1: Monster Evolution System

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"I don't know you."

"My name is Xie Ning. Now you know me. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Sorry, I refuse!"

"Oh..."

In the corridor of the teaching building at Flower City No. 1 High School, all the students stood dumbfounded, watching the scene before them.

It wasn't that they had never seen a confession before, but a confession so devoid of emotion was truly a once-in-a-lifetime sight.

Between these two, one was an ordinary person whose pockets were cleaner than his face, and the other was a beautiful Campus Belle from an extraordinary family background. These two people, who couldn't be further apart, actually had an interaction.

Never mind the onlookers; even the Campus Belle Lu Bingyun herself felt it was inexplicable. Looking at the strange boy in front of her, she always felt something was off.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"I already said I refuse!"

Xie Ning's repeated confession caused the surrounding students to burst into laughter.

"Haha~ This is the first time I've heard of starting over after a failed confession! Maybe I can do that for my exams too."

"To be honest, with skin that thick, I don't give props to anyone but him."

"Brother in front, you have quite a unique taste."

"If he could make it to the third year of high school, the balance in his brain should be enough. How did it get overdrawn like this?"

"I think he was scared silly by demon beasts."

"..."

The surrounding students either laughed at Xie Ning's persistence or spoke of his inadequacy with cold mockery and ridicule.

However, they didn't notice that throughout the entire process, Xie Ning stood there woodenly, his eyes vacant and his face expressionless, as if he were in a sleepwalking state.

Only his mouth could move, and it only knew how to repeat one sentence.

Just then, a well-dressed boy with an ugly expression roughly pushed through the crowd and squeezed between the two of them.

He grabbed Xie Ning by the collar and said with a gloomy face, "Xie, you damn well dare to chase Sister Bing Yun? I think you're tired of living!"

"Li Zhi, what do you think you're doing?!" Lu Bingyun questioned with a frown. Although she didn't feel anything for Xie Ning, she also had no good face for the arrogant and overbearing Li Zhi.

The boy called Li Zhi turned his head, his expression shifting into one he thought was gentle, and said to Lu Bingyun, "Sister Bing Yun, don't worry. This idiot dared to harass you; I'll take care of him for you."

"Don't do anything rash, this is school!"

Li Zhi nodded repeatedly, then turned back to Xie Ning and said, "Xie, I won't make things difficult for you. Compete with me. If you win, this matter will be settled."

Xie Ning remained indifferent and only said one word: "Okay."

There was another uproar around them. Everyone looked at Xie Ning as if he were an idiot, and some busybodies even started betting on how many seconds Xie Ning could last.

Lu Bingyun frowned. If there weren't so many people around, she would have wanted to ask, 'Do you have bubbles in your brain?'

She knew very well that although Li Zhi wasn't a great person, as the young master of a top-tier Hunter Group in Flower City, his Demon Tamers Beast was definitely carefully nurtured and not something an ordinary person could deal with.

Seeing the crowd following Xie Ning and Li Zhi to the dueling arena in a grand fashion, she quickly ran in another direction... By the time everyone arrived at the arena, Xie Ning and Li Zhi had stepped onto the stage. Li Zhi summoned a three-meter-long White-Browed Tiger, while Xie Ning summoned a half-meter-long, still-juvenile Little Mantis.

"Awoo~"

The White-Browed Tiger let out a roar, forcing some students near the stage back several steps, its tiger might fully on display.

"Look! Li Zhi's Demon Tamers Beast is actually an Elite Bronze Rank 2 White-Browed Tiger!"

"With this strength, he has hope of getting into a first-rate Demon Tamer university."

"After all, he's the young leader of the Madman Hunter Group; his family is rich. It's so nice..."

"Look at that poor kid's Demon Tamers Beast. My god! Is he serious?"

"It's over, he's definitely finished. An unrated Black Iron Rank 3 Bladed Mantis isn't even enough to fill the gaps between the Tawny Tiger's teeth."

"Look! That kid is scared silly."

The crowd below the stage discussed animatedly, their gazes toward Xie Ning filled with mockery, sympathy, pity, and schadenfreude.

[Ding! Detected Host's Demon Tamers Beast information. Opening Demon Beast Evolution System.]

[Ding! Detected abnormal mental state. Clearing... Cleared.]

[Ding! Activating system for the first time. Rewarding Basic Energy Agent *3, Initial evolution value *10.]

A series of system prompts rang out in Xie Ning's mind.

Xie Ning shuddered all over, his eyes regaining their spirit. He looked at everything around him with a face full of confusion.

Just a moment ago, he was at home reviewing the 'Comprehensive Illustrated Guide to Demon Beasts'. How did he suddenly end up standing on a dueling stage?

Roar~

A tiger's roar pulled Xie Ning's thoughts back. He saw the colorful tiger on the opposite side take a vigorous step and charge toward the mantis.

"Quickly, dodge! Little Mantis!"

Xie Ning quickly gave the command, not having time to think too much. The urgent priority was to get through this duel first.

Hearing Xie Ning's words, the Little Mantis's four thin legs moved, narrowly dodging the White-Browed Tiger's pounce. At this moment, Xie Ning saw an incredible scene in his eyes.

[Demon Beast Name] Bladed Mantis

[Demon Beast Grade] Common Mid-grade

[Demon Beast Level] Black Iron Rank 3

[Demon Beast Attribute] None

[Demon Beast Weakness] Birds

[Demon Beast Status] Fear

[Demon Beast Introduction] A juvenile mantis slightly demonized by spiritual energy. Its sharp arms can even break through enemy defenses above its level. Likes nectar.

[Evolution Routes] 187 paths

Xie Ning's eyes widened as he looked at the screen hanging before him. He was certain this ability was not something others had, nor did he possess it the day before.

Could it be the Demon Beast Evolution System mentioned in the prompt earlier?

He looked toward the Tawny Tiger's position again.

[Demon Beast Name] Tawny Tiger

[Demon Beast Grade] Elite Low-grade

[Demon Beast Level] Bronze Rank 2

[Demon Beast Attribute] None

[Demon Beast Weakness] Abdomen

[Demon Beast Status] Excited

[Demon Beast Introduction] An adult tiger nourished by spiritual energy. Likes to toy with its prey.

[Evolution Routes] 71 paths

Sure enough, as long as he focused his attention, he could see the opponent's attributes, weaknesses, evolution routes, and more.

However, he didn't have time to think too much at the moment. He stared closely at the two beasts with vastly different combat strengths, his brow furrowed.

The grade differed by a whole major stage, and the level was also 8 levels apart. This was a battle of disparate strength and extreme inequality.

Facing the larger and stronger White-Browed Tiger, the Bladed Mantis could only keep dodging. Those it couldn't dodge, it relied on its pair of sharp blades to parry, but with insufficient strength, it couldn't hold its ground at all. Between dodging and parrying, it was completely at a disadvantage, without a single chance to counterattack.

For a moment, the Bladed Mantis was in constant peril, as if it would lose its life to the tiger's mouth at any second.

Finally, just as the Bladed Mantis dodged a pounce and before it could make any other reaction, a tiger tail whipped over like a long lash.

With a 'thwack', the Bladed Mantis was sent flying several meters. When it flipped over, it saw the Tawny Tiger leaping up, its mouth approaching, and its sharp fangs emitting a faint cold light under the setting sun.

"Oh no!"

Xie Ning's heart tightened, and he ran toward the Bladed Mantis, completely forgetting the danger of the Tawny Tiger.

Just then, a fierce wind blew from afar, whistling past in an instant. It swept up the Bladed Mantis and the Tawny Tiger, flipped them a few times in the air, then split into two currents, dropping them on the left and right sides of the arena.

Xie Ning quickly checked the Bladed Mantis for injuries. Fortunately, although it was whipped away, the injuries were not serious. It would naturally recover after a few days of rest, or if medicine was used, it should be fine in a few hours.

Another gust of wind rose. Controlling the wind were a middle-aged man and a Girl.

The Girl was none other than Lu Bingyun.

"Hello, Director Zhou!"

The students present greeted the middle-aged man one after another. Xie Ning also stood up holding the Bladed Mantis and followed the crowd in greeting him.

Director Zhou nodded, then glanced at Xie Ning and Li Zhi, and began to scold them with a stern face: "This is absolute nonsense!"

"If you have the ability to bully your own classmates, why don't you go outside the city to hunt demon beasts?" As he spoke, the aura of a Silver Rank Demon Tamer emanated, making everyone's breath hitch. "This duel ends here. Tomorrow is the Hope Forest contract activity. Before that, no student is allowed to duel."

After saying that, Director Zhou left the dueling stage with the wind, leaving the lingeringly fearful crowd looking at each other.

Xie Ning let out a sigh of relief and was about to leave the stage with the Bladed Mantis when Li Zhi blocked his path.

"Xie, our business isn't over yet," Li Zhi said, looking down his nose at him. "After the forest contract activity ends, we'll fight again. I'll make you understand where the gap lies! A guy with no father or mother has no right to compete with me!"

Xie Ning didn't know what Li Zhi meant by 'compete', but that last sentence stung him deeply. "Back on Monday, right? I'll remember that!"

Then he saw Li Zhi snort coldly and walk away with a flick of his sleeve. Xie Ning also left the dueling stage.

Just as he reached the bottom of the stage, some classmates from his class ran over to greet him and started chatting. However, their next words almost made Xie Ning spit out a mouthful of blood.

"I confessed to Lu Bingyun?! And was rejected?!"

"Otherwise? Did you expect her to accept? I never saw you being so bold before, even daring to confess to the Campus Belle. I didn't expect our Campus Belle to be quite kind; knowing you couldn't win, she ran to get a teacher."

"That's not what I mean. I'm saying, did I really confess?" Xie Ning was completely dazed. He had neither transmigrated nor lost his memory; he remembered many things, yet he had absolutely no impression of this matter.

"Nonsense. If you didn't confess to the Campus Belle, would you be dueling? You'd better be careful; Lu Bingyun has more admirers than just Li Zhi. It's only because school is out now; otherwise, the people challenging you would line up all the way to the school gate."

After the classmate finished speaking, he chattered a few more words and then left the school.

After a good while, Xie Ning gave a bitter smile, patted the Bladed Mantis's body, and also left the school.

He wanted to go back quickly to figure out what was going on with this system and also to investigate what exactly had happened.

His behavior had been controlled by someone, making him do incredible things. If the system hadn't activated and cleared the abnormal state, his Bladed Mantis would likely have been crippled by now.