Back home, Gu Ming took out the reward from school: a test tube filled with earthy-yellow blood.

Under the system’s influence, the material had transformed into Earth Core Essence.

The blood inside the test tube had turned into flowing grains of sand, like fine sand poured from an hourglass. Each grain glittered under the light.

He had no idea that this was an essence refined from hundreds of liters of an Earth Element Flood Dragon’s blood. It was even more precious than the original Flood Dragon Essence Blood, as it possessed Soul Marrow and was incredibly nourishing.

It was suitable for both Earth Element Pet Beasts and Flood Dragon Pet Beasts.

If a One-star Pet consumed it, the item could enhance its defense and its affinity for the Earth Attribute.

However, the system had another use for this item, and Gu Ming was specifically waiting at home for the system to update the instructions on how to use it.

Cyan Treasure’s Earth Shifting Technique had already reached the Master Level and was on the verge of breaking through to the Great Success Realm.

This Earth Core Essence could serve as an Array’s origin, enhancing the effects of the Earth Shifting Technique and pushing its Skill Level further toward the Great Success Realm.

The standard dose provided by the school was meant for a full-fledged Flood Dragon Pet Beast.

Cyan Treasure was a Cyan Snake, so it didn’t need such a large dose. He estimated that a third of the vial would be plenty.

He could call Mouse Treasure to help with the Refinement, as both were highly skilled with the Earth Shifting Technique.

’If there’s any left over, that is.’

Gu Ming glanced at Ah Kun in the Fish Tank. He couldn’t leave it out, of course.

But first, Gu Ming decided to let Cyan Treasure try refining the Earth Core Essence on its own.

Following the system’s written instructions, Gu Ming called Cyan Treasure over, measured out a dose, and poured one-third of the essence into its mouth.

"Quick, use the Earth Shifting Technique! Activate the Array, then focus your mind and feel it," Gu Ming instructed.

The system’s instructions were simple: just use the Array to slowly absorb it.

This essence was the purest of its kind and extremely easy to absorb, requiring no special techniques.

Cyan Treasure did as Gu Ming instructed, activating the Array to begin absorption. It slowly transported the substance into its Sea of Consciousness, as if moving a soul.

Then, the warm, earthy-yellow current transformed into a stream, actively flowing into the spiritual points within its mind. A moment later, it formed the origin of the Array.

When Cyan Treasure used the Transportation Array again, it found that its efficiency had reached a new level, and it was even faster.

This time, the speed at which it formed a seed was significantly faster, cutting down the time by more than ten seconds.

This was excellent news.

After all, the Transportation Array Gu Ming was currently researching was extremely crude, with massive room for improvement.

However, carving an Array into one’s mind was a very dangerous affair.

Even for experiments, Gu Ming would first complete the theoretical design in the real world before conducting practical drills with the Transportation Array in the Dream Training Space.

Only after confirming there were no issues in the dream would he replicate it in reality.

By following this procedure, Cyan Treasure’s Skill Level in the Earth Shifting Technique skyrocketed.

That evening, Gu Ming entered the Dream Training Space. While he worked on improving the Earth Shifting Technique and had Cyan Treasure increase its Skill Level, he also focused on his own Cultivation of the "Cyan Pine" technique to raise his proficiency.

Incidentally, Gu Ming noticed the system had added information on several new sparring partners, which was perfect for letting Cyan Treasure train its Ultimate Skill, the Mastery of Wood Escape.

「New enemy pet information detected. Added to training database.」

「Opponents available: One-star Red Flame Flood Dragon, One-star Turtle Wood Flood Dragon...」

Cyan Treasure was overjoyed to learn it could fight the two great Flood Dragons from the neighboring school.

’Did it even need to think about it?’

It immediately challenged the Red Flame Flood Dragon.

However, Cyan Treasure soon realized its mistake.

The system’s version of the Red Flame Flood Dragon was a cold, ruthless AI that fought by trading blow for blow with maximum damage to achieve victory.

It was not swayed by emotion, utilizing its physical abilities and Attribute advantages to their absolute limit.

At the same time, Cyan Treasure experienced firsthand in the dream world just why this powerful Fire Element Flying Pet, the Red Flame Flood Dragon, held such a dominant position at the neighboring school.

HISS HISS HISS—

Cyan Treasure revived for the fiftieth time, flicked its tongue out, and prepared to face the Red Flame Flood Dragon once more.

Gu Ming finished a round of cultivating the Cyan Pine Skill. His Sea of Spiritual Consciousness drained, he opened his eyes to watch Cyan Treasure’s battle.

He saw the Red Flame Flood Dragon’s body erupt into raging flames as it soared into the air. It seemed to burn a hole through the sky as it unleashed a massive rain of fire.

This wasn’t a rain of basketball-sized fireballs, but countless Fire Seed Sources generated from the Pill Fire within its belly. Fanned at high speed by its wings, they transformed into a continuous downpour of flames.

Even though Cyan Treasure’s Storm Ball could curve and change direction, it self-destructed the moment it flew up into the opponent’s blanketing barrage of fire.

The resulting poison gas was instantly vaporized by the fiery rain, unable to rise.

’What if Cyan Treasure used Earth Escape to try and outlast it?’

But the system’s AI acted as if it had built-in GPS, opening its mouth and firing a Sub-Dragon Flame Cannon directly at Cyan Treasure’s underground position.

Cyan Treasure sensed the danger and burrowed ten meters deeper.

The Sub-Dragon Flame Cannon didn’t harm it, but it hadn’t expected the system to fire relentlessly.

That’s right. Three consecutive Sub-Dragon Flame Cannons struck the exact same spot.

Immense heat penetrated the ground, gradually incinerating the simulated grassland and superheating the soil beneath.

But Cyan Treasure wasn’t an Earth Element Pet. It used its Life Energy to perform Earth Escape, and its limit was only a minute or two.

With the ground temperature so high, its energy consumption skyrocketed, forcing it to surface for air in less than thirty seconds.

This gave the system the opening for a fatal strike.

The moment it surfaced, a precise blast of fire would pierce right through it.

Cyan Treasure was getting completely overwhelmed.

It had Origin Power, yet the fight felt all wrong, forcing it to fight timidly.

Cyan Treasure seriously doubted it. ’Could the real Red Flame Flood Dragon actually possess such terrifying Prediction and power-channeling abilities?’

After watching one round, Gu Ming saw that Cyan Treasure was being completely dominated.

It was suppressed from start to finish, unable to land a single effective counterattack.

"Terrifying," Gu Ming murmured.

He knew the system’s simulated difficulty was a bit absurd. Gu Ming could manually issue a command to lower the simulated Flood Dragon’s difficulty.

But combat training was all about gaining experience. Without a challenge, how could it learn anything?

And sure enough, Cyan Treasure’s combat experience was steadily increasing.

「Cyan Treasure’s combat experience +100」

「Cyan Treasure’s reflexes have improved...」

It wasn’t just gaining experience; its reflexes and even its Observation Power were improving.

As the saying goes, real combat is the best teacher, and a life-or-death battle would often unlock a pet’s potential.

The intensity of this battle might seem excessive, but it was actually perfect for Cyan Treasure.

After all, in the real world, it was already difficult for Pet Beasts of its peers to suppress it. Only more brilliant, more monstrously strong opponents could push Cyan Treasure to its limits.

And opponents like that were either in the First-tier Cities or in some unknown place he had yet to visit.

After watching for a while, Gu Ming asked, "Cyan Treasure, want to try switching to the Turtle Wood Flood Dragon?"

The Red Flame Flood Dragon was too much of a counter. Since the Turtle Wood Flood Dragon was a fellow Wood Attribute Pet Beast, they could compete on a more even footing. At the very least, Skills like Flood Dragon Tail Swing would be useful.

Cyan Treasure nodded. Getting thrashed for dozens of rounds was taking its toll.

It was time for a palate cleanser to lift its spirits.