However, out of nowhere, the approaching purple sword aura dissipated, as well as the spiritual
pressure that made Jude feel like he was running out of breath.
After regaining his senses, Jude turned to Rocky in astonishment. He did not expect that his opponent
would suddenly stop attacking him when it could be his immediate way of winning the match.
"Jude, how about we stop here so that we can prepare for our next battle?" Rocky suddenly said with a
calm face.
When Jude heard this, he immediately knew that Rocky was actually teasing him by using his own
words that he uttered at the beginning of the match. However, he also knew that Rocky was being
serious. He could only assume that Rocky was much stronger than what he had already displayed in
their fight. After all, he saw how Rocky was able to easily manipulate such overwhelming spiritual
power. Therefore, if he chose to be stubborn and continue to fight, he might just end up in a terrible
condition.
So, after thinking for a while, Jude finally put away his sword.
At the same time, since the spectators had no idea what really was going on, they thought that based
on Rocky's words just now, he was actually the one who was ready to admit defeat. They even thought
that it was reasonable enough because Jude was supposed to be more powerful than him.
"Well, it is indeed true that there will always be someone stronger out there. I learned how powerful you
are, as well as your sword skills. It is my fault that I underestimated you. Therefore, I hereby admit my
defeat!" Jude said without hesitation, cupping his hands towards Rocky.
Immediately after, the people were stunned at the sudden turn of events. They were so confused that
Jude was the one forfeiting in the match.
From what they saw, with Jude's great power, he could easily hurt Rocky whenever he wanted.
"What happened? Why is he admitting defeat when he clearly had the upper hand?"
"I don't know. Did we miss something? I also thought that Jude was winning the match!"
In an instant, the confused onlookers caused a huge commotion.
They could not believe that Jude lost the match by admitting defeat.
"I am flattered. Good luck with your next battle!" Rocky bowed and eventually left.
Right after Rocky left, Jude also turned around and exited the arena. This just made the audience
gossip even more heatedly.
Furthermore, among the eight simultaneous battles, this one was the fastest to end, as well as the one
with the most surprising result.
At this time, Rocky decided to go to the nearest battlefield where Valeria was fighting. It seemed that
her opponent was also a powerful high-grade Spiritual Emperor. However, from what Rocky could see,
she could skillfully deal with her opponent.
Throughout the fight, the high-grade Spiritual Emperor did not have the upper hand against Valeria,
who was just supposed to be at the middle grade. Because of this, the crowd could not help but be very
excited.
Since it was already the last round, there was no need for Valeria to hold back and hide her real
strength.
The truth was that even before she came to the Ethereal Region, she had already broken through and
reached the high grade of the Emperor Realm. But of course, for the sake of the competition, she
chose to hide her real strength. In fact, even Rocky did not notice this.
"That sneaky woman. She did very great in hiding her strength, and even kept me in the dark." When
Rocky realized what Valeria pulled off, he could not help but smile. After all, Valeria's improvement in
strength was also beneficial for him. Though there might be disadvantages, the advantages surely
outweighed them.
After making sure that Valeria would win her match, Rocky left and proceeded to the arena where
Gloria was fighting. However, when he arrived there, the battle was already over. At this time, Gloria
was actually walking out of the field with a relaxed and confident expression. It was safe to say that she
was the one who won.
But since Rocky was currently in his original appearance as Basil, she did not recognize him.
The moment the two passed by each other, they somehow exchanged looks, giving Gloria the
sensation that this man was very familiar. However, it was her first time seeing his face, so she had no
idea why she had that feeling.
At the same time, Rocky did not expect that he would directly bump into Gloria. Originally, he just
wanted to check from afar if she was doing well in her match. Moreover, since he knew that Gloria had
a keen sense of smell, he wanted to get out of there as fast as he could before she could recognize
him.
"Wait a minute..." Before Rocky could leave, Gloria suddenly called him from behind.
Rocky hesitated for a moment and regained his composure before turning around. "Yes? Can I do
something for you?"
"Um, have we met before?" Gloria asked as her eyes narrowed, obviously showing that she was
somewhat suspicious of him.
"I don't think so... I will definitely remember someone as beautiful as you. By the way, I'm Basil." Rocky
did not mind revealing his identity to her. Besides, he thought that it would be helpful to distract her.
"Oh, I see. You are the Basil who was able to directly enter the last round because of your amazing
performance during the challenge competition!" Although Gloria had never met Rocky with his identity
as Basil, she had already heard some stories about him.
"Yes, that's right." Rocky nodded with a gentle smile.
"I did not expect you to be so handsome in person!" Just like her personality, Gloria immediately
complimented him and even winked at him. However, deep inside, she was still very suspicious of this
guy in front of him. Her instinct was so accurate that she assumed that this person must be hiding
something.
"Thank you! Anyway, I'm afraid I still have other things to do. If there is nothing else, I have to go now."
Of course, Rocky just quickly made an excuse because he did not want to be around her for now.
Gloria actually hesitated to let go of him yet, but she had no other excuse to hold him up. Then, at this
moment, two other figures suddenly appeared not far away from her. They were Quentin and Drew,
who were wearing their disguises.
At the sight of the two men, Gloria had no choice but to bid goodbye to Rocky as well. "Okay then. See
you later!" After that, she also disappeared in a hurry.
Quentin and Drew also had a quick exchange of glances with Rocky. But since they had never heard of
Basil before, they did not take him seriously and just left as well.
As soon as Rocky got away from the scene, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, a few hours later, the first round of the battles was already finished. Out of the eight matches,
four of them resulted in a tie, while the other four had winners.
Unexpectedly, the winners of the four battles turned out to be rather surprising. They were Rocky,
Valeria, Gloria, and Lilith. The people watching were so surprised at the outcome of their matches
because they were supposed to be the weakest among the sixteen candidates.
Moreover, the most shocking one was Rocky, who defeated Jude, the top three among the ten high-
grade Spiritual Emperors. Obviously, his victory caused quite a stir, and because of that, Rocky
immediately caught the attention of the spectators.
Then, after several hours of rest, the second round of matches was about to begin.
This time, Rocky was paired to a high-grade Spiritual Emperor named Colin. Among the candidates, it
was said that he was the most formidable one when it came to using fist strikes.
Although Colin's overall strength was supposed to be weaker than Jude's, he was still considered as
one of the top masters in the Ethereal Region. It was said that his fist strike was as fast as a lightning
strike. Therefore, people still believed that he was an opponent to watch out.
Therefore, after Rocky defeated Jude in the last round, his fight with Colin attracted a larger crowd this
time.
In fact, long before the match started, the surroundings of the battlefield were already filled with people.
"Humph! I did not expect that Jude would actually lose to a frail and weak-looking man like you. I am
starting to think that he is not as powerful as people claimed him to be." As soon as Colin showed up in
the arena, he examined Rocky from head to toe, and immediately belittled him.
At the back of his mind, Rocky's victory over Jude was just a mere fluke. After all, as Rocky stood
before him right now, he could not feel any power that could beat him.
"Let's have a good fight!" Rocky ignored Colin's rude remarks and just politely cupped his hands.
"This will be a good fight for me but not for you. You won't be lucky enough this time. I bet Jude
became overconfident that you managed to sneakily defeat him. However, I am different from him.
Even though you are just an ordinary Spiritual Emperor, who does not deserve my attention, I'll be sure
to show you no mercy and teach you a hard lesson!" Then, Colin continued to raise his voice and said,
"But if you will admit defeat before our match begins, then I will gladly accept it. After all, we can both
save our strength and prepare for the next battle. Moreover, you can avoid such humiliation. It's not a
bad option for you."
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