Show Them What You're Made Of

"This is Qingyuan Town, the closest place to the dimensional rift."

Xu Xiaoyu suddenly remembered something and said seriously, "You better not cause any trouble. These soldiers have the right to kill."

As the area most valued by the state, the dimensional rift absolutely does not allow anyone to break the rules.

Chen Shu nodded and looked at the buildings in the town.

Unlike the city, the buildings in the town were very old-fashioned, even shabby and dilapidated, as if they were only meant to provide basic shelter.

Most of them were shopfronts, not looking impressive at all, but anyone able to open a store in Qingyuan Town was definitely backed by a top-tier force in the country.

666 Potion Company had spent a fortune but still failed to secure a business license in the town.

There were many beastmaster teams who got rich in the dimensional rift, but a portion of the materials were first purchased by the government, then by shops in town, leaving very few resources to enter the open market.

"Let's stay at a hotel tonight and head to Qingyuan Forest tomorrow morning!"

As the team leader, Zhou Shi made the decision, and the group arrived at a small hotel in the town.

...

...

Although the facilities in the town were simple, the foot traffic was quite high.

Everyone was walking briskly, and compared to city dwellers, they looked much more rugged and weary.

Zhou Shi asked, "Little Chen, you okay sharing a room with someone?"

"Sharing a room?"

Chen Shu was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "No problem at all."

They checked in together. Hotels in Qingyuan Town were in high demand and very expensive, so there was no need for individual rooms.

After settling their luggage, they left the hotel. It was now 3 p.m., and they had driven all day with empty stomachs—

Except for Chen Shu. He had been munching non-stop the entire way.

The group then went to a restaurant.

Zhou Shi looked at the menu and boldly ordered several signature dishes: "Boss, one braised Ice Wild Rabbit, one steamed Spirit Tail Fish, deep-fried Four-Winged Locust..."

"Huh? What the hell are those?"

Chen Shu was confused, then asked in shock, "Are all these ingredients from ferocious beasts?"

Old Deng explained, "Of course. The town is near Qingyuan Forest. Ferocious beast meat isn't expensive here, it's kind of a local specialty."

In the dimensional rift, the most valuable things were herbs, minerals, and the like. Special parts from ferocious beasts were also highly valuable, but their meat was usually not worth much.

Only beastmaster teams with poor harvests would bring back ferocious beast meat. Since it's hard to preserve, they often sell it to local restaurants.

"Yo, if it isn't the famous beastmaster Zhou Shi?"

Suddenly, a group of people entered the restaurant, led by a burly man in black.

His gaze was fierce, clearly not a good person. The rest of his group also exuded hostility.

Obviously, the two beastmaster teams had a grudge.

Inside the dimensional rift, with no legal constraints, one could fully unleash their contract beasts' power. Conflicts over resources were inevitable.

Zhou Shi swirled his tea and sneered, "Weasel, didn't get enough of a beating last time? Still not convinced?"

"That mutated Ice Wild Rabbit really boosted my beastmaster power a lot."

Hearing that, Huang Wei glared furiously, and his teammates were also visibly angry. The tension in the room instantly spiked.

Zhou Shi had a mocking expression, full of provocation: "What, wanna fight? Come on, baby! Don't hold back!"

"You're f***ing looking for death!!"

Instantly, a young man's fury erupted and he lunged forward.

"Little Xu, stand down!"

As their team leader, Huang Wei shouted to stop him. No matter how angry he was, he had to restrain himself.

This is Qingyuan Town—if you dare stir up trouble here, the soldiers have the right to kill you on the spot. No matter how powerful a beastmaster is, they're not above the law.

Going up against the military? That's basically asking to be electrocuted.

Huang Wei shot everyone a fierce glare, then found a table and sat down.

Just then, a familiar set of options appeared before Chen Shu's eyes:

[Option 1: Summon the golden slime and start a fight! Reward: Promotion to Black Iron-level Beastmaster. Bonus Reward: One international plane ticket]

[Option 2: Quietly eat your food. Reward: +5% contract beast appetite]

[Option 3: Show Huang Wei and the others some "color." Reward: +10% slime defense]

Chen Shu was startled. His first instinct was to choose the first option.

Jumping straight from level 5 to Black Iron Beastmaster? That was a huge breakthrough.

Not only would it allow him to awaken a second contracted beast, but it would also trigger a bloodline evolution for the golden slime.

If he reached the Black Iron level, Huaxia Academy would probably let him enroll immediately.

There was a massive gap between a level-9 Beastmaster and a Black Iron-level one—very few managed to reach it before college.

But the system's bonus reward quickly poured cold water on his excitement.

An international plane ticket? That clearly meant he'd have to flee afterward!

The cost was way too high just to rank up.

Chen Shu whispered, "Uncle Zhou, what would happen if I used my contract beast to smash them right now?"

Zhou Shi's whole body trembled. He gripped Chen Shu's hand tightly and said, "Bro—my dear bro—don't do anything rash!"

Old Deng chimed in seriously, "We'd all be sentenced, and you... you'd just be a blurry mosaic on the evening news."

Chen Shu twitched his lips. Just say "torn to pieces," no need to be so delicate about it.

Clearly, Option 1 was a no-go.

As for Option 2, the reward was too weak.

Right now, he was just a trainee Beastmaster, and the slime wasn't high-level either. The energy in the beast space was enough to keep it alive.

Only upon becoming a Black Iron-level Beastmaster would food intake really start to matter.

Option 3, though—while not as reckless—could still spark a confrontation, even without summoning the contract beast. That could easily attract the soldiers.

He wasn't ready to gamble his life away.

Then Chen Shu's eyes lit up—he'd just thought of something.

He leaned in and whispered, "Uncle Zhou, I'm gonna go give them a little 'color' to look at."

The moment he finished speaking, Chen Shu pulled something from his pocket and stood up, heading straight for Huang Wei's table.

"Oh no—this doesn't look legal!"

Zhou Shi tried to stop him, but it was already too late. He could only watch Chen Shu approach.

Huang Wei narrowed his eyes. "Kid, what do you want?"

The others gave him cold stares, their presence intimidating.

Chen Shu just smiled brightly. "I came to show you guys some color."

Bang!

Huang Wei slammed his hand on the table and barked, "Arrogant brat! Let's see what you've got."

Everyone else stood up too, posturing for a fight—but no one dared strike first.

Whoever made the first move would likely be charged with provocation.

"I knew it... can't even let me have a peaceful meal." Zhou Shi sighed, preparing to drag Chen Shu back.

But in the next moment, his eyes went wide with shock.

So did everyone else. They were completely stunned, their minds going blank.

Because in Chen Shu's hands appeared... a pile of color cards.

He held one up to Huang Wei and said, "Look, this one's red."

Then he pulled out more cards.

"This one's yellow."

"And what's this one? That's right—it's green."

Everyone: "…"

Zhou Shi and his teammates were all frozen in disbelief.

He really was showing them "some color."