There were still four more matches. Jiang He and Ziyue had to win all their battles in order to qualify.
In the first two matches, neither of the opponents was very strong.
As for the last two matches, Ziyue took its competitors down with Godly Speed, Instant Flash, and Wrong Light Claw.
"We've made it to the top one 128!"
…
On October tenth, around seven in the evening, Jiang He was lying on his bed. One of his hands was stroking the Moonlight Elf while the other was tapping his phone.
He was refreshing the public account to get information about his next opponent.
"Phew, good thing it's not warlord-level."
Jiang He let out a sigh of relief.
Beastmaster: Chen Zhen
Talent: Plant-type
Subdued Beast: Distorted Tree Spirit
Type: Wood
Skills: Bind (proficient), Tenacity (proficient), Regeneration (proficient), Flying Leaf Blade (proficient)
Rank: Tier 9 servant
Potential: Low commander-level
As long as the opponent was not warlord-level, they had a chance of winning.
After reading the basic information, Jiang He clicked on a video.
The content was the Distorted Tree Spirit's previous battles. Along with Ziyue, they studied its fighting styles.
After watching a few battles, Jiang He had a rough understanding.
The Distorted Tree Spirit was an all-rounder. It could attack and defend at the same time.
This beast had countless branches that could be twisted and twined. Its opponents would get entangled in them if they got too close. Hence, it had the upper hand when it came to close combat.
Once the subdued beasts got entangled, they were basically a goner.
The more they struggled, the tighter the tree branches became.
Long-range attacks did not pose much of a threat to the Distorted Tree Spirit because it could just block with its trunk. Even if it was cut off, it could regenerate.
As long as its core was not damaged, the rest of its body was more or less invincible.
If Ziyue had not learned Silver Moonblade, it would not have stood a chance.
Jiang He felt more confident after watching the videos.
"The other party is probably watching our previous matches as well. Since we've never used Silver Moonblade before, that'll be our trump card!"
After deciding on a strategy, Jiang He continued to look up information about the other participants.
There were all sorts of strange beasts such as Broken Doll, Star Mastiff, Burning Feather, Lightning Flying mouse, Skeleton General, Sword Treasure, and so on.
None of the contestants who made it through the preliminaries were weak. They were essentially the best in their respective schools.
Among them, twenty-four subdued beasts were warlord-level.
As for the rest, most were level nine servants. Very few were level eight.
"To get into the top 16, I'll need an abundance of luck."
Jiang He sighed.
The prize money seemed to be getting further and further away.
…
It was finally the fourth day of the competition.
There were even more spectators than before.
Cameramen were aiming their cameras at the center of the arena.
From now on, every match would be broadcasted live online.
One could watch all the matches via various streaming platforms.
Jiang He saw many familiar faces such as Ding Lei, Lu Zhen, Xia Huohuo, Zhang Weiyan, and Gu Xueni.
'Why are the defeated opponents here? Did they want to watch the Moonlight Elf lose?
'If that's the case, you'll be disappointed.'
Jiang He, who had been planning his strategy all night, was full of confidence.
"For the second match, Haiping City High School's Jiang He will fight against Canghai City High School's Chen Zhen! Please give them a warm welcome."
Upon hearing that, Jiang He took a deep breath and entered the arena.
His opponent, Chen Zhen, was a short-haired girl.
Chen Zhen summoned her subdued beast. A huge green magic array appeared in front of her.
An arm wrapped in vines could be seen coming out from the middle. Slowly, a dark brown tree with black pupils appeared.
It was more than twenty feet tall and had a gnarly face.
Chen Zhen, who was standing next to it, looked tiny.
This Distorted Tree Spirit was much larger than it should be at servant-level.
Anyway, even though it looked ferocious, it actually had a very gentle nature.
Distorted Tree Spirits would often help homeless beasts. They tend to be very kind.
"Hey, can I hug your Moonlight Elf?"
Chen Zhen asked with a smile on her face.
Jiang He was stunned for a moment.
She actually made such a request right before the battle.
"Sure, if you win."
Jiang He did not want to be considered "stingy".
"Meow!"
Upon hearing that, the Moonlight Elf tilted its head. A rare hint of shyness flashed before its cold eyes.
"Okay! It's a deal!"
Chen Zhen's fighting spirit suddenly became intense.
Jiang He felt somewhat regretful.
Did he just stimulate his opponent?
The Distorted Tree Spirit stared at Ziyue intently. It was trying to frighten the latter.
Subdued beasts who were timid could be intimidated and mess up during their fight.
However, the Moonlight Elf had a strong mental fortitude, so it was not affected.
"Whoosh!"
Ziyue quickly approached the Distorted Tree Spirit. After achieving level nine, the little fellow was even faster than before.
"Bind!"
The Distorted Tree Spirit's tentacle-like branches instantly straightened, turning into "spears''. It hurled them towards the Moonlight Elf.
Ziyue remained composed.
"Whoosh!"
The little fellow increased its speed again. It was like a flash of silvery-white lightning. All of the Distorted Tree Spirit's branches missed!
Ziyue did not even activate Instant Flash. With its own speed and reaction, it could dodge the fatal "spears"!
"Tenacity!"
The twisted branches on the Distorted Tree Spirit's body became darker and a faint metallic texture could be seen.
Chen Zhen thought that the Moonlight Elf was going to attack, so she commanded the Distorted Tree Spirit to enter a defensive stance in advance.
The strengthened branches formed a net and shielded the Distorted Tree Spirit at the front!
Unexpectedly, the Moonlight Elf retreated.
A silvery-white Moonblade slowly appeared in front of it!
"This is... A long-ranged skill?"
Chen Zhen was a little confused.
This Moonlight Elf had taken the assassin's path, right? The only attack skills it should have were Shadow Claw and Wrong Light Claw.
How did it suddenly learn a long-ranged skill?
"Whoosh!"
There was no time to think. The Silver Moonblade was already charged up and heading towards the Distorted Tree Spirit. It was like the Grim Reaper's scythe!
Just as it was about to touch the branches, the Silver Moonblade blade suddenly changed its direction, charging towards the Distorted Tree Spirit's core instead!
The Distorted Tree Spirit tried to hurriedly block using its branches.
However, the Silver Moonblade nimbly passed through all its defense and directly stabbed its core!
Black blood flowed out from the core. The Distorted Tree Spirit looked like it was in a lot of pain.
"Jiang He's Moonlight Elf wins!"
The referee announced the result.
Although the Distorted Tree Spirit was huge, it had a fatal weakness.
Once its core was hit, it would lose its combat abilities.
"Another victory!"
The Moonlight Elf and Jiang He felt very excited.
"From now on, I'm a Moonlight Elf fan."
Gu Xueni said to her best friend in a serious tone.
"I love its fighting style so much. This Moonlight Elf will be the biggest dark horse of this tournament!"
"Aren't you exaggerating? There are still many warlord-level beasts!"
"It's my instincts! I'm going to set up a fan club on the Beastmaster Forum. I'll upload all the Moonlight Elf's matches."
"Sure. Count me in too."
"When the Moonlight Elf becomes famous in the future, we'll be considered veteran fans. Haha!"
Ziyue did not know that at this moment, its fan club was formed.
…
The fight for the top sixty-four would be held in the afternoon.
This time, Jiang He was quite lucky. His opponent's subdued beast was only a level eight servant.
In the end, he won the afternoon match without much trouble.
That night, at seven o'clock, the upcoming schedule was released.
Jiang He could not help but let out a long sigh after seeing his match-up.
Beastmaster: Zhang Qizheng
Talent: Wild Call
Subdued Beast: Star Mastiff
Rank: Tier 1 warlord
It seemed like his luck had run out.
"Would I be able to get into the top 32?"
He was so close to getting some prize money!