A Duel (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

Little Mushroom Planter: [Tch! Writing another essay, huh? I bet 100 Academic Credits it's from Linzhou!]

Little Mushroom Planter: [Damn it, it really is! You guys from Linzhou are just masochistic! Can't beat others in the Secret Realm, so you resort to online harassment and smear campaigns, right?]

Little Mushroom Planter: [Let me see your essays, I'll curse every single one of them!]

Wants to Fuck Red-tailed Fox: [Sister Mushroom, stop cursing, stop cursing! It's not worth getting angry over these Linzhou scumbags. If you make them too angry, they'll just come looking for a fight again. Why don't you curse us instead?]

Mud Monster is Soft and Moist: [Yeah, yeah.]

Little Mushroom Planter: [Wait, what's with your nicknames? Are those even allowed?]

Zhou Lu sat to the side, helpless, watching Wu Xiaoqing furiously typing on her phone.

Huohuo perched on the railing of the mushroom field, gazing at the thriving mushrooms within, looking eager to try something.

However, it seemed a bit distracted today, occasionally "looking" towards a small glass bottle on Wu Xiaoqing's desk.

"Sister Xiaoqing, do you always have this much free time?" Zhou Lu asked helplessly.

Every time he visited, Wu Xiaoqing was online arguing with someone.

"It's fine, it's fine, today is my day off anyway," Wu Xiaoqing said, still sounding a bit indignant. "These guys from Linzhou Beast Taming Academy are all bullies who pick on the weak. They can't beat us in the academy competitions, so they bully our Xin'an students in the Secret Realm. If they can't gain an advantage, they spread rumors and write essays everywhere! It makes me so mad!"

"Aren't they just asking for it by doing that?"

"Asking for it? Heh, don't think too foolishly of others," Wu Xiaoqing looked at Zhou Lu and said, "They don't care about our opinions at all. These posts are for bystanders to see. Think about it, you're a student planning to enroll in a Beast Taming Academy, you want to check out the academy forum beforehand, and when you click in, all you see are these kinds of posts. How would you feel?"

"Don't the administrators delete them?"

"Heh heh, if they deleted them, wouldn't that make it even better? It would imply we're guilty of something, and then we could use the evidence of deleted posts to continue complaining on public forums." Wu Xiaoqing was experienced. "This isn't the first time they've done something like this. Don't take it to heart. In the future, if you see anyone from Linzhou in the Secret Realm, don't hesitate, just attack them directly."

"Huh?"

Wu Xiaoqing puffed out her chest proudly, "As long as we actually do it, they won't be spreading rumors anymore! We're doing it for their own good."

This novel way of thinking momentarily stumped Zhou Lu.

Clink.

Wu Xiaoqing placed her phone on the table and stretched.

Zhou Lu asked curiously, "Aren't you going to keep cursing?"

"Not anymore. They got angry and said they want to challenge our School Team," Wu Xiaoqing yawned and said, "Young people are always too hot-headed."

That's because your curses were too nasty...

"Oh, right, the place they want to challenge is the Mountain River Secret Realm," Wu Xiaoqing suddenly added. "Aren't you going there? You could go join the fun."

Zhou Lu stroked his chin. "Let me get my [Body Feed] skill down first. If it's not over by then, I'll go join the fun."

"You're really going?" This was something Wu Xiaoqing hadn't expected.

"To see how other people's Spirit Beasts battle and gain some experience," Zhou Lu wasn't looking to settle a score. If he still had the mindset of a university student, he might have had such thoughts.

Having been beaten down by society, all his actions were calculated. He wouldn't bother with things that yielded no benefit.

If the system popped up a mission right now, he might even prepare to fight immediately.

He had already decided not to pursue the competition route, but not pursuing competitions didn't mean that competitive Beast Tamers had nothing valuable for him.

Skill combinations, Spirit Beast trait usage – these were all specialties of many competitive Beast Tamers.

Zhou Lu still didn't have a good target for his second pet. He could find inspiration from these Beast Tamers' matches.

Although there were many Spirit Pets that could cooperate well with Huohuo, like the Sticky Baby, some of their skills could be acquired by Huohuo through [Absorption].

Zhou Lu didn't think it was worth wasting a Beast Taming slot on them.

Of course, he had another option: waiting for the system's mission.

This system would definitely have a mission to obstruct him from obtaining a second pet – if his second pet was also crucial in the future.

He couldn't wait.

Or rather, he couldn't wait like an idiot for the system to assign a task.

Getting a second pet would either be through purchase or wild capture.

Given Zhou Lu's financial situation, the only way he could acquire a second pet was like the protagonists in those classic Beast Taming novels, finding rare Spirit Beast cubs or eggs at auctions. Otherwise, he wouldn't buy one.

So, Zhou Lu's main focus remained on wild capture.

However, Huohuo's Special Evolution wasn't even complete yet, so the matter of a second pet was still premature.

With this thought, Zhou Lu's gaze fell upon the small glass bottle Wu Xiaoqing was fiddling with.

Inside the bottle were a few grains of crimson soil.

Ever since Huohuo entered this laboratory, it had been peeking at this glass bottle, showing a very eager expression.

As its Beast Tamer, Zhou Lu could naturally feel Huohuo's emotions, so he asked, "What is this?"

Wu Xiaoqing flipped through the bottle in her hand and said, "Soil samples sent from the C1422 Secret Realm. The exploration army found them near the Vermilion Bird Temple and sent them to me for testing."

C1422 Secret Realm!

Zhou Lu glanced at the system.

If he remembered correctly, the system's eighth optional mission was for him to go to the C1422 Secret Realm and seize the Vermilion Bird Manure Soil.

He had been wondering before, if there were no system, where would he have gotten this information?

So it was Sister Xiaoqing...

"Why are you interested in it?" Wu Xiaoqing asked.

Zhou Lu didn't hide anything. "Huohuo seems very interested in it."

"Interested?"

Wu Xiaoqing's eyes lit up. As a professional cultivation major graduate student, she naturally knew what this meant.

"This means it's very likely Huohuo's evolution material!" Wu Xiaoqing sat up abruptly.

Looking at the serious Wu Xiaoqing, Zhou Lu felt a bit unfamiliar.

Sister Xiaoqing always acted so nonchalant in front of him; it was rare for her to be this serious.

"I need to find a way to get more of this soil from the Pioneer Army," Wu Xiaoqing said, stroking her chin.

"Yeah! Just say this soil is very effective for cultivating Mutated Enlarged Delicious Mushrooms!"

Wu Xiaoqing slapped her palm, saying.

Don't use your seriousness for things like this, hey!

"I can... go myself..." Zhou Lu glanced at the system.

"No!" Wu Xiaoqing slammed the table, saying very seriously, "The Vermilion Bird Temple is outside the safe zone. If you go, there won't be a safety teacher accompanying you! It's most reliable to wait for me to trick... ah no, apply for the materials."

"That's what you say..."

Zhou Lu looked at the system.

But these three B-rank Spirit Beast skill cards that he could choose himself were just too tempting.