Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

It had been four hours since Zachary had reached the peak. He had been waiting for long, yet there was no sign of the other participants.

"How much slower could they get?" he said under his breath, bored out of his mind. He yawned and looked around at the people who had assembled at the mountain peak. Some were floating in the air, while the others were standing nearby.

Just as Zachary was getting tired of waiting, a tall figure appeared on the peak. The man had a jade flute in his hand, and was clad in a green robe with black boots. His belt was corded girdle with tassels. Judging by his attire, he sure had a taste for fashion.

"You must be Ethan from Dignity College," Zachary said, immediately recognizing the man in front of him. Ethan was the most talented Imperial Level warrior in the Dignity College. Rumor had it that his strength was on par with that of a Sage Level warrior.

As soon as Ethan showed up, a heated discussion broke out among the crowd. They were convinced that he was way out of Zachary's league and the result of the upcoming fight was seemingly obvious.

"And I assume you are Harley, the one who won the selection contest in the Devil Kingdom. I didn't pay much attention to you earlier. Honestly, I'm surprised that you made it to the peak first," Ethan said as he raised his eyebrow. When he reached, Ethan was surprised to see Zachary sitting cross legged in front of the stone tablet. He had been confident that he would be the first one to get here and was shocked to see that Zachary had beaten him to it.

"I guess I have your attention now. Do you want to wait for your companions to begin the battle?" Zachary asked with a sarcastic smile.

Ethan replied with a smirk, "I can very well handle you on my own. There is no need to wait for anyone else." Ethan was young, talented and proud. Convinced that he was stronger than Zachary, he was more than ready to take him on single-handedly. Besides, this was the final round of the competition. He had to compete with all the participants in order to be the winner, even those from his own college. He decided to make it quick and take the imperial amulet away from Zachary before the others arrived.

"Alright. Shall we get started?" Zachary asked, gesturing at his opponent to make his first move.

rful and they were ranked high in the Supernal Continent's list of Imperial Level treasure beasts. However, they seemed powerless in front of the strange treasure beast which looked like a cross between a human and a beast. Needless to say, Ethan was embarrassed. After all, he was the youngest and the best Imperial Level warrior in the Dignity College, and he was to become the youngest Sage Level warrior in the Canopy Kingdom. The Imperial Level Warrior Contest was a good opportunity for him to gain fame and become a rising star in the Supernal Continent. He was resolved to win the contest at all costs. But what was happening right now seemed like humiliation to him.

Ethan grabbed his jade flute and began to play it. Hearing the music, the Purple-winged Beast slowed down as if it was distracted by the sound. By this time, Ethan's treasure beasts attacked the Purple-winged Beast with their full might.

"Looks like he is good at creating illusions using sound," Zachary murmured to himself as he stared at Ethan.

However, the music didn't work for too long on the Purple-winged Beast. In a few seconds, the ferocious beast came back to its senses and brandished its Wing Spear to perform the Spear Array—its exclusive martial skill. In the blink of an eye, it created about a hundred spear shadows which covered a range of more than ten meters around them. Ethan's treasure beasts were caught off-guard. Although they tried their best to avoid the attack, the two beasts still took the hit and ended up getting wounded.