My starting summon is a small skeleton

At the beginning,

Lu Wu was somewhat displeased to hear that he had inexplicably acquired another Summoned Beast.

First, he had no idea when he got it.

Second, he had no clue what this Summoned Beast was like.

Surely, not just any Summoned Beast that claims to be his can actually be his?

He had to test it first, see it for himself—he needed to feel his heart go "thump, thump" at the sight of it, especially if the Summoned Beast had that "bling bling" special effect.

And now,

Although Lu Wu still hadn't seen his second Summoned Beast,

Hearing what Zhang Wentao said,

And seeing the crowd rushing over intending to compete with him, Lu Wu became nervous.

Yes, what people try to snatch from you is always the best!

With so many after it, his Summoned Beast must be the cutest one!

His precious little cutie couldn't be snatched away!

"Don't worry, with me and Old Zhao here, that cub won't be taken away!"

Zhang Wentao, sensing Lu Wu's nervousness, immediately patted Lu Wu's shoulder reassuringly.

Of course, his words weren't entirely to comfort.

There was confidence in them as well.

Though he was unsure how the news had leaked so quickly, having so many pursuing them in such a short time,

It didn't matter; in the territory of Jiangnan, Zhang Wentao was quite sure of his ability to secure the Summoned Beast for Lu Wu if he set his mind to it.

However, Zhang Wentao's confidence froze on his face almost immediately.

Because just then, a tiger's roar echoed through the heavens!

The Summoned Beasts flying behind Lu Wu and the others hesitated for a moment at the tiger roar, and the expressions of Zhang Wentao and Zhao Kai Ming turned utterly grim: "What's the situation? Why have they come as well?"

Lu Wu turned his head to look and saw a white giant tiger with wings on its ribs, speeding towards them from Fucheng.

On the back of the giant tiger stood a middle-aged man around thirty, with three young men behind him—three somewhat familiar faces to Lu Wu.

Lu Wu had a photographic memory and recognized at a glance that those were the members of the 066 Squad, one of the outside teams.

Before Lu Wu could react, two more beastly roars were heard, followed by the emergence of two more behemoths.

One was a lion, also with rib-born wings, carrying the 002 Squad, and the other was a Jiao Long, with the 044 Squad on its back.

Well, in just this short period, all three outside teams had shown up.

Their arrival redirected all the animosity toward them.

The pack of Summoned Beasts nearby encircled the tiger, the lion, and the Jiao Long, and even Lu Wu, who had been leading the pace up until then, stopped and turned back.

This Summoned Beast cub belonged to Jiangnan, and the opportunity was also Jiangnan's—they would absolutely not allow outsiders to interfere.

The other side didn't rush in blindly but stopped to wait, evidently aiming to negotiate with the people from Fucheng.

As the principal of Jiangnan University and the person in charge of the Fucheng Cultivation Center, it was up to Zhang Wentao to step forward in the situation.

"Fellas, aren't you overreaching a bit?

Today's matter has nothing to do with you, so back off!"

The first to respond to Zhang Wentao was the middle-aged man on the tiger's back—Xu Tian, the head of the admissions department for Magic City University.

"Principal Zhang, that's not quite fair.

The Alliance has rules, and wild Summoned Beasts aren't anyone's private possession.

It's not as if, just because it appeared here, it belongs exclusively to Jiangnan—that's not how it works. It's an opportunity for Summoners; anyone is qualified to subdue it, and it belongs to whoever succeeds."

Beside him, Zhu Qing from Jiangning University, also mounted on a lion, nodded in agreement: "Right, we're all part of the Alliance. Let's hope everyone can avoid being overly fixated on geography and not be too territorial."

The two echoed each other, turning the tables on Zhang Wentao.

Even though they were the aggressors, they made it sound as if Jiangnan was being petty, focused on local ties with a lack of broad-mindedness.

That really made Zhang Wentao laugh in anger—he'd seen shameless, but never this shameless.

"If that's what you're saying, then what about a few years ago when our Jiangnan students came across a Golden Quality Summoned Beast cub near Modu and your people sent them packing—how do you explain that, Magic City University? Don't you owe me an explanation?

And if Jiangning University is so open-handed, why don't you open your Secret Realm to students from outside Jiangning?"

"You people are full of double standards, guarding your own turf tightly, not letting others take as much as a glance, while you drool over what's in somebody else's bowl.

We put up with your antics during the high school Alliance tournaments, but if you take one more step today, don't blame us for not being polite!"

At Zhang Wentao's words, all the Summoners from Fucheng were stirred up and their blood boiled with excitement.

"Retreat, or battle! You choose!"

The crowd was agitated, their righteous indignation swelling in their chests.

This atmosphere was teeming with the intention that, at any disagreement, they would burst into battle with these three people.

Such ambiance squeezed the eyes of Xu Tian and Zhu Qing to mere slits.

Though they did not speak, the expression they wore was unequivocal—they had no intention of backing down!

This only intensified the already taut atmosphere.

The smell of gunpowder between the two parties grew stronger by the moment, as if ready to explode at any second.

However, just as both sides were on the verge of conflict, the person on the back of the Jiao Long, who had been silent so far, also spoke up.

"Everyone, may I say something?"

The person on the Jiao Long was a young man in his twenties, the youngest of the three visiting teachers but also the one with the most authority.

At his words, everyone fell silent.

Even the expression on Zhang Wentao's face relaxed considerably, prompting Lu Wu to take another look at the youth.

Hmm, average in appearance, not nearly as ordinary as him!

"To encounter a summoned beast of such quality is indeed a rare opportunity for us summoners; we may never come across a second chance in our lifetime."

As these words came out, the people of Jiangnan's complexions grew somber, but Xu Tian and Zhu Qing felt a surge of joy that turned quickly to apprehension.

They were pleased that a young man had stepped forward, and their objective seemed ever more likely to be achieved.

The worry stemmed from that same young man taking charge; securing the creature for themselves now seemed a daunting task.

However, at this moment, the young man didn't care about their thoughts and continued: "Since it's such an opportunity that no one naturally wants to miss,

but after all, this summoned beast appeared in your Jiangnan territory.

You have the preferential opportunity, and it wouldn't be right for us to forcibly snatch it away.

How about this proposition, our three universities will each offer 15 student exchange places to Jiangnan in exchange for our students having the chance to tame this youngling? What do you think?"

As soon as the young man said this, the people of Jiangnan visibly changed their expressions.

They were acutely aware of the value of the exchange student places the young man spoke of.

Once you become an exchange student of any university, that institution's resources basically open up to you.

Secret Realms, libraries, treasuries...

All the places that their university students could enter, exchange students could as well, and all the resources their students could access were also available to exchange students.

More importantly, exchange students had a significant advantage:

They could bring resources with them.

Everything these university students received after enrollment had to be earned and exchanged for academic points.

Whereas exchange students entered with academic points of their own, they could even exchange resources for more points.

Thus, exchange students could start off from a higher position than the host institution's own students.

Therefore, as soon as the mention of 15 exchange places per university was made, eyes on the Jiangnan side lit up.

After all, there was only one youngling, but there were 45 exchange places; they all felt it was a profitable exchange to trade 45 places for one creature!

Deep down, the people of Jiangnan knew very well that even if they managed to drive away the three foreigners, the chances of the youngling ending up in their hands were slim.

After all, there was Lu Wu, guarded jealously by Zhang Wentao and Zhao Kai Ming.

In other words, with just one sentence, the young man on the back of the Jiao Long had divided the group from Jiangnan.

This caused Lu Wu at the sidelines to feel a pang of admiration.

The decline of Jiangnan wasn't without reason, seeing these so-called strong individuals from Jiangnan, eager for gain yet shirking duty and forgetting righteousness.

With such people around, it was no wonder that Jiangnan couldn't develop.

As Lu Wu lamented internally, Zhang Wentao and Zhao Kai Ming were not pleased.

They had already decided; the creature was to be Lu Wu's, and they had already made their claims public. When this trio of outsiders interjected, it was no surprise they were upset.

Just as Zhang Wentao was about to decisively refuse, the Lu Wu behind him gave a tug.

"Uncle Zhang, let's agree to it!"

Lu Wu spoke and made a meaningful gesture to Zhang Wentao. While Zhang Wentao didn't understand, Zhao Kai Ming on the side vaguely guessed something.

"Old Zhang, maybe we should agree. After all, it's those students from their side who will be making the attempt.

I truly doubt that Xiao Lu could lose to them."

Seeing that both Lu Wu and Zhao Kai Ming were in agreement and glancing over at the Jiangnan people,

Zhang Wentao also understood that if he refused now, his own people would likely be more upset than the outsiders, so he reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Fine. But during the taming process, apart from the students we've brought, no one else may intervene to ensure a fair competition!"

With Zhang Wentao's statement made, Xu Tian and Zhu Qing both smiled and nodded, "Agreed."