Chapter 117: The Mushroom Illusion Effect of Soul-Bursting Flame Feather! Spraying White Spores

After a brief silence, the surroundings instantly erupted in a wave of irrepressible laughter.

"What the fuck?! What is that thing? Is it a new skin for a Contracted Beast?"

"No way there’s a skin that insane. He must have custom-made it!"

"Nice, treating their Contracted Beast like a boyfriend, are they?"

"Hahaha, I’m dying! I can’t, I have to screenshot this and post it on the forums! This is definitely the most insane Contracted Beast in the history of Spirit Martial Eternity!"

Feeling the gazes from all around, a mixture of ridicule, mockery, and outright strangeness.

Gu Yuexi’s face darkened at a visible rate, turning as black as the bottom of a pot.

She felt so mortified her toes were about to dig a three-bedroom apartment out of her shoes.

’This damned bastard!’

’I, the Empress, have been utterly humiliated by this thing today!’

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ! (’Empress, see? I told you this look would be eye-catching! I’m the center of attention! How awesome is that?!’)

Gu Yuexi: "..."

’Shut up!’

Gu Yuexi roared silently in her mind. She felt like killing this mosquito right now.

She took a deep breath, fighting the urge to log off on the spot, and opened the system panel with a blank expression.

She remembered that Spirit Martial Eternity had a very user-friendly feature, specifically for dealing with disobedient Contracted Beasts or those that needed to be tempered through extensive combat.

Soon, she found the option in the function list—[Contracted Beast Management Center].

Gu Yuexi clicked on it without hesitation.

[Please select a management mode:]

[1. Casual Sparring Mode (Engage in friendly matches with other Contracted Beasts, not counted towards battle records)]

[2. Hell Tower-Climbing Mode (Challenge high-difficulty dungeons with infinite floors to test your limits)]

[3. Infinite Matchmaking Mode (Continuously match your Contracted Beast 24/7 with opponents of similar strength for 1v1 life-or-death battles!)]

Gu Yuexi’s gaze locked onto the third option, a cold smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

’Infinite matchmaking? Life-or-death battles?’

’Even though dying in the game isn’t real death, and you don’t even get injured, the pain is real!’

’Excellent. Perfect for this despicable mosquito!’

With a thought, she selected [Infinite Matchmaking Mode] and cranked it to the highest intensity!

This meant there wouldn’t be a single moment of rest between matches. Whether it won or was killed, it would immediately be matched with the next opponent!

If it was continuously matched against dozens of unbeatable opponents, it could die dozens of times within minutes!

’A truly hellish training regimen!’

BUZZ BUZZ! (’Huh? Empress, what are you doing? I’ve got a bad feeling about this...’) Chu Sheng sensed that something was wrong.

Gu Yuexi ignored it and pressed the [Confirm Management] button.

’You just stay here and have fun!’ she said coldly in her mind.

The next second, a pillar of light descended from the sky, enveloping the giant, still-bouncing mushroom.

BUZZ BUZZ! (’What the fuck! Empress, don’t—’)

Before Chu Sheng could finish, the light flashed, and the unsightly mushroom that had made her the laughingstock of the entire plaza finally vanished.

The world was finally quiet.

The players in the plaza saw this and broke into another round of discussion.

"Huh? Where’d the mushroom go?"

"Looks like its Master teleported it away. Probably couldn’t stand everyone staring, haha!"

Gu Yuexi ignored the surrounding chatter and let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if a great weight had finally been lifted from her heart.

’Out of sight, out of mind!’

’Despicable mosquito!’

’I hope the experts in there kill it a few extra times!’

She snorted, pushed the thoughts aside, and opened her own matchmaking interface, preparing to test her true strength.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Chu Sheng’s vision blurred, and he found himself in a massive arena resembling the Ancient Roman Colosseum.

The system’s notification sound echoed in his ears.

[Welcome to the Contracted Beast Infinite Matchmaking Mode! Difficulty: Hell!]

[Your realm has been detected as Third-Grade Late Stage!]

[Now matching you with your first evenly-matched opponent... Match successful!]

[Human Martial Artist, Qi Blood Melting Furnace Realm Second Transformation, ID: "SmurfingScumbag112"...]

Chu Sheng: "..."

’Third-Grade Late Stage matched against Melting Furnace Second Transformation?’

’What kind of bullshit matchmaking system is this??’

’The minimum Qi Blood Value for a Melting Furnace Second Transformation is seven thousand! And the power unleashed from every point of Qi Blood is more than five times that of a Peak of Third-Grade!’

’This power gap... it’s like Kunkun fighting Tyson.’

’But, that’s for other Contracted Beasts.’

’For Chu Sheng... this was exactly what he wanted!’

’Hadn’t he been wanting to test the limits of his combat power?’

’The Empress is actually pretty nice!’

Chu Sheng expressed his gratitude internally.

Then he looked at the human Martial Artist across from him, whose ID was "SmurfingScumbag112".

The opponent was clearly not an NPC but a real player. He was staring at the giant mushroom in front of him, completely dumbfounded. "Holy shit... It’s become sentient!"

Chu Sheng: "..."

’He felt his human dignity... no, his mosquito dignity had been insulted.’

’Why are these people’s minds so filthy?!’

’This is clearly just a wholesome, pure, life-filled, and cute little mushroom!’

’What on earth are they thinking of?!’

"Third-Grade Late Stage?"

The heavily armored brute on the other side glanced at the system information for both players again, his expression growing even more peculiar. "A Third-Grade Late Stage Contracted Beast... matched against me, a Melting Furnace Second Transformation?"

"And it’s on Hell Mode?"

The brute’s eyes filled with sympathy and pity. "Buddy, your Master... does she hold some kind of deep-seated grudge against you?"

Chu Sheng: "..."

’What the hell does it have to do with you?’

’What’s wrong with being a big mushroom?’

’So what if you’re a Melting Furnace Second Transformation?’

’You think you can beat me?’

BUZZ BUZZ! (’Less talk! Let’s fight!’)

Chu Sheng’s fighting spirit soared. This was the perfect chance to test his true strength after his fifth evolution!

’A Martial Artist at the Melting Furnace Second Transformation will make a perfect punching bag!’

Without further hesitation, he unleashed his core killing move!

[Soul-Bursting Flame Feather]!

However, the next second, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The expected deluge of dark-red flaming feathers did not appear.

Instead, the rounded cap of the large pink mushroom contracted violently, and then...

PFFFT—!!!

Countless spores, like a volcanic eruption, shot out from the top of the mushroom, blanketing the air as they rocketed toward the heavily armored brute!

The heavily armored brute: "???"

Chu Sheng: "???"

’Wait... did the Skill’s visual effect also change based on my virtual avatar?!’

’This... this this this...’

’What the fuck is this shit it’s spraying?!’

The expression on the face of the heavily armored brute across from him had completely frozen.

He stared blankly at the "ocean of spores" sweeping toward him, the muscles in his face twitching uncontrollably. His gaze shifted from initial shock to terror, and finally, to a bone-deep feeling of disgust and revulsion!

He even forgot to defend himself!

"BLEGH—!"

The brute let out a dry heave. He couldn’t bear to watch it, and he certainly couldn’t bear to fight it!

He stomped his foot hard, his body turning into a streak of light as he rushed toward the teleportation zone without a second glance!

[Ding! Your opponent has surrendered! You are victorious!]

Chu Sheng: "..."

’I... won? Just like that?’

’I... grossed him out until he left?’

’Nice.’

Before he could recover from this absurd victory, the system’s notification chimed again.

[Ding! Matching you with your next opponent...]

A flash of light, and another human Martial Artist appeared at the other end of the stone platform.

It was a pretty girl in light armor. The moment she saw Chu Sheng, her face instantly stiffened, and she froze for several seconds.

And then...

"AHHHHHHHHH! What kind of cringey douchebag designed this Contracted Beast’s avatar?! AHHHHHHHHH!!"

The next second, the girl’s figure vanished into thin air!

[Ding! Your opponent has surrendered! You are victorious! Two-game winning streak!]

Chu Sheng: "..."