Liszt and the others were pacing anxiously in place; damn it, wasn't that female host quite good at talking? At the most critical moment, she ran out of words and played mysterious.

All they could hear from the radio equipment were the sounds of explosions, completely clueless about what was happening.

"It must be that both powerhouses battled to the cosmic edge, even the Great Way got obliterated!"

Rein scoffed.

Even for the giant forces now, Black Sail, East Sea International, the Champion of the Continent Martial Arts Competition was still a distant figure.

Meanwhile, at the Continent Martial Arts Competition site.

The championship battle had fully heated up, and the audiences were all gaping in shock, disbelief mounting again and again; it was unimaginable that this could happen on their Western Continent, truly beyond the limits of common sense.

Galen was watching Gren's expression closely, the subtle changes in her eyes had already revealed whom those more than seventy thousand Golden Dragon Shuttles belonged to.

Evidently, it was the monster-like Gedre.

But that level clearly exceeded the realm of monsters.

And Xiao Long, praised as the Divine Sword, wasn't human at all.

The two of them were entirely in a class of their own, a clash of immortals, completely disconnected from the world of a Silver Adventurer like Galen.

The expressions on the seats for the top sixteen contestants were brilliant, shocked, awed; only Ivanovic, dubbed the Orphan Maker, looked the grimmest for having raised Kai Deng's hand in vain.

But it was also a relief, if he'd won against Kai Deng, and ended up headstrong fighting Gedre, he might've met the same fate as Silence and Death Dance.

At the Royal Family's special seating section, Phoenix was also amazed, thinking to himself that heroes and elites from all over the world gathering here would surely bolster the Royal Court; there would then be no fear in challenging the West of Narrow Sea.

The Continent Martial Arts Competition was not only a means for the Treasury Department to fill the national coffers but also a way to refresh and reshuffle the rigidity within the Military Department; all the major military chiefs were watching with keen interest, hoping to enlist the two into their ranks.

Only the Acting Chairman of the Aran Military Committee, Augustus, the highest commanding officer among all the military men, remained expressionless from start to finish, not even lifting his head, the brim of his military cap casting his eyes into shadow, as he was continuously lost in his own thoughts.

Meanwhile, the fierce battle in the field had reached its final critical moment.

Gedre unleashed his full aura, inherently dominant, suddenly exploding forth.

The formation that could once penetrate the heavens and the earth and the air was terrifying enough; now it became even more oppressive, just making one's scalp tingle.

No weapon was needed at all.

Just using the building materials of the Sky Arena to confront Xiao Long face to face.

Both figures had become hard to distinguish, just two terrifying silhouettes constantly retreating and entangled with each other.

Xiao Long continuously shattered those colossal constructs of the Magic Energy Industry.

And Gedre was utterly insane, it was impossible to guess what kind of construction his body had, maybe he could even strangle a Dragon with his bare hands!

The largest central supporting pillar of the Sky Arena, the core of the entire floating platform and its power source, weighed countless tons, was being held in Gedre's hands.

As the power core, it protected the precision structure of the Magic Energy machinery inside; the outer shell of this pillar was extremely tough, even the devastating slashes that Xiao Long launched initially only left a few shallow scratches.

Yet such a heavy object in Gedre's hands felt as light as a piece of wood, his explosive speed was comparable to Xiao Long's ghostly and strange movement methods, leaving deep spider-web cracks repeatedly on the arena walls, flying across to sweep everything in the arena in just a breath.

A reversal of extremes.

Whether Xiao Long was truly growing weary, or like every time before, he wouldn't play until near exhaustion, his movements had begun to show some weakness, being continuously suppressed with no power to support it.

BANG!

With an earth-shattering thud, more terrifying than swinging a chain flail, Gedre descended from the sky, crashing onto the ground with the force of a meteorite, spinning fiercely with the giant pillar in hand, the momentum and strength as if bringing the heavens down.

His speed was unparalleled, both he and Xiao Long were moving too fast to see clearly; amidst the flapping of clothes, he had already flung it out.

Xiao Long, blocking with his sword, was also forced back dozens of meters, his hands numb from the shock, with internal bleeding under the skin at the tiger's mouth, and slight fractures in his palm bones.

Gedre wanted to end the battle swiftly, it was time to take down Xiao Long in one blow.

While Xiao Long was out of breath, he temporarily set down the supporting pillar, stabbing it into the steel rocky hill.

Even though he didn't know any Qi Sect Secret Technique at all, it was just pure brute force, absolute physical power.

Though it was said slowly, it happened in a flash.

He lowered into a crouch, his left shoulder slightly sinking, rotating his shoulder as he pulled back his right fist, fingers clenching into a tight grip, blue veins bulging.

Keenly taking in a breath, his frame grand like some ancient beast, in the moment of breath a powerful step forward with his right foot, crushing the steel rocky ground beneath.

One punch thrust forth!

The punch didn't land on its target, only bringing about a burst of explosive fierce wind.

It was unimaginable what terrifying power it housed, akin to a natural disaster, obliterating everything in the conical range ahead into dust, a devastating power that seemed to end all things.

Xiao Long had already rooted his feet to the ground beforehand, using the same way against Ghost Eye Mad Blade, swinging the strongest of swords, a whirlwind of a thousand dragon snakes rising, creating a curtain of killing intent.

The world clashed!

Only the positions where the two stood remained unaffected, everywhere else in the arena, the ground was stripped of a layer, all the steel rocky hills were whittled down a layer of iron filings by the fierce wind, all piling up at the border of the arena's barrier, dancing in the wind like ashes of annihilation.

Gedre went completely berserk, the refined yet more explosive repressed rage of the Mountain Giant's strength; one hand inserted into the core supporting pillar, clamping a size multiple times larger than an average person.

He also braced himself on the ground with one hand, like aiding a sprint; what followed mirrored all previous match scenarios, he was going to slaughter Xiao Long in one thrust!

The air was frozen by the murderous intent.

Everything within the arena was shattered by the overwhelming fights of these two individuals.

Of course, Xiao Long understood what Gedre intended to do; he wanted to settle the outcome, just as Xiao Long himself desired.

He closed his eyes.

Unlike the Ghost Eye Mad Blade with its terrifying demon eye, his eyes possessed no extraordinary power, only the sublimely performed supreme swordsmanship by Xiao Long himself.

He was able to perceive the fragile points of all things, the weakest fissures.

Both disappeared simultaneously from where they stood, a chasm of abyssal depths erupted behind them, enormous fragmented rocks splintered backward in a conical reverse spike.

An incredibly bizarre sound echoed, it spread like the toll from the Eternal Clock Tower.

On the ninth day of September during the Stargazing Festival, the starry sky was brilliant overhead.

The core supporting pillar shattered, flying out in fragments.

Gedre received a sword thrust to his chest, a wound as thick as a finger gushing blood, yet he remained standing, such an injury was far too shallow to be lethal!

Tonight...

I was to die here, die at the Continent Martial Arts Competition site.

But not now.

The splattering metal debris flung Xiao Long to the edge of the arena, smashing fiercely against the wall with a sweet taste in his throat as a trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"If you keep going, you'll really die."

Gedre's face remained expressionless, merely casting a straight gaze toward the Royal Family's special seat.

He had no intention of further entangling with Xiao Long; there was still the final battle ahead.

However, Xiao Long's face showed no sign of defeat nor regret, only a peculiar yearning in his eyes.

Indeed.

He personally denied the title of Divine Sword; there was no end to swordsmanship, if his current state was called a Divine Sword, then what name should an even stronger state bear?

There was still room for himself to improve, space to become stronger.

"I lost. The Champion of the 16th Continent Martial Arts Competition is you."

Xiao Long stood up, thrust his sword into the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said calmly.

As his words fell.

The whole arena erupted, prepared cannons and fireworks were launched, filling the air with streamers and gold foils, a fantastical scene.

The female host, with a broadcasting voice of national peace and prosperity, reopened her mic, her voice filled with enthusiasm.

"Thus, from the initial sea selection to later competing here at the Royal Capital against a thousand strong contenders, defeating countless opponents across multiple rounds, to today's Stargazing Festival final, outshining unparalleled experts who gathered here, the Champion of this year's Continent Martial Arts Competition is the undisputed strongest dark horse, Gedre!"

Aside from the announcement sound.

The ceremonial team and the flag drum band were on their way.

And finally, something stirred within Gedre's heart.

The Gate of Truth, the Curse Poison made by the Witch King with an ancient Dragon Corpse, was sewn within the lining of his clothes.