Chapter 66 – Let Me Show You True Power

“What big talk!”

Luo Han’s expression turned cold.

At this point, he no longer needed to hide anything.

The look he cast at Lin Ze was now laced with deep contempt and disdain.

“A mere commoner freshman dares to think he can beat me?””

“An arrogant fool!”

“Today I’ll show you what true power really is!”

Luo Han’s tone was brimming with intense confidence.

Lin Ze glanced at him calmly and gave a slight shake of his head.

“Words won’t win a battle.”

“Enough talk. Let’s begin—I’m in a hurry.”

Luo Han laughed in fury: “Fine, since you’re so eager to lose, I’ll oblige you!”

With that, he turned to the staff member serving as referee.

The referee looked at Lin Ze, saw that he was ready as well, and raised his hand high.

The next second.

His arm swung down heavily.

“Battle begin!”

The instant the last word fell.

Light flashed before both Lin Ze and Luo Han as their pet beasts slowly materialized.

Seeing this, the surrounding crowd erupted in cheers.

The atmosphere grew even more heated and intense.

Excitement and thrill were written on everyone’s faces.

After all, the two combatants were—on one side—the recently rising Top Freshman.

And on the other, a Second Year elite ranked eighth in his class, also a cadre of the Gaoshan Club.

Wager duels like this weren’t common in the past.

That was why so many people had come running the moment they heard the news.

The spectator seats around the Arena Platform were already more than half full.

Countless eager, excited gazes were fixed on the platform, unblinking, afraid of missing a single moment.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes.

Both pet beasts quickly revealed their forms.

Luo Han’s pet beast was a hulking humanoid creature as massive as a small hill.

Standing over three meters tall.

Its body was covered in thick, knotted muscles.

In its right hand, it gripped an enormous spiked club.

“Mountain Giant!”

Gasps rippled through the surrounding crowd.

“It’s an Earth Attribute pet beast!”

“Look at that build and pressure—definitely a Tier 5 pet beast!”

“Of course. The Mountain Giant starts at Tier 4, Stage 8, and with a bit of training, it easily breaks through to Tier 5!”

“Whoa! A Tier 5 pet beast—that’s incredible!”

“That freshman named Lin Ze is in for a rough time.”

Among pet beasts of the same tier, the Mountain Giant ranked in the upper-middle tier of combat strength.

Especially excelling in raw power and defense.

Against lower-level opponents, it was a complete steamroll.

Many people now looked at Lin Ze with a hint of pity.

Two Tier 4 pet beasts—even at Tier 4, Stage 9—probably wouldn’t be enough to take on a Tier 5 Mountain Giant.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you—my Mountain Giant is at Tier 5, Stage 2.”

Luo Han looked at Lin Ze with a smug expression.

Completely confident of victory.

Unfortunately, Lin Ze paid him no attention at all, simply smiling at Xiao Xue.

“Xiao Xue, I’ll leave it to you.”

Xiao Xue nodded firmly, then floated forward lightly with a charming laugh.

Her elf-like, graceful figure was strikingly beautiful.

The surrounding spectators couldn’t help but murmur in admiration.

“What a beautiful pet beast.”

“Yeah, she looks almost human, and so gorgeous.”

“So envious—I wish I had a Humanoid Pet Beast like that.”

“What good is being pretty? It won’t help in a fight.”

“That’s true, but it’s a pity about such a beautiful pet beast. Hopefully it won’t lose too badly later.”

Murmurs of discussion rose and fell.

The vast majority of people didn’t think highly of Lin Ze.

Their impression of Lin Ze’s strength was still stuck on this morning’s virtual combat.

Admittedly, among the first-year freshmen, calling Lin Ze’s power extraordinary wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

However, when the opponent became a second-year student who had been cultivating longer than him—especially a top-ranked elite second-year student—Lin Ze’s advantage vanished completely.

No matter how outstanding one’s talent, it still takes time to transform into real strength.

Sensing the gazes around him, Luo Han grew even more smug inside.

Yet Lin Ze remained composed, as calm as ever.

This demeanor made Luo Han’s expression falter slightly, a flicker of doubt passing through his eyes.

But he quickly cast it aside.

Even if Lin Ze were monstrous, there was no way he could raise his pet beast to Tier 5 in just a single day, right?

He was certain to win this wager duel.

With that thought, Luo Han’s confidence solidified, and he issued the attack order with a sinister grin.

The Mountain Giant immediately let out a roar and charged toward Xiao Xue with thundering footsteps.

Its ferocious iron spiked club gleamed with a chilling, heart-stopping light.

Even from a great distance, one could feel the overwhelming, terrifying baleful aura.

Many watching students instinctively held their breath, fear written across their faces.

Yet Xiao Xue, facing the baleful aura head-on, showed no fear at all. Instead, she smiled softly, extended her fair arm forward, and gave a gentle wave of her sleeve.

Whoosh!

A muffled howling sound suddenly arose.

The temperature in the surrounding air plummeted sharply.

Spectators near the arena platform couldn’t help but shiver, then suddenly realized in astonishment that fierce gales had begun to whip across the platform out of nowhere.

The biting cold wind howled and raged, and large swaths of snowflakes condensed from thin air, swirling rapidly with the wind.

In the blink of an eye.

A violent blizzard engulfed the entire arena platform!

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“A blizzard!”

“Is that a skill from that pet beast?”

“No way, how could a Tier 4 pet beast unleash a skill of this scale?”

Looking out.

The entire arena platform was nearly submerged in the raging wind and snow.

Everyone had to strain their eyes just to barely make out what was happening inside.

The sudden drop in temperature and the piercing cold all testified to the immense power of the blizzard.

And indeed, that was the case.

The moment the blizzard descended.

The Mountain Giant’s charging steps had to come to a halt.

The wind, carrying extreme cold, continuously eroded its body.

Within just a few breaths, a visible layer of frost rapidly covered the Mountain Giant’s surface.

“ROAR!”

The Mountain Giant roared at the sky, struggling desperately to charge at Xiao Xue.

But under the erosion of the swirling snow, its body became stiff and sluggish, its movements slowed by a significant margin.

“How is that possible!?”

Luo Han’s eyes widened instantly.

His face was filled with utter disbelief.

The Mountain Giant was a Tier 5 pet beast. Even if a skill cast by a Tier 4 pet beast were incredibly powerful, it shouldn’t logically have such a pronounced effect on it.

No—more accurately, a Tier 4 pet beast shouldn’t be able to unleash a skill of this magnitude at all!

As far as Luo Han knew, a blizzard—a skill so close to a natural weather phenomenon that it could alter the local climate on a small scale—required at least a Tier 5 pet beast to master.

And it had to be a high-Stage Tier 5 Pet Beast!

“Could it be… that Lin Ze’s Pet Beast has already advanced to the Tier 5 level?”

A thought suddenly surfaced in Luo Han’s mind.

He stood frozen in place, completely stunned.