Chapter 13: Semifinals

With one final push, Weizhe's opponent had one of his legs pushed out of the stadium causing the referee to call the fight. The fight between Weizhe and his opponent wasn't particularly long nor interesting when compared to the previous fights of the round. For the most part, Weizhe came out unscathed except for a couple of hoof marks, and he had easily managed to push out his opponent without using the strength of his partial Iron Flesh. This marked the end of the quarterfinals, and the beginning of the semifinals. The remaining contestants totaled five, which also meant lots would be drawn.

If one was lucky, they would be able to move straight into the finals. If one was unlucky, they would have to participate in two fights to get into the finals. Sweat rolled down the faces of youths. They found that no amount of breathing could ease the constricted feelings in their chest, and their stomachs churned from the nerves they felt. To them it seemed like an eternity, and yet only a couple seconds had gone by. Finally, the results were revealed.

"Weidong will be proceeding straight into the finals. The remaining fights will proceed as follow: Weizhe versus Weihan and Weiyang versus Weiping." There was a mixture of feelings among the contestants. They felt disappointed at not having proceeded to the next round, but they were also slightly relieved it had been Weidong who proceeded. Weidong was, thus far, considered the most likely to win the tournament as revealed by how easily he handled all of his matches, so being able to avoid fighting him gave them a better chance of passing this round. Stepping onto stage, Weizhe and Weiyang went into their respective rings, shortly followed by their opponents.

Weizhe's opponent was an average looking member of the clan, having nothing immediately notable except one thing, like Weidong he actually had signs of gills on the sides of his neck.

Gills were a trait that appeared starting around the eighth year for Murky Whip Horses, meaning that Weihan was actually an entire two years older than Weizhe. The Generational tournament consisted of all children born within a single generation, and because a generation is considered to be those born within a 11-20 year interval for demon horses, age differences such as these, while uncommon, were not unheard of. This of course gave a slight advantage to the older contestants though, as they often had more experience and practice as a result.

Meanwhile, Weiyang was calmly facing her opponent, Weiping. Weiping had an average appearance, not unlike what any other Murky Whip Horse looked like, however what he lacked in appearance was made up for by his aura. Anyone who laid eyes on him would feel a sinister aura exuded from him. If one paid close attention to the light of his spiritual energy they'd find it was a purplish-blue rather than the typical ocean blue.

None of the contestants who had made it to the semifinals were average. Each of these fights would be long and arduous for the remaining contestants.

The call came and both matches began. Weiyang and Weiping, as soon as the fight began, rushed into a head-on stamina battle as was usual for horses. The moment the two met in the middle the ring was split in half, with one half covered in a gentle teal glow and the other covered in an eerie blue-violet color.

"Keke, I had heard Sister Weiyang's spiritual energy is light and gentle as a result of the Mending Streams technique you practice. I've been hoping to test it against the violent energy of my Savage River Beast technique." In between their fighting, as they struggled to push the other or inflict any harm that could give them an advantage, Weiping engaged in conversation.

With a brief eye smile, Weiyang responded, "I see, well then I'll make sure not to disappoint you!" Acting on these words, she rapidly circulated her spiritual energy throughout her meridians and then had it all rapidly rush towards the front of her body in one giant burst. The sudden forced tipped the fragile balance that had formed, the spiritual energy in the air became turbulent and Weiping was pushed back half a meter. An enraged look entered his eyes as he similarly sent forth a burst of his spiritual energy towards the front of his body, causing his chest to glow like a lamp. Hastily trying to mend the disadvantage, he rushed to counterattack, but Weiyang wouldn't allow him. Sending spiritual energy towards her side, she managed to do a sort of side step, something not easily done with the legs of a horse.

Gasps of admiration rang through the crowd as they watched the intense battle, and serious looks entered the eyes of the visiting Clan Chiefs. Hongli, the grizzly Clan Chief of the Rock Splitting Bear Clan, muttered to what appeared to be a young man beside him. The young man's appearance was very similar to Hongli's, with equally fierce brown eyes and large brows, and a broad jaw. One thing that did stand out though was that his ears, unlike Hongli's, were bear ears. He had sharp black nails with tufts of brown fur covering the back of his hand.

"These two show great potential, if you are to ever meet them in the future it would be best if you avoid a fight unless you're absolutely certain of victory." The young man, hearing what Hongli said, furrowed his brows.

"Why father? Those two don't even have a humanoid form yet much less the cultivation to fight me. They're still just some High Rank One beasts." Hongli shook his head, "Even without humanoid forms their talent for cultivation is incredible, if you were to fight and allow them to escape you'll likely find yourself with enemies you might not be able to handle. Not only so, but our earth attributed techniques are somewhat weak towards their water attributed techniques, perhaps not as much as fire, but still significantly so."

Demon beasts had no need for Cultivation Methods like humans did because spiritual energy is naturally absorbed by their meridians with every breath they take; however, they couldn't control the type of spiritual energy they absorb. As a result of having no control over their absorption, demon beasts are born attuned with a specific type of energy. The Murky Whip Horse, for example, is born naturally attuned towards the element of water and so they practice water related cultivation techniques that allow them to control the water spiritual energy in their lower dantian. Each attribute has strengths and weaknesses which are shared with the demon beasts that absorb that type of energy, for the Rock Splitting Bear clan who were attuned to earth they had a minor weakness towards water. Water is an element with no true form, the earth is incapable of stopping its movement, even if it doesn't seep through cracks it will simply weather the earth to create its own path. This elemental disadvantage partially contributed to the delicate balance of powers that currently existed on the mountain by allowing the Murky Whip Horses to keep the Rock Splitting Bears in check.

The young man, realizing the point his father was trying to make, obediently nodded his head in understanding before turning back to the matches.

Currently on stage with Weiping and Weiyang, their fight was reaching its climax as the two butted heads. While the ramming of the two, to a normal audience, seemed unsophisticated there were many underlying factors that allowed for the skilled members of the audience to judge the current fight. For one, there was the way they controlled their spiritual energy. Weiping's spiritual energy had a violent nature and so it gushed forth uncontrollably like an erupting geyser. Weiyang's spiritual energy, on the other hand, was of a gentle nature, and instead flowed forth in a steady and controlled manner. From this observation it could be seen that in a fight where victory depends on who lasts longest, Weiyang is more likely to win, and this is exactly where the fight was headed.

Meanwhile, Weizhe and Weihan were also in the middle of their own fierce clash. From the hints of iron specks visible on Weizhe's coat it was evident that fight had pushed him towards the very limits of his power. Weizhe wasn't the only one though, Weihan was also exerting quite a lot of effort as traces of steam rolled off of him. His sweat was evaporating as it came out.