Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 285: Mockery

"Invincible, hahaha!" The elephant demon burst into laughter once more. "You sure you don’t mean imbecile? Hahahaha, boy, I’d really like to meet someone like you in the arena!"

Tang San handed the filled-out form to the Bloodthirsty Devil Ape, then turned and stepped toward the elephant demon.

The elephant demon was taken aback for a moment, looking down at Tang San, who was not even the size of its leg, and said in a booming voice, "What? Kid, you want to fight?"

Tang San shook his head and said, "What's the point of fighting here? You think we're some kind of clowns, huh? Well, if you're that great, how about you sign up for the team battle? Might as well start off the team battles fighting against us. Do you dare?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the demons laughing loudly suddenly fell silent, their gazes unanimously turning toward the elephant demon.

The elephant demon hesitated for a moment, not agreeing immediately.

Yes, it hesitated.

It wasn’t necessarily that it didn’t dare to face Tang San and his four companions, but according to the rules of the team battle, those who signed up had to fight at least three matches.

A few human vassals were not much of a concern, but as everyone knew, those daring enough to sign up for the Great Beast Fighting Arena's team battles were incredibly fierce. Much less had to be said about those who survived a match or two. In other words, the potentially deadly opponents it might face in the following two matches concerned it. In team battles, surrender was not an option; they would only live if the winner was kind enough to spare them. Unfortunately, that was almost unheard of.

Tang San's challenge had frozen it in its tracks. After all, no one wanted to go to certain death. Even the most belligerent demons felt the same.

Tang San, however, had no intention of letting it go. "Oh, so you don’t dare. Pathetic. We may be weak human vassals, true. But we've already submitted our application for the team battle; at least we're not afraid to die. You're big, and the elephant demon race is mighty. Sadly, your body might be massive but your courage is the size of a mouse. Maybe you’re not really from the elephant race and you’re actually an oversized mouse demon? To think you consider yourself qualified to face us in the arena, pff."

"Damn you, go and die." Enraged and humiliated, the elephant demon threw a punch at Tang San.

At that moment, a large hand covered in black fur suddenly appeared and caught the elephant demon's fist. Its figure was not as prominent as the elephant demon's, but the explosion power within that instant was incredibly astonishing.

The one who had intervened was none other than the Bloodthirsty Devil Ape behind the counter.

"Are those big ears just for show? I said, no fighting here," the Bloodthirsty Devil Ape said coldly, looking at the elephant demon.

The elephant demon's anger was immediately extinguished. Just as it was about to say something, it heard the Bloodthirsty Devil Ape continue, "And he's right. Regardless of strength, at least he has the courage to enter the Great Beast Fighting Arena's team battle. Do you dare? If not, then shut up and stop wasting people’s time."

With these words, the Bloodthirsty Devil Ape shoved the elephant demon away, making it stagger.

The gazes of the demons surrounding them instantly changed as they looked at the elephant demon.

Demons were naturally belligerent and therefore revered brave warriors. From their point of view, the elephant demon in front of them had been pushed to a situation where it had to accept the challenge. Otherwise, it no longer had the right mix in the beast-fighting circles. A demon who was scared by a few human vassals could never hold its head high again.

"Fine, I accept the challenge. Even on my own, I can tear you apart. I'll sign up for the team battle. Wait here, I'll call my brothers." Saying this, the elephant demon turned and walked away.

A chorus of hisses accompanied it.

The demons' disdainful reaction was only natural—the elephant should have signed up directly before going to find teammates. Actually, even if it was willing to fight, it might be unable to find four teammates. Even though the prize money was substantial, the team battles were ultimately too risky.

The Bloodthirsty Devil Ape's gaze turned to Tang San and his group. "Report in tomorrow morning for your first match."

Although the number of teams participating in the team battle was much lower than the number of fighters in individual fights, there were still some. Once a team signed up for the team battle, the first match was usually scheduled for the next day. These were the rules.

"Okay." Tang San agreed, turning around with his companions. As they walked out of the auction house, no demons even thought of mocking them anymore. No one was foolish; none of them wanted to become the next elephant demon. How would they respond to Tang San's challenge?

"That was so satisfying." Du Bai couldn't help but clap as soon as they stepped outside, "Did you see that? The elephant demon looked like he swallowed a fly. Little Tang, you were awesome!"

Tang San said, "That guy isn’t very easy to handle; the elephant race has strong defenses. It takes some serious power to get past that. But they’re not the sharpest tools in the shed, and if it forms a team on the fly, it's most likely to be all elephant demons. They might have strong defenses, but with a poor team structure like that, and especially without someone who’s able to fly, I don’t think we’ll have any problems."

Wu Bingji asked, "You’re saying they will be our first opponents?"

Tang San smiled and said, "You know demons as well as I do, and this is exactly what they’d do. It verbally agreed earlier, and if it doesn't show up in the end, the Great Beast Fighting Arena might even look for it to hold it accountable. Also, being an elephant demon, it probably has some confidence that it won’t die. So yeah, I think that it will participate and most likely be our opponent tomorrow. As far as I can tell, its strength should be at the peak of the seventh order, not quite at the eighth yet."

Tang San had actually intentionally provoked the other side, precisely because he understood the perils of team battles. Only the most ferocious would partake in such combat. With ten matches, having a weaker opponent in any game was beneficial. He tactically chose a first opponent who seemed challenging but was actually rather easy to deal with.

"Let’s think of the tactics for our first match strategy considering that the opponent’s team will be composed of elephant demons," Tang San said confidently.

"Breaking through their defense won't be easy," Gu Li said, somewhat worried.

Tang San smiled. "That will depend on our eldest senior brother."

Wu Bingji's eyes lit up, and he instantly understood Tang San's meaning. "As long as you can create enough opportunities for me, it should be possible."

Tang San nodded. "There will be opportunities."

Actual combat was crucial for his companions' training, especially in a life-or-death battle. Before arriving, he had decided to minimize his involvement unless necessary: one reason was not to reveal his strength, and the other was to allow his companions to grow faster through such training. The more they grew, the more he could grow.

They planned to rest early at night to ensure they were in their best condition, so for now, they would just go through their tactics, eat, and then relax.

Although they had faced powerful demonic beasts in actual combat, that encounter had been accidental, and a teacher had appeared to help them. However, they could only rely on themselves in this team battle. In other words, this would be their first real life-or-death battle. It was impossible to say they weren't nervous—except for Tang San, of course.

So, despite going to bed early, when he woke up, Tang San saw Du Bai sitting on his bed with dark circles under his eyes.

"Little Tang, what should I do if I can't sleep? Will it affect today's match?" Du Bai's voice was slightly trembling. After all, he was still a teenager.

Tang San stood up, walked over to him, and patted his shoulder.

"With our level of cultivation, going without sleep for a day is nothing. Just follow the tactics and it’ll be fine." He didn't bother to offer his teammate much reassurance; Du Bai had to face his own challenges, otherwise, how could he expect to grow?

As expected, apart from Wu Bingji, who seemed slightly better, Cheng Zicheng and Gu Li looked rather pale, clearly having rested poorly during the night.

Tang San smiled and said, "Let's go have breakfast. After eating, we'll head out."

Wu Bingji looked worriedly at the other three, but he hesitated to speak. He glanced at Tang San with a questioning look. But Tang San acted as if he hadn't noticed and headed straight for the dining hall.