Chapter 177: The Conditions for Evolution Are Met

The battle prowess of the Gompilro Beast was far from the top tier among the Imperial Demons; in fact, it lingered at the very bottom. Yet, it possessed the fastest speed within the entire group. The secret behind this lay in the lightweight digital alloy coating its body.

This so-called lightweight digital alloy was a diluted version of the blue digital alloy that Dunas Beast, one of the Royal Knights, acquired after gaining the x-antibody. Though it greatly amplified speed, its drawback was its lack of strength.

As a result, despite being encased in a digital alloy shell, the Gompilro Beast’s defense paled in comparison to the Shendaro Beast, which was not only an artifact but also bore a similar form and structure. Indeed, not even the Shendaro Beast—renowned for having the strongest defense among the Imperial Demons—nor the Mohuro Beast could match its defense. It was, without exaggeration, the weakest in terms of defense among them.

Nonetheless, Feng Xue could not afford to relax when facing such an adversary, for its speed was simply overwhelming! So swift that Feng Xue had to employ both Ripple Qigong and Flying Scythe Kick simultaneously just to barely keep pace with its assault.

“Chiu! Just a mere mature stage—go die! Chiu!” With a rather comical trailing tone, the Gompilro Beast unexpectedly launched a “Treasure Pestle” from its back!

Though the original lore described the Gompilro Beast controlling the pestle telekinetically, it traditionally carried it on its back during attacks, which caught Feng Xue off guard.

“Card swap! High-speed module H, speed doubled!” Ruki’s voice suddenly rang in Feng Xue’s ear. At some unknown moment, this most qualified Beast Tamer had noticed the situation and arrived just in time.

“Thanks!” Feng Xue’s speed surged instantly, deftly evading the incoming pestle, and surged forward, closing the distance toward the temporarily weaponless Gompilro Beast.

“Too naive, chiu!” The Gompilro Beast uttered a line tinged with a trailing sound, and the pestle bent back from behind Feng Xue!

“Naive is your middle name!” Feng Xue pivoted with a precise twist of the waist, narrowly dodging the pestle. But that was not the end. Using the momentum, his fist descended like a toppled mountain—a relentless, overwhelming strike known as the simplified Fierce Tiger Climb!

Though simplified, Feng Xue unleashed his full strength, his palm glowing with skill energy, striking directly atop the Gompilro Beast’s head.

“Chiu! You think you can beat me just like that? Chiu!” The beast’s voice was a mixture of shriek and mockery as Feng Xue’s fist passed right through it!

Yet, this was neither an afterimage nor the Gompilro Beast dodging the attack—it had, in that instant, split into six.

“All six are real! And none of their strength has diminished!” Feng Xue’s expression grew grave. Usually, such duplication skills had inherent flaws: the power divided among duplicates, or the duplicates being mere illusions, or only able to withstand one attack.

But none of these shortcomings appeared on the Gompilro Beast.

Well, there was one: Feng Xue noticed the duplicates had become even faster!

This was no joke; increased speed meant the lightweight digital alloy had become even lighter!

In other words, its defense had weakened further!

Originally, its defense could rival that of an ordinary mature stage; now it was reduced to roughly the peak of growth stage defense. Even a full-strength mature stage strike could obliterate it!

However, that only mattered if the attack landed!

“Ruki! Hit rate!” Feng Xue suddenly shouted. As a professional Beast Tamer, Ruki’s dedication was evident. Unlike others who might browse cards searching for accuracy boosts, she immediately drew the needed card from her deck without hesitation—

“Card swap—Arrow of Hou Yi! (DIY; the real card doesn’t exist, but there are cards like Arrow of Heracles and Arrow of Onufantil, which increase strike rates by a certain percentage. The author played Digimon cards at seven or eight years old and has mostly forgotten.)”

As the card’s name was revealed, the image of a burly man streamed digitally into Feng Xue’s body, and he suddenly felt an arrow technique surging within him.

At that moment, Feng Xue even felt that if he wished, he could shoot down the sun itself!

Having undergone multiple card enhancements, Feng Xue knew this was merely an illusion caused by the influx of data—but the vague arrow technique that seemed ready to unleash was undeniable!

“Nine Suns’ Arrows!” Feng Xue uttered the unfamiliar skill name. Upon his Feast Short Bow adorned with blue patterns, nine arrows appeared.

“Too bad you only have six!” Feng Xue drew the bowstring, releasing nine arrows that shot out as beams of light, heading straight for the Gompilro Beast.

At last, the Gompilro Beast desperately realized no matter how it moved, these divine arrows would strike true—not because they tracked its movements, but because the marksmanship was simply miraculous.

Three arrows blocked the movement paths of its six duplicates, while the remaining six each targeted one duplicate!

“Damn you! Our god will never spare you!” The Gompilro Beast spat its last venomous words before dissolving into countless data fragments, absorbed by Feng Xue.

“Now, only the final opportunity remains!” Feng Xue nodded internally but suddenly noticed Shuli’s gaze fixed not far away. What kind of look was that?

If forced to describe, it was like a fangirl seeing a superstar, almost desperate to throw herself at him—a brainless, infatuated look!

“Is this infatuated girl really the so-called ‘Black Katou Shuli’ of this world?” Feng Xue wondered as he followed her gaze and saw a tall, imposing figure descending from a rainbow formed by the fountain.

“I fight enemies stronger than myself and absorb data more powerful than me—that is my way of survival!” Whether speaking to himself or to fangirl Shuli, this flag-walking figure, stepping on the rainbow, declared with flair.

“….” Feng Xue’s urge to retort surged. As the biggest flag bearer in the Digimon world, the Lion Beast lineage notoriously met tragic ends whenever they appeared—a fixed law. Whether evolving into Golden Sword Lion Beast, Boss Lion Beast, turning dark, or even merging with humans, the fate was the same. Yet this did not diminish the Lion Beast’s status as a noble Digimon worthy of the title “Righteous Partner.”

However, the moment this Lion Beast saw Feng Xue, it swung its sword down!

“Damn, you’re not the Lion Beast from the first series! I’m not the Demon Beast from the first series either! Why do you attack me on sight? Are Lion Beasts and Demon Beasts just born enemies? But aren’t Oga Beasts supposed to be your real rivals, you bastard!” Feng Xue muttered words others couldn’t understand as he turned to counterattack.

Yet, a girl’s figure suddenly stepped forcefully between Feng Xue and the Lion Beast...