Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 519: Big Cat’s Opponent

Chapter 519: Big Cat’s Opponent

Tang San retracted his wings and descended from the air, letting out a long sigh of relief. As far as the individual competition was concerned, making it into the top sixteen counted as fulfilling what he’d come here to do.

If Big Cat and Mei Gongzi could also make it into the top sixteen, that would of course be the best outcome. If the draw paired him against them, Tang San would choose to forfeit, giving them valuable rest time and allowing them to advance further.

The best scenario would be not to draw them from the get-go, allowing Tang San to help them defeat one or two more opponents and meet in the higher ranks. As for him, he had done his job, so he didn’t mind retiring when needed.

That was the case for Big Cat as well; as long as he could make it into the top sixteen, he would gain the attention of both the lion and tiger races.

After the previous matches, Big Cat had already been contacted by several envoys of the emperors, but he declined to engage with them, citing his need to focus on the competition.

This was actually what Tang San had told him to do. The only ones who would truly give him full support would still be his own race... or races. Although the lion and tiger races had previously expelled the Lion-tiger race, Big Cat was now proving the strength of the Lion-tiger race's bloodline to them. As long as they weren't complete idiots, they would know what to do.

Once Big Cat made it to the finals, it would fully demonstrate his potential. In spite of their overall foundations, getting someone in the top sixteen was in fact something neither the lion nor the tiger race had achieved in many years. If Big Cat managed to do so, the Golden Lion clan's God-Slaying Sword would undoubtedly belong to him, and he would receive the full support of the lion race.

As for Mei Gongzi, making it to the top sixteen wasn't enough.

Tang San and Big Cat could be considered the dark horses of this competition, but Mei Gongzi was not. She was the direct descendant of the Peacock Great Demon King, with a true and proven first-tier bloodline. It was normal for someone like that to make it into the top sixteen; if she wanted to be noticed, she needed to go further.

She needed to prove herself not just for her personal future, but also in order to be acknowledged as the successor of the Peacock Demon clan and demonstrate her ability to defend Kali City.

As Tang San stepped off the competition stage, he ran into Big Cat, who was preparing to step onto it.

The first three matches were for the first, second, and third groups. Naturally, the next three matches would be for the fourth, fifth, and sixth groups.

Tang San walked toward Big Cat, raising his right hand. Big Cat also raised his hand to give him a high five.

"Wait for me in the finals," Big Cat said, his eyes blazing. His fighting spirit had reached its peak.

"Good luck!" Tang San didn't say much, just firmly shook his hand.

The two brushed past each other, and Tang San returned to the waiting area where Mei Gongzi was already waiting. Seeing him, she approached directly.

"Everything alright?" she asked him with a smile.

Tang San nodded. "Couldn’t be better."

Mei Gongzi laughed. "I didn't expect my father to be so generous and give you the Celestial Spirit Pill. This is a secret concoction of the Peacock clan, specifically for those below god level. As long as you’re still breathing, then no matter how bad the injuries, it will help you recover. Though it's meant for those below god level, it’s actually classified as a divine item. My father said he gave you two. As far as I know, there are only about a dozen left altogether."

Yeah... He DID give me two... Tang San thought with a bitter smile.

"Do you know who your opponent is today?"

Mei Gongzi replied, "Yes, it’s a pretty strong nymph. But I'm confident."

"That's good." Tang San smiled slightly. "When I saw you with the Celestial Plume yesterday, I knew you'd be fine. But you still have another individual match after this, it's going to be tough."

"No worries, there's a day of rest before the finals. Besides, I have a Celestial Spirit Pill too!"

Mei Gongzi had finally let go of the cold expression she used to have, at least when she was with him.

Seeing her smile, Tang San's heart felt soft. "Still, be careful. Don't get hurt."

At this moment, Big Cat had already stepped onto the competition stage.

Compared to when he first arrived for the competition and was ignored by everyone, Big Cat had now gained some popularity through his outstanding performance.

The overall strength of his group was weaker compared to Tang San's group, but that was really only relative to the group of monsters Tang San faced. Big Cat’s group also had its share of strong contenders. Yet even so, Big Cat dwarfed them all.

Not only did he display incredibly domineering strength, but he also used tactics, feigning weakness and injury. This went to show that not only was he strong and brave, but also intelligent, cunning, and ruthless. All these were the qualities of a true leader, and they naturally caught the attention of others.

However, up until now, neither the lion nor tiger races had approached him, and there were naturally many reasons for this.

There were internal issues within the lion and tiger races, as well as problems between the two races. But of course, the most important reason was that Big Cat had not yet entered the final stage of the competition.

Only by advancing out of the group stage could he truly prove himself. And the match he was facing now would determine that.

Big Cat had fought for many years in the Great Beast Fighting Arena in Kali City, accumulating extensive combat experience. The more critical the match, the calmer he became; his gaze was deep and serene as he walked onto the stage, exuding an invisible sense of pressure.

With each battle, his mastery of the Lion-Tiger Golden Force grew more proficient, continually pushing his understanding of the transformation to new heights.

The Lion-Tiger bloodline possessed the abilities of both the lion and tiger races and could fuse them in a way that the whole was more powerful than the sum of the parts. And after resolving the bloodline conflict, it had fully surpassed both its parent bloodlines, reaching the first tier.

At this moment, Big Cat's opponent had also stepped onto the stage—another male demon.

At this stage of the individual competition, it was evident that the combat strength of the demons was on average superior to that of the nymphs. This could be inferred from the number of remaining contestants: about seventy percent of those still in the competition were demons.

In this aspect, demons had always had an advantage. This was why the topmost rulers of the Ancestral Court had always been Demon Emperors; they had the bigger fist, simple as that.

The demon powerhouse opposite Big Cat exuded a cold aura. When it stepped onto the stage, it seemed to absorb all the light, casting the entire battlefield into darkness.[1]

Big Cat knew his opponent well by now, and so did everyone else. It was from a very unique bloodline, a mutant demon clan known as Dark Devil Monarchs. This clan had extremely few members, as they could only be born under very special circumstances.

Dark Devil Monarchs had wolf demon blood but were not pure wolf demons. They also had the bloodlines of other powerful clans mixed in.

The mixed bloodline was invaded by dark energy[2] causing the conflicting bloodlines to merge in a strange way and form this unique bloodline.

It looked humanoid and was about three meters tall, with dark skin. It had a ferocious wolf's head with crimson eyes. Its purple-black mane extended from its head down to its back. It was bare-chested, revealing dark muscles covered with a scale-like layer that looked as tough as bronze.

The bloodline of a Dark Devil Monarch could be either first-tier or second-tier, due to the instability of the mutation. Some Dark Devil Monarchs had first-tier bloodlines, while others had second-tier ones. They were even rarer than Lion-Tigers, and just like the latter, they were not accepted by the demon races. However, while Lion-Tigers had been marginalized due to being considered cursed, Dark Devil Monarchs were extremely ferocious and cruel, and they were feared for good reason.

They lived by consuming the flesh of demons, and especially loved hunting down powerful ones. They believed that only by devouring powerful bloodlines could they become stronger. Naturally, the clan had countless enemies. Yet, they still hadn't perished, demonstrating how formidable the combat power of the Dark Devil Monarch clan was.

They feared nothing and lived for slaughter.

1. A reminder that we decided to use “it” when the gender is not specified and/or the author decided to use the non-human third-person pronoun, which is in fact rather often. ☜

2. There is no explanation thus far as to what this dark energy is. The word for “energy” in this specific case is also different from what we’ve thus far translated as elemental energy, spiritual energy etc. (which is the usual qi) and is actually used in IRL physics to refer to energy in such contexts as “conservation of energy” and so on. In fact, the original term here is close to the astronomic term for “dark energy” but has one extra character in the “dark” part. ☜