Edited by Aleryinth

This area was truly too wide. Even though the perimeter set by the Bei Du University wasn't very big, they had to ensure it was spacious enough to accommodate thousands of students training inside, and to have sufficient low-tier exotic beasts to hunt. Naturally they couldn't pick out a small area.

In the end, after discussing things with the military's security force, Bei Du University had drawn out an area spanning hundreds of square kilometers to conduct this activity.

Given such a huge area, let alone if there were thousands, you'd have a hard time seeing many people even if tens of thousands were thrown inside, as long as they were scattered properly.

As a result, the Freemasons' small elite teams easily snuck in, hiding themselves and slowly approaching their mission objectives.

Zhang Che had already discovered those people from the sky through the Purple Jade Condor, but he didn't find them suspicious at all. They were active in this area since before the activity began and were hard at work hunting exotic beasts. They were probably people from small factions coming to gather resources.

After all, this area wasn't exclusive to the Bei Du University. If others wanted to come here and hunt exotic beasts, could they try to drive them away by force?

Moreover, Zhang Che was very confident in himself. Even if some of those people made suspicious moves, he could totally react in time.

Under the Purple Jade Condor's monitoring, no one could sneak up to Huang Tielan's side undiscovered, not to mention Zhao Wu's squad was following Huang Tielan around in the dark. They could move at any time to protect her.

Feeling extremely bored, the elemental queen forced Zhang Che to bring out the Go chess board and start his torturing session.

Despite being given a five piece advantage, it was very difficult for Zhang Che to win a game off of the elemental queen. The whole game consisted of wrestling between large territories. Zhang Che, whose skill and calculating ability was far inferior, would lose one of his big territories if he was ever slightly careless, and the game would quickly end after that.

Of course, Zhang Che had skills at about second-dan. When given an advantage of five chess pieces, he could occasionally take a game off of the elemental queen, and wouldn't lose all the time. If that was the case, he wouldn't be willing to play. That would be pure misery.

"Tsk. The elemental queen is already so good at the game, even as an amateur. If a real ninth-dan professional was playing against me, wouldn't it be very difficult to win even if I was given a nine-piece advantage?"

Zhang Che had no doubt that it would be almost impossible for him to win against those professional players even if he was given such an advantage. After all, the difference in skill was truly too great. It wasn't something that a tiny bit of advantage given at the start of the game could make up for.

The Freemasons' elite teams continued approaching their respective targets. Even so, the Purple Jade Condor didn't register them as threats. It would only warn Zhang Che if they got too close to Huang Tielan. Otherwise, it wouldn't dare disrupt its master's fun.

------

Huang Tielan and the other girls gradually went deeper into a hilly area. The woods grew increasingly thick. It would be hard to notice their presence if one was even a short distance away.

Although Zhao Wu's squad was frowning slightly, they had already surveyed this area in advance. There weren't any overly powerful exotic beasts in this area. They could only follow Huang Tielan closely and not go out to stop her.

The consequences for disturbing their Young Miss would be very serious!

---

Huang Tielan and the girls were indeed very excited. All of the exotic beasts here weren't very strong. They couldn't withstand the combined assault from the girls' subdued beasts for long, and would be quickly killed. Some of them left behind corpses after their deaths, while the others turned into beast cards.

It had been a long time since Huang Tielan had fun hunting exotic beasts. Wielding the dark gold-quality Mutated Puffersword, sword lights flashed. Almost every exotic beast that dared to jump at her would be cut down by her with a single slash.

The other girls grew envious watching her. Comparing themselves with others was truly vexing!

So be it if Huang Tielan was born a pretty girl, but even her professional capabilities were much higher than them; she had become an intermediate beast card cultivator before she turned nineteen. It truly left one desperate!

Even so, forget it if that was the end of it. They had only realized today that Huang Tielan was actually also a powerful beastmaster! Although her beastmaster tier wasn't high, she was obviously strong judging by how smooth her movements were when killing exotic beasts!

With that kind of ability, if she was willing to spend time training herself, becoming a truly powerful beastmaster was only a matter of time for her!

A rather beautiful girl suddenly sighed and stopped moving, then lamented in an exaggerated manner, "Ai, I can't live anymore. Compared to Lanlan, what worth is there in our lives?"

"I know, right? I heard Lanlan even has a young, handsome, and strong boyfriend! Why does she have all the good things? Compared to her, we're less than the grass by the roadside…"

"It can't be helped. This is what's being favored by the heavens is like. Of course us common folks can't compare to it."

The girls all stopped moving, no longer managing their respective subdued beasts. Instead, they all started sighing one after another.

While swinging her sword to cut down a wolf-like exotic beast pouncing at her, Huang Tielan said in a tone that was both irritated and amused, "Hey, that's enough of you. Come help me quickly; I really can't hold on any longer!"

However, the girls showed no inclination of moving. One of them even said, "Tch, you just keep acting humble. I can tell that these low-tier beasts can't cause you any trouble at all. You'll cut down however many of them coming at you. Since you're so capable, work harder and help us sisters hunt more exotic beasts, maybe even let us get some beast cards while doing nothing. Anyway, I suppose these low-tier beast cards don't mean anything to you."

The girls agreed with her, and actually no longer bothered to direct their subdued beasts to help Huang Tielan. She was speechless from frustration. She truly was too outstanding; it was understandable that others were a little envious of her.

Of course, the girls were only joking around with her. They knew she could handle those exotic beasts on her own easily. If they came across stronger exotic beasts, they'd definitely order their subdued beasts to help her out.

Suddenly, one of the girls raised her hand and pointed to the side, giggling softly, "Hmm? Look, those boys over there are still following us. I'm willing to bet that they must be Lanlan's admirers."

The other girls turned to look upon hearing that. Indeed, they saw Jiang Chao and the other guys in the woods about two hundred meters away, messing around with a few weak exotic beasts.

Those guys were all obviously mid-tier beastmasters, and every one of them had decent subdued beasts. They could be considered some of the most capable beastmasters among the students.

The exotic beasts around here couldn't threaten their safety at all. As such, their intentions for coming was clearly exposed; they wanted to find a chance to protect the girls and use the chance to pursue the targets of their admiration.

"Aren't you lacking confidence in yourself, Tingting? Who knows? Maybe one of the boys secretly admires you and wants to pursue you? After all, you're a top beauty in our beast card cultivation faculty!"

Regardless of whether they were the target of admiration themselves, being "tailed" by boys was an extremely happy matter for girls. As such, the girls were pointing about and teasing one another.

Although the girls were not as attractive as Huang Tielan, they certainly stood out when placed in a random crowd. They were not lacking in pursuers at all!

---

Some distance away, Jiang Chao was leading his fellow schoolmates around. While killing the exotic beasts that came jumping out from the bushes from time to time half-heartedly, they were also chatting in whispers.

One of them said, "Jiang Chao, looks like Huang Tielan isn't weak. Should some of us wrap around and help drive a few stronger exotic beasts to them and give you the chance to save the damsel in distress?"

"Right, right. I saw a few girls over there who are not bad looking, too. We can go help them together, perhaps we might really make one or two of them fall for us!" Another guy was obviously craving some love and hurriedly responded favorably.

Jiang Chao spat at them and hurriedly said, "Don't give any stupid ideas. I'll tell you this: I actually know Huang Tielan's boyfriend; I'm mainly here to help keep a lookout for her. If he misunderstands, you guys will suffer with me."

"Woah, Brother Chao… I'll call you Brother Chao, alright? Can you help introduce us brothers to him? I heard Huang Tielan's boyfriend is the strongest man among the younger generation. Us brothers have admired him for a long time. Since you know him, introduce us, come on!"

Everyone was surprised. They didn't expect Jiang Chao to actually know Huang Tielan's rumored boyfriend. This was incredible! If they could get to know that kind of expert, it'd really be something to be proud of!

Alas, Jiang Chao could only keep it to himself. -It's true that I know him, but our relationship isn't what you think it's like. I'm scared he'll beat me to death!

-Hmm… he probably won't. I have no ulterior motive this time. I'm purely trying to help keep a lookout for her. Even if Zhang Che knows about this, he'll only be grateful to me.-

Done thinking, Jiang Chao pursed his lips and said, "This isn't a problem, of course, but we have to take good care of those girls. It'd be best if we can help them drive away a few powerful exotic beasts."

Hearing Jiang Chao saying that, the other guys patted their chests and assured him, "No problem, Brother Chao. Just rest assured; with the strength of us brothers, there aren't any exotic beast in this area that can be a match for us. If those exotic beasts dare to jump out and find trouble with the girls, we'll make sure to rip them apart!"

While the boys were discussing among themselves, a majestic large wolf covered in green hair suddenly jumped out from the woods and pounced straight at the girls who were chatting at the side.

This exotic beast's intelligence was obviously not low. It knew Huang Tielan wasn't one to be trifled with and went for the weaker ones instead, directly attacking the other girls!

At the same time, a bunch of big wolves who weren't considered weak among low-tier exotic beasts emerged from the other side and surrounded Huang Tielan.

The wolves' plan was very simple. They had to delay her until the wolf king was done with the girls, and he would join them to finish off Huang Tielan!

As such, the wolves didn't launch an assault recklessly. Instead, they surrounded Huang Tielan on all sides, aiming to stop her here.

The moment that powerful wolf king jumped out, Huang Tielan cursed in her heart and hurriedly shouted, "Tingting, watch out on your side! I'll come back you up immediately!"

The girls were frightened. They were obviously at a loss about what to do; they had never faced this kind of dangerous situation before and were flustered. By the time they heard Huang Tielan's voice and proceeded to command their subdued beasts to defend them, the green wolf king had already broke through their defensive perimeter and was pouncing at them.

The girls immediately shrieked in fear. Their faces were drained of color. Their command of their subdued beasts to fight became even more messed up. After mere moments, their subdued beasts suffered heavy casualties.

---

Some distance away, Zhao Wu's squad furrowed their brows. Qian Chunhe asked, "Leader, should we..?"

However, Zhao Wu shook his head slightly, saying, "Don't worry. Young Miss can handle it."

---

On the other side, Jiang Chao's group wasn't as calm. Seeing a chance to save damsels in distress really appeared, the guys immediately rushed over. One of them even yelled out, "Don't panic, fellow students! We're coming to save you right away!"

At this moment, Huang Tielan directly broke through the big wolves' encirclement and came to the girls' side, her sword in hand.

Relying on the excellent defense provided by the Maneater Leech King soft armor, Huang Tielan didn't care about the wolves' attacks at all and forced her way through the encirclement. A sword light flashed at the crucial moment, blocking in front of the wolf king, leaving it with no way to attack the other girls.

The girls were already pale from fright. Seeing Huang Tielan making it in time to their side, every one of them wept from joy one after another and started crying out loud in a huddle.

"I say, can you girls cry later? There's still a bunch of wolves coming to surround us!"

Huang Tielan was speechless. These greenhouse flowers with zero actual combat experience were truly useless once they faced this kind of dangerous situation. They didn't even think to help share her burden.

Hearing Huang Tielan's shout, the girls finally came back to themselves and commanded their remaining subdued beasts disjointedly to take on the oncoming pack of wolves. Meanwhile, Huang Tielan wielded the dark gold-quality Mutated Puffersword and engaged the green wolf king in a fight.

Although the green wolf king was much stronger than Huang Tielan, it was extremely apprehensive of the long sword in her hand. It could only snarl at her and use roundabout methods of attacking, unable to do a thing to her.

On the other hand, Huang Tielan's speed was far inferior to the green wolf king. She was similarly unable to deal with her opponent.

If that was the extent of things, then so be it. However, the pack of wolves on the other side were charging at them. Those frightened girls, they could not hope to defend themselves.

"Looks like I have no choice but to make this move!" Huang Tielan grit her teeth. She swung her sword and forced the green wolf king back, then suddenly aimed her sword at the pack of wolves and activated the Sonic Wave skill.

Without any sound or warning, the pack of wolves fell to the ground one after another, howling miserably. Afterwards, although they immediately staggered back to their feet, their combat strength was at less than thirty percent of normal, and they were no longer able to cause any immediate threat to the girls.

Seeing Huang Tielan suddenly displaying her might, the girls immediately sighed in relief. They had finally gotten through the difficulties!

On the other side, Jiang Chao and the boys were staring in shock.

What quality was that sword? It actually had such a wide-area sound wave skill, incapacitating such a large pack of wolves instantly! It was truly a good weapon!

Thanks to that, they finally arrived at the scene and helped the girls fend off the severely weakened wolf pack. They directed their respective powerful subdued beasts and quickly wiped out the wolves.

As for Jiang Chao, he directly ran towards Huang Tielan. He noticed the green wolf king had taken the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on Huang Tielan just as she unleashed her weapon's skill. It immediately turned the situation around, forcing her off-balance.

-Hah, this Young Master Jiang finally has a chance to make Zhang Che owe me a favor!- Just as the thought came to his mind, Jiang Chao's eyes widened. He saw Huang Tielan purposely showing an opening and luring the wolf king into biting her leg fiercely. Afterwards, her sword flashed and directly plunged into the wolf king's throat.

The wolf king's attack had obviously failed to hurt her. The Maneater Leech King soft armor's defense wasn't just for show. On the other hand, the green wolf king was immediately left in a half-dead state after it was struck by Huang Tielan's sword.

Jiang Chao swallowed. -Are the girls nowadays all so fierce that they dare to use their own bodies as bait to kill powerful exotic beasts? Isn't she afraid of her soft armor's defense not being enough to withstand its attack, and being bitten through by the wolf king?-