One Wish to Own the World

Back to the present:

Lioz and his friend, Clint, exchanged worried glances. "We might be the weakest here, who are we going to challenge?" Clint eventually said after looking at their points. It said "3", and they were ranked last at the 128th spot.

"Don't be afraid of them. Nobody tries to challenge first place, it only shows that the rest are not out of our reach, and we can defeat them. Let's challenge second place," Lioz said confidently.

"Second place? Are you crazy? They might be the second strongest pair here, let's start with someone who isn't in the top 100!" Clint protested.

"No, if we have this mentality, we will never get to the top. We will aim high from the very beginning," Lioz explained. Before Clint could answer, Steve's voice resounded again.

"Pick your opponent and issue your challenge. The rule stays the same throughout the round - If five minutes pass in which you're neither in combat nor waiting for your turn to fight the pair you challenged, you will lose your right to issue further challenges, while others will still be allowed to challenge you. To pick your next opponents, say their number to your participant token."

Clint moved uncomfortably under Lioz's gaze until he finally relented. "Fine, we will challenge the second rank."

After they issued their challenge, they waited for five minutes before getting their answer.

"17 higher ranked teams challenged this pair before you; you have to wait for them to finish," A voice came from the token. Simultaneously, a projection in the sky showed a table with the order of the challenges for the crowd.

"Lucky, we might be saved!" Clint said happily but soon shut his mouth under Lioz's scolding eyes.

The two waited for their turn for hours; everyone was almost equal there, and no fight ended quickly. New challenges were issued by those who finished their battles, but the pair were still waiting for their first battle. Many chose to challenge second place because of the limitation of being unable to challenge someone ranked higher than their former opponents in case they lost.

"Your turn has arrived, you will be teleported to the arena. Your opponents chose to fight in the forest terrain," they heard a voice from the tokens and a projection in the sky announced their names and their opponents' names, something that remained unknown before this round.

"Start!" 

They looked straight at their opponents and found a bloody pair. One of them had his arm hung from his shoulder, completely useless. The other was already kneeling, unable to fight.

"Ah, should we attack them?" Lioz asked Clint, clearly disturbed by the thought of kicking those people while they were down. He wanted a clean fight, not something like that.

"Of course!" Clint said enthusiastically and dashed at the wounded pair. 

"Cowards! We would kill you ten times over if we were in peak condition!" The man with the broken arm shouted angrily when he saw Clint acting shamelessly. "You are not acting like a righteous sect!"

"This is a competition. Tough luck, pal," Clint said with a smug smile.

The fight barely took a minute before he defeated them, boosting his ego and confidence by taking out two top contenders on their own.

"You were right, Lioz, they're only cultivators like us and we can win!" Clint said excitedly, ignoring the fact that they were practically half dead from beating 16 teams before them.

"Congratulations, you get 63 points and advance to the 48th spot." The voice told them. The two were teleported outside back to their new pillar and looked around to search for their next opponents. Due to the rules, most of the participants either lost their right to challenge someone or were wounded after a few difficult continuous battles. They were the only two in peak condition, excluding Ken and Tiara.

"Let's fight the new second-ranked team!" Lioz said in determination to have a real battle this time. The ones occupying this spot were a team originally ranked out of the top 10.

With a sigh, Clint took out his participant token and challenged the second-ranked team along with Lioz.

"2 higher ranked teams challenged this pair before you; you have to wait for them to finish," the voice came from the token.

"Your turn has arrived, you will be teleported to the arena. Your opponents chose to fight in the stone terrain,"

Their turn arrived thirty minutes later, and in front of them stood, even worse than before, a single woman. Her robes were new, but there was a long red line on her chest stretching all the way to her waist, evidence of a deep cut that was hidden behind the robes. Her eyes showed a hint of despair when she saw the two's perfect condition.

"You don't deserve my points!" she said angrily, but simply surrendered, knowing she could not fight the two of them in her condition no matter how weaker they were.

"Haha, we are so lucky, free points again," Clint said gleefully. However, Lioz felt bad about their unearned victory. He never wished for free points, he wanted to fight fair and square.

"Congratulations, you get 61 points and advance to the 26th spot."

Looking at their points, they acquired a sum of 132 overall, while the newer new second-ranked team had 242 points, only two behind the ones Clint and Lioz challenged previously.

"Hey Lioz, you got to pick our opponents twice, I want to be the one to pick now," Clint said in determination, making Lioz raise an eyebrow at the unexpected response. Clint's eyes moved from side to side suspiciously, but Lioz ignored it.

"Sure."

"Take out your token and repeat after me, hurry up," Clint said impatiently, prompting Lioz to get caught in his pace and do as he said.

"We challenge rank 11," Clint said and Lioz echoed after him.

The young man looked around him to see whom Clint chose as their opponent. The answer made him look at his partner in anger.

"You are too shameless!" Lioz said when he realized they just challenged the same girl. She and her partner, who lay unconscious on their pillar, had 183 points.

"There are no higher-ranked challengers than you, your opponents chose to forfeit the match," the voice announced after 5 minutes passed from their challenge, showing their enemy took the longest break she could.

"Congratulations, you get 46 points and advance to the 11th spot."

Lioz felt his face burn with shame from the act they just committed. They were a team, and he could not just say it was all Clint and he had nothing to do with it. For better or worse, they had 178 points now, only 60 points away from second place.

"That's how the competition works, we did nothing wrong!" Clint said when he saw Lioz's obvious frown.

"Whatever, let's challenge the current second-rank team," Lioz said and the two pulled out their tokens, issuing the challenge. Luckily, nobody noticed them in time and challenged them, making them slip out of danger. Now, everyone seemed to be on their last breath other than themselves, again, excluding the "deadly couple".

"There are no higher-ranked challengers than you. You will be teleported to the arena. Your opponents chose to fight in the stone terrain."

The partners found themselves standing in front of one of the most lethal teams in the competition; one of them was a brute who fought his opponent head-on, while the other was a calculative and slick woman who supported him from the back using her bow coupled with Light Qi. The two came from an unranked sect yet managed to make it that far.

"Huh, we are going to tear you to pieces if you don't surrender soon, little boys. You must be the weakest here," the man mocked them.

"I didn't think giants could be so long-winded. Are you perhaps injured and want us to back down because you're afraid?" Clint said with a smirk. A glance around the pillars earlier told him that nobody was in a condition that allowed them to exert their full strength. 

"Afraid? Me?!" The brute, a man taller than two meters tall, dashed toward them in long steps.

"Don't let them provoke you, musclehead!" His partner shouted. According to the projection above them, their names were Kwame and Zola, with the latter being the woman. She swiftly nocked an arrow made of Light Qi on her bow and shot it.

"Let's work together to go past the man and get rid of the woman!" Lioz called.

Kwame covered his body with Earth Qi, turning it solid and harder than a rock. He charged forward with a momentum that would knock down an elephant, showcasing a technique that fitted his personality.

Lioz used a barrier of water, one of his Water Qi techniques. When Kwame tackled him, he was sent back and rolled on the floor. He didn't take the full brunt of the attack, but he was still having slight trouble breathing. Clint, an Air Qi user, sidestepped in time and dodged. He tried to attack, but an arrow made of light forced him to remain on the defensive.

"Haha, who is afraid now?"

Kwame turned around and sent a heavy punch at Clint's way. Strong wind cushioned the blow, sending Clint away while negating some of the damage while also helping him dodge another arrow.

"Nobody, face me head-on!" Lioz said despite witnessing the man's prowess. He jumped back on his legs, bringing out his sword. He abandoned defense, concentrating his Qi on his sword before dashing to collide with the giant, waving his sword.

"Redirection!" His sword moved in a fluid motion. Kwame realized the danger of the technique and tried to resist its force, but a hidden injury in his stomach from previous battles reopened from the impact, sending sharp pain to his brain.

"Kwame!" Zola shouted worriedly and shot another arrow, one that moved at extreme speed using Light Qi.

"I won't let you!" Clint yelled and faced the arrow himself, standing as a buffer to allow Lioz to finish his technique. He thrust his knives forward, performing a penetrative Wind technique that met the arrow. The light lost its physical form, one of Zola's trump cards, and riddled his body with small holes.

Meanwhile, Kwame lost control of his body as the momentum he had accumulated was used against him, smashing him into the ground and leaving another long cut on his torso.

"Kwame!" 

"Clint!"

Zola wanted to attack again but the fatigue hit her. Her last technique was one that consumed large amounts of Qi, and she had been fighting nonstop for hours except for five-minute breaks. She suddenly saw Lioz in front of her, and she was defeated quickly.

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'That's quite classic,' Ken mused to himself as he watched the battle between Lioz and Clint against Kwame and Zola. 'He'd make a good target.'