Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Only a few had heard about what happened the day before, and most of them were from the ancient clan. Unless Gao Peng decided to broadcast his actions to the public, the only thing they could do for now was actively keep it under wraps.
Gao Peng couldn’t be bothered to let the whole world know what he had done. He only hoped that his intended audience had received his message. If the whole world caught wind of this, it would open up a whole new can of worms like never before.
There were still 32 teams remaining in the event, meaning they still need to go through 31 rounds. They had gone through 32 rounds the day before in the Mo Du Stadium. The remaining rounds were scheduled to take place that day.
Gao Peng had seated himself comfortably in the auditorium. After a while, an official-looking man came over to invite him and the others to their own private suite. The five students were muttering excitedly to each other. Who would have thought that the principal’s reputation was enough to earn them a private suite?
“No need. I’m just chaperoning my school’s team today as a normal teacher. Don’t mind me. Just carry on with your day,” said Gao Peng, waving the man off.
“I understand.” Not wanting to bother Gao Peng any longer, the man gave him a deep bow before leading his subordinates down from the auditorium.
A while later, Gao Peng suddenly began to feel uncomfortable. Thanks to his heightened senses, he could feel ten pairs of eyes watching him from the shadows. This made him feel uneasy.
After being stared at for some time, Gao Peng stood up. When he did so, he could feel at least half of the spies averting their eyes away from him.
“Wait here,” he said to his team.
Gao Peng went off to find the man who had offered him his own private suite just now. It felt awkward having to ask for help from someone he had refused not too long ago.
“The private suite is reserved especially for you, sir. Unwanted attention is almost always unavoidable for someone with your reputation,” said the man, the words rolling off his tongue as if he had been saying them for a long time.
Gao Peng brought the five students to the waiting area. “You guys still need to get ready for the event. I can’t stay here with you, as I’ll just be distracting you with all the attention I’m getting out here. Don’t worry; I’ll be cheering for you from my room,” said Gao Peng, patting each of their shoulders as a sign of encouragement.
The event finally came to a close when night fell. Tiange Academy was able to beat Huawu High School by the skin of their teeth. Only the members of the Huawu High School team and their sponsors knew what had gone wrong.
There was a Level-45 Epic-grade Assassin-type familiar in the Huawu High School team. In theory, there was no way the Sky Sparrow could beat it. However, the Assassin-type familiar made a misstep at the most critical moment, allowing itself to be ensnared by the Devil Vine Mountain Climbing Monster’s vines. The Sky Sparrow saw the opportunity and went in for the kill, unleashing its Cloud Fusillade on its opponent.
The five students excitedly came up to Gao Peng. “Principal, did you see how in sync we were just now? I bet we looked cool out there, didn’t we?” one of them asked, grinning from ear to ear at their principal.
Gao Peng simply patted their heads, smiling without a word. Upon receiving their trophy, Gao Peng returned to the Southern Sky Group to resume his reclusive way of life.
He spent the next few days in his laboratory enhancing the grades of some of his subordinates’ familiars. This, in turn, improved their innate potential and combat power.
In that time, the White Dragon, Silver Dragon, and Blood Eye Bearded Vulture managed to reach the Emperor tier. Out of the three of them, the White Dragon possessed the most potential for growth, which allowed it to instantly jump to Level 64. Its combat power had also increased tenfold as a result.
A Level-64 Epic-grade familiar was by no means weak. Now that the tier limit was raised to Emperor-tier, Epic-grade was probably the highest most familiars could attain, especially in a world where Overlord-tier monsters still couldn’t exist.
Gao Peng already had most of the ingredients necessary for the White Dragon’s advancement to Legendary grade ready. The only thing he was missing was a True Dragon Fruit. The mystic realm would open up once again in two years’ time. The White Dragon would have to wait for another two years before Gao Peng could improve its grade.
Aside from improving the grades of his familiars, Gao Peng had nothing else planned for the foreseeable future. Before he could even think about taking a rest, someone came knocking on his door.
“Sorry for knocking on your door at this hour. I hope I’m not bothering you,” said a dignified-looking old man clad in a military uniform. Gao Peng shook his head. “Not at all. If anything, I welcome the intrusion. It must be tiring, having to come all the way here.”
The old man said, chuckling, “Just doing my part in serving the Huaxia region.” He then looked at Gao Peng intensely.
Gao Peng waved a hand at his guest. “Please, stop staring at me.”
He rose to his feet and poured the old man a cup of tea. “Come, try this. My grandpa likes this particular brand of tea. The tea leaves were chosen meticulously by the Red Snow Tea Plant Monster. It’s said to improve your circulation and concentration.”
The old man didn’t object to this. “I should definitely give it a try, then.”
The bodyguard behind him was about to caution him against drinking Gao Peng’s tea, only to be stopped by a warning look from the old man.
Taking one sip of Gao Peng’s tea, the old man closed his eyes and said, “Your grandfather has great taste in tea.”
“I’ve come here today to offer you my sincerest apologies.” The old man got up from his seat and was about to give Gao Peng a deep bow.
Gao Peng couldn’t allow someone older than himself to do such a thing. He quickly stopped the old man and said, “If you have something to say, you can just tell my grandpa yourself. Talking to elders usually stresses out youngsters like me.”
The old man laughed out loud. “All right, I’ll do as you say.
“However, I would still like to extend my apologies to you. I wasn’t too clear on what was going on back then. I only found out what they had done after the fact,” said the old man. “Rest assured; those responsible have been locked up and stripped of their rights to a familiar.”
Gao Peng simply nodded. “I understand. Thank you for telling me this.”
The old man continued, “From now on, the Southern Sky Group will be exempt from all taxes.”
Gao Peng widened his eyes at him. Even though the Southern Sky Group had become the behemoth that it was that day, they had never missed a single payment in taxes. The prospect of tax exemption excited Gao Peng greatly. Every year, the Southern Sky Group was obliged to pay an astronomical figure in taxes.
Gao Peng hurriedly replied, “There’s really no need. We simply can’t accept this.”
The old man let out a sigh of relief. “Humble and wise beyond your years, I see. In that case, you can continue paying your taxes like everyone else.”
Gao Peng’s eyes widened even more in surprise. The old man couldn’t help but laugh at Gao Peng’s reaction.
“I’m just joking. I never go back on my word,” said the old man.
“Truth be told, we’ve discovered indications that a change was coming more than ten years ago. We discovered that monsters have existed among us since ancient times. Their numbers simply dropped with the coming of the modern age. Eighteen years ago, four explorers went missing during an expedition in the Shennongjia region. One of them was a nephew of a high-ranking official in the region.
“The search-and-rescue team later discovered a sasquatch deep in the Shennongjia region.” He heaved a deep breath. “A ten-foot-tall sasquatch whose hairy body couldn’t be pierced by ordinary weapons.”
