The week passed like the wind.
Lind barely felt fully recovered yet light enveloped him and the 99 other semi-finalists.
They appeared in a now open stone dais.
No environnts or mazes, just wide open space.
"The Battle Royale is different from the previous round.
You have all been distributed equally around the arena.
There are no restrictions on Arts, talents, or skills.
There are no restrictions on weapons.
However, there is a defeat restriction."
Lind looked up in hope.
This battle would be a bloodbath without sothing holding them back.
Many frowned at the next words but more breathed a sigh of relief.
"No cultivator can be crippled or killed from this point forward.
Rewards will be distributed for 51st to 100th place based on results from all previous rounds."
Lind frowned deeply at that last ntion.
He was currently in last place.
How was he to advance to the top 50?
"Ranks will be determined by the number of opponents defeated.
Please note, if you defeat a cultivator that defeated 5 others, they will still be only 1 point but secondary points will be noted."
Lind felt like finding the creator of that spirit and throttling them.
Why was he making it complicated?!
True, the secondary points likely would be added to the primary points but who could possibly keep track of a target worth chasing?
"Finally, the battle will continue until 1 person remains.
The final cultivator will receive a bonus points for being undefeated."
Lind was far from the only one who liked such a rule.
All would be trying to be the last man standing but he was curious why the top 50 were chosen in such a chaotic way.
The previous rounds were more tests of ability and cultivation.
Even the quarter finals was more about using a minimal environnt to an advantage or simply battling effectively in fair conditions.
There was no restriction against crippling back then, obviously, but Lind suspected it was simply a limit on the rules imposed on the realm.
Like the deaths in the 1st round, it was simply impossible to cover every scenario that exists no matter how many a cultivator could think of.
During the week of recovery, Lind had sat down and discussed with the Sky Realms of the Heavenly Maiden Sect for so clarity.
A surprising revelation was that what the Saint Kingdom had was a powerful artifact to open a portal to the special tournant realm.
It also seed to rotate.
The current realm was the most likely, but there had been others where deaths were very high, yet they had only ever read about them.
In the last 200,000 years, however, none of those highly lethal versions had shown up.
Lind found that odd.
According to the history of the Heavenly Maidens, the most complete record for billions of years, noted a decrease over the last million years until the rotation no longer had them at all.
It pointed to a bleak possibility in Lind's mind but he hoped he was rely being paranoid.
If the Fiends were truly winning the war, the lethal testing would be counterproductive.
Further, any testing that strained cultivators would impede their growth.
He was not sure he agreed with all of it, but the fact there was still a rotation left it up to chance what competitors would get.
Lind focused as the realm spirit seed to have a final thing to say.
"There will be no pause in the battles.
Fight until all but 1 is defeated.
Begin."
The round began and Lind looked to his sides to see people he did not know.
Still, they did not go after him, they ran off instead.
He had clearly made an impression, but he wondered how threatened they would feel to know his sabers consud Qi like a torrential storm moved water.
It was intense and a lot of water, but it expended its power quickly.
He had a few tricks still hidden but he would take a slow start.
Flashes of Qi started to appear and it was clear no one was holding back.
The areas lacking such attacks were not empty.
There were other cultivators like Lind who others avoided.
"Lord Frey!"
A familiar voice suddenly appeared on his left but Lind smiled and waved.
It was Bastion.
"I am no lord, but I greet you openly.
I see your sister finally stabilized."
It was true.
The mystery of her adding a 3rd elental font aside, her increase to Gold Tier was not planned.
Despite the elixir helping, she still had to master the bare minimum to keep herself safe.
"Indeed, I can never thank you enough for what you did.
She even has avoided a heart demon thanks to your guidance."
Lind nodded but knew Qing was truly to thank.
Her many lessons were burned into him.
"I recomnded my wife to work with her as she is far more of an expert, but you are welco."
They were left alone while speaking.
A few cultivators ca over, recognized them and ran away very quickly.
"We do not seem popular."
Lind's words made Bastion smile but shrug sheepishly.
"I did not see it but the entire week my cousins and Uncles were relaying your incredible skills.
While I have confidence in my skills, I cannot seem to overco such power myself."
Lind shook his head.
They put too much faith in the power and not analyzing how quickly he had to move before he was exhausted.
Again, he would not speak of it.
"Is there sothing I can do for you, fellow Daoist?"
They were of the sa tier and Bastion was honored to be called such by a renowned elixir master.
Still, he was not a fool.
"I rely wanted to help you, if I could.
This will be getting rough soon as those left will have no choice but to fight who is left."
Lind nodded as it was obvious.
He even began to walk in a certain direction.
Bastion followed in curiosity but they ca upon a group of 10 in chaos.
There was no rhy or reason to the fight.
No allies or cooperation even occurred.
The only reason no one fell was due to interference in Arts or elents.
Lind smiled as he looked at Bastion but the smile made the man shiver in fear.
"A weapon is a useful tool, but what cultivators should truly fear, is a master of elents."
Lind's aura skyrocketed and his body was lined in erald light.
The 10 were too imrsed in their battle to be concerned.
Suddenly, all their attacks vanished.
It was not just elental Arts, but even weapon intent was quelled which floored Bastion.
What kind of control was that?!
"Concede, or face the consequences."
All ten swiveled towards Lind and saw the 2 n looking on.
Many beca flushed as they seed to try to do sothing, but their elents would not respond!
"How are you doing this?!"
A slim woman was feeling fear creeping up her spine as all 3 of her fonts seed to be behind so kind of wall.
She could not reach them!
"That is not the important question.
The important question is will you concede or face the consequences of defiance?"
The calm scholar image many still held of Lind was shattered by the grim faced warrior.
So had heard about his battle and the similar details made it easy to believe in that mont.
"We outnumber him!
He cannot stop us all!"
A massive man was still clearly fighting but was as unable to use his elents as his axe intent was locked off.
The thod was not important to him, only victory.
Over half agreed and ca at Lind.
Bastion glanced over but saw no fear in those dark green orbs.
Instead, he saw excitent that made him nearly fall back.
The 5 people barely took 2 steps when gravity magnified by 15 tis.
World Realms were tough but mid stride and used to the protection of their elental skills, they forgot what they were facing.
The desire to get control back blinded them to the danger.
All 5 slamd into the stone floor.
At least 2 broke their arms trying to catch themselves while the crack of ribs was clear.
"I have learned how much a World Realm can take untempered.
At this gravity, your body is suppressed but marginally damaged.
If I increase it 5 tis more, you will start to have difficulty breathing as well as coughing up blood."
Lind calmly explained but never took his eyes off the other 5 of the group.
"Concede, or I will increase the pressure at the count of 3"
His eyes were rciless.
Any doubts about his status as a warrior evaporated at that mont.
"I concede!"
The woman from earlier was still free and light enveloped her once she spoke the words.
The other free cultivators did the sa.
Even the pressure of the gravity scared the hell out of them.
"I-I w-will never give in!"
Lind nodded and the large man suddenly felt like his heart was going to explode as blood began to seep out of his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears.
The fine control was more fearso than the attack itself.
"C-concede!"
One more called out and vanished from the arena.
The other 3 followed suit leaving only the stubborn one.
Lind walked slowly over and looked down.
"There is nothing wrong with your point of view, but I will not let you up.
I can't kill you, but I do not wish to either.
You need to train yourself to master your elents so they only answer to you in the future.
Your intent is tied to your will.
You need to pressure yourself more to overco stronger intent."
Lind summoned a sword and it blazed with sword Qi unlike anything Bastion or the large man had ever seen.
"I–I concede."
It was barely drawn out but the light whisked him away.
Once that was over, the gravity vanished but Lind noticed a change in his vision.
"Bastion, do you see a number in the top right of your eyes?"
His question made Bastion glance up and look shocked.
"There is a 0!"
Lind nodded as he now had 10.
There was no distinction, but it was clear what it was for.
He also wondered if there would be a secondary tracking yet there was no sign of it.
"Clever."
Lind now knew the trick of the round.
It seed straightforward but the rule about secondary points was hidden from them.
Soone strong would have a low number due to people avoiding them, but the active fighters could have anything.
"What should I do, Lind Frey?"
Lind looked at Bastion as he understood his question.
"I have no objection to working together, but at the end we will face each other.
Is that fine?"
Bastion paled but did not back down.
He put a fist to his heart and smiled.
"I will fight by your side till the end!"
Lind smiled and they moved on to find others to fight.
The semi-finals would drag out at the end, but now was the ti to accrue points.
It reduced secondary points a lot to do so.
Lind shook his head.
Nothing about this tournant was straightforward even when explained.
A group of 6 were ahead but they seed to be a team.
Lind and Bastion smirked as they had no idea what they were getting into as they charged at them.
The Battle Royale was in full swing and Lind Frey was a shark surrounded by prey.
He needed no weapon to be a threat.
He was the weapon.
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