After the battle, the Dragon-man youth asked Long Meng if he was confident in defeating Shichijiro.
Long Meng shook his head, "I have too little key information to make an accurate judgment."
This situation is like when the Dragon-man youth previously judged his own fight with Long Meng. Both sides have many hidden cards not shown, making it hard to make precise deductions.
Shichijiro’s regular combat power is already enough to handle Bao Ligen, who has the magic structure [Cold Pudding]. Unless the Dragon-man youth himself takes action, no one can force out his resurrection card.
But the Dragon-man youth wouldn’t do that.
He is very mindful of his own reputation.
And the public has never thought that the Dragon-man youth would be Shichijiro’s opponent. After all, the combat power displayed by the Dragon-man youth, although constantly rising, still has a clear distance from the top-tier level.
The days passed by, and despite the turmoil on the coast, the citizens of Ice Sculpture Kingdom were engulfed in nationwide celebrations.
They were too happy.
These days with daily duels have them deeply immersed and thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Each day’s duel is thrilling and magnificent. Previously, a Golden Level duel would only happen once every few months, but now they happen daily, with at least several matches each day.
Silver Level duels no longer attract the interest of the populace; in the latter stages of the national ceremony, the Golden Level is the main focus.
The Dragon-man youth finally chose Gudong as the next opponent.
A direct confrontation makes the Dragon-man youth feel comfortable. The previous match with Yijiu was almost a chase.
Gudong’s mobility speed is worse than the Dragon-man youth; after all, he comes from the military, emphasizing cooperation, not solo ventures.
At the beginning of the battle, the Dragon-man youth restrained his power, testing the attack, observing Gudong’s tactics. During this period, both sides had back and forth exchanges.
By mid-stage, the Dragon-man youth advanced fully, and the surge of offensive completely overwhelmed the opponent.
In the later stage, Gudong was simply like a lone boat in a storm.
Eventually, he irretrievably fell into the abyss of defeat.
The entire arena cheered for the victory of the Dragon-man youth. In terms of popularity, Gudong had no appeal, far inferior to the Dragon-man youth.
"Next is Bao Ligen." The Dragon-man youth smoothly continued his plan to blend into the duelist circle.
He was no longer the most popular duelist now.
Shichijiro had stolen his spotlight.
In the dueling field, Shichijiro once again battered his opponent, continually beating the opponent he tightly suppressed.
Shichijiro deliberately held back from using finishing techniques, instead, indulging in tormenting them.
"Hehehe..." The opponent’s painful struggle elicited a joyful sound from him.
Just as the intelligence reports noted, Shichijiro does not have the demeanor of a strong person.
This too caused discomfort to many spectators, changing the attitudes of those who originally supported Shichijiro, criticizing him for bullying the weak, labeling him as an outsider who doesn’t understand the spirit of local dueling.
Shichijiro acted on his own accord.
Aside from him, Xun Liang also acted individually.
This former Barbarian warrior, after defeating Bao Ligen in the first duel, was challenged by other duelists.
He didn’t refuse, accepting them one by one.
During the duel, he would pray aloud, offering the battle to the Barbarian God.
The citizens of Ice Sculpture Kingdom didn’t view him favorably either, since matters connected to faith are never trivial.
The Barbarian God does not align with the mainstream beliefs of Ice Sculpture citizens, and Xun Liang’s continuous victories constantly reminded the Snow Elves of their ancestors driven away by Barbarians on the Ice Sculpture Continent, forced to wander and ultimately endure the humiliating history of settling on Ice Sculpture Island.
Xun Liang’s combat power was exceedingly strong; since the battle with Bao Ligen, he hadn’t used [Mammoth Form], yet he still won each match with absolute superiority.
The Dragon-man youth watched many of his battle images, feeling as if he was witnessing past duels of Long Meng.
Both were composed and poised, indicating that even Golden Level Transcendent of the same rank couldn’t force them to fight fully exerted.
As the national ceremony dueling gradually entered its later stages, a large number of duelists were eliminated.
Many people, even after receiving healing, still have fighting power but voluntarily withdrew from the stage due to more losses than wins, knowing their place.
Those who didn’t recognize or still held hopes would soon be taught repeatedly, forced to stop dueling.
On the day Dragon-man youth fought Bao Ligen, Long Meng also stepped into the arena for his first major duel of the national ceremony.
The crowd was bustling, the spectacle unprecedented.
The citizens of Ice Sculpture Kingdom had a much higher support rate for him than other duelists.
Many supporters of the Dragon-man youth abandoned his match with Bao Ligen, choosing instead to admire Long Meng’s heroic battle stance.
Long Meng’s cultivated reputation in the Ice Sculpture Kingdom over years finally showed its might.
"Long Fu, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this battle?!" Bao Ligen shouted.
He was very excited; this battle finally fulfilled his wish.
Much had happened before this, leaving this fierce military general both mentally and physically exhausted.
But now, his fatigue was swept away, replaced by the urgency of revenge.
Bao Ligen’s fighting spirit was exceptionally strong.
The Dragon-man youth fought expressionlessly.
Both sides clashed for a while, evenly matched.
Audience members were astonished.
The Dragon-man youth continuously grew, having absorbed a large amount of Dragon Corpse, leading to a qualitative change in bloodline concentration, providing him with a comprehensive boost.
As a result, even without using the newly trained [War General Form], he could fight Bao Ligen, who used the Magic Structure [Cold Pudding], to a draw.
Bao Ligen’s expression was grim, secretly gritting his teeth: "Damn it, he actually hides so much strength!"
"But I have an external energy core, I can outlast him."
Bao Ligen decisively changed tactics, aiming to win against the Dragon-man youth through a war of attrition.
The Dragon-man youth still focused on basic combat or Dragon-man martial arts, rarely using Combat Skill, which inevitably put him at a disadvantage.
Everyone could see that the Dragon-man youth deliberately suppressed his own combat power.
A worthy opponent is hard to find.
The Dragon-man youth used Bao Ligen’s external pressure to continuously hone his martial arts.
Long Meng couldn’t be considered a master, but when instructing him, he indeed held nothing back. The Dragon-man youth’s talent was truly astonishing, learning Long Meng’s martial arts and insights. Through this battle, he took his previous diligent practice and tested it all through actual combat. By experiencing it firsthand, he increased his own experience, making his already solid foundation even more solid.
When Bao Ligen clashed with the Dragon-man youth, he felt the Dragon-man youth was like a rock in the sea; no matter how fierce his attacks were, the rock remained motionless and unwavering, growing more stable and resilient with the hit of each wave.
Bao Ligen grew more irritable and agitated as the fight went on.
"Clearly, I’ve used the full power of the Magic Structure [Cold Pudding], and I’ve used all my means, yet why can’t I defeat Long Fu?!"
"Damn it, really damn it!!"
Bao Ligen, with his extensive duel experience, realized his inevitable defeat, and with clenched teeth, lunged at the Dragon-man youth.
At a very close range, he recklessly detonated the energy component, causing a terrifying explosion.
The explosion’s light and fire once impacted the protective shield, frightening countless spectators who fled the scene.
After the explosion’s power faded, more than a meter of the dueling field’s ground had disappeared, leaving the scene in disarray.
Bao Ligen was blown up by his own explosion, leaving only a head. Half a hand fell to the edge of the field.
While the Dragon-man youth still stood tall.
When Bao Ligen rushed over just now, he had sensed something amiss.
At the critical moment, the Dragon-man youth used the newly added magic-like Spell [Divine Dragon Armor], and many protective items on him played a crucial role.
"Your mind is unsettled." The Dragon-man youth exhaled a breath, holding Bao Ligen’s head in his hand, "The energy core self-destructs, sure, it’s powerful, but it’s not targeted, unable to cause effective damage to me."
Bao Ligen, in his dying moments, weakly roared, but without vocal cords, couldn’t make a sound.
According to the unwritten rules, with Bao Ligen’s murderous intent, the Dragon-man youth could have crushed his head outright.
But the Dragon-man youth not only didn’t do it, but also tore open a Healing Scroll, preserving Bao Ligen’s life.
In the end, he returned Bao Ligen’s head to the military official.
Given Ice Sculpture Kingdom’s capabilities, it’s no problem for Bao Ligen to recover completely. Just that his injury is too severe, certainly needing to withdraw for a short time, unable to participate further in the National Ceremony duel.
This action by the Dragon-man youth made his popularity surge once again.
And his victory over Bao Ligen once again refreshed the public’s perception of him.
After this day ended, people discussed among themselves.
"Long time no see Long Meng fight; watching today, still as powerful as ever."
"Long Fu actually won too!"
"I watched through the magic image; Long Fu’s victory was very impressive. Turns out his combat power has grown so much."
"He didn’t kill Bao Ligen, he was instructed by Long Meng, truly has the demeanor of a powerful one!"
"Indeed, I used to dislike him, after all, he’s an outsider. But now it seems, there are many outsiders, and Long Fu is the least unlikeable among them."
The National Ceremony duel is entering its final stages.
The truly active duelists were ultimately reduced to just four.
These were Long Meng, whose prestige was unmatched, Shichijiro who drove back Da Han with shocking records, Xun Liang with a dark horse presence, a believer of Barbarian God, and the eye-catching, rapidly advancing red-scaled Dragon-man Long Fu.
Both the public and Transcendents agreed: these four had the best chance of being champions!
Of course, the public’s expectations and predictions for each of the four winning were also displayed through various betting charts.
Long Meng and Shichijiro were similar, with a scenario of a dragon-tiger struggle. Xun Liang followed closely, not to be underestimated. Long Fu was last, supported by devoted sentiments.
The public didn’t know the truth; they saw Long Fu as a newly promoted Golden Level, able to fight to this extent, mainly relying on his Holy Domain bloodline qualification and Long Meng’s prestigious guidance. Achieving the top four was already beyond expectations, incredibly challenging.