「Early the next morning.」

「Gu Ming’s house.」

A brilliant light flashed through the room as Gu Ming and Ah Kun finalized their Pet Beast Contract.

The contract process went smoothly, and the amount of Spiritual Power consumed was proportional to Ah Kun’s own.

After completing the contract, Gu Ming was merely a little unsteady on his feet and slightly dizzy.

Other than that, he felt nothing else.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t felt much of anything when he first formed a contract with Cyan Treasure.

After forming a contract with a Two-star Pet, the feeling of spiritual drain had become much more noticeable.

However, it was still well within his limits.

Ah Kun, on the other hand, closed its eyes and faintly sensed a red thread of fate now tightly connecting it to its master.

It was now inseparable from its master, their lives and deaths intertwined.

Then, when it opened its eyes again, water vapor steamed and swirled around its body at its will.

It leaped into its master’s arms, its bluish scales refracting the faint light.

"From now on, we’re partners."

Gu Ming, not caring in the slightest, hugged the soaking wet Fish Pet and chuckled softly as he stroked its dorsal fin.

In the corner of the living room, his three closest relatives finally relaxed their tense shoulders. Seeing that nothing had gone wrong, their collective sighs of relief were especially clear in the silent dawn.

"It’s time for your exam."

"Gu Ming, Ah Kun just formed the contract and has no immediate combat power. Try not to let it take any risks."

"I know," Gu Ming said with a wave of his hand, grabbing a carton of milk and heading out the door.

Although Ah Kun hadn’t had time to cultivate its Combat-star Level abilities, its own Attributes were no worse than other Fish Pets.

It ate every day, using the Kunpeng Devouring Secret Technique to constantly increase its Attributes.

By now, Ah Kun’s base Attributes had already surpassed the vast majority of One-star Fish Pets.

With just a little effort, it could display immediate combat effectiveness.

For example, there were the basic moves that all fish-type Pet Beasts learned, simple Skills like Water Gun Attack, Fish Tail Swing, and swimming.

In recent days, Ah Kun had also been secretly asking Teacher Zhang for instruction.

When there was nothing to eat in the Fish Tank, it would secretly practice Skills like Water Gun Attack, swimming, and Fish Leap.

As of today, it had reached the Entry Level for all these basic Skills, and some had even reached Master Level proficiency. It wasn’t completely without combat ability.

It just lacked a true ace up its sleeve compared to the other candidates, a signature ultimate move to fall back on. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Gu Ming grabbed a transparent water bag with his right hand, put Ah Kun inside, and headed for school.

Ah Kun was currently about the size of two adult palms and over fifty centimeters long, making it quite conspicuous in Gu Ming’s hand.

People on the street would glance at it when they saw it.

But once they realized it was a Grouper Fish Pet Beast, they would lose interest.

Such a Pet Beast was too common, so common that no one would pay it any special attention.

Cyan Treasure crawled onto Gu Ming’s arm and dangled down to the opening of the water bag to chat with Ah Kun.

The former spoke in the tongue of snakes, while the latter blew bubbles, conversing in the silent language of fish.

Their communication relied entirely on tacit understanding, body language, and emotion. Anyone not intimately familiar with them would have found it difficult to have an efficient conversation.

Gu Ming arrived at school with his two pets and saw several dozen people already training on the field.

He glanced at the time—it was already six o’clock. People didn’t usually arrive this early. It seemed today’s midterm exam had changed many people’s habits.

The midterm exam was different from the previous monthly tests. It started earlier, at seven o’clock. After all the students arrived at the school, they would pass through a Teleportation Array and be sent together into an independent Other Dimension Space that served as the examination hall.

There, the Provincial Education Department would be holding a Three-dimensional Split Test, as well as a comprehensive large-scale world examination.

Being late would mean big trouble, which was why everyone had arrived so early.

When Gu Ming arrived, he spotted Wang Teng’s Dumb Flower. It was practicing the Earth Escape Technique, an Ultimate Skill. It had only scratched the surface and hadn’t even reached the Entry Level yet, only managing to sink half its body into the ground before inching forward with a churning sound.

Its Speed was very slow, mainly because Dumb Flower’s body hadn’t yet fully transformed into earth, leaving half of it exposed above the soil.

When Wang Teng saw Gu Ming arrive with a Grouper Fish, he was stunned.

He asked, "Gu Ming, is this your second Pet Beast?"

"I thought you would get a contract with a Pet Beast with three- or four-star potential."

Wang Teng hadn’t expected Gu Ming’s choice for his second Pet Beast to be so unconventional—another Basic Type Pet Beast.

At this, Wang Teng patted Gu Ming’s shoulder.

He wasn’t looking down on Gu Ming; on the contrary, he felt there must be a deeper meaning to his choice.

After all, Gu Ming was so smart he had even created a new Cultivation Technique.

He was clearly no fool, and it was impossible that no powerful figures were investing in him. Gu Ming didn’t lack resources.

’Then there can only be one truth:’

’This Grouper Fish must also be a Mutated Pet Beast, and its potential is probably on par with Cyan Treasure’s.’

With quiet anticipation, he said, "How about we let your Ah Kun practice a bit with my Dumb Flower?"

Gu Ming didn’t object.

’This will be Ah Kun’s first time sparring. A warm-up before the midterm exam is a good idea.’

He opened a corner of the water bag. Ah Kun showed no fear and leaped straight out, landing with a splash of water vapor.

Dumb Flower also pulled itself out of the dirt, stood on the ground, and gave a shake, scattering clumps of mud.

It had been many days, and Dumb Flower had now advanced to the One-star Realm.

Its aura was dense and powerful, rich with Life Energy. The four purple petals on its head had become eight, with a tightly closed red poison core in the center. Like Cyan Treasure, it was a dual-type Earth and Grass Pet Beast that used Poison Attacks.

The difference was that it was a plant-type pet, and with the sandy training field under its feet, it had a terrain advantage.

Just standing there, it looked like a wall, its body a massive five or six times larger than Ah Kun’s.

Its large, trunk-like eyes darted about, watching Ah Kun with curiosity as it controlled water vapor to form a thick cloud that it rode on to glide around.

Fish Pets were not uncommon, but for one to be able to survive out of water at the One-star stage required dedicated cultivation and a significant investment of resources from its Beastmaster.

Most students, for convenience’s sake, wouldn’t form a contract with a Fish Pet. This was because they had no combat power at the Zero-star stage and were limited by terrain, resulting in very low scores on the first round of monthly exams.

Because of this, it was only the eighth time Dumb Flower had encountered a Fish Pet at school that could survive out of water.

Having never fought a Fish Pet before, it didn’t know what to expect. Dumb Flower planted its two tree-like legs deep in the ground, ready to pull them out and run at a moment’s notice.

"Ahem, let’s create some distance first," Wang Teng said.

The two sides stopped after putting ten meters between them. Gu Ming and Wang Teng simultaneously gave the signal, and the battle began.

Ah Kun stopped moving. Without repositioning, it simply opened its mouth and shot a swift Water Gun.

Dumb Flower lowered its body and shook its giant purple flower, instantly sending two purple leaves flying out.

The leaves spun like sharp throwing knives. The first one sliced the incoming Water Gun in half.

Unimpeded by the Water Gun, the second leaf-knife flew straight toward Ah Kun.

Ah Kun’s reaction speed was no match for its opponent’s.

It failed to dodge the leaf. When its master ordered it to evade, it subconsciously tried to roll its body to the side.

SWISH!

The purple leaf scraped a thin gash across its body as it grazed past.

Ah Kun panted heavily, its eyes wide with shock.

It had sensed the leaf-knife coming and had wanted to dodge, but its reaction was indeed a little too slow.

’In an ideal battle, the enemy pet would attack, and I would immediately leap away.’

’In a real battle, the knife grazes my body as it flies past, missing my vital spots by a hair’s breadth.’

Nearby, Cyan Treasure covered its eyes with its tail. It couldn’t bear to watch.

In Cyan Treasure’s eyes, that reaction speed was as slow as a snail’s.