Chapter Forty-Two: The Final Eight Emerge

After three days of life-and-death battles, the top sixteen had finally been decided. I had lost count of how many matches I’d fought. Both Long Xin, Xiao Yue, and I made it into the top sixteen. After Ye Shuang and Xiao Xi were eliminated, Xiao Ai too, unfortunately, failed to advance. In truth, with her angelic summoned beast, entering the top sixteen shouldn’t have been a problem, but fate dealt her the misfortune of encountering the monstrous Phantom Moon.

That evening, after dinner, I opened the PK replay to watch Phantom Moon’s matches. This person was extremely mysterious, clad head to toe in white armor, concealing every trace of gender, and never making a sound in battle. After watching several matches, I could only conclude that Phantom Moon always used a massive sword to defeat opponents in a single blow, their attack power utterly astonishing. Beyond that, nothing else remarkable stood out.

Today’s matches began at one in the afternoon, starting with the quarterfinals. The matches took place simultaneously, with no time limit, a ten-minute break between each, and one fight at a time until the semifinals were set. The matchups were quickly released: Long Xin versus Street Cleaver, Feng Xiaoyue’s opponent was also a warrior—luckily, she and Long Xin were not in the same bracket, which would have been troublesome. I was up first, and my opponent was none other than Blazing Frontier.

Entering the arena, the system began its countdown.

“Hello, we meet again. I never thought your level would be this high already,” Blazing Frontier greeted me with a smile.

“Heh, you’re not far behind yourself,” I replied.

“My guild has grown to over 3,400 members now, but we still lack top players like you. Would you consider joining us?” he asked.

“If I ever consider joining a guild, yours will be my first choice,” I said with a laugh.

“All right, let’s fight, then,” he said, a flash of disappointment in his eyes.

The system announced: “…3, 2, 1, begin!”

At the start, Blazing Frontier leapt high and dove down at me. At the same time, I summoned my beast and charged forward with my Ruyi Staff. He clenched his left fist and shouted, crashing straight into me. The blow sent me rebounding hard to the ground. Although I didn’t lose much health, that punch had a significant knockback effect—otherwise, he couldn’t have launched me like that. He landed soon after.

Seizing the opportunity, I let out a fierce roar: “Go!” I flipped to my feet and a wolf’s howl pierced the air. The Gale Wolf King lunged, claws slashing madly at Blazing Frontier as he touched down.

I was right behind, leaping up to strike with my Ruyi Staff, unleashing a crushing blow and an energy burst. No matter how tough his defense, each hit shaved off about a thousand health. In an instant, both my attack and the Gale Wolf King’s struck him at once. But then, Blazing Frontier roared, a surge of energy bursting from his body and throwing off both me and my beast. He then clenched both fists, and with a bellow, slammed them into the Gale Wolf King, dealing 700 points of damage and sending the beast flying. Just then, my Giant-horned Lizard charged in from behind, pinning Blazing Frontier under its massive weight, immobilizing him.

Next, my Earth Python spat a glob of dissolving fluid at his face, sending wisps of white smoke curling up from his handsome features. Then, I unleashed my signature skills—Crushing Blow and Energy Burst. Blazing Frontier, eyes filled with regret, dissolved into white light, and the system notified me of my victory.

Afterwards, Blazing Frontier hurried over to offer his congratulations. “Into the top eight—congratulations! Your attack is powerful, your health is high, and your summoned beasts are monstrous. Losing to you is no disgrace.”

“Heh, not bad, not bad. We’ll spar again sometime,” I said with a smile.

“Definitely. Good luck—go win the championship!” he replied.

“I’ll do my best.”

“I’ll be off, then. If you ever want to join, be sure to let me know.” We added each other as friends and said our farewells.

The others came to greet me as soon as I emerged. We sat together, chatting as we waited for the next match.

The second match was Phantom Moon versus Royal Dynasty. At the start, Royal Dynasty launched a charge, but Phantom Moon dodged easily and sent him out of the arena with a single sword stroke, advancing effortlessly to the top eight.

The third match saw Lone Sword against a summoner named Soaring Heart. There was little suspense: Lone Sword charged in, while his opponent’s summoned beasts—two demon horses with high attack and speed but weak defense—stood no chance. Against Lone Sword’s speed, attack, and excellent equipment, the demon horses were quickly dispatched. He slashed his way through, cutting down both the summoner and his beasts in moments.

Next was Long Xin’s match, facing a level 27 archer. The archer immediately began maneuvering, but Long Xin’s lips curled into a faint smile as she lightly waved her Flaming Staff. The next moment, a rain of fire engulfed the entire arena—a Meteor Shower, the powerful spell of an Elementalist, descended. The poor archer didn’t know what hit him and was incinerated in seconds, turning into white light and flying out of the arena.

Xiao Yue was up next. She smiled at me, saying, “You two siblings, wait here for me—I’ll be back in a moment,” and entered the arena, brimming with confidence.

She faced Street Cleaver, ranked third on the leaderboard and clearly not weak. As the match began, Street Cleaver asked, “Little sister, I’m wielding red gear—what weapon do you have? Making it this far is impressive.”

Feng Xiaoyue activated her charge, her figure flashing to his side. A flurry of attacks—combo, heavy strike, mountain breaker—erupted in less than a second, winning her the match. “Purple,” she replied.

Then came Blazing Fortress versus Snow Night War God. The two guilds were natural enemies, and even before the match began, they were hurling insults. As soon as the fight started, they clashed head-on, but in the end, Snow Night War God cut down Blazing Fortress and claimed victory.

The seventh match featured a level 29 “Little Rookie” summoner against an archer. Despite the nickname, this “rookie” was anything but—he had a plant-type summoned beast of extraordinary power and, like me, favored close combat. The archer was trapped by his treant’s skill, and then the summoner went in to bash away. While he didn’t hit as hard as I did, for a class with low health and no mobility, it was more than enough.

The final match was Flame Yellow Warrior versus Silver Moon. I recognized Silver Moon at once as that female archer from before. The two entered a grueling back-and-forth. Flame Yellow Warrior was formidable, blocking Silver Moon’s arrows with his greatsword. The duel dragged on for over an hour before Flame Yellow Warrior made a fatal mistake and was shot down, losing the match.

Thus, the top eight were decided, and the system quickly released the next round of matchups:

Chasing Stars vs. Phantom Moon
Lone Sword vs. Snow Night War God
Mighty Dragon vs. Little Rookie
Silver Moon vs. Twin Moons (Long Xin’s ID)

Seeing the matchups, I felt sorry for Xiao Yue. She wore level 25 blue gear, her weapon was a purple Sunblade, but Phantom Moon was clad in a full set of Guardian’s Wish—likely silver gear—and the rest of his equipment was unknown. Just in terms of gear, Xiao Yue was at a severe disadvantage. Furthermore, Phantom Moon was in a hidden class. Although so far he’d only been seen using his sword to attack, never skills, the sheer damage numbers made Xiao Yue’s chances of winning look extremely slim.

After the break, the match began. A flash of white light, and a beautiful young woman stood on the field. Opposite her was the silent, armored figure. Feng Xiaoyue took the initiative: “Are you a man or a woman?”

No reply.

“If you’re a man, do you have a girlfriend?”

Still no reply.

“What’s the difference between a Phantom Knight and a regular Knight? I mean, in terms of growth and skills.”

No answer—only a raised hand, making a taunting gesture.

Feng Xiaoyue was angered. She launched a charge, followed by a combo and heavy strike. But at some point, the opponent’s right hand produced a round shield, easily blocking every blow. Feng Xiaoyue was sent flying by the impact. I was stunned. She got up and kept swinging her sword, but each strike was either blocked by the shield or dodged. To a casual observer, it looked as if Feng Xiaoyue was pushing Phantom Moon back, but it was clear to me that Phantom Moon didn’t take her seriously at all. When Feng Xiaoyue finally drove him to the wall and tried to strike, Phantom Moon leapt high to the side. Her sword struck the wall, leaving a deep crack, while Phantom Moon landed behind her. The two faced each other, eyes locked.