Chapitre 208: Last battle.

Yao Jun calmly walked down from the stage after defeating Margery, sitting down a short distance away from the stage and proceeding to calmly observe the other battles. Each of these people could end up becoming a competitor, or they might know some way of utilizing the laws that Yao Jun hadn't thought about, he only stood to gain from observing them and seeing their techniques.

Yao Jun didn't know how many battles they had to fight to show their strength, but he guessed that it wouldn't be too many battles. The start of the competition wasn't far off, less than a month remaining, so there was no way they could drag out this last trial for too long.

Time proved Yao Jun's guess correct, as he only fought in another five battles over the next 12 days. The five people he fought didn't show off any interesting skills, like the strange technique that Margery had used, nor was Yao Jun able to learn anything new from them. From the looks of it, they likely came from some small clan or sect that spent quite a bit of money to buy the token needed to take on this trial, hoping for their disciple to get a good result and elevate the status of the sect.

Once the morning of the 13th day rolled around, the various Earthly Deities that served as judges and overseers waved their hands and briefly paused all the battles. Everyone turned towards the overseer closest to them, waiting to hear what they were planning. The one closest to Yao Jun was the Final Fire clan overseer that had skin like charcoal, Shurimen, who promptly spoke up.

"You are all certainly curious just how much longer we are going to have you keep fighting in these battles. The answer is simple, today is the last day. Everyone will have to fight one last battle, and then we will announce those who have passed and can move on to the actual competition. Give it your all!"

Shortly after Shurimen's voice sounded out, some of the tokens belonging to the people around Yao Jun started to light up, directing them towards the stages. This would be the last fight where they could show off their strength, so most people were filled with excitement and vigor, eager to show these Earthly Deities that it would be wise to pick them up as disciples or to have them join their clan or sect.

Yao Jun got to observe these fights for a few hours, but his turn eventually came, his token lighting up and directing him to a stage that was a bit further away from where he was sitting. He followed the guiding and stepped onto the stage, glancing at his opponent. Seeing his opponent, Yao Jun's eyebrow couldn't help but prick up slightly.

His opponent was a handsome man who looked like he was approaching his thirties, but his hair was a strange mixture of silver and gray in color, and his eyes were completely white. But the strangest thing about the man was that although Yao Jun could tell that he was only at the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, he felt completely ethereal, as if he just barely existed.

Once both of them had stepped onto the stage, the strange man cupped his hands at Yao Jun, greeting him with a polite and calming smile, at the same time also giving him a solemn warning.

"Greetings, I am known as Sebas. I will do my best to hold back, but I am not adept at controlling my strength precisely, so please keep your defenses up at all times."

It could be mistaken for arrogance, but Yao Jun could tell that this Sebas was truly saying it as a warning, probably trying to avoid any unnecessary deaths. Yao Jun cupped his hands, returning the greeting and the quick introduction. Once the greetings were finished, all that remained was the battle.

Yao Jun started the battle by calmly observing his opponent. He hadn't seen any of Sebas's battles, so he had no idea how he fought, meaning that just running in and hoping for the best wasn't a very good plan. But as he was quietly observing Sebas, a strong sense of danger suddenly filled his mind.

He didn't think too deeply about it, swiftly taking two steps back and then dodging to the side. After he dodged, the sense of danger vanished, but nothing happened to the stage. And even stranger, Yao Jun felt a strong pain assault his mind and chest. The pain only lasted for a few seconds, but it was undoubtedly there. Yao Jun couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Sebas hadn't even moved, nor had Yao Jun sensed any Qi, so just what had Sebas done?

A sense of danger once again filled Yao Jun's mind, so he once again dodged backward and to the side. But this time, he channeled his Qi into his eyes, closely observing the area where he felt a sense of danger. With his vision drastically increasing, he was able to see a translucent ripple move through the air, a ripple that returned to Sebas after Yao Jun dodged it.

The ripple returned to Sebas and sank into his chest, disappearing after it reached a spot right beneath his heart. Yao Jun's eyes narrowed even further when he saw this. When it came to cultivation systems that focused on the spot beneath the heart, there was only one Yao Jun could think of, Soul Cultivation. Seemingly able to notice Yao Jun's gaze and deduction, Sebas spoke up with a calm smile.

"It seems you have noticed it. That's right, I'm a soul cultivator who has reached the Soul Heart realm."

Soul cultivators strengthened their soul, which in turn greatly strengthened their perception and observation abilities, allowing Sebas to notice exactly what Yao Jun had discovered. Receiving confirmation from Sebas, Yao Jun's expression grew a shade more solemn.

He didn't know much about soul cultivation, never even having seen a manual that taught it. But since Sebas had been placed here, this Soul Heart realm should be equal to the Immortal Rebirth realm. He also knew that soul cultivators focused on attacking the soul of their opponent, able to kill them quietly and without any trace.

Yao Jun wasn't arrogant, he was very clear that even though he was decently strong, he had several weaknesses that others could exploit. The first weakness was his young age and his lack of experience, compared to a large portion of other cultivators who had reached the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, he was far younger.

The second and third weaknesses were that although his Qi cultivation had reached the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, his body and soul were a bit weaker. His body had only reached a point where it was approaching the equivalent strength of someone at the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, but that was only in toughness and raw strength. As for his soul, if he had to guess, it hadn't even reached the early stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, it was his largest weak point.

Because of this, he was certain that his soul might just shatter if he were to be hit by a single one of Sebas's attacks, resulting in instant death. With that being the case, Yao Jun had to end the battle as quickly as possible, otherwise, there might be some unforeseen circumstances.

Thanks to his strengthened vision, Yao Jun was able to tell that Sebas started using more of his strength, the air all around Yao Jun starting to ripple with attacks that aimed at his soul. A black light flashed in Yao Jun's palm, his unadorned black sword appearing. Yao Jun took a heavy step back, the stage beneath his feet cracking from the force. The force traveled up his leg, moving through his body and heading for his arm, which was in the process of unleashing a stab into empty air.

Once Yao Jun finished the stab, a bright azure light erupted from the tip of his sword, blinding anyone who cast their eyes toward the stage. An azure bolt of lightning as thick as a grown man's thigh shot through the air, vanishing into the distance, bringing with it a thundering sound that threatened to deafen those close to it.

Once the azure lightning started to dissipate, so too did the light that was blinding everyone. Once the light vanished, people were able to see Yao Jun and Sebas again. Both were still standing, but Sebas trembling, his face as white as paper. There was no wound on his body, but even the onlookers could tell that he didn't have an ounce of energy or vitality left in his body. Sebas looked at Yao Jun, who looked completely normal and was calmly putting away his sword, stuttering out a few weak words.

"I sur... I surrender."

Sebas proceeded to leave the stage with shaky steps, sitting down the moment he stepped down from the stage, quickly taking out several pills and swallowing them. The surrounding people looked at the stage, curious about what happened while they were blinded by the bolt of lightning. But what they didn't know was that Sebas was just as confused as them.

The moment that bolt of lightning flashed out from the tip of Yao Jun's sword, Sebas had abandoned his attack and raised his defense, hoping to block the attack and take advantage of the brief opening right after the attack.

But despite raising all his defenses, he still felt some strange energy appear in his chest, his soul starting to rapidly wither and die. The soul was the most vital part of a person, especially to a soul cultivator. The more his soul was damaged, the weaker Sebas would get, until eventually dying. Luckily, that strange energy didn't stay in his chest for too long, vanishing before his soul withered to a stage where he wouldn't be able to recover.

Sebas looked at Yao Jun with a mixture of shock and confusion, but Yao Jun completely ignored him, leaving the stage and sitting down with closed eyes. The azure lightning bolt had been nothing but a cover, something to blind others and draw their attention. His actual attack had been an attack made with the laws of death, delivered directly into Sebas's chest thanks to the law of space.

Yao Jun had finished his final battle, easily winning all the battles he had to fight. Once the sun sank over the horizon, the tokens of those who passed the trials lit up, opening a tunnel to the place where the grand competition would take place. Yao Jun's token was among those that lit up, so he stood up and stepped into the tunnel of light. He had managed to enter the tournament, now he just had to reach the top 10, and he would acquire the medicine to fix Guo Luo's eye.