According to the event requirements, Senior Brother Fu sent the two of them to the city center—the City Demon Spirit Bookstore Headquarters.

"How come there aren't any kids?" Li Mengnan looked at the parking lot outside the car window, her expression a bit odd.

She'd thought there would be lots of kids entering the tournament. After all, awakening at a young age usually indicated higher talent, and it meant advancing to Demon Tamer Journeyman sooner.

Demon Tamer Journeyman is a threshold, and right at this time point, it's the prime period! The longer you wait and the later you join the tournament, your competitors from the same batch might catch up.

But there wasn't a sign of kids in the yard at all. Almost everyone Li Mengnan saw was around her own age—the youngest must have been sixteen or seventeen?

"Yeah." Du Yu looked out the window and analyzed, "Maybe the competition is divided by age group. Young kids really don't need to get thrown onto the battlefield so early."

Li Mengnan pouted, a little unhappy: "I was hoping to slap a kid and send them flying with a single smack~"

Du Yu: "..."

Li Mengnan lowered her head and rubbed her nose against Xiaoyan's little nose: "Right, Xiaoyan? Your tail can puff up, you can swish it back and forth, snap snap.

Heh~ Some ten-year-old bunny, smack 'em and they'll jump three feet in the air."

Du Yu snapped back, "If they're younger, that means they're even more likely to be Demon Tamer Journeymen. You think you can actually bully them?"

Li Mengnan shrugged it off: "We're all Demon Tamer Journeymen here. The little kids, they're not fully grown, not as mature in the head either. Maybe all I have to do is make a scary face and those little brats will be crying."

Uh...

That does kind of make sense?

If Li Mengnan has truly inherited her mom's ways, and pulls out the same discipline methods her high school homeroom teacher did, those kids might not handle it...

Fu Jianzhou couldn't help but smile, pulling the car up to the front of the Bookstore HQ building: "Go on. I'll be keeping an eye on you the whole time. Good luck out there."

"Got it."

"Oh, Senior Brother Fu, can you watch my Little Orange Pig for me? If the competition venue is the Bottomless Pit, the Little Orange Pig who's always asleep cultivating inside me might have issues."

Fu Jianzhou gladly agreed: "Give it here."

"Thanks, Senior Brother Fu!" Li Mengnan smiled sweetly, caught a patched-together Little Orange Pig from her forehead, and handed it to Fu Jianzhou.

With Fu Jianzhou waving them off, the two of them went into the Bookstore HQ and headed straight for the indoor training ground on the left. But just as they reached the door, they heard a buzzing noise from inside.

"Give me Xiaoyan. There must be a bunch of people in there; let's keep things low-key." Du Yu reached for Li Mengnan's collar, grabbed the fluffy Xiaoyan by her little head, and lifted her out from the blankets.

"Eee~"

Li Mengnan suddenly asked, "Should I put on my hood too, cover my face?"

Trying to be as sneaky as possible, both Li Mengnan and Du Yu had coordinated their outfits and were wearing Beard Tree Coats today.

Du Yu rolled his eyes on the spot, wanting to retort, but thinking it over, what she said actually made sense?

Her looks really were outstanding—"milky white skin, pretty face, killer legs" wasn't just talk. She really could attract all the stares.

"Heh~" Li Mengnan saw how Du Yu had nothing left to say, couldn't help but chuckle, feeling a little proud inside too.

Du Yu ignored her, pushing the door to the training room open with one hand, and immediately a rush of heat hit them.

This packed room—there must be over 500 people!

The appearance of Du Yu and Li Mengnan naturally caught the students' attention, and the two of them quickly lowered their heads, melting into the crowd.

The buzzing noise was like a swarm of flies, yanking Du Yu right back to his high school study hall.

"Tap, tap."

Just as Du Yu was blending in and looking around, a soft flower vine reached out from behind and tapped him gently on the shoulder.

"Hm?" Du Yu turned around, finding only a few figures chatting in twos and threes.

As Du Yu turned, the owner of the flower vine obviously confirmed his identity.

The supple vine stretched toward Du Yu's face, like a gentle little hand, lightly stroking his cheek.

Du Yu raised his eyebrows slightly and followed the direction of the vine—he saw a few familiar faces.

Lin Shihang, Zhang Qiming, Luo Rui?

On Lin Shihang's shoulder stood a Rose Double Spirit, its two little flower heads bobbing up and down.

The others also spotted Du Yu. Zhang Qiming first looked surprised, then waved at Du Yu together with his girlfriend.

Lin Shihang, on the other hand, stiffened, hurriedly looking away, and even lowered his head a bit.

"Whoa~" Du Yu made a soft sound. Suddenly, the flower vine twined around his neck—and in the next moment, Lin Shihang's Rose Double Spirit darted straight over.

"You!" Lin Shihang blurted out, reaching out to catch it—but missed, and could only watch as the Rose Double Spirit slipped through the crowd and settled on Du Yu's shoulder.

Du Yu: "..."

Lin Shihang: "..."

Li Mengnan was dumbstruck!

She only knew that Du Yu and the Lin Family's big shot had started out as enemies during the rookie test. She had no idea what happened after.

At first, after following the flower vine's direction and spotting Lin Shihang, Li Mengnan's heart skipped a beat!

Four big words popped up in her head: "Enemies meet, paths are narrow!"

Looks like this match they're fated to clash again!

But what happened next completely shattered Li Mengnan's assumptions.

How did Lin Shihang's beloved Demon Pet... just trot over like that? And it's perched right on Du Yu's shoulder, acting all buddy-buddy?

"Bro number two?" Li Mengnan looked utterly baffled.

The Rose Double Spirit didn't show the slightest aggression—each little flower bud craned forward and took turns kissing Du Yu's cheek.

Li Mengnan: ???

What happened to "enemies collide on a narrow path"? How did you steal someone's Demon Pet?

I was worried about putting up my hood to cover my stunning looks, but wow, turns out YOU'RE the real magnet for trouble?

Far off, Lin Shihang was also having a tough time, his face practically reading "My sister can't handle this!"

"Hey there, little one, we meet again." Du Yu reached out, brushing the flower bud, which closed its little eyes and nuzzled his fingertips again.

Back then, when Rose Double Spirit battled Xiaoyan, each fought for its own master.

And after Rose Double Spirit briefly lost the fight and faced massacre from the Night Mongoose Race, Du Yu had shown such magnanimity; saving it—it really remembered him as its savior.

Technically, Rose Double Spirit was Xiaoyan's rescue on the battlefield.

But since Du Yu was its owner, and after the rescue he didn't say a word, just chose to shelter the Rose Spirit, the "debt of gratitude" was credited to Du Yu.

So it made perfect sense for Du Yu to be owed a lifesaving favor.

"Let's go, time to return it." Du Yu strode off, with Li Mengnan following in total confusion.

"Squad leader Du, fancy seeing you here!" Zhang Qiming beamed, sticking out a hand to shake Du Yu's, "This is great—we can team up with you this time."

"Yeah." Zhang Qiming's pretty girlfriend, Luo Rui, was all smiles, nodding at Du Yu in greeting.

You can't be rude to someone with a friendly face, so Du Yu just looked at Zhang Qiming, helpless: "But aren't we competitors?"

Zhang Qiming suddenly leaned forward, dropping his voice: "No no, we're all human camp, you'll find out in a second."

"Oh?" Du Yu peered at the mysteriously grinning Zhang Qiming. The guy must have some insider scoop. "You signed up for the first round, so you advanced to Demon Tamer Journeyman already?"

Zhang Qiming nodded immediately: "Why do you think you're such a wise and mighty squad leader, huh..."

"Shut up!" Du Yu laughed and cursed, taking the Rose Double Spirit off his shoulder and handing it to the silent, wall-hugging Lin Shihang.

Lin Shihang lowered his head, reaching to take the Rose Double Spirit and muttered, "Thanks."

Du Yu: ???

He just thanked me?

Is that something this brat would ever say?

Du Yu stared at Lin Shihang in shock, while Lin Shihang just cradled the Rose Spirit, quietly moved a few steps over to the window ledge.

Du Yu considered for a moment and let it go, turning back around—just in time to see Zhang Qiming clowning around, explaining something to Li Mengnan.

Of course, that little scene hadn't gone unnoticed by certain folks in the room.

A short-haired girl smirked, broke away from her social circle, and walked over to the window ledge.

She lifted her elbow and propped it boldly on Lin Shihang's shoulder: "What was that just now? That reaction? Not like your usual self, huh?"

Lin Shihang's face darkened, only tucking his Rose Double Spirit back into his Forehead Acupoint.

"I'm talking to you, young master." The short-haired girl grabbed Lin Shihang's chin, twisting his face toward her.

Funny thing was, she had boxing wraps around her hand, with just her fingertips sticking out.

"Smack!"

Lin Shihang swatted her hand away, face still dark, saying nothing.

"Heh." The short-haired girl didn't care, patting Lin Shihang lightly on the head, then waving at Zhang Qiming in the distance.

Du Yu and Li Mengnan were long gone, and Zhang Qiming, summoned, hurried over. "Sister Wei."

"Who was that young man?"

Zhang Qiming: "He's our rookie training camp squad leader, Du Yu."

"Oh." The short-haired girl looked suddenly enlightened. "So that's Du Yu, huh. Heh~"

The girl couldn't help but laugh, tilting her head at the silent Lin Shihang by the window, teasing, "So, what, he finally beat the fight out of you?"

Lin Shihang muttered quietly, "Lin Shiwei, don't push it."

Lin Shiwei still wanted to say something, but the doors were pushed open again, and a group of people entered.

The moment these adults walked in, the training ground fell silent, not a peep in the air.

Du Yu recognized the leader and was stunned—that guy at the head of the group? He actually knew him!

Old Demon Gong!?

"Holy crap," Li Mengnan whispered, "Du Yu."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we should just drop out."

Du Yu: "..."

Old Demon Gong walked up to the podium, eyes ominous as he swept across the densely packed crowd. That scary, scarred face was as fierce as ever.

Now that he had blended into the Demon Taming World, Du Yu knew the healing ability of Wood Demon Skills well enough—that scar on Old Demon Gong's face could be removed completely.

Which meant he'd kept it on purpose. Maybe just to scare the room into submission...

"Mission location: South City Bottomless." That powerful, magnetic baritone echoed through the vast space, as always.

"Mission content: Simulate the do-or-die defense of Ancient Pine Tower City a hundred years ago. Clear the Demon Beasts erupting from the Bottomless!"

"You'll be scored by overall performance throughout the competition. Each Demon Beast you kill is worth points, scaled by the beast's level. Take out the enemy commanders on the third underground layer, and the human camp wins... Du Yu!"

Du Yu reflexively looked up: "Present!"

I'm back. My youth is back again...

Following Du Yu's call, the crowd inside all looked over, countless eyes settling on him.

Gong Cheng kept a straight face and said in a deep voice, "Still alive?"

Du Yu pulled a face, lowered his head with both hands clasped in salute, and called out, "Thanks to your great fortune, I'm barely hanging in there!"

"Pfft..."

"Heh~" For a moment, the room broke out in laughter.

Some students didn't see the deeper meaning, just thought it was funny. But some started reading into it a bit more.

The burly, scar-faced man up there was clearly a very serious official, so why joke around like that?

Was there more to it?

Unconsciously, a few students started watching Du Yu more closely, taking a good look at him.

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