103: The match begins

"You've really gotten me into trouble this time; I've instantly become the target of everyone's criticism," Su Ze said with a bitter smile.

Beside him, Xu Yao stuck out her tongue and deliberately patted her belly affectionately, which drove the crowd even crazier.

Seeing this, Su Ze didn't explain but instead walked over to Xu Yao, supported her, and said, "Look at you, with such a big belly and still not being careful. Let me help you."

This actually left Xu Yao somewhat at a loss.

Su Ze then leaned close to her ear and added fuel to the fire, saying, "Next time, it won't be fake."

Beside them, Xu Yiming coughed lightly and whispered, "Ahem, I'm still here. You two should be a bit more careful."

However, he didn't stop or expose them, only reminded them to be careful before returning to the group of teachers.

The crowd lamented, "It's over. It looks like even Teacher Xu tacitly acknowledges their relationship. My goddess... will become a married woman from now on!"

But someone else said, "A married woman... why do I find that even more appealing?"

Su Ze paid extra attention to this person, marking him as a key target for vigilance.

Thus, under the gaze of the crowd that wished they could tear him to pieces, they finally arrived at the venue for this Beast Taming Grand Competition.

This was a structure resembling a massive colosseum, built with a steel framework like a Dragon's Nest, and its name was indeed "Dragon's Nest."

At the main entrance, tens of thousands of people were queuing to enter.

They were all spectators of this grand event. It was said that tickets for better seats had even been hyped up to hundreds of thousands each, yet people still bought them.

However, what they could watch was only the group stage; the elimination rounds would take place in another location.

Only people from the five Beast Taming Universities were allowed to go and watch the matches. Xu Yao and Wang Zi's privileges as outstanding students to spectate were used here.

As participants, Su Ze and the others naturally didn't need to queue with the others to enter. Instead, they entered through a side door, were taken backstage, and then led to the preparation room belonging to Azure Dragon Beast Taming University.

White Tiger Beast Taming University's room was right next to theirs, with the other two universities nearby as well. Only Imperial Capital Beast Taming University was somewhere else, flaunting their uniqueness.

In the room, only the five of them and a few teachers remained.

It was only at this point that the grouping situation was handed to them.

As the number four seed, Su Ze was placed in the last group, which was the fifth group.

In this group, besides him as the number four seed, there were also the number four seeds from White Tiger and Vermilion Bird Beast Taming Universities, as well as the number five seed from Black Tortoise University and the number nine seed from Imperial Capital Beast Taming University.

It could be said that although they were the fifth group, their strength was even higher than that of the fourth group.

This was not good news for the others besides Su Ze.

As for the other number one, two, and three seeds, they would not be grouped with them.

After receiving the grouping results, Li Heng, as the number two seed, had the most unpleasant expression.

"Brothers, it looks like I'll have to say goodbye early. I'm in the third group, but it has two number one seeds from White Tiger and Black Tortoise Universities, plus the number six seed from Imperial Capital Beast Taming University. It seems I'm probably done for..."

Apart from him and Su Ze, the grouping situations for the others were relatively acceptable.

Even if they couldn't compete for first place, they could likely advance to the elimination rounds as second place.

The other students had been led to the spectator stands. In the best viewing seats not sold to the public, students from several schools sat together.

Logically, Xu Yao, with her outstanding appearance, would often be harassed tirelessly at times like this, but today, perhaps thanks to her attire, no one came to hit on her.

Only Wang Zi walked over with a shocked expression, "My goodness, Su Ze is so efficient! I was only gone for three days, and you've progressed this fast?"

Xu Yao rolled her eyes at him speechlessly. Wang Zi clearly knew the hatching conditions of her demon beast egg, so he should have guessed from the start, yet he still came over pretending.

"How's your progress over there?" Xu Yao inquired.

She had been incubating for three days without any changes, so she couldn't help but feel a bit anxious.

She took this opportunity to ask about Wang Zi's progress.

At this, Wang Zi's mood became quite good as he said, "Hey, it's going pretty well so far. It's started to crack now, but the little one inside seems to really like the environment I built for it and isn't willing to come out of the shell yet."

"Fortunately, I can afford the electricity bill of hundreds of thousands a day. An ordinary person really wouldn't be able to manage this."

Hearing this, Xu Yao nodded. Wang Zi had sped up the hatching process by continuously spending money.

Her incubation method was the simplest, so it made sense that it would take longer.

"At worst, I'll really go through a ten-month pregnancy and incubate for ten months to see what comes out."

...In the center of the Dragon's Nest venue, a huge arena was set up, which would be the stage for the upcoming matches.

The wood used to build the arena was still the common plant-type demon beast, Ironwood.

Unlike the arena Su Ze had once used, built with ten-year-old black iron grade Ironwood, this arena was mainly constructed with hundreds-year-old Silver grade Ironwood and thousand-year-old Gold-rank Ironwood. The main support was even a platinum-level Ironwood Tree Emperor, which had grown for nearly ten thousand years.

If it hadn't gone berserk for some unknown reason and injured people, it probably wouldn't have been cut down but would have remained quietly in place as a tourist attraction.

After all, plant-type demon beasts are generally like ordinary plants, preferring tranquility and posing no threat to humans.

But once they go berserk, plant-type demon beasts often cause more terrifying damage than ordinary demon beasts.

Because plant-type demon beasts are not only larger in size, but their extensive root systems buried deep underground are even more horrifying, extending who knows how many kilometers in radius and penetrating deep into the soil.

When this platinum-level Ironwood Tree Emperor went berserk, it caused a strong earthquake for over a dozen surrounding cities.

In the end, it took a Level 100 War God to subdue it. At that time, Xiao Sheng hadn't grown up yet, so it must have been another mysterious Level 100 War God who intervened.

Now, the main support for building this arena was just a small branch from the Ironwood Tree Emperor.

After all the seats in the spectator stands were basically filled, five people slowly walked onto the arena.

Among these five, Xiao Xu was the youngest, while the other four were already white-haired and aged.

They were the presidents of the five Beast Taming Universities. The one in the center was the president of Imperial Capital Beast Taming University, named Xue Yu, with the other four presidents slightly half a step behind him.

He was not only the president of Imperial Capital Beast Taming University but also a member of the Xue Family, the oldest and most powerful among the Four Great Families.

The other three families also had people holding important positions at Imperial Capital Beast Taming University. For example, Jiang Chen from the Jiang Family was the vice president.

The statuses of the other two were similar to his, creating a delicate balance.

After the five arrived on the arena, they first signaled for everyone to quiet down.

Then, Xue Yu stepped forward and delivered a series of rather clichéd opening remarks.

It was mostly about how friendship comes first and competition second, along with thanking the sponsors.

Just as everyone was starting to feel drowsy, Xiao Xu took over to announce.

The competition officially begins!