The instant the examiner's voice fell, Jin Kai erupted into action. There was no probing, no testing—only a primal roar of command that echoed his panther's ferocity.
"Panther, full assault! Let's show them what real power looks like! Spark Barrage!"
The Volt-fang Panther responded in a heartbeat. It lowered its head and unleashed a torrent of crackling blue energy. Unlike the singular fireballs from Chen Hao's cub, this was a chaotic storm of electrical bolts that spread across the field, turning the ground into a deadly, sizzling web of lightning. The air hummed with raw power, and the crowd gasped at the sheer offensive pressure. The grand, intense battle had begun.
To the spectators, the tiny Rock Vole was trapped, with nowhere to run. But Lin Ke's eyes were locked on the chaos, seeing not a random storm, but a series of intersecting energy vectors. His voice cut through the electrical hum, calm and precise.
"Execute Plan A. Left, two steps. Evade. Use the southern pillar as cover."
The Rock Vole moved with an efficiency that bordered on prescient. It didn't scramble in panic; it took two exact steps, its small body hugging the ground as a bolt of lightning seared the spot it had occupied a millisecond before. It flowed around the base of one of the decorative stone pillars on the arena floor, using the terrain to break the line of sight and deflect the incoming barrage.
Jin Kai sneered. "Hiding won't save you! Get in close! Lightning Claw!"
The Volt-fang Panther became a blur of black fur and blue light. It abandoned the ranged attack and closed the distance with terrifying speed, its claws supercharged with crackling energy, ready to tear its opponent apart.
The crowd leaned forward, certain this was the end. The panther was too fast, its attack too vicious.
But Lin Ke had already factored this into his attrition strategy. The goal was to make the opponent waste energy, and nothing wasted more energy than a high-speed charge followed by a powerful melee attack.
"Hold your ground," Lin Ke commanded, his voice unwavering. "Wait for my mark... Now. Rock Harden."
The Rock Vole planted its feet firmly. The deep, earthy yellow energy, which had become its signature, enveloped its shell just as the Volt-fang Panther descended. Instead of meeting the attack with force, the Rock Vole angled its hardened shell slightly, turning it into a ramp.
SCREEEEE!
The sound of electrified claws scraping against a super-dense rock surface shrieked through the arena. The Volt-fang Panther's devastating attack didn't shatter the Rock Vole's defense; instead, its own momentum carried it up and over the small creature's back, sending it tumbling awkwardly a few meters away.
For a brief moment, the entire arena fell silent. Jin Kai's jaw hung open. He had expected to see his panther rip through its target. He did not expect to see it outmaneuvered by a living stone.
"Impossible..." he muttered.
"Do not engage. Maintain distance," Lin Ke instructed, pressing his advantage.
For the next several minutes, the arena became a stage for a stunning display of instinct versus intellect. Jin Kai, growing more and more frustrated, commanded his panther into a relentless frenzy of attacks. The field was constantly alight with flashes of blue lightning and the rumble of the predator's charge.
But under Lin Ke's flawless direction, the Rock Vole became an untouchable bastion of defense. It used every rock, every pillar, every slight dip in the terrain to its advantage. When it couldn't dodge, it used "Rock Harden" at the last possible second, absorbing the blows with an endurance that seemed to defy its very biology. It was a perfect execution of the "消耗战" (war of attrition). The Rock Vole wasn't winning; it was simply refusing to lose, weathering the storm with an astonishing resilience that was slowly but surely draining the lifeblood of the ferocious storm itself.