A speaker held a resonance fae stone and directed the gathering crowd to part for the fighters they came to see today.

“Today we are witnessing the clash between Kairos Astoire, Earl of Rutea, and Watts Yournae, young lord of the north, commander of the Green Dog Guards, slayer of barbarian chief!”

His voice boomed across the amphitheatre. This place is only opened once a year when the top ten fighters in the combat tournament clash, and it stretches across an area as large as half a city.

After all, the strongest cadets are no weaker than captain-level soldiers and will wreck the normal-sized duelling grounds.

With such a wide open space and hundreds of spectators, made up of students and staff alike, it is difficult to carry one’s words across without constantly infusing Ki into one’s voice. Fortunately, the resonance fae stone that tiny fairies used to speak with humans worked splendidly in amplifying his volume without effort.

The crowd roared in response.

A fight between two of the top ten duellists is a grand spectacle.

Kairos entered the arena through a torch-lit dungeon and was overwhelmed by the cheers at once. The sun beamed down on his face, blinding him momentarily. He could barely make out his opponent, but from the crowd he could tell that the other party has arrived.

Kairos unleashed his Soul Perception allowing it to flood into the area picking up even the slightest information, and immediately everything became clearer than his eyes could see. He couldn’t hold back against one of the top ten seniors of the academy.

With the entire place now filled up with his Origin Energy, the distance between him and the things he perceives has technically been reduced to zero. His brain will recognise any movements faster than his eyes could tell.

By all means, this ability should only belong to immortals or beings of an even higher existence.

The fight was about to begin, and the crowd that were cheering rapidly fell into a quiet anticipation.

The two contestants are both famous in the academy.

There’s no need to mention the one that was challenged. Watts is one of the few final year students that broke through into Entry S rank.

Every major stage in cultivation is difficult, however some are harder than others and are called bottlenecks.

The immortal, Old Ye, had explained, cultivation progress are usually separated into three tiers, nine major stages, and nine minor stages.

On Gaia, the major stages are from F rank to Triple S. After all, in nature, the number nine stands for the limit of progress, while the number ten meant perfection, however, because it is relatively easy in the mortal realm, each major stage is only separated into only three minor stages instead of nine: Entry, Mid, and Peak.

During the cultivation process, there are six difficulties: Three new abilities, and three breakthroughs.

The first three major stages, ranks F to D, are called the Foundation Tier. The first difficulty kicks in at D rank when one’s foundation had been laid out and acquires the mastery to project Ki and form a barrier. Those that fails will never set foot on D rank.

The second difficulty is at C rank, when one tries to breakthrough and enter the second set of three major stages – C to A ranks – also called the Strengthening Tier. Fortunately, in the Mortal Realms, this difficulty isn’t considerable as their cultivation are still low.

The third difficulty, the Projection tier, is at A rank when one should’ve completed a certain degree of strengthening of their inner strength and mastered drifting across vast distances by maintaining their Ki in short-bursts. Only by accomplishing this could one enter A rank. Granted, to stay adrift on thin air, not only a powerful Ki is needed, one also requires good control of Ki Projection. Therefore, those that had weak foundation may never enter A rank.

The fourth difficulty is at S rank. Likewise before, it is to breakthrough and enter the third set of three major stages – S to SSS ranks – also known as the Intermediate Tier, where one starts their metamorphosis from one form of existence into becoming a higher being. At this stage, the body starts preparing to transcend the current realm it is at.

This is why, there are very few S rankers in the academy.

The fifth difficulty is at Triple S rank and try to develop an ability unique to their cultivation method or Dao.

For example, Syriong, the guardian of Silent Lambs Empire, and a powerful Triple S ranker, had fully displayed his power over the earth by easily moving the soil around and summoning crystals.

Whereas the assassin that attacked Relestia had cultivated in the Sword had an unnaturally stalwart resilience, because he developed an especially strong Ki barrier technique to complement his fighting style.

If the first two tiers are caterpillars, then the Paramount Tier is just like a pupa that is about to break its shell and turn into a butterfly. Incidentally, Peak Triple S rankers are also known as Pseudo-Immortals. During this tier, because cultivators have reached their peak, they can only condense Ki to improve themselves and thus it is also called the Paramount Tier.

The sixth difficulty is to enter the Immortal realm and thus named the Nascent Tier. During this time, the cultivator will try to convert Ki into a higher energy form and call upon the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. By surviving one can break through their mortal shells. At that time age no longer matters, and one only succumbs to death by other means.

Those at this tier is what the residents on Gaia commonly call Immortals. Of course, in the Immortal realm next three major stage is also the second tier, and beings in that stage are called Silver Immortals, while those in the final tier are called Gold Immortals.

For a sixteen-year-old boy to reach S rank, even if it is only at the Entry level, it is already a considerable achievement.

In contrast, the challenger, Kairos, was somewhat of a dark horse as a second-year junior.

He had impressive records fighting his way through the ranks with only one draw and winning the rest. And the most amazing thing about this was his cultivation has only reached Mid B.

He had defeated hundreds, and many of them are beyond his level. The academy had collectively been observing his every fight since a while ago, and they concluded that the boy could fight people with five minor stages above.

This brings him to the level of an Entry S ranker, but it does not mean that he could actually fight an actual S ranker.

After all, S rankers gain the ability of flight, and also may be able to fight those stronger than themselves.

The student badge on Watts’ shoulder proudly portrayed two golden stars. In other words, he is as powerful as an average Peak S ranker.

“Looks like it’s the end of the line for his streak.”

“For a second year, he has already proven himself. Most probably the whole academy will revolve around him next year.”

“No doubt on that. Even now, he has already drawn the attention of artisans all over the world with his crafting talent. His combat ability that is merely a step behind will surely rock the world if given enough time.

“Excuse me~,” the announcer interrupted, “Please settle down so that our fighters may begin!”

The amphitheatre quietens down obediently.

Kairos, with a look of confidence, held his head high and took an unhurried step forward.