First Combat Exam (Seeking Collections! Seeking Follow-ups!)

Sizzle! Sizzle!

As soon as Li Yi's Sticky Baby saw Huohuo, it exploded. Its originally smooth surface sprouted spikes under the intense emotional fluctuations, making it look like a hedgehog.

"Is your Sticky Baby okay?" Zhou Lu asked cautiously.

Although he already knew why the Sticky Baby had become like this.

"My dad said it was due to excessive mucus secretion and exhaustion," Li Yi said with a smile. "It'll be fine with some extra hydration."

As he spoke, Li Yi soothed the Sticky Baby on his head. "Go play with Huohuo. We need to discuss some tactics."

Upon hearing this, the Sticky Baby immediately exuded despair.

Huohuo: (▽｀)

Li Yi just thought his Sticky Baby was a bit depressed and became even more determined to let it play with other spirit pets to help it adjust its mood.

Little did he know, his Sticky Baby was precisely depressed because of Huohuo.

After letting the three spirit pets play aside, Xu Wuhu took out the information on the examiner for this test.

"Liang Quan, a Combat Department professor, an Elite-tier Beast Tamer. His main spirit pet is a third-tier Water Leap Frog, but he'll be using a second-tier Mud Monster for this exam."

In official contexts, the tier classification for Beast Tamers was the same as for spirit pets, ranging from first to fifth tier.

However, on a folk level, due to the prosperity of beast taming competitions, Beast Tamers had acquired different titles starting from the third tier, such as Elite, Commander, and Heavenly King.

These titles, originally used to refer to contestants in competitions, gradually came into use in society through fan dissemination.

"A Mud Monster…" Zhou Lu mused thoughtfully.

"Liang Quan…" Li Yi looked at Xu Wuhu. "I remember Liang Quan is…"

"A former general in the Pioneer Army," Xu Wuhu replied. "He used to be under my elder brother, but for some reason, my brother discharged him, and then he came here to be a Combat Department professor."

"He got discharged but can still be a professor?"

"He's the legitimate son of the Liang family," Li Yi chuckled. "It's normal. I was also forcibly 'donated' to the Combat Department by my family. I originally wanted to enroll in the Cultivation Department."

"I'm sorry, I might drag you all down this time," Xu Wuhu said with a grim expression. He wasn't the type of person who liked causing trouble for others. "The Mud Monster happens to be a type I'm not good at dealing with. I'm afraid I won't get a high score."

Judging by Xu Wuhu's words, he had already given up on the first round of the exam.

"I think… perhaps we can formulate a tactic and give it a try," Zhou Lu said, watching Huohuo patting the Sticky Baby.

Xu Wuhu and Li Yi both looked at Zhou Lu.

"I have some ideas, but I need an opponent who uses a Mud Monster," Zhou Lu looked at the two of them.

However, to Zhou Lu's surprise, they both showed hesitant expressions.

"Huh? You can't find one?"

"Ahem, Mud Monsters are too ugly…" Li Yi coughed twice. "Although the fighting style is similar to the Sticky Baby, it's just too ugly… and dirty… and ugly."

"Alright," Zhou Lu rubbed his chin in thought. "Then I'll think of a way to find a training partner with a Mud Monster. Follow me."

Zhou Lu led the two back to his dormitory.

"Teacher Xiao Xi, can you still contact the construction worker we hired a few days ago?" Zhou Lu asked directly.

Xiao Xi looked at Zhou Lu warily. "That's a specialized worker, and very expensive. What do you want to do?"

Zhou Lu opened his mouth, about to speak, when a thunderous roar came from the side.

Huohuo stood with its hands on its hips, tilting its head proudly: (￣︶￣)

"Ahhhh—!!! My wall!"

Five days later, the second-year Combat Department's preliminary exam at Xin'an Beast Taming Academy officially began.

After Huohuo once again collapsed the wall, Xiao Xi helplessly invited the same worker from last time.

Of course, this time, the three of them pooled their money to pay, including the fee for hiring the worker to train with them.

It had to be said that the Mud Monster was indeed the perfect counter to Xu Wuhu.

His usual tactic was to have his Silver Armor Rat possess him, then charge forward and engage in close combat with the enemy.

However, the Mud Monster's inherent characteristics made it virtually impossible to inflict real physical damage, and it would also attach itself to Xu Wuhu during combat, gradually slowing his movements.

Nevertheless, after several days of training, Xu Wuhu, with the assistance of Huohuo and the Sticky Baby, had found a way to counter the Mud Monster.

Not long after they had mastered this tactic, the exam officially commenced.

The Combat Department's preliminary exam was the most crucial test for the Beast Taming Academy.

Many Beast Tamers who would later become famous often made their debut in this exam.

In this era, early fame was common, while late bloomers were rare.

"Fame should be sought early" was by no means a baseless saying in today's times.

You had to demonstrate your investment value as early as possible, then utilize the resources invested in you to improve your strength, growing like a snowball.

Only then… would you have a chance to reach the starting line of some people while you were still capable of striving.

For Zhou Lu, this exam was the most important one.

"Hey, you're finally not late for the exam," Li Yi said, yawning as he approached, his head shaved bald.

During the past few days of training, Zhou Lu had been consistently late by four to five hours every day. However, considering the guy treated him to meals and milk tea every day, he didn't say anything.

But why did his Sticky Baby always look so drained whenever it met this guy?

Thinking of this, Li Yi scrutinized Zhou Lu before him.

Due to the Sticky Baby's characteristics, there were indeed perverts in this world who used Sticky Babies to satisfy their physiological needs...

Zhou Lu felt Li Yi's strange gaze and twitched the corner of his mouth, unsure how to explain.

Huohuo did indeed love to smear its branches and leaves with the Sticky Baby's mucus.

Besides gaining stickiness for better combat, more importantly, the Sticky Baby's mucus had excellent fireproof and waterproof properties, which were fantastic attributes for a plant-type Spirit Beast.

He needed to find an opportunity for Huohuo to absorb a skill from a Sticky Baby.

Otherwise, if he kept draining Li Yi's Sticky Baby every day, people would start looking at him strangely.

"Why hasn't the Class Monitor arrived yet?"

Zhou Lu asked.

Li Yi pointed into the distance, "He seems to be over there."

Zhou Lu followed the direction and saw a young man standing in front of Xu Wuhu, a mocking smile on his face.

Liang Quan.

Zhou Lu's heart stirred.

The examiner for the first round had a past grievance with Xu Wuhu's brother.

"Let's go take a look," Zhou Lu said to Li Yi beside him.

"These are your two teammates for this exam?" Liang Quan, who was talking to Xu Wuhu, saw Zhou Lu and Li Yi immediately.

He paused, then looked down at Huohuo in Zhou Lu's arms.

"A plant-type Spirit Beast?" He couldn't help but scoff. "I know you, Zhou Lu, right? I don't know what your father was thinking, forcing someone suited for farming into the Combat Department."

As he spoke, he looked at Xu Wuhu, whose expression was gradually darkening, "Your Xu family brothers really do love to make things difficult for themselves, as always."

While speaking, his eyes were no longer on Xu Wuhu but had shifted to the VIP seats at the very top of the stands.

Xu Yilong, Xu Wuhu's older brother, was sitting there. Seemingly sensing the situation with his brother, he had already cast his gaze over.

Liang Quan sneered and turned away, muttering as he left:

"Such a disgusting personality."

Seeking collection! Seeking follow-up reads!