143: Ironclad Soldier Ant
“Woohoo! The long-awaited Beast Master Battle is about to begin. Let’s cheer our hearts out!”
Amidst the noisy background of the audience, a charismatic host’s voice rang out.
After another round of cheers, the trendy host continued to shout:
“This Beast Master battle will take place in the Illusion World, but the live audience need not worry. The most exciting parts of the competition will be projected live in 3D in the venue.
Even without entering the Illusion World, we can still experience the contestants’Wonderful performances firsthand.”
Compared to yesterday, all participating Beast Masters are now on individual high platforms, each with their eyes closed, sitting cross-legged, clearly with their consciousness already in the Illusion World.
Luo Chen did not go to the competition venue, but stayed in his hotel, his consciousness entering the Illusion World.
He directly chose the live broadcast of the Liuguang City Youth Beast Master Competition, featuring contestant Luo Yang.
When Luo Chen entered the competition venue in the Illusion World, there were already a large number of spectators in the audience. Luo Chen could even see them waving small flags with the characters for Qingyang City and Luo Yang.
It seemed that most of these spectators were from Qingyang City, and as one of Qingyang City’s champions, Luo Yang naturally enjoyed the favoritism of most Qingyang City spectators, so there were quite a few people watching Luo Yang’s match.
Luo Yang stood quietly beside Scarlet Flame, waiting for his opponent in the first match to appear.
Luo Yang did not have to wait long. His randomly matched opponent quickly appeared opposite him.
“Zhang Qing from Chisha City, a Spirit-Rank Beast Master at Spirit Rank Nine Star.”
The man’s opening remark made Luo Yang pause slightly. After realizing, he introduced himself in the same style:
“Luo Yang from Qingyang City, a King-Rank Beast Master at King Rank One Star.”
After hearing Luo Yang’s introduction, Zhang Qing, who had been smiling, could no longer be cheerful.
Across a distance of a thousand meters, he cupped his hands towards Brother Luo, his voice sounding somewhat sincere,
“Brother Luo, please go easy on me.”
Brother Luo? Luo Yang looked at the man's full beard opposite him, then subconsciously touched his own cheek. Did he look that old?
“As opponents, we should naturally do our best.”
Luo Yang’s reply made the man’s face turn pale. He could only grit his teeth and summon both of his Beasts.
He really didn't expect to be so unlucky as to encounter a King-Rank Beast Master in his very first match.
And like him, he was from the Lower City. How could their Chisha City not be the strongest among the ten Lower Cities?
How could the gap between him, the champion of Chisha City, and the champions of other cities be so vast?
As his thoughts raced, two Beasts appeared beside him.
One looked like a scorpion, but it was large enough, with a body length of one meter. Most striking was the long scorpion tail behind it, which was even longer than its body.
The other was a fist-sized brownish-black ant. Looking at the cold gleam on its surface, it seemed to be wearing a meticulously protective armor.
“race: Giant-Tailed Scorpion
Rank: Spirit Beast Nine Star
Type: Earth Type
State: Cautious
Aptitude: Good
Skills: 1. Scorpion Sting (Profound Tier): The Giant-Tailed Scorpion manipulates its tail to attack the target.
2. Stealth (Profound Tier): The Giant-Tailed Scorpion completely submerges its body underground. This Skill consumes less energy and is more concealed when performed in quicksand environments.
3. Land Desertification (Profound Tier): The Giant-Tailed Scorpion transforms the surrounding land into quicksand.
4. Giant Pincers (Profound Tier): The Giant-Tailed Scorpion condenses energy into a huge pincer to attack the target.
5. Silence (Profound Tier): The Giant-Tailed Scorpion can perfectly conceal its life fluctuations.
Evolution Path: Giant-Tailed Scorpion → Giant-Tailed Scorpion King
Giant-Tailed Scorpion → Luminous Star Scorpion King
Giant-Tailed Scorpion → Sand Spirit Scorpion King”
Regardless of how their battle would go, Luo Chen was very interested in the three different Evolution Paths of this [Giant-Tailed Scorpion].
“race: Iron-Armored Soldier Ant
Rank: Spirit Beast Nine Star
Type: Metal Type
State: Eager to try
Aptitude: Excellent
Skills: 1. Iron Armor (Profound Tier): The Iron-Armored Soldier Ant’s body is protected by thick iron armor, which can effectively block most damage.
2. Golden Sand (Profound Tier): The Iron-Armored Soldier Ant condenses golden sand. The tiny iron fragments possess extraordinary destructive power.
3. Giant Strength (Profound Tier): The Iron-Armored Soldier Ant possesses extraordinary strength.
4. Golden Spirit Shield (Profound Tier): Metal elemental energy condenses into a shield.
5. Golden Sandstorm (Earth Tier): The Iron-Armored Soldier Ant controls a large amount of golden sand to form a storm with super strong damage.
Evolution Path: Iron-Armored Soldier Ant → War Soldier Ant
Iron-Armored Soldier Ant → Mechanical Soldier Ant”
This [Iron-Armored Soldier Ant], which seemed smaller than even one claw of the [Giant-Tailed Scorpion], turned out to be Zhang Qing’s main battle Beast.
Unlike the Beast Master battles in Qingyang City’s Illusion World, where meeting meant the battle began, in Liuguang City’s competition, the battle officially started only after the system announced it.
Luo Chen finished looking at the information of the two Beasts, and not long after, the system’s voice rang out.
“Attention to both combatants, the match officially begins now.”
Hearing this voice, Luo Yang shifted from his casual leaning posture to a ready-for-battle stance.
Scarlet Flame first slowly moved its four limbs, then its speed suddenly accelerated, almost turning into an afterimage as it charged towards Zhang Qing.
By the time it reached the center of the arena, [Flowing Flame Bullet] had already begun to condense around it.
Also a Profound Tier Skill, Scarlet Flame, now a King-Ranked Beast, executed it with greatly increased speed and [Flowing Flame Bullet] intensity.
Soon, Scarlet Flame arrived in front of Zhang Qing.
Zhang Qing had already instructed his two Beasts to activate multiple layers of defense the moment the system announced the start of the match.
Except for the spot he was standing on, all other areas were already in a quicksand State, intended to block Scarlet Flame’s approach.
Then, the [Iron-Armored Soldier Ant] raised a thick [Golden Spirit Shield] in front, and a layer of golden sand permeated around its body, seemingly trying to find an opportunity to counterattack.
However, Zhang Qing and his Beasts had no experience battling a King-Ranked Beast and did not understand the vast difference between King Rank and Spirit Rank.
Scarlet Flame stood at the edge of the yellow sand terrain, and the several [Flowing Flame Bullet] around it mercilessly smashed forward.
The [Flowing Flame Bullet] dragging an ice-blue flame tail first hit the [Golden Spirit Shield] of the [Iron-Armored Soldier Ant].
“Bang”
Eerie blue sparks splattered, and cracks appeared on the oval-shaped [Golden Spirit Shield] protecting the [Iron-Armored Soldier Ant], then it shattered into golden-yellow fragments in the air.
Just one [Flowing Flame Bullet] completely nullified the [Golden Spirit Shield].
Then came the second one, which directly struck the [Iron-Armored Soldier Ant]’s body. Frost condensed on its brownish-black surface, followed by a muffled groan of pain.
The [Iron-Armored Soldier Ant] completely collapsed to the ground, either unconscious or annihilated by the extreme cold.
Scarlet Flame looked at the remaining Zhang Qing and the [Giant-Tailed Scorpion] that had disappeared from sight.
It immediately threw all four remaining [Flowing Flame Bullet] at Zhang Qing in one go.
Just as it launched the [Flowing Flame Bullet], Scarlet Flame suddenly felt a slight dull pain in its paw. Looking down, it was the [Giant-Tailed Scorpion] that had vanished from its sight.
Its giant tail was now piercing Scarlet Flame’s paw, but unfortunately, it couldn't even break Scarlet Flame’s fur.
Scarlet Flame lifted its paw, then brought it down towards the [Giant-Tailed Scorpion]. The world suddenly became quiet.
Even the Beast Master Zhang Qing, under the attack of the [Flowing Flame Bullet], became an ice sculpture with a terrified expression.
“Zhang Qing has lost combat ability. Luo Yang wins this match.”
Such a match result was naturally unsurprising. Scarlet Flame returned to Luo Yang’s side; such a battle process barely consumed any of its energy.
The gap between a King-Ranked Beast and a Spirit-Rank Beast was still too great, practically a leap in the level of life. Even using only Profound Tier Skill, it could instantly kill a host of Spirit Beasts.
Only after successfully advancing to a King-Ranked Beast did Luo Yang realize that his ability to draw with Feng Lingyu back then was due to a lot of luck.
Although it was said to be random matching, Luo Chen, who had been observing, keenly sensed that the Liuguang City officials were consciously keeping all King-Rank Beast Masters separated.
Because in the five matches that morning, there were no instances of King-Rank Beast Masters battling each other.
However, during the opening ceremony, Luo Chen could feel that among all the contestants, there were definitely no fewer than twenty King-Rank Beast Masters.
Ultimately, only twenty contestants could advance to the final round. If there were no special circumstances, Spirit-Rank Beast Masters were destined to be mere participants in this competition.
Moreover, it was inevitable that several King-Rank Beast Masters would be eliminated early. If King-Rank Beast Masters were continuously kept from encountering each other, and all King-Rank Beast Masters remained undefeated, it would clearly contradict the rules.
Therefore, it was certain that King-Rank Beast Masters would eventually meet, perhaps in the latter half of the competition.
There was no need to wait until the latter half of the competition. In Luo Yang’s tenth match today, he finally encountered his first truly formidable opponent.
“He Liangshu, from the He family of Liuguang City, a King-Rank Beast Master at King Rank Three Star.”
Luo Yang looked at the young man opposite him, whose expression was somewhat sinister. For some reason, he felt very uncomfortable around him.
“Luo Yang, Qingyang City, a King-Rank Beast Master at King Rank One Star.”
However, even though he disliked this opponent, Luo Yang still introduced himself. Moreover, an opponent from Liuguang City was certainly different from the others he had faced today; he needed to take him seriously.
Thinking this, Luo Yang prepared to summon his other Beast at any moment.
He Liangshu looked at Luo Yang, who only had one Beast with him, and chuckled softly:
“Kid from the Lower City, do you have any other Beasts? Hurry up and summon them, otherwise you won’t have a chance later.”
Despite saying this, He Liangshu didn’t truly believe that Luo Yang could have a second King Beast.
Because in his opinion, for Luo Yang, who came from the Lower City, possessing one King Beast was already the absolute limit; how could he possibly have a second one?
He shook his head, and two Beasts of different forms appeared beside him.