Morning light had barely touched the rooftops when the slaughterhouse began to stir.
Workers arrived one after another, yawning, stretching, rubbing sleep from their eyes as the machines roared awake.
But Supervisor Feng was already pacing outside the chicken shed, face flushed with excitement. He remembered clearly how he'd doubled Ren Tianyu's workload last night. He had even peeked in before leaving—Ren Tianyu was still hacking away inside the coop, moving so slowly that Feng almost pitied him.
Almost.
Today, he expected a disaster. Maybe half the chickens are left alive. Maybe Ren Tianyu passed out in a corner. Maybe both. Just thinking about it made Supervisor Feng's round cheeks jiggle with anticipation.
He slid the coop door open.
A wave of feathers blew straight into his face.
The shed was… however… empty.
Not a single chicken remained. The place looked less like a slaughterhouse coop and more like a battlefield after a storm.
Supervisor Feng froze. "W-what… Where are the chickens?"
At that moment, Ren Tianyu walked over, wearing clean clothes and looking unusually calm. He dusted off his sleeves casually, as if he had simply finished sweeping a floor and not cleared an entire coop of hundreds of aggressive mutant chickens.
"They've all been processed," Ren Tianyu said lightly. "Already sent to the machine."
"Impossible!" Supervisor Feng sputtered, voice cracking. "With your strength? You couldn't finish half of it in one night! Did you hire someone? Don't think I'll pay you if you're cheating!"
His stubby finger jabbed toward Ren Tianyu's face, spit flying with every word. He was about to launch into another rant when Ren Tianyu's beast mark began to glow.
A silver-white radiance flickered behind him.
Then—
THUD.
Something massive landed on the ground.
Supervisor Feng's voice died instantly. Standing behind Ren Tianyu was a towering, two-meter-tall wolf—its silver fur gleaming like polished steel, its eyes burning with intelligence and barely-restrained dominance.
"ROAR!"
The sound shook the air. Silver Moon Wolf opened its jaw wide, letting thick drops of saliva fall to the floor, each one glistening like crystal.
The beast stared straight at Supervisor Feng… as if considering whether the fat supervisor was edible.
"You… you… y-you…" Supervisor Feng's knees buckled. He collapsed straight onto his bottom, trembling so hard his belly quivered like jelly.
Ren Tianyu smiled politely. "Supervisor Feng, my work is done. Please settle my salary. And… I quit."
Supervisor Feng opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, his eyes darting to the monstrous wolf at Tianyu's side. Whatever insults had been gathering in his throat turned into frightened, rapid nodding.
"Y-yes… yes! Right away! I'll settle it immediately!"
Even though he hadn't fought in years, Feng still knew strength when he saw it. A beast of this size… with a moon-mark on its forehead… Its future potential was terrifying. The Fan family might be wealthy, but provoking someone who might soon become an elite black-iron envoy was suicide.
He paid Ren Tianyu without fuss.
Ren Tianyu took the money, gave a polite nod, and turned to leave. "Don't worry, Supervisor. I won't make trouble for you. Everyone's just trying to survive."
Supervisor Feng exhaled shakily in relief.
*
Back at School
Tianyu reached the classroom much earlier than usual. Strangely, the room was full—every student present, sitting upright, buzzing with energy.
Something was happening.
"Look who's back," a boy snickered from the front row. "Our class's star butcher. Did you finish killing chickens already?"
Another chimed in, "Don't overwork yourself, Ren Tianyu. School shouldn't get in the way of your slaughterhouse job!"
A few nearby snorted with laughter. But Tianyu didn't even blink. He walked straight to his seat, the calmness on his face making the mockery slide off like dust.
Moments later, Zheng Chulan entered with a stack of papers.
"Everyone," he announced, "you should have already seen the notice. To prepare for the college entrance exam, the school has invited a group of armored envoys to lead a half-month special training session inside the low-grade mystic realm."
A murmur of excitement rippled through the class.
"All students with black-iron-level magical beasts may register," Zheng continued. "The class committee will count the names. We depart tomorrow."
Tianyu suddenly understood why everyone had arrived early.
Everyone but him.
This training was precious. Any student who learned from an armored envoy could significantly raise their score in the college entrance exam. For those who wanted to enter a top university, this wasn't an opportunity—it was a lifeline.
"Teacher, I want to register!"
"Me too!"
"Teacher, count me in!"
Excitement filled the room. Zheng Chulan beamed.
Then—
"I want to sign up too."
Ren Tianyu stood.
A cold silence swept across the classroom.
Then came the laughter.
"Ren Tianyu? You want to register?"
"Hah! Did killing chickens give you a delusion?"
"This is training for black-iron-level beasts. Your Silver Dog will die in the wild before the first hour!"
"Don't joke, man. If your beast dies, you suffer mental backlash. You'd be bedridden!"
The mockery hit him from every direction. Dozens of amused, pitying, or outright mocking eyes locked onto him.
But Ren Tianyu simply stood there… calm.
They still thought he had a weak, useless beast.
They still thought he was the same boy as yesterday.
They had no idea that a rare-grade Silver Moon Wolf stood behind him now—strong enough to shake the floor with each step.
To the rest of the class, Ren Tianyu's declaration sounded like pure suicide. Their expressions shifted from mockery to disbelief, then straight into pity. In their eyes, he had snapped under pressure—nothing else made sense.
"You think killing a chicken turns you into a black-iron fighter?" someone snorted. "What's next, you'll say you became an armored envoy by washing dishes?"
Fan Wei was the loudest of them all. His cheeks wobbled with every insult he threw. "Wake up, Ren Tianyu! Don't dream with your eyes open!"
Zheng Chulan slammed the lectern hard enough to make the chalk jump. His voice cracked with intensity. "What nonsense are you all spouting? And you—Ren Tianyu!" His gaze burned with worry and anger. "Before black-iron level, the wild can kill your beast in seconds. Special training is not a playground!"
To him, this wasn't about pride or rules—it was about safety. Humanity had crawled back from extinction through blood and sacrifice. Students throwing their lives away was unacceptable.
The room quieted under his fury.
But Ren Tianyu didn't step back. Instead, he lifted his chin and spoke clearly.
"Teacher, my Silver Wolf has already advanced to black-iron."
It was as if he had dropped a bomb.
For a heartbeat, the room fell dead silent. Then—
Laughter exploded.
"I—I can't breathe! One day? One day to black-iron? HAHAHA!"
"Class rep, maybe his whole family is armored envoys!"
"Armored envoy bloodline, passed down from chicken-killing ancestors!"
The laughter was wild. Cruel. Enough to make the desks vibrate.
Fan Wei roared the loudest. The idea that Ren Tianyu had advanced in his slaughterhouse felt like an insult.
"Ren Tianyu, if that dog of yours is black-iron, I'll eat this registration form!" Fan Wei slapped the paper onto his desk dramatically. "Eat it whole! No water!"
The class howled. Even Zheng Chulan's lips twitched, though he tried to suppress them.
"Enough," the teacher finally said, wiping the smile away. "Ren Tianyu, if you claim this… then demonstrate it."
A chorus of jeers followed.
"He's lost his mind from chicken blood!"
"Silver Dog? Black iron? Maybe in his dreams!"
But Ren Tianyu didn't react. He didn't shout or defend himself. He simply raised his sleeve.
His beast mark… was no longer a faint smudge.
It had become a full, detailed wolf totem—lines sharp, eyes glowing faintly with silver light.
He placed his hand over it.
"Xiao Hui," he said softly. "Come out."
The tattoo shone.
Then the floor trembled.
"ROAR!"
The roar was deep, vibrating through desks and chairs. The classroom walls quivered. Trinkets and pens rattled. Students grabbed their tables in shock as a silver flash burst behind Ren Tianyu.
A massive wolf emerged—two meters tall, its head brushing the ceiling. Its tail stretched far beyond the back door. Its body filled one-fourth of the classroom.
"A-a-awoo!"
The howl wasn't loud—it was powerful. The windows shattered instantly, shards falling like glittering snow. Even the glass in the hallway cracked.
The students stared, mouths hanging open.
A beast's size was a core measure of its rank. And this… this wolf was colossal. Bigger than any magical beast owned by a student. Bigger than some teachers' beasts.
Even Zheng Chulan—who had a high-grade black-iron beast—felt his heart tighten. Cold sweat gathered at his temples.
He whispered, barely audible, "Your Silver Wolf… didn't just advance. It evolved…"
Ren Tianyu nodded calmly. "Yes, Teacher. It evolved into a Silver Moon Wolf. Its level is above middle-grade black iron."
Gasps. Then silence. Then—
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
Fan Wei stumbled back, face drained of color. His legs trembled so violently he nearly fell. "No… no way… n-not in one night… not you…"
Students whispered in fear.
"Middle-grade? One night? That can't happen…"
"But look at that wolf! It's—It's huge!"
"It's stronger than my cousin's elite beast…"
Their disbelief cracked under the weight of reality.
This was no Silver Dog.
This was a monster.
A rare-grade beast.
A future armored envoy's partner.
Ren Tianyu had surpassed them. All of them.
Then Fan Wei, face red and twisted, pointed at Tianyu with shaking hands. "Mr. Zheng! I… I request a duel with Ren Tianyu!"
Instantly, the class erupted again—some horrified, some thrilled.
Ren Tianyu only shrugged, calm as still water. "Anytime," he said. "Name the place."
The room fell into uneasy silence.