<h4>Chapter 270 Rio Vs. Lia, The Battle for Acknowledgement... Part-3.</h4>


    [Divine Spirit''s Blessing: Spirit Ascension: Spirit Merge!]


    A huge amount of spiritual mana condensed around Lia, and Rio had to jump back a bit to dodge the debris that flew towards him when Lia started to use her skill.


    The spiritual mana condensed into silver armor at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    Moreover, the wings of light behind Lia''s back grew much bigger and stronger.


    ''Spirit merge'' is the most versatile of all of the blessings given by a divine spirit.


    Moreover, now that Lia has more control over the spiritual mana after ascending to rank A, her abilities have been enhanced as a whole.


    She will now automatically enhance all of her spirit-type moves with the passive skill ''spirit ascension''.


    Originally, Lia was barely using ten percent of Kai''s spiritual power, but now that she has figured out her true self, she has fully gained control over the spiritual mana.


    Now her output is equal to an early S-ranker after entering this ''spirit merge'' state.


    She has covered her spirit with Kai''s spiritual mana, and her control and efficiency have soared into the sky like a rocket.


    Lia ced her sword beside her waist as she took her stance. A smirk appeared on her face that was now covered under the helmet of the spirit armor.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Arc of Spiritual Distruction!]


    Lia swung her sword in a horizontal manner, and a massive arc made of condensed spiritual mana fired from her sword.


    It was so fast that the air pressure produced by that attack alone caused the ground to crack and a massive amount of debris to fly into the air.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Pure thunder descent!]


    Rio raised his sword above his shoulder and swung it down. Condensed thunder appeared on his sword and easily countered Lia''s attack.


    Lia wasn''t surprised by that; it would have been even stranger if Rio had been defeated by that meager attack.


    Once Rio was distracted and defending herself against her attack, Lia spread her wings and flew into the sky.


    She pointed her sword''s tip towards Rio and immediatelyunched another attack on him when he was still distracted.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Spirit Dive!]


    Lia dove down towards Rio at an incredible speed, like a missile about to fall towards its target.


    When she used ''Spirit Merge'', her speed increased to be equal to Rio''s, and now this attack was meant to be lethal.


    When Lia was about to reach Rio, she predicted that he would dodge, so she changed her trajectory ordingly.


    Her lightning-fast speed and her ability to anticipate his movements astounded Ever Rio.


    [Handling!]


    Rio barely seeded in changing Lia''s sword''s trajectory when her thrust attack was about to stab him on the right shoulder.


    The ability to predict his moves was indeed very dangerous, and Lia was making good use of it.


    She pressed Rio step-by-step and used her power very efficiently.


    Seeing that her attack failed, Lia wasn''t too worried; she backed away and flew into the air, and she was ready to do it again.


    …


    VVIP Area


    Ashtel nodded his head in satisfaction when he saw Lia''s progress.


    "She is able to go with Rio toe to toe; this is already quite an amazing feat. She must have awakened some new skills after this ascension, her strength has improved a lot!"


    Ryul nodded his head at Ashtel''s words and smiled a bit.


    "Haha, it seems Rio will finally need to get serious; he defeated his previous three opponents with ease, but even he will need to use some of his cards now!..."


    Indeed, until now, Rio hasn''t even used his ''sword intent'' since the start of the knockout tournament.


    He easily dealt with his opponents without showing too much power.


    But now that Lia has pushed him this far, Rio will have to show some of his cards if he wants to win against her.


    Lia is not like other ordinary A-rankers anymore; she is much stronger than that.


    If Rio underestimates her, he will suffer a lot.


    "But still, Lia really has progressed a lot after her ascension to rank A; she is able to keep up with Rio''s speed…"


    Jin was quite surprised when he saw Lia''s amazing feats and expressed his surprise out loud instantly.


    Even Ashtel nodded his head at those words.


    "Indeed… Hmm, I think she has figured out a way to fully control the power of that divine spirit general… Not only speed, her whole physique has been enhanced by that spirit armor that she is using…"


    A look of curiosity appeared on Ryul''s face when he saw Lia''s amazing spirit control.


    "This amazing and smooth spirit control, this enhanced output of mana…. There is no doubt about it; she''s achieved the state of ''Spiritual Ascension''!"


    Ryul thought about something for a moment and then said,


    "When ites to spirit control, I personally have never seen a person more talented than her… Her future is bright..."


    Ashtel also nodded his head and spoke.


    "I have learned from the history books that Tomar was the most talented spirit master, but now I think that his records will be broken by his own descendant…"


    A satisfied smile appeared on Ashtel''s face when he figured out Lia''s amazing achievements; he knew that another monster had appeared in the human race now.


    "I guess we can call her ''Silver Dawn'' from now on; she has earned that title now…"


    Other SS-rankers also nodded their heads at Ashtel''s words.


    For these old fellows, nothing was more interesting than rewarding the talented juniors.


    All of them have the responsibility of a race on their shoulders, and as the people standing at the peak of this world, they are more open-minded.


    They don''t feel jealous of others'' talents, as they have all ovee numerous challenges to reach their current strength; none of them are weaklings.


    And none of them is going to be ungrateful towards the younger generation, either.


    Compared to others, the mentality of those who stand at the peak is always different.


    They have long life spans, and watching their juniors grow is a way to kill time for them.


    (Simply speaking, they are all just too bored andzy to be intimidated by the talent of the younger generation…)


    …


    (Back to the battle)


    *bam!*


    Lia pressured Rio more and more; she dove down from the sky and attacked him without giving him any chance to dodge properly.


    But even though she was in a significantly advantageous position, she wasn''t feeling any joy at all.


    Ten minutes had already passed, and she hadn''t been able to deal a single fatal blow yet.


    The audience was cheering loudly for Lia because they could see her advantage. They were already thinking that Lia had beaten Rio into a corner and would win soon.


    But unlike them, Lia wasn''t in the mood to be happy; the more time passed, the more nervous she became.


    In this world, no one knew Rio better than Lia; she knew all too well that Rio wasn''t even serious yet.


    ''He''s observing me... If this goes on, he will figure out everything about my talent soon, I need to finish this match fast!''


    Lia is extremely well versed in figuring out Rio''s expressions.


    His face may seem expressionless, but Lia has been watching him for too long, and she can instinctively sense his thoughts vaguely.


    The more Rio kept holding back, the more Lia was sure that he wasn''t taking her seriously yet.


    Lia gritted her teeth andnded on the ground.


    She bent her knees and took her stance.


    ''This won''t do; I must not give him anymore time…''


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliteration type: Domination Rush!]


    Lia''s speed was now equal to that of Rio; the ground beneath her feet cracked, and sheunched at him like an arrow.


    Her wings pushed her forward and gave her an amazing thrust, thus increasing her stabbing power.


    Right now, her thrust attack is as strong as Link''s punch when he uses ''overload''; if Rio doesn''t dodge this, he is sure to get a fatal injury.


    Lia immediately predicted Rio''s dodging moves and aimed at the spot where Rio was going to jump for her attack.


    Lia was sure that she would hit him this time, but she still failed in her attempt.


    Too much time had passed, and for Rio, this was enough time to adapt to her abilities.


    Lia''s attacknded on empty ground, and a look of surprise appeared on her face under the helmet of that spirit armor.


    ''He didn''t try to dodge!? But I predicted he would dodge and jump here!! This!?''


    Before Lia could figure out what was going on, Rio''s sword swung down at an immense force, and a condensed thunder arc blew her away like a cannonball.


    Lia immediately got up and flew into the sky to avoid further damage.


    "Hoh? A point-nk attack from me didn''t even scratch that armor? That armor is quite strong…"


    Because of her enhanced hearing, Lia could hear Rio''s quiet mumbles from far away.


    ''He''s figured out how my talent works… I was toote in dealing the finishing blow…''


    A troubled look appeared on Lia''s face when she figured out that Rio could dodge her now.


    [Kiddo, Move!! What you are looking at is an afterimage!!]


    Even with Kai''s warning, Lia was still a bitte to react, Rio appeared in the sky and swung his sword downward.


    [Elemental Sword Arts: Wind Type: Wind st!]


    Rio''s swordnded directly on Lia''s shoulder, and the impact of that attack caused Lia to fly down at a rapid pace.


    Lia instantly collided with the earth below, creating a massive crater.


    Rio''s voice again rang out in her ears, but this time he was standing right beside her.


    "Hmm, so even this type of attack won''t work against your armor?"


    Rio rubbed his chin a bit, as if in thought.


    "If it was any other armor, the user''s bones would have broken apart from the wind st directly bypassing the armor…"


    "I guess there''s only one way then…"


    Finally, a small trace of excitement appeared in Rio''s dead fish-like eyes.


    …


    …


    Author''s note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems Rio really is a menace; Bro has been holding back the whole time and still didn''t get injured. Lia might be an A-


    ranker now, but she is still new afterall.


    Rio has already reached the peak of A-rank.


    Question of the day.


    Which technique do you think is most feasible to defeat Rio?


    1. Use Dao Rhythm.


    2. Use a huge amount of summoned beasts to slowly exhaust him down.


    3. Compete in tea making skills instead of fighting!


    4. Praise Lia in front of him and make friends with him!


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.