36: I want to be a salted fish

Song Yu was genuinely in a hurry.

She was afraid that she couldn't convince Qiuqiu, who always wanted to be the top scorer.

The pursuit of strength and desire for power were almost innate in the genes of every beast.

Even the lowest-ranking 0-tier beast would still want to become stronger every day.

Even for normally mild-mannered exotic types, in critical moments like territory disputes, unless the strength difference was too great, they would step forward for a fight.

These days, with Qiuqiu's level increasing, if it weren't for its large size preventing her from releasing it, Song Yu estimated that Qiuqiu had already started fighting with Old Song's contract beast.

After passing through several red and white porcelain-walled teaching buildings, Song Yu deliberately found a relatively secluded flower bed in the school to release Qiuqiu.

When the three-meter-tall Qiuqiu was released, it happily shook its fur. Crossing into the 3rd tier in a short time, even though Qiuqiu, who had been determined to become a strong one since childhood, had every hair on its body showing joy.

Even at this moment, Qiuqiu was eager to find other beasts of the same level for a fight.

"Cough, cough..." Song Yu, seeing this, quickly coughed to bring back Qiuqiu's excitement.

"Meow?" Qiuqiu tilted its head.

"Qiuqiu, can we have a discussion?" Song Yu asked.

"Meow?" Qiuqiu twitched its ears, looking puzzled.

"Here's the thing. Later, the senior class will have a Beast Taming practical combat class competition..."

With a serious face, Song Yu deliberately adopted a stern attitude. "Normally, the higher the ranking you get in the competition, the better. But you just evolved to the 3rd tier in the teacher's office, attracting a lot of attention..."

"Qiuqiu, I'm worried that if you continue to get first place in the competition, others and their beasts might become jealous," Song Yu gazed affectionately at the big cat. "Jealousy is the most dangerous emotion in this world. It might make these people go crazy..."

Qiuqiu's body trembled, "!!!"

"As they say, the bird that sticks out gets shot. Until you have absolute strength to defeat everyone, keeping a low profile is the best choice."

Song Yu: "Originally, this test was to select students for next week's wilderness forest practical training... We just need to secure a spot. Getting the same result with the minimum cost is the smartest choice."

Qiuqiu: ?!!

Song Yu reached out to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder, as she used to, but unfortunately, the 3rd tier Qiuqiu had a size that made it difficult. She extended her hand and only reached Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "..."

Song Yu pretended as if nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round and round eyes, like copper bells, staring at Song Yu without blinking.

Song Yu wanted to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder like before, but the 3rd tier size made it challenging. She extended her hand and could only pat Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "..."

Song Yu pretended nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round and round eyes, like copper bells, staring at Song Yu without blinking.

Song Yu wanted to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder like before, but the 3rd tier size made it challenging. She extended her hand and could only pat Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "..."

Song Yu pretended nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round and round eyes, like copper bells, staring at Song Yu without blinking.

Song Yu wanted to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder like before, but the 3rd tier size made it challenging. She extended her hand and could only pat Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "..."

Song Yu pretended nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round and round eyes, like copper bells, staring at Song Yu without blinking.

Song Yu wanted to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder like before, but the 3rd tier size made it challenging. She extended her hand and could only pat Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "..."

Song Yu pretended nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round and round eyes, like copper bells, staring at Song Yu without blinking.

Song Yu wanted to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder like before, but the 3rd tier size made it challenging. She extended her hand and could only pat Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "..."

Song Yu pretended nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round and round eyes, like copper bells, staring at Song Yu without blinking.

Song Yu wanted to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder like before, but the 3rd tier size made it challenging. She extended her hand and could only pat Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "..."

Song Yu pretended nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round and round eyes, like copper bells, staring at Song Yu without blinking.

Song Yu wanted to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder like before, but the 3rd tier size made it challenging. She extended her hand and could only pat Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "..."

Song Yu pretended nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round and round eyes, like copper bells, staring at Song Yu without blinking.

Song Yu wanted to pat Qiuqiu's shoulder like before, but the 3rd tier size made it challenging. She extended her hand and could only pat Qiuqiu's fluffy chest.

Song Yu: "...

Song Yu pretended nothing happened and silently retracted her hand.

"Meow~~"

The three-meter-tall big cat crouched down, a pair of round, bell-like eyes, staring unblinkingly at Song Yu.

The Snow Civet Cat, only a few years old since birth, experienced this kind of situation for the first time.

Seeing Qiuqiu in a daze, Song Yu blinked and decided to increase her efforts to persuade.

Suppressing a hint of redness in her eyes, she choked up, "Qiuqiu, in the 1v1 battles at school, maybe you don't have to fear them. But there are many students in the school whose contract beasts are quite powerful. In case they become jealous and attack you in the wilderness area, what will you do? There are no rules for battles in the wilderness area. Even though you've evolved to the 3rd tier now, I'm really worried about you..."

She not only worried that Qiuqiu would show off its strength in the upcoming test and lead her into the top 55 of the entire class but also feared that Qiuqiu might lose control of its power and accidentally kill someone else's contract beast.

You see, unlike the previous Beast Taming practical combat classes, this time's class adopts a 1v1 battle mode.

In the past two days of practical combat classes, she carefully observed the situations in several classes.

Nowadays, at least 60% or more of the contract beasts are still in their infancy.

Many of them are fluffy little things, and some haven't even reached Qiuqiu's shin height!

What if, during a 1v1 battle, the opponent gets accidentally stepped on by Qiuqiu?

"Meow, meow?" Wilderness area, surrounded, attacked?

Qiuqiu widened its big, round cat eyes, swallowed some saliva, thinking about the last Beast Taming practical combat class, with a massive scene of four to five hundred beasts on the playground.

Thinking about the novels written by the Ring Grandpa these days...

Qiuqiu suddenly realized!

Indeed!

Almost every protagonist taught by Ring Grandpa in his novels likes to develop quietly!

Clearly having the strength to defeat others of the same kind.

Yet, they prefer to pretend to be weak until it's crucial before using their full strength.

It turns out it's because they are afraid of being surrounded and attacked by other contract beasts.

"Meow, meow!" Qiuqiu assured, "I'll definitely keep a low profile in the upcoming competition!"

With a serious expression, it patted its chest vigorously, making a loud sound. Qiuqiu's expression was serious and earnest.

It seems that in the future, it not only has to work hard to become a 9th tier peak Snow Civet Cat like Ring Grandpa but also needs to develop quietly like the protagonist in novels, pretending to be weak before showing its true strength!

Truly worthy of its contract holder; understanding is key!

Immediately, Qiuqiu looked at Song Yu with worshipful eyes.

Song Yu: "..."

For a brief moment, Song Yu felt a twinge of guilt in her conscience, but upon second thought, was she the kind of person who cared about her conscience? Definitely not!

"As long as I have no conscience, I will never be held hostage by conscience."

Song Yu patted Qiuqiu's cat leg, happily waved her big hand, and loudly exclaimed, "Excellent! Let's go to the playground now for the exam! Let's go, go, go!"

"Meow, meow meow meow~"

Qiuqiu nodded, immediately shook its cat fur, lifted its head high, and followed Song Yu towards the playground!

 

*****

 

Not far away, Han Zhou and Bai Yuhan, who had just bought breakfast from the cafeteria and were taking a shortcut with steamed buns in hand, silently watched the figures of one person and one cat leaving, expressionless.

"Oh my goodness, during the Beast Taming practical combat class a few days ago, Song Yu's contract beast had only two tails. Now, in the blink of an eye, it has evolved to the 3rd tier and grown a third tail? That's amazing!" Han Zhou took a bite of his steamed bun, turned to Bai Yuhan, and sighed, "I remember your Ironclad Rampage Dragon Lizard just entered the growth stage this month..."

"Yeah..." Bai Yuhan nodded, his gaze slowly retracting from Qiuqiu, and he said calmly, "She is indeed quite formidable."

People who awakened the SSSSS-grade Beast Taming space, how could they not be formidable?

Thinking his friend was a bit down, Han Zhou pondered for a moment, patted Bai Yuhan on the shoulder, and said, "Brother, don't be sad. Although your little black just entered the growth stage, it's already a 1st-tier beast. This indicates that the subsequent advancements should be quick. I heard that Song Yu's Snow Civet Cat, when it just entered the growth stage, was still at the 0th tier."

Compared to low-tier beast cultivation, high-bloodline beasts were indeed more powerful.

"Thanks, I'm not sad." Bai Yuhan brushed off the paw that sneakily tried to steal a bun from his breakfast bag, calmly saying, "I just feel that the other party's views align with mine."

Before having absolute strength, keeping a low profile is indeed the safest approach.

Because he didn't manage to steal any buns and instead got a paw slap from his brother, Han Zhou wasn't interested in hearing more from Bai Yuhan. He patted his half-full stomach and walked boldly toward the playground, "Alright, alright, I don't care about your views. Let's hurry to the playground. Fatty just texted me, saying they've already started the 1v1 battles."

 

*****

 

On the playground.

Students from various classes had already arrived at the playground from their classrooms.

The teachers of the Beast Taming practical combat class had already set up circular arenas using earth-type contract beasts.

These arenas were similar to the combat arenas used in the previous physical fitness battles, but they were much larger, able to accommodate contract beasts that had grown two or three meters in height for battle.

Song Yu carefully observed the arenas and scratched her head, "Why do I feel like these arenas are not very fair for flying-type contract beasts?" Even though these makeshift arenas were sufficient for two or three-meter contract beasts to battle on, they seemed inadequate compared to the agile flying birds. 

"Why not fair? Although leaving the arena means losing for the contract beast, flying-type contract beasts can dive down from high altitude, while ground-type contract beasts cannot attack them... If you talk about unfairness, I think it's more unfair to ground-type contract beasts."

Looking at the intense battles on the platform, Zhou Ting's heart also began to beat faster. She continued, somewhat regretfully, "Speaking of which, a while ago, I was planning to take my contract beast to the street wild racecourse for a match, but before I could start, the school unexpectedly started the exams. I don't know if I can make it into the top 55 of the class this time."

In this world filled with contract beasts, various racecourses, gymnasiums, and arenas had sprung up. Generally, the worst contract beasts that would participate in these competitions were those that had entered the growth stage. If a cub was put on the stage for battle, besides the trouble of nursing a cub if it got injured, it would be uninteresting to watch the battle, especially if the opponent could not control their skills well and could only use pure physical attacks.

Zhou Ting's contract beast was still a bit away from entering the growth stage, so she felt quite nervous about today's competition.

"You will definitely make it!"

Song Yu patted Zhou Ting, comforting her, "Basically, the initial contract beasts of most seniors have to go through the wilderness area experience before entering the growth stage. Your initial contract beast is already stronger than many others."

Receiving consolation from her desk mate, Zhou Ting's emotions stabilized a bit, and she was about to speak.

However, a tall figure suddenly stood beside them.

Zhang Guoping tapped Song Yu's shoulder with a file board, looking serious.

Song Yu turned her head, cautiously, "...? Did Teacher Zhang come to watch my match?"

But she remembered there seemed to be quite a few people in front of her student number.

But after taking a deep breath, Song Yu was ready to start summoning Qiuqiu...

"Not really."

Zhang Guoping shook his head, interrupting Song Yu's summoning.

Towering over Song Yu like a small mountain, he looked down at her and said, "I just came to inform you that you don't need to participate in today's exam. You will directly receive a perfect score of 100 for the Beast Taming practical combat class."

Song Yu: ????

Zhang Guoping: "Congratulations."

Song Yu: ...

"As per the original plan... each student in our class has to engage in three battles. The regular tests are worth 25 points, and each victory in battle adds 25 points, with no points deducted for losses."

"But your contract beast's level is too high. In Class 5, besides your contract beast, the highest level is Intermediate 1st tier."

"I'm worried that their contract beasts might suffer severe injuries in battles against yours."

"Today, more than four thousand students across the school who have initial beasts will participate in Beast Taming battles, and in the afternoon, there will be physical battles... the school nurse is too busy, and we teachers need to try to lighten the burden on the school nurse." Zhang Guoping incessantly explained why Song Yu didn't need to participate in the competition.

However, these words fell into Song Yu's ears like thunder, almost causing her to stumble and fall.

Song Yu's pupils shook with disbelief.

No, no...

Qiuqiu and I had agreed that we would intentionally lose at least one of the next three matches. How did we end up getting a perfect score for no reason?

Did she discuss this with Qiuqiu for nothing?

"Teacher Zhang, I think this is unfair to other students. Why not let me participate in the battles as well?" Song Yu thought she could salvage the situation, so she raised her trembling hand, spoke boldly, and tried to negotiate for some benefits.

"No—!!"

"Absolutely not—!!!"

Suddenly, four or five loud shouts came from the side, and Song Yu was almost startled into a shiver.

She stiffly turned her head...

Only to see the Class 5 students who had been standing beside her, each with ears perked up, excitedly rejecting Song Yu's participation in the competition.

In particular, Zhou Ting on the side had a resolute face, "Teacher Zhang, I think you're right! Our class shouldn't cause trouble for the school nurse anymore! More importantly, Song Yu's contract beast is already at the 3rd tier, and if, by any chance, it accidentally kills two young beasts, what do we do?... So, for such a dangerous individual... cough, no... what I mean is, for such a proactive individual, we feel that getting a perfect score is more than enough! Well-deserved! Truly deserving!"

Song Yu: ...

Please return the comfort I gave you earlier!

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