At this time, a rather burly student from First High descended from his Contractor and walked up to Cheng Bingxi alone. He reached out his hand and grinned,
"Hi, I'm Yi Luren from First High, S-rank Fierce Tiger template. Nice to meet you."
Cheng Bingxi didn't shake his hand. She clung to Xiao Ye's arm and said, "Cheng Bingxi. This is my Contractor, Xiao Ye."
The muscle-bound Yi Luren's smile froze, a shadow of gloom flickered in his eyes, but after pulling his hand back, he grinned again,
"You'll get to know me!" he said firmly.
Just then, a graceful figure came over from behind, blocked Yi Luren's path, pointed at the Contractor he left behind, and said with a contemptuous look,
"Yi Luren, you ditch your own girl to hit on another beauty."
Yi Luren slunk away with an awkward chuckle.
This girl looked at Cheng Bingxi and Xiao Ye and greeted them, "Let's get to know each other, I'm Nangong Sihan, uh, C-rank Swimming Dragon template."
Her features were delicate, skin smooth as cream, standing nearly five-seven in a purple ancient-style robe that highlighted her ethereal temperament. Most striking of all was the huge asset threatening to burst from the robe, drawing everyone's eyes.
So this was truly the saying: fine branches bear great fruit.
"Xiao Ye, this is Cheng Bingxi." Xiao Ye gazed in astonishment at this drop-dead gorgeous girl, whose looks were on par with Cheng Bingxi's, and, in some aspects, even surpassed her.
*But a C-rank Swimming Dragon template? How did she even get into the Youth Training Camp?*
"I know you guys!" the fruit-girl Nangong Siyao said excitedly, "You're the one blanketed by ten thousand miles of purple energy, whose awakening revealed countless Divine Beasts—Xiao Ye! And you, the SSS-rank Nine-tailed Celestial Fox template, Cheng Bingxi! You guys are freaking awesome!"
"You're awesome too!" Xiao Ye muttered to himself, glancing at her massive 'fruit.'
"Whoa, so he's really Xiao Ye! Hubby, look, SSS-rank Beastmaster—such a hunk."
"That purple phenomenon was no joke, the sky even darkened at our Second High's Awakening Plaza."
"Phenomena? We had some too at First High. When Princess Nangong Siyao awakened, it was a huge spectacle. It's just a shame she tested as a C-rank Swimming Dragon template."
The gifted teens from First and Second High buzzed with rumors.
Princess, huge phenomenon, C-rank template?
*Xiao Ye felt like something was off, so he used the system's detection function to scan this fruit-carrying girl.*
"Huh?"
[Nangong Siyao: SSS-rank Five-Clawed Golden Dragon template (Blue Star rules incomplete—didn't absorb enough Rule Fragment Crystals during awakening, currently sealed)]
[Contractor: None]
Xiao Ye stared intently at the information panel, completely stunned.
*An SSS-rank Five-Clawed Golden Dragon? The very same level as Cheng Bingxi! Too bad it's sealed, but she hasn't contracted with anyone yet.*
Cheng Bingxi noticed Xiao Ye staring openly at Nangong Siyao's massive assets, so she decided to remind him of the family power structure, grabbing the soft flesh on his waist and twisting it a full 720 degrees—her signature, "Ultimate Spinning Grip" move!
"Ow!" Xiao Ye howled in pain, and Cheng Bingxi gritted her teeth and said, "Is it nice to look at?"
"It is!"
The system panel, of course, looked great. Xiao Ye grinned sheepishly.
Cheng Bingxi stomped her foot in anger. She was pissed—because now, while looking down, she could see the tops of her feet.
Nangong Siyao watched the scene and felt warm inside. *So, this was the bond families shared. Too bad she never had it.* She made a mental note that SSS-ranked Beastmaster Xiao Ye liked looking at impressive 'fruits,' then headed back to join First High's squad.
"Ever since Xiao Ye showed up, he's sneaked a peek six times, the longest stretch lasting ten full seconds," Nangong Siyao murmured inwardly.
*But she didn't feel it was too much. Compared to those drooling pig-faced boys at First High, Xiao Ye's glances barely counted.*
*If Xiao Ye knew what she thought, he'd have shouted aloud, "You got me all wrong! I was checking the system panel, damn it!"*
Afterward, the three squad captains led their groups of prodigies toward the entrance of the Youth Training Camp.
There, two teams from the Welcoming Team, already clad in military uniforms, had been waiting—a boys' squad and a girls' squad.
Suddenly, the muscular Yi Luren ran over to the Welcoming Team Captain and whispered something; the captain nodded and bowed, agreeing, and even glanced over at Xiao Ye's group.
Just as everyone was about to enter the Youth Training Camp, the uniformed Welcoming Team stopped them.
"Hold up!"
The group ground to a halt, their eyes filled with confusion.
The Welcoming Team captain swept his gaze over everyone, a sly smile playing on his lips.
"So, you are the prodigies our city is making such a huge fuss over, huh? Well, if you wanna get into the camp today, you'll have to pass my test first!"
The Welcoming Team members started whispering to each other, "This test isn't in the rulebook, is it?"
"Nope, but so what? This training ground belongs to the City Guard Army anyway! Now we have to give it up to them and play Walcoming Team, Order Maintenance, and proctors?"
"Yeah, exactly. Let's make sure they know the training camp isn't handed to them on a silver platter, or else we wasted a whole month for nothing."
The top students from all three high schools assumed this was standard procedure and stopped as ordered.
The Welcoming Team Captain looked satisfied, saying, "Three high schools, three teams—if your captains can last one minute against us without defeat, you pass! Otherwise, you all sleep out in the wild tonight."
"Of course, I'll suppress my realm to Tier One. If your team passes the test, each member gets a Tier One Crystal Core!"
"Now, team captains, step forward!"
The captains from Third High were Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi. Second High's captains were a chubby boy and a girl. First High's captain was Nangong Siyao—only her?
As the captains stepped forward, the Welcoming Team Captain frowned at the fruit-girl, saying, "Why are you alone? Where's your Contractor?"
Nangong Siyao replied with a sunny grin, "Reporting in, sir! I don't have a Contractor!"
"But I do hope you'll let all three teams inside. I'll personally give you thirty-six Tier One Crystal Cores!"
The Welcoming Team captain's pupils shrank at those words. Who was this girl to be so bold?
Next to him, the Vice Captain—her own Contractor—whispered urgently in his ear, "That's Nangong Siyao, the princess of Wilderness Base City, City Lord's daughter—at Grandmaster realm!"
"Shit!" the Welcoming Team Captain sucked in a sharp breath. *Damn, that's a big deal! Am I gonna be on her shit list if I push this test?*
While he sweated bullets inside, the system's voice rang out in Xiao Ye's mind.
[Detected host triggered event, mission activated]
[Defeat the Tier One Welcoming Team Captain, reward: 100 evolution points, Rule Fragment Crystal (crystal formed after the world rules shattered, used to supplement missing template rules)]
[Accept mission? No penalty for refusing or failing]
*A Rule Crystal? Xiao Ye was shocked by the prize—it would be perfect to solve fruit-girl Nangong Siyao's sealed template problem.*
*Unsealing that template… Damn, that'd be a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon! In both his past life and this apocalypse, that's a legendary Eastern Dragon!*
"System, accept the mission!"
[Congrats, host. Mission accepted successfully]
*Even with the Rule Crystal, Xiao Ye wasn't going to hand it over for free—unless fruit-girl did something for him…*
Xiao Ye snickered to himself, thinking,
"Nangong Siyao, you really gonna use a C-rank template your whole life?"