Nan Ya VS Chong Bei

Chu Li raised an eyebrow and replied, "Me too!"

Although they really wanted to face each other in the first round, unfortunately, Huaqing drew the match against Luoshui Academy, while Nanya drew Sheng Tao Academy.

Xiangzhong was matched against Yiheng, and West River was matched against Yuanquan; only Chongbei ended up facing Chengbei, who was in the same group previously.

It turned out that none of the top five academies were matched against each other again.

Although these were the top ten, the strength gap between the other academies and the top five was significant. Unless something unexpected happened, it was either a forfeit or a crushing defeat.

The audience was looking forward more to the matches between the top five academies and the individual competition.

Each team had one or two top-tier contestants, so the individual matches were also very exciting.

The situation was the same for Shui Lingyu's sophomore competition group.

Gu Xiaoyue indicated she would go watch when she had time.

On the morning of the finals, the system, which had been silent for a long time without issuing any tasks, finally released two new ones.

【Task 1: First place in the National Competition individual tournament. Do you accept?】 【Yes】 【No】

【Task 2: First place in the National Competition team tournament. Do you accept?】 【Yes】 【No】

Gu Xiaoyue did not want to be overconfident, but she also hoped to win first place in both the individual and team tournaments without exposing her true strength.

However, she accepted both tasks first.

Before the match, Chu Li held a small meeting with them, "The official rewards have been announced.

For the National Team tournament, first place gets one Golden Herb per person and three days of cultivation at Lianxin Waterfall.

Second and third place get one han jiang grass per person, with two days and one day of cultivation at Lianxin Waterfall, respectively.

First place in the individual tournament gets one Golden Herb and one shaping flower.

Second and third place both get one han jiang grass and one shaping flower."

"Wow—" Zhao Huaiyao's jaw dropped in surprise, "With so many Golden Herbs and han jiang grasses, the national treasury must be getting emptied!"

Zhuang Yanxin was amused by him and explained, "The prizes for the National Competition have to be good; after all, this is to select National Team members for the World Championships."

Every four years, Mercury holds a Beastmaster World Championship, which is somewhat similar to the Olympics on Blue Star.

The Beastmaster World Championships are divided by age groups, with an age span of 10 years.

Each age group's National Team consists of 8 people, with 6 competing and 2 as alternates.

Every year during the National Competition, coaches from the Dragon Kingdom's National Team come to select suitable contestants to join the team.

Gu Xiaoyue also felt that these rewards were very generous, as Golden Herbs could directly raise a pet's growth stage by a major level.

The difference between it and han jiang grass is that the Golden Herb provides a guaranteed upgrade, rather than a probabilistic one.

Not only does it have no side effects, but it also provides an additional boost to the pet's intelligence.

However, the Golden Herb can only raise a pet to a maximum of Mature Tier 3.

To upgrade directly beyond Mature Tier 3, one would need a Huanpo Lotus.

Gu Xiaoyue calculated that if she could take first place in both the team and individual tournaments, once her Yinglong reached Mature Tier 1, she could directly upgrade it to Mature Tier 3.

Then she could directly challenge the Quasi-Master level Beastmaster assessment.

Sun Jian put his hand on Fang Xiaoyu's shoulder, "Big Brother Xiaoyu, do you think we have a chance to win the National Championship?"

Fang Xiaoyu paused for a moment, his gaze falling on the deep-in-thought Gu Xiaoyue.

"I don't know either, hopefully!"

He didn't say it with certainty. He knew Gu Xiaoyue had contracted two God-Rank Pets, so he could imagine that Gu Xiaoyue's strength was unfathomable.

Not to mention God-Rank Pets, even people with average Earth-tier talent who had the opportunity to obtain an Immortal Tier pet might not necessarily have the strength to contract them.

Someone capable of contracting God-Rank Pets must have extremely powerful Mental Power. If Gu Xiaoyue didn't hide her strength, the national championship would definitely be theirs.

However, even if Gu Xiaoyue wanted to hide her strength, Fang Xiaoyu would choose to support her.

After all, this was a team battle, and everyone's strength could affect the outcome.

The matches between Huaqing and Luoshui, and Chongbei and Chengbei, ended with Luoshui and Chengbei directly forfeiting.

"Sheng Tao won't just forfeit against us too, right?"

Sun Jian shrugged. Since the start of the National Competition, he hadn't had a proper fight yet, which was a bit boring.

"It doesn't matter if they forfeit or not; there will definitely be tough battles to fight in the next few days!"

Chu Li said as he walked onto the arena stage with them.

Ye Wanrou and Chen Yixuan were off-stage, excitedly cheering for Gu Xiaoyue and the others.

Sheng Tao Academy's ranking in previous years was also sixth or seventh, and their strength was considered quite good.

Of course, compared to Nanya, there was still a gap.

The referee's whistle blew. Gu Xiaoyue summoned Little Bear, used Sand Throw and Earth Shield, and then went to wait in the corner of the arena.

Chu Li only summoned the Lihuo Red-Eyed Beast, while the others brought out their combat pets.

Although this match wasn't very intense and Nanya Academy's victory was without suspense, it did allow the pets of Fang Xiaoyu, Sun Jian, and the others to stretch their limbs.

In the following days, Gu Xiaoyue and her team easily secured 2 points against Chengbei and Yiheng.

When facing Yuanquan, the opponents simply forfeited directly.

It wasn't until the fifth day that Nanya finally faced the second-ranked team in the Dragon Kingdom's National Competition, and the number one ranked military academy—Chongbei Military Academy.

The six people representing Chongbei were all tall and handsome tough guys, 1.85 meters tall, with muscles vaguely visible through their uniforms.

Many female spectators were blushing and their hearts racing as they cheered for them: "The brothers from Chongbei are so handsome! Go brothers!"

Ye Wanrou was not to be outdone; she took a deep breath and shouted loudly, "Go Nanya! Go Nanya!"

Chongbei's captain, He Zhichen, stood with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at Gu Xiaoyue meaningfully, and muttered, "Will she still hide her strength today?"

The referee's whistle blew. On the Chongbei side, they simultaneously drew their summoning arrays with the same movements and frequency, once again causing exclamations from the female audience off-stage!

"All six are Heaven-tier Four-winged Golden Eagles!"

"The brothers are so handsome, this is the demeanor of our Dragon Kingdom's top military academy students!"

Gu Xiaoyue swept her gaze over them, looking at the system panels that appeared one by one.

These six Four-winged Golden Eagles consisted of three Heaven-tier peak quality and three Heaven-tier middle quality. As for their levels, two were at Mature Tier 1 mid-stage, and four were at Mature Tier 1 early-stage.

As for attributes, there were Wind Attribute, Light Attribute, and Gold Attribute.

Heaven-tier Four-winged Golden Eagles were not easy to find; being able to find six at once and form a team was even rarer.

Moreover, all six were flying pets; without flying pets or pets with long-range skills of comparable strength, they would be invincible.

Gu Xiaoyue and Chu Li exchanged a look; it seemed they would have to use the Qingluan Fire Phoenix.

Gu Xiaoyue summoned Qingqing and Little Bear, Chu Li summoned the Fire Phoenix and Teng Snake, Zhuang Yanxin summoned her healing pet, the Phantom Color Ice Butterfly, and the others summoned their own combat pets.

Now the audience off-stage was in an uproar.

"A Mature Tier 2 Qingluan Fire Phoenix! Once these two come out, Chongbei won't stand a chance!"

"This Qingluan is already at Mature Tier 2 mid-stage! What kind of growth stimulant did Gu Xiaoyue feed it!"

"Nanya actually has eight pets participating in the battle! What kind of monstrous strength is this!"

"But I don't want the brothers to lose! Go brothers!"

"Nanya must win! Nanya must win!"

In times like this, Ye Wanrou was absolutely indispensable. The handsome guys from Chongbei were very handsome, but her Xiao Yue was the best in the world, bar none!

He Zhichen's expression changed slightly; he had long seen the poster that Chu Li and Gu Xiaoyue shot for Hualian Shopping Mall.

He knew they had the Qingluan Fire Phoenix, but they hadn't summoned it from the start of the National Competition until now.

He Zhichen had thought that the Qingluan Fire Phoenix was just a prop for their poster shoot, so he had underestimated them a bit.

With a gesture from him, the six Four-winged Golden Eagles launched their attack!