Chapter 66

Mu Huiyue arranged to meet Wen Li the next morning at 10 AM.

As soon as she stepped out of the Bureau of Affairs, she saw the young girl waving at her.

“Huiyue, over here!”

Wen Li was wearing a long dress with flame patterns today, her long hair tied up with a matching headband. She looked bright and cheerful, like a lively little sun.

Her smile was always infectious, and Mu Huiyue couldn’t help but smile back, jogging a few steps towards her.

It was the first time they had seen each other in clothes other than their field training uniforms, and they both curiously sized each other up.

“Happy birthday, Huiyue!”

Wen Li took a step forward and handed Mu Huiyue the beautifully wrapped bag. “This is a gift for you.”

“Thank you.” Mu Huiyue accepted it with curiosity.

She unwrapped the bag and found two ticket-like pieces of paper inside. The material was thick, and under the dazzling laser effects, it shimmered with vibrant colors.

It was written on them: “Starry Dream Festival Viewing Ticket.”

“I had to put in a lot of effort to get these tickets!” Wen Li said with excitement in her eyes, looking bright and sparkly. “This is a rare event in Jingjiang City, Huiyue, you must come with me to see it!”

The tickets had the date for today, and before Mu Huiyue could respond, she was already being dragged by Wen Li.

It wasn’t until they arrived at the venue and sat down in the audience that Mu Huiyue finally had a chance to collect her thoughts.

From the name alone, she had thought the “Starry Dream Festival” would be some kind of beast-taming performance, but to her surprise, it was the offline competition of the “Starry Battle Club.”

In the vast array of beast-taming battles in Dayan, club battles are commercial competitions distinct from official events like university leagues. They have fewer battle restrictions and a more relaxed atmosphere, making them very popular among the general public.

For someone like Wen Li, who was an enthusiastic beast battle fan, attending a stage performance or a concert favored by young people would never be as exciting as a live battle competition.

This birthday gift was Wen Li sharing her passion with her friend.

Club battles typically do not impose any restrictions on a beast tamer’s level or their pet’s skills, so it’s common to see cross-level, cross-species challenges, and reverse attribute battles—tactics that are not seen in textbooks.

Mu Huiyue had watched many videos of club battles before, but this was her first time attending one in person.

The Starry Battle Club was one of the top clubs in Dayan, with numerous high-popularity star players.

This year’s Starry Dream Festival was a warm-up for the upcoming national competition, a chance to hype up their own players in advance.

The event would last three days, featuring over twelve star players in various matches.

The tickets Wen Li gave her were for the second day, and now the first match of the morning was about to start. The atmosphere at the venue was electric.

The battle arena was located at the center of the venue, with the audience seating arranged in a funnel shape around it. The number of people present easily exceeded ten thousand, and everyone had excited, eager expressions on their faces.

Wen Li, beside Mu Huiyue, also had her eyes sparkling as she looked toward the battlefield.

The two beast tamers entering the arena were both regulars in the club battles.

The master-level beast tamer, Chang Le, used a middle-level monarch species of the Ice type—an adult 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】.

Mu Huiyue had some impression of this pet. One of the special evolution forms of the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 was the precursor to the White Tiger, a rare reverse attribute creature—【Frostflame Tiger】, a middle-level emperor species with both Fire and Ice elements.

The other competitor was Zuo Ying, a newly promoted senior beast tamer. She used her signature pet, an advanced Lightning-type high-level battle general species—an adult 【Magnetic Alloy Bell】.

This was one of the many evolution types of the 【Lili Magnetic】, and it was said to have a newly emerged high-level 【Intelligence】 attribute evolution. With the support of artificial intelligence technology, its potential surged, making it one of the most popular pets in recent years.

Both sides took their positions, and the battle quickly began.

Although it was a warm-up exhibition match, neither side held back. They immediately engaged in fierce combat, using B-level skills right from the start.

The 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 unleashed a thunderous 【Ice Storm】, sending shockwaves of energy that even spread across the arena and crashed into the surrounding audience’s protective barriers.

The dangerous ultimate skill repeatedly struck the protective layers around the audience, creating deafening explosions. Despite the threat, the spectators remained unafraid, responding with even more enthusiastic shouts and applause, cheering for the intense battle unfolding.

Many of the audience members waved victory cards they had purchased, loudly supporting their chosen beast tamers.

After several rounds of clashes, the atmosphere in the venue became even more heated.

The 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 had immense attack power and was very decisive in its offensive moves, while the 【Magnetic Alloy Bell】 had strange speed and, combined with some tricky mental-type abilities, the two sides were momentarily locked in a stalemate.

Mu Huiyue watched the battle for a while. When the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 endured the electromagnetic damage and broke through the defense net of the 【Magnetic Alloy Bell】 multiple times, she had already predicted the outcome of the battle.

Almost at the same time, Wen Li’s voice rang out, tinged with a hint of frustration.

“Ah, I knew it wouldn’t work… I was really rooting for the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】.”

Mu Huiyue looked at her friend. At this moment, it seemed like the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 was gaining the upper hand, and the loud cheers from the surrounding audience made their opinions feel somewhat out of place.

“Wen Li, do you think the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 will lose?” Mu Huiyue asked.

“At most, within three rounds,” Wen Li shook her head. “Enduring a special move with ice layers and breaking through the opponent’s offense was once a signature move of Su Luo, the Beastmaster.”

“But this tactic relies on the 【Courage】 trait of the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 and the unique contract bonus from the Beastmaster’s talent.”

“In this situation, if I were Zuo Ying, I’d definitely be laughing.”

Before Wen Li finished speaking, the 【Magnetic Alloy Bell】 activated its electromagnetic waves. The originally scattered defense net restored itself, tightened, and once again enveloped the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】.

The battle situation took a sharp downturn. The 【Magnetic Alloy Bell】 launched an attack and decisively defeated the opponent, securing the victory for the Beastmaster.

The audience erupted into an uproar.

Mu Huiyue withdrew her gaze. Her judgment was similar to Wen Li’s; the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 would certainly lose in this round of combat.

The 【Courage】 trait increases the skill power as the Pokémon takes damage and grows stronger in battle, so actively enduring damage and counterattacking is a very reasonable tactic.

However, for the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 on the battlefield… Mu Huiyue speculated that its trait was not 【Courage】.

Its performance in battle was more in line with the usual characteristics of ice-type Pokémon—calm, composed, with excellent battle foresight.

But it wasn’t the type to burn itself out and become stronger with each setback.

Originally, the evolutionary form of the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 was the lower-tier emperor-class ice-type 【Frost Sky Snow King】.

Only a very few with the 【Courage】 trait could endure the fissures and internal conflicts caused by the paradoxical attributes, allowing the fire attribute to be incorporated into the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】, and evolve into 【Frostflame Tiger】.

The most famous example was, of course, the 【Frostflame Tiger】 that evolved into the mythical white tiger.

After Su Luo became the champion of the first world competition, Beastmasters who contracted the 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 were influenced by her and gradually adopted tactics and training methods closer to the 【Frostflame Tiger】.

Chang Le hoped so much for his 【Blazing Ice Saber-toothed Tiger】 to evolve into a 【Frostflame Tiger】 that he even suppressed the Pokémon’s original trait and insisted on using a 【Courage】 strategy on the battlefield.

Such a combination, of course, couldn’t beat the well-coordinated partnership between Zuo Ying and the 【Magnetic Alloy Bell】.

After the first battle ended, Wen Li seemed a bit unsatisfied and looked towards the person beside her.

“What do you think, Huiyue?”

She still hadn’t forgotten that this game ticket was a birthday gift for her friend.

“It’s different from watching a live stream on my phone or TV, or from watching school matches. The atmosphere here is really strong, it’s quite fun,” Mu Huiyue thought for a moment before continuing, “But it also makes me a bit restless. Compared to sitting in the audience, I really do want to be on the battlefield.”

“Right!” Wen Li clenched her fist, her eyes shining brightly. “When I came to watch a match for the first time, I thought the same thing, wishing I could be the one on the battlefield.”

“That’s when I made up my mind. I prefer battles over beast performances. I want to be a Beastmaster who fights alongside my partner, not just a performer passing down the dance.”

“I want the whole world to see my battles, just like Su Luo, the mythical Beastmaster.”

Mu Huiyue smiled. “Let’s work hard together.”

“But you really like Su Luo, don’t you, Wen Li?” Mu Huiyue said.

Although Su Luo was very famous as the first world champion, she had faded from the public eye many years ago. It’s rare to meet someone like Wen Li, who knows her past strategies so well.

“Because she’s the ‘White Tiger,'” Wen Li said, scratching her cheek awkwardly.

“Do you know about the ‘Four Symbols’ of Dayan, Huiyue?”

Mu Huiyue nodded. The Four Symbols refer to the four mythical totems: the Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, and White Tiger. In modern terms, they represent four types of high-ranking royal beast species.

The Azure Dragon is part of the Gong Tian Xing Jiao lineage, closely related to the guardian deity of the seas, the mythical Oversea Divine Dragon.

The Vermilion Bird belongs to the Zhu Yan Niao lineage, with strong connections to the guardian deity of Dayan, the mythical Sun God Phoenix.

The Black Tortoise is part of the Wu Rang Gu Yuan lineage, the regional guardian deity of Hongzhou, with individuals that have evolved into miraculous mythical species.

The White Tiger belongs to the Frostflame Tiger lineage, but more specifically refers to the miraculous mythical species, the White Tiger, a unique individual born under the Beastmaster’s unique contract talent, and the contracted beast of the mythical Beastmaster Su Luo.

The concept of the Four Symbols was coined by later generations of mythology enthusiasts, and in essence, there is no special connection between these extraordinary beings.

“My family has always been considered the legacy of the Vermilion Bird, so it’s inevitable that we are compared to the other Three Symbols,” Wen Li said, gazing slowly at the battlefield in the center of the venue.

“I always believed that inheriting the ritual dance and contracting the Jin Huo Que was my birthright, until I saw the Beastmaster of the White Tiger.”

“Free-spirited, passionate, standing on the battlefield—the White Tiger made me see another future that I wanted to have.”

It seems that Wen Li’s admiration for the White Tiger is deeply ingrained in her, and that moment when she was saved by the goddess must have been a powerful and emotional experience. Her reaction to meeting the White Tiger again after so many years reveals how much it has influenced her path and aspirations.

Wen Li’s excitement as she recalls the event is palpable, and her memories of the godly moment, along with the unchanged presence of Su Luo, clearly left a lasting impact. The contrast between her joyful recollection and the uncertainty she felt regarding the surrounding events paints a poignant picture of her emotional journey.

“It’s hard to describe just how happy I was when Goddess A Luo saved me on the island, Huiyue,” Wen Li continued, her eyes gleaming with nostalgia. “She didn’t even change; she was exactly the same as when I first saw her ten years ago.”

In the aftermath of the incident, Wen Li’s memory of the angry volcanic tortoise was hazy, but the divine intervention by Su Luo’s blade remained crystal clear in her mind, an image she could never forget after waking up.

The two of them chatted for a while, and the second match was about to begin.

Mu Huiyue relaxed and, like the surrounding audience, immersed herself in the excitement of the match, feeling the intense atmosphere in the air.

She and Wen Li speculated on the outcome of the second battle, but this time, they had different views, so they made a small bet.

In the end, Mu Huiyue won the bet.

It turned out that when Wen Li wasn’t quite familiar with the battle beasts, it was Mu Huiyue’s insight into the battlefield that proved to be the stronger of the two.

After the match ended, the two of them left the venue together, and Wen Li still seemed a little unsatisfied.

“How did you figure out that the Swamp Giant Tortoise would lose in the end?” Wen Li asked, looking toward Mu Huiyue as she walked a few steps backward, her curiosity getting the better of her. “It clearly had the advantage in terms of attributes, and the situation was more favorable for the Swamp Giant Tortoise to perform.”

Mu Huiyue replied, “The last round’s ultimate move had already drained its stamina. But the Swamp Giant Tortoise is a beast with excellent physical attributes, so its exhaustion wasn’t easy to notice due to its Muddy Trait. At that moment, it should have eased its offensive and waited for the next opportunity, but it still rushed forward at its beast master’s command.”

“I guess the beast master didn’t notice that,” Mu Huiyue added.

Wen Li showed a slight look of surprise. While the beast masters on the battlefield didn’t notice it, Mu Huiyue was able to pick up on the subtle clue that would influence the outcome of the match.

“If you understand your beast well enough, you could do it too,” Mu Huiyue glanced at her and said. “In the first match, didn’t you notice that the Frostfire Saber-toothed Tiger had already reached its limit when it took the electromagnetic damage?”

“Understanding your opponent’s beast is important too…” Wen Li said thoughtfully.

When it came to the bond between her and her pet, Ah Miao, she was confident that they could rival anyone.

But after witnessing Mu Huiyue’s battle, Wen Li realized that the knowledge and preparation before the battle were just as important, and that was the foundation of Mu Huiyue’s strong insight.

In the field of beast battles, there was still so much for her to learn.

“Since you won the bet, how about I treat you to ice cream?” Wen Li smiled and hopped a couple of steps before returning to walk alongside her friend. “I remember there’s a really delicious shop near the venue…”