77: Beast Taming Competition

Even among the freshmen at Beast Taming University, Zhu He's strength wasn't particularly outstanding.

Although rumors outside claimed his beast had died in battle and his strength had greatly diminished, he shouldn't be looked down upon to this extent, right?

So from the start, he suspected someone was behind Zhu He's actions. Now it seemed it might be the brother he mentioned.

"What's the background of Zhu He's brother? He seems quite confident," Su Ze asked curiously.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yao beside him nodded, indicating she knew. "You haven't attended many proper classes at school, so you wouldn't know."

"His brother Zhu Zhi is also a prominent figure at the school. He was the top admit three years ago, though his limelight back then still couldn't compare to yours later on."

Su Ze understood. At his age, those who had contracted a Diamond-rank Demonic Beast couldn't be said to definitely not exist, but they were certainly rare.

And the only one who had contracted a Diamond-rank Demonic Beast in front of everyone and wiped out an entire team of Fusang Dark Guards was him.

That kind of limelight probably wouldn't be surpassed by anyone in the future.

"The surname Zhu... I remember one of the Four Great Families is the Zhu Family. Could he be from the Zhu Family?"

Being targeted by the Jiang Family was already troubling enough for Su Ze. Now with another Zhu Family added, even Lin Xi might find it hard to fight against so many.

Lin Xi walked out from inside the room and said, "He is indeed considered part of the Zhu Family, but you don't need to worry too much, kid. He's from the Zhu Family in Beishan City."

"There's a Zhu Family in Beishan City too?" Su Ze asked, puzzled.

Lin Xi explained, "Yes. Unlike the Jiang Family, a newly risen family with shallow foundations, the other three families have existed in Daxia for hundreds or even thousands of years, branching out and producing countless descendants."

"Among these people, there are always some with talent who form their own families."

"They might consider themselves branch families of the Imperial Capital's Zhu Family, but whether the Zhu Family acknowledges them is uncertain, unless someone talented enough to draw the Zhu Family's attention emerges."

Su Ze nodded. Given the human reproduction rate, plus the enviable... no, the lamentable traditional practice of polygamy hundreds of years ago, who knew how many people had been produced.

If you really wanted to nitpick, probably more than half the country's population could claim some blood relation to these few great families. They certainly couldn't acknowledge everyone.

Since it wasn't the Imperial Capital's Zhu Family targeting him, Su Ze breathed a sigh of relief.

But still curious, he asked, "He was admitted three years ago, so he should be a senior now, right? Hasn't he graduated yet?"

Not graduating meant he hadn't broken through to level twenty, so he wasn't much of a concern.

But Xu Yao shook her head and said, "As far as I know, during his junior year, he could already defeat the school's teachers head-on in practical combat classes."

The practical combat teachers at Beast Taming University, like Combat Class Teacher Zhang Jian back then, started at level thirty.

He reached this level a year ago, so why hadn't he chosen to graduate yet?

Logically, the school probably couldn't teach him much anymore.

Su Ze frowned, truly unable to figure it out.

Lin Xi staggered over, lay down on the rocking chair, and said, "His strength has indeed met the graduation requirements, but he doesn't want to miss the once-in-a-decade Beast Taming Grand Competition."

"Beast Taming Grand Competition?"

Su Ze remembered hearing this term before. Xiao Xu had left Beishan City to discuss related matters in the Imperial Capital, giving the Jiang Family an opportunity to act.

Now it seemed they hadn't specifically transferred Xiao Xu away; they just took advantage of the opportunity intentionally.

"What is this Beast Taming Grand Competition?" Su Ze asked curiously.

Lin Xi took a sip of wine and said comfortably, "This Beast Taming Grand Competition is essentially an opportunity for young Beast Tamers to showcase their strength."

"Held once every ten years, the most outstanding students from the five Beast Taming Universities gather for a sparring competition. The last one standing receives generous rewards."

"What kind of rewards? To make them value it so much," Su Ze said, his eyes lighting up.

Lin Xi replied, "The rewards are different each time. Last time... it was three platinum-level demon beast eggs."

"That's it?" Su Ze shook his head in disappointment.

Whether his drop rate had increased along with his level or not, Su Ze felt he was getting drops more frequently lately.

He had already drawn two platinum eggs alone. Three platinum demon beast eggs—this reward really didn't impress him much.

Lin Xi seemed to sense Su Ze losing interest and added, "But based on the timing, this year's reward should be the same as sixty years ago: a wutong fruit."

"wutong fruit?" Su Ze knew about wutong trees. Although also called phoenix trees, with the saying 'phoenixes perch on wutong trees,' in the end, they were just ordinary street trees.

But since it could be used as the final prize for the Beast Taming Grand Competition, this wutong fruit must be extraordinary.

Just as he was about to ask further, he heard Lin Xi say, "Actually, it's not particularly special. It's just that the fruit has the effect of purifying bloodlines. It's said to have a certain probability of helping demon beasts break through their limits, even having some effect on Diamond-rank Demonic Beasts. Of course, only the first one is effective."

Su Ze understood and was tempted.

What did breaking through limits mean?

It meant it could turn a Platinum demon beast with a cap of level ninety into a Diamond-rank demon beast with a cap of level one hundred!

He was targeted by the Jiang Family precisely because he had a Diamond-rank Demonic Beast. They would certainly value this wutong fruit highly too.

And from what he understood now, among Diamond-rank Demonic Beasts, there were upper, middle, and lower tiers, based on the level and concentration of divine beast bloodlines they possessed.

His Golden Feather Phoenix Bird belonged to the upper tier because it had the bloodline of the top divine beast, the Phoenix, allowing it to level up all the way to one hundred.

Xiao Sheng's Biyun Flood Dragon possessed the bloodline of the dragon clan, another top demon beast, and could also easily reach level one hundred.

But for ordinary Diamond-rank Demonic Beasts, every level after ninety-five was a hurdle.

So this wutong fruit still had an effect even on Diamond-rank Demonic Beasts.

Since there was a chance to compete for such a treasure, Zhu Zhi naturally didn't want to graduate just like that.

But the question was, why was he targeting him?

Was he not confident in his own strength, thinking it better to snatch a Diamond-rank Demonic Beast directly than to compete for the wutong fruit?

That didn't seem right either, because this premise assumed he still had a Diamond-rank Demonic Beast.

But if he was confident enough to challenge Su Ze, who had a Diamond-rank Demonic Beast, why would he fear the so-called Beast Taming Grand Competition?

Just as Su Ze was pondering the other's motives, accompanied by the sound of high heels, the only teacher Su Ze had attended classes with, Chen Xin, the teacher of the Beast Taming Breeding and Reproduction Class, appeared before Su Ze after a long time.

Waving to him, she said, "Student Su Ze, Principal Xiao asked me to fetch you!"