At one point, Tang Ya let out a muffled grunt and stumbled back.
*Swish!*
With a flash of light, her long sword was inexplicably in Yang Feilong's hand.
Tang Ya was still too weak compared to Yang Feilong. After a period of fighting, Yang Feilong had completely figured out her style. She had likely spent too much time on hidden weapons. While her swordsmanship was also quite accomplished, there was still a considerable gap between her and Yang Feilong.
After all, for the past ten years, his swordsmanship had been honed through immersive practice, while Tang Ya, in addition to practicing ancient martial arts, had probably spent a lot of time practicing with hidden weapons!
Seeing her long sword now in Yang Feilong's hand, held close to her throat, Tang Ya's small mouth parted. Hadn't they been evenly matched just moments ago? How had she suddenly lost her sword and the fight so quickly?
"This Yang Feilong must have been playing weak!" Tang Ya thought indignantly. "Of course, if I had my hidden weapons, I could have ended it with a single blow just now."
However, losing was losing. Moreover, hidden weapons, when used, usually inflicted severe injuries or even death on the opponent. This was another reason why the Hero's Arena competition prohibited their use.
With this match concluded, the first round of the entire quarter-finals was officially over.
Yes, Yang Feilong and Tang Ya's match was the last to finish. It had started earlier than the sixth group's match but ended later. It was precisely because all the other groups had finished that Yang Feilong had stopped prolonging the fight with Tang Ya.
After all, he had shown her enough respect.
This was all due to that darned tenderness in his heart!
That's right, Mia had guessed correctly. Yang Feilong had indeed been reluctant to hurt her. Otherwise, their match wouldn't have dragged on for so long, even if it wasn't the first to end.
"What a shame, truly a shame. Tang Ya wasn't prepared for Yang Feilong's feint, or she wouldn't have had her sword taken!"
"This Yang Feilong has no gentlemanly demeanor! If he had the strength, he should have conceded and fought his way back from the loser's bracket!"
"I think Yang Feilong is quite gentlemanly. If he weren't, Tang Ya would have been defeated long ago. Any clear-sighted person can see that without using hidden weapons, there's a gap between Tang Ya and Yang Feilong!"
"......"
There were all sorts of opinions, but in the hearts of many, Yang Feilong's victory was attributed to Tang Ya not using her most formidable hidden weapons.
Sometimes, these things were like a bug in the system. With a master like Tang Ya, powerful hidden weapons could unleash a force even greater than firearms.
Mia and the others were not convinced by this line of reasoning.
"Even with the boost from hidden weapons, Tang Ya would at most be comparable to the Yuanwu realm, how could she be your opponent, Brother Feilong?" Mia said indignantly to Yang Feilong, who had just stepped off the stage.
"If she had hidden weapons like Dragon Whisker Needles or Pear Blossom Needles of that caliber, I might not have been able to beat her!" Yang Feilong shook his head.
He wasn't being falsely modest; it was because he hadn't personally seen those incredibly powerful hidden weapons.
But the Tang Sect's hidden weapons were so famous, they likely weren't just for show.
Underestimating others would lead to one's own downfall.
Low-key was the way to go.
Of course, if it came down to a real fight, he wasn't afraid, because his soul sense controlling flying daggers could go toe-to-toe with ordinary Earth Martial realm cultivators!
......
The battles continued. While there was still some discussion about who was stronger, Yang Feilong or Tang Ya, everyone's attention was now drawn to the upcoming loser's bracket matches.
There were six participants in the loser's bracket, divided into three matches through a draw.
The winners would have the opportunity to challenge the six victors of the main bracket. The losers would be completely eliminated!
Milai was one of the participants in the loser's bracket. In this round, he was matched against Tang Ya, Yang Feilong's opponent from the previous round.
"Does my second brother have a chance to win?" Mia asked Yang Feilong nervously.
Mikang and Xu Zhenqiang also looked at Yang Feilong.
Because Yang Feilong was the most qualified to comment!
Moreover, they all knew that Yang Feilong had held back earlier.
Mia felt a pang of disappointment but also understood Yang Feilong's actions, as the Hero's Arena was hosted by the Tang family!
"The chances aren't very high," Yang Feilong shook his head. He had fought Tang Ya and could see that her foundation was very solid. Her various swordsmanship techniques were also very formidable. Had she not encountered him, she could have defeated ordinary cultivators at the peak of the Spiritual Martial realm. She was a kind of combat genius.
One shouldn't belittle her just because she lost to him. As for Milai, he was one of the few cultivators in the late Spiritual Martial realm. In the previous round, he had been swiftly defeated by a cultivator at the peak of the Spiritual Martial realm. This indicated that he couldn't fight opponents of a higher level. However, it wasn't impossible. It was just that these genius-level opponents were mostly well-grounded. Such individuals could fight opponents of the same level who were ordinary. Milai could fight ordinary opponents of the same level, but not these elite opponents.
Only truly exceptional geniuses could fight elite opponents of the same level. Tang Ya, even if not a super genius, was not far from it!
As expected.
In a contest of the same level, Milai was quickly defeated.
Seeing Milai's defeat, they all showed expressions of disappointment. Although Yang Feilong had said the chances of Milai winning were slim, they still hoped he could create a miracle. But in the end, no miracle occurred!
"I've disappointed you all!" Milai said with a wry smile as he walked towards them.
"Second Brother, you were already very impressive. After all, there are only a little more than ten people who are stronger than you!" Mia comforted him.
"That's right!" the others chimed in.
"Don't comfort me. There is indeed a significant gap between Tang Ya and me!" Milai shook his head. "And I won't be discouraged!"
The Milai family had strong backing, but compared to the Tang family, they were still far behind, in terms of both family heritage and overall current strength.
The two people who advanced with Tang Ya were both cultivators at the peak of the Yuan Martial realm!
"Next, the three winners from the loser's bracket will challenge the members of the winner's bracket!"
"Tang Ya, Li Tengfei, Feng Yijun. Who will they challenge?"
"Also, what happens if the three of them choose to challenge the same person?"
At this moment, the Tang family's host announced loudly: "If multiple people choose the same person, then the challenged person will choose which opponent to face, and the others will choose their opponents separately!"
"They can choose like that? But now that I think about it, it makes sense!"
"Yes! It's not like one person can fight several matches in a row, right? That would be unfair to the challenged person, after all, even if they can win one match, how can they win three consecutive matches? Each match consumes a lot of energy!"
Then, the Tang family's host looked at the three and asked, "Who will you challenge?"
"I challenge Yang Feilong!" "I challenge Yang Feilong!" "I challenge Mo Shangheng!"
That's right, two of the three winners from the loser's bracket chose to challenge Yang Feilong. These two were Li Tengfei and Feng Yijun. Tang Ya, on the other hand, chose to challenge someone else, Mo Shangheng.