The Medallion
Chapter 42 An Expectation

"Is this... W-what is this?" Bear's face turned blue as he saw his Lion Eagle pressed under Uriah almost to the point of dying. Bear feared for his Lion Eagle thinking it was on the brink of death. He was then naturally overwhelmed with remorse. If he had known it was bound to happen, he wouldn't have provoked Rocky. But what he was more curious about was what this large animal was.

"What do you mean? It is my war beast," Rocky replied as he held his arms across his chest.

Rocky's words immediately dropped the jaws of Bear and the other young men, because as far as they knew, Rocky's war beast was a tiny little thing that was as weak as its master. However, that little thing had turned into an enormous animal within only a month. More importantly, it had defeated a three-star war beast in a fight in a truly mesmerizing fashion.

"That is nonsense! That can't be your war beast." Bear was unconvinced because he believed it was impossible for a war beast to grow that fast.

"Is that so? Uriah, tear this Lion Eagle's wing for me," Rocky commanded in a cold voice.

Without the slightest hesitation, Uriah gripped the Lion Eagle's wing with its teeth in an attempt to tear it apart. The Lion Eagle cried out in pain as it lay on the ground. The scene was so miserable that it was very hard to watch.

"Alright, I believe you... I believe you... Please show some mercy!" Bear asked for forgiveness as he saw his beast crying in pain. He was slowly falling into a depressive state himself.

"Remember! You shouldn't be messing with me." Rocky darted an annihilating look towards Bear. Since he didn't want to get into trouble, he ordered Uriah to stop and immediately left with him.

"Bear, are you going to let him go that easily? Though your war beast couldn't stand a chance against his, you definitely have enough power to pack him up," the other young men shouted. Seeing Bear who used to be domineering lose his temper, they all defended him against the injustice.

"Shut up. What do you mean my war beast didn't stand a chance against his? It sneaked up on my Lion Eagle and attacked it. If they had gone toe-to toe with one another, my Lion Eagle would surely have a landslide victory. It really bothers me to teach him a lesson myself. However, anyone who dares to bully the Ximen Clan always comes to no good end. I'll tell Shirley about all of this when I go home... Then, I'll watch him die before my own eyes," Bear said with a bad grace as his eyes glimmered with malevolence.

Because of Uriah, Rocky was no longer in the mood to go to the kitchen, so he directly returned to the bamboo grove. He then instructed Uriah with authority. He didn't pursue the matter any longer for he didn't want to discourage it from saving him. Actually, what really bothered Rocky was that the exposure of Uriah could cause them trouble.

As expected, rumors about Uriah began to spread, but the truth was distorted by people who had concealed intentions. Deliberately, they wrongly told people that Uriah was a bad egg that always launched despicable sneak attacks. What's more, Uriah was described to be stupid and arrogant.

Though what Uriah did was far from a sneak attack, some people, with ulterior motives, added highly colored details to the story. As a result, some combative young men even sent Rocky letters to challenge him in beast battles, but Rocky chose to ignore them all.

Now, in a room of the dragon field, Mia was meeting an honorable guest.

"Priest Dean, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Mia asked. She lightly bowed down to Priest Dean while looking at him. In the Holy Dragon Empire, Priest Dean and Lena were on an equal footing. One of the reasons was that Priest Dean had a history of being a beast evaluator. It was said that his Beast Evaluation Skill had reached a very high level, so the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire attached importance to him. Besides, Priest Dean was also responsible for managing the royal spirit manipulators. For instance, he was in charge of selecting the candidates for becoming the royal spirit manipulators. Therefore, the nobilities of the Holy Dragon Empire were all obsequious to him in order to gain more opportunities for their clans. After all, in the Holy Dragon Empire, being a royal spirit manipulator was one of the highest honors.

"Master Mia, I'm here to tell you one thing. It is about the decision the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire and his ministers had after a thorough discussion," Priest Dean stated.

"What would that be?" Mia looked steadily at Priest Dean with her beautiful eyes.

"The Magic Phoenix Empire will send some of their phoenix spirit manipulators to exchange experience and skills with our royal spirit manipulators at the upcoming Dragon Birth Festival. This will be happening next month and I hope that the thirty new royal spirit manipulators will be present," Priest Dean said.

"Next month? That is to say, they have less than half a month to prepare. However, based on their current strength, even if they intensify training, they are still too underwhelming to attend the ceremony." Mia frowned.

"In fact, since we're at a time that our empire needs qualified spirit manipulators, His Majesty wants to take advantage of the opportunity to select some royal spirit manipulators with outstanding natural endowments as key cultivation objects," Priest Dean explained.

"I understand." Mia nodded.

"I heard that the Magic Phoenix Empire would send Erica Duan, one of their best new phoenix spirit manipulators. She is only 23 years old, but she has already reached the ninth grade of the Heavenly Stage. It is said that she will reach the Supernal Stage in about one or two years. Moreover, she is the top one on the ranking list of the spirit manipulators under the Supernal Stage of the entire Wild Spirit Land. She is definitely superior to Alston at the same age. Apart from that, she also has a four-star spiritual beast whose potential is truly astonishing, ranking top thirty on the list with plenty of room to grow," Priest Dean continued.

"I've also heard about Erica. If I could be given a chance, I'd like to exchange experience and skills with her," Mia said with arrogance, since she was also at the ninth grade of the Heavenly Stage and was only two years older than Erica. Furthermore, she was also one of the top spirit manipulators of the younger generations in the Holy Dragon Empire which gave her a great advantage.

"For any spirit manipulator, reaching the Supernal Stage is a serious challenge. If they fail, they will be deemed nobody throughout the entire life. In all ages, a lot of first-class spirit manipulators stop there. If Erica succeeds in reaching the Supernal Stage at such a young age, she will indeed be very promising," Mia said as if absorbed in thought.

"Master Mia, don't be too modest," Priest Dean said. "I hope some of the thirty new royal spirit manipulators could stand out to gain some honor for the Holy Dragon Empire. Master Mia, I deeply appreciate your hard work in cultivating them on behalf of the emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire. Actually it's far more than an exchange, the spirit manipulators from both sides will have to learn more about each other's power through battles.

In my opinion, the most promising one would be Bear from the Ximen Clan. I think his prospect looks very good, so Master Mia, please pay more attention to him." Priest Dean swiftly changed the subject to entrust Mia with a task.

"I will try my best." Mia nodded. However, in her mind, another cynical figure appeared, whom she had placed really great expectations on.