September 30th, Monday.
Sunny.
In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.
Sleepy-eyed, Zhang Hao walked out of his yard and stretched: "As soon as I open my eyes, I have to start working."
Jiang Yuntao, who was sunbathing in the yard, heard this and replied with a smile, "Your job is much easier than ours."
He was busy with various tedious matters in the academy all day long, but he had time to stay in Xuanhe Village for a good rest these past two days.
Fortunately, the accommodation conditions and service of this farmhouse were good, so he simply stayed here for two nights, waiting for the students to come down the mountain.
Zhang Hao curled his lips: "Work is not about being tired, anyway, we are all just beasts of burden."
Then, he squinted at the distant mountains and asked, "Teacher Jiang, your students should be coming down the mountain soon, right?"
"Yes."
Speaking of this topic, a trace of worry flashed in Jiang Yuntao's eyes, "I don't know how they are doing."
As soon as he entered the yard, Wang Yuan ignored the surprised gazes of the two, directly picked up the bottled water on the table and gulped it down, a cheerful smile gradually appearing on his face: "Ah! Refreshing!"
Jiang Yuntao looked at Wang Yuan, who had obviously experienced a lot, with amusement and asked, "How was the harvest?"
"Don't mention it, teacher."
Wang Yuan sat down on the stool with a thud. He, who always loved cleanliness, didn't clamor for a bath. Instead, he complained one sentence after another, "We provoked a group of Servant Bees not long after entering the mountain."
"Stole honey?" Jiang Yuntao asked.
"Yes."
Wang Yuan smiled sheepishly, then his eyes widened, and his words gradually became intense, "It's just stealing some honey, it's not like we dug up their ancestral grave, why chase me for a day and a night! ! !"
Jiang Yuntao took a sip of tea: "You mean, you spent your time in the mountains constantly being chased by them?"
Wang Yuan's eyes darted around, and he said in a low voice: "Yes."
Jiang Yuntao pursed his lips: "That's also a good thing, at least you'll know how to deal with Servant Bees in the future."
"I don't know..."
Wang Yuan said with a sad face, "I seem to have PTSD. When I sleep at night, my dreams are full of buzzing sounds, and I shiver when I see them."
Jiang Yuntao was speechless for a while.
Zhang Hao patted him on the shoulder with sympathy and said, "Reward this group of Servant Bees with a Flame Cloud Falcon and they'll be honest."
"Huh?" Wang Yuan was stunned.
At the same time, one student after another returned to the yard. Their appearance was similar to Wang Yuan's, like mountain savages, constantly complaining about their experiences.
"We provoked a group of Violent Cloud Larks as soon as we entered the mountain, and were chased for three mountains!"
"Three mountains! ! !"
"What's a group of Servant Bees? I saw a spiritual plant in the bamboo forest, thinking it was a surprise, but I didn't expect to be discovered by a Tier 2 Wood Lush Panda. The ending was especially miserable. It forced us to help chop bamboo, and my arm is still sore! ! !"
"Haha, have you experienced the feeling of being chased by a group of Snow Cloud Wolves?"
After some communication, everyone found that other people's experiences were not much different from their own. The originally frustrated emotions instantly disappeared, and they felt much more psychologically balanced. Instead, they argued about whose experience was the most miserable and who was the most thrilling.
Listening silently to the students' discussion, Jiang Yuntao's right hand holding the teacup trembled slightly. He secretly warned himself to be calm: "After all, they have no experience in entering the mountains, nor do they have any experience in fighting in the wild. These situations are understandable."
"Understandable."
"And Zhuang Jianbai hasn't returned yet, he must have gained a lot."
The change of mind made Zhuang Jianbai enter the mountains, and he will definitely gain a lot.
"Old Zhuang is back!"
Wang Yuan suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure entering the yard and immediately shouted. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound—Zhuang Jianbai's clothes were neat and clean, his figure was as straight as a tall tree, and his aura was high-spirited, forming a sharp contrast with them.
A faint smile finally appeared on Jiang Yuntao's face.
In this way, Zhuang Jianbai must have had a good harvest.
"Old Zhuang, how was the harvest?" Wang Yuan asked loudly.
Meeting the many expectant gazes, Zhuang Jianbai first shook his head, then nodded: "I encountered a Tier 2 Earth Barbarian Bear the day before yesterday afternoon, and I have been sparring with it during this time."
"Did you win?" Wang Yuan was most concerned about this question.
Zhuang Jianbai smiled and said, "It's very powerful, my Frost Winter Hound is not its opponent, I didn't win."
After a pause, seeing the surprised expressions on everyone's faces, he smiled and said: "But I have gained a lot. Repeated failures have taught me a lot and made me improve a lot."
"Teacher, I think I have the courage to fight that Beastmaster."
A smile reappeared on Jiang Yuntao's face.
Very good, as long as you have this kind of state of mind, you will succeed in everything you do.
Zhang Hao looked up and asked: "Is it the Earth Barbarian Bear with the bear cub?"
"Yes."
Zhuang Jianbai nodded.
Zhang Hao frowned slightly and said in surprise: "It seems that this Earth Barbarian Bear has improved a lot during this period of time. I remember when Brother Yuan encountered it, he defeated it in a few minutes."
"By the way, Brother Yuan asked me to say sorry to you, he has something to do in Baokun City today and cannot conduct pet battles."
For a time, the yard fell into a deathly silence.
Zhuang Jianbai stood there blankly, Zhang Hao's words constantly echoing in his mind—he defeated it in a few minutes.
In the afternoon,
Chen Yuan came to Baokun City again.
He took a taxi from the bus station to the hotel booked for him by the association.
Zhou Xu called yesterday, hoping that Chen Yuan could come to Baokun City as soon as possible, so as to avoid traffic jams before the holiday, and Xuanhe Village is hundreds of kilometers away from Baokun City, so accidents may occur.
Sitting in the back row, a small head protruded from the pocket on his chest, and the Twin Flower Consort curiously scanned the scenery outside the window.
Chen Yuan reached out and tapped its little head, and said with a smile: "We are entering the city."
The driver noticed the interaction in the back row, and looked through the rearview mirror, and immediately said in surprise: "Aren't you the young man who took the car to the Beastmaster Association last time?"
Chen Yuan was stunned: "It's you?"
"We are really destined."
The driver grinned.
The probability of continuously hailing the same taxi in the huge Baokun City is too low.
Chen Yuan asked in surprise: "Master, you still remember me?"
The driver laughed: "Because you went to the Beastmaster Association at the time, and you look like someone who can leave a deep impression."
Chen Yuan couldn't help but blush.
The driver asked again: "Are you here now to participate in the competition?"
"Sort of."
Chen Yuan nodded.
"It's been a long time since Baokun City was this lively." The driver sighed, his eyes glancing at the billboards and signs on both sides of the road, as well as the huge screen hanging at the top of the commercial plaza. "Since the resurgence of spiritual energy, I feel like Baokun City has been revitalized."
Chen Yuan hummed softly and looked out the window—every billboard was printed with pictures and basic information of various pet beasts, even including the necessary procedures and development routes to become a Beastmaster.
And in many corners, you can also see various advertisements for the Taibai Cup:
[Are you ready to become the strongest Beastmaster in Baokun City?]
[Start from yesterday, start from today, start from the moment you become a Beastmaster!]
[There is only one champion, but you and I are all excellent Beastmasters]
But Chen Yuan's attention was attracted by the huge display screen. This is the most prosperous area of Baokun City, and many businesses will use this display screen for publicity.
Two huge black figures occupied most of the screen. Through the outline, it could be vaguely seen that the figure on the left was more burly, standing with his arms crossed, while the figure on the right was relatively slender, standing upright.
Behind the two black figures, various pet beasts were displayed, densely packed together.
The driver noticed Chen Yuan's gaze through the rearview mirror and said with a smile, "It is said that our city's Beastmaster Association specially invited two powerful Beastmasters as performance match guests to perform a pet beast battle at tomorrow's opening ceremony."
"Look, these two guests are hanging on this screen."
Chen Yuan chuckled.
So the black figure on the right is me.
Even though Chen Yuan didn't respond, the driver's voice didn't stop, his tone full of joy: "A few days ago, my company drew three tickets, and with a touch of my little hand, I actually won one."
"It just so happens that my boy is a Beastmaster. His mother and I were planning to cheer him on, but we couldn't grab any tickets at all. Fortunately, we finally won one, so we can go to the scene to cheer him on."
The venue for the Taibai Cup is the Baokun City Gymnasium, which can accommodate more than 20,000 people. However, this is the first Beastmaster competition, and both Beastmasters and ordinary people are very interested in it. Once the tickets were sold, they were sold out in an instant, far from enough.
"By the way." The driver looked ahead and said, "My boy will participate in the preliminary rounds on the first day. If you meet him, little brother, please be gentle."
Chen Yuan smiled and said, "I might not be able to beat him."
"How could that be?" The driver shook his head. "My eyes are very accurate at judging people. You look like a powerful Beastmaster."
"I wish you good results."
Not long after,
After waving goodbye to the talkative driver, Chen Yuan walked into the hotel to check in.
After putting his luggage in the room, seeing that it was already evening, Chen Yuan finished the hotel's rich dinner and prepared to go out for a stroll.
As a performance match guest, he doesn't need to rehearse, just listen carefully to the staff's instructions tomorrow.
Walking out of the hotel, the sky gradually darkened, and dazzling neon lights replaced the sunlight, reflecting the streets.
This place is located in a prosperous area, and there are many people with pet beasts on the street, so Chen Yuan let the Twin Flower Concubine show up without any worries.
"Yin."
The Twin Flower Concubine, with her pink hair, sat on Chen Yuan's shoulder. In her nighttime state, she wasn't interested in anything around her, lacking the curiosity she had during the day.
She only hoped to stay quietly by Chen Yuan's side.
But many people, upon seeing the petite and cute appearance of the Twin Flower Concubine, would often let out a scream first, and then quickly run over, either to take a photo with her or to touch her.
The Twin Flower Concubine didn't respond, only staring at them with her aloof and clear eyes, immediately dissuading a large group of people.
Chen Yuan took the opportunity to touch those pet beasts he had never encountered before, and the system prompts kept ringing in his mind, and the smile on his face became more and more enthusiastic.
"It's still good to be in a big city, there are many opportunities in a big city," he said with emotion.
But when he saw the Twin Flower Concubine's expression becoming more and more icy, he decisively said, "You should hide in my pocket."
The little one's appearance is too attractive, Chen Yuan was even afraid that someone would secretly abduct her when he wasn't paying attention.
Perhaps because the competition was approaching, there were unusually many Beastmasters who were rarely seen in Xuanhe Village, and the battle areas designated by the association were crowded with people.
The battle areas were converted from various venues, some were open-air and some were indoors, but most of the indoor ones required money to enter.
The deafening cheers echoed in his ears, Chen Yuan squeezed in to take a look. The strength of the pet beasts of both Beastmasters was obviously not strong, but the battle was very fierce.
Coupled with the enthusiastic cheers, it also made people's blood boil.
There were also Beastmasters watching the battle and discussing, either complaining that the command just now was wrong, or that it wasn't exciting enough, and some even shouted, "I can do it too."
After watching for a while, Chen Yuan felt bored and slowly returned to the hotel.
Chen Yuan lay on the soft big bed, Coke was趴 next to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, staring blankly at the brightly lit skyscrapers outside the window; Spark stood aside, closing her eyes to rest, conserving her energy for tomorrow's battle; Twin Flower Concubine sat cross-legged in front of a mobile phone taller than herself, silently watching a video—a detailed cultivation plan for wood-type pet beasts.
Chen Yuan watched the Taibai Cup promotional video on his spare mobile phone.
The promotional video was beautifully produced and very passionate, causing netizens in the comment section to praise it.
"It's燃起来了!!!"
"Okay, my Baokun City finally knows how to make promotional videos, I'm in tears!"
"I'm going to participate in the preliminary rounds tomorrow, friends, wish me luck."
"By the way, who are those two mysterious guests? There's still no news about it."
"Who cares who they are, anyway, they are both Beastmasters from our Baokun City, as long as they can present a wonderful battle."
Unconsciously, Chen Yuan fell into a deep sleep.
"Chirp."
In the pitch black, Spark suddenly opened her eyes, her sharp gaze looking at Coke to the side.
"Aww?"
Seeing the big sister staring at herself with this kind of gaze, Coke felt inexplicably nervous and exclaimed nervously.
"Chirp chirp chirp."
This competition is very important to the master, we must be fully prepared.
"Aww aww aww."
What the big sister said is right!
"Chirp."
We're going out to train now.
"Aww?"
Coke looked at the pitch-black outside, momentarily stunned.
But seeing that the big sister had already flown to the door, she gritted her teeth, followed her lightly, stood up with her upper body, and opened the door with her paws.
Afterwards, Coke picked up the room card with her mouth and followed the big sister out of the room.
"Yin ～"
Twin Flower Concubine opened her purple eyes, staring for a long time at the direction they left, and then slowly closed her eyes again.
In the monitoring room,
Looking at the Frostwind Hound pressing the elevator in the screen, and the Flame Cloud Falcon beside it, the security guard rubbed his eyes and said in surprise, "Ah?"
