Chapter 2148 — The Trial Round
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
"Good. Such are the rules of this contest. Any who do not wish to take the field may concede immediately, and thereby avoid the danger!" Elder Zhao said. "Those who do not concede shall draw lots in turn, and according to the order of the draw, they shall face the Spirit Beast Survival Trial one by one. There is no limit on the duration of a bout, so if the trials cannot be concluded today, they shall continue tomorrow! First, on behalf of our Hidden Zhao Family, I withdraw."
Elder Zhao's announcement of withdrawal rather stunned those present, but shortly after, Elder Yu of the Hidden Yu Family spoke up as well: "Our Hidden Yu Family withdraws as well."
"Heh heh, our Hidden Zhuang Family has merely come to watch the excitement—this trial round may be dispensed with!" Elder Zhuang said with a faint smile.
"Our Hidden You Family withdraws as well..." Elder You said flatly. Although Yu Dake had already returned to the Hidden You Family, he declined to take the field on the grounds that his injuries were not yet healed.
Elder You, for his part, harbored no suspicion; he merely examined Yu Dake's injuries and found that they had indeed been healed by the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill and the Meridian-Unblocking Pill, with a certain amount of medicinal efficacy still unrefined within his body, and so he did not doubt in the slightest that Yu Dake had any problem.
The Hidden You Family never lacked capable hands seeking to attach themselves to it, and since such a capable Earth-rank mid-stage expert had cured himself with pills and returned to the Hidden You Family, Elder You had decisively no reason to refuse him.
"Though withdrawing is a rather face-losing affair, our Hidden Tang Family... also gives up!" Elder Tang said with a faint smile.
Wei Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly. He had not expected quite so many Hidden World Families to withdraw outright from this final trial round. This was a double stake they were wagering—did they not want it? Yet their action also sounded a warning bell for Wei Zhao.
It seemed this final contest boded ill. Clearly these people already knew the difficulty of this final contest, and so had all chosen to withdraw!
As a result, the contestants remaining were only the Qianshan Sect, the Golden Bell Sect, the Fire Wolf Gang, and the Hidden Pi Family, along with the Hidden Han Family that Wei Zhao represented—half of the field gone at a stroke, something unprecedented in the previous contests.
"Good. In that case, the remaining five families shall draw lots to determine the order!" Elder Zhao said.
Under Elder Zhao's arrangement, the five families came up one by one to draw, and the order emerged: first the Hidden Pi Family, then the Fire Wolf Gang, the Golden Bell Sect, the Hidden Han Family, and the Qianshan Sect! The Qianshan Sect was placed last—whether by coincidence, or by some tampering with the draw to arrange it so deliberately, Wei Zhao did not bother to look into such trifling details; it made no difference now.
Once the order was settled, they all walked out of the council hall and headed for the martial ground behind it. By now the martial ground had been fully prepared: within a massive metal cage stood a strange spirit beast!
This spirit beast resembled a qilin beast yet was not quite one; a single horn grew on its head, making it look like some hybrid of a one-horned pegasus and a qilin beast—to call it a "four-unlike" was the most accurate description.