"Just as you entered the exam grounds, an unexpected situation arose. The Space-Time Passage was hijacked, and you found yourself in a mysterious land of eternal fire."

"You can’t see any other examinees here and are attempting to return to the exam grounds."

"You’ve encountered a Glowing Deer of a rare bloodline and are now contemplating whether to abandon it to find the main group or to stop and heal the Spirit Beast."

"Your severely socially anxious classmate suggests this place is strange—perhaps a hidden test set up by the officials."

"’We should start with the local Spirit Beasts to investigate the cause of this burning land,’ she suggests. ’Maybe then we can find the way back.’"

Gu Ming looked after the small deer while reading the system’s plot pop-ups, feeling utterly speechless.

The system’s deviation was ridiculous this time. It even cooked up a wild plot point like the Space-Time Passage being hijacked.

It reminded him of the time he was working at the Pet Beast Store, when the system described him entering a "forbidden zone" and using "Herculean effort" to rescue Ah Kun.

The system had made it sound incredibly dramatic, but the actual difficulty had been close to zero.

Therefore, after reading the new plot summary, Gu Ming dismissed it and turned to discuss treatment strategies with Lu You.

Lu You suggested investigating the origin of the flames. The blood and fire on the injured deer were clearly connected to this place.

Gu Ming nodded and sent his Water Element Pet Beast, Ah Kun, into the marsh to investigate.

The reeds grew in a vast marsh, and eerie blue flames stretched from their feet to the horizon, seemingly without end.

However, the fire didn’t cover everything. As far as the eye could see, nearly seventy percent of the area was submerged in water.

’This is the perfect home turf for a Water Element Pet Beast like Ah Kun. There’s no reason not to let it investigate.’

Gu Ming released Ah Kun from its water pouch. After briefing it on what to look for, he saw the system’s plot summary update:

"You release the Juvenile Kunpeng to dive into the mysterious, burning sea in search of a curative Spirit Medicine."

Gu Ming: "..."

’Wait, a mysterious sea?’

Gu Ming mulled over the system’s choice of words.

’A useful qualifier like "mysterious" doesn’t pop up often.’

’If I have Ah Kun search for Spirit Stones here, could it find a huge stash of them?’

’Finding Spirit Stones in the city was extremely difficult for Ah Kun. Most of the time, it would only come back with one or two Small Spirit Stones—not even enough for my two Pet Beasts to get a taste.’

’But in a place described with such a qualifier, things would be different.’

So, just two seconds after Ah Kun had set off, Gu Ming suddenly called its name, summoning it back.

Ah Kun swished its tail, looking back at its master in confusion.

’Did he forget to tell me something else?’

Then, Gu Ming whispered, "While you’re down there, look for Spirit Stones, too."

No one else heard him.

Lu You was squatting down to examine the small deer’s wounds, while Wang Teng had Dumb Flower’s roots dig into the marsh for a full-scale scan of the area.

When it came to passive Perception, Dumb Flower’s ability was far superior to the other three Pet Beasts present. Gu Ming had complete confidence in Wang Teng.

After Gu Ming gave his instructions, the system’s plot summary updated again:

"Though this sea is dangerous and mysterious, reward is always proportional to risk."

"You advise the Juvenile Kunpeng to hoard Spirit Stone resources, all for the sake of your own Cultivation Resources.

"Following your command, Ah Kun dives into the sea to begin its search."

Reading this put Gu Ming’s mind at ease, and a flicker of anticipation sparked within him.

’I wonder how many Spirit Stones Ah Kun will find in this marsh.’

’Still, with the Thousand-eyed Wind Bird hovering overhead, I’ll have to pocket any Spirit Stones it finds immediately. Can’t let the proctors see me pulling Spirit Stones out of thin air.’

Gu Ming paced along the bank, unable to resist the urge to send Cyan Treasure out to explore as well.

’My Spirit Stone reserves are too low. The more I can get, the better.’

’It’d be even better if I found so many I couldn’t carry them all.’

’I could give the extras to Mouse Treasure to absorb.’

Seeing it diligently join in on Cultivation every day, Gu Ming felt a pang of sympathy and wanted to help it progress faster.

’After all, Mouse Treasure didn’t have nearly as many Cultivation Resources as Cyan Treasure.’

It was cultivating entirely on its own aptitude and a limited pool of resources.

A while back, it had made a huge leap in progress thanks to Ma Tianba, who had provided Holy Water and helped with its Evolution.

But now that Ma Tianba was gone and things were back to normal, Mouse Treasure’s progress was gradually falling behind Cyan Treasure’s.

Seeing this, Gu Ming wanted to give it a helping hand.

But his own resources were limited, and he couldn’t just unconditionally help a Pet Beast that wasn’t his.

So, Gu Ming gave Cyan Treasure a few instructions, then patted its serpentine body and told it to go talk to Mouse Treasure and bring it along for the search.

He didn’t need Mouse Treasure to understand the concept of a Spirit Stone. He just told Cyan Treasure to have it look for any stones that gave it a "Flash of Inspiration."

Cyan Treasure nodded, slithered over to Mouse Treasure, and they communicated for a moment with a series of flicks from its forked tongue.

Mouse Treasure was quite agreeable. Without fully understanding what Cyan Treasure was saying, it patted its large belly to show it was on board and followed along to look for stones.

Lu You paid them no mind. She was completely focused on her task, carefully drawing blood from the injured deer’s wound and sealing it in two test tubes.

She handed the test tubes to Gu Ming. Suddenly, she sensed something. She raised her head slightly, her eyes peering out from under her bangs to look at him. For a fleeting moment, she had felt a fluctuation of Sword Qi.

Gu Ming gently stirred the sharp sword within his Sea of Consciousness, sending a wisp of Sword Qi Divine Sense out from his body. It pierced into the test tube for a closer inspection.

Inside the test tube, the translucent, crystalline blood was slowly burning.

But the volume of blood wasn’t decreasing. Instead, its crystalline components were transforming into Blue Fire, which burned continuously.

Gu Ming watched it burn for two minutes, figuring the oxygen inside the sealed tube should have been consumed by now.

Yet the Blue Fire remained steady, showing no signs of weakening. Apparently, it didn’t require air to burn.

As Gu Ming continued to watch, a strange sensation washed over him. It felt as if something invisible was being consumed by the flames.

"How strange."

"Let me see."

Wang Teng came over to examine the blood and fire within the test tube.

He had Dumb Flower find two types of reagent materials, ground them into powder on the spot, and added them to the two test tubes one by one to test the properties of the blood.

A moment later.

In the test tube with the positive material, the flame went out.

In the test tube containing the Negative Material powder, the flame burned even more fiercely.

Seeing this, the three of them simultaneously concluded that the injured deer’s blood was skewed toward a negative nature. The flame was a Yin Fire, and it would need to be neutralized with a Yang Spiritual Medicine.

However, determining the correct dosage would require further testing.

Lu You quietly reported her findings. She could now confirm that the deer’s proper name was Glowing Deer.

It looked like a Grass Element Pet, but it was actually a Fire Element Pet.

It should be a Pet Beast brimming with yang energy, but its current state was far from healthy. It was sallow and emaciated, appearing limp and feeble, having lost a great deal of its natural yang.

According to standard textbook treatment methods, they would need to create a Water Soul Stone to absorb the negative substance from the Glowing Deer’s body.

Afterward, they would need to concoct a Yang Reviving Great Replenishing Pill to replenish its yang and fire energies.

Creating a Water Soul Stone would be manageable. This place had plenty of water and was heavy with yin energy, so finding the necessary materials would be easy.

The Yang Reviving Great Replenishing Pill, however, was another matter entirely. It required a primary ingredient with extremely potent yang properties.

The three of them glanced at the surrounding marshland.

Clearly, a place like this wasn’t going to produce the main yang-type ingredient they needed. They would have to find the materials elsewhere.

The forest they’d come from, on the other hand, had a balance of yin and yang. They should be able to find a potent yang ingredient there.

This meant one of them would have to split off and return to the forest where they started to search for it.