Leaving

The Qin Family had a visitor today!

That wasn't the point. The point was that Old Master Qin himself had personally received this guest.

Everyone in Lanjiang City was curious about the identity of the guest who had suddenly come to Qin Manor.

Before long, the guest departed, taking Qin Shaofeng, the Qin Family's eldest young master, with him.

The people soon learned what had happened from the Qin Manor.

It turned out the young man was a student of Lianyang Academy. He had come to Lanjiang City to take Qin Shaofeng to Lianyang Academy for the entrance examination.

They had heard long ago that Lianyang Academy would soon be holding its admissions examination, and Qin Shaofeng was eligible to take part.

The people of Lanjiang City were eagerly anticipating it, hoping their City Lord would join Lianyang Academy and become one of its students.

Even in a small city like Lanjiang City, Lianyang Academy's name shone brilliantly. In everyone's eyes, joining the academy and becoming one of its students would be an immense honor.

Now that their City Lord had such an opportunity, how could they not look forward to it?

Meanwhile, Qin Shaofeng, who had left with the young man, was anything but calm.

I'm finally leaving!

Looking back at Lanjiang City behind him, Qin Shaofeng felt a pang of emotion.

And remembering how the little girl had cried until she looked like a tear-stained kitten only made that feeling stronger.

"Mm!"

A tiny white head poked out from Qin Shaofeng's arms. It was his Battle Beast, the Hundred Spirits Demon Fox, Bai Xue.

As Qin Shaofeng's Battle Beast—and one with decent potential—Bai Xue naturally had to come along with him so he could raise her properly.

The little girl understood this too. In fact, she had been the one to suggest that Bai Xue go with Qin Shaofeng.

Qin Shaofeng had originally planned to leave Bai Xue with the little girl for company.

But the little girl, though she seemed scatterbrained, had actually been thinking of him at every turn!

At the thought, Qin Shaofeng couldn't help smiling.

Seeing him smile, Bai Xue seemed to think her attempt at comforting him had worked. She tucked her little head back inside his clothes and soon fell fast asleep again.

"Heh, this little thing's quite perceptive."

The young man had noticed everything Bai Xue did.

In truth, he was quite surprised.

He could tell Bai Xue's level at a glance.

She was only a mid-level demonic beast, yet she had the intelligence usually found only in demonic beasts of the Spirit Vein Realm. That was just like his own Golden Feathered Eagle, Little Gold.

The difference was that his Battle Beast, the Golden Feathered Eagle, possessed a trace of the ancient sacred beast Golden-Winged Great Roc's bloodline. That was why it had intelligence beyond that of an ordinary Golden Feathered Eagle, and could briefly communicate with him even at the High-level Demonic Beast stage.

Could this little fox also possess some powerful bloodline?

The young man wondered, but then shook his head and dismissed the idea.

How could that be possible?

Low-level demonic beasts with powerful bloodlines were incredibly rare. How could one appear in a tiny place like Lanjiang City?

That was simply impossible. I must be overthinking it!

"Perceptive?" Qin Shaofeng paused, then smiled. "I don't really think so. I just know this little thing's a glutton. She always picks out the best food."

Hearing this, the young man smiled too. He decided he must have been overthinking it and was about to say something else.

But just then, a sharp cry cut him off.

"Keer!"

A cheerful cry rang out above Qin Shaofeng and the young man. A gust of wind swept down, and a huge shadow suddenly blotted out the sky above them.

What was that...?

Qin Shaofeng's heart lurched. He was especially startled when he looked up and saw the enormous golden eagle.

"Don't be nervous. This is my Battle Beast, Little Gold!"

Seeing Qin Shaofeng's unease, the young man explained.

Battle Beast?

Qin Shaofeng's thoughts stirred, and his eyes brightened as he activated Fiery Golden Eyes.

Golden Feathered Eagle: Advanced Third-Level Demon Beast

Master: Lian Chenghao

That was all the information he could see.

An Advanced Third-Level Demon Beast was equivalent to a human at the Xiantian Third Layer.

During this period, Qin Shaofeng had visited the Beast Arena in Lanjiang City many times and obtained quite a few mid-level demonic beasts from Steward Fang. That had earned him some experience without ever leaving the city, but he had only just reached the Houtian Eighth Layer.

Player: Qin Shaofeng

Level: Houtian Eighth Layer, 50/8000

Inner Qi Points: 2750/2750 (Houtian Seventh Layer has 550 Inner Qi Points; Yi Jin Jing bonus: fivefold)

Talent Spirit Root: Thunder Body

Skills: Fiery Golden Eyes, Yi Jin Jing, Little Li Flying Dagger, Alchemy...

Battle Beast: Hundred Spirits Demon Fox

Equipment: None

Quest: None

Points: 300

Title: None

These were Qin Shaofeng's current attributes. As for his title, after handing the City Lord's official seal of Lanjiang City to Qin An, Qin Shaofeng was no longer the City Lord.

That had been the result of his discussions with Old Master Qin.

At the Houtian Eighth Layer, Fiery Golden Eyes could only detect information up to the Xiantian First Layer at most.

The fact that it had revealed the Golden Feathered Eagle's name and level was already pretty lucky.

He had also once used Fiery Golden Eyes on the young man before him, Lian Chenghao.

But all he had seen was a string of question marks—not even a name. Lian Chenghao had to introduce himself.

That was why Qin Shaofeng genuinely admired this senior student of Lianyang Academy.

From his appearance, Senior Brother Lian Chenghao looked no older than twenty-three, just seven or eight years older than Qin Shaofeng. Yet no one could see through his cultivation.

Qin Shaofeng had even learned from his grandfather that the old man himself couldn't seem to discern Lian Chenghao's true cultivation. He only knew that Lian Chenghao was far stronger than he was.

Someone like that could never have come from a place like Lanjiang City.

Now that was a true genius!

But Qin Shaofeng wasn't discouraged!

If anything, he felt a little excited.

So this was the strength of a Lianyang Academy student!

Lanjiang City was simply too small. Only by venturing out could he see how wonderful the world was.

So, the moment he left, Qin Shaofeng made up his mind: he would pass the examination and join Lianyang Academy as a full-fledged student.

Besides, it would bring considerable benefits to both Lanjiang City and the Qin Family.

After all, Lianyang Academy would look after its students' families to some extent, and the benefits would extend to Lianyang Kingdom as well.

That was one reason the people of Lanjiang City were so eager for Qin Shaofeng to join Lianyang Academy.

With Little Gold's arrival, Lian Chenghao and Qin Shaofeng officially set off.

Lianyang Academy was extremely far from Lanjiang City. By ordinary means of transport, such as a horse-drawn carriage, the journey would take two or three months at the very least.

That was why, in previous years, students with recommendation slots were usually picked up by Lianyang Academy students.

Of course, they only picked them up; they didn't take them home.

Once someone passed the examination, they became part of Lianyang Academy and naturally wouldn't leave anytime soon.

If they failed, they wouldn't count as members of the academy, so why would it take care of them and send them home?

At Little Gold's speed, they could reach Lianyang Academy in half a day at most. But before that, Lian Chenghao had to make a detour to pick up two other people.

Unlike ordinary students, Lian Chenghao was an outstanding student at Lianyang Academy. He had no need to take on the task of picking up examination candidates.

But this time, he had his own reasons.

One was a younger relative of his master's wife. The boy had turned fifteen that year, and his family had allowed him to go out and gain experience. Because of his master's wife, he had chosen Lianyang Academy.

The other reason was that years ago, his eldest senior brother had been surrounded by a horde of demonic beasts during a mission and suffered severe injuries, barely managing to escape.

Fortunately, fate had not yet run out for his eldest senior brother. A City Lord out hunting nearby had found him and saved his life.

To repay the life-saving favor, Lian Chenghao's eldest senior brother had made a promise: he would grant that City Lord three reasonable requests.

The first request had been fulfilled several years ago. Now came the second: to get the City Lord's son into Lianyang Academy.

His master's wife's younger relative and the son of his eldest senior brother's savior—those were Lian Chenghao's real assignments.

As for Qin Shaofeng, he was only coming along because Lanjiang City was remote and happened to lie along the way to his master's wife's family. Lian Chenghao had simply picked him up as a convenience.

Truthfully, Lian Chenghao hadn't thought much of someone from such a remote little city. He believed Qin Shaofeng had almost no chance of passing Lianyang Academy's examination.

He had come to fetch him only because Lianyang Academy's rules required it.

What Lian Chenghao hadn't expected was that, when he met Qin Shaofeng, he would discover the boy had reached the Houtian Eighth Layer.

That level was nothing special at Lianyang Academy.

But for a remote little city like Lanjiang City, it was a once-in-a-century talent.

Still...

Lian Chenghao glanced at Qin Shaofeng, who sat behind him, and smiled to himself.

Houtian Eighth Layer?

That was probably not even as good as that kid's level. And compared with his Junior Sister, he was nothing at all.

Still, with what he had going for him, becoming a Star Student wouldn't be difficult.

If nothing unexpected happened, in twenty years he would probably be assigned to a decent little city.

That would be several times better than inheriting Lanjiang City.

What a lucky kid!

After a brief sigh of emotion, Lian Chenghao stopped thinking about it.

There was no point.

No matter how much he thought about it, it had nothing to do with him. Someone at Qin Shaofeng's level would probably never cross paths with him again after this.

Qin Shaofeng, sitting on the Golden Feathered Eagle's back, had no idea what sort of impression he had made on Lian Chenghao in that short while.

Lian Chenghao had not only seen through his cultivation but had even seemed to predict his future prospects.

If Qin Shaofeng had known what Lian Chenghao was thinking, he would have smiled and paid it no mind.

With a system, even he himself had no idea how far he would go in the future. How could someone else possibly see it coming?