Daydream! (Don't hoard the book, please follow up and read)

"I know full well that when the National Team travels abroad for training, the resources they're given are stingy as can be. Rather than doing dirty work for certain people, I'd rather go out and hunt on my own," Lan Yu said.

Dean Xiao chuckled, "You, you really are someone who won't get out of bed unless there's profit to be made."

"But you're not wrong; some people are truly bold enough to skim off the top of such resources. That's exactly why I stepped down after serving as a mentor for the National Team for only one term."

Since things had already been laid out this clearly, Dean Xiao didn't bother pushing for Lan Yu to join the National Team anymore.

"Since you don't want to join the National Team from the start, then become a Hall-Guard Student," Dean Xiao said. "Wait until the mid-term replacement phase comes around to join, otherwise you'll miss out on the Treasure Hunt Tournament."

"That works too."

Lan Yu nodded. Back when he was reading the original story, he could never understand those National Team contestants; they knew the resources provided by the mentors were pitifully small, yet they didn't say a word, and the factions behind them didn't even make a peep.

This also explained why the Dragon Kingdom's rankings in the World College Tournament had been so trash in previous years; it would be a miracle if the rankings weren't terrible.

If it weren't for Mo Fan, that cheater, being in this year's batch, the Dragon Kingdom's ranking in this tournament would likely have stopped at the top eight, or perhaps not even made it that far.

After leaving Dean Xiao's office, Lan Yu headed to the Light Magic Institute on the main campus.

In a country with a large population like the Dragon Kingdom, the proportion of Light Element mages is quite high; almost six or seven out of every ten people awaken the Light Element.

However, those who can cultivate the Light Element to the supreme realm are few and far between, or perhaps they are simply keeping their cards close to their chests.

Finding Zhao Manyan in the seating area, Lan Yu plopped down next to him: "Tell me, Old Zhao, how is this month's ranking calculated?"

Zhao Manyan shrugged, "How else? We, the students who just entered the main campus, are at the very bottom. If you want to climb the rankings, you can only challenge students ranked higher than you during the even-numbered natural weeks of each month."

"But, I reckon you'll climb the rankings pretty fast, after all, you have that kind of Summoning Element beast... Damn, you really are a beast yourself!"

Speaking of this, Zhao Manyan's tone was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. Why couldn't he have awakened the Summoning Element and obtained such an imposing summon?

"You bastard, did I provoke you? Go to hell!"

"A beast! A damn beast!"

"..."

The two began to bicker again. They clearly couldn't stand each other; it was only a step away from them acting like those rivals who end up cherishing each other so much they can't help but share a kiss.

Soon, the Director of the Light Institute walked into the lecture hall, which held over a thousand people, and the noisy room instantly fell silent.

The Director of the Light Institute was a seemingly warm-hearted old man. He didn't say much, merely announcing the challenge list for this week's challenge round and the necessary precautions before dismissing everyone to the Light Institute's exclusive arena.

In the Light Magic Institute, everyone majors in the Light Element and minors in another.

One must know that the Light Element has absolutely no offensive power in the early stages, except for its special effectiveness against undead and dark-type creatures.

Only upon reaching the Advanced level does it barely possess offensive power, but the Super level of the Light Element is different; Light Protection-Holy Shield is hailed as the strongest single-target attack among Super-level magic.

Yet, those who can cultivate the Light Element to the Super level are truly as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

"Today was quite an eye-opener," Zhao Manyan said.

"Then I'll be looking forward to seeing you, Young Master Zhao, show off your great power when the time comes," Lan Yu laughed.

Hearing this, Zhao Manyan's face darkened.

"Get lost!"

"..."

After watching a few challenge matches, Lan Yu finally got a taste of how they fought.

It was purely a contest of who had the stronger defense and whose magic energy ran out first.

Whoever had the weaker defense and ran out of magic energy first lost.

After all, they were all Intermediate Light Element mages; that Light Protection-Holy Shield was difficult to break through in a short amount of time.

Furthermore, not everyone's minor element was necessarily a high-damage magic type like the Fire Element or Lightning Element.

"Tsk tsk, they aren't doing so well. If we're talking about defense, I, Zhao Manyan, claim third place, and no one dares to claim first or second," Zhao Manyan said with great confidence.

Lan Yu glanced at him. That's only because you haven't obtained the wooden fish vessel yet; if you got your hands on that thing, you'd probably claim your defense is invincible under the heavens.

There was also the fact that this guy, Zhao Manyan, had all sorts of "Daddy's Protection"; when it came to defense, it seemed no one could really outdo him.

He remembered a guy who could ignore elemental magic defense, someone like Riedi from the German National Team.

That really caught Zhao Manyan and the others off guard, nearly wiping out their entire team.

"You really are going further and further down the path of the Turtle-Shell Mage," Lan Yu said.

"That's right, that's right!" Zhao Manyan said smugly. "Old Lan, if you ever want to walk the path of a defensive mage, you can come to me. I won't be stingy with my teachings."

"Heh."

"Oh, right, Old Zhao, if you have some free time, help me look into some information."

"What kind of information?"

"About contract beasts."

"...No way, you still haven't found a suitable contract beast after all this time?" Zhao Manyan found it hard to believe.

"Well, I'm obviously looking for those elemental holy spirit types of contract beasts. I don't have any interest in the ordinary ones," Lan Yu said.

"It has to be you, always so fond of daydreaming."

In the time that followed, aside from his cultivation, Lan Yu spent his days participating in the Light Institute's ranking challenges.

Relying on the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, his ranking climbed steadily, and within a mere four challenge weeks, he surged into the top ten, immediately drawing widespread attention from students across the entire school.

Of course, during this period, that "Saint of Taunts" Mo Fan also pulled off an "earth-shattering" feat over at the Fire Institute.

Not only did he berate everyone in the Fire Institute as trash upon his transfer, but he also went on to defeat over two hundred people in the subsequent challenge weeks.

If Dean Xiao hadn't stepped in to put a stop to it, Mo Fan likely would have been forced to reveal his hidden trump card: the Shadow Element.

Jinyuan Apartment.

"It's so infuriating!" Ai Tutu's shrill, startled voice rang out.

"How on earth did you manage to reach the top ten among that bunch of turtle-shell mages? I refuse to accept this!"

Ai Tutu was currently acting like someone who feared her friend would suffer, yet was equally afraid of her friend succeeding.

"You don't accept it? Then why not spar with my Summoning Element beast?" Lan Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Forget it then." Ai Tutu decisively chose to back down.

With her fragile physique, she probably wouldn't even be enough to serve as a toothpick for Lan Yu's beast.

Mu Nujiao sighed; she suddenly felt an urge to awaken the Summoning Element herself.

But after a moment of thought, she decided against it.

After all, not everyone could be as lucky as Lan Yu, managing to find a beast with such a top-tier bloodline.

"Sister Mu, that Zhou Shuming is truly arrogant. To think he would have the audacity to declare in public that he wants to make you a daughter-in-law of the Zhou family—he is absolutely shameless!" Seeing Mu Nujiao sigh, Ai Tutu immediately turned fuming with rage again.