In the elimination rounds Gao Jinli had faced over the past few days, he hadn't even needed to let the demon beast inside show its face. He only needed to release a sliver of the terrifying aura from the beast-taming ring.
Then he would coldly toss a single sentence at his opponent: “This demon beast isn't very obedient. If I let it out, you bear the consequences.”
The opponents were terrified into forfeiting on the spot.
...
Bang!
Bai Zhirou won another match.
In this match, she fought a disciple at the Qi Condensation Peak from Dao Mystic Peak, and the two wrestled on stage for a full ke.
When that disciple stepped off the stage, his face was filled with unwillingness. He felt he had been so close to winning—just a teeny-tiny bit away!
After multiple high-intensity battles, Bai Zhirou's physical strength and true qi were heavily depleted.
By the time this match ended, she was so weak that she could only lean heavily on her long sword planted in the ground to keep from collapsing out of sheer exhaustion.
She rested on the stage for a good while.
Only then did Bai Zhirou slowly straighten up, walk silently back to the flying boat, and sit cross-legged to meditate and adjust her breathing.
Having gone through over a dozen genuine, blood-pumping battles...
...her originally somewhat gentle and fragile demeanor had unknowingly been honed to carry a hint of the sharp edge belonging to a sword cultivator.
High in the sky...
...that giant, circular magic treasure was still slowly rotating.
The Holy Son had vanished after announcing the opening.
Now, floating beside the magic treasure to maintain its operation was a grey-robed elder from the main peak.
The elder's eyes darkened slightly as he covertly glanced at the token flying back from Bai Zhirou's hand.
Under his sleeve, his fingers performed a hand seal with extreme secrecy.
The token paused slightly in midair before submerging into the circular magic treasure.
Immediately following that, the grey-robed elder's majestic voice echoed across the plaza:
“This year's outer sect tournament has determined its top ten!”
“Will all qualifying disciples please recover your condition as quickly as possible. In one shichen, the battle for the top ten shall begin!”
Rumble—!!
As soon as the words fell...
...the bluestone flooring in the center of the plaza shattered with a crash, and a black core arena, several times larger than the previous ones, slowly rose from the ground!
In the sky, countless flying boats belonging to inner sect disciples arrived one after another.
Clearly, only this battle for the top ten was the main event that the sect's higher-ups truly cared about.
One shichen passed in the blink of an eye.
Buzz! The circular magic treasure flared with brilliant light.
Two tokens emitting a cold blue light shot out like beams!
One flew steadily toward Bai Zhirou.
The other fell into the hand of Gao Jinli, whose face was twisted in a sinister sneer.
Bai Zhirou opened her eyes.
Grabbing the token, her body leapt gracefully onto the blue arena.
At this moment, the massive arena was empty.
Just as she stabilized her footing...
...the densely packed crowd of spectating disciples below suddenly parted in panic, as if they had seen a ghost, leaving a wide pathway down the middle.
At the end of the crowd...
...Gao Jinli was walking toward the arena with arrogant strides.
The reason those disciples were scrambling out of the way was precisely because they felt the demon beast pressure Gao Jinli was intentionally letting leak from his beast-taming ring.
Most of the disciples below the arena were in the Qi Condensation realm; how could they possibly endure such pressure?
Gao Jinli thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention.
He continued walking toward the arena at an unhurried pace.
Bai Zhirou frowned slightly.
Even with her simple nature, she could tell that he harbored ill intent.
In particular, the demon beast pressure faintly emanating from the beast-taming ring in his hand gave Bai Zhirou an intense sensation of danger.
Just as she braced herself for battle...
...Jiang Ye's cursing voice chimed in right on cue within her mind:
“Holy shit! How fucking dare this guy try to out-pretend me?!”
“Can we tolerate this?! Little Bai, let me handle this! If I don't squeeze his balls out, I'll count it as a congenital deformity he hid too well!!”
Bai Zhirou: “...Alright, but please act like a normal person...”
Jiang Ye decisively logged into the account.
He just genuinely had an itch to mess around—it was absolutely, positively not because he was afraid that getting hit by a high-tier demon beast would hurt! Definitely not!
At this moment...
...Gao Jinli had also come to a stop in the center of the blue arena.
He raised the low-grade Treasure Tool beast-taming ring high in his hand.
The violent pressure radiating from within had clearly reached Foundation Establishment Peak!
Gao Jinli stared at Bai Zhirou across from him, his face twisted in a ferocious sneer:
“Bai Zhirou! If you get down on your knees right now and kowtow three times to apologize, I might consider having it hold back a little!”
Jiang Ye let out a yawn and even stuck out a pinky finger to pick at his ear:
“Hey trash, what delivery order are you bringing me this time?”
“Let me declare this in advance! Don't bring anything too furry. If the fur isn't plucked clean, I'll end up with a mouth full of hair, and I'll have to give you a bad review.”
“That Thunder Tiger last time wasn't bad. Perfect lean-to-fat ratio, and the meat was wonderfully chewy.”
Jiang Ye sounded like a connoisseur critically rating ingredients delivered straight to his door.
Gao Jinli's ferocious expression instantly froze.
Immediately after, an intense surge of humiliation rushed straight to the crown of his head. His face flushed a dark liver-purple, his eyes turned blood-red, and he roared hysterically:
“Bitch!! I will make you pay an agonizing price for this!!!”
“Golden Lion! Come out and tear her apart!!”
With that, he waved his hand violently!
“Roar—!!”
Accompanied by a deafening roar that seemed to tear through the air with physical force...
...a lion as massive as a small hill, its entire body burning with wisps of purple flame, slammed onto the arena!
【Purple Flame Golden Lion】!
The sheer demon beast pressure released by its roar alone was like a hurricane!
Boom!
It directly caused the qi and blood of dozens of spectators in the front row to churn violently, sending them tumbling into a chaotic heap with cries of alarm.
The deacon at the edge of the arena acted swiftly, hastily activating the protective barrier to finally seal off that terrifying pressure.
Every single spectating disciple was horrified beyond measure:
“Hiss—! It's actually a Purple Flame Golden Lion! This pressure... This is fucking Foundation Establishment Peak for sure, right?!”
“Holy shit! Even watching from afar through the barrier, my legs feel weak and I can barely breathe!”
“This imposing force is too terrifying! Not only has it reached Tier Two Peak, but looking at the purple flames burning on its body, its bloodline grade must be at least Grade Four Mid-Tier!”
A disciple who was clearly a new recruit quivered behind the crowd and asked, “Senior Brother, do demon beast bloodlines... also have grades?”
An old outer sect disciple nearby said with a solemn expression:
“Of course! Demon beast bloodlines are divided into nine grades. Grades One to Three are impure bloodlines; Grades Four to Six are intermediate bloodlines; Grades Seven to Nine are extremely rare pure bloodlines. Between each grade, a demon beast's actual combat strength and future potential differ tremendously!”
...
Aboard the Sword Peak's flying boat...
...the expressions of several True Disciples instantly turned grave.
Gu Changqing stared at the lion on the arena and said in a deep voice:
“The bloodline of this Purple Flame Golden Lion is far from simple! Look at that small bulge on the side of its neck. That is a sign that it is about to break through to a Tier Three demon beast, undergoing a bloodline transformation to sprout a second head! This beast possesses at least a Grade Four bloodline, and it's extremely likely it has already begun condensing an innate divine ability!”
Qi Linger gnashed her teeth in fury and cursed angrily:
“Those old geezers from Beast-Taming Peak are utterly shameless! That bastard Gao Jinli is only at Qi Condensation Peak. With his soul strength, there's no way he could endure a soul contract with a Tier Two Peak demon beast! This is definitely thanks to that Treasure Tool in his hand forcibly suppressing it!”
Gu Qingxue also knitted her brows tightly:
“Forcibly commanding a demon beast far beyond one's realm is extremely dangerous. Such beasts are not only highly unstable and prone to frenzy during battle, but if the Treasure Tool fails to suppress it, it could even turn on its master on the spot! Gao Qiuge has truly gone mad just to win!”
Eldest Senior Brother Ye Jinghong, on the other hand, was remarkably calm.
With his hands behind his back, he said indifferently:
“No matter. I believe in Junior Sister Bai's strength. Besides, if there is danger, I will take action myself.”
Rate on N.U.
