46: Chapter 46 He's also my sparring partner

The day after the Young Eagle Cup ended, in the second-floor office area of the Qingyang Town Beast Control Bureau.

The air was filled with the dull atmosphere of an ordinary workday, mingled with the scents of paper, ink, and coffee.

The sound of keyboard clicking, telephone ringing, and low murmurs intertwined into a background of white noise.

That was until Li Heng walked in.

He paced back and forth in the aisle between the workstations, gesturing wildly and spitting as he passionately recounted his brilliant performance during this period and the exciting moments of the competition.

He didn't leave out a single detail.

Quite a few colleagues were amused by him, listening to his bragging with smiles and occasionally asking a few questions to play along.

Zhang Zhi leaned back in his chair, listening with great interest and asking a few questions from time to time.

Lin Chen kept his head down, perfecting the cultivation and training plan for his Songsong Dog, completely ignoring Li Heng.

Just then, the noise of people talking and footsteps approached from afar, spreading up the stairs.

The first to appear at the top of the stairs were three middle-aged men wearing matching uniforms, with the word "Yuanshan" and an emblem of a simple mountain peak embroidered on the left chest.

The leader was a man of about forty, his skin a healthy, tanned bronze from years of wind and sun; his build was lean, but he stood straight, his gaze sharp.

Wei Shan swept his gaze across the slightly noisy second-floor office area, his eyes pausing briefly on the passionately speaking Li Heng, before turning to the workstation closest to the stairs and speaking politely:

"Hello, we are from the Yuanshan Club and need to register for entering the mountains. Where can we process the paperwork?"

The clerk who was asked paused for a moment, looked up at the three people in front of him, and pointed to the other end of the corridor:

"Oh, mountain entry procedures? Go to the first office on the right at the end of the corridor."

"Alright, thank you."

Wei Shan thanked him and then turned around, calling out to those below the stairs:

"Everyone, come on up. We're handling the paperwork upstairs."

Following his voice, the sound of denser footsteps came from the stairs.

A dozen or so young people filed up, men and women alike, mostly wearing windbreakers or sportswear suitable for outdoor activities, carrying bulging backpacks, their faces showing expressions of excitement, curiosity, or feigned composure.

The sudden appearance of this young group made the second-floor office area quiet for a moment, and everyone's eyes were instinctively drawn to them.

Li Heng's voice also came to an abrupt halt. He turned his head following the sound, his gaze landing on the group of young people who had just come upstairs.

At the same time, a figure suddenly stepped forward from the crowd, eyes wide, staring fixedly at Li Heng, and blurted out:

"It's you?"

Zhou Ming looked at Li Heng directly in front of him, his face full of surprise.

Damn it, why did I run into this guy here?

Li Heng saw who it was, and upon seeing Zhou Ming's expression, he immediately became amused.

He put his hands back into his pants pockets, lifted his chin slightly, struck a roguish pose, and replied in a drawn-out, leisurely tone:

"Yo—I wondered who it was; turns out it's a loser."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire office area fell into a dead silence.

However, everyone's gaze bypassed Zhou Ming and fell directly on a tall figure behind him, their faces showing surprise as they whispered and discussed:

"Hey, isn't that the champion of this year's Young Eagle Cup?"

"The champion and runner-up are all here, oh, and Zhou Ming who made the final four; the only one missing is the third-place winner."

"What are they here for? Entering the mountains?"

"They should be preparing for some training before school starts, but the mountains haven't been peaceful lately..."

At the same time,

"You!"

Zhou Ming's face flushed red from Li Heng's retort, and he instinctively wanted to retort, but the corner of his eye caught a familiar figure.

His face immediately lit up with joy, and he even forgot to bicker with Li Heng, raising his voice with undisguised excitement: "Brother Chen!!!"

"Why are you here too?"

The voice echoed throughout the office area, and Lin Chen looked up, bewildered.

Looking up, familiar figures came into view: the excited Zhou Ming, as well as Su Qingyuan and Zhang Xiaoxiao nearby, along with a few very familiar faces.

He quickly realized that today was the offline team-building day for the Qinglan City Beast Tamer Talent Reserve Base.

Yesterday, Zhang Xiaoxiao had proposed in the group chat to join an outdoor training group and go to the edge of the Duanshan Mountains for training; presumably, they had come to the Beast Control Bureau to process the paperwork.

Qingyang Town is right next to the Duanshan Mountains and is one of the entrances to the mountains, so to enter the mountains smoothly, one must first come to the Beast Control Bureau to process mountain entry procedures, clarify the purpose and time of entry, submit personal information, and so on.

After all, the Duanshan Mountains do not belong to the territory of the Donghuang Federation. The border between the two regions involves a wide range of issues, and with border patrol teams guarding day and night, it is necessary to clarify the personal information of those traveling back and forth.

With these thoughts flashing by, Lin Chen nodded at everyone, acknowledging them.

Zhang Xiaoxiao looked at Lin Chen, then turned her head to look at the excited Zhou Ming, frowning slightly, her face full of confusion: "Zhou Ming, are you very close with Lin Chen?"

If she remembered correctly, Lin Chen was a lurker in the group chat and would never speak up unless contacted directly.

When did Zhou Ming and Lin Chen get connected?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming grinned: "If it weren't for Brother Chen's help during this time, my progress wouldn't have been this fast."

Zhang Xiaoxiao reacted quickly: "Is Lin Chen the sparring partner you mentioned in your post-match interview?"

"Uh..."

Zhou Ming's expression stiffened, and he suddenly realized he had spoken out of turn.

"Why don't we go process the paperwork first? There are a lot of us, so it might take a while."

Wei Shan watched the few people chatting enthusiastically, coughed softly, and chose to interrupt.

"Oh, oh, right." Zhou Ming came back to his senses, withdrew his gaze, and followed Wei Shan to process the paperwork.

Half an hour later,

"Finally done." Zhou Ming walked out of the office and eagerly looked toward the workstation where Lin Chen had been, but Lin Chen was nowhere to be seen.

Old Liu took a small sip of tea and said leisurely: "Xiao Chen went on patrol and won't be back until noon."

"Alright." Zhou Ming replied helplessly.

The group walked through the office area toward the first floor. Zhang Xiaoxiao came up to Zhou Ming and asked in a low voice:

"Zhou Ming, is Lin Chen really as amazing as you say?"

Zhou Ming nodded decisively: "If it's him, I think he really could..."

Speaking of this, Zhou Ming cautiously glanced at the window, Su Qingyuan, then gave Zhang Xiaoxiao a wink: "Compete with her."

Zhang Xiaoxiao was amused: "Alright, everyone wants to compete with Yuanyuan for the championship."

"Li Heng also said in his interview that his friend is very powerful and can compete with Yuanyuan for the championship."

"Why not have Lin Chen compete with Li Heng's friend to see who is actually better?"

Zhou Ming raised his head and said firmly: "Of course it's Brother Chen!"

Su Qingyuan heard their conversation, her eyes flickering slightly.

If she wanted to, she could win ten more championships.

Whether it was Zhou Ming or Li Heng, or even the highly praised Lin Chen and Li Heng's friend, they were all too low-level for her.

If she had enough time, she might be able to provide help along the way, waiting for them to grow up and provide her with some assistance.

But time was too tight. Even if she gave them four years plus her own help, they would at most become Professional-level Beast Tamers. Even if they encountered heaven-defying opportunities, they would stop at Master-level Beast Tamer.

She didn't have that much time to wait for them to grow, just as the global crisis wouldn't wait for her to become a Legendary-level Beast Tamer to save the world.

Even with future knowledge and intelligence, she couldn't become a Legendary-level Beast Tamer within four years.

But she could use future knowledge to obtain growth resources as quickly as possible and leap to a higher level.

This outdoor training was an opportunity.

While chatting, the group returned to the first floor, only to see Li Heng leaning against the doorway, staring intently at Zhou Ming.

The two locked eyes.

Li Heng walked forward slowly with his hands in his pockets until he reached Zhou Ming's side, leaned in close, and said in a very low voice:

"By the way, I forgot to tell you one thing."

"Brother Chen has also been helping me train during this time."

"He is the sparring partner I mentioned."

"Yeah, that's it."

After saying this, he patted Zhou Ming on the shoulder and turned away coolly.

Zhou Ming stood rooted to the spot, as if struck by lightning.