Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Edited by Aelryinth
Zheng Hongru and the others took turns speaking to Zhang Che. In the end, Xiao Yi asked with uncertainty, “Uhm, Brother Che, are you really the one who’s fighting the Bei Du’s Zhen family in an arena deathmatch?”
Up until now, they were still in disbelief that this Zhang Che they knew was THAT Zhang Che.
It was understandable. Back when they took the combined university enrollment exam together, although Zhang Che was much stronger than any of them, he was only a Tier Three beastmaster, after all, and his strongest subdued beast was only at dark gold-quality.
How much time had passed since then? Zhang Che couldn’t possibly have risen to Tier Five, or even Tier Six beastmaster, not to mention owning many powerful subdued beasts, right?
From what they learned from the rumors, the Zhang Che who was going to fight the Zhen family was extremely likely to have epic-quality subdued beasts!
Epic-quality subdued beasts! For Zheng Hongru and the others didn’t even dare to dream about that!
“Hmm? This matter really did spread everywhere. That’s right. I am that Zhang Che,” he acknowledged, chuckling. There was no need to hide this matter from them. In any case, it would be public knowledge two days from now.
“Brother Che, it really is you!?”
On the other end of the call, Xiao Yi and the others’ excitement was clear. It was obvious they had gathered their heads together in front of the personal terminal and heard Zhang Che’s answer.
“That… Brother Che, aren’t you a mid-tier beastmaster already, then?” they asked in anticipation, and a little shock.
That was a given if they thought about it. If Zhang Che hadn’t become a mid-tier beastmaster, how could he fight the Zhen family in an arena deathmatch?
“Mhm, right, I’m already a Tier Six beastmaster.”
Zhang Che didn’t explain his strength in explain. He only talked about the conflict with Zhen family briefly, and indicated that the arena deathmatch was inevitable. At the same time, he also assured them and told them not to worry. He was confident in obtaining victory in this duel.
After hearing Zhang Che’s story, the astonishment in their hearts could be imagined.
“Brother Che, you have to tell us when the time and location of the match is decided. We’re coming to cheer for you!”
In the end, they asked if they could be there to support him. Zhang Che nodded and agreed to it. This was their sentiment. It wasn’t nice to reject them.
—–
A thousand kilometers to the west of Qin Zhou, at the endless spread of desolate, barren Gobi desert…
Under the watchful eyes of the masses, the fourth of October, Year Thirty-Six of the New Era arrived quickly.
Currently, an elite squad made up of the army and the government’s forces was stationed here, securing a perimeter several kilometers wide.
This area was relatively flat, with barren hills in the surroundings, which allowed the people around to see the situation inside.
Looking from the sky, this place was like a huge, natural arena. The flat area in the middle was where the ring was, and the surrounding hills were the elevated spectators areas.
At this time, many factions big and small from Hua Xia were gathered on the hills.
It was currently about half an hour before noon. Zhang Che was in the Huang family’s camp, surrounded by a bunch of his close friends and family.
Huang Juyun, Huang Tielan, Sun Lan, and his extended family were the relatives. As for his friends, Luo Wenjun and Zheng Hongru’s group were all present.
What surprised Zhang Che was that even Zhang Yujie from Qian Wei City had come. According to him, Zhang Che saved his life back then at the area outside of the secret plane. Now that Zhang Che had met with such a huge matter, naturally he had to come support him. Although he wouldn’t be able to provide any help, he had to come cheer him on. No matter what, Zhang Che was a talent from Qian Wei City, right?
Zhang Che thanked each and every one of them for their support. In the end, he sat down quietly under a gigantic umbrella, waiting for the start of the duel.
Although it would be the most important fight in his life very soon, Zhang Che didn’t feel very nervous about it.
Truthfully speaking, when he compared the incidents, this time wasn’t as dangerous as when he fought the Earthen Rock Demon. There truly wasn’t much for Zhang Che to be worried about.
As for whether the Zhen family would have some sort of killer move, Zhang Che didn’t mind at all.
Technological weapons were forbidden in arena death matches. If they violated the rules, they would surely be severely punished by the Hua Xia officials. The Zhen family couldn’t afford to bear such consequences.
If they really dared to disregard everything else and act against him, there was no need to initiate the arena deathmatch to begin with. They would directly use any methods available to deal with Zhang Che, and perhaps they might really kill him!
—–
On the other end of the desert was the Zhen family’s camp.
They only learned that the Huang family had set this place as the location of the duel yesterday afternoon. They pretty much had to rush here during the night.
Similar to the Huang family, Elder Zhen didn’t come. Only their second and third generations were here, with Zhen Manting in charge.
Of course, their absence didn’t mean that the elders wouldn’t be able to watch the upcoming battle.
At present, in the outer space above this area, three military spy satellites were operating concurrently, sending video feed of the situation in the area back to Bei Du. Anyone with a certain status would be able to watch the situation there in real time.
In the camp, the Zhen family members were gathered together, with Zhen Manting sitting at the helm. An expression that hinted everything was in her control showed on her face as he said, “For the Huang family to have set this place as the location, they must have got their hands on an earth-attributed epic-quality subdued beast through some channel unknown to us, and want to use the geographical advantage to fight for a better winning chance. But, they have no idea what our preparations are like. It’s not so easy for them to get what they want!”
After a short pause, Zhen Manting shifted her gaze to a middle-aged man with a cold expression, asking, “Zhen Liu, you don’t need to be in a hurry to attack when the fight starts. See what methods that brat Zhang Che has, and when he has exhausted every means possible, kill him off in a lightning-fast manner. At that time, I want to see what the look on Huang Juyun’s face will be!”
“Rest assured, Eldest Miss! With that secret weapon in hand, let alone that brat being only a mid-tier beastmaster, even a high-tier beastmaster wouldn’t be able to escape death!” A faint smile showed on Zhen Liu’s cold face. He didn’t put this arena deathmatch to heart at all.
The Zhen family had lost many elites before finally getting their hands on that secret weapon. Over the years, it had displayed unimaginable usefulness in helping the Zhen family rise up to become a first-rate clan.
It wouldn’t be difficult for a great killing tool like that to kill a mere mid-tier beastmaster!
“You can’t be too careless, either. Since Huang Juyun dared to let that brat Zhang Che accept the battle, they probably have some hidden aces up their sleeves, too. We mustn’t meet with an unexpected failure,” Zhen Manting shot a glance at Zhen Liu, scaring him into quickly lowering his head.
He replied respectfully, “Yes, rest assured, Eldest Miss. I’ll be careful. I won’t give any chance to that brat.”
“Mhm. When the fight starts, you must pay attention to your feet. I guess the Huang family must have gotten an earth-attributed subdued beast. Perhaps you will be ambushed from underground. You have to watch out for that.”
No one was a fool in the world. With Zhang Che and the Huang family setting the stage here, they immediately guessed Zhang Che’s plans.
Other than not know exactly what Zhang Che’s subdued beast was, the Zhen family could be sure that there was an earth-attributed subdued beast, and it was possibly an epic-quality one.
Of course, just like how the Zhen family had absolute confidence in their hidden ace, Zhang Che similarly believed that he could easily kill the Zhen family’s representative beastmaster and obtain the final victory, in addition to keeping his life intact.
Unlike the peace and quiet in the Zhen and Huang camps, it was currently very lively in the many camps around the surrounding barren rock hills.
Nearly every faction with the qualifications to come observe the battle had sent people here, especially individuals and factions who had placed huge bets on this battle. Naturally they wanted to witness their champion claim victory in person, enjoying the feeling of making a fortune on the spot.
As for the large lottery companies in Bei Du, and even the Hua Xia region, they had similarly sent staff here to bear witness to this event.
Although these lottery companies earned from this arena deathmatch by drawing commissions from the bets, and their revenue wouldn’t be affected no matter which side won, this didn’t stop their internal staff from partaking in the betting as well. Naturally they wanted to come watch it live.
This was a rare event in Hua Xia. An arena deathmatch between mid-tier beastmasters wasn’t a common occurrence in the past few years.
After all, mid-tier beastmasters were already considered elites of the clans. How could they possibly send them out for a life-or-death battle so easily?
Once an arena deathmatch involved mid-tier beastmasters, they had to be equipped with legend-quality or higher subdued beasts. If they lost, the losses would be too huge. Even large clans might not be able to bear it.
——
Time slowly passed. Soon, it was 12 PM sharp.
Under the eyes of everyone present, the representatives from both sides took turns to enter the stage. Each side occupied an end of the expansive desert area, staring down their opponent from over a kilometer away.
Zhang Che stood on the hot sand and rocks. With a wave of his hand, several rays of light shot out from his brow.
The Winged Dragon Wind God and the Jade-Shelled Mystic Tortoise suddenly rushed forth from left and right respectively. The former flew against the wind into the sky. In a five hundred meters radius around it, the violent wind elements could be seen stirring, sweeping up countless grains of sand, while the latter lay silently on the ground, nothing unusual to be seen.
The Zhen family had surely investigated the information regarding those two beasts. Zhang Che thus decided to summon them right from the get go.
Other than that, a purple gold light wrapped around Zhang Che and turned into purplish-gold armor, covering him from head to toe.
The Darkfiend Abyssal Dragon ferried Zhang Che on his back, hovering about a dozen meters off the ground.
Zhang Che didn’t summon the rest of his subdued beasts and pets.
In battles involving epic-quality beasts, beasts that were legend-quality and below wouldn’t be able to display much combat strength, and were easily killed instead.
As for the Earthen Rock Demon, it was Zhang Che’s “killer move”. Naturally it would only be useful if he summoned it at the key moment!
