Chapter 156: Nine-Headed Beast’s Desperation for Pills
“Is Ye Yun’s Desolate Ghost Tiger descended from pure ancient vicious beast bloodlines?”
“Its bloodshot eyes and swollen muscles radiate a terrifying aura of aggression. This seems abnormal!”
“You must be an expert?”
“This beast is violent by nature, but this level of frenzy feels more like madness…”
“Don’t worry. There’s no way the Crown Prince will lose!”
The first round of the match officially began.
“Go, kill it,” Ye Yun commanded in a low voice.
As soon as his words fell, the Desolate Ghost Tiger shot forward like an arrow.
It left a resounding sonic boom in its wake, covering hundreds of meters in an instant. Its powerful limbs surged across the ground, churning up yellow sand wherever it passed.
On the battlefield, it looked like a streak of black lightning.
“What incredible speed!”
“That ghost tiger is extraordinary. It might have already surpass the Celestial Realms!”
“It’s at least at the quasi-Dao Transformation level. The Crown Prince’s beast could be in trouble!”
In the blink of an eye, the Nine-Headed Beast dashed forward to meet it.
The collision of their terrifying energies was like two meteors crashing into one another, creating an explosive shockwave that fractured the ground beneath them.
Despite its petite size, the Nine-Headed Beast held its ground against the massive Desolate Ghost Tiger without faltering in their grappling match.
“Roar!” The tiger’s deafening roar echoed across the arena.
Black energy surged in its mouth as it gathered terrifying power, ready to annihilate its opponent with a single blast.
The Nine-Headed Beast reacted swiftly. All nine of its heads began glowing with white light, converging into a single point.
Black and white energy intertwined, splitting the world into a stark dichotomy of darkness and light.
Both beasts were swallowed by the clash of energy. Moments later, the light faded, revealing the scene on the battlefield.
The audience initially assumed the Crown Prince’s spiritual beast would emerge victorious. But reality was crueler.
The snowy-white Nine-Headed Beast lay motionless on the ground, its fur dusty and disheveled, clearly injured.
“How is this possible?”
“The Crown Prince’s beast lost?”
“That Desolate Ghost Tiger is this strong?”
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen the Crown Prince suffer defeat!”
Lin Qi’an furrowed his brows, while Ye Yun smirked coldly.
Just as the crowd reeled in disbelief, someone noticed something unusual.
“Wait, look at the Desolate Ghost Tiger!”
The tiger’s body was engulfed in a fiery aura of blood energy, its saliva steaming as it hit the ground. Its vicious aura became so intense it seemed to pierce the heavens.
“That’s the Three-Day Soul-Breaking Pill!” An experienced alchemist shouted in alarm.
“He actually gave the tiger such a sinister pill? He’ll stop at nothing to win!”
“Even if he defeats the Crown Prince, it’s a disgraceful victory!”
“Wait, what exactly does the Three-Day Soul-Breaking Pill do?”
“Once consumed, the user will die in three days without fail! It burns the body’s blood energy, continuously increasing strength until it peaks just before death!”
“This Desolate Ghost Tiger is on the verge of death, but it’s now at its most powerful!”
Ran Yuwei, filled with rage, shouted, “How could he treat his own spiritual beast like this? This is despicable!”
Zhao Yunji shook her head coldly. “He’s lost his mind, obsessed with winning at all costs.”
“Get off the stage! Get off the stage!”
A wave of boos and curses swept through the arena, with the majority of the audience expressing their disdain for such tactics.
Using such a cruel method in an internal match was disgraceful.
“Technically, the rules don’t forbid the use of pills, right? Heh, a win is a win, and a loss is a loss.”
“If he can use pills, so can the Crown Prince. If they don’t take full advantage of the rules, who’s to blame for their loss?”
“Haha, exactly! I suggest the Crown Prince feed his beast a Three-Day Soul-Breaking Pill* and start over!”
Among the crowd, some voices dripped with sarcasm, clearly reveling in Lin Qi’an’s misfortune.
After all, Tianjian City had many rivals who would love nothing more than to see Lin Qi’an lose miserably.
The elder hosting the event hadn’t expected anyone to go so far as to use the Three-Day Soul-Breaking Pill to win.
Initially, there were no restrictions on pill usage, as conventional pills only provided minor, temporary boosts to the beasts’ strength.
Nobody imagined someone would use such a vile and destructive pill on their beast. After hesitating for a long moment, the elder reluctantly prepared to declare Lin Qi’an’s defeat.
“May I also administer a pill to my spiritual beast?” Lin Qi’an calmly asked the elder.
“Of course,” the elder replied.
Lin Qi’an nodded, walking steadily toward his injured beast without the slightest hint of panic.
Ye Yun sneered, “Lin Qi’an, doesn’t defeat feel bitter? Refusing to admit it now is nothing short of shameless!”
More jeers erupted from the crowd, but Ye Yun paid them no mind. Ever since he had been stripped of his title by Zhao Yunji, he had ceased to care about anything else.
‘What does the judgment of others have to do with me? I, Ye Yun, need no explanation for my actions. If I could trample Lin Qi’an, I wouldn’t hesitate to feed the Three-Day Soul-Breaking Pill to a vicious beast—or even take it myself!* ‘
From a distance, Ran Yuwei watched with concern. “Is the Crown Prince planning to continue?”
“It seems so…” Zhao Yunji’s voice trembled. “Could he really be thinking of giving that beast the Three-Day Soul-Breaking Pill?”
“That’s unlikely. Why are you so worried, Elder Sister? It’s not even your spiritual beast.”
“I-I’m not worried!”
Under everyone’s gaze, Lin Qi’an walked up to the Nine-Headed Beast, looking down at the small, snowy-white creature.
“How much longer are you going to pretend to be injured, hmm?”
The Nine-Headed Beast flinched, utterly shocked. ‘How did the Crown Prince know I was faking? Could it be because of the blood contract? Can he sense my condition?’
She cursed herself for being careless, ‘I’m already acting so pitiful—shouldn’t he be giving me some divine pills by now so I can recover and keep fighting?’
Of course, these were thoughts she dared not voice aloud. Instead, she feebly wagged her tail, lightly tapping Lin Qi’an’s shoe in an exaggerated show of weakness, appearing frail and pitiable.
The audience, seeing her act, was moved.
“Your Highness, maybe just concede this round. Let’s not fight anymore!”
“Exactly, Your Highness. Look at how pitiful she is. Take her back to heal instead!”
The Nine-Headed Beast’s entire act was aimed at coaxing some pills out of Lin Qi’an. Eating pills was the fastest way to grow and awaken her power, but Lin Qi’an rarely indulged her with such treasures. This was her last-ditch effort.
That said, the Desolate Ghost Tiger had truly hurt her earlier; the pain wasn’t entirely fabricated.
“Fine, so you want pills? I’ll give you pills,” Lin Qi’an said with a deceptively kind smile. “But if you lose this fight, I’ll cook you for soup tonight.”
He retrieved a stash of pills from his storage ring—Supreme Golden Pills!
These were high-grade pills he’d obtained after defeating the first Fate-Blessed contestant, and he still had plenty in reserve. He tossed nine pills to the Nine-Headed Beast.
The little beast moved with lightning speed, each of her nine heads snatching a pill in an instant. The moment the pills entered her mouths, she was overjoyed.
‘The Crown Prince actually gave me such top-quality pills—and nine at once! He’s so generous! Staying by his side is accelerating my evolution beyond belief.’
As the medicinal power surged through her body, her growth advanced again. Even her size visibly increased, now resembling that of an adult dog.
“The Crown Prince’s beast is back on its feet!”
“A miracle of medicine!”
“Only Beiyang’s Crown Prince could have access to such divine pills. It’s no wonder the beast healed so quickly!”
“But is it wise to keep fighting? The opponent’s beast is still in a berserk state, burning with the Three-Day Soul-Breaking Pill’s effects!”
The majority of the audience worried for the little beast, fearing it would be torn apart in another confrontation.
Lin Qi’an ignored the chatter and calmly issued his command. “You have thirty breaths to resolve this. If you don’t, I’ll deal with you myself.”
The Nine-Headed Beast shivered violently, not daring to hold back any longer. In an instant, she became a streak of white light, shooting across the battlefield.
“Kill it! Go!” Ye Yun roared.
The Desolate Ghost Tiger lunged forward. Once again, black light clashed with white light. But this time, the result was shocking.
As the white streak zipped by, a deep, bloody gash appeared on the Desolate Ghost Tiger’s body.
“I can barely see its speed!”
The Desolate Ghost Tiger was utterly unable to keep up, its eyes darting helplessly as the dazzling white light danced around it.
Every time the white light passed, another wound appeared on its body.
Within ten breaths, the Nine-Headed Beast had streaked across the battlefield seventy-two times, leaving seventy-two gruesome wounds crisscrossing the tiger’s body.
Flesh and blood were exposed, painting a scene of utter carnage.
Finally, the Desolate Ghost Tiger collapsed with a thunderous crash, its life extinguished. In a way, this quick death was a mercy, sparing it from the slow, agonizing effects of the pill.
The Nine-Headed Beast eagerly trotted back to Lin Qi’an, wagging her heads in a show of submission.
Each head nuzzled against him, as if to say: ‘Look, I only used ten breaths! I still have twenty left! Maybe reward me with twenty more pills, Your Highness?’