16: Lu Ming

After the round trip, by the time Xu Yan returned to the city, dusk was approaching. He ate a simple meal and went back to his room to rest.

Early the next morning, Xu Yan woke up, washed up quickly, and after breakfast, he took Zhu Yan, who was hidden in his shadow, to the temporarily constructed Beast Tamer Association Branch located within the Secret Realm.

Since it was hastily built after receiving news of the Beast Tide, it looked somewhat rudimentary. Aside from a few essential functional departments, the area that received the most construction resources was the underground Battle Training Ground.

When Xu Yan arrived, several rings in the training ground already had people battling on them.

These people were not all the same age as Xu Yan; they ranged from young adults in their twenties to middle-aged people in their forties and fifties. They gathered here with different objectives, either to train newly contracted Spirit Beasts or to earn a fortune during the Beast Tide.

After casually scanning the rings where battles were taking place, Xu Yan's attention was quickly drawn to one of them.

The combatants were a red-clothed youth who looked about the same age as Xu Yan, and a black-clothed woman who appeared slightly older than both of them. They were commanding a Crimson Fire Fox and a Gale Azure Wolf, respectively. Both Spirit Beasts were of the Soldier Rank High Grade.

A battle between two Spirit Beasts of the same Soldier Rank High Grade should have been evenly matched, but on the Ring, the Gale Azure Wolf appeared incredibly relaxed, easily dodging the opponent's attacks as if taking a leisurely stroll.

In contrast, the Crimson Fire Fox's combat technique seemed relatively crude. It only attacked relentlessly with little effect, and was then left severely battered by the opponent's casual counterattacks. The entire fox was completely played with by its opponent.

Seeing that the woman on the Ring could have quickly ended the battle but chose not to, coupled with her occasional verbal instructions and the look of sudden realization on the youth's face after hearing them, it was clear that this battle was more about guidance than the pursuit of victory.

Because Xu Yan had arrived relatively early, there weren't many spectators in the training ground besides those fighting in the rings. Most of the attention was drawn to a central battle where both sides commanded General Rank Spirit Beasts.

The Ring Xu Yan was focused on currently had no spectators nearby.

Seeing this, Xu Yan stopped paying attention to the other rings and walked straight to the spectator seating beside the Ring, sitting down to watch this Instructional Battle up close.

The combatants showed no reaction to Xu Yan approaching.

Engaging in battle in such a public setting without activating the Ring Protection Shield's concealment function inherently meant that both combatants implicitly agreed to and did not mind being watched.

Watching the battle between the two people on stage and listening to the black-clothed woman point out the youth's Spirit Beast's mistakes and offer guidance, Xu Yan's expression was serious.

Although most of the guidance didn't address issues that Zhu Yan currently faced, there were still many elements that Xu Yan himself lacked.

After a while longer, the Crimson Fire Fox on the stage seemed to be reaching its limit. It gathered all its remaining strength to launch a final strike at the Gale Azure Wolf, but the attack was easily dodged by a casual movement from the opponent.

Watching the fallen Crimson Fire Fox, the red-clothed youth walked forward somewhat dejectedly. After treating it, he recalled it back into his Beast Taming Space.

At this moment, the youth finally noticed Xu Yan watching the battle from below the stage.

Seeing Xu Yan, who was close to his own age and whose aura was in no way inferior to his own, the red-clothed youth's eyes instantly lit up.

Skipping the steps, he leaped directly off the Ring, landing not far from Xu Yan, and extended his right hand toward Xu Yan with a cheerful, energetic smile.

"Hey, classmate! I'm Lu Ming, from Haishi Third High School. I saw you watching for a long time. Want to get acquainted?"

His voice carried youthful pride and unrestraint, yet it wasn't annoying in the slightest.

Seeing the other party actively strike up a conversation, Xu Yan didn't pretend to be aloof. He extended his right hand and shook the other's hand, saying gently, "Hello, I am Xu Yan, from Ningcheng First High School."

After introducing themselves, Lu Ming wasted no time on further pleasantries and immediately extended an invitation to Xu Yan.

"Compared to actually fighting, you won't gain much just watching from below. How about it? Want to come up to the Ring and try a match with me?"

However, just as he finished speaking, an ethereal female voice reached both of their ears.

"Lu Ming? Did you forget you have an older sister here?"

Then, Xu Yan saw Lu Ming, who had been grinning wildly, freeze. His face immediately fell, and he turned around stiffly to look at the woman who had walked up behind him, saying with a forced smile:

"H-how could that be? You're my dearest, dearest, dearest older sister! I could forget anyone but you! I was just a little excited because I finally saw a compatible peer. Wasn't I just about to introduce my new friend to you?"

Although the excuse was clearly flimsy, combined with his deliberately modulated voice and the sincere expression he instantly adopted upon turning around, it sounded surprisingly convincing.

However, the woman behind Lu Ming clearly knew his personality well. Yet, constrained by the current setting, she only glared at him before walking up to Xu Yan and extending her hand.

"Hello, I am Lu Qinghua, Lu Ming's older sister. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hello, I am Xu Yan. It's a pleasure to meet you."

After the three briefly got acquainted, the conversation returned to Lu Ming's previous invitation for a battle.

"How about it, want to fight a match? My older sister was the Haishi College Entrance Examination Top Scorer two years ago, a Top Student in the First Academy's Combat Department. She has both strength and vision. With her watching from below, she can point out our flaws and offer suggestions."

Lu Qinghua, standing nearby, did not refute Lu Ming's words, implicitly agreeing with him.

Xu Yan was startled upon hearing that she was from the First Academy and, moreover, from the Combat Department.

The eight most elite academies in Huaguo are named directly from First to Eighth (since they couldn't think of names, they just used numbers, and the ranking is not in order of priority). The Combat Department is the Ace Major of the First Academy.

Clearly, Lu Ming's older sister was far from ordinary in terms of strength.

After a brief moment of thought, Xu Yan internally accepted the invitation, but still asked, "A battle? I have no problem with that, but your Crimson Fire Fox doesn't seem to be in the best condition after the previous fight. Doesn't it need some treatment?"

Hearing Xu Yan's words, Lu Ming also realized the situation.

"Oh, oh, right! I'll head over to the Treatment Machine now. Wait for me, I'll be quick! Please, please wait for me!"

Having said that, he dashed away, leaving Xu Yan and Lu Qinghua staring awkwardly at each other. The scene suddenly became a little embarrassing.