Reincarnated as a Tabby Cat: Daily Life with the School Beauty Empress

Chapter 59 The Tournament

Three months.

It's not a long time, but it's not short either. Su Qianxue has been at the Imperial Capital Royal Academy for a full ninety days.

That morning, Su Qianxue and Murong Hui made a rare trip back to their old class. It wasn't that they wanted to come back; their advisor, Wang Meng, had sent a notice that the entire class had to be present for an important announcement.

More than 70 people were sitting in the 80 seats in the classroom.

The buzzing in the classroom stopped abruptly the moment Su Qianxue pushed the door open and entered.

The scene from three months ago is still vivid in my mind. Back then, she had a "pet cat" perched on her shoulder, and the laughter from the entire classroom was louder than the cicadas chirping outside the window. The comments were things like "she got in because of her looks" and "she's the one who scoops cat poop," each one more offensive than the last.

Now?

"Su Qianxue is here! Look!"

"Shh, keep your voice down, don't disturb her."

"Wow, that's a powerful aura!"

Su Qianxue walked through the corridor without looking at anyone.

Her gaze was fixed straight ahead, her steps neither fast nor slow, as she casually chose a seat by the window. Yichen jumped from her shoulder onto the desk, the golden kitten curled up in a ball, and closed its eyes to doze off.

Throughout the entire process, not a single person dared to utter a word of mockery.

Chen Tianyu, who had mocked the most three months ago, was now cowering in a corner of the back row, barely daring to breathe.

He still dreams about how Su Qianxue's "pet cat" completely overwhelmed his opponents during the freshman competition.

A contracted beast of Emperor Rank 8, with Rank 7 martial arts cultivation, and skilled in both martial arts and martial arts—he doesn't even have the right to curry favor with such a monster.

Murong Hui was different. As soon as she sat down next to Su Qianxue, three or four classmates immediately gathered around.

"Sister Hui, where have you all been for the past three months? Why haven't you come to class?"

"I heard you guys took on a super mission? Did you go fight a boss?"

"Sister Hui, your weapon is so cool! Can I take a look?"

Murong Hui leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and enjoyed the pleasure of being watched: "It's a secret, I can't say. Anyway, it's very exciting."

"Wow!"

Su Qianxue ignored the commotion and unconsciously ran her fingers across Yichen's back, stroking it lightly twice. Yichen's ears twitched, and he began to snore.

At exactly nine o'clock, Wang Meng pushed open the door and walked in.

The classroom fell silent. Wang Meng always maintained a steady and authoritative aura, and after three months, not a single student in the class dared to be disrespectful in front of him.

He stood on the podium and scanned the room.

"It's been three months. When you first enrolled, I said something to you: the competition at the Royal Academy is brutal. Here, the strength you used to be so proud of may just be ordinary. Three months have passed, and you should have realized that by now."

Some people bowed their heads, while others clenched their fists.

I definitely have that experience.

When I entered the university, I thought I was a genius, but after entering, I found that geniuses were everywhere and I was just a brick in the pile.

"But," Wang Meng changed the subject, "the fact that you've survived until now at the Royal Academy without being eliminated proves you're qualified. The foundation of the Dragon Empire rests on people like you."

As he said this, his gaze lingered on Su Qianxue and Murong Hui, intentionally or unintentionally.

"Let's get down to business." Wang Meng took out an official document from his sleeve and placed it on the podium.

"The 'Youth Beast Tamer Championship,' jointly organized by the four great empires of the Azure Continent, will be hosted by the Blazing Sun Empire this year, and the venue will be Blazing Flame City."

A buzzing sound came from the classroom.

Who hasn't heard of this name? The Youth Beast Tamer Championship of the Four Great Empires, hailed as the highest-level youth competition on the Azure Continent.

Each empire sends its strongest young generation to compete on the same stage.

If we win, we'll be famous throughout the continent; if we lose, the empire will lose face.

"This competition is divided into two groups." Wang Meng held up two fingers. "Group 1 is for young people under 20 years old; Group 2 is for young people over 20 years old. Regardless of which group you're in, you must be a student at the college. Your age group corresponds to Group 1."

He paused.

"In principle, there are no strict requirements for registration. However, we cannot lose face for the Empire, so the academy has decided to recommend the top three students from each class to participate in the arena competition. Our class will be selected."

He looked at Su Qianxue.

"Su Qianxue, Murong Hui, Ye Chen."

Ye Chen sat in the middle of the classroom, towards the back.

Upon hearing his name, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, it was hard to tell whether it was a smile or some other expression.

He had fought Su Qianxue in the arena, and although he didn't lose badly, a loss is a loss.

He hadn't been idle for the past three months. His contracted beast, the Flaming Dragon, had advanced to the sixth rank of the legendary level, and he himself had broken through to the fifth rank of martial artist. His progress was considerable, but he knew in his heart that Su Qianxue's progress was even greater.

"The three of you, get ready." Wang Meng put away the official documents. "We'll depart this afternoon, from [location], to the Blazing Sun Empire, to Blazing Flame City."

After class, Murong Hui grabbed Su Qianxue's sleeve: "Come on, let's go for a walk in the garden. I have something to tell you."

The college's back garden is located on the east side of the teaching area, occupying an entire small hill.

This season coincides with the end of spring in the capital city, and the garden is full of trees and flowers vying to bloom, red, yellow, purple and white, their fragrances mingling together, so rich and intense that it's hard to breathe.

The butterflies fluttered their wings among the flowers, and some of the patterns on their wings even changed color, creating a dazzling display of light and color as they flew by.

Yichen perched on Su Qianxue's shoulder, his emerald green cat eyes following a golden spirit butterfly around twice.

Should I catch it or not? It's quite fat. Never mind, I just ate.

Murong Hui chose a secluded stone pavilion to sit down, and only spoke after confirming that no one was around.

Are you familiar with the Dragon Royal Talent Training Center?

Su Qianxue shook her head.

Murong Hui lowered her voice: "The Imperial Capital Royal Academy recruits one thousand contract masters every year, in twelve classes, with eighty students in each class."

You think the academy is the highest institution in the empire for cultivating geniuses? No, there's another place above the academy.

She stretched out one hand, spread out five fingers, and then closed it back up until only one finger remained.

"Each year, only eight to ten people are selected from these thousand. Once you enter that training center, regardless of your original background, you will be included in the royal family."

Su Qianxue raised an eyebrow.

Members of the royal family.

In the Dragon Empire, this is not a concept of a family, but an organization, the core decision-making body of the empire.

Those who can get in are either direct descendants of top-tier families or geniuses who are one in a century.

Once inside, the resources they enjoy, the secrets they access, and the power they gain are completely different from those of ordinary people.

"Is someone from your Murong family inside?"

Murong Hui nodded: "Our clan leader is one of the royal family members."

Su Qianxue leaned against the stone pillar, her fingers tracing Yi Chen's back.

She knew better than anyone what the royal family hierarchy meant.

The cultivation resources, intelligence network, and power reach there will significantly shorten the path to revenge. Moreover, to deal with someone of Senior Sister's caliber, personal strength alone is insufficient; a sufficiently high platform is also required.

"This competition is the selection window," Murong Hui said. "If your results are good enough, people from the training center will contact you directly."

"Okay, I understand." Su Qianxue's tone was indifferent. "We'll see after the competition."

Murong Hui pouted, "'We'll see after the competition,' it's always the same line. Can't you get a little excited?"

"Even if you get excited, we won't give out more spots."

"————Alright then."

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

The special plane carrying the student delegation from the Dragon Empire took off from the capital and sped off in a south-southwest direction.

Inside the cabin, there were more than fifty students from four classes, along with their accompanying instructors.

The seats were arranged by class. Su Qianxue and Murong Hui sat in the row by the window, while Murong Qingfeng sat behind them, resting with his eyes closed.

Ye Chen sat in the aisle opposite, clutching a copy of "The Illustrated Compendium of Mythical Beasts of the Blazing Sun Empire." He flipped through it quickly, occasionally pausing for a few seconds on a particular page, frowning slightly before continuing. He was fully prepared for battle.

Three hours later, the special plane landed.

The moment the hatch opened, a wave of heat hit me, like a bucket of warm water being poured on my face.

Blazing City.

The capital of the Blazing Sun Empire is located at the southern end of the Azure Continent, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side.

The city's architectural style is completely different from that of the capital. There are no skyscrapers thousands of meters high. Instead, there are large clusters of red sandstone buildings, layered and staggered, gleaming with a golden-red light under the blazing sun.

The air smelled salty and had a sweet scent of some kind of plant.

Yichen peeked out from Su Qianxue's shoulder, his bright green cat eyes squinting in the sunlight.

It's hot, really hot.

The capital of the Dragon Empire has a temperate climate, while Blazing City is a subtropical city.

The tour leader was a middle-aged instructor from the Imperial Academy, surnamed Fang. He had a round face, a good temper, and started playing the role of tour guide as soon as he got off the plane.

"The Dragon Sea is just ahead," Instructor Fang said, pointing to the south side of the city.

Su Qianxue followed his hand and looked over.

At the edge of the city lies a long coastline. The dark blue sea stretches to the horizon, merging with the sky at the horizon, making it impossible to distinguish where the sea ends and the sky begins.

The Sea of ​​Dragons.

The largest ocean on the Azure Continent is several times larger than the combined territories of the four great empires.

The density of strange beasts in this sea is higher than anywhere on land.

There are quite a few marine creatures at the tenth tier of the Mewtwo realm, and there are even legends of beings at the Immortal Realm level.

However, the sea is too vast, and 99% of it is untouched by humans. No one can verify whether those legendary places are real or not.

The coastal areas, on the other hand, are much more lively.

As Su Qianxue looked away, her peripheral vision caught sight of the beach.

On the nearby beach, a lively atmosphere filled the air. Residents of Blazing City and tourists from all over the country crowded onto the beach, enjoying the sun.

Their clothing was quite thin.

Swimsuits and bikinis are standard attire in Flame City.

The men were shirtless, and the women were bare-chested—their frugality in using fabric was admirable.

Yichen's cat-like eyes instantly changed from squinting to full, round moons.

【Oh My God.】

His head spun 180 degrees like a radar, scanning the direction of the beach.

That woman in the blue bikini has an amazing figure. Wait, the one in red next to her is pretty good too. And the one in white—

Good heavens, the Blazing Sun Empire truly lives up to its name; the spirit of its people is written all over their bodies.

[It's a pity that Cat Lord is just a cat now. If he could transform into human form, Cat Lord would lie on the beach, coconut juice in his left hand and an ice pop in his right, facing the sea, with spring flowers blooming.]

His tail flicked happily twice.

Su Qianxue looked down at him.

For some reason, she always felt that the cat was thinking about something inappropriate.