Kill The Old Ones!

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Well, Rosalie most certainly did her best, alright.

Sadly, she’s facing a monster, and in the end, her best just wasn’t enough. Probably never will be enough, for that matter, too.

Rosalie displayed her full mastery over the Scarlet Blossom Art—the main inheritance of the Scarlet Blossom Sect. Although not many people knew how it works, those who do could tell that Rosalie had every right to be their representative because of how well she uses that art.

Her mastery nearly approaches that of the sect master, and Rosalie’s just 19 years old. She has the potential to raise this art to a whole new level if she’s given more time to mature.

Rumors say that this art came naturally for her. It was said that she learned it by accident. She started as a menial disciple, serving one of the core disciples of the sect, and one day, she happened to watch her young mistress practicing the art.

To Rosalie’s surprise, she just understood it. When she thought nobody was looking, she tried to replicate it, only to be discovered by a roaming elder who brought her in for questioning.

That’s when they discovered her natural affinity towards the Scarlet Blossom art. They defied the core laws they set up and allowed Rosalie to learn in, and to their shock, she mastered it much faster than anybody had seen before.

This happened before the triple-crossing disciple incident. Rosalie’s identity has been a kept secret since then. It wasn’t until she was taken to the trial grounds that her identity was revealed.

But, as good as she was, there’s just no way she’s defeating Adrian Arclight.

The Young Sword King didn’t even need to do much to neutralize the very skill she became known for.

It doesn’t matter how many scarlet blossoms she sent to overwhelm him. With a very brief pulse of his sword intent, all of them wilted and fell to the ground, vanishing at the very next second.

Even after Rosalie paired it with other sect arts she knew, none of them were able to touch Adrian.

He didn’t even draw his sword.

Adrian allowed Rosalie to display as much skill as she could before he ended the match. An act of mercy on his part.

Once Rosalie was spent, he slashed with his still sheathed sword, releasing a strong gust of wind that blew Rosalie off the stage. She was largely unharmed, and she could’ve climbed back up, but she chose not to.

Something told her that if she did, Adrian would use more force. It’s a battle she could never hope to win. That’s why she surrendered.

The fight was both boring and enlightening.

Boring because the outcome was predictable. Rosalie’s impressive, yes, but never as much as Adrian. The three martial sects of Central City could never hope to match the heirs of ancient clans and families.

Enlightening because Adrian didn’t even try at all. He created such a strong gust of wind with his sword still in its sheath. He could’ve done way worse, but he chose to stay his hand as a sign of respect and mercy.

The pair returned to the waiting room, where nobody was surprised with the outcome.

Alas, the poor luck of the martial sects continued with the following matches.

Elena Forestmere of the Far North Clan vs. Caius Aurelius of the Golden Veil Sect.

Lucian Skyrend of the Heaven’s Reach Clan vs. Magnus Stoneheart of the Giant’s Cradle Sect.

The match between Elena and Caius was very straightforward. While Adrian was a gentleman towards Rosalie, Elena wasn’t as merciful.

Before Caius could even say a word, she turned him into a frozen statue with the faintest sigh she could ever muster. Her chilling breath is what caused this to happen.

According to the grapevine, Elena was born with the Frozen Spirit Physique—an epic-grade martial physique that was active at birth. She nearly killed her mother because of the chill she’s exuding. If it weren’t for the high cold resistance her mother had as a descendant of the clan, she would’ve truly died giving birth to her.

Rumors say that touching Elena feels like holding dry ice. This doesn’t hurt her, though. She’s not ill or anything. She’s fine. Her emotions are a bit dampened by her nature, but that’s about it. Aside from that, she’s as normal as other people are.

Obviously, an epic grade martial physique brought her immense advantages. The very first strand of chakra she molded caused the moisture of the surrounding air around her to freeze. And her affinity grew the stronger she got.

Elena freezing men like this wasn’t an uncommon thing, either. She often does this to creepy stalkers or shady people whenever she discovers them.

Well, Caius wasn’t one of them, but he stood in her way to the next round; that’s why he gets the same treatment.

Then, there was the match between Lucian and Magnus.

For a second there, people thought Magnus had a better chance, and they couldn’t blame him for that.

Magnus Stoneheart carries the bloodline of a giant. He’s 19 and a half years old but is already 7 feet tall, and he’s still growing according to rumors.

Lucian, on the other hand, was only 6’2 feet tall. He had to crane his neck to meet Magnus’ eyes.

Magnus wasn’t just tall, though. He’s also wide. Not fat-wide, but muscular-wide. His muscles were like stone chunks put together to form the shape of a person. Only his face looked smooth and carved, but from his neck down, the rest were all hard muscles, sinews, and bulging veins.

He looked like a bodybuilder who overdosed on steroids.

To others, Magnus looked incredibly intimidating. But to those who knew him, he was different.

’Gentle Giant’ is what he’s often called. Magnus was polite, kind, and surprisingly gentle to those that were smaller and weaker than him. A lot of mothers and grandmothers adored the young man where he grew up.

His character is also widely known to his sect.

But make no mistake, Magnus can and will fight. His muscles weren’t just for show. He was a walking and talking tank; he can endure a surprising amount of punishment and seems to have a limitless source of energy, to boot.

His fighting style heavily implies this. Especially against Lucian Skyrend, the Young Spear King and heir to the Heaven’s Reach Clan.

Alas, as vigorous and enduring Magnus was, it wasn’t enough. Talent, skill, breeding, inheritance, resources...everything Magnus had in the sect, save for his bloodline, Lucian had better.

Lucian indulged the big man, allowing the other party to display as much as he could before defeating him.

Magnus might be tough, but Lucian had taken down somebody bigger and tougher. In his regular life, defeating people that are as strong as Magnus is a regular occurrence.

That marks the end of the line for the representatives of the three martial sects. From here, they enter the loser’s bracket.

The ending might’ve been upsetting for them, but faced with those with real powerful backgrounds, they knew not to expect much.

Next was the match between Seraphina and Sophia.

Seraphina Whitelock—the young White Lotus King and heir of the White Haven Clan.

Sophia Evergarden—representative of the Lifestyle Guild.

Unlike the faces of the martial sects’ representatives when they saw their match, Sophia remained calm and placid. She just adjusted her glasses, nodded to the staff, and allowed herself to be escorted to the tunnel.

Some people might think that she’s up to something, but Ren knew better.

Sophia already accepted her defeat. All she’s doing now is going through the motions to make it official.

She harbors no hope or illusions of winning. That has never been the point of her participation. She was here for appearance’s sake, nothing more. Whatever the rewards this tournament bestows to the winner, it has nothing to do with her; that much was clear in her attitude.

And the fight ended exactly as everybody expected. Sophia lost.

She made Seraphina irritated, though, with all her trinkets and gadgets. Sophia practically threw millions of credits worth of tech just to annoy the hell out of her opponent.

It’s a little spiteful of her, but nobody said that she had to make this easy.

That said, even after wasting so much money, all it ever did was to annoy the Young White Lotus King. Nothing Sophia had ever hurt her, truly.

Seraphina was protected by her chakra all the way; nothing Sophia threw at her actually left a dent on her protection.

The heir of the White Haven Clan tried to end the battle as fast as she could, but Sophia knew that she would do that and countered it.

She made Seraphina work for her win, unlike the previous three that went up before her. Sophia had no qualms spending a lot if it means ruining the day of her opponent.

The worst part was when Sophia was cornered, she surrendered directly. Not letting Seraphina touch her at all. The referee protected her as soon as she surrendered, and Sophia walked off the stage, not even bothering to look back.

She didn’t return to the waiting room, either. Only Seraphina did, and she was irked.

That brought a smile on Ren’s face.