188: Chapter 188 Attribute Counter

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

Wei Long stepped onto the battle stage and stood opposite He Long.

The crowd fell silent instantly.

Qi Mao held up his phone for the livestream, circling the arena to film. He then tried to shove it in front of Li Yu, but Chen Qing blocked him. Her cold gaze made him stop in his tracks involuntarily.

"Li Yu, I'd like to interview you. The netizens have many questions they want to ask," Qi Mao said with a smile.

Chen Qing wanted to stop him, but Li Yu patted her shoulder and said to Qi Mao, "Ask away. I also want to know what those bored netizens are thinking about right now."

"Straightforward!" Qi Mao grinned.

At this moment, President Wu stepped onto the stage to act as the referee and was explaining the rules of the battle.

Qi Mao seized the time to ask, "First question: some netizens say the selection for this ruin team was pure corruption. I wonder what you think about that?"

Director Wang's face darkened.

What kind of question was that? It was a total trap!

If Li Yu answered incorrectly or said something wrong in the heat of the moment, it would leave a stain on his reputation even if he won the match.

Director Wang winked at Li Yu, signaling him not to answer.

Li Yu didn't notice the look and smiled. "What you said is incorrect."

"How so?"

"The one saying there's corruption is you, not the netizens. Don't go pinning every dirty accusation on them."

Director Wang nodded in satisfaction.

Refuting the opponent's point of view instead of falling into their trap—Li Yu was quite clever.

Qi Mao hadn't expected Li Yu to say that, but he wasn't angry. With an innocent expression, he asked again, "Then the second question: I heard you evolved Wei Long's beast. How do you think your breeding results compare to other Breeders?"

Director Wang's face darkened again.

What a shameless fellow; he was intentionally trying to cause trouble for Li Yu.

No matter how Li Yu answered this, it wouldn't end well. If he said he was inferior to other Breeders, he'd be admitting his skills weren't up to par. But if he said he surpassed them, he'd easily draw the resentment of other Breeders, which would be bad for his future development.

The best way was to avoid answering directly.

"I think..."

Director Wang had just started to speak when Li Yu interrupted him.

Li Yu smiled and said, "I won't evaluate the strength of my peers. I look forward to Wei Long having a brilliant match. Of course, if the opponent were you, he'd probably beat the crap out of you. Want to come up and try?"

After saying that, Li Yu acted quickly and snatched Qi Mao's phone.

"Hey! My phone!" Qi Mao shouted.

Li Yu first greeted the livestream audience. Ignoring the comments in the chat, he pointed the camera directly at Qi Mao and smiled. "Why don't I interview you instead? I heard that back in a ruin, you teamed up with others to kill your own teammates and then backstabbed your allies. May I ask why you did that?"

Qi Mao hadn't expected Li Yu to do this. The sudden question hit exactly where it hurt most, and his expression changed instantly.

He tried to grab his phone back, but Li Yu dodged. Facing the camera, Qi Mao forced a stiff smile and said, "I didn't! That's slander!"

Li Yu continued, "Second question: I heard that when you were exploring the Qin River Ruins, you poured three tons of thousand-wood wither into the water, poisoning all your competitors, including your teammates, and turning the entire ruin into a toxic wasteland. What were you thinking?"

Qi Mao's heart raced. He said hurriedly, "That's libel! thousand-wood wither is a refined version; it couldn't possibly pollute the entire ruin!"

"Oh~ You didn't refute the other points, which means you really did poison everyone..." Li Yu narrowed his eyes. "Also, why are you panicking?"

At some point, a shadow fell over Qi Mao's face. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead and trickled down his temples.

He forced a smile and said, "I'm not panicking. Please return my phone. I will hold you legally responsible for your rumors..."

Before he could finish, he tried to snatch it again, but Li Yu dodged and asked, "Third question..."

Li Yu wasn't the type to take a loss lying down. If he had the ability and the opportunity, he would find a way to strike back.

When Qi Mao was secretly livestreaming to smear him, Li Yu had already anticipated that this guy wouldn't stop there.

Don't forget... he was someone from the 21st century. While he didn't know everything about the special species known as "influencers," he knew enough.

Li Yu had asked President Wu to look into these details specifically to counter Qi Mao's tactics.

As for the words coming out of his mouth, they were naturally a mix of truth and lies.

Since both were throwing mud, what did it matter who started it?

"Give it back!" Qi Mao grew anxious. These things had always been just rumors. He believed he had maintained a fairly innocent image online, and since the events happened inside a ruin, no one had investigated them.

But with Li Yu stirring things up like this, something might actually happen!

And also...

What kind of decent person would get three tons of thousand-wood wither!

I only bought 300 grams!

This stuff is a restricted material. If I had the ability to get three tons, what couldn't I succeed at?!

Li Yu continued to press:

"When you fought a Gold Beast Tamer, you mixed poison into the sandstorm, causing the Gold-rank beast's combat power to be compromised. Mr. Qi Mao, doesn't your conscience hurt?"

A flash of panic crossed Qi Mao's eyes.

Li Yu continued:

"That Gold Beast Tamer died later. Haven't you seen him in your dreams?"

"Did his wife and children not seek revenge? Or... were they killed by you too?"

"Eh? Hey! Hey, hey! Don't run! You didn't take your phone!"

And so, under Li Yu's stunned gaze, Qi Mao didn't even take his phone. As if possessed by a Heart Demon, he charged into the crowd like a madman and vanished.

Li Yu: "..."

"It seems there really are some issues," Director Wang said with a frown, wondering if he should have the Security Bureau look into it properly.

Li Yu also confirmed some of his suspicions. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he casually tossed the phone to Director Wang.

"Why give it to me?" Director Wang was puzzled.

"Livestream."

After saying that, Li Yu slipped away to the edge of the battle stage. The onlookers recognized him and tactfully made way for him.

The two on the stage were already prepared.

Seeing Li Yu arrive, President Wu, acting as the referee, gave him a slight nod. Li Yu smiled back.

The surroundings fell silent, and everyone's eyes landed on the two people on the stage.

They had been drawn here by the videos online. Most of the others were people who had participated in the selection but had been eliminated. They really wanted to see if this Breeder named Li Yu truly had such remarkable breeding abilities.

"Both sides, summon!" President Wu shouted.

Wei Long and He Long didn't say a word, seriously summoning their beasts.

Under the condensation of complex hand seals, two beams of light—one gold and one yellow—shot out. The golden light made a "crackling" sound, carrying the Lightning Attribute, while the yellow light was hazy, like a wisp of dust, clearly of the earth attribute.

Lightning versus Earth.

The attribute is countered.

Seeing the light of evolution, many people immediately thought of this.

Logically speaking, the Lightning Attribute is a very powerful one—high attack, high speed, counters Metal and Water, crushes Fire, and significantly suppresses the Dark attribute.

But as luck would have it, it's weak against Earth.

When lightning hits an Earth Element beast, the damage it can cause is very limited, as a large amount of electricity will be grounded into the earth.

One could say that making a Lightning Attribute beast fight an Earth Element beast is purely disgusting.

"This time, the young Breeder's side is going to lose." Many people shook their heads.

Before the match even began, they already cast sympathetic looks at the duo of Li Yu and Wei Long.