For obvious reasons, the crowd and the final four contenders themselves were keen with anticipation. If they won just one more match, they would have the best chance of becoming a core disciple!
At this moment, four young men stood on the stage. One was Dyon, the other was Donari and his elder brother. As for the last, he was the commoner that managed to reach the 10th essence gathering stage in less than 180 years.
In the interest of fairness, the tournament, up to this point, hadn't utilized a normal tournament bracket style. Instead, the brackets were only locked in place for a single round, before being randomized for the next, and so on. In this way, there would be continuous randomization that would stop individuals from planning out their matches.
Of course, this was only on the surface. It seemed like a good practice, but the reality was that such organization allowed for even more tampering.
That said, Dyon had still made it all the way here. In the face of absolute power, petty tricks hardly mattered. At least that was the case if your scheming wasn't profound enough.
The golden robed elder stood before them, utilizing a formation to randomize and organize their four names.
"Dyon Jafari vs Donari Caedes!" The elders voice boomed. "Virvor vs Olaf Caedes!"
After hearing this, Donari sighed. He had sworn to become a core disciple, but how could that still be possible now?
However, this dejection only lasted for a moment. This was his chance to spar with Dyon again! Their last bout had ended too quickly and he didn't have the opportunity to learn anything. Even if he couldn't win, he would go all out!
From the very beginning, Donari's performance had shown the world the prowess of constitutions. To be a mere 4th stage essence gatherer, yet effortlessly fight those above his station was something that could only be reserved for those of Donari's ilk.
He confidently walked to the center of the stage, facing off against Dyon with brimming fighting intent and a dense killing intent.
"I don't know how to fight if it's not to kill. You'll have to forgive me." Donari spoke very seriously. Everyone understood how much of a correlation constitution and disposition had to one another, so many understood Donari's plight. It wasn't so much that constitutions caused changes in personality, but rather certain dispositions raised the chances of garnering a constitution of a specific type. Donari was no different. "I'll make you use that weapon of yours!"
Donari blazed forward, immediately using the highly lauded movement technique of Unseen Peak, [Raising Up: Illusory Steps].
"He's actually already stepped into the third act!" The core disciples of Unseen Peak saw through Donari's mastery in an instant. After all, how could many be more familiar with their sect's core teachings than themselves?
Every sect had a core group of teachings. These teachings would encompass the most important aspects of cultivation and combat prowess. One would be the sect's movements technique. Another would be an attack-based technique tailored to the specialty of the sects, for example a sword wielding technique or a fist technique. Another would be a defense-based technique, although this wasn't always part of the equation, sects that specialized in pacifist teachings or robust wills such as earth will, would definitely incorporate a technique of this branch as part of their core teachings.
The point was that depending on the sect, it could have a wide ranging and diverse group of core teachings.
As for Unseen Peak, it had three teachings. The first was its movements technique, Illusory Steps. The second was its cultivation technique. And the last was its attack-based technique, Illusory Intent.
Other than to anger his family, the other reason why Donari would choose to go to a sect once backed by the Jafari family was exactly because of these techniques. Each ranged from the peak earth level to the lower heaven level, and also perfectly suited his assassin like constitution. What was worse than a killing intent you couldn't see coming?
Donari's body became snake like before disappearing in a burst of eerie red mist. In that moment, his presence was completely silenced, making Dyon smile in praise before punching outward at an odd, downward angle.
BOOM!
Dyon's fist collided with Donari's, starting a flurry of exchanges.
At that moment, it seemed as though Dyon was shadow boxing. If it wasn't for the sonic blasts of air erupting from his fists, many would believe that he was hitting nothing at all.
The crowd was mesmerized. Without the distraction of having to watch the movements of two fighters, they could completely focus on Dyon form and responses. It was only at that moment that they truly understood the difference between them and a true expert.
Dyon body control and form were almost without compare, it was as though none of his movements were wasted in the least. Of course, this was only from the perspective of someone with lower cultivation, but the point still stood.
Without a single wills or technique, Dyon's punches remained tight and efficient, blasting back the coming attacks with little effort. It was as though Donari wasn't invisible at all!
Dyon shook his head, "It's a shame that your soul is crippled. With a whole soul, I wonder just how powerful you would be."
Hearing these words, Donari's anger raised to the skies. At that moment, claps of booming fists intensified, followed by blood dripping to the ground in an unceasing rhythm.
While many thought that blood might be Dyon's, those with sharper gazes knew better. The blood came from Donari's own fists!
Dyon slapped a hand to the side, stepping forward toward a seemingly invisible target and slamming a palm forward.
A muffled grunt sounded out, before a spray of blood released itself into the air.
At that moment, a jet of air sped through the arena with such ferocity that the arena tiles below it began to crack.
BOOM!
To the surprise of everyone, Donari's body suddenly appeared, sliding down a far wall of the coliseum. There was clear fighting intent still in his eyes, but he had already been thrown from the arena… His destiny with becoming a core disciple had ended, for now.
