The camera zoomed in.
The arena was made up of three basalt rock peaks of varying heights, separated by eight to fifteen meters, with a deep abyss swirling with reddish-gold light mist below. An energy shield enveloped the entire area, its pale golden light film intertwining with the ley line energy.
On the left rock peak stood Ji Xiaoyao from Qinglan Advanced Beast Taming Academy.
She wore the Qinglan Advanced Beast Taming Academy uniform, her hair somewhat disheveled by the strong high-altitude winds, but her eyes shone with astonishing brightness.
Her opponent, a contestant from a high school in the Yunlin Region, stood on the right rock peak, accompanied by an Iron Beak Woodpecker, a Steel + Flying-type pet at the Intermediate stage.
“Match start!” the referee’s voice boomed through the loudspeaker.
A gray-brown figure leaped from her side, landing on the edge of the rock peak.
It was a Juvenile Rock Dragon.
Its body was noticeably larger than a typical Juvenile Rock Dragon, covered in gray-brown rock armor that appeared young yet solid. The wings on its back, not yet fully unfurled, were folded at its sides, and its tail hung steadily over the edge of the rock peak.
Its eyes, a deep amber color matching its rock armor, were fixed on the Iron Beak Woodpecker opposite, a nascent Dragon's Might beginning to show.
“Iron Beak, Metal Claw!” the opposing Beast Tamer commanded.
The Iron Beak Woodpecker flapped its wings, transforming into a silver-gray streak of light, its sharp claws gleaming with a metallic luster as it flew straight for the Juvenile Rock Dragon’s head!
“Rock Armor Protection,” Ji Xiaoyao’s voice was unhurried.
The Juvenile Rock Dragon’s rock armor instantly thickened, and a layer of earthy yellow energy light film covered its entire body.
The Iron Beak Woodpecker’s Metal Claw struck the rock armor, scattering rock fragments, but only leaving a shallow white mark on the surface.
“Dragon Tail!” Ji Xiaoyao ordered, seizing the moment the opponent’s attack missed.
The Juvenile Rock Dragon’s thick tail swept fiercely, striking towards the Iron Beak Woodpecker with a whooshing sound. The Iron Beak Woodpecker hastily flapped its wings to ascend, its tail grazing its claws, the resulting airflow making it wobble.
“That was close…” someone in the spectator stands gasped.
The opposing Beast Tamer’s expression changed slightly, clearly not expecting the Juvenile Rock Dragon’s counterattack to be so swift. He gritted his teeth: “Iron Beak, fly above it and use Steel Wing Dive!”
The Iron Beak Woodpecker rapidly ascended, circling above the rock peak once before folding its wings and transforming into a silver-gray blade, diving straight down from directly above the Juvenile Rock Dragon!
If this strike connected, the cutting power of its steel wings combined with the diving acceleration would be enough to severely wound the Rock-type Juvenile Rock Dragon.
Ji Xiaoyao looked up at the diving figure, but her gaze wasn’t on the Iron Beak Woodpecker. Instead, she quickly scanned between the Juvenile Rock Dragon and the rock peak beneath its feet.
“Youyou, feel the ley line energy beneath your feet,” her voice suddenly became very soft, as if she was speaking to the Juvenile Rock Dragon, and yet also to herself.
The Juvenile Rock Dragon lowered its head, its amber eyes fixed on the reddish-gold patterns flowing across the rock peak’s surface.
That was the unique ley line energy of the Longwu Region, faint energy seeping from deep within the “Dragon Vein Ridge,” forming a special energy field in this basalt mountain range.
Ji Xiaoyao had always trained it in such an arena.
Not for anything else, but simply because… only in such a place could the Juvenile Rock Dragon feel a resonance with something deep within its bloodline.
At this moment, that resonance was stronger than ever before.
The Juvenile Rock Dragon’s body began to tremble slightly.
It wasn’t fear, nor was it exhaustion, but something long dormant, now awakening.
“Youyou?” Ji Xiaoyao’s voice carried a hint of tension.
But it was too late.
The Iron Beak Woodpecker’s Steel Wing Dive was already overhead!
Just at this critical juncture—
The Juvenile Rock Dragon suddenly looked up.
Its eyes were no longer amber, but a dazzling golden, like two burning flames.
The rock peak beneath its feet trembled violently, and the flowing reddish-gold ley line energy surged towards it as if drawn by something!
“Boom—!”
A visible energy shockwave erupted from within the Juvenile Rock Dragon’s body!
The Iron Beak Woodpecker was hit head-on by the shockwave, its entire body sent flying, tumbling several times in the air before barely stabilizing itself.
It shrieked in terror, staring at the figure below, enveloped in a golden light cocoon.
“This is…” The opposing Beast Tamer’s eyes widened.
In the spectator stands, everyone stood up.
Ji Xiaoyao stood dazedly on the rock peak, watching the golden light cocoon grow larger and larger.
Her hands were trembling, and so were her lips.
But those eyes, those eyes that had always been so calm, now shimmered with a sheen of tears.
“Youyou…” she whispered softly, her voice choked by emotion, but the Flying Rock Dragon heard her.
The light cocoon lasted for about thirty seconds.
Then, under everyone’s bated breath, cracks began to appear on its surface.
“Crack—!”
The first crack.
“Crack, crack—!”
More and more cracks appeared.
Golden light burst forth from the fissures, illuminating the entire rock peak as if it were daytime. Ley line energy formed a swirling energy vortex around the light cocoon, the reddish-gold patterns intertwining with the golden light, a breathtaking sight.
“Bang—!”
The light cocoon exploded.
Countless golden specks of light rained down, merging into the ley line energy the moment they touched the rock peak.
And in the center of the light cocoon, a completely new figure slowly stood up.
A Flying Rock Dragon.
Its size was more than double what it had been, standing three meters tall.
Its gray-brown rock armor had become even thicker, and the wings on its back were fully spread, with a wingspan exceeding five meters. Each flap generated a whooshing sound.
Most striking was its tail; that thick tail, which accounted for half its body length, had a fist-sized crystal core at its tip, radiating a dazzling reddish-gold light.
Every time the crystal core pulsed, the surrounding ley line energy would pulse in response, as if the entire basalt mountain range was resonating with it.
The Flying Rock Dragon threw its head back and let out a deafening dragon’s roar.
The sound penetrated the energy shield, echoing through the basalt mountains, startling flocks of flying pets from distant rock peaks.
The Iron Beak Woodpecker, utterly terrified, had shrunk into a corner of the rock peak, its wings tightly folded, having completely lost its will to fight.
The opposing Beast Tamer stood with his mouth agape, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
In the spectator stands, there was a full three seconds of silence.
Then—
“!!! It evolved!!!”
“A Flying Rock Dragon?! Is that a Flying Rock Dragon?!”
“Ji Xiaoyao’s Juvenile Rock Dragon evolved!!!”
Cheers, shrieks, and applause surged like a tide.
Ji Xiaoyao stood on the rock peak, looking up at the figure bathed in golden light.
The Flying Rock Dragon lowered its head, its golden eyes meeting hers, no longer holding the childishness of its youth, but imbued with a calm closeness.
“Youyou,” Ji Xiaoyao said softly, her voice scattered by the wind, but the Flying Rock Dragon heard it.
It lowered its head and gently touched Ji Xiaoyao’s outstretched palm with its forehead.
Ji Xiaoyao’s eyes reddened, but the corner of her mouth curved upwards.
The referee’s voice finally sounded, clearly trembling: “Iron, Iron Beak Woodpecker incapacitated! Qinglan Advanced Beast Taming Academy, Ji Xiaoyao, wins!”
The video abruptly ended here.
Rate on N.U.
