Immortal Supreme: Sovereign of the Grand Dao

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Arthur climbed the arena and stood with nine other disciples.

It was after the ten of them stood in the arena that nine out of the top ten stood up from their seats and used various skillful movement techniques to appear on the stage standing opposite Arthur and the others.

But someone's speed surprised Arthur a little.

When Mark Grayson opened his eyes Arthur saw his foot tilt a bit and he appeared on the stage in almost an instant with his hands on his back.

'Speed Intent? This is going to be interesting,' Arthur smiled inwardly as he noticed the peculiarity of Mark's movement technique.

From the information he had acquired about Mark, Arthur found him to have a very interesting personality.

Speed was the forte of the strongest outer court disciple.

But aside from his title of the strongest of the outer court, he also had another title where he ranked number one.

'The number one loner of the outer court.'

Mark was a loner and avoided all forms of socialization in the sect.

He was the first to reject all invitations sent to him by the various factions of the sect.

He also refrained from teaming up with any disciples for sect missions or hunting in the Misty Mountain Range.

When the Elder in charge saw that twenty of the disciples were gathered on the stage with none of them missing, he opened his mouth to speak.

"The first round of match-ups will be decided randomly. After the winners of the ten matches that will take place are decided, then we will move to the next part where the ten that lost will battle each other for the precise ranking of the top twenty."

"When the top twenty is decided, the disciple that is ranked 11th will have the chance to face anyone of the ten winners."

"After that, we will move on to the top ten ranking battles."

"Now, the opponents that you will face are decided on random. That being said, the first battle will be starting now," The elder brought out and opened a small box.

Within the box were twenty papers that had words written on them. The elder randomly picked out two papers and called out two names.

"Julius Barle and Aselia Mayorne, remain on the stage. The rest leave."

Arthur left the stage with eighteen others, giving room to the two people that were called out which were a male disciple and a female disciple.

The male disciple Julius was not among the top ten, whereas Aselia was one of the females that made the top ten and she was ranked eighth amongst them.

"Let this battle begin!" The elder announced and a fight broke out almost instantly as both disciples didn't bother with any pleasantries.

"Blue Martial Fists!"

"Roaring Hurricane!"

*Boom!*

Both summoned their martial spirits and battled at their full power. Both after a few moves, it became clear who was stronger.

Julius was able to break through recently to the tenth rank of the Gold Core Realm and had hoped to enter the top ten.

But unfortunately, he got matched against the eighth-ranked disciple, instead of the tenth-ranked disciple that he had hoped for.

"Roaring Hurricane: Third Style!"

The female disciple Aselia attacked with her palm which roused up a horizontally rotating wind that hit the male disciple.

*Bang!*

"Argh!" Julius coughed out a mouthful of blood as he got sent flying out of the arena while he cursed his luck for meeting a strong opponent right off the bat.

"Aselia wins!"

"Next battle, Liam versus Mark!" The elder called out the names of the ninth-ranked disciple and the first-ranked disciple.

"Hahaha! This is a very good match-up indeed. Don't you think so Liam?" Quan asked with a mocking smile.

"Damn it! Why is my luck so bad that I got matched up with him?" Liam lamented as he ascended the stage.

Mark jumped onto the stage too and looked at Liam with any emotion in his eyes.

His stance was free and open, but it would be foolish to think that he is not unguarded. Liam knows that so he had to do his best.

'Even though I know that I will lose in the end, I just can't admit defeat without putting up a fight...'

"Begin!"

Liam summoned his martial soul and the full force of his peak Gold Core Realm cultivation as he brought out a saber. He didn't attack immediately but studied Liam intently.

'He appears to be full of openings, but I know better than that,' Liam analyzed as he thought of a battle strategy.

'I guess I will have to reveal that technique then.'

While Liam made plans, Mark didn't even look like someone who was in a battle and had his mind elsewhere in his thoughts.

'She must be missing me by now, eh?' He then noticed that Liam had moved from where he stood and started making weird hand signs and began to run around him.

'I can't waste any time… I can't keep her waiting… I will end this fast.'

Liam suddenly became a bit illusory and his body split into three confusing many in the crowd as to what just happened.

"Hey, what movement technique is that? I haven't seen it before."

"You don't know? That is the peak mortal grade technique, Fleeting Mirage. It is an illusion-type movement technique that is extremely hard to master and it can create mirages that can deceive one's opponent."

The disciples chatted as they watched while some wondered how Mark could deal with this as this was the first time many were witnessing this movement technique so it is possible that Mark will not know how to counter.

Although many still believed that Mark will win regardless, they were only eager to see how he will deal with such a tricky technique.

"Tch, this guy. I always knew he was up to something," Quan clicked his tongue.

Quan and Liam had been rivals for a long time now, and if there is anyone here who understands Liam's abilities the best, it would be him. But he still never saw Liam use that movement technique.

'Was he looking down on me all this time?' Quan got angry as he thought like this.

Meanwhile, Arthur was watching the fight intently. And he was one of those that recognized the movement technique that Liam was using, as he had seen it in the Martial Arts Pavilion.

Aside from that, he was interested in seeing Mark's abilities as he plans to give him an invitation if he can in the future.

"Fleeting Mirage: Fifth Level!"

Suddenly there were five 'clones' of Liam that appeared and surrounded Mark while running around him. Then they all moved in unison and attacked.

"Saber Arts: Double Kill Slash!"

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------------End of Chapter------------

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A/N: I will be wrapping up this part soon...the outer court rankings..if only I can easily defeat my upcoming Uni exams like Arthur...sigh...Life.