The Master of Beasts

"Brother Chen, was that your former little sidekick?" Zhao Xiaotang could hardly believe it. Was this little sidekick really that strong?

Chen Jiuge now only felt his mind was a mess; was he dreaming?!!!

Da Bai, his eyes radiating the glow of Spirit Stones, paced back and forth inside the contestant's lounge, counting the Spirit Stones he had acquired.

"Stop counting. Counting more won't make them multiply," Ao Li said with some disdain.

"Hahaha! See? Didn't I tell you? Listening to me is never wrong! Honestly earning Spirit Stones through Artifact Refining? How long would that take me, and it's not even certain if I could sell them," Da Bai laughed wildly.

Ao Li and Li Kui found Da Bai's words quite reasonable; otherwise, the two beasts wouldn't have followed him here.

"Really?" The door was kicked open by Chen Jiuge.

Seeing the mound of Spirit Stones almost drowning Da Bai, Chen Jiuge revealed an 'I knew it' expression.

"Mas... Master???" Da Bai first appeared terrified, then seemed to recall something. "Master, are you also here to earn Spirit Stones?"

"I'm telling you, earning Spirit Stones here is as easy as picking them up..."

Watching Da Bai, whose little mouth wouldn't stop chattering, Chen Jiuge interrupted, "Just tell me what you know about this place."

Da Bai faltered, then adjusted his attitude. "First, we have to take a test. Only after passing the test can one become a contestant."

"After becoming a contestant, we initially have a lot of battles—pretty much all the time. After ten consecutive wins, we advance to an intermediate contestant."

"I don't know what happens after that; we haven't completed ten battles yet."

Chen Jiuge initially wanted to scold Da Bai for learning bad habits, but it seemed there wasn't really anything wrong with Spiritual Beasts coming here since it could refine their physical bodies.

An hour later, amidst the meaningful glances from the supervising Spiritual Beast, Chen Jiuge decided to start the Beast King Arena competition early.

"The next contestant to enter is Jin Yuan, a middle-level contestant from the Golden Lion Clan!"

"And his opponent is a newcomer, but..." the commentator took a deep breath, "...this newcomer is said to be a Human Clan Cultivator chosen by Miss Miao Miao. He calls himself 'Qing Teng'!"

"What? Miss Miao Miao chose a Human Clan Cultivator too? How despicable!"

"Golden Lion, kill him!"

"Let him know this is the territory of the Beast Clan!"

"Now, let the battle begin!"

Chen Jiuge looked at the large lion before him and wondered, "Have we met before?"

Jin Yuan snorted through his nose, muttering, "Jin Cheng is my brother; you've met him."

"So you're that big lion's brother?" Chen Jiuge suddenly realized. No wonder he looked familiar.

While Chen Jiuge was recalling, Jin Yuan launched an unethical sneak attack. Chen Jiuge quickly retreated and said, "Little lion, you're dishonorable!"

The Beast King Arena competition allowed contestants to use their innate Divine Skills, and Cultivators could also use their Physical Body Divine Powers. So, "Dharma Manifestation!"

Seeing this, Jin Yuan also bulked up, but the difference between the two was still significant, considering Chen Jiuge had progressed considerably during this period.

Looking at Jin Yuan, who seemed like a tiny kitten in comparison, Chen Jiuge beckoned with a finger.

Provoked, Jin Yuan's body lit up. This was his unique Divine Skill, the Golden Light Shield, which could block attacks far exceeding his own defense.

Just hold on for a moment, and I'll show this Human Clan Cultivator how powerful I am, Jin Yuan thought to himself.

"CRACK!"

The sound of the Golden Light Shield breaking sent a tremor through Jin Yuan's body, followed by an immense pain, and then he lost consciousness.

「Rewind to before Chen Jiuge took the stage」

Da Bai quietly summoned a Maid from nearby. "The human going up next—all my Spirit Stones are on him to win."

"Alright." The Maid responded professionally, without showing any other expression.

"Wait, us too," Ao Li and Li Kui also appeared behind Da Bai.

"Hahaha, we're rich!" Da Bai laughed wildly again.

It wasn't until Chen Jiuge approached that Da Bai finally managed to suppress his laughter, though he couldn't quite keep his lips from curling up.

Having dealt with an opponent that hardly counted as one, Chen Jiuge then realized, Where is Yue Meng?

Da Bai pointed upwards. "Yue Meng is now the Alchemy Master here, residing in the VIP room."

"We can't enter unless we upgrade to top-level contestants."

I see, Chen Jiuge pondered.

Over the next ten days, Chen Jiuge and the Three Beasts began a merciless spree of domination. These so-called low-level and mid-level contestants were merely some slightly talented rare Spiritual Beasts. Although they were stronger than the Spiritual Beasts outside of Beast City, their capabilities were still quite limited.

「At the top level of the arena」

The actual overseer here was a Heavenly Immortal Realm Qiongqi, but this Qiongqi was different from others. Wang Hai only liked to puff on his cigar while enjoying the night view and casually watching the fools below peck at each other. Unlike his fellow species, he didn't become frantic at the sight of strangers or beasts and insist on an exhilarating battle.

"Old Bull, assign these four little guys directly to the battles for advanced contestants. A Fire Qilin, a Hou, an almost ancestral Flood Dragon, and a Cultivator with vitality no less than a Hou. Are they playing in the kiddie pool here?" Wang Hai said, shaking his cigar exasperatedly.

"Yes, sir."

The kiddie pool... speaking of which, I haven't finished watching that anime yet!

With that, Wang Hai pulled out a tablet and expertly opened a short video. This maneuver couldn't be so smooth without some practice.

"Next contestant, let me check..."

"WOW, WOW, WOW! It's none other than Feng Shanyang from the Phoenix Clan! He's a high-level contestant said to have top-level strength. However, he remained at this high level due to participating in too few competitions. Let's see who the unlucky fellow facing him is!" The big-headed frog-like commentator paused, somewhat astonished.

"Eh? It's the Human Clan Cultivator Qing Teng! Too bad. Just a few more victories and he could have won over a beauty from the Fox Clan. Unfortunately, he's now facing Feng Shanyang. Let's have a moment of silence for him."

As the big-headed frog announced, "Both contestants, please enter!"

First to enter was Chen Jiuge, as usual, utterly ordinary. However, compared to his usual self, his expression was much more serious.

Following him was Feng Shanyang from the Phoenix Clan. He entered!