Through the microphone, the judge's voice spread throughout the entire conference hall.

The moment those words were spoken, the eyes of all the freshmen present lit up.

They hadn't forgotten the ultimate purpose of this arena competition—choosing a specialization and the corresponding class teacher.

As for everyone's rankings, they had already been determined.

After Li Pu and Fu Erdai, there were the other two top 4 contestants.

When they were defeated, the judging panel had already scored them based on their accumulated arena performance.

The order of selection was decided based on these scores.

After the top four contestants made their selections, the remaining top eight contestants would choose, with the order likewise determined by performance scores.

And so on, layer by layer.

So now, all attention was focused on Li Pu.

Even the large screen suspended above was a close-up of him.

Because once he made his choice, it would signify the official start of the selection chain.

At this moment, the judge placed a wristwatch on the ground, then pressed the button on it.

Buzz...

A holographic blue light screen appeared in front of Li Pu.

The wristwatch could connect to the school's teaching and administrative system, and every student would be assigned one shortly.

[Please make your choice after careful consideration]

The judge stepped back, indicating for Li Pu to begin.

However, in reality, Li Pu didn't need to deliberate.

Because before going on stage, even before heading to the VIP room, he already had an answer in his heart.

Since he had the "Friend of Magical Beasts" ability, he didn't particularly need the skill light balls.

Moreover, his financial situation was relatively comfortable, so he wasn't in a rush for money.

He needed 500,000 Crystal Coins, and though 50,000 wasn't nothing, it was far from enough.

The crucial point was, the extra rewards from both the combat and life paths weren't attractive to him.

So...

"I choose the Nurturing Path."

Under the scrutiny of all those present, he selected the "Nurturing Path" option on the blue light screen.

"Huh?!" xN

This choice left everyone present dumbfounded.

In fact, regardless of the outcome of the final match just now, the freshmen believed that the top two would surely choose the combat specialization.

After all, their combat strength was undeniably powerful.

To put it bluntly, the essence of this freshmen arena competition was actually a battle for spots in the combat specialization.

Yet, you, the undisputed first place, chose the least popular, least populated... Nurturing Path?!

Not just the freshmen, even the teachers present thought Li Pu would most likely go for the combat specialization.

After all, aside from the stakes, the chosen specialization would impact the Summoner's future development.

Moreover, the reward offered by Teacher Bai was no less enticing than that of the other two department heads.

Simply put, no one anticipated Li Pu making such a choice.

And he did so decisively, without a hint of hesitation.

At this moment, the ever-cool Teacher Lan in the VIP room quietly clenched his fist.

Such a gesture, of course, didn't escape the eyes of the other two department heads.

(Damn, this annoying guy just scored a gem.)

Both felt a deep sense of loss, realizing perhaps this guy had had the notion from the start when he pretended to raise the stakes.

Everyone was surprised, but Li Pu had his reasons.

Because possessing "Friend of Magical Beasts" and "Card Making" talents as a Summoner meant his future development focus would definitely not shift, no matter which specialization he chose.

Since it's all about learning new knowledge, the choice of specialization didn't seem important to him.

Moreover, the reward given by Teacher Lan was more enticing.

Because the nurturing materials level he offered was higher than the skill light ball from Teacher Bai.

This meant that by choosing the Nurturing Path, he might get more advanced skills than what he could get from Teacher Bai.

The final reason was that the nurturing path was relatively niche, leaning towards support roles.

Li Pu still wished to stay low-key, despite knowing that winning first place in today's arena was anything but low-key, but he decided to follow his instincts.

Besides, he genuinely believed he had a knack for nurturing skills.

The little treant was the best evidence.

Choosing something he excelled in should theoretically reduce academic pressure.

[Li Pu, congratulations on joining the Nurturing Path]

[Next, you need to choose which mentor to follow in this path]

The timely reminder from the judge informed Li Pu that the selection process wasn't over yet.

"Mentor..."

Regarding this choice, Li Pu didn't have any particular inclination.

After clicking on the "Nurturing Path" option, the list of available mentors appeared before him.

Each mentor had a photo and name, along with a brief introduction.

At the top of the list was the one he met earlier in the VIP room.

[Lan Feng]: Head of Nurturing, strong all-around abilities

"As expected, the department head."

Li Pu murmured to himself, then looked at the next one.

[Wang Waiye]: Veteran teacher with rich experience in field material collection

It seemed like the second mentor option was also a very capable teacher.

And so he continued browsing, finishing the list of the first five teachers on the first page.

Normally, the higher positioned a teacher is on the list, the stronger they are.

Given the option, choosing the department head Lan Feng was naturally the best.

But Li Pu didn't think this way.

He believed excellent teachers were likely strict in education and management, as only with such rigor can outstanding students be nurtured.

However, his goal involved collecting related items and cube cards, which would undoubtedly require a lot of free time.

Moreover, he preferred having more freedom himself.

So, thinking from a reverse logic...

(Should I choose the worst... oh no, the most bottom-ranked mentor?)

Li Pu thought to himself.

Thus, he clicked on the "Next Page" option.

Each mentor wouldn't typically supervise too many students, usually 5 to 8.

So even though there were only a hundred spots for the Nurturing Path among freshmen, there were as many as 15 mentors to choose from, meaning each mentor averaged about 6 students.

Moreover, while browsing these 15, Li Pu recognized several familiar faces.

It seemed that today's arena competition judges were parts of various department mentors.

With a purpose in mind, he immediately flipped to the third and final page.

Then he dragged the last page all the way down.

The mentor option at the bottom caught his eye.

[Guan Heshi]: An excellent (?) mentor

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