Chapter 809: The Twelve Branches Gather, Before the Challenge_1

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On August 29th, Fang Yuan arrived at the Road of Champions and checked back into the small villa he had once lived in.

This villa, including the training field, was less than a thousand square meters... compared to Fang Yuan Institute, it was indeed a bit small.

"Eevee—Yi—"

However, if we talk about the level of luxury of the house, the mansions here on the Road of Champions were still more upscale.

Upon arrival, Eevee immediately ran to its own room, eagerly preparing for tonight's gaming organization battle.

"You little guy, take this a bit more seriously... Our goal is to pass at least seven stages," Fang Yuan instructed Eevee while also releasing his Self-detonating Magnetic Monster and the rest, letting them get some fresh air.

"Bululu~~" "Koje~~" "Uwah~~" "Fuwoo~~~" "Bowoo~~" "Banah~~!" "Mangmang!!" "Nannan~ Nannan~~" "Rotom!"

A total of eleven Pokemon were set free by Fang Yuan, each placed in different locations.

For instance, Milotic was thrown into the swimming pool by Fang Yuan.

And Venusaur, this big fellow, naturally could not be left inside the house; it definitely had to be put in the backyard.

At that moment, Venusaur was examining the Tree Fruit seeds given to it by Fang Yuan, feeling somewhat disheartened... it indeed wasn't a main battle force.

This time, each of Fang Yuan's Pokemon had different roles to play.

Pokemon like Venusaur and Milotic were not the main combatants.

Their primary task was in logistics and medical support.

The challenge rules of the Road of Champions state that you must pass ten stages consecutively within a specified time. During this period, although Trainers are allowed to use Tree Fruit for restoring Physical Strength and medication for treating injuries, the challenge is still highly intense.

In such a scenario, Milotic taking up its role as the healing support had more significance than being a combat Pokemon.

After all, in terms of combat strength, even though it wasn't weak, it couldn't pose a threat to those Pokemon trained to the top limit; it was better as support for Sun Eevee, Super Gengar, and Monferno.

Milotic was also reluctant to only heal its teammates during and after battle, but in order to help the team go further, it had to step into the role of a healer.

Of course, if Dragon Type or Water Series Pokemon appeared during the challenge, Fang Yuan wouldn't mind sending Milotic into battle, because even if it didn't exert much effort, it should be able to handle those types of Pokemon easily.

At the moment, in the pool, Milotic was quite troubled, not because of the few opportunities to fight, but because being the healer for Fang Yuan's Team was not an easy task.

Eevee, Self-detonating Magnetic Monster, Glutton, Dragonite, and the others were okay... but Monferno... Milotic felt somewhat speechless thinking of Monferno's wounds after battle; healing Monferno's injuries was really exhausting.

After all, Monferno's injuries could be called "legendary."

The training during this period had confirmed for Fang Yuan and his team that Milotic's Healing Technique finally had an effect on the side effects of Monferno's Thunder Flame Mode.

With control over Life Energy, Milotic's Healing Moves were truly extraordinary.

Although not as effective as the healing from the Fire of Life, at least they were effective; this meant that the minor side effects from Monferno's individual activation of three gates, or the combined activation of four, could almost be ignored.

That is to say, with Milotic present, they could use Thunder Flame Mode for high-intensity battles without any problems.

The only regret was that, according to Rotom's analysis, Milotic would still struggle to heal the injuries from Monferno's individual activation of four gates, or the combined activation of five; these were definitely not injuries that could be healed in a short time.

Therefore, in the time-limited challenge of the Road of Champions, if Monferno wished to surpass its limits and use the Power of Thunder Flame, it would still be difficult.

There was only one chance.

"I wonder if there will be an opportunity for Monferno to forcefully open five gates this time. If it could activate the fifth gate, maybe it could compete with a weaker Guardian God?" Fang Yuan looked at Monferno, who had dragged Ditto away to use as a punching bag, with expectation.

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August 30th.

More and more people began to pay attention to the upcoming Road of Champions challenge; these were the Trainers who had received "Gatekeeper Invitations."

However, there were very few who were qualified to watch the challenge proceedings.

That privilege was reserved for individuals like the President of the Trainer Association, the Twelve Branches, and a select few others.

Besides them, the gatekeeping Trainers also got the chance to see the performances of the challengers.

As for everyone else, they could only wait for the information after the challenge was fully completed.

This was also why Principal Mo was eager to be one of those who could stop the challengers; this way, he could always keep an eye on Fang Yuan's progress, rather than waiting in the dark for news, which could easily cause anxiety leading to heart trouble.

And on this day, from morning till night, Fang Yuan was busy checking whether he had packed enough Energy Blocks, worried about missing any critical items.

But if something was missing at the time of need, it wouldn't matter; after all, they had brought a few bags of seeds, which Venusaur could ripen quickly if needed, and then Self-detonating Magnetic Monster could process them into fresh, hot Energy Blocks.

"Ah... Finally done!" In the afternoon of the 30th, Fang Yuan confirmed for the last time, carefully packing the Spirit egg into his backpack, carrying it himself, while all the other items were stuffed into Gengar's internal space.

At this time, the functional aspect of Glutton became evident. To carry such a large amount of items without it would have been quite difficult.

Of course, this meant that it had to be careful during battle, because if it got injured, the items in its internal space could also get damaged.

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Just as Fang Yuan was wondering why, after such a long time on the Road of Champions, nobody had contacted him, the communication finally came through.

Rotom quickly helped Fang Yuan connect.

...…

In a vast conference room located in a high-rise building on the Road of Champions.

A total of 10 people were seated around a round table area, looking at the giant screen in front of them.

President Wen, as the host of this Road of Champions challenge, held a dominant position among the 10 people. After connecting Fang Yuan's video call, the huge screen immediately displayed Fang Yuan's situation.

Currently, Fang Yuan was still inside the villa. He was startled upon connecting the video call,

Good lord, so many big shots?

Setting aside the President of the Trainer Association, the other nine were all from the Twelve Branches.

Zǐshǔ, Jiang Kui.

Tiger of Yin, Fu Hei.

Chénlóng, Yun Bu.

Noon Horse, Ma Chenzong.

Yǒu Chicken, Xu Yifeng.

Pig of Hài, Kong Hai.

These six were the magnates he had seen during the live broadcast of the Mega Evolution experiment.

There was also Master Wei Yang Qiao Jing from the medical field, whom he was now familiar with.

Besides them, there was a beautiful woman whose identity Fang Yuan had more or less figured out.

Serving as one of the Twelve Branches and as the Rabbit of Mǎo, she and Master Qiao Jing were experts in the field of medical care and cultivation. If there was any difference, it was that Master Qiao Jing tended more towards medicine, having developed many epoch-making drugs, whereas this Madam Rabbit of Mǎo leaned towards the cultivation of Spirits, focusing her research on nutrients and Spirit foods.

Then there was the last person, a middle-aged man with cold appearance and long hair, who was Sìshé. He specialized in the field of research, mainly focusing on the combination of technology and Elf Tools.

Some of the technological weapons in Hua Nation that posed a great threat to Spirits were developed by his department.

Of the Twelve Branches, Fang Yuan was most curious about this man. He understood that when the power of technology reached a certain level, it could be terrifying. The technology on Earth was still decent, but some of the black tech in animations were nonsensical, capable of restraining even Legendary Pokémon.

So in Fang Yuan's view, if Humans couldn't outmatch Legendary Pokémon in Spirit battles, then the only way to defeat them might be with even more advanced technological weapons.

These ten people were all the audience seated in front of the round table.

As for why Chǒuniú and Shēnhóu had not arrived, Fang Yuan quickly realized that these two had special work responsibilities and were often out of the country, so they might not have made it here on purpose.

However, whether these two were paying attention to the Road of Champions challenge or not, Fang Yuan guessed they probably were. After all, this was a significant event in Hua Nation, including himself and Fu Hei, with two new members joining the Twelve Branches – they couldn't be completely unconcerned.

"It seems like you're ready," President Wen said with a smile upon seeing Fang Yuan fully equipped and the Eevee slowly walking behind him, hopping onto Fang Yuan's shoulder to join him in looking at the screen.

At this moment, the ten people's gazes were all on Fang Yuan, causing him to blink subconsciously.

Although he was about to become one of them, the oppressive feeling from this gathering of bigwigs was indeed intense...

Right... I wonder if the atmosphere will still feel this oppressive when I sit at that round table...

"Yes, I'm ready to accept the challenge at any time," Fang Yuan spoke thoughtfully. Up to now, the condition of his Eevee and the others was surprisingly good, thanks in no small part to the Waveguide massages he had been giving them for the last two days.

Waveguide Massage Technique! A method he had invented himself, combining massage techniques and waveguides to help Spirits relax both mind and body. It's simple in principle but undeniably useful.

"Good, at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, the Road of Champions challenge will officially begin. You will have 36 hours. During this period, the challenge map will be sent to your smartphone, Rotom. There are ten checkpoints on the Road of Champions, each with a gatekeeper. The rules for each checkpoint will be different and will be informed to you either through your smartphone, Rotom, or directly by the gatekeepers themselves. Oh, and by the way, you can carry and use up to 12 Spirits. Is that all clear?" President Wen asked.

Fang Yuan nodded, as he was already aware of this foundational information and naturally had no issues with it.

That doesn't need to be repeated… But if I really want to say something...

Since the challenge hasn't started yet, why don't you tell me who the gatekeepers are and what the rules for each checkpoint are?!

Obviously, these things were not going to be disclosed in advance, which increased the difficulty of Fang Yuan's challenge.

However, what Fang Yuan didn't know was that this Road of Champions challenge was so haphazard that not even all ten gatekeepers had been arranged yet.

[Haha... I wonder how far that kid Fang Yuan can go.]

[He looks quite composed, but he must be panicked inside.]

[Go for it, kid. I'll be waiting for you at the fifth checkpoint. Don't fail to get past the first four.]

[Although there are no challenges set for the final three checkpoints, the gatekeepers for the first seven are peak powerhouses in their respective fields. It's a real test of a Trainer's comprehensive strength. So Fang Yuan, can you reproduce the momentum you had at the World Championship, sweep through everything, and break through decisively? This challenge is not something you can compare to the World Championship.]

Some among the ten people who knew Fang Yuan silently mused as they looked at his face on the screen.