Chapter 988: Top Eight (two in one)

“It’s Ghost Ring King!” someone in the audience exclaimed with delight.

In the last two matches, Qiao Sang had sent out Yan Jiaoou and Ice Emperor Ram, but Ghost Ring King’s previous performance had left a deep impression on many.

Without an opposing King-level Pet Beast, they preferred watching Steel Sword Falcon or Ghost Ring King engage in back-and-forth battles with General-level Pet Beasts, rather than Yan Jiaoou and Ice Emperor Ram defeating their opponents in one or two moves.

On the Commentator’s platform, Tian Yiwan began, “In the third match, Qiao Sang has sent out Ghost Ring King, while Qi Fuqing has sent out Inkthorn Beast.”

Tang Xueran chimed in, “Will Qiao Sang seize the match point, win the third match, and successfully advance to the quarterfinals, or will Qi Fuqing win the match and even the score? Let’s turn our attention to the field.”

All cameras focused on the competition area.

“Xiao Xunbao!”

Xiao Xunbao looked at its opponent, its eyes filled with fighting spirit.

It listened to the cheers for itself from the surroundings, a hint of reluctance flashing in its heart, but it still forcibly cut off the cheers and focused its attention on its distant opponent, recalling its Yu Beast Master’s words, and vanished from its spot by becoming invisible.

Inkthorn Beast, a Water-type and Poison-type dual-attribute General-level Pet Beast, habitually sprays ink to express displeasure when it sees someone it dislikes. In water, it prefers to create large whirlpools to deal with its target. The thorns on its body are highly poisonous. Its characteristic, Poison Thorn, gives opponents who come into contact with it a certain probability of becoming poisoned. It also has the Damp characteristic, which makes the surrounding air where it is located become humid, preventing anyone from using self-destruct or other bomb-like skills… Qiao Sang looked at the Pet Beast about six meters in size, mostly greenish-black with sharp thorns all over its body and a curled tail, and relevant information flashed through her mind.

She remembered that when Inkthorn Beast reached the Emperor-level, it would evolve into Ink Crystal Dragon, transforming into a Dragon-type Pet Beast.

As thoughts flickered, Xiao Xunbao had already teleported to the ground behind the Inkthorn Beast.

Its claws rose, and the shadow beneath it rapidly extended forward.

Qi Fuqing had some understanding of Xiao Xunbao’s moves and quickly responded, “Earth Ink!”

The Inkthorn Beast didn’t turn back, merely flicking its curled tail rapidly towards the ground.

Centered around its tail, a surge of pitch-black ink immediately gushed from the ground.

It then rapidly expanded and spread like a flood, covering an area tens of meters around the Inkthorn Beast in just one second, completely concealing its shadow.

“Xiao Xunbao!”

The ink was pitch black and pungent. Xiao Xunbao was startled and teleported to a position about ten meters above, flicking its short toes to switch the two-dimensional Dark Shadow Control to three-dimensional.

A black shadow rose from the ink, like a black silk ribbon stained with ink, still dripping ink, furiously sweeping towards the Inkthorn Beast.

“Back Thorns!” Qi Fuqing shouted.

The Inkthorn Beast arched its back slightly, and hundreds of dense, black-glowing sharp thorns suddenly shot out from its back, firing in all directions behind it.

Xiao Xunbao had no choice but to teleport away again, reappearing in the sky a hundred meters in front of the Inkthorn Beast.

“Whether it’s the two-dimensional Dark Shadow Control or the three-dimensional Dark Shadow Control, Ghost Ring King’s attacks have been neutralized by the Inkthorn Beast,” Tian Yiwan said from the Commentator’s platform.

Tang Xueran agreed, “That’s right. The two-dimensional Dark Shadow Control needs to find a shadow. When Inkthorn Beast spits ink around itself, the two-dimensional Dark Shadow Control can’t find a shadow, so it naturally has no effect.”

“And with the three-dimensional Dark Shadow Control, Ghost Ring King needs to teleport to avoid the poison thorn attacks, so the three-dimensional Dark Shadow Control naturally disappears with it.”

Tian Yiwan exclaimed, “Qi Fuqing is indeed an experienced Yu Beast Master; her responses are very clever.”

“Qiao Sang usually keeps the battle rhythm in her own hands,” Tang Xueran said. “I wonder if Qi Fuqing can break free from her rhythm in this match.”

During the commentary.

Qiao Sang gave the command: “Big!”

“Xiao Xunbao!”

Xiao Xunbao’s spirits lifted upon hearing its Yu Beast Master’s command, and it brought its two claws together above its head.

Instantly, a Ghost Ring King, thirty meters in size, appeared on the field.

The giant Ghost Ring King looked down with cold, emotionless eyes, its overlord’s aura fully unleashed.

“Inkthorn…”

The Inkthorn Beast’s calm expression turned to vigilance, and a hint of instinctive fear even flashed through its mind.

However, it still remembered that this was a match, and its eyes glowed with blue light.

Immediately, a pitch-black wave over thirty meters high surged from the ink pool, churning towards the giant Ghost Ring King!

Surf, a Water-type high-level skill, when used in ink, causes the surf to be stained with ink. If Xiao Xunbao touches it, its invisibility will fail… Qiao Sang looked at the situation before her and said, “Bind.”

“Xiao Xunbao~”

Xiao Xunbao extended its short toes.

The giant Ghost Ring King simultaneously extended its short toes.

A wide black shadow instantly shot from the tips of its toes, sweeping furiously towards the Inkthorn Beast.

The unstoppable giant wave, like a flood, engulfed the black shadow, and then quickly engulfed the giant Ghost Ring King.

The giant Ghost Ring King dissipated under the strong impact.

However, Qi Fuqing’s expression changed slightly at this moment.

Dozens of small black shadows were seen binding the Inkthorn Beast!

Qi Fuqing looked at the small figure in the sky, a look of astonishment flashing in her eyes.

She hadn’t expected Ghost Ring King’s main body to be able to use Dark Shadow Control simultaneously with the Dark Shadow!

“Xiao Xunbao~”

Xiao Xunbao grinned when it saw that it had finally bound its opponent.

“Inkthorn Beast’s black wave defeated Ghost Ring King’s Dark Shadow!” On the Commentator’s platform, Tian Yiwan excitedly said, “But Ghost Ring King’s Dark Shadow Control also successfully bound the Inkthorn Beast!”

Tang Xueran exclaimed, “I didn’t expect the Dark Shadow Control used by the Dark Shadow to be just a feint; the real Dark Shadow Control attack was performed by Ghost Ring King’s main body.”

Tian Yiwan said, “Ghost Ring King’s position is high enough that the black wave can’t reach it. It seems Qiao Sang had this plan from the beginning.”

“The thirty-meter-tall Dark Shadow is truly attention-grabbing,” Tang Xueran analyzed. “And Ghost Ring King’s main body is too small, so it’s understandable that Qi Fuqing didn’t notice it at first.”

“I think Qi Fuqing probably didn’t expect Ghost Ring King to launch an attack itself while controlling the Dark Shadow to use Dark Shadow Control,” Tian Yiwan offered his opinion.

“After all, in Qiao Sang’s previous matches, Ghost Ring King had never used this tactic.”

Tang Xueran nodded, “I’ve only seen this kind of simultaneous attack by the main body and the condensed shadow in another international competition.”

Because the two Commentators had seen it before, and because the one performing this technique was Qiao Sang, who could not be understood by common sense, they were not particularly surprised and quickly accepted it.

The entire venue was in an uproar.

Compared to the Commentators, the audience, who weren’t familiar with all competitions, found it harder to accept.

Everyone struggled to control their expressions, showing obvious shock and astonishment.

The skill Ghost Ring King had just used was even more difficult than most combination skills.

One must know, Dark Shadow plus Dark Shadow Control was already a major combination skill, but on top of that, Ghost Ring King could actually launch another attack itself!

How, how on earth was this done?

Of course, the Dark Shadow couldn’t launch attacks independently without being controlled, but Xiao Xunbao’s Substitute, which had been tempered through countless hours of secretly playing on the computer, could… Qiao Sang saw her opponent’s astonishment and maintained a calm expression.

Xiao Xunbao’s Substitute had already reached the Profound Level without her needing to specifically supervise its diligent training.

A Profound Level Substitute, aside from having slightly less energy and being more fragile than the main body, could do almost the same things as Xiao Xunbao.

She had discovered this when she found Xiao Xunbao secretly playing on the computer while training some time ago.

Later, she tried letting the Substitute train while Xiao Xunbao played on the computer, and it actually worked.

At the beginning of the match, when Xiao Xunbao was invisible, it had actually taken the opportunity to cast an equally invisible Substitute.

Others thought that Xiao Xunbao was using Dark Shadow Control itself while controlling the Dark Shadow to use Dark Shadow Control.

However, that was not the case; the one controlling the Dark Shadow, from beginning to end, was merely the invisible Substitute.

This distance should be enough… Qi Fuqing suppressed the astonishment in her heart, estimated the distance between Ghost Ring King and Inkthorn Beast, and shouted, “Poison Thorn!”

“Inkthorn!”

The Inkthorn Beast thrust its body forward, and hundreds of black-glowing poison thorns poured out, shooting rapidly towards Xiao Xunbao!

“Xiao Xunbao!”

Xiao Xunbao immediately moved to the side, dodging the dense poison thorns with its superb reaction ability and small size.

Although it usually used teleportation to dodge, that didn’t mean its own movement speed wasn’t fast.

Xiao Xunbao moved and weaved rapidly.

When several poison thorns were truly unavoidable, it swung its Dark Shadow to block them.

Xiao Xunbao maintained the three-dimensional Dark Shadow Control, passing through the poison needles and constantly circling the Inkthorn Beast.

When it moved to a position about thirty meters in front of the Inkthorn Beast, the Inkthorn Beast blew its mouth, and an almost imperceptible poison thorn instantly shot out, heading directly for Xiao Xunbao.

Its speed was so fast that it reached a position about one centimeter from Xiao Xunbao almost instantly.

Suddenly, the poison needle stopped.

The Inkthorn Beast paused, then seemed to sense something and looked down.

It saw an identical opponent had appeared below at some unknown time.

The only difference was that its eyes glowed blue.

Seeing an identical Ghost Ring King suddenly appear on the field, the audience was momentarily silent, then erupted in clamor:

“Holy crap?! How is there another Ghost Ring King?!”

“A Substitute? I remember Qiao Sang’s Ghost Ring King seems to have Substitute, and its proficiency isn’t low.”

“The question is when did it cast this Substitute?! Looking at it controlling the poison needle with telekinesis, it clearly didn’t just appear!”

“No, both Ghost Ring Kings used skills, so how can you be sure the one using telekinesis is the Substitute?”

On the field.

Substitute? Qi Fuqing was stunned.

When on earth did it cast the Substitute?!

“Xiao Xunbao~”

Xiao Xunbao grinned, bypassed the stopped poison needle, curved in a clever arc, and continued to circle the Inkthorn Beast rapidly, coiling around it.

Finally, it stopped about twenty meters in front of the Inkthorn Beast, in an area not affected by the ink, and pulled the black shadow, using an over-the-shoulder throw posture to pull hard.

The scene of a Pet beast tens of centimeters tall binding a Pet beast over six meters tall and trying to perform an over-the-shoulder throw made everyone in the audience chuckle.

Qi Fuqing’s eyes, however, lit up, and she shouted, “Wave!”

The Inkthorn Beast’s eyes glowed blue.

But before its Surf could gush out, in front, as Xiao Xunbao pulled the black shadow in an over-the-shoulder throw posture, a giant Ghost Ring King suddenly appeared in the twenty-meter section of the black shadow connected to the Inkthorn Beast, maintaining the same over-the-shoulder throw posture as Xiao Xunbao, pulling the black shadow, and yanking hard.

“Inkthorn!”

The Inkthorn Beast instantly soared into the air, tracing a precise arc before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Qi Fuqing was momentarily stunned, then realized something and turned to look at the other Ghost Ring King’s position.

“Xiao Xunbao~”

The Ghost Ring King with clasped hands seemed to sense her gaze and turned to her, grinning.

Qi Fuqing: “!!!”

The entire venue gasped.

As the Inkthorn Beast fell to the ground, Xiao Xunbao turned back, twirled its short toes, and the black shadow wildly spread, quickly wrapping its entire body like a silkworm cocoon.

Including its head.

Next, the giant Ghost Ring King came before the Inkthorn Beast, its head condensing a thick white light, about to smash heavily into the Inkthorn Beast’s head.

The head of a Pet Beast about thirty meters in size was truly terrifying, almost N times larger than the Inkthorn Beast’s.

Qi Fuqing’s pupils constricted, and she shouted, “Thorns!”

As soon as her voice fell, countless thorn-like protrusions suddenly bulged from beneath the black shadow wrapped around the Inkthorn Beast, as if sharp thorns were about to break through.

However, the black shadow was ultimately firm and did not allow the poison thorns to break through immediately.

“Bang!!!”

With a loud crash, the giant Ghost Ring King’s head, glowing with thick white light, slammed heavily into the wrapped head of the Inkthorn Beast.

After the impact, the countless sharp thorns beneath the black shadow instantly vanished.

“Bang bang bang!!!”

The giant Ghost Ring King’s head condensed thick white light, repeatedly smashing into the Inkthorn Beast’s head, again and again.

The sharp thorns that occasionally protruded from beneath the black shadow disappeared under the giant Ghost Ring King’s impacts.

Qi Fuqing finally changed her command: “Destructive Beam!”

Xiao Xunbao heard the command and quickly used Dark Shadow to wrap the Inkthorn Beast’s mouth several more times.

The imagined powerful attack didn’t happen; there was no movement beneath the black shadow.

“Xiao Xunbao…”

Xiao Xunbao breathed a sigh of relief, then, remembering something, removed the black shadow.

“Inkthorn…”

Beneath the black shadow, the Inkthorn Beast had its eyes closed, but then its facial expression struggled, as if it was trying to open them.

Just as the Inkthorn Beast’s eyelids slightly lifted, Qiao Sang spoke, “Chop!”

Xiao Xunbao and the Substitute simultaneously raised their hands and brought them down like blades, their claws condensing thick white light, and chopped fiercely towards the Inkthorn Beast’s head.

The Inkthorn Beast finally stopped moving completely.

Xiao Xunbao and the Substitute simultaneously wiped the non-existent sweat from their foreheads.

Then, the Substitute grinned at Xiao Xunbao and disappeared.

A mechanical Pet referee appeared beside the Inkthorn Beast, observed it, and then waved a green flag towards Xiao Xunbao and Qiao Sang’s position.

In the center of the field, a giant virtual screen appeared. Qi Fuqing’s photo disappeared, leaving only Qiao Sang’s photo enlarged in the center.

Light and shadow fireworks bloomed in a small area above the photo.

Tian Yiwan’s voice resonated through the venue:

“Let us congratulate Qiao Sang for winning this round with a 3:0 record and successfully advancing to the quarterfinals!”