Xia Yuan in a Suit, Looking Almost Respectable

After a day of selection matches, the ten representatives of North Sichuan Spirit Contract Master Academy had been chosen.

Without question, Mo Shiyu was the top seed, while Xia Yuan was Chuanbei's publicly acknowledged God of Slaughter—the only ace Contract Spirit!

Although Han Guang's three Contract Spirits had been wiped out by Xia Yuan once, after Xia Yuan left, he still dominated the arena with the strength of his Contract Spirit lineup and successfully made the cut.

The National College Spiritmaster Championship schedule was tight.

Xia Yuan had barely spent a few days playing games at home before he followed Mo Shiyu onto the bus reserved for provincial competitions and headed for Chongyang City, the central city of Cloud River Province!

Chongyang City was far more prosperous than North Sichuan City.

Whether in urban development or the scale of its Contract Spirit Master Academies, it surpassed North Sichuan City by a considerable margin.

The college spiritmasters in the provincial center were naturally much stronger overall.

Take SRs, for example. The local academies in North Sichuan City had, at most, one or two!

Meanwhile, each of the major Contract Spirit Master Academies in the provincial center had at least three or four SRs.

But SSRs were still exceptionally rare.

In this year's college competition, there were only two SSRs in all of Cloud River Province.

One was Xia Yuan.

The other was the ace Contract Spirit of Cangyun Contract Spirit Master Academy, the highest-ranked Contract Spirit Master Academy in all of Chuanbei Province—the Platinum Dragon King!

Inside the bus.

Xia Yuan lounged lazily in his seat with one leg crossed over the other, looking thoroughly at ease.

The other nine competitors had all put their Contract Spirits away in their Contract Spirit Spaces.

Only he was an exception.

It was not that they did not have humanoid Contract Spirits.

The main reason was that with Xia Yuan, the God of Slaughter, on board, the other Contract Spirits simply did not want to ride in the same vehicle as him. They were instinctively terrified...

Whenever they recalled that purple blast from that day, punching through five arenas in one shot, their calves trembled.

Someone had calculated it afterward. During that day's selection matches, Xia Yuan had killed nearly two hundred Contract Spirits!

Who the hell would not be scared of that?

He specifically hunted down other Contract Spirits to kill!

They were genuinely afraid that Xia Yuan might suddenly get the urge to start killing Contract Spirits inside the bus too!

Bored out of his mind, Xia Yuan glanced toward the front and spotted Han Guang not far away.

He immediately greeted him with a grin.

"Isn't this Senior Han Guang..."

"You made it too!"

"How's that tough-talking little boy doing now? Why didn't he come out and chat with me? I'm bored here!"

With a faintly apologetic tone, Xia Yuan said something infuriating.

"I'm really sorry. I thought he was pretty strong at the time, so I got a little serious. Who knew it would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito..."

Han Guang wore a warm smile on the surface while grinding his teeth in secret.

Whenever Superpowered Boy saw anything purple now, he immediately had a stress response. His whole body would stiffen before he collapsed and fell asleep...

The culprit was the guy right in front of him!

But because of the other party's strength, he could only smile. "I was lucky to advance..."

Xia Yuan stood up at once, reached out to pat his shoulder, and encouraged him with a sincere expression.

"Don't lose heart. Your Contract Spirits aren't weak. At least they're stronger than those other Contract Spirits that couldn't resist at all."

"They gave me plenty of fun!"

He raised a thumbs-up. "Keep it up!"

Han Guang's smile looked worse than crying. Was this guy deliberately torturing him?

Fortunately, it did not last long.

Soon, the bus arrived at the luxurious hotel officially arranged for them by the provincial competition.

The best five-star hotel in Chongyang City!

It was even famous for its Starlit Banquet on the top floor, where many influential figures held feasts to entertain distinguished guests.

And today, Mo Shiyu and the others would be attending a banquet made up of outstanding young Contract Spirit Masters from all over Chuanbei Province, getting to know one another and making connections.

The provincial competition would officially begin the next day.

Mo Shiyu was not interested in the banquet. She was only going through the motions.

Xia Yuan, on the other hand, was quite interested and wanted to have some fun.

Attending a banquet required respectable high-end suits and long evening gowns.

Mo Shiyu and Xia Yuan used their remaining time to wander around the bustling provincial center, shopping for clothes along the way.

Mo Shiyu confidently changed into a new outfit, thinking Xia Yuan would praise her.

But Xia Yuan's mouth was as sharp as ever...

Only after she put on black stockings did he reluctantly offer a compliment. "Mm, these legs could keep me entertained for a year."

They shopped and bickered as they went. To outsiders, they did not look like a Contract Spirit and a spiritmaster at all, but rather a young couple flirting with each other...

At last, Xia Yuan changed out of his classic black outfit and bought several sets of fashionable casual clothes.

Once he put them on, along with those cool sunglasses, his whole aura instantly leveled up!

Whenever he stood on the street, passing women could not help coming over to ask for his WeChat, wondering whether he was a model or celebrity...

Xia Yuan welcomed everyone who came his way, chatting animatedly with those young women until they giggled nonstop, utterly delighted.

In Mo Shiyu's eyes, he was practically a scumbag!

After playing around all afternoon, the two had bought their clothes as well.

Night fell.

The Starlit Banquet officially began!

Xia Yuan put on a suit and his sunglasses, walking with both hands in his pockets and an unruly air about him. Somehow, he made the suit look like the outfit of a playboy and a thug...

Mo Shiyu wore a white evening gown. Like a cold, noble snow lotus, she displayed her remarkably enviable figure.

The moment the two appeared, they became the center of attention.

Whether it was their looks or their fame.

Mo Shiyu gently raised her hand, expecting Xia Yuan to take it like a gentleman. But after waiting for ages, she watched the silver-haired man happily dash into the banquet hall, leaving her alone in the breeze...

Still, the banquet was not as harmonious as imagined. The atmosphere was somewhat stiff.

Nearly everyone had formed separate groups based on their regions and academies. Han Guang was staying with the other eight members from North Sichuan Spirit Contract Master Academy, along with their Contract Spirits.

After all, they were representing their academy in the competition, so they still had a sense of unity.

Most of those selected by academies in the big cities were proud and arrogant, looking down on people like them from smaller places...

Xia Yuan completely ignored the atmosphere and greeted everyone with a cheerful grin.

"Hello, brother!"

"Oh! Beautiful lady, that outfit looks great!"

"Hey, everybody, get hyped!"

As long as he was not embarrassed, the embarrassment belonged to everyone else.

As Chuanbei's God of Slaughter and an SSR who had become famous the instant he was drawn, they naturally recognized Xia Yuan.

Many people gave him face and responded in turn.

Quite a few female spiritmasters in evening gowns gracefully walked over to greet him.

But Han Guang and the others did not receive such treatment.

After all, most of them had brought C Rank and B Rank Contract Spirits into the banquet hall, drawing disdainful looks from many city spiritmasters.

"Looks like any trash can get into the provincial competition these days..."

"Pfft! Is this a joke? Even C Rank Contract Spirits can get in?"

"Aren't C Rank Contract Spirits just fodder cards? Tsk, tsk. At best, they're beginner transition Contract Spirits. They're already third-years and still using C Rank ones? That's really pathetic."

"Some people do not even have A Rank Contract Spirits, yet they can still make the top ten. Just how trashy are those local academies?"

"No wonder that SSR called the God of Slaughter could massacre everyone by himself. They were all weaklings. I could do it too!"

"..."