40: champion!

"A combination Move... he's combined four different Moves together."

"Wait, was that Bai Ye's doing, or was it Ghost Orchid's? Could his Innate talent be helping his beast pet regulate Moves?!"

Professor Hua's glasses slid right off the bridge of his nose from shock and fell to the floor.

He pressed his entire body against the glass of the commentary booth, staring intently at that energy sphere, muttering incessantly.

Generally speaking, to use a combination Move, one must have reached an extremely high level of comprehension in several individual Moves.

Combination Moves rarely appear in official competitions.

Because the investment is high and the returns are low, only those beast pet coordinators would go through the thankless effort of researching combination Moves to add some flair to their beast pet performances.

On the field.

Long Ao, due to his talent, had his senses linked with Ironclad Steel Dragon.

Through Ironclad Steel Dragon's perception, he felt a life-threatening power emanating from that small energy sphere.

"Ironclad Steel Dragon, stop him! Don't let him throw that thing!"

Long Ao had already lost all composure, his voice so loud it cracked. Unfortunately, Bai Ye's movements were too fast.

High Move proficiency really lets you do whatever you want.

"Go."

A brilliant smile spread across Bai Ye's face.

"Spiral Shuriken... pah, Natural Energy Sphere!"

He hurled the energy sphere in his hand forward with force.

The emerald green energy sphere transformed into a streak of light, shooting towards the devastating metal storm at an unimaginable speed!

The moment the energy sphere made contact with the metal storm, it was like a red-hot branding iron falling into butter.

*Sizzle!*

The metal storm, capable of shredding an Elite Beginner rank, was effortlessly pierced and torn open by the energy sphere, creating a massive gap!

The energy sphere's momentum didn't diminish. Under Long Ao's horrified gaze, it accurately struck the Ironclad Steel Dragon behind the storm!

"Roar!"

The scale armor on Ironclad Steel Dragon's chest, made of the hardest alloy, was as fragile as paper before the energy sphere.

It was directly pierced and blasted open, creating a huge bloody hole. The violent energy of the four Moves rampaged wildly inside its body.

The fierce, forceful punch energy attacked its internal organs!

Dust Explosion destroyed its internal structure, while the bats devoured its vitality.

Yet, there was also the healing Aromatic Pollen, constantly repairing its wounds, making it oscillate between agony and relief.

Ironclad Steel Dragon's massive body trembled violently, soon foaming at the mouth and collapsing.

For a moment, it was unclear whether it was in discomfort or pleasure.

"Wow, a combination Move! And one performed jointly by the Beast Tamer and the beast pet! Even if I only saw that instant knockout, it was worth the ticket price!"

A man in a red windbreaker leaned on the railing, beaming as he watched Bai Ye's figure.

To witness such high-level techniques in a Novice Beast Tamer competition was incredibly exciting.

Some people were already considering whether to ask Bai Ye for an autograph.

Even if he didn't pursue the path of a competitive Beast Tamer in the future and switched to being a beast pet coordinator, he would undoubtedly have a bright future.

"Champion! A new champion is born!"

Liu Yue sprang to his feet, shouting with all his might.

"Let's give our warmest cheers to congratulate our new King of Novices, the youth from Luoxue City, Bai Ye!"

The silent coliseum was instantly flooded by a tsunami of cheers.

"Bai Ye! Bai Ye! Bai Ye!"

The shouts of a hundred thousand people converged into a sonic wave that shot straight into the sky!

At this moment, everyone remembered this name.

The man who, with a Ghost Orchid, created various miracles, and with his own fists, defeated a Dragon.

The undisputed King of Novices of this Sacred Dragon Cup.

In the center of the field, Bai Ye let out a long sigh of relief.

Feeling the energy in his body instantly refilled by the sunlight, he began to wonder if he could be considered nuclear-powered.

If he raised a Mechanical System beast pet in the future, he could probably save a lot on food costs.

It could just absorb the energy directly from his body.

That "Natural Energy Sphere" from earlier was something he came up with on the spot, imitating a Move from an anime in his previous life, forcibly fusing four Moves together.

If he had removed the purely restorative Aromatic Pollen, Ironclad Steel Dragon would probably be deader than dead right now.

The power was indeed astonishingly great, but the consumption was equally terrifying. That one Move directly drained thirty percent of the energy in his body.

If he combined three Moves, even an Elite Intermediate rank would meet its end.

"Contestant Long Ao, please recall your beast pet."

The referee's voice pulled Long Ao, who was still frozen in place, back to reality.

Long Ao looked despondently at Ironclad Steel Dragon on the ground, which had no visible injuries but still hadn't regained consciousness.

Then he looked at Bai Ye on the opposite side, his eyes filled with unwillingness and a deeply hidden trace of fear.

With a trembling hand, he recalled Ironclad Steel Dragon back into his beast taming space.

"Just who are you?"

"Me?"

Bai Ye smiled.

"Just an ordinary high school student from Luoxue City No. 2 High School."

With that, he turned and walked off the field amidst the cheers of the entire audience.

Leaving Long Ao alone, standing there dejectedly.

An ordinary high school student?

Screw your ordinary high school student!

What ordinary high school student can punch through Ironclad Steel Dragon with their fists?!

Long Ao felt his worldview had been completely shattered today, but it quickly pieced itself back together.

His talent allowed him to synchronize his thoughts with Ironclad Steel Dragon and strengthen it.

If that was the case, then conversely, Ironclad Steel Dragon could also strengthen *him*.

Long Ao had an epiphany.

Taking the path of strengthening the Beast Tamer was the correct one.

After figuring it out, Long Ao let out a loud roar, startling the host. Before the host could even tell him to go receive his award, Long Ao directly ran out of the arena.

Leaving everyone bewildered.

With members of the Long family present, the organizers didn't bother pursuing Long Ao.

The Vice President of the Huanglong City Beast Tamer Association, the main organizer of this tournament, personally walked onto the field and handed a pure gold trophy to Bai Ye.

"Contestant Bai Ye, congratulations."

The Vice President was a kindly-looking old man. He looked at Bai Ye and nodded approvingly.

A shame he wasn't from their Huanglong City.

"Thank you, President."

Bai Ye took the heavy trophy and said politely.

The Vice President waved his hand modestly. He was still just the *Vice* President for now, couldn't make too big a deal of it.

Next was the distribution of the champion's prize.

Staff wheeled out a box made of special metal. The Vice President personally opened it, revealing the contents.

A green egg, radiating an aura of life.

And two palm-sized bells made of an unknown cyan-colored metal.

"The champion's prize: one beast pet egg of the rare-Aptitude 'Green Leaf Bug,' and a pair of Elite Excellent rank items, the Wind Chime Bells."

The President's voice broadcast throughout the venue.

"Green Leaf Bug? Isn't that the most common insect-type Demonic Beast? How can it be rare Aptitude?"

"What do you know? Although Green Leaf Bugs are common, a very few individuals possess an Innate advantage. Under specific conditions, there's an extremely small chance they can evolve into the Dragon-type Demonic Beast, 'Jade Dragon.'"

"This reward is way too generous."

Bai Ye glanced back in confusion. Others might not hear it, but he, an Elite Rank, certainly could.

That commentary was way too professional. Which random expert was that?

A beast pet egg of rare Aptitude. If it could evolve into a Jade Dragon in the future, its value would be beyond monetary measure.

But that probability was incredibly minuscule. Out of hundreds of rare-Aptitude Green Leaf Bugs, hardly any would become Jade Dragons in the future.

He accepted the beast pet egg and the bells, thanking the President once more.

After the award ceremony concluded, Bai Ye fought his way through a crowd of media reporters and their barrage of cameras, finally making it back to the arena's rest room.

A pink figure followed him in.

Lin Anan quickly walked up to him.

This time, she didn't charge at him boisterously like she usually did.

She was uncharacteristically subdued. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

"My old friend is the tournament champion. Now I finally have something to boast about besides just being rich."

Her voice trembled as she spoke, her excitement mixed with a fair amount of lingering fear.

"And you actually went and fought monsters with your Physical Body! Let me see your belt."

As she said this, she reached to lift Bai Ye's shirt.

Bai Ye hurriedly grabbed the "female hooligan's" hand and said helplessly:

"I'm really not injured. You know me. If I were really hurt, I'd have already been on the ground, trying to milk compensation from that rich guy."

Recalling Bai Ye's past behavior, she realized he really might do something like that.

Lin Anan knocked on her own head and gave Bai Ye an awkward smile.

Then, as if she'd made up her mind about something, she took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"Ahem, to celebrate the birth of our King of Novices... I want to personally cook you a victory feast. Is that okay?"

"If you want to poison me, just say so. Order food properly!"

"..."

"Okay."