79: The school team's dilemma

The next day, the Canglan No. 2 High School team from Bin Province was participating in the Binzhou Cup in Yunyu City.

Today was the day of the 32-to-16 competition.

The big screen read:

"Canglan No. 2 High School vs. Yunyu No. 1 Middle School"

The match had already ended, and the good news was that Canglan No. 2 High School had won.

However, Gu Zhenbang, who was standing by supervising the battle, looked grim, and the worry in his eyes was impossible to dispel.

Yunyu No. 1 Middle School, which originally shouldn't have put up much resistance, was exceptionally fierce today, completely different from its previous performance.

Today's battle was extremely intense, and the area next to the field was full of Beastmaster medical personnel circled around.

Eight beasts were fielded by both sides, and as many as six beasts were severely injured and unconscious.

Yunyu No. 1 Middle School accounted for four of them; even though their chances of promotion were slim, they still chose to fight them to the death.

This also caused the match to become heated, and everyone threw caution to the wind, showing no restraint in their attacks.

This led to the current situation; although they won the match,

it resulted in the beasts of two official team members losing their ability to participate in subsequent competitions.

These two were Chen Yujia and Lan Mengzhu, and it was also a result of the opponent deliberately targeting them; otherwise, the injuries wouldn't have been so severe.

Lei Wu and Li Shuheng were not affected, which was a blessing in disguise.

With their two strongest combat forces intact, there was still a chance for another battle.

But this gap still couldn't be filled; Gao Feng's strength was sufficient, but there was still one vacant spot.

And this was where Gu Zhenbang was currently having a headache.

This was truly baffling; to be targeted like this.

Among the remaining reserve members of the school team, not a single person could be chosen.

Lin Shu had the greatest potential, but he still needed some time to grow, and he couldn't be relied upon to compete now.

This current predicament was a bit difficult to handle.

His phone suddenly rang, and he saw it was Xu Lihuang, who was accompanying them at the Beastmaster Hospital.

After a conversation, he hung up the phone.

The look of worry on Gu Zhenbang's face grew even deeper.

His hope of being able to treat the beasts also immediately fell through.

According to the doctor, the beasts' injuries were quite severe and would require at least ten days of rest.

However, the next round of competition was on Sunday, leaving only four days.

This incident completely disrupted Gu Zhenbang's plans, leaving him at a loss.

He could only truthfully report this news to the principal.

Gu Zhenbang was sucking on a Huazi cigarette, white smoke coiling around him, but he was unresponsive.

Feeling somewhat deflated and helpless, he looked up at the sky.

He wondered what he was thinking... On Friday afternoon, with the help of his mentor, Lin Shu's proficiency had soared these past few days.

In less than three days, he gained 1000 points of proficiency; sure enough, with an extra person helping, the speed was much faster.

Heiye's level also increased by one each day during these past few days, successfully reaching Level 30, with 125 proficiency points remaining.

Such rapid speed had already made Wu Song accustomed to it.

But his mentor, Gu Li, was stunned, as he had never witnessed such a sight.

If he could rapidly improve at level ten-something, he could still accept it; that wasn't rare.

He didn't expect the speed to remain unchanged in his twenties, even faster, increasing by 1 level a day; even with his experience, he exclaimed that it was an eye-opener.

Since the goal had been achieved, Lin Shu planned to return to Bin Province; coincidentally, his mentor also needed to go back now, so it was along the way.

Wu Song had no intention of returning, as it was his holiday time, and he planned to stay on Meihu Island to fish peacefully.

The two did not insist and directly flew to Fengdu City on a White Feather Spirit Falcon.

The speed of this high-level flying beast was truly fast, much faster than an airplane, which was very convenient.

The journey, which originally took five or six hours, only took two hours to reach Bin Province.

After dropping Lin Shu off at the entrance of Canglan No. 2 High School, Gu Li also left alone.

He hadn't returned to school for almost half a month.

Lin Shu planned to go to the school team's training room to take a look.

The usually lively school team chat group on his phone had been silent for the past few days.

This made him a bit puzzled; what had happened?

Had they been eliminated from the Binzhou Cup?

Without thinking too much, Lin Shu walked to the training room and pushed the door open.

Everyone was training as usual, but the atmosphere was somewhat subdued, without the usual laughter and chatter.

Especially Lan Mengzhu and Chen Yujia, who were sitting on the sofa nearby, looking a bit dejected.

Their beasts were also nowhere to be seen at the moment.

This made Lin Shu a bit curious.

The sound from outside quickly caught everyone's attention.

Seeing that it was Lin Shu who had returned, everyone forced a smile to welcome him.

"You're back."

"Lin Shu, where have you been this time?"

"You've been gone for almost half a month."

Although it was a warm greeting, something felt off.

Gu Zhenbang, who usually liked to patrol, was also uncharacteristically sitting by the sofa, smoking a Huazi cigarette, not bothering with those training, not even glancing at them.

"What's wrong with everyone?"

"What happened? Why is everyone looking so down?"

Lin Shu thought for a moment and then asked directly.

After all, everyone's state was off.

Everyone looked at each other, but no one answered the question immediately.

Gao Feng seemed the most normal at the moment; after a moment of hesitation, he gave the answer to the problem.

"Two days ago, in the Binzhou Cup's 32-to-16 match, we won."

"But Lan Mengzhu and Chen Yujia's beasts were severely injured and need at least ten days to recover."

"Currently, the school team can't gather enough members to participate in the competition the day after tomorrow."

After his explanation, Lin Shu finally understood.

So that was the reason; no wonder no one discussed it in the group, and no one told him.

Because with his strength at the time, telling him would have been useless.

An unevolved beast, at a level below 30, would only add to the trouble.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Shu spoke.

"This time, I went to the Otherworld specifically for evolution."

"Now that the evolution is complete, I've returned."

"I wonder if this strength is enough to participate in the competition?"

These words astonished everyone.

Everyone's expressions varied; clearly, they were all shocked by what Lin Shu had said.

Wasn't he only level 21 half a month ago? How did he evolve successfully immediately upon returning?

Hearing this, Gu Zhenbang's originally dull eyes suddenly gained a bit of color.

Judging from Lin Shu's previous performance, his beast's combat power would be greatly enhanced; maybe there really was a chance...

"Amazing, amazing!"

"Damn, that's incredible, Brother Shu!"

"Please carry us, boss."

These words made the originally quiet scene a bit livelier.

Several reserve members said in quick succession.

It also somewhat rekindled the possibility of continuing to compete.

However, after calmly thinking, everyone still found the problem.

Although Lin Shu's improvement speed was indeed very fast, it was still not enough.

The gap was still too large when all participating Beastmasters in their final year of high school averaged around level 33.

Gu Zhenbang clearly thought of this point as well.

"It's still not enough; you are already very outstanding, but the time left for you is still too short."

"The level difference is too great, and in the end, it can only..."

He picked up the thermos next to him and took a small sip, his face full of regret.

The rest of his words were left unsaid, but everyone understood the meaning.

Everyone's thoughts were the same as Gu Zhenbang's; the originally somewhat lively scene cooled down again.

They all shook their heads, expressing their regret.

"Don't worry, everyone; I haven't finished speaking."

"Heiye has made rapid progress these past few days and is already level 30; I think that should be enough now, right?"