110: Auction Catalogue

Gu Xiaoyue was stunned. What was going on?

Did she not pass?

Before she could speak, Ye Wanrou sobbed, "I missed it by just one point! If I'd gotten one more question wrong, I wouldn't have passed!"

Gu Xiaoyue let out a sigh of relief. Just one point—

"It's okay, it's okay. As long as you passed, that's all that matters. I also missed passing by one point before. When we get back to school, you should spend more time in the library. The intermediate assessment is even harder."

"Mhm."

Ye Wanrou wiped away her tears and nodded aggrievedly.

Fang Xiaoyu thoughtfully helped them get the forms and even guided Ye Wanrou on how to fill them out.

After the staff entered the data into the Beastmaster Association's brain, the brain set the order for entering the fierce beast simulator based on their ranks.

Everyone passed the practical assessment quite smoothly, except for Chu Li.

A mature stage-one pet fighting a mature stage-five fierce beast was, as expected, a bit strenuous.

Chu Li tried his best to have the Fire Phoenix and Xiao Li control the fierce beast, while the Azure Dragon used Sand Throw and poison mist to distract it.

Actually, if Chu Li used the Youming Tiger and went directly into the hidden space, he would have passed this assessment very easily.

However, that was his trump card and couldn't be exposed in front of others.

If he really had to use the Youming Tiger, it would be better to just fail the assessment and come back to challenge it when his strength was sufficient.

Fortunately, although it took some effort, Chu Li still passed the assessment.

When Gu Xiaoyue received her Master-level Beastmaster badge, the system's chime arrived right on cue, "Ding—Detected that the host has become a Master-level Beastmaster—New achievement, Master-level Beastmaster (Unlocked), rewarded with 3600 points, one Huanpo Lotus—"

Since she had been to the Lianxin Waterfall, the increase in her Beastmaster rank no longer caused her intense pain.

She opened the system shop to see what had been unlocked at the Master level.

1500 points—shaping flower!

Gu Xiaoyue was very satisfied. Each pet could use two shaping flowers, and combined with their original form, they could switch between three forms at will.

However, switching would consume the Beastmaster's Mental Power.

Xiao Qi was already at the late stage-four mature level, so she fed the system-rewarded Huanpo Lotus to Xiao Qi.

Once it completely absorbed the energy of the Huanpo Lotus, she would be able to shape Xiao Qi!

Just the thought of it made Gu Xiaoyue a little excited.

Since everyone had passed the assessment, the big meal Gu Xiaoyue had promised naturally couldn't be missed.

Counting the days, Nanya was already on break, and Fang Xiaoyu and Zhuang Yanxin also proposed that it was time to go home during the meal.

Ye Wanrou had a bit too much to drink and, slightly tipsy, said goodbye to Fang Xiaoyu and Zhuang Yanxin, telling them to see each other at the academy in a month.

Not long after, she fell asleep. Her hangover prevented her from even getting up to see Fang Xiaoyu and the others off.

Originally, Gu Xiaoyue thought she could wait peacefully for the day of the Xiao Family's auction.

Unexpectedly, three days before the auction, she received a call from Ye Wanrou.

"Gu Xiaoyue! You heartless girl! Can we still be sisters?!"

Ye Wanrou started scolding her right from the start. Gu Xiaoyue was a bit confused; what was wrong?

"You're going to the Xiao Family's auction, so why didn't you tell me?"

So that was why. Just as Gu Xiaoyue was about to explain, Ye Wanrou continued on the other end of the line: "Wait for me at home. I'm calling Lin Zhiyi, Chu Li, and Shui Lingyu to come find you at your place!"

Less than an hour later, Ye Wanrou arrived at Gu Xiaoyue's house.

Accompanying her were Chu Li, Shui Lingyu, Chen Yixuan, Ye Junhe, and Lin Zhiyi.

"Rou Rou, listen to me explain—"

Gu Xiaoyue was about to speak but was interrupted by Ye Wanrou, "Xiao Yue, I know you didn't tell me because you were afraid I'd be in danger, but—"

Ye Wanrou slapped a small booklet onto the table with a "thud," "See for yourself!"

Gu Xiaoyue opened the booklet suspiciously—it was the auction catalog for the Xiao Family's auction.

If it were just an auction catalog, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it also included brief profiles of the item owners.

It listed the owners of the Xisui Spring Water, Soul Exchange Fruit, tianling fruit, and hua yu fruit—Gu Xiaoyue, a student at Nanya Academy, first place in the freshman group of the National Competition, and the youngest Master-level Beastmaster in the Dragon Kingdom.

Gu Xiaoyue's brows knitted together. She had felt that Xiao Mingyan's gaze was wrong that day.

That gaze—it felt like a snake, with the oppressive feeling of staring at prey.

"If it weren't for my cousin receiving an invitation, I would still be kept in the dark by you! I know you were afraid I'd be in danger, but since you knew it was walking into a tiger's den, why did you still insist on going!"

As Ye Wanrou spoke, tears were about to fall.

Lin Zhiyi also took an invitation out of his bag, "I received one too. I'm afraid it's not just the aristocratic families in Qingyu City; the Shui Family in Hechuan, the Duan Family in Kyoto, the He Family in Linqi, and the Lu and Su Families in Dancheng will all receive invitations."

Shui Lingyu held a different attitude, "Perhaps my cousin has no ill intentions. It's not unprecedented to introduce the owners alongside the item descriptions."

Upon hearing this, Chu Li slammed the table and said furiously: "Among the owners, except for the seller of this qiu mu grass who is a quasi-legendary, everyone else is at least legendary or even quasi-mythical level! Besides, their items are just so-so. Look at the items Xiao Yue is providing, plus the profile—isn't this clearly telling everyone—'I'm a fat sheep, come slaughter me!'"

Chu Li's words left Shui Lingyu speechless. Even Ye Wanrou understood this logic; he was just deceiving himself.

"If my cousin intends to make a move on Xiao Yue, I will persuade him."

Shui Lingyu lowered his eyes and sighed.

Ye Wanrou, however, was relentless, "The problem is, the Xiao Family has already pushed Xiao Yue into the spotlight. I'm afraid the road to the auction venue won't be peaceful for Xiao Yue! Even if you say something now, it's useless!"

Ye Junhe nodded from the side, "The invitations and auction catalogs have already been sent out. Many aristocratic families in the Dragon Kingdom already know that Gu Xiaoyue is like a treasure. Although the specific quantities aren't written in the catalog, the scarcity of these resources is enough to make many people take risks."

Gu Xiaoyue's mind was racing. Given the current situation, regardless of whether she attended this auction, she was already a target.

If she didn't go to the auction venue, she would have even less chance of getting the han jiang grass and Golden Herb.

Although her pets were strong enough and her own talent and Mental Power were unrivaled among her peers, for those veteran Beastmasters, taking her life would be as easy as reaching into a bag!

"Why doesn't Xiao Yue just ditch the Xiao Family and not go to the auction!"

Ye Wanrou didn't want Gu Xiaoyue to take risks. Shui Lingyu then said, "I will go explain to my cousin—that my cousin withdrawing is none of your business!"

Gu Xiaoyue stared at the auction catalog, "Do you guys know the provider of this immortal-rank pet egg?"

The few of them looked at it and shook their heads, indicating they didn't know.

Logically speaking, the Xiao Family's auction catalog had already been released. If something happened to the items or the owners, others would think the Xiao Family's manpower was incompetent and unable to protect the safety of the items and the owners.

Then the Xiao Family's reputation would drop, and it would affect their ability to hold auctions in the future.

Gu Xiaoyue didn't know about Xiao Mingyan's pets, but Xiao Yun definitely didn't have an immortal-rank pet!

Did they bring out an immortal-rank pet egg just to lure her in?

Little did they know, the Golden Herb was even more attractive to Gu Xiaoyue!

As long as Gu Xiaoyue could safely reach the auction venue, Xiao Mingyan wouldn't make a move in order to protect the Xiao Family's reputation—or he would wait until after the auction ended!

But now, how could she break the deadlock?

Just as she was thinking about it, Gu Xiaoyue's brain rang—