Chapter 747: Taking the Stage

"If it's starting, it's starting, why are you so worked up? Is there a celebrity you like competing?" one of the classmates asked.

"There is!" said the blond male classmate who had first brought up the topic. "Apollo—have you seen *The Ultimate Gathering*? He's the male lead in it, and he's super handsome in there! He went from a complete nobody in the Lower Ten Districts all the way up to the Upper Ten Districts, became the defending champion of the A-rank Beast Tamer arena tournament, and then went back to the Lower Ten Districts with a group of companions to deal with the wild pet beasts problem and protect ordinary people. You should really check it out, it's absolutely fire!"

Another classmate with a hedgehog-haircut waved his hand:

"That's just acting, it's not real."

The blond classmate's face instantly darkened:

"Even if we let you act, you couldn't pull it off."

The hedgehog-haircut classmate let out a "heh": "I wouldn't be some actor anyway."

"Alright, alright, stop arguing." Dorothy spoke up just in time.

The blond classmate and the hedgehog-haircut classmate turned to look at Dorothy, their gazes unconsciously drifting to Qiao Sang sitting beside her, then exchanged a glance, gave a cold snort, and turned their heads away—giving her face.

"Honestly, a couple of casual words and you almost start a fight." After complaining, Dorothy turned her head to look at Qiao Sang and said in a lowered voice, "Do you want to go watch the Beast Tamer Celebrity Match tonight? I got two tickets."

The "coin" burst open, transforming into a brilliant shower of red fireworks in the air.

"His purpose in competing is to train his own real combat ability; those surface-level things are important."

"For real?"

If anyone else had said those words, the classmates would have torn them apart on the spot.

"You are a competitor."

"Xunxun!"

One by one, gazes full of meaning gathered on Lan Xing.

One had to know, anyone who could participate in the Beast Tamer Celebrity Match was, without exception, a celebrity whose name passersby could call out—you couldn't just casually play a supporting role, shoot a few ads, and successfully sign up.

"Want to go together?" Dorothy asked again.

He'd already said he was a competitor… Lan Xing felt the gazes of the crowd, his expression unchanged.

The commentator, upholding professional ethics, remained passionate:

A red-haired woman wearing silver ornament earrings waved her hand and walked toward the center of the field.

"You'll come out and move around more often."

But when those words came from the mouth of the Qiao monster, everyone instantly found them perfectly reasonable, sensing nothing wrong.

Dorothy: "???"

Dorothy pondered for a moment and said:

Suddenly, Bivette spoke up:

"Envious, the capitalist's kid—watching a match and gets to sit right next to a celebrity."

"Didn't they say only celebrities can participate?"

Under the gaze of one startled and astonished look after another, Ya Bao's posture quietly straightened, instantly gaining an idol's burden.

……

The staff present had all done their research on the competing contestants.

Lan Xing coughed once and lowered his voice: "Beast Tamer Celebrity Match."

Lan Xing coughed once: "This…"

6 p. m.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

Lan Xing carried Little Xunbao and took a winding path toward the competitor area.

"Ahhh! Cui Yingsong! You're so pretty in person! I don't know when you're competing today!"

"What kind of talk is that! Is Lan Xing not more badass than those celebrities?!"

"So that's how it is…"

"Haven't you ever come out for a stroll?" Bivette said tactfully.

Lan Xing carried Ya Bao and followed behind Bivette to the competitor area.

He had also received feedback before, how could he not know that those guys' attention had been focused here the whole time, which was why they could react that way.

"A Lingwen person, maybe a little celebrity from Lingwen, here to explore the interstellar market."

"How do you guys manage things? How could you let a child just waltz in like that?"

"Only 16 years old! The youngest competitor in this Beast Tamer Celebrity Match—Lan Xing!"

Flying-type pet beasts of various forms, wearing glowing devices, darted through the night sky like flowing streaks of light.

Then, pouting its mouth upward, a flame with a diameter of only about one centimeter was instantly sprayed onto the "coin."

"We're all adults here, understand that wanting to win big means you have to go on stage together with the prop Cui Yingsong—mainly because the capital behind it won't allow it, got it?"

"Yes." Lan Xing said, "An elder is taking me to the match tonight."

Ya Bao excitedly looked at everything around it.

"Thank you…"

The surrounding voices reached his ears:

Buildings with futuristic curves.

"If you could only support one, which one would you support?"

Lan Xing recalled the words he'd heard from the audience earlier, immediately realized something, and patiently explained:

"Ghost Ring King also had a cameo in a movie?! What movie? I'm going to watch it right now!"

And at the very center was a massive open-air beast-taming arena.

A competitor? A child? Everyone's mind went blank for a moment.

Open-air beast-taming arena.

The staff member glanced at Lan Xing and Ya Bao, then turned and smiled:

"The same logic applies to beast masters — they're willing to use props."

……

Pitote expressed his own view:

Little Xunbao appeared, waving its claws coolly toward the audience.

"That's your first time participating in the Beast Master Star Tournament! Aren't you the Little Xunbao·Hill who, at the age of 26, took eighth place in the C-rank Tool Master Challenge Cup, and single-handedly sparked a prop craze?"

Since Lan Xing arrived at District One, she had been living in a villa near Yuliandun Elementary School. It was quiet here, with hardly anyone passing by.

The Beast Master Star Tournament isn't a professional beast master star tournament either. Many stars whose main job is tool master or beast master are famous. Fighting them, it seems that knowing their detailed information in advance and then studying it would still carry uncontrollable risks.

The commentator's passionate voice echoed throughout the entire venue:

Cui Ying: "……"

"What promotional video? How come I've never seen it?"

Lan Xing withdrew her gaze and hummed "mm": "Since you came here, your evenings have basically been fully scheduled. There hasn't been much chance to go out."

In their idle back-and-forth chat, the two finished verifying their identities and walked into the open-air beast master venue.

The giant virtual screen above played ordinary moments from past Beast Master Star Tournaments.

Everyone chimed in one after another, and for a moment the discussion was very calm.

Light and shadow intertwined, and psychedelic neon filled the entire street.

Lan Xing listened attentively, but her mind was pondering one thing:

"What competition?" Little Luosi asked curiously.

As his words fell, a man wearing a red cinched long dress on stage extended his left hand toward a bear-type pet beast beside him, whose body was at least about 5 meters tall.

"Cute, a spirit-patterned color-variant pet beast filming a promotional video and a movie — I actually didn't receive a single bit of news!"

"Ice Ai……"

"Don't be so conspiratorial. This is the Beast Master Star Tournament, broadcast simultaneously on many platforms. With such huge traffic, everyone here is more willing to show off their professional strength."

Later, Little Xunbao became familiar with the route, and simply commuted directly between Yuliandun Elementary School and the villa. He basically never came to such a quiet place in the evening.

"Staff member!" A woman with a short ponytail, standing in front of the blonde man, called out impatiently.

Qiao Sang looked at her with a strange expression:

A red dog-type pet beast…… Lan Xing silently lowered her head and glanced at Ya Bao, the corner of her mouth twitching imperceptibly.

At that moment, that same voice sounded again: "What is this red dog-type pet beast I'm holding? I don't think I've ever seen it before."

Lu Bao poked its head out of the backpack, also curiously staring at the scene outside.

Standing in front, a red-haired woman wearing silver eardrops looked over and gave a handsome smile: "Little sister, whose autograph do you want? Big brother can help you get it. We're about to go on stage now. You can go to the audience seats and watch us."

Cui Ying: "……"

The white-haired woman with a ponytail said discontentedly:

At the same time, all the classmates immediately gathered their gazes over.

The audience whispered among themselves:

"Yaya!"

Regardless, props and Qiao Sang — these two things can both be swapped out after the match. Unlike pet beasts, whose level, attributes, and data are all already laid out there……

Because I really did come in through the front door……

"He has participated in a total of 4 Pet Beast Arena Championship tournaments! The F-rank Beast Master Pet Beast Arena Championship, the E-rank Beast Master Pet Beast Arena Championship, the D-rank Beast Master Pet Beast Arena Championship, the C-rank Beast Master Pet Beast Arena Championship — he became the champion in all of them!"

At that moment, a slender figure walked out from the passage.

"Is something the matter?" A staff member walked over.

Beside him, a fox-type pet beast about 6 meters tall, with red fur on its face, hands, neck, and chest, and yellow fur on its forehead, ears, and tail, walking on two legs, tossed a coin-like prop upward in its paw.

Everyone instantly fell silent and gathered their gazes again.

Cui Ying and Ya Bao raised their heads in sync, looking at a large bird-type pet beast in the air wearing various mechanical devices with an expression that showed they had never seen the world.

"He is their 4-time Pet Beast Arena Championship champion!"

The bear-type pet beast extended its right paw, and the silver mechanical device on it immediately extended a palm-sized claw from within, gripping Little Xunbao's hand and lifting it heavily.

Almost everyone rode their pet beasts and gathered there.

"Teacher, how come you didn't tell me that appearing on stage also requires a performance move? I didn't prepare at all."

Just a small role in a promotional video and a movie cameo, and that counts as a star?

"You're participating in the Beast Master Star Tournament?"

Okay.

"This one is also a contestant in this year's Beast Master Star Tournament."

"That guy definitely came in through the back door. Being only 16 and able to participate in this level of competition."

"I'm really impressed. Even Olim wasn't selected to participate — what makes him qualified?"

So that kid was talking about herself……

Lan Xing heard this and thought it made sense:

The appearance was already over? A large portion of the audience, who had originally felt novelty because both the opponent and the pet beast were spirit-patterned, couldn't hide their disappointment.

"Who is that?"

"Tool masters have a high chance of winning, right? They're too arrogant. The matches basically showcase props. Beast masters and the like are just painted on."

Lan Xing, feeling the silent atmosphere around her, lowered her voice and asked Pitote beside her:

It seems one can't rely too much on data; the ability to adapt on the spot is still very important……

Little Xunbao appeared, teleporting from time to time to various novel things and holographic advertisements it had never seen before.

"Hm? Who is this kid? Why is he sitting in the contestant area?"

For a moment, the atmosphere in the venue was whipped up to a peak.

Little Treasure Seeker landed steadily on the bear-type pet beast's shoulder, raised a hand, and waved to the audience in all directions.

"Bad." Lan Xing nodded, stood up, and walked toward the front stage holding Ya Bao in her arms.

Still just a student and already trying to go through the front entrance to take part in that level of competition — yes, yes, far too naive… The red-haired woman turned her head back, no longer making conversation.

The blond man's brows furrowed.

Really, as for… Cui Ying listened to the surrounding chatter, the corner of her mouth twitching faintly.

As another figure appeared, the commentator's voice rang out once more:

The people around heard the commotion and turned their heads.

"From District Seven! Height 1.88 meters, Apollon Nowitzki!"

The Beast Tamer All-Star Match is different from other competitions; after the opening, all the contestants enter one after another for a stunning appearance, and the commentator introduces each one as they come in.

"Lan Xing, I'll go support you!" Dorothy finally finished digesting it and said with a perfectly sincere expression.

"You're interested in the Beast Tamer All-Star Match too?"

"That's not what I meant! I meant, Lan Xing, you're not a star!"

The whole venue erupted, screams unceasing.

The original screams cut off, and the atmosphere instantly seemed to drop to freezing point.

If it were just herself, moving together with Dorothy wouldn't be a problem, but adding a teacher from the Imperial Beast Tamer Academy on top of that would be a bit inconvenient.

"Sometimes it's good to get out more, walk around, and broaden your horizons," Pitt said. "Just textbook knowledge, the Imperial Beast Tamer Academy can teach that too. And once you return to Spirit Pattern, who knows when you'll next be able to come see Super Su Xing."

The entire audience was packed to capacity; everyone held glow sticks in their hands, excitedly discussing their favorite stars with their companions.

A few seconds later, the red-haired woman gave an apologetic smile: "Looks like that was my mistake — may I ask, what's your profession?"

"Bilti is here too! This year's lineup is great, all stars I like!"

The place she often went was simply a specialized training club she'd found not far away.

"Exactly! I think so too!"

"Looks like someone's afraid Lan Xing will catch fire — must've been pushed onto the hot search."

Kid? Lan Xing instinctively looked to the side, but didn't see any so-called kid.

Damn, so awkward… Lan Xing waved and walked out.

My voice is already that quiet, yet they still heard it so clearly… Cui Ying felt the gazes of the crowd, complained inwardly, but kept her expression perfectly composed on the surface.

"Please line up properly, all the teachers." the staff member said.

"I come from Spirit Pattern, and because of my pet beast's uniqueness, I was picked at first glance to film a promotional video! I even had a part in a movie!"

"Heavy."

The bear-type pet beast walked toward the contestant area.

"Bang!"

That very day, the post #Beast Taming Department's Strongest New Student Lan Xing Is About to Take Part in the Beast Tamer All-Star Match# appeared on the homepage of the Yulian Dun University forum.

"Get to the front stage, the contestant entrance introductions are about to start."

Lan Xing was silent for a moment: "Student."

"Xunxun~"

Lan Xing arrived at the front stage, where various fashionably dressed, brightly and beautifully attired people had already gathered.

The line formed quickly, and Lan Xing joined the crowd, falling in among them.

Being a public figure isn't easy… Lan Xing repeated Pitt's whole pitch: "I once had Ghost Ring King film a promotional video, and even got it to make a cameo as a character in a movie, so I barely managed to sign up successfully."

Lan Xing could indeed keenly detect the meaning in their eyes, but could only politely maintain her original expression.

"Where's your family elder?" The blond man in front of her patted Lan Xing's shoulder and asked.

"That's still Cui Ying-loosening — how should I put it, you're a prop master just like me, prop masters must win!"

"It's alright, this is already the most talked-about event recently. Those prop masters and Master Cui Ying are all promoting it, saying the stars from our profession are so amazing. As a professional beast tamer, I have to come to the scene and support the professional beast tamers, no matter what."

"Never heard of them?"