Chapter 48: A Lead from the Forum!

"BOOM!!!"

Accompanied by a roar that resounded across the entire battle arena, the initial clash between the two four-star spirit-foodies whipped up a flurry of fierce winds.

"Not bad," Zhou Tianhao chuckled. "In that case, I'll have to get serious."

"Cream, use Frosty Wilderness directly!"

Tang Yu's pupils constricted, and she issued her command at maximum speed.

"Tornado, use Psychic to interrupt it!"

"Sodaa!"

Tornado cried out, and a pale purple psychic energy instantly transformed into a heavy hammer that materialized directly above Cream's head, smashing down upon it with tremendous force!

However, its action was still a fraction of a second too late.

"Nani-nani!"

Cream let out a cry, and the ice-blue elemental energy surged into the sky like a pillar of light, instantly shrouding the previously clear skies of the arena in dark clouds.

"Crack—"

"Crack—"

Amidst the crisp sound of freezing, the bone-chilling power condensed a thin layer of crystal on the ground, while the howling gale whipped up dense, hazy drifting snow that filled the entire venue.

"This is..." Qin Lang watched the scene unfold, unable to keep his eyes from widening.

Although the range was limited to the competition arena, the extraordinary power of the spirit-foodie could actually alter the micro-climate of the area in an instant!

This was simply incredible!

"It's an arena technique," Zhao Qian's expression grew solemn. "This kind of technique that temporarily alters the weather can only be countered by using an identical arena technique, otherwise, you'll be forced to fight in an environment disadvantageous to yourself."

"If the spirit-foodie itself possesses traits related to the arena, an arena technique is enough to make its strength skyrocket instantly!"

Did Cream possess arena-related traits?

Judging by the momentum that was climbing steadily at this very moment, the answer was a definite yes!

In just a fraction of a second, the balance of victory between the previously evenly matched opponents was instantly overturned, and Zhou Tianhao had already seized the upper hand!

Tang Yu pressed her lips together, her expression solemn in a way it never had been before.

"Tornado, use Gale Song!"

"Sodaa!" Tornado cried out, layers upon layers of pale cyan wind-elemental energy gathering around it to form successive tiers of howling whirlwinds.

These whirlwinds rubbed against one another, emitting a strange, rhythmic melody resembling a chant, which kept the falling snow away from Tornado's body.

Almost the instant it finished releasing the technique, massive clusters of ice blossomed from those drifting snowflakes.

"It's the ice-elemental technique [Crystal Bloom]," Zhao Qian couldn't help but gasp. "What a brilliant combination of techniques."

"Crystal Bloom causes any snowflakes within range to instantly transform into ice clusters that expand and spread outwards. If the ice clusters touch an opponent, it immediately plunges them into a [Frozen Stiff] state, temporarily rendering them unable to move."

"Combining this technique with [Frosty Wilderness] makes it practically impossible to guard against!" At this, Zhao Qian's eyes lit up.

Her own spirit-foodie, Bubu, was also an ice-type spirit-foodie, and at this moment, she seemed to catch a glimpse of Bubu's future potential.

"Your reaction is as fast as ever." With the sneak attack thwarted, Zhou Tianhao shook his head with a trace of regret.

Although the arena technique had been successfully deployed, the opponent's [Psychic] had also landed, which caused a momentary interruption to the combo that should have been un-dodgeable, giving Tang Yu an opening.

However...

"There won't be a next time!" Zhou Tianhao barked softly.

"Cream, use Frost Surge!"

A mass of ice-blue energy rapidly gathered above Cream's head, its color steadily deepening until it finally blasted toward Tornado like a heavy artillery shell.

Where the cold current passed, bone-chilling frost instantly enveloped the surroundings, causing even the air to condense into a hazy, snow-white mist of frost.

Tornado let out a low cry, dodging sideways in an attempt to evade the strike.

Yet Zhou Tianhao simply spat out two words coolly.

"Sweep."

"Hum—"

Under Cream's control, the [Frost Surge], which normally could only be fired in a fixed direction, began to sweep outward. Even with the slightest angle of deflection, the speed at which the cold current shifted far exceeded Tornado's dodging speed.

In the blink of an eye, the caught-off-guard Tornado was swallowed by the cold current.

When everything dissipated, only a frozen statue of Tornado remained on the field.

Snowflakes drifted down onto its frozen form one by one, blooming into clusters of ice until Tornado's body was completely buried.

In the end, Tornado failed to break free from the chained crowd control, directly transforming into a stream of light and flying back into Tang Yu's astral pulse.

The previously usurped Hunter-Hunter reappeared, shivering involuntarily the moment it emerged.

Spicy-flavor defeats sweet; fighting defeats ice. Both of Hunter-Hunter's attributes had a restraining advantage over Cream, but alas, the level gap was simply too vast.

After a hard-fought battle, Hunter-Hunter was ultimately beaten into a state of incapacitation by Cream's relentless crowd control, turning into a stream of light with aggrieved reluctance as it returned to the astral pulse.

An immensely brilliant battle finally came to a close.

"They're coming down!" Seeing the two figures walking off the battle arena, Qin Lang stood up and strode forward quickly, with Zhao Qian and Cao Dongdong following closely behind.

As they drew near, the conversation between the two gradually became clear.

"It's been over a year, and it seems you're still sticking to your old idea that multi-attribute techniques can make a spirit-foodie's combat more versatile?" Zhou Tianhao looked at Tang Yu, crossing his arms. "This is your second loss, you know."

"If not for the arena technique, I might not have lost," Tang Yu said slowly, resolving inwardly to find some learning props for arena-type techniques for her spirit-foodie at the earliest opportunity.

Hearing this, Zhou Tianhao couldn't help but shake his head. "Even with an arena technique, the loser would still be you."

"A spirit-foodie receives a certain degree of enhancement when executing techniques of its own attribute, which means a combat system built around native-attribute techniques is much stronger."

"Arena techniques are likewise vastly more effective for single-attribute spirit-foodies."

The three of Qin Lang exchanged glances.

Conversations between top experts were still a bit too far out of their reach.

Tang Yu remained noncommittal. "Next time, I will defeat you."

"I hope not in the next few days, because I intend to relax properly and taste various delicacies next." Zhou Tianhao stretched lazily. "It wasn't easy making a trip to Dongxia City, and before I could even look around much, I was dragged here for a match by someone."

Tang Yu's face tightened as she said stiffly, "Sorry."

"I'm not blaming you," Zhou Tianhao waved a hand and smiled at the three of Qin Lang. "I'm heading out first, see you next time."

"I'm leaving too," Tang Yu said calmly. "I have to cover for someone's shift; there are official duties to carry out."

Watching the two depart in stride, Qin Lang and the other two looked at each other.

"What should we do next?" Cao Dongdong couldn't help asking.

"Let me check if there are any replies on the forum first." Qin Lang took out his phone, opened the forum, and let out a surprised expression. "There's a reply!"

Hours had passed, and a dozen replies had appeared under the post, but only one of them was useful.

[Original Lan Yan: I seem to have seen a similar spirit-foodie at the Zhending Beef Pavilion, though I'm not certain. You can go take a look there.]

"It's actually the Zhending Beef Pavilion?" Zhao Qian showed an expression of surprise.

"The assessment venue of Mr. Fu Xing, the food recommender who also serves as a tier-one spirit-enforcer?"