Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Beast King Peng Kai
...
"SKREEE!"
On the arena stage, a large bird with dark gray wings and eyes that glowed with golden electricity shrieked as it beat its wings, launching itself toward Yu Bao with a harsh cry—
[Pet Beast: Thunder Wing Electric King (Leo)
Attribute: Electric Element, Wind Element
Race: High Level Extraordinary Race
Real-time Energy Value: 565]
Judging by its name, it was clearly another in the "King" series, just like the ones he’d already beaten.
But in terms of Real-time Energy Value, this Leo was in a higher bracket. It wouldn’t be defeated so easily!
"Leo! Don’t rush to attack! Be patient and keep circling!"
"SKREE!" (Understood!)
The challenger, an older man, communicated with Leo through his Beast Taming Space.
He was also a Beast Tamer who had awakened a Tier One Beast Taming Space, but he had dropped out of high school and entered the workforce early.
The path of Beast Taming was cruel and had ruthlessly eliminated him. However, hard work pays off, and after several twists and turns, the man had found a job that could support his family.
Of course, outside of work, Beast Taming remained his passion and his point of pride.
Since he couldn’t break into the official series and super leagues, shining in the amateur circuit was great, too!
In this underground arena, he was considered one of the more skilled competitors.
Before he took the stage, Yu Bao had already defeated five Pet Beasts in a row.
The man had used his Beast Tamer-issued device to scan Yu Bao beforehand and already knew this was an opponent he almost couldn’t beat.
’But even so, I have to give it a shot! Competing on the same stage as these energetic youngsters makes me feel alive!’
Under his command, Leo maintained a constant distance from Yu Bao on the stage, never rashly entering its attack range.
Yu Bao was also very patient. Knowing it couldn’t match Leo’s speed, it conserved its energy and held its ground.
"Now! Leo! Use Thundering Dash!"
"SKREEE!" (RAAAGH!)
Leo’s body transformed into a dark gray thunderbolt, flashing toward Yu Bao.
Thundering Dash was a powerful defense-breaking skill that allowed one to instantly close the distance to an opponent. Wild Thunder Wing Electric Kings used it to dive and hunt, often snatching away young before their poor parents could even react and making a clean getaway.
The man wasn’t expecting a one-hit victory, but he hoped to force an opening in Yu Bao’s—
"BOOM!"
Before the man’s astonished eyes, a pale yellow energy field surged from under Yu Bao’s paws. A Yellow Earth Wall abruptly shot up from all four sides, forming a cage that trapped both Yu Bao and Leo inside.
’Heh, my Yellow Earth house is pretty spacious~’
’Brother Gou, no!!’
"BOOM!"
Inside the Yellow Earth Wall, Yu Bao unleashed a Sandstorm. With all sides sealed by the wall, the yellow sand erupted from the very top, looking like a volcanic eruption.
Leo was blasted out, unable to get back up.
The Yellow Earth Wall retracted, and Yu Bao proudly lifted its head.
"Woof!"
"Yeah!"
"That was beautiful!"
"Yes! My bet came through..."
The audience below cheered wildly, as many of them had bet on Yu Bao to win.
The same man who had tearfully handed over ten thousand to Su Zhi before was now grinning from ear to ear. He had bet everything on Su Zhi to win from the very first match, not only making back his initial loss but even earning a small profit!
The challenger recalled Leo and shook Su Zhi’s hand with a wry smile. "The younger generation is truly formidable!"
Su Zhi smiled and nodded back. "You haven’t lost your touch, either!"
"Hahaha, you youngsters really know how to talk!"
Watching the man leave the stage, Su Zhi felt a sense of relief.
Although some gazes here were filled with restless ambition, once you displayed sufficient strength, everyone would respect you.
The intensity of the battles was also perfect, generally progressing from weak to strong.
Though the skill of the amateur competitors was uneven, by the later rounds, Yu Bao could no longer casually one-shot its opponents.
The gauntlet-style battles also perfectly simulated the feeling of continuous combat in the city league, an experience that the previous small-scale tests couldn’t replicate.
’Including the 0.05 Points from yesterday’s match against Xiaoyue, I’ve now accumulated 0.11 Points!’
"Yu Bao, how are you feeling?"
"Woof woof!" (Awesome!)
It was saying that fighting five more matches was nothing; it could go for fifty more without a problem!
"Ha, good. If we can’t improve at school, then we’ll improve here!"
...
...
While the arena tournament was in full swing, two men, surrounded by plainclothes bodyguards, walked into the Fengyun Arena together.
One was an elderly man in a black trench coat, who was none other than the head of the Battle Hall, Yan Dingyi.
The other was a young man with messy, blood-red hair, his eyes seeming to hold a natural fanaticism. He wore a blood-red, classical Beastmaster’s robe with frayed, ragged edges, giving him a sharp, fierce aura.
The security at Fengyun Arena greeted the two with the utmost respect.
Yan Dingyi draped an arm around the red-haired youth’s shoulders with a chuckle. "Xiaokai, you didn’t even tell me you were back in Huai City! I could have treated you to a proper welcome-back meal!"
The young man sighed melancholically. "Sigh, I’ve been in a slump lately. I can’t hack it in the international tournaments, and in the domestic ones, all the Pet Beasts are so damn cookie-cutter they feel like they came off an assembly line. The second they twitch their ass, I know what crap they’re about to pull."
"Haha, if Shouzheng heard you say that, he’d probably have a bone to pick with you again."
"Screw him. Back when he was my head teacher, I’d mess with his Dao every single day. But I was always first in my grade, so there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it..."
The two chatted and laughed as they walked deeper inside. The surrounding crowd parted for them, while the braver ones excitedly snapped photos.
The name of the Battle Hall’s head was, of course, known to every Beast Tamer in Huai City.
But the other man, the red-haired youth, was someone people were usually only able to see on TV—
The only person from Huai City in the last decade to make the national team, the genius Beast Tamer regarded as the pride of the entire city—
"Beast King" Peng Kai!
Legend had it that in high school, he never trained his Pet Beasts according to the official curriculum and had even made the arrogant declaration that "the standardized curriculum is nothing but shackles."
Because he was such a troublemaker, Peng Kai had faced the risk of expulsion several times.
However, he won the city league championship every year from his first to his third year of high school, even making it to the provincial semifinals in his second year. In the end, his outstanding achievements earned him a guaranteed admission spot at Jinghua University.
For the sake of political correctness, the top high school and the Huai City Alliance Committee didn’t heavily promote Peng Kai. But only those who frequently followed the competitions knew just how strong Peng Kai truly was!
"Hehe, let’s not talk about that for now!"
Seeing Peng Kai’s complaints about Yan Shouzheng growing more aggressive, Yan Dingyi cut in with a timely smile. "Want to go up for a round? Think of it as sharing in the people’s joy."
"What ’sharing in the people’s joy’? I’m just a commoner, too. Anyone who puts themselves on a pedestal is trash."
In recent years, Peng Kai’s career hadn’t been going smoothly. After stepping onto the international stage, he had gradually begun to feel that he was falling short.
It felt like he had hit a bottleneck and was waiting for a sudden flash of inspiration to break through.
Fame brought many obligations. The Alliance Committee had a meeting to invite him to later, and there was a dinner banquet in the evening... It had become impossible for him to quiet his mind lately.
He had come to Fengyun Arena now just to unwind.
Peng Kai’s gaze wandered listlessly from one stage to another, a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
’Rigid... uninteresting... outdated strategies...’
Even these amateur competitors trained their Pet Beasts with a nauseating, standardized-test feel.
Of course, he couldn’t blame them. As amateurs, it was already impressive that they could follow the standardized curriculum...
Suddenly, Peng Kai’s gaze stopped on one of the stages, and he couldn’t look away.
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