Beastmaster: I'm really just a forest ranger

Chapter 249 Advisor Shi: Chen Yuan is a monster
Weixian County

"When you get to the academy, remember to listen to Master Shi, don't make him angry, and don't bully your fellow students."

"Oh, I know!"

Su Zhu put on her faded sneakers, took two quick steps forward, turned around and waved, her smile as bright and captivating as the sunlight streaming into the stairwell: "Mom, I'm leaving!"

"Okay, be careful on the road."

Before she could finish speaking, the door slammed shut with a loud bang. Su's mother shook her head helplessly: "This child is still so impatient."

Running off the stairs, Su Zhu was agile and slender, her fair skin radiating the youth and vitality of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. Her forearms swung rhythmically as she braved the biting, howling wind and continued forward.

A neighbor walking towards them asked warmly, "Xiaozhu, are you going to school again?"

Su Zhu shifted her gaze, a bright smile on her face: "Yes, Aunt Sun."

"When you go to Fengcheng for school next semester, don't forget about us elders who watched you grow up."

Su Zhu looked away and said in a light voice, "Don't worry, Aunt Sun, I'll come back to visit you every semester."

After saying goodbye to Aunt Sun, Su Zhu jogged away from the neighborhood.

Although it was Friday, she had already passed the Yunhua Beast Taming Academy's assessment and did not need to stay at school for classes. She could simply wait for the start of the next semester.

But Su Zhu wasn't one to sit idle.

The December winds in Weixian were biting cold. Su Zhu tightened her sweater, turned her head to look at the panda Mumo perched on her shoulder, and smiled slightly: "Are you cold? Do you want to go into the pet space for a while?"

"roar~"

The panda, Momo, waved its little paws and shook its head.

Being naturally powerful, it doesn't need to avoid this bit of cold wind.

Unlike the Komote panda Chen Yuan had seen in the bamboo forest, this Komote panda was only the size of a palm, exquisite and small, like a miniature figurine.

"Then hold on tight, I'm going to speed things up."

As soon as she finished speaking, Su Zhu let out a shallow breath, then assumed a running posture, swung her arms, and rushed forward.

"roar~"

Momo Panda hid its sharp claws in its chubby paw pads and carefully clung to Su Zhu to avoid being thrown off.

Because of the strong wind and cold weather, there were not many pedestrians on the street even though it was morning. In addition, this was a small county town far away from the bustling areas, making it even more deserted.

After running at full speed for a while, Su Zhu, panting heavily, stopped to rest.

Standing here, if you raise your head and look ahead, you can clearly see a graffiti wall across the street.

Whenever Su Zhu saw the images on the wall, she could not contain the surge of emotion within her.

In the image, a figure stands in the center, holding a gleaming gold championship trophy in both hands. To the left lies a majestic Gale Hound, baring its teeth and facing directly forward, while to the right, a Fiery Cloud Falcon flies with a haughty gaze.

The scene of one person and two pets is very simple, yet it has turned this place into a well-known photo spot.

"Let's go."

As usual, Su Zhu stared at the painting for a while, and after recovering most of her strength, she continued on with Mumo Panda.

At bus stops and on bulletin boards everywhere, congratulatory messages that have never been removed can be seen: "Warmly celebrate our city's consultant Chen Yuan winning the championship in the first Dafeng Cup, bringing glory to Baokun City!"
Like Taibai County, Weixian County is also under the jurisdiction of Baokun City, but this remote county located on the southern slope of the Qinling Mountains is even less well-known than Taibai County.

But as Chen Yuan made consecutive advancements in the Dafeng Cup and his reputation grew, Weixian County also shared in his glory.

In addition, there was a congratulatory message in the corner: Warmly congratulate our county's Beast Tamer Consultant Shi Gang on advancing to the top four in the first Dafeng Cup, bringing glory to Weixian County!

As a native of Weixian County, Shi Gang's outstanding achievements were widely praised by all the people of Weixian. However, compared to Chen Yuan, who won the championship with overwhelming force, Shi Gang's achievements seemed insignificant.

Fortunately, the people of Weixian County have not forgotten Shi Gang and are spreading his achievements in many places.

After walking for a few minutes, Su Zhu turned into a small alley, walked to a wooden door, and gently knocked.

The wooden door was opened from the inside, and the young man who opened it glanced at Su Zhu before immediately making way for her: "Senior Sister!"

Su Zhu nodded, strode in with her long legs, and casually asked, "Has Master arrived?"

"Master is here." The man nodded first, then added, "Oh, right, Eldest Sister, Martial Uncle is here too."

Uncle?

Su Zhu raised her eyebrows. She had no concept of a senior master in her mind, but she suddenly remembered a series of rumors about her master. Her eyes narrowed and she asked in surprise, "You mean Consultant Shi?"

Seeing the man nod, Su Zhu's eyes lit up with excitement, and she quickly strode into the courtyard.

Although it's called a courtyard, it's actually two training grounds of moderate size, where the students of the academy can train and practice together.

It was already morning, but most of the apprentices had already arrived at the academy, diligently training their respective pets.

At first glance, these pets, though of different species, share a common characteristic—they are enormous.

The apprentices trained by jogging with these enormous creatures, lifting huge rocks, or practicing the skill of growing bigger and smaller.

"Sister!"

When Su Zhu arrived at the training ground, the apprentices immediately greeted this renowned senior sister, but she was busy meeting her senior uncle and didn't pay much attention to her, simply nodding and walking past.

Although she was the youngest in the academy, she was recognized as the senior sister because she was the first to join, had the most seniority, and was the most talented.

She strode into the room directly in front of her, looked up, and sure enough, saw a figure she often saw on television. She smiled and took two quick steps forward: "Master, Senior Uncle!"

Shi Gang, sitting in his chair, looked up at the newcomer and smiled, "This must be the disciple you often praise?"

He nodded in approval: "Not bad, not bad, you have great energy and spirit."

Compared to the tall and burly Shi Gang, Shi Yu's physique was much more normal, and his face was more peaceful. However, the obvious signs of training could still be seen on his body through his white training clothes.

Shi Yu glanced at Su Zhu first, then turned to Shi Gang and said, "Brother, Xiao Zhu will be studying at Yunhua Beast Taming Academy next semester. I'm not familiar with the area, so could you help look after her?"

He paused, then added, "Xiao Zhu has a high level of talent. Given time, she will definitely become an excellent beast tamer."

Shi Gang said casually, "Your disciple is essentially my disciple. Even if you didn't say so, I would still help take care of him."

Hearing this, Su Zhu chuckled and seized the opportunity to say, "Thank you, Second Master!"

After a pause, Su Zhu stepped forward, showing no stage fright. Her light and lively voice, unique to young girls, echoed throughout the hall: "Second Master, I admire you so much! From the Taibai Cup onwards, you were invincible, defeating one opponent after another, and finally..."

Upon hearing the second half of the sentence, Shi Gang, who had been grinning, froze and said in a low voice, "During the Taibai Cup, I only participated in the exhibition match, and I only had one opponent..."

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry, Second Master, I misremembered." Su Zhu showed no embarrassment, quickly organizing her thoughts and speaking again, "Your performance in the Grand Wind Cup was even more brilliant. No matter how strong or difficult the opponent was, you could always find a way to win..."

As the flattering voice reached his ears, a smile gradually appeared on Shi Gang's rugged face.

That's human nature; even if you know the other person is trying to please you, praise always sounds better than criticism.

Shi Yu laughed helplessly.

His eldest disciple was the most clever; despite her young age, she won the hearts and minds of all the apprentices.

When Su Zhu stopped speaking, Shi Gang slapped his thigh and smiled, "I'm actually not as good as you say. There are quite a few contestants who are better than me. I just got lucky, lucky..."

Su Zhu shook her head: "Second Master, luck is also a part of strength."

Shi Gang's smile widened: "As beast tamers, we can't rely on luck forever, especially you young people who have just become beast tamers. You must always remember to train hard and make your strength solid..."

Shi Gang rambled on and on, and when he saw Su Zhu nodding earnestly, he had an expression that said, "She's teachable."

If he weren't so lazy, he would have wanted to snatch this clever and sensible disciple away.

Suddenly, Su Zhu's voice pulled him back to reality: "Second Master, you just said that some contestants are stronger than you. I'm quite curious. Can you tell me about them?"

"Of course, no problem." Shi Gang readily agreed, but then a thought suddenly struck him. He looked deeply at Su Zhu in front of him, a knowing smile on his face. "You probably want to inquire about Consultant Chen, right?"

Upon hearing this, Su Zhu was clearly stunned and stood frozen in place.

How did the second master see through his own thoughts?
Seeing Su Zhu's reaction, Shi Gang confirmed his guess and chuckled, "Just as I suspected, you've been beating around the bush all this time just to find out about Consultant Chen."

The reason is very simple: since Su Zhu knows her own performance in the Dafeng Cup, she must know about the other players, especially Chen Yuan, who performed the best.

She must know which competitors are stronger than her.

Among them, Chen Yuan undoubtedly had the most outstanding performance, the most popularity, and the most heated discussion in the competition.

Moreover, Chen Yuan is from Baokun City, and since winning the Dafeng Cup, he has become an idol in the hearts of countless teenagers.

Upon returning to Weixian County, Shi Gang was begged by countless relatives' children to tell him stories about Chen Yuan and even ask for his autograph.

"You want Consultant Chen's autograph?" With many thoughts swirling in his mind, Shi Gang smiled slightly at Su Zhu. By now, he no longer dreaded being a supporting character to Consultant Chen; on the contrary, he felt secretly pleased whenever he saw netizens comparing him to Consultant Chen.

Su Zhu's eyes lit up, but she shook her head: "No, I'm not interested in autographs."

"I want to know just how amazing Consultant Chen is, and why the expressions on the faces of every contestant after their match against him are not expressions of resentment and disappointment, but rather a very strange one."

"It's just like……"

"It's like the pain has ended, and you feel relieved."

Upon hearing this, Shi Gang fell into a long silence.

He seemed to be exactly the kind of reaction Su Zhu was describing.

I feel relieved, truly relieved.

After all, when fighting against Consultant Chen, he was basically beaten up the whole time, with no chance to fight back.

Ending the match early would actually be a relief.

Thinking of this, Shi Gang gave a helpless smile: "Because he's a monster..."

after a long time,

Shi Gang and Shi Yu got up and walked towards the training ground. Su Zhu followed behind with her head down, muttering to herself, "Advisor Chen is really strong..."

In her eyes, her second master, who had become one of the top four in the Dafeng Cup, was already a very, very powerful beast tamer. But in the latter’s eyes, even fighting against Consultant Chen was an ordeal.

This torment stems from the vast gap between them, from their inability to compete.

Amidst a surge of emotions, Su Zhu yearned even more to attend the academy for further studies, to become a powerful beast tamer, and then to meet Consultant Chen on the competition field, and finally…

Defeat it!

A true fan should challenge their idol and then defeat them to their astonishment.

Upon arriving at the training ground, Shi Gang summoned his Rock Giant, whose imposing and massive body drew cheers. He put his hands behind his back and smiled faintly: "Come on, teach it any supernatural power."

Shi Gang returned to Weixian County for two reasons: first, to visit his parents whom he hadn't seen for many days; and second, to learn the art of arbitrary manipulation.

His meteorite giant is enormous, and once he masters any supernatural power, his combat strength can be significantly enhanced.

After all, the Rock Giant cannot break through to the third tier for the time being, so it can only try to improve its combat power.

Mastering powerful skills is one way to do this.

Shi Yu stood to the side, and with a thought, a white summoning array appeared in front of him, from which emerged a giant Yuanyue bear of exceptionally large size.

The Yuanyue Giant Bear is light brown all over, covered with fluffy fur, and its short tail is almost invisible.

"Roar!"

As the giant bear of Yuanyue raised its head and roared, its body began to shrink at an astonishing speed, eventually becoming a miniature version, only the size of a palm, under Shi Gang's gaze.

Shi Gang's eyes flickered, and he looked thoughtful, but when he saw the rock giant scratching his head and shaking his head with a face full of doubt, he felt a wave of exhaustion.

The Rock Giant's physical attributes far surpass those of other pets of the same quality, and it possesses innate immense strength, giving it an advantage in battles.

However, it has a natural drawback—it's not very bright and always learns skills a step slower than other pets.

It will probably take some time for the Rock Giant to master this difficult skill.

Fortunately, Shi Gang was prepared to stay in Weixian County for a while. Since there were no competitions or events recently, he could arrange his time flexibly.

"Take it slow..." Shi Gang sighed inwardly.

Time passed by unnoticed, and the Rock Giant's progress in learning any supernatural power was getting better and better. Su Zhu also began her daily training on the side.

Her Mumo Panda has long been proficient in any supernatural power, and is currently learning other skills under Shi Yu's guidance.

After all, although her master Shi Yu was not as famous as Shi Gang in Qin Province, he was still a well-known intermediate-level beast tamer in Wei County.

Initially, Shi Yu's academy only taught arbitrary supernatural abilities, but as the number of apprentices increased, he simply expanded his business to also teach training related to pets.

at this time,

A phone call interrupted Shi Yu's guidance plan. He answered the call, spoke for a moment, and after hanging up, he hurried over to Shi Gang's side: "Brother, do you have anything else to do later?"

Shi Gang turned around and shook his head: "Nothing's wrong."

Shi Yu said, "Then come with me to Daping Village. Something happened there, and I need to go and help resolve it."

Shi Gang glanced at Shi Yu with a puzzled look and asked, "What's going on over there?"

Shi Yu coughed and lowered his voice, saying, "It's about Xiao Wei. She's run into some trouble and I need to go and handle it."

"Xiao Wei..." Shi Gang glanced at Shi Yu suspiciously, then suddenly remembered something, his eyes gleaming, "Is that the girl you're so close to?"

Hearing this, Shi Yu's voice became even softer: "Yes, she's a forest ranger here, and she's recently run into some trouble..."

"Let's go, let's go right away."

Before Shi Yu could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Shi Gang, who was full of interest and was about to walk out the door.

Compared to helping his younger siblings solve their problems, the Rock Giant learning skills was insignificant.

"There's no need to rush," Shi Yu chuckled. "This matter is a little troublesome, but with you here, it shouldn't be a problem to resolve it."

"How about this, I'll take a few apprentices over to broaden their horizons, and consider it a test of their training results over this period of time."

Shi Gang quickly calmed down and pondered before speaking: "Yes, it is indeed necessary to test the training results through actual combat."

Once the two had discussed it, the decisive Shi Yu immediately gathered all the apprentices together.

Although Shi Gang was there to oversee things, considering various factors, Shi Yu only took five of his most senior and strongest disciples with him, including his eldest sister, Su Zhu.

"If anyone comes to the door, tell them I'm going to Daping Village on business and will be back by tomorrow at the latest." After giving these instructions to the apprentices who remained, Shi Yu hurriedly left.

However, around noon,
A handsome young man with black hair arrived at the gate, looked at the plaque hanging above, and muttered, "This should be it, right?"

"Ow~"

Cola, standing nearby, sniffed the air and suddenly nodded.

Master, master, there are many human scents in here!

Chen Yuan nodded to indicate that he understood.

Yesterday he returned to Baokun City from Huozhou, stayed for a short night, and rushed to Weixian County early this morning.

Having not been home for many days, he planned to have Spark master any supernatural power as quickly as possible so that they could return home sooner.

I wonder what kind of mess Duck and Electric Flying Cat have made of the farm this time. I hope they haven't caused any trouble.

According to Xia Heng, Shi Yu's school is located in Weixian County, in a small alley, and is very easy to find.

A thought flashed through his mind, and Chen Yuan took half a step forward and knocked on the door.

"Which one?"

The door was opened from the inside, and a young man poked his head out, looking outside.

But when he saw Chen Yuan's figure and the cola beside him, his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Advisor Chen!"

A tremendous sense of surprise surged through my heart like a tidal wave.

Chen Yuan was already used to this kind of reaction. After the man calmed down, he asked, "Excuse me, is Master Shi Yu here? I would like to learn the arbitrary divine power."

Upon hearing this, the man's first reaction was that his master had really made something of himself; his signature "anything" supernatural power had actually caught the eye of Consultant Chen.

A thought flashed through his mind, and the man quickly replied, "Advisor Chen, the master is not at home. He went out earlier on some business."

He paused for a moment, then added, "The master went to Daping Village, apparently to help the forest rangers there resolve a problem. He said he would be back by tomorrow at the latest."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan's expression instantly became subtle.

"Consultant Chen, let me call the master and ask him now," the man continued.

Chen Yuan shook his head and said, "No need, I'll just go find him directly."

After leaving the school, Chen Yuan dialed Zhou Xu's number: "Brother Zhou, are there any forest rangers near Daping Village in Weixian County?"

(End of this chapter)