Chapter 701: Turnaround
Complete and utter oppression and domination. That was how all of the Fire Lord's matches went.
Though I didn't see him meeting any truly powerful cultivators, most of the people he fought were still at the least in the Void Stage realm. These cultivators had ground and fought, climbed through and on top of many corpses to become who they are today. Yet they all failed in crossing the final barrier.
A wall as tall as a mountain, burning with endless rage and incredible flames.
The Fire Lord was the end of all those who tried to fight against him. Stay tuned to M|VL|EM|PY|R
Ten rounds, ten perfect victories, and he proceeded to the final phase without any hitch or worry.
"Indeed, the man you called the Fire Lord is truly powerful. How did you even survive fighting him?" the Dusking Sun said
"Like I said, we never won against him, he only lost to himself. And it took the effort of the strongest beings in the Vast Expanse to force him back a single step. Though he could have perished if not for the Darkest Sun," I replied.
"I see, I guess he needed the intervention of the Darkest Sun himself to escape, but I wonder why that man would interfere," the Dusking Sun said.
I shrugged, "from the knowledge I have, the Fire Lord comes from a family that served the Darkest Sun. One of the branches of the Darkest Sun's sect was exiled and banished. The entire territory broke apart into several pieces, and one of the pieces of that territory ended up in the Vast Expanse, his ancestors were probably the people that claimed themselves Emperors over the Vast Expanse." I said
"What I know of the Vast Expanse is that it was a dead world created by the Wisest Sun, it failed to make life. So in a sense isn't everyone that was born in the Vast Expanse, to a slightly exaggerated degree a member of the Darkest Sun's family?" Eccentric Long asked.
The Dusking Sun shook his head, "No, not really. Since it wasn't the only family that was exiled. Many cultivators have been banished to the Vast Expanse. Since not everyone wanted to be part of the Eight Sects, a lot were prosecuted, and some chose to leave by their own means.
Creating methods that would propel them through space into the Vast Expanse, and some committed atrocious deeds that forced many of the sects to expel them from here. There are still records of many evil beings being sent there. And among them were monsters and cultivators alike.
Until the creation of the free zone, the Sea of Demons, a lot of cultivators were sent down to the Vast Expanse," the Dusking Sun explained.
This would explain the diversity of races in the Vast Expanse, after all the Golden Titan for example was not human. And there was the Demon race in the Poison Sect Planet and many other beings in the Vast Expanse. I suppose this makes everything clear in regard to the population and origin of the Vast Expanse.
"Seems like we still have many interesting fighters," the Commentator said.
"Oh the Demon Sword is going up on stage," Xiao Du said.
"Hmm, I guess we'll get to see an even more impressive battle!" the Commentator said.
"Somehow, I doubt that," I said as I continued sipping off my drink.
"Oh, why do you think so?" the commentator asked. "Though he does have some enmity with you, I doubt that he is one to be scorned this way," the commentator said.
"I misspoke, what I meant is, it is because of his strength that we won't be seeing anything too interesting," I added.
The commentator frowned but soon came to realize what I meant.
Once the Demon Sword was up, no one dared go up and challenge them.
It was like asking a dog to go up and fight a wounded tiger, no one would want to risk their lives against the Demon Sword, someone who had already made it to the top three of the last competition.
And after a while, the Referee began choosing randomly, and everyone he chose decided that they would withdraw.
After all, for them, it was better to take a proper chance in the loser bracket and fight others, than fight against a powerful enemy. Winning or losing wouldn't have meant much. Since even if they were to win, they would definitely fight tooth and nail for that victory and would be too exhausted or too weak to continue streaking.
If they lose, they risk their lives since the Demon Sword is pretty brutal.
After ten consecutive withdraws, the Demon Sword was allowed to go into the next round.
"Oh, already, I guess you were indeed right, seems like the chances of watching good matches have dropped by a lot then," the commentator said.
"There is actually someone else from the Vast Expanse who's about to participate," I said.
"Oh, another one from your world, where?" the commentator asked.
"The man with the nonchalant attitude, the one who's currently sprawled on the ground sleeping. That guy is strong," I said.
I was referring to Dao Shen who was indeed just chilling on the ground, waiting for god knows what.
But as if he was listening to our conversation, he yawned and stood up, then walked up the empty stage.
His opponent on stage was a man who had already fought nine rounds. And he only needed one more win to qualify for the top hundred.
But with Dao Shen on stage, those chances are looking rather grim.
Because unlike everyone else in this competition, for Dao Shen, the difference in cultivation level is pretty much irrelevant unless it is an absurd difference.
And his opponent was actually an Origin realm cultivator.
In a normal situation, Dao Shen should lose this fight, but since Origin Qi itself is forbidden of use, the cultivator fighting Dao Shen is in a difficult position.
The two of them looked at each other, Dao Shen still looking rather sleepy and bored, while the Origin Stage cultivator was slightly wary and a bit exhausted. Although he was at the Origin Stage fighting many cultivators sapped some of his power, but for a normal Void Stage cultivator, he still had plenty of energy to defeat them.
"You should give up, Void Stage," the Origin Stage cultivator said.
"Stop yapping and just fight," Dao Shen Replied.
The opponent snorted, "To refuse to drink a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, the younger generation truly is ignorant!"
The referee didn't really care much for what the opponent said to each other before the match started. Only when he reminded them of the rules and announced the start of the fight did the two of them charge at each other.
The Origin Stage cultivator immediately threw his hand forward in a grasping motion.
"And you still dare disrespect me by not using a weapon! Fine! I'll beat you in your own game!" he said as he went for a grab.
However, Dao Shen didn't avoid it, in fact, he offered his own hand forward both of them.
The two hands grasped each other and a show of force started.
"Hah! A Void Stage is trying to compete against me in power! Even if you are a body cultivator you're still too weak for this!"
"Did anyone ever tell you that you speak too much?" Dao Shen said as he didn't seem to be moving or forced out of his standing position.
Confused about how the Origin Stage cultivator was unable to even move Dao Shen's body, he exerted more force.
"Ah, that's game over," I said.
"Indeed, it seems that the power of an Origin Stage cultivator is too strong for a void stage, at least he'll learn from defeat," the Commentator said.
"Not, it's not for Dao Shen, but for the Origin Stage, he already lost since he tried to fight against him using Qi," I said.
"What do you mean? The quality and quantity of Qi in an Origin Stage cultivator is far superior to a Void Stage, are you sure you saw right?" the commentator asked.
"I think Du Shen is right, look, Dao Shen isn't even sweating while his opponent looks like he had seen a ghost," Eccentric Long said.
Suddenly they all realized what was going on.
Dao Shen had already begun absorbing the Origin Stage cultivator's Qi.
"Dao of Absorption!" the Commentator said as he stood up, completely shocked.