138: Reaching the pinnacle of success

Under the full power of the mecha thrusters, the War Mecha reached the Mountain Giant in less than a breath. The Mechanical Greatsword held in its hand descended with terrifying momentum, aimed directly at the Mountain Giant's neck, attempting a swift decapitation.

However, when the Mechanical Greatsword struck the Dragon Scales on the Mountain Giant's neck, it only sparked violently and cut a relatively deep gash into the scales, failing to even reach the Mountain Giant’s body protected underneath.

The initial strike achieved little effect. Observing the Mountain Giant's reaction—retreating rapidly using the “Old Ape Hanging Seal” stance while simultaneously conjuring a pair of massive rock hands that swiftly attacked the War Mecha's head—

Although this sequence of movements was executed extremely quickly, completely unlike what a Spirit Beast of the Mountain Giant's size should be capable of, the War Mecha, boosted by Wuxiang's computational power, easily captured the opponent's actions and avoided the strike by adjusting the thruster output.

In the battle between the War Mecha and the Mountain Giant, the latter’s fusion with the Firmament-Rock Dragon Scale Python had amplified its already formidable defense, achieving a synergy greater than the sum of its parts (1+1>2). Neither the slashing of the Mechanical Greatsword nor cannon fire could inflict significant damage.

The former (War Mecha) possessed a powerful Motion Capture Module, making the Mountain Giant's movements appear like slow motion, preventing it from ever landing a hit. Furthermore, since the War Mecha was airborne the entire time and never touched the ground, the Mountain Giant's ground-based skills, such as Earthquake and Earth Vein Eruption, were rendered useless.

Thus, the battle situation reverted to the stalemate seen in Xiong Nian’s fight with the Mountain-Suppressing Bear: one side couldn't break the defense, and the other couldn't hit the target.

As for abandoning the attack on the War Mecha and instead turning to attack Xu Yan, the Beast Tamer...

As soon as the War Mecha appeared, Xu Yan had already integrated himself into the mecha along with Wuxiang. However, unlike Wuxiang, which needed to provide computational power and operation, Xu Yan merely needed to stay in a safe position.

With neither side able to inflict damage on the other, the battle momentarily fell into a stalemate.

However, the reality was not so simple.

First, regarding Xiong Nian and the Mountain-Suppressing Bear: although Xiong Nian's physical attacks could not cause significant damage to the Mountain-Suppressing Bear, Xiong Nian did not rely solely on physical attacks; it also possessed the Mental Attribute.

Although the Mountain-Suppressing Bear’s Mental Power was, like its name suggested, heavy and steady like a mountain, Xiong Nian could only perform simple Mental Suggestions in the short term. Several times, these attempts were resisted, forcing Xiong Nian to endure the opponent's counterattacks.

However, as time passed, under the effect of Xiong Nian's Innate Talent, Mental Breakthrough, the Mountain-Suppressing Bear's mental weaknesses grew more numerous. Facing Xiong Nian's tempestuous offensive, the Mountain-Suppressing Bear’s movements became fewer and fewer, and its eyes began to lose focus.

Following another Mental Shock from Xiong Nian, the Mountain-Suppressing Bear's mental defenses completely collapsed. The entire Spirit Beast fell directly into the environment woven for it by Xiong Nian, standing motionless on the spot. No matter how Jing Xing, hidden in the shadows, tried to wake it through their Contract, the Mountain-Suppressing Bear trapped in the environment made no further movements.

After Jing Xing's repeated attempts to awaken it failed, the Mountain-Suppressing Bear's body vanished directly from the Battle Arena.

Although the Mountain-Suppressing Bear had not suffered much physical damage, and the entire Spirit Beast was in an extremely robust state both physically and in terms of Spiritual Energy, its Mental Power had completely succumbed to Xiong Nian's mental attack.

If Xiong Nian wished, facing the Mountain-Suppressing Bear in this state, Xiong Nian could even directly obliterate its spirit, turning it into a puppet controlled by Xiong Nian.

Under the Mechanical Referee's judgment rules, the Mountain-Suppressing Bear in this condition immediately triggered the Battle Arena's Protective Measures and was sent out of the arena.

As the Mountain-Suppressing Bear was sent out of the Battle Arena, the power bolstering the Firmament-Rock Dragon Scale Python and the Mountain Giant also vanished. The defensive power of the Dragon Scale Armor on the Mountain Giant dropped a notch. The Mechanical Greatsword, which the War Mecha previously couldn't use to break the defense, was now able to cut through the Dragon Scale Armor and directly strike the Mountain Giant's body.

Seeing this situation, Xu Yan finally completely understood Jing Xing's Team Composition Strategy.

Jing Xing's entire tactical setup seemed powerful because of the Dragon Scale Mountain Giant, which gained immense size and powerful defense after fusing with the Firmament-Rock Dragon Scale Python, but the true core was the Mountain-Suppressing Bear.

Its Innate Talent, "Suppressing Mountain," allowed Rock-type Spirit Beasts to be immune to the counter effects of skills like Rock Shattering, and greatly increased the strength and weight of mountain-related Spirit Beasts (and skills).

It was precisely because of the Suppressing Mountain Innate Talent plus the Dragon Scale Armor plus the Mountain Giant’s own formidable defense that the fused Mountain Giant was able to so easily withstand the War Mecha's attacks.

However, with the Mountain-Suppressing Bear exiting the arena, the bonus effect provided by the Suppressing Mountain Innate Talent vanished, and the defense that had previously easily withstood the War Mecha's attacks became somewhat insufficient.

Under the bombardment of the War Mecha and the "Rock Shattering" series skills of Xiong Nian, who joined the siege after dealing with the Mountain-Suppressing Bear, the previously incredibly hard Dragon Scale Armor gradually became fragmented, and the Mountain Giant's rock-formed body was marked with scratches and craters everywhere.

In this situation, Jing Xing's somewhat helpless voice came from within the Mountain Giant's body.

"Referee, I concede this match."

As Jing Xing's voice faded, the Mountain Giant, along with the Firmament-Rock Dragon Scale Python and Jing Xing himself, vanished directly from the Battle Arena, signaling the end of the challenge.

Xu Yan exited the War Mecha's body and was gently placed onto the ground, cradled by its hands.

Watching Wuxiang recall the War Mecha and the Mechanical Greatsword, and facing the inquiry of the Electronic Referee, Xu Yan chose for the first time to Pause and Rest, rather than immediately accepting the next challenger.

After a brief rest, Xu Yan resumed accepting challenges from the next opponent.

Somewhat surprisingly, yet reasonably so, the nine opponents who subsequently challenged Xu Yan no longer included anyone who had truly reached the Commander Rank like Jing Xing, and they were quickly and easily dispatched by Xu Yan.

After winning the battle against Jing Xing, over the next eight days, Xu Yan encountered one or two Commander Rank existences among his daily challengers.

However, none of them presented a situation like Jing Xing’s, where Xu Yan was momentarily helpless against the opponent. This held true even for two of Xu Yan’s friends, Chen Yan and Mu Jin.

The former (Chen Yan) chose to clash directly with Wuxiang, and after destroying some Mechanical Constructs under the bombardment of five Mechanical Greatswords plus Self-destructing Machines, he was eliminated. The latter (Mu Jin), under Wuxiang's indiscriminate bombardment, couldn't even deploy her Swarm of Insects, much less form an Insect Tide, and quickly fell beneath the relentless artillery fire.