80: One wave subsides, another rises

The person who recognized it was Kuang Yi; he was of medium height, but his features were quite handsome.

Before Su Ze joined, he was the strongest of the five preparing for the Beast Taming Grand Competition.

The glow of a platinum-level summoning array was indeed very similar to a Silver grade one. Coupled with the rarity of the platinum-level, it was truly difficult for those who hadn't seen one to tell them apart.

The fact that he could recognize it at a glance suggested he had likely seen one before, or perhaps even possessed a platinum-level beast himself.

As the strongest among the sixth-year students at Azure Dragon Beast Taming University, it wasn't surprising for him to have a platinum-level demonic beast.

He spoke softly; apart from the three people beside him, Zhu Zhi on the stage didn't hear a word.

"Big Brother Kuang, are you sure it's a platinum-level demonic beast?" Li Heng, who ranked second among the five, asked. He was a lean, tall man.

Kuang Yi nodded. "I can't be wrong. This is definitely not Silver."

Ranking third was the only female among the five, Liu Yiyi. She had a curvaceous figure, dressed in a youthful and beautiful style, and was quite easy on the eyes.

Of course, she was still a bit lacking compared to Xu Yao.

She couldn't help but speak up as well. "Didn't they say this kid comes from a humble background and is an orphan? How come high-level demonic beasts keep appearing one after another with him? First Diamond, now Platinum..."

Ranking fourth was the only fifth-year student, a burly man built like a black tower named Jiang Jianbin. His concern was: "It looks like Zhu Zhi is going to be eliminated. Our rankings will have to be reshuffled because of him."

Upon hearing this, everyone paid even closer attention to the battle, wanting to see if they would be pushed down.

On the stage, although Zhu Zhi didn't know Su Ze had summoned a platinum-level beast, he knew from reports that Su Ze also had a Gold-rank Void Spirit Turtle.

Not to be outdone, he summoned both of his demonic beasts. The Silver grade Jade-scaled Snake was his first beast; it underwent Armorization, turning into a set of jade-colored armor that he wore.

In addition, there was a Gold-rank beast, the Thunder-rushing Leopard, which his family had spent a fortune to help him contract when he reached level twenty.

It underwent Weaponization, turning into a pair of claw blades flickering with purple lightning on his hands.

Zhu Zhi brought out his strongest state. In this form, he could even fight a level forty Beast Tamer; almost none of the school's teachers were a match for him.

As the saying goes, a lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit. Moreover, he hadn't underestimated Su Ze, so he showed his strongest form right from the start.

"Being defeated by me in this state, your loss will be worth it!"

But looking at Su Ze, he stopped after only summoning a single Silver grade big dog.

And the look in this dog's eyes... no matter how you looked at it, it seemed incredibly stupid.

Zhu Zhi couldn't help but shout, "Su Ze, you only summoned such a Silver grade stupid dog. Are you looking down on me?"

"Regardless, I am a level thirty-seven Beast Tamer, with a level thirty-seven Gold-rank beast and a level thirty-five Silver grade beast."

"I've brought out my strongest state, and yet you're treating me with such perfunctoriness?"

Su Ze looked at him with a strange expression. It seemed he wasn't the only one who thought the Shadow Moon Wolf King looked exactly like a dog.

Then he spoke, "Who told you this is a Silver grade demonic beast? Shadow Moon is a genuine platinum-level demonic beast!"

As soon as he said this, the whole place erupted.

"Who are you trying to fool? Do you really think high-level demonic beasts are as common as cabbages?"

"Exactly. He was just lucky enough to contract a newly hatched Diamond-rank Demonic Beast. Now he's claiming to have contracted a platinum-level one too?"

"I don't believe it!"

"I don't believe it either! This must be psychological warfare!"

"Brother, avenge me! Beat him into a pig's head too!"

...Zhu Zhi on the stage didn't believe it either, but soon he had no choice but to believe.

Facing a human who called him a big dog, Shadow Moon wouldn't show any mercy!

"You're the dog! Your whole family are dogs!"

Zhu Zhi's shadow suddenly seemed to come alive and bound him. Then, the Shadow Moon Wolf King rushed over and sent him flying with a single swipe of its paw.

Everyone was still immersed in the shock of a demonic beast actually speaking; they hadn't even realized that Zhu Zhi had been knocked off the stage in a single exchange.

"Holy... a demonic beast can actually talk?"

"I've heard that when demonic beasts reach a certain level, they can speak or even shapeshift. The higher the bloodline, the lower the level requirement for this."

"In that case... is this really a platinum-level demonic beast?"

"Wait, did you say shapeshift? Doesn't that mean everything in the 'Monster Girl Evaluation Guide' is true? Hehe..."

"You'd better be able to beat a shapeshifted demonic beast first, otherwise, be careful not to end up with nothing."

As for Zhu He, he immediately ran to Zhu Zhi's side and helped him up.

Since Zhu Zhi had landed face-first, his face looked quite spectacular at the moment.

At least seeing his brother's appearance, Zhu He suddenly felt a sense of balance. It seemed his own condition was actually quite good.

"Zhu Zhi has fallen off the stage. Su Ze wins."

With Xiao Xu's announcement, the crowd finally realized the match was over.

As they dispersed, they felt a sense of emptiness, as if they had just watched something but also seen nothing at all.

It ended far too quickly!

Even the few people by the stage couldn't help but complain, "How could Zhu Zhi be so useless? Couldn't he have lasted a bit longer? What could we even see from that?"

Kuang Yi sighed and said, "Then could you have defeated Zhu Zhi so quickly and easily?"

Among the three, two looked at each other and shook their heads.

They were Liu Yiyi and Jiang Jianbin, ranked third and fourth.

"Then it's simple. He is stronger than all of you!"

...After that, Su Ze took Zhu Zhi's place, forming the new five-person team for the competition.

The Grand Competition would begin in the second half of the year, so there was still some time.

During this period, if anyone could defeat them, the spots would still change.

Xiao Xu didn't say much else besides telling Su Ze to step up his training and strive for good results.

Su Ze gave a casual agreement and then returned to the breeding area.

This time, there was unexpectedly another person there, an acquaintance of Su Ze's.

Sun Hao from the Great Xia Spirit Guards.

Since the camp was destroyed, Su Ze had been hidden in the underground space guarding Feng Qingyi during her Nirvana.

Unable to find Su Ze to perform his bodyguard duties, Sun Hao had simply gone back to help with the reconstruction.

There were too many people when they saw off Guo Linshan last time, so Su Ze hadn't seen him alone for a while.

Sun Hao's expression looked very poor as he approached Su Ze, who had just returned.

"What's wrong, Brother Sun? Do you need something?" Su Ze asked upon seeing him.

Sun Hao nodded. "That's right. The new captain has arrived, and he wants you to return with me."

Su Ze was now a Spirit Guard after all, so he had to obey the captain's orders.

"No problem. But your expression is so grim; it seems this new captain is unfriendly?" Su Ze asked.

Sun Hao looked indignant. He opened his mouth and answered with difficulty, "Yes... the new captain is from the Jiang Family, and... he's Jiang Tianlong's father!"