Chapter 13

The rankings after 10th place will not be announced because they are of little significance and this is not the college entrance examination, but only the subject examination of universities in S City.

But the top 10 were ranked after lengthy discussions, careful comparisons, and repeated deliberations by the examiners, and are therefore highly credible.

As Liu Pan rushed towards the screen, he listened to the discussion among students from other schools nearby: "Number one is definitely Lu Wenshen. You guys don't go to the same school as him, so you don't know how strong he is. He simply doesn't leave anyone any chance of survival... Shit!"

Liu Pan was also shocked when he saw it.

The screen clearly read:

[First place, Xia Muqing]

Second place: Lu Wenshen

[Third place, Jiang Li]

【Fourth place, Xu Ling】

【……】

Liu Pan: “!!!”

Xia Muqing, how could she possibly get first place?

The other students were also shocked.

"Lu Wenshen is second. How could he possibly be second?"

"Who is this Xia Muqing? I've never heard of her."

"Where did this genius come from? Could he be the eldest daughter of a hidden family?"

"Oh my god, why does this name sound so familiar? I heard a joke a while ago about a student whose family was poor, who took home a discarded mysterious beast and raised it. It seems like this is Xia Muqing?"

"You can just pick up first place easily? Is this a blessing?"

"I don't know... I'm curious about the person who abandoned the mysterious beast. Knowing that he missed out on a mysterious beast that was even stronger than a young divine beast, what do you think he feels now?"

Liu Pan: “…”

What's his mood? He's about to explode, okay?

What do you mean stronger than a cub of a divine beast? Could it be that he missed a cub of a divine beast?

But that's not right. That Swift Dog is clearly a waste. As soon as it arrived at the simulation training ground, it lay there and dared not move. It didn't listen even when he was beaten or scolded.

How could such a piece of trash be the cub of a divine beast!

Liu Pan felt as if the sky had collapsed and his worldview was shattered.

He stood in front of the screen, motionless. Just then, Xu Ling pulled Xia Muqing to look at the rankings. She saw the first place and said, "Wow, Muqing, you're first!"

The second time he saw Liu Pan, he said, "Hey, isn't this the eldest young master of the Liu family? Why does he look so grim? Did he fail the assessment?"

Liu Pan turned his head and stared at Xia Muqing, his voice trembling.

"What's going on? Is Swift Dog an inferior trait?"

Xia Muqing said calmly: "Of course not."

"It awakened the extremely rare 'Danger Premonition', which is very powerful. That's why it was able to defeat Yuntumon."

Xu Ling couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Yes, it's super powerful, everyone praises it."

"You gave up that Swift Dog with superb characteristics and turned around to buy a small green snake that no one can defeat at a high price. How can you be so calculating, Liu Dacongming?"

…

"Hahahaha, did you see Liu Pan's regretful expression? This is so funny, I can laugh for a whole year!"

Xu Ling kept laughing all the way until she left the examination room.

"But Mu Qing, it's thanks to your patience and strong training ability that you were able to tap into Xiaofeng's potential."

Xia Muqing smiled slightly.

Indeed, with Liu Pan's character, even if he knew that the little hurricane dog had excellent qualities, it would be impossible for him to train it as well as Xia Muqing.

His behavior of using the mysterious beasts as a tool for showing off destined him to not become a qualified beastmaster.

It was getting late outside. Xia Muqing wanted to say goodbye to Xu Ling, but Xu Ling held her back and said, "Why are you saying goodbye? Let's go. I'll treat you to a big meal."

"I heard what you said to the little hurricane dog. Barbecue, right? I know a great barbecue restaurant!"

"Don't be polite with me—I know that Xiaoyingzi was able to get such a good result of fourth place in the exam thanks to the blue porridge you brought over that night. That must be a treasure that money can't buy, right?"

Xia Muqing thought about it and didn't refuse anymore.

The two of them happily ran to the outskirts of the city, found an open-air self-service barbecue restaurant, and began to feast on the food amidst the fragrant aroma.

Xia Muqing is usually used to cooking for herself, so she is very good at barbecuing. Gluten buns, baby cabbage, chicken wings, grilled sausages, and pork belly are all delicious when grilled.

While she was grilling, the little hurricane dog ran to the grill pan with its tail wagging to monitor the heat, and from time to time it blew out a few puffs of air to make the charcoal fire burn more vigorously.

Ten minutes later, the skewers were freshly baked.

The skewers just out of the pan are still sizzling with oil, and the color is golden like caramel. Sprinkled with some salt and pepper, they emit a mouth-watering aroma. Take a bite and you will find that they are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They are so delicious that you almost bite your tongue.

It was the first time for the little Swift Dog to eat barbecue. He was a little cautious at first, but he soon opened the door to a new world. He buried his little head in the plate and ate with great joy.

When Xia Muqing took the plate away, it was still licking the bottom of the plate reluctantly, with its head following the plate all the way forward. When it raised its head again, the fur around its mouth was covered with pepper and salt grains.

Xia Muqing smiled and added meat to the plate: "You like it so much? Do you prefer chicken wings or pork belly?"

The little hurricane dog wagged its tail vigorously: "Woo!"

I like them all, everything the owner makes is delicious!

Woo woo woo, how can there be such delicious food? It’s so delicious, it’s going to eat a ton!

Mingyueying, on the other hand, disdained barbecue.

It was a vegetarian Xuan Beast, and didn't understand what was so delicious about hot meat. However, Xu Ling ordered several desserts for it, including mango sago, mango pudding, and banana ice cream...

The moon warbler pecked at the birds' ears, chirping occasionally and looking very happy.

As the night deepened, colorful neon lights were hung in the city, which was gorgeous and romantic.

Xia Muqing discovered that among the people who came to eat barbecue, there were many young men and women, and their postures were somewhat ambiguous.

"What day is today? Valentine's Day?"

Xu Ling took out her phone and glanced at the calendar: "Well, Qixi Festival, which is considered Valentine's Day."

"But," she shrugged, "what does it have to do with us? Eat meat, eat meat, boss, another plate of lean pork belly!"

…

As night falls, even the tallest buildings in the city light up in orange.

That was the building of the Beastmaster Association. At this moment, the wind was howling on the rooftop high up. A handsome young man stood on the edge of the railing and looked into the distance. Wherever he looked, he saw thousands of lights and the whole city was filled with mist and rain.

It's breathtakingly beautiful.

He watched quietly for a while, and the door to the terrace behind him was suddenly pushed open, and a middle-aged man walked out.

The young man greeted politely: "Uncle Zhong."

Zhong Qing, president of the S City Beast Tamer Association, waved with a smile, "Xiao Cheng, come and sit down. Sorry for the long wait. I just finished a meeting and was delayed for a few minutes."

Cheng Zizhuo: "It's okay, Uncle Zhong, I just got here too."

"The main reason I came this time is to ask you to give me a pass to enter and exit the alternate dimension of City S."

Zhong Qing: "...You kid, why do you always like running to dangerous places?"

He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, put it in his mouth, and sighed softly.

"It's not that I won't give it to you. It's mainly because the spatial fluctuations in S City have been a bit abnormal recently, and the security department has caught a group of poachers... Those people have sharper noses than dogs. Their appearance here means that the alien space in S City may have changed recently, with new spatial rifts appearing, or something else."

"Your parents were my old comrades in arms when they were alive. I promised them to look after you two. Your brother is reckless and runs to other dimensions all the time. He's a beast user now, so I can't control him, but I have to take good care of you."

Cheng Zizhuo smiled.

"Uncle Zhong, my brother and I are both restless," he said, "and you don't have to worry too much about me. I'm very strong now and I won't be in any danger."

Zhong Qing said angrily, "What the hell, do you have a divine beast in your hand?"

Cheng Zizhuo: "If you let me enter the alternate dimension, I will immediately have a divine beast."

After a pause, he continued, "Even though it hasn't evolved into a second-level divine beast, my mysterious beast is very powerful. Uncle Zhong, today is Qixi Festival, right? How about I show you a talent?"

Zhong Qing: “……?”

"Colorful Clouds and Blue Birds," Cheng Zizhuo summoned his mysterious beast and pointed at the lights all over the city. "Use the Magpie Bridge Immortal, the largest scale."

“Howl—!”

A mysterious beast covered in colorful feathers and radiant light appeared in mid-air, gracefully spreading its wings.

It leaped down from the railing, and all the starlight in the sky seemed to be gathered under its broad wings. The slender tail emitted a light blue glow, with a luster more brilliant than fireworks, lightly cutting through the night sky.

It left a brilliant light where it flew past, like the light band of the Ganges, with some spots of light sprinkled down, as if the Milky Way was falling from the sky.

Zhong Qing was stunned. He almost dropped his cigarette. He frantically tried to pick it up and nearly burned his hand. "Hiss!"

He covered his hands, gasped, and asked in disbelief, "A skill that covers half the city? That's so powerful, is this... a divine skill?"

Cheng Zizhuo's lips curled slightly, and his delicate face was also covered with a faint glow under the light and shadow: "The prototype of a divine skill."

Zhong Qing: “…Fuck!”

Divine skills are special abilities unique to Divine Beasts, and each one is unique. It can be said that Divine Beasts may not possess Divine Skills, but those with Divine Skills are definitely Divine Beasts. The Caiyun Bluebird before him hadn't yet evolved into a Divine Beast, but it had already grasped the rudiments of Divine Skills. No wonder Cheng Zizhuo said his Mystical Beast was so powerful.

Furthermore, a profound beast possessing divine skills has already surpassed that class in quality. Even if it hasn't yet evolved to the second stage, it can be called a "quasi-divine beast." Once it successfully evolves, it will be a divine beast, with potential even greater than that of a young divine beast!

This kid... is only a freshman!

If he could possess a divine beast, he would immediately become the youngest divine beast user on Blue Planet!

Zhong Qing fell silent.

He was obviously shaken.

Even though he was very worried about Cheng Zizhuo's safety, he could not hinder the progress of human genius for his own selfish reasons. That would be a huge loss for all of humanity.

After pondering for a long time, Zhong Qing sighed deeply, took out a card from his pocket and threw it over.

"Go on," he said helplessly, "I knew that your Cheng family is all of the same character from top to bottom. I couldn't persuade your parents back then, and I couldn't persuade your brother three years ago. How can I persuade you now?"

"Your family is outrageous, each one more talented than the last. I still remember you charging through the exam hall with that colorful lark... Oh, and today happens to be the day of the subject placement exams. I heard there's a girl in No. 3 Middle School who has a hurricane-sized dog with superb talent. Even a young divine beast can't match her. She's even more popular than you were back then."

Cheng Zizhuo: "Ordinary student?"

Zhong Qing: "Yes, and I'm a poor student."

"She's better than me," Cheng Zizhuo said. "My colorful skylark was left by my mother, and it's a rare mysterious beast. But she started from scratch and only raises ordinary species."

Zhong Qing looked up at the sky. "Your parents are both heroes... Oh, enough, enough. Today is Qixi Festival, right?"

He turned his head, his eyebrows slightly raised. "Your Caiyun Bluebird has such beautiful skills. Has it captured the heart of any girl?"

"You have to seize the opportunity. If you can start dating in college, do it now. Don't be like your brother who is still single even though he has become a divine beast. I almost make him worry to death every day!"

Cheng Zizhuo: “???”

Uncle, I’m only a freshman!

The topic of elders urging him to find a partner was clearly beyond Cheng Zizhuo's ability to respond. He quickly jumped off the railing and landed steadily on the back of the colorful cloud and blue bird. "Uncle Zhong, I'm leaving now. I'll come see you next time I have a holiday!"

Zhong Qing: "Bring your girlfriend back to see me, you hear?"

No response.

The colorful clouds and blue birds flapped their wings and flew away, and Cheng Zizhuo fled in panic.

Zhong Qing stood on the rooftop, feeling the cool breeze and holding the cigarette tightly in his mouth with a smile.

"Stinky boy, I can't control you anymore?"

…

At an open-air barbecue stall in the city, Xu Ling pointed to the night sky and said, "Mu Qing, look! It's so beautiful!"

Xia Muqing raised her head.

Just at this moment, the "Magpie Bridge Fairy" with colorful clouds and blue birds passed by in the sky, brilliant as clouds and silky as brocade. Spots of light fell from the sky, turning into a romantic rain of light.

Xia Muqing's eyes also sparkled when she saw this.

"It's so beautiful," she said, her eyes reflecting a rainbow of colors. "A flying mysterious beast...it would be very convenient for traveling. I kind of want to raise one."

Little Swift Dog: “……?”

The little hurricane dog looked down at the barbecue, then looked at the colorful clouds and bluebirds soaring in the sky, and a sense of crisis suddenly surged in his heart.

“Ouch!”

Isn’t it just flying? It can do that too!

It’s decided that the next goal is to fly into the sky and take the owner to travel in the night sky!