seems... like he's about to become a champion again.

The next day.

The first day of the Lanzhou College League main competition.

The arena, shaped like a giant egg, features an eight-lobed dome that opens outwards, exposing the entire venue to the clear sky. Countless enormous light screens hang in the air, ensuring that spectators can have a complete view of the battles from any corner of the stadium.

The stadium was packed with people. The stands, which could accommodate 500,000 spectators, were full, and even the most remote seats were crowded. The noise was deafening, almost lifting the open dome off the stadium.

Even the five most powerful and prestigious beast tamers representing Yue Lanzhou—the Duke and the Marquis of the Pet Beast Alliance—were all present.

At this moment, they were seated in the highest open-air box.

The seats, from bottom to top, are as follows:

Marquis Qingming Meng Tianxiang, Marquis Lianyu Lin Yan, Marquis Jiuyou Manzhu, Marquis Elei Lei Ying, and the most senior Duke Xinglan Bao Yunxing.

Of course, this ranking only represents ability.

In terms of seniority, the weakest two, Meng Tianxiang and Lin Yan, are a generation ahead of the other three.

At this moment, Bao Xiaoxing was passionately explaining the battle situation from the commentary booth, his voice clear and full of emotion.

Lord Lin Yan of Purgatory glanced down with a smile and said, "Alliance Leader Bao, your daughter is quite lively."

Lord Xinglan Bao Yunxing's expression stiffened. He naturally sensed the sarcasm in Lin Yan's tone and said coldly, "Don't talk nonsense. I have already completely severed my mother-daughter relationship with this unfilial daughter."

The infamous Ultimate Beast Tamer, Lord of Purgatory, Lin Yan, is known to everyone in the industry for her notoriously foul mouth.

If it weren't for his seniority and high rank, Bao Yunxing would have slapped him long ago.

Lin Yan, oblivious to the situation, continued with a smile, "Don't say that. Blood is thicker than water. Even if her beast-taming talent isn't ideal, she's still your own daughter."

Bao Yunxing snorted and turned her face away, refusing to reply—clearly, she didn't want to deal with this annoying guy anymore.

Lin Yan, however, continued speaking to himself, his tone full of pride: "My Fei Yan is even more talented than her mother was back then, and now she has completely mastered our Lin family's ancestral technique of returning to its sheath. Sigh, I really want to see how far she can go this year~"

Even the evil Thunder Lord Lei Ying, who was standing to the side, was bored.

Her daughter came in second place last year, and she hasn't even boasted about it to anyone yet, but this old woman's granddaughter only came in fifth place and she's been barking like a dog all day long.

It's really hard to keep up.

Lin Feiyan is clearly a nice girl, so how come Lin Yan is so annoying?

Lei Ying shook her head inwardly.

If this old wall lamp weren't so long-established, she would have really wanted to say, "What the hell are you talking about?"

As for Marquis Jiuyou, Manzhu, she remained elegant and composed throughout, with a faint smile playing on her lips.

She didn't know whose offspring were stronger, but her daughter was last year's champion.

There's an old saying that goes something like this: "With the champion in hand, one can laugh at others."

As for Meng Tianxiang, she naturally had nothing to say.

Aside from Bao Yunxing's daughter, her granddaughter is the most useless.

Besides, he didn't have any special skills to teach Meng Yanqing, and he didn't even know if that silly girl had actually learned the Returning Sheath technique from Xue Youyou.

Her only thought right now is that her granddaughter's debut performance this year shouldn't embarrass her too much.

Just then, Lin Yan suddenly remembered something, his eyes lit up, and he turned to Meng Tianxiang and said, "By the way, I remember that this is your precious granddaughter's first time participating in the league, right? I just checked the schedule, and it seems that she and my Feiyan might have a chance to meet in the quarterfinals~"

"We've known each other for a while now, so we can't let Yan Qing lose too badly, right? How about I have Fei Yan hold back a bit?"

Meng Tianxiang: "..."

-

-

The rest room at Lanzhiyuan.

Unlike ordinary spectators, participating teams are provided with dedicated rest rooms and player access routes.

Although they had two teams, they didn't get an extra room. Fortunately, the lounge was spacious enough that even with all thirteen people squeezed in, it still felt a bit empty.

At this moment, Luo Yan was explaining the information about Aomori Institute to Lin Yueyao and the other six.

"What I'm saying are records left by their members during internal battles within the academy. You can refer to them, but please don't accept them entirely."

Luo Yan concluded by emphatically stating, "They are a guaranteed qualification team, and there are no match records from the preliminary rounds. If you want to get the latest information, you'll probably have to wait until you play against them."

"Of course, we'll definitely adapt to the situation. Anyway, thank you for your analysis, Xiao Luoyan."

Liu Qingchan thanked her sincerely.

She and Luo Yan were close, and this time she specifically asked Luo Yan to help with tactical analysis.

After saying that, Liu Qingchan turned to Xue Youyou and thanked her, saying, "Thank you for your generosity, Chief. I'm really sorry to have to borrow your team members."

Xue Youyou smiled slightly: "Not at all, you're too kind, senior. I wish you good luck."

Soon, the first match of Group A came to an end.

The result was as expected.

Even without Manro making a move, the Ghost Institute easily crushed Flower Cinema with only its remaining four members, demonstrating the profound strength of last year's champion.

Officials then came over to inform the Lanzhiyuan Second Team to prepare to go on stage.

Lu Yuan pumped her fist, encouraging the second team who were about to set off: "Go for it! Show the spirit of Lan Zhi Academy!"

"Okay!" Lin Yueyao nodded solemnly.

Just as Lin Yueyao and her group of five were about to leave, Su Wanrou suddenly called out, "Yanqiu, good luck!"

Shen Yanqiu, who had already reached the door, paused, her body trembling slightly.

She hadn't expected Su Wanrou to call out to her at this moment.

As a "traitor" who betrayed her principles for personal gain, she felt extremely awkward being with everyone these past few days, not daring to utter a single word. Every time she met the gaze of Meng Yanqing, Su Wanrou, Cui Yelan, and Lu Yutang, she would guiltily look away immediately.

Shen Yanqiu bit her lower lip and whispered, "Captain, you guys go first, I'll catch up right away."

"Oh, okay." Lin Yueyao didn't say much and led the other three out the door first.

Only Shen Yanqiu remained.

Now that Su Wanrou had taken the initiative to start talking, Meng Yanqing, Cui Yelan, and Lu Yutang all looked at Shen Yanqiu, scrutinizing and sizing up this "traitor," which was quite rare for them.

Unlike Su Wanrou, the three of them felt only hatred and disgust for the traitor.

No one knows what went wrong with Su Wanrou, but she called out to Shen Yanqiu at this moment.

A moment of silence.

Shen Yanqiu looked into Su Wanrou's eyes and said earnestly, "Wanrou, although I feel sorry for you, I have never regretted my choice."

"That's just the kind of person I am. I will seize any opportunity to become stronger without hesitation."

"Yanqiu..."

Su Wanrou opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

After a pause, Shen Yanqiu continued, "Finally, I am very happy... that my departure allowed you to discover an extraordinary genius beast tamer."

"Really, I'm so happy."

As she finished speaking, a tear slid down her cheek, she gave Su Wanrou and the others a smile, and then turned and ran away.

"Yanqiu..."

Su Wanrou reached out her hand as if trying to grab something, but eventually slowly let go.

Yes, just as Shen Yanqiu said—she has never regretted her choices.

Perhaps it's time for me to move on.

Thinking of this, Su Wanrou's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Xue Youyou: "I'm sorry, Captain..."

Meng Yanqing: "?"

Lu Yutang: "?"

Cui Yelan: "?"

We're not sisters, it's been so long, and you're only just getting over it?

Xue Youyou nodded in satisfaction.

This atmosphere is just right.

She suddenly felt that this team's championship potential had returned.

The five members of Lanzhiyuan Team Two set off, leaving only substitute Xie Jianchun in the rest room.

At this moment, Xie Jianchun's heart was filled with mixed feelings.

She was the only person in the room who could resonate emotionally with Su Wanrou.

First he was kicked out by Lin Yueyao, then rejected by Meng Yanqing, and finally returned to Lin Yueyao—in the end he only ended up as a substitute.

In fact, she was the one who was in the most awkward position and the one who was the most hurt.

But she didn't have the same good fortune as Shen Yanqiu.

Even though she betrayed the team, there are still people who remember her and even shed tears for her.

She did nothing, yet Lin Yueyao ruthlessly eliminated her, and none of her teammates cared about her. She became a nobody, unloved by anyone.

There's nowhere to cry even if I want to.

I really envy those people who have a place to cry.

Xie Jianchun sighed inwardly.

Even with a thousand kinds of bitterness, to whom can I speak of them?

Perhaps this is the fate of those who are just extras or supporting characters.

Xie Jianchun secretly wiped away her tears and told herself to be strong.