Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

His hands gripped onto his dagger tightly as he took up a different stance. Still crouched down, his daggers hummed with power.

"Vorpal Claws!" he shouted out.

He made several quick movements and the space he had cut twisted and warped. Almost immediately, the space around Jing Hai twisted and turned as invisible blades ripped at her robes. But before it could even touch her skin, they would be obliterated by the sheer aura she exuded.

After all, her body was like the sun. From afar there was little effect but as one got closer, they would start to feel the fearsome energy.

She did not let Li Quan attack without consequence. Walking closer towards Li Quan, she raised her sword up. The light that she emitted was almost blinding to Li Quan but he could not find a way to escape her grasp. Finding himself unable to move, he could only attack.

In a final attempt, he slashed at the air, creating wide marks almost cutting the actual space. From it, there was a force that came from those marks. A sharp and unbending attack that could not be stopped.

But Jing Hai had a response to such a move. As she attacked, her sword glowed before it smashed the ground creating a powerful shockwave. Like an exploding star, it happened in one instant and it was devastating.

Everyone watched closely to the fight and found Li Quan down to one knee. Jing Hai stood tall, almost as like she towered over him.

"This is my loss", Li Quan spoke first as he breathed heavily, "It took several moves to match just one of yours."

"But it was a good fight", she answered back, "I had to use a trump card to deal with your attacks."

Jing Hai offered her hand to Li Quan, who took it and stood up. The spectators clapped to show their respect for the both of them as they left the arena.

Following their duel were many others, Qing Lei Jiang fought against the prince of the Clear Sky Kingdom. The prince, named Qiu Daohen, used a sword whose most striking feature was its blood red sword. He seemed to follow the Dao of Massacre and attacked with a certain fervor. That energy and bloodthirstiness was well under control.

Unfortunately, against Lei Jiang, Qiu Daohen had lost. This was not very surprising to many parties. Lei Jiang's own progress in his Dao of Lightning had reached a certain threshold. One where he can branch off and form his own Dao.

Compared to before the lightning that he controlled was much stronger than when he fought at the youth tournament and that was due to his time at the secret realm of the bloody plains.

Although the statue he chose was unknown to him, what he saw and experienced had changed him. A battle of god and man where one faced against millions. It was awe inspiring and yet solemn. For the end of such a battle left the god all alone.

His Dao of Lightning now had a majestic and grand quality to it. Each strike was true and straightforward, without an ounce of trickery.

This was what he called, the Dao of Unyielding Lightning.

To what accumulations he made into developing this was uncertain, he had certainly reached minor perfection.

After Lei Jiang's victory came the man with the red bow, Lan Huang as he faced against one of the Fisherman's disciples, a young girl who carried a simple fishing pole in her hands.

In all honesty, Lan Huang really resembled that of a bandit. His face had a vicious expression and that red bow did nothing to aid his appearance. Not to mention, his hair, wild and unkempt, it seemed he did not bother to clean up his appearance. Furthermore his clothes were quite different, a mixture of leather and chainmail, it did not have the same extravagance as some other uniforms. The most striking part about his attire was the fur pelt that out lined his leather vest, a deep violet color that complimented his red bow. Most likely it was from a beast he hunted.

Lan Huang was quick to anger and ruthless, yet his reputation was quite the opposite. Much of the money he earned would be donated to orphanages or poor villages. Some stories say that he even wove clothing for some of the children with the materials he harvested from the beasts he killed. People believed that he himself came from such an origin, lucky enough to have been taught by a master.

As for the young girl, she moved in the same manner as her master, even dressed the same way. Put in a crowd of villagers and she would blend perfectly. Her looks were ordinary, a freckled face and a slim body. Her fingers were wrapped tightly with bandages, she wielded the fishing pole loftily.

Their battle was quite interesting. As Lan Huang fought from afar, his opponent would have a hard trouble battling him. But instead, it was the other way around. He could only attack from afar. If he got closer by even an inch, retreating would be difficult.

Why is that?

The girl was too skilled and her weapon was truly unusual. She moved the fishing pole with finesse and the fishing line seemed to go where ever she pleased. But for Lan Huang, it was hard for him to track where she would attack next. Not only could she control where the fishing line moved but she could even lengthen or retract it.

It was undoubtedly worse than a whip.

Lan Huang moved around quickly, shooting an arrow every now and then. His bow was different from the conventional ones. The body of it was much more curved and shorter while the string seemed to be thicker. With both these elements, his firing speed was incredibly quick and powerful.

As the battle continued both of them began using their moves. The girl manifested waves of water from her fishing pole. As for Lan Huang, his signature fire arrows came into play but even more was revealed than that. He did not delve into the Dao of Fire. Rather those fire arrows were inventions of his. His Dao of Archery had contraptions and pure ingenuity merged together. He had all sorts of arrows from ones that created smoke to another that turned into a net.

In the end, he came out as the victor after trapping her with a net of rope. Despite the Fisherman's disciple having skill, she barely even moved after all she was able to deflect his arrows with the fishing line. Ultimately, that made her a much easier target.

Following their battle came numerous others, someone that used hidden weapons, another who excelled in the Dao of Music, a swordsman that focused on the Dao of Shadows. There was a fan user that focused on the Dao of Illusion, a body and martial cultivator whose fists was alight with flame. There was even a participant who used a giant jade brush to paint images that would come to life. This was the Dao of Ink.

In the vast world, anything could become the Dao. So long as one had proficient understanding and their line of thought was sound.

After all of these duels, everyone was excited and satisfied from seeing such sights.

However, there was only one party that had yet to participate, the Tao Feng Sect. No one forgot about them and at the end of everything, they looked to the young master, Zuo Er.

He stood up and walked to the arena. There was a paper talisman in his hand, already crushed in his hands.

"Truly I am grateful to have been invited to an occasion such as this.. An opportunity I could not refuse", he said, "But now, I say that the real battle will begin."