"What are you looking at me like that for? Having Xiao Ji is enough for me. Divine Beasts have nothing to do with me."
"Ji~"
"You sure are easy-going."
"Dudu!"
Qi Chen's words seemed to annoy Ah Mu who looked at him dissatisfied. Feng Yuan, somewhat speechless, asked
"If a Divine Beast really offered you a pact, would you really give up Ah Mu?"
"No!"
"Well, there you have it."
Seeing Qi Chen's categorical refusal, Ah Mu rubbed against Qi Chen's foot. Qi Chen carefully picked up Ah Mu, and Feng Yuan, deep in thought, said,
"No wonder Divine Beasts like to sign pacts with children. After all, they don't have their own Spirit Beasts then, so there's not much burden. Those guys who would abandon their first companions for the sake of power—I bet those Divine Beasts wouldn't even look their way."
After recalling the deeds of those Divine Pact Makers, Qi Chen couldn't help but realize that what Feng Yuan said was all true. At that moment, both Feng Yuan and Qi Chen received a text notification. Feng Yuan, a bit puzzled, took out his phone. Zhong Liuyan came over and said,
"That's your reward. After all, we went into Thunder Pond Sanctuary together. Professor Gu and the others decided that everyone should get a share. Without Feng Yuan leading us, we couldn't have even entered, so the lion's share was given to him."
Hearing Zhong Liuyan's explanation, Feng Yuan looked at the amount in the text message, then curiously walked over to look at Qi Chen's phone and said, surprised,
"That much of a difference?"
"Of course, they gave the bulk to you. Pei Yu said he didn't need it, so Qi Chen and Dou Yanlan split the remaining bonus."
"You don't need it?"
Qi Chen looked at Zhong Liuyan, somewhat surprised. Zhong Liuyan picked up Xiao Bai from her head and said,
"No need."
"Xiao Bai, don't you start picking up bad habits from someone's Xiao Ji. Look at you, messing up my hair."
"Squeak!"
Seeing Xiao Bai looking somewhat displeased, Zhong Liuyan bade farewell to the two and walked away with Xiao Bai. Watching Xiao Bai's face slowly droop, Feng Yuan chuckled and said,
"Xiao Bai is out of luck~ Hasn't been with Zhong Liuyan long enough to know she cares about keeping a tidy appearance? Such a silly monkey~"
"It's your fault, isn't it? Always with Xiao Ji on your head."
"Ji?"
"I enjoy it~ Besides, your Ah Mu hasn't tried to run on top of your head, has he~"
"Dudu?"
"Feng Yuan! Pei Yu! What are you doing in a place like this? Hurry up, let's get some rest and then train!"
"What a diligent guy... Can't you just take a break during the school trip? Seriously..."
"Who else would our class pick if not you and Pei Yu with your strong abilities?"
Qi Chen snickered at Feng Yuan's gloomy face. Feng Yuan glanced at Zhong Liuyan, who was still scolding Xiao Bai, and said,
"Her strength might just be a tad stronger than Pei Yu's."
"No way? Xiao Bai seems pretty average to me!"
Qi Chen looked at the nearly crying Xiao Bai, somewhat surprised. Feng Yuan said with some helplessness,
"She's good at hiding her strength. Bet you she'll surprise all of you unsuspecting ones during the college entrance exam."
"I knew I shouldn't have dealt with that group of seniors when I first enrolled. Made things so hard for myself now."
"Psh, you wouldn't have such an easy time now if you hadn't taken out all the seniors from your grade when you first enrolled."
"Ji?"
Seeing Xiao Ji looking at him, Qi Chen glanced at Feng Yuan and said,
"When Feng Yuan was first brought back by Teacher Mu, everyone looked down on him. After all, his origins were unknown, and he had no relatives. The people in our class were still okay, but those from other classes would point and mock him to his face."
"Ji!"
"But no one expected that the same day, he would go after the seniors who mocked him. He challenged all of them to the battle arena, beating every one of those seniors who had Spirit Beasts, leaving them lying on the ground. That day, the image of him wielding that Sickle must have been the Nightmare of that year's seniors."
"Ji~"
"After that, he easily disposed of the other challengers and was unanimously recognized as the strongest person at Maomu High School."
Feng Yuan said with disdain,
"Psh, it's because they were too weak, okay? But at that time, I'm really curious why you actually cared about me. Logically speaking, shouldn't you have scorned me like everyone else did?"
"Ji?!"
"After all, you were my roommate at that time! Plus, Zhong Liuyan and the others didn't scorn you, right?"
"Ji!"
"Forget it, let's not talk about these depressing things. I'm going to the training session. Are you coming?"
Qi Chen hesitated for a moment before saying,
"It seems there's nowhere else to go, how about we head over and take a look, Ah Mu?"
"Doo~"
"Teacher Yan, please~"
"You know... this isn't quite right, right? They don't seem very willing. There's no need to rush to train when we are out to have fun, right?"
"Huh?"
Teacher Yan looked at Chen Xin helplessly. Hearing Teacher Yan's words, Chen Xin suddenly turned his head to look at the two people following him. Feng Yuan quickly put on an excited expression. Seeing Pei Yu's displeased face, Chen Xin frowned and said,
"Pei Yu! What, is there a problem with training a bit more? You should know that this time, class one has brought together some tough players. If we don't work harder, we might not be able to beat them even with Feng Yuan!"
"Ji!~"
"Seriously! Look at Xiao Ji, he's so enthusiastic!"
"Woo~"
Yue Bai at Chen Xin's feet snorted disdainfully at the high-spirited Xiao Ji and turned away proudly, while Pei Yu, with no other choice, pulled Duomeng along to join what Chen Xin called training.
"Do I need to go too?"
"What, you want to slack off?"
"Alright..."
Seeing Xiao Ji eagerly taking his place at the front, Feng Yuan, who was just about to slack off, reluctantly picked up his sickle and stood at the front after getting a stern look from Chen Xin.
"That Eggshell Chicken is so powerful!"
"Isn't the Eggshell Chicken just a Wind Attribute Spirit Beast? How is it always using fire-type moves?"
"It must be a variation, right? It's no wonder he's the strongest person in our school; even his Spirit Beast is amazing."
"So impressive! It makes me want to raise an Eggshell Chicken."
"Oh, come on. Where are you going to find an Eggshell Chicken with Death Series attributes? Let alone one that seemingly has fire attributes as well."
Teacher Yan watched as Xiao Ji occasionally used Spark and Fire Whirlwind to attack Big Black, who was in charge of defense, and said leisurely,
"Xiao Tong! Use Psychic Wall to block Xiao Ji's special moves!"
Xiao Tong, after releasing a Psychic Bullet, flashed forward and swung his arms, creating a light blue semi-transparent barrier between Xiao Ji and Big Black. Suddenly, Yue Bai charged out from the side and used Fox Fire against Xiao Tong,
"Big Black! Banishing Flame!"
"Roar!"
Big Black stomped toward the direction of Yue Bai, sending out a shockwave that extinguished the scattered flames of the Fox Fire just before they were about to reach Xiao Tong,
"Ji!"
Seeing that the opponent's attention was drawn to Yue Bai, Xiao Ji leaped with effort over the light blue barrier and continued to use Spark against Big Black and Xiao Tong. Teacher Yan was just about to give instructions when Duomeng suddenly unleashed the Earthshake move, causing the ground to tremor incessantly. Aside from Xiao Tong, who was floating, and the Myriad Sound Parrot flying in the air, everyone else was struggling to stay on their feet.
"Now's my chance~"
Feng Yuan, with black wings unfurled behind him, flew over and swung his sickle. He struck the Myriad Sound Parrot, which hadn't noticed the shaking ground, knocking it to the ground. Chen Xin gritted his teeth, resisting the violent shaking, and rushed over to the Myriad Sound Parrot, floored by Feng Yuan, and immediately used Fox Fire.
"Xiao Tong! Use telekinesis on the Steel Rhino!"
"Roar!"
Struck by Xiao Tong's telekinetic throw, Duomeng slowly floated up before crashing back down hard. The Myriad Sound Parrot, now disrupted by Duomeng's Earthshake and singed by a few plucked feathers from Chen Xin's Fox Fire, rolled over and flew straight up into the air. Big Black, with something in his mouth, suddenly sprayed towards the center of the arena, enveloping the entire battlefield in dense black smoke in an instant.
"Now! Big Black! Overwhelming Mountain!"