44: Xie Ning shocked the entire audience
Lu Bingyun's group took the stage, and everyone began to summon their Demon Tamers Beasts.
She also raised her hand and summoned her Demon Tamers Beast. The Beast Taming Technique Formation landed on the ground in front of her, a full four meters wide, attracting everyone's gaze.
This was the largest summoning Formation to appear on the field so far.
A blast of cold air emerged from the Formation, freezing a large patch of grass. Then, a large lion, entirely white with blue patterns, a crystal embedded in its forehead, and ice-blue flames burning at the tips of its limbs and tail, jumped out. Its four-meter-long body made it look like a giant beast. It raised its head and let out a roar, making the other Demon Tamers Beasts tremble with their tails between their legs.
"Hiss—"
A collective gasp rang out across the venue.
This was a Demon Tamers Beast that most candidates present had never seen before, but its strength was evident just from the visual impact and the trembling of the other Demon Tamers Beasts.
"B-Bronze Rank 7! My god!"
"As expected of his daughter; she's definitely the next Garrison Commander."
"I don't know what its quality is, but conservatively speaking, as long as she shows a bit of promise, a B+ rating is guaranteed."
"In this examination hall... no, among this year's candidates, can anyone possibly surpass her?"
Not to mention the shock of the candidates, even the Examiners from the Monster Taming Alliance responsible for this assessment were stunned for a moment before reacting. Some were curious, while others were excited.
"Candidate, please take your Demon Tamers Beast to the testing room, then put on the helmet to test your Mental Energy," the Examiner in charge of Lu Bingyun said warmly, changing his previously cold tone.
Lu Bingyun nodded and took her Demon Tamers Beast into the testing room. After an Assistant attached various instruments and gave her some instructions, she went to the Examiner and put on the helmet.
As the human and beast began their test, the other students followed suit.
The scene fell silent as everyone waited.
The candidates in the same group as Lu Bingyun were unfortunate because no one cared about their results; everyone's eyes were fixed on Lu Bingyun.
About ten minutes later, the test results came out.
Demon Tamer Assessment: Mental Energy: Black Iron Peak; Rating: Grade A.
Demon Tamers Beast Assessment: Scarcity: Rare; Grade: Transcendent; Rank: Bronze Rank 7; Attributes: Ice, Fire; Rating: Grade S.
Comprehensive Rating: Grade A+.
"Is that for real?!"
"Holy crap!"
"..."
The Shocked Trio looked at Lu Bingyun's assessment results with blank expressions. Ye Chong, in particular, jumped up and started swearing.
It wasn't just Ye Chong; when Lu Bingyun's attributes were revealed, the entire venue erupted. The cheers of tens of thousands of people passed through the walls and reached outside the gymnasium.
The parents outside the gymnasium looked at each other in bewilderment.
"What on earth is happening inside to cause such a loud noise?"
"How annoying, they won't let us in to watch. Even if they don't let us in, they could at least let a reporter in for a live broadcast."
"Isn't this normal? The attributes of the Demon Tamers Beasts of tens of thousands of candidates must be kept secret. How could they release them just because of the parents' curiosity?"
"True. It's just a pity we can't see inside. I don't know what the excitement is about, and it's making me restless..."
On the other side, the group of reporters had glints in their eyes, like sharks smelling blood.
Big news inside the gymnasium was beckoning to them.
They crowded over one by one, trying to negotiate with the City Defense Force for a spot to go in and interview. However, the City Defense Force remained unmoved and even caught several people attempting to climb over. This made the reporters behave, and they didn't dare try anything else, only using the sounds from before to post some vague reports online to ride the wave of popularity.
Inside the gymnasium.
Seeing this assessment score, Lu Bingyun also let out a long breath. Her expression showed both relief and a hint of dissatisfaction.
The people from the Monster Taming Alliance encouraged her with a few words and then began calling the next batch.
As Lu Bingyun returned, all the candidates in front made way for her. Now, she was not only the Garrison Commander's daughter but also a Demon Tamer with great potential, worthy of respect.
"Congratulations." Xie Ning looked at her with a smile.
She frowned slightly and shook her head, saying somewhat helplessly, "It's still a bit lacking."
When she said this, Xie Ning clearly saw the corners of the eavesdroppers' mouths twitching. He couldn't help but smile faintly. "It's just that these instruments aren't sophisticated enough. If they were, and could detect Talent, an S-grade rating would have been yours."
Lu Bingyun gave a helpless smile.
As the other groups took the stage, order was restored in the gymnasium, but many candidates focused their attention on Xie Ning, who was chatting and laughing with Lu Bingyun.
Xie Ning also felt these gazes but didn't pay them any mind.
Soon, ten minutes passed, and it was finally Xie Ning's group's turn.
When Xie Ning stood up, many people straightened up and quickly focused, wanting to see what kind of strength this boy next to Lu Bingyun actually possessed.
Those who admired Lu Bingyun looked at Xie Ning with envy or jealousy, but more people were simply curious. Among them, the most curious were Jin Feng and the others.
"What do you think Student Xie Ning's rating will be?" Jin Feng asked.
Ye Chong looked over with a complex gaze and said, "To be honest, I don't want him to be too strong. Whether it's selfishness or jealousy, once he's strong, we'll lose all our spotlight."
"You still love showing off as much as ever," Jin Feng replied with a smile.
Zhan Yingying said, "It's impossible to guess, but since he can get so close to Miss Lu, his strength definitely won't be weak."
Not to mention the conversation of the Shocked Trio, Xie Ning had already gone down to the central lawn with the others. However, due to the previous lesson, the other candidates moved away, staying several meters from him, fearing their Demon Tamers Beasts might be frightened later.
Seeing this, Xie Ning let out a bitter laugh.
"Alright, summon your Demon Tamers Beasts. The rules have been explained many times already, so we won't repeat them," said the Monster Taming Alliance member, scanning the group and pausing for a few seconds on Xie Ning.
The candidates had no objections; in fact, they were tired of hearing them. They summoned their Demon Tamers Beasts one by one.
Unlike the single-handed manipulation used by candidates so far, Xie Ning raised both hands, and two Demon Taming Formations appeared. This scene once again ignited the entire venue.
"Holy cow!"
"Could it be..."
"No, no, no, I must be seeing things. How could anyone reach the Bronze Rank at eighteen? Even the prodigies in the Imperial Capital might not be able to do it."
"..."
Even Lu Bingyun's eyes were shining.
Knowing that Xie Ning had reached the Bronze Rank was one thing, but actually seeing it was still shocking.
She had heard about his family's situation, and because of that, she admired him even more for reaching his current Realm without any resources or guidance.
As Xie Ning waved his hands, two Demon Taming Formations landed on the ground in front of him. The one on the left was only a meter wide, quite ordinary, but the one on the right made many people's mouths twitch again because it was a full four meters in diameter, clearly another large Demon Tamers Beast.
"Awoo~"
Under everyone's gaze, a column of deep red fire erupted from the Formation on the right. Under the scorching flames, a heatwave swept over, forcing the other candidates in the same group to quickly move another dozen meters away.
A massive yet slender Yao Beast stood within the flames, its two eyes glowing with a faint green light. It raised its head and let out a long, melodious wolf howl.
"What kind of wolf is this? It's making such a huge commotion!"