Puquan Enlightenment Turtle, the Spirit Authority of Enlightenment
Lin Yuan listened attentively to the first lesson of the new term.
Although he had scored full marks on the test, Chen Xuanbai's explanations delved into deeper aspects of the material, and he learned quite a bit of new knowledge.
After class, Lin Yuan stayed behind.
"Lin Yuan, you did very well today!" Chen Xuanbai praised him again. "Three teachers actually decided on the spot today to increase your reward for placing first in the assessment."
"That doesn't happen often."
Lin Yuan's eyes lit up at this. He had actually guessed as much. "Thank you, sir!"
"It's not just the reward for placing first in the assessment that's been increased, but also the surprise we originally prepared for the highest overall score." He smiled. "The other three teachers discussed it with me, and we all agreed that you deserved a more special reward."
"Want to know what it is?"
Chen Xuanbai kept him in suspense.
Lin Yuan inwardly rolled his eyes. Here we go again. Chen Xuanbai loved building suspense like this, but he still said, "Yes, I do."
What could he do? He still had to show his teacher some respect.
"Do you know why our Puquan Beast-Taming Experimental High School is the best school in Lin Hua City, and even ranks highly throughout the Chenlong Kingdom?" Chen Xuanbai asked.
"Yes. Our school was actually named after a pet beast," Lin Yuan answered readily. "The [Puquan Enlightenment Turtle], a pet beast that evolved three times, from the most basic Ordinary-quality [Literary Water Turtle] to the Transcendent-quality [Spirit-Hearing Turtle], and then to the Commander-quality [Puquan Spirit Turtle]."
"Finally, she evolved to upper-grade Monarch quality, and she's guarded our school for over a hundred years."
"Even though her Beast Tamer, our school's first principal, passed away from illness ten years ago, she's continued to guard our school."
"Not only that, she's the only [Puquan Enlightenment Turtle] in the Chenlong Kingdom to have evolved from a [Literary Water Turtle]."
"Rumor has it that even the old principal didn't know how she evolved back then. Apparently, she simply evolved naturally while he was reading to her."
"That's why this evolutionary legacy has been so difficult to reproduce..."
"Everyone says she's a blessed divine turtle, and that as long as she's here, our school's talent aura will flow without end."
Lin Yuan had known this much-loved story before enrolling. Every resident of Lin Hua City knew it.
Chen Xuanbai nodded. "Correct, but today I'll go into more detail."
"Our school's College Entrance Exam results have been good all these years not because she's blessed, but because she can bestow blessings."
"She has a trait called [Enlightenment], which she can use twelve times a year. It improves the comprehension of a student and their contracted pet beasts by at least twenty percent, lasting for one year."
"And comprehension doesn't just mean learning knowledge. It also includes improving mental power, refining talents, pet beasts gaining insight into their own traits, and so on."
"Don't underestimate that twenty percent. Once you receive this [Enlightenment], admission to one of the Chenlong Kingdom's top ten universities is practically a nail hammered into the board—a sure thing."
"Since she can only use it on twelve students a year, our school strictly controls the spots. They're generally limited to outstanding third-year students."
"For a second-year student to receive it, they need the approval of at least three senior teachers."
"Today, you got the stamp of approval from four teachers outright."
As Lin Yuan listened, the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
None of the publicly available literature he had read had ever told him that the school's guardian divine turtle possessed such a powerful [trait].
A Monarch-quality pet beast...
He had never seen one before.
And something else surprised him: all four teachers had agreed.
After all, he had not performed particularly well in [Resources].
It seemed Zhu Neng was not as stern as he appeared.
"Sir, when can I receive her blessing?" Lin Yuan was itching with anticipation.
It was not only because he looked forward to receiving the light of [Enlightenment], but also because he wanted to see the panel of a pet beast with both Monarch quality and Monarch rank.
Looking at Lin Yuan's hopeful gaze, Chen Xuanbai paused for three seconds, then decided not to keep him dangling this time.
"Now."
"Now?" Lin Yuan asked to confirm.
"Yes. [Enlightenment] lasts for a year. Once you enter your second year, there's far more to learn than in your first, so naturally, the sooner you receive this boost to your comprehension, the better."
"Come with me. The [Puquan Enlightenment Turtle] has actually been at our school all along. She just rarely shows herself."
At this, a thousand thoughts stirred in Chen Xuanbai's heart.
Over a decade ago, when he had still been a student here, he too had received the blessing of [Enlightenment].
Back then, he could see this pet beast on campus almost every day. Her favorite thing was to bask in the early morning sunlight beside the school's Lake of Literary Thought, listening to the students read aloud.
Later, after graduating and returning to teach at the school, he could only see her when he brought students to receive the blessing of [Enlightenment].
As for the reason, of course he knew it.
This was a "tribulation" that no long-lived pet beast could ultimately escape.
"Follow me," Chen Xuanbai told Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan nodded, brimming with anticipation.
He had been at this school for a year, and only now learned that he had been so close to such a powerful pet beast.
Circling the Lake of Literary Thought and following a narrow path beside the library, Lin Yuan and Chen Xuanbai reached a secluded spot.
One rock and two withered trees. It was somewhere he had not even walked past in the entire year he had been here.
The [Puquan Enlightenment Turtle] lives here?
How?
But Chen Xuanbai soon answered his questions.
He produced a wooden token out of thin air, engraved with the word "Enlightenment." Then the scene before them changed.
It was as though an invisible door had opened.
A rather small cave appeared before them. An artificial lake had been dug in its center, its waters dark and still.
In the middle of the lake stood a statue of an elderly man holding a book and reading. The old man's face wore a warm smile, in stark contrast to the lifeless lake.
Within seconds, ripples spread across the water.
A giant turtle the size of a small hill slowly surfaced.
Her shell bore weathered markings. At first glance, they seemed like scratches carved by the passage of time, but on closer inspection, they looked more like inscrutable ancient characters.
Taken together, the markings seemed to spell out "Enlightenment" in an ancient script.
A faint blue light shone around her body. Her eyes were deep, yet seemed devoid of vitality.
At the same time...
Her panel appeared before Lin Yuan.
[Puquan Enlightenment Turtle] [Attributes]: spirit, water [Quality]: upper-grade Monarch [Sex]: female [Level]: Monarch level 10 [Traits]: [Water Wall], [Spirit Hearing], [Hidden Realm], [Enlightenment] (spirit authority) [Personality]: studious, affectionate toward humans, intelligent [Status]: her longing for her old master has eclipsed her thirst for knowledge and her desire to hear clear voices reading aloud. Simply seeing her old master reading to her every day, even if only as a statue, accompanied by his image and voice in her memories, is enough. As she has aged, she has gradually withdrawn from the world, losing interest in most things outside. She retains some interest only in students brimming with spiritual vitality and wreathed in talent aura. [Evolution path]: ? (Visible only after the [Eye of All Spirits] talent improves.)
Lin Yuan's gaze immediately landed on the words following the trait [Enlightenment].
Spirit authority!
This Monarch-quality pet beast actually had a trait that possessed spirit authority!
This was a gift bestowed upon a pet beast by the laws of heaven and earth...