Chapter 842 - 565: The Quarterfinals Begin
From the top 60 to the top 16, except for those who had a bye, all were experts who defeated two strong opponents to reach this stage.
Li Pu faced off against a senior who used five fire-type summoned beasts.
An outstanding or well-planned Summoner often determines their crafting and nurturing route early on.
Take Li Pu for instance, although his summoned beasts seem chaotic.
In truth, he has consciously been searching for contracts to compensate for his team’s weaknesses since Bo Bo.
It’s just that perhaps he wasn’t destined for greatness in this aspect, and the contract process always had some surprises, resulting in a strange group of summoned beasts.
In terms of rarity and initial development potential, they might not rank highly, but in terms of absurdity, he felt he lost to no Summoner.
Like the senior he faced in the top 16, who used a full fire-type summoned beast lineup.
Such a lineup would be at a disadvantage against counter-typed enemies, but its tactical coordination and nurturing would be highly efficient.
After all, with so many places abroad to explore, as long as he avoids aquatic monster territories, he could thrive anywhere.
But facing Li Pu was just misfortunate.
After the second round, Li Pu had exposed his strength with the scarecrow, the ugly little wolf, himself, and the capabilities of Fusion No. 2.
In this third round, he again managed not to reveal his full strength.
Because just the scarecrow alone was enough to handle the opponent.
No way around it, it was immune to fire attribute effects.
Those five summoned beasts were solid in strength, but 90% of their attacks were like scratching an itch for it.
So, ultimately, amid the audience’s exclamations, the scarecrow toppled an entire team of summoned beasts.
This battle significantly boosted its reputation.
Perhaps other top 16 contestants also had summoned beasts capable of one-versus-a-team scenarios.
But among those who had truly accomplished it, it was currently the only one.
Thus, rumors about the scarecrow spread among the audience.
And not just among the students and teachers, but also among the summoned beasts.
Even summoned beasts from other schools came to seek advice on dealing with underground school summoner faction powers.
Several times, these summoned beasts even came to their dormitory to knock on the door, leaving Li Pu and Wu Guinan astonished.
These days, the scarecrow received a lot of admiration, with summoned beasts from other schools greeting it wherever it went, and its status in the community rising rapidly.
Whether it passed on any knowledge or had anything to pass on, Li Pu was not very clear.
He only knew that the campus security wasn’t very harmonious recently, with frequent reports of summoned beasts from other schools being detained for night-time racing.
But what he was most concerned about was his next opponent.
Because when facing this one, even Liu Jisheng came to remind him once again.
From his demeanor, he was far more earnest than the time with Senior Sister Chen Hualang.
Through Liu Jisheng’s introduction, Li Pu gradually learned about his quarterfinals opponent.
Fu Dusheng, a senior who constantly repeated years between various universities.
A year younger than Liu Jisheng, he was regarded as Liu Jisheng’s greatest rival in past Central China Cups, and the only opponent he acknowledged.
Liu Jisheng approached Li Pu not primarily out of concern for winning or losing the match.
But to share some insights about why he stayed back a year and why Fu Dusheng repeatedly repeated grades.
It turned out both had a common goal or dream.
That was to form an offshore adventure group of their own.
An offshore adventure group isn’t like typical students in dungeon raids.
It requires at least five Summoners to have the qualifications to join such a team.
The primary activity area is abroad, engaging in treasure hunting, taking commissions, and the like.
Many times, they would enter unknown space rifts, venturing to uncharted otherworlds for exploration.
High-end adventure groups require high-end talents.
As known, nowadays, the Federation’s educational system is quite complete.
95% of high-end talents come from university graduates.
Upon nearing graduation, talents from universities are quickly scouted by renowned teams and major powers.
Those like Liu Jisheng who wish to form small-scale personal adventure groups often struggle to recruit talent.
Hence, he remained on campus for long periods, trying to scout talent ahead of these forces.
Yet each semester, he spends at least half the time abroad. After all, over the years, the accumulated talent has formed a preliminary scale for shallow overseas activities.
After three rounds of performance, and the recent affair with the Master of Sacred Void, Liu Jisheng saw great potential in Li Pu.
Thus, he intended to reveal his intentions to Li Pu ahead of Fu Dusheng and recruit him early.
He offered generous conditions, with the initial benefit package alone being a massive resource that Li Pu never imagined.
If he could indeed obtain this resource, Li Pu felt the scarecrow could immediately reincarnate to the 30th time, and the other summoned beasts also increase by one rebirth each.
But behind generous offers often come corresponding costs.
Joining an offshore adventure group was something he hadn’t encountered before, and it was a significant matter needing thorough consideration.