Chapter 250: Can I Borrow Your Beast Pet?

Oral defense was the most difficult form of assessment in the theoretical examination for beast tamers.

The examinee did not answer with a brush but with their mouth.

When using a brush, one could consider, ponder, and even correct mistakes; oral defense allowed none of that.

The moment a question was seen, it had to be answered, with no time to think, let alone a chance to change. Once started, one had to give the correct answer directly; any mistake meant failure.

This form of theoretical assessment, like the pill debate in the Alchemist Guild, was reserved for master teachers, used to reduce examination time and test the speed of knowledge mastery and retrieval.

A normal theoretical exam took two hours to complete, but with oral defense, it could be finished in one hour.

The difference between two hours and one hour was not huge, but this form demanded too much in terms of reaction and foundational mastery. Almost no one dared to attempt it. In the thousand years since this beast hall branch was established, no one had ever challenged it.

Hall Master Feng and the others never dreamed that this fellow, who looked ready to collapse from exhaustion at any moment, would choose this method!

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"You need to think it over. Oral defense leaves no time for thought, and once you make a mistake, there's no chance to correct it..." Hall Master Feng couldn't help but dissuade him.

"I know, but I'm too tired to hold a brush. Just moving my lips is simpler," Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Since you insist, let's begin!" Seeing the firm look in the other's eyes, as if he wasn't joking, Hall Master Feng said no more. He stepped forward, took the exam paper back into his hand, looked up, and asked, "Describe the characteristics of the Golden Armored Iron-Toothed Beast!"

"The Golden Armored Iron-Toothed Beast is covered in golden scales, extremely defensive, and is a type of aperture-opening realm savage beast. It lives in swamps and mountains, feeds on green bamboo grass, and is nocturnal... This is recorded in Senior Hu Yao's 'Outline of Beast Taming.' The 'Complete Guide to Iron-Toothed Beasts' left by White True Beast Tamer has slightly different accounts. According to his observations, the Golden Armored Iron-Toothed Beast prefers cool places and dwells in shaded areas..."

"Thirty years ago, Senior Duo Jie of the Beast Hall consolidated all previous theories. After years of research, he discovered that what we call the Golden Armored Iron-Toothed Beast is not actually one species but can be divided into three categories. Those living in swamps can be called Swamp Iron-Toothed Beasts, those in mountains Mountain Iron-Toothed Beasts, and those in shaded areas Shaded Iron-Toothed Beasts."

"These three types of Iron-Toothed Beasts have clear differences. First, the scale at the center of the forehead differs; second, the tail structure differs... If you want to look up the characteristics, you can consult his 'Detailed Explanation of the Golden Armored Iron-Toothed Beast,' located near the left hand on the seventeenth shelf of the library!"

Zhang Xuan looked over with a calm expression.

"This... completely correct!"

The Golden Armored Iron-Toothed Beast was not a common savage beast, and its classification was even more complex. An ordinary person seeing this question would be deemed correct if they could answer its physical characteristics. But he not only said everything but also introduced the books left by predecessors and even... stated the location of the books in the library...

Damn, was he even human?

Everyone around stared wide-eyed, dead silent.

"Characteristics of the savage beast Iron-Spine Monkey!"

"The Iron-Spine Monkey has a huge spine on its back, raised high. Most of its strength comes from this special bone. Its feet are thick, and it runs fast. Although it is a monkey, it cannot climb trees. Its body shape is similar to some large ape-like savage beasts... These characteristics are recorded in 'Miscellaneous Mountain Savage Beasts.' Senior Za Shan was a relatively famous beast tamer in the Beast Hall 140 years ago..."

Before the crowd could come to their senses, Hall Master Feng asked another question, and the young man opposite answered without hesitation.

The two went back and forth rapidly. Often, before the crowd could even think about whether the previous answer was correct, the next question was already asked and answered.

In everyone's eyes, this young man, who looked less than twenty, seemed to be reading from a correct answer sheet. Not only did he answer in detail, but he also mentioned various possibilities, inferences, and even guesses not recorded in the books.

Watertight, with no errors to be found.

"Completely correct!"

"Completely correct!"

"Living environment of the savage beast River-Swimming Insect... correct!"

"Why the Three-River Worm and the savage beast Du Ming Bird cannot coexist... answer correct!"

...

Question after question came from Hall Master Feng's mouth, and exclamation after exclamation left him nearly numb.

At first, he thought the other was just lucky to know a couple of questions and would surely slow down when faced with harder ones later.

But the result... the other looked drowsy, as if about to faint at any moment, yet answered faster and faster, to the point where even he could barely keep up.

Most importantly...

He answered quickly without making mistakes.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed such a freak existed in the world!

No wonder he could recognize the Cloud Lightning Ancient Sparrow. In terms of memory of basic beast taming knowledge, even they were probably far inferior.

"This... this is impossible!"

"These questions... are so hard!"

The three beast tamers were shocked beyond words. Zhou Xuan and Zhu Jinhwang on the side were dumbfounded, both seeing terror in each other's eyes.

The questions Hall Master Feng had just asked were ambiguous and hard to answer even for them.

It wasn't that their foundational knowledge was weak, but many questions involved savage beasts with similar characteristics, where a slight carelessness could lead to error.

For example, the River-Swimming Insect just mentioned. Though it sounded like a beast, it was actually an extremely powerful savage beast with bones on the outside and full of strength.

Such a fierce beast could float on water without sinking. Hearing 'River-Swimming,' many would think it lived on the water's surface, but frustratingly, its suitable habitat was rugged mountains...

It had to be said that none of the questions Hall Master Feng posed were simple. Even answering with a brush required careful consideration and deliberation, yet this fellow answered offhandedly, as if not using his brain at all...

How did he do it?

Answering so quickly without thinking—even the super genius Miss Mo Yu beside them couldn't do it!

This was definitely a sign of having memorized these basics to the bone!

Zhu Jinhwang and Zhou Xuan couldn't help but tremble.

They had actually doubted this guy, thinking he knew nothing and was just putting on airs?

Compared to him, their so-called mastery of basic knowledge was as laughable as knowing nothing.

Oral defense might seem the same as written answers—as long as the answer was correct, time didn't matter—but as people who knew a lot about beast taming, they understood they were completely different concepts.

During beast taming, emergencies often arose. The faster one could retrieve knowledge from the brain, the quicker one could draw conclusions and make the most advantageous judgments.

At such times, every second counted. Once the opportunity was lost, many things became extremely complicated and hard to accomplish.

Because of this, the so-called oral defense, though sounding like a chicken rib, was actually a dream method of answering for countless beast tamers.

Every beast tamer who could complete it would surely become famous across many kingdoms.

They had thought this Zhang Xuan was just a clown seeking fame, knowing nothing about beast taming. They never expected... not only did he answer correctly in the oral defense, but he did so without any hesitation, complete and flawless...

He simply wasn't human!

The two trembled, and Shen Biru on the side also parted her jade lips.

An hour ago, he didn't even know what a beast forest was, but now he spoke eloquently with full momentum. Even she, no matter how slow, realized something was wrong.

"He probably... really has the talent of a Heavenly Fate Master!"

If she had doubts before, now there were none.

If he hadn't known the exam questions in advance, how could he answer so quickly without even thinking?

While she was suspicious, Miss Mo Yu not far away also furrowed her delicate brows into a knot, as if thinking of something, her eyes filled with doubt.

"...That's all. Hall Master Feng, two beast masters, are my answers correct?"

After who knew how long, Zhang Xuan finished answering the last question and looked over with a faint smile.

"You... answered everything correctly, not a single mistake!"

Exchanging glances with the other two beast masters, Hall Master Feng nodded.

In less than an hour, he had answered all the content on the exam paper, not only without errors but also stating the source of each answer.

His memory was so precise and detailed that even they had to admire it.

"All answers correct, first stage passed!"

After a short pause, Hall Master Feng gave the result and then looked over again: "First stage passed. Now for the second stage: tame a savage beast. This stage has half a month. As long as you achieve preliminary taming, you pass."

"Half a month? Too long... Do you have any unclaimed savage beasts here? Can I tame one?"

The Xuanluo Mountain Range was vast, and although there were many savage beasts, finding a suitable one wasn't easy. Going out to search would waste who knew how much time. Since this was the Beast Hall, they should have such beasts, right?

As he spoke, Zhang Xuan stood up. After adjusting during the oral defense, his tired body had recovered somewhat.

Though he still didn't look great, he was much better than before.

"Let you tame one?"

Hearing this, everyone was speechless.

"Are you kidding? Every savage beast is precious. How could we let you tame one? Besides, only tamed beasts can enter the Beast Hall. Otherwise, if chaos breaks out, no one can bear the responsibility!"

Seeing him say something so unprofessional, Miss Mo Yu on the side snorted coldly, displeased.

"Is that so..."

Hearing her say that, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but shake his head. Taking the beast tamer exam was really troublesome. Where was he supposed to find an untamed savage beast now?

"Oh, right. Can I borrow your Green Eagle Beast to tame?"

His eyes lighting up, Zhang Xuan remembered something and couldn't help but look over.