The man in the red robe turned his head, "Purple Robed Steward, are you certain? We both know the gravity of this matter."
The woman in the purple robe pondered for a moment before slowly replying, "I've met him before. The aura he carries is something I will never forget. If it truly was him here, I wouldn't have misidentified him."
The man in the red robe frowned deeply.
"Then it's strange. We clearly sensed a terrifying power just now, and that power is identical to the power emanating from his contracted beast!"
The man in the grey robe sighed.
"Perhaps we should report this matter to the Lord first!"
"No!"
Before the words had even finished, they were cut off by the purple-robed woman.
Several people cast questioning glances at her.
A cold smile curled on the purple-robed woman's lips.
"If it was him, then all the better. I met him once over a decade ago, and I've been longing for a rematch ever since!"
The faces of the grey-robed man, the red-robed man, and the others changed simultaneously. They knew that the purple-robed woman, as one of the six stewards of the Dark Rankings despite being a woman, must possess considerable strength. However, at this moment, for her to be challenging that person, it truly sent shivers down their spines.
The purple-robed woman, knowing that this reason alone wouldn't convince the other two, smiled and said, "For now, it's merely a conjecture, and we don't know what's truly happening. What if it was just a system error? If we bother the Lord with such a trivial matter, what use are we as stewards?"
Upon hearing this, the others found some merit in her words and exchanged uncertain glances.
The grey-robed man made the final decision, "After we return, the few of us will conduct a secret investigation. At the very least, we need to find out who fought here. Regardless of the identity he used to enter, within the Dark Rankings, even he cannot cover up the sky with one hand!"
The group nodded in unison and departed, leaving only the purple-robed woman staring blankly at the bottomless giant pit on the ground.
The woman closed her eyes and sensed with her mind, a cold smile playing on her lips.
"Huangfu Chenyi, I will avenge my father's death!"
Lu Fei left the Dark Rankings space with Brother Ji, his mood greatly uplifted. Not only had he secured his first victory, but it also confirmed that Brother Ji could indeed use the transformation skill within the Dark Rankings space.
However, as expected, Brother Ji had taken a hit. After throwing out the "Blazing Tiger," Brother Ji had fainted and retreated.
Seeing Lu Fei wake up, Iron-head Boy's spirits soared, filled with excitement. The dumbfounded Snake, sensing its abandonment, curled up in a corner, its back to everyone, drawing circles on the ground with a twig.
Lu Fei smiled at Iron-head Boy, then looked at the Snake with a wry smile. He thought to himself, "You always like to slack off, now you know fear. My two contracted beasts have very different personalities. Iron-head Boy is unbelievably diligent, while the Snake is incredibly lazy."
But it was strange. Just like Brother Ji, although it was lazy, its level always kept pace. Even though its combat power was mediocre, it was a perfectly qualified healer.
Lu Fei projected his spiritual power into the Beast Taming Space. He saw Brother Ji lying with its backside facing the sky, unconscious.
Immediately, he summoned Brother Ji out. It was still in a comatose state. While Brother Ji was unconscious, he dissolved the contract and then approached the Snake, feigning a threatening tone, "Will you train diligently from now on?"
Hearing this, the Snake's eyes lit up. It turned its head abruptly and nodded repeatedly with great eagerness.
Lu Fei snorted, "Then I'll give you a chance."
The Snake, grinning, hugged Lu Fei's leg and rubbed its head against him. The Iron-head Boy scoffed and turned its gaze away, attending to its master.
Following that, the Snake also moved to Brother Ji's side and began to treat it with its short fingers.
Streams of sacred light descended, continuing for a long time. Finally, Brother Ji's cough could be heard. The Snake also seemed to be exhausted, its body swaying precariously. Lu Fei scooped it up, gently patted its head, and put it back into the Beast Taming Scroll.
At this moment, Lu Fei was filled with questions. This was clearly within the virtual space of the Dark Rankings, so why was Brother Ji's energy consumption so high? And the Snake's energy consumption was also plummeting.
He knew that normally, no matter how exhausted the Snake was during training, it could quickly recover to its full strength with its brief "Divine Heal." However, on these few occasions, after using the skill on Brother Ji, the Snake could barely use it once.
Lu Fei recalled the time when Iron-head Boy's body had a large gash and was almost dead. After healing it, the Snake had also nearly fallen into a coma. Therefore, Lu Fei deduced that the energy consumption of "Divine Heal" was directly proportional to the severity of the injuries of the target.
"Damn it... I'll never try this again..."
A weak, trembling voice reached everyone's ears. https:/
Brother Ji weakly opened its eyes, filled with regret. It had thought that even if its stamina was exhausted from fighting in that virtual world, it would recover completely upon leaving the Dark Rankings arena.
But it had never expected the expenditure to be so immense.
At this moment, it felt as if it had drunk countless amounts of alcohol, and the effects had completely robbed it of its self-awareness, leaving it like a lost soul.
"Brother Ji, you were incredibly cool just now, your power was amazing!"
Lu Fei spoke as if in admiration, or perhaps as a form of comfort.
Brother Ji waved a hand towards its disciple. Iron-head Boy, understanding implicitly, walked over and served as a human pillow.
Brother Ji seemed to recall something and slowly said, "Old Lu, lately I've been feeling strange images popping into my mind. A golden, shining fellow keeps flashing in my brain."
Lu Fei was slightly taken aback, unsure what Brother Ji was talking about. He guessed, "Perhaps it's a lingering trauma from transforming into Aidous last time?"
Brother Ji frowned, neither confirming nor denying.
As they were talking, Iron-head Boy began to chirp incessantly, its expression unusually excited.
Lu Fei looked at Brother Ji in confusion.
Brother Ji translated, "My foolish disciple says it also wants to go in and fight; it can't just let its master go alone." Then, Brother Ji chuckled, "This kid, its restless nature comes from me."
Lu Fei rolled his eyes, a look of disdain on his face.
In the period that followed, Iron-head Boy embarked on a path of being beaten once more. It fought twenty matches in the Dark Rankings space, losing all of them!
However, the little guy was not discouraged at all. Initially, it only fought one match a day, then it progressed to two, and now, it was fighting three matches a day.
Lu Fei had initially worried whether his mental center could withstand such torment. But strangely, no matter how much Iron-head Boy pushed itself, Lu Fei's spiritual energy remained full, and he felt nothing.
Because of this, he let Iron-head Boy continue its ordeal.
In the blink of an eye, another month passed.