Death... and me

1790 Rank Three Divine Stones. That's the price Govin paid for the vial of Half True Dragon Blood. If Rean could get that amount, the System Sect's number of Rank Three Divine Stones would jump straight to 6724! How many stages could they breakthrough with that amount? At that point, they might only use Rank Three Divine Stones from now on.

Not long after, someone who seemed to be a judge arrived at the arena. Whoever it was, it was obvious that he was called by both Govin and Timao. Neither of the two wanted to lose the life of their own fighter, after all. "Killing or permanently crippling is prohibited. If I see that a winner has appeared, I will stop the fight. Does everyone agree with that?" The judge asked.

Of course, Rean, Lin, Govin, and Timao accepted the rules.

"Very well. Let's not waste everyone's time. You can start anytime you want."

As soon as the judge said that, Lin immediately took his weapon out of his spatial ring, a sword at the Golden Peak-level. Following that, Lightning and Wind Elements gathered around his body and sword as he shot forward. Last but not least, Spatial Power accumulated, increasing both his speed and attack power.

'Path Through the Hurricane!'

'Dimensional Thunderstorm Slash!'

Space, Wind, and Lightning soon came cutting down on Rean's body. Immediately, everyone with a high enough level understood. Lin was indeed in the Initial Stage of the Void Tempering Realm in cultivation. However, his true strength was definitely at the Late Stage of the same realm.

The judge immediately got into position as Spatial Powers gathered around him. Due to the difference in cultivation and especially strength, he believed he would have to jump in to save Rean's life.

However, he didn't have the time to do that. That's because Rean's hair suddenly changed into a mix of black and white as his Black Star appeared in his hand. Light and Dark Element gathered around him and his sword before he counterattacked.

'Life Style, First Form, Enhancement!'

'Death Style, First Movement Form, Shadow Steps!'

'Life Fire, First Form, Flame Emperor Slash!'

Dark and Light Element helped Rean move as fast as Lin while his sword burned bright with Light, Dark, and Fire Element! His sword was also just as fast as the space-aided sword of his enemy, causing both swords to clash in the middle of the arena!

*Kabrummm!*

*Boom!*

*Crack, crack, crack...*

Light, Fire, Dark, Wind, Lightning, all five elements burst out of the clash, forcing even the judge to use his Divine Energy to hold himself in place. The spectators outside were fine, though. As strong as the clash was, it wasn't anywhere near enough to breakthrough through the protection barrier formation in the arena.

*Vup, vup!*

Both Rean and Lin were forced back by the shockwave of their attacks as they looked at each other in shock. Rean was expecting his opponent to be able to fight at a higher level than the Initial Stage of the Void Tempering Realm. However, he thought the guy's strength would be at most at the peak of the Middle Stage. He didn't expect Lin to show strength at the Late Stage instead.

However, let alone Rean, except for Govin, everyone else had their eyes almost fall off their sockets! After all, Rean had just shown strength equivalent to a Late Stage Void Tempering Realm cultivator! Rean... was still in the Middle Stage of the Transition Realm! Not only that, but the real good eyes also felt the Spatial Power within Rean's body, although it was very, very small. How ridiculous was that? Rean was far from the Void Tempering Realm, but there was no doubt that the Spatial Power within Rean was his and his alone. It wasn't a treasure or any other kind of item or technique.

A second later, the same thought appeared in the elders' minds. 'A genius! Not some run of the mil genius from some desolate corner of some continent. It's a real, true genius!'

Rean then looked at Govin, who seemed to have a smile on his face. 'I know you're feeling great at the moment, but this guy is quite strong. If you want me to defeat him, I can, but I have to go all out. Otherwise, I'm afraid this battle will end in my defeat since his pool of Divine Energy and control over Spatial Powers are much higher than mine.'

Govin knew that Rean was talking about his sword intent. Govin was another one who didn't want Rean to show his sword intent. It was better to keep this secret within the Yume Clan for now. But then again, should he give up the chance of defeating the Gileria Clan here?

It was at this moment that Govin got a Divine Sense message from someone. With that, his eyes changed as he contacted Rean back. 'I understand. I didn't expect his disciple to have such strength either. Change your tactics. There's no need to show anything else. Your display of strength has already earned our Yume Clan a lot of face. Just hand it in there for a minute. Don't worry. I'll give you the entire vial since the results were still the same as I expected.'

It wasn't just the message he got. Govin was also saying that because he could feel the many, many more Divine Senses that suddenly appeared over the arena. It was obvious that he got the attention he hoped for. As for Rean's sword intent, that was something the Yume Clan put a lot of importance on, and they wouldn't want to reveal it so soon.

As always, profit was all that mattered for Rean. Now that he knew he could get the entire vial by just resisting a minute, he definitely wouldn't show his sword intent. 'Only if I join forces with Roan for us to match a Peak Stage Void Tempering Realm opponent without using weapon intents. Since I already got the vial, let's just end it as planned.'

Lin obviously didn't just watch. He knew that the minute was still going. However, Rean was indeed at his level in strength. In the end, a minute was far, far from enough to decide the fight.

Eventually, the time was up. "One minute has passed. Winner of the bet between elders, Govin Yume and Rean Larks!"