With a heavy thud—
The young man, who had already believed himself the victor and thus let down his guard while awaiting the judge's announcement, suddenly felt a sharp blow to the back of his neck.
The world around him spun violently as he collapsed forward.
In the moments before he lost consciousness, the illusion around him shattered—his surroundings began to distort and break apart, revealing the truth: he hadn't moved at all. Across from him, Hu Liena still stood quietly in place, her calm expression unchanged. Only her eyes now shimmered with a soft pink light. At her side, the six-tailed white fox's eyes also gleamed.
'I was careless!'
'I forgot… foxes excel at illusion…'
"Damn it…"
With that final thought, he completely lost consciousness.
To the audience, the events displayed on the screen told a different story: ever since the match began, Hu Liena and her six-tailed white fox had never moved from their positions. Meanwhile, their opponent—the young man and his partner, the dragon-like soul beast—had inexplicably gone berserk, launching a frenzied assault in the completely wrong direction.
After some time, the dragon collapsed, drained from overusing its fiery breath. The young man, still under the illusion, activated his Martial Spirit and blinked behind his imagined target, flailing at thin air with his claws, a triumphant grin on his face—convinced he had won.
Then, Hu Liena calmly walked up behind him and delivered a swift chop to the back of his neck. The young man's smile froze. His eyes widened, and he collapsed to the ground like a rag doll.
Thud!
As he hit the floor, the match officially ended.
[What a spectacular battle!]
[I hereby declare Hu Liena the victor of this match!]
That ethereal voice rang out once more.
At the same time, the space around the arena began to warp. In the next instant, Hu Liena found herself back in reality—standing on a ten-meter-wide platform. Her opponent lay unconscious on the ground, while his soul beast, though weakened from exhausting its energy, managed to shrink back down in size, barely avoiding damaging the arena further.
Thunderous cheers erupted from all directions.
Hu Liena smiled and offered a graceful bow to the audience. The six-tailed white fox at her side mimicked her, raising its two little paws in a respectful gesture.
Soon, medical personnel arrived with a stretcher to carry the unconscious young man away.
Hu Liena, unbothered and composed, exited the stage to rest, basking in the applause and admiration.
To her, this match was barely a challenge. With a simple illusion technique, she had confused both the opponent and his soul beast, allowing them to waste most of their energy attacking nothing but air.
Her fox companion, a noble-blooded soul beast with powerful spiritual and frost-based abilities, had significantly amplified her illusions. Without such support, it would've been far more difficult to simultaneously mesmerize both man and beast.
—
In the VIP stands—
Ye Cheng and Qian Renxue had observed the entire match closely. Unlike ordinary spectators, their keen insight saw through the layers of illusion and instantly understood how easily Hu Liena had secured victory. The young man, a Black Panther-type soul master partnered with a dragon, specialized in brute strength and speed. But he had little mental resistance—making him easy prey for a fox known for spiritual prowess.
"This Hu Liena and her six-tailed fox… that spiritual resonance between them—it's almost like a proto martial soul fusion technique," Qian Renxue commented, surprised. Though she was familiar with Soul Contract Masters, it was her first time witnessing how closely a soul master and their beast could cooperate—enough to emulate the power of a fusion technique. It was eye-opening.
"Exactly," Ye Cheng nodded. "As one of the first students of Baiyun Academy, Hu Liena is among the top in her class. A performance like this is no surprise."
"Then it seems Baiyun Academy will likely dominate the top rankings in this tournament," Qian Renxue said with a laugh.
"Naturally," Ye Cheng replied frankly. "Most of these contestants are self-taught. After receiving their Contract Stones, they had no targeted training, no development of synergy between them and their soul beasts. They still see soul beasts as mere tools, and that kind of shallow understanding won't take them far."
He continued, "This entire tournament exists to help the world realize that to walk the path of a Soul Contract Master, one must build a genuine bond with their soul beast. Only by treating them as equal partners can a soul master truly unleash their full potential."
"Those who treat soul beasts as disposable instruments will never understand the true power of a Contract Master," he concluded.
Qian Renxue nodded solemnly, appearing deeply moved. What she truly thought, however, remained her own secret.
Their seemingly casual conversation was not lost on those seated in the second and third rows. While they pretended not to notice, they listened with rapt attention, hoping to glean even a sliver of insight from the powerhouses before them. Even if those "insights" were mere common sense to the truly powerful, for them, they were revelations—keys to opening the doors to a new world.
The scraps of wisdom from the fingertips of the elite were treasures to the commoners.
—
The first round of battles—ten matches in total—soon came to an end.
It was time for the second round of contestants to take the stage.
The audience's enthusiasm didn't wane in the slightest. If anything, it only grew stronger. They were eager to see more breathtaking displays of teamwork between soul masters and their beasts.
As for the arenas damaged during the first round, they were quickly restored at the push of a button. These platforms had been designed for combat, and such contingencies were well accounted for.
In a chorus of cheers and applause, the fifty matches scheduled for the day concluded over the course of the afternoon—efficiently and cleanly.
There was no stalling, no drawn-out fights.
Victory was simple: if you were stronger, you won. If not, you surrendered. Delaying only invited embarrassment. Especially when everything was being broadcast live—and might soon be shown across the entire continent.
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