Xia Fei was disappointed yet again. In the past, no matter what form Furball took, he would at least be the size of a duck’s egg, yet his promotion this time around had him take a form no bigger than a ping-pong ball, smaller by a whole circumference!
The white fur all over Furball’s body was pristine and unblemished. His eyes were much clearer than before, and Xia Fei could pick him up and fit him in his palm easily. After eating hundreds of White Swallow Gems, though Furball had gotten promoted, he became smaller, as if his trajectory of growth was not proportionate to his energy intake. Who knew just where Furball was storing all that energy?
Xia Fei felt that Furball becoming smaller was not a good thing. He wished he could grow up quickly and bigger, while Zanian Feng and Busey were shocked over the purity of the beast’s physique. The cute, little creature was very eye-catching, unforgettable despite his size.
“Looks like you’ve devoted quite a lot of your time and energy toward your Holy Beast Shatterstar. That flawless fur brimming with abundance of energy, though he’s slightly small,” Zanian spat, his two eyes staring daggers at Furball.
Xia Fei pursed his lips. At present, Furball could stand on his ear. Not only was the beast small, his weight was also very light. Xia Fei even suspected that a strong gale would be enough to send Furball flying.
Furball acted precocious and naive in front of Xia Fei, but he hardly had any patience for Zanian. He looked at the man with eyes of light contempt, as if the latter was insignificant in his eyes, while he exuded the aura of a Holy Beast that saw none as his equal.
Zanian could not help but tremble slightly. Furball was only cute in terms of his appearance, but no one could ignore his beastial side. A Holy Beast was still a Holy Beast, and no one could try to get near this small one aside from his master.
Zanian silently backed away and slid up beside Busey, leaving Xia Fei to continue with his energy replenishment and teasing of Furball.
“Uncle Busey, why is it that I feel like the Holy Beast next to Xia Fei is fairly uncommon?” Zanian furrowed his brows and asked in a soft whisper.
Busey nodded. “The fact that you could notice this is a testament to your perceptive eyes. Indeed, this Holy Beast by Xia Fei’s side is a little different. Holy Beasts are all proud loners and will often be hard to get in close proximity with. It’s rare to see them share a relationship like what Xia Fei has with his beast.”
“I’ve seen both Divine Beasts and Holy Beasts before, but the relationship they shared was often more as equals, like friends or brothers, but Xia Fei seems more like the father of this Shatterstar.”
Zanian was a little taken aback. “I’m starting to get that feeling, too, now that you mention it. Indeed, the Holy Beast Xia Fei has, no matter how powerful or how wild he is inside, will always act properly and obediently in front of Xia Fei. The Holy Beast even gives up the pride of one before Xia Fei. It’s no wonder I feel like there’s something off. Turns out it’s because of how compliant and obedient this Holy Beast is.”
Busey nodded. “Such a situation is very uncommon. A Holy Beast that had abandoned all its pride and become 100% subservient. Surely, you know that the biggest difference between a Holy Beast and a Divine Beast is that the former is extremely independent and so powerful that it bends its will to no one.
“I have no idea how Xia Fei did it, but the way he controlled 120 Beast Kings during the fourth round of the assessment was frightening enough. Could it really be as what Elder Nie Ying said? Xia Fei’s a beast-taming genius?” Zanian wondered out loud.
Busey shook his head. “There are plenty who can tame Beast Kings, and that is only proof of Xia Fei’s talent in this aspect, as well as his mastery of a high tier technique, but to completely subdue a Holy Beast is something fewer than a handful people can accomplish.”
“I suspect chance and opportunity is at play here. That is to say, Xia Fei coincidentally did something that caused his Holy Beast to have no choice but to be subdued, causing the aloof Holy Beast to rely on him 100%.”
Scratching his head, Busey then said, “Forget it. This isn’t something that we can earnestly clarify. Let’s just take it as Xia Fei’s luck, since we won’t find the answer to this through our empty guesses alone.”
The two nodded in unison and enviously watched Xia Fei with Furball.
Owning a Holy Beast was already considered to be massively good luck in itself, and no one could make sense of just how Xia Fei had managed to subdue Furball completely as he did. Unfortunately, the loyalty Furball had toward his master was unshakable, so all they could do was look on at the two with envy.
…
The candidates cleared the assessment one after another, as more and more gathered upon the grassland by the lake.
Busey displayed the screen once more, and Xia Fei’s name was in fourth position overall. His performance in the previous two rounds were too poor, so he was down at 290th position, but after this round, his name shot up in the rankings, bringing him that much clearer to his personal goal of the top 3.
Aside from Xia Fei, everyone else was very vexed, for Zanian was presently going around to collect the White Swallow Gems they had collected.
“123 White Swallow Gems, please.” His attitude was like a waiter of a tavern, taking note of the gems they had collected and subsequently storing them into his spatial ring.
“Don’t be reluctant; Uncle Busey will be giving you all bonus points for your effort.”
“Heh, you’ve kept a single piece of it in your pocket. There’s no point in trying to pull a fast one, or else Uncle Busey may just disqualify you.”
Xia Fei found it hilarious that the son of the Hallmaster of the distinguished Dragon Ascension Martial Hall would actually speak like a small business hawker; it looked like he too had the potential of becoming a shrewd merchant like Yu Hua. In fact, Xia Fei had also forgotten that he was also quite the crafty businessman himself, and he was considered to be the biggest profiteer in the entire Alliance.
Everyone aside from Xia Fei handed over the White Swallow Gems they had obtained in an orderly fashion, while Xia Fei had actually poured all these precious gems that could help in cultivation promotion to Furball, directly causing the beast to promote.
Furthermore, Xia Fei utilized the time they had all wasted to overtake them all, becoming the first in this third assessment!
In front of the two crafty foxes Busey and Zanian, Xia Fei not only failed to be at a disadvantage, he even managed to benefit greatly. Had Furball only depended on just origin crystals to promote, even Xia Fei’s stockpile of crystals would not have been enough to achieve this. Xia Fei had essentially gotten his cake and eaten it, too.
*Zing!*
The spatial gate opened once more as Busey shouted at the top of his lungs, “The final round shall decide your fate; everyone, hurry up and get in!”
*Whoosh!*
The crowd hurriedly dashed toward the spatial gate. Most of them had hardly managed to get any rest other than Xia Fei, who had managed to complete the assessment before everyone else. The others were still fighting off their exhaustion.
*Smack*
A short and plump candidate got held back by Busey. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“The assessment… f-final round?” the short candidate stammered.
“Those placing after five hundred need not join us. You’re all eliminated!” Busey said with a dark complexion.
The short man’s body turned jelly as he collapsed on the grass. He was ranked 501st. It was a real tragedy.
….
Five hundred. That was the total number of candidates that made it to the final round.
What they saw before their eyes left everyone speechless. These candidates who had passed through the spatial gate suddenly discovered that they were standing under a mushroom!
No doubt that this was a spotted Coprinus comatus, which was at least a hundred meters tall, with a mushroom cap that stretched out to cover the sky!
Not just the mushroom, they were practically in a giant’s world, where the flora and fauna all around them were all large beyond measure!
*Whoosh!*
A bee, which was at least twenty meters big, came flying right above their heads. Its huge wings beat the wind rapidly as if it were a passing fighter jet!
Everyone was shocked to learn that such a place existed in the universe, which was basically a magnified world! It was completely mind-blowing!
Busey intentionally coughed twice, and the crowd turned toward him. No one had any idea what to expect. Just what could this final round of assessment entail?
“First, I’d like to congratulate each one of you. Actually, from the very start, you’ve all been determined to be a cut above the rest, and the other candidates who were sent to other groups have long been eliminated. The reason why this information was withheld from you is the fear that you all might get conceited. If you don’t believe me, you can see all the sullen expressions when you return later—if you can make it back, that is.”
The first two sentences had left all the candidates feeling happy, but that last line Busey added had severely knocked them back down to the ground. “If you can make it back?” It meant that this assessment should have a life-and-death risk to it! Which meant the candidates were allowed to slaughter one another! In order to obtain the limited spots available, the assessment ground was bound to be dyed with rivers of blood!
The expression of the crowd turned grim. The real test of life and death was nearly upon them, and everyone was filled with both worry and trepidation!
“I must admit that, though you’re from the small families and clans in the circle, all of you have quite the strength. Having five hundred of you make it to the last round is already well beyond what I initially expected as I thought that just fifty of you making it to this point would already be considered good.”
The crowd raised their head in a small measure of pride. These members of the small clans were already excited to have received the praise from one of the four Dragon Ascension Heavenly Kings, Busey, who soon changed his tune and began pouring cold water on them again.
“Don’t mistakenly think that this is a good thing. The more candidates just mean the competition becomes all the fiercer, and the chance of injury or even death increases even further. This is the Law Realm, and death should be nothing more common to warriors. Since you’ve all made it to this point, I believe you already accepted your mortal fates.”
Plenty raised their fists, their eyes stern. Busey’s words confirmed what everyone already had in their mind the more he spoke. Victory would be decided in this battle!
“Look around at the world around you. Is it not very huge?
“Let me tell you all; this here is originally a mundane planet, but I changed it with my law power! It is a high-tier law that none of you could even imagine! A law that can change an entire planet!”
Busey’s voice turned impassioned. He had actually used his law power to change a planet completely; this sort of strength was unimaginable! The fame of the Four Heavenly Kings of Dragon Ascension was well-deserved!
“This is the power of law! This is the strength of the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall!
“The Law Realm is neither big nor small; do you wish to learn high-tier laws? Then the only way is to join the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall! Do you wish to ascend to join the ranks of the great God Race? Dragon Ascension Martial Hall can help you achieve that! Would you like to catch a glimpse of the extremely secret Cosmic Gate, which symbolizes the universe? You’ll also have to rely on the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall! That’s because we are the number one martial hall in the Law Realm! The very best! No exceptions!”
The crowd was getting riled up. This picture of the future that Busey had painted with his words filled them all with great expectancy. Xia Fei could not resist but also applaud upon hearing this. He realized that this hunk of black metal was actually quite the orator, so much so that even he was moved by his speech.
The number one martial hall in the Law Realm, the necessary path that would lead toward even greater heights!
“This round, everyone is allowed to snatch, allowed to kill. Anything that you can possibly do is permitted. THERE ARE NO RULES!” Busey rasped emotionlessly. “There’s not just a single path to clearing this round: Anyone who obtains three candidates’ identification plates will pass! Anyone who discovers the hidden assessment puzzle and subsequently solves it will clear this round as well. Everyone will be given a name too, and killing the said candidate will let you pass!
“Of course, the best solution is to kill all the candidates except yourself! That’s because doing so will guarantee you to receive this great prize that the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall has prepared for you all!”
*Shing!*
After saying that, an approximately two-meter-tall item appeared in front of everyone, covered by a layer of black cloth.
“I’m sure that you can all recognize this thing here, right?”
*Whoosh*
When the black cloth was pulled off, everyone’s eyes bulged. Even Xia Fei was left breathless!
