Chapter 59: Life is like a play, it all depends on acting

Li Jianren had a mind to concede, but he was afraid of being looked down upon, especially since his grandfather was a Clan Elder; if he were to lose without a fight, he feared his grandfather might even have the urge to beat him to death.

Under these circumstances, Li Jianren dismissed the idea of conceding and braced himself to face the battle.

"Changsheng, friendship first, competition second!" Li Jianren suddenly said before the fight began, secretly winking at Li Zhangsheng.

His thinking was simple: he hoped Li Zhangsheng would show mercy and not hit him to death; if his Demon Pet suffered heavy injuries, it would be very disadvantageous for the subsequent matches.

Since he could not enter the Finals, he would try his best to strive for a good ranking; even if both stopped at the semi-finals, there was still a gap between the Academy recommendation spots for 5th to 8th place.

"Hmm!" How could Li Zhangsheng not know Li Jianren's thoughts? He didn't mind doing such a favor again.

The Internal Affairs Elder frowned slightly upon seeing this, but he didn't say much and signaled for the match to begin.

Immediately, both summoned their Demon Pets; Li Zhangsheng chose the Paradise Bird again, while Li Jianren chose the Earth Wolf.

Like the Flame Wolf and Wind Wolf, the Earth Wolf was also a Medium Servant Species beast-type Demon Pet, only it possessed the Earth Element.

"Paradise Bird, Light Arrow!" Li Zhangsheng commanded the Paradise Bird, choosing to strike first.

Chirp~

In the sky, accompanied by a loud cry, the Paradise Bird shone brilliantly, like a small Sun Banner; blinding radiance quickly gathered, turning into several light arrows a few inches long, shooting toward the Earth Wolf below.

"Earth Wolf, Solid Shield!"

Li Jianren did not sit and wait for death; under his command, the Earth Wolf condensed Earth Element energy, and a yellowish-brown circular shield formed, enveloping the Earth Wolf.

Pfft pfft pfft pfft~ Clatter~

In an instant, the light arrows and the Solid Shield collided; at the moment of contact, the Solid Shield rippled intensely and then shattered with a boom, as the intensity of the Light Arrow clearly exceeded the defensive range of the Solid Shield.

Under the Earth Wolf's terrified gaze, the Light Arrows slowed slightly, leaving several wounds on the Earth Wolf's body.

Because the Solid Shield had offset some of the damage, these wounds were not deep, but under the absolute gap in strength, the Earth Wolf still suffered non-trivial injuries.

Just as the Earth Wolf was preparing to continue the fight, Li Jianren hurriedly activated a Mental Connection to convey his thoughts to the Earth Wolf.

Mental Connection consumes a large amount of Mental Power and allows a Demon Pet to receive the Monster Tamer's thoughts; the stronger the Demon Pet, the more Mental Power the Monster Tamer consumes.

Therefore, few Monster Tamers use Mental Connection in battle; after all, compared to Mental Connection, Mental Secret Techniques are clearly more cost-effective.

After receiving Li Jianren's thoughts, the Earth Wolf rolled its eyes in a human-like manner, then feigned dizziness, acting like a drunkard, and finally... tumbled out of the arena.

With a 'thump', the Earth Wolf fell out of the arena.

According to the competition rules, leaving the arena or being knocked out of the arena is considered a concession.

"Ahem!" Seeing this result, the Internal Affairs Elder couldn't help but cough, but he didn't say anything and signaled for Li Jianren to change his Demon Pet.

After recalling the Earth Wolf, Li Jianren switched to releasing the Wind Wolf; this guy seemed to have a special hobby for wolf-type Spirit Beasts, as all the ones he contracted were wolf-type, making him practically a wolf enthusiast.

"Paradise Bird, Peck!" Li Zhangsheng did not use high-level skills, as the power of high-level skills was greater and could very likely severely injure the Wind Wolf, or even kill it if it hit a vital point.

In the sky, the Paradise Bird tucked in its wings and dove down; its sharp Bird Beak flashed with a cold glint, appearing above the Wind Wolf in the blink of an eye to peck at the Wind Wolf's head.

"Wind Wolf, Iron Head Skill!"

Wolf-type Spirit Beasts have the characteristic of having copper heads, iron bones, and tofu waists; their hardest part is their head.

Under Li Jianren's command, the Wind Wolf raised its head and jumped up with force, colliding with the Paradise Bird's Bird Beak.

Bang~

Accompanied by a muffled sound, under the immense force, the Wind Wolf's limbs went soft, and it collapsed directly onto the ground, its head dripping with blood, deep enough to see bone.

Just like last time, Li Jianren activated the Mental Connection again, which drained most of his Mental Power; his face was slightly pale, and his head felt dizzy.

Unlike last time, the Wind Wolf did not fall out of the arena, but rolled its eyes, tilted its head, and lay on the ground motionless.

"The Wind Wolf has lost the ability to fight!" The Internal Affairs Elder was very helpless; with his discernment and experience, he could naturally see that the Wind Wolf still had the ability to fight, but he couldn't expose it; he knew very well that he couldn't wake up a Wind Wolf that was 'playing dead'.

After the Internal Affairs Elder announced it, Li Jianren left the last spot for the Flame Wolf, which was also his strongest Demon Pet.

"Flame Wolf, use Fireball!" This time, Li Jianren launched the attack first.

On the Arena, the Flame Wolf raised its head, opened its mouth, and countless fire-red light spots gathered, eventually turning into a fireball the size of a human head, smashing toward the Paradise Bird.

"Paradise Bird, Holy Light Judgment, sweep it out of the arena!" Because the Flame Wolf was stronger and had better resistance to damage, Li Zhangsheng, having no more worries, resolutely chose a high-level skill.

Chirp~

In the sky, a loud cry rang out; under the Paradise Bird's concentration, a bright pillar of light quickly formed and instantly collided with the fireball.

Boom~

After a brief stalemate, the fireball could no longer hold, exploding with a boom and dissipating into countless sparks; even so, it still did not completely offset the pillar of light.

After offsetting the fireball, the pillar of light continued to descend, eventually engulfing the Flame Wolf.

Bang~

During this process, the Paradise Bird tilted its head slightly, using the impact force attached to the pillar of light to forcefully sweep the Flame Wolf out of the arena.

"In this match, Li Zhangsheng wins!" When announcing the result, the Internal Affairs Elder looked deeply at the two of them.

After defeating Li Jianren, Li Zhangsheng successfully advanced to the Finals.

Clatter clatter~

Li Zhangsheng won strongly, so naturally many clansmen cheered for him; the Paradise Bird defeated its opponent in one move, and especially since it was only Li Zhangsheng's Temporary Spirit Pet, this also filled Li Zhangsheng with a sense of mystery.

In the contestant seating area, Li Tianyu, Li Jingyi, and Li Runfeng looked solemn; the strength Li Zhangsheng displayed made them feel pressure. This was only a Temporary Spirit Pet; if it were a contracted Demon Pet, the strength would likely be even greater.

After finishing his own match, Li Zhangsheng did not leave, but continued to sit in his seat, observing the strength of others.

A lion hunting a rabbit still uses its full strength, let alone the fact that they were not rabbits!

Organized by the Internal Affairs Elder, the semi-finals ended shortly after; without any surprises, the four seeded contestants remained at the end.

Just like Li Zhangsheng, Li Tianyu and Li Jingyi also won their victories easily with the posture of autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves.

Only Li Runfeng was different; this guy continued to play the pig to eat the tiger, deliberately showing weakness to the enemy, and finally won the victory with a narrow advantage.

(End of chapter)