Chapter 312: Encountering an Old Acquaintance
A month passed in the blink of an eye. Before Zhou Ming and Lei Yuan could even react, Lei Yuan had no choice but to return to her research post.
During this month, it was the first time Zhou Ming had enjoyed such a long period of peaceful life since arriving on Blue Star.
After Lei Yuan voluntarily took on the role of his guide, Zhou Ming had practically toured the entirety of Dawn Base.
In addition, Zhou Ming had also met Lei Yuan’s parents.
Ever since Lei Yuan entered the Alliance Academy of Sciences, she had mostly kept in touch with her parents through phone calls.
This time, because of Zhou Ming, the Scarlet Sun Saint had specially granted Lei Yuan a one-month leave. Taking this opportunity, Lei Yuan invited her parents to the Alliance Headquarters for a reunion—and also to meet Zhou Ming.
When they learned that Zhou Ming had already advanced to Transcendent Master, the two elders were both shocked and overjoyed.
Facing Zhou Ming, this dragon-riding son-in-law, the two showed none of the airs of parents-in-law. Instead, they were exceptionally polite toward him.
However, this brief period of leisure ultimately came to an end with Lei Yuan’s return to duty.
During the time they spent together, Zhou Ming had also inquired about Lei Yuan’s research project.
Unfortunately, due to the contract she had signed, she was unable to reveal the specifics. This contract was not a simple legal agreement—it was a transcendent contract witnessed by the Blue Star World Will.
Before the Blue Star World Will was devoured by the Tamu World, Lei Yuan could not disclose any details of the Top-secret Project.
However, within the limits of the contract, Lei Yuan still revealed part of the information—her primary research direction was the development of Energy Crystals.
Although Energy Crystals could be used to create various weapons, detonation engines, or serve as energy sources for barrier formations, it was difficult for them to reach higher levels.
Lei Yuan’s research aimed to refine and condense Energy Crystals into a more advanced form of energy, thereby completing the Top-secret Project established by the Alliance.
As for what exactly the Top-secret Project entailed, Lei Yuan could not reveal even the slightest detail. This only made Zhou Ming even more curious.
However, because of the contract binding her, Zhou Ming could only give up on probing further.
Inside the villa, after Lei Yuan and her parents had left, the villa allocated to her by the Academy of Sciences was now occupied by Zhou Ming alone.
“Didn’t expect Lei Yuan to actually get jealous.”
Zhou Ming looked at the bite mark on his shoulder and shook his head helplessly.
Before returning to the Academy, after somehow learning about the existence of the catgirl Aina, Lei Yuan had angrily bitten his shoulder.
After leaving a clearly visible bite mark, she even ordered Zhou Ming not to remove it by any means—obviously declaring her claim.
Faced with Lei Yuan’s command, Zhou Ming could only agree. Otherwise, it would only deepen her misunderstanding of his relationship with Aina.
Just as Zhou Ming was lamenting Lei Yuan’s strong jealousy, someone arrived at his villa once again.
“Lord Zhou Ming, pardon the disturbance. I didn’t expect that in just a year and a half, you would successfully advance to Transcendent Master.”
Zhou Ming had not expected that the person visiting him this time would be Teacher Jiang from Blue Star Academy, whom he had met in the Endless Forest Sea.
From the other party’s self-introduction, Zhou Ming learned that his name was Jiang Lai, and he served as the Director of Academic Affairs at Blue Star Academy.
The purpose of his visit was to invite Zhou Ming to attend the Beast Tamer Competition held among several Beast Taming universities within Dawn Base.
Within Dawn Base, aside from Blue Star Academy—the Alliance’s top-tier university—there were naturally several other Beast Taming universities.
Thus, at some point, these universities began holding an annual competition of a sparring nature.
It was also an opportunity for many geniuses to showcase their talents before the Alliance’s higher-ups.
As someone who had advanced to Transcendent Master in his early thirties, Zhou Ming was naturally someone Blue Star Academy wanted to invite to observe the competition, serving as motivation for the students.
“Since it is an invitation from Blue Star Academy, I will certainly attend. However, I have a small request—would your academy be able to agree to it?”
“Oh? What request does Lord Zhou Ming have?”
Inside the villa’s living room, upon hearing Zhou Ming’s request, Jiang Lai did not immediately agree but instead asked about the details.
“I must trouble Director Jiang with a laugh. Although I have fortunately advanced to Transcendent Master, I lack sufficient knowledge regarding the transcendent level of Beast Taming.”
“Therefore, I hope your academy can grant me access to some common transcendent knowledge. I am willing to exchange various resources for it.”
Hearing Zhou Ming’s request, Jiang Lai pondered briefly before giving his response.
“If it is ordinary transcendent-level Beast Taming knowledge, we can naturally grant you access. However, if it involves certain confidential knowledge, I’m afraid I cannot assist.”
Within the limits of his authority, Jiang Lai gave a conditional answer.
“That is only natural.”
Taking this opportunity, Zhou Ming also engaged in some casual conversation with him about information regarding transcendent experts within the Alliance Headquarters, making up for his lack of intelligence in this area.
As these were not considered confidential matters, Jiang Lai did not hide anything and provided a detailed introduction to the Alliance’s transcendent experts.
Their conversation lasted several hours before finally ending.
Through this exchange, the two became somewhat familiar with each other, barely reaching the level of acquaintances.
The next day, Zhou Ming boarded a vehicle specially sent by Blue Star Academy and entered the renowned institution within the Alliance.
News of Zhou Ming’s upcoming attendance had already spread among several universities within Dawn Base.
The moment he appeared, he instantly became the center of attention like a celebrity.
After all, many students were about the same age as Zhou Ming, yet the gap between them was beyond comparison.
One sat on the viewing platform, while the others could only stand below the competition stage.
“Didn’t expect it to really be him.”
As Zhou Ming received the attention of the crowd, at the competition venue, a young man stared at him with a shocked expression.
“Xiao Lei, you know this Lord Zhou?”
“Right, I heard this Lord Zhou is also from that Qinshan Base in the north. You two should be fellow townsmen.”
The young man was none other than Xiao Lei, Xiao Yun’s younger brother. After more than ten years, as a disciple of the principal of Yunhai Beast Taming University, he had not only successfully advanced to Professional Beast Tamer but had also entered Blue Star Academy.
His current strength had already reached Mid-level Professional Rank—worthy of being accepted as a disciple by a transcendent expert.
Such achievements made him a genius among his peers at Blue Star Academy.
However, compared to Zhou Ming’s current accomplishments, being a genius was merely the threshold to stand before him.
Facing the questioning of his friends, Xiao Lei did not mention his past relationship with Zhou Ming. He had his own pride.
He did not want to rely on his sister’s connection to associate himself with Zhou Ming.
Meanwhile, at another university within Dawn Base—Qingyun University—another young man also revealed a shocked expression.
He was Yang Yi, whom Zhou Ming had met during a rescue mission back at Qinshan Base.
Although he had also successfully advanced to Professional Beast Tamer, he had not been able to enter Blue Star Academy. After all, advancing to Professional Beast Tamer was only the minimum requirement—there were other conditions, and the number of spots each year was limited.
However, after entering Qingyun University, the resources he enjoyed were not inferior to those at Blue Star Academy—only the upper limit was slightly lower.
Having just advanced to Professional Beast Tamer this year and entered Qingyun University, he had not expected that his first time participating in the inter-university Beast Tamer Competition would lead to encountering Zhou Ming again—someone who had once had a significant impact on his life.
Only now did he realize that he had never caught up to Zhou Ming’s footsteps.
Big Brother Zhou had now become Lord Zhou… Master Zhou.
As for the gazes from Xiao Lei and Yang Yi, Zhou Ming also noticed their presence. He was not surprised to encounter them here.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
Returning in glory without showing it was like walking at night in fine clothes.
Zhou Ming was not some saint beyond worldly emotions.
To have those who once looked down on him—or once called him “big brother”—now look at him with reverence…
Honestly… it felt quite good.