A single, simple sentence caused the atmosphere to instantly turn icy.
And the source of that chill was not just Su Ping.
More of it came from Qin Xiaoxue, who had already been harboring pent-up irritation.
Trash Forest Wolves?
Among those Forest Wolves was her own Mutou!
What was more, Forest Wolves were not trash at all!
Thus, Young Miss Qin's lips curved upward, revealing a smile that Su Ping had never once seen on her face before.
Even behind her sunglasses, her beauty was unmistakable—far beyond that of ordinary people.
In Linzhou City, this would have been one thing. But if students at the Magic Capital Advanced Beast Taming Academy saw that smile, then unless they were clueless freshmen, everyone else would immediately run as far away as possible.
Because that smile meant one thing—
This young lady was genuinely angry.
As if sensing its master's emotional fluctuation, Mutou's entire body instantly became covered in wooden armor. In the next moment, the massive Forest Wolf appeared right in front of Zhou Shuchen.
The wooden spikes extending from its claws stopped less than half an inch from Zhou Shuchen's heart.
A cold, indifferent voice rang out in the frigid atmosphere:
"Is this how you served as class monitor? Didn't Teacher Yang tell you during enrollment that there are no truly weak pet beasts—only Beast Tamers who haven't found the right development path?"
Staring into the Forest Wolf's eyes, filled with naked killing intent, Zhou Shuchen subconsciously stepped back, nearly falling flat on his backside. He looked toward Su Ping and stammered:
"Su Ping, are you crazy…?"
But at that moment, another figure hurried down from the bus, turning toward Qin Xiaoxue who had acted first.
"Who are you? Don't you know it's forbidden to let pet beasts attack people at will? Do you have no regard for the Beast Tamer Association at all?!"
The voice was deep and resonant, belonging to a middle-aged man in his thirties.
When Su Ping saw him, he paused slightly.
This person was none other than Director Zhang from No. 6 High School—Zhang Guowei.
Beside him stood another unfamiliar young man. His expression was arrogant, yet as he looked at the Forest Wolf and Qin Xiaoxue, surprise flashed across his face.
Qin Xiaoxue's gaze shifted. She glanced at Zhang Guowei, who looked righteous and indignant—
And she smiled again.
Then, a light flared.
A figure Su Ping had never seen before appeared beside her.
The moment that figure manifested, Su Ping froze.
Zhang Guowei froze.
Zhou Shuchen froze.
Everyone who had just gotten off the bus froze.
It was a towering tree nearly three meters tall.
Its foliage was lush and emerald-green, wrapped in endless vitality—yet there was also an indescribable eeriness to it.
On the trunk was an ancient, bizarre face, calmly observing the people before it.
A monarch-grade racial potential, special plant-type pet beast: the Life Ancient Tree!
No—something was wrong.
As Su Ping stared at the Life Ancient Tree, he instinctively felt something was off.
This was definitely not an ordinary Life Ancient Tree!
Before, he might not have been able to tell what was strange about it. But after contracting Xiao Qing and gaining a deeper understanding of such pet beasts, he could sense it clearly now.
This Life Ancient Tree was different from normal ones.
There was another scent, another aura upon it.
Bloodline mutation!
This was a monarch-grade pet beast.
What kind of value did a mutated monarch-grade pet beast represent?
Not only Su Ping—everyone was stunned.
Some knowledgeable onlookers even began to retreat, no longer daring to continue watching.
In any era, there were always people who stood worlds apart from ordinary folk.
Even a standard monarch-potential pet beast was already beyond the imagination of normal Beast Tamers—let alone a mutated one.
Between Commander-tier and Monarch-tier, the difference seemed like just one rank—
But in truth, it was the difference between heaven and earth.
After seeing the Life Ancient Tree, Zhang Guowei was completely dumbfounded.
What the hell was this?!
"Go on—call the Beast Tamer Association and tell them to send someone over. Let's see if they dare to intervene!"
Qin Xiaoxue walked forward with elegant steps. There was only one word that could describe her demeanor—
Unrestrained.
Still, she quickly continued:
"The Beast Tamer Association has long established regulations. Any pet beast within Dragon Nation's Beast Tamer society—so long as it isn't a ferocious beast with intense homicidal tendencies—possesses basic rights!
"Furthermore, once a pet beast reaches a certain level, it has intelligence and natural deficiencies. All Beast Tamers are forbidden from provoking or insulting pet beasts face-to-face. Otherwise, they bear the consequences themselves!
"Do I really need to explain this to you? Forget whether I even made a move—if these Forest Wolves had killed you, it would've been deserved. Ignorant fool!"
Zhang Guowei's face instantly turned ugly.
Zhou Shuchen's face went deathly pale.
He was just a freshly graduated student who had been given a starting point far beyond most of his peers. Drunk on his own success, how could he have known how dangerous and terrifying the outside world truly was?
Naturally, Zhang Guowei would never actually contact the Beast Tamer Association or any security department.
Leaving aside whether Qin Xiaoxue was telling the truth—
The moment that Life Ancient Tree appeared, he understood that for certain people, right and wrong were meaningless concepts to begin with.
At that moment, Su Ping finally spoke:
"Enough. Let him take this as a lesson."
Qin Xiaoxue glanced at Su Ping. It was obvious she realized these people were acquainted with him, and that the short-sighted fool had probably only been targeting Su Ping.
She snorted coldly.
The enormous Life Ancient Tree slowly vanished.
Mutou returned to the wolf pack.
Su Ping's expression remained calm and unchanged. He even smiled at Zhang Guowei's complicated gaze.
"Director Zhang, everyone—I'll take the Forest Wolves to the pet beast battle arena first. Once you've checked in, come find me. I'll be around anytime."
Everyone watched as the two figures passed by them, heading toward the massive arena ahead.
Su Ping felt no anger at all.
Even though he had already left the group chat and had no intention of getting close to these former classmates or school teachers anymore, there was no need to put on airs or act arrogantly triumphant toward old acquaintances.
Meanwhile, Qin Xiaoxue beside him still looked rather displeased.
But before they had gone far, hurried footsteps came running up from behind.
"Godfather, wait for me~!"
Sure enough, Su Ping turned around to see Li Shu—thick eyebrows, big eyes—panting as he ran over, hugging Su Ping tightly. His eyes, however, were glued to Qin Xiaoxue.
Li Shu's pet beast was also plant-type, though only an elite-potential Falling Pine, worlds apart from a Life Ancient Tree.
Yet it was precisely his unmatched ability to be overly familiar that allowed Su Ping to still get along well with him.
"Hello, beautiful lady! My name's Li Shu—Li as in surname Li, Shu as in 'a single pear tree overwhelms the begonia'! I'm Brother Ping's godson, proficient in the Six Arts of the Gentleman. If you need anything, you can always come to me!"
Qin Xiaoxue looked at the thick-browed fellow suspiciously.
Six Arts of the Gentleman?
And 'anything you need, come to him'?
Could he be some kind of special-type breeder?
Then again, someone who could be friends with a genius breeder like Su Ping, swimming alongside a latent dragon in such a small pond, must surely possess something extraordinary, right?
With that thought, she nodded belatedly.
Although she hadn't really heard of this discipline before—and it didn't seem quite like breeders, mechanics, or necromancers—perhaps it was some incredible specialization?
Meanwhile, black lines had already appeared on Su Ping's forehead.
The so-called Six Arts of the Gentleman were—
Beng, Yue, Dian, Ji, Xiao, Ma.
(Flamebaiting, sarcasm, quoting classics, urgency-posting, moral kidnapping, and keyboard-war tactics.)
They were said to be the ultimate keyboard warrior techniques. Master even one, and one could surf the internet undefeated. With all six, none could stand against you.
Obviously, someone like Qin Xiaoxue—a real-life elite Beast Tamer—would never understand this.
If she ever actually sought Li Shu out because of it, and later realized she had been played, Young Miss Qin would definitely not have such a good temper.
And Su Ping would have no idea how to explain it.
Covering his face helplessly, he said:
"Just ignore him. Sometimes his brain works about as well as yours."
Qin Xiaoxue nodded.
"So that's how it is."
Three seconds later, she reacted.
She glared at Su Ping in fury.
"What do you mean by that, you bastard?!"
"..."
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