Chapter 181: The Top Contention

The changes in the Pine Leaf Squirrel deeply stimulated the other several prodigies. After the Azure Emperor Longevity Art reached Major Achievement, the performance of the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s Demon King True Body was even more violent than the previous Mosquito-Powered Mecha. Beneath its body of over a hundred meters, a hundred giant arms grew out. Every punch and palm from each arm emitted power that far exceeded the Foundation Establishment Stage.

With the help of the Hidden Dragon Secret Technique, Zhao Qingquan had temporarily raised his cultivation to the Golden Core Initial Stage, but he was still ruthlessly devastated by this colossus. They suspected that the power of this colossus was already sufficient to compete on the Heavenly Pride Earth Ranking.

“It actually gives me a feeling of not wanting to face it…” In the audience stands, a Golden Core elder took a deep breath. One must know that he was at the Golden Core Middle Stage. Unlike Zhao Qingquan, who only had Golden Core magic power, he could actually perform a Golden Core Divine Ability, yet he still felt a sense of fear and a desire not to make an enemy of this colossus.

Many in the audience couldn’t help but lose their voices. No wonder Heavenly Secrets Pavilion claimed Lin Jing had the Luck to win the championship. Now that the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s Demon King True Body was right before their eyes, they speculated that even the number one Prodigy, Chen Chong, would find it very difficult to fight against.

“A True Body is a symbol of talent and potential among Yao Beasts, just like a God Physique among human Cultivators. No, it’s even rarer than an ordinary God Physique. It’s said its power is comparable to the boost of a Nascent Soul Dharma Idol. In this situation, it’s equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator manifesting a Nascent Soul Dharma Idol. Meanwhile, Zhao Qingquan is just a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who obtained Golden Core power but hasn’t yet acquired a Golden Core Divine Ability. How could he possibly be a match?”

“However, if it were just that, it would be fine. With its Foundation Establishment Initial Stage cultivation, it’s estimated it would be hard to control this True Body and would at most perform some crude attacks, which wouldn’t necessarily be without weaknesses. But what’s unimaginable is that its control over the True Body is actually so proficient. Those hundred-plus wooden arms—even if a Golden Core Wood Cultivator came, they definitely wouldn’t be able to control them so skillfully.”

“When unparalleled power is combined with the skill to control that power, that is the most terrifying state of a living being.”

The Cultivators on the scene were all shocked by the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s power and skill. Even some Nascent Soul Cultivators couldn’t help but feel surprised; it was hard to imagine this was power exerted by a Foundation Establishment Yao Beast.

“Hey, hey…”

Wang Xiao, the winner of the eighth group, took a deep breath, finding it hard to believe that a human-raised Pet Beast could reach such a level.

“This guy…” The Ten Thousand Poison Sect Disciple who had returned from the Cloud Sea Mountain Range frowned. Looking at the pine statue that seemed like a golden body, he doubted whether his poison arts could corrode this Buddhist Nature. He felt the probability was low, and moreover, this wood-like body didn’t look like something that could be poisoned.

As for Lin Jing, the Beast Master, he looked over again and didn’t believe he could directly attack Lin Jing under the protection of this colossus, especially since this Squirrel also knew space Spells.

“I temporarily cannot compete with it.” The strength of a Prodigy with the Five Elements Physique lies in being able to master Spells of all five elements, even allowing Spells of different attributes to combine into more powerful divine abilities. However, when he saw the power of the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s combination of wood and Buddhist arts, he instantly realized his own combined Spells were nothing more than that; they would likely be instantly obliterated under those thousands of punches and palms.

Unless his Five Elements Physique reached Major Achievement, allowing him to combine the five elements in a cycle of mutual generation, but that would be a long time from now.

For a moment, several great prodigies faced with the terrifying pet Lin Jing had summoned all felt like retreating. They didn’t know how to win and lacked the confidence to succeed. If it were a relatively small gap, no one would mind trying, but they asked themselves and knew they couldn’t suppress Zhao Qingquan and his Spring Source Physique as exaggeratedly as Lin Jing had. The disparity in strength between the two sides was too vast.

Never mind the others; even Mo Qianyi, the second-ranked Prodigy, was slightly stunned. She finally understood why Lin Jing had traded the mecha blueprints so casually. It turned out—that mecha wasn’t even that important to him.

This Squirrel was the most terrifying thing, worth ten thousand soldiers.

Mo Qianyi had the thought of giving it a try, but her gaze first turned to Chen Chong. She saw that the number one Prodigy’s eyes now had Dao traces flowing within them, filled with unexpected surprise and Battle Intent.

“There truly are countless talents in the world. Before this, I never thought a Beast Master could reach such a level. Fellow Daoist Lin, next, this Chen shall come to challenge you!”

Chen Chong’s body seemed unrestricted by gravity as he floated up and arrived above the arena. He did not land but instead remained at the same height as Lin Jing, suspended a hundred meters in the air, looking directly at Lin Jing!

The number one Prodigy, Chen Chong, has taken the stage to challenge!

The audience’s hearts raced. Thinking carefully, this situation was what they looked forward to the most. The biggest dark horse of the Heavenly Pride Battle versus Chen Chong, who had been in the number one position since cultivating a Spell Spirit and had never stepped down—these two would surely show a spectacular battle.

“I’ve long heard of your great name.” Lin Jing stood on the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s shoulder with a smile, hoping that after defeating this Chen Chong, no one else would come to challenge him.

However, he also didn’t know where Chen Chong’s limit was, or if he would need to bring out more of his trump cards to deal with him.

“Go!”

As soon as Chen Chong came up, he waved a single hand. In the next instant, a horizontal force of gravity immediately turned into a shockwave, sweeping toward the massive Pine Leaf Squirrel. In its Demon King True Body state, although the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s strength was greatly increased, its flexibility was severely restricted.

Facing Chen Chong’s attack, the Pine Leaf Squirrel could only continue to smash out Vajra Fist palms. People saw that under Chen Chong’s normally invincible gravity technique, the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s power wasn’t hindered in the slightest. Under the terrifying Buddhist fists, the horizontal gravity field was instantly and blurrily torn apart.

“So strong, this Squirrel is so strong! It actually completely ignored Chen Chong’s gravity technique!”

“Could it be—that the Innate Dao Body, known as the invincible Physique, has finally… No, that’s not right!”

Suddenly, seeing that his normal gravity technique was useless, a star-shaped illusory spirit began to emerge in the palm of Chen Chong’s hand. This spirit was yellow all over, accompanied by one white pattern after another. When Chen Chong summoned this spirit, there was a loud boom as if the sky had collapsed. The Pine Leaf Squirrel’s punching motion came to a sudden halt, and its entire massive body seemed fixed in place.

“Crack, crack, crack, crack!”

At this moment, even the wooden arms the Pine Leaf Squirrel was using to punch began to buckle under the pressure. Cracks appeared under the terrifying gravity, and they fell off the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s body. In an instant, all hundred arms were shattered.

“Is that a Spell Spirit?”

People looked at the spirit in Chen Chong’s hand.

Chen Chong had finally summoned his Spell Spirit. The power of the Spell Spirit shocked the audience.

This was just the Spell Spirit of an ordinary Gravity Spell, yet it had just restricted the Demon King True Body that had shocked everyone…

…and it had been restricted all at once.

With its arms falling off and its body unable to move, where was the invincible aura from just now?

“Is that all?” Chen Chong saw that the Pine Leaf Squirrel’s Demon King True Body was unable to move under the Spell Spirit. He shook his head and said, “It seems my Spell Spirit is still superior. However, being able to make me summon it, you can already be proud of yourself.”

“Hmm?” Just after finishing his sentence, Chen Chong was suddenly taken aback.