Beast Taming: I'm Really Just a Forest Ranger-Chapter 148 - 121: Are You Ready to Become the Strongest Beastmaster? (2)
Chen Yuan came to Baokun City again.
He took a taxi from the bus station to the hotel arranged for him by the Association.
Yesterday, Zhou Xu called, hoping that Chen Yuan could come to Baokun City early to avoid traffic jams before the holiday. Considering Xuanhe Village is hundreds of kilometers away from Baokun City, there might be unforeseen issues.
Sitting in the back seat, a small head peeked out from his chest pocket, and the curious gaze of the Twin Flower Concubine kept sweeping outside the window.
Chen Yuan reached out and touched its small head, smiling: "We’re entering the city."
The taxi driver noticed the interaction in the back and glanced over through the rearview mirror, exclaiming, "Aren’t you the young man who took the taxi to the Beastmaster Association last time?"
Chen Yuan was surprised: "It’s you?"
"We really are fated." The taxi driver grinned.
In the vast Baokun City, the chances of getting the same taxi again are extremely low.
Chen Yuan asked in astonishment: "Sir, you remember me?"
The driver chuckled: "Because you were heading to the Beastmaster Association, and you have a look that leaves a deep impression."
Chen Yuan couldn’t help but blush.
The driver asked, "Are you here to participate in the competition?"
"Sort of." Chen Yuan nodded.
"I haven’t seen Baokun City this lively in a long time." The driver sighed, glancing at the promotional boards, signs along the road, and the huge screens hanging from the top of the commercial plaza, "Since the Spiritual Energy Revival, it feels like Baokun City has regained its vitality."
Chen Yuan gently acknowledged, gazing out the window—every promotional board was printed with images of various Pet Beasts and basic information, even including the necessary steps and career paths to become a Beastmaster.
In many corners, there were advertisements promoting the Taibai Cup:
[Are you ready to become the strongest Beastmaster in Baokun City?]
[From yesterday, starting today, from the moment you become a Beastmaster!]
[There’s only one champion, but both you and I are excellent Beastmasters]
But Chen Yuan’s attention was drawn to the giant screen, for this is the most prosperous area of Baokun City, and many businesses use this screen for promotions.
Two huge black silhouettes occupied most of the screen; from the outlines, one could faintly discern that the figure on the left was more burly, standing with arms crossed, while the figure on the right appeared leaner, standing straight.
Behind the two shadows, a variety of Pet Beasts appeared, densely packed together.
The taxi driver noticed Chen Yuan’s gaze through the mirror and said with a smile: "It’s said that our city’s Beastmaster Association specifically invited two powerful Beastmasters as guest performers to put on a Pet Beast battle during tomorrow’s opening ceremony."
"Look, those two guests are right on this screen."
Chen Yuan couldn’t help but laugh speechlessly.
So the silhouette on the right was himself...
Even though Chen Yuan didn’t respond, the driver’s voice continued happily, "A few days ago, our company had a draw for three tickets; I reached in and surprisingly got one."
"Luckily I got one ticket since my kid is a Beastmaster and we planned to cheer him on, but they were impossible to get. Now we can support him live."
The Taibai Cup’s venue is Baokun City Sports Hall, which can hold over 20,000 people, but this is the first Beastmaster competition, and both Beastmasters and the general public are very interested, so tickets sold out instantly and were far from enough.
"By the way," the driver looked ahead, "my kid is participating in the preliminaries on the first day, if you run into him, go easy on him."
Chen Yuan smiled: "I might not even win against him."
"Come on." The driver shook his head, "I’m good at judging people; you look like a strong Beastmaster."
"Wish you good results."
Shortly after,
Waving goodbye to the chatty taxi driver, Chen Yuan entered the hotel to check in.
After placing his luggage in the room, seeing it was already evening, Chen Yuan had a hearty dinner provided by the hotel and prepared to take a stroll.
As a guest performer for the exhibition match, he didn’t need to rehearse; he just needed to follow the staff’s instructions tomorrow.
Leaving the hotel, as the sky darkened, the brilliant neon lights replaced the sunlight illuminating the streets.
Located in a bustling area, many on the streets had Pet Beasts, so Chen Yuan let the Twin Flower Concubine appear without worry.
"Hmm."
The Twin Flower Concubine with its pink hair sat on Chen Yuan’s shoulder, uninterested in everything around as it entered its night mode, unlike its daytime curiosity.
It only wished to quietly stay by Chen Yuan’s side.
However, many people shrieked upon seeing the cute and petite Twin Flower Concubine, quickly approaching either to take selfies or to pet it.
The Twin Flower Concubine remained unresponsive, merely staring at them with its aloof and cold eyes, immediately deterring a large crowd.
Seizing the chance, Chen Yuan touched Pet Beasts he had never encountered, with system alerts echoing in his mind, his smile growing warmer.
"Big cities are the best, with so many opportunities," he sighed.
When he noticed the Twin Flower Concubine’s expression growing colder, he decisively said, "You better hide in the pocket."
The little one’s appearance was too captivating, and Chen Yuan feared someone might secretly snatch it away when he wasn’t watching.
Possibly because of the approaching competition, notably more Beastmasters were present than in Xuanhe Village, with people crowding the designated battle areas set by the Association.
The battle areas were converted from various venues, both outdoor and indoor, but most indoor venues required an entry fee.
Deafening cheers resonated around, and Chen Yuan squeezed in to watch, noticing the Pet Beasts from both sides weren’t strong but engaged in a fierce fight.
Coupled with the enthusiastic cheers, it was quite exhilarating.
Other Beastmasters spectating discussed critically, either complaining about poor commands or lack of excitement, some even shouting, "I could do it too."
Watching for a while, Chen Yuan found it boring and leisurely returned to the hotel.
Chen Yuan lay on the soft big bed, with Cola lying at the huge floor-to-ceiling window, blankly gazing at the bright city lights; Spark stood nearby with its eyes closed, resting for tomorrow’s battle; the Twin Flower Concubine sat cross-legged before a phone taller than itself, quietly watching a video—discussing the detailed nurturing plan for Wood-type Pet Beasts.
Meanwhile, Chen Yuan watched the Taibai Cup promo on his spare phone.
The promo was beautifully made and very thrilling, with netizens in the comments section all giving it thumbs up.
"Fired up!!!"
"Great, finally Baokun City knows how to make a promo, I’m in tears!"
"I’m entering the preliminaries tomorrow, wish me luck, friends."
"By the way, who are those mysterious guests? Still no news."
"Doesn’t matter, as long as they’re Beastmasters from our Baokun City, as long as they put on an exciting fight."
Unconsciously, Chen Yuan dozed off.
"Squeak."
In the dark, Spark suddenly opened its eyes, its sharp gaze turning to Cola beside it.
"Whine?"
Seeing the leader looking at it like this made Cola nervous.
"Squeak squeak squeak."
This competition is very important for the master; we must be well-prepared.
"Whine whine whine."
The leader is right!
"Squeak."
Let’s go train now.
"Whine?"
Cola looked at the darkness outside, momentarily bewildered.
But seeing the leader already flying to the door, it gritted its teeth, lightly followed, stood up, and opened the door with its paws.
Afterward, Cola picked up the room card with its mouth and followed the leader out of the room.
"Hmm～"
The Twin Flower Concubine opened its purple eyes, watching them leave for a long time before slowly closing them.
In the monitoring room,
Watching the Gale Hunting Dog pressing the elevator button on the screen, along with the Flame Cloud Falcon, the security guard rubbed his eyes in disbelief, muttering, "Huh?"
