Chapter 662 - 294: The First Qin Province Riding Tournament Begins! (Part 3)

Due to the large number of participants, it’s not possible for everyone to start at the same time, so every ten participants form a group, and each group starts every ten minutes. The participant who takes the least time wins.

Everyone is eagerly looking forward to the fun race.

Among those present, Chen Yuan will certainly participate. He and Cola already have seamless coordination and his sled-driving skills are top-notch, so his goal is singular: champion.

Yang Yue also chose to participate. Her Cloud Fox has greatly improved during this period, and backed by her financial capacity, it has advanced to Commander Quality, with its physique growing significantly, initially able to pull a sled.

Li Qing, of course, chose not to participate; she came specifically to cheer for Yang Yue and to experience the enthusiastic atmosphere.

Chen Yuan can’t even imagine the scene of the Scaly Green Snake or the Ripple Shadow Snake pulling a sled.

In the harsh winter season, maybe half way through they’d start hibernating?

Lin Hongwei chose to participate.

His main pet beast is the Snow Patterned Clouded Leopard that Chen Yuan had seen at Pudaxue Mountain, undoubtedly an excellent riding pet beast.

As for his girlfriend, she chose not to participate.

Zhang Hao, unbeknownst to Chen Yuan, chose to participate.

Chen Yuan frowned: "Aren’t you supposed to be focusing on the progress of the event?"

Zhang Hao waved his hand and grinned: "I’m in charge of the planning, Song and his team will handle the on-site details."

Pausing, he clasped his hands around his neck, eyes glittering with anticipation: "Both I and the Gray-armored Wild Boar are pretty excited about this competition."

As the hotpot bubbled vigorously, the frost on the window was gnawed away by the steam, leaving small holes. Outside was an ink-like cold night, where the little fellows played together, snowflakes flying and splashing all over.

Amidst the swirling snow, Chen Yuan scooped up the last slice of fatty beef, and the rising steam from the copper pot nearly melted Qinling’s winter.

December 25th, clear skies.

Early in the morning, Xuanhe Village was filled with the sound of drums and firecrackers, and hundreds of Beastmasters gathered at the village entrance.

The Qin Province Beastmaster Association has placed great importance on this competition, promoting it extensively, coupled with the sudden rise of Advisor Chen, bringing widespread attention to this remote mountain village in Qinling.

And the first Qinling Riding Competition hosted by Xuanhe Village has caught the attention of countless Beastmasters.

Due to this being the first competition, the planning was hasty and the preparations hurried. Plus, with the size of Xuanhe Village, it was temporarily unable to host a large competition for thousands of people, hence stringent screening was conducted for the participants. Ultimately, over one hundred were selected from thousands of applicants.

Most of them were locals from Qin Province, with only a few from other provinces.

But Lu Ran happened to be among them.

When Chen Yuan arrived at the village entrance, he happened to see Lu Ran being interviewed by the Qin Province Daily. With raised eyebrows and folded arms, in his usual confident manner, he said: "I’m here for the championship this time."

Facing the camera, his smile was particularly flamboyant: "The champion of the first Qinling Riding Competition will definitely be me!"

"Advisor Chen coming won’t make a difference, I’m telling you."

Silently walking past him, Chen Yuan’s mouth slightly twitched.

He had already learned about Lu Ran’s registration for the riding competition.

It was already late December, and Beast Taming Academy was about to conduct the final exams. To maximize their self-improvement during this time, some students stayed at school to train hard, some ventured into nature for practice, and some participated in various competitions.

Lu Ran fell into the latter category.

Though the competition he joined was quite unique, Lu Ran had contracted an excellent riding pet beast—the Red Hoof Colt.

With sharp-eyed reporters seeing Advisor Chen, they quickly abandoned Lu Ran and ran towards Chen Yuan, thrusting a bunch of microphones to his face:

"Advisor Chen, we heard you also registered for the riding competition!"

Facing the cameras, Chen Yuan’s smile was bright, and he clearly stated the pre-prepared introduction: "Yes, the Qinling Riding Competition combines entertainment and racing, with generous rewards. We invite Beastmasters from all over to enthusiastically participate..."

Standing in a corner, Zhuang Jianbai leaned against the wall, the gentle sunlight casting light and shadow on his face, and a snow-white big dog lay panting next to him.

He watched Chen Yuan for a long while, withdrew his complex gaze, lowered his deep eyes, and said in a low tone: "This is our only chance to defeat Advisor Chen."

"Woof!"

The Winter Dog understood the situation well, standing proudly, eyes ablaze.

Since he couldn’t defeat him on the field, he’d try another way.

After all... the desire to defeat Advisor Chen had long vanished after being crushed in matches time and again. His confidence was shattered along with it.

Now, all he sought was merely not to be left too far behind by Advisor Chen.

Just... just as long as he could see Advisor Chen’s back from a distance.

After shaking off wave after wave of reporters, Chen Yuan looked around, again seeing many familiar faces.

Some were competitors who had participated in the Taibai Cup and Da Feng Cup, and there were also those who had recently risen to fame as outstanding Beastmasters.

As an Association Consultant for the Qin Province Beastmaster Association, Chen Yuan had some understanding of them.

The registration review this time was exceptionally stringent, and only these people could successfully pass through multiple screenings to enter the main competition.

When the gentle sunlight bathed the entire Xuanhe Village, over a hundred competitors and most of the villagers were gathered at the village entrance, every face radiating a bright smile, quietly awaiting the start of the competition.

An old man said: "I’ve lived half a life, and it’s the first time I’ve seen the village this lively."

An elderly man beside him nodded in agreement: "Indeed, I hope it stays this lively in the future."

The village chief, surrounded in the center, had long reached retirement age but had made a series of outstanding achievements when nearing retirement, even being recently nominated as a model village chief.

He tilted his head slightly, his usually calm face beaming with a smile: "The village will keep getting better."