C13 'yellow Dragon,'

Han Feng nearly choked on his own blood in shock.

He had initially pegged Lin Xiaoxiao as a tough cookie, but he hadn't expected her to be this formidable. Yet, in an effort to preserve his gentlemanly conduct, he promptly halted his grass mud horse, sparing Lin Xiaoxiao the indignity of being catapulted through the air. After all, she was wearing a skirt, and it would have been quite unseemly had she been exposed in a fall.

"Ah, I'm such a good soul," he mused to himself.

It was only after the instructor declared Han Feng the victor that he casually mounted his grass mud horse and sauntered off.

"Xiaoxiao, how could you lose?" A girl around sixteen approached, affectionately ruffling Lin Xiaoxiao's hair.

"Sister Tingting, his spiritual pet is weird. It's just an alpaca, but it managed to knock my Berserk Giant Ape clear off its feet! I was so stunned, I lost before I knew what hit me. I bet he's aiming for Class C. If you run into him, you've got to give him a thrashing for me!"

The girl was Lin Xueting, Lin Xiaoxiao's older sister and a student in Class C.

"Consider it done! If I encounter him, I'll make sure to give him a good beating! But don't let your guard down in the next matches. With your talent, making it to Class C should be a breeze. Just don't lose, or you might end up getting a spanking from your brother," Lin Xueting said with a giggle.

"I'll make it to Class C for sure! I'm determined to catch up to my brother and become a Class A student! And if I ever face Han Feng again, I'll personally take him down!" Lin Xiaoxiao declared, her fists clenched with resolve.

Unaware of Lin Xiaoxiao's lofty ambitions, Han Feng was riding his grass mud horse when a sudden sneeze almost sent him tumbling off. "Who's cursing me now?" he muttered, rubbing his nose in annoyance.

With over five hundred D-class academies, advancing to C class required winning seven or eight bouts.

The Hunting School's instructors were nothing if not efficient. Han Feng had barely settled in the class rest area for ten minutes before his name was called once more.

This time, his adversary was a boy in his mid-teens, who, despite not looking particularly muscular, had a fierce glint in his eyes. He glared at Han Feng as if harboring a vendetta.

"Bad luck for you, Han Feng!"

"Do I know you?" Han Feng asked, genuinely puzzled. He racked his brain but couldn't recall any past encounter with the boy. He couldn't fathom why the boy looked at him as if he'd committed some unspeakable offense.

"We've never met. But just remember, the one who's going to beat you today is named Huang Long!"

With no further ado, Huang Long summoned his spiritual pet, a Bloodthirsty Bat—a flying Demonic Beast known for its vicious nature and blood-sucking tendencies, with a respectable combat prowess.

Huang Long's Bloodthirsty Bat, though only level 18 and of ordinary rank, was still a notch above Lin Xiaoxiao's pet. It was uncertain if he could actually best her in combat.

Once the Bloodthirsty Bat was called forth, its beady eyes locked onto the grass mud horse, marking it as its target. At Huang Long's command, the bat let out a series of shrill cries and dove towards the grass mud horse, wings beating furiously.

The Bloodthirsty Bat was small in stature, but it was clever enough to use its size to its advantage. It skillfully avoided the grass mud horse's defenses and landed squarely on its rump, baring its hardened teeth in preparation to pierce the creature's hide and drain it dry.

"Ah, such a pitiful creature," Han Feng murmured, shaking his head in sympathy as he watched the bat's futile attempt.

*Crack!*

The grass mud horse's skin, toughened by the Ironbone Grass it had consumed, was impervious to the bat's bite. The bat's teeth shattered against the impenetrable hide, leaving it toothless and stunned.

Yellow Dragon's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Is that really an alpaca?" He had never seen an alpaca whose skin could shatter the teeth of a Bloodthirsty Bat.

As the bat's teeth clattered to the ground, the grass mud horse let out a mischievous chuckle. It shook its body, and its fur bristled like a forest of steel spikes.

"Ji ji!" The bat cried out in pain, beating a hasty retreat with its wings. It narrowly escaped a prickly fate, though its feet were not spared from injury.

"What in the world is that thing?" Yellow Dragon exclaimed, never having encountered an alpaca like this before. But his astonishment quickly turned to rage when he saw the blood on his spiritual pet's feet. "You dare harm my spiritual pet! I'll make you pay!" he bellowed, commanding the bat to unleash its skill.

The bat spread its wings wide and dove at the grass mud horse, activating its "Wing Blade" skill. The wings became as sharp and hard as actual blades, ready to slice through anything in their path.

Despite its enhanced physique, the grass mud horse was not eager to face the Wing Blade directly. The bat's High-pressure Rasengan was difficult to land, so the grass mud horse opted for the less powerful but more expansive Seven Armies of Water.

The attack might have been weaker, but its broad reach was its strength. A single breath unleashed three torrents of water, trapping the bat in a watery cage.

Caught off guard, the bat collided with the oncoming water pillars as if hitting a solid iron wall, leaving it dazed and seeing stars.

"Han Feng!" Yellow Dragon cried out, pained to see his spiritual pet defeated. His eyes red with fury, he charged at Han Feng, intent on vengeance.

But before he could reach Han Feng, the grass mud horse interposed itself, simply standing between them without further action.

"Move!" Yellow Dragon roared, swinging his fist to knock the grass mud horse aside.

The grass mud horse didn't flinch, instead exposing its seemingly softer side. In an instant, Huang Long learned the harshness of reality.

His fist met the grass mud horse's spiky fur, piercing through like needles through cloth.

"Ah!" Huang Long's agonized scream echoed as he grasped the painful truth—the bat had bled because of the grass mud horse's defenses. This creature was no ordinary alpaca; it was a veritable porcupine in disguise!

Watching Huang Long's agonized face, the grass mud horse flashed its big white teeth in mockery before spitting out a thick glob of phlegm that took him down.

"Han Feng! Xu Hu won't let this slide!" boasted Huang Long, oozing arrogance until the poison took hold and he slipped into unconsciousness.

A teacher promptly stepped in to remove him for detoxification.

"Seriously, you try to show off with that level of skill in front of me? You're just a lost cause," Han Feng scoffed, shaking his head in disdain as he rode away on his grass mud horse. The nearby referee struggled to contain his laughter, the effort to stay composed in such a setting leaving him visibly uncomfortable.