After using cheats, I became the strongest Beast Tamer

Lu Junxiang laughed upon hearing this and humbly said, "Not at all, it's all thanks to the principal and the school."

...

After the match, Kuang Shiyi's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and a brilliant smile immediately spread across his face.

"You said, okay? Okay! Understood, we'll start preparing right away," he replied enthusiastically after picking up the call.

After hanging up, Kuang Shiyi turned to his teammates and said, "Let's go and have a dinner party; the principal said he'll come to cheer us on in person during our next match."

"And," Kuang Shiyi added with a secretive smile, "the principal has brought us some good news, which he'll announce during the dinner."

The celebration dinner was set at a nearby grand hotel, where the team members gathered around, basking in the joy of victory.

By coincidence, the team from Haiya High School they had just played against was seated not far from them, at the next table.

Compared with the cheerful atmosphere around Chen Xing and his team, the Haiya High School team seemed much more subdued.

At the dinner table, Kuang Shiyi shared the good news brought by the principal, "The principal talked to the Board of Education and secured a sizable bonus for us. Each person gets a reward of one hundred thousand yuan for entering the top hundred! From the next match on, the bonus will double with every victory!"

"The principal is awesome!" everyone shouted.

The team at the next table, seeing their former rivals cheering loudly, felt even more bitter.

Just then, the captain of Haiya High School's team, a petite girl, stood up and walked over to Chen Xing's table.

Tian Xuechuan put down his chopsticks and watched her warily, sensing she was up to no good.

However, when the opposing captain came to Chen Xing, she just gazed at him intently and said, "My name is Yin Li. Your Beast Taming is very strong, and I concede defeat this time. But next time, I will definitely win!"

Chen Xing gently replied, "Okay, we'll have another chance to compare notes in the future."

After all, it's just a match and doesn't represent anything.

But if you come for another match next time, I just hope that you'll be stronger.

Yin Li gave Chen Xing a deep look and then turned and strode away.

She didn't return to her table but headed straight for the hotel's exit instead.

With her back to everyone, she held her head high, fighting to keep her eyes from reddening.

After this little episode, Chen Xing and his friends finished their meal and returned to Dragon Pavilion Residence.

The next morning, Coach Kuang led the team to the Peak Arena for the tournament drawing ceremony.

This drawing not only decided the order of subsequent matches but also who would get advantageous positions in the competition.

Since there would be no more drawings after this one, the results of this draw would directly determine all the future opponents.

An hour later, under the watchful eyes of all, the drawing results were revealed.

The names of over a hundred teams appeared on the giant screen in succession, each group interlinked and then stacked upward, leaving but one empty spot at the very top, beneath a crown.

Seeing the groupings, everyone's expression changed dramatically, and the atmosphere grew tense.

The opponent for tomorrow was Mountain City First Middle School.

Shu State and Yu State are neighbors, and Mountain City First Middle is also a nationally renowned strong school, ranked among the top of the top hundred schools.

They have even won the national runner-up in the high school cup twice in history.

Although their ranking has dropped in recent years, their strength remains formidable.

"It doesn't matter. In the end, we'll have to face all of them, so we must be prepared for the last opponent to be the strongest school," Chen Xing shifted his gaze to the other teams.

He paused suddenly because he saw a familiar name in the adjacent team on the left.

Longdu Stars, one of the top five tiger schools.

This was Longdu, so for Longdu Stars Middle School, this was their home ground.

A familiar chubby face emerged in Chen Xing's mind—that of Yue Qianyuan, the one who wanted to form a Water Element lineup with him.

He had not expected to face his alma mater so soon.

Chen Xing couldn't help but chuckle, thinking, Yue classmate, it seems we don't have to wait two years. In a few days, we'll see each other on the playing field.

Back at Dragon Pavilion Residence, Chen Xing noticed that his teammates seemed somewhat dejected.

"What's this? Why is everyone so down? Are we scared before the fight has even started?" Chen Xing joked.

Tong Xuhua glanced at Chen Xing, "We just checked the strength of Shancheng First Middle School's team... their school is very strong this year.

Speaking of this, Tong Xuhua felt somewhat embarrassed, "After all, this is a 4V4 match, not an individual fight, I might hold everyone back."

Tian Xuechuan sighed, "I can't really offer any help, at best I can cheer you all on from the sidelines when the time comes."

Wu Ju hesitated to speak; her Beast Taming could at most briefly hold back an opponent... and even then, it was uncertain for how long.

Ultimately, they would be in a situation where they were outnumbered.

"I will try to make my beasts hold them off for as long as possible," said Wen Jin.

His Beast Taming tended toward being a front-line tank, unlikely to end the battle quickly.

"It's fine, we'll just fight as usual tomorrow, and you can hold them off for as long as you can," Chen Xing said calmly.

Returning to his room, Chen Xing went to the backyard and summoned Sìxiàng, who after eating today's pet food, had its aura flickering on and off.

Prior to this, Sìxiàng had already reached Energy Level 44 and was not far from reaching Level 45.

It was on the verge of a breakthrough at any moment.

The next second, Sìxiàng's aura began to change.

Immediately after, the temperature around it soared as a layer of strange fluctuations gathered on the surface of its body.

This sensation was very odd; it wasn't like any known element but faintly emitted a strange vibration.

The scattering chirping in the bamboo forest fell silent, and many little insects trembled in fear.

But Chen Xing had seen such changes before, similar to when Sìxiàng had awakened its Soul Element skill, though it wasn't as exaggerated as this time.

Moments later, the breakthrough was complete.

The name of Sìxiàng's newly awakened Innate Skill was a bit peculiar—Eighth Sense-Hidden Storage.

This was Sìxiàng's third Innate Skill. Could it be that in addition to the bloodlines of those three beasts, it had other bloodlines within it?

Innate Skill: Eighth Sense-Hidden Storage (Entry Level)

Chen Xing found this term somewhat familiar.

After looking it up online, the Eighth Sense was also known as Alaya-vijnana, and in related texts, this sense was considered the foundation of everything in the universe, containing everything, hence called the "storage consciousness." It was also referred to as "seed consciousness" because it was thought to store the seeds from which everything arises.

In the "Transformation of the Triple Power," it is referred to as "the first transformation of consciousness."

"The Mahayana Broad Five Aggregates Treatise" states, "The Alaya-vijnana is so called because it encompasses all seeds and the ego's delusions thereof, and can condition the body as the realm. Thus, it is also known as the Adana-vijnana, because it sustains the body."

Of course, this was from Chen Xing's online research into classical texts.

Whether this Innate Skill actually bore any relation to that concept, Chen Xing was unclear; perhaps it was just a similarity in names.

After experimenting, Chen Xing quickly understood the effects of this new Innate Skill.

Its ability was to store.

Currently, it could store a replica of one skill within itself, which had to be from any Attribute skill it possessed.

Storing a skill required the consumption of internal Magic Power, but releasing it didn't consume Magic Power, only mental strength.

It was like having an additional blue bar named 'Mental Attribute,' except this bar was currently only for use with a replica skill stored within Eighth Sense-Hidden Storage.

It was akin to a special fund.

More importantly, the skill within the Eighth Sense didn't share a cooldown with the inherent skills.

This meant a seamless connection was possible, allowing back-to-back casting of two skills!

At that moment, many potential uses for this skill flashed through Chen Xing's mind.

Gathering his thoughts, Chen Xing instructed Sìxiàng, "Get comfortable with the newly awakened skill tonight, but don't overdo it to avoid affecting your state tomorrow."

Sìxiàng nodded, showing it understood.