Chapter 312 — A Killing Spree at the National Tournament

Ancient Capital University.

After Shi Jin finished feeding Shi Yi the Flame Gold, he came out to inspect Susu's cleaning work.

"Chirp!"

Say what you like — it was flawless as ever, every corner of the room breathing fresh, sweet air.

If he had only had a purification-plus-sweet-scent combination like this earlier, he would not have lost patience with meditation.

"Beautiful."

"Chirp!"

"Come on, let me show you around campus."

Shi Jin held out his hand; Susu sprang onto his arm in a flash and then scrambled up onto his head.

Susu: (?í_ì?)

For a moment Shi Jin looked as though he were wearing a blue hat, which gave him an oddly childlike air.

It was Susu's first time at Ancient Capital University.

If it was going to train on the Undead Battlefield next, it would be staying here a long while, so Shi Jin meant to take it around and get it familiar with the place first.

Besides, he had not been back in a long, long time — he had even skipped this year's final exams. Being a student like this... felt great!

...

The Battle Club.

The national tournament was only a couple of days away, so Shi Jin had come by to see how things stood.

Feng Jin seemed to be there too when he arrived — most likely he had gone out for a stroll after handing over the Flame Gold, and dropped in to look over this year's Ancient Capital University contestants.

Director He, the Battle Club's instructor, was there as well, delivering a lecture to the club members.

"There are no Master-level contenders in this year's team event, so if you lot finish dead last again this year, there is simply no excusing it."

"Xu Ze, you are the vice president — you tell me. What place can Ancient Capital University take this time?"

Xu Ze, the vice president, wore a deeply torn expression. "That, ah... hard to say..."

"You are all cowards. Fine, I will set the number: top five in the team event. This time every member of the Battle Club is going to Magic City, reserve members included. But whether you compete or not, once it is over you will each write a post-tournament analysis of no fewer than a hundred thousand words, based on how the matches went."

The moment Director He finished speaking, the faces of the hundred-odd Battle Club members below fell.

This was murder!

Even doubled training would have been better than a hundred-thousand-word post-tournament analysis.

"Oh — Shi Jin's here." Feng Jin, who had been listening to Director He address the members, suddenly looked toward the door.

To be honest, the old man held no great hopes for Ancient Capital University's team event — the school's resources simply could not be matched against those of other schools. For now, all he was counting on was Shi Yan and Bai Xi, the two individual-event entrants, turning in a good result.

This year, too, it was the individual event that would decide how much education funding came their way.

Ancient Capital University's results in years past had truly been nothing to write home about; year after year its education funding was crushed several times over by Imperial Capital and Magic City. But next year, perhaps, they might finally enjoy a fat year.

The Breeding Department's Green Worm Cocoon breakthrough, the Archaeology Department's Iron-Eating Beast breakthrough, and on top of that a strong showing at the national tournament — achievements worthy of a top-tier, first-rate institution.

And all of it... seemed to trace back to the super-genius Lu Heng had picked up from that little county town.

"Shi Jin?" At the sound of Feng Jin's voice, the hundred-odd club members and Director He all turned to look at the door.

"Ahem." Shi Jin cleared his throat and walked in, sheepish — he had not expected everyone to be in a meeting.

"Director He. Feng Jin."

"Shi Jin, you have come at just the right time." At the sight of him, Director He's face broke into a broad smile.

The other students, too, watched this living legend in silence, their gazes indescribably complicated.

The reason was simple.

Not because Shi Jin had once swept Imperial Capital University, nor because in a one-on-one he had used his equipment to beat their careless vice-captain across a rank gap.

It was that Shi Jin, who had vanished from Ancient Capital University for several months, had had his name appear among the top hundred of the Sequence Ranking!!

That was what had stunned everyone the most.

Shi Jin himself had felt nothing at the time, but once the Sequence Ranking was published, every Ancient Capital University student — especially the beastmasters of the Battle Club — had been utterly astonished.

After all, the beastmasters on the Sequence Ranking were hardly limited to university students.

Put it this way: among all the students of the Nine Great Academies, only two had made the top hundred.

One was Gao Xuan, and the other was Shi Jin.

Even Bai Wenjie of Imperial Capital University, whom Shi Jin had once defeated, and Bai Xi, the rightful captain of Ancient Capital University, were both ranked somewhere beyond the top few hundred.

Shi Jin had quickly been "knocked out" of the top hundred and his ranking had fallen, but at least he had once made it in.

The top hundred... everyone gathered there was either a super genius who had already matured, or senior schoolmates many years their senior who had graduated long ago, or the summit climbers of other systems; almost all of them were top-tier Masters. Under such circumstances, for a freshman like Shi Jin to enter those ranks made everyone who knew him feel as if they had seen a ghost.

In their minds, Shi Jin was still a senior-level beast tamer. He could fight above his level, yes, but he was still only a senior-level beast tamer. Yet judging by this ranking, there was no doubt that Shi Jin had broken through again. Not only him, but surely some of his beasts had reached Monarch level as well, with combat power off the charts.

Few people knew that Shi Jin had broken through to Master level in the Martial Emperor Ruins, and even fewer knew what had happened in Fuguang City. That was why the students of Ancient Capital University had the sudden illusion that everything had become unscientific.

Now that the missing Shi Jin had finally appeared, quite a few people began to speculate about what exactly he had gone through.

"What he went through..." Among the crowd, Yu Shu, one of the few who knew part of the truth and had been to Mirage Abyss City, was moved to tears.

The things Shi Jin had experienced were the kind that, even if he told the honest truth, no one would believe.

So Yu Shu tactfully refrained from spreading word about Mirage Abyss City. In his view, Shi Jin's achievements there truly deserved a place in the top hundred of the Sequence Contest. That Iron-eating Beast was a monster.

Not to mention these students, even Director He knew nothing at all; he had not reached that level.

But he had his guesses. He at least knew that Shi Jin had contracted the spirit of Mu Huiyin of an Overlord race and the Butterfly of Imagination of an Overlord race, and that Shi Jin was a member of the Eleventh Bureau. He suspected that these two beasts, under the secret investment of Ancient Capital University and the Eleventh Bureau, had fully grown and both reached Monarch level.

The other students did not know Shi Jin's identity, but he was clear on it. The cultivation resources Shi Jin received were certainly far more than those of ordinary students.

"Shi Jin, this time at Ancient Capital University, only you and Bai Xi are competing in the individual competition. You are aware of that, right?" Director He said.

"Yeah... but Senior Xu still hasn't broken through?" Shi Jin asked instinctively.

Among the Nine Great Academies, the individual competition contestants this time reportedly numbered twenty-one Master-level beast tamers, including him.