With her spirit energy almost fully restored, Xue Bao’er cast another Fire Spirit Possession on her exotic fire wolf, who howled as it charged forward.
Lin Jin patted Xiao Huo’s head before the little guy too dashed ahead to engage the exotic fire wolf.
However, Xiao Huo didn’t change his size nor reveal any supernatural power. He fought the exotic fire wolf in his default state without any enhancement spells from Lin Jin.
Why? Well, number one it was unnecessary; and two, he had to save his energy for Yang Jie later.
By now, even an idiot would notice that Lin Jin was holding back in this battle. Meanwhile, Xue Bao’er repeated her previous technique, using her flaming fist to sneak an attack on Lin Jin.
But Xiao Huo wasn’t Lu Ba. The exotic fire wolf couldn’t stop Xiao Huo as the latter pounced over, opened his mouth, and swallowed the raging fist.
“I surrender!” Xue Bao’er decisively declared her defeat following this.
Since the start of the match, Lin Jin had not moved an inch nor cast any spells. He easily overpowered Xue Bao’er and her pet beast with Xiao Huo in his original state.
On the stage, where all the mentors sat, Luo Beihe’s jaw dropped.
She knew full well that if Xue Bao’er gave her all, even Luo Beihe would have to take her seriously. And yet, in this battle, taking on the girl seemed like child’s play to Lin Jin.
Wouldn’t this mean that if she were in a match with Lin Jin, she’d likely lose the fight?
Luo Beihe felt annoyed while Mr. Yi who sat beside her said, “Miss Beihe, don’t be angry. This is normal. The new is constantly replacing the old. This is a good thing.”
Luo Beihe simply rolled her eyes at him. “Didn’t you see that Bao’er’s fire wolf was able to match up with Lu Yunhe’s Rank 3 beast, even overpowering him? She can’t even make a scratch on Lin Jin this time!”
Mr. Yi was stunned by her words. He then thought carefully before his expression changed. “You’re right. Bao’er’s Fire Spirit Possession on her fire wolf is one of the most potent combinations I’ve seen. In such circumstances, her fire wolf should be on par with a Rank 3 pet beast but she can’t do anything to Lin Jin’s. Could it be?”
Luo Beihe cast him a ‘you’re not that dumb after all’ look.
“Just watch, Lin Jin will definitely challenge Yang Jie next. To be honest, I wasn’t very interested from the start. But now, I want to see just how this battle goes.”
Luo Beihe’s wishes weren’t granted in the next round because just as Lin Jin was about to challenge Yang Jie, a disciple at sixth place challenged Lin Jin instead.
Lin Jin had no idea what the guy was thinking but since he was there, the rules dictated that he had to accept the challenge.
While Lin Jin was willing to let Xue Bao’er test out her skills, he couldn’t be bothered to waste his precious time on other people. The challenger cast two enhancement spells on his pet beast before the creature jumped into the ring. Lin Jin couldn’t even be bothered to let Xiao Huo deal with him so he lifted a hand and invoked the intermediate beast deterrence skill.
In an instant, an oppressive wave of energy containing a combination of the five elements swept across the ring, making the challenger’s pet beast crouch down on the ground thirty feet away, shivering in fear.
No matter how many enhancement spells were cast or how the pet beast was urged, it wouldn’t get up from its crouching position.
In a private theatre box on stage, Ye Yuzhou’s eyes lit up at this. “There is it. The Curator sure is an amazing man, and as expected of his disciple.”
Ye Yuzhou had just been explaining the situation to Bai Zhenkong and Lu Bin.
At first, he didn’t want to let Bai Zhenkong in on too many details. After all, it concerned the Curator’s privacy. But now, he had no choice but to let the cat out of the bag.
He received two completely different responses.
Bai Zhenkong looked incredulous.
“A mysterious space, an expert curator, the ability to deter all beasts, and he’s invincible? What kind of joke is this? Ye Yuzhou, do I look like some kid to you? How dare you come up with such nonsense?”
Ye Yuzhou was enraged as well. “Bai Zhenkong, you can choose not to believe but the Curator is the strongest man I’ve ever met. Have you heard of the Lingnan Deities?”
Bai Zhenkong was stunned. An old man like him definitely would have known about the infamous Lingnan Deities. About fifty years ago, these five deities ruled over the entire Southern Continent.
“I’ve heard of them. So what?” Bai Zhenkong asked.
Ye Yuzhou smirked. “If that’s the case, then you must know how strong they are too. Madam Ghost Child who has ravaged many nations in the Southern Continent was a member of the five Lingnan Deities. I’ve fought with her and frankly speaking, despite having an upper hand in spell-casting, my soaring cloud flood dragon was no match for her pet beast. In a fight to the death, I can cause her some serious damage no doubt, but I’d most probably end up dead in her hands. What I found most alarming was the fact that Madam Ghost Child didn’t even dare to do anything before the Curator and neither did her pet beast move a muscle before him.”
Bai Zhenkong said nothing as his jaw dropped. Even Lu Bin who had been listening looked grave.
If it wasn’t Ye Yuzhou who said this, he might have thought it was all rubbish.
The fact that these words came from his mouth made it all the more credible.
Ye Yuzhou called Zuo Wentang over. “Steward Zuo, you were there that day too. Tell them, how did the folks from the Grassy Continent fare against the Curator?”
Zuo Wentang felt his scalp prickle but he reported the truth and the truth only. He didn’t dare to lie. How could he?
Suddenly, Lu Bin caught onto a key detail.
“You’re saying that the Rank 4 fire wolf you saw on that day is Lin Jin’s pet beast?” He stared at Zuo Wentang and the latter nodded.
Ye Yuzhou replied casually, “That’s only normal because Lin Jin is the Curator’s disciple. Isn’t it normal for a mentor to help his disciple’s pet beast evolve?”
Normal?
They were talking about a Rank 4 evolution here. No one in the entire Jade Dragon Kingdom could easily do that, right?
Though, according to Ye Yuzhou’s description, it wouldn’t be surprising for the Curator to possess this ability. After all, that man was even able to provide a Rank 4 to 5 evolution method.
This was beyond the powers of what the Jade Dragon Kingdom could offer and perhaps only an expert from a large kingdom could do this.
After Ye Yuzhou was done explaining, he added, “If I were to choose, I’d rather be at odds with Snake Country than the Curator. Compared to the destruction he’s capable of inflicting, they’re nothing worth mentioning. Moreover, the Curator had told me that he would take care of Snake Country. Do you think that a man who evolves pet beasts up to Rank 4 with ease can’t overwhelm them?
Bai Zhenkong’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He seemed intent on saying something but didn’t after all.
Assuming that Ye Yuzhou’s words were true, then they mustn’t offend the Curator. They couldn’t afford to. Not only that, but they had to make sure that the man was on their side too. However, something about this story seemed off so he couldn’t make a decision on his own.
“General Lu, what do you think?” Bai Zhenkong asked. Lu Bin’s answer came without delay, “I believe him.”
After that, Lu Bin pondered before saying, “I’ve already had a suspicion that Lin Jin has an expert supporting him, and now it seems like my hunch was right after all. No wonder he could offer the nine water floating cloud pill’s prescription.”
Now, Bai Zhenkong had nothing left to say because even he believed it.
It was at this moment that Lin Jin, through the use of his deterrence ability, defeated the challenger from before. The trio’s attention was drawn back to the arena.
All disciples present already anticipated Lin Jin’s victory but they didn’t expect he would achieve it so easily.
Xue Bao’er, in particular, watched with widened eyes. She knew better than anyone that Lin Jin had held back when fighting her just now. Otherwise, she might have experienced the same fate as this challenger, who had lost total control over his pet beast. Now, they had no other option but to scurry away in shame.
“I want to challenge Yang Jie!”
Right after Lin Jin won this match, he called out. He didn’t want to waste time so serious business was the priority.
Defeating Yang Jie and becoming the disciple tournament’s champion was Lin Jin’s goal.
And no one could stop him from achieving his goal.