Chapter 983: Top Eight
Chapter 983: Top Eight (Combined)
"It’s the Ghost Ring King!" someone in the audience stands exclaimed in surprise.
In the last two matches, Qiao Sang had sent out Yan Jiaou and Ice Emperor Ram, but the Ghost Ring King’s previous performance had left a deep impression on many.
In the absence of an opponent’s Royal Beast, the audience preferred watching Steel Sword Falcon or Ghost Ring King engage in a back-and-forth battle with a General-Class Beast Companion over the quick one or two-hit knockouts by Yan Jiaou and Ice Emperor Ram.
In the commentator booth, Tian Yiyi began:
"For the third match, Qiao Sang’s contestant has sent out the Ghost Ring King, while Qing Fuqing’s contestant has chosen the Ink Spine Beast."
Tang Xueran chimed in:
"Will Qiao Sang’s contestant secure the match point and win the third match, advancing to the Top Eight, or will Qing Fuqing’s contestant win this match and reclaim a point? Let’s turn our attention to the battlefield."
All the cameras focused on the match area.
"Xunxun!"
Treasure Seeker looked at its opponent, its eyes filled with determination.
Hearing the cheers from the crowd, it felt a pang of reluctance but quickly refocused, blocking out the noise and concentrating on the distant opponent. Remembering its Beastmaster’s words, it vanished using Invisibility.
The Ink Spine Beast, a Water- and Toxic-Type General-Class Beast Companion, tends to spray ink when it’s displeased and often creates large whirlpools in water to eliminate its targets. Its spikes are highly venomous, with the Trait Venomous Sting, which can cause the opponent to have a chance of becoming poisoned. It also has the Wetness Trait, making the surrounding air humid and preventing the use of Self-Destruct and other bomb-like skills. Qiao Sang observed the familiar, which was about six meters tall, predominantly dark green and black, with spikes covering its body and a curled tail, and recalled the relevant data.
The Ink Spine Beast evolves into the Ink Crystal Dragon at the Imperial Tier, transforming into a Dragon Companion.
In a split second, Treasure Seeker teleported behind the Ink Spine Beast.
Its claws extended, and the shadow beneath it rapidly stretched forward.
Qing Fuqing, familiar with Treasure Seeker’s moves, quickly responded:
"Ground Ink!"
Without turning its head, the Ink Spine Beast swiftly swept its curled tail across the ground.
A jet of black ink erupted from the ground, centered around its tail, quickly expanding and spreading like a flood. Within a second, it covered the area around the Ink Spine Beast, completely obscuring the shadow.
"Xunxun!"
The ink was dark and pungent. Treasure Seeker was startled and teleported to a position several meters above, using its Short Toe to shift 2D Shadow Control to three dimensions.
The shadow rose from the ink, resembling a black silk ribbon dripping with ink, and swept madly toward the Ink Spine Beast.
"Back Spike!" Qing Fuqing called out loudly.
The Ink Spine Beast arched its back, and hundreds of black, gleaming spikes suddenly shot out from its back, firing in all directions behind it.
Treasure Seeker had to teleport away again, reappearing in the sky a hundred meters in front of the Ink Spine Beast.
"Whether it’s 2D Shadow Control or 3D Shadow Control, the Ghost Ring King’s attacks have been neutralized by the Ink Spine Beast", Tian Yiyi commented from the booth.
Tang Xueran added, "That’s right. 2D Shadow Control requires finding a shadow, and with the Ink Spine Beast spraying ink around itself, 2D Shadow Control can’t find a shadow and thus has no effect."
"Additionally, for 3D Shadow Control, the Ghost Ring King had to teleport to avoid the Venomous Sting attack, and 3D Shadow Control naturally disappeared along with it."
Tian Yiyi reflected, "Qing Fuqing truly lives up to his reputation as an experienced Beastmaster. His responses are always so clever."
"Qiao Sang usually manages to control the battle's rhythm in his matches", Tang Xueran said. "I wonder if Qing Fuqing can break out of Qiao Sang's rhythm this time."
In the commentator's booth.
Qiao Sang issued a command: "Big!"
"Xunxun!"
Treasure Seeker perked up at its Beastmaster's command, clasping its paws together.
Suddenly, a Ghost Ring King, towering at thirty meters, appeared in the arena.
The massive Ghost Ring King gazed down coldly, its Dominant Aura radiating without a hint of emotion.
"Mo Ci..."
Ink Spine Beast's usually calm expression turned wary, even a touch of instinctive fear flashing through its mind.
However, it remembered it was in a match and its eyes glowed blue.
Instantly, a towering, thirty-meter-high wave of black ink surged from the ink pool, rushing toward the massive Ghost Ring King!
Tsunami, a Water-Type Advanced Skill, when used in ink, taints the Tsunami with ink. If Treasure Seeker were to touch it, its Invisibility would be nullified... Qiao Sang, observing the situation, commanded:
"Bind."
"Xunxun~"
Treasure Seeker extended its Short Toe.
The massive Ghost Ring King synchronized, extending its Short Toe as well.
A wide Shadow instantly shot from the toe tip, sweeping wildly toward the Ink Spine Beast.
The overwhelming wave was unstoppable, swallowing the Shadow, and then quickly engulfing the massive Ghost Ring King.
The Ghost Ring King dissipated under the intense impact.
However, Qing Fuqing's expression changed slightly at that moment.
Dozens of thin Shadowbinds had ensnared the Ink Spine Beast!
Qing Fuqing looked up at the small shadow in the sky, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes.
She hadn't expected the Ghost Ring King's original form to be able to separate from the Dark Shadow and still use Shadow Control!
"Xunxun~"
Treasure Seeker grinned, pleased to finally bind its opponent.
"The Ink Spine Beast's Black Wave has shattered the Ghost Ring King's Dark Shadow!" Tian Yiyi exclaimed from the commentator's booth. "But the Ghost Ring King's Shadow Control has successfully bound the Ink Spine Beast!"
Tang Xueran reflected, "I didn't expect the Dark Shadow's Shadow Control to be just a decoy. The true attack came from the Ghost Ring King's original form using Shadow Control."
Tian Yiyi said, "The Ghost Ring King's position is high enough that the black wave can't reach it. It seems Qiao Sang had this plan from the start."
"The thirty-meter Dark Shadow is too eye-catching", Tang Xueran analyzed. "The Ghost Ring King's original form is so small that it's understandable for Qing Fuqing to miss it."
"I think Qing Fuqing didn't anticipate that the Ghost Ring King could control the Dark Shadow with Shadow Control while also launching an attack on its own", Tian Yiyi added. "After all, in Qiao Sang's previous matches, the Ghost Ring King has never used this technique."
Tang Xueran nodded. "I've only seen this kind of attack, where the original form and the condensed Shadow Phantom attack simultaneously, in another International Tournament."
Since the two commentators had seen this before and Qiao Sang was known for his unconventional tactics, they weren't particularly surprised and quickly accepted the situation.
The audience was in an uproar.
Compared to the commentators, who had a broader understanding of various matches, the audience found it hard to accept what had just happened.
People struggled to control their expressions, showing clear shock and surprise.
The Ghost Ring King's Skills were almost more difficult to execute than most Combination Techniques.
After all, Dark Shadow combined with Shadow Control was already a significant Combination Technique. Yet, on top of that, the Ghost Ring King managed to launch its own attack!
How on earth did it manage that?
Dark Shadow couldn't initiate an attack without being controlled, but after being finely honed by the Treasure Seeker, the Substitute could manage it while playing on the computer... Qiao Sang noticed the opponent's surprise and remained calm.
The Substitute, under her guidance and without needing constant urging, had reached the Mastery Level.
A Master-level Substitute, aside from having slightly less energy and being more fragile, could almost do everything the Treasure Seeker could.
This was something she discovered recently while the Treasure Seeker was training. The Substitute could sneak off to play on the computer.
She tried it out—letting the Substitute train while the Treasure Seeker played on the computer—and it worked.
At the start of the match, while the Treasure Seeker was in Invisibility, it had stealthily deployed an equally invisible Substitute.
Everyone thought the Treasure Seeker was controlling Dark Shadow and casting Shadow Control while also casting Shadow Control itself.
But that wasn't the case. From start to finish, it was the invisible Substitute that had been controlling Dark Shadow.
This distance should be enough... Qing Fuqing suppressed his shock, estimated the distance between the Ghost Ring King and the Ink Spine Beast, and shouted:
"Venomous Sting!"
"Momo!"
The Ink Spine Beast lunged forward, and hundreds of black-glowing Venomous Stings poured out, hurtling toward the Treasure Seeker!
"Xunxun!"
The Treasure Seeker immediately darted to the side, using its superior reflexes and small size to dodge the dense barrage of Venomous Stings.
Although it usually relied on teleportation to evade, that didn't mean it wasn't fast on its own.
The Treasure Seeker moved with incredible speed.
When a few Venomous Stings were unavoidable, it swung its dark energy to block them.
The Treasure Seeker maintained 3D Shadow Control, weaving through the Venom Stings and circling the Ink Spine Beast.
When it reached a position about thirty meters in front of the Ink Spine Beast, the beast blew out a thin, almost imperceptible Venomous Sting, which shot directly at the Treasure Seeker.
It was so fast that it almost reached a centimeter from the Treasure Seeker in an instant.
Suddenly, the Venom Stinger stopped.
The Ink Spine Beast paused, then seemed to sense something and looked down.
There, an identical opponent had appeared at some point.
The only difference was that its eyes glowed blue.
The audience stands fell silent for a moment, then erupted into chaos:
"Damn? How did another Ghost Ring King appear?"
"Substitute? I remember Qiao Sang's Ghost Ring King can use Substitute, and it's quite proficient."
"The question is, when did it use Substitute? It's clearly using Psychic Control on the Venom Stinger, so it can't have just appeared!"
"Not necessarily. Both Ghost Ring Kings are using Skills. How can you be sure the one using Psychic Power is the Substitute?"
On the field.
Substitute? Qing Fuqing was dumbfounded.
When did it use Substitute?!
"Xunxun~"
The Treasure Seeker grinned, circled the stalled Venom Stinger, curved gracefully, and continued to spin around the Ink Spine Beast, wrapping it up.
Finally, it stopped about twenty meters in front of the Ink Spine Beast, in a spot not affected by the ink, and grabbed the shadow, pulling it with an Overhead Slam.
The audience couldn't help but chuckle as the six-meter-tall familiar, bound by a few dozen centimeters of familiarbind, tried to perform an Overhead Slam.
Qing Fuqing's eyes lit up, and she shouted:
"Wave!"
The Ink Spine Beast's eyes glowed with a blue light.
However, before it could unleash its Tsunami, in front of it, Treasure Seeker, still in the Overhead Slam position, suddenly pulled the Shadow. At the same time, a Giant Ghost Ring King, about twenty meters away, appeared, mirroring Treasure Seeker's Overhead Slam pose. It grabbed the Shadow and pulled with all its might.
"Momo!"
The Ink Spine Beast instantly soared into the air, tracing a graceful arc before crashing heavily to the ground.
Qing Fuqing was momentarily stunned, then realized something and turned to look at the other Ghost Ring King.
"Xunxun~"
The Ghost Ring King, with its hands clasped together, seemed to sense her gaze and turned to grin at her.
Qing Fuqing: "!!!"
The entire arena erupted in shock.
The Ink Spine Beast hit the ground, and Treasure Seeker turned, using its Short Toe to spin. The Shadow rapidly spread, quickly enveloping the Ink Spine Beast like a cocoon.
Including its head.
Next, the Giant Ghost Ring King approached the Ink Spine Beast, its head glowing with a thick white light, ready to smash into the Ink Spine Beast's head.
The head of the thirty-meter-tall familiar was terrifyingly large, almost N times bigger than the Ink Spine Beast's.
Qing Fuqing's pupils dilated, and she shouted:
"Spikes!"
As soon as she spoke, numerous spikes suddenly emerged from the Shadow wrapping the Ink Spine Beast, as if trying to pierce through.
However, the Shadow was too strong and didn't allow the Venomous Stings to break through immediately.
"Bang!!!"
A loud crash echoed as the head of the Giant Ghost Ring King, glowing with thick white light, smashed into the head of the Ink Spine Beast.
After the impact, the numerous spikes beneath the Shadow instantly disappeared.
"Bang, bang, bang!!!"
The head of the Giant Ghost Ring King, glowing with thick white light, continued to strike the head of the Ink Spine Beast repeatedly.
Each time, the spikes that emerged from the Shadow vanished under the force of the Giant Ghost Ring King's blows.
Qing Fuqing finally changed her command: "Destructive Beam!"
Hearing the command, Treasure Seeker quickly used the Shadow to wrap a few more layers around the Ink Spine Beast's mouth.
The expected powerful attack didn't happen, and there was no movement beneath the Shadow.
"Xunxun..."
Treasure Seeker sighed in relief, then thought of something and withdrew the Shadow.
"Momo..."
Beneath the Shadow, the Ink Spine Beast's eyes were closed, but its facial expression showed a struggle as if trying to open them.
Just as the Ink Spine Beast's eyelids began to lift, Qiao Sang called out:
"Slash!"
Treasure Seeker and Substitute simultaneously raised their claws, glowing with thick white light, and slashed down hard on the Ink Spine Beast's head.
The Ink Spine Beast finally stopped moving.
Treasure Seeker and Substitute wiped the nonexistent sweat from their foreheads and then Substitute grinned at Treasure Seeker before disappearing.
A mechanical-type familiar referee appeared beside the Ink Spine Beast, observed for a moment, and then waved a green flag toward Treasure Seeker and Qiao Sang.
In the center of the arena, the Giant Virtual Screen showed Qiao Sang's photo magnified to the center, while Qing Fuqing's photo disappeared.
Light and shadow fireworks burst above the photo.
Tian Yiyi's voice echoed across the arena:
"Let's congratulate Contestant Qiao Sang for winning this round with a 3-0 victory, successfully advancing to the Top Eight!" (End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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