"They even managed to get a Beast King’s Cub?"
Lee Zhen was astonished.
Lin Chen was equally surprised.
"At a great cost..." Xu Youzhen said, "Li Jiuxiao is an Entry-Level Beastmaster, and the Beast King’s Cub is his second Spirit Beast, currently at Level 19."
Hearing Level 19, Lin Chen frowned.
Xiaobai is only at Level 16 right now, naturally at a disadvantage in terms of level.
However, with the blessing of the Barbaric Bloodline, it’s not impossible to fight.
"And what about others?" Lin Chen continued to inquire.
Xu Youzhen thought for a moment and said, "I don’t know much about other cities, but we in Black Mountain City have quite a few seed players."
"For example, Jiang Yue..."
"Teacher, please don’t say." Jiang Yue blushed.
Compared to Lin Chen, her Plowhorn Beast is nothing.
"Why feel inferior?! If you can fight, fight; if you can’t, concede. Just do your best." Xu Youzhen advised, then added, "But inviting the Li Family here was mostly the Wan Family’s idea."
"The Wan Family in your city?"
Lin Chen hadn’t heard of them, but Lee Zhen was clear.
The Wan Family’s status is roughly equivalent to the Ning Family’s status in Jiuxing City, akin to a small city aristocratic family. However, the Wan Family greatly values cattle, and many good cattle in Black Mountain City are controlled by the Wan Family.
"This year, the third son of the Wan Family, Wan Ming, formed a pact with a Sub-Beast King Bloodline, and this time they strongly suggested inviting the Li Family, likely wanting to capitalize on this to rise in status." Xu Youzhen explained.
The so-called Sub-Beast King Bloodline refers to a generational bloodline, born of the Beast King’s offspring.
Lee Zhen wasn’t surprised either.
In the Cangling Ancient Country, if a family wants to increase its influence, it’s beyond the stage of fighting and killing; it mainly relies on influence to enhance their status in the martial world.
"Furthermore, this time our Black Mountain City is groundbreaking, not only having the Ox King Award but also two other awards: the Strongest Popularity Award and the Best Skill Award."
"There are awards for skills too?" Lin Chen was surprised.
"Haha, just for fun, but the rewards are not low." Xu Youzhen said, "Your Combined Skill has a good chance to compete for the Best Skill Award. As for the Barbaric Bloodline..."
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Youzhen said, "The competition doesn’t prohibit using such skills, but if it gets out of control and injures others, the judges will intervene and declare you losing the match."
"Understood." Lin Chen nodded.
It was late at night by the time the two finally parted ways. Although it was late, there were still quite a few people on the streets of Black Mountain City.
Passing by a brothel, a woman standing at the door quickly approached and asked, "Honored guests, would you like to relax a bit on this late night..."
Lee Zhen and Lin Chen directly ignored her.
Sure enough, in any world, there’s always a hint of that yellow color.
Along the way, Lee Zhen chatted with Lin Chen about the development issues of Jiuxing City.
"If Jiuxing City continues to decline , many families are planning to leave." Lee Zhen said, "For example, the Ning Family sent Ning Zimo out this time, first for cultivation, and secondly, to begin expanding outward."
Lin Chen understood the seriousness of the situation.
Although large families are like vampires, if a city doesn’t have a big family to hold it down, its combat power will greatly decrease, and it would be very dangerous to encounter a large Beast Tide.
Once residents feel the city is not secure, they will quickly leave as well.
The development of a city now can’t do without big capital.
The jobs connected by a single Ning Family are incredibly formidable.
"I also understand the Ning Family. Ning Ye wants to stay in Jiuxing City, but the size of Jiuxing City is too small and lacks fame. If the Ning Family continues to stay there, it will be very difficult to rise further." Lee Zhen said with no small amount of worry.
Lin Chen thought of a question and asked, "Is the Monster Hunter Guild in Jiuxing City finding it increasingly difficult to recruit new members?"
"Yes." Lee Zhen nodded and said, "The best talents also go to farther places. For example, Black Mountain City deliberately increases monthly benefits to compete."
"Too competitive." Lin Chen sighed.
"If a city doesn’t compete, it can only wait for death." Lee Zhen sighed and said, "The future belongs to big cities."
As they continued chatting, they returned to their lodging. Lin Chen was indeed tired, so he washed up with Xiaobai and went to sleep.
The next day, the competition didn’t start but was a sign-in and statistics day.
Lin Chen took the token given by Zhu He, the head of Tai Niu Institute, to sign in.
"Lin Chen? Are you the Lin Chen from Jiuxing City?" Unexpectedly, the staff recognized him, probably because of the "Mad Bull Bloodline."
"Yes." Lin Chen nodded.
The staff looked Xiaobai up and down before finally saying, "Draw a lot."
"Is it random?" Lin Chen asked.
The draw is a single duel where if you draw number 1, your opponent is number 2.
Number 3’s opponent is number 4.
Lin Chen casually drew a lot, number 77.
"Your opponent is number 78..."
Then, the staff wrote on the large board next to number 77:
Lin Chen, Plowhorn Beast.
Lin Chen glanced over and saw number 78 was still blank, then left.
Shortly after Lin Chen left, Jiang Yue arrived too, and she came with her best friend.
When looking at the draw board, Jiang Yue already saw Lin Chen’s name at position 77, so she was a bit nervous when drawing lots herself.
Her best friend noticed and asked, "What’s wrong?"
Jiang Yue was actually reminded of Lin Chen’s One Qi Transforms Into Four Bulls from the day before...
Currently, Jiang Yue has no way to counter it.
So the best way to deal with this abnormal opponent is not to draw them.
Soon, she took a number from the box:
Jiang Yue let out a silent sigh of relief.
Then she checked number 135 and found someone was already there.
Number 135, Anand Dasa.