Inside the Friar Association.
At the Beast Arena.
Luo Beihe stood in front with a proud look on her face. Standing before her were the many disciples under her care, and in the front row was Xue Bao’er.
The number two disciple of Maple City’s Friar Association, Xue Bao’er, was Luo Beihe’s student.
Besides Xue Bao’er, Luo Beihe had many other students as well. At a glance, there were over a hundred people lined up in an orderly fashion with their pet beasts.
“All my students are required to go through an internal tournament every month. This tradition has been around for years now and its purpose is to encourage you, to make you all understand that every single day, there’s always someone working harder than you, striving to improve their circumstances.”
Despite being over thirty, Luo Beihe still looked like a young woman in her early twenties, barely showing signs of aging. After her announcement, a sudden breeze swept behind her and a silhouette fell from the sky.
It was a white crane.
Standing more than two meters tall, the crane looked exceptionally elegant. No doubt this was Luo Beihe’s blood contracted pet beast.
Frigid air surrounded the crane. With one flap of its wings, snowflakes began falling to everyone’s surprise.
“The rules remain the same. You will take turns and command your pet beasts to battle this white crane. Remember, use the best skills you have. I will observe and assess your improvements for this month,” Luo Beihe instructed sternly.
As Luo Beihe’s leading disciple, it was only natural for Xue Bao’er to go first.
“Bao’er, let’s start with you!” Luo Beihe said.
Xue Bao’er stepped forward with a serious expression and saluted Luo Beihe. After that, she commanded her exotic fire wolf to attack the crane.
For the pet beasts, it wasn’t their first time fighting each other. Seemingly proud, the crane obviously thought nothing of the exotic fire wolf. Luo Beihe didn’t supply her crane with any enhancement spells either.
As a mentor, it was only normal for her pet beast to be a formidable one. If she buffed it with spells, it would seem like she was bullying her students instead. Hence, she always allowed her crane to ‘test’ her disciples without any extra supplements.
“Xiao Qing, have no fear. Go!” Xue Bao’er cast a Wind Blast skill to enhance her pet beast. A gust of wind encompassed her wolf and the creature’s speed increased by at least a fold.
At this, Luo Beihe frowned. “Bao’er, your spirit strength is only at twenty-seven stones and the Wind Blast consumes seven stones. You won’t be able to cast more than three spells after this. What do you plan to do?”
Xue Bao’er smiled in response. “Just wait and see, teacher.”
Seeing how confident she was, Luo Beihe smiled gently and asked no more.
While she was unyielding when it came to her students, Luo Beihe doted only on Xue Bao’er. Firstly, it was because Xue Bao’er had a lovable personality and was downright adorable. Apart from that, Xue Bao’er had amazing comprehension skills especially when it came to spells. She was the best among all the students Luo Beihe had ever taught.
If everything progressed smoothly, Luo Beihe intended to nurture Xue Bao’er to become her successor.
After the first attack, Xue Bao’er could be seen casting a second enhancement spell on her exotic fire wolf.
“Fire Spirit Possession!”
However, what Xue Bao’er had cast wasn’t the traditional ‘Firelight’ used for Fire Spirit Possession.
As a teacher, Luo Beihe took note of this.
‘Why is Bao’er’s Fire Spirit Possession spell cast differently?’ Luo Beihe frowned.
A spell like the Fire Spirit Possession doubled as an offense spell and a pet beast enhancement spell. It belonged to a higher class of spells and consumed a great deal of spirit energy, exhausting about fifteen stones worth of energy. Many disciples couldn’t perform this spell.
Even with her twenty-seven stones of spirit energy, Xue Bao’er could only perform this skill once.
A high-grade spell obviously had its merits and it goes without saying how powerful they were. However, Luo Beihe was feeling rather displeased because what Xue Bao’er had just cast clearly differed from what she had taught her.
As a teacher, Luo Beije naturally would hope that her students would study earnestly. It was also great if they could come up with novel ideas in the process, but they should never act so recklessly like what Xue Bao’er was doing right now.
This applied to the Fire Spirit Possession spell in particular. Even she didn’t have the nerve to casually modify the incantation but Xue Bao’er was doing it at such a young age. What nonsense!
And so, Luo Beihe planned to stop the battle and give the young girl a little lecture.
However, with her swift reflexes, Xue Bao’er was done performing the spell and her pet was now blessed with Fire Spirit Possession.
In an instant, bright flames appeared and an overwhelming wave of heat swept through the area.
Luo Beihe’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The flames on Xue Bao’er’s wolf were almost pure emerald in color. The explosion of energy even forced Luo Beihe’s crane to step back subconsciously, regulating its strength to combat the heat.
‘It’s already this powerful before attacking?
‘This is impossible.’
Although Fire Spirit Possession was a powerful spell, it shouldn’t have brought about this degree of elevation. If Luo Beihe hadn’t researched this skill on a deeper level, she probably wouldn’t have been able to recognize this effect to be a result of the Fire Spirit Possession. She might have assumed it was a much higher level skill.
Despite her curiosity, Luo Beihe didn’t lash out. She chose to watch on.
Xue Bao’er was thrilled. The incantation she used was obviously what the mysterious big brother had taught her yesterday. With her bright mind and amazing comprehension skills, after an entire night of studying and ceaseless practice, Xue Bao’er was actually able to use it in battle today.
“Get ’em, Xiao Qing!” Xue Bao’er commanded.
Blessed with both Wind Blast and Fire Spirit Possession, the exotic fire wolf pounced toward Luo Beihe’s white crane like a tempest.
The white crane’s attribute was ice.
Facing Xue Bao’er’s wolf, there was a deadly clash of attributes.
Prior to this, the crane never had to exert any real effort when going against Xiao Qing. It had always been an easy victory.
In terms of rank, being at the peak of Rank 3, the crane was already showing signs of evolution, requiring only one last push. Against a Rank 2 Xiao Qing, it naturally had an overwhelming advantage. So without any enhancement spells, it could defeat Xiao Qing easily.
But this time, things were different.
The instant Xiao Qing darted over, the crane backed away. The latter even spread its wings, taking the initiative to attack.
Following a cold blast, snow began to fall out of nowhere.
The ambient temperature plummeted and the pond behind the crane began to freeze up.
However, that was far from enough to stop Xiao Qing.
Like a fireball tumbling through a snowstorm, unafraid of the cold, Xiao Qing brandished his claws. With one sweep, a jet of green fire surged forward.
The crane couldn’t help by fly up to evade this attack.
In just one move, Xiao Qing surprisingly gained the upper hand in the battle.
“Stop!” Luo Beihe called off the battle.
Xue Bao’er seemed unsatiated, but she didn’t dare to defy Luo Beihe’s orders.
“Bao’er, who did you learn this Fire Spirit Possession from?” Being her teacher, Luo Beihe could obviously tell that the altered spell wasn’t something the young girl came up with on her own.
While her comprehension level was incredible, this Fire Spirit Possession was clearly on a much higher level. It wasn’t something Xue Bao’er could have invented on her own so Luo Beihe deduced that she must have received guidance from an expert.
Looking surprised, Xue Bao’er asked, “Teacher, how did you tell?”
Luo Beihe smiled. “How can I call myself your teacher if I can’t even notice such a significant change? Spit it out. Was it Mr. Yuzhou? Or maybe it was Mr. Huangfu?”
In the entire Maple City’s Friar Association, the only people Luo Beihe recognized as being above her were Ye Yuzhou and Huangfu Ming. She was more or less superior to the other mentors.
Luo Beihe was confident of at least that much.
To her surprise, Xue Bao’er shook her head.
