Author's Note: Hello everyone! I usually have some announcements about our progress in the volume but I kind of forgot for this volume. And uh, we are in the last arc of the volume.

Ok, more important news. I have created a map of the world a while ago and will post it at the end of this volume or beginning of the next volume. Additionally, I will be resuming 3 chapters a week for November and December. Thanksgiving break and winter break are pretty nice. As for after that though, I am not sure as my courses for next semester are harder than the ones I have now.

Anyways, that's all from me. I hope everyone is doing well and can continue to do so! Thank you for the support as always :3

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The hours passed as the first round of elimination finished, lowering the amount of participants to 32 cultivators. 

“Qian Yu and Jiang Hai!” Again, Qian Yu was called up first. 

Yet as they heard his opponent, a solemn expression had appeared on the five people. 

“Good luck,” the girls said as Qian Yu departed to the arena. 

His opponent was several years younger than Qian Yu, perhaps around 15 or 16. Donned in a red robe with fiery symbols and designs on it and along with his name, he no doubt had some sort of connection to the royal family of the Jiang Empire. 

“Hahaha, are you ready to get stomped!” Qian Yu heard the kid say. He had a large cheeky smile on his face. As someone related to the royal bloodline, he was no doubt arrogant and cocky. But he wasn’t like the average young master who was all words and no actions. Earlier, Qian Yu had watched his battle and knew he wasn’t an easy opponent.

“Best of luck to you,” nonetheless, Qian Yu just ignored the immature brat’s words and got ready to fight. 

“Begin!” the announcer yelled. 

“Hehe, Roaring Fire Dragons!” Jiang Hai yelled out as five small dragon heads appeared from behind him. In a way it was like Bai Jia’s water serpents except that the technique emphasized quantity rather than quality. 

“Take this!” Jiang Hai waved his weapon, a fan. The fan was impractical in close range combat but it was able to help control qi better and was useful in martial techniques focusing on long ranged attacks. 

*Whoosh!* two of the dragons flew forward. They weren't as fast as Bai Jia’s water serpents but they were still considerably fast. 

*Swish!* Fortunately, the distance between them was far enough that Qian Yu could easily dodge. 

‘I need to close the gap otherwise I will eventually get hit,’ Qian Yu bit his teeth. 

“Hmph!” A confident smile appeared on Jiang Hai’s face as he waved his hand. 

“What!” Qian Yu sidestepped, barely managing to dodge the fire dragon that skimmed past him. 

Yet just as he dodged it, another fire dragon had appeared before him. ‘Shit!’ Qian Yu braced for impact. 

*Bam!* Qian Yu was sent flying back, crashing into the hard stoned ground.

‘Damn it,’ Qian Yu cursed as he got back up. His robes were burned apart and some lightly charred areas were seen on his body. The attacks weren’t insanely strong, but they were fast, making it difficult to deal with. 

‘They are too fast,’ Qian Yu realized the problem. His mastery in Transcending Lightning Step had grown a lot since he started practicing it but currently, it was too hard to get close to Jiang Hai. The closer he was to Jiang Hai, the less time he had to dodge the fire dragon heads. 

Qian Yu gritted his teeth as he started running forward again. 

“Again?” Jiang Hai didn’t mind as he waved his fan. 

*Whoosh!* Following his commands, a fire dragon head promptly rushed at Qian Yu. 

*Swish!* Again, Qian Yu managed to dodge the first one as he ran towards Jiang Hai. 

*Whoosh!* Just as he dodged past it, another second fire dragon appeared before Qian Yu.

“Transcending Lightning Step!” With an instant burst of speed, Qian Yu dodged past it. 

‘One more time and I can close the gap!’ Qian Yu bit his lips as he channeled qi towards his feet. 

Yet as he looked at Jiang Hai, he saw a calm expression on his face. 

‘Shit!’ Instantly, Qian Yu realized there was a fire dragon head just by his side. 

*Boom!* Qian Yu took the brunt of the attack as he was sent flying away. 

‘Another couple of these hits is all I can take,’ Qian Yu bit his lips. 

“Hahaha, just give up!” Jiang Hai said. 

Qian Yu ignored his remarks. The same had happened in Jiang Hai’s first battle. From the looks of it, he was one that enjoyed messing around with others. 

“Ughh…” Jiang Hai said, upset that Qian Yu just ignored him. 

“You’re so boring!” he waved his fan once more. 

The fire dragon heads shot at Qian Yu for the third time. Yet it was different this time as Qian Yu watched every detail from when they moved to how they moved. 

‘I only need to stall another second or so before I can perform the 2nd Transcending Lighting Step,’ Qian Yu thought to himself as he looked at the incoming attacks.

“Transcending Lightning Step!” Qian Yu dodged past the first few dragons.

*Bam!* Yet as he got close enough, a fire dragon hit him again, sending him back once more.

‘I can’t react fast enough or predict its movement,’ Qian Yu shook his head. 

‘Still, there are too many other ways I can dodge that I haven’t tried yet,’ Yet Qian Yu didn’t give up so easily as he ran forward again.

“Again? Hahaha” Jiang Hai saw Qian Yu’s frontal assault as a joke.

*Whoosh!* The fire dragon heads lunged at Qian Yu. 

Transcending Lightning Step! Qian Yu dodged past the first onslaught of the dragon heads, paying attention to every small move that Jiang Hai was doing.

*Shua!* Suddenly, Qian Yu felt something change inside his consciousness.

‘The Immortal Soul technique!?’ Qian Yu realized what it was. It was a minuscule change, but he felt it nonetheless. Something had clicked within him. He was unsure of what it felt but like he had been told, it was a kind of insight that occurred very randomly. 

The noises of the announcer and audience suddenly disappeared as Qian Yu felt immersed in his own world. Time seemed to slow down as Qian Yu solely focused on the fire dragon heads. Every detail seemed vividly clear to him as he realized his understanding of the law of fire had increased from this fight. 

*Whoosh!* The fire dragon heads soared towards Qian Yu. 

“Up!” Yet at the same time, Qian Yu realized what was going to happen and jumped upwards. 

“What!” A surprised expression appeared on Jiang Hai’s face seeing Qian Yu dodge the attack when he hadn’t been before. 

“Transcending Lightning Step!” More importantly though, this brought that one second that Qian Yu needed. Performing the movement technique, he instantly appeared before Jiang Hai.

“Fire Dragon Claws!” Jiang Hai was surprised but a claw of fire started forming at his hands.

“Too late!” However, Qian Yu’s hand already balled into a fist as he punched forward with Lightning Spasm. 

*Bam!* Qian Yu’s fist forcefully disrupted Jiang Hai’s qi before electrifying it, sending Jiang Hai flying across the stage. 

However, Qian Yu wasn’t lenient like Jiang Hai and ran at him, not giving up this opportunity. Yet as he did, he realized Jiang Hai wasn’t getting up.

'He lost?' Qian Yu arrived, seeing his enemy had fallen unconscious. He had expected him to be weaker than normal cultivators with swords and spears but nonetheless, he didn't expect him to be this weak. Then again, the kid was pretty young.

“Wow! Look at that everyone. With a sudden outburst of speed, Qian Yu closes the gap and punches Jiang Hai! He’s out cold! It’s a one hit punch! Once again, he can’t be underestimated!” The announcer yelled out. And like before, a sudden outroar bursted from the audience. 

Returning to the seats, he was met with a few curious gazes.

“What happened?” Sun Hong asked. She was an experienced fighter and as Qian Yu’s main training partner, she could easily feel the changes that happened from the fight. 

“It was the Immortal Soul technique. It was like some sort of small breakthrough,” Qian Yu said. 

“A breakthrough during the fight? Can you elaborate more?” Bai Jia asked. 

“Hmm… I was just observing all the small details of the fire dragon heads and trying to predict its movement and then suddenly, the breakthrough just happened,” Qian Yu explained to the best of his abilities. 

“Alright, I see. I have been practicing the technique ever since I returned home but still, I have never received that feeling of insight,” Bai Jia sighed with a hint of frustration. 

“Well, anyways, it’s great that you made it through the first two rounds!” Zhen Yue said. 

“Yea, that’ll be all for today then,” Qian Yu said, finally relaxed. 

The next two days were like the day before. As the audience finished pouring into the arena, the battles between the middle and late stage soul foundation fighters immediately started.

They were definitely interesting and exciting to watch, allowing Qian Yu to broaden his horizons seeing dozens of different martial techniques.