Liu Qingshan: I Discovered Him!

"Continue? He actually wanted to continue?"

"Was he crazy? Servine's condition had obviously worsened by a lot!"

Even some spectators who supported Ye Lan found it hard to understand his choice.

After ten consecutive wins, his points had reached 511.5. Including half the points taken from defeated opponents, he conservatively had around eight hundred Battle Arena points!

That amount of points was enough for Ye Lan to exchange for resources worth over two million.

Winning ten battles could earn him a decent starter Pokémon along with five hundred thousand worth of resources. That was no small temptation for any intermediate trainer.

Yet Ye Lan was still not satisfied and chose to continue.

Servine was clearly in poor condition now. As long as it made even the slightest mistake in the following battles, today's winning streak would come crashing down.

"Whatever, as long as we're enjoying this! Ye Lan, charge for us!" A burly man remained fired up and took the lead in cheering for Ye Lan.

Quite a few people were like the burly man. They had bet on Ye Lan successfully achieving ten consecutive wins, and now that Ye Lan had not disappointed them, they naturally took the lead in supporting him.

Although most people acknowledged Ye Lan's strength, when it came to betting on ten consecutive wins, they still shrank back.

As a result, the odds on Ye Lan achieving ten consecutive wins remained quite high.

Watching Ye Lan choose to continue in the arena, Wang Zihao's eyes flashed with longing.

"Dad, maybe this is the bearing of a true trainer that you hoped to achieve."

After watching Ye Lan's battles up close, the students of Mianzhou No. 1 High School's elite class had all fully acknowledged Ye Lan's strength.

For the members of the school team, having Ye Lan lead them as captain in the provincial tournament was also something well worth anticipating.

Meanwhile, in a conference room on the top floor of the Mianzhou Trainers Association, the projection on the screen at the front showed Ye Lan choosing to continue in the Battle Arena.

The people seated around the conference table were all influential figures in Mianzhou's trainer circles.

The camera shifted to Liu Qingshan, principal of Mianzhou No. 1 High School, who had his nostrils raised toward the sky. He sipped the warm tea, his face brimming with contentment.

"Well, Chairman? The genius our Mianzhou No. 1 High School discovered is pretty good, right?"

"With Ye Lan's strength, he can absolutely contend with Jindu's top geniuses."

Looking at Liu Qingshan, who sat with one leg crossed over the other and practically had the words "I should be chairman" written across his face, Chairman Feng Jiaqing's expression darkened.

"You? What does this have to do with you? Who doesn't know that tiny Mianzhou only has one trainer school?!"

"And you have the nerve to say you discovered him!"

At that thought, Chairman Feng, who was nearing forty, rose from his chair in fury and charged at Liu Qingshan with his cane.

"You gave him barely ten thousand a month, plus a Leaf Stone so useless that even a Magikarp in a fish tank would find it an eyesore. That's not even as much as Ye Lan earns from one battle! What kind of discovery was that supposed to be?!"

"Didn't... didn't we also give him a Protect TM..." Liu Qingshan's voice weakened when Chairman Feng brought that up.

"!"

Those words were like lighting a powder keg. Veins bulged on Feng Jiaqing's forehead as he raised his cane, about to bring it down on Liu Qingshan.

The vice chairman hurriedly stood and held Feng Jiaqing back, trying to persuade him. "Forget it, Old Feng. It isn't easy for Little Liu to manage such a large school. Besides, I remember that Protect TM was preserved in excellent condition. It should be worth quite a bit."

"Of course you remember, because those Protect TMs were originally distributed by our Trainers Association!"

The vice chairman froze. No wonder the memory had been so vivid—it turned out he had been the one who signed off on them!

"Never mind all that. You actually let Ye Lan go to Jindu. Do you know what kind of offers the three trainer schools in Jindu can make? Even if you sold your Mianzhou No. 1 High School, it still wouldn't compare!"

After saying that, Feng Jiaqing was so angered that he took a sip of hot tea to calm himself. Only then did his expression ease somewhat.

The chairman's last sentence finally moved Liu Qingshan.

That was right! He had only been thinking about letting Ye Lan gain experience outside and had nearly forgotten that, for provincial tournament results, those school principals would use every means at their disposal too!

"What should we do now?" Liu Qingshan's expression turned anxious as well.

From what he knew of Ye Lan, as long as a better environment could help him grow stronger faster, he would be willing to go anywhere.

Liu Qingshan had once asked Ye Lan why he pushed himself so hard. Ye Lan had told him that ahead of him was a group of true geniuses who were also constantly striving forward.

At the time, Liu Qingshan had not understood what Ye Lan meant and had only assumed that Ye Lan was ambitious.

"Sigh, what can we do? We can only hope no school from Jindu has contacted Ye Lan yet. Even if they have, I hope he still feels some sense of belonging toward Mianzhou."

Chairman Feng Jiaqing sighed. Things had come to this, and there was no particularly good way to remedy it.

Perhaps for Ye Lan, gold would shine no matter where it was.

But for Feng Jiaqing, whether that gold would shine in Mianzhou was what worried him most.

At the Jindu Battle Arena, Ye Lan won another battle and achieved eleven consecutive victories, but his expression became grave.

His opponent in the previous battle had been a Houndoom with the Flash Fire Ability. With Flash Fire amplifying the power of its various Fire-type moves, it had caused Servine a great deal of trouble.

Although its Grass-type moves were resisted, Servine had still defeated its opponent through the control effects of status moves and the brutal output of Iron Tail.

However, after that battle, Servine's condition had become even more worrying.

There were burn marks across several parts of its body, while the scales on its tail had shattered from repeatedly using Iron Tail. Blood faintly seeped out from beneath them.

"Servine!"

Servine turned back and gave Ye Lan a soft cry, signaling that it could still continue battling and that he need not worry. Then it turned around and rested with its eyes half-closed.

Since Servine had not given up, Ye Lan, as its trainer, had even less reason to do so. He immediately signaled to the host to continue matching him with the next opponent.

Servine was not given much time to rest before its opponent for the twelfth battle quickly appeared before Ye Lan.

Ye Lan raised his eyes, and a trace of surprise flashed through them.

From her appearance, she seemed to be around his age.

Her beautiful golden hair draped over her shoulders, and beneath her bangs were a pair of azure-blue eyes. The faint curve of her lips gave her a serene beauty.

"A trainer from another region?" Excitement flashed in Ye Lan's eyes.

If she was a trainer from another region, perhaps he could battle a Pokémon rarely seen in the Huaxia Region.

"Hello, my name is Mia. I'm a trainer from the Unova Region currently traveling through the Huaxia Region. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mia smiled gently. Facing Ye Lan, she lifted the hem of her skirt and gave a small curtsy before an enlarged Poké Ball appeared in her hand.

"Do you need a little more time? Your Servine looks seriously injured."

Mia's gentle words were as refreshing as a spring breeze, but Ye Lan still shook his head. "No need. Let's begin."

Ye Lan did want Servine to have more time to rest, but the organizers would most likely not allow it.

"In that case, come out, my partner, Servine!"