Comparison only made it hurt

Even though he had never heard of a Starry Sky Divine Beast, he could more or less tell from the two mountain guardians' reactions that Yue Shen's mount companion was far superior to his own disciple's mutated Earth Fire Lizard.

Watching Long Haochen, Yue Shen could not help feeling a little wistful.

If their positions had been reversed, he would have completely lost it.

It would have been one thing if Long Haochen had simply suffered a string of setbacks on Knight Sacred Mountain: being rejected by the Starshine Unicorns, finding no magical beast willing to communicate with him, and finally coming here to draw a giant lizard as his mount companion.

But comparison only made it hurt. Compared to Long Haochen's misfortune, Yue Shen had been dealt a perfect opening hand.

Not only had he won the Starshine Unicorns' approval, but he had also squeezed them for all they were worth. Worse still, he had turned down their offers to follow him and come here to try his luck with a random draw.

And as if coming here for a random draw were not enough, he had actually drawn a mount that sent both mountain guardians bouncing with excitement...

It was too much. Just thinking about it made Yue Shen feel as though he were suffocating.

"Brother Yue, it looks like you've found a wonderful mount companion." Long Haochen gently stroked the head of the lizard huddled by his feet and said with a hint of bitterness, "Congratulations."

"Mm." Yue Shen merely nodded, then turned his gaze to Long Haochen's mount companion. "Have you given him a name?"

"Yes. He's called Haoyue, and he's my companion." Long Haochen nodded slightly.

"Maybe he and Sol can become good friends." Yue Shen sighed inwardly. "Let's treat his injuries first."

Haoyue truly was a pitiful sight at that moment.

Not only was his entire body covered in countless wounds, but a tumor-like lump of flesh protruded from his neck.

Long Haochen nodded slightly, then looked at his teacher, Ye Hua, standing beside him.

"Teacher..."

Yue Shen quietly returned to where he had been standing. The rest was none of his business.

"This boy is extraordinary," Wei Ping said beside him, unable to hold back his praise. "He'll surely enter the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament in six months, too. He'll be a formidable rival for you."

"Yes." There was anticipation in Yue Shen's voice. "But I'm actually looking forward to fighting him."

Although Yue Shen had already obtained a suitable mount companion, Wei Ping was in no hurry to take him back to the Holy City.

Instead, he sat off to the side with Yue Shen to watch things unfold. He was curious, too. Would this boy who had drawn a mutated Earth Fire Lizard really take it with him?

"Wait. This little fellow is a dark-attribute magical beast. You can't use light-attribute skills to heal it." The elder who had activated the teleportation array for Long Haochen noticed what was happening and immediately spoke up. "Not only that, you can't even take it away."

Before Long Haochen could ask why, the elder explained, "Because of its dark attribute, the moment it leaves this cave, Knight Sacred Mountain's light array will kill it on the spot."

"Isn't there any other way?" Long Haochen asked urgently. "There must be some way to take him with me, right?"

"Well..."

The elder hesitated. There was a way, of course, but he did not think this Earth Fire Lizard was worth such a sacrifice from the boy before him.

"If you want to take it outside, your only option is to use the light element in your blood to completely purge its dark constitution," the thin elder beside him could not help saying. "But it's dangerous. Give it up."

"And there's no guarantee it will work. That depends not only on the concentration of light element in your blood, but also on how much this little fellow's body can withstand." The elder sighed softly. "What's more, whether you succeed or fail, it will severely deplete your vital essence."

"Senior, please tell me what I need to do next.

"Long Haochen's gaze was resolute. "Since we've already formed a contract, he's my companion. As a Guardian Knight, how could I abandon him just because he isn't strong enough?" Seeing how determined Long Haochen was, the elder told him how to change a magical beast's attribute. After learning the method, Long Haochen did not hesitate for a moment. He immediately began activating the contract rune he shared with Haoyue.

The moment the contract rune appeared, Long Haochen slit his wrist and let all the blood pouring from it drip onto the rune before him, beginning Haoyue's attribute transformation.

As he lost more and more blood, Long Haochen's face gradually grew pale. Watching from nearby, Ye Hua and the two elders prepared to interrupt the ritual at any moment.

"It looks like it'll probably fail," Wei Ping said regretfully, sitting cross-legged beside Yue Shen. "If this continues, the boy's life will be in danger. But if they interrupt the ritual now, the Earth Fire Lizard will definitely die."

"Huh?" Yue Shen asked in confusion. "Uncle Wei, do you mean they won't let Haochen keep going?"

"Of course. That's exactly what they're planning." Wei Ping sighed. "This boy is good in every way, but he's just too stubborn..."

As Wei Ping spoke, he suddenly felt something soft settle into his arms. He looked down. Wasn't this Yue Shen's mount companion?

Wei Ping turned his head and found that Yue Shen had already risen and was walking toward Long Haochen and the others.

"I'll go see if I can help," Yue Shen said without looking back.

"We can't let him continue," Ye Hua said grimly. "Haochen can barely hold on."

"Mm." The elder beside him nodded slightly. "Let me interrupt the ritual. As his teacher, you're not the right person to do this."

"Then I'm sorry for the trouble, Senior," Ye Hua said with a trace of gratitude.

Just as the elder was about to act, Yue Shen ran up to them.

"Wait," Yue Shen pleaded. "Please don't interrupt him."

"He's almost at his limit," Ye Hua said coldly. "Besides, this is between my disciple and me. It isn't your place to interfere."

Yue Shen froze briefly, but rather than respond to Ye Hua, he turned to the elder beside him. "Senior, does purging this Earth Fire Lizard's dark constitution require Long Haochen's blood alone?"

The elder glanced at the pale-faced Long Haochen and shook his head slightly.

"In theory, someone else's blood should work, too. But the concentration of light element in your blood must not differ too much."

"Then mine should be fine," Yue Shen pleaded. "If you're going to interrupt his transformation ritual now, please let me try first."

This ritual absolutely cannot be interrupted.

Yue Shen suspected that he himself was a major part of the reason they wanted to interrupt Long Haochen's attribute transformation ritual.

In their eyes, Long Haochen was no less talented than Yue Shen.

But if he really chose this Earth Fire Lizard as his mount companion, his future achievements might well fall short of Yue Shen's.