Following that attack, there was a massive drop in the Qiao family’s combat capability. From their initial Rank 3 strength, what they could draw out from these injured beasts was probably just the strength of a couple of Rank 2 beasts.
It took just moments for the four demonic appraisers to reveal their hands and overpower the Qiao family and their guests.
As mentioned, these demonic appraisers were prone to using discreet spells and rarely fought anyone head-on. Their greatest reliance was on underhanded tricks.
At first, the Qiao family had gathered so many experts just so they could overwhelm the enemy with numerical superiority. However, with just a few despicable tricks by these demonic appraisers, most of the guests were frightened off. With the Qiao family’s forces weakened, these demonic appraisers used shocking attacks to diminish the strength of their strongest pet beasts in order to secure their victory.
The Qiao family had instantly fallen. If Escort Zhang hadn’t commanded his pet beast to fight off the huge rat during a crucial moment, one of their family members would have died.
“How dare a mere mountain lion stand in my way!” Elder Zhou exclaimed. His sleeves began to plump up as if something was growing under his flesh. Pulling his sleeve back, hoards of poisonous insects started surging toward his enemy. There were centipedes, scorpions, and dozens of other unknown insects. It was a harrowing sight indeed.
Hundreds of poisonous insects charged the mountain lion, startling Escort Zhang, whose face was drained of all color. Although his mountain lion was a powerful Rank 3 beast, those poisonous insects wouldn’t be easy to deal with. A single bite would probably disable his pet beast considerably.
However, he couldn’t call his pet beast back right now because if he did, that Qiao family member wouldn’t survive this attack.
Escort Zhang was a loyal and righteous man. Despite being aware that he was fighting a losing battle, he still gritted his teeth and soldiered on.
As the mountain lion was of an earth attribute, he could only cover himself in a layer of mud to increase its defense. Even still, he might not be able to endure a bite from those poisonous insects.
At that instant, a bundle of flames floated over. While it was only a tiny ember at first, the flame suddenly burst into a raging fire upon contact with the ground and flying insects.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of poisonous insects were carbonized, leaving nothing left but pure black soot.
Elder Zhou let out a hysterical scream. Those poisonous insects had been nourished by the blood from his heart and it took quite the effort to collect this many. To have them all burned away so suddenly was something he would never accept.
“Who is it? Come out here, right now!” Elder Zhou was engulfed by rage.
It had taken at least ten years for him to cultivate all these poisonous insects. For ten years’ worth of effort to be flushed down the drain, even the most good-natured man would lose his patience, let alone a vicious man like Elder Zhou.
“We will make the Qiao family bleed! Every single one of them! Spare no one! Not even children and the elderly!” Elder Zhou bellowed with widened eyes.
The next instant, he turned to the man who was still sitting there calmly.
If his instinct served him right, the flames had come from this man.
“Insect King, come forth!”
Despite his arrogance, Elder Zhou would never underestimate his enemies, especially after seeing that peculiar flame attack. The might of those flames felt somewhat familiar, but Elder Zhou couldn’t put his finger on it for a moment.
Hence, he took action once more, bringing out his own pet beast this time.
A flowerback great centipede slithered out from underneath Elder Zhou’s sleeve. The size of this centipede was so huge its size was closer to a python. There was an emerald glint on its fangs, revealing its venomous nature.
This was Elder Zhou’s pet beast, a Rank 4 flowerback venom centipede.
Despite being a Rank 4 pet beast, Elder Zhou’s companion wasn’t actually skilled in combat. Being the king of insects, the creature possessed the ability to control and cultivate other poisonous insects. It was also the reason why Elder Zhou was able to use Flight Mosquitoes to drive his enemy’s pet beasts crazy as well as letting loose the hoard of insects earlier. This all was thanks to the centipede’s effort, rather than Elder Zhou’s skill.
Elder Zhou rarely brought his pet beast out but this time he was clearly going all out.
When those flames burned earlier, the man without eyebrows had abruptly turned as pale as a sheet. While Elder Zhou couldn’t recall when he had experienced these flames, this man could.
It was precisely this unique flame that scorched his hair and eyebrows. Furthermore, he had witnessed with his own eyes when his pet beast was scorched to death. The memory was still fresh in his mind that he couldn’t forget about it.
Snapping back to attention, he whipped his head at Lin Jin who was still sitting down, and cried out, “It’s him! He’s the man who burned my pet beast to death!”
Elder Zhou suddenly realized it upon hearing this. Hints of fear began creeping into his expression.
The other demonic appraisers looked over as well.
Right now, the Qiao family and those worthless guests weren’t their opponents anymore. The only person here who could stop them was this man who just unleashed those flames.
“What kind of crap is that? Feigning mystery and all. Bite him to death!” The rat’s owner revealed his murderous intent as he commanded his pet beast to charge at Lin Jin.
“Appraiser Lin, be careful!” Escort Zhang immediately urged.
It was at this moment that the Qiao family became aware of the sudden change.
“Appraiser Lin?”
“Could he be the person Escort Zhang mentioned a few days ago? The one who robbed us of our goods?”
“Who else could he be? It’s most probably him.”
Qiao Feigong’s eyes widened as he studied Lin Jin with greater detail. He had noticed him earlier but to think the man was Appraiser Lin from Maple City who Escort Zhang had mentioned before.
By now, the rat had pounced over.
Lin Jin did not move a single muscle.
Up against a Rank 3 black rat, Lin Jin didn’t even have to take action himself. From behind him, White Ape darted forward, growing in size until he was ten feet tall. By then, he had already morphed into a burly white ape.
This wasn’t even his real form. If he did return to his original size, he would be at least thirty feet tall, and that was enough for him to stomp this place flat.
Still, this size was intimidating enough. White Ape simply raised a fist and smashed the incoming rat into the ground. The ground beneath their feet shook and one part of the rat’s body caved in from the attack.
But since it was a Rank 3, the rat didn’t die immediately so White Ape dealt it a few more blows.
When they looked at it again, the rat had already been smashed to mush and its head was nowhere to be seen. There was a crater in the ground and all the nearby tables and chairs were destroyed. There were even cracks on the nearby stone walls.
White Ape’s strength was now in full view to everyone present.
Back at the royal capital, Lin Jin had learned how powerful White Ape’s fists were so he made sure that White Ape honed its skill in that aspect. Now, there weren’t many pet beasts who could endure a single blow from White Ape and walk away alive.
Including this huge black rat.
Despite how it terrorized the people here earlier, White Ape overwhelmed it by being multitudes more brutal. Everyone present was stunned.
It was so powerful that the demonic appraisers found it incredulous.
They were beast appraisers too and could see that White Ape was at most, a Rank 3. However, the strength he revealed earlier had clearly exceeded the capacity a Rank 3 beast should have possessed.
