Beast Taming: I'm Really Not a Cultivation Master

Chapter 307: Chapter 278: Military Training

I have to admit, Shazhou Beast Taming University’s flashy display was quite effective. The two beasts merely showed off a bit of their grandeur, yet it was enough to leave the new students in Training Ground One ecstatic, their hearts pounding.

It made them all wish they could have two such majestic and imposing Holy Spirit-level Pet Beasts of their own.

Of course, for the vast majority of the students present, this was nothing more than a fantasy.

Li Qian, however, wasn’t particularly moved. Having seen quite a few Holy Spirit-level Pet Beasts was only one reason. Another was his firm belief that he would one day possess a Pet Beast with Saint Spirit Level Potential—and that this day wasn’t too far off.

After all, he could already manage the evolution of a Pet Beast with Emperor Level Potential. With his Golden Finger, his future accomplishments were sure to be impressive.

After making a lap to show off their grandeur, the two beasts flew away without a backward glance. The university leadership, seeing that this morale-boosting display had been a great success, was also quite pleased.

With the morale-boosting portion complete, the opening ceremony came to a close. The official military training was next.

One thing was the same as the university military training in his past life: the instructors were soldiers from the army. Of course, in this world, ”soldiers” meant army Beast Masters.

A group of army Beast Masters emerged from both sides of the main platform. As if rehearsed, they fanned out in an orderly fashion, each one taking a position at the front of a student column.

Li Qian saw that the instructor assigned to his column was a young, dark-skinned man with a buzz cut.

The young officer was stern and serious, his expression completely focused. It was obvious at a glance that he was the no-nonsense type.

Li Qian wasn’t too concerned about this, however. After the evolution and contract feedback from Qizai and Xiaoliu, his body was already leaps and bounds beyond that of a normal person. He figured completing the military training would be a piece of cake.

That was what Li Qian thought. However, once the military training began, he tossed that thought to the back of his mind.

After introducing himself, the instructor, whose name was Zhou Jiahao, began to methodically state the purpose of the military training. ”I know you’re all students from the Cultivation College. Combat isn’t your primary responsibility.”

”But no matter what your specialization is, from the day you awakened your Beast Taming Talent and became a Beast Master, combat is something you will inevitably face.”

”Don’t think that battles are solely the Pet Beast’s concern, and that all a Beast Master has to do is stand on the sidelines, issue commands, and shout encouragement.”

”Know this: the Beast Master is an extremely important part of any battle. In the coming training, I will make you understand what a Beast Master ought to do in a fight, how to avoid holding your side back, and how to positively contribute to the battle.”

Instructor Zhou’s words immediately caught Li Qian’s attention. He knew this from personal experience; having gone through numerous battles, he was well aware that the Beast Master could indeed be the biggest vulnerability.

He didn’t know if Instructor Zhou would offer any novel viewpoints, nor was he sure what training methods the man had to address this vulnerability.

So, he listened with rapt attention. For the next hour or so, Instructor Zhou explained his reasoning and training philosophy.

Li Qian listened to his views and nodded slightly. ’There is some substance here,’ he thought, ’but not much. He’s mainly just stressing the importance of physical fitness.’

However, there was one point that earned Li Qian’s approval, which he saw as potentially the biggest takeaway from the entire military training.

”You all know about contract feedback and evolution feedback, right? Research has shown that a Beast Master’s physical fitness has a major impact on the feedback they receive from contracts and evolutions.”

Instructor Zhou said, ”For Pet Beasts of the same strength undergoing the same evolution, the stronger the Beast Master’s physical constitution, the more feedback they’ll receive.”

Li Qian agreed with this point, as he had personally experienced the difference. The effect was quite noticeable.

The most direct comparison was this: when they both evolved a Cyan-Scaled Flood Dragon, the evolution feedback Li Qian received was far greater than Fatty An’s.

With this realization, Li Qian didn’t slack off in the slightest for the rest of the military training. He put his all into completing every single drill.

Li Qian had a very clear idea of the path he wanted to take. He couldn’t just be a Pet Beast Cultivator; combat was something he absolutely couldn’t afford to neglect.

The training began in the afternoon, but since they hadn’t gotten into the thick of it yet, it was all basic content. It mainly consisted of activities like running, forced marches, and wading, so the training wasn’t very difficult.

With his physical fitness, Li Qian passed with ease, facing virtually no challenges. Of course, he didn’t get cocky over it. It was only the first day of training, and they had already lost half the day to the opening ceremony. The instructor’s plan was clearly just a warm-up.

Strictly speaking, the real training would begin tomorrow. Li Qian was already mentally prepared for it.

After training ended, Li Qian wasted no time. He grabbed a quick bite at the Round Table Cafeteria, picked up a meal for Lu Tianjiao as well, and then headed straight back to the dorm.

After the opening ceremony, Instructor Zhou had led their column of new students to Training Ground Five. Since Training Ground Five was the closest to the Round Table Cafeteria, Li Qian had naturally gone there to eat.

The Round Table Cafeteria, as its name suggested, was different from other dining halls. Its tables weren’t the common long ones, but round. In reality, ”Round Table Cafeteria” was just a colloquial name that had stuck; it was just a nickname.

But since so many students called it that, the name just stuck. As for the cafeteria’s actual name, few students remembered it anymore.

Back in the dorm, Li Qian saw Lu Tianjiao had already removed his bandages. The wounds on his body were almost completely gone, but Li Qian wasn’t surprised.

”Today must have been boring, right? I bet that old fossil Park Ji Yong went on and on about a bunch of useless nonsense...” Lu Tianjiao spoke without any sense of unfamiliarity, casually taking the takeout from Li Qian’s hands as he grumbled.

Hearing him complain, Li Qian already had a rough guess about this Lu Tianjiao’s identity. But since Lu Tianjiao hadn’t brought it up himself, Li Qian decided to just play dumb.

And although he and Lu Tianjiao were acting like buddies who’d grown up together, they had actually known each other for little more than a day.

They had just been through a lot together in that short time.

Sinking into the sofa, Li Qian smiled and replied, ”It was fine, actually. Not that boring. At the very least, I got to see a glimpse of Shazhou Beast Taming University’s deep reserves.”

”Deep reserves? What deep reserves?” Li Qian’s words immediately piqued Lu Tianjiao’s curiosity.

Li Qian didn’t hold back, giving him a brief rundown of what had happened in Training Ground One earlier that day.

”They actually sent out two Holy Spirit-level Pet Beasts? Heh. Looks like Shazhou Beast Taming University put some effort into the opening ceremony this year...” Despite his surprise, the guy didn’t let up on his complaints.