Chapter 484: The Secret Realm Opens (Three-in-One Chapter)

【Spirit Beast Name】: Black Dragon (Adult stage, Top-tier Exotic Beast)

【Spirit Beast Realm】: Lord Rank 1

【Spirit Beast Race】: Medium Monarch

【Spirit Beast Quality】: Superior Quality

【Spirit Beast Bloodline】: Ancestral Black Dragon (Sparse)

【Spirit Beast Attribute】: Water

【Spirit Beast Status】: Terrified

【Spirit Beast Weakness】: Earth

Liu Xudong's competing Demon Pet is an adult Black Dragon; judging by the data, this Black Dragon can only be considered unremarkable.

However, it is a Lord-rank Black Dragon after all. Although it will be hindered by its dragon wings, one would think its surfing speed would not be inferior to Li Changsheng's Giant Whale Kun, and would even surpass Ning Bizhen's Six-Armed Naga.

For Li Changsheng, this is undoubtedly a formidable rival.

What Li Changsheng needs to consider is how to utilize the rules to delay the Black Dragon during the competition, so that he and Ning Bizhen can secure the top two spots; if that is not possible, he must at least ensure first place.

After intense competition, the Group Stage came to an end, with a total of 100 contestants successfully advancing to the Finals.

The Finals will be held at two o'clock in the afternoon. The time in between is mainly left for the Demon Pets to adjust their state or prepare tactics, so as to be ready for the upcoming Finals.

For this final, the ones receiving the most attention are naturally Ning Bizhen, Li Changsheng, and Liu Xudong. Ning Bizhen is a Pseudo-King, Li Changsheng's Giant Whale Kun is too powerful, and Liu Xudong's Black Dragon is the only Lord-rank Demon Pet participating.

This is also why they have become the focus of other contestants' attention, and the three major favorites of this competition.

However, in terms of popularity, Liu Xudong faintly shows signs of surpassing the other two. Although the Giant Whale Kun and the Black Dragon are both Quasi-Gods, they do not know the accurate data for either, only that the latter has a higher realm.

When it neared two o'clock in the afternoon, the competition finally entered the final stage.

Similar to the Group Stage, yet with slight differences: besides the distance of the buoys being extended to 1,000 meters, a White Floating Ball has been added to the course. The Demon Pets must shoot at the floating ball with a ranged skill; only after hitting it can they continue forward, otherwise, even if they finish the course, their result will be treated as invalid.

This time, Li Changsheng's position is near the middle, and Liu Xudong is just over ten meters away from him.

This is a broad-shouldered and thick-waisted young man, looking to be about two meters tall. He appears quite robust, but his slightly effeminate eyes ruin his overall temperament.

When Li Changsheng looks at him, Liu Xudong seems to have a premonition and turns his head as well.

After seeing Li Changsheng, a meaningful smile appears on Liu Xudong's face, and he immediately draws his right hand across his neck, making a beheading gesture.

Regarding Li Changsheng's growth speed, Liu Xudong, as a Heavenly Pride, can be said to be extremely jealous, his heart filled with resentment.

Jealousy makes me undergo cytokinesis!

Most importantly, on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, how does Li Changsheng have the qualifications to be ranked above him?

Being stepped on by a Fourth-rank Demon Tamer is not a good feeling.

Li Changsheng's brows furrow slightly, and he naturally feels uncomfortable, but before he can respond, the referee's voice suddenly rings out: "On your marks, get set!"

This forces Li Changsheng to suppress the resentment in his heart and calmly stare straight at the Seven-Colored Energy Ball in front. As soon as the competition starts, he will charge at the fastest speed to fight for an advantageous position.

Just like Li Changsheng, everyone on the field concentrates their attention and prepares themselves.

Whoever reacts faster will be able to seize the initiative.

Unlike the Group Stage, a Seven-Colored Energy Ball is suspended in mid-air.

As soon as the Seven-Colored Energy Ball explodes, it will signify the start of the competition.

Boom—

Suddenly, the Seven-Colored Energy Ball shatters, turning into countless seven-colored beams of light, and disappears.

At this very moment, all the contestants scramble to steer their Water Attribute Demon Pets and launch a charge forward.

The Basalt Essence Blood has significantly increased his reaction speed, which results in Li Changsheng having the fastest reaction.

At the first moment, the Giant Whale Kun beneath Li Changsheng flicks its giant tail, and the moment it "flies" up, it is like a huge cannonball, instantly crossing a distance of over twenty meters. Whether it was intentional or a coincidence, Liu Xudong happens to be right below.

Although Liu Xudong's Black Dragon is fast, it is still in the starting phase, and its speed has not yet reached its maximum.

In this situation, Liu Xudong only feels a huge shadow descending and hurriedly signals the Black Dragon to take emergency evasive action.

Bang—

A thunderous sound of entering the water resounds, accompanied by a surging wave that rushes toward all directions.

Even though the Black Dragon successfully completes the evasion, it is ultimately too close and inevitably affected by the waves.

"Damn it!" Liu Xudong curses under his breath. After the Black Dragon beneath him stabilizes, he hurriedly moves forward at the fastest possible speed.

Because he was blocked by Li Changsheng, Liu Xudong directly loses his initial advantage and can only temporarily rank in the middle of the pack.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ning Bizhen and Shen Haofei land in the lead.

Among them, Ning Bizhen stands on the back of the Six-Armed Naga, and the Six-Armed Naga paddles with its six arms, racing forward like a dragon boat.

Shen Haofei stands on the tail of the Eight-Headed Snake. The Eight-Headed Snake uses its tail as the front to swim in the opposite direction, its eight heads swaying rapidly in the water, its speed not much slower than the Six-Armed Naga.

On the other side, the back of the Giant Whale Kun emerges from the water, its massive fish body swaying rapidly in the water, like an arrow released from a bow, landing ahead of Liu Xudong first.

The Giant Whale Kun has a massive body, and its tail can generate a large amount of undercurrents while swaying violently.

Under the surge of this undercurrent, the Black Dragon trailing behind is inevitably affected and is almost swept by the giant tail of the Giant Whale Kun.

Liu Xudong's eyes blaze with fire, subconsciously wanting to let the Black Dragon ram into it, but he extinguishes the thought.

In the Ancheng Surfing Competition, contestants are allowed to perform reasonable collisions.

However, although the Black Dragon is longer than the Giant Whale Kun, with that skin-and-bones appearance, its volume and weight are not in the same league as the Giant Whale Kun.

Liu Xudong naturally won't do something that is clearly a disadvantage.

Roar—

At this moment, the Black Dragon's head emerges from the water, opening its mouth to let out a Dragon Roar, its Dragon Might radiating unreservedly.

Under the Black Dragon's Dragon Might, many contestants' Demon Pets tremble all over, inevitably being affected.

The massive body of the Giant Whale Kun shakes slightly, but it is not affected much.

This is somewhat beyond Liu Xudong's expectations. In this situation, Liu Xudong has no choice but to direct the Black Dragon to shift direction, wanting to rush past from the other side.

Li Zhangsheng kept watching, and when the Black Dragon shifted, the Great Whale Kun beneath him also shifted, blocking the front of the Black Dragon once again.

"Brat, you're doing this to me on purpose!"

Liu Xudong's gnashing voice rang out as he continued to signal the Black Dragon to change direction; he did not believe that a majestic Leader-rank Black Dragon could not bypass a Leader-rank Great Whale Kun.

If it were an ordinary Great Whale Kun, it naturally would not last long, but Li Zhangsheng's was a top-grade Great Whale Kun; in terms of ability alone, it was completely no worse than the Leader-rank Black Dragon, and its speed and agility in the water even held a slight upper hand.

Even while constantly obstructing, the speed of the two Demon Pets remained very fast; in just a few breaths' time, they easily overtook most of the contestants.

At this moment, a White Floating Ball came into view.

The Great Whale Kun had no choice but to expose its head above the water, open its mouth, and spray a small Water Column, accurately hitting the floating ball.

"Jump!"

Taking advantage of this fleeting opportunity, Liu Xudong commanded the Black Dragon to leap and charge for the top.

The Black Dragon jumped high, tucking its dragon wings against its sides, and while leaping over the Great Whale Kun, it sprayed a water bullet the size of a human head, easily hitting the White Floating Ball.

As long as the floating ball is hit, it counts as passing.

To reduce unnecessary depletion, contestants basically all use the minimum consumption to achieve their goal.

Boom—

The Black Dragon landed in the seawater, kicking up a wave.

The Great Whale Kun was not affected much and continued to charge forward.

When the Black Dragon stabilized, the Great Whale Kun was already barely parallel to it.

"Great Whale Kun, ram it, fight for the inside lane!"

Taking this opportunity, Li Zhangsheng issued the order to ram, wanting to occupy the more advantageous inside position.

While moving forward, the Great Whale Kun flicked its tail, and its massive body rammed toward the Black Dragon on the left.

Boom—

The Black Dragon was unable to dodge in time and collided with the Great Whale Kun.

Liu Xudong felt a moment of instability; feeling the vibration coming from the Black Dragon beneath him, he knew that the Black Dragon had already fallen into a disadvantage in the collision, but it held on tightly and did not lose its position.

At this moment, the Great Whale Kun rammed into it again.

"Damn it!"

Liu Xudong was extremely aggrieved but helpless; the Great Whale Kun's size advantage was too great. If they collided again, the Black Dragon might be knocked over directly, and he would not know how much distance he would lose by then.

Acting on the principle that a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him, Liu Xudong had to let the Black Dragon slow down, voluntarily yielding the inside position to Li Zhangsheng.

But just like that, it turned into a scene exactly the same as before; the Black Dragon was once again trailing behind the Great Whale Kun, and even if it used all its strength, it was difficult to overtake from the side.

Soon, a buoy appeared ahead.

Liu Xudong stared fixedly at the buoy, because that might become his chance to overtake the Great Whale Kun.

The Great Whale Kun swung its giant tail, wanting to bypass the buoy.

"Ram it!"

Just at this moment, the Black Dragon took the initiative to ram it, colliding with the fish tail of the Great Whale Kun.

Under the effect of this force, the Great Whale Kun's movement shifted, and it could not help but advance a bit further forward.

The Black Dragon, which had its head slapped by the giant tail, was not much better off; it only felt as if its head had been struck by a battering ram, and its entire head was dizzy.

However, under Liu Xudong's command, the Black Dragon still completed the turn a step earlier and charged toward the direction of the finish line.

The Great Whale Kun completed the turn afterward, with less than ten meters of distance from the Black Dragon.

"Great Whale Kun, Surfing!"

Due to the turn, the Black Dragon's speed had not yet reached its limit; this was also the best time for the Great Whale Kun to overtake it again.

In an instant, a giant wave over ten meters high took shape, lifting the Great Whale Kun directly, causing the Great Whale Kun's swimming speed to accelerate sharply, charging straight toward the Black Dragon in front.

Liu Xudong naturally noticed such a big commotion; if the Black Dragon were hit by the Great Whale Kun, it would likely be greatly affected.

Having no other choice, Liu Xudong could only let the Black Dragon move out of the way, watching helplessly as the Great Whale Kun completed an overtake again and pulled away a distance of more than ten meters from the Black Dragon in one go.

Even if the Black Dragon started to accelerate, it still had no trend of catching up to the Great Whale Kun; after all, it did not live in the water all year round like the Great Whale Kun, which also made its means in the water relatively scarce.

"Faster!"

Liu Xudong wanted the Black Dragon to continue to increase its speed, but unfortunately, the Black Dragon was nearing its limit and could not go faster even if it wanted to. This result directly led to the distance between the two sides remaining at more than ten meters.

After catching up to and passing Liu Xudong, the Great Whale Kun continued to move forward, starting to slowly close the distance with Ning Bizhen and Shen Haofei.

At this time, Ning Bizhen was in the lead, with only five or six meters of distance from Shen Haofei.

The Eight-Headed Snake was Shen Haofei's trump card; in terms of strength, it was naturally far superior to the Six-Armed Naga, but unfortunately, this was a Surfing Tournament.

The Eight-Headed Snake only had one head with the Water Attribute, making it even more awkward underwater than the Black Dragon, which directly led to the Eight-Headed Snake being significantly affected; this was also the main reason why the Six-Armed Naga could still hold a slight upper hand.

It was precisely because of the friction between Li Zhangsheng and Liu Xudong that Ning Bizhen and Shen Haofei were able to stay in the lead.

Li Zhangsheng and Shen Haofei had a distance of about thirty meters; with the speed of the Great Whale Kun, there was a great chance to complete an overtake.

But just like this, the suspense of the championship became very high; theoretically, all four had the possibility of winning the championship.

Li Zhangsheng kept watching the movements of the three, quietly waiting for the final moment of the charge.

The more critical the moment, the more one must calm down; otherwise, one moment of carelessness could lead to missing out on the championship.

Under these circumstances, the distance between Li Zhangsheng and Ning Bizhen and Shen Haofei was constantly closing.

Liu Xudong, who was trailing at the back, also followed Li Zhangsheng closely, just like a black mamba, ready to launch a fatal strike at any time.

When they were three or four hundred meters from the finish line, seeing Li Zhangsheng constantly closing in, Shen Haofei felt anxious and immediately commanded the Eight-Headed Snake to launch an Ice Ray.

The Eight-Headed Snake turned its direction instantly, and its ice-attribute head sprayed a large amount of ice-blue rays toward the front.

In the blink of an eye, an extremely flat Ice Crystal Channel had condensed on the sea surface ahead, a full hundred meters in length.

At this moment, the Great Whale Kun completed the overtake.

The Eight-Headed Snake immediately turned and jumped onto the Ice Crystal Channel; with its eight heads landing on the Ice Crystal Channel, under the huge reaction force, it was as if ice skating, and the Eight-Headed Snake slid rapidly across the Ice Crystal Channel, rushing past at an extremely fast speed.

In the blink of an eye, the Eight-Headed Snake overtook the Giant Whale Kun.

Splash—

Suddenly, the Six-Armed Naga in the lead veered off course and slammed hard into the Ice Crystal Channel, smashing a huge gap directly into it.

Before the Eight-Headed Snake could crash into it, the Six-Armed Naga had already left the gap.

The Eight-Headed Snake could not react in time and became stuck directly in the gap.

By the time the Eight-Headed Snake broke free from the gap, Li Changsheng and Liu Xudong had already completed their overtake and opened up a distance of several dozen meters from Shen Haofei.

"Ginger is indeed spicier when it's old!"

Shen Haofei was speechless; he had not expected Bizhen to do such a thing, knowing that the consequence of this would be for Bizhen to lose the advantage she had worked so hard to accumulate.

However, when Shen Haofei saw the scene ahead, he felt quite surprised again, because the one in the lead was still Bizhen.

Li Changsheng trailed behind Bizhen, using precise positioning to block Liu Xudong firmly, not giving the latter any chance to overtake.

In this way, the speed of the Giant Whale Kun and the Black Dragon dropped by a tier, putting them on the same level as Bizhen's Six-Armed Naga.

Liu Xudong was furious at his own incompetence; he used every trick in the book but still could not seize a favorable position, essentially just following behind Li Changsheng eating dust.

Seeing this scene, Shen Haofei finally realized; no wonder Bizhen had the Six-Armed Naga crash into the Ice Crystal Channel—it turned out she and Li Changsheng were completely in cahoots.

It was just that the relationship between the two was even 'deeper' than Shen Haofei had guessed.

After half a minute passed, Li Changsheng and Bizhen exchanged a glance, both signaling their respective Demon Pets to execute the Surfing skill.

With the two Demon Pets working together, a monstrous wave instantly took shape, lifting the two Demon Pets; for a moment, the speed of the two Demon Pets surged, sweeping toward the finish line a hundred meters away.

Liu Xudong, trailing behind, could only command the Black Dragon to give its all, but looking at the ever-widening gap between them, he felt a sense of despair, because the Black Dragon had no skill for accelerating on the sea.

Within the span of two or three breaths, the finish line was right ahead; Li Changsheng was on the left, Bizhen was on the right, and the gap between the two Demon Pets could be said to be extremely minuscule.

During this process, the two exchanged a glance, both seeing smiles in each other's eyes.

Just as they were three or four meters from the finish line, the Six-Armed Naga suddenly slowed by half a beat, causing the Giant Whale Kun to win by a hair's breadth.

In this way, Li Changsheng took the championship, and Bizhen became the runner-up.

Following the two, a livid-faced Liu Xudong arrived, followed immediately by Shen Haofei.

"You, oh you, there was no need to let me win like that."

Li Changsheng looked at Bizhen, unable to laugh or cry; how could he not know that it was Bizhen who had intentionally conceded at the final moment.

"It's the same whoever wins."

Bizhen smiled very happily, then went with Li Changsheng to the simple, temporarily erected podium.

Li Changsheng received a three-foot-long wooden box, a blue Academy Medal with a surfing emblem, and five thousand Merit points were directly credited to Li Changsheng's Identity Token.

During the award ceremony, Liu Xudong remained livid and silent, staring fiercely at Li Changsheng before leaving; if not for Li Changsheng, with his level, he could have at least secured second and aimed for first, and would not have ended up in third place.

Shen Haofei came before Li Changsheng and said, "Sigh, in the end, I only won a voucher. Brother Li, if we meet next time, I will definitely give it my all!"

Li Changsheng shrugged and teased in response, "As if you didn't give it your all this time!"

"I have to go, but I still want to wish you both success in entering the National Tournament in advance."

"Same to you!"

After Shen Haofei left, Li Changsheng and Bizhen returned to the hotel where they were staying.

Li Changsheng opened the long jade box; inside was a two-foot-long bamboo segment, pale purple all over, with wisps of golden electricity occasionally appearing on the surface.

This was the Warding Evil Golden Bamboo; to be precise, just one segment of Warding Evil Golden Bamboo.

If it were a whole stalk of Warding Evil Golden Bamboo, the value would likely be in the hundreds of thousands, and the Ancheng City Lord naturally could not be that generous.

However, even with just one segment, the value was still around thirty thousand.

Warding Evil Golden Bamboo has a certain chance to comprehend Warding Evil Golden Thunder, and the chance of comprehension is related to the Demon Pet's own aptitude.

Since Bizhen did not have a Thunder Attribute Demon Pet, this Warding Evil Golden Bamboo was naturally absorbed by Li Changsheng's Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast.

With the excellence of the Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast, even with only one segment of Warding Evil Golden Bamboo, there was likely a significant chance of comprehending Warding Evil Golden Thunder.

In the hotel backyard, Li Changsheng summoned the Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast and handed this segment of Warding Evil Golden Bamboo to it to absorb.

As if it had smelled a delicacy, the Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast's eyes lit up, and it immediately opened its mouth to spray a silver-and-purple lightning ball, wrapping the Warding Evil Golden Bamboo inside.

Crackle—

Under the wrapping of the lightning ball, the Warding Evil Golden Bamboo was annihilated inch by inch; compared to before, the lightning ball now contained a large amount of golden electricity, and the three colors of electricity seemed distinct, with no signs of conflict or fusion yet.

The Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast swallowed the lightning ball in one gulp, and before long, three colors of electricity appeared on its body surface.

Li Changsheng kept his attention on the changes in the Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast; as time slowly passed, the golden and silver electricity began to produce a fusion phenomenon.

To be precise, the golden electricity began to merge into the silver electricity.

However, it was not merging into all the silver electricity, but rather into a cluster of silver electricity.

Under continuous fusion, this cluster of silver electricity turned pale gold, a color weaker than the previous golden electricity.

The amount of Warding Evil Golden Thunder was still too small; for the Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast to convert all the silver electricity into Warding Evil Golden Thunder, it would require quite a bit of time.

Not until then was all the electricity retracted; the Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast stood up from the ground and stretched forcefully, giving the impression that it had just been sleeping.

【Spirit Beast Name】: Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast (Growth Stage, Top-tier Exotic Beast, comprehended the true meaning of Warding Evil Golden Thunder, slightly enhances the Paralysis effect of Thunder Attribute skills, significantly enhances damage against Darkness-type Demon Pets.)

【Spirit Beast Realm】: Leader Level 2

【Spirit Beast Race】: High-Level Monarch

【Spirit Beast Quality】: Top-grade

【Spirit Beast Bloodline】: Purple Firmament Qilin (Rich)

【Spirit Beast Attribute】: Thunder Attribute

【Spirit Beast Status】: Healthy

【Spirit Beast Weakness】: Ice

Seeing that it had comprehended Warding Evil Golden Thunder, Li Changsheng smiled; in this way, he could send the Ancestral Leopard-Lin Beast to deal with Darkness-type Demon Pets in the future, and he believed it could catch the opponent off guard.

Chirp~

Suddenly, a blue bird soaring through the sky landed in front of the two, letting out a pleasant, melodious cry toward them.

This blue bird was one zhang tall and looked quite extraordinary, faintly exuding the aura of a Lord-rank creature; there was also a Contract Mark left on its forehead, and as its Bird Beak opened, a Sound Recording Stone dropped out.

"This is the Principal's blue bird; he usually sends it to deliver messages when there is an emergency."

As Ning Bizhen spoke, she beckoned with her right hand, and the Sound Recording Stone hovered in front of the two.

Li Zhangsheng activated the Prohibition Hub, and a yellow and blue light screen expanded to avoid the possibility of being spied on by petty people.

After inputting a wisp of Mental Power, Xu Wenhua's voice came from the Sound Recording Stone.

Simply put, the Secret Realm the Liu Clan wanted to find had already been found by the Liu Clan first, but unfortunately, the commotion caused by the opening of this Secret Realm was too great, which was how Xu Wenhua discovered it in time; at the same time, some surrounding forces were also attracted, and Xu Wenhua hoped the two would return as soon as possible.

Because it was discovered by many forces and stopped in time by Xu Wenhua, the Langya Liu Clan did not have time to explore the Secret Realm before being blocked outside the Secret Realm by many Stronger individuals.

"Let's go back!"

"Mm!"

This matter was of great importance, so even though it was already past dusk, Li Zhangsheng and Ning Bizhen still set off at the fastest speed.

In order to return as quickly as possible, the two rode the Three-Legged Fire Crow together and charged toward the location of the Secret Realm.

Today's goal: three, pig????, verify!

(End of this chapter)