172: Chapter 172: Team Member Rewards of Up to 15 Million

Li Yu was stunned for a moment but immediately realized that this was Director Wang and President Wu exerting their influence.

Since it concerned his own survival chances, Li Yu didn't dare to be careless; he opened the news and began browsing seriously.

Soon, he understood the whole story.

At around 6:00 AM, a notice was jointly issued by several agencies and departments, including the Ningyang City Cultivation Department, the Beast Taming Department, and the Beast Taming Guild.

First, it announced the appearance of the Blood Refining Ruins, and then it publicly recruited four top-tier Silver Beast Tamers who met the criteria to serve as team members for the Blood Refining Ruins.

Once the news was released, it instantly set the Ningyang City internet ablaze. Countless Silver Beast Tamers flooded the web, some asking what ruins were, others inquiring about the situation of the Blood Refining Ruins, but most were eyeing the rewards with greed.

Each of the four team members participating in the trial would receive 5 million in compensation, and those who performed exceptionally well in the ruins would receive an additional 10 million bonus.

To Li Yu's surprise, this money was actually sponsored by Bright Moon Company.

"So much money... I want to sign up too," Li Yu said, his heart itching with desire.

If team members got 5 million and those with great merit got 10 million, then as the captain, he should get at least 15 million, right? Or 20 million would be fine too.

Of course, Li Yu knew very well that Bright Moon Company's involvement was actually for his safety... and for the ancient book Ming Yueguang wanted.

"You want that 10 million?" Chen Qing stood to the side, having also seen the contents on the computer.

"Of course I do. Who wouldn't want 10 million?" Li Yu smiled and didn't deny it; he really was short on money.

Bubble was a glutton now; no matter how many demon cores it ate, it wasn't enough. Once it evolved into a flood dragon, it would likely be a massive gold-consuming beast.

Chen Qing nodded without speaking, merely looking at the introduction of the organizers on the computer, lost in thought.

Having understood the rules, Li Yu clicked on the registration website to see how many people had signed up.

As soon as he clicked in...

The webpage crashed immediately, popping up a 404 error, which shocked Li Yu.

Just how many people must have registered to crash the official website?

He clicked refresh a few more times.

During the long loading time, Li Yu thought he was using that broken computer at home instead of these Divine Beast Brand computers at the company.

It was so laggy.

Finally, the webpage loaded. Below the registration portal, it displayed the current number of applicants:

47,470 people.

Over forty thousand people!

"Wait, are there over forty thousand Silver Beast Tamers in Ningyang City?" Li Yu asked in surprise.

Chen Qing was also somewhat surprised.

This number of applicants was indeed quite high.

Requiring Silver rank meant there were tens of thousands, but requiring them to be under 30 years old should have filtered some out.

Filtering out the Light, Nature, and Fire elements should have halved the number again.

Ningyang City wasn't a first-tier metropolis. Logically, it shouldn't be able to muster nearly fifty thousand Silver Beast Tamers under 30 who weren't of the Fire, Nature, or Light attributes.

On second thought, Li Yu understood.

It wasn't just Ningyang City; Beast Tamers from other nearby cities had also registered.

Li Yu could almost predict that tickets to Ningyang City today would be in very high demand.

But this was good.

The more people there were, the stronger the selected candidates would be, and the higher his own survival chances.

"Li Yu, the guests have arrived," Zhou Ya knocked on the door and said softly.

"Okay, I'm coming."

Li Yu responded, closed the webpage, tidied up, and walked outside. Today's guests were of the Poison and Water types.

The reason was simple: Li Yu wanted to use those two evolution cards.

The cultivation difficulty wasn't high. Li Yu barely had to lift a finger, leaving many operations to Zhou Ya while he merely explained from the side.

Zhou Ya knew Li Yu was intentionally teaching her. While grateful, she became even more focused.

...

Noon, Canteen.

The massive Canteen was almost full. Li Yu and the other two finally managed to find an empty table to sit down.

The conversation of the people next to them caught their attention.

"There's a lot of noise about the ruins this time."

"You bet. My eldest uncle works at the Ruins Archives. I heard him say the Blood Refining Ruins are extremely dangerous, with a very high mortality rate."

Li Yu and the others turned to look; it was a few people from other functional departments chatting.

Zhou Ya looked at Li Yu, her eyes filled with worry.

She had been present when the Captain's Jade Tablet appeared. Aside from those Senior Cultivators, she was one of the few who knew Li Yu would be participating in the ruins.

Li Yu smiled at her, signaling her not to be nervous.

"Why haven't we heard of the Blood Refining Ruins before?" the people at that table continued to ask.

The man with the uncle said, "Heh! Why else? Because the death rate is too high! Everyone who went died. The higher-ups didn't want to cause unnecessary sacrifice, so they blocked the information."

"Then why this time..."

The uncle's nephew looked around. Seeing Li Yu and the others looking over, he smiled mysteriously, yet without lowering his voice at all, said:

"I heard... a Ruins Captain appeared this time, and he's a Breeder."

"You know what a Breeder is, right? A total weakling. He'll definitely die inside. That's why the officials made the information public to get more people to sign up. Do you know why?"

The others didn't understand and pressed him, "Why?"

Li Yu and his group also pricked up their ears, listening intently.

The uncle's nephew said, "It means they don't trust the Breeder! A captain's slot is wasted on him. Since he's going in to die, they might as well find four powerful people to go in and clear the ruins themselves, then tell that captain to step aside."

"Really?" someone asked.

"How could it be fake? It's all over the internet. They say that Breeder is just hogging the captain's spot and is a total jinx. Other teams have five people, but our side can only have four. Why else would the officials be so anxious? It's only because our Bright Moon Company was kind enough to put up the money."

Li Yu and the others had been listening casually, but as they heard this, they gradually found the tone offensive, and their expressions turned strange.

Zhou Ya frowned, her face full of indignation.

Chen Qing even stood up with a "thud," bumping the table so hard it tilted, and several bolts and nuts connecting it to the floor were instantly deformed.

What terrifying strength!

Amidst his amazement, Li Yu hurriedly pressed down on Chen Qing's hand. Otherwise, with just a slight move from her, those people chatting so happily would have been decapitated.

The commotion here also attracted the attention of those chatting. Seeing Chen Qing, they all showed looks of admiration.

"Brother, let me ask," Li Yu grinned, "what are these ruins?"

Seeing a beautiful woman, the uncle's nephew was eager to show off. Li Yu's question gave him the perfect opportunity. He laughed and said:

"Ruins are actually similar to secret realms, but harder. Only those powerful Breeders are qualified to explore them."

"Oh, I see," Li Yu nodded. "What kind of things are they saying about that Breeder on the internet?"

"Plenty," the uncle's nephew said with animation. "'Hogging the spot without doing the work,' 'jinx,' 'shameless scoundrel'..."

"Stop!"

Li Yu quickly interrupted. Under the confused gazes of the others, he grabbed Chen Qing and Zhou Ya's wrists. "Anyway, we have something to do, we'll head out first."

They had to leave.

If they didn't, those unlucky bastards would lose their lives.

Chen Qing and Zhou Ya, in a state of bewilderment, gradually turned red in the face, yet they followed Li Yu out without any resistance.

They walked out of the Canteen.

Li Yu suddenly heard a "bang" behind him. Turning around, he saw the uncle's nephew and the others all sitting on the ground, the table shattered into pieces, and food splattered all over their faces.

He looked at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing's face was still red, but her eyes held a hint of innocence. She blinked and asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Yu looked at Chen Qing's sword, which had just been sheathed. After a moment of silence, he said, "Nothing."

...Nice job!