The three of them chatted idly for a while.
It turned out Xu Wuhu and Li Yi had come specifically to survey the terrain. Apparently, the terrain selected for this year's second-year initial combat exam was the grasslands.
Judging by the number of students around them, quite a few people had heard the same rumor.
"We were planning to contact you after we found a suitable training spot," Xu Wuhu explained.
"I came to practice a skill too." Zhou Lu explained his purpose, raising the pot in his arms as he spoke. "I need lots of moving living creatures for training."
"Moving living creatures... Are you planning to practice Entangling Vines?" Xu Wuhu truly lived up to his reputation as a top student. From the training method alone, he guessed the skill Zhou Lu intended to practice. "You actually learned that?"
Zhou Lu did not hide it and nodded, confirming Xu Wuhu's guess.
Xu Wuhu gave Zhou Lu a long, deep look.
Entangling Vines required mastery of at least Vine Step and Mad Growth before it could be learned.
That alone meant Zhou Lu's Dream Rain Flower had learned at least three common or innate skills. Judging purely by the number of skills, he was absolutely among the best of his peers.
Even his own Silver Armor Rat had only mastered two skills.
If his spirit beast had not been a plant, Zhou Lu might have been even stronger than him.
With that thought, Xu Wuhu was overjoyed. He raised a hand and patted Zhou Lu on the shoulder. "If you can really master it before the exam, not only will we pass, we might even be able to fight for a pretty good score."
As they spoke, Xu Wuhu and Li Yi's number was called.
"We'll head in first. We'll call each other later." Xu Wuhu gestured at Zhou Lu. "I'll keep an eye out for places with lots of spirit beasts for you."
Zhou Lu's number was much farther back in the queue. It was only called long after Xu Wuhu and Li Yi had entered the secret realm.
Although it was a relatively safe D-rank secret realm, the Academic Credits required had not been reduced.
After five Academic Credits were deducted, Zhou Lu stepped into a glowing door that looked like a mirror.
Before he entered, the teacher responsible for opening the gate handed Zhou Lu a wristband. "There are no accompanying Safety Officers in the safe zone of a D-rank secret realm, but there are still teachers specifically in charge of safety. If you encounter danger, don't hesitate—tear off the wristband directly, and they'll come rushing over."
Zhou Lu nodded. "Understood."
In truth, within a D-rank secret realm, the dangers a Beast Tamer encountered were more likely to come from the terrain or their own beast.
Come to think of it, I paid five Academic Credits. No matter what, I should earn those five credits back from the secret realm, right?
The thought came to Zhou Lu for no reason at all as he passed through the glowing door.
The academy officially had shops that exchanged materials and young beasts for Academic Credits, but their purchase prices were below market value. Only those in a hurry to sell would choose them. Most students still preferred trading on the forum.
Some upper-year students helped merchants outside the academy post requests for spirit beast materials on the academy forum. Their prices were much higher, and they paid with their own Academic Credits.
At its core, it was simply exchanging Academic Credits for money.
Although materials from D-rank secret realms did not sell for much, as long as there was enough of them, exchanging them for a few credits would not be a problem.
The moment he stepped out of the glowing door, his view suddenly opened up. An endless grassland unfurled before Zhou Lu's eyes.
At that very moment, the system issued another mission.
Optional Mission Six: Training Interference Mission Description: The initial combat exam was the starting point of Zhou Lu's rise. With his outstanding performance in the exam, he earned a large number of Academic Credits, gained Xu Yilong's recognition, and laid the foundation for joining the Pioneer Army. And all of this began with training in the grassland secret realm... Mission Reward: Beast Tamer Skill Card (Feedback)
A Beast Tamer Skill?!
Zhou Lu was not surprised that the system would issue a mission to prevent him from taking the exam, but this Beast Tamer Skill—especially one that named the skill so specifically—greatly caught his attention.
Beast Tamer Skills were often closely tied to the nurturing of spirit pets. Only when the intimacy between a Beast Tamer and a spirit pet reached a certain level was there a chance for one to awaken. They were exceedingly rare skills.
Feedback: Beast Tamer Skill. Limited to once per day. For three minutes after activation, you gained attribute bonuses equal to 30% of a designated spirit pet's total attributes.
Honestly, Zhou Lu desperately wanted this skill. But... I can't really give up the exam just for a skill, can I...
Zhou Lu set Huohuo down from his arms and took out his phone to check the message Xu Wuhu had sent.
It was Huohuo's first time on the grasslands. He had never seen such a vast place before, and instinctively stretched out a vine to wrap around Zhou Lu's ankle, just like a child who had only just learned to walk and did not dare let go.
But Huohuo quickly adapted to the environment. Seeing that Zhou Lu was still searching for the right direction, he began chatting with the surrounding wild grass on his own.
Hey! I can walk, did you know?
You're asking what that thing on my roots is?
That's a flowerpot! It's my home.
What did you say? What did you say? How am I pitiful? No matter how small the flowerpot is, it's still a place that belongs solely to me! Unlike you, where any random seed can come over and fight you for nutrients!
Zhou Lu sensed Huohuo's emotions. Looking down, he found Huohuo glaring at the surrounding weeds as he grumbled and cursed.
Strange... Why did Huohuo feel like he was grumbling and cursing?
Zhou Lu scratched his head in confusion and quietly picked Huohuo up from the ground.
But Huohuo refused to let it go, stretching out his vines to keep arguing with the wild grass. Only after Zhou Lu carried him a great distance away did he huffily retract his vines.
The spot Xu Wuhu and Li Yi had chosen was not far from where the glowing door opened, and it was easy to find—right beside a river.
"So the safe zone is this huge?" Zhou Lu could not help complaining when he arrived.
"I was startled too when I came in for the first time." Xu Wuhu smiled. It was not his first time entering this secret realm.
As the student with the best academic performance in the class, Xu Wuhu had scored full marks in all five major first-year courses. With twenty-five total Academic Credits, he had far more room to choose than Zhou Lu did.
There was no need to doubt it—Xu Wuhu had indeed scored full marks even in Physical Combat. He had truly fought an Iron-Eating Beast for five whole minutes.
According to him, that was not even the best result in his family. His older brother, Xu Yilong, could fight an Iron-Eating Beast for six minutes without relying on a spirit pet.
While they talked, their respective spirit pets all sprawled lazily on the ground, basking in the sun.
The moment Huohuo landed, the first thing he saw was the lazy Sticky Baby.
Thinking of how his master had been staring blankly at this Sticky Baby earlier, Huohuo immediately sensed the threat of losing favor. He arched his body and ran over to Sticky Baby's side, carefully observing this "enemy" of his.
Zhou Lu really had been looking at Sticky Baby, but not because he liked it. Rather, he was puzzled. "Sticky Baby isn't a spirit pet suited for combat, is it? Why did you choose it as your initial spirit pet?"
Sticky Baby was excellent in every aspect, but it clearly did not suit the Combat Department. It was more suited to the breeding department.
Well, someone who had chosen a Dream Rain Flower as his initial spirit pet did not seem qualified to ask that question either.
Li Yi had a gentle personality, and he answered Zhou Lu's question with a smile. "Because my family has Sticky Baby's complete evolution path, and we also have ready-made materials to evolve Sticky Baby to the Mature Stage. There was no need to make things harder for myself."
Well, though he said it gently, those words would be a sharp blade that wounded people anywhere else.
If a family possessed the full evolution path for a spirit beast along with the matching materials, then they were practically guaranteed to be descendants of a Beast Taming Family—and a top-tier one at that. Ordinary Beast Taming Families only possessed information on evolution paths up to the Mature Stage.
"But Sticky Baby really is a little weak during the Metamorphosis Stage." At this point, Li Yi could not help giving a bitter smile. "If the Class Monitor hadn't helped me, I wouldn't have known how to pass the initial exam."
At that moment, after some serious observation, Huohuo finally found Sticky Baby's weakness.
Carrying his flowerpot on his back, he quickly circled Sticky Baby again and again.
Hehe! I run faster than you!
Huohuo's behavior greatly irritated the Sticky Baby that had been slowly inching forward.
But Sticky Baby had no way of keeping up with Huohuo's speed. It could only helplessly watch Huohuo run circles around it, at most letting out hissing warnings.
Hearing the other party's warning, Huohuo stopped.
This is my master's teammate's spirit pet.
I can't cause trouble for my master.
Thinking this, Huohuo extended a vine and wrapped it around Sticky Baby, sending it a message: Where are you going? I'll help you.
Sticky Baby wriggled toward its master, indicating that it wanted to go to its master.
The grass was too dirty. It did not want to stay there for even one minute.
Seeing its gesture, Huohuo immediately patted his leaves, showing that he understood.
He lifted Sticky Baby with his vines, aimed in Li Yi's direction, and threw it.
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