Ryu's first battle ended half an hour later with Reeve trying to find tears to cry but failing in even that in the end.
'Not good enough.' Ryu thought expressionlessly without regard for Reeve's feelings. 'It seems my qi control isn't as good as I thought it was.'
This evaluation wasn't entirely true. Ryu's standards were simply too high. He had no one to compare his progress to, but in terms of those just starting along the Necromancy path, his speed of improvement was blazing.
It was just unfortunate that although Ryu had gotten in some practice with his corpse puppets in the last year, he spent much of the time refining his using refinement path.
One had to remember that controlling a puppet worked differently depending on his inner structures. Ryu had practiced with human puppets, but his new refinement method turned his corpse puppets into what were effectively human-shaped plants. This changed the method of control entirely.
Since Ryu had only perfected his refinement method toward the very end of this last year, it meant that he hadn't been able to practice with this new puppet at all. In addition, since he knew it would be different, he didn't spend much time practicing with normal human puppets either.
Of course, the year obviously wasn't wasted. Ryu was several folds stronger now than he had been a year ago. It was just that he insisted on using his corpse puppets.
Even then, Reeve lost miserably. Instead of trying to probe his corpse puppets limits, Ryu took it slowly. He wore Reeve down with technique and patience, occasionally shooting in a [Vector Arrow] when it seemed Reeve might break his momentum.
In the end, Ryu's corpse puppet stood expressionlessly with its glaive to his neck.
"I concede." Reeve said through gritted teeth. Swallowing his humiliation, he turned and left through the dissipating barrier.
It wasn't much of a surprise that Ryu's battle hadn't garnered much attention at first. In the beginning, it held some interest due to the fact Ryu was a Necromancer. Such a path was rare to see. However, after noticing Ryu's corpse puppet was only of the Fourth Order, that excitement was doused with cold water.
Later, that excitement turned disappointment became anger. Ryu's long battle had held up the first round, eventually becoming the only battle still ongoing. This forced many to have no choice but to watch this boring battle.
Unfortunately for the crowd, this infuriating reality would only continue.
Ryu's second round took over forty minutes to complete, his third, over an hour. By the time the fourth rolled around, Ryu was taking an hour and half to finish.
By now, everyone knew that Ryu's long battles no longer had much to do with his opponents. The only common denominator was him alone.
Some were maybe rightfully enraged, however, some found it odd. How was this nameless Ryu defeating Divine Vessel Realm experts with Fourth Order puppets? Something wasn't right here.
It wasn't until Ryu's fifth battle that many realized exactly what was wrong.
Ryu's opponent, a young lady with flowing blue hair named Luanda, met his corpse puppet head on in the battle. She herself was a Higher Divine Vessel Realm expert. She was quite odd though, being that she was quite a bit overweight.
However, it seemed that her extra weight came with great strength. Her palms struck outward with a might that shook the very foundations of the white tiled stage, her rippling folds undulating with current of qi.
'Seems this is the limit.' Ryu thought to himself.
Ryu had beaten two Lower Divine Vessel Realm experts and two Middle to now. His last battle was really pushing the limits of his puppet, taking almost two hours to finish. If Ryu was honest, the only reason he won that battle without swapping corpse puppets is because he took a more active role, utilizing [Vector Arrow] and even [Ethereal Ripple] several times.
But now…
"Take my palm!" Luanda's meaty palm slammed into the head of Ryu's corpse puppet, shattering its skull into a rain of greyish green goo that splattered in all directions.
Luanda shrieked. "Disgusting! Disgusting!"
She was completely infuriated. She may have been shaped differently from what one might expect was a dainty young mistress, but she still carried herself like one. Being assaulted with something so disgusting left her feeling more than a little displeased.
"I'll destroy that face of yours!"
Ryu raised an eyebrow. What was wrong with this woman? Wasn't she losing her temper a bit too easily?
'She practices a technique that forces her to intake food in exchange for power. Unfortunately, the foods she needs to ingest are heavy in yang qi. This imbalances her natural yin qi and influences her emotions.' Ailsa explained. 'The slightest thing could tick her off. It seems she isn't very fond of handsome men like my Little Ryu.'
In truth, outside the arena, several were eager to watch Ryu finally lose. He had been holding the proceedings all this time with his annoying battle style. It infuriated many of the contestants. It seemed they didn't appreciate that Ryu's actions gave them extra time to rest.
However, what happened next made Ryu public enemy number one. Because, instead of fighting himself, he summoned another corpse puppet. But this time… It was actually a Lower Fifth Order corpse puppet!
Everyone in the stands along with the participating youths were completely enraged. It felt like Ryu was toying with them. If he had such a corpse puppet, didn't that mean he could have ended those other battle much quicker?!
Over the next hour, Luanda became Ryu's pin cushion. It seemed her cultivation technique made her more immune to pain than others, but she still fell in the end. By the time the battle ended, she was no longer the obese girl who had stepped onto the stage, but was rather a petite woman with loose skin.
Having ended the battle, Ryu casually turned to leave the arena. He had won his fifth battle, which meant that he would only need to win one more on this second day in order to qualify for the final day of battles.
A chorus of boos followed his descent, but he didn't seem to hear them at all.
"You did all of this on purpose?"
Ryu suddenly found that several youths had blocked his path forward.
"Did you think that garnering yourself attention would help you? Let me tell you, you've thoroughly enraged me. Wasting the time of a genius is the worst sin imaginable. You can forget about gaining yourself a master in my Core Region!"
A master in the Core Region? Is that what they thought he was doing? Gaining notoriety for himself? They must have assumed that Ryu knew it was impossible for him to win the Final Selection Tournament, so he instead chose this approach.
But… Was there anyone in this Core Region worthy of being Ryu's master? What a joke. Even if Ancestor Ember came here and implored him personally, Ryu would still reject him.
Ryu didn't get a chance to respond before his identity badge flashed once more. Well, it wasn't as though he cared to respond anyway. But, seeing the sneering face of the young man who led the group who stopped him, Ryu was certain that this wasn't a coincidence.
What a funny 'random' selection this was.
Manipulating things in the main Final Selection was likely too difficult, but things were different in this Wild Card Selection with so few observers. Not even a single Apostle had come to witness this event. Unfortunately for the young man who was a mere Half-Step Connecting Heaven Realm expert. He had chosen the wrong opponent.
"Raolin Sai. Ryu." The stage judge called out to confirm.
Ryu sneered inwardly. 'Sai, huh?'