End of Round 3

From his seat above the stage, the young duke crushed the cup in his hand as he continued clenching his fist. The more he saw how talented she was, the more he didn't want to admit it, but this incident showed that she was not only better than him at arrays, she also possessed a strong heart that wouldn't collapse before obstacles. If she had simply buckled under the pressure, then he could have laughed at her and then asked to have her captured instead of killed so that he could toy with her, but that option had now been permanently sealed. His initial objective for joining the evaluation was to make a name for himself so that he could please the princess, however, even if he got a spot on the Minor Ranking, he would surely be overshadowed by her. Therefore, his choice was obvious.

"Uncle, I don't want see her face tomorrow. Have it arranged."

The young duke's guardian could barely hold back his sigh, but he had no way of rebuking him. It would be good if his father opposed this decision once he informed him, but the duke tended to be biased towards his child so that was unlikely.

"...I shall make preparations."

Soon after Emily's record-breaking performance, many of her competitors forfeited, including those who were sure to make it to the final round. They were all skilled enough to make it this far, but none of them were certain of making it to the top ten, much less competing for a spot with a true prodigy. Some had considered killing her to make themselves feel better, but the failure of their former competitor served as both an example and a warning to them.

With those weak of heart withdrawing from the competition, less than twenty competitors were left in the final round, including those who had skipped rounds through their achievements. This meant that almost everyone that fought their way up with Emily had either been eliminated or chose to surrender. This information passed by Emily's ears as she left the stadium, but she was still preoccupied with the new state that she found herself in. She was well-read, so she was able to figure out that she had entered the Absolute Focus state, but even she couldn't believe it.

'It would be ridiculously arrogant for me to say this, but aren't I a little too talented?'

For her as well, it was a mystery why she was capable of entering both states despite there being no simple to understand reason like possessing a special physique or sacred treasure. She was without a doubt a human without any apparently gifted bloodline, and yet her ability to concentrate was extraordinary. Maybe you could laugh it off as a scholarly talent, but any high-level cultivator who touched on the natural laws knew how important concentration was for one's comprehension. For now, it would only be useful in making arrays, but if she could breakthrough to the Sky Realm, Emily's gift would make her a great threat. Possibly one great enough for even more assassins to be sent out for her.

Fortunately, a state of focus didn't have any obvious visual effects so Emily was the only one that knew of her discovery, and she planned on keeping it that way.

"Hey, Emily. You did really well there."

As she heard the praise that came from the approaching Shui, Emily quickly considered making an exception to the decision she just came up with. However, before she even had the chance to respond to his kind words, another group approached.

It was a group of three which included Alicia and her brother, but there was an unknown man with them so she kept her guard up. Shui could tell that this man was Alicia and Alex's master, but he also kept his guard up because he didn't feel confident that he could beat him. His Master Realm cultivation was enough of a threat, but Shui had a feeling that there was something much more dangerous about him.

Alicia could tell that the two were wary of her master, so she took the lead by greeting them and introducing him. Shui simply nodded with a polite smile while Emily raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. She couldn't see through his cultivation like Shui, but she intuitively knew that he was far ahead of her as an array master.

"It's nice to meet the two of you. I've heard great things about you from Alicia, Sir Shui. And Miss Emily, well, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's become your fan after your recent performances."

Despite his imposing strength, when Astar spoke, he exuded a casual charisma that made Shui and Emily slightly lower their guards.

"Thank you," replied Emily.

On the other hand, Shui chose to prod for information.

"I'm glad to hear that. Unfortunately, I don't believe I've heard much about you, Grandmaster Astar."

"Oh really? Then how did you know that I'm a grandmaster?"

"Please don't tease me. It's not much, but I've dabbled in arrays enough to recognize a grandmaster when I see one. Especially one of your level."

The two conversed with smiling faces, but everyone else could tell that each was trying to draw information out of the other. Fortunately, neither held malicious intent so there was no need for intervention. While his master was preoccupied with Shui, Alex started up a conversation with Emily.

"Hey, you really surprised me. I thought I was a good judge of skill but you completely surpassed my expectations."

When she heard Alex, Emily was reminded of the day when she arrived at Paraj and he stared at her. His gaze hadn't bothered her too much, and she could tell that he was likely a better array master so she didn't scoff at his words. However, her pride was still ignited after finding out that she could enter the Absolute Focus state, so she couldn't obediently accept his praise.

"I'm glad to hear that. I hope you'll be able to do the same when I'm ready to exchange notes with you."

Processing the subtle competitive tone he heard from Emily, Alex smirked with a similar energy.

"Kukuku, then don't keep me waiting for too long."

Watching as the two pairs of Shui and Astar and Alex and Emily 'bonded', Alicia shook her head with an exasperated expression.

"It's a good thing to see you all getting along, but shouldn't we move this to a more, suitable venue."

In response to Alicia's request that they go somewhere else, the others had no objection so they put a pause on their conversation and had her take the lead.

Meanwhile, Adler had a dark expression as he looked down on Emily's departing figure. Similar to the young duke, he knew that Emily was more talented than him, but he didn't want to admit it. However, it was more than that now. After that round, he made a new decision in light of her strong willpower.

'It's too bad, but I can't afford to take this risk. Emily, you will die here.'