Chapter 99: Dead, I Am a Sword Cultivator

“Is it over this quickly?”

A voice of doubt came from the spectator stands.

After the Spotted Wolf stepped on General Bean, Linghu Meng, on the high platform, raised his finger, and the Spotted Wolf’s claws suddenly pressed down with a force that seemed intent on crushing its opponent.

The wolf let out a low growl, its hind legs scraping the ground, showing signs of impatience.

“Crush it!” Linghu Meng ordered.

The Spotted Wolf tightened its claws, the sharp ends almost embedding into the ground. It moved its leg, and amidst the quiet, a distinct “crack” echoed.

The crowd instinctively glanced at the two life lamps; the one representing General Bean had not gone out.

A look of confusion flashed in the silver-masked man’s eyes. He considered stepping down to investigate, but just then, the Spotted Wolf’s claws moved again.

A dark mist poured from the gaps in its claws onto the concave ground, then reformed, taking the shape of a scorpion.

Green Bean moved its limbs and, taking advantage of the Spotted Wolf’s confusion, bit down on its claw.

It flicked its tail hook but couldn’t find an opening. The area around its claw was covered in spiritual armor.

“Still biting?” Linghu Meng, high in the air, was somewhat surprised. He glanced at Lian Mu, who had her eyes closed and no expression on her face.

The Spotted Wolf grew furious. Its eerie green eyes turned bright red. It raised its paw again and struck toward Green Bean. Just as it was about to collide, Green Bean’s body dissolved into mist once more.

When the blow landed, the black mist scattered, then reformed.

“What is this?”

The crowd was bewildered. Most had never seen such a method of evasion—dissolving and reassembling. No magical beast of any lineage could do that.

While everyone was stunned, the passageway to the spectator stands opened, and a woman with a white hat entered. She sat in the front row, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

The only person who could enter after the match had begun… was the Sect Master of Fei Hai Pavilion.

Bai Lingque walked up to her side, and the silver-tailed mountain sparrow on her shoulder hopped into her hand, chirping away.

“Oh?” Bai Su watched Green Bean, noting the changes in its body. She made a slight gesture, sending the silver-tailed mountain sparrow flying away. “So it’s really it. After all these years, it’s preparing to make a comeback?”

Bai Lingque whispered in her ear. Bai Su looked surprised, then suppressed her emotions and asked, “What’s it called now?”

“It’s called ‘Invincible General Bean.'”

Bai Su smiled. “General Bean… that fits its old style. Since it’s back, I suppose over in the East of the Green Dragon… After this match, you’ll have to bring its Beastmaster to me.”

“Understood, Pavilion Master.”

The atmosphere in the competition arena grew tense.

The Spotted Wolf originally wanted to finish off Green Bean in one move, but after several attempts, it was unable to land a perfect hit. The gold beast’s impatience began to show.

Linghu Meng furrowed his brows, trying to forcefully control the Spotted Wolf. Veins bulged on the back of his hand, as if he were struggling to endure something.

On the other hand, Lian Mu remained expressionless.

She had completely merged her consciousness with Green Bean, experiencing its sensations as though they were one.

Lian Mu felt a slight warmth in her palm, and the pain from Green Bean’s body transferred to her. To minimize her own pain, she had to dodge as much as possible.

When a heavy pressure hit her back, her spine almost snapped. The spiritual energy in her hand suddenly burst out, and Green Bean in the arena dissolved into black mist again.

After completely taking control of Green Bean’s body, Lian Mu made it crawl erratically across the ground. Green Bean’s speed had increased significantly.

Through Green Bean’s eyes, she aimed for the Spotted Wolf’s hind leg, then had it leap up and bite into a piece of its spiritual armor.

The Spotted Wolf turned, trying to pull it off, but it was too far, and could only spin in place.

Green Bean gnawed at its hind leg. Although it usually moved slowly, it was much faster when eating. After biting through a gap, it started gnawing frantically.

Linghu Meng: “?”

Outside the arena, Gong Yu and the other spectators: “?”

Xu Xianxing was pumped up, shouting, “General Bean, go! Bite it into pieces!”

The whole arena only heard his cheers, which felt awkward, but he was oblivious, growing more enthusiastic with each shout.

The crowd: “…”

Green Bean crawled up the Spotted Wolf’s hind leg, causing it to bleed profusely.

This golden beast didn’t feel pain, but that didn’t mean Linghu Meng wasn’t suffering.

At this moment, Linghu Meng felt like his leg was about to be gnawed off. Sweat poured down his face as he endured the pain, all while trying to control the Spotted Wolf.

“Gold beasts aren’t suited for prolonged battles,” said the silver crane, who had put away his folding fan. The smile on his face had disappeared. “If you bring a gold beast into the ring, and can’t defeat your opponent in under fifteen minutes, the situation becomes hard to control.”

The Spotted Wolf, unable to reach Green Bean for so long, had become so impatient it started to bite itself.

“General Bean is indeed a novelty. I’ve never seen such a magical beast before.”

The silver crane spoke to his attendant. Xu Xianxing, sitting beside him, said blandly, “That gold beast was never going to win. It has nothing to do with whether it can fight for long or not.”

The silver crane turned to him. “Do you have another perspective, young friend?”

Xu Xianxing: “It’s not that the Spiked Tail Wolf is weak, it’s that its owner is incompetent. Like a cultivator resonating with a spiritual tool, the owner couldn’t resonate fully with it, which dragged it down.”

“Resonating fully with a magical beast… Not everyone has that skill.” The silver crane sat down beside him, patting his shoulder. “It seems you’re also an artifact refiner? Not many artifact refiners around here.”

Xu Xianxing paused for a moment. His master always warned him not to reveal his identity too easily, especially as an artifact refiner, since it could attract unwanted attention from bad people.

So he responded with disdain: “Who wants to be an artifact refiner? Weak and useless, the only thing it’s good for is refining spiritual tools. I’m a sword cultivator.”

The silver crane remained silent for a while, then returned to his seat. The smile on his face faded as he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his hands.

Xu Xianxing continued shouting loudly, “General Bean will win!”

The silver crane immediately understood. So, this person was a friend of General Bean’s Beastmaster. He stood up and left the arena.

“How can it eat so much…” On the high platform, Linghu Meng’s face showed anxiety. His spiritual pet’s hind leg had been gnawed down to the bone, and it was getting dangerously close to the inner core.

General Bean seemed like a hooked fruit, impossible to shake off. It even seemed to be trying to burrow into the wound.

“….”

Was it going to lose again?

Linghu Meng gritted his teeth, unwilling to lose to the same person twice. As a friend of the top Beastmaster on the spiritual pet ranking, it was humiliating to lose to an unknown newcomer.

A flicker of anger flashed in his eyes, and he clenched his fist.

“Ah!”

A scream came from the spectator stands. In the arena, the Spotted Wolf, whose flesh had been gnawed to shreds, suddenly grew new scales of spiritual armor around its wound, covering it more tightly. Its red eyes turned dark, and its spiritual energy surged, seemingly becoming much stronger.

“So it’s a Gold Beast advancing? No wonder…”

Advancement occurs during a magical beast’s transformation period, and generally takes five to seven days. This beast had advanced from Tier-5 to Tier-4.

Lian Mu opened her eyes and also noticed something was wrong. Seeing the Spiked Tail Wolf’s sudden surge, she felt a bit regretful: if she had acted earlier, she might have had a chance to obtain the transformation crystal of this magical beast.

However, now, Lian Mu was beginning to worry about Green Bean’s situation. The opponent had suddenly leveled up, and Green Bean hadn’t reacted yet.

“You can’t beat me,” Linghu Meng said, laughing arrogantly from afar.

Lian Mu: “Oh.”

Linghu Meng: “!?”

Linghu Meng: “Heh, just wait and see as this ugly thing gets chewed to pieces by my spiritual pet.”

He waved his hand, and the spotted wolf immediately flicked its tail, which acted like a silver whip, smashing into the ground and creating a large pit. After the tail moved, it suddenly twisted into an odd position, looping around its hind legs and entangling the Green Bean that was lying there.

With a strong yank, it forcibly pulled it off.

The full name of the spotted wolf was the “Spiny Tail Wuchang Gray Wolf,” and the term “Wuchang” referred to its tail, which could transform into a hooked rope to catch the opponent’s body. It could then inject spiritual power, directly destroying them.

Clearly, it wasn’t planning to let Green Bean go. After hooking onto it, the wolf immediately tightened its spiny tail, trying to crush Green Bean.

The same pain instantly transferred to Lian Mu, causing her to frown. Just as she was about to mistify Green Bean, she suddenly received a message from it in her consciousness: it wanted her to break the shared perception.

Lian Mu: “Are you sure?”

She could understand the chaotic sounds transmitted through the spiritual connection, confirming its intent. She then actively broke the shared perception.

The pain abruptly vanished, and Lian Mu felt light and free. The next moment, she saw the spiny-tailed wolf rip apart Green Bean’s shell.

Linghu Meng: “You’re giving up on it voluntarily? Well, no one can bear that kind of pain. At least you’re sensible.”

Lian Mu didn’t respond to him. In that fleeting moment, it seemed that Green Bean had opened the red eyes on its abdomen. Normally, it used its green eyes to glare at people, occasionally opening the red eyes on its back when angry. But she had only seen it open the red eyes on its abdomen once before, when they were in the Limbo Pool, and this was the second time.

Once the shared perception was broken, she could no longer control it and could only watch it struggle on its own.

After the shell cracked open, black mist began to leak out from within Green Bean’s body. As the cracks widened, the mist became denser.

Before long, the shell was completely emptied, and the spiny-tailed wolf tossed it into its mouth, chewing it into pieces.

“Dead?”

The spectators fell silent, looking at the life lanterns. The one representing General Bean still hadn’t gone out.

The silver-faced man couldn’t make sense of what was happening. He tentatively started counting down: “Ten, nine, eight…”

When he reached three, the black mist suddenly began to spread, enveloping the spiny-tailed wolf, and then it began to crawl into its wounds.

Bai Su, in the stands, suddenly widened her eyes, instinctively gripping the railing so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Bai Lingque took out a talisman, removing Green Bean’s life lantern from the air and holding it in her hand, ready to act at any moment.

Linghu Meng didn’t understand what was going on with the black mist. He made no move, waiting for the next development.

However, what he didn’t expect was that the next moment, the spotted wolf exploded, its body bursting from the inside, flesh and blood scattering.

Linghu Meng suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, unable to stop vomiting. His seven orifices bled, staining the cloth on his shoulder.

Gong Yu immediately stood up and rushed towards the high platform.

The spectators were stunned. They saw that where the spotted wolf’s flesh had exploded, a ball of black mist was reshaping itself. It merged with the wolf’s blood, flesh, and spiritual armor, slowly transforming into the shape of a scorpion.

It looked exactly like before—pitch black, but its body had grown to half a human’s height, with all four pairs of eyes wide open. It didn’t move. Instead, it began eating the spotted wolf’s corpse, covered in blood.

Seeing that Linghu Meng was on the verge of collapse, the silver-faced man hurriedly announced: “In this match, ‘The Invincible General Bean,’ wins!”