Everyone Tames Beasts, So Why Are You Taming Goddesses? - Chapter 25

Su Yu took the information handed to him by Shangguan Ling.

Shangguan Ling explained, “The Beastmaster tradition in Xia has a history of over a century. In that time, some powerful Beastmasters have established influential families using their mastery of their abilities and knowledge.”

“Beastmaster families are classified by the strength of their members into first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier families. For a family to even qualify as third-tier, its head must possess Reincarnation Realm strength.”

The intermediate ranks for Beastmasters were Nirvana, Transformation, and Reincarnation.

Only families led by Reincarnation Realm Beastmasters were recognized as true Beastmaster families.

Shangguan Ling continued, “Among these families, nine have distinguished themselves as Pillar Families. They form the backbone of Xia, working alongside the Beastmaster universities and the Nine Divisions to combat the demonic lairs.”

“Uniting all forces capable of resisting the lairs is Xia’s primary strategy. However, it has also given rise to some issues within these families…”

“The Li family is one of the nine Pillar Families, and Li Mu is this year’s most outstanding S-rank student recruited through special admissions, second only to Kong Huanyuan from Imperial Capital University and Shi Shaolong from Jianghe University.”

“Based on my analysis, if Li Mu intends to secure victory against you, his family will undoubtedly prepare a second pet beast for him, as well as demonic lair weaponry specifically designed to counter Alia’s abilities.”

“This year, nearly half of the top ten on the Great Xia Potential List come from Pillar Families. Their talents and strength may far surpass those of the previous generation.”

Shangguan Ling glanced at Alia.

If Su Yu had any decisive advantage over Li Mu, it was not only his strange talent but also Alia.

Alia showed no trace of concern, idly playing with Su Yu’s hand, her expression calm and disinterested.

Su Yu skimmed through the details on Li Mu.

With additional insights from An Zhishui’s Spirit Eyes, he gained a clearer understanding of Li Mu’s talent, Spatial Intersect.

It was a talent centered on control and offense, utilizing razor-sharp threads to both attack and restrict an opponent’s movements.

In retrospect, Mu Changwei’s close-combat talent was poorly matched against Su Yu. However, if Mu Changwei were to face Li Mu, his raw power could easily break through the threads—overpowering finesse with brute force.

From an outsider’s perspective, Li Mu’s compatibility seemed to counter Su Yu well.

Shangguan Ling asked, “What do you think? Confident?”

Su Yu nodded slightly. “I’m more curious whether Major Qin will secure my forty drops of Life Essence.”

Shangguan Ling blinked in surprise before bursting into laughter.

Recruiting Su Yu into the Alien Beast Department might have been her best decision this year.

“Alright. I’ll be waiting for your performance.”

—

Leaving the administrative building, Su Yu returned to the arena. He intended to check on his teammates’ progress and meet his parents and younger sister, who had come to watch the matches.

On the way, seeing Su Yu unusually silent, Alia asked, “Little one, what’s on your mind?”

“Are you thinking about tomorrow’s match?”

Su Yu shook his head lightly.

The more deeply he understood Alia’s abilities, the more he recognized the unparalleled strength of God-Tier Sequences.

And the more he confirmed one thing.

“Alia, the people who attacked you before—they wanted to capture you alive, didn’t they?”

Alia nodded softly. “Yes. Why, little one? Do you have a lead?”

Su Yu had a vague theory but lacked hard evidence.

“Something the professor said earlier gave me an idea. I just need to confirm a few things.”

Alia pursed her lips. Has Su Yu been keeping this in his heart all along?

The attack that nearly forced her into deathly slumber was not only the beginning of her bond with Su Yu but also the shadow hanging over her. Now, she no longer had to shoulder it alone—someone was willing to stand beside her, fighting life and death together.

Relieved, Alia leaned in and gave Su Yu a light kiss on the cheek. “If there’s something this queen can’t figure out, I’ll leave it to you to solve~”

“Cough, cough!”

A familiar sound came from ahead.

Su Yu looked up and saw a figure standing in front of him. Recognizing the person, his brow furrowed. “Didn’t we agree you wouldn’t show up in front of Alia after losing?”

The figure turned out to be none other than Mu Changwei, the second-year student.

Mu Changwei had discovered something and had come to report it, coincidentally stumbling upon the earlier interaction. It left him feeling like his heart had been shattered into pieces, though he refused to show it.

Feigning calmness, Mu Changwei coldly replied, “I’m not facing you two directly, am I? I’m standing with my back to you. Technically, that doesn’t violate the agreement.”

Su Yu: ???

What the—? That actually works?

Can’t you have a little self-respect?

Mu Changwei’s face reddened slightly with embarrassment before quickly changing the subject. “Hmph, I didn’t come here to argue. I have something important to tell you.”

“Here, take this.” He tossed a small medallion backward.

“Even if the captain chose you, she was once our captain too. As much as I don’t want to admit it, three days ago, after our fight, I went to a bar to drink away my frustration. Someone approached me while I was drunk and tried to buy information about the captain. His accent was strange, so I gave him some nonsense, but when I tried to follow him afterward, I lost him.”

“So I went back to the demonic lair. One of my teammates has a talent that can restore a location’s residual memories. We found the site where the captain was ambushed. Although the traces had been wiped clean, the memory restoration revealed that someone dropped this.”

“As a gift, I’m giving it to you.”

“Since the captain chose you, make sure she’s never attacked again.”

Su Yu examined the medallion Mu Changwei had tossed to him.

It bore a family crest.

The emblem depicted a demonic blade cutting through the feather of a bird.

From what Su Yu knew, only people from the Sakura Nation carried such crests.

It was as if a beam of light had broken through the fog of conspiracy. Some of his earlier speculations started to gain credibility.

Su Yu said, “Alright.”

“I don’t owe you anything. Your pet beast was only influenced by my blood’s allure, temporarily blocking its connection to your mind and following its instinct to chase. It didn’t betray you, so you don’t need to take it personally.”

Mu Changwei exhaled deeply, as if a burden had been lifted from his chest. “Tomorrow, and in the Nine-School Alliance Tournament, don’t lose. The captain has never been defeated.”

“And for the record, I’m not taking it personally!”

With that, he turned and left, his steps noticeably lighter.

Alia raised an eyebrow, her upper lip curling slightly in disdain. “Why are men so stubborn?”

Su Yu chuckled softly. He had come seeking this exact answer.

For a Beastmaster, the bond with their pet beast was everything. A rift in that trust could be fatal.

—

Su Yu and Alia arrived at the lounge near the arena.

By this time, Liu Xuan and the others had already finished their matches.

“Alright, teammates, how did it go?”

Liu Xuan smiled. “The top 16 have been decided. Four of us made it: you, me, Jiang Xinyue, and Chen Mengmeng.”

Su Yu turned and teased, “Wow, Li Xu, Wei Gang, you two couldn’t hold up the fort for the guys?”

Li Xu and Wei Gang, both visibly injured, looked helpless.

Liu Xuan explained, “Captain, their opponents were really strong, and they happened to counter them in terms of compatibility.”

Su Yu’s expression darkened. “Was this Wang Yue’s doing again?”

The group shared the same suspicion.

Today’s draw had been heavily stacked against them, likely manipulated by Wang Yue, the Combat Department’s dean.

“Tomorrow, my draw has already been decided.”

“It’s Li Mu, the one who fought An Zhishui today.”

The other six looked up, their pupils contracting.

Such blatant targeting was now completely out in the open.

Seeing their grim expressions, Su Yu said calmly, “It’s fine.”

“Let them come. Tomorrow, I’ll crush all of Li Mu’s confidence. I’ll make sure their Combat Department doesn’t dare meet our eyes in the team battle either. Let’s end this once and for all.”

Mu Changwei’s visit had taught Su Yu an important lesson.

His abilities could create a rift in trust between Beastmasters and their pet beasts—a fatal vulnerability for any Beastmaster to have.