45: Chapter 45 Li Heng: He Can Compete for the Championship

Beast Control Bureau.

Lin Chen hung up the phone, but a series of messages popped up in the "Qinglan City Beast Tamer Talent Reserve Base" group.

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Yuanyuan has advanced to the grand finals. Let's go to the venue together tomorrow night to cheer for her!"

There was a chorus of agreement below, but the person involved, Su Qingyuan, seemed to be preparing for tomorrow's match and did not speak.

Zhang Xiaoxiao, as the group owner, sent another message: "By the way, the Freshman Grand Competition is only a month away. Have you all made preparations?"

"No, I've been training my pet beast during this time and have had absolutely no time to prepare."

"If it really is a survival competition in a secret realm, it feels very hard to prepare. It's not like we can find a secret realm to experience it beforehand, right?"

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Although we can't find a secret realm, we can go to the wild."

Lin Chen frowned.

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "I've asked around. There have always been formal wilderness training groups in the city."

"The wilderness training groups cater specifically to novice Beast Tamers like us who are unfamiliar with and don't understand the wild."

"Going for wilderness training with them not only guarantees safety but also allows us to learn wilderness survival skills, such as how to deal with wild pet beasts, how to find directions, set up camp, and so on."

"The price is not expensive. It lasts for three days and two nights. The training area is in the outer region of the Duanshan Mountains. We won't enter the central area of the mountains. The wild pet beasts encountered will mainly be Tier 1 and Tier 2, so there won't be any danger."

"How about it? Do you want to participate? I think it's worth a try. Even without the Freshman Grand Competition, we will inevitably have wilderness training after entering the academy, so we can prepare in advance."

The group was silent for a while, then messages started popping up:

"I'm in."

"Add me."

"Count me in."

"+1."

In a short while, ten out of the twenty-something people in the small group decided to participate. Zhang Xiaoxiao asked the others one by one until she tagged Lin Chen.

"Classmate Lin Chen, what about you?"

Lin Chen: "Thanks, but I won't be participating. However, I've heard that the Duanshan Mountains haven't been very peaceful lately, so you all should be careful."

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Thanks for the reminder. I know about that too, but the staff there said that as long as we don't enter the central area, it will be fine. The outer region is still very safe."

The next night, at the scene of the Young Eagle Cup grand finals.

Inside the huge circular arena, the atmosphere had long been pushed to a boiling point.

But Li Heng, who was in the middle of it, looked solemn.

He and the Stone Armor Lizard had already fallen into despair.

"Hiss~"

The Green Feather Wind Bird circling in the low altitude suddenly let out a clear cry and flapped its wings violently.

In an instant, dozens of fluorescent white feathers detached from the Green Feather Wind Bird's body, turning into deadly flying arrows with extreme speed, carrying a piercing whistle as they whistled towards the Stone Armor Lizard from all angles.

The Stone Armor Lizard burst out with its remaining strength, curling its body as much as possible, attempting to use its hardest back armor to withstand this attack.

Chi chi chi chi!

The dense cutting sounds, like rain hitting banana leaves, rang out first, followed immediately by a deafening explosion that resounded throughout the entire venue.

In an instant, dust flew up, obscuring the view.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

When the dust dissipated, the Stone Armor Lizard's body collapsed forward, slamming heavily onto the specially made ground, and then it made no further sound.

The referee's sharp whistle then resounded through the venue:

"The match is over, the winner is contestant Su Qingyuan!"

The host's voice, excited to the point of cracking, exploded through the amplification equipment, completely igniting the frozen air:

"The champion is born! Let us congratulate contestant Su Qingyuan!"

Overwhelming cheers, applause, and whistles swept through every corner like a tsunami.

Li Heng stood in place, his body swaying almost imperceptibly.

He looked at the unconscious, scarred Stone Armor Lizard in the arena, then looked at that figure who was so calm as if she were an outsider. The last trace of color faded from his face, finally turning into an extremely bitter smile.

In the end... I still couldn't do it.

Even though he stayed up almost all night last night, repeatedly studying the recordings of all of Su Qingyuan's previous matches, trying to find flaws in her attacks and formulate tactics;

Even though he had exhausted all his efforts during the battle, commanding the Stone Armor Lizard to execute defensive and counter-attack tactics to near perfection.

Yet the result was still the same.

Su Qingyuan's battle had no tactics at all.

It was just like an adult facing a child; no fancy moves were needed, just a gentle push, and it was an insurmountable chasm.

In the post-match interview area, the atmosphere was enthusiastic.

Li Heng had adjusted his emotions and put that familiar smile back on his face, though his eyes were still a bit red.

"Contestant Li Heng, winning runner-up is also a very remarkable achievement. Are you satisfied with your and the Stone Armor Lizard's performance?"

"Satisfied, of course I'm satisfied!"

Li Heng nodded vigorously, his tone bright, "Being able to make it to the finals and compete with so many powerful contestants, both the Stone Armor Lizard and I have learned a lot."

He paused and his gaze swept over the surrounding media:

"It's just a pity that my good friend couldn't participate."

He raised his voice towards the camera:

"If it were him, he would have had a chance to compete for the final championship."

"As for me." He shrugged and grinned, "I wouldn't dare to think about the championship, but being able to defeat contestant Zhou Ming is quite good too."

Zhou Ming, who was watching the live broadcast, suddenly looked up, gritting his teeth: "You guy!"

At the same time, countless microphones and cameras were aimed at the newly crowned champion, Su Qingyuan.

She had changed into a simple white dress and was still as beautiful and refined as ever, but the coldness between her brows added a sense of distance under the flashing magnesium lights.

"Contestant Su Qingyuan, contestant Li Heng just stated that his friend could compete with you for the championship. Do you have anything to say about this?" a reporter asked.

Su Qingyuan's expression did not change at all: "I have nothing to say."

Reporter: "..."

What kind of champion speaks like that?

But Su Qingyuan's eyes swept across the enthusiastically applauding audience, and the cheers that were enough to overturn the venue rang in her ears, yet she remained calm.

She really had nothing to say.

Her future self had seen more shocking and spectacular scenes, even standing on the field of the International Beast Tamer Competition, facing the top young Beast Tamers.

Everything in front of her couldn't even count as a warm-up.

Qinglan City was too small, too small; it was impossible for any Beast Tamer of the same age to exist who could compete with her.

Even looking at the whole world, there were very few Beast Tamers of the same age who could contend with her.

After the media interview ended, Su Qingyuan left by car.

The car drove slowly, leaving the noisy venue far behind. Those scenes that made every novice Beast Tamer's heart surge could not raise the slightest interest in her.

The reason she participated in this competition was just to gain exposure, increase her popularity, accumulate connections, and let herself enter the sight of the higher-ups as soon as possible.

Only in this way could the plan to save the world be implemented faster.

But the plan encountered difficulties right from the beginning.

Su Qingyuan sat in the back row, the lingering evening breeze blowing against her face and lifting her hair. A trace of doubt flashed in her eyes: "Why is there no information at all?"

Ever since she confirmed the existence of the Savior, she had been trying every possible way to find relevant information every day.

She drew the appearance of that pet beast from her memory, but there was no relevant information in the Pet Beast Compendium, and she heard nothing after asking around everywhere.

It seemed that this pet beast had not yet appeared in this world.

"But this is impossible." Su Qingyuan shook her head, denying her own thought.

That never-before-seen pet beast could instantly defeat thousands of Dark Species and easily save a fallen city; its strength was at least Tier 9.

The Tier 9 pet beast from four years later must either be Tier 9 now, or have reached the limit of Tier 8 and be seeking a breakthrough.

Therefore, it must exist in some corner of the world, just never having appeared in public, or it has not yet been contracted by that Beast Tamer.

"It could also be that the level I am at now cannot access this secret information." Su Qingyuan's eyes flashed slightly, and she thought to herself.

In addition, she also tried to search for information about the Donghuang Beast Tamer who came from across the ocean.

Similarly, there was no result.

Her future self was far away in the Star Dome Federation and didn't know much about the top Beast Tamers of the Donghuang Federation to begin with. Plus, after the Dark Crisis broke out, the connections between the federations gradually severed, making communication difficult.

But she knew one thing: since the other party possessed the strength to save the world four years later, they must be a Legendary-level Beast Tamer.

But the problem was that the current Donghuang Federation only had one Legendary-level Beast Tamer.

And that Legendary-level Beast Tamer was seriously injured and nearly died at the beginning of the Dark Crisis, an event that shocked all the federations.

Therefore, the Savior was not him.

In this way, Su Qingyuan had no choice but to first pay attention to the several Title-level Beast Tamers currently in Donghuang. As long as she could find out which one was connected to that pet beast that hadn't appeared yet, she could lock onto the identity of the Savior.

At that time, she would tell everything that happened in the future.

And before that, she had to improve her strength without reservation, grow rapidly, and make full preparations for the upcoming world crisis.