193: Chapter 193 Eighth-Order Advancement! The First Battle in the Beast Taming Arena!

Hunter Headquarters.

Lu Chen was in his villa, forging equipment and maxing out his attributes.

Because the god-slaying spear had absorbed divinity several times, Lu Chen's total attributes had increased significantly, and his HP was now comparable to a Rank 7 Peak World Lord BOSS!

Furthermore, clearing two Gods Game instances in a row, especially personally slaughtering an Evil God of Life, had caused a transformation in his entire spirit and energy. When he opened and closed his eyes, they were sharp as blades.

He hadn't wasted the past few days; instead, he had fully consolidated his skyrocketed Rank and power, while also familiarizing himself with the brand-new abilities of his two newly promoted SSS-Rank Legendary Beast Pets: Old Two, the Void-Eye White Tiger, and Old Three, the Abyssal Vermilion Bird.

Today, Dong Tian, Yuan Feng, and the Wasteland Guardian walked quickly into the villa with joy on their faces.

Dong Tian cupped his hands at Lu Chen and said, "Little Friend Lu, we have successfully completed our mission! The Rank 8 advancement Materials you requested have been collected by the headquarters using every channel available!"

He took all the advancement Materials out of his storage space.

The mountain of Materials radiated treasures of various colors.

Such a large quantity of rare Materials collected in just a few days meant the Hunter Headquarters had clearly expended enormous manpower, material resources, and wealth.

"Thank you all, Seniors, for your great help!"

Lu Chen thanked them solemnly, keeping this favor in his heart.

"Hehe, kid, what are you thanking us for? We're all on the same side!"

The Wasteland Guardian was chewing on a new blade of grass, still in his slovenly attire, but his eyes were exceptionally bright.

"There are still twenty-one full days left until the one-month deadline you agreed upon with that woman, Jin Nihuang. That's enough time for you to complete your advancement, but whether you can complete all 10 rounds depends on yourself."

Upon hearing this, a scorching light erupted in Lu Chen's eyes, and his Battle Intent rose in the quiet room like tangible flames.

The image of Yu Linglong being imprisoned flashed through his mind, causing a pain in his chest.

Lu Chen immediately took the Materials to accept the Rank 8 advancement quest!

[Ding! You have accepted the Beast Tamer Rank 8 advancement quest!]

[Quest Name: Beast Taming Colosseum]

[Quest Difficulty: Incremental (10 rounds total)]

[Quest Description: An ancient Beast Taming rules trial. You will enter a special space, the [Beast Taming Colosseum], and engage in ten consecutive duels. Opponents may be Vicious Beasts left over from ancient times, or projections of brilliant Beast Tamer spirits from the long river of history. For every victory, you can obtain one [domain fragment]. Collect ten fragments to obtain your own Perfect-Grade Legendary Domain! In the tenth round, you will face the Colosseum Gatekeeper!]

[Quest Rounds: 0/10]

[Warning: Rank 8 advancement involves the power of a Domain, which is a qualitative leap in the essence of power. The difficulty is far beyond before; please proceed with caution!]

"Domain..." Lu Chen muttered to himself, a flash of realization and anticipation in his eyes.

Rank 7 was the accumulation of energy and the sublimation of skills, while Rank 8 was the beginning of touching upon the fringes of rules and constructing one's own Domain. Within that Domain, one is the Dominator!

This would be a qualitative leap for his strength!

"Go on, kid! Let those old antiques see what a modern monster is!"

The Wasteland Guardian chuckled, his tone full of confidence in Lu Chen.

Lu Chen nodded, a thought in his mind, and confirmed the start of the quest!

Hum!

The space around him twisted, and the next moment, he had disappeared from the quiet room.

The scene before his eyes changed abruptly.

It was no longer the familiar quiet room, but a massive, boundless ancient Colosseum!

Beneath his feet was a hard, dark red ground of unknown material, covered in sword slashes, axe marks, and various claw prints and burn marks.

The air was filled with a faint scent of blood and the wild aura of ten thousand beasts.

Surrounding him were spectator stands that extended infinitely upward, disappearing into the gloom. They were empty, yet it felt as if countless gazes from ancient times were watching the arena.

Grand, desolate, and murderous!

[First round of dueling, start!]

[Opponent: Iron-Wall Rock-Armored Beast (Ancient Vicious Beast, Rank: Rank 7 LV210)]

The cold prompt echoed over the Colosseum.

Boom! Boom!

Accompanied by heavy, drum-like footsteps, the gate opposite Lu Chen slowly rose, and a behemoth walked out.

It resembled a giant ape, but its entire body was covered in immensely thick, dark brown rock armor that shimmered with a metallic luster. There were ferocious stone spikes on its joints, and a giant tail like a siege hammer dragged behind it.

It stood over ten meters tall, and every step it took caused the ground to tremble slightly.

The most eye-catching thing was that the moment it stepped into the arena, a layer of earthy yellow, solid-as-amber light shield expanded from it, covering a range of several thousand meters!

[Unmoving as a Mountain] Talent!

Within the light shield, gravity seemed to have increased several times, and the air became viscous.

"Roar —!"

The Iron-Wall Rock-Armored Beast let out a deep, thunderous roar, and its massive fists slammed into the ground!

Bang!

A circle of gravel shields made of pure earth elemental energy formed around its body instantly, echoing with the [Unmoving as a Mountain] talent, guarding it tightly.

Its small, scarlet eyes, hidden under the thick rock armor, coldly locked onto Lu Chen, full of provocation.

The first round's contestant clearly belonged to the extreme defense, damage-reflection type!

It tested the challenger's shield-breaking ability and tactical choices!

If it were an ordinary Beast Tamer, facing this ancient Vicious Beast that set up an absolute defense posture from the start, they would probably have a headache, thinking about how to slowly grind it down with ranged skills or special effects.

Brute force?

The reflected damage would be enough to handle!

But was Lu Chen an ordinary Beast Tamer?

He didn't even bother to move, just a slight thought.

"Old Five, you guys go play with it."

Whoosh!

Old Five appeared with a million Ice-Burst Magic-Horned Ants.

They stared at the Iron-Wall Rock-Armored Beast in the distance, revealing the excited glint of seeing prey.

"Break that turtle shell."

Lu Chen ordered calmly.

"Squeak —!"

Old Five let out a long whistle. Without any fancy tricks, it led the million Ice-Burst Magic-Horned Ants to charge directly into the viscous [Unmoving as a Mountain] talent area!

The gravity suppression and defense bonus brought by the talent were ignored by them.

The Ice Horn Ant group talent — [Penetration]!

It had extremely strong penetration and disintegration effects on energy shields and barriers!

"Roar?!"

The Iron-Wall Rock-Armored Beast's small, scarlet eyes showed anthropomorphic astonishment for the first time.

Its absolute defense was actually regarded as nothing by the opponent?

Just as it was stunned, the ant swarm had already approached!

The sharp teeth entwined with the power of penetration, without any pause, with a sharpness that tore through everything, bit directly into that layer of thick gravel shield!

Chi — La —!

Like a hot knife cutting into solidified butter, that gravel shield, which was sufficient to withstand a full-force blow from a Rank 8 Peak, didn't even last half a second in front of the ant swarm; it was instantly torn to shreds!

The aftermath of the shield shattering, carrying the rebound power of the [Unmoving as a Mountain] talent, acted on Old Five.

The faint blue light on Old Five's body rippled slightly, completely neutralizing that bit of rebound force, leaving it unscathed!

"How is it possible?!"

The Iron-Wall Rock-Armored Beast's thinking almost stalled.

And the offensive of the ant swarm had just begun!

Tearing through the shield, they bit directly onto the chest of the Iron-Wall Rock-Armored Beast, which was covered in thick rock armor!

A million high-penetration damage directly instantly killed this ancient Vicious Beast with astonishing defense!

Bang!!!

A dull, extreme explosion erupted!

The rock armor on the Iron-Wall Rock-Armored Beast's chest, which was capable of withstanding a meteor strike, cracked inch by inch like inferior pottery, and countless fragments shot out!

Its small eyes were filled with confusion and disbelief; its proud defense was so vulnerable in front of the ant swarm?

Boom!

Its body slammed heavily onto the Colosseum, struggled twice, and then completely lost its breath.

[Ding! Congratulations on defeating the Iron-Wall Rock-Armored Beast and passing the first round of the duel!]

[Obtained: domain fragment X1!]

A strange fragment that radiated an earthy yellow luster, with what seemed to be the phantom of mountains floating inside, fell into Lu Chen's hand.

Lu Chen weighed the fragment, which contained pure earth-type rules and the Concept of defense, put it away, and looked calmly toward the depths of the Colosseum, where the second gate was slowly opening.

"Starting with defense? In front of me, absolute defense does not exist."

His tone was flat, yet carried a confidence that looked down on everything.

"Next!"