The King Battle Begins

Today was the final day of the elimination rounds. Xiao Chen wanted to see which strange beasts would emerge victorious. The battles between holy beasts and dragon kings were fierce, and he had not expected to encounter that extraordinary little white tiger. It would surely be a formidable opponent for the Little Defiant Dragon.

The battles that followed were without suspense. The little white tiger did not unleash a single divine light from a holy beast; it relied entirely on inherited ancient battle techniques to destroy several quasi-beast kings. Its attacks were swift and left no survivors, earning it the name 'Life Terminator.'

No one dared to send any more beasts into the arena. Sending in other young beasts would have been nothing less than a death sentence.

The unremarkable little white tiger had brought the battles of the Primordial Arena to an end.

Xiao Chen left and headed directly to the Xuanhuang Arena to check on the situation there.

The Xuanhuang Arena was no less grand than the Primordial Arena. Hall after hall of magnificent buildings were adorned with massive crystal walls. The women who moved through the halls were either charming or pure, and fine wine and delicious delicacies were everywhere—it hardly seemed like a beast-fighting arena at all.

Once inside, Xiao Chen mingled with the crowd, watching the beast battles from one of the thousands of open seats.

It must be said that the appearance of the dragon kings had greatly influenced this beast-fighting tournament. Many people had brought rare beasts to compete, hoping to temper their own fighters.

On the stage, a Lion King Beast was utterly dominant. It fought three matches, tearing its opponents apart within three to five exchanges each time, winning by absolute superiority.

It was a small lion as if cast from pure gold, its entire body gleaming, as though flames were dancing over its fur. It had three identical heads, all imposing and majestic. Although it was only a little over a meter long, its stillness exuded an overwhelming, unimaginable pressure.

Its most unique feature was a third eye on the forehead of each head. When those vertical eyes opened and closed, the golden light within pierced the eye, seeming to contain terrifying, unimaginable power.

Another extraordinary beast! Xiao Chen was now certain that this golden lion king could be directly classified as a beast king.

Indeed, on this final day, the powerful Golden Lion King ended the battles at the Xuanhuang Arena. With it crouching there, no one dared to send any more beasts into the ring. It was too fierce and savage—once it struck, there were no survivors.

Xiao Chen left and hurried toward the Beast King Arena, the pride and joy built by the Mande family over several generations.

Originally, Heavenly Emperor City had four beast-fighting arenas. The Ligen family once controlled the 'Heavenly Emperor Beast-Fighting Arena,' a name that was audacious in the extreme. But it was annihilated decades ago. The reason was that during that period, they came into conflict with a youth who claimed to be from the depths of the Southern Wastes.

That youth's cultivation was terrifyingly high. He defeated nearly all the young generation of Heavenly Emperor City and nearly slapped a young master of the Ligen family to death. This caused the older generation of the Ligen family to act, nearly crippling the youth from the Southern Wastes.

But this brought about a great disaster. In a single night, a black wind swept through all of Heavenly Emperor City. The Ligen family's elder shattered in an instant, and together with their 'Heavenly Emperor Beast-Fighting Arena,' turned to ashes overnight.

At that time, that arena housed three fully grown holy beasts, powerful enough to force back Nirvana realm cultivators—their strength was unimaginable! But when the black wind passed, nothing remained. When morning came, only a pile of ruins was left.

For decades, the Ligen family had been trying to rebuild the arena. Now, they had the strength to rise again, but they were still short a few holy beasts to serve as the foundation of the arena.

Xiao Chen quickly arrived at the Mande family's Beast King Arena. The place was in an uproar, occasionally punctuated by bursts of laughter.

He understood why as soon as he entered. On the beast-fighting platform, a black turtle the size of a washbasin was craning its neck and looking around, its expression comical.

Xiao Chen felt a bit dizzy. How could even an old turtle be sent to compete?

But from the crowd's chatter, he learned the situation. This turtle came from the northern lands. Its owner had provided documentation proving that the black turtle was only five years old—not as old as it seemed. Most importantly, its combat power was exceptionally formidable.

At that moment, a white jade spirit rhinoceros took the stage. Its entire body was translucent like jade, shimmering with a radiant light. Its horn released a bolt of lightning directly at the black turtle.

Whoosh! The black turtle's speed left everyone stunned. It flickered and vanished, then slammed down onto the white jade spirit rhinoceros's back with a smack, breaking its bones and tendons. Though the rhino didn't die on the spot, it could no longer fight.

The toughness of the white jade spirit rhinoceros was well known. It was said that even divine weapons and sharp blades could hardly injure it. Yet the black turtle had crushed it—no wonder the crowd exclaimed.

In the next match, a fierce ape charged onto the stage. It was two meters tall, covered in blood-red fur that shimmered with a chilling light. It could spit bolts of lightning from its mouth, putting it at the level of a quasi-beast king.

But the black turtle's performance was astonishing. It moved with incredible speed, leaping into the air and slapping the blood-red ape's chest, caving it in and making the ape crash heavily onto the platform.

From then on, no one underestimated or mocked the black turtle. Strength was the ultimate truth!

In the end, the black turtle of the Beast King Arena ended the final day's battles with absolute strength.

The elimination rounds concluded that day. From the mass of quasi-beast kings, five young beast kings were selected; they advanced smoothly and could participate in the upcoming king battles!

After only a ten-day rest, the Southern Wastes Beast-Fighting Tournament's King Battle would begin.

Entering the king battle, the rewards were staggeringly generous. Each time a young holy beast fought and won, it received ten thousand gold coins. The beast that won the title of Southern Wastes Beast King would receive a high reward of six hundred thousand gold coins. The runner-up would receive five hundred thousand gold coins, and the third-place beast king would receive four hundred thousand gold coins.

A total of one hundred fifty thousand—that was an astronomical number. Of course, the organizers would not take a loss. Once the king battle began, the three arenas would raise the ticket price to twenty gold coins at once. Each arena's daily income would be no less than a hundred thousand gold coins. If the event lasted seven or eight days, after all expenses, they would still be sure to make a profit—a veritable windfall!

Of course, to quell public opinion, the three arenas had also made a sacrifice. This time, they had purchased a legendary beast king relic—a relic left behind after the nirvana of a holy beast that had once followed the Buddha. It would be awarded to the young holy beast that won the title of Southern Wastes Beast King.

Ten days passed quickly. The order of battle was drawn by lot.

For the very first match, the Little Defiant Dragon was chosen!

And its opponent was also a dragon king—a dragon king glittering brilliantly, as if cast from pure gold!

At that moment, the crowd erupted!

Twenty gold coins was a bargain. No one thought the three arenas were overcharging now. No amount of money could make them miss a dragon king battle!

Xiao Chen was also greatly surprised. He had never expected the Little Defiant Dragon to fight in the first match, and against such a powerful opponent. He had seen this golden dragon king before—it was the descendant of the Lion King Dragon, a royal dragon lineage. Later, it had been taken away by an elder-level expert.

Of course, the Little Defiant Dragon was no stranger to it. Back on Dragon Island, near the sacred mountain, this golden dragon king had fought fiercely with the Red Dragon King. The Little Defiant Dragon had been aloof and fearless that day, charging to challenge both dragon kings, only to be nearly killed.

Over a year had passed. The golden Lion King Dragon had already grown an Ancestral Dragon tail, and its body had reached about one and a half meters in length.

And the Little Defiant Dragon was no longer the insignificant little black dragon that had only fighting spirit but no strength. Now, it had become a truly powerful dragon king.

In the end, so many people came to watch the dragon king battle that no single enclosed arena of the three could accommodate the nearly twenty thousand spectators. Hundreds of large crystal screens had to be installed to solve the problem.

As for the VIP rooms, they were fully booked; seats had been reserved three days in advance.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen was nominally the Little Defiant Dragon's master, so he had a dedicated VIP room to watch the battle. Otherwise, he would have had to ask Hai Yuntian or Fatty Zhuge to buy tickets—there was no way to get one through normal channels anymore.

On that day, scalpers were reselling tickets at dozens of times the original price, but many people willingly paid the markup.

The wide fighting platform was eighty meters long and eighty meters wide, more than enough space for two dragon kings to clash, with plenty of room to maneuver.

The ground sparkled with specks of light—it had been infused with divine power by many elder-level experts. Without the strength of a demigod, it was impossible to shatter the platform. Moreover, a team of fifty spiritists with special abilities had jointly raised a massive energy barrier to seal off the arena, preventing any divine light unleashed by the dragon kings from killing the spectators outside.

Everything was ready. The dragon king battle began.

The golden Lion King Dragon was wreathed in divine light, like blazing golden heavenly fire enveloping it. Even through the energy barrier, the crowd could feel a powerful oppression. Though it was only a meter and a half long, its pressure was as heavy as an ancient demon mountain. Its eyes were icy cold, utterly devoid of emotion.

This was a dragon king that, when fully grown, would make even gods tremble!

A true holy beast king!

Xiao Chen's heart sank the moment he saw the golden Lion King Dragon. This dragon king was far too calm—a calm born of absolute confidence in its own strength.

A fearsome Lion King Dragon, its dragon heart already awakened. As the strongest race among the hundred clans, everything else was but smoke in its eyes; all obstacles could be overcome. At this moment, it was exuding supreme confidence!

Xiao Chen was deeply worried for the Little Defiant Dragon. Though the Little Defiant Dragon's strength had soared over the past year, its cultivation base was still lower.

A flash of silver light appeared. The Little Defiant Dragon emerged, its expression as aloof as ever, but its battle intent was as sharp as a divine sword. An invisible force stirred the energy barrier, causing it to tremble, as if it were about to shatter.

The spectators outside felt a chill, as though a sharp sword was pressed against their throats.