176: Individual competition promotion

In the round of thirty to fifteen, most contestants from the top four national academies advanced.

Except for Fang Xiaoyu, whose luck was not very good; his first match was against Pei Ran from Huaqing.

His pet beast was significantly inferior to Pei Ran's in both rank and level.

In the round of fifteen to eight, the one who received a bye was actually Chu Li.

Based on Gu Xiaoyue's experience, the officials acknowledged the Yellow Dragon as Chu Li's pet beast.

As of now in the sophomore competition group, the Yellow Dragon everyone saw was the strongest pet beast.

Last year, it was Gu Xiaoyue who received the bye, as she was the candidate the officials then considered most likely to take first place.

It seems that this year, the officials considered the owner of the Yellow Dragon to be a favorite for first place.

Gu Xiaoyue's opponent was a team member from Chongbei, also a very handsome guy with broad shoulders and eight-pack abs.

However, he conceded as soon as he stepped onto the arena.

Logically, a military academy contestant should have shown more tenacity.

However, his mindset was quite good: "Since the captain would concede when facing a powerhouse like Gu Xiaoyue, there is nothing shameful about me conceding as well."

Finally, the list of the top eight was released, and the officials set the competition schedule.

Gu Xiaoyue — Su Anxi

Chu Li — Lv Hao

He Zhichen — Duan Yao

Pei Ran — Qian Mingyu

Once the schedule was released, the student audience was extremely excited.

These matches are all battles between titans; they must be spectacular!

"Although Huaqing didn't take first place in the team competition this year, their strength is still very strong; three of the top eight are Huaqing team members!"

"However, I'm afraid they will still miss the top three this year!"

"Exactly! Not to mention Duan Yao who can fight many alone, even against that pair of masters from Nanya, they would likely suffer a narrow defeat!"

Not far away, Pei Ran heard the discussion, his fists clenched tightly, feeling indignant.

If not for Gu Xiaoyue causing his Man-Eating Flower's level to drop, how could he be unable to put up a fight against them?

Pei Ran had previously obtained a good opportunity, but he only had the Dark Realm Man-Eating Flower as his one presentable pet beast.

Therefore, when he faced Qian Mingyu, who had superior Mental Power, even though his Man-Eating Flower was at the Berserk Demon Tier, mature sixth-order late stage, it could not unleash its strength.

On the arena, even though Pei Ran used all his strength, cold sweat soaked his clothes.

But his Mental Power was simply inferior to Qian Mingyu's, and he was controlled to the point where he couldn't use his skills, ultimately leaving the arena in regret.

In the battle between He Zhichen and Duan Yao, he only shouted "concede" after one second, then quickly fled the scene.

Because he saw Duan Yao standing in the arena with an expression that looked like she wanted to eat someone.

Chu Li and Lv Hao fought heartily, and it was hard to tell who would win.

Lv Hao summoned four pet beasts, and Chu Li summoned three.

But Chu Li's Fire Phoenix was at the mature eighth-order mid-stage; although Lv Hao had more pet beasts, their levels were lower, so his stamina was relatively worse.

By the end, Lv Hao's pet beasts were exhausted, and he lost the match.

It was time for Gu Xiaoyue and Su Anxi to compete.

The two girls stood in the arena, and Su Anxi looked at Gu Xiaoyue with some sorrow.

"Gu Xiaoyue, I should thank you."

"Hmm."

Gu Xiaoyue accepted it readily.

Whether it was saving the pet beasts of Huaqing before, or exposing Min Rui's schemes against Su Anxi, she was worthy of a word of thanks from her.

"I didn't expect Rui... Min Rui had been jealous of me and plotting against me all along, even though I treated her like a sister!"

Su Anxi felt some resentment. She still remembered the day Harry's scandal was exposed, when she went to find Min Rui to question her about why she was plotting against her.

She was not a fool; she hadn't discovered Min Rui's schemes before purely because of her bias as a friend.

Now that all the facts were laid out before her, Su Anxi naturally understood the chain of cause and effect.

Min Rui had bloodshot eyes, accusing her of always showing off her family background, boyfriend, pet beast combat power, and so on...

Su Anxi was also in disbelief; it turned out her casual chatter was seen as showing off in Min Rui's eyes!

"In today's match, even if I give it my all, I am not your opponent—"

Su Anxi tucked her hair behind her ear and conceded with a calm expression.

She did not concede because of Gu Xiaoyue's previous casual help.

She conceded because she recognized the gap between them, whether in terms of pet beast strength or mental maturity.

She was not as good as Gu Xiaoyue.

The few sentences Su Anxi chatted with Gu Xiaoyue in the arena were also a way to release the pent-up frustration in her chest.

Once the top four were decided, the official schedule would only be released the next day.

Students who guessed the outcome for Huaqing said proudly: "I told you Huaqing members wouldn't even make it into the top three!"

"I think the officials arranged it this way on purpose. If they had adjusted it, they might have been able to make it into the top—top four!"

Currently, the top three in everyone's minds were decided: Gu Xiaoyue, Chu Li, and Duan Yao.

The strength of these three left everyone else far behind!

The next morning, the schedule was posted on the bulletin board.

The four contestants also received notifications separately.

Gu Xiaoyue — Qian Mingyu

Chu Li — Duan Yao

For both matches, the audience was extremely excited, thinking they would see spectacular duels.

Who would have thought that Qian Mingyu would concede as soon as he appeared.

And in the duel between Chu Li and Duan Yao.

Duan Yao asked Chu Li again to bring out the previous Yellow Dragon for the battle.

Chu Li ignored her, went straight to the referee to say he conceded, and left the competition venue.

Duan Yao bit her lip, watching Chu Li's departing back, stamping her feet in anger.

Chu Li wouldn't accept the challenge; it was like she had punched cotton, unable to use her strength!

The audience was in an uproar. Did the semi-finals end just like that?

Everyone looked at each other, and they could only wait until tomorrow to watch the finals between Gu Xiaoyue and Duan Yao, and the match between Qian Mingyu and Chu Li for third place.

The semi-finals didn't take much time, so Gu Xiaoyue spent almost the entire day practicing the Yuan Absorption skill.

With only 5% progress left, she gritted her teeth and persisted until late at night, barely managing to train the progress to 100%.

After sharing the Yuan Absorption skill, a golden experience bar actually appeared on her system panel.

Once the experience is full, the upgrade experience can be assigned to any pet beast.

Seeing this, Gu Xiaoyue regretted it so much her intestines turned green!

If she had let Xiao Mo practice the Yuan Absorption skill from the beginning and shared it first, how many spirit plants and immortal herbs could she have saved!

Gu Xiaoyue still had a few Huanpo Lotus in her hand. She planned to eat them only when she was really in a hurry, and if not, she would use the Yuan Absorption skill to upgrade slowly!

The skill she had practiced for a long time was finally shared, and thinking about the finals she had to fight tomorrow.

A sense of exhaustion surged up, and she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The battle between Chu Li and Qian Mingyu was before Gu Xiaoyue and Duan Yao.

Qian Mingyu had always thought that among the Nanya contestants, only Gu Xiaoyue could compete with his Mental Power.

He didn't know that Chu Li had absorbed a gathering spirit stone long ago and had also contracted an Immortal Tier pet beast, so his Mental Power was not inferior to his at all.

It was just that besides the Youming Tiger, the only pet beasts Chu Li had that were high enough in level to fight were the Fire Phoenix, the Lihuo Red-Eyed Beast, and the Teng Snake.

Qian Mingyu's Mental Power could not crush Chu Li, and based solely on pet beast combat power, he simply could not beat Chu Li.

The final result was that Chu Li came in third, and Qian Mingyu came in fourth.

It was time for Gu Xiaoyue and Duan Yao to compete, and the two stood in the arena.

"Referee, I want to apply to be able to attack the Beastmaster."

Duan Yao submitted the application to the referee, then turned to Gu Xiaoyue and issued a challenge.

"Gu Xiaoyue, do you want to make a bet with me?"

She raised her eyebrows and said provocatively.

"The loser gives up on Chu Li!"