173: Lin Shu, you are my fan!

Two days passed in a flash, bringing them to March 5th.

Today was the start of the freshman ranking competition.

Since there was only one day of competition and 160 participants, the schedule would be quite packed.

At this moment, Chu Yu and Li Wen had already headed to the central battle arena.

Lin Shu was not in a hurry; there was still some time.

The university's battles also differed greatly from previous rules.

It was no longer one-on-one duels for Beastmasters, but rather free-for-alls.

However many Beastmasters you had, that’s how many could participate.

Cultivating multiple Beastmasters was inherently a part of one's strength, and this was a reasonable practice.

It was like encountering an alien race in the wild; they wouldn't reason with you for a one-on-one, but would use every means to eliminate you.

This was also to make everyone understand that battles were not minor skirmishes, but matters that truly determined one's life or death.

This rule was a great advantage for Lin Shu.

Other rules were largely similar; the most important remained that Beastmasters could be severely injured, but direct killing was absolutely forbidden.

After all, the death of a Beastmaster was an extremely serious matter for a Beastmaster.

It could even lead to severe Mental trauma, leaving serious sequelae.

Violators would be given a major demerit at the least, or directly expelled at the worst.

These rules were naturally discovered on the forum.

During these two days of browsing the forum, Lin Shu found that his name seemed to have become famous at Central State University.

If a Central State University student hadn't heard of Lin Shu, then he was behind the times.

This trend became increasingly evident.

It also made Lin Shu feel a bit conflicted when he saw it.

He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

At this moment, Black Night Saturn Purple Eyes and Silver Spirit were all training in the training room.

The positive atmosphere quickly allowed Silver Spirit to integrate into the team, becoming good friends with everyone.

Compared to Black Night Saturn and Ziyu, Silver Spirit’s personality was very good.

He was very calm and good at thinking.

He had his own way of doing things, but if there was a disagreement with Lin Shu, he would still unconditionally choose to trust him.

He had almost no flaws, which saved Lin Shu a lot of trouble.

It was much better than the previous open and secret struggles between Black Night and Ziyu.

These two days, besides Silver Spirit, everyone also brought Lin Shu some pleasant surprises.

They all comprehended many skills.

First was Black Night; ever since he awakened the super-tier skill Nights Return to Silence some time ago, he had been unstoppable.

He even comprehended the advanced spatial skill—Spatial Distortion—for the first time.

It was a standard offensive skill, the effect of which was to arbitrarily distort a selected space, instantly obliterating the things within it.

This made Lin Shu extremely excited; although Black Night didn't awaken as many advanced skills as Tuyao Zimu and Ziyu after evolution, his potential was clearly the strongest.

However, Black Night seemed uninterested; compared to these, he trusted the blade in his hand more.

Next was Tuyao Zimu; it was a bit regrettable that this time he didn't awaken a combat skill, but the advanced Earth-element skill—Dust Storm—was enough to be satisfying.

It was also an offensive skill, but it included auxiliary effects like area lockdown and obscuring vision.

Finally, there was Ziyu, a simple and unadorned offensive advanced skill—Thunderclap.

Regarding this, Lin Shu was quite satisfied with the strength of his Beastmasters.

Aside from the disparity in levels, all other aspects were steadily progressing.

It felt truly great to see his Beastmasters getting stronger every day.

At this moment, it was also mealtime.

Black Night Saturn Purple Eyes and Silver Spirit sat obediently by a huge food basin, like little babies waiting for food.

After taking care of these, Lin Shu prepared to go out.

Starting today's ranking journey... Riding Ziyu, he galloped on the wide avenue, reaching the destination of the ranking competition in less than twenty minutes.

At this moment, the battle had already begun, and Lin Shu's match would be soon.

Central State University's battle platform could be said to be a perfect fusion of classical and technological elements.

The overall design resembled an arena, but it was filled with technological products.

It was far more advanced than the Binzhou Cup venue; it truly lived up to its reputation as a top university.

The priority in this aspect was much higher.

Entering the interior of the building, there were several battle platforms of varying sizes distributed within.

The layout of such places was largely similar.

At this moment, energy surged above, and the air was filled with a scorching aura.

Upon arriving at the preparation area, he saw Li Wen and Chu Yu waving at him.

Many people looked up and also noticed Lin Shu; some looked relaxed, while others frowned deeply.

Clearly, Lin Shu's extraordinary strength put a lot of pressure on them.

Moreover, he had appeared suddenly, and they had no information about his Beastmasters.

He walked over to their seats and sat down directly.

At this time, the ranking competition had just begun, and a teacher was conducting the draw.

“Give me an absolutely lucky draw, the kind that’s always good.”

Li Wen, beside him, clasped his hands and prayed to the heavens for good luck.

In the preparation area, many people made the same gestures and prayers.

The reason for this action was simple: it was for the academic credit rewards.

The higher the ranking, naturally, the higher the reward.

The rewards were divided into several tiers:

81st – 160th place: 100 academic credits, equivalent to a participation award, so you don't come for nothing.

41st – 80th place: 200 academic credits, which was the reward Li Wen received in the last ranking competition.

21st – 40th place: 300 academic credits.

11th – 20th place: 400 academic credits.

4th – 10th place: 500 academic credits.

First, second, and third place received 1000, 800, and 600 academic credits respectively.

Such rewards were something students, who consumed many resources, had to strive for.

One thousand academic credits were enough for them to use for a long time.

It was not a small sum for anyone.

Lin Shu and Chu Yu, however, appeared relatively calm.

According to information from the forum, Zhang Hongyi, ranked first, was the recognized top freshman.

He only had one Beastmaster, whose level was as high as 69, which could be said to be sufficiently powerful.

He was also the biggest obstacle for Lin Shu to achieve first place.

However, even Shen Tu Wu Hong’s Golden Horn Vanguard couldn't stop him, so the opponent should not be his match either.

As the draw ended, everyone's match information appeared one by one.

On the large screen in the preparation area, all the matchups and battle platforms were displayed.

It was clear at a glance.

Lin Shu's luck was quite good; he was drawn in the first round.

His opponent was ranked 80th, which meant his strength was quite decent.

Li Wen was also drawn.

It seemed his prayer had worked; his opponent was not strong, ranked 140th.

This made him pump his fist and exclaim “Yeah!”

The two greeted Chu Yu, who was sitting in his seat, and immediately left the area to head to the battle platform.

The general process of this ranking competition was similar to the Fengdu Hatchling Cup that Lin Shu had previously participated in.

Only the strength of the opponents and the rules had changed somewhat.

Lin Shu arrived at Battle Platform No. 6.

At this moment, his opponent also reached the venue.

She was a tall girl with long black hair cascading like a waterfall, which was striking.

However, her mood at the moment was not so pleasant.

She felt her luck was truly a bit poor.

She actually drew Lin Shu, who was in the top ten of the Reward Tower.

Clearly, she had researched him; she had been browsing posts about him yesterday, and she hadn't expected such a coincidence, becoming his opponent directly.

Ranking positions mostly represented combat power, basically without any embellishment.

It was obvious that this black-haired beauty already had one foot in the elimination zone.

It was only a matter of time.

Then, her words made Lin Shu pause.

“Lin Shu, are you my fan?!”