95: Set off

By the time Su Ze arrived, Lin Xi was unusually not lying around being lazy; instead, he was standing at the entrance to the underground space.

He greeted Su Ze upon seeing him. "Yo, I felt some fluctuations underground and was just about to head down to take a look. Since you've rushed over in such a hurry, it seems that Little Phoenix has awakened?"

"In that case, I don't need to go down."

He then strolled back leisurely, leaving Su Ze to open the passage and head down alone.

After entering the underground area, Su Ze headed straight for the furnace where Feng Qingyi was undergoing Nirvana.

The entire furnace had now turned completely red, and the high temperature made the surrounding air ripple like the surface of water.

The furnace was also melting, dripping molten iron onto the floor.

Su Ze summoned the Void Spirit Turtle and cast a water shield around himself to withstand the intense heat as he approached the furnace.

He looked inside and saw that Feng Qingyi within the furnace had already awakened.

She was stretching her body, absorbing the final remnants of the fire seed's power.

The moment she saw Su Ze, everything was just completed.

After letting out a long cry, the furnace, which was nearly fully melted, instantly exploded, sending molten iron flying in all directions.

The water prison surrounding Su Ze could no longer hold; he had to pull out the void spirit shield to block the subsequent splashes of molten iron.

"master! I'm back! Quick, look at me now—am I beautiful?"

Avian demonic beasts are exceptionally concerned about their feathers and appearance, and a phoenix is no exception.

Feng Qingyi excitedly approached Su Ze; she had now entered the growth stage.

Her transformation was no longer that of a little girl as before, but had become a young maiden only a head shorter than Su Ze.

Leaning against Su Ze like this made him very uncomfortable, mainly because Feng Qingyi had withdrawn her flames to avoid hurting him, which meant there were no flames to obscure her now.

It could be said that everything was visible at a glance, a sight one would find hard to look away from.

Su Ze quickly covered his eyes and reminded her, "Manifest some clothes first before you say anything else."

Only then did Feng Qingyi realize her impropriety, and a fiery red dress, just like before, appeared on her body.

"I'm ready!"

Su Ze finally lowered his hands and looked Feng Qingyi over.

In her maiden form, she was even more captivating than before, especially those phoenix eyes, which were soul-stirring.

But what Su Ze wanted to know more was how her current strength fared.

"Species: Golden Feather Phoenix Bird (Divine Beast Phoenix Bloodline);"

"Bloodline: diamond rank (evolvable);"

"Level: Level 75 (Growth Stage);"

"Skills: Death Fire Line, Solar Flare, Bathing in Fire...;"

"Innate Skills: Phoenix Fire, Nirvana (twice)."

"A Level 75 Diamond-rank Demonic Beast... if no accidents happen, the championship should be secured!" Su Ze said excitedly.

Just as he was about to lead Feng Qingyi out of the underground space, he suddenly stopped.

Because he felt a surge of power coming from the other side of the contract.

"I almost forgot about the contract feedback when a demonic beast advances."

As he spoke, he pulled a box of pure, military-grade quenching thought beads from his robe.

"There's still some time before the Grand Competition begins. Combined with these quenching thought beads, it should help me raise my strength by another level."

Although Feng Qingyi's strength was already great, he, as her master, had become a liability.

If Feng Qingyi were allowed to fight independently, then if she were tied down for even a moment, the enemy could just eliminate him, the master.

Choosing to fight via weaponization indeed avoided this problem, but with Su Ze's current Spiritual Power, he couldn't manipulate the weapon Feng Qingyi transformed into for long; this was also a drawback.

Therefore, improving his own strength was the most important thing.

Soon, Su Ze sat down cross-legged on the spot under the influence of this power and began to rapidly refine it with the help of the quenching thought beads.

Time flew by, and three days passed.

During this time, Su Ze had not emerged from the underground space, and Feng Qingyi stayed by his side to protect him.

Lin Xi had also curiously come down once to take a look, but seeing Su Ze refining power for a breakthrough, he did not disturb him.

However, today was the day of departure. Several massive flying demonic beasts were crouched on the training grounds, ready to take off at any moment.

Everyone was ready to head to the Imperial Capital for the Beast Taming Grand Competition, but Su Ze was nowhere to be seen.

"Xiao Yao, do you know where Su Ze went?" Xu Yiming asked his daughter.

Xu Yiming was following behind Principal Xiao Xu in his capacity as a team teacher.

Xu Yao, as an outstanding first-year student, had obtained an opportunity to accompany the team and observe the matches.

This was also a great learning opportunity for her. Basically, every school would bring their most outstanding students from each grade to watch the competition.

Xu Yiming was well aware of the relationship between Xu Yao and Su Ze, but since they were both adults, he not only didn't stop it but was very supportive.

But Xu Yao shook her head, also looking worried. "I don't know either. I even went to the Great Xia Spirit Guards to ask. After Brother Su Ze appeared three days ago, he hasn't been there since."

The group waited for a while longer. Now, only Su Ze was missing, which finally caused dissatisfaction among some people.

"Principal Xiao Xu, we can't waste time for one person! If he never shows up, how long are we supposed to wait?"

"Exactly, waiting like this isn't the way."

"It just so happens that Zhu Zhi is also here. I propose we reinstate Zhu Zhi's eligibility to compete and continue with the original team for the competition!"

"That's right!"

...Zhu Zhi, who had originally obtained the chance to observe as an outstanding senior representative, had his eyes light up upon hearing this.

"I have a chance again?"

But Xiao Xu frowned and said, "No rush, let's wait a bit more. Wait for half an hour. We need him..."

The other teachers had no choice but to shut up; it was only half an hour, after all.

However, what they didn't understand was why Xiao Xu placed such importance on Su Ze.

We need him?

Originally, Su Ze was indeed considered a top-tier genius for being lucky enough to contract a Diamond-rank Demonic Beast.

But now that he had lost his Diamond-rank Demonic Beast, his strength could only rank fourth among the five. Why was he absolutely needed?

Azure Dragon Beast Taming University's hope for the championship lay with the number one ranked Kuang Yi, so whether the fourth or fifth spot was Su Ze or Zhu Zhi didn't matter.

But that wasn't what Xiao Xu was thinking.

"How is this kid not ready yet... This is your chance, and it's my chance too!"

Half an hour passed quickly. Even though Xiao Xu was the principal, he couldn't forcefully keep everyone any longer.

However, Xiao Xu still didn't follow their suggestion to replace Su Ze, saying, "There are still a few days before the competition. We're just going early to adapt to the environment. Why is everyone in such a hurry?"

"Since everyone can't wait, let's set off first. We'll wait for Su Ze to catch up in the Imperial Capital. As long as he can arrive before the competition starts, there's no problem. If he can't make it, then we'll talk about replacing him!"

But in fact, everyone knew that although the competition was still a few days away, the list of participants had to be submitted in advance to facilitate the grouping arrangements.

If it really went as Xiao Xu said, by the time it was certain Su Ze couldn't come, it would be impossible to change personnel, and they would have to forfeit.

Just as everyone was about to continue persuading Xiao Xu, Su Ze finally came running from a distance.

"Sorry... sorry, I'm late!"

Xiao Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief and said loudly, "Then get up here quickly! We're ready to set off!"