling her eyes.
"If it puts me in jail, that's fine. At least I'll have avenged her."