72 Goodbye Oversized Winnie

Although Seele had been expecting some kind of animal to pop out from Will she didn't expect the pure power behind its punch. While James was watching he saw as Seele's sword collided with the fist of the bear which only lasted a few seconds before Seele shot off into the distance crashing against the arena wall due to the huge difference in power.

""WOAHH!!"" The crowd roared in excitement as they had also not expected such a disparity in power between the bear and Seele. They had been confident that the sword skill of someone from the Martial Sword Sect would be able to cut down such a beast.

"Do you think she's going to stand back up?" Cara questioned James with a smile as they looked at the huge cloud of dusting surrounding the area where Seele hit the arena wall.

"I think she will be able to get up at least this time." James said with confidence as the dust began to settle around the arena while everyone watched in anticipation.

Once it finally cleared there was a smaller girl standing up clearly covered in her own blood but Seele was still standing tall with her sword in hand ready to fight much to the surprise of Will and his bear.

"Now it's my turn." Seele said suddenly as Qi began raging all over her body. Unlike James' Qi Seele's was a light blue color like most other people in the world. It was the base color that everyone had unless something crazy happened like with James.

As the Qi began raging all over Seele James smirked as he saw her power slowly rise to that rivaling the bear. He knew that the people in his sect wouldn't go down that easily but he was still slightly surprised at the power she exhibited since it was high enough to become an Inner Court Disciple at the least.

Even Will was surprised by the power displayed but he didn't have time to react since soon after charging up Seele shot forward with her sword out aiming for Will's neck.

It was a sudden attack that he wasn't prepared for and was going to lose if his bear didn't suddenly step in front of him to block the attack. With his bear in front of him, Will had new confidence on his face as Seele unleashed her attack straight into the chest of the large muscular bear.

Before the attack landed everyone watched as Seele transferred all the Qi she had built up into the tip of her sword letting it plunge even further inside the bear that many had expected. It went straight through the bear's heart and quickly came out the other side pressing the blade onto the bridge of Will's nose which was shaking in fear.

"The winner is Seele of the Martial Sword Sect!" The announcer shouted making the crowd explode after seeing a magnificent and surprising first match.

With Seele's match being over she quickly returned to the waiting room where both Cara and James congratulated her on her win. It was very surprising to many of the people in the crowd since they considered the bear to be one of the most fearsome creatures they had ever seen. In addition to that, there was the cultivator controlling the bear who in theory should be even stronger. 

However, that couldn't be farther from the truth and that's exactly why Seele won her match. Now that her match was over it also meant it was finally time for James. It was time to show the work and grueling effort he had been putting in since he joined the sect. It was time to begin his revenge plan.

"NOW WELCOME TO THE STAGE! THE PARTICIPANTS FOR ROUND TWO THE INNER COURT BATTLES, ROWELLA BROWN AND JAMES BLOOD!" The announcer screamed for all in the building to hear. The screams of excitement soon took over his voice when both James and Rowella walked into the arena.

The two stared at each other ready for battle to the death or at least that's what was going through James' mind as he prepared for battle. 

In the meantime, both Noel and Cara watched on with confident eyes ready to see their love show exactly what he was made of and why he was going to be the future of their realm and the strongest that anyone had ever seen.

However, right as the announcer raised his hand for them to begin and everyone in the arena held their breath in anticipation. A voice rang out two words clearly for all of those to hear, "I forfeit." Rowella suddenly said with a straight face looking toward James.

The shock that not only James but everyone in the arena had in that moment would be a sight to behold for any of those looking in from the outside. The entire place was silent confused on why someone would forfeit when the sects had been waiting for this tournament for a long time.

The announcer was the first one to recover from the shock quickly announcing the result of the match, "DUE TO THE FORFEIT OF ROWELLA WE ANNOUNCE THE WINNER OF THE INNER DISCIPLE ROUND IS JAMES BLOOD OF THE MARTIAL SWORD SECT!" The announcer shouted finally getting some cheers of happiness of those in support of the Martial Sword Sect and many of those who had bet on James to win the match.

'But why?' James thought to himself in confusion as he walked out of the arena. He would soon be back for the Core Disciple match but he wondered even if they knew that why would they forfeit and not try to tire him out? Would they just forfeit the win entirely to them?

Many questions were running in James' mind as he walked back but those were all tossed away when Cara embraced him with excitement for his first technical 'win'.

*****

In a different part of the arena where Noel was located among the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs, many were looking toward the two in charge of the Beast Master Sect wondering what their plan was.