Space suddenly rippled inside the hotel room, and Jiang Feng appeared.
He had vanished from the Knight Trial Grounds because he sensed that Dragon Baby was about to complete its evolution. Using the power of their Blood Pact, he had traveled straight through space back to the hotel.
The temperature inside the room was now extremely high. Endless fire elements gathered in a frenzy, pouring into the enormous cocoon enclosing Dragon Baby.
As the temperature rose, Jiang Feng quickly put all the furniture in the room into his Storage Ring. Otherwise, it would soon burn to ashes.
The compensation would be no small expense.
Jiang Feng stood amid the terrifying heat. His Blood Pact with Dragon Baby had made his body impervious to flames, allowing him to approach Dragon Baby and observe its evolution up close.
The hotel bed had already been destroyed by the flames. The enormous cocoon hovered in midair, continuing to grow as fire elements flooded into it.
Soon, the cocoon stood two meters tall and measured a full meter and a half across.
After an unknown length of time, the cocoon's absorption of fire elements reached saturation, and it stopped growing.
With a crack, a fissure suddenly appeared on its surface. Just as when Dragon Baby had first hatched, more and more cracks spread until the cocoon shattered into pieces all over the floor.
Suddenly, a pair of broad, membranous wings unfurled. The fiery patterns flowing across the powerful dragon body looked like molten lava.
While Jiang Feng was marveling at the enormous changes brought about by Dragon Baby's evolution, a majestic head nudged toward him. Its gleaming Golden Eyes lit up the hotel room as it nestled affectionately into his embrace.
At the same time, a flame emblem suddenly lit up on Jiang Feng's forehead. He froze, then closed his eyes and sat cross-legged on the floor.
Dragon Baby's evolution was complete, and their Blood Pact brought astonishing changes to Jiang Feng as well. First, his internal spiritual power suddenly surged.
It rapidly rose from just over 2,500 to 2,600. Yet that was only the beginning.
2,700.
2,800.
2,900.
3,000!
Finally, Jiang Feng's internal spiritual power reached 3,000 points. In one leap, he advanced from a level-three Fifth Order knight to a level-six Fifth Order knight, gaining a massive boost in strength.
But that was not all Dragon Baby's evolution had given him. Once his internal spiritual power stopped rising, his external spiritual power began to increase.
Within moments, Jiang Feng's external spiritual power rose from just over 2,800 to 3,000, then broke through the upper limit of Undying Body lv1 to reach 3,100 points.
Before long, Jiang Feng's eyes snapped open, a sharp gleam flashing from them. An immensely powerful aura radiated from him, his strength having increased by a considerable margin.
Jiang Feng hugged Dragon Baby's head and said happily, "You're amazing! You just saved me three months of cultivation."
"Wuu, wuu."
Dragon Baby's Golden Eyes were normally full of majesty, yet now there was a hint of adorable innocence in them as it blinked. Though its body had grown much larger, it was still just as cute when it acted sweet.
"Look at you. You only hatched half a month ago, and you're already a sixth-rank magical beast. If people heard about this, they'd be green with envy," Jiang Feng said.
Dragon Baby gazed at Jiang Feng adorably. With their minds linked, Jiang Feng naturally understood what it meant, which was roughly:
As long as I have enough magic crystals, I can keep evolving and help Big Brother defeat every opponent.
Jiang Feng stroked Dragon Baby's head and said with a smile, "There aren't any magic crystals left right now. You ate them all. Once I finish the tournament and form a Demon Hunt Squad, you'll have plenty to eat."
"Wuu, wuu." Dragon Baby expressed how wonderful its big brother was.
After playing with Dragon Baby for a while, Jiang Feng suddenly remembered something. He and Jiang Xinran had agreed to wait for each other after their matches every day and return to the hotel together.
Since entering the finals, Jiang Xinran had moved into the room next to Jiang Feng's so they could conveniently eat together.
Jiang Feng glanced at the sky outside the window. It was getting late, and all the day's matches should have ended by now.
"She's a grown woman. It's not like she doesn't know the way back to the hotel," Jiang Feng muttered, trying to cover up the fact that he had broken his promise.
Just then, a series of knocks came from outside the door. Knock, knock, knock.
Jiang Feng opened the door. Sure enough, it was Jiang Xinran.
At the sight of Jiang Feng, Jiang Xinran froze for a moment, then flew into a rage. "We agreed to wait for each other and come back to the hotel together. My match was the first one in our group.
"After it ended, I kept waiting for you, but you never showed up. I thought you'd gone missing! Then I ran over to the Knight Trial Grounds to ask, and guess what? You jerk, your match was the first one too.
"Well? Why didn't you wait for me?"
Faced with Jiang Xinran's barrage, Jiang Feng felt thoroughly embarrassed. He scratched his head without saying anything, then stepped aside and gestured for her to look inside the room.
Puzzled, Jiang Xinran stepped inside. Suddenly, a figure darted up to her, making her scream, "Ah!" She flashed behind Jiang Feng.
"Wuu, wuu."
Dragon Baby gave a few aggrieved whimpers, seemingly convinced that Jiang Xinran had rejected it.
Jiang Xinran poked her head out from behind Jiang Feng and stole a glance. Realizing it was Dragon Baby, she felt both astonished and a little embarrassed.
She stepped out from behind Jiang Feng and approached Dragon Baby, her pretty face full of surprise. Pointing at Dragon Baby, she looked at Jiang Feng and asked, "Jiang Feng, did Dragon Baby successfully evolve?"
"Yes. The evolution started right after my match today, so I rushed straight back," Jiang Feng explained.
Jiang Xinran turned toward Dragon Baby and could not resist reaching out to stroke its head. "How did you suddenly get so big?" she exclaimed.
Dragon Baby gave two soft whimpers, and Jiang Feng smiled. "Bigger and stronger."
"Getting stronger is great, but now it's too big to hold in my arms," Jiang Xinran said regretfully.
At that, Jiang Feng said in exasperation, "Is whether you can hold it really the point? If you can't hug Dragon Baby anymore, hug me instead. I'm very huggable too."
Jiang Xinran's face flushed. She ignored Jiang Feng's words entirely and studied Dragon Baby with curiosity.
"What beautiful scales!" Jiang Xinran exclaimed, unable to resist reaching out to stroke Dragon Baby's magnificent, ruby-like scales.
When Dragon Baby had first hatched, Jiang Xinran had often held it in her arms. It was therefore comfortable around her and sensed no ill intent from her.
So it obediently leaned its head toward her.
"Well? Who's more handsome, Dragon Baby or a Star Unicorn?" Jiang Feng asked proudly.
"Dragon Baby is obviously the best. It's not just handsome, but majestic too. Though I've never seen a Star Unicorn," Jiang Xinran said.
"Don't worry. Even if you can't see one now, you'll see one once we reach the final sixteen. Remember Yang Wenzhao, the one who called me martial uncle this morning? His mount is a Star Unicorn," Jiang Feng said.
"Uh, then I think Dragon Baby is still a little more handsome," Jiang Xinran said after some thought.
"Oh? Why? You haven't even seen it yet. Is it because I'm more handsome than Yang Wenzhao?" Jiang Feng asked.
"You're so shameless," Jiang Xinran said with a laugh.
Before you continue