"How much do you want to bet?"
Shen Wushuang raised an eyebrow and spoke casually.
Fang Si's lips curled into a smile. "Not much. How about a million?"
"Done! A million it is!"
A million yuan wasn't pocket change for either of them, even if it wasn't exactly life-ruining. Not everyone had Chen Shu's cheat-code System that let them print money by brewing potions in a toilet.
While the two of them locked in their high-stakes wager above, the battle in the arena below had already begun.
"Goo-gii! Goo-gii!"
The Slime's massive body wobbled back and forth, its eyes brimming with eagerness.
By now, it had become thoroughly addicted to the feeling of pinning other creatures beneath its rear end. The habit was, frankly, becoming a bit of a problem.
ROAR!
The Thunder Beast let out a howl, and a fist-sized ball of lightning erupted from its mouth.
The lightning ball was blindingly fast -- a streak of light cutting through the air.
The Slime's body was slow. Naturally, it couldn't dodge.
BANG!
The lightning ball seemed to melt right into the Slime's body, then dissipated into nothing.
"Hm? Paralysis?"
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. The electric shock had locked the Slime into a state where it couldn't move.
But the Slime's speed was glacial to begin with. The paralysis effect was about as useful as telling a sleeping man to hold still.
I wasn't going to move anyway. Now I REALLY don't want to move.
ROAR!
The Thunder Beast's thick limbs slammed into the ground as it charged forward, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
Chen Shu's focus sharpened to a razor's edge. Not a shred of distraction.
In that split second, his eyes narrowed, and he ordered the Slime to activate Tyrant Body.
The Slime turned a brilliant, radiant gold. The paralysis vanished instantly.
Its rear end gave a little quiver, and its face took on that signature constipated expression -- then it activated Charge.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The massive body hurtled forward like a tank doing highway speed, radiating an overwhelming pressure that was borderline absurd for something that looked like a giant golden dumpling.
"So it really does have a CC-immunity skill!"
Wang Zishan's expression turned grave. He'd watched yesterday's fight. The Slime had completely ignored the Inferno Raging Tiger's control abilities.
Xia Yan probably still couldn't figure out what had happened, but someone with Wang Zishan's experience had grasped the key immediately.
The charging Thunder Beast skidded to a halt, staring with dead seriousness at the enormous yellow sphere barreling toward it.
Chen Shu cracked a grin. "Die! You little runt! Straight to hell with you!"
Wang Zishan, however, didn't even flinch.
The instant the gap between the two closed to under ten meters, the Thunder Beast moved.
A ring of crackling lightning wrapped around its body, and its speed exploded upward by a massive margin.
Its four limbs pushed off, and its body blurred into a streak of light -- fluid, effortless -- slipping around the Slime's charge at the last possible moment.
Clean miss.
"That fast?"
Chen Shu frowned. Lightning-type contract spirits really were a pain in the ass.
Even if his prediction skills were maxed out, there was simply no way to hit the Thunder Beast. This wasn't a gap in technique. This was pure, raw speed superiority -- and no amount of clever timing could overcome it.
Right now, there was only one option: wait.
Wait for the Thunder Beast's speed-boost skill to wear off. But by then, the Slime's Charge would have ended too.
Sure enough, Wang Zishan was in no hurry either.
Between masters, a single misjudgment could decide the entire fight.
Wang Zishan spoke up. "Looks like even you have weaknesses."
The Slime was slow, and its attack options were limited -- just Charge and Violent Butt-Drop Kill.
Without those two skills, it was nothing but a stationary target.
"You've got more weaknesses than I do."
Chen Shu didn't panic. He immediately ordered the Slime to activate Sleep Kill, buying time for Charge to come off cooldown.
Zzzz... Zzzz...
The Slime fell into a deep slumber. Its innate talent kicked in simultaneously, and its defense skyrocketed.
The thunder ring around the Thunder Beast's body fizzled out, and its movement speed plummeted.
Its eyes went sharp and vicious. Blue light bloomed across its claws -- yet another combat skill.
Wang Zishan was already around thirty years old. His contract spirit's rank was high, but his Beast Taming talent was terrible. He'd been stuck below Black Iron rank for years.
The conditions for advancing as a Beast Tamer were brutal. Both talent and contract spirit rank were non-negotiable requirements.
Unless you had a System... in which case neither of those factors mattered anymore...
A strong contract spirit with weak talent meant you'd stall out and never break through. Even if Wang Zishan managed to reach Black Iron rank someday, he'd probably be stuck at Black Iron Three-Star for life -- Silver rank would remain a dream.
And if you had strong talent but a weak contract spirit? Then you'd just get beaten to a pulp.
Wang Zishan had spent years' worth of accumulated resources buying Lord-tier lightning materials, which was how his Thunder Beast had picked up two extra combat skills.
ROAR!
The Thunder Beast bellowed and charged in again.
BANG BANG BANG!
Its claws were razor-sharp, but they couldn't break through the Slime's defense. Each strike left only a shallow wound.
The skill Thunder Claw didn't have an armor-penetrating effect. What it had was a paralysis rider.
But the Slime was already deep in slumber. Paralysis meant absolutely nothing to it.
"Looks like your claws aren't sharp enough."
Chen Shu breathed a quiet sigh of relief. As long as the defense held, the Slime could tank hits until Charge came back online.
Meanwhile, Rebound Force activated.
The Thunder Beast, as the attacker, was actually the first one to cough up blood.
Wang Zishan said nothing. He continued directing the Thunder Beast to attack, strike after strike.
"Fang Si. You're going to lose."
Shen Wushuang spoke up, his gaze sharp. He'd spotted the key detail in an instant.
Every single place the Thunder Beast's claws struck left behind a faint blue lightning mark on the Slime's body.
If his guess was right, the Thunder Beast had one more trick up its sleeve -- a finisher that could detonate all those marks at once, dealing catastrophic damage.
He'd seen this kind of skill before. His own Ice Phoenix had something similar -- the ability to make ice arrows embedded in a target's body explode from within.
Fang Si's expression was flat. "Keep watching."
Chen Shu had noticed too. He spotted those faint marks and felt, instinctively, that something was off.
Is he stalling for a skill activation?
Chen Shu's eyes locked onto the arena below, unblinking.
Sure enough -- the glow on the Thunder Beast's claws faded. Its skill had expired. The beast immediately launched itself backward with a powerful leap, opening up distance.
"It's over!"
Wang Zishan's lips curled into a cold smirk. "Looks like you won't be making history after all!"
In that instant, the Thunder Beast let out a low growl. The twin horns on its head blazed with brilliant lightning.
Dozens of lightning marks now covered the Slime's body, each one pulsing with blue light.
Every single mark was a bomb. Once detonated, the damage would be devastating.
Chen Shu's expression remained calm. He was still waiting.
And right at that moment -- Charge came off cooldown.
The Slime's body lurched upward in a sudden bounce and launched directly into Charge plus Violent Butt-Drop Kill!
But the Thunder Beast's skill fired at the same instant. The lightning marks across the Slime's body ignited as if someone had lit every fuse at once.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
A horrifying series of explosions ripped through the arena.
Lightning engulfed the Slime's entire body. Each detonating mark tore through its skin, and colorless blood sprayed everywhere -- a grotesque fireworks display of electricity and viscera.
And yet the Slime didn't stop.
Propelled by both skills, it closed the distance in a heartbeat.
"It can still move?!"
Wang Zishan's mind went blank. Based on every fight he'd ever seen, any enemy hit by a full-body mark detonation was supposed to collapse from the sheer agony. No resistance. No counterattack. Just pain.
Zzzz... Zzzz... Zzzzz...
The Slime powered through the explosions, still snoring peacefully, without the faintest hint of weakness.
Swinging a cleaver at power lines -- sparks all the way.[1]