Chapter 430 — Not Playing by the Rules Again
The Beast-Taming Craftsman Page 5 of 6
Shi Jin was the only level-six beastmaster who commanded such attention from these demigods.
After all, it was because of this young man that the Seven Nations had gained such a lead over them in intelligence regarding the Mythic Era.
"It's that human."
Far off from the Arena of Rock, atop a giant tree, the tree-insect avatar of the World Tree looked over once again.
On the Donghuang side, things were even livelier.
Upon learning that Shi Jin was about to challenge, Xiao Qin quickly had the Eye of the Stars focus its view upon the rock-type arena.
Across the Donghuang region, Gao Xuan, Ji Feng, Zou Yun, and the others; Lin Zhuo, Lu Heng, Bai Xi, and the rest—all looked over in an instant.
After a brief moment of surprise, they immediately summoned their beasts and headed for the scene.
…………
"So this is the man second only to the legends of Donghuang."
At that moment, more than a dozen contestants from the Totem Nations who had passed the preliminaries rushed toward the scene upon hearing the news, curiosity written all over them.
They were deeply intrigued by that title.
After all, among the Seven Nations, not a single level-six beastmaster had yet passed the preliminaries.
At a time like this, the strength of this superpower Donghuang's strongest level-six beastmaster was well worth their attention.
In an instant, Shi Jin arrived at the rock arena, drawing the eyes of every faction.
Whether they were fellow prelim contestants, legendary contestants, or even the mightier totem lifeforms, all had their attention fixed on the situation at the Rock Field.
Under their gaze, Shi Jin slowly stepped onto the rock-type arena.
At the same time, he raised his eyes to the colossal beast on the far side of the platform.
"Can he win?"
"Not likely—unless he's contracted an Overlord above his level too."
"He may be the foremost man beneath Donghuang's legends, but his gift is only telepathy, after all. Even if he contracted an Overlord above his level, I'd say it's still a stretch."
Similar remarks rippled through the crowd.
"He should be fine, shouldn't he?" said Luoyi and Xiliya, the sprites of Tinxiang.
"Of course he'll be fine," said Anise, the Tinxiang Overlord sprite who had once fought Shi Jue.
After all, Shi Jin had already defeated her in single-companion combat, surpassing his own level.
"Here he comes at last."
On the Glory side, Lucille, having seen that Glory's grade-six beast tamers had no hope of passing the preliminaries, had long since turned her full attention to Donghuang.
Now that Shi Jin—who had defeated her with such ease—had finally appeared, her expression eased.
"This Jiaqi..." At this moment, the Demon Kingdom's First Prince wore a solemn look, flying above the Rock Field. In his eyes, the strength of this Earth Wilderness Bear was merely so-so, but Shi Jin... he could not see through him at all.
Only after learning that Shi Jin was in fact the strongest archaeologist of the seven nations did he understand that his earlier perception had not been mistaken; there had to be a source behind this Jiaqi's power.
Next, at last, he could see the true strength of his beast companions.
He did not think Shi Jin would fail the preliminaries; he merely wanted to see how great a threat Shi Jin could pose to him in the main tournament.
"ROAR!!!!"
Beneath the gaze of countless eyes—the World Tree clone, the legendary demigods, the contestants of the seven nations, the totem aliens...—on the Rock Field, the Earth Wilderness Bear let out a mighty roar!!
"ROAR!!!"
The moment anyone set foot on the arena, these elemental lifeform clones would launch their attack at once—which meant the battle had already begun!!
BOOM!!!
The Earth Wilderness Bear, over ten meters tall, stood upon the arena like a small mountain, its rock-like body immensely massive and steeped in the aura of history, brown intimidation waves surging from it unbidden.
A terrifying Overlord's aura spread instantly; a great hole tore open in the sky on the spot, and the arena—wrecked and repaired over and over—once again cracked beneath that intense intimidation.
This was the gatekeeping Overlord's opening move—intimidation first. Do not be fooled by the fact that every grade-six beast tamer who had come to Inatella was the elite among the world's grade-six beast tamers; most of them lost their ability to fight the moment they faced this intimidation.
Masterwork-level intimidation!
Combined with Overlord-level strength.
Without an Overlord-level beast companion on one's team, it was truly hard to withstand.
One's will would likely shatter in an instant.
At this moment, the Earth Wilderness Bear's intimidation came crashing down like the sky itself.
Shi Jin stood on the arena without the slightest movement, simply staring straight at the Earth Wilderness Bear.
In that instant, everyone froze.
"Why isn't he summoning his beast companions?"
Normally, challengers summoned their beast companions before even setting foot on the arena.
Otherwise, they would summon them the instant they stepped up.
Yet Shi Jin did neither.
There was not the faintest sign that he intended to summon anything.
Was he mad?
Without a beast companion to shield him, with the frail constitution of a human, he would likely be crushed by those intimidation waves in an instant—body and mind alike would collapse.
BOOM!!!
The vast intimidation field utterly engulfed Shi Jin, covering the entire arena; his short hair and clothes began to flutter in the wind it raised. Yet what made everyone's jaws drop was that, standing within the intimidation of a top-tier Overlord, Shi Jin's expression did not change in the slightest, and he remained standing on the arena without moving an inch.
It was as if this intimidation could not affect him at all.
Weak.
Very weak.
At present, Chongchong wielded intimidation enough to cow even totem-level beings, and through its mental feedback, Shi Jin's spiritual power had become nearly immune to intimidation. For one of his Overlord-level physique and spirit, and his quasi-totem-level soul power, this intimidation was indeed not quite enough to look at.
"Intimidation... has no effect on him?"
Before the crowd could even react, Shi Jin moved.
Ignoring the intimidation entirely, Shi Ying's figure flickered and vanished.
It was undeniably fast—but any lifeform above Overlord-class could still follow it.
And precisely because they could follow it, every one of them wore a look of shock.
"Wait, what is he trying to do?!"
"And... how is that even possible?"
Body technique.
Pure body technique.
On the arena, Shi Jin moved using nothing but a physique formidable enough to rival an Overlord-class dragon; his body vanished from where he stood like an afterimage.
His speed crushed that of the vast majority of monarchs who had challenged before him.
In an instant, Shi Jin became a beam of light and shot forth, leaving only a trail of "bang bang bang" as the air burst. His afterimage darted across the arena, then, like a jagged line, stamped a crack into the ground at one spot and leaped up, in a heartbeat bringing his tiny frame before the Great Earth Desolate Bear.
He leaped to the height of its head.
Though he was fighting alone, Shi Jin had not a single worry in the world. If he lost, he lost—his beasts would bail him out at any moment, and this big fellow Qi could not hurt him anyway.
Confidence is the peak, as the saying goes. Fighting free of all worry, Shi Jin unleashed potential beyond compare.
The Great Earth Desolate Bear's strength and defense were no weak points; speed was its weakness. Its earlier fights had been trades of wound for wound, tanking hits head-on, and Shi Ying held a slight edge in speed.
Midair, he drove a fist straight at the Great Earth Desolate Bear's face.
BOOM!!!