C34 The Shadow Tiger

Zhu Boyi was seething with rage, his lungs on the verge of bursting. He cast a frosty glare at the Azure Academy crowd before directing his fury at Jiao Yuanju. With a cold shout, he challenged, "Jiao Yuanju, if you're a man, do you dare to duel me?"

Jiao Yuanju responded with a measured tone, "I am a man, but what makes you think you have the right to challenge me to a duel? Whether or not I choose to compete with you is up to me."

Zhu Boyi's face flushed crimson at Jiao Yuanju's taunting words. He was itching to rip Jiao Yuanju to shreds. Never in his life had anyone dared to speak to him in such a manner!

The two cohorts flanking Zhu Boyi hurled insults as well, "Jiao Yuanju, you coward, you're clearly scared of us. We're the elite squad from Apex Academy. Let's be real, Azure Academy is nothing but garbage. If you're scared of getting a thrashing from Zhu, just admit it!"

Exchanging a look, Zhu Boyi's companions continued with their haughty remarks, "All Azure Academy has is losers. Zhu, don't waste your time on Jiao Yuanju. If this scaredy-cat won't fight, forget it. Once we're out of Azure Academy, we'll take every chance to beat them down!"

The condescending and provocative comments from Zhu Boyi's sidekicks deeply angered the Azure Academy onlookers. Yet, they refrained from retorting with insults, not wanting to stoop to that level. Instead, they turned their expectant gazes to Jiao Yuanju, silently urging him to stand up for them and give Zhu Boyi and his lackeys the thrashing they deserved.

Jiao Yuanju internally sighed, knowing a confrontation was inevitable. Not only was his own reputation at stake, but the morale of the Azure Academy was on the line. They couldn't afford to feel inferior to other academies, especially given Azure's consecutive years at the bottom of the Combat Pet Academy rankings.

With a calm demeanor, Jiao Yuanju proposed, "Since you're so eager to be taught a lesson, I'm willing to oblige. But why not raise the stakes with a wager?"

A triumphant grin spread across Zhu Boyi's face. His biggest fear was that Jiao Yuanju would refuse to fight. Challenges between academy students required mutual consent, and Zhu knew that if he tried to coerce Jiao Yuanju, the Azure Academy's faculty would never stand for it. But Jiao Yuanju had just accepted the challenge.

"Alright, what's the wager?"

Zhu Boyi was unflappable, born into privilege with no shortage of anything.

Jiao Yuanju spoke calmly, "If you beat me, I'll do more than just keep my distance from Zhen Heyi—I'll even quit the Combat Pet Squad!"

The crowd gasped in surprise, unable to believe that Jiao Yuanju would take so lightly the role of squad captain, a title that was a badge of honor for the strongest student at Azure Academy, commanding respect even from the principal.

"But if you lose," he continued, "you'll apologize to everyone here and then leave Azure Academy for good!"

Jiao Yuanju's declaration sent a wave of excitement through the onlookers, who shouted, "Yes, make that jerk apologize!"

Zhu Boyi, seeing the throngs of girls admiring and cheering for Jiao Yuanju, scoffed, "To the arena, then!"

With that, Zhu strode toward the Azure Academy's training field, Jiao Yuanju following with a detached air, trailed by a large, particularly animated group of girls who nearly swarmed him, their eyes alight with enthusiasm.

At Azure Academy, Jiao Yuanju was the man of the hour—charming, kind, and formidable.

The commotion quickly drew a larger audience. Soon, members of Class 7 arrived, eager to support their class monitor, Jiao Yuanju, both out of loyalty and principle.

The Combat Pet team showed up in force as well, including Jing Dehai and Hong Yangqiu, as well as Lei Sheng and Xie Ziyu.

Lei Sheng, clearly still resentful, remarked, "I can't fathom what makes him worthy of representing our academy. He's the first to flee in a fight outside—doesn't he always end up relying on us against real enemies?"

Xie Ziyu shot Lei Sheng a scornful look, her gaze fixed on the arena as she retorted icily, "Ignorant."

A flicker of anger crossed Lei Sheng's face as he glared at the alluring girl, "Xie Ziyu, I may not know where you come from, but drop the ice queen act. Otherwise, I'll be the one to take you down a peg sooner or later."

As he spoke, he licked his lips with a hint of desire. Xie Ziyu was undeniably stunning, her figure as alluring as a serpent's!

Xie Ziyu's gaze cut like daggers as she watched the confrontation unfold on stage. With a mocking laugh, she said, "Do you really think Jiao Yuanju is so straightforward? Do you believe he made no contributions in the wild?"

"What are you implying?"

Lei Sheng was still clueless. To him, Jiao Yuanju was nothing but a penniless nobody, lucky enough to possess a mutated green snake, which allowed him to outshine their Combat Pet, Cash. He was convinced that Jiao Yuanju had no aces up his sleeve.

Zhu Boyi gave his Combat Pet Bag a gentle tap, and in an instant, a massive tiger with black and white stripes materialized, its formidable presence engulfing the arena!

A voice cried out in astonishment, "The Shadow Tiger! It's one of the most powerful breeds among the valuable and rare Mutant Beasts. Rumor has it that its bloodline power is nearing the Profound level!"

"What's the Profound level?"

"The Profound Rank is akin to the valuable and rare tier for Combat Pets. This Shadow Tiger, a variant among Mutant Beasts, is known for its exceptional talent. The Snake King is in for a rough time!"

Concern spread among the crowd for Jiao Yuanju. Given the disparity in bloodlines, his Little Green was merely a mutated green snake, a creature of the lowest grade. Even with its mutation, could its bloodline truly rival that of the Shadow Tiger?

Jiao Yuanju's brow furrowed.

"System analysis underway."

Name: Shadow Tiger

Master: Zhu Boyi

Attribute: Shadow

Level: Valuable and rare

Skills: Power of Shadow, Shadow Clone

Type: Mutated Evolution, Non-evolvable

Zhu Boyi boasted with confidence, "Jiao Yuanju!"

"Shadow Tiger, unleash the Power of Shadow!"