Chapter 365: The Magnificent Princess
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
Although Lan Qingyue was in her early thirties, she had sacrificed everything for her cultivation and remained single. As one of the most beautiful women in the world, she was as famous for breaking men"s hearts as well as being a powerful cultivator.
It must be Zambrotta"s defeat that had evoked her interest in Einherjar Wannabe. As Zambrotta"s old rival, Lan Qinyue was well aware of the difficulty in cultivating to the ultimate power of the Thunder Drum. Zambrotta had tried his entire life and still failed to uncover the secret. However, Einherjar Wannabe had done it in just one go.
And, he was only a seventeen years old boy? Impossible!
His seasoned drum beat was a tell-tale sign that he was a battle-hardened warrior instead of a fledgling as he claimed.
Truth be told, Lan Qinyue was more interested in the music than learning the fighter"s tactics, and neither was she interested in winning the fight—she simply wanted to get acquainted with this mysterious fighter.
Even as the tournament was about to enter its most exciting stage, the event at the PA system was able to garner a significant amount of attention. Everyone couldn"t stop imagining what would happen if Einherjar Wannabe had partaken in this year"s tournament.
w.a.n.g Tong accepted the challenge on behalf of Mr. Wannabe as he lamented over the inconvenience of being so famous. Einherjar Wannabe"s display of power had silenced all doubts that used to surround him, especially after his battle with the thunder Drum Zambrotta.
While w.a.n.g Tong was having fun at the tournament, Mr. Wannabe was getting increasing bored, and he complained about lack of opponent to w.a.n.g Tong incessantly. As soon as he learned that someone had challenged him, he pleaded w.a.n.g Tong to accept the challenge right away without even knowing who the challenger was. w.a.n.g Tong was more than happy to arrange the fight, as at least Mr. Wannabe would finally stop complaining for a while this way.
w.a.n.g Tong"s next opponent was a mysterious Kaedeian called Athena. Heidi had brought eight of her personal guards to the tournament, and Athena was one of the two personal guards that had made it into the final 32.
The first fight of the final 32 playoffs started with the battle section six, between Heidi and Yao Bai from the Templar"s court. Although the Templar"s court was well known for their powerful warriors, Yao Bai"s opponent was the formidable number one seeded fighter of the Kaedians. Therefore, no one was certain who the winner would be.
The match started in a crowded arena. At this stage of the tournament, every match was bound to be a splendid display of power. The audiences were able to watch fighters that they otherwise would never able to see in real-life.
The Kaedeian princess was dressed in a blue over-all, yet the slightly baggy dress did not hide her soft curves. At the other side of the stage, Yao Bai stood with a lance strapped to his back, the fire of battle burning in his eyes.
"Please." Representing the Templar"s Court, Yao Bai tried his to be as courteous as he could in front of a n.o.ble lady.
As soon as the two fighters finished bowing to each other, Heidi attacked immediately with her sword-like weapon. These swords were unique to the Kaedeians, and were called the Cinquedeas. It was shaped like a sword, with numerous unique motifs carved into its body. Since the Kaedeian race was isolated from the Human race until a few hundred years ago, they had developed their unique weapons that were suited to their own culture.
The Phantom Das.h.!.+
Heidi had eliminated many opponents with this signature Kaedeian technique. So far, none of her opponents had been able to see through her elusive footwork.
In a blink of an eye, Heidi was right in front of her opponent, and before the rest of her illusions had disappeared, her chinquedea whizzed at the young Templar. However, Yao Bai was well prepared, and had already charged up his soul energy. With a loud "vroom," the young Templar thrust his lance and blocked the incoming blade.
With a loud clank, Heidi"s first attack had been countered, and the impact staggered her, pus.h.i.+ng her a few feet back.
"My lady, I am a Templar. So, perhaps you could try a little bit harder?" Yao Bai asked courteously as he plastered a smile on his face.
Heidi cracked a smile, which unintentionally subverted the minds of all the males in the arena. Even her opponent had to hold back his urge to kneel under her feet. After gathering himself, the young Templar slowly cranked up his soul energy, and with a forceful twist of his wrist, the lance vibrated, sending out waves of energy.
"Take this!" Yao Bai shouted as he plunged the lance into his opponent.
Infused with energy, the lance turned into a silver dragon it darted towards its prey.
The lance gave off such a bright aura that it lightened up the whole arena. Heidi"s movement was elusive and swift, casting a flickering shadow on the wall against the bright light.
It was a no-brainer that the Kaedeian princess was one h.e.l.l of a fighter. However, no one knew exactly how powerful she was. In addition to her power, another aspect that made her stand out among the Magnificent Five was her exquisite beauty. So far, Yao Bai was the toughest opponent she had encountered during this tournament.
Since the beginning of the match, Yao Bai appeared to have gained the initiative. The four inner court disciples didn"t disappoint the audience, as all of them had fought ferociously during their matches. If Wu Gang didn"t encounter a member of the great houses, he would have entered the final 32 with his brothers.
Among the four inner court disciples, Yao Bai was the most aggressive, largely due to the characteristics of his weapon, the lance.
Lance was the weapon of kings, and the king of all lances was the Deva Lance from House of Dower.
That being said, the lance techniques pa.s.sed down from the Templars were no less powerful than that of the Dower; they were just less well-known.
Faced with Yao Bai"s overbearing attacks, Heidi was not able to gain any advantage during the fight. Although Heidi"s dream-like movements had tricked many opponents before Yao Bai, the young Templar was not affected by them. As an inner court disciple, Yao Bai had undergone rigorous training to counter illusions. Therefore, he was able to strike true in every single strike.
That being said, despite the fact that Yao Bai was able to control the flow of the battle, Heidi was able to stand her ground firmly, and counter her opponent"s belligerent attacks with ease.
While dancing around the deadly lance, Heidi seemed to be observing her opponent rather than fighting.
After observing her opponent for a while, Heidi slid the thin sword along the handle of the lance and tapped at the tip of the lance effortlessly. With an almost inaudible din, the lance was stopped cold in its track. Heidi"s seemingly unintentional strike was powerful enough to halt the heavy lance there and then.
Yao Bai reminded himself to be more prudent, as Heidi"s "gentle" tap on the lance tip had revealed that she had only used a fraction of her real power so far.
Holding the lance with both hands, Yao Bai started to twist and turn it until it had become a whirlwind in his hands, and then charged at his opponent. The tip of the lance danced left and right, hard for anyone to tell where it would land.
CLANK!
Heidi met the attack with her blade, and her strike hit home as it interrupted the young Templar"s attack combo. Even as the young Templar was trying to figure out what had happened, Heidi"s blade slid up against the lance towards Yao Bai"s hand like a serpent slithering up a tree.
The follow-up attack caught the young Templar off guard. He had no time to think, although he was puzzled as to how Heidi had moved so close to him so fast.
Instinct told Yao Bai that his opponent was very deadly, and he could not let her gain the upper hand under any circ.u.mstances. The young Templar suddenly shouted as his soul energy soared up to four hundred and sixty. The sudden outburst of energy agitated the lance as it started to tremble with the movement of energy in the air. Somehow, Yao Bai felt that he could no longer reach the highest energy output no matter how hard he had tried, as if his opponent could even counter his energy flow.
Princess Heidi studied her opponent carefully for a few seconds and then heaved a sigh of disappointment.
The young Templar shouted three more times, pumping his soul energy throughout his body. With a twist of the lance, Yao Bai charged out at his opponent.
So powerful was the attack that the lance seemed to have sucked away all the air around it, forming an area of low pressure at its tip. In a blink of an eye, the sharp tip pierced through the swirl of low pressure and whizzed towards Heidi at lightning speed.
Holding the blade in one hand, the Kaedeian princess disappeared like a phantom. Half a second later, she reappeared right in front of the charging young Templar and stopped his motion cold with a blade against his neck.
Yao Bai found it hard to come to terms with his defeat, as he had noticed no illusions, neither did he sense any flow of soul energy.
"The winner is —PRINCESS HEIDI!"