Chapter 84: Slaying the Rock Dragon—Is the Contest for Talent About to Begin?
Xu Han's eyes lit up.
Little Tiger's strength had improved tremendously!
Leaving aside changes in attributes and skills, its sheer increase in size was astonishing. Moreover, Xu Han sensed a faint, almost imperceptible aura of ferocity swirling around Little Tiger. Even the weak would be scared out of their wits just by approaching it.
Little Tiger's attributes had all risen by several hundred points. Both strength and constitution had broken through the thousand-point mark, nearly catching up to Xu Han himself. Not only that, even its skills had evolved. Sandstorm had become Devastating Sandstorm; Earthquake had evolved into Great Earthquake.
Xu Han was curious—just how powerful were Devastating Sandstorm and Great Earthquake? Two new skills had appeared as well: Power of the Earth and Mountain Suppression.
Now, in terms of combat power, Little Tiger was not much inferior to Xu Han himself.
However, the materials needed for the next bloodline purification were daunting: five pieces of Epic-grade pet food. Gathering them would be nearly impossible. Epic-grade pet food was extremely rare on the market; each piece was worth tens of millions, far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
If Xu Han wanted Little Tiger's bloodline to be purified again, he would have to keep striving.
The Rock Dragon stared fiercely at Little Tiger. It sensed that Little Tiger's aura was completely different from before—at least ten times stronger!
It let out a low growl, warning Little Tiger to leave.
Little Tiger growled back, the ferocity in its gaze intensifying.
The next moment, Little Tiger launched itself forward, powerful limbs propelling its massive body high into the air. Its claws radiated an earthy yellow light, seeming to grow larger.
Boom!
Its claw struck the Rock Dragon's head directly, smashing it into the earth.
Fragments of stone flew everywhere. The Rock Dragon's health bar dropped slightly.
Enraged, it roared, raising a claw to strike at Little Tiger's head.
Boom!
The two giant beasts separated with a thunderous crash.
The Rock Dragon's head bore several deep claw marks, bone visible through the wounds, and many scales on its jaw had been ground away, blood dripping incessantly.
As for Little Tiger, it only had a few bloodstreaks on its head, but these did nothing to hinder it—in fact, they made it appear even fiercer.
The Rock Dragon roared.
The ground beside Little Tiger suddenly shattered. Several rock walls rose up, encircling Little Tiger and trapping it firmly within.
The rock prison was narrow.
Little Tiger couldn't move.
It let out a low growl and struck a rock wall with its claw.
Boom!
A large hole appeared in the wall, but it quickly repaired itself.
The next moment, a rock spear over ten meters long shot out from the wall, aiming for Little Tiger's eye.
Little Tiger raised a paw and smashed the spear in two with a single swipe.
Xu Han called out, "Little Tiger, hold nothing back—finish it with your full strength!"
Little Tiger nodded.
It stomped its paw forcefully.
Earthy yellow energy surged wildly into its body. Its form expanded once again, filling the rock prison to the brim.
Rumble—
The ground shook violently.
Cracks like giant serpents snaked toward the Rock Dragon.
The earth beneath the Rock Dragon collapsed with a resounding crash.
One of its legs slipped, its body losing balance and tumbling toward the fissure.
Then, a massive boulder fell from the sky, smashing straight onto the Rock Dragon's head.
Boom!
The Rock Dragon was stunned.
Xu Han, moving like a phantom, appeared above the Rock Dragon's head.
The Ice-blue Blade stabbed fiercely into its eye.
Blood spurted out.
The Rock Dragon howled in agony, swinging its claws.
Xu Han raised his hand.
A fireball the size of the Rock Dragon's head appeared in his palm.
Boom!
The explosive fireball was shoved directly into the Rock Dragon's eye.
Its head blew apart entirely.
Blood splattered everywhere.
Xu Han landed steadily, watching the Rock Dragon's corpse collapse beside him.
He glanced at his experience bar.
He had leveled up.
Level 22!
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, Little Tiger held the Rock Dragon at bay in direct combat, giving him the chance to finish it off in one blow.
He walked over to inspect the Rock Dragon.
It had dropped two pieces of equipment: a suit of heavy armor and a pair of bracers.
He examined the armor's attributes.
[Rock Dragon Heavy Armor]
[Quality: Gold-grade]
[Strength +100]
[Constitution +500]
[Health Regeneration +10%]
[Skill 1: Dragon Scale Guardian (Reduces all damage by 20% when activated, lasts 10 seconds, cooldown 5 minutes)]
[Description: Possesses defensive power comparable to a Rock Dragon; wearing it makes you even stronger]
[Equipment Requirement: Level 35]
Xu Han sighed deeply.
Level 35 Gold-grade heavy armor. Not bad, but he'd have to sell it for money.
He looked at the bracers.
[Heavy Rock Bracers]
[Quality: Gold-grade]
[Strength +150]
[Constitution +100]
[Casting Speed +10%]
[Skill 1: Great Strength (Passive skill, increases wearer's strength by 20%)]
[Description: Bracers imbued with earth-element power, granting the wearer immense strength]
[Equipment Requirement: Level 20]
Xu Han nodded slightly.
These bracers were excellent. Gold-grade, level 20 equipment—he could wear them now.
He put on the bracers, feeling his whole body surge with power.
He opened his attribute panel to check.
[Name: Xu Han]
[Race: Human]
[Class: SSS-grade Master Gourmet]
[Level: 22]
[Strength: 2270]
[Constitution: 1439]
[Agility: 1030]
[Mental: 359]
Xu Han's eyes widened.
These Heavy Rock Bracers had pushed his strength past the 2000-point threshold!
With these attributes, Xu Han was certain that no one at Tier 3 could match him. Even many Tier 4 powerhouses didn't have such terrifying stats.
He then opened the leaderboard.
A whopping 531 points!
Over three hundred points ahead of second place, Wang Mo!
Xu Han felt much more at ease.
At least for now, no one could catch up.
He waved the Ice-blue Blade, easily slicing off a large chunk of Rock Dragon meat.
Then he took out all the other exotic beast meat from his spatial ring, preparing for a grand barbecue.
It was time to reward Little Tiger and Little Eagle.
Without them, killing the Rock Dragon would have been much more difficult.
Soon, he set up the grill and began roasting meat.
Meanwhile, the deans sitting in the grandstand were no longer calm.
Zheng Gang frowned. "That kid actually slaughtered the Rock Dragon?"
Huang Zhengtian sighed, "He really is a monster!"
"To kill a level 35 gold-grade boss solo—if word got out, other universities would go mad!"
"They might do whatever it takes to recruit him."
Zhong Zhen chuckled, "What’s there to fear? Who has more resources than Dragon Nation University?"
Night Butterfly propped her chin, watching Xu Han with interest.
"This little fellow is intriguing. Our Exotic Beast Research Institute wants him."
Zheng Gang protested, "Senior, it's not time to pick students yet. Who knows where he'll go?"
"His talent in close combat means our Warrior Academy could nurture him best."
Shui Tianlu said unhappily, "He can use magic too!"
"I think he should join our Magic Academy."
Night Butterfly glanced at the two. "Why not fight for it? Winner gets to choose."