I wonder if Hawk-Eye had anything to do with Wang Yue's breakthrough, Lind thought as he watched the two men, one on the platform and one below it, absorbing their insights with their eyes closed.
Wang Yue had merely admired Hawk-Eye's talent and wanted to show him the fruits of his many years of training. He had never expected to use the opportunity to break through.
Although Hawk-Eye had been eliminated, he had clearly gained a great deal as well. Once he digested his experience fighting Wang Yue, his swordsmanship would probably improve considerably, taking him a great step toward the realm of a Great Swordsman.
Perhaps this was another case of Heaven first tempering a man's will and wearying his body before entrusting him with a great responsibility. If Hawk-Eye wanted to become the world's greatest Great Swordsman again, he would have to endure far greater trials than in the original story to stand a chance.
After all, Zhang Liang, a Supreme Great Swordsman, was no pushover. Moreover, the fortune of the world's swordsmen was probably still concentrated on him. Taking it away would not be easy for Hawk-Eye.
On the platform, Wang Yue was busy absorbing his insights and had not continued fighting anyone else, but clearly, nobody would trouble him at a time like this.
In the end, Wang Yue easily became one of the four contestants to advance from that platform.
After the match on Wang Yue and Hawk-Eye's platform was decided, the other platforms produced their results one after another.
Compared with Hawk-Eye, an unremarkable Swordsman, Crocodile, who possessed a Logia Devil Fruit, clearly fared much better.
Below Admiral level, the advantages a Logia Devil Fruit offered were simply enormous. Although Haki could offset those advantages to some extent, fighters below Admiral level still could