"The first fight of the third elimination round will be between Shi Li and Shi Dengtie!" Shi Xingtai repeated it once more in order for the participants and the spectators to pay attention.
All of a sudden, a cacophony of cheers and screams could be heard throughout the clan arena as people were talking about how Shi Li was finally going to show his full strength and how high Shi Li's odds were on beating Shi Dengtie and vice versa.
Accepting their fates, Shi Li and Shi Dengtie entered the dueling platform and positioned themselves on both ends of the dueling platform, following the rules used in the previous two elimination rounds.
As Shi Li was unsheathing the sword from his back, Shi Dengtie firmly gripped on his spear as he looked at Shi Li with a light grin. "Shi Li, are you going to get angry at me when you lose this fight?"
Gripping Sundering Flame with both of his hands, Shi Li looked at Shi Dengtie with a smile on his face and replied, "Why would I? Wouldn't you get angry instead when you're the one who loses?"
After hearing Shi Li's reply, Shi Dengtie could not help but laugh as he then said, "Good luck to both of us then!"
"Good luck to both of us indeed!" Shi Li nodded as he slightly bent his knees, preparing for the go signal.
At these moments, Shi Xingtai looked at the two and then asked, "Are you both ready?"
Nodding their heads while gripping on their weapons, raring to duke it out against each other, it was impossible for the two to not be ready.
Nodding his head not long after, Shi Xingtai then shouted, "Begin!"
Whoosh!
With Shi Xingtai's announcement, the two of them did not hesitate to show their full powers as losing in this duel would mean they would have no chance to continue on further.
With Shi Li's [Flame Bursting Step] being based off of his [Flame Slash] technique, an aura of tyranny and intrepid strength radiated out of Shi Li's body as he got closer and closer to Shi Dengtie.
"Take this! [Flame Slash]!"
Swoosh!
Since the gap between the two of them were only a few meters, with the momentum the two of them built, Shi Li slashed at a diagonal angle, aiming to hit Shi Dengtie's chest.
Seeing this, Shi Dengtie lightly smiled as he took a few steps back, easily avoiding Shi Li's slash as he rotated 360 degrees counterclockwise with his spear fully extended.
Shi Li instantly noticed what Shi Dengtie was going to do and removed the grip of his right hand from his sword and aimed the sword perpendicular to the spear.
Clang!
At the instant the two weapons collided, Shi Li gradually tilted his sword up, which made the spear's trajectory go off course as Shi Li took this chance to counterattack.
"Crap!" Shi Dengtie tried to forcefully retrieve his spear while going against the spear's momentum as he noticed that Shi Li was hastily closing in on his right side, ducking down as he slashed upward.
Swoosh!
An orange sword light appeared from the tip of Shi Li's sword and darted towards Shi Dengtie's right side, only to not hit anything as Shi Dengtie executed his movement technique to hastily escape from the orange sword light.
"Haah!" Seeing that there was enough space between them, Shi Dengtie positioned his spear at a perpendicular angle to his body and dashed forwards at a fast speed thanks to his movement technique, wanting to stab Shi Li on his chest.
Of course, Shi Li won't let him do just that as he rotated 360 degrees while slowly moving to the right, easily avoiding the spear as he swung his sword from Shi Dengtie's blind spot.
Swoosh!
Hearing the gust of wind come from behind him, Shi Dengtie tightened his grip over the spear and swung it upwards, only for the tip to collide with the tip of Shi Li's sword, thus avoiding an attack.
Shi Li then retracted his sword and looked at Shi Dengtie with a smile. "This is more fun than I thought it would be! Let's fight some more!"
Shi Dengtie, on the other hand, was taking a few deep breaths as he forced out a smile. "Sure! Let's go!"
...
Clang! Clang! Clang!
After that skirmish, each and every attack the person would do would either be deflected or dodged by the other one. At times, there were situations where the attacks would actually hit the other person's body, but was miraculously avoided or deflected by the other one.
And so, Shi Dengtie and Shi Li's fight lasted for about 5 minutes of high-speed action that circled around the dueling platform, putting all of the spectators on edge.
While their weapons collided every so often, Shi Li looked at Shi Dengtie's condition, which was not good to say the least. Compared to Shi Li, he was already breathing heavily since not only did he have to strain his brain to intercept Shi Li's actions, but use up energy as well to avoid or deflect it.
On the other hand, Shi Li had it easy with his successfully cultivating the first level of the [All-encompassing Sword], which did not need him to strain his mind on actively deflecting or avoiding possible hits. He also cultivated the [Energy Condensation Art], which reduced the amount of energy he used for every action.
"You know what?" In the midst of their duel, Shi Li could not help but say. "Let's get this over with."
Bang!
In an instant, the aura around Shi Li intensified to a degree where it felt suffocating for Shi Dengtie, whose eyes widened due to the shock and realization of who he was fighting against.
"You weren't fighting me at your full strength?" Shi Dengtie could not help but ask.
"I was," Shi Li replied while actively attacking Shi Dengtie. "I just didn't use my techniques to their full potential."
Whoosh!
After saying that statement, the speed at which Shi Li's sword was moving instantly became faster by manifolds and darted towards Shi Dengtie's body like a venomous snake catching its prey.
Bang!
Finally, after five minutes, Shi Li landed an attack on Shi Dengtie, who was currently physically and mentally exhausted to the point where he could not intercept Shi Li's boost in speed.
The force that the attack generated made Shi Dengtie fly for a few meters before landing on the ground with a hard thud.
Silence.
Everyone, even the participants who were watching this duel from outside the barrier, was silent. They did not expect that Shi Li was actually holding back.
In the midst of this silence, Shi Dengtie looked up at the vast sky above him as he let out a soft sigh while still gripping on his spear tightly. With a light smile on his face, he then said, "I concede!"
"Woooooohhhhh!!!"
Not long after, loud cheers and screams could be heard throughout the clan arena once more as this was the first time they saw an extremely fast-paced duel between two participants.
Looking at the two participants that just fought, Shi Xingtai took in a deep breath before shouting, "Shi Li has won this duel!"
"Shi Li shall now take Shi Dengtie's place in the third elimination round while Shi Dengtie cannot participate any further!"