Huohuo's Growth Projection

Zhou Lu breathed a sigh of relief as Huohuo's Red-tailed Fox finally stopped struggling on its vines.

Huohuo seemed very pleased.

It thought the red fox was pretty and was happily rubbing it.

The defeated Red-tailed Fox glared hatefully at Huohuo, constantly growling to try and intimidate it.

Little Grass Grass was unfazed and continued rubbing the fox on its own.

Seeing its master approach, Huohuo happily swung its vines to show off to Zhou Lu.

"I caught a fox!"

Huohuo nudged in front of Zhou Lu, proudly lifting its leaves.

"Huohuo, you're amazing!" Zhou Lu praised, rubbing the new sprout that reached out for a reward.

Even though it was just a rub, Huohuo was exceptionally happy, its leaves even swaying to a rhythm.

As if remembering something, it coiled the Red-tailed Fox and brought it before Zhou Lu.

"To warm the bed for Master!"

Huohuo's thoughts were so simple.

"Uh... that's really not necessary..."

Huohuo seemed even happier:

(〃'▽'〃)

"Then I'll warm the bed for Master!"

"..."

As the simulated Secret Realm shattered, Zhou Lu and Huohuo returned to reality.

The Red-tailed Fox's owner had already been waiting, and upon seeing their disheveled fox, showed a pained expression.

"Sorry about that..." Zhou Lu felt a bit embarrassed, admitting he hadn't exactly fought fairly.

The person, holding their fox and petting it to comfort it, said, "Battles are inevitable."

After Zhou Lu left the testing area and returned to the hall, he found that not many people were left.

"Huh? Where did everyone go?" he asked, confused.

"They all went to buy fire extinguishers," the receptionist said with an exasperated tone.

"..." Zhou Lu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Will I be disqualified?"

The receptionist shook her head, the machine producing Exploration Permits buzzing beside her. "No, you didn't break any rules. At most, you'll be banned from bringing fire extinguishers to grass-type exams from now on."

As she spoke, she handed the completed Exploration Permit to Zhou Lu. "Here's your C-Class Exploration Permit."

"Thank you," Zhou Lu replied gratefully.

Holding the permit, Zhou Lu, carrying Huohuo, left the Explorer Association.

However, he didn't head directly back to the dorms. Instead, he changed direction towards the experimental building.

That's where the Growth Projection equipment was.

He planned to check Huohuo's current stats before their next trip to a Secret Realm.

Not being able to check the Level directly on the Beast Taming Card was indeed inconvenient.

But just as time and measurement were human definitions, Level was also a human definition; what truly existed was the five-tier transcendent system.

Level was something that had only developed in recent years as Beast Taming technology gradually improved, bolstered by big data technology, allowing Beast Tamers to better judge their Spirit Pets' growth.

It wasn't that Spirit Pets could only evolve to the second tier at Level 19; rather, the probability of evolving at Level 19 was the highest.

If you felt your luck was good enough, you could try to have your Spirit Pet undergo an upgrade at Level 16 or 17 by consuming materials.

"Your Spirit Pet is a Dream Rain Flower?" the technician at the projection center couldn't help but glance at Huohuo in Zhou Lu's arms after seeing his application.

"Yes."

"The Dream Rain Flower doesn't have any Level assessment data in the database," the technician said with some difficulty. "We can only use Plant-type Spirit Beasts from the same family as the Dream Rain Flower for its Growth Projection. Is that acceptable?"

Zhou Lu wasn't surprised by this.

After all, even Xiao Xi didn't know Huohuo's specific evolution path.

"Yes, I just need to know the approximate Level," Zhou Lu nodded affirmatively.

"Alright," the technician stood up and guided Zhou Lu towards the Growth Projection machine.

The Growth Projection Instrument perfectly matched Zhou Lu's imagination of high technology.

It was a white device, encased in white sheet metal, possessing a minimalist aesthetic.

A turntable for placing the Spirit Pet rotated slowly.

"Place your Spirit Pet on it,"

The technician took Zhou Lu's Beast Taming Card and then said to Zhou Lu.

Zhou Lu placed Huohuo on the turntable.

Huohuo was still a bit scared of this unfamiliar place, its vines clinging to Zhou Lu's arm and refusing to let go, much like a child about to receive a shot in the rear.

After much persuasion, Huohuo finally calmed down.

The Growth Projection was incredibly fast, so fast that Zhou Lu no longer felt it was worth 10 Academic Credits.

A technician approached, holding the Beast Taming Card with Huohuo's re-recorded Level and its attribute icons.

******

Name: [Dream Rain Flower]

Attribute: Grass

Level: 12

Rank: First Order (Metamorphosis Stage)

Skills: [Absorption], [Carry], [Vine Step], [Mad Growth], [Entangling Vines], [Earth Escape]

******

Level 12...

It seems the Low-level Growth Potion did have an effect.

Zhou Lu had been watering Huohuo with a bottle of Low-level Growth Potion every day, and it had somehow managed to raise Huohuo to Level 12.

One could only say that Plant Spirit Beasts were easier to raise. The same amount of growth potion wouldn't necessarily make much of a difference for Animal Spirit Beasts.

Praise Xiao Xi!

Zhou Lu couldn't help but praise Xiao Xi in his heart.

If it weren't for her, Zhou Lu wouldn't have had so many Low-level Growth Potions.

"This is the attribute chart," the staff member handed the chart to Zhou Lu.

Even among the same species of Spirit Beasts, there were differences between individual specimens. These differences were often reflected in their attributes.

In this world, every Spirit Beast had different attributes. However, for the same species, there would be an average value for reference.

Since there was no data for the Dream Rain Flower, the average line on the chart belonged to the Guda Grass, which was in the same family as the Dream Rain Flower.

Looking at Huohuo's attribute chart, Zhou Lu had a very direct feeling of being far ahead.

Thanks to the attributes provided by the "little rats," Huohuo's stats were far above the average line in every category.

However, as a Plant Spirit Beast, Huohuo's attributes were still inferior to ordinary Animal Spirit Beasts.

Well, I still need to keep working hard!

Zhou Lu was not discouraged.

With [Absorption], Huohuo had infinite growth potential!

The thought of this made Zhou Lu even more eager to go to the Secret Realm.

Seeing the attribute chart, the curve that exceeded the average value clearly showed Zhou Lu the benefits of [Absorption].

Huohuo sensed its master's emotions and excitedly raised its leaves.

"Let's go back and prepare," Zhou Lu said, holding Huohuo. "Tomorrow, we'll find a suitable shell for you."

When Zhou Lu walked out of the experimental building, the academy's forum had already exploded.

Thanks to the posts from those present, the news of Zhou Lu taking the Exploration Permit exam had spread throughout the school.

Under the post that mocked Zhou Lu for burning the Red-tailed Fox with fire, a large number of anonymous accounts were posting sarcastic remarks.

Even those who were more neutral felt that Zhou Lu was too impatient.

The Explorer Association was right there, so why the rush? They could just prepare for another week.

But soon, the news of Zhou Lu passing the exam came out.

Zhou Lu, who had just taken out his phone, curiously clicked on the post titled [Oh my god! Someone tried to burn a fire-element Spirit Beast to death during the Exploration Permit exam!].

From his current perspective, the front-row comments mocking him were simply ridiculous.

However, what caught his attention even more were the comments below each mocking remark.

[Haha! They passed! Speak up, haters!]

[Clowns are clowns! Trash is trash!]

[What, you don't like it? Don't be anonymous if you dare! Loser!]

[Roar roar roar, why aren't you talking? Did your mom die?]

[I'm going to stuff your mom's * with mushrooms, and then ****!!!]

All these abusive comments came from the same account.

Clicking on it, he saw that it had already been banned by the administrator.

Account Name: Little Mushroom Planter.

This post only had about three hundred replies, and you posted over two hundred of them yourself...

Sister Xiao Qing... are you that bored?

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