In the huge ring, the muscular figure's vicious spirit gradually subsided. At the same time, its countenance became completely clear. Similar to the previous beast, it had a human body and the head of a beast. However, it was not a dragon. It only had the head of a ferocious-looking dragon.
Rumor had it that he had a horrendous power and the capability of a Ninth Grade Sovereign during his lifetime. Even though he had long fallen from the skies, the remaining powers that were conserved were still stronger than the powers of the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Dragon.
Its physique was even more muscular than the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Dragon's. The audience could already sense an overwhelming aura emanating from the figure despite it just standing silently in the ring.
In the ring, Lord Mountain Cracker's face also turned sour upon the appearance of the Demonic Blood Dragon. He could sense an eminent aura of danger emanating from it.
He knew his capabilities well. If he had confronted one of the ten ferocious beasts who had slightly weaker powers, his chances would actually be good. However, who knew the opponent he had triggered would be the Demonic Blood Dragon, which was the strongest beast among the Ten Feral Beasts…
For such a confrontation, there need not be much suspense about where victory lies, Lord Mountain Cracker discreetly lamented, but at this point in time, he did not have a choice to back off. Regardless, he had to brace himself to give it a try...
Whew.
Having arrived at this conclusion, Lord Mountain Cracker took a deep breath and calmed his spirits. His gaze gradually became sharp. Despite knowing the fact that his opponent was a tough nut to crack, he was, after all, a strong fighter prominently known within the realms of Daluo Territory. Evidently, he would not lose his fighting spirit so easily.
At this moment, colossal spiritual energy rumbled from Lord Mountain Cracker's body. The enormity of that spiritual energy was merely a little inferior to the powers of a Grade Seven Sovereign. However, it was precisely this gap which created a disparity of powers between his and Lord Asura's abilities.
Thump!
Lord Mountain Cracker clenched his fist. A huge scarlet machete appeared in his hands. The tip of the machete's blade emitted an extremely sharp wave of spiritual energy. It was apparent that it was not a weak Divine Artifact.
While facing such a strong opponent, Lord Mountain Cracker would never be as ferocious as Lord Asura, who confronted his battle head-on with his metal fist.
Swoosh!
Lord Mountain Cracker transformed into a light ray and dashed forward. In a gleam of light, he seemed to have appeared right above the Demonic Blood Dragon. A dense flare of color broke out in his ferocious gaze. The huge machete immediately swayed and chopped in its direction.
"Sky-Tearing Divine Art. Sky-Tearing Chop!"
There was an obvious hint of brutality in his violent scream of command. A bright light on the machete's blade flared out a few hundred feet and violently whizzed down through the sky. It even created a crack in the space it had passed through.
Lord Mountain Cracker clearly understood the tenacity of the Demonic Blood Dragon's strength. Therefore, when he launched his first attack, he did not reserve any power just to test his opponent's waters. Instead, he gave a full blow, making sure it was extremely lethal.
Froom!
The ray of the machete was too ferocious. It was as if a beam of light shone briefly across the sky. At the very next moment, it had already taken an offensive position, mercilessly enveloping the Demonic Blood Dragon.
Everyone within the battle space squinted for a second.
Rolling ashes gradually fluttered down. The audience looked closely at the eyes of the Demonic Blood Dragon. However, its eyes narrowed abruptly. Lord Mountain Cracker's face grew somber at the same time.
It was because he realized that the Demonic Blood Dragon was still standing upright. It had crossed its arms to protect the top of its head. Evidently, it had defended Lord Mountain Cracker's tenacious attack.
However, despite it forcefully resisting the attack, there was merely a deep wound on the Demonic Blood Dragon's arms. What's more, the running blood in the wound was healing at an unbelievable speed.
Both the Demonic Blood Dragon's robust body and its powerful self-recovering ability were equally outrageous.
Outside the ring, the fellow lords shook their heads as they smiled wryly. The Demonic Blood Dragon was evidently a tough case to handle. If its opponent had been Lord Asura, perhaps there would still have been a chance to win the battle. However, its opponent was Lord Mountain Cracker, and his capabilities were undeniably insufficient to take up the battle.
"God d*mnit!"
Lord Mountain Cracker's face turned gloomy. He gritted his teeth and cursed. Immediately after, his eyes were filled with roiling ferocity. He gripped the huge machete tightly. The spiritual energy inside of his body began to show signs of impending explosion.
He wished very much to try his best in this battle to see how strong this beast could be!
Just as Lord Mountain Cracker was about to launch his best attack, Mandela's voice could be heard from outside of the ring. "Come out, Lord Mountain Cracker! Let's forgo this round."
Upon hearing Mandela's voice, Lord Mountain Cracker paused for a bit, but he immediately gritted his teeth and tightened the grip on his machete. However, he finally loosened his grip, turned around, and grimly left the battle stage.
He knew if he gave his all, he could still cross swords with the Demonic Blood Dragon but the odds of winning would not be high. Even if he were to aggressively confront his opponent, he would have been badly injured.
Meanwhile, as Lord Mountain Cracker plunged out, a gleam of light burst out from the Demonic Blood Dragon's body. It thrust into the sky once again and landed directly on top of the stone pillar as it turned into a bronze statue.
Lord Mountain Cracker's countenance appeared rather embarrassed as he looked toward Mandela and said, "I was incompetent…"
Mandela shook her little hands and gestured to Lord Mountain Cracker not to speak anymore. She said, "You are not to blame. If one could easily charge into the Earthly Sovereign Secret Treasure, it would belittle the powers of the fourth-ranked hall master."
"Hehe, you only lost the first round." The Condor King also smiled as he said, "So long as we can win another three rounds, the Dominator will be able to forcefully break the formation."
Mandela nodded as she said, "Even though we lost one battle, it is not necessarily a bad thing. At least the Demonic Blood Dragon will not be triggered again."
Based on the rules of the place, it seemed that no matter the position of a challenger or the one who was being challenged, the respective contenders would only make a one-time appearance regardless of the outcome. Hence, the Demonic Blood Dragon was unlikely to appear in the ring again.
When the lords heard Mandela's remarks, they heaved a slight sigh of relief. Since Lord Asura could no longer partake in the battles, no one among them could compete with the Demonic Blood Dragon.
Mu Chen also sighed to himself. If he still had his troops in his hands at this very moment, he might have been able to rely on their fighting spirit and energy to battle against the Demonic Blood Dragon. Unfortunately, at this point of time, the only thing he could rely on was his own true capabilities.
"There will be eight more challenges coming up… who wants to go next?" said Mandela slowly as her golden eyes looked toward the other remaining lords again.
The remaining lords met each others' gazes. Shortly after, Lord Blood Hawk stepped forward and said in a serious tone, "For the third round, allow me to give it a try."
Although they knew all eight challenges would not be easy, being part of the higher echelon of Daluo Territory meant it was impossible for them to back off at this crucial moment. Hence, no matter what happened, they would all have to confront the battle.
Otherwise, if they did not manage to enter into the depths of the Earthly Sovereign Secret Treasure, it would ultimately cause the fourth-ranked hall master's Spiritual Godly Potion to fall into the hands of other expert opponents. That might result in a catastrophic attack on Daluo Territory.
Swoosh!
Lord Blood Hawk stomped his foot, and the outline of his stately body thrust toward the huge ring before the audience's rapt gazes.
Froom.
As Lord Blood Hawk made his appearance, there were only the sounds of the shuddering of the ancient palace. A bronze statue was briskly resurrected and finally landed in the ring with a vicious spirit.
"That is the Heavenly Dragon Bear, one of the ten most ferocious beasts of the Ancient Celestial Palace. It has the power of a Grade Six Sovereign. Its energy is strong enough to pull off a mountain…" Mandela murmured as she looked at the huge shadow in front of Lord Blood Hawk.
"I wonder what the odds are for Lord Blood Hawk," said the Condor King with a frown.
Mandela slowly sighed in her heart after examining the beast. Although the Heavenly Dragon Bear only had the powers of a Grade Six Sovereign, Lord Blood Hawk's capabilities were only equivalent to the premature-stage of a Grade Six Sovereign. She did not have much confidence in Lord Blood Hawk in this battle.
Just as Mandela had predicted, the battle in the ring appeared fierce at the beginning. The offense-defense interaction between two parties was healthy, but as the battle wore on, Lord Blood Hawk gradually showed signs of defeat.
Therefore, at the final interaction, Lord Blood Hawk could no longer conceal his weakness and was slapped out of the huge ring by the Heavenly Dragon Bear's dragon paw.
Lord Blood Hawk lost the third round!
Following Lord Blood Hawk's defeat, the anger of the lords of Daluo Territory eventually boiled up. Predictably, consecutive rounds of defeat greatly offended their inner ego and vanity.
However, anger remained as anger. They could not deny that the capabilities of the Ancient Celestial Palace's ten most ferocious beasts were in fact stronger than the lords of Daluo Territory.
This point could be clearly identified and justified by the coming battles.
Fourth round.
Lord Spiritual Sword launched his battle against one of the members of the ten ferocious beasts, the Three-Headed Demonic Viper — he lost!
Fifth round.
Lord Glacier launched his battle against one of the members of the ten ferocious beasts, the Netherworld Spiritual Dog — another loss!
Daluo Territory lost four rounds consecutively except for Lord Asura in the first round, who had secured a round of victory!
In the ancient palace outside the ring, the expressions of the lords of Daluo Territory were rather gloomy. Losing four battles consecutively made their faces burn hotly as if they were on fire.
As Mandela witnessed this scenario, she sighed lightly once again. However, she did not blame anyone and merely said, "Don't worry too much. If we lose completely in the end, I will break the formation by force…"
Upon hearing that Mandela's capabilities were powerful enough to forcefully break the formation, Mu Chen and the rest did not seem happy. They all knew for a fact that even if Mandela were able to do so, it would drain her powers quite considerably. If she were to come across other influential forces, one could not guarantee that other powerful dominators would not take advantage of her situation. If so, what would be awaiting them was a complete wipeout of their territory.
Hence, if the situation permitted, they must try their best to maintain Mandela's wellbeing at the most perfect condition before getting their hands on the Spiritual Godly Potion.
Mu Chen stared at the bronze statue below the huge stone pillar and slowly clenched his fists. However, just as he intended to enter the battlefield, Nine Nether, who stood next to him, stepped forward ahead of him.
"Dominator, please allow me to confront the battle in this sixth round," said Nine Nether as she gazed upon Mandela.
Mandela looked at Nine Nether and groaned for a bit. She nodded curtly and said, "If you can't manage the battle, come back out. I have my ways to break the formation."
Nine Nether nodded. Her gaze met Mu Chen's. Before the latter could say anything, her petite figure flashed by and appeared directly in the huge ring.
Sixth Round, Nine Nether was in the game!