"..."
Sun Ming's mouth twitched. Those two dogs unleashed their skills so fast, how could I possibly dodge?
Chen Shu grinned, basking in the cheers of thousands, and left the competition stage.
"Hm? Chen Pi, you have something going on today?"
A Liang's expression flickered as he asked.
"How did you know?"
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow, his combat pack slung over his shoulder, looking like he was in a hurry.
"You came down so quickly today, and you weren't showing off. You must have something on!"
"What do you mean showing off? I call it interacting with fans, you know?"
Chen Shu pursed his lips and said, "There are ferocious beasts invading the northern defense line, and I need to step up!"
"You?!"
A Liang and the others wore strange, confused expressions.
"Go on, how much did Teacher Liu pay you?"
"I'm going voluntarily, I didn't take a single cent, understand?"
"Tch!"
The three snorted, completely disbelieving.
Wang Jue spoke up, "Right, there are ferocious beasts in the north. How come we didn't know?"
"You three were busy 'hehehe' in your rooms, of course you wouldn't know!"
Chen Shu replied, "What's up, you guys want to go?"
A Liang shook his head, "Never mind, I have family matters during the New Year."
"And you two?"
Xiao Xing and Old Wang also shook their heads. They weren't like Chen Shu, always wandering around with nothing to do...
"Brother's leaving!"
Chen Shu adjusted his bag, turned, and left the Duoling Arena, heading straight for the northern defense line.
In the spectator stands of the Duoling Arena, a young man wearing a baseball cap looked up, his eyes filled with hatred.
"Young Master Shi, what do you say?"
"Don't be in a hurry!"
The young man was Shi Ziming. Even now, his demeanor was still outstanding.
Apart from a slight asymmetry in his face, other issues were minor...
After all, he had been beaten badly by a Golden Beast Tamer, so a few aftereffects were normal...
"Don't be in a hurry! Kyoto's Huaxia University will protect him, so we can't make a move!"
Shi Ziming said with a cold expression, "He should be heading to the northern defense line. After my qualifiers are over, I'll personally go to the border to find trouble with him!"
"Young Master Shi is brilliant!"
His attendant, Wang Cheng, flattered him, hoping to regain his standing in Shi Shao's eyes.
"Brilliant my ass!"
Shi Ziming turned his gaze over and said, "Why the hell did you call Uncle Liu to come back then? Were you specifically trying to get revenge on me?"
"Uh... Young Master Shi, the situation was too special at the time, no one could have predicted it..."
Wang Cheng scratched his head and tried to explain.
"Alright! You'll come with me to the north then. We must avenge this disgrace!"
Shi Ziming said coldly, as if recalling something, and gave a sinister smile.
...
At this moment, Chen Shu was heading directly to the Kyoto Airport.
By noon, he had boarded a flight to Jibei City and was resting with his eyes closed.
At this time, passengers were boarding the plane one after another.
Most of them were young people, chatting with each other, excitement written all over their faces.
"Brother Wang, what do you think the situation is like in the north? Will we be in danger?"
"Are you that afraid of death? It's just a dangerous异空间 (yi kongjian - alternate space). If the situation were critical, stronger individuals would have already been dispatched!"
"We're mainly here for training, and we might even gain a lot of wealth!"
Everyone was discussing, their topics all revolving around the ferocious beasts in the north.
Clearly, they were mostly contestants in the National Beast Taming Competition, heading to the north for training.
Just then, a slightly older young man stood up and asked loudly:
"I'd like to ask, is everyone heading to Jibei City?"
A hush fell over the group, and they looked at him with peculiar expressions.
One person asked, "What's wrong? Are you getting off mid-flight?"
"Uh..."
The young man scratched his head. Although a bit embarrassed, he quickly regained his composure.
"It's like this. Since everyone has the same objective, why don't we form a large team? We can look out for each other once we get to Jibei City, what do you say?"
Everyone was slightly taken aback, then nodded and started discussing:
"Makes sense!"
"I think it's feasible, at least we won't be in mortal danger!"
Everyone agreed. Although they had all ventured into alternate spaces before, it was only in small-scale operations. They had never fought a large group of ferocious beasts.
As geniuses, they naturally cherished their lives.
They weren't desperadoes, except for a very small number...
"I graduated from Huaxia University, Du Wu. I'm skilled at commanding various contracted spirits. I believe many have heard of me."
Du Wu smiled faintly and said, "Once we form a team, we'll fight together, and the spoils of war will be divided equally. It's like getting paid with no risk, isn't it great?"
He spoke eloquently, charming all the young people.
As an organizer, he could not only command others but also manipulate the distribution of spoils, which was incredibly satisfying...
"If anyone is interested, you can provide me with some basic information!"
He winked, and his two subordinates behind him immediately understood, recording everyone's information.
One of them approached Chen Shu and asked:
"Buddy, interested in joining?"
"No need!"
Chen Shu opened his eyes slightly and shook his head, refusing.
A herd of cattle, a lone wolf!
"You can consider it. Sticking together is strength!"
The person still persuaded him, "It's easy to get into trouble alone. Life is precious! Let's stick together for warmth and expand our networks..."
Chen Shu looked over and said gently:
"If you keep trying to trick me, I'll hit you!"
"..."
The person's mouth twitched. Did you really have to be so direct?
"What's wrong?"
Du Wu noticed the situation and hurried over.
The person's eyes rolled, and he said, "Brother Du, someone's going to hit you!"
"???"
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow and looked at the other person. You're truly something else!
"Hit me?"
Du Wu's expression turned cold as he approached the two.
He was about to display his Silver-level deterrent power, but then he saw Chen Shu's face.
"Chen... Chen Shu?"
Du Wu's body trembled in fright, clearly recognizing him.
Chen Shu asked, "You know me?"
"Of course! I'm a graduating senior. I was fortunate enough to witness you flicking Fang Si's... forehead."
He gave a dry laugh. He had only broken through to Silver-level after graduating.
Although they were now at the same level, and he was older than Chen Shu, he had no intention of provoking him.
These siblings were completely unreasonable and fierce...
"What's going on?"
Du Wu's expression turned serious, and he glared at his subordinate.
"He... he doesn't want to join our group, and he even threatened to hit me..."
*Slap!*
Du Wu flicked his subordinate's forehead, saying, "If the fierce brother doesn't want to join, he doesn't want to join. Is that something you can control?"
"He's young and ignorant, Brother Chen, please don't hold it against him..."
He quickly smiled apologetically and said cautiously.
Chen Shu waved his hand, not minding, and closed his eyes to rest.
At that moment, many people turned to look at him, their expressions all shaken.
They were all geniuses from Kyoto, and they had clearly heard of Chen Shu's reputation...
"Oh no! This guy is actually at the northern defense line!"
"We need to be careful to avoid him, or we might be mistaken for ferocious beasts and slaughtered..."
Everyone maintained their silence, their bodies involuntarily tensing up.
Soon, the plane arrived at Jibei Airport.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; the pressure was too immense.
"Let's head to the border first!"
Chen Shu tightened his down jacket and left the airport without any delay.
Everyone watched his retreating figure, their eyes filled with emotion.
The northern defense line was about to be chaotic again...
"Brother Du, is this guy really that strong? Isn't he also Silver-level?"
The subordinate scratched his head, completely confused.
Du Wu sighed and said:
"People's physiques cannot be generalized. When he was in a state of extreme desire to cause trouble, he put urea bags on Silver-level geniuses in their senior year..."