Chapter 33 – Seeing Someone in a New Light

Lin Ze showed no mercy to those who dared to lay a hand on Guan Ning.

He deliberately targeted the vulnerable spots on the human body—whether it was the face, nose, or areas dense with nerves—ensuring that a single strike would leave his opponents unable to fight back.

And the results were quite fruitful.

Over a dozen boys were now all lying on the ground, clutching their wounds and groaning in pain, completely devoid of the arrogance they had displayed earlier.

“What are you doing?”

A middle-aged man walked over with a look of anger on his face.

He was a teacher stationed at the hotel by Ningjiang Academy, responsible for handling the arrangements for examinees from various places staying at the hotel.

He hadn’t expected that on the very first day, he would receive a report from the hotel staff about students engaging in a brawl.

Frustrated, he had rushed over immediately.

But when he arrived at the scene, this was the sight that greeted him.

One person had taken down over a dozen others?

“What happened here?”

The middle-aged man’s gaze fell on Lin Ze, and he asked with a dark expression.

There was no helping it—Lin Ze was the only one still standing; everyone else was on the ground groaning in pain.

Before Lin Ze could speak, Guan Ning stepped forward first, pointing at the people on the ground and saying loudly, “These guys started it!”

“That’s right!”

Zhang Xiaoyun and Liu Siyan also stepped up to back her up.

“These guys tried to take advantage of Guan Ning!”

“When they were stopped, they started cursing, and that’s when Brother Lin couldn’t hold back and struck!”

The middle-aged man frowned, glancing at the three pretty girls in front of him, then at the boys on the ground.

The moment their eyes met the middle-aged man’s gaze, quite a few of the boys timidly looked away.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man understood everything clearly.

But he didn’t make a judgment right away. Instead, he called over the hotel staff and instructed them to retrieve the hallway surveillance footage.

Only after confirming from the footage that the boys had indeed provoked the incident first did the middle-aged man glare at them with indignation.

“Which school are you from?”

The boys stammered, too afraid to answer.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man let out a cold snort, took out his phone, and made a call.

A moment later.

He put down his phone, walked over to Lin Ze, and said with a stern face, “I’ve already notified their schools. They’ll pay the price for today’s actions.”

“Also, even though they provoked the fight, the fact remains that you participated in it, so you’re at fault too. Go back to your room now and reflect on your actions.”

Zhang Xiaoyun, standing nearby, looked displeased and was about to retort, but Guan Ning quietly stopped her.

The middle-aged man seemed to be scolding Lin Ze, but in reality, he was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Aside from the perfunctory reflection, he hadn’t imposed any other punishment on Lin Ze.

That was already a good outcome.

After all, as a teacher, he couldn’t very well do nothing about someone involved in a brawl, could he?

Lin Ze naturally understood this reasoning and accepted it with a calm expression.

The middle-aged man then continued to ask, “What’s your name, and which school are you from?”

“Lin Ze, from Pinghai No. 1 High School.”

“You’re Lin Ze?”

The middle-aged man seemed to have heard of Lin Ze’s name and was taken aback.

After sizing Lin Ze up for a moment, his expression suddenly softened considerably, and a smile appeared on his face.

“So you’re Lin Ze. I didn’t expect that besides your talent as a Beast Tamer, you’re also this skilled at fighting. Tsk tsk, truly a genius.”

There was a hint of teasing in his tone.

This tone was completely different from his earlier businesslike manner.

Guan Ning and the others exchanged bewildered glances.

Lin Ze, however, seemed lost in thought.

He didn’t say much, though. After bidding farewell to the middle-aged man, he led Guan Ning back inside.

After they left, another teacher who had arrived a step too late couldn’t help but ask:

“Old Li, who was that young man? Judging by how highly you regard him, could he be a scion of some Beast Tamer aristocratic family?”

Old Li let out a chuckle and said, “Remember what was mentioned at the meeting a while back? Pinghai City produced a genius who passed the Apprentice Assessment at Ultra Difficulty.”

The teacher’s expression shifted immediately.

“Could it be… that was him just now?”

“That’s right, it was him. This is a genius student the Dean personally ordered to be recruited into the academy. How could I dare not regard him highly?”

“True enough.”

The teacher nodded with a look of deep understanding.

“A genius who passed at Ultra Difficulty… I wonder what he’ll show in the Admission Assessment.”

After leaving the corridor, Zhou Hong finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and patted his chest in lingering fear.

“That scared me to death. I almost thought we were going to get jumped.”

Then he turned to look at Lin Ze, his expression full of admiration.

“I only knew you had incredible talent as a Beast Tamer, but I didn’t expect you to be this fierce in a fight too. Man, taking on over a dozen by yourself and taking them all down without a scratch—that’s amazing! From now on, you’re my big brother!”

Zhou Hong put on a fawning, sycophantic expression as he said this, drawing giggles from Guan Ning and the other two girls.

Lin Ze, however, gave Zhou Hong a knowing, half-smiling look.

He saw right through him.

Despite Zhou Hong’s plump, simple-looking appearance, he was actually quite shrewd inside.

He was using this incident as a chance to climb up the ladder.

Just as he’d said earlier—he wanted to latch onto a powerful backer.

That said, Lin Ze didn’t really mind.

Having a well-informed underling wasn’t a bad thing.

“Which school were those people from?”

Lin Ze asked casually.

“Baisha No. 1 High School from Baisha City.”

Zhou Hong answered without hesitation:

“Oh, right, Brother Lin, you should be careful. Their school’s Lv Gang—he’s the fifth student to have a Tier 3 Pet Beast. His beast is an Iron-clad Dragon Snake, Steel Attribute, at Tier 3, Stage 2.”

Lin Ze nodded to show he understood.

He wasn’t afraid of them seeking revenge anyway.

Over the next two days.

Lin Ze and the others stayed in the hotel the whole time, not wandering around carelessly.

After that brawl, teachers from every school had sternly warned their own students.

As a result, the examinees quieted down considerably, and no similar incidents occurred again.

Qin He didn’t scold Lin Ze either. He simply chatted with him for a bit before dropping the topic.

In truth, he didn’t dare scold him.

Lin Ze was now the prized treasure of Pinghai No. 1 High School—and indeed of all of Pinghai City.

Though few people interacted with him directly, many important figures in Pinghai City were quietly keeping an eye on him.

Many wanted to see just how far Lin Ze could go on the path of a Beast Tamer.

If Lin Ze were to one day become a pinnacle-level powerhouse among Beast Tamers, Pinghai City—his place of origin—would surely reap great benefits as well.

Qin He would have to be out of his mind to offend a future pinnacle powerhouse.

Aside from that little episode, there was another delightful piece of news.

Zhang Xiaoyun and Liu Siyan’s Pet Beasts, which had already been at their evolution threshold, finally evolved successfully during these two days, breaking through to the Tier 2 level.

The two girls breathed a sigh of relief, no longer as anxious as before.

With a second-tier Pet Beast, their chances of passing the Admission Assessment were still quite high.

Time flew by.

Soon, the day of the Admission Assessment arrived.

Early in the morning.

The examinees gathered at Ningjiang Academy.

After passing through the grand, historically rich gates, everyone assembled in the square.

All examinees had been issued a bronze token bound to their identity in advance.

According to Ningjiang Academy’s notice, this was the key to entering the Origin Stele Virtual Realm.

Just like the Beast Tamer Association’s qualification assessment, Ningjiang Academy’s Admission Assessment was also held within the Virtual Realm.

Only the Virtual Realm, with its theoretically limitless space, could accommodate five thousand Apprentice Beast Tamers taking the assessment simultaneously.