Is This Fairy Legitimate?

"A Beast Tamer must first tame themselves."

"You can't even lift three tons of Super Star Stone, what kind of Beast Tamer do you think you are?"

"So, young man, are you interested in practicing martial arts with me? I have three ancient Wuxia novels here..."

As promised, Zhou Lu arrived at the laboratory and stood by the windowsill, looking at the little fairy in front of him with her hands on her hips, making a fuss. He turned to Wu Xiaoqing, who stood beside him with an embarrassed expression, and asked, "So, this is what you were talking about?"

However, this was not what concerned him the most.

The moment this little fairy appeared before him, a brand new mission popped up in his system.

[Optional Mission Three: Kill the Knowledge Fairy Xiao Xi]

[Mission Description: The Knowledge Fairy Xiao Xi is one of the guides who will point Zhou Lu towards the path of Spirit Beast cultivation. For reasons unknown, she shows Zhou Lu special care and is an indispensable character on his growth journey. Killing her might prevent the birth of a Demon God.]

[Mission Reward: Spirit Beast Advanced Growth Potion * 5, Beast Tamer Random Permanent Skill Card (A-rank) * 1]

This noisy little creature is actually my future guide?

"Of course not!" Wu Xiaoqing said, glancing nervously at the little fairy who was flying around Zhou Lu in circles. "You're a nominal student of the Beast Tamer Academy, aren't you? Don't you even know there's a Knowledge Fairy in the academy?"

Wu Xiaoqing wore a white research coat, and the loose clothing couldn't hide her impressive figure. Coupled with her beautiful face, it was no wonder that even though she was a research fanatic, she was pursued by many male students in the academy, and there were even rumors of professors pursuing her.

A Knowledge Fairy, to be precise, was not a Spirit Beast. It was the fruit of the Seeking Dao Wood, a True God-stage Spirit Beast.

The Seeking Dao Wood, in turn, was the spirit pet of Heavenly King Yuan Gensheng, and it fed on knowledge.

Yuan Gensheng was also the editor-in-chief of "Spirit Beast Science" magazine. One of the duties of a Knowledge Fairy was to "check for duplicates," using the fairy network to determine the priority and importance of Spirit Beast research.

Of course, you could also trade new information you obtained with a Knowledge Fairy to get Fairy Coins, which could be exchanged for your Spirit Beast's evolution path, learnable skills, or other knowledge the Seeking Dao Wood possessed.

"So," Wu Xiaoqing sighed after a round of explanations, "how exactly did you get into the academy back then?"

"Your dad isn't a professor, so you wouldn't understand," Zhou Lu casually lied.

"...Teacher isn't that kind of person..." Wu Xiaoqing's pupils constricted in shock.

Zhou Lu was speechless. "You actually believe that? I got in through the proper entrance exams!"

"Yes, I did," Teacher Xiao Xi said, nodding. "I can vouch for that. Although you got twenty bonus points, you did get in through the exams."

Wu Xiaoqing looked at Zhou Lu with admiration. "What did you do to get twenty bonus points?"

Before Zhou Lu could speak, Xiao Xi spoke first. "A paper in 'Spirit Beast Science' magazine. Although he was listed as the second author."

Wu Xiaoqing exclaimed in surprise, "So Xiao Lu is that amazing?"

"Oh, right," Xiao Xi said, as she was examining Huohuo, the creature Zhou Lu brought, and suddenly remembered something. "I remember that paper. His father was the first author."

Wu Xiaoqing fell into a long silence.

Zhou Lu rubbed his nose. "I told you, your dad isn't a professor, so you wouldn't understand."

At this moment, Xiao Xi, who was observing Huohuo, spoke again. "Old Zhou really doesn't consider you at all, letting you contract with a grass? Honestly, this is the first time I've seen an initial spirit pet contract with a plant Spirit Beast. I don't even know how you'll pass your first combat exam..."

Smack!

Before the little fairy could finish speaking, two leaves slapped her on the head from left and right, knocking her out cold.

Huohuo skillfully extended a branch, wrapped around the falling little fairy, and surprisingly stuck her head-first into the soil of the potted plant beneath it.

All these actions were so smooth and natural that neither Zhou Lu nor Wu Xiaoqing had time to react.

"Little—Xi—Teacher!!!" Wu Xiaoqing, who was the first to react, clutched her face with both hands, terrified.

Zhou Lu rubbed his temples. After some persuasion, he finally got Huohuo to release the vines wrapped around Xiao Xi and pull the little fairy out.

Wu Xiaoqing frantically carried the soil-covered Xiao Xi to the sink to wash her.

[Ding! Mission Failed.]

[You attempted to kill the Knowledge Fairy Xiao Xi, but the mission ultimately failed.]

[However, your actions are commendable.]

[You have received 1% of the mission reward. Please check your inventory.]

[The system has reset this mission. Please try again.]

Huh? I failed the mission but got a reward?

And it resets after failure... Doesn't that mean I can use this to repeatedly farm rewards? As long as I never achieve the mission's objective, my expected profit could be infinite?

I finally understand why villains in those stories keep letting the protagonist go. It's because doing so yields higher profits, right?

If my fate wasn't shielded, could others who obtained this system also repeatedly let me go in pursuit of higher rewards?

1% of the reward was quite a lot. Although it was reduced from five bottles of advanced growth potions and one Beast Tamer skill to three bottles of low-level growth potions, in this era of skyrocketing Spirit Beast cultivation costs, it was still equivalent to a reward of ninety thousand yuan.

At this moment, Zhou Lu was genuinely tempted.

He looked at Wu Xiaoqing, who was preparing something not far away. However, the thought vanished as soon as it appeared. Although the mission reward was tempting, he wasn't a devil and wouldn't harm someone who genuinely cared about him for such a reward.

However... Zhou Lu looked helplessly at Huohuo. "What are you doing?"

Huohuo swayed its leaves: It is a seed.

"Huh?" Zhou Lu was a little confused.

Huohuo's leaves drooped as it replied cautiously, "I want to try planting it, what if it sprouts?"

Zhou Lu was taken aback, then smiled. Although he didn't quite understand what Huohuo was saying, he could feel its emotions through their Beast Tamer contract.

He raised his hand and ruffled Huohuo's fluffy young leaves, smiling, "There's no need to rush to prove yourself. No matter what others say, you're my starter Spirit Beast. Besides, who says plant Spirit Beasts are weak? Isn't the Seeking Dao Wood also a plant Spirit Beast?"

Even so, the Seeking Dao Wood wasn't Yuan Gensheng's starter Spirit Beast.

Plant Spirit Beasts couldn't undergo metamorphosis and shed their soil before the second tier; this was an unchangeable fact.

However, while they might be weaker, it was an exaggeration to say they had no combat power. Plant Spirit Beasts were just inconvenient to move, not incapable of fighting.

Entanglement, poison, whipping... these were all specialties of plant Spirit Beasts. Although their actual combat power was inferior to other animal Spirit Beasts of the same grass type, they still possessed combat capability.

But these skills all needed to be learned.

To acquire skills, Huohuo either had to learn from other Spirit Beasts, or comprehend them itself...

Thinking this, Zhou Lu's gaze fell upon Xiao Xi, who had just been revived. He could also use Fairy Coins to exchange for ready-made skill cards with the Knowledge Fairy.

However, skill cards obtained through exchange were mass-produced, standardized general skills, and their power was inferior to inherent skills learned or comprehended.

"Teacher Xiao Xi, Zhou Lu he..." Wu Xiaoqing was very nervous. This was a Knowledge Fairy, someone the entire academy had to appease.

Xiao Xi didn't seem to have recovered from the dizziness yet, swaying as it flew back in front of Huohuo.

However, Wu Xiaoqing's worries didn't materialize. Xiao Xi glanced at Huohuo and said with great admiration, "Very good! Youngsters should have spirit! This is how plant Spirit Beasts should be!"

He had almost forgotten that Xiao Xi's main body, the Seeking Dao Wood, was a standard plant Spirit Beast.

"But try not to do that kind of sneak attack next time, it's quite startling," Xiao Xi rubbed its head and turned to Zhou Lu, saying, "I can roughly guess why your father wanted you to contract the Dream Rain Flower. Although it's rare for Dream Rain Flowers to enter the metamorphosis stage, once they transform into Spirit Beasts, their racial skills can give them infinite possibilities. The cultivation cycle is indeed a bit long, but once they grow up, becoming a Commander-level Beast Tamer is quite possible."

Zhou Lu nodded repeatedly, knowing that what Xiao Xi said was not wrong.

Although Huohuo was weak, its racial skill [Absorption] was exceptionally powerful. As long as Huohuo defeated an enemy, there was a certain probability of obtaining skills or random attributes from the opponent. Although the acquired skills and attributes were likely temporary, there was a chance of obtaining permanent skills and attributes. Huohuo's [Carry] was a permanent skill obtained through absorption.

The [Carry] skill was clearly absorbed from the bees Huohuo had killed.

[Carry]: Flying Jade Bee racial skill. You can carry items up to one hundred times your weight.

Bees carry items on their legs, while Huohuo probably stuffed them into its flowerpot. But regardless, this was a very good support skill.

It's just that before Huohuo learned to walk, this skill was entirely a disadvantage. No matter how much Huohuo could carry, it was Zhou Lu's burden.

"Teacher Xiao Xi." Since Xiao Xi seemed easy to talk to, Zhou Lu pushed his luck and asked, "Do you know about the special evolution path for Dream Rain Flowers?"

"Special evolution?" Xiao Xi pointed at Huohuo, rolling its eyes. "Yours is the second Dream Rain Flower I've seen that has transformed into a Spirit Beast. With so few samples, I don't even know the specific path for normal evolution, let alone special evolution. Moreover, even if I knew, it might not be suitable for your Dream Rain Flower."

Special evolution was similar to actively induced genetic mutation. Once a special evolution occurred, even the Spirit Beast's species would change.

But special evolution was extremely rare, sometimes closely related to the individual Spirit Beast, and might only be suitable for the current Spirit Beast, not applicable to other Spirit Beasts of the same species.

Zhou Lu was somewhat disappointed. This meant that even the Seeking Dao Wood didn't know about Huohuo's evolution information, and he would have to search for information in ancient texts on the academy forum.

He had checked the academy forum before coming, but hadn't seen any posts related to ancient texts. It seemed he would need to pay close attention to it from now on.

"Let's not talk about this for now," Wu Xiaoqing said, walking over with a pot of mushrooms. "Help me stir-fry these mushrooms, Xiao Lu."

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