"This is 1,500 yuan, take it." Li Qingzhou handed a wad of bills to Zhang Huai.
"Boss, I didn't really do anything. I can't accept so much. Just give me 500."
Zhang Huai tried to refuse, suggesting a smaller amount instead.
"Take it, I promised you 1,500, so it's yours."
Li Qingzhou stuffed the money into Zhang Huai's arms, then turned and walked towards his home.
Zhang Huai watched Li Qingzhou's figure disappear into the distance, and a warm feeling filled his heart. He felt he had made the right decision by sticking with Li Qingzhou.
Starting tomorrow, he resolved to study hard. As the younger brother of a top student, he couldn't afford to embarrass his boss.
For his next exam, his goal was to break into the top 500 in the grade!
There were fewer than 600 students in the whole grade, but still, it was a start.
When Li Qingzhou arrived home, it was late, and his parents were already asleep. He quietly entered his bedroom, collapsed onto his bed, and fell into a deep sleep. He slept soundly that night.
The next day, Li Qingzhou went to school as usual. But the way his classmates looked at him had changed again. It was no longer the envy and admiration he had first received, nor the mockery and contempt of the past few days. Instead, their looks were a complex mix of both.
They found that they couldn't quite figure Li Qingzhou out.
He was still the academic genius, but his beast control talent was ranked at F-level—the weakest possible.
Despite that, he had managed to defeat Wang Li, who had a D-level beast control talent.
It defied logic.
There were other changes in the class as well. Zhang Huai had started attending class regularly and studying seriously, no longer skipping. Meanwhile, Wang Li had stopped coming to school altogether, apparently devastated by his defeat.
Li Qingzhou's life was quiet for the next week. His beast, Ping An, had leveled up to Black Iron Level 9 after the recent life-or-death battle and subsequent training.
Now it was time to prepare for Ping An's evolution.
Li Qingzhou had 100,000 yuan saved up, enough to buy one primary evolution material. But he still needed two auxiliary materials.
He could earn money by completing missions through the Beast Mastering Association, but it was slow work. Even with consistent missions, it would take over a year to save enough for the remaining materials.
And Ping An couldn't wait that long—he was already at Level 9.
Just as Li Qingzhou was worrying about how to get the money, an advertisement caught his attention.
It was for a pet competition at the Huihong Pet Arena.
"Huihong Pet Arena is holding a pet competition. Defeat the guardian beasts and earn rich rewards. The more battles you win, the bigger the rewards! All beast masters are welcome to sign up. Registration hotline..."
Pet competitions were quite popular in Linyuan City, with tickets to high-level matches selling for tens of thousands of yuan.
The competitions were divided by level. For example, the Black Iron Level competition allowed only trainee beast masters and Black Iron level beasts to participate. No beasts or beast masters of higher levels could enter.
Li Qingzhou skimmed through the advertisement details.
The competition was set up in a series of rounds, with participants challenging guardian beasts. The more rounds they won, the bigger the rewards.
The rewards for the Black Iron level competition caught his eye:
Win one round: 5,000 yuan
Win two rounds: 10,000 yuan
Win three rounds: choose one evolution material
The rewards were tempting. The registration fee for the Black Iron competition was 10,000 yuan, but winning just two rounds would cover that.
What interested Li Qingzhou most was the reward for winning three consecutive rounds—choosing an evolution material.
That meant if he won three battles, he could select one of the auxiliary materials needed for Ping An's evolution.
Moreover, participating in the competition would help Ping An hone his combat skills and improve his level further.
Li Qingzhou quickly searched for the prize catalog of the Huihong Pet Arena and found that the 'Fire Spirit Fruit'—an auxiliary material needed for his red fox's evolution into a two-tailed demon fox—was listed as a reward.
With 100,000 yuan in hand, the 10,000-yuan registration fee was no issue. He decided to sign up immediately.
He had seen pet competitions on TV and had a general idea of what to expect.
The Huihong Pet Arena was vast, shaped like a shell, and reportedly able to accommodate tens of thousands of people.
When Li Qingzhou arrived at the entrance, the sound of cheering crowds and the announcer's voice echoed from inside.
Spectators needed tickets to watch the matches, but as a participant, Li Qingzhou could enter through the contestant channel after paying the registration fee.
He submitted his registration materials, paid the fee, and received a number plate—number 25.
Following the staff's instructions, he made his way to the Black Iron competition area.
The stands were packed with spectators, and a huge electronic screen overhead displayed the ongoing matches.
Betting on matches was a major part of the arena, with booths set up for spectators to place bets on the outcome of each battle.
Several matches had already been fought in the Black Iron arena that day. Li Qingzhou, holding number 25, was due to compete soon.
He glanced at the screen where two pet beasts were battling fiercely. The defending beast was clearly stronger, and soon the host announced the attacker's defeat.
The crowd sighed and grumbled.
"Another loss. These challengers aren't very good."
"I lost tens of thousands."
"One more bad bet and I'm done for!"
It was the turn of the person ahead of Li Qingzhou. His beast, a Flame Wolf, was at Level 8. Although the challenger won his first match, he was swiftly defeated in the second.
Observing the matches, Li Qingzhou noticed that the defenders' pets were mostly at Black Iron Levels 8 and 9, and were all quite powerful. Plus, the challengers had to fight multiple consecutive battles, making it harder to win as fatigue set in.
This setup greatly favored the arena's defenders, and few challengers made it far.
"Now, contestant number 25, please come to the stage."
The host's voice rang out.
Li Qingzhou followed the staff onto the stage.
Across from him stood a young defender, ready for battle.
"The new challenger looks quite young. Let's see what kind of exciting match he'll bring us!" the host announced.
"Are both contestants ready? The five-second countdown begins now."
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1—start!"
As the countdown ended, both contestants summoned their pet beasts.
The defender's face lit up with a grin when he saw Li Qingzhou's red fox. "A red fox? Kid, you're just giving me free money," he said with a laugh, confident that the match would be an easy win.