Chapter 18 "Electric Hedgehog" Form
```
"Wait for me a moment."
She Pili, rarely spirited, operated on his phone for a while, then sent a folder to Chen Mo.
"Alright, this is the information on the top 8 contestants that Senior Brother She managed to gather for you. Do your best!"
Upon opening the folder, Chen Mo found detailed information about the other 7 contestants and their spiritual beasts in the top 8 competition.
This moved Chen Mo a little.
Senior Brother She truly regarded him as a junior brother.
"Thank you, Senior Brother!"
"Thanks for what, don't feel pressured, just treat it as accumulating real combat experience."
After speaking, She Pili patted Chen Mo on the shoulder, stretched lazily, and strolled away leisurely.
--------------------------------
The next day, after buying a serving of steamed buns and sweet soybean milk, Chen Mo ate while heading to the gymnasium.
Upon arriving at the competition venue, he immediately noticed that today's audience... seemed a bit large!
And there were also many familiar faces, most of whom were his high school classmates.
What he didn't know was that due to his outstanding performance in previous matches, he had now become one of the seed contestants. Additionally, as his spiritual beast was suspected of awakening, it naturally became the focus of media attention.
Soon, after drawing lots, Chen Mo saw the information of his opponent in the top 8 competition.
[Spirit Master: Shen Jun]
[Spiritual Beast: Fiery Flame Monkey]
[Spiritual Beast Growth Level: Transcendent 2-stage]
[Competition Venue: Venue No. 1]
[Competition Time: Starts at 10:00]
"As expected, the opponents get stronger the further you go, but luckily I didn't draw those 3 seed contestants. Xiao Jiu, are you confident?"
"Chirp!" (No problem at all!)
"If I'm not mistaken, the Fiery Flame Monkey is the evolved form of the Little Fire Monkey. Have they made their spiritual beast evolve so early?"
Sitting in a chair, Chen Mo and Xiao Jiu looked at the contestant information sent by Senior Brother She.
Evolution is a process for spiritual beasts to achieve a more perfect form, needing special items or learning special moves for catalysis. After evolution, the spiritual beast's life form and potential will undergo qualitative changes.
Ordinary spiritual beasts have a chance to evolve at the Transcendent rank, but most Spirit Masters prepare for evolution only when the spiritual power within the Spirit Beast Crystal Core approaches its limit.
The more perfect the evolution process, the higher the potential of the spiritual beast, ensuring they can go further in the future.
Very few Spirit Masters are willing to deplete a spiritual beast's potential in exchange for battle strength, unless it's just being used as a transitional spiritual beast.
The potential of a Fiery Flame Monkey that has evolved so early would definitely be affected.
"The Spirit Master's talent is Blaze, an enhancement-type talent that can increase the power of fire-type skills..."
"Has mastered Spark, Flame Fist, Blaze Fist techniques..."
"The combat style is very aggressive, likes to fight up close, and has some martial arts proficiency..."
The data provided by Senior Brother She was incredibly detailed, and Chen Mo mentally gave it a thumbs up.
Before going on stage, as usual, Xiao Jiu consumed dozens of honey milk candies to fully prepare itself.
This scene was captured by a female reporter who had been watching Chen Mo from the audience. The female reporter took out her camera and captured the moment.
It wasn't that she was suspicious of the Blazing Flame Fox doping.
To ensure fairness in the competition, the spiritual beasts of both parties are inspected by the impartial spiritual beast "Soul Eye" before the match. If any doping is detected, the contestant will be banned for at least 5 years.
Besides, who would dope so openly?
"It looks like... honey milk candies from the packaging? Perhaps there's a story behind it..." The female reporter mused.
Both sides went on stage, and after a "friendly" exchange, the match officially began!
Given that Xiao Jiu's specialty in defensive power was already exposed, Chen Mo didn't bother to hide it anymore.
At the start of the match, Chen Mo let Xiao Jiu stay in place, staring provocatively at the Fiery Flame Monkey opposite.
The intention was clear—Come at me!
Anyway, the Fiery Flame Monkey's main attack methods were all physical attacks and it would eventually have to engage in close combat with the Blazing Flame Fox.
Might as well stay put and save some energy.
Sure enough, the Fiery Flame Monkey quickly rushed over and was upon the Blazing Flame Fox in an instant.
"Blaze Fist!"
Shen Jun shouted.
Blaze Fist, a mid-level move!
Knowing that the Blazing Flame Fox had impressive defensive power, the Fiery Flame Monkey began with its strongest move.
Whoosh!
The Fiery Flame Monkey's fist suddenly ignited with a small flame, which instantly flared into a blazing fire.
To everyone's surprise—the Blazing Flame Fox, facing the oncoming Blaze Fist, didn't dodge. Purple electric arcs flickered around its paws, crackling as if ready to counterattack?
"Still relying on defensive power to exchange injury for injury? Then you're making a mistake."
Seeing that the Blazing Flame Fox wasn't trying to dodge, Shen Jun thought to himself.
Just when the Fiery Flame Monkey's fist was about to strike, the flames on its fist suddenly became more intense, like a burning little sun emitting an astonishing temperature.
"You really think I can't break your defense? Fiery Flame Monkey, break it for me!"
Shen Jun laughed, his Spirit Master talent, Blaze, enhancing the power of the spiritual beast's fire-type skills!
He hadn't used it in the previous matches, reserving it for now!
Can you withstand this punch?
Facing the Fiery Flame Monkey's sudden increase in ferocity, Xiao Jiu felt a bit panicked, but quickly heard Chen Mo's voice in its mind.
"Thorny Thunder Spur, then immediately use Thunderclaw."
The familiar voice calmed Xiao Jiu down.
As the punch came flying in, just when the Fiery Flame Monkey's Blaze Fist was about to land on the Blazing Flame Fox, the latter's body suddenly "grew" deep purple light spikes entirely condensed from electricity.
Since it was an incomplete version, the Blazing Flame Fox didn't have spikes as densely packed as the Thunder Qilin Turtle.
But given the current situation, it was already more than enough!
This move was specifically designed to counter melee attacks, functioning similarly to a thorn armor.
Seeing this, the Fiery Flame Monkey's pupils dilated, instinctively pulling back some of its strength.
Hitting this would be excruciating!
However, its punch had been too fierce, too decisive earlier, now it was too late to retract it!
Boom!
Lightning and flames clashed!
A loud bang erupted from the center of the arena; after the collision, the Fiery Flame Monkey's face twisted in agony, twitching.
Pain! It hurt so much!
Meanwhile, the Blazing Flame Fox's Thunderclaw also hit the Fiery Flame Monkey—a dual shock of lightning made the Fiery Flame Monkey fly away, leaving a long black streak on the ground.
The Fiery Flame Monkey was charred all over and occasionally twitched.
In simple terms, it had been electrocuted.
The Blazing Flame Fox didn't fare too well either; even with many status enhancements boosting its defensive power to a remarkable extent, the Fiery Flame Monkey's buff-enhanced Blaze Fist left its fur singed around where the blow landed.
Facing this fox, resembling an electric porcupine, Shen Jun couldn't help but ponder deeply.
What a bizarre Spirit Master and spiritual beast!
"Thunder Ball!"
"I concede!"
Seeing that the Fiery Flame Monkey had essentially lost the capability to continue fighting, and observing the Blazing Flame Fox gearing up for another attack, Shen Jun promptly conceded.
The battle concluded as two glimmering dandelions came onto the stage, using a light healing technique to treat the spiritual beasts' injuries.
A few minutes later, the Blazing Flame Fox's singed fur was restored to its original state.
This made Xiao Jiu, who thought it was "disfigured," breathe a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the fur was fine.
```