Now that the contest was finished, Rocky thought he could finally relax. Sadly, he was wrong. Despite
the conclusion of the contest, he still had a lot of loose ends to tie up. The two beauties stood before
him were an excellent example. At any other time, he would've been accosted by two gorgeous women
like Isis and Marin. But at that moment, he was a little scared by the strange glint in their look as they
stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"What are you two planning?" Rocky stepped back with a shudder when they only leaned towards him
and looked at each other instead of answering him. He felt like he was a student once again, waiting for
a punishment after he had done something wrong. Which was just wrong because he was an adult who
could control powerful beasts. He even crossed his arms defensively and puffed up his chest to cover
up the discomfort he felt.
Isis and Marin rolled their eyes at Rocky's reaction.
However, Rocky's obvious discomfort made Isis realize as well the strange vibe that surrounded them.
Maybe she had stared too much. Isis coughed slightly to conceal her embarrassment. She straightened
her posture as if nothing had happened, and made it seem like she was only there for important
business. She took out a little bottle from her sleeve and handed it over to Rocky.
"What's this?" Rocky asked as he took the bottle from her and looked at it with doubt.
"That's a healing elixir, very effective for body injuries including traumatic and internal injury." Isis
answered in a casual way, acting as if she didn't care about it at all.
"That's the top elixir Isis treasures for herself." Marin whispered to Rocky when her cousin was
distracted. Rocky couldn't help but be amused at the duo's antics.
"You didn't have to, thank you!" Rocky didn't actually need any elixir no matter how powerful the effects
were because he possessed the magical saliva. Still, the bottle of elixir came from Isis so he accepted
it gratefully. He didn't want to offend her in any way.
"Rocky, do you have any idea what you did? Why did you continue fighting after getting badly injured?
You don't have to risk your life. It's only a contest. What if you were disabled or even killed just then?
Did you even think about that?" It seemed that Marin merely gave Isis her time to speak, and now she
deemed it her turn to scold Rocky. She really had been worried for Rocky during the match, especially
when she saw that Rocky was truly in danger. She could still remember how blood rushed to her head
and how her heart thundered in her chest.
"It's not a big deal!" Rocky answered nonchalantly, flapping his hand dismissively at them. At the critical
moment of the match, he had activated his spiritual power at the ninth grade of the Earthly Stage. That
was the reason why he was able to turn the tables in the end, but it seemed that nobody had noticed it
yet. This was good news for him, since it saved him the hassle of having to answer unavoidable
questions from a lot of people.
"Can't you take this seriously? What about your family? Have you ever thought of what they would feel
if anything happened to you?" Marin roared at Rocky, his flippant attitude infuriated her even more that
she already was.
"I don't have family!" Rocky answered her coldly. A hint of warning flashed in his eyes as if threatening
them not to pry further.
Isis and Marin were both taken aback, seeing the change in his eyes.
"Well, just don't do such a thing anymore! You should take care of yourself." Marin said to Rocky. Her
previously loud voice had softened as if in apology. She bit her lip in guilt, regretting her words. She
knew she crossed the line even if she had good intentions.
"Let's go! Leave him here so he can rest first." Isis said to Marin. She glanced at Rocky but didn't say
anything. Together, they walked out in silence.
Just as they had gone outside, the door burst open and Sheridan came in. He rushed hastily to Rocky's
side and felt his wrist for a pulse.
"Phew, what a relief! No internal injury! And still in one piece. Great! You're not going to die then,"
Sheridan said, touching Rocky's chin. His hands were steady but his eyes wandered all over Rocky,
looking for injury.
"I assure you that I will live safe and sound until you croak, old man! Ha-ha!" Rocky said in his flippant
manner as he rolled his eyes at Sheridan's nonsense.
"Good for you, man! You defeated Dunn, the strongest deputy commander in the Crimson Dragon
Group. That's a great achievement. And I've also heard that Uriah leveled up during the contest. Is that
true?" Sheridan asked out of curiosity.
Rocky nodded at him, and turned to look at Uriah that was still sleeping in the corner. Sheridan
followed his line of sight and saw the sleeping Uriah. The scales around its shell had changed into a
fiery ruby in color and Uriah had grown twice its previous size. Although it had already withdrawn its
flames that flourished during the contest, it did not look less formidable.
"It's indeed the Flaming Shell!" Sheridan marveled as he observed the sleeping Uriah.
"What did you just say?" Rocky asked with a perplexed look.
"Do you know about the Flaming-shell Tiger? That spirit-manipulated beast ranks number seven on the
Spiritual Beast List. It earned its fame and its name because of its flaming, red shell. The ruby shell of
Uriah is extremely similar to the Flaming Shell. What's more, the fire Uriah's shell released in the
contest resembles the flames of the Flaming-shell Tiger. Your Uriah may be the descendant of the
Flaming-shell Tiger," Sheridan suggested.
Rocky tried to remember the information about the Flaming-shell Tiger he had read before. As he
compared what he remembered and what he had seen, he could not help but agree with Sheridan.
Uriah and the Flaming-shell Tiger did share many characteristics in common.
"I should study the new changes Uriah had undergone later." Rocky murmured to himself.
"Where did you get this spirit-manipulated beast?" Sheridan asked.
"I just ran into it," Rocky lied. He didn't want Sheridan to find out too much.
"Bullshit!" Unfortunately, Rocky was a pretty bad liar. Sheridan immediately knew he was hiding
something.
"Whatever! Do you have anything else to say? If not, please leave and close the door on your way out.
Thank you!" Austin didn't want to say it that directly, but he did want Sheridan to leave. If he stayed,
Rocky was sure he wouldn't be able to rest properly.
He could see that Sheridan was reluctant to leave. They stared at each other in tensed silence before
Sheridan finally turned and left the room.
Now that Rocky was alone, he sat in bed with his legs crossed and took out his magical saliva. He
drank it quickly and started meditating to hasten the healing of his wounds.
With the help of the magical saliva, his wounds were nearly healed overnight.
The next morning, Sue brought Rubygon over.
"Mr. Bai, do you feel better now?" Sue asked as she looked at Rocky worriedly.
"Yeah! I'm all right now." Rocky answered with a faint smile. It was a bit of a hassle to keep on assuring
everyone he was alright, but he appreciated their kindness.
"I've heard what happened to you from Miss Isis. I've been wanting to see you since last night but Miss
Isis told me that you needed to rest. I didn't want to disturb you so I came for a visit today instead," Sue
said, and her face scrunched up in worry.
"Never mind. I'm sorry I worried you." Rocky smiled at Sue kindly. He was about to say something else
when the door suddenly burst open.
Marin entered the room authoritatively. She looked ready for battle except she carried a set of clothes
in her hands.
"Commander Marin!" Sue bowed to her immediately.
Marin nodded at Sue and then addressed Rocky, "How do you feel now? Do you still feel sore?"
"Yes, of course! I'm aching all over. Commander Marin, could you do me a small favor? I want a
massage so badly!" Rocky said as a devious smile crept at the corner of his lips. He exaggeratedly
winced and whimpered suddenly, to gain her pity.
"Well, I don't mind. I could do you a favor... and send you to heaven now! Go change! And then come
with me." Marin shouted at him and threw the clothes she was carrying to his face.
"To where?" Rocky asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Both you and Dunn were seriously injured yesterday, so the result hasn't been announced. They will
announce who can be promoted to the Frontline Commander today. Everyone has already gathered up
in the training field, waiting for you," Marin explained and then she left the room with Sue so Rocky
could change.
Once Rocky finished changing his clothes, he walked out to join Marin.
"Do you know what it means that you have won the contest yesterday?"
"Of course I know! Now I'm a Frontline Commander, the same position as you are," Rocky said proudly,
puffing his chest out and smirking at Marin.
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