21: Beast Tide Arrives

Early the next morning, Xu Yan's hotel room door was knocked on by staff, who informed him that the beast tide was approaching the city. If Xu Yan wanted to participate immediately, he could depart now.

After hearing the staff's words from outside the door, Xu Yan quickly washed up, ate a simple meal, then retracted Zhu Yan into his shadow, left the hotel, and summoned his Wind-Treading Steed from his beast taming plate.

To be safe, the golden thread on Xu Yan's left wrist began to glow, guiding him towards the most suitable direction.

Following the Heavens Mandate Guidance, he found himself in a familiar location: the North City Gate.

When Xu Yan arrived, many people had already gathered outside the North City Gate, accompanied by their spirit beasts. Some were conserving their energy, some were enhancing their beasts, and others were setting up their defenses in advance, all just waiting for the beast tide to arrive.

Xu Yan's arrival didn't cause much of a stir. Although Xu Yan and Lu Ming had gained considerable fame in the training grounds over the past three days, the number of people in the training grounds was only a small fraction compared to the total number of Beast Tamers who had come to the secret realm this time.

Not to mention, several seniors who had already made names for themselves had also entered the secret realm this time. Compared to them, Xu Yan and Lu Ming's recent fame was simply not worth mentioning.

Xu Yan found a corner and quietly stood there, casually tossing a few spirit food into his shadow to feed Zhu Yan. As soon as the spirit food landed, it was absorbed by Xu Yan's shadow.

Just then, the crowd suddenly stirred. A Beast Tamer in black slowly walked over.

A powerful aura emanated from him, causing the surrounding Beast Tamers to involuntarily maintain a certain distance. Hearing someone nearby whispering, Xu Yan learned that this was Zhao Xuan, the third-place finisher in Molin City's college entrance examination last year, who was later successfully admitted to the Third Academy.

His first spirit beast was a Xuan Ling Thunder Bird, which already possessed General Rank strength during last year's college entrance examination. This time, he was likely invited by Molin City to return and also train the spirit beasts he contracted later.

Zhao Xuan walked to the city gate and stood still, his gaze coldly sweeping over the crowd. When his eyes fell on Xu Yan, they paused slightly on his shadow, as if with a hint of doubt, but quickly moved away.

Xu Yan naturally felt the other party's gaze lingering on him.

However, he didn't sense any hostility from the other party, so he merely assumed the other party was surprised to discover Zhu Yan hidden in his shadow or Uncle Qing guarding him, and didn't pay too much attention to the pause, focusing on his preparations.

Following Xu Yan's command, Zhu Yan, hidden in his shadow, quickly laid down invisible spider silk all around. When Zhu Yan didn't actively activate them, they lay loosely on the ground, yet were difficult to detect due to the light.

Most of the other Beast Tamers nearby didn't discover Zhu Yan's invisible spider silk, and those who did made no move. Such pre-battle arrangements were normal, and other Beast Tamers present were also doing so, making it completely unnecessary to stop them.

After directing Zhu Yan to complete the invisible spider web's setup, he fed it some spirit food to replenish its consumed stamina and spiritual power. Then, the person and pet waited there for the beast tide to arrive.

Not long after, alerted by Zhu Yan in his shadow, Xu Yan crouched down and gently touched the ground beneath his feet, discovering that the previously calm ground was now subtly trembling.

Seeing Xu Yan's actions, some of the Beast Tamers nearby also crouched down to examine the changes in the ground beneath their feet. Some even lay completely flat, listening carefully to the ground with their ears.

Soon, the news that the ground was trembling, with a large number of footsteps approaching their location, indicating the imminent arrival of the beast tide, spread throughout the entire North City Gate, instantly making the Beast Tamers who were resting become serious. They summoned their spirit beasts or called them back to their sides, preparing for battle.

At this moment, Xu Yan also saw Zhao Xuan's spirit beast.

It wasn't the Xuan Ling Thunder Bird that others had discussed earlier, but a lion-shaped spirit beast with crystal-like scales, a Thunder Crystal Beast. Judging by its aura, it was only at the Soldier Rank High Grade, but it was significantly stronger than any Soldier Rank High Grade Xu Yan had encountered recently, likely not far from the General Rank.

Zhao Xuan's entry into the secret realm this time was probably to help this Thunder Crystal Beast break through to the General Rank through the high-intensity battles of the beast tide.

The crowd wasn't kept waiting for too long. Soon, as far as their eyes could see, plumes of thick smoke, accompanied by chaotic footsteps, rapidly rushed towards them.

The first wave of "cannon fodder" to enter their sight were Xu Yan's old acquaintances, mutated rat-type exotic beasts. Later, through official data, he learned their name was Thorn Rat.

The Thorn Rat swarm surged like a tide, their crimson eyes glowing with bloodlust. Xu Yan quietly ordered Zhu Yan to activate the invisible spider silk. Invisible spider webs appeared on the Thorn Rat swarm's inevitable path, and the sharp silk directly sliced the leading Thorn Rats in half.

Almost simultaneously, the Beast Tamers who had made preparations earlier also activated their pre-arranged methods.

In an instant, various methods like earth spikes, traps, and vines erupted within the Thorn Rat swarm, causing a large number of Thorn Rat casualties.

However, these losses did not stop the Thorn Rat swarm. As soon as the front rats died, more Thorn Rats filled in behind them. The rats in the back even devoured their dead companions directly as food.

Under this reckless charge, Zhu Yan's spider silk, after cutting down several waves of Thorn Rats, was finally torn apart. The pre-arranged methods of other Beast Tamers lost their effectiveness under these successive charges, and the massive Thorn Rat swarm rushed towards the crowd.

Seeing this, Zhao Xuan smirked coldly, waved his hand, and the Thunder Crystal Beast behind him roared, charging into the rat swarm.

With every swing of its claws, several Thorn Rats were sent flying. The blue lightning attached to its four claws spread directly to the Thorn Rats it touched, forming chains of lightning that damaged the rat swarm behind.

Led by the Thunder Crystal Beast, some close-combat spirit beasts were also dispatched by their Beast Tamers, rushing into the Thorn Rat swarm, unleashing their power, and slaughtering wildly within the rat swarm.

Seeing this situation, Xu Yan also sent Zhu Yan out.

However, instead of directly charging into the rat swarm like Zhao Xuan and the others, it moved like a fish in water, relying on the shadows formed by the large number of spirit beasts and the rat swarm. It constantly extended its spider spears from the shadows of both allies and enemies, taking the lives of individual Thorn Rats.

With numerous shadows serving as jumping-off points and cover, combined with the combat experience gained during this period, although it couldn't compare to the terrifying area-of-effect damage of the Thunder Crystal Beast, its kill count was still among the top ranks of all the spirit beasts.