Chapter 518: Where Did It Go?

The initial joy was instantly replaced by cold sweat. This was an absolutely rare treasure! He had only taken one pill and yet it had such a significant effect. Where had the other one gone? Could someone have come in and taken it? No... Even if he was in deep meditation, it was impossible for him not to have any awareness and fail to realize if someone approached him.

His divine consciousness and the Discerning Eye of Heaven would surely have detected anything unusual.

But theories were one thing and facts were another, and the only fact right now was that the pill was indeed gone.

What the hell happened? Don’t tell me it just up and left by itself?!

His good mood instantly dissipated, and Tang San's face turned somewhat grim.

He deeply regretted not putting the remaining pill away yesterday. If he had stored it in his spatial ring, this wouldn't have happened.

This was something he had to keep to himself; he couldn't talk about it. Could he go to the Peacock Great Demon King and say "hey, the pill you gave me ran away, can you give me another one?" No way.

But the pill was basically a life-saving panacea! It could heal severe injuries in a short time, regenerating broken bones and depleted energy all the same. The Peacock Great Demon King gave him two pills, likely intending for him to save one for potential injuries during the competition. And now, it had mysteriously disappeared.

What is going on?!

Tang San felt frustrated, but there was nothing he could do. He could only sigh and move on.

The sky outside was already bright. Today, there was an individual match. Since his body had recovered, he definitely had to participate. Moreover, if he could defeat his opponent today, he would advance from the group stage to the top sixteen in the individual competition—enter the finals, in other words.

And reaching the finals meant starting to earn rewards. The higher he went, the better.

Now, he, Mei Gongzi, and Big Cat were all one step away from advancing in the group stage. Mei Gongzi needed two more matches, while he and Big Cat needed to win just one more to advance to the finals.

After a quick wash and change of clothes, Tang San quickly left his room and headed to the dining hall for breakfast.

His companions weren't around; it seemed they had already finished breakfast and left. They had probably gone to watch the morning matches by themselves; thinking he wouldn't be able to continue competing due to his injuries, they hadn’t bothered to wake him up.

My pill...

He recalled the cold aura once again.

As a result, Tang San found his breakfast tasteless. However, having lived through three lifetimes, his mindset was exceptionally stable. After a brief moment of frustration, he stopped dwelling on it. After breakfast, he headed straight to the Ancestral Court Plaza.

Each group only had one or two matches left, so although Tang San was in the third group and there were three stages, he might have to compete second or even first today.

Fortunately, he wasn't late. When he arrived at the Ancestral Court Plaza, today's matches were just about to start. As he anticipated, although other groups still had three contestants, each group had only one match today. So, as a contestant in the third group, he was to compete in the first round today. Only in the finals would the three stages merge into one.

Tang San was the last to arrive. In fact, if he had been a bit later, he would have been considered to have forfeited.

He rushed into the venue and hurried onto the stage. He didn't even have time to contact Mei Gongzi or his teammates.

But the moment he stepped onto the stage, the crowd erupted in surprise. Clearly, those who had watched the doubles match yesterday didn't expect him to be able to compete today.

Tang San's opponent was equally surprised. When he saw Tang San appearing opposite him, hurried yet clearly energetic, his expression turned grim.

This opponent seemed to be a male demon. His face was pale, indicating that he had been injured in a previous match and had not yet fully recovered.

The opponent was tall and exuded a fierce aura, but for some reason, when Tang San looked at him, he could clearly sense a hint of timidity behind his bluster.

"Begin!" The referee, completely unconcerned with the contestants' states of mind, directly announced the start of the match.

Without a moment’s pause, a flash of golden light appeared behind Tang San, and a pair of intact golden wings spread out, lifting him into the air.

Since his Golden Roc Transformation had already been exposed, there was no need to hide it. Combining the speed of the Golden Roc Transformation with Tang San's flying skills and the domineering toughness of the Lion-Tiger Golden Force resulted in a perfect war machine. They granted him immense explosive power and attack speed, the best way to counter the average opponent.

However, just as Tang San was about to launch an aerial assault, his opponent took a step back and shouted loudly, "I concede!"

Tang San's face showed a look of astonishment, but he quickly realized what was happening. He spread his wings and just hovered in mid-air, a faint smile appearing on his face.

After weathering the storm, his luck was finally turning for the better!

He didn’t take long to understand why his opponent had conceded. Their group was exceptionally strong, with contestants from the Golden Mammoth clan, Scorching Sunflower clan, and Behemoth clan. Each of them was a favorite, and any of them could advance into the finals. However, they were all unlucky enough to encounter Tang San—or rather, Tang San was unlucky to encounter them.

Tang San had been continually battling the wolves, while the other contestants in his group were pecking at each other like little chicken. This opponent naturally had a few victories under his belt if he was able to show up on this stage, but whatever he had done couldn't compare to the intensity of Tang San's previous battles. He was by far no match for Tang San's earlier opponents, so how could he possibly beat Tang San?

Seeing the human unscathed and using the Golden Roc Transformation again, while he himself was still injured, the opponent had no other choice. Well, there was a choice: dying. He knew that Tang San was not any kind of saint, seeing how he had instantly killed a Chrono Croc in a previous match.

This contestant had dared to come on stage today thinking that Tang San had been severely injured yesterday and would likely forfeit today's match. If Tang San gave up, he would automatically advance to the top sixteen in the finals, far exceeding all expectations. He might even attract the favor of an Emperor.

Tang San had already caught the attention of the Emperors' emissaries in the previous rounds, whereas his opponent today, although one step away from advancing, had not faced strong opponents before and therefore had not garnered much attention. Now was his chance!

But you can’t be lucky forever.

Seeing that the human looked perfectly healthy and sound, as if he had never been injured, the contestant didn't dare to take any chances and directly conceded.

"Group Three, Number Six wins. Congratulations on reaching the finals."

The referee announced Tang San's victory, which meant he had become one of the top sixteen in this year's Ancestral Court Elite Competition. In other words, he was one of the top sixteen people below the tenth order in the Ancestral Court.

As for the absolute champion among the sixteen, that was truly unpredictable. At this level, factors like some races suppressing others in terms of attributes, combat experience, and even luck would all affect the subsequent matches. Naturally, the injuries each contestant accumulated in previous matches would also impact the outcomes.

Of course, even if one lost in the first match of the finals, being able to enter the top sixteen was already proof of their strength and allowed them to attract the attention of the Ancestral Court.

Moreover, Tang San entering the top sixteen as a human was unprecedented in the history of the Ancestral Court Elite Competition.

Humans were a vassal race with no cultivable bloodline to speak of!

However, at this stage, no one would tamper with the fairness of the competition, especially since the Peacock Great Demon King had personally stated that Tang San was his vassal. Moreover, in the final stages of the competition, the Emperors themselves would come to watch the matches.