In the quiet waiting room, everyone closed their eyes and adjusted their condition until the referee's voice rang out:
"Good afternoon, everyone. Please welcome the contestants for the first match of this afternoon's Advancement Round to the stage.
"One of these two contestants is the famed Su Hao, who possesses Two Thousand-Year Soul Rings and defeated his opponent with a single strike just a few days ago.
"His opponent is no ordinary person either: Taino of the Strength Clan, one of the four great single-attribute families that followed the Tang Sect twenty thousand years ago.
"Although Taino did not display anything particularly dazzling in his previous match, his Soul Power is higher than Su Hao's. So in this match, will Su Hao claim another victory, or will Taino defeat Su Hao with the Strength Clan's formidable power?
"Let us wait and see. Please welcome Su Hao and Taino to the stage."
After hearing this, Su Hao and Taino rose from the waiting room and headed down their respective passages.
Once on the competition stage, Taino was the first to provoke him. "Su Hao, I admit you have some ability now, but you're still too young. Come back in another year or two, and you might stand a chance.
"If you hadn't run into me, perhaps you could have advanced another few rounds. But you met me in the very first match of the Advancement Round.
"You can only blame your bad luck. I'll eliminate you without mercy."
Su Hao dug at his ear casually and said, "Are you done? If that's all you have to say, then you'd better just admit defeat."
Taino snorted at that and said nothing more.
Seeing that the pre-match trash talk had gone on long enough and that the audience's enthusiasm had been ignited, the