Another Fire Phoenix

Shui Lingyu, who was waiting for Gu Xiaoyue at the training ground, didn't mind too much that the clingy Chu Li was following along.

"Junior Chu is really quite clingy!"

Shui Lingyu teased Chu Li and continued, "I asked Junior Gu out today to discuss the National Competition."

Chu Li didn't respond, only staring at Shui Lingyu with some hostility; he also wanted to hear what Shui Lingyu had to say about the National Competition.

As it turned out, Shui Lingyu just wanted to acquire the event rewards Gu Xiaoyue would receive from the National Competition.

The National Competition is divided into team matches and individual matches, with tracks separated by grade level.

There wasn't much to say about the team matches; every reputable higher education institution in the Dragon Kingdom would participate, with about 100 teams per grade level.

As for the individual matches, only contestants who placed in the top ten within their school were eligible to participate.

Nanya placed fifth almost every year, with no suspense, and the rewards weren't particularly generous.

Shui Lingyu had his eye on Gu Xiaoyue, believing she had a good chance of placing in the top three in the individual matches, so he wanted to secure her rewards in advance.

Chu Li scoffed, thinking Shui Lingyu had a clever scheme, "Xiao Yue and I have discussed it; I will be the captain for the team competition."

"As for the individual matches, we will definitely use the resources we obtain ourselves first, and only sell what we don't need."

"Does Senior know the content of the rewards for this competition?"

Shui Lingyu offered his usual gentle smile, "There is no news yet, but with the addition of Junior Chu and Junior Gu this year, the National Competition should be very interesting!"

Chu Li was noncommittal about Shui Lingyu's words, and the hostility he had originally displayed subsided slightly.

However, one of Shui Lingyu's immediate actions caused Chu Li's alarm bells to ring, making him wish he could make him disappear from Nanya Academy.

He saw Shui Lingyu summon a pet beast, a mature stage 2 late-phase Fire Phoenix.

Gu Xiaoyue was slightly surprised; she had always thought the Qingluan Fire Phoenix appeared as a pair.

It seemed that Chu Li had put a lot of effort into obtaining his initial Fire Phoenix and her Qingluan.

How could she know that those Qingluan Fire Phoenix were prepared for the Chu Family Head, for Chu Li and his future granddaughter-in-law.

The original Chu Li didn't know either; it was the reincarnated Chu Li who took them out from the Chu Family's treasury!

Shui Lingyu spoke slowly, "I only found out last month that Junior's pet beast was a Qingluan. Before I could get to know you, you had already entered the freshman secret realm."

"I was worried about being too abrupt before, so I only wanted to ask you today if you would like to practice summoning skill with me."

Chu Li was about to explode—this, this, wasn't this trying to steal his home?!

"Xiao Yue and I are already too busy practicing summoning skill, where would she find the time to practice with you?"

Shui Lingyu stared into Gu Xiaoyue's eyes, that pool of autumn water threatening to drown her, "One million star coins per hour!"

Chu Li's fists were clenched; wasn't this situation exactly the same as his at the beginning!

He was truly afraid that Gu Xiaoyue would get carried away and agree to Shui Lingyu.

Gu Xiaoyue hesitated for a moment, then said very seriously to Shui Lingyu, "Senior, you also know that the National Competition is in two months. We need to train as a team and build rapport, so I'm afraid I can't spare the time to practice summoning skill with you."

Shui Lingyu seemed to have been mentally prepared that she would use the National Competition as an excuse, and he was neither angry nor annoyed.

Gu Xiaoyue continued, "Actually, Senior must be busy training too. If there is time, we can arrange to practice together."

Shui Lingyu said "okay" with a slight blush on his face.

Gu Xiaoyue said goodbye to him and returned to the dormitory to rest, while Chu Li wanted his bodyguards to thoroughly investigate Shui Lingyu's background.

In fact, Chu Li knew something about the Shui Family; they were not inferior to the Chu Family and perhaps even had a deeper heritage than the Chu Family.

But as for the person Shui Lingyu, apart from knowing he was number one on the Battle Strength Ranking, Chu Li didn't have much understanding of him.

He was a sophomore, only 20 years old, and being able to defeat juniors and seniors at Nanya Academy meant he was definitely not a simple character.

Just looking at his consumption of resources, one could see his desire to become stronger.

And the Shui Family invested hundreds of millions of star coins in him; it seemed they really held high hopes for him.

The next morning, all the freshmen gathered at the training ground to prepare for forming teams for the National Competition.

Director Wu called Gu Xiaoyue's name first.

Logically speaking, the first place on the freshman ranking should serve as the captain of the freshman team and select 5 members to participate in the National Competition.

Gu Xiaoyue raised her hand and asked Principal Wu if Chu Li could be the captain.

Director Wu understood and immediately decided to let Chu Li serve as the captain.

As for selecting team members, Gu Xiaoyue and Chu Li had already discussed it beforehand.

Fang Xiaoyu and Zhuang Yanxin were definitely selected.

As for the remaining two spots, Gu Xiaoyue was considering needing a Wind Attribute combat pet beast and a Wood or Earth Attribute defensive pet beast.

Finally, they settled on Sun Jian, who was ranked sixth in the grade—his pet beast was a Young life stage 10, Earth Attribute Thick-Skinned Giant Horned Deer.

The other was Zhao Huaiyao, who was ranked eighth in the grade—his pet beast was a Young life stage 10, Wind Attribute Four-Winged Three-Legged Crane.

Wei Liuyun was fourth on the freshman ranking, and he was not present.

Xue Jing, who was fifth on the freshman ranking, expressed dissatisfaction, feeling that his battle strength was superior to Zhao Huaiyao's.

"You're not wrong," Chu Li shrugged, "Your battle strength is indeed higher than his, but there is a problem: your attribute clashes with mine!"

Xue Jing's pet beast was similar to Zhao Huaiyao's in all aspects, but the Fire Attribute itself had higher battle strength.

Since both Xue Jing and Chu Li were the main combat forces with the Fire Attribute, Chu Li definitely wouldn't choose Xue Jing.

Xue Jing still wanted to argue, but Chu Li said directly that if he could beat him, then he could be the captain!

In a situation that was obviously unsuitable, if someone was still unconvinced, then he could only use his authority.

No one should call him an authority dog; if others had the authority, they might play it even smoother than him!

Since the team was finalized, Gu Xiaoyue and the others began intense special training.

This was her first time doing special training with others; before, it had only been with Chu Li or by herself.

Gu Xiaoyue and Chu Li tacitly agreed not to use the Qingluan Fire Phoenix, instead summoning the Little Bear and the Lihuo Red-Eyed Beast to practice coordination with the team members.

In addition to training their combat rapport, they also had to spend time studying the tactics of some formidable teams from before.

They even contacted former classmates to extract information about the freshman teams from other schools.

Shui Lingyu often went to Gu Xiaoyue's training ground to watch them train.

Chu Li asked him unhappily, "Is Shui Lingyu so free that you are giving up on the National Competition?"

Shui Lingyu wasn't angry, only saying, "My team participated in the competition together last year, so our rapport is quite good."

"If your team can participate together again next year, it will definitely be twice the result with half the effort!"

Chu Li didn't know if Shui Lingyu was insensitive, or if he knew he was being rejected but still insisted on provoking Gu Xiaoyue.

"So, Shui Lingyu, when you have free time, why not spend more time with your fiancée?"