NOVEL NEXT Chapter 45: Trouble
"I heard that Victor Hannibal is the Trinity Academy's secret weapon."
"Victor? I really don't think that's the case. I've talked to some of the Dark Chariot Faction members before the tournament, and no one even remotely mentioned his name as a suitable candidate for the championship. Not even once. At the age of eighteen, with his cultivation already at the third rank of the sky realm, and even cultivating a high grade body strengthening skill, you would think that he'd be one of your top picks, but apparently he wasn't that good at combat during training and practice sessions."
"Really? That's hard to believe. Do you think he's been hiding his skills on purpose?"
"I really don't know. But does it matter? In the end, he's still no match for Dayton Palmer.."
...
The surrounding crowd discussed in low voices.
Dayton Palmer stared fixedly at his opponent, Victor Hannibal, with a serious expression. Facing Victor, for some reason, caused him to feel a strand of pressure.
Why was that?
Dayton stared fixedly at Victor as he indifferently said, "Ready?"
Victor didn't reply and simply nodded his head in response, his expression remaining tranquil.
Whoosh!
A golden spear light instantly flashed out from Victor's hands, as the spiritual energy in his feet burst forth, flashing straight towards Dayton.
"I am the one with the sword...."
Dayton's gaze brightened as his body jerked, abruptly flashing backwards as an icy cold white light flashed within his palms, before a silver rapier appeared.
As Victor flashed forward, his upper body tilted to the right as he swung his golden spear, bringing along with it a thunderous force.
Dayton struck out with his rapier, and a ray of light swept out without restraint, moving like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for Victor.
Clang!
Their two attacks collided, and Victor's expression turned grim as he was blasted backwards, flying through the air and dropping near the corner of the platform, whereas Dayton did not budge an inch.
The spectators in the gallery were extremely silent.
In the Main Hall.
"Victor is getting beaten even with the body strengthening technique on his side. And Dayton's attack seems to be even stronger than before..." Claude's eyes flickered, as he watched the final match with great interest.
"Don't forget, no matter how powerful the young man may be, in the end, he's still human," the Second Elder slowly said. "Even if he's a monstrous genius, he'll naturally be cautious of his opponents."
On the platform.
"Cloud Soaring Dragon Strike!" Dayton yelled out, hurriedly circulating his martial energy and pointed his rapier towards the fallen Victor, as rapier Qi began gathering on its tip.
Boom!
The rapier Qi exploded forth, descending onto Victor Hannibal's body.
"Hmph!" A light, cold grunt sounded and Victor rolled left, evading the attack, then got to his feet and sprinted towards Dayton.
"White Lightning Rapier Technique!" Dayton shouted loudly, and his rapier suddenly began to emit countless arcs of lightning.
Victor sidestepped the lightning strikes as he drew his golden spear, took aim, and a formidable strand of spiritual energy jumped out of the spear. He was fearless when faced with Dayton Palmer's violent strike, almost as if he was expecting the attack.
"Metal Burst!" Just before the golden spear struck its target, the silver rapier revealed a reserved light that rushed out and a white afterimage flashed past Victor with a speed like wind, as if it was a ghost.
BOOM!
The two figures crossed each other. Dayton stood there firmly and wasn't injured in the slightest, while the golden spear in Victor's hand was sent flying, and Victor unconsciously extended his hand to touch his throat to find a faint trace of blood, before his body crashed onto the ground.
"He lost…." Claude had a complicated gaze as he glanced at the victorious youth on the platform. The corners of Dayton Palmer's mouth had a faint smile from the beginning until the end of the fight, as if he was already aware of what the outcome would be.
The spectators went deathly silent before erupting with cheers, while without saying a single word, Dayton jumped off the platform and walked towards the main hall.
Below the combat arena, it was a wave of noise.
"As expected, Dayton Palmer won. There's simply no one with such an extraordinary talent like him."
"Having such strength at seventeen, I wonder to what extent he will grow in the future."
"Dayton deserves to be the top cultivator in the younger generation. He has a well-deserved reputation!"
The spectators' eyes flashed with anticipation, as they watched Dayton walk away from the platform. Most of the young cultivators' eyes emitted a trace of reverence.
Following the end of Dayton Palmer and Victor Hannibal's battle, came the moment where the head representative of the Royal Family, Minister Frederick Hammer, personally distributed the prizes to the top four rankers in the tournament.
Standing to the side, the Second Elder praised while looking at his apprentice.
"You did well my child. Reaching this far was already impressive. And you're still growing. You'll have plenty of chances to defeat your opponents."
Claude watched as the Minister Frederick Hammer moved towards the champion of the Prodigy Summit, Dayton Palmer to present to him his prize, and nodded back to his master and grinned. "I know, master! And don't worry, I'll make sure that I won't lose next time."
As he was speaking, Minister Frederick Hammer had already moved to greet the second ranker, Victor Hannibal, who stood with a piece of cloth covering his neck, indicating that the healing wasn't yet finished.
"Young man, you don't seem like you're doing too well; it seems like you're still in the middle of the healing process. I suggest you sit down instead of pushing yourself to greet an old man like me," Minister Frederick Hammer shook his head and smiled, as he extended his hand to congratulate the youth.
"Thank you for the concern, Minister. But I can handle this much," Victor Hannibal shook the Minister's hand with a satisfied smile on his face. "Besides, considering what's going to happen to you, I'd say you have more important things to worry about than my health."
Whoosh!
As soon as he finished speaking, Victor yanked the hand of the confused Minister, and pulled him closer, catching him off guard. His arms wrapped around the Minister's upper body and he locked his hands together, gripping him tightly and closed his eyes.
BOOM!
Explosive flames and a tremendous amount of spiritual energy were unleashed across the place, and the entire main hall was covered by a powerful explosion followed by countless cracks appearing on the ground, cratering it.
The scorching flames that were unleashed by the explosion spread out at various angles and trajectories in seconds without giving anyone time to think, burning through flesh and bone.