55: Immovable tortoise shell, performance art

Zhao Qiang roared, feigning ferocity, and forcefully issued an order.

Although the Flame Hound was afraid, under its master's command, it still braced itself, opened its mouth, and spewed an orange-red pillar of fire towards the Hellhound.

Lu Yuan's lips curled slightly, and his mind moved.

The Hellhound's figure flickered like a ghost, easily dodging the pillar of fire.

The pillar of fire struck empty air, leaving only a shallow scorch mark on the alloy ground.

"Too slow."

Lu Yuan murmured to himself.

"Netherworld Ghost Fire."

The command was given.

One of the Hellhound's heads suddenly lifted, taking a deep breath!

Whoosh—!

A stream of eerie green flames, far thicker and deeper in color than the Flame Hound's pillar of fire, erupted like a raging dragon!

Carrying a strange aura of intertwined coldness and scorching heat, it instantly annihilated the orange-red pillar of fire!

The eerie green flames continued their momentum, directly engulfing the Flame Hound!

"Owoo—!!!"

The Flame Hound let out a mournful howl, its entire body's orange-red flames seeming to meet their nemesis, rapidly suppressed by the Netherworld Ghost Fire!

Its fur emitted sizzling, burnt sounds, and it rolled on the ground in pain.

"What?!"

Zhao Qiang's face changed drastically, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes.

His Flame Hound was suppressed in just one encounter?!

How could the power of these eerie green flames be so terrifying!

"Come back!"

Zhao Qiang hastily tried to recall his card.

But how could Lu Yuan give him a chance.

"Double Bite."

The cold command was issued again.

Roar!

The Hellhound let out an excited roar, its four limbs suddenly exerting force!

The ground trembled slightly!

Its figure transformed into a fiery red lightning bolt, so fast it was dazzling!

It instantly crossed the distance, appearing before the struggling Flame Hound!

Crack! Crack!

Two ferocious dog heads, like two giant iron tongs, struck from both sides!

They simultaneously bit the Flame Hound's neck and hind leg!

Sharp fangs deeply embedded into flesh and blood!

"Ow—!!!"

The Flame Hound's screams abruptly ceased, replaced by the crisp sound of bones shattering!

Its body was violently flung and torn by the Hellhound!

Blood splattered!

The card's light dimmed at a visible speed, and even fine cracks appeared along its edges!

"No!!"

Zhao Qiang's eyes were bloodshot, his heart aching as if it were bleeding.

This was a three-star blue card he had obtained after spending a lot of his savings!

The Netherworld Ghost Fire could directly damage its origin!

"Stop! Stop it! I surrender..."

Zhao Qiang was horrified, subconsciously wanting to admit defeat.

(According to the ranking battle rules, to save time, actively recalling a beast taming card is considered a surrender; a beast taming card being shattered is not.)

But before he finished speaking, his survival instinct made him suddenly remember the trump card Lin Dong had given him!

"Immovable Cold Mountain Bell!"

He shrieked, desperately activating another card!

Buzz!!!

A chilling coldness suddenly spread!

A huge, translucent bronze energy bell jar appeared out of thin air!

Ice-blue runes flowed on the surface of the bell jar, emanating a heavy, solid aura, firmly encasing Zhao Qiang within it!

It was the four-star purple defensive skill card—Immovable Cold Mountain Bell!

Bang!

Almost at the same time the bell jar formed, the remnants of the Flame Hound, flung away by the Hellhound, heavily smashed against the outer wall of the bell jar, emitting a dull thud, then dissipated into points of light, its origin damaged!

Lu Yuan was also pleasantly surprised, not expecting the Netherworld Ghost Fire to have such an effect.

Zhao Qiang gasped for breath, still shaken, looking at the Hellhound glaring outside the bell jar, his face showing the relief of surviving a disaster, and a hint of venomous triumph.

"Hoo... hoo..."

"Lu Yuan! You're dead!"

He hid inside the Immovable Cold Mountain Bell, feeling an unprecedented sense of security.

This was a four-star purple card!

Lin Dong said that any attack below the third stage couldn't break its defense!

"Hahaha!" Zhao Qiang laughed triumphantly, "So what if you have a five-star blue card?!"

"No matter how high your attack, if you can't break my turtle shell, it's useless!"

"My Immovable Cold Mountain Bell has amazing defense!"

"On the other hand, you, summoning a five-star blue card, must have consumed a lot of Source Power, right?"

"I'll see how long you can last!"

"When your Source Power runs out, let's see how arrogant you can be!"

He folded his arms, adopting a posture of watching a good show, attempting to exhaust Lu Yuan to death in this manner.

In the audience, Lin Dong's eyes flickered with a hint of complexity when he saw Zhao Qiang successfully deploy the Immovable Cold Mountain Bell.

The plan... barely worked.

Although it wasn't a gold card, its consumption must be astonishing.

And the Immovable Cold Mountain Bell was the lowest-consuming defensive card he found in the card library.

Next, it was a matter of seeing who ran out of Source Power first. He hoped it would exhaust Lu Yuan to death... However, in the center of the arena.

Lu Yuan looked at the huge energy bell jar and the smug Zhao Qiang inside, but his face showed a strange expression.

As if he was looking at an... idiot?

Immovable Cold Mountain Bell?

He happened to have studied the data on such defensive cards in the data room.

The defense was indeed very high, but maintaining the existence of the bell jar burned the host's Source Power every second.

He didn't use any skills, and he had the Raging Waves Sea Soul to restore Source Power. Fighting a war of attrition with him?

"Are you an idiot?"

He tilted his head at the Hellhound, issuing a strange command.

The Hellhound seemed to be stunned for a moment, but still obediently carried it out.

The fierce two-headed evil dog actually... slowly walked in front of the Immovable Cold Mountain Bell.

Then, its massive body directly lay down!

Its two heads, burning with eerie green flames, curiously leaned close to the translucent bell jar.

The left head tilted.

The right head also tilted.

They just stared unblinkingly at the gesticulating, smug fat man inside the bell jar.

Their gaze was like observing a monkey jumping around in a cage at a zoo.

"..."

"..."

Everyone burst into laughter at the bizarre scene before them.

This... what was going on?

Not fighting?

Watching the show?

Zhao Qiang's smile inside the bell jar also froze.

He looked at the two pairs of curious, pitying eerie green dog eyes outside, and an indescribable sense of shame instantly welled up in his heart.

"You... what are you looking at!"

"If you have the guts, break it!"

"Hit it!"

He raged impotently, slapping the inner wall of the bell jar, trying to provoke Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan ignored him, even leisurely flexing his wrist.

The Hellhound still lay there, its two heads occasionally rubbing against the bell jar, emitting faint whimpering sounds, as if asking: "When will this thing break? I'm hungry."

Time passed, minute by minute.

Uncontrollable laughter erupted in the audience.

"Pfft... Hahaha! What kind of tactic is this?"

"Dog-walking tactic? No, it's monkey-watching tactic!"

"That Zhao Qiang is too funny, hiding in his shell and entertaining himself?"

"The expression on that two-headed dog is priceless, too human-like!"

"Lu Yuan is too wicked, killing hearts!"

The discussions grew louder, and laughter rose and fell.

Zhao Qiang's smugness on his face inside the bell jar had long disappeared, replaced by shame and anger alternating between flushed and pale.

He could clearly feel his Source Power rapidly draining!

The consumption of maintaining the Immovable Cold Mountain Bell far exceeded his imagination!

Cold sweat began to seep from his forehead, and his breathing became rapid.

He went from being smug to being terrified and uneasy.

In the audience, Lin Dong's face had completely darkened.

Disgraceful!

Too disgraceful!

Not only was Zhao Qiang disgracing himself, but his—Lin Dong's—face was being repeatedly rubbed into the ground by Lu Yuan!

He could even feel the strange glances from his classmates around him!

A great humiliation!

"Useless! What a useless person!"

Lin Dong gritted his teeth, wishing he could rush down, drag Zhao Qiang out, and strangle him.

After an unknown amount of time passed again.

Perhaps ten minutes, perhaps twenty minutes.

For Zhao Qiang inside the bell jar, every second was like torture.

Finally!

Crack!

A crisp cracking sound rang out!

The surface of the Immovable Cold Mountain Bell was covered with cracks, and the ice-blue runes completely dimmed.

Bang!

The huge energy bell jar, like shattered glass, burst apart with a roar, dissipating into countless points of light.

Thud!

Zhao Qiang's legs went weak, and he collapsed directly to the ground.

His face was as pale as paper, his whole body soaked in sweat, gasping for breath, unable even to stand up.

His Source Power was completely exhausted!

The Hellhound yawned, slowly stood up, and shook its two heads, seemingly dissatisfied with this boring wait.

Lu Yuan raised his hand and recalled the Hellhound.

From beginning to end, he didn't even let the Hellhound attack again.

It was effortless, and his Source Power consumption was not even as fast as the Raging Waves Sea Soul's recovery.

Sun Libang walked onto the field, glanced at the limp Zhao Qiang, then at the composed Lu Yuan, his expectations unfulfilled, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes.

"First round, Lu Yuan wins!"

...