Chapter 77

The first day of September marked the start of the school year.

Mu Huiyue arrived early at the gates of Jingzhou University, where she met up with Wen Li, who was waiting for her. Together, they walked into the campus.

Jingzhou University spans a vast area and has a long history. Some buildings from over a century ago are still in use, each filled with the traditional charm of Dayan culture.

It is said that within the university, there are extraordinary creatures of the imperial race serving as faculty members. One of them, the former principal’s companion beast, now considers the university itself as its bonded entity after the Beast Tamer departed. To this day, it diligently carries out its duties, safeguarding the faculty and students of Jingzhou University.

The first day of school traditionally begins with a motivational speech by the current principal.

Amid the sea of people, Wen Li grew drowsy listening to the speech. Since her Flame Strike Cat wasn’t around, the task of waking her fell to Mu Huiyue.

Following the speech were department class assignments and orientation meetings led by homeroom teachers.

This year, the Battle Department at Jingzhou University admitted a total of 60 students, just enough to form a single class. Among them were quite a few participants from the national ranking tournament.

The combination of Mu Huiyue and Wen Li drew plenty of attention as they walked into the classroom.

Although this year’s national ranking tournament ended unexpectedly, it generated no small amount of buzz during the competition. The five individuals who received bonus points from the Master of the Secret Realm became particularly hot topics of discussion.

Rumors had it that the Master of the Secret Realm was a powerful imperial race creature in its ultimate form, so formidable that even the Bureau of Affairs found it troublesome. Simply escaping safely from the realm was considered equivalent to successfully defeating the Master in the assessment.

An extraordinary creature in its ultimate form… the mere thought sent shivers down many spines.

For most novice Beast Tamers, surviving such a perilous situation unscathed was an unimaginable and glorious feat.

Before Mu Huiyue and Wen Li arrived, one of the five discussed individuals had already entered the classroom, instantly attracting attention.

As the two walked in, Wen Li immediately spotted someone surrounded by four or five classmates, enthusiastically sharing something.

“Ah, isn’t that the Tamer of Little Thundercloud?” she said, casually walking over without hesitation.

Chen Jiashu froze in place, turning toward the two with an expression of disbelief, as though the world had just ended.

…He could handle Wen Li, but could someone please explain why Mu Huiyue was here too?!

He had thought that, given Mu Chuanqi’s connections, Mu Huiyue would definitely choose Xingzhou University to clash with Lin Shen in a life-or-death rivalry. So, he had carefully picked a university where he wouldn’t encounter any of the heavyweights.

Yet, on the very first day of school, that dream was shattered.

His classmates were still waiting for him to continue talking about the ranking assessment, but most of their attention had shifted to the two stunning beauties who had just entered. Suddenly feeling disinterested, Chen Jiashu greeted them briefly and returned to his seat.

The Chaos Thundercloud, on the other hand, seemed quite delighted. It shrank to the size of a basketball and floated around Wen Li and Mu Huiyue before returning to its Tamer.

Before long, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom and gave a brief explanation of the plan for the next four years.

The curriculum for the Battle Department is relatively flexible. Apart from the compulsory core theory courses, most of the required credits come from extracurricular practice, including various types of official battle tournaments.

The school encourages students of all grades to actively participate in competitions. Points earned from victories in official leagues are also valid within the school and can be exchanged for various cultivation resources or access to secret realms.

Additionally, joining the Battle Society or being selected for the school team to represent Jingzhou University in competitions can earn significant points and provide preferential access to campus resources.

In recent years, Jingzhou University’s performance in national tournaments has been underwhelming, with this year’s campaign ending in third place.

It’s clear that the school is eager to change this situation and has significantly increased support for the Battle Department. Among the resources available for point exchange are even A-rank and S-rank cultivation materials, as well as young pet beasts of imperial races with evolutionary potential.

The homeroom teacher delivered an impassioned speech, painting a vision of the future. The rare cultivation materials and potential pet beasts mentioned had the students raring to go, each feeling that their time was about to arrive.

In the first semester of the Battle Department, aside from a small number of compulsory courses, the most significant event is the Intercollegiate Battle Preliminaries held at the end of the term.

This is an exchange competition jointly organized by several top-ranked Beast Taming universities in Dayan. It is open by default to first-year students and serves as an initial screening for the upcoming Intercollegiate League.

The Intercollegiate League consists of several regional tournaments. Only participants who earn enough points in these competitions are eligible to represent their school team in the national tournament.

Outside the university system, battle clubs take a different path through commercial battle tournaments. Similarly, earning sufficient points is necessary to represent a club in the national tournament.

Comparatively, the Intercollegiate Battle Preliminaries are less intense, making them more suitable for first-year students who are new to beast battles and looking for practice.

At Jingzhou University, the first-semester final assessment for the Battle Department is directly tied to performance in the Intercollegiate Battle Preliminaries. Students who fail to qualify for the official competition are considered to have failed the course, while those who achieve top rankings in the preliminaries will receive significant rewards in the form of points and resources.

After the class meeting ended, Mu Huiyue received a message from Xiang Xun.

Upon learning that this outstanding colleague was about to become her junior, Xiang Xun had been persistently persuading her to join the Battle Society.

The former president of Jingzhou University’s Battle Society had already graduated, leaving the fourth-year Xiang Xun reluctantly taking over the position and stressing about how to handle the mess left behind.

In this year’s national tournament, most of Jingzhou University’s points came from his and his Orchid Mantis’s victories in solo matches. The doubles and team battles, however, were a complete disarray compared to the champions from Xingzhou University and their formidable rivals from Hongzhou University.

Although Jingzhou University’s Battle Society has a decent number of members, it lacks standout star students. Especially after the previous president graduated, the society now faces a glaring talent gap.

If Mu Huiyue were to join the Battle Society, Xiang Xun was confident he could make her an official member of the school team by her sophomore year, representing Jingzhou University in the national tournament.

After that, Xiang Xun could finally hand over this mess (strike that) — this historically significant position, filled with the hopes of countless Jingzhou University students and a mission of battle glory — to Mu Huiyue with peace of mind.

On the very first day of the new semester, Xiang Xun was already eagerly messaging her, asking when she would come by to check out the Battle Society.

Mu Huiyue replied to him briefly.

She had already planned to join the Battle Society. Since she chose the Battle Department, her goal was, of course, to aim for the championship.

Whether it was the championship of the Intercollegiate League, the national tournament, or the pinnacle of the world championships, Mu Huiyue was determined to claim them all.

“What are you planning to do next, Huiyue?” Wen Li asked as she walked over.

“I’m going to check out the club recruitment area,” Mu Huiyue replied.

“Huiyue is definitely going to join the Battle Society, right?” Wen Li’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go together!”

…

…

It was the beginning of the semester, and the various clubs on campus were in full swing recruiting new members. A wide street had been set up between the academic buildings and the battle arena, lined on both sides with intricately designed sunshades and vibrant, hand-drawn posters.

Jingzhou University, as a comprehensive beast-taming institution, boasted not only an excellent Battle Department but also strong programs in beast rearing, elemental research, extraordinary resource recycling, and more. The range of student clubs on campus was dazzling, covering nearly every interest imaginable.

Wen Li even spotted a club related to her own family, focusing on the heritage of the Solar Phoenix and Zhu Yan bird lineage within ceremonial culture. The recruitment poster featured a live close-up of her new album with Flying Fire Luan.

What kind of legitimate club is this…?

Wen Li couldn’t help but grumble internally. Turning her head, she even spotted a club dedicated to researching fire-type pet cooking techniques.

She glanced at her Blaze Cat and then thought of Mu Huiyue’s Blade Fang Soldier. If there were no restrictions on pet attributes, Ellen’s cooking skills could easily shatter that club’s records.

Compared to the simple, temporary booths of other clubs, the Battle Society’s setup was far more impressive, occupying an entire open area outside the battle arena.

At this moment, the battle arena was closed to outsiders because it was about to host the Battle Society’s recruitment tests.

Mu Huiyue picked up a flyer for the Battle Society.

As one of the university’s oldest and most formal clubs, with the authority to directly select school team members, it was vastly different from the more casual clubs seen earlier. Unsurprisingly, it was incredibly popular.

The open area outside the battle arena was crowded, mostly with upperclassmen.

The threshold for becoming a full member of the Battle Society and joining the school team was being a Level 5 Beast Tamer with a pet at the Battle Commander Tier – Mature Stage.

This standard aligns with the requirements of most official professional matches, distinguishing competitive battle pets from those in other fields.

It was rare for first-year students to join the Battle Society, as reaching Level 5 and owning a mature-stage pet was uncommon even for sophomores, with most students only considering it in their third year.

However, in the past two years, the Battle Society had adjusted its entry criteria, introducing a recruitment assessment specifically for freshmen to nurture promising talents for competitive battles early on.

The selection test for official members, soon to be held in the battle arena, was led by the Battle Society’s vice president, Zheng Lin. He used a Battle Commander Tier – Mature Stage pet as the arena defender.

The rule was simple: anyone who could defeat his pet would immediately qualify as a full member of the Battle Society.

In the afternoon, there would be a separate test for freshmen. This assessment would feature formal members of the Battle Society using Battle Commander Tier – Growth Stage pets as arena defenders.

The same rule applied: anyone who managed to defeat the pairing once would be accepted early as a probationary member of the Battle Society.

Mu Huiyue and Wen Li filled out their registration forms, and after entering the waiting area of the battle arena, they finally learned about these rules.

Looking around, Mu Huiyue noticed why there weren’t many of her classmates present—most first-years were likely planning to come in the afternoon.

Apart from the two of them, the only other freshman in the waiting area was Chen Jiashu, accompanied by his Chaos Thundercloud.

He noticed Mu Huiyue and Wen Li as well and, determined not to admit he was here because he didn’t know the society’s rules, spoke up before Wen Li could greet him.

“You’re here to observe the entry test early too, right?”

Chen Jiashu asked casually, mentally patting himself on the back for his quick thinking.

“We didn’t know about the rules, actually,” Wen Li said, scratching her head. “If I’d known it was better to come in the afternoon, I’d have spent more time exploring the other club booths.”

In truth, she was still quite interested in that club studying festival traditions…

Mu Huiyue glanced at the people on the battlefield. The entry test was about to begin, and Vice President Zheng Lin and his pet had already taken their positions as arena defenders.

“Who knows where Xiang Xun, the president, is slacking off? He sent her a message asking her to come, but now he’s nowhere to be seen.

Could it be that Xiang Xun also assumed she’d only show up in the afternoon?

Mu Huiyue wasn’t about to wait until then. She stood up, stretched a bit, and prepared to take the lead herself.

Chen Jiashu stared at her, momentarily stunned. What was Miss Mu planning to do?

“This is the entry test for upperclassmen…” he blurted out, trying to remind her. “The opponent is a Mature Stage pet.”

The gap between the Growth Stage and the Mature Stage might only be one major rank, but the difference in standard latent energy values was tenfold.

Even the most basic Mature Stage pet at Rank One would have a standard latent energy value exceeding 100,000.

Even if Mu Huiyue had contracted a Sovereign Tier pet, there was no way a Growth Stage pet could overcome the gap and defeat a Mature Stage pet.”

“During the national rankings, Mu Huiyue was only a Level 3 Beast Master, and her two pets had just recently entered the Growth Stage. Where did she get the confidence to challenge a Mature Stage pet?

“I know,” Mu Huiyue said, cracking her knuckles, her dark eyes brimming with anticipation.

The greatest thrill in battles is taking on the impossible together with her pets.”