Chapter 1774

Xiao Xiao Chutong froze in place…

She hadn't expected some gentle-tempered Time Dragons to ask such a question.

It already carried the weight of forcing her to choose.

In that instant, Xiao Xiao Chutong became furious!

"Chutong, I should be your second pet beast, right?"

"Yes!"

"All these years, I've always been your main battle pet."

"Mm!"

You could say that without the Time Dragon, there would be no Xiao Xiao Chutong today.

Over the past century, the Time Dragon had saved her countless times.

In countless battles, Xiao Xiao Chutong had turned defeat into victory, escaped peril—all through the Time Dragon's power!

"So your strength surged forward, from Bronze Rank, Bai Yin Rank, Gold Rank, to King Rank, Emperor Rank, Divine Rank… You quickly became one of the top geniuses in the Central Region!"

"Mm!"

Xiao Xiao Chutong waited silently, waiting for the Time Dragon to continue.

"But I… I've been stuck at Emperor Rank, unable to advance an inch!"

Xiao Xiao Chutong could clearly sense the Time Dragon's helplessness and despair.

"Your other pet beasts have all surpassed me in rank… yet I cannot improve!"

"I thought I was a Time Dragon, a divine beast of time!"

"But in truth, I'm just a crippled dragon!"

"Can you understand my inner resentment?"

"…"

Xiao Xiao Chutong's nose grew slightly numb with emotion.

She wasn't a particularly sentimental woman.

But the Time Dragon was different.

After spending so much time together, even the hardest heart would develop feelings.

"You've walked in a century what others take centuries to complete—your talent is truly exceptional… Without me, you'd still become a Divine-tier Beast Tamer, a regional overlord!"

"You have potential, you have talent… but I'm different…"

Xiao Xiao Chutong said solemnly: "Xiao Bai, I will definitely help you recover—don't worry!"

"I hope so!"

The Time Dragon couldn't help but sigh.

Before meeting the Babaozhai Society's chairman and Grand Elder, it still held hope.

But after hearing their words, it felt hope growing ever more distant.

The Babaozhai Society's chairman and Grand Elder had both once served in the Great Jin Empire—their strength and status were no less than those of the empire's elite!

Yet neither had ever heard of any Time-tier treasure.

Only Elder Chen Feng, over the past century, had seen its problem at a glance, offered a solution, and promised to restore its lost potential…

It was like a dying man unwilling to miss any sliver of hope.

"What if he's lying to us?"

Xiao Xiao Chutong thought of another possibility.

"He only needs you to serve him!" the Time Dragon said. "If he fails to deliver, you can leave him—this is no different from joining the Great Jin Empire."

"Let me think about it!"

Xiao Xiao Chutong always felt she'd been manipulated by "Elder Chen Feng!"

This feeling made her deeply uneasy.

"Alright!"

The next day, Xiao Xiao Chutong gathered with nearly a hundred other young geniuses from the Babaozhai Society's Central Region territories in front of the Babaozhai Society headquarters' plaza.

Many approached her to greet her, but Xiao Xiao Chutong ignored them all!

She didn't like socializing; she wasn't good at small talk!

She preferred dealing with those weaker than herself.

And today, her mood was terrible.

"What's so impressive about her?"

"This woman acts so haughty!"

"Hah! Xiao Xiao Chutong's always been haughty—who asked you to go up and embarrass yourself?"

"What's there to be haughty about? Her Time Dragon's still just a crippled dragon!"

"Speak lower!"

"Why whisper? Elder Chen Feng said her Time Dragon is almost certainly ruined!"

"…"

Hearing someone mention "Elder Chen Feng" again made Xiao Xiao Chutong even angrier!

Soon, Elder Jian appeared and announced the final results of the Babaozhai Society selection.

All Babaozhai Society judges and elders agreed Xiao Xiao Chutong's potential ranked first.

Many found this result unsurprising.

"The top ten contestants will each receive a recommendation from our Babaozhai Society!" Elder Jian said solemnly. "Those who didn't make the rankings shouldn't be discouraged—return home, train hard, and in five years, you'll have another chance."

Many genius beast tamers, no matter how unwilling, could only choose to accept it.

Elder Jian found Xiao Chutong and asked, "Xiao Chutong, did you go see Elder Chen Feng yesterday?"

"I did!"

"What did he say?"

Xiao Chutong said aggrievedly, "He said he had a certain degree of confidence, but the conditions are harsh!"

The conditions are very harsh?

Elder Jian was not surprised at all.

No conditions — that would be the real surprise.

Restoring the potential of a time-attribute divine beast, no matter how you look at it, doesn't seem like a simple matter.

"What are his conditions?"

"He wants me to swear an oath to serve him!"

After hearing Xiao Chutong's words, Elder Jian sighed: "It is indeed just a little bit harsh!"

Xiao Chutong asked in confusion, "Just a little bit?"

"Depends on who it is!" Elder Jian said with a smile. "If your talent weren't this good, making you his subordinate, serving him — this kind of condition might actually be preferential treatment... After all, this way you'd get a powerful divine beast, wouldn't you?"

Xiao Chutong thought about it, and it really did seem to make sense.

Unfortunately, she didn't consider herself an ordinary genius.

After Elder Jian returned to headquarters, he told Su Yang's conditions for Xiao Chutong to the President Tan Ming and the Grand Elder Guo Tianyou.

Tan Ming commented, "These conditions, for Xiao Chutong, are indeed hard to accept. No matter what, she's still a super genius!"

Guo Tianyou nodded: "Indeed that's the logic. I'm just a little curious why Elder Chen Feng is confident he can cure that Time Dragon..."

"I'm curious too!"

But no matter how curious they were, they couldn't very well go ask Su Yang.

The Grand Elder asked, "Then what about Xiao Chutong? Should we put in a good word for her?"

Tan Ming thought for a moment and said, "Forget it for now! Let Xiao Chutong wait three days — after three days she'll come around!"

"Is she your daughter?"

"That's right!" Tan Ming said. "She might have a way, you never know!"