The Dawn of the New World

While the other swords had made as much noise as objects of their size possibly could, the last sword was frighteningly silent in comparison. That along with its size and speed made it almost impossible to see, let alone dodge.

Stasa's eyes narrowed as he directed the sword with his forefinger for more accuracy. He was hell-bent on finishing the fight with this one move. Showing any more hidden cards to people that could be his foes tomorrow was not an option for him.

It moved faster and with more precision than any of the others to appear right behind Hao Xuan's head.

Stasa smiled automatically. He could already visualize the blade going through skin and bone to pierce his brain and snuffing out another life. Unfortunately, that was not what came to pass.

The blade stopped 4 inches away from Hao Xuan's forehead. It wouldn't move no matter how hard Stasa pushed. Realizing something had gone incredibly wrong he pulled it back before once again shooting it towards him from another angle.

This time it went for his left shoulder.

Although it looked like Hao Xuan was focused on the other swords but all his attention was directed towards this one from the very beginning. He activated the territory of the Choas Law to stop the blade the first time but the second time it came in too fast for him to redirect the territory in that direction.

Left with no other choice Hao Xuan reached and grabbed the blade out of the air. To most of the spectators, it looked like he had moved gently to the side and held the sword in his hand without any trouble but those that knew how much power was behind the blade were shocked speechless.

Even Stasa himself was taken aback by the raw speed and power. The sword once again stopped a few inches away from Hao Xuan's body and no matter how hard it tried, there was no escaping his claw-like grip.

Hao Xuan clenched and the blade turned to blue dust. The ice poison also melted away since without any open wounds it could do nothing to him.

But a smattering of sharp needle-like protrusions swelled up on the inside of his left eye socket, sending waves of stabbing pain throughout his body. Some of the ice crystals did manage to pierce through his eyes and embed themselves around the socket.

Blood started leaking inside, dying the whites of the eye into red and blue. It hurt like hell everything the eye moved but it wasn't unbearable. He could get rid of it after the battle and it was worth it.

Those Qi swords, especially the one Hao Xuan had just destroyed were part of another technique. By destroying it now he was able to lower the effectiveness of the next one.

Putting up a brave front despite being almost blinded in one eye, Hao Xuan smirked arrogantly.

"Come on, don't waste my time. You wanted this fight, right? Show me what you got. Bring out the 'big' guns!"

At this point Stasa was hovering more than 20 meters above the ground. His long hair fluttered with the wind. His brow furrowed lightly when he saw the look in Hao Xuan's eyes.

'He is hiding something. I can't get too close. I...have to use it now before there is any more damage.'

He climbed another 10 meters into the air before raising his hands towards the cloudy sky. Intense blue light surrounded the entire length of his arms while slowly getting brighter with every passing second. The wind started picking up until a sort of barrier was created around them both.

The temperature fell until ice crystals started to form on their clothes. Realizing what was coming Hao Xuan also prepared himself to meet it head-on.

His arms turned several shades darker and veins popped up under the skin. The entirety of the Chaos Law was called out while its territory stretched for 15 meters with him as the center.

The palms of his hands looked like they were coated with liquid metal, turning metallic grey in the process. He called out the glaive, holding it with both hands for the first time in a very long time.

He looked around at the cyclone that was connecting the colosseum and the sea of clouds above.

'I am amazed every time I see it. Each person's territory manifests in a different way. Where mine doesn't show any physical changes, his is the exact opposite.'

This was Stasa's territory. He had activated it the moment the match started and now it had matured. Sharp knife-like half-meter-long ice shards started to slowly materialize within the cyclone. The faster it rotated the bigger they got.

But that wasn't the biggest threat.. Hao Xuan raised his head and peered into the eye of the storm where a gigantic blade almost as big as the entire length of Stasa's territory was coming into being.