Chapter 130

Although Mu Huiyue had obtained some intriguing information from Mu Yixia, her current priority was still the increasingly intense high school battle preliminaries.

Participating in the World Tournament was the only way to see the Primal Spirit and enter the “Infinite Canopy Sea.” No matter what secrets lay hidden within, the most important thing for Mu Huiyue right now was to improve her beast-taming strength as quickly as possible and secure a spot in the World Tournament.

The high school battle preliminaries were far from over. No matter who her opponent was, she had to win.

The quarterfinals of the preliminaries were scheduled for the fourth day.

Mu Huiyue’s opponent in this match was Xu Chenglu, a first-year student from Yunzhou University’s Battle Department.

His Crimson Scaled Turtle had evolved into a mid-tier monarch species, the Blazing Land Turtle, and had learned a special skill—【Flame Absorption Reaction】.

Although 【Flame Absorption Reaction】 had not become its core innate skill, mastering this ability proved that the Blazing Land Turtle had the potential to evolve into the Wrathrock Xuanwu. Xu Chenglu had great confidence in this.

He and Mu Huiyue could be considered acquaintances, but they had never officially faced each other in battle. His previous matches had been relatively easy wins, making Mu Huiyue the perfect formidable opponent to test just how strong his newly evolved turtle had become.

Xu Chenglu’s small bit of confidence was completely shattered when his Blazing Land Turtle was swiftly defeated.

He had only performed slightly better than Fang Xuyang, managing to unleash his Nightmarish Scarecrow’s second 【Scarecrow Substitute】. However, by the time the referee announced that the Blazing Land Turtle had lost its ability to fight, that eerie scarecrow remained completely unscathed, securing an effortless victory.

Mu Huiyue truly was the Dark Night Overlord! He knew it—there was no way he could win against an opponent like this…

“Dark Night Overlord?”

Just as the match ended and Mu Huiyue was about to step off the stage, she caught wind of the interesting nickname and glanced toward Xu Chenglu, who had murmured it under his breath.

It was only then that Xu Chenglu realized he had accidentally voiced his inner complaint aloud.

His now towering, one-person-tall turtle slowly crawled over and tapped its chin against its beast tamer’s head.

“Uh… it’s just, um… a nickname that’s been going around among our peers…” Xu Chenglu broke into a cold sweat.

Was there anything more embarrassing than having the person in question overhear their own nickname…?

Mu Huiyue raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.

“I don’t know who started calling you that, but everyone thought it was fitting, so the nickname spread,” Xu Chenglu said, scratching the back of his head. “You use rare dark-type beast companions and are ridiculously strong. You’re one of the two most infamous ‘death draws’ in the preliminaries—anyone who gets matched against you is doomed to lose.”

Mu Huiyue gladly accepted the title “Dark Night Overlord.” Just as Xu Chenglu had said, it was quite fitting, wasn’t it?

“Who’s the other ‘death draw’?” she asked, mildly curious.

“Who else? Lin Shen,” Xu Chenglu shrugged.

Lin Fei and Mu Huiyue were both monstrously strong—nothing like typical rookie beast tamers. Entering the preliminaries felt like bullying weaker opponents; the two of them could go straight to the national tournament and still put up a fierce fight.

Every participant had been praying not to face these two before the finals, but it seemed those hopes were about to be crushed.

Judging by the current bracket, the most likely final matchup was Lin Fei vs. Mu Huiyue.

Even though no one wanted to personally face them, there was no shortage of people eager to see them battle. The debate over who was stronger had been raging for a while.

Some had even set up private betting pools for the finals. So far, the odds were roughly 40-60, with Lin Fei having about ten percent more supporters.

Xu Chenglu secretly placed his full bet on Mu Huiyue winning.

Lin Shen was undoubtedly strong, but after experiencing a match against Mu Huiyue firsthand, he was convinced that the Dark Night Overlord was the more terrifying monster.

…

After parting ways with Xu Chenglu, Mu Huiyue stepped off the battlefield and returned to the main hall to rest for a while.

Her match had ended quickly, but her friend was locked in a grueling battle.

The unfortunate person who had drawn the second death draw in the quarterfinals was none other than Wen Li.

After a long and difficult fight, she ultimately lost to Lin Fei.

“Arghhh, why does Sleepwalker have to be such an annoying skill?!” Wen Li couldn’t help but complain to her friend upon returning to the hall.

Dream Mirage Beast’s Sleepwalker ability was practically a broken mechanic in battle. It allowed the beast to project illusions of any extraordinary creature it had knowledge of, bypassing skill-type restrictions to create a phantom that perfectly countered its opponent.

In this match against Wen Li and her Ember Moth, Dream Mirage Beast had projected a mid-tier monarch species—Tidal Swirl.

As a dual water- and ice-element creature, Tidal Swirl was a direct counter to Ember Moth’s Flame Devourer Physique. Wen Li struggled to find a way to break through, and in the end, Ember Moth was taken down by a devastating Tidal Wave finisher.

Mu Huiyue patted Wen Li’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.

Lin Fei’s breadth of knowledge was no weaker than her own, making it a solid foundation for his Sleepwalker ability. He could quickly analyze his opponent’s weaknesses during battle and use Sleepwalker to create highly targeted projections, something that very few rookie beast tamers could counter.

With Wen Li’s defeat and Chen Jiashu also failing to secure a win, Mu Huiyue was now the last remaining contender from Jingzhou University’s battle division in this year’s High School Battle Preliminaries.

“If nothing unexpected happens, the finals will probably be you versus Lin Fei, right?” Wen Li said.

She had full confidence in Mu Huiyue, but Lin Fei was undeniably strong as well.

Both of them had already reached Level 5 Beast Tamer, with combat strength equivalent to a mature-stage monarch species. At this point, they could easily represent the school team in the national tournament without issue.

It was almost unimaginable for a competition aimed at first-year students to have competitors of this caliber—and not just one, but two.

“Lin Fei’s situation seems a little… strange,” Wen Li said thoughtfully as she recalled her battle. “Back during the national ranking tournament, I watched your match against him in person, Huiyue. Back then, he and his Dream Mirage Beast didn’t have this level of synergy.”

“I get that after a semester, everyone improves, but Lin Fei seems more like…”

Wen Li paused for a moment, thinking about how to phrase it. “It’s more like he was guided by some expert—suddenly, he has an almost omniscient grasp of battlefield information. In that sense, he’s starting to resemble you, Huiyue…”

Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but chuckle. “Isn’t that a good thing? If we’re standing on the same level now, then it’s my turn to use my wealth of experience to defeat him.”

“That’s true.” Wen Li laughed as well. When it came to battlefield control, no one surpassed Mu Huiyue.

In all the battles Wen Li had witnessed, she had never seen anyone successfully exploit a ‘weakness’ in Mu Huiyue’s strategy.

Any ‘weakness’ that appeared was something Mu Huiyue had deliberately revealed. Every counter-strategy an opponent could think of on the battlefield was something Mu Huiyue had already rehearsed and prepared countless responses for.

“The final battle will be a doubles match, right? I wonder what Lin Fei’s second contracted beast will be… maybe the Swiftband Kite?” Wen Li guessed.

Mu Huiyue shook her head.

She had watched several of Lin Fei’s battles in the preliminaries and had sensed the same ‘strangeness’ that Wen Li mentioned.

If her prediction was correct, Lin Fei’s second contracted beast wouldn’t be the Swiftband Kite—it would be an “Armor-Fused” intelligence-type beast, part of the joint project between Xingzhou University and the Nova Region.

“Well… you’re going to win the championship, right, Huiyue?” Wen Li’s eyes shone brightly as she extended her fist.

“Mm, I’ll win.” Mu Huiyue reached out and bumped fists with Wen Li.

Her battle against Lin Fei in the national ranking tournament had been interrupted halfway through. She had already made up her mind—next time she faced Lin Fei, she would defeat him fair and square in battle!

The fifth day of the College Battle Preliminaries marked the final showdown.

Xingzhou University’s first-year battle major student, Lin Fei, versus Jingzhou University’s first-year battle major student, Mu Huiyue.

On the day of the match, the massive venue was packed to capacity. Even television stations arranged live broadcasts for those who couldn’t get tickets.

The owner of Starlight Battle Club was grinning from ear to ear. The college battle preliminaries weren’t usually a high-profile tournament. He had agreed to lend the venue to the Beastmaster Association mainly because it was the off-season—any income was better than none.

Who could’ve expected that these two freshmen would turn the finals into a nationwide spectacle?

Lin Fei had been in the spotlight since his high school league days. Xingzhou University’s president had repeatedly stated in public that Lin Fei was the university’s future treasure, a guaranteed seed player for Dayan’s world championship team.

On the other hand, Mu Huiyue had recently gained fame in the capital as a genius beastmaster. She had contributed to the “Contract Evolution Theory” and introduced a new evolutionary form for the Little Cloud Hound—”Frostnight Duel Wolf,” a dual-attribute high-tier monarch species.

These two were among the most outstanding and youngest beastmasters of the new generation. Who would emerge victorious?

It wasn’t just the audience who were eager to find out—high-ranking figures in the beast battle industry, the Beastmaster Association, and major universities, all closely monitored the match.

As both competitors stepped onto the battlefield, Mu Huiyue looked at the black-haired beastmaster standing opposite her.

It had been nearly half a year since they last met, and Lin Fei seemed like a completely different person. His expression was indifferent yet weary, his posture slightly hunched, but **his eyes shone with an unusual brightness—**as if he had endured some immense psychological trauma.

Before, she had found his habitual polite smile rather unsettling. But compared to his current state, that fake smile had been far easier to look at.

Lin Fei stared at Mu Huiyue without moving an inch, only breaking eye contact when the referee took their position. Then, he summoned his beasts.

A five-layered beast seal lit up before Lin Fei, and two creatures emerged from the glowing formation.

One of them was Cloud Dream Tapir—a mid-tier monarch species in its early stage. Mu Huiyue was very familiar with it, and it had now advanced to the ninth stage of its growth phase, just a step away from maturing.

As for the second one… just as she had predicted, it wasn’t Lin Fei’s former partner, the Ribbon-Winged Kite.

Instead, it was an unfamiliar “Armored-Type” intelligence-attribute beast.

The beast resembled a living greave, composed of multiple small metallic segments connected by semi-transparent energy threads.

Mu Huiyue’s investigator wristband displayed newly detected transcendent creature data:

【Name】: Type-1 Gusoku (Armored-Type)
【Attribute】: Intelligence
【Species Rank】: Low-Tier Monarch
【Growth Stage】: Maturity – Stage 1
【Core Talent】: Form Fusion (Intelligence B-Rank)

【Species Description】:
Developed by “Edge” Laboratory, the Type-1 Gusoku is an armored-type intelligence beast created as an evolution of “01.” It possesses the ability to merge with other beasts, enhancing their abilities across all aspects—even altering their attribute.

The Type-1 Gusoku specializes in enhancing leg and limb strength, adjusting its armor structure based on the form of the fused beast.

【Base Energy Value】: 132,023P