Chapter 2324 - 339: Earth Stone Lord
The light and shadow of "10" appeared on the field, accompanied by a mechanical voice that kept counting down:
"9, 8, 7... 3, 2, 1."
The light and shadow vanished.
Qiao Sang and Li Muxin simultaneously formed seal gestures with both hands.
Two mysterious, deep purple Star Arrays lit up on the field.
Before long, two Pet Beasts of vastly different shapes and sizes appeared within the Star Arrays.
"Tutu."
"Xun Xun~"
"Both Pet Beasts are now on the field. Candidate Li Muxin has summoned the Earth Stone Lord, and Candidate Qiao Sang has summoned the Nether Ring Monarch." On the commentary platform, Nephthys spoke.
"Qiao Sang’s Nether Ring Monarch possesses both the Life Borrowing and Same Return Attribute Traits. This round is really unfavorable for Candidate Li Muxin." Auroal said.
"Exactly." Nephthys echoed, "Even if it’s stronger than the Nether Ring Monarch, under the Life Borrowing and Same Return Traits, this match will still end in a draw. If this round ends in a tie, then among Candidate Li Muxin’s remaining Pet Beasts, not a single one can match Steel Authority Emperor Level or Ice Saint Ya."
"If Candidate Li Muxin still wants any chance of winning, it all depends on whether the Nether Ring Monarch’s Life Borrowing and Same Return Traits can be prevented from triggering in this round." Auroal said.
"Momo."
"Momo."
Dragon King called out twice, indicating that Earth Stone Lord isn’t even Candidate Li Muxin’s signature Pet Beast, so the Nether Ring Monarch might not need to trigger either Trait to win.
Listening to the translation through her earpiece, Nephthys smiled and said:
"Dragon King is, as always, very optimistic about Candidate Qiao Sang."
As they chatted, Little Treasure Spirit vanished from the field.
Earth Stone Lord, a Ground Type and Rock-type dual-attribute Emperor Level Pet Beast, has a resolute temperament and prefers solitude. Usually it sits still with its eyes closed, looking just like a giant rock. Many Pet Beasts often mistake it for a rock and move around on it. It’s born with the Power of Sand Trait; in sandstorm weather, the power of its Ground Type and rock-attribute Skills will be enhanced... Qiao Sang looked at the Pet Beast in the distance, around thirty meters tall, with black eyes and a mostly gray body, looking exactly like a giant rock, and information related to it surfaced in her mind.
Nether Ring Monarch... On the other side, Li Muxin’s mood quietly grew heavy.
This was a weight he hadn’t even felt when Warm Shiya lost his very first match.
If you asked him which Pet Beast he least wanted to encounter before the match, it would undoubtedly be the Nether Ring Monarch. A Nether Ring Monarch with Same Return Attribute and Life Borrowing Traits is, in a certain sense, invincible...
If this match ends in a draw, he’ll have no hope of winning at all...
As that thought flickered, a yellow light flashed across Earth Stone Lord’s entire body.
The next second, endless yellow sand abruptly surged forth, a powerful force sweeping up dust and rubble, like a rampaging yellow giant beast, wantonly devouring everything on the field.
The entire arena fell into dimness.
This sandstorm isn’t just to boost the power of its own Skills; it’s also using it to conceal its shadow, preventing it from being controlled by Little Treasure Spirit’s Shadow Control... Qiao Sang glanced at the darkened arena and instantly understood the opponent’s intent.
On the field, Little Treasure Spirit was shrouded in a semi-transparent Barrier that isolated the raging sandstorm outside, appearing dozens of meters in front of Earth Stone Lord.
"Xun Xun~"
Inside the Barrier, it made a face at Earth Stone Lord, then wiggled its butt at it.
Little Treasure Spirit’s body size was simply too small; in the sky-filling sandstorm it was practically invisible. But the aura on its body and the sound it made still allowed Earth Stone Lord to lock onto its location instantly.
Facing Little Treasure Spirit’s Taunt, Earth Stone Lord’s expression didn’t change. A faint yellow light flashed over its body.
Right after, the sky-filling sandstorm quickly condensed into a ferocious giant beast, madly devouring toward where Little Treasure Spirit was.
Just as the Sand Giant Beast was about to crash into Little Treasure Spirit, a deep abyssal black hole with a diameter of several dozen meters suddenly appeared above it.
The Sand Giant Beast poured entirely into it.
Realizing something, Li Muxin shouted, "Defend!"
A yellow armor formed of gravel instantly wrapped Earth Stone Lord’s whole body.
At the same time, a deep abyssal black hole of the same size as before appeared one meter above its head.
"Boom!!!"
The Sand Giant Beast completely burst out, crashing onto Earth Stone Lord’s body.
"Use Taunt to draw Earth Stone Lord’s attack, then use Shadow Piercing to transfer Earth Stone Lord’s attack! The Nether Ring Monarch is playing this really well!" On the commentary platform, Auroal said.
"I don’t think Earth Stone Lord looks angry at all." Nephthys said, "And Earth Stone Lord has a certain resistance to Ground Type Skills. Even without defending, it shouldn’t take much damage."
She paused, then added:
"And I don’t know if it’s just me, but compared to the Sand Giant Beasts Earth Stone Lord condensed in previous matches, this one is clearly weaker by a notch."
"The Nether Ring Monarch possesses the Same Return Attribute Trait." Auroal analyzed, "That Trait is easiest to trigger at the start. But over a certain period of time, the more hits it takes, the harder it becomes to trigger. I think Candidate Li Muxin must be aware of this, so he wants to cast large-scale but non-lethal Skills to attack the Nether Ring Monarch as early as possible in the match."
"Momo." Dragon King cried once, indicating that if the upcoming attacks from Earth Stone Lord still pose no threat to the Nether Ring Monarch, then the Nether Ring Monarch will start attacking it.
The Same Return Attribute Trait is easiest to trigger at the start and harder in the late stage, while the Life Borrowing Trait has a certain time limit; once time is up it will revert to its original State. So these two Traits aren’t completely without counterplay... Standing on the high platform, Li Muxin’s mind raced.
The very first Skill that hits the Nether Ring Monarch absolutely can’t be lethal, and he also can’t cast Skills with fatal Attack Power, because the Nether Ring Monarch is very likely to actively ram into them to take damage itself. The best approach is to drag the Nether Ring Monarch into a war of attrition, and during that attrition, hit it multiple times...
Thinking that, Li Muxin spoke:
"Six."
As the word left his mouth, yellow light flickered over Earth Stone Lord’s body.
The ground shattered, countless chunks of rock rose into the air, converging and rushing toward Little Treasure Spirit’s location.
All of them were large-scale but low-power Skills; this level of Attack Power couldn’t even break Little Treasure Spirit’s Barrier. Looks like the opponent really doesn’t want to use big moves... Qiao Sang thought to herself.
A black light flashed briefly over Little Treasure Spirit’s body, and then it disappeared with Teleportation.
Yellow armor formed of gravel once again condensed over Earth Stone Lord’s body.
However, the anticipated attack never came. Earth Stone Lord suddenly found itself seized by some force, its massive body toppled backward uncontrollably.
On the ground, Little Treasure Spirit raised two claws, its shadow connected to Earth Stone Lord’s shadow.
"Xun Xun~"
With a flick of its claws, Earth Stone Lord was violently flung away.
"Xun Xun~"
At the same time, a gigantic Nether Ring Monarch, roughly sixty meters long, suddenly appeared high in the sky.
Its head shone with white light; under the contrast of the giant Nether Ring Monarch’s pitch-black body, it was like a ray of dawn in the darkness, plummeting straight down.