A Card In Hand

Chapter 49: Do You Think I Look Beautiful?

An hour later.

Now, only a few were still standing steadily on the platform.

Even the formidable Shuanghan was trembling all over, needing both hands to support his knees to barely stand.

Beside him was Cang Yue.

Cang Yue’s talent.

It was the more he was injured, the more fierce he became, known as the Solitary Mile Traveler.

Although he was ground into the platform by Li Ao repeatedly, he still clenched his teeth and stood upright.

Qian Nian couldn’t stand anymore; he sat on the platform desperately trying to recover, his complexion even paler than his clothes.

The previously perched on the peculiar sphere, Qiqu, had the giant sphere biting on his right leg, hanging weakly in mid-air.

Blood and sweat dripped drop by drop from his large pointed hat onto the platform.

Man Huang, who lay defeated, had turned into a five-meter giant.

He gave it his all.

Unfortunately, he still couldn’t last till the end.

On the other hand, Tie Zheng, he clenched his teeth and shakily pushed himself up again.

Truly worthy of being the future head of the Iron Clan Family, possessing the talent of unyielding iron bones, as long as his consciousness was clear, he would never admit defeat.

Li Ao stood quietly in the shattered center of the platform, hands spread out. Although he didn’t speak, his expression seemed to say, “I haven’t even exerted my full strength yet! How could you fall already?”

“This guy is too monstrous!” the new trainees exclaimed as they saw Li Ao looking unscathed.

“Could he be called the Great Demon King if he wasn’t monstrous?”

“Exactly!”

“Li Ao single-handedly beating everyone on the Challenge List, this record might never be broken by anyone else…”

“There might be others who will imitate in the future, but to completely overpower all the newbies of his class like Li Ao has done, perhaps he’s the only one!”

“What war beast is the Great Demon King using? I’ve been watching for a long time and can’t figure out what war beast he’s using?”

“Isn’t that the Stone Bear?”

**Translation:**

“You’re living in a dream… The Stone Bear is just a facade; Li Ao’s true battle beast must be a rock giant type elemental beast, which he summoned early on and has been hiding deep beneath the Obsidian Platform. For Li Ao, the Obsidian Platform is like his home field, as it allows him to continuously draw rock source energy to maintain his combat power. Otherwise, how could he last so long?”

“That makes sense, but I believe there are other battle beasts, definitely not just one rock giant!”

“I know there are others too, but let’s see you find them!”

“Enough arguing, let’s keep watching the match!”

Across the arena.

Long Ying and Wu Ying were on the ground, panting heavily.

If it weren’t for Yue Sha’s Silver Wing Protection, they wouldn’t have been able to withstand Li Ao’s attacks.

Tang Guo was so tired that she sat down on the platform, giving off a ‘I don’t care about you guys anymore’ look, but that was just her being tsundere; if it weren’t for her using the single-body enhanced Rainbow Candies to replenish everyone, they would have all been down half an hour ago.

The only people who were still calmly standing on the platform were Huo Mei and Ling Long.

They hadn’t attacked yet.

Waiting for the right moment.

“You all are really too weak!” Huo Mei, holding a golden comb, leisurely combed her hair in front of a fiery mysterious mirror: “It really doesn’t work without me, the young miss, stepping in!”

“Please, Huo Mei, go ahead and make your move!”

Lie Feng, lying on the platform, turned over and spat out a mouthful of blood before struggling to sit up: “You and Ling Long have been watching us fight for so long, haven’t you found the best moment to attack yet? If you don’t take action now, we really can’t hold on any longer. I feel like there’s not a single bone in my body that’s still intact!”

“If you can talk so much nonsense, it means you’re fine!”

Huo Mei couldn’t care less about looking at Lie Feng.

“Are you going to take action or not?”

Lie Feng doubted that Huo Mei would keep dragging this out.

“Not yet!”

Huo Mei sniffed dismissively.

“When will you take action then?”

Lie Feng felt desperate.

“When I feel like it’s the right time!”

Huo Mei’s response made the new trainees watching from the Stone Isles roll their eyes, but what could they do about her?

“What about you, Ling Long?”

Seeing Huo Mei continuing to hold back, Lie Feng pinned his hopes on Ling Long.

“Keep attacking for another ten minutes, that should be about right.”

Ling Long also had her conditions.

“…”

Lie Feng truly wanted to say that he couldn’t move a single finger.

“I’ve recovered a bit. Let me attack again!”

Qiu Ye, who was automatically floating midair, clenched his teeth, first glancing at Li Ao, suppressing the fear in his heart, and then turned to Tang Guo: “Can you give me another Rainbow Candy?”

“No more!”

Tang Guo flatly refused: “You guys have eaten up all my stock!”

“Alright then!” Qiu Ye felt quite dejected.

“Wait a second…”

Hei Wan, who was lying on the platform seemingly lifeless, suddenly spoke up, immediately drawing everyone’s attention to him.

Hei Wan and Zao Chi ranked seventeenth and eighteenth on the Challenge List, their presence almost the weakest in the arena.

It wasn’t that they were slacking off in the match, but rather their style of attack meant that they couldn’t fully exhibit their combat power.

Hei Wan’s pellet attacks were utterly ineffective against Li Ao.

He fired dozens of pellets from a distance, all of which Li Ao deflected onto Zao Chi.

And Zao Chi?

His face, originally uglier than if it had been disfigured, was now even more dreadful after taking dozens of Hei Wan’s pellets.

The reason Zao Chi was downed was half due to Hei Wan’s pellets; the more fiercely Hei Wan attacked, the more severely Zao Chi got injured.

Li Ao’s Rocky Arm punches were merely supplementary hits.

Adding to the injuries.

Compared to these two.

Long Ying and Wu Ying, ranked even lower, performed much better.

No one had much expectation for Hei Wan and Zao Chi initially, but now, hearing Hei Wan suddenly speak, everyone was a bit startled.

Could it be?

Did Hei Wan still have a trump card up his sleeve?

Suddenly, a giant that looked exactly like Hei Wan stood up from his body, resembling an energy body, more like a soul entity, this eerie presence even shocked Lei Bao, a dual soul in one body?

The giant pulled back the energy slingshot, aiming at Li Ao in the center of the platform.

Hei Wan lay on the ground, unable to move.

But his will was tightly linked to the giant’s energy slingshot.

Rushing like a tide, countless energies converged on the slingshot, gradually forming a tiny pellet.

The heavens and the earth changed colors.

The moment that tiny pellet was fired, the space above the Obsidian Platform seemed to be pierced through by it.

The unstoppable shooting power was many times faster than sound.

Waves rippled directly through the space.

Spreading rapidly.

At the center.

A high-speed rotating pellet.

Its target was Li Ao’s forehead.

Whistling!

The pellet, faster than lightning, passed right through Li Ao’s forehead…

Could it be?

Was the terrifying Li Ao really killed by Hei Wan just like that?

The watching new trainees looked at each other in disbelief. It couldn’t be possible? How could Li Ao, that demon king, be killed by a small pellet?

If it hit, given the speed of the pellet, it wasn’t impossible, but the idea of it piercing through the forehead and exiting the skull seemed far-fetched!

Those anxious for answers quickly turned to look at the supervisors.

Lei Bao’s face was expressionless.

Everyone immediately scoffed.

Scoff!

That made Hei Wan jump with fright, not expecting to be just superficially intimidating. But then again, how could Li Ao, that ultra-abnormal demon king, be hit by a small pellet right in the forehead?

If pellets were effective, would Shuanghan and Qian Nian be so exhausted from fighting and still not harm Li Ao in the slightest?

Prince Jinxi’s previous Mammoth’s Rage couldn’t even harm a single hair on Li Ao, what would a mere pellet amount to!

Li Ao’s afterimage clone slowly faded.

As he reappeared.

Still at the same place.

An energy giant resembling Li Ao stood up, assuming a shooting stance, though it held no slingshot in its hand.

A whistle sounded as a tiny pellet was launched from the energy giant’s hand.

It pierced through the space of the Obsidian Platform, causing ripples to spread outwards, faster than on its arrival.

It flew backwards.

Its target was the forehead of the soul-body giant connected to Hei Wan.

Bang!

The forehead of the soul-body giant was penetrated, and the high-speed spinning pellet passed straight through its skull and then through a dozen disorderly floating stones before finally burying itself deep into the base of the Stone Isles, vanishing without a trace.

The soul-body giant gave Li Ao a thumbs-up as a sign of praise.

Then, it dissipated into a smoky energy form.

And merged back into Hei Wan’s body.

Hei Wan, already overwhelmed and unconscious from the impact, had completely lost his ability to fight.

“Li Ao definitely has the talent to mimic others’ attack techniques. His gift must be copying others’ moves,” the watching new trainees couldn’t help but discuss among themselves.

“I thought his talent was to see through the enemy’s hidden cards?” someone questioned.

“It must be to see through the cards and then copy them!” another speculated.

“Isn’t that overpowered?”

“Do you think Li Ao could dominate the battlefield, crushing elites like Shuanghan, Qian Nian, and Qiqu without such an overpowered talent?”

“So, how on earth can Li Ao be defeated? If he copies everything we know, how can we fight him?”

“You ask me? Who do I ask? If Li Ao could be defeated, he wouldn’t be the big boss!”

“Look!”

“Huo Mei is about to make a move, shut up everyone!”

On the platform, Huo Mei put away her golden comb, and while looking at herself in the mysterious mirror from left to right, she suddenly asked, “Feier, do you think I look beautiful?”

The watching trainees felt faint.

Is this really the time to be playing around?

Wasn’t she supposed to make a move?

Suddenly, a soft and adorable childlike voice replied from within the mysterious mirror, “Master is the most beautiful! Not only the most beautiful but also the best master in the world! Can Feier finally come out for some air? Hooray!”

A paw so cute it could melt hearts reached out from the mysterious mirror.

In the sky, however, an image of a terrifying creature capable of devouring the heavens emerged.

Seeing this terrifying creature, Lei Bao, who had been incredibly composed, leapt up, staring incredulously at Huo Mei in the center of the arena…