282: New Events

Gu Xiaoyue secretly perked up her small ears, wanting to hear their conversation, but the sleepiness came over her, and she didn't hear anything before falling asleep.

Gu Yu didn't try to keep her; he, too, was deeply blaming himself.

If he hadn't been swayed by so-called familial affection, he wouldn't have put his whole family in such a dangerous situation.

Under the dim light, Gu Yu and Mu Qingning remained silent, and both had found answers in their hearts—

The next day, early in the morning, Gu Xiaoyue went to the transportation station.

Chu Li, Shui Lingyu, Duan Yao, and He Zhichen were already waiting for her.

She didn't know how Gu Yu and Mu Qingning had talked afterward, nor did she ask too much.

It was already beyond her purview; she could only try her best to ensure their safety.

The problems in their marriage were for them to resolve themselves.

As for the rest, perhaps divorce would be safer for Mu Qingning.

Upon arriving at the National Team training camp in Kyoto, in addition to Lv Hao and Su Anxi, Gu Xiaoyue was surprised to see Qian Mingyu, Pei Ran, and Ye Junhe.

She was a little surprised but didn't show it too obviously; she just looked at Chu Li with an inquiring gaze.

“More than half a year ago, the World Championships competition system changed a bit, adding single-attribute competitions.

Many smaller countries jointly proposed this because they lacked the capital to contend with major powers in overall strength, so they hoped for a genius with an advantage in a single attribute.”

Chu Li explained to Gu Xiaoyue that this had happened after she was sent to the distorted space, so it was normal for her not to know.

“Although single-attribute medals are not as valuable as those from the original events, winning a medal in this category still counts as being among the global elite—”

Gu Xiaoyue nodded knowingly. China's population was already the largest globally, so this proposal would simply allow China to win a few more medals.

In the 18-25 age group, most were familiar faces from the National Competition, with only Wei Liuyu being relatively unique.

Gu Xiaoyue didn't want to bother with her, but she kept looking at her with resentful eyes.

Only after asking Coach Huo did she learn that due to Duan Yao's inclusion, Wei Liuyu might not even get a chance to play as a substitute.

And because in the current National Team, besides Su Anxi, only Gu Xiaoyue was familiar with Duan Yao, the two often did activities together.

This made Wei Liuyu feel that they were isolating her, and Duan Yao had also entered the National Team because Gu Xiaoyue introduced her to Coach Huo.

It just goes to show that Wei Liuyu and Wei Liuyun are indeed from the same family, with the same temperament; instead of focusing on their own strength, they spend all day contemplating trivial matters.

It's no wonder their Mental Power is prone to problems!

With less than two months until the World Championships, Coach Huo advised everyone not to use spiritual plants and Immortal Tier herbs for their pet beasts anymore.

He was afraid that if they used something, the pet beasts might enter a dormant state and affect the competition.

The specific competition content had also been explained to everyone many times. The Beastmaster's philosophy is to develop based on their own advantages.

Generally, they only focus on two or three of their attributes.

There are almost no cases like Gu Xiaoyue, who has twelve attributes and develops them relatively evenly.

When Coach Huo asked her if she wanted to sign up for single-attribute competitions, Gu Xiaoyue felt that she could probably get into the global top three by signing up for Thunder Attribute and Mental Power.

After all, Xiao Qi was already Lord-level, and his Thunder Attribute skills were already at the perfect level.

In terms of Mental Power, she could already summon eight pet beasts simultaneously, which had already broken historical records.

If it weren't for the single-attribute competition limiting each person to a maximum of three attributes.

Gu Xiaoyue even wanted to sign up for all twelve attributes!

There was no rush to register for the single-attribute competition; unlike previous events, it required registration at the competition venue one week before the World Championships.

Because it was a newly added event, one could register anytime before the official start of the single-attribute competition.

This arrangement was very flexible, precisely because many countries' Beastmasters were not only on the National Team but also held important positions.

They might still be defending their countries against fierce beasts until just before the World Championships registration.

This noon, after Gu Xiaoyue and Duan Yao finished half a day of intense training, they were eating with Chu Li and Shui Lingyu in the cafeteria.

Duan Yao sighed, feeling increasingly nervous as the World Championships approached.

Gu Xiaoyue, on the other hand, frowned, looking at Wei Liuyu staring at them from not far away.

She wasn't particularly nervous about the competition; she just felt that there were too many points to pay attention to in the competition process, making it overly cumbersome.

Fortunately, China had provided them with an assistant team, and they were already starting to make contact.

Upon arriving in Sun Never Sets, each of Gu Xiaoyue's and the others' competition procedures, including their food, clothing, housing, and transportation, would be handled by dedicated personnel, so they wouldn't need to worry about it themselves.

“Xiao Yao, what a coincidence today!”

A man in a beige sweater came over to greet Duan Yao.

Duan Yao looked up and saw the person, and her face couldn't help but flush.

“Brother Zhuochen—”

“Something happened at our cafeteria today, so we were arranged to eat here. I wondered if I would meet you, and I really did!”

Duan Zhuochen smiled and nodded, greeting Gu Xiaoyue, Chu Li, and Shui Lingyu one by one before going to the cafeteria counter to get his meal.

Gu Xiaoyue felt that his demeanor was somewhat similar to Shui Lingyu's; even if a young master from a prominent family, like Xiao Mingyan, was rotten inside, they would still appear gentle and refined on the surface.

Since he was from the Duan Family and a National Team member, his strength must be top-notch.

Among the people she knew, Qian Ce was the strongest, but he hadn't made it into the National Team.

One could imagine how formidable the strength of the other competition group was!

Gu Xiaoyue and the others had finished their meals, but the blush on Duan Yao's face hadn't faded, and she occasionally stole glances at Duan Zhuochen's movements.

“What's going on with you?”

Gu Xiaoyue noticed Duan Yao's unusual behavior, the kind where a young girl's feelings can't be hidden, and secretly pinched the soft flesh on the inside of her arm.

“Ouch—”

Duan Yao couldn't help but exclaim, then quickly covered her mouth, scanning her surroundings cautiously, seemingly afraid of attracting too much attention from others.

After confirming it was safe, she secretly leaned into Gu Xiaoyue's ear and whispered.

“Before I came down the mountain this time, my master told me that the Duan Family intended to arrange an engagement between me and him—”

Gu Xiaoyue's eyes widened by two points when she heard this. How much gossip had she missed during her year away?!

Duan Yao had signed a marriage contract with Xiao Hang, so Xiao Hongjun should have gone to the Duan Family early to propose marriage and arrange their engagement and alliance.

Why was Duan Yao now to be engaged to Duan Zhuochen?

In less than a minute, Gu Xiaoyue felt her CPU was about to burn out.

Not to mention that she still felt Duan Yao preferred Chu Li, but just thinking about how the previous engagement with Xiao Hang was handled made her mind a complete mess.

“Uh, I forgot to tell you—

The Xiao Family Head did go to the Duan Family to propose marriage, wanting me and Xiao Hang to get engaged first.

But the Duan Family Head used the excuse that I had already been engaged for a long time, which I personally didn't know about, to fend him off.

Even if the Duan Family didn't acknowledge the previously signed marriage contract, I knew that the Duan Family had paid a lot of compensation to the Xiao Family Head for this—”

As Duan Yao spoke, her expression was a mix of grievance and indignation.

It was clearly Xiao Yun, in collusion with Xiao Mingyan, who had kidnapped her, but later it became her fault!

Gu Xiaoyue patted Duan Yao's back comfortingly and sighed.

“Just consider it the ransom paid after being kidnapped; we were just too careless back then!”

Of course, the matter wouldn't end there; even if the Xiao Family accepted the betrothal gifts for violating the marriage contract, they wouldn't let it go easily!

In the business world, the Duan Family and Xiao Family were evenly matched, but in terms of Yu Beast strength, Duan Yao and Duan Zhuochen were not just outstanding, they could even be said to be one in ten thousand!

As for the younger generation on the Xiao Family's side, Xiao Yun's talent was originally quite good.

However, she only thought of crooked ways, and her Immortal Tier pet beast egg, which hadn't even had its attributes cleansed, was stolen. Furthermore, her beloved Shui Lingyu got engaged to Gu Xiaoyue.

Xiao Yun's Mental Power also seemed to have some problems, making her even less capable of taking on great responsibilities!

As for the Duan Family's idea of keeping their wealth within the family, it was also normal, but from Xiao Hongjun's perspective, he would only feel that the Duan Family's actions were unethical.

Gu Xiaoyue then recalled the records made by the leader of Planet Fina in the ancient ruins illusion.

The Duan Family's ancestors had a very powerful Yu Beast bloodline, and they continued to have fortuitous encounters. Duan Yao being chosen by her master to go up the mountain for training and growth was absolutely no coincidence!

“So, what are you thinking?”

Gu Xiaoyue poked Duan Yao again. Duan Zhuochen was handsome and gentle; if he was as good on the inside as he was on the outside, he would indeed be a man to entrust one's life to.

Duan Yao just lowered her head shyly, saying she didn't know, but her eyes were secretly glancing at Chu Li.