Chapter 11- The Final Trial

Most of the 80 remaining contestants dispersed but Maxwell went up to Richard Weaver.

"Now you see who's the loser," he said in a provocative tone.

"You cheated!" He shouted back, visibly angered. "You must have used dirty methods."

"There were no rules restricting our methods."

"Just because you can talk smart doesn't mean I will believe you. Your fiancé is part of the representatives. You could have easily used her help."

"Oh really, you think I could break the rules with everyone watching." Orphelia had heard the commotion and walked over.

"How am I supposed to know how you cheated?" Richard spoke with hatred in his voice, "I will prove it to everyone that you cheated tomorrow."

With those words he left arrogantly.

"What a fool!" Orphelia sighed at his idiocy, "He doesn't think rationally when it comes to arguing with you."

"He's going to develop a heart demon but that is not my problem."

"Yes, it's not our problem," Orphelia then changed the topic, "You wielded your spear extremely well in such close quarters. If the test were held in a more open area, you could have demonstrated your abilities far better."

"Fighting in cramped spaces is also a good way to judge someone's abilities, if I didn't know how to adapt with the spear, I would have had a terrible experience."

"Your abilities were demonstrated excellently to the elders present since you beat previous records by a good margin using a spear."

"Were all the other records set by sword users?" Maxwell looked at Orphelia and asked.

"Yes, but there was once a record holder who won by using only his fists." She then added with admiration, "Till now there was no spear wielder who could control it well enough indoors to set a record. You shocked all the elders here."

"That was my goal in the first place."

"You have big goals," Orphelia said with admiration, "You will get first place in the next round easily."

"Thank you for your support," he said while smiling.

"You're welcome." She then noticed someone beckoning her so she left after bidding Maxwell goodbye.

'It will be a breeze for me to win with my level of control of qi and spear. It's a blessing in disguise, those 10 years. I could improve my control drastically with such low qi capacity.'

Later that night Maxwell lay on his bed.

'This feels way better than the hard rocks I had to sleep on. Next time I should take a bed in my Spatial Ring.' He then sighed. 'I must decide which sect I will choose once I win. Immortal Sword Sect is out of question, so I need to choose between Roaring Dragon Sect and Body Refining Sect.'

'Roaring Dragon Sect is probably the best for me since my body is strong already and I'm better at using a spear than using my fists. I don't have anything against macho men like those in the Body Refining Sect but it doesn't suit me at all.'

"Since that's decided I should go to sleep." Maxwell muttered while staring at the white ceiling. He slowly drifted to sleep while thinking about his battle plan.

The next day at around 10 o'clock.

Maxwell arrived at the venue for the second and final test. There was a large audience already present, eagerly waiting.

'That's a lot of people. How about I give them a show using both Lightning and Space elements. Those 2 are the rarest so it's bound to cause an uproar.'

"For the final trial, the 80 finalists will fight in 4 separate groups of 20 and the winner of each bracket will fight in the semifinals." The announcer was the one from yesterday and he brought out a bunch of tokens before adding, "I will give these tokens out randomly and the groups will be decided based on your number. Numbers 1 till 20 will be in one group, 21 to 40 in another and so on.

"In each group the 2 consecutive numbers will fight and then the winner will fight the winner of the next fight. At one point each group will have 5 contestants left. The other 4 will fight for 2 winners and the last contestant will fight one of those winners to qualify for the quarterfinals and go against the remaining contestant.

"You all know there will be 30 of you who will be able to join one of the three sects. From that the top 20 will qualify and the rest of the top 40 will have to compete for the remainder of the spots. There will be prizes for the top 5 only. The fifth place will get a Magic rank Low grade weapon of their choice, fourth will receive a Magic rank Medium grade weapon and a vial of Rank 2 Medium Grade Foundation Establishment Pills. Third place will receive a Magic rank High grade weapon and a vial of Rank 2 Medium Grade Foundation Establishment Pills.

"For the top 2 the rewards are a bit special. If they are skillful and talented enough, they can directly become an inner disciple. second place will receive a Magic rank High grade weapon and armor or defensive artifact, 2 vials of Medium Grade Foundation Establishment Pills and a Magic rank High grade technique.

"Now for First place, they will receive a Magic rank High grade weapon, artifact and armor, 2 vials of High grade Foundation Establishment pills and a Mystic rank Low grade Technique."

'These rewards are good but useless to me.'

Maxwell received the number 3 and the trial started. The fight was very boring for Maxwell with both sides struggling to gain an advantage.

'Such poor use of a sword, they have too many openings and weaknesses.'

After 5 minutes that seemed like an eternity to Maxwell, there was finally a victor. It was then Maxwell's turn, and he had an opponent who was at the 8th Stage of Qi Condensation.

'I'll make this quick to not waste time.'

"Start!" The referee shouted.

To his opponent and many others Maxwell teleported behind his opponent but in reality he just moved so quickly. Before his opponent could process what happened Maxwell held his spear next to his opponent's neck.

"Round 2 is over, Number 3 has won." The referee announced after freezing for a moment in amazement.

The crowd was silent for a second before erupting in cheers at the sight of a new genius.

Among the elders watching a fierce discussion took place.

"He's quite good, he was fast even for my standards."

"Bah, that's quite average."

"You're only sour he's not a swordsman," said the first.

"Nonsense, you must be getting senile to call that fast," retorted the other.

"Now, now stop fighting here. Do you have no dignity?" an elder intervened before it escalated.

The quarrelling elders stopped and just continued to glare at each other for a few seconds before returning their attention to the trial.

A few others had stood out along with Max, with most being from the top 4 families. Among them, the sword was wielded most followed by the spear. They had all beaten their opponents with no effort but not as easily as Maxwell did. Shockingly, one of them was Richard Weaver who had somehow reached Stage 3 of Foundation Establishment.

Maxwell had breezed through the next 3 matches, ending them instantly. All his opponents had cultivation far below his. It was now the quarterfinals and Maxwell finally found an opponent that had good enough cultivation. His opponent was the daughter of one of the top four families, the Green family. She was at the 1st Stage of Foundation Establishment.

"I'm Lucy Green, I hope you can guide me."

"Maxwell Windsor."

"Start!" the referee spoke.

'I'll guide her a bit and show something to everyone.'

Lucy dashed towards Maxwell while wielding 2 daggers. She tried using a dagger technique that launched 2 Qi blades at Maxwell only to get countered easily. She then used a different technique after creating smoke around herself. Out of the smoke jumped 4 clones that all charged at Maxwell, but he ignored them and used his spear to pierce the air. The clones disappeared and a panting Lucy appeared who had nearly been struck.

"Your footwork is not concealed enough, and the clones look real enough." Maxwell commented.

"I admit defeat," She said while sweating profusely. Her techniques had drained her of qi and required her to have high concentration.

"You should use only 2 clones and make them seem more real. That way you won't drain as much qi, and it will be more effective." Maxwell advised her.

"Thank you for your advice and good luck," She replied before walking away.

'The semifinals will be more entertaining than this since everyone there is at Stage 3 of Foundation Establishment.'

Although Maxwell's performance had been extraordinary the crowd had gotten bored because of his instant victories. The other semifinalists viewed Maxwell as a threat as they could not figure out his cultivation base since he had not found the need to use it yet. Among the semifinalists, there was one who would go to any lengths to beat Maxwell. He was currently talking with Bruce Rogers who equally hated Maxwell.

"You will fight Maxwell in the next round, you better not have wasted the resources I gave you to help me." He then spoke with malice, "You better cripple him, and if you are unable to do that with your current strength, take this pill and then do it."

"I'll show him I'm no worse than him, I'll humiliate him in the fight," Richard replied with hatred.

"Good, Orphelia will not want a cripple."