Chapter 242 — Bai Xi and Lu Heng's Transformation

The sightseers and contestants gathered around the Might-Overlook Platform now far outnumbered those in the hall, and they were hardly strangers to those three names either. The result: within seconds, Shi Jin, Lu Heng, and Bai Xi were once again the center of attention.

It wasn't that there were no Master-tier beast tamers present, but an ordinary Master-tier contestant amounted to nothing beside the fame of those three.

"What's going on?"

In the chaos, even the two martial artists responsible for recording results looked astonished.

They quickly glanced at the updated list sent over from the hall.

109, Bai Xi...

Oh ho.

"Little Bai Xi's here. Didn't see her the past couple of days—I thought she wasn't entering this year," one recording martial artist said.

"How could she not? She broke through to Master this year—of course she'd come to give it a go. She might even be aiming for first place. As Elder Bai's granddaughter and the pride of our Bai family, she's bound to take a championship at the tournament someday."

"Though..."

Soon, they noticed something off.

110, Lu Heng?

That Dr. Lu?

And number 111, Shi Jin...

"Wait—Shi Jin? The Shi Jin from the Ancient Capital University?"

Both were members of the Bai family, Master-tier beast tamers assigned to tournament duties this time. Seeing one of their own, they were naturally warm—but as their eyes moved to the two names after Bai Xi's, their reaction matched the bystanders': utter bewilderment.

They jerked their heads toward the besieged Lu Heng and Shi Qi in the crowd.

"It really is them."

A moment later, they could not help but frown, and called out from on high: "No clamor in this area! Do not disturb the others!"

Only after that shout did the crowd below quiet down a little. At this point Shi Jin could not help but reflect on what a fine thing fame was—stand there, and a whole flock of beast-eared girls and beast-eared boys would come asking to add him as a friend...

Of course, to preserve his image, Shi Shuo did not dare hand it out—otherwise there would truly be no end to it.

Time passed, bit by bit.

After the initial lizard man, a dozen or so more went up one after another. Not one was a Master-tier beast tamer; most lasted into their twenties before they stopped struggling. Contestants like these were merely here for the fun of it, with virtually no chance of advancing straight to the main bracket as seeded players.

Their brief, feeble struggles against the deterrence left the sightseers rather unsatisfied. Of course, most were not there to see contestants perform—a crowd of dirty old men was purely waiting to watch the beast-eared girls resist the deterrence, glistening with fragrant sweat, trembling all over.

And see it they did—but ten-odd seconds, twenty seconds, and down they came again. Far too short; not nearly enough to satisfy.

Until...

"Number 109, Bai Xi."

As the previous contestant stepped down, the two Bai family members on the high platform spoke with a trace of anticipation.

Next up was Bai Xi.

Bai Xi was a master-level beast tamer, and her beasts had reached the monarch level as well—her performance would surely be nothing like that of the contestants before her.

"My turn."

"Then here I go."

In the crowd, Bai Xi—dressed in black shorts and a white athletic short-sleeved shirt—stretched lazily, then limbered up her body, turning to Lu Heng and Shi Li beside her.

"Good luck," Lu Heng smiled.

"Good luck, senior," Shi Cen said.

Bai Xi chuckled and, under everyone's gaze, walked straight toward the arena.

After stepping onto the platform, she did not stop walking, and at the same time lifted her head to look at the stone pillar.

Soon the pillar flickered with a faint light and directly emitted a wave of intimidation—the weak deterrent force rushed head-on at the beast-eared senior!!

Yet against intimidation of this level, Bai Xi's expression did not change in the slightest; she did not even use her fusion state, simply standing on the field in her normal form and quietly watching the pillar.

One second, two seconds, three seconds... nine seconds, ten seconds, eleven seconds...

Wrapped in the transparent aura of intimidation, Bai Xi's breathing remained even, and she stood on the platform without the slightest reaction.

"Holy shit."

At that moment, the tourists and contestants alike held their breath.

In the blink of an eye, Bai Xi had endured for over twenty seconds, and she was still in her normal form, only her clothes and hair swaying slightly under the sweep of the intimidation.

Seeing this, the contestants who had just stepped down one after another could not help but stare wide-eyed at the scene.

"Oh my god."

"She's holding on for over twenty seconds with nothing but her physical body?"

"A human-shaped savage beast, with a physique comparable to a commander-level extraordinary creature??"

"Those two masters this morning didn't dare play it like this!"

By now, what Bai Xi had achieved made it clear that even without her beast-taming talent, without fusing with her beast, relying solely on her own fists, she could go a round with a commander-level savage beast—she was a bona fide human-shaped savage beast, her physique tempered to superhuman levels.

"As expected of Senior Bai Xi," Shi Li said from below.

"Your physique shouldn't be any weaker than hers, should it?" Lu Heng curled his lip. Bai Xi he could understand, but Shi Jin was the real freak—at the intermediate level, he could withstand possession by a high-ranking overlord-species, extraordinary-level sword spirit. That kind of physique was even more outrageous.

"So-so, so-so." Shi Jin laughed heartily. A moment later, twenty-five seconds had passed, and on the platform, Bai Xi finally frowned slightly. She slowly raised her hand—there was no visible sign of summoning at all—but the next instant, wreathed in faint light, beast-transformation traits appeared directly on her body.

Boom!!!

At the same time, an aura erupted from Bai Xi, instantly crushing back the intimidation released by the stone pillar. Amid the roaring air, Bai Xi's brand-new form appeared before everyone.

Now Bai Xi's short black hair had turned completely into flowing white locks, her eyes had turned blue, and she had gained two things like fox ears.

Most importantly, at this moment, nine sleek, slender white tails had sprouted directly behind her. The dazzling nine tails looked noble and elegant, their tips tinged with golden highlights; when they all danced, they were even larger than Bai Xi herself, becoming the perfect backdrop to set off her figure.

Boom!

After transforming into the Nine-Tailed Lady, Bai Xi was immediately much more at ease.

"Nine-Tailed Light Fox... she's fused with the Nine-Tailed Light Fox." At this, seeing Bai Xi's transformation, someone could not help but exclaim excitedly.

Fusing with the quasi-overlord-species Nine-Tailed Light Fox, combined with Bai Xi's terrifying physical constitution, directly let her burst forth with a powerful intimidation, easily facing the baptism of the stone pillar's deterrent force head-on!

At that moment, Shi Qi, witnessing the beast-eared senior's eruption of 1.75 million energy value, also sighed with emotion and said, "Actually, I still think the white tiger form looks cooler."

"That little white tiger may be Bai Xi's main beast, but right now it's one evolution behind the nine tails. It'll probably be a while before Heng can become her ace again," Lu Heng smiled.

After becoming the nine-tailed fox, Bai Xi calmly dealt with the intimidation. In the blink of an eye she had withstood over thirty seconds; after thirty seconds, the stone pillar's intimidation suddenly surged, Bai Xi's whole body was wreathed in a curtain of light, and her intimidation continued to erupt. Where the two forces collided, it was as if thunderclaps rang out in the air.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!