Child of Destiny

After an entire week of intensive training, Leonard had finally mastered the formation of the Hex Tattoo. He had also fused his Blood Power and Internal Qi when creating the tattoos through the unique techniques of Joaquin Giovanni, making a much advanced version of it.

Looking at Leonard, Scar nodded his head in satisfaction. “It looks like your foundation is much more solid than I expected. You have already created your version of Hex Tattoo at a much faster rate compared to most of our tribe members.”

He paused for a moment as he thought of something before continuing. “You must keep these tattoos active as much as possible when you are training so that your body can fully adjust to them and the new strength that you possess.”

“Starting tomorrow, you will be training to learn the much more advanced movements of our tribe’s techniques.”

“That’s it for today. Let your muscles rest for now and come back again at the same time tomorrow,” he added before leaving.

Leonard bowed and thanked the latter for the instructions that he had received over the last few days.

After that, he looked at the time and sighed. “There are only a couple of hours before the match starts, I’d better head back and take a quick shower before logging in. Cloe Sis will surely scold me if I am late for the final discussion.”

Today was the first day of the playoff rounds, so he had to hurry and regroup with the others, especially when they were up for the first match.

The entire team was fully prepared for this match, following the arrangements that Shin had prepared for their opponents.

What surprised the group was Arthur’s absence. Nathan said that Arthur was supposed to arrive early this morning, but it was already noon, yet the guy was still nowhere to be seen.

There must be some things that have delayed his arrival.

…

“Father! Why is Arthur not here yet? Is there some problem during his breakthrough?” asked Nathan as he entered his father’s study.

Samuel already knew that this was going to happen, so he was not that surprised. He smiled and calmly said. “Don’t worry, Nathan. Your nephew just happens to encounter some mishaps during the breakthrough, but your grandfather is there to handle the situation.”

“Is there an accident?” asked Nathan solemnly.

He knew that the purer and stronger the bloodline of an individual, the harder for them to break through to the next realm.

Arthur possessed the purest draconic bloodline in the entire history of the Springfields, so it was hard to guess how difficult the breakthrough process would be.

Carrying the bloodline of the Divine Golden Dragon, which was even higher than their ancestral guardian, the Solar Dragon, might be a blessing for Arthur. But it could also cause a disaster if he failed to endure the challenges during the breakthrough.

The difficulty of Nathan’s breakthrough when he was still trying to step into the Ascension Realm was already quite disastrous compared to most of the members of the family, as he also possessed such a pure bloodline.

Given that Arthur’s bloodline was even purer than his, Nathan could already imagine the difficulty of his nephew’s breakthrough.

Understanding his son’s concern, Samuel smiled as he reassured the latter. “Don’t worry, Nathan. Your grandfather and the other transcendent experts of our family have decided to let Arthur use the Dragon Pool during his breakthrough, This will increase his chances of success during the process.”

“Moreover, he can also get a lot more once he is successful. After all, the Dragon Pool is our ancestral treasure, which carries the true blood of a dragon,” he added.

Hearing that, Nathan could not help but be surprised. “The Dragon Pool!? But we only have a few chances to use it! Isn’t it only for Domain Realm Experts who are about to step into the Transcendent Realm to use?”

“They are going to open it for Arthur, who is only transitioning to the Ascension Realm!?” he could not believe it. He knew better than anyone how important Dragon Pool was, especially when there was only limited usage of it for every one hundred years.

From what he knew, there were only three more slots available for it. Seeing that the elders of the family were letting Arthur use one of the slots, Nathan realized how much importance they put in this matter.

“The significance of the True Blood of the Divine Golden Dragon is much bigger than you can imagine, Nathan. The elders have given this opportunity for Arthur as they believe that he is the key to our family’s future,” said Samuel with full seriousness.

“The process is taking a little longer, which surpassed the expectations of the elders. But it is not a bad thing since the longer Arthur stays in that pool, the better the benefits he can get.”

“There is no need for you to worry about this. You can proceed with what you are doing and leave the other matters to us,” he added.

Understanding this, Nathan nodded. “I understand, Father.”

…

Virtual World

In the meantime, the people who were impatiently waiting for an entire week for the playoffs were very excited at this moment.

They could not help but shout on the top of their lungs while waiting for the matches to start.

The current stadium was shaking violently due to their loud shouts. The live audience showed their excitement, which was so contagious, which affected all those around them.

The online viewers, who failed to buy the tickets for the live show, could only settle for the live broadcast. But their enthusiasm and excitement were not lost to those watching on the live stream.

They were flooding the live chat with a variety of emoticons and memes that represented their respective emotions.

The chat was moving so fast that it was almost impossible to read their contents.

The live broadcast was still in the introduction image, yet the number of viewers was already rising at an insane rate. The number of viewers was already at billions, almost crushing the website.

Fortunately, the current technology was already advanced, making it possible to host such a large audience.

The organizers of the tournament were almost on the verge of tears after seeing the current rating of the broadcast. They could not help but be thankful for their ‘wise’ decision to commission Miss Bunny and David to cover both matches of the day.

However, this also made them quite worried about the matches for tomorrow.

Fortunately, God’s Paradise had quite a huge fanbase as well, making them somewhat relieved of the situation.

…

At this moment, the members of the Empyrean Talons were currently gathered at their private lounge, discussing their final arrangements.

“As you already know, our current opponent is not as simple as it seems,” started Shin as he looked at everyone. “We have already gone through all the members and possible arrangements that they possibly could be using in this match for an entire week, so we are pretty much prepared for all the possible surprises that they have prepared for us.”

“Fortunately, we have secured the first seed from the previous rounds, so we have the advantage in choosing the home ground and the mode for this match.”

He paused for a moment as he swept his gaze over everyone before continuing. “As per what we have discussed earlier, we will be going with the same strategy as our most recent match – an all-out team battle. After all, Arthur has yet to return to fill one of our most crucial spots.”

“It is the same seven-against-seven format, so we are only sending our key members on the field. But this does not mean that the rest, who are not fighting on the field, will not be doing anything.”

“I want you guys to pay close attention to this match and analyze our opponents as much as you can. You can also discuss it with one another or listen to the analysis of Miss Bunny and Khing in the live broadcast.”

“This match will give you an overall view of our opponents’ strength as well as the depths of their abilities.”

He frowned a little as he continued. “The Earners Mercenary Group is among the bunch with the largest number of top-notch experts in their ranks, so predicting their possible lineups will be very difficult.”

“So, it is a waste to look deeper into it. Our main purpose in this match is to do what we do best and finish the match as fast as possible. After all, it will be disadvantageous for us to let them gather as much information from us as they can.”

He then turned to those who would be representing the team for the match and added. “We will be going all-out right from the start. But at the same time, we will only be showing the cards that everyone already knew about us.”

“We will save our combination techniques as much as we can and only rely on Elemental Spirit Possessions or other means that have already been revealed to the public.”

Shin watched everyone nod their heads before smiling. “We will show everyone our individualities for this match.”

……