Had It Failed? Had Someone Beaten Him to It?

Following the path of the circulating energy, Lin Yuan caught a wisp of purple qi within seconds.

The purple qi seemed drawn to his eyes. As though crossing the barriers of space, it flew straight into them.

Lin Yuan's eyes immediately began to sting.

Surprise flashed in Zhao Liang's eyes, but his hands moved without hesitation. He took out a vial of ordinary high-grade [Eye-Clearing Liquid], dripped it into Lin Yuan's eyes, and said, "Keep going..."

Lin Yuan immersed himself in the sensation of the purple qi circulating through his eyes, warm one moment and cool the next.

A wave of dizziness swept over him too.

Zhao Liang noticed and hurriedly took out an ordinary high-grade [Spirit-Nourishing Pill] for Lin Yuan to swallow.

Only then did Lin Yuan feel that the purple qi had truly "settled" in his eyes.

He wanted to continue, but his mind was exhausted. It was nothing like the drained feeling he had suffered after using [Bonded Enlightenment Art], yet he probably couldn't go on...

"Teacher, I'm afraid I can't continue. Does that mean I failed?" Lin Yuan looked at him earnestly, wisps of purple qi still coiling around his pupils.

For a moment, Zhao Liang didn't know how to answer.

Inside, he wanted to rant: Failed, my foot! Do you know it took me almost a month to gather my first wisp of purple qi?

You're a one-star Beast Tamer, and you finished the first three steps in minutes?

But looking at Lin Yuan's earnest, slightly disappointed expression, Zhao Liang didn't think he was putting on an act...

"Mm, you did very well. Much faster than I imagined. You seem to have a strong talent for arts that use the eyes to sense and draw in the spiritual essence of heaven and earth."

"That wisp of purple qi is stable now. It should last at least a week without dissipating. Once your mental strength recovers, move on to steps four and five and make it fully yours to use."

"Take this [Purple Spirit Liquid] and [Spirit-Nourishing Fruit]. Your Beast Tamer rank is still low, so you need extra help. They'll also speed up your first complete six-step cycle."

"Once your rank rises, you can gradually stop using them."

After a moment's thought, he produced five more sets of materials out of thin air.

"Take all of these. The school will reimburse me for the materials. You'll be representing the school in the arts competition, after all. From now on, I'll provide the arts you study and all the resources you need."

Delight spread across Lin Yuan's face. "All right. Thank you, Teacher!"

He knew that although he hadn't fully learned [Purple Spirit Eye Art] yet, Zhao Liang had already decided he met his standard.

And he could learn so many arts for free in the future, without paying for any of the materials himself!

Getting all that for nothing felt pretty wonderful!

The income from his pet food shop was certainly enough to buy the materials, but if he could save money, why not...

"Mm, that's all for today. You've more or less mastered one and a half arts today. Your learning speed is... fast." Zhao Liang decided not to offer any more praise he couldn't bring himself to say. A genius deserved praise, after all.

"Go home and get used to it tonight."

"From now on, come here for an hour after school every Tuesday and Thursday. I'll check your progress."

"I'll also arrange extra lessons based on what you're learning."

"Sorry for the trouble, Teacher." Lin Yuan rubbed his eyes. It was the first time he had felt them swell like this, and he still wasn't used to it.

Lin Yuan left Zhao Liang's office.

To be honest, even he was surprised by how quickly he had learned [Beast-Taming Art] and [Nourishment Art].

But Zhao Liang seemed to have pointed out one reason: the unusual nature of his eyes.

[Eye of All Spirits] was an S+ talent that let him see information about pet beasts. Ultimately, though, that talent worked through his eyes.

Everything in this world could possess spiritual essence. Perhaps the lights and purple qi that filled heaven and earth, however hard they were to capture, were as easy as turning over his hand for him?

More than that, he could almost feel that these things were happy, even eager, to enter his eyes.

As for why circulating the art had gone so smoothly, he figured the reasons were the forty percent boost to his comprehension he had gained yesterday and everything [Bonded Enlightenment Art] had already taught him.

It was like having a head full of advanced mathematics and then being asked by a teacher to study middle- and high-school math.

Whatever the reason, it was a good thing.

Anticipation stirred in him. His only weakness now was his limited mental strength.

But with the help of outside resources, he might be able to use [Purple Spirit Eye Art] successfully for the first time tonight.

As soon as Lin Yuan left, Zhao Liang picked up his phone and opened his chat with Chen Xuanbai.

He began typing.

[Teacher Chen Xuanbai, there's something I should tell you in advance.]

[I realized today that I misjudged Lin Yuan. His talent for arts is far greater than I imagined.]

[Honestly, he's the most talented student I've encountered in all my years of teaching.]

[To be more precise, he's the most talented Beast Tamer I've met in my life. His talent may even surpass that of my university mentors.]

[I know his foundation in general studies is strong, and you promised to take him to the research competition.]

[But Lin Yuan is ambitious too. Today, he agreed to join me in this year's high school arts competition.]

[We've agreed that he'll come study with me after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.]

[I'll also arrange extra lessons for him outside class. Let's discuss our schedules so they don't clash with your tutoring sessions.]

At that moment,

Chen Xuanbai was in his office, researching possible topics for Lin Yuan.

He had just finished preparing eight case studies he thought would suit Lin Yuan, adding plenty of references. He planned to do two more before going home to check on his cats.

Then his phone sounded a rapid string of message alerts.

He looked and saw they were from Zhao Liang.

Zhao Liang was a man of few words. His messages were usually only a few characters long. What had happened today? Had something gone wrong in the class?

He hurriedly opened the messages.

By the third one, his expression had changed.

After he finished reading, an odd feeling settled in his chest.

Wasn't Zhao Liang only supposed to teach Lin Yuan one extra art? How had he ended up taking Lin Yuan to a competition after just one day?

Did he steal Lin Yuan out from under me?

Maybe not, exactly...

A sense of crisis rose in Chen Xuanbai for no apparent reason.

A student was already busy with schoolwork. Taking part in an extra academic competition depended on having enough ability and time to spare.

He knew of promising students who had been chosen by two teachers for different competitions. But usually, within a month, the student would lean toward one and focus solely on it.

There was only so much extracurricular study and research a person could handle.

An arts competition!

As students, everyone wanted to enter one. It meant they could learn additional arts for free.

More importantly, arts were valuable tools that could help Beast Tamers grow, strengthen their mental power, and aid their pet beasts' progress.

He had no reason not to be happy for Lin Yuan.

But his own general studies research competition, by comparison...

That competition took a great deal of effort, and even if Lin Yuan won a prize, it would do little to improve his strength as a Beast Tamer.

What could Chen Xuanbai do, though?

After a moment's thought, he could only reply helplessly.

[All right, understood.]

His heart felt heavy at once.

No. Ten topics aren't enough!

I need twenty!

He knew Lin Yuan. In all his years of teaching, he had never seen anyone with such a fierce hunger to learn and explore.

If a topic caught Lin Yuan's interest, surely he wouldn't give up on this academic competition...

Time to work late!

At Lin Yuan's home,

he had deliberately taken two drops of [Spirit Dew] that day to restore his mental strength and continue with the next step of [Purple Spirit Eye Art].

The purple qi made his eyes feel swollen, and he found the sensation uncomfortable.

But once he completed the fourth step of the cycle, the discomfort should disappear.

He took out the [Purple Spirit Liquid], dripped it into his eyes, and began guiding the purple qi through them.

About twenty minutes later, a sudden clarity filled Lin Yuan's eyes. It was as if his nearsightedness had vanished and the whole world had snapped into focus.

"Finally, that feels better." Lin Yuan smiled.

Then he picked up the [Spirit-Nourishing Fruit] and went over to Linghuan, who was weaving a flower crown in the living room.

Linghuan's treatment had been going on for several days.

Each time, Lin Yuan had relied on instinct, applying the medicine to Linghuan's tail more or less at random.

He knew how inefficient that was.

So, for his first use of [Purple Spirit Eye Art], he wanted to see exactly how energy was flowing through Linghuan's tail now.

Lin Yuan took a bite of the [Spirit-Nourishing Fruit] and began circulating the art.

When Linghuan saw a streak of purple light appear in Lin Yuan's eyes, Linghuan set down the flower crown, curiosity stirring.

And the flow of energy through Linghuan's tail lay fully exposed to Lin Yuan's eyes.