Zhou Lu was fairly satisfied with his results in this initial combat assessment.
Whether he passed the final round or not, he had already earned 70 Academic Credits, enough to carry him through to the next exam.
Next, he only needed to pass the C-Class Exploration Permit exam before he could officially enter a C-Class Secret Realm for exploration and train Huohuo according to his previous plan.
He just did not know when he would find Ancient Books that recorded Dream Rain Flower's Special Evolution route.
If it had been any other spirit pet, he might not have cared about some so-called special route, but Huohuo was different.
As the most widely distributed species in the world, Dream Rain Flower still had no researched evolution route. That alone showed just how difficult its evolution was.
Otherwise, would it not be nice to use this sort of material to pad out research papers? He could even exchange it with the Knowledge Fairy for Fairy Coins.
Zhou Lu was not a professional researcher, much less did he possess some cheat that could see through spirit pets' evolution routes. Walking down a road where he could not see even a sliver of evolutionary future, anyone would feel lost.
If all else failed, he would just make a post and buy one.
With so many Academic Credits in hand, he could already support himself in conducting transactions on the forum.
Since he knew the future, he could not sit around waiting for opportunities to be handed to him.
With that thought in mind, Zhou Lu entered the third-round examination arena.
"Hello. I'm the examiner for your final round. My name is Yu Fei. Please go easy on me."
The moment Zhou Lu entered the arena, his opponent for this round had already been waiting in the battleground for quite some time.
The other party looked very young. A polite smile rested on his lips, but the pride in his eyes could not be concealed.
Yet that pride was not arrogance. It was simply confidence in his own abilities.
One could tell from the badge on his chest.
It was an exquisite Iron-Eating Beast badge.
A School Team member.
Zhou Lu immediately understood the other party's identity, and his expression turned serious.
Although he had already made up his mind not to pursue the competition route, he had to admit that anyone capable of joining the School Team in this era was absolutely an elite among their peers.
Moreover, unlike someone like Wu Xiaoqing, who had been temporarily called in to fill a vacancy, School Team elites had far more experience in Beast Taming Duels.
To Zhou Lu as he was now, this was absolutely an opponent worth taking seriously.
Watching how calm and unruffled the other party appeared, Zhou Lu felt even more pressure than he had when facing Liang Quan.
When he fought Liang Quan, he had at least known the information on Liang Quan's spirit pet, and Xu Wuhu and Li Yi had also helped share the pressure.
But against Yu Fei, Zhou Lu could only rely on himself.
"Ready?" Yu Fei revealed his Beast Taming Card.
After all, Zhou Lu was a junior who had only just contracted a spirit pet. Yu Fei certainly would not use his main spirit pet.
But even when both used first-rank spirit pets, there would still be a huge difference in combat power between an experienced veteran and a fledgling newcomer.
Zhou Lu set Huohuo down from his hand.
"Then let's begin!"
With the whistle from the referee at the side, the examination officially began.
Yu Fei released his spirit pet: a first-rank Gale Wolf.
The Gale Wolf was extremely fast. The instant it landed, it charged at Huohuo at breakneck speed, not even needing a single command from Yu Fei.
It was even a few notches faster than the Electric Mouse Zhou Lu had encountered before.
Huohuo had already cast Vine Step as quickly as it could, yet the Gale Wolf still closed in on it in an instant.
The Gale Wolf opened its jaws and bit toward Huohuo's main body.
Yu Fei remained calm. A first-rank Plant-type Spirit Beast being approached at such close range had already lost.
He did not know Zhou Lu's results from the first two rounds. A trace of regret rose in his heart. He had competed too many times, and had instinctively gone for a quick victory, completely forgetting that, as the examiner, he held this junior's fate in his hands.
Huohuo raised its head and looked at the Gale Wolf right before it.
At the instant those wolf jaws snapped shut, it moved.
Little Grass, carrying its flowerpot, dodged a small step to the side.
The Gale Wolf had never expected a first-rank Plant-type Spirit Beast to move on its own. Its bite struck empty air, and it staggered forward.
Yu Fei was startled as well. Since when could first-rank plants move?
Had Zhou Lu already evolved his spirit pet to the second rank?
That really was possible.
The Beast Taming Academy had never lacked geniuses, nor had it ever lacked genius spirit beasts.
Yu Fei's lips curled upward, and his interest was immediately piqued. "Interesting, but not enough."
His Gale Wolf had received professional combat training. Even without commands from its Beast Tamer, it could adapt to sudden changes in the situation.
The Gale Wolf reacted swiftly, immediately adjusting its posture and continuing its pursuit of Huohuo.
Yet its next bite still missed in a most unexpected fashion.
Huohuo flipped its Vine Step and began running at high speed. Though it was still far slower than the Gale Wolf, it had already reached the walking speed of an ordinary spirit beast.
The attribute boost gained from capturing the chipmunk had made Huohuo's body tougher, enough to support movement at this level.
It had failed to take even one bite of grass twice in a row?
A flicker of self-doubt could not help but arise in the Gale Wolf's heart.
"Gale, don't lose focus!" Yu Fei shouted. "Watch out for the vines!"
Though he had issued the warning at once, Huohuo's Entangling Vines were far faster than those of an ordinary Grass Element Spirit Pet.
Almost at the very moment he shouted, the offshoots Huohuo had long buried beneath the ground at its original position with Earth Escape burst forth with more than ten vines, tightly binding the momentarily distracted Gale Wolf.
According to Huohuo's previous training, once the vines restrained its opponent, Huohuo should immediately use Headbutt to seal the victory.
Unfortunately, the Gale Wolf was not Lixiaoxi, and Yu Fei, a School Team competitor, was far more professional at training spirit pets than Wu Xiaoqing.
Before Huohuo could press further, countless transparent Wind Blades erupted from around the Gale Wolf's body, directly slicing apart all of Huohuo's vines.
Although Huohuo's vines were already tougher than those of ordinary Grass Element Spirit Pets, what it faced were Wind Blades. They were still cut apart with ease.
"Huohuo! Use Headbutt!"
Seeing this, Zhou Lu decisively gave the command.
"Still too naive! Gale Wolf, evade!" Yu Fei grinned. If the Gale Wolf had still been restrained, it might have been hit by Headbutt. But now, it was free.
Could your Headbutt possibly catch up to a Gale Wolf?
Huohuo waved its leaves at the Gale Wolf.
The next second, a Vine Step sprang from underground. As Mad Growth retracted, it directly yanked Huohuo into the air.
Wait, that was the wrong direction.
Yu Fei's heart jolted, because Huohuo was not flying toward the Gale Wolf at all.
He watched the flowerpot gradually fly toward him.
Damn! That thing was coming for him!
Yu Fei had just tried to dodge when he discovered that he could not move at all. Looking down, he saw that two vines had somehow wrapped around his feet.
Zhou Lu tightly gripped his Beast Taming Card. If Yu Fei still did not use any other means of defense at the last moment, he would recall Huohuo with the card to avoid causing injury.
This was, after all, an exam.
And as long as Yu Fei used a second spirit beast, Zhou Lu would pass the examination.
At the moment Huohuo was about to crash into Yu Fei, a black shadow flashed past.
The Gale Wolf used Storm Ambush, actually getting in front of Yu Fei before Huohuo did.
Bang!
The two sides collided just like that.
What Huohuo used this time was no longer merely a simple technique.
After many days of training, it had finally mastered Headbutt before the examination.
The tremendous force directly sent the Gale Wolf and Yu Fei flying together.
Yu Fei clutched his Gale Wolf and rolled across the ground several times before barely stabilizing himself.
"Are you all right?" he asked the Gale Wolf in his arms.
The Gale Wolf staggered to its feet. Though a trace of blood stained the corner of its mouth, it still proudly raised its head.
Though injured, a proud wolf would never admit that it had lost to a blade of grass.
Damn it! If it went back and told the pack that it had been rammed by a blade of grass—and even lost—it would definitely be laughed at!
Everyone, please help by keeping up with the chapters! It's really important! OTZ
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