Challenge

"Yulian was a retainer Borg brought into the merchant association. Borg has been collecting large amounts of mithril, hoping to help Yulian reach the Saint Realm and improve his own standing within the association," Matos said. "To be honest, another task Lord Ivan gave me was to investigate Yulian's strength."

"Yulian is already about to reach the Saint Realm. Why would he still challenge Richard? Could it be for the Sacred Tree Fruit?" Inori asked in confusion.

"Perhaps he wants to use the Sacred Tree Fruit to trade for something," Matos said casually. He did not care much about it. After all, the other Level Nine Experts participating in the Sacred Tree Fruit Contest were not necessarily doing it for their own use either.

Andres watched Yulian on the arena, estimating his own odds of victory.

Although Yulian's strength had increased greatly, he was not enough to make Andres feel troubled.

Yulian was now equivalent to a powerful Peak Level Nine Magical Beast. One difference between magical beasts and the Human Race was that magical beasts did not need to comprehend realms such as "Treating Light as Heavy" or "Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth."

Magical beasts placed greater emphasis on bloodlines than humans. For example, the Black Dragon Clan was a Level Nine Magical Beast race. That meant any black dragon did not need much cultivation; as long as it naturally grew to adulthood, it would become Level Nine.

The Purple-Eyed Golden-Furred Ape, for example, was a Saint Realm Magical Beast. A young Purple-Eyed Golden-Furred Ape could naturally grow into a Saint Realm Magical Beast.

Divine beasts were the same. They did not need to painstakingly comprehend Law Profundity like humans did. Once divine beasts reached adulthood, they would naturally comprehend a Law Profundity and become Demigods.

If ordinary Level Nine Magical Beasts wanted to reach the Saint Realm, then unless they relied on an innate mutation, they needed to absorb the Magic Crystal Core of a Saint Realm Magical Beast.

In the original story, the protagonist Linley's magical beast, Heilu, had originally been a mutated Level Nine Magical Beast. In the end, after absorbing a Saint Realm Magic Crystal Core, he became a Saint Realm Magical Beast.

Druids cultivated by absorbing the Magic Crystal Cores of magical beasts, allowing themselves to transform into magical beasts. Their way of reaching the Saint Realm was the same as magical beasts': they did not need to comprehend "Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth," but instead absorbed the Magic Crystal Cores of Saint Realm Magical Beasts.

The Stone-Devouring Beast was an exception. It did not absorb Magic Crystal Cores, but precious ores such as mithril.

From Yulian's battle with Richard, Andres had already seen that Yulian had achieved little in terms of realms. He had not even reached the realm of "Treating Light as Heavy." Everything he used was a magical beast's way of fighting.

Andres was confident that he could win with his comprehension of the Profundity of Swiftness.

On the arena, once Yulian revealed his strength, the scales of victory had already tipped.

Richard's attacks could no longer break through Yulian's bodily defenses.

Yulian steadily closed in on Richard and, relying on his physical advantage, defeated Richard with ease.

The battle ended in a way the audience had never expected.

Even as they left, the many spectators were still discussing the course of the battle.

"Let's go."

Andres and the other three followed the crowd out.

By the arena, the three Saint Realm experts were also preparing to leave.

Bart, the Dwarf Saint Realm expert, was the first to fly away, while Trevor looked toward Patur.

"Patur, I'm going to find Andres. Are you coming?"

"No."

Trevor nodded without pressing the matter, then turned and flew into the air.

Patur watched Trevor's departing figure and gave a cold smile.

"With this, it won't be easy for Andres to participate in the Sacred Tree Fruit Contest."

Yulian's displayed strength was fairly satisfying to him. Moreover, as time passed, the more mithril Yulian absorbed, the stronger he would become.

Outside the Battle Arena, Trevor descended from the sky and appeared before Andres and the other three.

"Lord Trevor!" The four hurriedly bowed.

Trevor waved a hand.

"No need for formalities."

He looked at Andres. "Andres, you watched Yulian's battle with Richard just now, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Trevor's expression was somewhat grave. "I originally hoped you could defeat Richard and obtain the qualification to compete for the Sacred Tree Fruit. But Yulian got there first, and his strength has increased greatly. It probably won't be easy for you to defeat Yulian."

Trevor still did not know that Andres had already entered the Profundity of Swiftness. He thought Andres was still at the realm of Momentum.

Andres understood Trevor's concern. If his Profundity of Swiftness had not broken through, defeating Yulian truly would have been troublesome.

Yulian's current strength placed him among the very best Peak Level Nine Magical Beasts, roughly equivalent to Heilu, Linley's Black-striped Cloud Leopard in the original story.

When Linley first encountered Heilu, he was still a Level Seven Warrior. After transforming into a Dragonblood Warrior, he was at the middle stage of Level Nine. At that time, Linley had already comprehended "Treating Heavy as Light" and was also a Level Eight Magus.

Mid-Level Nine Battle Qi, the body of a Dragonblood Warrior, the realm of "Treating Heavy as Light," and the support of Level Eight magic.

Only with the amplification of all those powers had Linley managed to defeat Heilu and subdue him as his magical beast.

Andres's Battle Qi was only Level Eight now, merely one-tenth that of a Level Nine Expert.

His body was also that of an ordinary human, inferior to a Dragonblood Warrior's, and he had no magic to support him.

The only thing Andres had over Linley at that time was his realm.

If he only had the realm of "Drawing Upon Heaven and Earth," Andres would need to put in considerable effort to defeat Yulian. But now that he had entered the Profundity of Swiftness and created "Wind's Chaotic Shadow," there was no suspense as to the outcome.

"If my Battle Qi rises to Level Nine, I could win easily even without using Wind's Chaotic Shadow."

Andres's current problem was that the gap in Battle Qi was simply too great.

"Andres, I'll suggest to Lord Yasen that we make preparations early and find a way to exchange for a Sacred Tree Fruit for you," Trevor said. He was clearly worried that Andres would be unable to defeat Yulian and thus fail to obtain the qualification to compete for the Sacred Tree Fruit.

"Thank you, Lord Trevor, but I won't change my decision. I will challenge Yulian," Andres said calmly.

He did not want to place his hopes on Yasen or Trevor.

The Sacred Tree bore only a limited number of fruits each time—usually three to five, and never more than ten even at most.

The Elves and Beastmen would contend for them, and based on past experience, each side would take half.

With so few available, every Elven tribe would fight over them. The Human Race was at a disadvantage, making it practically impossible for them to obtain any.

More importantly, Andres's goal was not one fruit, but two.

He also had to win one for Teresa so that he could complete the third Binding Quest sooner.

Exchanging with the Human Race for two Sacred Tree Fruits was utterly unrealistic. Andres could only fight for them himself.

"You should still give it a try. You might not lose, either. What matters is keeping a level head," Trevor encouraged him.

"I understand. Thank you, Lord Trevor."

On the very day Yulian defeated Richard, the Cadet Ranking was updated, and Yulian rose to first place.

That same day, Andres formally submitted an application to the Holy Alliance to challenge Yulian.