Beastmaster: I'm really just a forest ranger

Chapter 221 Let Consultant Chen Experience the Taste of Defeat
The next night.

The Fengcheng Gymnasium echoed with passionate commentary.

"Welcome to the Group A semi-final match, both live and in front of your screens!"

"The two opponents are Zhuang Jianbai, a genius beast tamer from Yunhua Beast Taming Academy, and Xia Heng, who has performed exceptionally well in this year's Great Wind Cup!!"

Amidst deafening cheers, the two athletes walked out of the athlete tunnel.

Zhuang Jianbai was wearing the school uniform of Yunhua Beast Taming Academy. The blue and white color scheme, combined with his tall figure and handsome face, gave off a youthful and energetic vibe, which made many female fans scream.

Zhang Hao couldn't help but nudge Chen Yuan's arm: "Brother Yuan, Zhuang Jianbai is already wearing the school uniform to promote the school, why don't you hurry up and learn from him?"

Chen Yuan turned his head and looked over: "?"

Zhang Hao grinned slyly and lowered his voice, saying, "It's just like I said before, you should wear a shirt with 'Good Luck Farmhouse' printed on it during the competition."

A black line appeared on Chen Yuan's forehead: "Get lost."

Imagine this: when you advance to the finals of the competition, tens of thousands of eyes are on you, every camera is pointed at you, and all the audience cheers and applauds for you. Then you turn around and reveal a line of big words on your back: "Good Luck Farmhouse welcomes you."

Tsk tsk, the whole thing just fell apart.

Zhang Hao said quietly, "Brother Yuan, actually you're not complaining about the word 'good luck,' you're just complaining about the farmhouse inn behind it."

"Would it be better if we turned the agritainment business into a group?"

"Good Luck Group, hehe, that's a pretty impressive name."

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, thought carefully for a moment, and then replied, "It's a little better, but not much. It feels a bit like a rural-urban fringe area, like a Shaxian snack shop next to a five-star luxury hotel."

Xia Heng was dressed in ordinary clothes, had a somewhat handsome appearance, and looked like a sunny young man when he smiled.

"Zhuang Jianbai! Zhuang Jianbai!"

"Xia Heng! Xia Heng!"

As soon as the two appeared, their fans cheered for their respective idols, with waves of cheers rising one after another.

Compared to Zhuang Jianbai, who had a huge reputation before the competition, Xia Heng was like a nobody until he sent out his third-tier pet beast and his name was remembered by countless viewers.

He remains silent until he makes a stunning remark; this perfectly describes Xia Heng.

“Brother Yuan, someone like Xia Heng would definitely be the protagonist in a novel,” Zhang Hao suddenly said.

"How so?" Chen Yuan asked curiously.

"The surname Xia is rare in itself. In novels, it usually refers to either the protagonist or an important supporting character. In short, it means someone who is not an ordinary person."

After a pause, Zhang Hao continued, "And you see, he had been completely unknown before, like a protagonist in a novel who likes to play dumb to fool others, until one moment he suddenly unleashes his power, making everyone exclaim how strong he is?"

"He is a dark horse that knocks down all the competitors, and also the biggest obstacle on the road to victory for other competitors."

“Brother Yuan, I’m telling you this: Zhuang Jianbai is definitely no match for him.”

Hearing Zhang Hao's confident tone, Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow: "Are you that sure?"

Zhang Hao gazed ahead, a confident smile on his face: "Of course, my strength is not as good as yours, Brother Yuan, but I trust my judgment in people."

Inside Lü Hao's live stream.
Lu Hao was squatting on a chair, shaking his head frantically: "Let me guess the score between Consultant Chen and Consultant Shi?"

He shook his head more frequently than he could drink cola, his voice resolute and firm: "No, no, no, I can't possibly guess anything more about Consultant Chen!"

Both of his wrong guesses were due to Consultant Chen. The first time, he experienced the unforgettable taste of canned herring, and the second time, he was forced to run wildly through the freezing wind in the street.

Admittedly, he gained a huge amount of traffic from these two bets, but Lü Hao decided not to ruin his body anymore.

There's no point in discussing the bet with Consultant Chen; he absolutely won't put himself through any trouble.

Suddenly, a comment caught his attention.

"Host, host, can you predict the outcome of this match?"

"This match..." Looking at the two players on the field, Lü Hao's eyes darted around, and then he spoke with an unusually confident tone, "The commentator predicts that Zhuang Jianbai will win."

"The reason is simple: Zhuang Jianbai has been famous for a long time, and his talent and strength have been proven. Moreover, the anchor has interviewed him before and is very clear about his abilities."

"Xia Heng is indeed formidable, but in the anchor's eyes, he is not as strong as Zhuang Jianbai."

"Zhuang Jianbai will surely win this battle."

Seeing a barrage of comments questioning him, Lü Hao, seized by a gambling impulse, waved his hand and boldly declared, "How about we make a bet?"

Since the other party wasn't Consultant Chen, he felt no psychological pressure making the bet.

“Some viewers said the previous bets were too vulgar, so I’ll switch to something more serious today.”

After a brief pause, Lü Hao's eyes lit up: "If Zhuang Jianbai loses, I will not bring any food, but only my pet to the Qinling Mountains to challenge myself to survive for ten days. I will record the whole video then."

"Don't worry, I will contact professional rescue organizations myself and will not waste public resources."

At this point, he chuckled and said, "But with the anchor's abilities, it's impossible for him to have to call for help."

"and many more!"

Lu Hao suddenly realized something, slammed his hand on the table, and shouted, "These situations will never happen, because Zhuang Jianbai will never lose!"

At this moment, Zhuang Jianbai was unaware that his victory or defeat had been used as a bet by a major blogger with millions of followers. He stared at Xia Heng opposite him, a smile spreading across his face, his eyes burning: "Come on."

"Come on." Xia Heng's smile vanished, his eyes revealing a sharp edge.

"Battle begins!" The moment the referee blew the whistle, both sides simultaneously sent out their respective pets.

Zhuang Jianbai dispatched a lightning-type pet named Thunder Shadow Leopard, his second contracted pet, which was weaker than the Winter Hound.

Xia Heng's first pet was the Ink Tree Spirit, the same pet as Li Junyue's.

The Ink Tree Spirit has a humanoid tree body about three meters tall, with its bark covered in dark black scales, the patterns of which resemble dried blood vessels, and fluorescent green sap seeping from the cracks.

Upon closer inspection, the Ink Tree Spirit's face had no eyes or nose, only a huge, crack-like mouth with serrated wooden spikes lining its inner walls, making it look somewhat like the tree demon in legends that devours children.

Chen Yuan quickly took out his phone, opened the group chat, and tagged Li Junyue: "You have to watch this match."

He then turned on the video recording function, preparing to record the entire match.

Zhang Hao said quietly, "Brother Yuan, you don't actually need to record it. There will be clear match footage after the game."

Chen Yuan's expression froze, and he silently put his phone away.

Amidst much anticipation, the first match of the semifinals officially kicked off.

The Thunder Shadow Leopard is as swift as lightning, while the Ink Tree Spirit is as immovable as a mountain. The two pets do not have a direct attribute advantage or disadvantage relationship, and the outcome of the battle will depend more on the pets' performance on the spot and the Beastmaster's command and tactics.

Zhuang Jianbai's tactics were very simple: let the Thunder Shadow Leopard run wildly across the field at super speed, sometimes triggering lightning strikes to hit the Ink Tree Spirit, and sometimes dashing forward to slash out with its sharp claws.

Fortunately, under Xia Heng's command, the Ink Tree Spirit remained unmoved, calmly facing various skills and constantly clashing with the Thunder Shadow Leopard.

This match was incredibly exciting. The strength of both sides' pets was nearly equal, and the command skills of their beast tamers were also on par. Coupled with the cheers that filled the air, it resulted in an exceptionally high-quality match in the first semi-final.

"Ink Tree Spirit, Corrupt Roots." Seeing that both sides had little strength left, Xia Heng's gaze sharpened, and he gave the final command.

The ground beneath the Thunder Shadow Leopard's feet cracked open like a spiderweb, and more than a dozen corrupted roots, accompanied by howling winds, emerged. Each root rushed toward the Thunder Shadow Leopard at a speed too fast for the eye to follow, intertwining with each other like a tree prison.

"Roar!"

With undisguised vigilance in its eyes, Thunder Shadow Leopard didn't need Zhuang Jianbai's command. It took a step forward, its purple fur fluttering in the wind, crackling with electricity, and sped across the field like a bolt of lightning.

The Thunder Shadow Leopard is a pet beast known for its speed.

However, its location had already been locked onto by the Ink Tree Spirit, and several corrupted roots roared in from all directions, suddenly wrapping around the Thunder Shadow Leopard's entire body and tightening around it.

"Roar!"

With a final scream, the Thunder Shadow Leopard lost its ability to fight.

Zhuang Jianbai frowned slightly, but his heart was not turbulent. Although Lei Ying Xunbao was unconscious, Mo Shujing was also in a precarious state and would collapse at the slightest carelessness, thus posing no threat to Yan Dong Hun.

He glanced quietly at the fallen Thunder Shadow Leopard and said softly, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Brother Yuan, what do you think of this Ink Tree Spirit?" Zhang Hao suddenly asked.

"Pretty impressive." Chen Yuan's eyes flickered slightly as he pondered, "Especially against speed-type pets."

Although the Ink Tree Spirit is slow and almost unable to move, its flying leaves and roots provide ample ranged damage, compensating for its mobility deficiencies.

Speed-type pets excel at launching swift attacks with high-speed movement, but this is ineffective against the Ink Tree Spirit, which remains as immovable as a rock, rooted in the ground and able to slowly regenerate its life force.

In this battle, Raikage Swift Leopard was worn down and killed.

But what if it's Coca-Cola that has broken through to the third tier?
Wind blades can cut roots, wind surges can blow away flying leaves, and air vortexes can knock down the ink tree spirit.

If the Ink Tree Spirit's opponent were Spark, a single burst of fire would likely turn it into a completely barren wasteland.

With this in mind, Chen Yuan stopped paying too much attention to the ink tree spirit and simply memorized its skills and tactics.

With the Thunder Shadow Leopard falling, Zhuang Jianbai chose to send out the Winter Hound, and Xia Heng also recalled the Ink Tree Spirit, whose condition was nearing its limit, and instead sent out his ace pet.

As the white light of the summoning array gradually dissipated, a giant crocodile, over five meters long, slowly raised its eyes. Its long tail swept across the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Its light blue body was majestic and imposing, with a row of cold black spikes standing upright on its back.

The water beast, the raging crocodile.

Although both are water-type pets, compared to the gentle Water Spirit Turtle, which is suitable for beginners to form contracts with, the Raging Crocodile is ferocious and will not hesitate to tear apart any enemy that intrudes into its territory.

"Wang!"

The Winter Dog sensed the intense pressure emanating from the raging crocodile; its body tensed, its fur stood on end, its eyes stared straight ahead, and snowflakes swirled around it.

The two third-tier pets faced each other, and a heavy and oppressive atmosphere spread in all directions.

"Brother Yuan, who do you think will win?" Zhang Hao suddenly asked.

"It's hard to say," Chen Yuan shook his head.

Both pets have just broken through to the next level, so their raw strength should be similar. The main competition will be in skill proficiency, on-the-spot reaction, and the Beastmaster's command.

In this respect, Zhuang Jianbai should have the advantage.

"So who do you hope will win?" Zhang Hao pressed. Chen Yuan smiled slightly and leaned back a little: "Anyone is fine."

Just as Chen Yuan had predicted, once the battle began, both sides' pets displayed impressive combat power, exchanging blows back and forth without showing any significant difference in strength.

In the dead of winter, the dog whips up a blizzard, and the raging crocodile retaliates with a torrent of water.

The Winter Hound closed in and used its Ice Crack Claws, while the Raging Crocodile responded with a vortex to strangle it.

After a long time,

The two wounded pets collapsed to the ground almost at the same time. They struggled to raise their heads, staring at each other from afar, their cries filled with resentment.

Although both fell into a coma at the same time, Xia Heng still had a weakened Ink Tree Spirit.

"The Winter Dog is unable to fight, therefore the winner is Xia Heng!"

The entire stadium erupted in shock as the referee raised his flag high.

"Zhuang Jianbai, on whom we had placed high hopes, has finally fallen in the semifinals!"

"Go, Xia Heng, your next task is to defeat the Great Demon King."

"It seems that academically trained beast tamers are not invincible."

"I feel that the advantage of the academic school is its stability, which can guarantee the lower limit. The fact that so many students have made it into the main competition this time fully illustrates this point. However, the upper limit still depends on their own efforts."

Inside Lü Hao's live stream.

Lu Hao stared at Zhuang Jianbai on the field, gritting his teeth: "How could you lose?!"

The fact that Qin Province's top genius beast tamer, who has been the focus of everyone's attention, failed to advance to the finals will surely cause countless fans to lose their temper and curse.

Seeing Zhuang Jianbai standing blankly on the field, Lü Hao could only sigh inwardly before looking at the camera: "I heard that a riding competition will be held in the Qinling Mountains in a while. I'll go there for wilderness survival then and broadcast the competition live for you."

"Let's focus on the next match, Consultant Chen versus Consultant Shi."

At this point, Lü Hao stared intently at the camera, his expression serious and his tone earnest as he spoke, enunciating each word clearly: "From now on, live streams will not involve anything related to gambling!"

"The streamer lost too much due to the betting in this Big Wind Cup."

On the field,

Zhuang Jianbai remained rooted to the spot, his expression somewhat blank, his unfocused gaze fixed ahead.

In that instant, many images flashed through my mind like a slideshow: the excitement of contracting the Winter Dog, the thrill of the Winter Dog defeating its first opponent, and the frustration and confusion of being ruthlessly defeated by Consultant Chen.
So many images flashed through his mind, but the cheers from all around forcibly pulled him back to reality.

Zhuang Jianbai looked at the dead winter dog lying on the ground, his confusion quickly disappearing, replaced by a look of determination.

The past is gone and we shouldn't dwell on it; what matters is what's happening in the present.

He strode forward, first squatting down to stroke the winter dog's head, his voice gentle: "You've worked hard, you did a great job, get some rest."

"Wang!"

Perhaps having heard the Beastmaster's words, Yan Dongquan groggily raised its head and rubbed against Zhuang Jianbai's palm.

It didn't open its eyes, but its tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

After putting the Winter Dog back into his pet space to rest, Zhuang Jianbai stepped forward and shook hands with Xia Heng opposite him: "You are very strong."

"Of course I know," Xia Heng said with a grin, showing no modesty whatsoever.

Looking at his defeated opponent, Zhuang Jianbai felt no more frustration or resentment. Instead, he smiled and said, "Let's keep going and try to let Consultant Chen experience the taste of defeat as well."

Xia Heng's smile was as radiant and dazzling as the rising sun: "I will."

Zhuang Jianbai nodded slightly. He was about to turn and leave when he added, "However, with your current strength, defeating Consultant Chen is as difficult as climbing to the sky. You need to become even stronger."

Xia Heng frowned slightly: "You fought with him?"

"I fought him." Zhuang Jianbai didn't turn his head, just waved his hand, his voice drifting in the wind, "That was the battle I felt most powerless against."

Back in his seat, Jiang Yuntao didn't say much this time, just smiled slightly and said, "Enjoy the game."

Zhuang Jianbai said, "Teacher, I have come to understand a principle."

"What's the reasoning?" Jiang Yuntao turned his head to look at him.

Zhuang Jianbai's gaze was profound: "Failure is a compulsory course for every beast tamer."

the other side,
"Brother Yuan, look at this comment." Zhang Hao handed over his phone.

Chen Yuan glanced down and saw a comment from a netizen: "Zhuang Jianbai's failure taught me a lesson: failure is a compulsory course for every beast tamer." Indeed, even a prodigy like Zhuang Jianbai can experience failure, so why should ordinary people like us worry about it? We can just start over if we fail.

Then there's another comment: You're right, but the undefeated Consultant Chen also taught me a lesson: if you can keep winning, why fail? Why does it have to be a required course? Can't it be an elective?

Chen Yuan chuckled: "Netizens are still the most interesting."

"Speak," Chen Yuan said, leaving the audience seats and heading to the contestants' waiting room.

Although countless spectators sighed and lamented Zhuang Jianbai's defeat, they had no time to grieve too much, as Consultant Chen's match was about to begin.

After several days, the two former rivals from the Taibai Cup exhibition match met again. Chen Yuan and Shi Gang looked at each other from afar and nodded to each other.

They had already had many battles, especially for Shi Gang, whose tragic and painful experience against the club was still fresh in his mind.

Shi Gang took a deep breath, first waving to the audience in all directions, then looking up at the black-haired youth in front of him, and said in a loud voice: "I'm ready."

He was ready to face Advisor Chen and defeat the Wind-Gathering Hound.

After this battle, he didn't want netizens to regard his exhibition match results as a moment of glory, but rather he hoped that netizens would point at him and say, "Look, this is Advisor Shi who defeated the Gale Hound and cornered Advisor Chen."

Thinking of this, Shi Gang smiled and couldn't wait to send out his first pet beast.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the massive rock giant stood on the ground, its searchlights illuminating its thick, dark gray stone armor, through which one could vaguely see its powerful limbs hidden.

"Roar!"

A roar echoed throughout the entire arena. The Rock Giant stepped forward, its deep black eyes hidden in its helmet staring ahead, its massive body resembling a mountain wall.

Compared to the exhibition match period, the Rock Giant is indeed much, much stronger.

But Coca-Cola isn't standing still either.

"Ow!!!"

A flash of white light appeared, and Cola made its entrance amidst thunderous cheers, its fur flying, its imposing presence and its eyes fixed intently ahead.

Ignoring the giant rock meteor directly in front of it, it nodded to the audience in all directions, then started running around the edge of the arena, with each step forward eliciting a louder cheer.

Shi Gang's tense expression turned complicated. He chased after Cola's retreating figure and couldn't help but mutter, "That eye-catching bag."

A viewer who had come all the way from Baokun City looked up and sighed when he saw the two pets meet, saying, "They're back, they're all back."

Looking back at the exhibition match, it was also the Windhound and the Rock Giant that clashed first, and the Windhound ultimately won.

Nearly two months later, these two pets met on an even bigger stage.

Will the Gale Hound win again this time?

"Roar!"

Seeing that Cola was completely ignoring him, the Rock Giant roared in fury, waiting for Stone Gang's command to launch an attack without hesitation, to let Cola know the consequences of such behavior.

The Rock Giant is now furious, and the consequences will be severe.

The moment Cola stood in front of Chen Yuan again, Shi Gang's eyes flashed, and a thought arose: "Rock Giant, Shooting Rocks."

Suddenly,
The giant rock slammed its foot onto the ground, its dark eyes gleaming, and dozens of sharp rocks gathered around it, shooting towards the cola can directly in front of it.

"Ow~"

Without Chen Yuan's command, a breeze rose from beneath Cola's feet, and as it increased its speed, it dodged left and right, approaching the rock giant.

Bang bang bang!
The sharp stone, having missed its target, struck the ground, creating an explosion and kicking up clouds of dust behind the cola.

Seeing that Cola skillfully dodged the sharp rocks, Shi Gang remained calm, knowing that with Cola's speed, avoiding some of the sharp rocks would be a piece of cake.

He actually had other plans.

These sharp stones weren't meant to attack the cola at all, but to block its movement!
When the sharp stone in front misses its target, the sharp stone behind follows closely behind, pointing directly at the ground in front of Cola.

"Ow!"

A hint of mockery flashed in Cola's eyes.

I, Cola, am no longer the person I was just a few days ago!
It neither dodged nor yielded to the oncoming sharp rocks; instead of slowing down, it increased its speed, and even leaped up by stepping on the rocks. A sudden gust of wind surged around its body, and pale blue ripples spread beneath its feet.

The wind howled, gusts of wind swept through, and fierce dust billowed up.

Shi Gang was horrified and couldn't help but squint, looking up at the figure that had entered his line of sight against the light of the searchlight.

So fast!

Stone Gang and the Rock Giant didn't even have time to react. His mouth was slightly open as he stared blankly at Cola's figure getting closer and closer, while a sonic boom sounded in his ears at the same time.

A pale blue spark flashed past like a silken ribbon, and a raging wind whipped at my clothes and my not-so-thick hair.

"Roar!!!"

At that moment, the Rock Giant sensed a strong sense of danger. Its body reacted instinctively, crossing its thick arms in an attempt to stop Cola, who had almost turned into a blur.

However, there is an insurmountable gap between the third and second orders.

boom!
As the giant rock meteor flew backward uncontrollably, crashing heavily to the ground with a dull thud, the sound dispelled the sonic boom in his ears, jolting Shi Gang back to his senses.

He remembered; this was the signature move of the Gale Hound—Vortex Assault.

But why is it so powerful that it can kill the Rock Giant in one hit?

Could it be that the Gale Hound has also been activated?
(End of this chapter)