The three-headed firebird felt extremely wronged. Facing the hundreds of clones that suddenly appeared from Little Zi, it was sent flying by a Shredded Gold Claw before it could even prepare.
After suffering multiple Shredded Gold Claw attacks consecutively, it was also severely injured.
Thus, upon receiving Li Ping’s command, it did not hesitate to use the Pet Enhancement Machine.
The Pet Enhancement Machine Li Ping equipped it with was a complete set of offensive and defensive mechanical armor, the Primary Flame Armor Cannon.
The Flame Armor Cannon was crafted from shape-shifting alloy and could be freely combined and changed. It was normally stored in the mechanical leg rings on the three-headed firebird’s feet and would automatically deploy when used.
As the mechanical leg rings deployed, white mechanical armor gradually covered the three-headed firebird’s entire body. Following that, a white mechanical flame cannon was successfully mounted on the three-headed firebird’s back.
With the mechanical armament completed, the three-headed firebird’s strength approached the Commander level.
The battle immediately became increasingly fierce.
The surrounding reporters, not wanting to miss any drama, furiously took photos.
Che Song, the president of the Anhe District Beastmaster Association, looked at Professor Guo Lan. Seeing that she had no intention of intervening, he felt at ease and continued to watch.
Subsequently, the three-headed firebird’s Flame Armor Cannon launched a fierce barrage of attacks, with each flame cannon relentlessly firing at Little Zi’s clones.
The power of these flame cannons was slightly greater than that of flame bullets, yet their consumption was equivalent to a mid-tier skill, allowing for sustained attacks.
In addition, it could also unleash more powerful Flame Fission Bombs, equivalent to a top-tier skill, though at a greater energy cost.
Coupled with the mechanical armor protecting the three-headed firebird, the damage inflicted by Little Zi’s Shredded Gold Claws was no longer as significant as before.
As a result, the three-headed firebird quickly broke free from the encirclement of Little Zi’s clones.
It then launched a counterattack.
The three-headed firebird also condensed several clones. It had mastered the Flame Clone skill, but its proficiency was only at the Skilled level, allowing it to condense nine Flame Clones.
Each clone’s combat power was only equivalent to sixty percent of its own.
However, this was still quite good, significantly strengthening its counterattack.
Its clones launched attacks using Fire Tornadoes, while it itself used the top-tier skill Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens.
Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens was an area-of-effect skill, and the released flame attacks covered almost every one of Little Zi’s clones.
As Little Zi’s clones collapsed one by one, the situation seemed to be becoming clearer.
Was it about to end?
Was the Gold-Devouring Rat going to lose?
Everyone was guessing.
If it lost, they would consider it normal. Otherwise, they truly wouldn’t believe this was a Gold-Devouring Rat.
Li Ping looked at Zheng Dong again.
Seeing that Zheng Dong’s face showed no signs of panic, she began to feel flustered and uneasy.
Could you still turn the tables?
In reality, Little Zi’s condensation of clones for attack was merely a probing action. Its main body was still underground, with no intention of emerging.
It continued to condense clones, and for every one that fell, it would condense another.
Only after condensing 365 clones did it launch its attack again.
This time, Little Zi’s clones used a combination skill, the Ultimate Spatial Detonation, formed by the Trap and Spatial Shift skills.
The three-headed firebird and its Flame Clones soared in the sky, seemingly celebrating their victory over all of Little Zi’s clones.
But in the next moment, Little Zi’s clones emerged from the ground one by one.
Immediately after, dense, black, eerie bombs appeared around the three-headed firebird, numbering over three thousand five hundred. These were all pre-condensed by the clones and transferred to the vicinity of the three-headed firebird through Spatial Shift, and then detonated.
As the eerie bombs exploded one after another, even the mechanically-armed three-headed firebird couldn’t withstand it. It was blasted into a daze and severely injured.
This was still because Little Zi’s mastery of the Spatial Shift skill had not reached the Proficient level, preventing it from perfectly unleashing the full power of the Ultimate Spatial Detonation combination skill.
The true Ultimate Spatial Detonation would cause spatial collapse, or even spatial turbulence, inflicting greater damage on the enemy.
However, it wasn’t over yet.
While the three-headed firebird was stunned by the explosions, Little Zi’s clones used the Shadow Control skill to drag the three-headed firebird from the sky to the ground.
At the same time, Little Zi’s main body also emerged from the ground and used the combination skill Ultimate Slime Monster to firmly restrain the three-headed firebird.
The sudden reversal of the situation stunned many.
The other reporters frantically pressed their camera shutters.
The Lord-level three-headed firebird, under mechanical armament, was controlled on the ground by a Commander-level Gold-Devouring Rat and could not escape. This was truly mind-shattering.
Holy cow, could the Gold-Devouring Rat actually win like this!
It’s truly a monster. After fighting for so long, how come this Gold-Devouring Rat doesn’t seem to have consumed much energy?
Is this really a Gold-Devouring Rat? Could it be a disguised cub of some Overlord-level pet?
…
At this point, many people had started to believe that Zheng Dong had intervened at the critical moment, dealt with the heavily injured Desert Giant, and saved Professor Guo Lan and the others.
Professor Guo Lan then spoke to clarify for everyone:
“Zheng Dong’s Gold-Devouring Rat has mastered the Proficient level of Earth Vein Resonance, so it doesn’t worry about energy consumption. If combined with Zheng Dong’s Beast Taming Talent skill, Shared Talent, their combined combat power can allow them to instantly kill transcendent beings of the Lord level and even defeat the heavily injured Desert Giant, which is not difficult.”
However, Professor Guo Lan was surprised about when Little Zi had learned the Spatial Shift skill, and that it had reached the Skilled level so quickly.
She remembered that Xia Mengqiu had only returned a few days ago!
However, she did not ask Zheng Dong directly and continued to observe the battle.
Li Ping’s three-headed firebird was about to follow the same path as the Ice-Eyed White Tiger, its entire body stuck by numerous slime monsters, sinking deeper into the slime swamp.
The situation was decided. No one believed Li Ping could still turn the tide.
But Li Ping did not concede.
She felt like she was being made a fool of, displayed in front of the public and thoroughly humiliated. She felt she had lost all face.
Unwilling to accept defeat, she summoned her third pet, the Night Phantom.
The Night Phantom was a death-element pet, lacking a physical form, appearing as a mass of shadow that could transform into various shapes. Its growth level had just reached Commander, far inferior to the Ice-Eyed White Tiger and the three-headed firebird.
As for Li Ping’s other pet, it had just been contracted and its growth level was even lower than the Night Phantom’s, so summoning it would not help.
This time, her target was not Little Zi, but Zheng Dong. While Little Zi was dealing with the three-headed firebird, she wanted the Night Phantom to sneak attack Zheng Dong.
As soon as the Night Phantom was summoned, it used the Spirit Concealment skill and disappeared.
Zheng Dong had also noticed this.
However, he did not pay much attention.
A Commander-level Night Phantom was certainly no match for Little Zi.
Furthermore, his own strength was not weaker than Little Zi’s, so he was not afraid of a sneak attack from the Night Phantom.
Watching the disappearing Night Phantom, Zheng Dong silently calculated the possible locations where the Night Phantom might appear.
The next second, a stream of green fire was spewed towards him.
This was the Night Phantom’s mid-tier skill, Ghost Fire, which had a strong lethality against non-death-element life forms. A single touch would cause it to spread rapidly throughout the body.
The Ghost Fire came aggressively, almost spewing directly in front of Zheng Dong, leaving him little time to react.
But to everyone’s surprise, Zheng Dong directly opened his mouth and swallowed the Ghost Fire.
Infinite Devour could devour any power, including the Ghost Fire.
At that moment, everyone was stunned.
They then realized that Zheng Dong seemed even more terrifying than the Gold-Devouring Rat!
Even the Night Phantom was dumbfounded.
Damn it, is this human? Are you sure it’s not a monster?
If Li Ping hadn’t told it that Zheng Dong was a beastmaster, it would have thought Zheng Dong was a special transcendent being in human skin.
Before the Night Phantom could react, Shadow Arrows shot out from Zheng Dong’s eyes, piercing the Night Phantom.
Shadow Arrows could harm the formless Night Phantom, which immediately let out a pained howl.
Concurrently, Little Zi also knocked out the three-headed firebird with a single claw and turned its attention to Li Ping.
Following that, it used Spatial Shift and appeared in front of Li Ping.
Terrified, Li Ping quickly surrendered.
But Little Zi didn’t care and used the combination skill Ultimate Slime Monster.
The ground beneath Li Ping’s feet instantly turned into a slime swamp, and her body began to sink. A terrifying sensation spread throughout her body, and then numerous horrifying slime monsters crawled out of the slime swamp, covering her entire body, scaring her into unconsciousness.
At this point, Professor Guo Lan stepped forward and ended the match.
As the match concluded, the surrounding reporters became even more curious about Zheng Dong and surrounded him, continuing to ask questions.
“Student Zheng Dong, what special method did you use to train your Gold-Devouring Rat? Can this method be popularized? Also, since the Gold-Devouring Rat cannot evolve further, its strength might only reach this level. Will you replace your Gold-Devouring Rat in the future?”
…
Question after question poured out, and the flashbulbs flickered incessantly, giving Zheng Dong a sudden feeling of being a celebrity. Anyone else would have either panicked or become arrogant.
Zheng Dong, however, remained rational. He didn’t foolishly answer these endless questions one by one. He said:
“As you all have seen, my Gold-Devouring Rat is a mutant. The method suitable for it is not suitable for other Gold-Devouring Rats.
Furthermore, it’s not that the Gold-Devouring Rat cannot evolve, it’s just that we haven’t discovered how yet. The owner of the ruin space I cracked this time was, at the earliest, an ordinary rodent-like transcendent being.
I believe that the potential of every pet is actually infinite, it just depends on how we cultivate them. There are no strongest pets, only strongest beastmasters. Therefore, I have never considered giving up on my Gold-Devouring Rat.”
As his words fell, Professor Guo Lan and the others looked at Zheng Dong with satisfaction. He was indeed a beastmaster prodigy and had not disgraced the Ruins Bureau.
At the same time, Che Song, the president of the Anhe District Beastmaster Association, also stepped forward.
“Well said, ‘There are no strongest pets, only strongest beastmasters!’ Zheng Dong, I am proud of you. Thank you for cracking the Tianhou Mountain ruins and bringing immense opportunities to our Anhe District. For this, on behalf of the Anhe District Beastmaster Association, I award you 10 million Dragon Yuan!”
Che Song’s thinking was simple: with Zheng Dong’s talent, his future was boundless. Investing more now might lead to greater returns for Anhe District in the future.
Afterward, he exchanged contact information with Zheng Dong, intending to build a relationship with him.
Although Zheng Dong was surprised, he didn’t dwell on it. Ten million was now just enough to buy more resources, unlike before when he was starving and would have been ecstatic.
After the press conference ended, Zheng Dong had no interest in how the Tianhou Mountain ruins would be renovated afterward. He excused himself from Professor Guo Lan and the others, citing his preparation for the Rongcheng Rookie King Competition.
He took a taxi home. Before he could even sit down, Tu Qionglan’s call came through.
Due to the severe impact of the previous Spirit God Cult attack on the training base, the Special Operations Bureau had intensified its crackdown on the Spirit God Cult during this period.
Tu Qionglan was also very busy because of this, rarely contacting Zheng Dong proactively.
“Sister Lan, why do you have time to contact me? Is the Spirit God Cult going to make a move on me again?” Zheng Dong asked with a frown.
“No, if they were to act, it would be even better, as I could catch more of them!
I just wiped out a secret base of the Spirit God Cult in Qindu and obtained several skill inheritance pearls. Two of these skills, I think, are quite suitable for your Gold-Devouring Rat,” Tu Qionglan said.
“What skills are they, Sister Lan? Should I rush over to get them?” Zheng Dong asked with a smile.
“The dual-element top-tier skill Absolute Darkness from the dark and mental elements, and the dual-element top-tier skill Mount Tai Pressing Down from the earth and metal elements!”
Absolute Darkness can form a dark domain that blocks all of the opponent’s perception abilities, making it impossible for them to sense the user’s aura, form, or location.
Mount Tai Pressing Down allows the user to transform themselves into a mountain and suppress the opponent with absolute power.
Zheng Dong immediately became excited. These two top-tier skills were priceless and could definitely enhance Little Zi’s strength comprehensively.
“You don’t need to come over. I’ve already asked someone to deliver them to you. The Rongcheng Rookie King Competition will start soon, so don’t mess up for me. Also, you have a nominal position in the Ruins Bureau. Do you know that Xia Mengqiu and I don’t get along?” Tu Qionglan continued.
Zheng Dong was stunned. He genuinely didn’t know this.
“Sister Lan, I didn’t know, and Professor Guo didn’t mention it. Are you planning to revoke my nominal position in the Ruins Bureau?”
“Why wouldn’t you keep the nominal position? Isn’t it good to get two salaries? I’m not that petty. I wanted to tell you that you can use this to get more resources from Xia Mengqiu.
She wants to poach you from me, right? Let her poach. It’s not too late to leave the Ruins Bureau after you’ve grown stronger using her resources!”
Tu Qionglan was quite open-minded. Since Zheng Dong only had a nominal position in the Ruins Bureau, he could find an excuse to resign later.
Zheng Dong was a bit confused and hadn’t quite processed it yet. He felt that if he did this, wouldn’t it be a bit… disloyal?
However, he didn’t dwell on it too much, as the nominal position was quite attractive. Not only did he get paid for nothing, but he also enjoyed the benefits of the Ruins Bureau.
After chatting with Tu Qionglan for a few more minutes, he ended the call.
With the Rongcheng Rookie King Competition drawing closer, Zheng Dong began to prepare.
Through the matches that night, Zheng Dong realized that Little Zi still had many shortcomings.
For example, while Super Vision was useful, it couldn’t detect death-element pets that had entered the Spirit Concealment state.
He felt that Little Zi needed a skill for active reconnaissance.
Moreover, Little Zi didn’t have many offensive methods against death-element pets.
After thinking about it, Zheng Dong decided to prepare a few more skills for Little Zi.
As for contracting a second pet, Zheng Dong wasn’t considering it for now.
He felt that instead of splitting his focus to train a second pet, it would be better to further cultivate Little Zi.
Because contracting a pet now would require a significant amount of time and effort to train before it could become combat-effective, which would be too late for the Rongcheng Rookie King Competition.