Mastery-Tier Skill (Please Bookmark and Vote)

Poison Stings came from the front and the sky, piercing Arbok into a hedgehog in an instant.

The corrosion from the Poison Stings had only just begun. What came next would be even more terrifying.

"Mastery... it's Mastery! Weedle's Poison Sting proficiency has reached the Mastery Tier!" Even someone as composed as Shu Tong was so excited he nearly shot into the sky on the spot.

When a skill's proficiency reached the Mastery Tier, it had already begun to touch upon the origin of energy. Within the established method of using a skill, one could control it as one pleased. At its root, it was control over energy.

At his current age, it was simply impossible for anyone to have a Pokémon with a skill at the Mastery Tier.

After all, he had watched last night's match. Even Shen Haoran, such a favored prodigy, had no skill on his strongest Pokémon, Nidoking, that had reached the Mastery Tier.

That was Shu Tong's confidence.

Many factors affected a Pokémon's combat strength, but there was no doubt that skill proficiency was absolutely one of the most influential.

Weedle had already unleashed its trump card. It looked down at Arbok, ready to finish it off at any moment.

After twitching and rolling on the ground for a while, Arbok finally stopped moving.

A flicker of energy passed through it. At that point, Arbok had only one breath left.

Now.

Weedle fired another Poison Sting, which pierced straight through Arbok's body.

Arbok's body began to corrode. It was truly dead now; otherwise, as an Arbok with Poison-type energy resistance, its body could not possibly have been corroded by poison.

In the end, only a snake gallbladder remained, purple-black in color.

Go on. Swallow it.

Shu Tong conveyed his intent, and Weedle landed beside the gallbladder and swallowed it in one bite.

This gallbladder would not actually increase Weedle's energy anymore. At most, it would help consolidate the energy it already possessed.

At that moment, the people watching from afar stood like statues, completely dumbfounded. Their disbelief was no less shocking than hearing that China's men's national football team had won the World Cup.

"Did you all see that clearly?" Zhou Dafa was the first to speak, still shaken.

The others nodded stupidly.

"Say something. The fight's already over, so what are you standing around for?" Zhou Dafa said.

Slap!

"Ah!" Chen Li suddenly slapped himself and let out a sigh.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Xu Wei said.

"If only I'd recorded that just now. A Weedle defeated an Arbok! If we put that in a livestream, the title alone would be explosive. We could've made a huge wave of traffic," Chen Li said.

"You sure that if you'd gone to record it, you wouldn't have just gone looking for death?" Zhou Dafa shot him a sidelong glance.

"Uh..." Chen Li was momentarily speechless.

"Forget it, let's go. We'll wait for Shu Tong to come over. This time, we'll make him understand the pain of losing a Pokémon," Xu Wei said.

"This time, I'm going to kill him," Chen Li said viciously.

"No need to wait. I'm right here." Shu Tong slowly walked out from behind them, and the Weedle on his shoulder was one they all recognized.

"What? That Weedle belongs to him?" Zhou Dafa roared at Chen Li and Xu Wei.

"No... no way. How could that be possible?" Xu Wei could barely speak clearly.

"Brother Zhou, that's impossible. I know Shu Tong's Weedle. More than half a month ago, my boss beat it until it was nearly dead. It can't possibly be that strong. Believe me, Brother Zhou," Chen Li desperately explained.

"To hell with you." Zhou Dafa kicked Chen Li straight to the ground. "You little bastard, you wanted to trick me into coming here to die."

With that, Zhou Dafa led his men toward the edge of the woods.

Though Chen Li and Xu Wei could not understand why Shu Tong's Weedle had suddenly become so powerful, or whether this was another Weedle he had captured, one thing was certain: the Weedle on Shu Tong's shoulder was the very one that had just killed Arbok.

"Since you're here, why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Shu Tong said coldly.

Weedle had already swung through the forest using the trees like a swing.

Poison Stings rained down around the seven of them like scattered flowers.

At that moment, Poison Stings covered the ground in every direction around them. Unless they could fly into the sky or burrow underground, they could not take a single step.

Shu Tong's face was ice-cold, without a ripple in his eyes, as he walked toward them step by step.

"Y-you, what are you trying to do? I'm telling you, murder is against the law," Chen Li said, forcing himself to sound brave.

"Little brother, we've never met before. There must be some misunderstanding here. I, Zhou Dafa, apologize to you. Please let us leave first," Zhou Dafa said.

However, Shu Tong did not acknowledge him at all.

"Didn't you want to challenge me to a wager battle? Come on, then," Shu Tong said.

"I surrender, I surrender! No more betting, no more betting," Xu Wei said.

Chen Li also waved his hands repeatedly. "I surrender too. I surrender."

"You can surrender, but do I need to spell out the price?" Shu Tong's words shook their hearts like the voice of a demon from hell.

A terrifying pressure like that of a devil bore down on Chen Li and Xu Wei, leaving them unable to breathe.

The fear in their hearts drove them to escape Shu Tong's clutches as quickly as possible.

"Okay, okay, I know, I know." Xu Wei hurriedly took out his phone and transferred five thousand to Shu Tong.

After Shu Tong confirmed the payment, he gave a contemptuous smile.

He had Weedle use String Shot to fling Xu Wei out.

Xu Wei landed face-first, but he did not care about the pain. He scrambled up and ran away at once.

Chen Li hesitated for a moment, but he had no choice but to transfer money to Shu Tong as well. As he left, he shot Shu Tong a vicious glare.

Naturally, Shu Tong saw it, but there was only so much he could do for now. He could not go any further. If he alerted the Trainers Association, he might not receive much punishment, but a warning and the return of the wager money would be inevitable.

Now only Zhou Dafa and his four lackeys remained.

"Brother Shu Tong, we didn't mean anything by it. We're not like those two. Please let us go," Zhou Dafa continued pleading.

Shu Tong found it almost laughable. "What, now you know to distance yourselves from them? Wasn't bullying the weak your specialty? Why do you suddenly seem so unfamiliar with it now?"

Zhou Dafa's face shifted between green and purple after being rebuked. Perhaps if the five of them had launched a surprise attack, they might have had a chance to defeat that Weedle. But now that they themselves were restrained, what grounds did they have to speak boldly?

"I'll pay too. I'll pay." Zhou Dafa nearly bit his teeth apart as he said those words.

"Ten thousand from each of you five," Shu Tong said.

"Ten thousand? Why? Those two only paid five thousand, so why do we have to pay ten?"

The five of them immediately erupted and began protesting.

Shu Tong did not explain. One look was enough for them to understand.

These grown men bullied the weak and squeezed them for money, so they were bound to have cash on them. If he did not make them bleed when he had the chance, they would never learn their lesson.

"Chirp."

Weedle poked its head out as well.

The moment they saw Weedle, the five of them immediately quieted down.

Shu Tong gave them his account number, and fifty thousand arrived one after another.

"Can we leave now?" Zhou Dafa's tone was deliberately stubborn.

Shu Tong walked forward with Weedle, leaving behind one sentence. "The Poison Stings will disappear on their own in half an hour. Wait there."

"Fuck—"

Shu Tong suddenly turned around, and the five of them hurriedly clamped their mouths shut.