Chapter 588: Superior Quality Sea King Snake, Mental Thorns (Second Update, seeking votes)

"The Tyrannosaurus has lost its ability to fight. Given that all three of contestant XX's Demon Pets have been defeated, this match is won by contestant Li Zhangsheng of Yuanling Academy! The loser shall exit the arena, and the winner, please wait at the contestant seating area!"

After a moment of stunned silence, the referee hurriedly announced the match results.

The Tyrannosaurus, which was also the freckled girl's final Demon Pet, was even more pathetic when facing the black dragon than her previous Elite Demon Pet.

There was no helping it; the Tyrannosaurus belonged to the Sub-Dragon species, and as soon as it felt the black dragon's Dragon Might, it was so terrified that it collapsed limply onto the ground.

Boom—

The freckled girl collapsed limply onto the ground, her eyes vacant; she truly could not accept such a result.

Among the Second Grade of Huating Academy, the freckled girl was one of the best, yet before Li Zhangsheng's black dragon had even made a move, all her Demon Pets had surrendered, not even possessing the courage to resist.

What was most devastating was that this black dragon was merely Li Zhangsheng's Temporary Spirit Pet.

Before dueling Li Zhangsheng, she had thought she might lose, had thought she might lose miserably, but she had never thought she would lose this miserably.

It wasn't just the freckled girl; everyone else present was also dumbfounded. They knew Li Zhangsheng was strong, but to be this strong was simply outrageous.

Whoosh, whoosh—

After a slight delay, the cheers from the audience finally rang out sparsely, followed immediately by thunderous applause, and they became even more expectant for tomorrow's grand finals.

Looking at the freckled girl collapsed on the ground, Li Zhangsheng silently retracted the black dragon; he had not expected such a thing to happen either.

In this situation, Li Zhangsheng could not offer words of comfort, so he could only shake his head and return to the contestant area at a steady pace.

Soon, other contestants from Huating Academy helped the freckled girl away.

After this match ended, the morale of the Yuanling Academy students soared, while the Huating Academy students were severely demoralized, terrified of encountering Li Zhangsheng and suffering the same fate as the freckled girl.

Not long after, the Second Grade matches were decided, and Zhao Shuyi, who had already advanced to the Fourth Rank, also defeated her opponent with relative ease.

On the other side, it ended in a narrow victory for Xu Xiangzhi.

Just like the First Grade, the Yuanling Academy Second Grade achieved a clean sweep once again.

When it came to the Third Grade, the situation became intense.

However, although the Third Grade of Yuanling Academy was somewhat unreliable, they still possessed strength, and especially with their morale high, they fought back and forth with the Huating Academy Third Grade, not falling behind at all.

Most importantly, the Huating Academy Third Grade did not have any Fourth Rank students.

By the time the Third Grade matches ended, only Wang Xinyi still had the strength to fight.

When it was time for the Fourth Grade to take the stage, the situation finally changed.

There was no helping it; Huating Academy possessed two Fourth Rankers, and both were Fourth Grade students.

Yuanling Academy's Fourth Grade only had Luo Jing as a Fourth Ranker, and even though their morale was high, they could not bridge the gap in strength between the two sides, and in the end, Huating Academy finally managed to pull one back.

However, Huating Academy was left with only one half-crippled Fourth Rank student.

This Huating Academy Fourth Rank student first narrowly defeated Qin Danxin, but in the end, was taken advantage of by Luo Xiaoman, leaving no chance for Li Zhangsheng to make another move.

Upon returning to the Yuanling Academy rest area, the high-level officials, Instructors, and students present cheered one after another, though the scene was not particularly fervent.

There was no helping it; Yuanling Academy was inherently stronger than Huating Academy, so victory was a very normal matter.

Following custom, the eunuch beside Emperor Dou Yuande arrived at the Yuanling Academy rest area carrying a tray.

"Principal Xu, congratulations to Yuanling Academy for advancing to the grand finals once again! These Advanced Secret Technique Certificates are the reward for this time; you may enter the Secret Technique Pavilion to select one Advanced Secret Technique!"

"Thank you for your trouble!"

Principal Xu did not show the slightest neglect, as this eunuch was also a Sixth-Rank Expert.

This time it was the reward for advancing to the grand finals; after the top four rankings were determined, another reward would be issued, along with the final individual awards.

In addition to the Advanced Secret Technique Certificates, Li Zhangsheng had also obtained an Imperial Beast Taming Technique Certificate and a Monster Voucher during the Group Stage.

Among them, the Imperial Beast Taming Technique Certificate allowed for the selection of one Intermediate Demon Taming Art, and Li Zhangsheng casually picked one that caught his eye.

As for the Monster Voucher, one could go to the Royal Outer Garden to contract a wild Spirit Beast.

Just like last year, Li Zhangsheng contracted a Superior Fairy again; this time it was a Sea King snake of the Warrior Species, which could be considered a not-insignificant gain.

Li Zhangsheng and the others did not leave the arena immediately; they began to observe the match between the Royal Academy and Tiandu Academy.

Because they were in the first match, the match between the Royal Academy and Tiandu Academy was naturally arranged for the second slot.

Just like last year, the Royal Academy achieved victory with a huge advantage, and even Dou Yuanhua and Dou Yuansheng clearly still had strength in reserve.

Of course, this was also related to the fact that Tiandu Academy did not fight to the death with the Royal Academy; otherwise, they would not have been so thoroughly defeated.

Because it was a one-sided match, this contest did not provide much reference for the people of Yuanling Academy.

"I will take everyone to the Imperial Secret Technique Building!"

After today's two matches ended, Li Zhangsheng once again led the participating students to the Imperial Secret Technique Building.

This place could be said to be one of the most important locations for the Imperial Family; its location was deeper than the Outer Treasury, and it was guarded year-round by multiple Sixth-Rank Experts, with security that was far from ordinary.

The Imperial Secret Technique Building had five floors, and the Advanced Secret Techniques were on the third floor.

Li Zhangsheng had always been curious: if the fourth floor housed Top-tier Secret Techniques, then what would be on the fifth floor?

Receiving Li Zhangsheng and the others was a Fifth-Rank eunuch, who, after Li Zhangsheng and the others presented their Advanced Secret Technique Certificates, led them to the third floor.

Like the family Secret Technique Pavilion, every floor was densely covered with Restrictions, though the intensity was much greater; Li Zhangsheng estimated that even a Demon Beast would find it very difficult to break the Restrictions here in one go.

"You have the time of one incense stick to make your selection!"

After the eunuch finished speaking, Li Zhangsheng and the others hurriedly began to pick through the third floor.

This was also Li Zhangsheng's second time coming to the third floor of the Imperial Secret Technique Building, so he could be considered familiar with the path.

In fact, he had already decided in his heart what kind of Secret Technique to choose.

He had mastered many Secret Techniques and possessed three Top-tier Secret Techniques, but they were all purely auxiliary in nature.

There were 8 Advanced Secret Techniques, which were Bloodthirsty Frenzy, Giantization, Illusion Wings, Mental Shock, Firm as a Rock, Bloodline Burning, Swift as Wind, and Doushuai Yuan Magnetic True Seed, each with its own wonderful uses.

Among the types of Advanced Secret Techniques, besides some extremely special Advanced Secret Techniques, Li Zhangsheng still lacked weakening-type Secret Techniques.

The third floor of the Secret Technique Pavilion contained a total of over one hundred Advanced Secret Techniques, among which there were only a few weakening-type Secret Techniques.

Li Zhangsheng picked and chose for a while, and finally selected the Mental Thorns Secret Technique.

Mental Thorns: Creates an area of invisible thorns; any creature that steps on them has its speed reduced by 30% and simultaneously suffers a certain degree of mental pressure. Note: The range and duration depend on the user's realm.

This Secret Technique is very useful; not only can it better utilize the speed advantages of Demon Pets like Aixi and Kailan, but it can also effectively increase the hit rate of large Demon Pets like Adai and Yuangungun.

Very quickly, Li Changsheng completed the registration.

"Without the permission of the Imperial Family, you are not allowed to spread the Secret Techniques here privately; otherwise, you will bear the consequences yourself!"

Under the warning of the Sixth-Rank Expert, Li Changsheng obtained an Inheritance Jade Slip recording Mental Thorns.

Li Changsheng waited specifically for a while, and after everyone had gathered, he led them back to the Reception.

However, Li Changsheng did not return to his residence immediately; instead, he went to the small bamboo forest near the courtyard and waited patiently.

Not long after waiting, Zu Yu, wearing the third-year student uniform of Yecheng Academy, walked in.

Compared to last year, Zu Yu's strength had improved significantly, and he was also the only Fourth Rank student at Yecheng Academy.

If it weren't for Zu Yu turning the tide, Yecheng Academy would likely not have even been able to secure a spot in the top eight this year.

The person Li Changsheng was waiting for was Zu Yu; after making his decision last time, he had contacted Zu Yu.

"Brother Zu, how did it go?"

Zu Yu cupped his hands and said, "It is naturally my honor that Brother Li is willing to cooperate with me! However, Brother Li should also know that my status in the Zu Clan is not as high as Tian Jingling's status in the Tian Clan, so the supply of Moon Elf corpses I can provide is relatively limited!"

"Brother Zu is too modest!" Li Changsheng said politely, then asked, "By the way, how much time is needed to prepare the first batch of goods?"

"Give me one month!"

Although Li Changsheng was anxious to have a batch of Moon Elf corpses, he also understood that it was difficult to have a large amount of stock immediately, even for someone like Tian Jingling.

"This is the deposit; then I will trouble Brother Zu."

In order to increase Zu Yu's 'work enthusiasm,' Li Changsheng handed a small bag to Zu Yu.

"It's mutual benefit, after all; besides, Brother Li offers a high price, so I can also make a good profit!"

Looking at the crystal-clear Soul Crystals in the bag, Zu Yu revealed a satisfied smile.

At this moment, Zu Yu took out an object and said, "By the way, Brother Li, I am willing to trade this Wood Element Crystal for your Fire Element Crystal."

After Li Changsheng took the initiative to contact him, Zu Yu had been eyeing this Fire Element Crystal.

For an ordinary Monster Tamer, a Fire Element Crystal is not important, but for Zu Yu, who possesses a Flame Elf, it is exceptionally important, especially since the Flame Elf is his Life-Bound Demon Pet.

Although this Fire Element Crystal was a bit small in size and could not make his Flame Elf advance further, as long as he collected one or two more, there would be hope for evolution.

The Wood Element Crystal in Zu Yu's hand was also the size of an infant's fist, almost the same as Li Changsheng's.

"Deal!"

Without hesitation, the two chose to exchange.

In this way, Li Changsheng possessed three Wood Element Crystals, though they were all very small; added together, they were only slightly larger than an adult's fist, and even counting the one in Dou Yuanhua's hand, it would be very difficult to make Kailan's Elemental Power sublimate again.

"I will wish Brother Li success in everything tomorrow in advance!"

"I'll take your kind words!"

After obtaining what he wanted, Li Changsheng and Zu Yu chatted casually for a few sentences before returning to their respective residences.

(End of this chapter)