Chapter 103

Hearing the referee’s announcement, Fel stood frozen in place, unable to recover from the intense battle for quite some time.

The scales of victory had tipped so easily. Just a moment ago, he had been reeling from the shock of the Scarecrow Substitute, but in the very next round, he had completely lost the match.

However, he understood that this wasn’t simply a loss in a single exchange. The tide had shifted in favor of the Da Yan beastmaster much earlier in the battle.

The Night Demon Scarecrow was undoubtedly a powerful and troublesome opponent, and the other monarch-grade beast, the Card Fang Soldier, possessed strength equal to the scarecrow’s. Yet the true decisive difference lay in the beastmaster’s skill.

Mu Huiyue’s commands were incredibly precise, and her judgment and control over the battlefield felt almost as if she were directly immersed in it.

The Scarecrow Substitute gave Fel only one moment of confusion. Once he had regrouped and pushed the battle into a war of attrition, the situation could have shifted again once the Night Demon Scarecrow exhausted all its substitutes.

Likewise, Dark Reinforcement: Battle Resonance could only be activated once in a single battle. If Mu Huiyue had missed that critical opportunity for skill enhancement, her beasts might not have had another chance to deal such a devastating blow to their opponent.

“She didn’t hesitate for a moment, decisively pouring all her strength into having the Card Fang Soldier attack the Sunflame Pegasus at that critical moment.

From the earlier exchanges, Mu Huiyue had already discerned that the Sunflame Pegasus was Fel’s absolute mainstay. Even if she defeated the Crimson Gale Falcon, as long as the Sunflame Pegasus remained on the battlefield, Fel still had a chance to turn the tide.

This wasn’t even a reckless gamble. She had precisely calculated the remaining stamina of the Sunflame Pegasus and whether the Card Fang Soldier’s bone-spike strike, after multiple enhancements, would be enough to finish it off in one hit.

Understanding this, Fel felt a sense of respect for his defeat.

Making such an accurate and bold tactical decision in just two rounds—Da Yan actually has a beastmaster of his age with this level of skill.

Fel recalled his beasts into the beastmaster space, stepped forward, and extended his hand toward the Da Yan beastmaster.

“My name is Fel. It’s an honor to have battled you.”

“Mu Huiyue,” the black-haired girl said simply, shaking his hand briefly.

“I heard this was once the alma mater of Suluo, the legendary Illusion Beastmaster. My grandfather always spoke of his thrilling battles with her in the past, so we chose Jingzhou University as the first stop for our exchange program.”

Fel smiled graciously, saying, “As expected, I’ve encountered a young beastmaster who truly impresses me.”

“Why do you think I lost, Huiyue?” Fel’s golden eyes fixed on her.

“Was it because I failed to anticipate the existence of the Scarecrow Substitute skill?”

Mu Huiyue’s calm, dark eyes met his. “Because you rely too much on your beastmaster talent, Fel.”

“The Sunflame Pegasus is a dual-attribute beast with fire and light properties. That’s both its strength and its defining trait. But to complement your beastmaster talent, Blazing Flame, you’ve hardly trained the Sunflame Pegasus’s light attribute abilities.”

The girl from Yan Kingdom spoke in fluent Hela language: “Against the dark-attribute Nightshade Scarecrow and Card Fang Soldier, light-type skills would have given you a clear advantage. If the Sunflame Pegasus had also mastered light-attribute healing or recovery skills to enhance its constitution, Ellen wouldn’t have been able to take it down with just a reinforced C-rank skill, Bone-Spike Strike.”

Fel’s refined composure faltered slightly. A look of genuine surprise and curiosity crossed his face.

Blazing Flame wasn’t just his beastmaster talent—it symbolized his family and their pride, the very foundation of his power. He had indeed never considered strategies beyond adapting to Blazing Flame.

“Understanding and flexibly utilizing every trait of your beasts is the first step to mastering the battlefield.”

Mu Huiyue finished speaking, gave him a polite nod, and walked off the battlefield toward Wen Li, who was waiting for her.

“Huiyue! That was an incredible win!” Wen Li darted forward, wrapping her in a warm hug filled with the affection of friends reunited after some time apart.

Mu Huiyue smiled faintly and returned the hug briefly.

Meanwhile, the spectator stands were already in an uproar.

After losing three consecutive matches earlier, even Wen Li, a member of the prestigious Sun God Phoenix Priest family, had been defeated. On top of that, the opposing beastmaster, who had won three battles in a row, was rumored to be just a freshman. The comparison had left Jingzhou University’s teaching quality looking particularly bleak.

But now, with another freshman decisively winning this match, everyone finally felt a sense of relief. Discussions and praises erupted from every corner of the stands.

“It had to be Mu Huiyue, of course. As expected from the national rankings’ number one!”

“The Battle Club really hit the jackpot. I can already see hope for this year’s national competition…”

“With her current strength, she could go straight to the school team, couldn’t she?”

“Was that a Nightshade Scarecrow? So cool… it’s my first time seeing one within the Yan Kingdom.”

“A skill that forces taunts, combined with that Scarecrow Substitute—isn’t that unbeatable in group battles?”

“It’s like having the strongest tank with multiple lives and a ridiculously long health bar holding the frontlines…”

“As long as her teammates don’t mess up their damage output, how do you even lose against that?”

“…”

At the very top of the spectator stands, Hailin, the head instructor of the Combat Department, was all smiles, suddenly finding the fake-smiling face of the exchange delegation’s leader much more tolerable.

If they had suffered a complete loss in the exchange matches, he really wouldn’t have been able to explain himself to the school board.

But now… at least the reputation of Jingzhou University’s Combat Department was preserved.

Director Hailin stood up and gave a thumbs-up to Mu Huiyue on the battlefield.

He then turned to the exchange delegation leader seated beside him, engaging in a round of enthusiastic pleasantries and inviting the members of the delegation to explore other parts of Jingzhou University.

…

Mu Huiyue walked out of the battle arena with Wen Li.

Wen Li felt immensely satisfied seeing Fehr’s slightly dazed expression at the end. If it weren’t for the fact that her Crimson Fire Bug was currently in a cocooning phase, she was confident that she wouldn’t have lost in a contest of fire-type beastmaster talents.

Mu Huiyue smiled faintly. [Burning Blood] provides an all-around enhancement to fire-type beasts. With her Flame Assault Cat able to unleash the destructive power of an A-grade skill when using the B-grade skill Fire Meteor during its growth phase, coupled with the soon-to-hatch Fire Moth, Wen Li indeed wouldn’t lose.

The two briefly exchanged updates on their past week since parting. Wen Li’s most significant progress was the cocooning of the Crimson Fire Bug, as well as her Flame Assault Cat learning a new B-grade fire-type skill.

For Mu Huiyue, it was, of course, all about the Night Terror Scarecrow. Wen Li, equally intrigued by this rare pet beast in Dayan, was eager to hear more about Mu Huiyue’s encounter with the Western Continent’s guardian deity, the Wither-Bloom Deer, and couldn’t wait to have her describe it.

Unfortunately, Wen Li had a class coming up, and Mu Huiyue had other plans as well. They agreed to meet over the weekend for a proper chat.

After parting ways with Wen Li, Mu Huiyue headed to the comprehensive building of the Dark Attribute Research Institute.

She wasn’t the only one interested in the Night Terror Scarecrow—there was someone else even more so.

Xie Qingwei had received news early in the morning about Mu Huiyue’s return. During the time Mu Huiyue spent at the battle arena, Professor Xie had already prepared the laboratory with a full set of testing equipment.

Ellen and Whitefang were already familiar with the lab, and Mu Huiyue summoned her third newly contracted partner.

From the four-layered beastmaster summoning array, the towering Night Terror Scarecrow appeared in the center of the laboratory. The dark wooden cross it carried on its back almost reached the ceiling.

It slightly raised its head, made of bound wheat stalks, and the withered thorns and shriveled fruits on its body swayed gently as it made a rustling sound of greeting to Xie Qingwei, whom it was meeting for the first time.

“Wow…” Even someone as experienced and well-versed as Professor Xie couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of amazement upon seeing this extraordinary creature in person.

“I never thought I’d get to see a Night Terror Scarecrow here in Dayan.”

Xie Qingwei had recommended that Mu Huiyue attend the Harvest Festival, hoping she could contract a dual-attribute beast with both dark and wood attributes. Considering Mu Huiyue’s beastmaster talent of dark energy enhancement, such a dual-attribute beast would maximize her strengths, especially given her expertise in dark energy research.

But she hadn’t expected Mu Huiyue to bring back a Night Terror Scarecrow.

This was incredibly rare—an advanced dark-attribute extraordinary creature born from the resonance of collective consciousness. Even in its place of origin, the Heila region, individual cases were exceptionally scarce, lacking sufficient numbers to establish any broader research into the species.

Xie Qingwei had always been curious about the Night Terror Scarecrow. Now that she saw it in person, her research instincts were instantly ignited.

She picked up a testing device with magnetic sensors attached and looked at the Night Terror Scarecrow with eager eyes, asking, “Can I give you a physical exam?”

“Grururur?” The guardian spirit beside Professor Xie, with the same eager gaze, took on the role of translator.

“Rustle…” Harvey made a soft shaking sound.

The resonance of collective consciousness had given it a level of rationality comparable to that of humans from the moment of its birth. However, emotionally, it was still just an innocent little baby, only a few days old.

Being stared at with such intense curiosity for the first time, Harvey felt a bit nervous. The crow on its arm instinctively increased in number.

“Oh, because of its limited mobility due to its appearance, it expresses emotions through changes in the dark night crows…”

Xie Qingwei nodded repeatedly, her curiosity about Harvey growing even more.

Mu Huiyue chuckled softly and gently patted the Night Terror Scarecrow’s arm, offering emotional reassurance through their contract.

“Professor Xie means no harm; we just want to understand everything about Harvey better.”

“Rustle…” Feeling the connection brought by the contract, Harvey slowly relaxed and then took the initiative to have the crows pick up the magnetic sensor and place it on the designated area of its body, as indicated by Professor Xie.

The test results were displayed soon after, showing that Harvey’s stats were all excellent, combining the strengths of both Dark and Wood-type beasts.

Under Mu Huiyue’s Dark-type enhancement beastmaster talent, Harvey’s comprehension of Dark-type skills was also increasing rapidly. It was hard to imagine that just a few days ago, it had been born during the Harvest Festival contract trial.

When Professor Xie learned that Harvey had even mastered the A-rank Wood-type skill “Harvest,” she focused her research on this skill.

Dark and Wood dual-attribute extraordinary creatures were rare, but there were still quite a few among elite and warlord species. For example, in the nursery at Jingu University, there was a cultivated creature called “Swaying Tree Shadows.”

All of these beasts, without exception, struggled to master Wood-type skills related to “growth” and “life energy.” Most could only master attack and destruction-based Wood-type skills.

Harvey, however, was a true exception. It was making efforts to master growth-based Wood-type skills on its own will. In addition to learning “Harvest” through external help, it had also learned the C-rank Wood-type skill “Rotting Fruit,” which was a growth-based skill.

At the C-rank stage, it only produced rotten fruit, but after advancing, it would evolve into a B-rank Wood-type skill, “Nutrient Fruit,” which would not only contain growth energy but also carry destructive properties.

Professor Xie looked at the shriveled fruit hanging on Harvey’s body.

The newly born Night Demon Scarecrow worked hard to bring about a bountiful harvest, yet its species’ characteristics only allowed it to produce rotten fruit.

For Harvey, encountering the beastmaster who taught it “Harvest” must have been as significant as its moment of birth—a fateful and important encounter.