Puppet apprentice

After battling through two stages, Hu Yaqi and Pei Hou finally advanced to the final match. 

Inside the illusory space, Pei Hou was sitting cross-legged on the grassy plain with her eyes closed. 

"Fellow Daoist Pei Hou, I am Hu Yaqi. Please be lenient on me." Hu Yaqi cupped his fists politely. 

He was a tall young man, beside him were two spirit beasts. 

One spirit beast looked like a lion with large canines and small-sized wings on its back. 

The other one was a small blue mantis with a mysterious aura around it. 

Judging from their auras, they were both grade one beasts at the mid-level, which was equal to mid-stage Qi Condensation Realm.

However, with the array's enhancement, they reached the peak level of grade one. 

Despite being sincere, Hu Yaqi didn't get a reply from Pei Hou. 

1... 

2... 

3... 

Start! 

"Are you going to make the first move or shall I?" Pei Hou slowly opened her eyes with indifference. 

Looking at her cold expression, it didn't seem like she thought of Hu Yaqi as her opponent.

"Why be so impatient? Why don't we talk..." As Hu Yaqi was about to say something, Pei Hou threw her spear towards him. 

Looking at the approaching spear, Hu Yaqi took a step forward while his tiger-like spirit beast rushed forward and summoned a Qi barrier to stop the spear. 

Upon collision, waves of Qi energy dissipated in the surroundings. 

Although there was a slight crack in the barrier, it was still able to successfully stop the spear from passing through. 

"As expected from the top talent of Nine Yin Palace. You are really amazing Fellow Daoist Pei Hou." Hu Yaqi clapped his hands in appreciation. 

Hu Yaqi's carefree attitude pissed off Pei Hou, she summoned back her spear and prepared to rush forward. 

Looking at Pei Hou's solemn expression, Hu Yaqi also got vigilant. "Big Tooth, don't hold back." 

The lion-like spirit beast named Big Tooth started to change slightly. Its eyes turned completely red and its fangs started to enlarge. 

With a ferocious expression, it roared out loud and rushed towards Pei Hou. 

Looking at the approaching beast, Pei Hou frowned slightly and unleashed her [Artic Flow Spear Arts]. 

Big tooth opened its mouth and a red coloured energy ball started to condense. 

The next second, the energy ball shot toward Pei Hou at a terrifying speed. 

Pei Hou's spear collided with the energy ball, with a loud explosion. 

Red mist enveloped the surroundings. 

Taking advantage of this moment, Big Tooth immediately lunged towards Pei Hou, whose vision was blocked due to red mist. 

Just as it was about to pounce at Pei Hou, a spear stabbed through its skull. 

Big Tooth struggled for a bit, before eventually falling to the ground, like a lifeless body. 

Seeing his beast getting killed so easily, Hu Yaqi didn't get furious but smiled and nodded. 

"As expected of you, I am not your match. I'll admit defeat." He declared nonchalantly. 

Pei Hou and the spectators were stunned. 

Did he give up just like that? 

"Why are you giving up so easily? What about that mantis of yours?" Pei Hou looked at the small mantis that didn't seem to be an ordinary spirit beast. 

Unlike Big Tooth, which belonged to the Winged Lion Beast race, nobody could tell which race this mantis belonged to. 

It was highly likely that the mantis was Hu Yaqi's trump card. 

"What are talking about? What can this little mantis accomplish? It's just a normal beast. That's why, I will give up today." Hu Yaqi insisted on his decision. 

Nevertheless, nobody really believed his words. 

[Congratulations, participant Pei Hou has become the final winner of Battle Arena.] 

[Congratulations, participant Pei Hou has been awarded the 'Spirit Sealing Array Disk'.] 

"Congratulations Elder Ji Qian, it looks like this disciple of your sect will soon become a rising phoenix." Manager Chen praised. 

Other elders also followed suit and flattered Elder Ji Qian. Elder Ji Qian didn't lose her composure and maintained a dignified expression. 

After a while, after handing over the award to Pei Hou, the battle arena came to a close. 

—————

At the temporary residence of Beast Whisper Sect, Hu Yaqi was patting the small mantis gently. 

"Why did you lose so easily?" Hu Yifan retorted. 

"What do you think?" Hu Yaqi stopped patting his mantis and smiled. 

"Because you were scared of Pei Hou?" 

Hu Yaqi chuckled and shook his head. "No, although Pei Hou is stronger than me, I am not afraid of her. Instead, I was actually quite excited for the match tonight." 

"Then? Why did you admit defeat?" 

Hu Yaqi stood up and looked out the window, gazing at the sky. "Isn't it obvious? Although I was excited about the match today, I can't risk exposing my true strength, our mission is more important." 

Meanwhile, In the Golden Phoenix Pavilion, Jun was leisurely sitting on his chair while sipping his tea peacefully as usual. 

[Customer Wong Chou has reached the first level of Artifact Forging.] 

[Congratulations to the host, you have acquired +1 attribute point.] 

"Oh! Looks like Wong Chou has been working hard recently." Jun was quite satisfied with the gain. 

Afterward, he summoned his status panel and decided to upgrade his spiritual roots. 

[Spiritual Roots: Ice and Gold Elemental (mortal grade high-level)] 

A warm energy enveloped his whole body. 

Just as the warm energy faded, Jun felt like a barrier that had been hindering his advancement for a long time had been lifted. 

The next second, Qi energy in his body started to overflow and a huge amount of spiritual essence rushed through his meridians. 

5th stage of Qi Condensation Realm! 

Jun was elated, he had just recently advanced to the 4th stage, who would have thought that he would advance again? 

[Congratulations to the host, you have acquired 30 tokens.] 

"Hm? These avatars are really useful." 

Jun was satisfied with today's gains. Not only has he advanced to a new stage, but his avatar has also been successful in selling talent today. 

There was one more thing that he needed to do, and that was drawing today's talent. 

As soon Jun used the [Random Talent] function, a system notification appeared. 

[Congratulations to the host, you have acquired 'Puppet Apprentice' talent.] 

[Puppet Apprentice (Mortal grade high-level): Puppet crafting aptitude increases by three times. This talent grants you the ability to craft puppets up to the third rank. You can also control more than one puppet at a time using this talent. (Price: 40 years of cultivation)] 

Jun didn't hesitate for a second and immediately used the talent scroll on himself. 

Waves of memories surged into his brain, containing information about crafting and controlling puppets. 

This was the talent he was waiting for! 

A puppet apprentice was a very rare type of profession, even more rarer than beast tamers and wisdom cultivators.