A Card In Hand

Chapter 2: Greetings, Senior Expert!

There weren’t many war beasts in the lower realms that Li Ao could firmly remember.

For instance, there was one whose part was sealed in the deepest part of the God Annihilation Grounds beneath the Heavenly Wind Continent where Li Ao currently resided—a special existence coveted by the gods of heaven, yet none dared to scheme against it.

Previously, Li Ao had entertained the idea of challenging it, only to find himself severely outmatched.

Venturing into the God Annihilation Grounds was merely an invitation to be tormented.

After much struggle, he finally ignited the divine fire and ascended to the realm of gods, thinking the beast would be easy to capture.

However, he encountered another law in the God Annihilation Grounds.

Gods Forbidden!

Ah!

This had been a major regret in his past life!

In this lifetime, before igniting the divine fire and ascending to the realm of gods, he resolved to challenge it once more, to make up for the regrets of his previous life.

Of course, without sufficient strength, he might as well not dream about it.

The God Annihilation Grounds were more terrifying than many nightmare spaces in the heavenly realm.

Without a life-saving trick, going there was akin to delivering one’s head on a platter, seriously a foolish risk.

As Li Ao thought about this, he shook his head.

The God Annihilation Grounds could be set aside for now; there was no need to rush.

The Trial Grounds here housed the most powerful war beast, the Crimson-Eyed Flying Dragon, which he could not miss.

Speaking of the Crimson-Eyed Flying Dragon, it was impossible not to mention a person—that was Prince Jinxi of the Great Luo Dynasty, currently ranked thirteenth.

Prince Jinxi had been hailed as a super genius since childhood.

He was also a newcomer in this trial.

At sixteen.

Handsome and effortlessly debonair, he was the champion of the newcomer’s trial and truly a winner in life.

But what about Li Ao in his past life?

He had disastrously failed his first trial and nearly died in his second, barely surviving.

Later, even though his talent awakened after being tempered through countless trials, for the first ten years, Li Ao was consistently suppressed by Prince Jinxi, who wielded the ‘Flying Dragon Split Wind Spear,’ a silver-grade weapon, and struggled to break free.

They had met several times in the arena, and Li Ao had always been beaten to the bone by Prince Jinxi.

Fortunately, Li Ao possessed an extremely tenacious talent.

His Tempered Steel talent allowed him to rise from failure again and again, and with each resurgence, he grew stronger than before.

Finally, ten years later.

When they met again.

Even with divine weapons in hand, Prince Jinxi could no longer stop Li Ao’s rapid progress.

With effort and talent, Li Ao can utterly defeat Prince Jinxi.

Only at that moment.

He realized that this formidable rival, who could be considered the first major roadblock of his life, had high combat power but was merely a pseudo-genius relying on powerful war beasts and treasures.

His true talent and potential were not on the same level as Li Ao’s.

“The Flying Dragon Split Wind Spear, I remember it was like a nightmare during my rookie days!”

Li Ao, now a thousand-year-old monster, supported his chin with his finger, recalling memories long buried in dust: “Given Prince Jinxi’s current strength, it shouldn’t be possible for him to contract and transform the most powerful war beast of the Trial Grounds, the Crimson-Eyed Flying Dragon, into a weapon.”

Something was amiss!

A cunning light flickered in Li Ao’s eyes.

In this world, what could be more exhilarating than seizing the war beasts and treasures an enemy had prepared in advance?

Such a task shouldn’t be avoided even if it means creating difficulties!

Of course, before attempting to seize the treasure, he needed to test his own abilities.

Don’t accidentally burn the whiskers of the old cat.

Li Ao extended his hand.

He gently pressed it against the cave’s stone wall.

Where his palm touched, a light faintly flickered, like a fish slipping into water, and Li Ao’s entire arm effortlessly merged into the stone wall.

Stone Body Protection and Stone Walking were abilities Li Ao gained after contracting the Rock Giant.

Stone Body Protection: An invisible layer of earth-based essence enveloped the body of the Rock Giant’s contractee. When the master of the contract was attacked physically, the essence would turn into a stone skin for protection. The defensive effect of Stone Body Protection was equivalent to half of the war beast’s own defensive power. Before the external force broke the defense, non-essence attacks could not harm the body of the war beast’s master.

Stone Walking: The master of the Rock Giant could merge with the stone, entering the earth without affecting their vital form. The Rock Giant’s master could freely move through rock layers, and the harder the stone, the faster they could move.

Compared to Stone Body Protection, Li Ao preferred the ability of Stone Walking.

Li Ao withdrew his hand.

He lightly hopped on the ground.

Li Ao canceled his Stone Walking and repositioned his half-sunken feet back onto the solid ground.

Turning to look at the still fierce storm outside the cave, Li Ao pointed his finger gently at a floating purple card in mid-air.

A brilliant light erupted.

Threads of purple light flickered from the core of the light and vanished in an instant.

With a deafening roar, a six-meter-tall Rock Giant was rapidly summoned from the elemental realm to the material world of the Heavenly Wind Continent.

Compared to the Stone Giant, the Rock Giant not only had a dominating physical advantage but also bore a closer resemblance to humans.

The previous Stone Giant had only two large hammers for fists and was unbearably ugly.

Now, the Rock Giant, with fully formed fingers and distinct facial features on its square face, though these features were currently of no practical use.

“Walk forward, keep going.”

Li Ao pointed with his right hand.

Clarifying the direction.

He then used his Stone Walking ability to directly enter the body of the Rock Giant.

Outside, the storm was ravaging the entire trial ground, and the Rock Giant stepped forward tirelessly, advancing undaunted into the heart of the storm-ridden world.

Meanwhile, Li Ao lay comfortably on the layer of rock above the core of the Rock Giant’s essence energy.

And he slept soundly.

By the time he leisurely awoke, the Rock Giant had already crossed the outer layer of the Trial Grounds and entered the inner layer.

The Trial Grounds were divided into two parts.

The outer layer.

This was the area where newcomers and rookies undertook their trials.

Those who had previously failed the trial assessment and needed to retake it also performed tasks in this area.

The outer layer of the Trial Grounds spanned fifty kilometers wide, encompassing various terrains like mountains and lakes, encircling the inner layer.

The majority of creatures living in the outer layer were ordinary animals, with iron-ranked magical beasts occasionally visible, posing low danger.

The inner layer.
It was a circular area with a diameter of thirty kilometers.

Confident newcomers, if they felt the outer layer was too easy, could challenge themselves in the inner layer.

Completing hunting tasks in the inner layer would earn them extra points.

The inner layer of the Trial Grounds was considerably more challenging.

There was a saying, “Black Iron demonic beasts roamed freely, and Bronze demonic beasts were as common as dogs,” describing this very place.

“Prince Jinxi, as a newcomer, took down the Crimson-Eyed Flying Dragon in the inner layer of the Trial Grounds, a challenge that hadn’t been dared by anyone for over thirty years. Tsk tsk, such a sky-defying talent like him, it’s impossible not to admire him! Eh? It’s still some distance to our destination, I might as well go back to sleep!”

Li Ao peered out from the chest of the Stone Giant, noticed that although the storm had lessened, the rain was still falling heavily, and promptly decided to go back to sleep.

The Stone Giant crushed everything in its path as it moved forward.

The careless demonic beasts.

Were either flattened alive under its foot or sent flying with broken bones and tendons when it launched an attack.

The smarter demonic beasts temporarily vacated their territories.

After all, this giant was merely passing through, not here to seize their nests, so there was no need to fight to the death.

When Li Ao awoke again and stepped out from the Stone Giant, stretching leisurely.

The storm had cleared.

The clouds parted to reveal a streak of golden sunlight.

“The weather’s nice today, a great day for seizing treasures,” Li Ao observed, noticing several Black Iron level spotted hyenas peeking out from a distance.

Without the protection of a Bronze level Stone Giant by his side, these starving creatures would not hesitate to charge and feast.

Spotted hyenas? Black Iron level?

Li Ao simply ignored them.

He jumped onto the shoulder of the Stone Giant.

Settled down.

Crossed his legs.

And began to whistle nonchalantly.

About half an hour later, the Stone Giant arrived at a sheer cliff towering over a kilometer high.

“Stop.”

Li Ao seemed to have discovered something, paused to recall, then his eyes lit up.

He leapt down from the Stone Giant’s shoulder, landing lightly on the ground, and quickly approached a very ordinary-looking rock, smiling radiantly, “Hello, esteemed senior, could you please tell me which direction to go to find the Cliff of the Crimson-Eyed Flying Dragon?”

The rock remained silent.