Chapter 414: Wise Decision

Golden light!

Dazzling golden light!

With Skyblade in hand, the shattering power brought forth by the ever-present Dragontongue magic was unable to approach Chen Xiaolian’s body. The golden light enveloped Chen Xiaolian’s body in a three-step radius and the countless number of incoming energy flow were blocked off as a result!

Chen Xiaolian slowly raised Skyblade up high.

At that moment, Skyblade had seemingly become exceptionally heavy!

The rate at which he was raising Skyblade up was very, very slow.

It went up inch by inch.

Every inch higher it went, a golden image would appear from Skyblade’s surface…

An illusory looking blade made of golden light appeared before Chen Xiaolian!

Skyblade rose by another inch and… … the illusory golden blade suddenly expanded in size by a notch!

The higher up Skyblade went, the bigger the illusory golden blade became! It was as though someone was furiously blowing up a balloon.

When Chen Xiaolian raised Skyblade all the way up above his head…

Amid the exclamations of shock from the audience…

Before Chen Xiaolian was… … a dazzling, humongous, 10 metre tall illusory golden blade!

Ten metres!

An incomparably large blade!

Chen Xiaolian could hear various sounds coming from the joints in own arm! Every muscle was stretched tightly to its very limit!

He could also sense that the power within his entire body was rapidly growing!

It was a maddening rate of growth!

However, this rapidly growing power brought about a side effect as well. And that side effect was… … the load on his body grew heavier!

Chen Xiaolian could practically hear the cells in his body crying out in pain.

“What should I do now?”

“Hack it!”

“Just hack it?”

“Just hack it!”

Those words went back and forth between Chen Xiaolian and Skyblade.

…

In the centre of the first row of the grandstand area for the Knights of Darkness Guild was a lean figure with a hooded cloak. The figure had stood up and the pair of eyes hidden within the shadows of the hood stared at what was happening in the arena.

When he saw Chen Xiaolian raise the blade up and witnessed the appearance of the ten-metre tall illusory golden blade…

The fellow in hooded cloak suddenly shuddered!

He promptly opened his mouth and shouted.

“Jacob! Surrender asap!”

The two figures standing beside turned to look at the figure and they blurted, “Guild, Guild Leader? You…”

The fellow with hooded cloak ignored those around him. Instead, he continued directing his attention toward the competition arena and unleashed a thunderous roar!

In but an instant, the roar managed to suppress the clamouring noise within the grandstands!

The roar reached the ears of almost everyone!

“Jacob! Hurry up and surrender!”

…

Too late!

Chen Xiaolian had already forcefully swung down Skyblade with all his might!

When he hacked down, Chen Xiaolian could sense that maddeningly expanding power cascade out like a tidal wave… … it all cascaded out!

All the cells in his body that had been on the brink of collapsing were immediately able to find respite! A furious roar was released…

Chen Xiaolian could sense an indescribable… … joy from unleashing power!

The sensation of having all that terrifying power gush out in an instant!

He roared as though every cell in his body was bursting out.

And the 10-metre tall golden blade…

Descended…

Toward Jacob!

…

Jacob had heard his Guild Leader’s shout.

But by then, the 10-metre golden blade was already upon his head!

Jacob was left with no way to follow his Guild Leader’s command!

Surrendering now?

It's too late!

He must first fend off this incoming strike!

Jacob could sense the terrifying power within the incoming blade.

Thus, he released an explosive like roar and his dragon roar resonated its way to the sky!

This roar by Jacob during such a critical moment was his most powerful Dragontongue magic.

When the first roar was released…

A chaotic mass of light appeared before Jacob!

The golden blade hacked down…

The waves of chaos churned!

Wherever the golden light shone upon, the waves of chaos would be scattered back!

The dragon scales all over Jacob’s body cracked and burst!

Jacob desperately released a second roar!

When the second roar was released, large clumps of blood were forced out from Jacob’s body.

The blood then formed a wall of blood, blocking the way of the incoming 10-metre golden blade!

The golden blade continued descending…

When the golden blade descended, steam emerged from the wall of blood before evaporating!

The wall of blood faded away.

A wave of bone cracking sounds suddenly rang out from Jacob’s colossal body and he fell to his knees.

He then released a third howl, his final one!

This time, no sound was emitted. Rather, what came out of his jaws was… something enveloped in red coloured light… a sigil!

Shockingly, the flashing sigil was a Dragontongue magic of the highest rank!

The 10-metre golden blade continued descending!

A huge tremor ran through the golden blade!

For a moment, it seemed as though the sigil had successfully stopped the descending golden blade…

However, it lasted only an instant.

The descent of the golden blade was only disrupted a moment before it continued descending!

As for Jacob, sounds of objects being shattered were emitted out from all over his body!

His body became like a clump of mud and he crashed down to the ground… no hint of struggle could be seen.

The 10-metre golden blade finally descended upon Jacob’s neck…

Boom!

The blade hit home!

Blood sprayed out.

The dragon’s head was hacked…

And it flew up into the air!

The colossal dragon’s head flew up before falling back down on the ground of the competition arena. It then rolled its way to the edge of the arena…

As it so happened, its final resting spot was not far from the location of the Guild Leader of the Knights of Darkness Guild.

Those widened vertical-slit pupils stared directly at the Guild Leader.

The Guild Leader of the Knights of Darkness Guild shuddered before falling back into his seat.

Silence reigned.

…

This time, the entirety of all the grandstands fell into a state of deathly silence.

One second…

Three seconds…

Five seconds…

Ten seconds…

Deathly silence!

Everyone within the grandstands was casting complicated gazes at the lean looking blade-wielding youngster who was standing in the competition arena.

This time, there were no exclamations of shock; no cries, shouts or howls.

Everyone stared at the youngster with one thought running through their minds:

Am I… bearing witness to the rise of another [S] class expert?

Is this a testament?

…

After a full minute had passed, tidal wave like roars resounded out from the grandstand area of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild!

Chen Xiaolian held on to the blade and turned around to look at Bai Qi who was standing not far away from him.

Bai Qi ignored Chen Xiaolian. He quickly made his way toward the corpse of the colossal dragon. He then bit down on the dragon’s body as he absorbed and gulped down the dragon’s essence!

The powerful and near limitless life force was rapidly dissipating by itself… seeing that happening, Bai Qi was quick to seize the moment to quickly absorb them!

This was the remnant life force of one of the most powerful creatures, a colossal dragon!

Despite his actions, Bai Qi did not attract the attention of others.

Because everyone’s eyes were focused on Chen Xiaolian!

Chen Xiaolian himself was feeling quite lost. Only after a minute had passed did he then turned around to look at the controlling arbiter’s seat, at Angel Wu.

“Is this my victory again?”

…

Angel Wu and Chen Xiaolian locked gazes for a long time.

This expert from the Angel Corps was unable to glean any clues from Chen Xiaolian’s eyes.

He then slowly stood up. He gave Jacob’s corpse, that was lying on the competition arena, one last glance.

Then, he retracted his gaze.

There was no need to look at a dead [A+] class expert.

“Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild has won the second match of the first Blood Verdict!”

Angel Wu took a deep breath before continuing, “Now, in accordance to the rules…”

As Angel Wu was about to announce something else…

Exclamations of shock suddenly rose up from the audiences!

A lean figure in hooded cloak had appeared somewhere not far from Angel Wu.

He was seemingly whispering something to Angel Wu.

Absolute shock spread throughout the grandstands!

Everyone present recognized the lean figure in hooded cloak – the present Guild Leader of the Knights of Darkness Guild and its number one expert, [S] class expert!

…

“That is the Guild Leader of Knights of Darkness Guild!”

“It’s him! No question about it!”

“What does he want? Could it be…”

“Ah, I know! Since Jacob who is an [A+] class expert had been killed in battle, it stands to reason that Oswald who is also an [A+] class expert would have no chance of winning… … just look at that kid. He used just one slash to finish off Jacob!”

“You mean to say…”

“It has to be it! Knights of Darkness Guild wants to use the Guild Leader’s authority. Perhaps it is for… changing the list of combatants! Heavens! Would an [S] class expert personally take to the field?”

“An [S] class expert would step forward?”

“Oh my… … God!”

…

Up in the grandstand area where Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild was occupying, Bluesea had noticed the move by the Guild Leader of Knights of Darkness Guild.

Bluesea’s eyebrows waggled once and he pondered for a moment before suddenly revealing a smile.

“It seems it’s over.”

“What?” Qiao Yifeng who was beside him knitted his brows. “What does that mean? Could it be that guy wants to personally step forward?”

“No way.” Bluesea shook his head. “Experts may have their own sense of pride, but as a Guild Leader, he cannot casually mobilize the power of [S] class.”

“Why?”

“Because they can’t afford to lose,” explained Bluesea. “Although the accepting side may surrender at any moment, exempting them from fighting to the death… … [S] class is the very soul of each guild! Once an [S] class expert steps forward… … think about it, even if they find their situation unfavourable, would they surrender?”

“… absolutely not! They are the spiritual pillar of the entire guild! If a guild’s [S] class expert surrenders before the eyes of everyone within Zero City, that would translate to a huge blow for the morale of the guild! No [S] class can afford to lose! That is why…”

“That is why, once an [S] class expert steps forward, they will never, ever surrender until one side emerges victorious. It will certainly be a battle to the death! There can be no compromise in such a battle, a deadly battle!”

After hearing that, Qiao Yifeng replied, “However… … if it’s an [S] class, the chances of winning… …”

“This Xiaolian had used one strike to finish off the [A+] class Jacob. What do you think of this level of power? Even if an [S] class Guild Leader steps forward, would they have the assurance to emerge victorious? If they have no such assurance, they would be forced to a deadly battle. In that battle, there will be no retreating until a winner emerges!

“Would that Guild Leader be so bold as to make such a bet?  If their guild loses their [S] class powerhouse, they would fall into decline.

“No [S] class Guild Leader would casually make such a gamble. Unless they are absolutely desperate, no one would choose this option.”

After saying that, Bluesea gave a gentle sigh.

“You mean…” Qiao Yifeng’s eyes lit up.

It was at that moment that Angel Wu released what appeared to be a sigh. He had a relieved expression on his face as he looked at the Guild Leader of Knights of Darkness Guild who was standing beside him.

“According to the rules of Blood Verdict, the accepting side has the right to surrender at any moment. Following the request of the Knights of Darkness Guild, the guild of the third combatant, Oswald, I hereby announce as the arbiter of this Blood Verdict: Knights of Darkness Guild has surrendered the third match and Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild has automatically acquired a win for it.

“The three matches for the first Blood Verdict are complete and Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild has successively won all three matches, thereby obtaining victory in this Blood Verdict!”

The grandstands were in uproar once more. However, quite a number of those with shrewd minds appeared unfazed.

Clearly, the Guild Leader of the Knights of Darkness Guild had made a wise decision.

This was just a Blood Verdict, not something that would decide the life and death of the guild. There was no need to risk everything.

Losing this Blood Verdict was not a loss for the accepting side. They would just be letting Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild continue on.

Although the loss of an [A+] class expert was very infuriating… there was no need to gamble with the guild’s [S] class just for Jacob’s sake.

That would be a gamble with the guild’s fate on the line – something that was unnecessary for now.

Chen Xiaolian who stood within the competition arena listened to Angel Wu’s announcement in a bewildered manner.

“So… … … I won? Is the Blood Verdict over?”