96: Meeting an old friend

Su Ze took a few quick steps and climbed onto the beast's back, coming right beside Xu Yao.

"The smell on you... Have you been at Teacher Lin Xi's breeding shed these past few days?" Xu Yao asked, her delicate nose twitching slightly.

She had helped out there for a while herself, so she was very familiar with the scent.

"What a sharp nose!" Su Ze praised. He then sniffed himself; there was indeed a lingering odor.

Although he had spent most of the last three days underground, he had to pass through the pigsty to get in and out.

Furthermore, he had spent those three days sitting cross-legged to refine his power. As soon as he opened his eyes, Lin Xi had hurried him to set off, so he hadn't had time to shower. It was inevitable that he smelled a bit.

After a moment's thought, Su Ze pulled the Void Spirit Turtle out of his backpack and had it use a stream of water to give him a simple cleaning.

Once Feng Qingyi returned, she naturally reclaimed her spot in the beast taming space.

The Shadow Moon Wolf King had been a bit defiant at first, but after receiving a thorough thrashing, it had learned its lesson.

Now, whenever it saw Feng Qingyi, it would wag its tail and call her 'Big Sister,' voluntarily giving up the beast taming space and staying in the Shadow Realm instead.

Its fawning behavior made it look more like a dog than ever.

As for the Void Spirit Turtle, it was used to being carried in Su Ze's backpack. Fortunately, compared to other monsters, its size was quite miniature.

After Su Ze was rinsed all over, the Void Spirit Turtle used its superb water control skills to extract all the moisture.

Having just finished his wash, Su Ze's clothes were already dry.

In the past, the Void Spirit Turtle couldn't have managed such precision, but things were different now.

Three days of refining had significantly boosted the strength of Su Ze, the Void Spirit Turtle, and even the Shadow Moon Wolf King.

Su Ze's Spiritual Power had broken through consecutively to Level 48, and the Void Spirit Turtle remained at the same level as him.

The Shadow Moon Wolf King had even surpassed Level 50, reaching Level 53.

The five-level difference was exactly within the maximum range, allowing Su Ze to fully utilize the Shadow Moon Wolf King's power after its Weaponization.

Now, even without using Feng Qingyi's power, Su Ze could defeat Liu Yiyi and Li Heng to secure the second-place spot.

However, Su Ze still wasn't confident about facing the first-place student, Kuang Yi.

Su Ze had only fought him once recently and had been defeated in a single move—it was a total crushing.

This because he could summon two platinum-level beasts over Level 50 at the same time, one of which was a Lord-rank beast that was not inferior to the Shadow Moon Wolf King.

It was the first time Su Ze had lost to someone in terms of beast quality.

But that was in the past. Now that Feng Qingyi had returned, platinum-level beasts were no longer a concern.

After Su Ze left, Lin Xi also departed from the underground space, but he still looked back at the dragon bone in the soil from time to time. For some reason, he felt there was a slight change, yet he couldn't see anything specific.

"Maybe the last anomaly has made me paranoid," Lin Xi muttered, shaking his head as he walked away with his wine flask behind his back.

Behind him, the dragon bone quietly absorbed some unknown power dissipating in the air.

It seemed to move slightly, and it was as if an eyeball turned within its previously hollow socket.

A peculiar throb appeared within the dragon bone, like... the special power of a phoenix during Nirvana... The flying beast they were riding this time was not a low-level creature like a Griffin.

It was an adult Silver grade beast with Gold Eagle bloodline, nearly Level 50; even many teachers might not be its match.

Consequently, its speed was very fast, reaching the skies above the Imperial Capital in just half a day.

Actually, airplanes existed in this world, but they were slower than mid-level beasts. Besides, they were Beast Tamers; riding a flying beast was more fitting for their status.

Looking down from the air, the Imperial Capital was massive, about seven or eight times the size of Beishan City.

As soon as they arrived, over a dozen Beast Tamers flew toward them through the air, only letting them pass after confirming their identities.

Being able to fly on their own meant their strength was Level 60 or higher. In Beishan City, besides Lin Xi, there were only three such high-level Beast Tamers on the surface.

Here, over a dozen appeared at once, and they were just scouts sent to inquire.

No wonder the strength of Imperial Capital Beast Taming University far exceeded that of the other four schools.

Flying was not allowed at will within the Imperial Capital, so after the flying beast landed, even Xiao Xu could only walk with them to their pre-booked hotel.

The Imperial Capital could be divided into nine districts. Among them, the Southeast, North, West, and Northwest were controlled by the Four Great Families: the Jiang Family, the Zhu Family, the Qi Family, and the Xue Family.

Of the remaining five districts, except for the central district managed by the high-ranking Great Xia Committee, the South district housed the Imperial Capital Beast Taming University, the East district was the headquarters of the Beast Tamer Association, and the other two fell under the jurisdiction of the Great Xia Spirit Guards.

The Great Xia Committee was the administrative class of Great Xia. Their defining feature was that all committee members were ordinary people, serving to balance the status of Beast Tamers.

The Great Xia Committee formulated national policies for the benefit of the general public.

However, one must never underestimate them; it was said that the Great Xia Committee possessed a secret weapon.

The Azure Dragon Beast Taming University's residence was in the Southwest district, an area under the jurisdiction of the Great Xia Spirit Guards and one of the two safest regions.

The Grand Competition in a few days would also be held here to avoid any unfairness that might occur in other districts.

While Su Ze was talking to Xu Yao and following the others into the hotel, he spotted a familiar back that seemed a bit broader than before.

Xu Yao also noticed him following Su Ze's gaze. "Is that... Wang Zi?! He's here too?"

Ahead, Wang Zi was speaking flatteringly to a cold, elegant woman. Hearing someone call his name, he turned around and said, "Who is it? I didn't expect anyone in the Imperial Capital to know my name."

Then, with a look of surprise, he exclaimed, "Huh? Xu Yao, Su Ze?! You guys came too?!"

He then slapped his forehead and said with a laugh, "Look at my brain. If even I could come, there's definitely no problem for people with your talent!"

"Long time no see!"

"Long time no see!"