The next day, Du Yu attended the pre-exam meeting held by the Demon Spirit Bookstore, got clear on the exam content, and also registered a combat Demon Pet.

This time, there was no designated "arrow-head" character.

All students were allowed to fight with only one Demon Pet, and of course Du Yu remembered Master Qing's instructions—he decisively reported Chi Bear·Little Tai Sui.

Li Mengnan also brought out her own prized treasure: Fire LuLu!

One pig, one bear—seems like another rivalry is brewing.

And Lin Shiwei's beloved Demon Pet? That was just an absolute dimensionality reduction attack!

Whether in terms of strength or rarity, it could pretty much be called the best across the four provinces!

Spirit-level·Dust Spirit Deer!

Only Du Yu's National Treasure of the Great Xia·Chi Bear could compete with the Dust Spirit Immortal Deer in terms of rarity.

For this exam, the girl had especially asked Yiren for leave—after a lot of pleading, she finally managed to bring out Bai Lu.

The bookstore had no objections to students using Spirit-level Demon Pets.

As long as the Demon Pet is registered under your name, it's fine. Whether a Spirit-level Demon Pet obeys you or not—that's not the bookstore's concern.

An amusing point: at this pre-exam meeting, all the students were silent throughout—the discipline was off the charts!

The test-takers from all four provinces were paragons—full of their own pride.

There was basically no communication at all between the four big contingents. It was like anyone who spoke first would lose their top-tier aura...

It wasn't until the staff announced the end of the meeting that Du Yu quickly stood up.

"Where are you going?" Li Mengnan instinctively reached out and grabbed the corner of Du Yu's shirt.

"I'm going to ask about the rules, just in case I get penalized for breaking them."

"Oh." Li Mengnan got up too, looking as if she was ready to go along with him.

Du Yu thought this was odd—did he really need company for this?

Is this the school beauty shadowing the top dog?

He thought for a moment and still said, "Nah, let me ask by myself. If you come with me, it'll be too much of a scene."

Li Mengnan looked displeased, pouting: "You just don't like how good-looking I am!"

For a second, Du Yu found himself at a loss for words.

Isn't that... uh, isn't that obvious!

"Tch." Li Mengnan plopped back down. It was hard to say whether she was happy or mad.

Du Yu used the chance, turned, and quickly strode to the hall entrance. "Director Tian."

A few bookstore staff members were liaising; seeing Du Yu approach, one middle-aged man greeted him with a friendly smile: "What's up, Xiaodu?"

This exam was fully overseen by the Guandong Province Bookstore Headquarters.

The man before him, Tian Ming, was evidently a leader from the provincial bookstore.

And Du Yu, being from the directly subordinate Twenty-Ninth Bureau of the Great Xia Bookstore, was in a way a colleague.

"I have a question." Du Yu led the bookstore leader over to the windowsill. "If I personally use Demon Skills, does that count as a violation?"

"What?" Tian Ming was stunned, but replied firmly, "You're a Demon Tamer·Peak Stage."

"Right, but my Demon Soul has already formed," Du Yu whispered, "We're only allowed to fight with one Demon Pet in this exam.

If I use Demon Skills from other Demon Pets inside me, what happens then?"

"Uh..." Clearly, Tian Ming hadn't anticipated this situation.

The bookstore had detailed profiles for all hundred students, but there were a handful the Guandong office couldn't check or verify.

Du Yu was one of these "mystery cases."

His file had long since been pulled by the Twenty-Ninth Bureau—not just anyone could peek at it.

Tian Ming pondered for a moment, then replied, "I'll look into it. Before the exam starts tomorrow, we'll give you a clear answer."

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, Director Tian." Du Yu nodded and smiled.

Tian Ming still couldn't work it out: "You really condensed your Demon Soul already?"

Du Yu shrugged: "Paper Crane Disciples, you know—we're all special."

Tian Ming: "..."

Even if Paper Crane Disciples are special, there were a hundred of them in the hall.

The real special thing was that, before freshman year was even over, you got recruited directly by the Twenty-Ninth Bureau.

As a local bookstore worker, facing a colleague this high up, it wouldn't be too much to call Du Yu "boss"...

Du Yu watched the group of bookstore leaders leave, sighing a little to himself.

If he could use Demon Skills, he'd be more unstoppable than ever.

He was here for first place anyway—for the rewards, for more powerful Demon Soldiers!

But because he'd been boastful and said he was "too strong," Master Qing had limited his Demon Pets.

And, thanks to Twenty-Ninth Bureau internal rules, Ancient Spiritual Artifacts weren't to be used openly—to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Frankly, that also helps keep him safe—there are always jealous eyes, both inside and out.

So now, Du Yu was loaded with power but couldn't let loose—pretty frustrating.

"Du Yu!"

Du Yu looked back; outside the hall's back door, his teammates were waving.

"Coming?" Lin Shiwei beckoned.

"Mm." Du Yu slouched over, returning quickly to the room with the group.

This time, unlike last night's conference, Li Mengnan joined in too.

Once the door was shut, Lin Shihao couldn't hold back and burst out, "It really is a city assault!

25 people attacking a gate—it's like a badly staged drama!"

Li Mengnan blurted out, "And after you break through the gate, you still have to go kill the enemy commander. Who knows what sort of creature the 'commander' will be?"

Lin Shiwei, leaning against the windowsill with arms folded: "We'll just have to see once we're in."

"Heh." Liu Juncai snorted, "The bookstore is good at scheming—first they made us register our Demon Pets, then published the exam content, but didn't reveal everything."

"Yeah!" Lin Shihao shook his head helplessly, "Like they're terrified we'll try to game the rules.

By the way, Juncai. Is your Mud Po Goddess Sculpture really alright?"

"No problem." Liu Juncai ran a hand through her long, straight hair, aware of Li Mengnan's gaze.

Back when Liu Juncai wanted to go out in a blaze with Du Yu, Li Mengnan was there and got scared half to death by the Mud Po Goddess Sculpture!

Liu Juncai smiled to reassure her, "Relax, you're still thinking of Mud Po as it was half a year ago.

It's been a long time—I've grown a lot, and gone through a lot with the Mud Po Goddess."

"Mm." Li Mengnan answered softly. Precisely because she knew how strong Mud Po was, she was worried it could still be a ticking time bomb.

"Good." Lin Shihao said, "The Ancient Wilderness City area is all sand and stone—the perfect home turf for Mud Po Goddess Sculpture."

Liu Juncai nodded, completely confident.

Then, she turned to look at the silent Du Yu.

Right now, Du Yu was sitting cross-legged on the bed, fiddling with two Demon Soldier Bows.

One Demon Soldier's Linked Pearl Bow—deep crimson through and through—a former nightmare for countless Blue Team members.

The other, a Demon Soldier Orange Juice Bow, was all charred-black wood while on cooldown; nobody could tell what it was really capable of.

Liu Juncai asked curiously, "Are you debating which one to use?"

"Mm." Du Yu picked up the Linked Pearl Bow, uncertain whether they'd need more firepower or more control.

It was supposed to be a city siege, decapitating the generals. But if all four provinces were here, the bookstore would almost certainly have some nasty surprises along the way.

If the opposition turned from Ancient Wilderness City to rival students, the Demon Soldier Linked Pearl Bow would seriously become a killing machine!

After all, the bookstore handed out uniforms for all the contestants—and stitched a black pearl to the chest.

At the recent meeting, Director Tian had clarified: if the pearl on your chest breaks, you must immediately withdraw.

"Linked Beads." Du Yu murmured, gently caressing the crimson bow.

This bow's usage period is a year, and it'll be deactivated around September.

It's mid-July now—maybe it should go out with one final blaze of glory?

Liu Juncai: "If you can't decide, why not just bring both?"

Du Yu was briefly stunned. That's right!

If you bring both, problem solved!

The bookstore didn't limit the number of Demon Soldiers contestants could bring—like Lin Shiwei, who'd brought both a Demon Soldier Spear and a Demon Soldier Finger Tiger.

"If it's too much to carry, I can help," Liu Juncai offered. "Mud Po Goddess has lots of hands and can get a bow to you anywhere, anytime."

"No need, I'll just carry it myself," Du Yu replied offhandedly.

Lin Shiwei suddenly said, "Carrying a bow on your back can make nocking arrows awkward—let Mengnan carry it for you."

"Eh?" Li Mengnan blinked. She was already carrying a long spear and had a long sword at her waist—now she'd have to carry a bow too?

Du Yu grinned and shot a look at his muscle-bound bro: "Good idea—you always say you like sticking with me, might as well be my portable weapon rack."

Li Mengnan glared at Du Yu: "Who's a weapon rack? I'm planning to charge the enemy too!"

Lin Shihao said, "Honestly... keeping Du Yu safe is a very important part of our job.

If you're not by his side, I'll have to assign someone else as his bodyguard."

Li Mengnan looked at Lin Shihao like he was an idiot: "Du Yu's got a bow, sure, but do you really think he can't handle close combat?

If it comes to white-blade fighting, even Third Sister can't hold him back!

Didn't you see the blade edge at the end of the Hunting Bow—did you think that was just for show?"

Lin Shihao was stunned, turning to look at Du Yu: "Seriously?"

As a new generation of the Lin Family, Lin Shihao had always lived under Lin Shiwei's shadow, getting thrashed and crying for his parents since he was little.

He was clear about Lin Shiwei's skills—but this halfway-baked Du Yu, could his natural talent really be that high?

A year's training, and already rivaling Master Lin?

"Don't listen to Mengnan's nonsense," Du Yu waved both hands, "Back then I was a stage above Shiwei, and with my body's perks, I just barely managed to trade blows with her.

Now, forget it, Shiwei's reached Peak too."

Lin Shiwei: "No need to belittle yourself."

Du Yu was on the verge of tears.

The people closest to me hype me up the most!

With these two number-one fans here, I'll never get to be the dark horse again.

Lin Shihao, seeing Du Yu's expression, almost burst out laughing: "It's not like I'd make you take point—chopping gates, scaling walls. Why are you being so modest?"

"Who says my second brother can't scale the city walls?" Li Mengnan immediately objected, "That Ancient Wilderness City Wall is only, like, ten meters high?"

Lin Shihao: "Uh."

Li Mengnan: "You know Thousand Blade Mountain?"

Lin Shihao nodded, "Of course."

Li Mengnan lifted her chin proudly: "A thousand-meter-high peak—and my second brother scales it in a snap! He doesn't even need a break halfway~"

Du Yu: "..."

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