Chapter 44

The Ba Luo flower is a plant-type pet beast, not skilled in actively hunting or moving. It usually claims its territory, so when the Ba Luo fruit appears, it signifies that the area nearby is already under the control of the Ba Luo flower.

Mu Huiyue realized this the moment she saw the Ba Luo fruit. She paused to communicate with Wen Li, also waiting for the mastermind behind the scenes to reveal themselves.

If you accidentally enter the Ba Luo flower’s territory, trying to pretend nothing happened and safely exit is impossible.

There’s only one way to get through this—defeat the Ba Luo flower and its Beast Master.

Even surrounded by so many of the Ba Luo flower’s puppets, Mu Huiyue’s expression didn’t change much, and neither did Wen Li’s. The two exchanged a glance and saw the same thought in each other’s eyes.

“When soldiers come, block with soldiers; when water comes, block with earth!”

“Ameow, Fire Wheel!” Wen Li was the first to speak.

The tail of the Flame Strike Cat, burning with flames, swung, and the raging flames surrounded its body, transforming into a rotating fire wheel that charged toward the surrounding supernatural creatures.

The wild supernatural creatures that had gathered in the dense forest were mostly of wood and insect attributes, which were completely countered by the fire-type special moves. With one round of attack, Flame Strike Cat cleared a large area in front.

“Baiya, Dark Strike!” Mu Huiyue’s command followed.

The Little Cloud Dog’s steps were light as it stepped through the shadows, vanishing like smoke. Immediately, the supernatural creatures ahead fell one by one, each one struck precisely in a vital spot.

The puppets controlled by the Guava fruit only retained basic attributes, losing most of their intelligence and responsiveness. Unless they could control a monarch-level puppet or higher, they would not be a match for Baiya now.

“Is that a Dark Attribute Little Cloud Dog?” Wen Li looked over in surprise, her eyes shining brightly. “So cool! This is the first time I’ve seen a Dark-type pet beast of the Battle General species!”

Most wild Dark Attribute supernatural creatures are of elite species, mainly small creatures that roam the city at night.

“Yes, Baiya is naturally a Dark Attribute.” Mu Huiyue replied, not stopping her forward progress.

Wen Li easily kept up. Although she had refused to follow her mother’s old path, her childhood training as a performer had endowed her with physical abilities far surpassing those of other Beastmasters at the same level. When she ran at full speed, she was able to match Flame Strike Cat.

The two of them quickly broke through the first wave of attacks, but soon, the second wave of Guava puppets appeared in the dense forest.

This wave had far fewer enemies, but most were grown-stage supernatural creatures, making it much harder to break through like before.

More importantly, these troublesome enemies were puppets controlled by the Guava flower, and they had lost their score crystals. No matter how many were defeated, it would only waste their physical strength.

The students from Li Shang High School were likely relying on this to earn points. Even though the competition rules required Beastmasters to engage in official 1v1 battles, one side would be exhausted by numerous puppets before facing a capable opponent like Lu Ai, and the result was predictable.

Flame Strike Cat’s Fire Wheel pushed back the puppets’ attacks, but their breakthrough was slowed down.

Wen Li glared angrily at the endless swarm of puppet insects, almost wanting to roll up her sleeves and jump in to help.

“If only we could find Lu Ai, hiding in the back and picking up cheap points is just pathetic!”

Mu Huiyue tilted her head slightly, dodging an insect-type attack.

Baiya shot out like a shadowed arrow, quickly taking down the insect that had ambushed them.

She sensed the feedback from the Beastmaster contract and said, “Just wait a little longer… we’re almost there.”

“Can you really find them, Huiyue?” Wen Li turned around, her expression full of excitement.

Mu Huiyue nodded slightly. When they encountered the first wave of puppets, Ellen had already used Shadow Stealth to follow them.

It was only the second day of the assessment, and the area controlled by the Guava flower wouldn’t be too large. Even with a wide-area search, they should be getting results soon.

The moment the thought crossed her mind, she felt her shadow stir. Baiya, the beast, returned to her side, bringing the information she needed.

Mu Huiyue curved her lips slightly and looked ahead. “Southeast direction, about 200 meters ahead.”

Baiya and Yanxi Miao rushed out almost simultaneously.

The closer they got to this direction, the more high-level Guava puppets appeared.

All around, the plants, regardless of type, bore large clusters of Guava fruits. The sweet, rich scent overlapped, disorienting every extraordinary creature and human who entered the area.

Even Mu Huiyue couldn’t handle it, stopping to steady herself.

She glanced at the side, and sure enough, Wen Li seemed to be entranced, unable to resist walking toward the fruit. Yanxi Miao nimbly leapt over and bit down on her hand, leaving two round bite marks.

“Hiss—can’t you be a little gentler, A Miao?” Wen Li reflexively withdrew her hand, the pain on her body overpowering her desire for the Guava fruit. This time, she snapped out of it in time.

“Meow-ow.” Yanxi Miao rolled its eyes. Wasn’t that gentle enough?

If it had used a bit more force, it could have taken a chunk of flesh and roasted it to medium-rare with its fiery teeth.

Baiya, running in the lead, also stopped. The scent of the Guava fruit stirred its primal hunger.

Countless temptations piled up, and no matter what they did, they were drawn to those fruits. The little cloud dog unconsciously began to salivate, droplets falling to the ground.

“White Fang?” Mu Huiyue was a little worried. After all, White Fang was still young, with relatively weak willpower, and was not very skilled at dealing with this type of extraordinary ability.

“Woof woo!” The little cloud dog shook its head vigorously, looking at its beast master with determined eyes.

It had something important to protect, even if it meant suppressing its instincts.

If it would put its beast master in danger or cause injury, it wouldn’t eat even a single bite here, no matter how hungry it was.

A mere appetite couldn’t compare to its determination to protect its beast master!

“White Fang…”

Feeling the intense emotion brought by the bond, Mu Huiyue chose to trust her pet. “Then let’s charge straight in and finish it in one go!”

“Woof woo!” White Fang ran forward, launching a Moon Explosion at the Guava Puppet blocking the way, quickly clearing a path.

Following the direction Ellen had found, the two of them broke through the encirclement one after another, soon arriving at the camp of the Li Shang High School contestants deep in the dense forest.

There were four people on the other side. In the center of the camp stood a withered tree emitting a strange glow. The four Guava Flowers they had contracted hung from its branches, their leaves open, absorbing the nutrients from the dead tree.

Countless Guava fruits extended from more branches, releasing an irresistibly sweet fragrance.

The person standing in the center was Lu Ai, who had appeared in the checkpoint video. He was wearing a training uniform with the Li Shang High School emblem, and the number on his chest tag gleamed with gold: “1.”

Lu Ai looked at the two competitors who had voluntarily entered his territory and raised an eyebrow.

In the day and night that had passed, he had defeated many contestants who had tried to enter his camp, but it was rare for anyone to actively approach.

Upon closer inspection, both of these competitors were well-known on the rankings, and apart from their own strength, their parents were renowned Beast Masters of the great Yan Dynasty.

Exactly, this will allow him to verify just how much the power of the Guava Flowers has grown.

The withered tree emitted a soft glow, and more Guava Puppets began to emerge from all around, surrounding the enemies. Among them were high-level individuals from the Battle General species in their Growth Phase, with some nearing the Growth Phase’s tenth level, possessing latent abilities exceeding 50,000.

No matter how powerful the Beast Masters and their pets were, they would never be able to match him and the Guava Flowers after being drained by these puppets.

The layers of wild extraordinary creatures blocked the sight of the four Li Shang High School students. Facing the shrinking encirclement, Mu Huiyue and Wen Li assumed a back-to-back defensive position, with the Little Cloud Dog and Flame Strike Cat protecting their Beast Masters from the left and right.

Mu Huiyue glanced at the withered tree. The bracelet displayed that it was at least a C-level Wood-type extraordinary resource. No wonder, with just four Guava Flowers, the area was filled with Guava fruits and so many puppets.

It would be possible for White Fang to deal with all the puppets, but the subsequent battle would be too dangerous. If it wasn’t feasible, they would have to let Ellen make an early appearance…

Wen Li’s voice behind her interrupted her thoughts. “Huiyue, do you have any energy cubes for Fire-type pets?”

“Yes.” Mu Huiyue nodded slightly. She had only brought Energy Cubes for Dark-type beasts, but she still had plenty of Fire-type attribute fruits in her Beast Space, which were more effective than energy cubes.

“Then leave it to me. Before A-Miao recovers, please help me by battling Lu Ai and his team.”

Wen Li flashed a confident smile and took a step forward, calling out, “A-Miao!”

The unspoken understanding between contract partners needed no words. Flame Strike Cat raised its fiery tail high, with narrow pupils that reflected the cracking magma. Flames blazed from its tail to its back as it arched its body and let out a battle cry filled with fierce intent.

“Meow!—”

The massive Fire-type energy quickly gathered around Flame Strike Cat at a visible concentration. At the same time, Wen Li, the Beast Master, had golden flames bursting from her eyes as her [Blood Ignite] talent fully activated, amplifying the power of her contracted pet.

“Fire Meteor!”

At Wen Li’s command, Flame Strike Cat leaped high into the air, releasing a highly concentrated Fire-type energy sphere.

A low rumble echoed from the sky, like thunderclouds gathering, followed by a dazzling burst of flames. Countless massive fireballs fell to the ground like meteorites, shaking the entire camp area as if the earth itself was trembling.

B-level Fire-type skill: Fire Meteor!

With the enhancement from her Blood Ignite talent, the power was comparable to an A-level attack skill, resembling a sudden natural disaster, as a fiery meteor shower rained down from the sky.

Countless Guava Puppets were burned to ashes by the intense heat, and even the C-level Wood-type resource tree was knocked askew from the impact of the fire meteors.

The heat incinerated almost everything in sight, leaving only Wen Li and Mu Huiyue’s location untouched. Flame Strike Cat spewed out a puff of smoldering ash and smoke, falling from mid-air. Wen Li hurriedly stepped forward to catch it.

A single Fire Meteor descended like a divine weapon, clearing away the Guava Puppets that had surrounded the two of them, leaving only the stunned Li Shang High School contestants below.

Could a high school student really unleash such a movie-like, overwhelmingly powerful attack?!

Mu Huiyue was also slightly surprised. No wonder Wen Li made it into the national rankings purely based on her talent. After the Blood Ignite enhancement, Flame Strike Cat’s attack power was so immense that no one at the high school level could match Wen Li.

Lu Ai was the first to react. A Guava Flower with an unusual color appeared next to him, and it looked in the direction of Wen Li.

After Flame Strike Cat used Fire Meteor, it was left extremely weakened, but Lu Ai’s strategy of using the Guava Puppets to wear down the competitors still seemed to be working.

Facing Wen Li now, Flame Strike Cat was definitely no match for the Guava Flowers.

Just as he was about to move forward, Mu Huiyue stepped in front of Wen Li first.

“Your opponent is me, Lu Ai.”

The black-haired girl’s gaze was calm. Beside her, the Little Cloud Dog bared its fangs and claws, ready to strike.