Chapter 80: Chapter 78: The Opening Battle

Inside the prep room, others looked at Chen Xing with strange expressions on their faces.

“What are you doing?”

In the room, Chen Xing squatted on the ground, seriously polishing the back of Taotie with sandpaper.

“Waxing, and also giving it a shine.”

“…” The three people beside him were a bit confused.

Even Kuang Shiyi fell silent for a moment.

Because Chen Xing had been polishing and waxing his Beast Taming creature since before their departure.

“We’re about to go on, just making it look nice.”

Chen Xing finished the final polishing on the last part of Taotie.

Gently blowing on it, the surface was so smooth that not even a fly could land on it.

Under the room’s lighting, Taotie’s sleek body had an indescribable sense of fluidity.

“Cough cough cough, don’t feel pressured, just relax, it’s only an ordinary competition,” said Wen Jin, placing his large hand on Chen Xing’s shoulder.

He thought maybe Chen Xing was too nervous.

Chen Xing shook his head, “I’m not nervous.”

“Your voice is trembling and you say you’re not nervous?”

“I’m just a bit excited because we’re about to take the stage,” Chen Xing felt like there was a flame burning in his heart.

Wen Jin covered his mouth and coughed, “Cough cough, it looks like you’re a natural when it comes to competition.”

Chen Xing’s gaze shifted towards the cameraman carrying the lens in the distance.

I wonder if you… saw that.

…

In Chuzhou’s Cangwu, on a small island in the lake,

Qiu Shangqing sat on a rocking chair, gently swaying, with a huge projection screen illuminated by a projector on the wall.

“Actually in the top four of the team… Yo, young Chen’s going to be the starting player.”

Qiu Shangqing saw the spirited youth on the screen and couldn’t help but smile.

Hmm~

The phone on the glass cabinet next to him vibrated.

Qiu Shangqing picked up the phone.

A message from his granddaughter read: Grandpa, did you see my competition?

Qiu Shangqing’s gaze moved to the tablet on the shelf to his left, where the opening ceremony of the Chuzhou Cup was playing.

“Dear granddaughter, grandpa saw it, you look so gallant today!”

…

In the capital’s Haimen, within the Nine Dragons Han Family,

Han Yuning, who was wearing a silk slip dress, lay on the sofa with a face mask on, watching the young man in white appearing on TV, feeling somewhat proud as if her own child had made good.

She hurriedly took out her phone to take a photo and brag in her group chat with her girlfriends.

“See that? The genius boy makes his debut.”

But the chat content in the girlfriend group was always fierce.

Han Yuning, who had wanted to show off her student, soon had her cheeks blushing with both embarrassment and annoyance, turned off her phone, and tossed it aside to watch the competition in peace.

Behind her, a giant dragon’s head pressed against the sliding glass door, with a pair of bright, expressive eyes staring at the silhouette in the living room.

“Ao~”

“Ao~”

The lying Han Yuning sighed long, “So annoying! So annoying! If you’re hungry, go eat yourself!”

Looking at the competition, it seemed there was still some time before it would start. She tore off her face mask and threw it in the trash bin. Han Yuning, in her slippers, walked into the backyard.

“Ao ao~”

On the open ground nearby, a giant dragon-like Beast Taming creature stood upright like a kangaroo, with a pair of wings on its back, obediently standing next to the food bowl.

Its two front paws folded in front of its chest, it looked unblinkingly at its owner with eyes full of anticipation.

Han Yuning cleared her throat and gently said to the Western Dragon, “Please, my cutie, eat.”

“Awoo~” The giant dragon jumped excitedly on the spot, shaking the grass beneath its feet.

Then, the giant dragon bowed its head and swallowed today’s breakfast in big gulps.

“You nutcase! If I don’t tell you, you won’t eat? You dragons are all wired wrong in the head!” Han Yu Ning, upon seeing this scene, was so angry that she rushed over and kicked the giant dragon’s rear.

…

“Next, I’ll announce the rules of this Shu State Cup competition: Beast Tamers may not enter the field, beasts may not attack the opposing Beast Tamer, each person can only summon their own beast, no mid-match substitution of contestants is allowed, and once all of a side’s beasts have lost their fighting capability, it signifies the end of the battle…”

Chen Xing had already familiarized herself with these rules before the competition.

The area of the competition field was over 1000*1000, with numerous intersecting water channels crisscrossing the ground like a giant net spread over the entire field, interspersed with raised “land” sections, some of which were connected.

These land areas varied in size, as did the water areas, with both deep and shallow parts.

Approximately sixty percent was land, with the remaining forty percent water.

The water wasn’t plentiful but was just enough to cover the whole area, allowing aquatic beasts to move within it and maintain their basic strength.

“Today’s opening match will be brought to us by Guanghu District’s No.1 High School and Jinzhou’s Azure Dragon No.8 High School!

Guanghu No.1 High School is a well-established high school, the first senior high school founded in Guanghu District, boasting a seventy-two-year history! They have won once and placed second twice in the history of the Shu State Cup!”

As the host’s excited and passionate voice fell, the audience’s cheers thundered from all sides.

“It’s been twenty-four years since Guanghu No.1 High School last won the championship, and it’s been ten years since they took second place,” Kuang Shiyi said lightly from the prep area after hearing the noise outside. “Last year, they didn’t even make it into the top sixteen.”

The host on stage continued to exclaim, “Azure Dragon No.8 High School is a rising team from the new district of Jinzhou. This is a young team founded less than ten years ago! Full of vigor and fighting spirit, they are the dark horse of the year.”

“Who will take the first victory in today’s opening match, let’s welcome both teams to the field with warm applause!”

The gates of the tunnel slid open to either side, daylight poured in, casting a beam of light into the dark passageway.

Chen Xing, gleaming dully, couldn’t help but squint in the light.

“Let’s go,” said Tong Xuhua, taking the lead and walking at the front of the group.

Wen Jin, Wu Ju, and Chen Xing followed in succession.

The giant screens hanging around the sports arena were immediately split down the middle by a black line.

On the left, wearing the sky-blue uniform, was Guanghu No.1 High School, and on the right, in white, was Azure Dragon No.8 High School.

“Wow! I’ve just received incredibly exciting and shocking news; one of the contestants from Azure Dragon No.8 High School today is only sixteen years old!”

“He’s just started his first year of high school and has been in school for less than three months! This is insane! Could this also be part of Azure Dragon No.8 High School’s strategy?”

The audience erupted in astonishment, their eyes widening.

First-year high school? Three months in? Competing in the Shu State Cup?

Holy crap, is this some kind of cheat code!

Is Azure Dragon No.8 High School out of people? To let a first-year high school student compete in the Shu State Cup is wild! Azure Dragon No.8 High School is too fierce!!!

In the past, it was not unprecedented for talented second-year students to participate in the Shu State Cup after a year and more of Beast Taming, only a one-year gap separating them from third-year competitors.

But this is a first-year student, three months against more than two years—that’s not just a doubling of time. It’s an eight- to nine-fold difference.

In an instant, countless cameras zoomed in on Chen Xing, the youngest-looking in the group, granting him a close-up.

In the grand arena, the black-haired youth in white stood with his hands casually in his pockets, his demeanor unaffected.

Inside the Wanhai High School’s waiting room, Ruan Jun was so startled to see Chen Xing entering the field that he exclaimed, “Damn.”

“Captain, your brother is actually playing, not just on standby— he’s starting!”

Chen Lingya, watching her brother on the television program, couldn’t help but smile, thinking to herself, ‘He looks calm, but he must be thrilled inside.’

However, she merely responded with a nonchalant hum.

A flicker of surprise crossed Fu Chang’s eyes, “Chen Lingya, that’s your brother?”

A sister who’s on track to be one of this year’s strongest amongst Shu State’s youth, and now a brother, only sixteen and fresh into high school, sharing the stage with her in the Shu State Cup?

It’s rare even for him, with his years of teaching, to see siblings both be prodigies.

In the prep area’s tunnel, Kuang Shiyi watched Chen Xing’s back with a sense of reflection.

This really was an unexpected twist of fate.

If Tian Xuechuan’s beast hadn’t been injured, Chen Xing wouldn’t have had the chance to play.

He just hoped the kid could seize this opportunity— even if he lost… he’d need to lose with style.

Otherwise, not only would he feel the pressure, but the principal, including the whole of No.8 High School, would be swept into the whirlpool of public opinion.

Underneath that terrifying tidal wave of public discourse, a person could be crushed if they weren’t mentally strong enough.

But, this was also an opportunity.

As long as Chen Xing performed well, his fame would skyrocket with this battle.