Chapter 241 — Registration Turmoil at the Martial Arts Tournament

Compared to Lu Heng, Shi Ying's name had burned even brighter over the past month.

"Shi Jin... could that be the Beast Tamer of the Butterfly of Fantasy?"

"The Father of the Green Worm Cocoon, the man who ruthlessly blew up King Zou's trending topics twice in a row."

"He's so young, he's so handsome, I love him so much."

"He's here for the Martial Combat Tournament too? Holy crap."

"What in the world is going on with this year's Martial Combat Tournament? Did all three of them come together? Good heavens, an all-star lineup?!"

At that moment, Hall No. 3 erupted. Lu Heng and Shi Jin were mobbed so tightly that not a gap remained, treated exactly like celebrities.

Lu Heng and Shi Jin: "..."

Bai Xi: QAQ.

...

After that, order was finally restored through the strenuous efforts of the security staff.

The three of them, Shi Jin included, barely managed to finish registering. After receiving their queue numbers for the strength assessment from the starry-eyed registration girl, the Bug immediately teleported them out of there.

"Where'd they go?"

"After them!"

The hall descended into pandemonium once more, and then most people, as if by unspoken agreement, abandoned the queue and ran off toward the strength assessment trial grounds. Registration could be done anytime today, but if they missed the trio's strength assessment, that would be a loss for good.

"Does Dr. Lu have any beasts from the martial combat system?"

"I don't know."

"What about Boss Shi Jin?"

"This one I know—he's an Iron-Eating Beast Knight! He can ride an Iron-Eating Beast and harden his entire body and weapons into armor! I'm a total fanboy."

...

Pillar Six passage.

Each holding a queue number, Shi Jin, Lu Heng, and Bai Xi materialized directly on the path. Once out, they all let out a collective sigh of relief. That had been truly harrowing.

"I'm number 109," Bai Xi said.

"I'm 110," said Lu Heng.

"I'm..." Shi Jin looked at his own number, 111, and remained perfectly calm.

Well now. A single guy's luck is never bad.

"Let's go, let's go." Bai Xi said, "Contestants below senior Beast Tamer rarely bother with the strength assessment, so this should go quickly and there won't be much of a queue. I reckon once we get there we can start right away."

Shi Jin pinched his number card. "Suddenly I'm thinking starting straight from the preliminaries might not be so bad either. I wonder how many master-level contestants there are this year. What if there are more than thirty-two..."

"Last year thirty Beast Tamers of master level or above competed. No idea about this year, but I feel like you could give it a shot—below master level, you're definitely number one," Bai Xi said.

"That may be so, but if it works out, I go straight into the main bracket, and if I run into a master-level Beast Tamer in the first round, wouldn't that be... a one-round exit?" Shi Jin ached at the thought. See, he'd said this tournament was a trap. Sure, Crimson Eye was formidable now, and his own physique was no weaker than those masters who specialized in body tempering, but after all, he was still a whole major tier below them.

Of course, Shi Jin had a hidden card—the Ice Dragon Blade. This Tier Seven weapon was genuinely powerful; paired with Crimson Eye, it let him fight above his level with no problem. The only issue was that it was a bit taxing on the Beast Tamer and the dragon whiskers.

"It's no good always crushing the small fry. This tournament may be fought by Beast Tamers themselves, but it's very safe. By then Bai Xi's second granduncle will probably come to watch too, so just treat it as training," Lu Heng suggested.

"All right." Shi Jin loved listening to Lu Yan.

Ah well, if the dragon whisker energy ran out, so be it. The Ice Dragon was still up on the snowy mountain anyway; little Crimson Eye could just go ask for a few more whiskers. The Ice Dragon Big Sister surely wouldn't refuse.