Chapter 185: The Empress Wants to Join Hong Kong University, and All the Deans Are Going Crazy

The next day.

Word about the Beast Taming Academy holding a consort selection for a cockroach quickly spread like wildfire throughout Hong Kong Island University.

The school’s forums were filled with posts mocking the Beast Taming School.

Indeed, anyone with a lick of common sense would find the matter utterly absurd upon hearing it.

"Seriously, did those guys in the Beast Taming Academy fry their brains with Cultivation? Forming a contract with a cockroach? And they’re letting the cockroach choose its master?"

"Maybe they’re just too repressed, haha. You see all sorts of weirdos these days. Next thing you know, they’ll be calling a dung beetle their father!"

"How far has this story spread? Have other universities heard about it yet?"

"They’re a fucking embarrassment to our Hong Kong University. If you ask me, the Beast Taming Academy has no reason to even exist!"

"Exactly. Who even becomes a Beast Tamer these days? Instead of strengthening themselves, they rely on a mere animal. It’s hilarious."

At first, everyone just thought it was ridiculous.

But as the situation escalated, the ridicule from students of other academies quickly morphed into more malicious attacks.

Some students from the Beast Taming Academy, unwilling to take it lying down, tried to argue back in the threads:

"The Divine Locust is super badass, you guys just don’t get it..." and so on.

However, this only invited even more ridicule.

"Hahaha, I’m dying! A cockroach is a cockroach. Calling it a Divine Locust? That’s just unbelievable."

"These guys are a lost cause..."

And so, the already marginalized students of the Beast Taming Academy at Hong Kong Island University found it even harder to hold their heads high.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Within Hong Kong Island University, the Array Academy, the Mind Master Academy, and all the other major academies received a piece of bombshell news!

Inside the dean’s office of the Mind Master Academy.

Dean Li Jianming stared at a message on his phone and gasped on the spot.

"What?!"

"The Future Empress... Miss Lin, is joining Hong Kong Island University?"

After his shock subsided, Li Jianming’s expression turned grave. He immediately made several calls to convene an emergency meeting with the academy’s senior staff.

In the conference room of the Array Academy.

Dean Zhao Hongwu was even faster, having already assembled a group of administrators and teachers.

"You’ve all received the news, right? Miss Lin is preparing to join Hong Kong Island University."

"Let’s hear it. What are your thoughts?"

A few teachers at the conference table spoke up.

"This is naturally a good thing, but it seems she’s only joining temporarily. It’s not that significant. She’s just borrowing an identity for a trial."

"That’s right. And besides, while Miss Lin is the Future Empress, she’s still young. Her current Cultivation should only be around the Third-Grade. At that level, even with her heaven-defying talent, it’s impossible for her to help our academy win the championship."

The core competitors in Hong Kong Island University’s inter-academy tournament were all students at the Fourth-Grade or even Fifth-Grade Realm, so this teacher’s assessment was perfectly reasonable.

However, Zhao Hongwu just sneered and rapped his knuckles on the table forcefully.

"Ignorant!"

"Do you think I want Miss Lin to join our academy so she can win the championship for us?"

"That’s not important at all!"

"What’s important is Miss Lin’s status as the Future Empress!"

"As long as she joins our academy, even if it’s only temporary, we can say in the future that the Array Academy once produced an Empress!"

"Don’t you get it? She can borrow an identity, so why can’t we borrow hers?"

As Zhao Hongwu’s words landed, the teachers and senior staff finally understood... ’He’s right.’

’Looked at this way, this is a golden opportunity for every academy!’

Not only could they ride on the Empress’s coattails, but they also had a chance to get closer to the Future Empress. When Lin Zhixia was previously whisked away by the Ten Great Clans, they couldn’t even dream of forging a connection!

"Alright!"

"I won’t say any more. This time, we must fight to have Miss Lin choose our academy!"

"The Heart Sea Glazed Tower is in our academy. Speaking of which, our academy has a significant connection to Miss Lin, so our chances are very high!"

...

At this moment, it wasn’t just these two academies; the other major academies had also taken this matter extremely seriously.

The Elixir Academy, the Artifact Refining Academy—they were all preparing various Top-Grade Elixirs and Spiritual Artifacts, eagerly awaiting the Future Empress’s arrival. The level of importance they placed on this was at its absolute peak!

Among the seven great academies, only one... the Beast Taming Academy... had not received the news.

Inside the Beast Taming Academy’s office.

Shepherd Mountain had also gathered a few of the academy’s leaders, and their expressions were all a bit grim.

Although they hadn’t received an official notification, Shepherd Mountain had learned through certain channels that Gu Yuexi was going to join Hong Kong University.

All the other academies had been notified except for the Beast Taming Academy. The meaning was obvious: the Future Empress looked down on the Beast Taming Academy.

The group fell silent for a moment before Shepherd Mountain snorted coldly and spoke.

"It doesn’t matter. So what if she’s the Future Empress? We’re not interested."

"We have a future Emperor-level Demon Beast. As long as our academy can produce one Emperor-Level Beast Tamer, any Empress will have to take a step back!"

The thought of Chu Sheng, who possessed an Emperor-level Bloodline, reinvigorated them all.

’The Heart Sea Glazed Tower is just a legend, after all. Only "Lin Zhixia" has ever succeeded. Is it really a one-hundred-percent guarantee that she’ll become an Empress in the future?’

But an Emperor-level Bloodline Demon Beast becoming an Emperor Level in the future was a recognized fact in the Cultivation Realm, and there were precedents.

Even if both were guaranteed to reach the Emperor Realm, the Emperor-level Bloodline Demon Beast would grow faster. And after reaching the Emperor Realm, the power of an Emperor-Level Beast Tamer would surpass that of other Emperor Realm professions!

’Heh, just an Empress. The Beast Taming Academy couldn’t care less!’

...

...

...

「On the other side of things,」 Chu Sheng was completely unaware of any of this.

Last night, after registering his account for *Spiritual Martial Eternity*, he hadn’t logged in right away. Instead, he logged off and launched a campaign on the girls’ dorms.

’Can’t forget the daily quest of absorbing Mental Power!’

As his proficiency increased, he had begun targeting students from higher-year levels. These students had higher Cultivation, and thus more semi-corporeal Mental Power to absorb.

Of course, he couldn’t aim any higher. Take the teachers, for instance. Once their Mental Power reached the Seventh-Grade High Grade Realm, it would be completely contained within their Sea of Consciousness. It generally wouldn’t be exposed in a semi-corporeal state like the students’.

The risk of absorbing Mental Power from higher-year students was also greater, as he was more likely to be discovered. Fortunately, Chu Sheng now had the Instant Teleportation Ability, allowing him to zap away at the first sign of trouble.

After a night of hard work, Chu Sheng had once again happily harvested 900 points of Mental Power!

[Mental Power +900]

[Current Spirit: 7110]

He advanced directly to the Sea of Consciousness Second Transformation!

’At this rate, in another two or three days, I can officially break through to the Fourth-Grade. I’ll reach Fourth-Grade in both the Qi Blood Realm and the Spiritual Realm simultaneously!’

After resting for half a day and absorbing a full 2,000 Qi Blood, Chu Sheng finally made his way to his private game room.

*Spiritual Martial Eternity*, activate!

Chu Sheng lay in the game pod, slowly entering the virtual world. A flash of white light later, he appeared in the main plaza of *Spiritual Martial Eternity*.

In the floating plaza, a female player was happily trying on different cosmetic skins when she suddenly turned her head.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Her piercing scream immediately drew the attention of many others...

"Holy crap, where did that giant cockroach come from!"

"That fucking cockroach must be some kind of spirit, right? What is this, a game easter egg?"

"That can’t be right. It has an ID floating above its head. It looks like a Contracted Beast, doesn’t it?"

"’HavokSprayBang13’... That’s obviously a bot. The system has a seriously warped sense of humor to create a bot Contracted Beast like this."

"A bot can appear in the main plaza?"

"No idea..."

Chu Sheng couldn’t be bothered with these sheltered players and directly opened the game mode menu.

1. Casual Sparring Mode, 2. Hell Tower Climb Mode, 3. Infinite Matchmaking Mode...

’Number two is a possibility,’ Chu Sheng thought, ’but I’m not a big fan of fighting bots. Crushing real players is much more satisfying.’

So, it had to be number three: Infinite Matchmaking!

Chu Sheng clicked ’Start Matchmaking’ and vanished in a flash of white light.

The very instant he disappeared, another figure materialized in the spot he had just occupied.

It was a figure in a long, black and gold-gilded dress, exuding a cold and noble aura.

Above her head was an imperious ID:

[The Only Beast Taming Empress in Ancient and Modern Times]!