The Unfathomable Elimination Match

"May I ask who you are?" Li Junshan did not rush to answer his question.

"I am Blood Canyon's only summoning instructor, the Summoning Imperial Master—Gelu Mania." As the old man spoke, his eyes stayed fixed on the five xenomorphs.

"Greetings, Instructor." Li Junshan bowed to him respectfully, then straightened and said unhurriedly, "I don't only have this kind of summoned beast. I have an even stronger one. The whole process was very complicated, and I don't really understand it myself. I imagine you can clear up my confusion, Instructor."

"Hmm?" Gelu drew his gaze back from the xenomorphs, his bright, sharp eyes turning to Li Junshan. "Release it and let me see. What kind of magical beast is it?"

Li Junshan looked toward an open space in the stone chamber. With a thought, the massive Xenomorph Black Dragon appeared inside.

Gelu had seemed somewhat casual at first, but the instant the Xenomorph Black Dragon emerged, his expression changed.

"Huh!" Gelu stood up and examined the Xenomorph Black Dragon carefully, saying, "How strange. Why have I never seen such a peculiar magical beast before? It looks like a Black Dragon, yet not quite."

As he spoke, Gelu released his own summoned beast.

Oppression and terror instantly surged into Li Junshan's heart. Looking at the magical beast that had appeared abruptly beside the Xenomorph Black Dragon, he could barely breathe.

It was a dragon, a true Red Dragon.

Its long tail dragged along the ground. Its body was fully fifty or sixty meters long, and its height reached more than seventy meters. Red dragon scales covered it from head to toe, and its powerful limbs stood planted on the ground like colossal pillars propping up the heavens, the tips of its claws flashing with cold light.

Two thick giant horns on its head formed a terrifying curve. Its enormous red eyes were like burning fireballs, and as it breathed, great clouds of black smoke and sparks sprayed from its nostrils.

The Xenomorph Black Dragon sensed the powerful threat. It turned its head to look at the Red Dragon, which was even larger than it was, and let out a low, muffled growl. A reeking gale instantly swept through the stone chamber.

The Red Dragon refused to back down as well. Instinctively, it opened its enormous mouth, a mass of dazzling, scorching flame roiling inside, its red eyes filled with violence.

Gelu hurriedly soothed the Red Dragon with his spiritual force, and only then did its gaping mouth slowly close. Li Junshan also commanded the Xenomorph Black Dragon to turn its head away and quiet down.

"I've never seen a magical beast with such a peculiar appearance either, but I can feel its strength. A Black Dragon is a little weaker than my Red Dragon, but I feel this level-nine magical beast of yours is no inferior to my Red Dragon summoned beast."

Gelu pulled his gaze away from the Xenomorph Black Dragon and looked at Li Junshan. "Why is this magical beast so similar in appearance to your other summoned beasts, yet so different in size? You're only a Great Summoner. How did you summon it?"

Li Junshan blinked, then repeated what he had told Aldrich and the others, though he also added a few explanations he had thought of later.

"At the time, I thought that peculiar many-clawed monster had died. Who knew my spiritual link with it hadn't been severed? It was as if its soul still existed. For some reason, my eyes saw these magical beasts I had summoned from the edge of the Falling Moon Mountains, and then I felt a thunderous boom in my head. When I looked again, this magical beast had appeared inside the Black Dragon's body. After it devoured the Black Dragon's magic crystal, it became what it is now."

"These magical beasts were summoned by you from the Falling Moon Mountains?" Gelu's eyes turned toward the five xenomorphs.

"Yes. At the time, I encountered ten young beasts like this in total, and by luck, I summoned them all over at once. A few days ago, two died while fighting in the forest, so now there are eight left." Li Junshan answered without hesitation.

"There are magical beasts in this world that grow by parasitizing other magical beasts? And can parasitize again as souls, even changing form according to a summoner's will?" Gelu murmured, his brows knitting tightly.

Li Junshan said nothing, looking at him respectfully.

Gelu then asked about the appearance of the many-clawed monster, and Li Junshan described it in full detail.

Only after a long while did Gelu say, "Perhaps that peculiar magical beast egg entered the Black Dragon's body through a form of soul parasitism, and when your eyes saw your original summoned beasts, this peculiar magical beast then transformed into this neither-fish-nor-fowl appearance according to your thoughts. But there are too many bizarre things in this world. I have no way to explain it either."

"How large is your spiritual space?" Since Gelu could not puzzle out that problem, he simply stopped thinking about it for now.

"Very large. I can't sense its boundaries."

Gelu's eyes lit up, and he could not help laughing aloud. "Good, very good. You will become a great summoner."

Li Junshan smiled shyly at the right moment.

"However..." Gelu changed tack and said, "That only counts if you survive the Elimination Match three days from now."

"Elimination Match?" Li Junshan was taken aback. "What Elimination Match?"

Gelu's eyes dimmed, and he sighed. "Whenever newcomers arrive at Blood Canyon, from the corresponding professions of these newcomers, the worst among them will be selected in equal number to form a squad and fight a battle against the squad formed by you newcomers. It only ends when one side has been completely killed. This is the Elimination Match."

Li Junshan was somewhat shocked when he heard this and could not help asking, "Isn't Blood Canyon supposed to train experts for humanity? From the ten-person elimination in the forest outside the canyon to the current Elimination Match, how many people have to die? Besides, they're all elites. Instructor, I don't quite understand. Why is this?"

Gelu remained silent. Only after a long while did he raise his head and say, "You don't need to concern yourself with that for now. Think about the Elimination Match three days from now. I don't know about the other professions, but on our summoner side, since you've come, I naturally have to choose the worst one to fight you. Daxi is my choice. He is a Summoner, with one level-seven magical beast and eight level-six magical beasts. If it were one-on-one, you would definitely win, but this is a team battle. Once a frail summoner is approached by the enemy, the result becomes hard to predict."

"One level-seven magical beast and eight level-six magical beasts?" Li Junshan's eyes instantly went wide. He almost thought there was something wrong with his ears.

"Yes." Gelu decisively denied his doubt and said, "The level-seven magical beast is a Mystic Water Yin Snake. No need to mention the level-six ones. On our summoner side, he is the worst."

This was just too...

Li Junshan's mind fell into complete chaos.

"Put away your magical beasts and go down to get some proper rest first." Gelu patted his shoulder as if to comfort him. "It will begin in three days."

As he spoke, Gelu recalled his Red Dragon. Seeing Li Junshan, brows tightly furrowed, also recall his magical beasts, he sighed inwardly and called outside, "Guli, come in for a moment."

A simple-faced, middle-aged man in a gray robe walked in from outside the stone cave in response and said respectfully to Gelu, "Instructor."

"Take him down and arrange a stone chamber for him. If there's anything he doesn't understand, help him with it." Gelu instructed Guli, who had come in.

Li Junshan collected his emotions, bowed to Gelu, and only then followed Guli out.

It was still among this same row of stone chambers. Li Junshan followed Guli into one of them, which was much the same as Gelu's room, simple to the extreme.

Guli smiled honestly, his voice like muffled thunder as he said, "You can stay here. The rooms here are all more or less the same. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. I've been here for many years."

"Has anyone ever gotten out of here?" Li Junshan invited him to sit on the stone chair and asked at once.

Guli shook his head. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Li Junshan was somewhat surprised. "How many years have you been here?"

Guli pondered for a while, then answered, "Thirty-four years. I've heard people say someone seemed to have gotten out more than ten years ago, but I can't be sure. This place is too chaotic. People often challenge each other and fight for no reason at all. Who knows how many have died? Who can still remember anyone?"

"Who calls the shots here?" Li Junshan unconsciously stroked the bluestone tabletop with his right hand as he asked.

"Mr. Donald, Blood Canyon's only Saint-level Mage." There was respect on Guli's face, but Li Junshan still caught a trace of fear in his eyes.

A Saint-level powerhouse! The terrifying Saint-level powerhouses of legend, capable of moving mountains and filling seas.

Li Junshan's brain throbbed, and his pupils tightened in an instant.

"People who reach that realm mostly spend their time pursuing even greater power and the peak of strength. They don't bother with worldly affairs at all, and no one knows how many Saint-level powerhouses there are on the whole continent. But the one in charge of Blood Canyon is actually a Saint-level Mage!"

Li Junshan's heart chilled despite himself. He found it unbelievable.

"Oh, right. At the southern end of the canyon there's a place called Red Stone Slope. That's where Mr. Donald lives, and it's also a forbidden area of Blood Canyon. Don't go there. Besides, there are black-clad guards posted outside, so even if you wanted to get in, you couldn't."

"All right, thank you." Only after a long while did Li Junshan calm down. Seeing that it was already late outside, he smiled and said, "I haven't slept well in days. I want to rest."

Guli smiled back in understanding and said, "I live right next door. If there's anything, you can ask me. Oh, right, there's a switch here by the entrance. Press it and a stone door will close, so you can get a proper rest."

Li Junshan nodded with a smile, got up, and saw him out. He reached out and pressed a protruding stone block on the stone wall. A rumbling sound came from the top of the stone cave, and a stone door dropped down, blocking all the light outside.

The stone cave was not dark, though. Several bright magic crystals were embedded in the wall. Li Junshan sighed and lay down on the bed.

Ever since he had stepped into the forest, Li Junshan had not slept soundly once. Since he was here, he might as well settle in. At the moment, he had no energy to think about the strange Blood Canyon. He released two Xenomorphs to guard the entrance, and not long after lying down, he sank into deep sleep.

He had no idea how long he slept in a daze before finally waking. Looking out through the skylight, he saw a stretch of clear yellow outside; it was already broad daylight.

Li Junshan got up and stretched, but he was in no hurry to go out. He took the eighteen Space Rings off his neck, pulled out the black blade, cut his finger, and dripped blood onto each Space Ring to bind them to himself. When he saw wisps of smoke rise from the black blade as his blood instantly corroded a notch into it, he could not help giving a wry smile.

The feeling made him somewhat uncomfortable, as if he were no longer a normal human being.

After examining the Space Rings one by one, Li Junshan was overjoyed. Among the eighteen Space Rings, almost every one contained strange and unusual items, such as Magic Crystal Cards, high-grade Beast Cores, herbs Li Junshan could not recognize, and even some peculiar armor and weapons.

He could not fit eighteen Space Rings on both hands, so Li Junshan hung them back around his neck and tucked them under his clothes. Just then, he heard knocking outside.

"Xiaoshan, are you awake?"

Hearing Robin's voice come from outside, Li Junshan quickly recalled the Xenomorphs and opened the stone door. He saw Robin, the trio, and the blond youth Blondi standing outside.