Chapter 542: Chapter 297: Reward Obtained, Unexpected Surprise!

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Looking at the lingering dust, the audience members widened their eyes and furrowed their brows in tension, as if waiting for the curtain to rise on an extraordinary spectacle.

On one side was one of the three Quasi Emperors of the renowned Monster Wooden Domain; without any members of the Beast Emperor Sky-reaching Xuanmu present, they were, by default, the dominant existence just below the Sovereign and above all spirits in their realm.

The other was the owner of the Foster Shop, who had struck twice in succession, each time with a different Pet Beast, each one astonishing the audience in turn.

The only unknown in this match was that Xu Ran had sent out a third Pet Beast that had not yet appeared in the competition.

So, who gained the advantage in their first clash?

As the dust slowly cleared amidst the engulfing haze, the audience, gripped by both tension and anticipation, couldn’t help but grow more puzzled.

It was too quiet.

Normally, a collision between the two sides would generate an energy storm enough to disperse the dust; however, it now dissipated far too slowly, as if there had been no further movement after that initial contact.

What had happened?

Curiosity swelled within the hearts of the spectators, and finally, the dust faded enough to reveal the scene inside.

Seeing the current state of the man and his Pet Beast opposite the Night Bear, the competition grounds fell abruptly silent.

Then, a stir erupted.

Xu Ran held a long knife, its sharp tip nearly touching between the eyes of the Night Bear; the blade’s fierceness had pierced through the bear’s thick and incredibly defensive fur, revealing a hint of flesh beneath.

The Night Bear, stripped of its usual fierceness and combativeness, stood rigidly still, with a look of terror in its dark eyes, as though frozen in fear.

“You’ve lost,” Xu Ran slowly withdrew the knife, calmly regarding the Night Bear.

The process of the collision was actually quite simple.

The Star’s Prayer of Starry Night easily withstood the Night Bear’s strongest attack, and Xu Ran struck with a slash, stopping at the last moment, fixating the blade on a vital spot between the Night Bear’s eyebrows.

“Roar!”

Once the knife was withdrawn, the Night Bear shuddered violently, its eyes turning to Xu Ran now colored with anger and unwillingness. But, ultimately, it turned its massive body and stepped down from Leaf Fighting Platform Number Three.

In that moment when the long knife swung towards it, the bear truly felt caught in an inescapable trap, as though awaiting death itself.

As though the knife had once cut down Transcendent Beings far more powerful than itself.

As a member of the Quasi Emperor class, and the strongest within its same stage peers, this was the first time in the Night Bear’s life that death had felt so close.

Even after stepping off the platform, the Night Bear had not fully escaped the chilling shadow of that moment.

With a fierce shake of its head, it sluggishly made its way towards the adjacent Sixth Leaf Blade Arena.

This year, only three members of the Night Bear tribe had entered the Battle of Ten Thousand Tribes at the General level.

It was the strongest of the trio, with the other two on par with each other.

Therefore, as they had prepared beneath the Sky-reaching Pillar, it had been decided unanimously that it would claim the reward of Leaf Fighting Platform Number Three, while the other two would take turns to win the prize of the Sixth Leaf Blade Arena.

In the end, the winner of the two would decide the ownership of the Sixth Leaf Blade Arena through a duel, while the one who lost would head for one of the platforms numbered ten or higher.

In this way, their tribe could claim two of the top ten Leaf Arena rewards, upholding the reputation of the Quasi Emperor tribe.

However… things didn’t go as expected.

Because it had been defeated.

Cleanly, decisively, without ambiguity.

The two Night Bears on the Sixth Leaf Blade Arena, also of the same race, had witnessed the battle of their fellow tribesman.

Unlike the fate of the Great Night Bear, their battle had gone smoothly, with one of the Night Bears effortlessly securing the Sixth Leaf Blade Arena.

But seeing their Great Bear approaching them, they already knew its intention.

With a resigned glance at each other, they stepped down from the arena, conceding the Sixth Leaf Blade Arena to their leader and made their way towards the platforms below number ten.

Among the eleventh to twentieth, there were still two platforms offering Dark Attribute rewards, and both of them could secure one each by fighting.

“Roar~”

As he gave his departing companions a glance of apology, the Great Night Bear suddenly turned its head toward a certain direction in the stands.

Shortly thereafter, an expression of self-reproach and guilt quickly surfaced on its face.

In the stands, a powerful creature enshrouded in a blackness as deep as ink, its body swirling with dark mist, sat hunched over on its front paws at the finest spot in the stands.

Its form was not large, appearing to be only about three meters in height, but its aura was as bottomless as an abyss, seemingly able to swallow all probing powers without trace.

Even the presence of a Beast King Level entity would feel compelled to silence in its sight.

The Clan Leader of the Night Bear Quasi Emperor tribe, the Dark Abyss Bear Emperor.

This was the Night Bear’s Evolutionary Form, an existence of the Overlord stage, the emperor amongst its kind.

Watching the most capable member of its tribe within the General Stage fall so swiftly at Leaf Arena Number Three, only to dejectedly make its way to the Sixth Leaf Blade Arena, the Dark Abyss Bear Emperor withdrew its gaze, its face devoid of both sadness and joy.

The human Beast Master had won his earlier two bouts, and the Dark Abyss Bear Emperor had watched them too.