It was over...
Zhou Lu looked at the Academic Credits on his student card and suddenly remembered something.
I seemed to have planned to farm a few one-use Body Feed Skill Cards during the exam.
He had been too absorbed in the exam and had completely forgotten to slack off and farm quests.
Fortunately, he had farmed a few Body Feed cards by being late before the exam started. Otherwise, he would not even have known how to train in the secret realm.
No matter what, he should first check whether the system had any other quests.
Unexpectedly, the moment Zhou Lu opened the system, a string of quest failures popped up in his face.
Ding! Quest failed.
You made your spirit pet slack off during the exam, but this did not change the outcome of the exam.
You have received 10% of the quest reward. Please check it.
The system has reset this quest. Keep up the good work.
*****
Ding! Quest failed.
You angered the examiner and nearly caused this exam to fail. Unfortunately, the principal appeared.
You have received 60% of the quest reward. Please check it.
The system has reset this quest. Keep up the good work.
Zhou Lu was dumbfounded.
He had angered Liang Quan? The other side had clearly gotten angry out of nowhere, all right?!
And when had Huohuo slacked off? Why had he not noticed at all?
Zhou Lu scrolled down.
Your spirit pet stole the Red Jade Orb. Unfortunately, the school does not appear to have discovered this.
Your plan to use this act to have Xu Wuhu and the others' exam results voided has failed.
???
Zhou Lu abruptly looked at Huohuo beside him.
At that moment, Huohuo was holding the Low-level Growth Potion Zhou Lu had rewarded it with, swaggering back and forth before a group of spirit pets in the rest area. From time to time, it stopped before several spirit pets and shook the potion in its hand.
Look! This was my reward! You did not have one!
"Huohuo, come here." Zhou Lu took a deep breath and called Huohuo over from afar.
The moment Huohuo heard Zhou Lu's voice, it happily crawled over.
Zhou Lu picked Huohuo up and headed straight for the dormitory, intending to properly ask Huohuo what had happened once they got back.
Before leaving, Huohuo did not forget to stretch out its vines and wave its potion at the spirit pets in the distance.
Spirit beasts possessed an instinctive, natural longing for this kind of Growth Potion, and their eyes brimmed with envy as they looked at Huohuo.
Unfortunately, their owners could not possibly exchange for such potions for them.
Students with money would buy even more expensive potions, while ordinary students were even less likely to waste Academic Credits on such low-level potions.
When they returned to the dormitory, Xiao Xi was sitting cross-legged on the computer keyboard, clicking refresh from time to time while muttering, "Why do I have to help you refresh the forum? Damn it, like I have nothing to do all day."
Hearing the door open, Xiao Xi immediately turned around, gave Zhou Lu an appraising glance, and said, "Looks like you passed the exam?"
Zhou Lu briefly reported his results.
Xiao Xi looked delighted. "Then congratulations. There aren't many people who get full marks."
"The main thing is that 100 Academic Credits are very useful." Zhou Lu now felt as though he possessed a fortune.
As he spoke, Zhou Lu remembered why he had hurried back.
He lifted Huohuo up and stared it in the eyes. "Did you take something from the exam venue?"
At first, Huohuo tried to play dumb, its leaves swaying.
"Take it out." Zhou Lu spoke gently. "Stealing things is not something good children do."
Perhaps sensing that if it kept playing dumb, its owner would dislike it, Huohuo finally obediently took a red orb from its flowerpot.
This had been the target the candidates needed to seize in the first round of the exam. Back then, Zhou Lu and the others had directly tied up Liang Quan and passed the exam under the rule of defeating the examiner.
At the time, everyone's attention had been drawn to Liang Quan. No one had noticed Huohuo secretly taking the red orb from the stage.
The funniest part was that even the school had failed to notice.
This kind of red orb was not particularly rare. It even existed as a consumable for exams.
Since Mud Monsters had been used in this exam, even if the orb went missing, they had simply assumed it had sunk into a Mud Monster's body.
Although the item was not very important, Huohuo still needed to be properly taught a lesson for taking things at random.
However, when Zhou Lu took the item from Huohuo's hand, he could clearly feel Huohuo's reluctance.
"You should keep that thing." Xiao Xi suddenly spoke from the side. "When a spirit beast shows an intense desire for something, it usually means that thing benefits its growth and evolution."
It was precisely by making use of this trait in spirit beasts that researchers had gradually worked out their evolution formulas bit by bit.
It benefited Huohuo's evolution?
Zhou Lu looked at the red bead in his hand and suddenly began to think. "This thing gets lost often, right..."
"Hey, weren't you just teaching your spirit pet not to steal?" Xiao Xi gave him a dead-fish stare.
Zhou Lu shamelessly said, "Can a Beast Tamer collecting Evolution Materials be called stealing? If you can tell me where this came from, I won't have any bad ideas."
Xiao Xi immediately rolled her eyes. "Consultations from me cost money. And do you seriously not have even the slightest ability to look up information yourself? The school's equipment all goes through bidding!"
As a Knowledge Fairy, Xiao Xi was considered quite easygoing among her kind. Although she clearly stated that she only gave information for money, her next sentence had revealed a clue to Zhou Lu.
"Thank you, Teacher Xiao Xi!" Zhou Lu happily rubbed Xiao Xi's head.
Xiao Xi had just been about to express her anger at such behavior when she saw Huohuo imitate him, stretching out its vines to rub her head.
The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, but in the end, she said nothing.
Meanwhile, Zhou Lu had already found information about the red bead on the school's official website.
Considering that it was an exam prop meant to be fought over, such a treasure had to be sturdy enough while also not being too expensive.
"A Jade Snail's pearl?" Zhou Lu could not help crying out when he saw that information.
He had never expected the red bead to be a Jade Snail's pearl, sold under the product name Red Jade Orb.
This was simply too fated.
He was just about to look for a Jade Snail, yet Huohuo had displayed such a strong desire for its pearl.
It seemed the plan to visit the Linxi Secret Realm had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.
At dinner, the academy transferred the full-mark reward onto Zhou Lu's student card.
It had to be said that the academy was truly generous. In total, it gave Zhou Lu three chances to exchange for materials from the academy shop for free.
Furthermore, these exchange opportunities had no restrictions on rarity. In other words, as long as Zhou Lu could refresh it in the academy shop, no matter how rare the material was, he could exchange for it for free.
Unfortunately, Evolution Materials for spirit beasts had always been in short supply. Many sought-after materials, no matter how rare, would be snatched away the instant they appeared.
Thinking this, Zhou Lu opened the forum.
With this influx of Academic Credits, he now had enough confidence to place a bounty on the forum for the Ancient Books he wanted.
However, the moment Zhou Lu opened the forum, he saw an anonymous student posting in the black-market shop to sell several Ancient Books in their possession.
It was here!
Zhou Lu's eyes immediately lit up.
Please keep reading!
Before you continue