Chapter 49

The excitement outside the arena couldn’t be felt by Mu Huiyue in the island’s secret realm.

After Lin Lin and Lu Ai regrettably exited, the remaining contestants from Lishang High School were all handled by Wen Li and Yanxi Miao.

It was that earth-shattering fire meteor that broke the deadlock of the Bahua Flower field.

But for Wen Li, using the fire meteor was more harmful than beneficial. Yanxi Miao had exhausted all of its energy, yet she gained no points, instead allowing the remaining contestants to seize the opportunity for battle.

Mu Huiyue knew that this was Wen Li’s way of repaying the food. The girl might seem reckless, but she was very clear-headed when it mattered.

So, she let Wen Li handle the battles of the remaining three, ensuring that it wouldn’t just be a wasted display.

Once the battles were all over and the losers were sent out of the secret realm, losing their qualification for the ranking competition, the domain created by the Bahua Flower also dissipated.

The C-grade wood-type resource had withered by more than half after the Bahua fruit disappeared, leaving behind no valuable parts.

The wilderness survival competition continued, and Mu Huiyue, following her original plan, was preparing to head toward the central area to investigate.

After hearing her plan, Wen Li volunteered to join her. With her strength being enough for self-defense and having a good rapport with Mu Huiyue, she was not turned down.

The two of them made their way toward the central area, and before they knew it, evening arrived.

The secret realm was even more dangerous at night. Even with Mu Huiyue’s dark-type enhancement talent, she wouldn’t choose to travel after dark.

The two found a relatively safe area, set up camp, and decided to wait until the next morning to continue.

Wen Li’s wilderness survival knowledge was practically zero, and not knowing what she could do, she ran around helping Mu Huiyue after seeing her set up the tent. The campsite was quickly put together.

White Fang, who had regained his strength, lay on the side, casting a somewhat resentful glance at his beastmaster and wagging his cloud-like tail.

“Woof…”

Running around helping Mu Huiyue had always been White Fang’s job, but now it was being taken over by this new human.

Mu Huiyue noticed and smiled, reaching out to gently rub the little cloud dog’s fluffy head. She then set up a simple stove and began preparing dinner for the night.

With the help of Yanxi Miao, lighting the fire and heating the food became easy. Mu Huiyue took out the camping cookware and other utensils from Ellen’s shadow space.

Fortunately, she had prepared well enough before setting out.

She simply simmered the ingredients and portable seasoning packets together, and Wen Li was nearly in tears from the taste. Like White Fang, she quickly buried her face in the bowl.

Since entering the secret realm, she had only eaten energy cubes with a taste that was hard to describe, and had been hungry for half the day. Now, being able to eat a bowl of delicious hot soup was the happiest thing she could imagine!

Going with Huiyue was definitely the best decision!

“Meow…” Yanxi Miao glanced at her beastmaster, then at the white-furred little dog scarfing down its food, and let out a helpless meow.

Wen Li finished two large bowls in one go, sighing contentedly. She turned to look at Mu Huiyue.

“By the way, Huiyue, doesn’t your other contracted beast need to eat?”

Wen Li casually asked, then realized it wasn’t quite polite to ask a competitor directly about their beast’s information, so she waved her hand. “If it’s inconvenient to answer, forget I asked!”

“Mm… he has another way of absorbing energy.” Mu Huiyue nodded, feeling her shadow ripple under her feet. She couldn’t help but smile.

Ellen, in the shadows, was her greatest assurance in this secret realm. The Card Fang Soldier wouldn’t reveal itself unless absolutely necessary.

“Lin Lin said the beast in the shadows is your main one, so it’s true after all…”

Wen Li also noticed the rippling shadow and became curious. “I thought it would be Little Cloud Dog. Huiyue, why didn’t you contract a Little Cloud Dog that can evolve into a Sunlight Flame Wolf?”

“With Mu Legend’s personality… he would definitely have you contract the Little Cloud Dog with the highest potential, right?”

“The one who contracted the Light-type Little Cloud Dog is my younger sister, Mu Yixia,” Mu Huiyue answered.

“Ah… sorry, did I ask something I shouldn’t have?” Wen Li covered her mouth, looking as though she had already imagined a family drama between second-generation beastmasters.

“Although I think you’re more impressive, if your beastmaster talent is related to the Dark element, it really is difficult to contract a Light-type beast…”

“It’s fine. This is a mutual choice between me and Little Cloud Dog, with no force or regrets involved.”

Mu Huiyue smiled, and the Little Cloud Dog, hearing its name, tilted its head and affectionately rubbed its paw against its beastmaster’s hand.

“I just don’t want to follow the path my father decided for me. The kind of beastmaster I want to become, and the partner I contract, that’s all up to me.”

Wen Li was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, her eyes reflecting the firelight and becoming a little brighter.

Mu Huiyue stirred the fire and asked, “What about you, Wen Li? Why didn’t you contract a Cinderfire Sparrow?”

The Cinderfire Sparrow is the initial form of the high-level imperial species, the Vermilion Flame Bird. It is rarer than the Light-type Little Cloud Dog and is a unique beast exclusive to the Great Flame. It is also intricately connected to the Great Flame’s guardian deity, the Sun Phoenix.

Wen Li’s family is composed of ancient ritual priests of the Sun Phoenix. In modern times, the Wen family began to venture into the field of beastmaster performances to pass down and promote the ancient dance of blessings.

Wen Li’s mother is a famous beastmaster performer, and she has a side branch older sister who is a hot idol in the entertainment industry, single-handedly driving the popularity of the Vermilion Flame Bird in the younger generation.

The belief in the Sun Phoenix has been able to continue to the present day largely due to the efforts of the priesthood family who adapted to the times.

Wen Li awakened as a beastmaster at the age of sixteen, and both her talent and appearance made her an excellent successor to the priesthood. When Mu Huiyue saw that her partner was the Flame Strike Cat, she was a little surprised.

“As for me… in the end, it’s probably that I just can’t get along with the Cinderfire Sparrow,” Wen Li scratched her hair and let out a low sigh.

“Breeding the Vermilion Flame Bird is extremely difficult. Our Cinderfire Sparrow is basically raised one-on-one per person; there’s no room for choice.”

“That Cinderfire Sparrow has an exceptionally noble character, a proud temperament… to put it simply, it’s incredibly picky.”

“It wants me to serve it like an ascetic monk, like daily rituals at dawn and dusk, only drinking morning dew, and every day I have to use flames to comb every feather on its body, making sure no dirt touches it…”

“These exaggerated quirks sound like something from a novel, but that’s just the daily grind of trying to bond with that guy before the contract!”

As if recalling some painful past, Wen Li spoke faster: “Don’t even think about it battling. Once it gets hit by an opponent’s ultimate move and even loses a little bit of its feather sheen, I’ll be lectured for three days straight. That thing loves to show off on stage, basking in the praise and admiration of all the audience.”

“…But, I prefer battling. Compared to the delicate, beautiful puppets on stage, it’s still much more enjoyable to team up with a partner to defeat an opponent and win the competition!”

Wen Li looked at her Flame Strike Cat beside her, recalling the nightmare-like priesthood training…

Indeed, her A-Miao was the best!

“So, you turned down the contract with the Cinderfire Sparrow?” Mu Huiyue smiled.

Wen Li, with her carefree personality, could barely take care of herself, so asking her to meticulously care for a pet beast would be too much.

“When my cousin awakens, the Cinderfire Sparrow will find a beastmaster more suited to it than

Wen Li lowered her gaze and continued, “Moreover, the way of passing on the ceremonial dance doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to the stage, right? Once I win the national competition and even step onto the world championship battle stage, I’ll be able to convey the power of fire to the world!”

The beautiful young girl clenched her fist, lifted her head, and in her eyes, there seemed to be stars twinkling, filled with vibrant energy.

She had already found her path to her dream.

Mu Huiyue smiled. She really liked the look in Wen Li’s eyes.

The two continued to chat, and before they knew it, it was already late at night.

As the time on their wristbands struck midnight, a small-winged recording terminal flew in front of them, displaying the rankings for the next day.

Compared to yesterday, today’s rankings saw a major shake-up. Among the top ten on the scoreboard, only Fang Xuyang from Shengshuitan High School and Chen Jiashu from Changning First Beastmaster High School remained in their positions.

Having defeated two top-ten ranked opponents consecutively, Mu Huiyue now had a score of 2388, ranking third.

In second place was Lin Fei, who had also seen a significant rise in ranking, and in first place was Fang Xuyang, who had been ranked second yesterday.

Ranked fourth was Han Ruoyun, the heir from the Western continent’s blacksmith family.

Fifth place belonged to Xu Chenglu, from the family known for breeding the Red Dragon Tortoise in Yunzhou.

Wen Li’s rank had also risen considerably, reaching eighth place.

Below her in ninth place was also a familiar face to Mu Huiyue—Mu Yixia.

After the first day of holding back and assessing the situation, the participants began to put in more effort, striving to improve their rankings.

Mu Huiyue looked towards the distant mountains in the night, hoping to find clues about the master of the secret realm tomorrow.

…

Meanwhile, on a certain part of the island, a battle without any suspense was taking place.

“Suidaicai kite, divine power.”

C-grade mental attack skill · Divine Power, the Suidaicai kite’s wings emitted a scarlet psychic energy, surrounding the giant gate crocodile on the battlefield.

The Steel-type giant gate crocodile had excellent defense, but it was difficult to resist psychic attacks. The accumulated injuries from the earlier stages reached their limit after this divine power struck. The massive steel-skinned crocodile collapsed with a loud crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The record terminal displayed that the winner of the battle was Suidaicai kite, marking a victory for Beastmaster Lin Fei.

“Damn…” Luo Song gritted his teeth and raised his head.

The boy across from him was still smiling slightly, as if he had never taken the battle seriously.

It was with this expression that he defeated every contestant he encountered along the way, rising to second place.

It was their bad luck to run into this ‘Lin’ killing god at such a time.

With an unwilling expression, Luo Song could only accept his defeat and was teleported out of the secret realm on the deserted island.

In the forest, only Lin Fei, who had just finished his battle, and Mu Yixia, who had been accompanying Luo Song, remained.

“You really show no mercy to your classmates, God Lin,” Mu Yixia took a step back discreetly and summoned her contracted beast.

The Light-type Little Cloud Dog, Misha, appeared in front of her, baring its fangs at Lin Fei and Suidaicai kite, emitting a low growl from its throat as a warning.

But Mu Yixia knew this was merely self-comfort. If Lin Fei challenged her to a battle, she would immediately lose her qualification for the competition.

“You don’t seem to care much for your defeated companion,” Lin Fei remarked, glancing meaningfully at the direction Luo Song had left.

Mu Yixia snorted coldly in her heart. Luo Song was just a fellow competitor she happened to meet. She hadn’t expected that Luo Song, who had climbed to 18th place, couldn’t even last two rounds against Lin Fei.

Compared to this, Lin Fei’s battles at school almost seemed like he was deliberately holding back, extending the match time, and giving his opponents more room to showcase their abilities.

Just how far has he progressed?

Mu Yixia clenched her fist, for the first time feeling the oppressive force of someone outside of Mu Huiyue, as though she were on the brink of total defeat.

What could she do to delay this god of death?

Mu Yixia’s mind raced. She absolutely could not be eliminated before facing Mu Huiyue!

But Lin Fei didn’t push further or challenge her to a battle. Instead, he watched her with genuine interest.

Facing the imminent threat of elimination, Mu Yixia lost her usual gentle demeanor. Her eyes turned sharp, revealing a hidden, almost frantic obsession burning deep inside.

She looked more like Mu Huiyue now—so much so that even standing this close, Lin Fei found it hard to tell exactly who she was.

Was it her, or was it Mu Huiyue?

It didn’t matter who it was. The situation itself was interesting enough for him to invest some thought and take a gamble.

“Your goal is to surpass Mu Huiyue, isn’t it?” Lin Fei spoke up.

Mu Yixia watched him warily but didn’t answer.

“Since we’re from the same school, I’ll give you a piece of advice.”

“During the evaluation, stay away from the central area of the island.”

Lin Fei smiled faintly, recalling his pet bird into the beast space. He slid his hands into the pockets of his tracksuit and, in the midst of Mu Yixia’s surprised gaze, turned and walked away.