Chapter 1 The Insect Fighting Youth_1

Green Sea City, in this resort where the sea, trees, and monorails merge, still retains much of the traditional culture.

It was located to the east of Jade Mountain and connected to Green Sea in the center of Red Leaf Park, where at the moment, there was a huge crowd, and a long banner was stretched between two trees.

A young girl squeezed through the crowd, and as she caught sight of the four big characters "Insect Fighting Contest" on the banner, a tremendous cheer erupted from the site.

"Lu Ran won again!"

"Wasn't it him last year as well?"

"That's right, and he won by a landslide every time!"

As people were talking animatedly, in the center of the venue, under the gaze of an elderly bald man who could hardly accept it, a boy about sixteen or seventeen years old stood up.

"I appreciate the competition," he said with a smile.

Insect fighting, one of the folk games in Xia Country, is also known as cricket fighting in the north.

Just recently, at the "Insect Fighting Contest" held in Red Leaf Park in Green Sea City, Lu Ran with his champion insect overwhelmingly defeated many experienced veterans and won the Insect King title.

And this was not his first time being crowned the champion.

"You rascal!" The old man kept scratching his sparse hair, looking irritatedly at Lu Ran across from him.

Since Lu Ran started participating in the Insect Fighting Contest, he hadn't lost a single time, how was that even possible.

How could this teenager's experience in cricket fighting surpass that of their group of old folks?

"It's just good luck," Lu Ran laughed.

But suddenly, he seemed to sense a gaze from somewhere in the crowd and his body jolted.

"Everyone, I have to leave now," said Lu Ran, his expression changing as he quickly gathered his champion insect, squeezed out of the crowd, and headed outside.

However, before he could get far, someone who had taken a shortcut blocked his path.

This person was not much older, tall, with a pretty face, long black and brown hair tied in a ponytail, and two slender ivory legs pulsing with youthful vitality, though at the moment, her expression was rather unfriendly.

"So you asked for leave just to attend this Insect Fighting Contest? Why didn't you answer my call?" Fang Lan stood with her arms crossed, waiting for Lu Ran's explanation.

"I was focusing on the contest, so I set my phone to silent," Lu Ran retorted.

"You're going into your senior year of high school soon, do you realize that?" Fang Lan said, massaging her temples.

"Fine... I'll go back and catch up on lessons tomorrow," Lu Ran said resignedly.

"I'm doing this for your own good!" Fang Lan glanced at the jar Lu Ran was holding and said, "But first again... not bad, Green Sea City is a big market for insect fighting, just any park veteran has decades of experience, and I heard you wiped them out completely again."

"Sometimes, some things can't just rely on 'experience,'" Lu Ran laughed, "'Talent' is what's most important."

"I'm not praising you!" Fang Lan said indignantly, "I want you to focus on your studies now, and after your college entrance exams, you can fight as much as you want."

"I got it, I got it," Lu Ran waved his hand dismissively, "Besides, I'm not that interested in insect fighting anymore, there's no challenge to it."

"What do you think about me taking up hunting? My ancestors were hunters, maybe I have that in my genes..."

He lapsed into thought. Hunting, which refers to capturing and hunting wildlife, is mainly aimed at developing national wildlife resources, controlling wildlife populations, and maintaining ecological balance. Of course, these objectives had nothing to do with him; he simply had a pet at home that was naturally aggressive and needed an appropriate place to express its instincts.

Xia Country still allowed legal hunting in many places.

Thinking this, Lu Ran opened the jar containing the Insect King and set the valuable creature free, just as he'd said—the game was no longer challenging.

"Hunting..." Fang Lan looked at Lu Ran blankly, "You don't plan on using your Husky as a Hunting Dog, do you?"

"It doesn't resemble a Hunting Dog one bit, except for the looks."

Lu Ran shrugged and said, "I can train it. It loves to fight too much; it's not good to always suppress its desire to battle. But talking about this is pointless since getting a Hunter's License is quite tricky."

"I hope you're joking," Fang Lan said speechlessly. However, she quickly seemed to have thought of something and fixed her gaze on Lu Ran. "Wait a minute, haven't you given up on that idea yet? Are you preparing to go there?"

"Not at all. Even if I were to go, wouldn't it be better to just hire a professional team with money? What's the point in making such a fuss? Right?"

"But..."

"Let's go, let's go. It's about to rain," Lu Ran hurriedly said, not wanting to continue this topic.

"Huh?" Fang Lan was puzzled as she looked at the clear sky, which didn't have even a single cloud...

"The weather forecast said so," Lu Ran waved his hand and took the lead towards the exit of the park.

I'm fooling you, actually, the insects in the park told me.

...

Before long, the skies over Green Sea City were covered with dark clouds, and it looked like a downpour was imminent. Lu Ran and Fang Lan took shelter in a restaurant, partly to avoid the rain and partly to have lunch.

"I'm going to start school in Devil City the day after tomorrow. Otherwise, you could stay at my place. You're about to enter your senior year of high school, let my parents cook for you so you won't have to order takeout every day. It's not healthy."

Fang Lan, holding a cup of tea, said gently, "My parents have mentioned it several times."

"I'll be fine on my own, thank them for me," Lu Ran replied as he took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

"Call them godfather and godmother!"

"Alright, alright, thank my godfather and godmother for me," Lu Ran answered. He and Fang Lan were childhood friends, and her parents were his parents' close friends. When Lu Ran's parents were confirmed dead, he was taken in by Fang's family.

But as soon as he could take care of himself, Lu Ran moved out to live on his own. His parents had left him a substantial amount of money, so he had enough to live a normal life.

"I won't preach to you anymore; I'll let them persuade you," Fang Lan knew she couldn't sway Lu Ran as she understood his temperament inside out.

To put it nicely, he had his own ideas; harshly, he was rebellious, and not just about small things but all sorts of matters.

"Don't worry about me. I'll take good care of myself. Just wait for me in Devil City. Next year I'll come to find you, and I'll be counting on you, Senior!"

"Talk about it after you get accepted first," Fang Lan said casually, crossing one leg over the other. She was leisurely scrolling through her smartphone. Her grades were excellent, and she had been accepted into the top university in the south, Devil University, with outstanding results. And because of her parents' profession, she chose to major in veterinary science.

Although Lu Ran also had good academic performance, getting into Devil University was not going to be easy, and the upcoming year would be crucial.

"Piece of cake," Lu Ran didn't see any difficulty in it, although he had yet to decide on a major... but it should probably be related to animals, right?

For instance...

"Beast Trainer?" Fang Lan interjected.

"What? Beast Trainer?" Lu Ran was startled and looked at her.

There's a major like that? Shouldn't that be called animal science?

Fang Lan suddenly spoke up, and while Lu Ran initially thought she was talking to him, he soon realized she was muttering to herself while looking at her phone.

"I came across a forum post, I'll send it to you," said Fang Lan.

Soon, Lu Ran received a link from Fang Lan on his smartphone.

Opening the link to the forum post, the title read: "Help! Do you believe in the existence of supernatural phenomena?"

Huh?

Seeing this title, Lu Ran's brows furrowed.

PS: Yay, I'm back! This time it's still a Beast Training story, but it doesn't start off with an already established Beast Training world concept. The new book will have two updates per day during the launch period. I hope for your support, your follows, and your reads. Thank you to both new and old friends!