Happy Water and Nerd Water: Am I grading the papers, or are you?

Aside from one low-grade Transcendent [Beast Gear], most of the products and potions in the box were of ordinary quality and not particularly expensive, but they were sufficient for low-level pet beasts and Beast Tamers.

What surprised Lin Yuan was that he also found some ordinary pet food inside—the kind sold in supermarkets outside, affordable to anyone.

The pet food he recognized was a drink called [Happy Water].

No matter what kind of pet beast drank it, its mood would brighten—especially after hard work and stress, when that happiness would double.

It contained added sugar, flower nectar produced by an ordinary plant pet beast, various natural herbs, and carbonation, making it wonderfully refreshing to drink.

In their pet food shop, it had been the third-best-selling product after [Purple Dew] and [Purple Star Vine].

Lin Yuan liked drinking it too.

When he was little, after his parents scolded him for sneaking [Purple Dew], they would see him sobbing and give him a little bottle of [Happy Water]. Lin Yuan would immediately break into a smile.

As he grew older, he rarely drank it anymore—there was something he always found odd about taking food meant for pet beasts.

He usually chose to buy [Nerd Water], which was more commonly drunk by humans.

Seeing this drink, Lin Yuan suddenly realized what this assessment was really testing.

He also realized that, since he was only opening the resource box now, he had probably gotten things wrong right from the start.

But there was no making up for it now. He took out the [Happy Water] and gently twisted it open.

A hiss sounded as the bubbles danced in the water.

Lin Yuan patted Baishi, who was still sitting upright, took a small bowl from his spatial ring, and poured the drink into it.

"Thanks for your hard work, Baishi. Have some sweet water to quench your thirst. The exam ends in a minute, so you can relax now."

Only then did Baishi release its tightly wound nerves. It gave a cry with shining eyes, then buried its head in the little bowl and lapped rapidly with its tongue.

Delicious!

Although it was not as tasty as the [Spirit Dew] Zilan produced, it had a distinct flavor of its own.

It felt like a victory feast. It seemed to have drunk water like this only in the first few days after its birth, and even then, it had been leftovers from its siblings.

My Beast Tamer really is so good to me.

First [Spirit Dew], then cake. These past two days, he's brought back a heap of golden, sparkling treats every day, and now there's this simple yet energizing water.

I'll definitely have to work even harder from now on, meow!

Seeing the half bottle of [Happy Water] still on the desk, it pushed it toward Lin Yuan with a forepaw, signaling that he should drink too and share its happiness.

It was quite insistent about it.

"Then cheers!" Unable to resist, Lin Yuan smiled and drank it.

It still tastes just like I remember!

Only, back then it had been comfort after a scolding; now, it was sweetness shared with his pet beast after weathering stress together.

It tastes even better now!

At that moment, Zhu Neng, who was invigilating, naturally noticed the scene too. He gave a rare smile, then wrote something beside Lin Yuan's entry in his notebook.

Beside Zhu Neng sat Zhao Liang. Throughout the three-hour exam, he had neither picked up a pen nor taken out any paper, simply sitting there the whole time.

At the moment the exam ended, a flash of purple light suddenly appeared in his eyes and swept over every student in the classroom.

Then it lingered a few extra seconds on several students who currently seemed in better shape and more at ease.

Especially Lin Yuan.

Only afterward did he leisurely take out a sheet of paper and write down a score for each student.

"The exam is over," Chen Xuanbai said after checking the time. "You may return your pet beasts to your Beast-Taming Spaces."

"Also, leave the contents of the resource boxes here. You have three hours to rest. Return to the classroom in three hours, and we'll announce everyone's scores for each subject on the spot, as well as hand out the rewards."

"Hand in your papers one at a time, in order of your exam numbers."

The top students of the Kindling Class, Year Two, Class One, probably never imagined that in their first lesson of the term, the teachers would teach them nothing, yet their bodies and energy would be put through such an enormous challenge.

But not a single student complained. They obediently approached the podium in order, handed in their papers, and left looking thoughtful.

In those three hours, every one of them had learned a great deal.

They all understood, too, that after contracting a pet beast, their high school studies were completely different from what they had been in their first year.

All the students left the classroom, leaving only the four teachers.

Chen Xuanbai had just finished organizing the papers when Sun Xingtian and Zhao Liang handed him their score sheets.

"Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Chen." After saying that, Zhao Liang left with a smile.

Sun Xingtian did not even speak. He simply patted Chen Xuanbai on the shoulder and left as well.

Chen Xuanbai rubbed his shoulder and smiled helplessly at Zhu Neng, then called, "See you this afternoon," after the two departing teachers.

Of their four subjects, in a certain sense, his [Beast Tamer Fundamentals] involved the greatest workload.

Lessons were difficult to prepare and required extensive research, but the biggest headache was having to grade papers.

The [Beast Tamer Resources] course Zhu Neng handled was no easy task either. Before and after every lesson and assessment, he had to prepare various materials, products, and [Beast Gear]. These were shared school resources, and he was responsible for managing them properly.

Chen Xuanbai looked at the score sheets the other two teachers had handed him.

Sun Xingtian had at least included plenty of notes and bonus-point items.

Zhao Liang's scoring sheet was utterly bare, containing only exam numbers, names, and scores.

Still, when he saw who had ranked first in those two subjects, he could not help smiling—it was just as he had expected.

But he quickly focused on grading the papers.

Three hours, forty papers, all packed with content—he had plenty of work ahead of him.

Chen Xuanbai graded the papers one question at a time.

As he had expected, Lin Yuan had completed the first and second questions perfectly, scoring the highest in the class.

Not only that, he had also included his own understanding in the question about talents.

For the question on pet beast knowledge, he had even listed some "obscure" evolution paths reported in current news and literature, just like the example of [Little Black Cat] undergoing a mutation evolution into [Sunshadow Spirit Cat] that had once been given in class.

Chen Xuanbai had known since Lin Yuan's first year that he possessed an exceptionally vast store of knowledge, but this flawless paper still surprised him.

All he could say was that those first-year questions really had been far too easy for him.

He had consistently scored full marks before only because that was where the papers' maximum score stopped.

The fact that he could answer the second question perfectly was enough for Chen Xuanbai to conclude that his theoretical foundation and knowledge reserves were deeper than those of some graduating third-year students.

That both delighted him and gave him a headache.

That was how it was with monstrously gifted students. The material covered in ordinary lessons probably did little for them anymore.

He would have to devise a teaching approach specifically for Lin Yuan, so that the boy could at least learn something useful from him.

By the time he finished grading everyone's second question, Zhu Neng had also finished tidying up the resource boxes in the room.

He handed the final exam score sheet to Chen Xuanbai as well.

Chen Xuanbai glanced at it curiously and discovered that the entire class had scored poorly—even Lin Yuan.

But he was used to it. Zhu Neng was one of their high school's longest-serving and most experienced teachers. His approach to setting questions and choosing assessment priorities was famed as the "ghost hand"—students never knew where he would strike.

Chen Xuanbai knew because, twenty years earlier, he had been his student.

"Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Zhu."

"Xuanbai, don't wear yourself out either. Anything you'd like to eat? I'll bring it back for you." Zhu Neng showed none of his sternness around Chen Xuanbai, wearing a warm smile instead.

"Teacher Zhu, bring me a pork belly rice bowl, then, and a bottle of [Nerd Water]. Sugar-free."

Zhu Neng nodded, then turned and left.

Only Chen Xuanbai remained in the classroom, still grading papers.

The third question...

Chen Xuanbai had originally not wanted to include it. After all, this sort of cross-disciplinary application question only appeared in the college entrance examination.

He simply wanted to see how perceptive this year's students were, and how flexibly they could adapt.

After grading the answers from the class's first six seeded contenders, he nodded in satisfaction. Although their analyses had holes, their plans were fairly good overall.

This cohort certainly would not be the worst he had ever taught.

Then he opened Lin Yuan's paper and turned it over to the third question.

His brow twitched for no apparent reason.

All this densely packed writing... is he writing a short thesis?

He even drew analytical diagrams?

And scored and ranked the team compositions?

Am I the teacher, or are you? Am I grading the papers, or are you?

Everyone had the same three hours for the exam, yet Lin Yuan's output had galloped so far ahead that all the others could see was dust...

But when he saw the team Lin Yuan had ranked first, his eyes lit up.

This combination had never even occurred to him.