Chapter 17

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Zhou Wanli didn’t understand why Xi Muqing had so much confidence in her, a mere student. Although she might occasionally show a flicker of excellence, at heart she was essentially a beautiful yet mentally listless person.

Zhou Wanli scratched her head. “May I say that you’re overestimating me?”

Xi Muqing chuckled. “I’m not saying this to pressure or force you, but just to let you know that life at Beast Tamer University isn’t as simple as you think.”

“Back to the main point—do you know about Blue Yutian Beast Tamer University?”

Of course, Zhou Wanli knew it well. “One of the top beast taming academies in Huazhou.”

“Exactly!” Xi Muqing’s eyes sparkled with a smile. “It’s also the university I once attended.”

“Huazhou has twenty-six such institutions, ranking among the very best in the entire federation. Blue Yutian ranks ninth, while Duwuxuan Beast Tamer University ranks seventeenth.”

“Do you know why nowadays these academies prioritize family background in admissions?” Without waiting for an answer, Xi Muqing continued, “It’s about resource stacking! It’s about fast-tracking!”

“Due to reasons I can’t tell you yet, the beast taming world has become increasingly impatient and results-driven. The resources required for a beast tamer’s future development are enormous. Money and resources can accelerate a beast’s advancement.”

“To many, the strength of the beast is often far more important than that of the beast tamer.”

“But if the beast becomes far stronger than the tamer, wouldn’t there be backlash?” Zhou Wanli asked, puzzled.

“Of course there is backlash. That’s why some academies even offer a course called Spiritual Meditation for extraordinary beasts,” Xi Muqing’s anger simmered beneath her calm words, “which is essentially a form of spiritual brainwashing!”

“The more prestigious the family or financial background of a school or beast tamer, the more they endorse this practice. This has led to the current unhealthy trend.”

“The worst offenders are the Shenlongyin in the imperial capital and the West Headquarters Military University!”

Her voice grew heavier at the mention. Xi Muqing picked up a glass from the coffee table, took a sip, and forced herself to calm down before continuing, “But some schools still uphold their principles. Blue Yutian Beast Tamer University is one of them, and among these principled schools, it is the strongest.”

“Of course, I’m not praising it simply because it’s my alma mater. In fact, it’s because I know it well that I want to tell you this.”

“On the surface, Blue Yutian only ranks ninth in Huazhou, but the fact that it was founded in the imperial capital, amidst a sea of powerful families and financial magnates, and that every principal has been a commoner beast tamer, proves its uniqueness.”

With that, Xi Muqing handed over a black folder she had been holding. “As your senior, I must fight for your rights.”

“I actually knew your beast taming score was high when I examined you at the secret realm base. Talent like yours is rare in Tonghai Province these years. As soon as I discovered you, I contacted my former mentor to try securing your application or bonus points.”

“I didn’t expect you would perform even better than I imagined, enough to qualify for early admission,” Xi Muqing said proudly, admiration shining in her eyes.

“Since you’ve worked so hard, your senior can’t fall behind. This black folder contains all the benefits I’ve managed to secure for you from Blue Yutian.”

“Including future training for beast tamers, provision of a contracted beast with excellent aptitude (limited to the five elemental attributes), an annual scholarship of one million star coins, and early participation in spatial battlefield and school team selection.”

Zhou Wanli felt the sincerity in the director’s words. She accepted the folder with both hands and said earnestly, “Don’t worry, I will read this contract carefully from beginning to end and live up to your expectations.”

“In three days, no matter what, I will give you a satisfactory answer.”

—

As Xi Muqing had said, over the next three days, several recruitment officers from various beast taming universities came to the Zhou household. Even Zhou Wanli’s high school homeroom teacher, Jiang Kejun, was invited as part of the persuasion team.

One university named Dijiacheng even arrived in the federation’s latest model hovercar, worth two million star coins, presenting it as a signing bonus.

Unfortunately, Zhou Wanli later checked and found that this school ranked twenty-sixth in Huazhou. It relied heavily on buying top-tier candidates with money, and its beast resources and strength ranked at the bottom among the top academies.

Zhou Wanli: “……”

In public, she was a person of principles and integrity, utterly disdainful of such worldly greed.

But once everyone left, only her cheeky monkey and baby dragon knew how loudly she wept.

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Suppressing her heartbreak, Zhou Wanli made a record of all the schools interested in signing her.

Only two of the top ten academies in Huazhou—Blue Yutian and Shenlongyin—had approached her; the others ranked outside the top ten.

Heeding Nan Liu Jing’s advice and Xi Muqing’s words, Zhou Wanli immediately crossed out Shenlongyin.

Judging by the representatives they sent yesterday, they seemed perfunctory, their gaze lingering suspiciously on Baby Dragon.

It was reasonable to suspect they were coveting her dragon!

After eliminating these unreliable options, only Blue Yutian and Duwuxuan Beast Tamer University from the first day offered the best terms.

The seventeenth-ranked Duwuxuan promised that after opening her second mind sea, they would provide a contracted extraordinary beast of good aptitude, a monthly subsidy of two hundred thousand star coins, and early participation in the school team selection.

Though Zhou Wanli’s Baby Dragon had the best excellent aptitude from the secret realm exam, and even the cheeky monkey was confirmed to have good aptitude after inspection, she had once thought that acquiring an extraordinary beast with excellent aptitude would be easy.

But in reality, the beast taming entrance exam was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

The secret realm was not accessible to ordinary beast tamers; it was controlled by the federation government, powerful families, financial titans, and beast taming academies. Even beasts with third-tier good aptitude or above were extremely rare.

Ordinary beast tamers had to pay huge fees to enter the secret realm, yet often failed to find a beast they wished to contract.

Therefore, after opening a second mind sea, most tamers chose to purchase beasts directly on the market.

A beast with good aptitude could cost over a million star coins, and if it belonged to a species with a high growth ceiling, the price could double.

As Zhou Wanli reviewed these facts, her heart trembled. She rushed to the living room and scooped up her two little companions in her arms.

Baby Dragon looked puzzled. “Awoo? What’s up?”

Cheeky Monkey rolled his eyes. “Zhi? Crazy?”

Zhou Wanli ignored their reactions, running her hands over them with delight.

It felt like a sudden spring breeze overnight—gold and silver mountains in her embrace! Ha ha ha!

At that moment, she deeply remembered the favor of that stern-faced officer. If he hadn’t urged her to apply for the scholarship, how could she have afforded a cheeky monkey worth half a million star coins?!

After expressing her excitement, the girl let go of them, leaving two utterly bewildered creatures behind, and rushed back to her room to continue contemplating.

By this point, Zhou Wanli needed no further thought: Blue Yutian Beast Tamer University was clearly her best choice.

As for the training in the beast tamer direction, the spatial battlefield, and the school team selection mentioned in the terms, she could learn more after reporting to the imperial capital. After all, it was hers—there was no escaping it!

…

July 1st was the day the exam results were released.

Since the enrollment contract was signed early, Zhou Wanli’s family had little to worry about, but before seeing the results themselves, it all still felt a bit unreal.

At ten o’clock sharp, Zhou Wanli controlled the computer and logged onto the official website. The page froze for a moment, causing everyone to hold their breath before the screen lit up.

[Candidate Name: Zhou Wanli

School: Beixi No.1 High School

Beast Taming Score: 267 (Performance Bonus) + 50 (Additional Points) + 286 (Beast Potential) = 603 points

Academic Score: 315 points

Admitted School: Blue Yutian Beast Tamer University]

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“Ahhh! Our Wanwan actually scored this high! That’s amazing! Mom’s so proud of you!” Yang Yue hugged her daughter excitedly, unable to contain her joyful shout.

Strangely, even though they had known this for a while, seeing it again still brought uncontrollable smiles of joy.

Zhou Wanli couldn’t help but lift the corners of her mouth. “I told you, your daughter is the best!”

Her father, even more emotional, wiped away tears. “Your mother and I have lived well in this life!”

Zhou Wanli boasted, “That’s nothing. Your daughter’s brilliant and radiant journey as a beast tamer is only just beginning!”

“There’ll be even more reasons for you to be proud in the future!”

The entrance exam was over, and the school was confirmed.

But for Yang Yue and Zhou Qingfeng, there was still a mountain of tasks ahead.

After Zhou Wanli’s results were announced, as the top beast tamer candidate in Tonghai Province and a globally exceptional student, media outlets swarmed like flies to the scent of blood.

This was the only top beast taming prodigy in Tonghai Province to be admitted early by a premier academy in recent years—they had to interview her!

Zhou Wanli grew tired of the fuss and tried every way to avoid them.

In the end, she could only leave early and return late every day, taking Baby Dragon and Cheeky Monkey to the outskirts for skill training.

Her parents, meanwhile, handled the interviews and contacted friends and relatives to prepare the enrollment banquet, clearly enjoying it.

Zhou Wanli felt no guilt in slacking off.

Two months passed in a flash.

The girl still left before dawn every day with her two little companions and returned under the starry night.

Until two days ago.

At dinner, Yang Yue suddenly asked, “Wanwan, have you packed your things? Aren’t you supposed to report to the imperial capital a few days early?”

Zhou Wanli was stunned. “Huh?”

…Can I say I was so absorbed in training my beasts I forgot about school? Of course, she dared not say the truth. She forced a smile, “I’m getting ready.”

Her father nodded and handed her a card, awkwardly rubbing his fingers. “Although your mom and I can’t help much with beast taming, we did make some money running the supermarket.”

“We hadn’t helped you before because you never mentioned that you wanted to be a beast tamer in high school.”

“This time, you worked hard on your own. It was only thanks to Teacher Xi at Blue Yutian that we learned how tough it really is to be a beast tamer—buying and training beasts costs a lot.”

“Our family may not be as wealthy as some, but we’ve saved some money over the years. You can bind this card to your light brain and use it for a while.”

Zhou Wanli opened and closed her lips, intending to refuse, but seeing their earnest, hopeful eyes, she thought it over and accepted.

“Alright, don’t worry about me too much.”

“If I run out of money, I’ll have Baby Dragon get a job to support me! You’re okay with that, right, Little Bao?”

“…Awoo?”