After the exhibition match ended, the preliminary round began promptly at one o'clock in the afternoon.
Due to the large number of Beast Tamers participating, the stadium was divided into multiple battle areas, enough to accommodate several Beast Tamers battling simultaneously.
Unfortunately, the average level of the preliminary round was not ideal, with frequent mistakes and the strength of the pet beasts generally at the first level, often turning into a clash of rookies.
This not only made Chen Yuan feel bored, but even the audience kept yawning.
Having just watched an extremely exciting exhibition match, now having to watch such a low-level competition was an unacceptable and intense letdown for all the spectators.
However, as a guest of the exhibition match and having shone brightly on the field, Chen Yuan received a warm welcome inside and outside the stadium.
Many spectators approached Chen Yuan for photos or autographs, and Chen Yuan accepted them all, only taking the opportunity to stroke the pet beasts, getting as much as he could.
If they didn't have their pet beasts with them, Chen Yuan would even take the initiative to say, "Why not release your pet beast and take a photo together?"
When today's competition ended, Chen Yuan returned to the hotel and found that his social media private messages were overflowing, with messages from friends, colleagues, relatives, and classmates.
The content of the messages was roughly the same, all expressing shock that Chen Yuan had participated in the exhibition match and performed so well.
Some classmates with whom he had only average relationships even asked him how to raise good pet beasts and hoped he could give them a little guidance.
Chen Yuan selectively replied, until he saw a message from Zhang Hao, which made him chuckle.
Zhang Hao: "?"
A simple question mark, but the meaning behind it was very profound.
Chen Yuan thought for a while and replied with a question mark as well.
Zhang Hao replied instantly: "Brother Yuan, you're going to die! You didn't say anything about such a big deal beforehand."
Chen Yuan laughed and said, "If I had told you in advance, the whole village would have known in no time."
Zhang Hao: "You still shouldn't have kept it from me! If I had known in advance, I could have asked you to help promote 'Good Luck Farmhouse.'"
Chen Yuan: "?"
Zhang Hao: "Just make a piece of clothing printed with 'Good Luck Farmhouse' for you to wear during the competition."
Chen Yuan: "Get lost."
Chen Yuan even discovered that some classmates and friends had posted old photos with him on their Moments, with captions like "Back then, I ate and sang with the number one Beast Tamer in Baokun City."
After gaining fame, Chen Yuan noticed that other people's attitudes towards him had changed a lot.
He shook his head, decided to ignore these things, and instead dialed Chen Weiyi's phone: "Grandpa, have you eaten yet?"
The old man chuckled: "I have."
After a pause, he continued, "Your performance today was excellent, everyone saw it."
"Everyone?" Chen Yuan's expression froze.
The next moment, a noisy sound entered his ears.
"Clang."
Big Sister is invincible!
"Dian Dian!"
Cola is awesome!
"Gaa gaa gaa gaa!"
Remember to bring back some delicious snacks when the farm owner returns.
Duckie is hungry.
"Cluck cluck cluck ~"
The little chicks also sent their greetings to their goddess through the phone.
"Awoo awoo awoo!"
Soon, the phone was completely occupied by Cola, passionately chatting with the little ones left at the farm.
Chen Yuan smiled helplessly.
After a long time, Chen Yuan, having finished washing up, lay on the bed and browsed the comments section of the Taibai Cup competition, finding very few comments about the preliminary round, with most netizens discussing the exhibition match and himself.
"I would call it the strongest exhibition match."
"The exhibition match champion is still a champion!"
"It really was a battle of the strong, it's just a pity that Consultant Shi's pet beast style is exactly like him, unable to defeat the cunning Consultant Chen."
"Consultant Shi's face would be perfect if it were rounder, he could be on the must-eat list if he went to Shu Province."
"I found that Consultant Chen really likes pet beasts, his love for pet beasts definitely far exceeds other Beast Tamers, he touches every one he sees."
"Except for snake-type pet beasts, when a Beast Tamer brought a Frost Serpent to take a photo with Consultant Chen, he turned around and ran."
"Understood, sending out a snake-type pet beast to fight Consultant Chen is a guaranteed win."
Looking at the netizens' comments, Chen Yuan stroked Cola's soft fur while laughing heartily.
"Yin?"
The indifferent-looking Gemini Flower Concubine turned her head and glanced over, and after seeing that Chen Yuan's attention was entirely on his phone, she turned back to look at the video playing on the spare phone—On the Quality and Skill Combinations of Wood-type Pet Beasts.
"As everyone knows, Wood-type pet beasts are different from other pet beasts, they don't have powerful attack moves, but we can master many quality skills, such as Sweet Scent, such as Wood Entanglement, such as Poison Jab..."
"Reasonably combining these moves, perhaps you can unlock a new battle style for Wood-type pet beasts."
The Gemini Flower Concubine watched very carefully, nodding gently from time to time, with a glimmer in her eyes.
She also had to train hard to win the competition for "Mama!"
On the other side,
Chen Yuan, who was browsing netizens' comments, received a call from Chen Wenhao.
"Bro, why do you have time to call me?"
"Bro, there's news about the Blazing Sun Wood you mentioned," Chen Wenhao said directly, getting straight to the point.
Chen Yuan suddenly sat up, his eyes lighting up: "Really?"
"Yeah," Chen Wenhao hummed softly, then said, "I've been asking around for news during this time, and I just got a lead today."
"Bro, do you know about Crimson Rock Mountain?"
Chen Yuan shook his head: "Never heard of it."
"Actually, it's Flame Mountain in Dongjiang Fire Province, ancient books call this mountain Crimson Rock Mountain," Chen Wenhao explained.
"The Blazing Sun Wood is there?" Chen Yuan quickly asked.
Chen Wenhao said: "It should be."
After pausing for a moment, he carefully phrased his words before slowly saying, "Some time ago, a professor led students to Crimson Rock Mountain for an investigation, and they found a withered tree burning with flames there, brought it back for research, and discovered that this wood has great benefits for Fire-type pet beasts, belonging to the third-level resource."
"After confirmation, I believe this is the Blazing Sun Wood."
"Bro, I don't know where you heard about this wood, I've searched through ancient books and couldn't find any relevant records."
Chen Yuan directly ignored Chen Wenhao's question and instead asked, "Is it possible to purchase the Blazing Sun Wood now?"
No mistake, one first, one first, one inside, one capacity, one at a time!
Chen Wenhao shook his head: "They only brought back one Blazing Sun Wood and used it for scientific research."
"As for other places, there's no news of Blazing Sun Wood for the time being."
Chen Yuan showed a thoughtful expression: "In other words, if I want to obtain the Blazing Sun Wood, I must start with Crimson Rock Mountain?"
"Yes," Chen Wenhao nodded, "Either spend a lot of money to hire the Beast Tamers there to help find it, or go there yourself."
Chen Yuan decisively shook his head.
Spending a lot of money to find a third-level resource would definitely be an unimaginable sky-high price.
Even if he had the money, he couldn't be a sucker.
"Do you have more information about Crimson Rock Mountain? I want to go find it myself," Chen Yuan asked.
"Bro, I knew you wanted to go there yourself, you're the kind of person who would rather walk for an hour than take a taxi," Chen Wenhao laughed.
Chen Yuan laughed and said, "If I don't save a little, how will I help you marry a wife in the future?"
Chen Wenhao coughed softly and changed the subject: "Bro, since the spiritual energy recovery, many areas of Flame Mountain have really risen with flames that never extinguish when encountering water and burn fiercely."
"Now, it has truly become a well-deserved Flame Mountain."
"In addition, with barren mountains and ridges, the perceived temperature is extremely high, only Fire-type and Rock-type pet beasts can survive in this extremely special environment for a long time."
Chen Yuan was stunned: "What do they eat to maintain their daily activities?"
"Bro, you don't know this?" Chen Wenhao was also stunned.
"I don't know," Chen Yuan shook his head.
"It seems that the Beast Tamer Association's popularization of common knowledge hasn't been done well enough," Chen Wenhao first complained, then explained, "Spiritual energy and first-level resources."
"Spiritual energy can provide the most basic energy needed for activities, plus the very common first-level resources, wild pet beasts don't have to worry about going hungry at all."
Compared to second-level and third-level resources, first-level resources are very common, so common that Chen Yuan is too lazy to collect them.
The main thing is that first-level resources only have a certain improvement effect on ordinary quality pet beasts, and for elite quality pet beasts, it's almost negligible.
But first-level resources can provide the energy needed for activities and can fill the stomach, thus becoming the best choice for herbivorous and even carnivorous pet beasts.
"So that's how it is..."
Chen Wenhao's answer finally answered a question that Chen Yuan had long been wondering about—why many wild pet beasts don't kill each other.
For example, Flame-tailed Foxes and Ice Dew Rats, seemingly opposing types of pet beasts, can live together peacefully.
Without food worries, there is less fighting.
"That's getting off topic, let's continue talking about the situation of Crimson Rock Mountain..."
After hanging up the phone, Chen Yuan immediately bought a plane ticket.
"Take the high-speed train to the provincial capital tomorrow morning, then take a plane directly to Fire Province."
Since participating in the exhibition match was a special circumstance, Chen Yuan's forest ranger work was temporarily delayed for a week, so he still had several days of vacation.
In addition, the Blazing Sun Wood is crucial to Fire Seed, and whether it can successfully advance depends entirely on the Blazing Sun Wood.
Chen Yuan had to personally go to Crimson Rock Mountain.
"What a pity..."
It's a pity that he can't continue to stay in the stadium to reap Source Points, this way of getting Source Points is easy and simple, without considering any risks, it's simply like getting it for free.
But in order for Fire Seed to advance smoothly, Chen Yuan had to set off for Fire Province immediately.
"Go to bed early today, we're going to a far place tomorrow," Chen Yuan said.
"Awoo?"
Hearing this sentence, Cola immediately became excited, his round eyes staring straight at Chen Yuan.
"Awoo awoo awoo!"
Is there anything delicious there?
Is there anything fun there?
Looking at the excited Cola, Chen Yuan said hesitantly, "Cola, you probably won't like that kind of place."
There's fire and barren mountains, if Cola runs around, his paws will probably get burned.
As for the Gemini Flower Concubine, she would probably be even more uncomfortable.
"But Fire Seed would probably like it a lot," Chen Yuan turned his head to look at Fire Seed.
That kind of environment is a blessed place for Fire-attribute pet beasts.
However, at this moment, an unfamiliar phone call came in, and a familiar voice entered his ears: "Consultant Chen, it's time to go drinking."
Chen Yuan's expression stiffened.
Crap, I forgot about this.
