After completing this important advancement, Jiang Ziliu did not return to studying or do anything else. He spent several days simply enjoying himself.
He understood the need to balance tension with relaxation, and that going too far was as bad as not going far enough.
The intense process of opening his Hidden Soul Stars was bound to have some negative effects, so he decided to let himself recover properly first.
This time, Jiang Ziliu had raised his beast tamer level to three-star gray rock grade.
The level his Azurite Rock Man displayed had risen to eight-star gray rock grade.
Unless someone brought up the Mutated Lightning Snake, he had no intention of revealing it to outsiders.
In his coming studies, he planned to develop more specialized skills for applying Electromagnetic Manipulation.
The vacation soon ended.
A new phase of studies began for the special class. After the previous two months of intensive study, everyone in the class had built a solid foundation in elementary and intermediate beast-taming knowledge.
They had even gained some understanding of advanced beast-taming knowledge!
The new phase of study would be the true practical application phase of beast taming.
Of course, their existing knowledge studies would still remain part of the curriculum.
That day, Jiang Ziliu arrived at school early in the morning.
As soon as he entered the classroom, he noticed that more than half the class had already arrived, and sixty percent of those present were gathered around someone in the front row.
"Tang Yunu, what's going on?"
When Jiang Ziliu arrived, his deskmate, the girl whose temperament rather resembled Hinata's, was already there too.
So he asked her.
His deskmate, Tang Yunu, was not a local. She was a direct descendant of the Tang Lineage from a higher-level, second-tier base.
But she only had C- grade talent, so the Tang family seemed to have considered her an embarrassment and sent her down to live in the fourth-tier Base No. 12.
Still, the Tang family wanted to preserve some face. They had given her plenty of money and arranged for her to study in No. 9 Middle School's special class.
Jiang Ziliu had not pried this out of her. Tang Yunu had told him herself.
After sitting together for so long, the two had begun talking.
Tang Yunu was also a girl who blushed easily, just like Hinata, but she really had a good disposition.
Being shy did not mean she was not intelligent.
Born into a great lineage, she also had much broader experience than most.
At first, when she noticed that Jiang Ziliu barely liked to speak, she assumed he simply felt inferior.
Only later did she realize, to her annoyance, that she had been wrong.
This fellow was not shy. He simply had no desire to initiate conversation with anyone around him.
If someone took the initiative to speak to him, he would respond quite amiably.
Gradually, the clever Tang Yunu realized that this fellow seemed out of place in the entire world, as though he were constantly holding himself back.
She also inadvertently discovered that her deskmate Jiang Ziliu possessed a deeply hidden pride-the pride of someone firmly convinced that his growth and future would far surpass those of ordinary people.
Tang Yunu did not understand where this deeply hidden pride came from, when even Jiang Ziliu himself had not noticed it.
But she understood that Jiang Ziliu was definitely rational, intelligent, and cautious.
Without some special source of confidence, how could he possess such pride?
Tang Yunu's shy nature had also led her to enjoy observing the world from her own perspective since childhood. Life in a great lineage had given her horizons far broader than those of ordinary people.
In certain respects, she was an excellent judge of character, but she had never mentioned this to anyone.
These unusual qualities had allowed Tang Yunu to unwittingly notice many details about her deskmate Jiang Ziliu.
Unlike their classmates, who focused on raising their beasts, Jiang Ziliu always liked to stay alone in the library reading.
Their classmates had therefore given him the nickname Book Maniac.
Others did not value what was in books, but Tang Yunu understood that powerful beast tamers like her grandfather enjoyed reading and studying all knowledge related to beast taming.
The higher a beast tamer's level, the more importance they placed on the breadth and depth of their knowledge.
Low-level beast tamers, meanwhile, always pursued what was right in front of them.
To Tang Yunu, who understood a few things, Jiang Ziliu's actions were truly impressive and showed long-term vision.
The more knowledge a beast tamer possessed, the greater their potential for growth later on!
What Jiang Ziliu himself did not know was that Tang Yunu had already discovered that he was hiding his strength.
For one thing, Jiang Ziliu's publicly known beast was the Azurite Rock Man.
Tang Yunu, however, knew that the Azurite Rock Man was by no means a good choice of beast, but this kind of exotic beast possessed an SSS Grade skill that concealed its presence and life level.
If Jiang Ziliu had chosen to receive this skill as feedback when contracting his beast, then he might already have concealed his strength.
Sure enough, once, when she and Jiang Ziliu were leaving the school gates one behind the other, a rampaging Earth Savage Bull charged over and nearly struck Jiang Ziliu, who was walking ahead, but he nimbly dodged it in that instant!
Tang Yunu alone had seen that moment most clearly.
When a beast's affection for its beast tamer declined, although it could not resist, it would go berserk uncontrollably.
After excessive labor, an Earth Savage Bull's affection for its beast tamer would plummet, so it was hardly surprising for one to go berserk.
Jiang Ziliu had not evaded that Earth Savage Bull's charge through good luck, although that was indeed how it had looked on the surface.
But with her broad experience and exposure to all kinds of beasts since childhood, she understood that someone with two-star gray rock grade strength could never have dodged in that situation.
In fact, without strength above six-star gray rock grade, they could not have avoided it.
Jiang Ziliu concealed his presence and life level very well, but life was always full of accidents, and his strength had still inadvertently been exposed to Tang Yunu.
Jiang Ziliu had B- grade talent, and his strength was at least above six-star gray rock grade. That meant his Azurite Rock Man was at least above four-star black iron grade.
Or perhaps he was hiding a second beast!
Moreover, both beasts would have to be black iron grade for their feedback to grant him such strength!
Jiang Ziliu's deeply concealed strength had stunned Tang Yunu.
Fortunately, she was not a girl who meddled in other people's affairs, and she had never told anyone what she had discovered.
She merely paid closer attention to her secret observations of Jiang Ziliu and became willing to converse with him.
She also noticed that Jiang Ziliu was simply cautious by nature, a person who was neither bad nor good.
Besides, admiring the strong was the nature of all female creatures, an instinct inherent in the evolution of life.
Tang Yunu was willing to talk to Jiang Ziliu and wanted to befriend him, so they began conversing more.
She understood that befriending such a hidden prospect could only benefit her, with no drawbacks.
Besides, Jiang Ziliu was not bad-looking.
To befriend such a promising prospect, she suppressed her shyness and took a little more initiative in their infrequent conversations, even sincerely recounting her past.
Later, Jiang Ziliu also became willing to exchange a few words with Tang Yunu.
Because Tang Yunu came from an upper-class great lineage and had broader experience, he was also using their conversations to learn about knowledge, secrets, and the workings of the world that people at the bottom could not access.
Each had something the other needed, and their relationship grew closer over the following month.
That was why Jiang Ziliu had so casually taken the initiative to ask what was happening in class.
"From what they're saying, Li Wanqiu has already reached nine-star gray rock rank! Before long, she'll be the first genius in our class to advance to a black iron grade beast tamer!"
Although Tang Yunu was quiet, she kept her eyes on all eight directions and her ears tuned to all six paths, and was far better informed about class news than Jiang Ziliu.
But at that moment, she was thinking, You might already be a black iron grade existence yourself!
Only, this fellow probably doesn't know the secret of the Hidden Soul Stars!
What a pity!
Tang Yunu had absolutely no idea that Jiang Ziliu not only knew about them, but had already fully opened all nine Hidden Soul Stars!
Jiang Ziliu's strength was somewhat greater than even Li Wanqiu's, the publicly acknowledged strongest student in class, who possessed SS Grade talent.
Hearing Tang Yunu's words, Jiang Ziliu extended his senses toward Li Wanqiu's seat.
A nine-star gray rock rank life presence!
Vaguely, Jiang Ziliu also sensed a hidden presence similar to his own.
It was the presence he had only acquired after opening his Hidden Soul Stars!
This meant that Li Wanqiu, like him, had actually opened her Hidden Soul Stars!
With her SS Grade talent, Li Wanqiu could indeed observe the Hidden Soul Stars without soul crystals, but unless someone mentioned them and told her the method, she could never have discovered their existence.
Hadn't there been a possibility that Li Wanqiu's family would not cooperate with the Li clan?
Then how had she learned about them?
In the instant he sat down, his mind turned over many times, considering many questions.
But while he was thinking, he was completely unaware that the little lass Tang Yunu had been quietly watching him all along.
Tang Yunu saw no shocked expression on Jiang Ziliu's face-not a trace of shock!
Jiang Ziliu's instinctive response was to think!
This shocked Tang Yunu. If even nine-star gray rock rank did not surprise him, didn't that mean this fellow had long since reached or even surpassed that level?
Only then would Jiang Ziliu have reacted so calmly and even started thinking!
After all, Jiang Ziliu was a commoner!
With powerful resources supporting the great clans and lineages, their rapid growth was no surprise, but Jiang Ziliu growing this quickly was very strange indeed!
Tang Yunu suddenly thought of a reason.
Knowledge!
Perhaps this fellow had truly found a path to advancement through knowledge.
He might even be a hidden pharmacist!
Her guess was right. Jiang Ziliu's skill at mixing medicines absolutely qualified him as a genuine beast-taming pharmacist.
Since she had only glanced at him before habitually lowering her head, Jiang Ziliu did not notice the shocked expression on her downturned face.
At that moment, Jiang Ziliu also figured out one question: the source of Li Wanqiu's knowledge of the Hidden Soul Stars.
Li Qingcheng, the special class's beautiful practical combat teacher!
Although the special class's practical combat lessons had also remained knowledge lessons all along, actual combat instruction had not truly begun.
But Jiang Ziliu had noticed that Li Qingcheng had always paid covert attention to Li Wanqiu.
This mature, commanding beauty, a powerhouse suspected to be silver rank or even stronger, had a relationship with Li Wanqiu that was far from ordinary.
Perhaps she was the one who had told the SS Grade talent Li Wanqiu the secret of opening her Hidden Soul Stars.
However, Li Wanqiu's progress in opening her Hidden Soul Stars seemed to be only at the initial stage, which was why their presence leaked out rather noticeably and he could sense it clearly.
Most students in the class now had beast tamer strength somewhere between two-star and five-star gray rock grade.
Now, in his perception, most had already advanced to three-star or above.
The three-star gray rock grade he displayed placed him in the lower-middle range of the class, still not last and attracting no attention.
By contrast, Li Wanqiu at nine-star gray rock rank was far ahead, so it was no surprise that their classmates had gathered around her.
After all, this was a high-level supernatural world!
Although his deskmate Tang Yunu had poor talent, she came from a good lineage and had plenty of money. She was already at five-star gray rock rank.
Judging by that strength, Tang Yunu was in the upper-middle range of the class.
After all, however unwelcome Tang Yunu might be in the Tang family, her beast was still one of the best among those with the same grade of talent!
Even the weakest student in the special class was probably at least two-star gray rock grade by now!
But among the classmates who had already arrived, Jiang Ziliu found no one below three-star gray rock grade.
Yet he knew that most beast tamers in the ordinary classes were still making their way through one-star gray rock grade, with only a few reaching two-star gray rock grade!
It could be said that the gap between the two strata, the special class and the ordinary students, had already quietly opened, and would only widen further in the future due to factors such as knowledge and information, resources, and opportunities!