Through the Pet Beast Contract, Akagi Shu felt the intense pain on the surface of his Red Flame Flood Dragon’s skin.

All of its Mana was being used to repair the damage and stop the flames from spreading, preventing any internal injury.

This gave him the illusion that he could still launch a counterattack.

In reality, the Red Flame Flood Dragon could no longer attack. It was being tormented by the white Holy Fire on its surface and its own Pill Fire.

Just counteracting this baseless "Heretic Judgment" was consuming all of its Mana.

Akagi Shu, desperate to win, had lost the rationality expected of the top student in his grade.

At this point, Teacher Zhang could no longer stand by and watch. He stepped forward and said, "Akagi Shu, you’ve already lost."

"Teacher, I haven’t lost yet! It still has a chance!" Akagi Shu’s eyes were bloodshot. ’I know I’ve lost,’ he thought, ’but I can’t accept being defeated by a Mutated Little Cyan Snake.’

Even if it was a snake with Light Grass Dual Attributes, or even Light, Grass, and Earth Attributes.

"All its Mana is being used for defense. What’s it going to fight with? If you don’t concede, in the next second, a Storm Ball will send your Pet Beast to the intensive care unit."

"Look at your Flood Dragon. Can it even use the Wandering Dragon Soaring Body Technique now?"

Teacher Zhang knew that Gu Ming’s last attack wasn’t entirely justifiable on the surface.

In the previous match, it was one thing when Cyan Treasure severely injured the Turtle Wood Flood Dragon.

After all, in a battle, there are times when you can’t pull back your attacks.

Hitting a home run like that just showed how formidable Gu Ming and Cyan Treasure were.

As for the opponent being sent flying out of the arena and the extent of its injuries, that was a matter for the participating student and the referee.

This time, however, Cyan Treasure had clearly beaten the Red Flame Flood Dragon to the point where it had lost the ability to fight. Attacking it again would be crossing the line, a deliberate attempt to cause severe harm.

On the surface, this was just a friendly match. Friendship first, competition second; attacks were supposed to stop once a victor was clear.

Anyone who kept attacking a Pet Beast that could no longer fight back was definitely in the wrong.

Besides, Gu Ming wasn’t from some rich and powerful elite family, so he couldn’t possibly make another move at this point.

But Akagi Shu still refused to concede. He stood there stubbornly, repeatedly calling his Pet Beast’s name. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he pulled out a Healing Elixir, intending to fight on.

Seeing that his opponent wanted to feed his Pet Beast an Elixir for another round, Cyan Treasure’s eyes widened, ready to launch another wave of attacks.

Suddenly, a large hand pressed down on Akagi Shu’s shoulder.

"Ah Zhen, that’s enough."

Gu Ming looked at the middle-aged man who had walked up behind Akagi Shu. He had a mature and steady demeanor, and Gu Ming couldn’t tell if he was the boy’s Guardian or a teacher from the other school.

Upon hearing the man’s voice, Akagi Shu’s body trembled noticeably.

The last of his delusions vanished. He finally gave up, lowered his proud head, and conceded to Gu Ming, "I lost."

’The arrogant, domineering top student of the grade actually gave in?’ Gu Ming thought, surprised. ’Looks like that man’s identity isn’t simple.’

As soon as he finished speaking, the middle-aged man behind Akagi Shu suddenly opened his hand, and a light-blue spider crawled out from his sleeve.

The Spider Demon aimed its rear at the Red Flame Flood Dragon and, with a WHOOSH, sprayed out a glob of Ice Crystal Silk Spider Web that enveloped the Flood Dragon.

The white Holy Fire and its Pill Fire were instantly extinguished by the web, releasing a large cloud of white steam.

Gu Ming didn’t know what kind of Pet Beast it was. The spider looked strange; it had no compound eyes on its head, but instead had a single eyeball above its rear. Its entire body was shrouded in a light-blue Ice Qi, and the silk it used also had a chilling effect.

Its Star Level was unknown; Gu Ming couldn’t detect it.

He subconsciously glanced at the system to see what was in the plot’s bullet-commentary section from the system’s perspective.

「At the age of fifty, you are at the friendly match, where you encounter a descendant of the Akagi Family—Akagi Ka.」

「Compared to thirty-two years ago, the Akagi Family has long since lost its former glory. It is now deeply in debt and its lineage is dwindling.」

「Akagi Ka knows about the battle between his father’s generation and you. He wants to beat you once to make his father happy.」

「Unfortunately, he is unable to do so. Faced with the three ultimate moves of the Time Dragon Cyan Treasure, he immediately loses the ability to fight.」

「"It’s a shame I couldn’t make you use your full strength." At the scene, an old acquaintance suddenly appears and releases a Faceless Ice Crystal Spider to heal the Pet Beast, causing a heated discussion.」

「You take a closer look and realize it is none other than your defeated opponent from all those years ago—Akagi Shu!」

「Thirty-two years later, you see Akagi Shu again. You see his head full of white hair, his former spirit gone. It seems time has left a sad story etched upon him.」

The system’s update stopped there.

Gu Ming paused, his mind filled with questions.

’Is the middle-aged man behind Akagi Shu a down-and-out, middle-aged Akagi Shu?’

The idea almost made Gu Ming’s brain short-circuit.

This plot twist was completely unexpected; he never imagined such a development.

Gu Ming didn’t know what misfortune the other family had experienced.

He only knew that whenever the system mentioned someone, interacting with them would lead to something happening.

Perhaps he could scrounge some Spirit Stones or other future resources from him.

’Is his Pet Beast called a Faceless Ice Crystal Spider? Or is it a lower-tier version of that Pet Beast?’

’I’ll have to look up how powerful this Pet Beast is later.’

Furthermore, the middle-aged man before him had an imposing aura without being angry, and he gave off a cold, unapproachable vibe.

Besides, Gu Ming had just given the Red Flame Flood Dragon a thrashing, beating it until it could no longer fight.

Gu Ming could only dismiss the thought of getting a freebie, give the man a nod, and walk away with Cyan Treasure in his arms.

Teacher Zhang followed him, and Teacher Zhong joined them with Lu You, heading toward the school building.

Behind them, Akagi Shu picked up his injured Red Flame Flood Dragon, his face filled with heartache.

The middle-aged man rested a hand on Akagi Shu’s shoulder and patted it lightly, but his eyes were fixed on the Little Cyan Snake on Gu Ming’s shoulder, staring for a long time.

Cyan Treasure sensed someone staring at it from behind. When it looked back, it saw the "uncle" leaving with Akagi Shu.

...

「Akagi Shu has left. He saw you give his son a brutal beating and doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.」

「However, seeing that you also have a head of white hair and are still mixing with students at your age to compete for a spot in the college entrance exams, he feels a lot more balanced.」

「"Gu Ming, don’t celebrate too early. He was just careless and underestimated his opponent, so he failed to leverage his Attribute advantage.」

「By the midterm exams, I will specially train him to be the bane of Grass and Wood Flood Dragons and ensure he can fully utilize his advantage against Grass Element Flood Dragon Pets."」

Gu Ming read the delayed update of the plot commentary and glanced back at the crowd.

"Stop looking. They’re already gone," Teacher Zhang said from the side.

He was currently pulling Gu Ming and Lu You back to the classroom for a review and didn’t want Gu Ming to get distracted.

The three battles just now, though short, were of high quality. The opponents were the top two students in the grade, so there was value in reviewing them.

"Teacher, was that a Faceless Ice Crystal Spider that the teacher just now released?" Gu Ming’s mind was still on the system’s plot. Lost in thought, his attention quickly turned to the man’s Ice Crystal Spider.

That thing could instantly extinguish the Holy Fire used for the Purification of Heretics. It was clearly something that could counter Cyan Treasure.

He didn’t know how "Akagi Shu" would specially train his son.

Gu Ming wasn’t particularly interested in Akagi Shu; he was much more interested in the Faceless Ice Crystal Spider.

"A Faceless Ice Crystal Spider? No, no, that wasn’t one. Its rear is its true face, but the one on its head hasn’t degenerated yet. It should be a Five-star Level Pet Beast."

"Degeneration?"

Gu Ming caught a new term.

This was a Domain he had never encountered before.

"If there’s Evolution, there’s naturally degeneration. Pet Beasts that undergo atavistic evolution often favor the ritual of organ degeneration."

"The Faceless Ice Crystal Spider is one of the classic examples of an atavistic Pet Beast."