It was important to remember that the timelines were different, so the difficulty of the battle was naturally different as well.

In the future timeline, the teachers faced a Seven-star Demon Fiend that had been developing for over thirty years.

But now, this Demon Fiend was still in its developmental period—an early stage, even—and hadn’t accumulated its full power yet.

A Six-star Wind Dragon fighting a Five-star Demon Tree... Even if it was a Demon Fiend, no matter how powerful, there was still a major Realm difference.

If a Six-star Wind Dragon truly went all out, it would be a very easy fight.

Besides, how could the Six-star True Dragon of a teacher assigned to oversee the exam be some ordinary creature? It naturally had nothing to fear from its opponent.

In the system’s eyes, however, it was a desperate rebound from the brink of disaster.

A miracle deemed impossible had occurred:

"In a desperate situation, the Seven-star Wind Dragon unexpectedly broke through on the spot, annihilating the Tree of Evil’s countless offspring at the last moment."

"The Seven-star Demon Fiend did not use its full strength. It underestimated its enemy and was defeated beneath the claws of the True Dragon."

"This is a miracle that should have been absolutely impossible."

"You stand on the ground, feeling the joy of surviving a hopeless situation."

"Courage is the greatest anthem of humanity and Pet Beasts!"

"Your Old Deng’s path of counterattack continues!"

Such was the system’s summary.

It was clear that a war unwinnable in the future timeline had, at this very moment, been forcibly corrected by the development of reality, turning into a miraculous war that could be won.

Gu Ming stared at the system’s nonsense, not even knowing how to roast it anymore.

’A summary is a summary,’ he thought, ’but can’t it give me something useful?’

Just as Gu Ming was feeling disdain for the system, he suddenly felt something strange in his mind.

An extremely brief experience of watching the battle had been added, and he immediately pinpointed the source of the strangeness.

It was a vague spirit called courage, flowing through his memory.

"This is...?" Gu Ming murmured to himself.

That boundless courage felt as if he had personally witnessed a scene where combatants, bathed in blood, fought themselves to a pulp.

Even Dragon Tendons were ripped out by the Demon Fiend, and souls were polluted to the point of damnation.

But in that desperate plight, the courage they manifested was as dazzling as the sun.

However, this memory wasn’t something he had personally witnessed in this timeline.

As a result, Gu Ming had only just begun to savor it when he found the memory rapidly dissolving.

His memory returned to normal.

As that fleeting anomaly from the future faded, Gu Ming vaguely sensed a new change in the system’s displacement bug.

Perhaps it was because the system had already predicted the inevitable failure in the future timeline.

After reality was forcibly corrected, Gu Ming did indeed experience a brief moment of the spirit of courage.

This experience was extraordinary and had a tangible effect on his Spiritual Power.

The most direct feedback was to his Divine Sense Sword Body. The spirit of courage added an indescribable, courageous edge to the sword’s blade, amidst its dense, life-nurturing aura.

’This must be a small, hard-won benefit from exploiting the bug.’

After the battle in the distance concluded, the Six-star Wind Dragon did not leave. It continuously unleashed wind fields on the spot, annihilating any remaining traces of the Demon Fiend.

Only after all the tainted and polluted Spirit Medicine had been destroyed and turned to dust did it end its great purge.

The few primary and supplementary herbs Gu Ming had managed to luckily bring out of the medicinal garden now became one-of-a-kind treasures of immeasurable value.

Gu Ming also kept in mind the moonlight-enhanced Cyan Dew Rejuvenating Powder mentioned by the system. He had to find time to make it.

After watching the battle, the student Akagi Shu from the neighboring area was nowhere to be found, having left the field early.

Perhaps the contrast during the battle—his Red Flame Flood Dragon actively lowering its head and kneeling while Cyan Treasure stood its ground—had wounded Akagi Shu’s pride.

That was probably why the other party didn’t stick around to be further humiliated and chose to leave.

Gu Ming was happy about this.

There was really no fun in fighting a defeated opponent again.

Unless the opponent had already caught up in terms of strength.

’But judging by his reaction, he hasn’t reached that level yet, so forget it.’

Half a night later, the Thousand-eyed Wind Bird relayed a message from the teachers.

It turned out that the core of the Demon Fiend was the Tree of Evil buried in the valley’s medicinal garden.

Through a deep investigation of that location, the teachers had discovered that it was the very reason this world fragment of the Golden-Eyed Dragon Gate had deviated from the Main World.

Using the Tree of Evil as its base, it had formed a super-massive dark Root Network underground.

This network served as the Demon Fiend’s grasping roots, extending its control over the land and the world fragment, and it was also a control Array deployed by the Demon Fiend.

It was a colossal biological Array capable of affecting the entire world fragment, shattering the understanding of all the teachers.

Even the teachers who had Mastery in Array Art were utterly shocked after studying it for a night, feeling as if their brains had been completely rewired.

In the end, after Minister Feng Gu and several other Six-star experts returned, they took action, uprooting the dormant Demon Trees number two, number three, and so on, which were hundreds of miles away.

The three core Array Hubs of the Array controlling the world fragment lost their main function, and the source of interference in this area was finally shut down.

After clearing the interference, the teachers re-established contact with the outside world.

This also allowed the exam site to return to normal.

Meanwhile, during the latter half of the night, Gu Ming successfully created the moonlight-enhanced Cyan Dew Rejuvenating Powder, as well as the regular version.

Gu Ming fed the former to his two Pet Beasts, Cyan Treasure and Ah Kun.

Since there was a large amount, Gu Ming also fed some to Mouse Treasure and Dumb Flower.

All four Pet Beasts had a greatly nourishing meal. The Life Energy inside their bodies surged like a tidal wave, endless and powerful.

This was especially true for Cyan Treasure, which had exhausted the Life Energy it had spent many days storing up during yesterday’s battle.

Now, it had not only replenished it all but had a great deal to spare.

The overflowing Life Energy even flowed back into its muscles and Dantian, causing Cyan Treasure’s physique to undergo another micro-Evolution.

The moonlight-enhanced version was just that terrifying.

Especially at night, when the full moon was high in the sky.

Cyan Treasure stood on a rock, gazing up at the moon, and activated its Green Treasure Breathing Technique.

The hazy moonlight descended from the sky, transforming into Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, which flew into its mouth and became a continuous stream of Mana and extremely rare Moonlight Power.

A single night of Cultivation was equivalent to several months of training.

When Gu Ming got up to check on Cyan Treasure’s physical abilities, he found its Speed and Power had both doubled. It had already reached the standard required for Evolution into a Two-star Little Cyan Snake.

The other three Pet Beasts that had consumed the moonlight-enhanced Cyan Dew Rejuvenating Powder along with Cyan Treasure also experienced tremendous Evolution, their bodies growing by leaps and bounds.

This made Gu Ming’s three-person team even more focused on the Spirit Medicine within the exam site. They wanted to go on a mad shopping spree, farming points while feeding their Pet Beasts delicious treats.

But the good times didn’t last.

The Thousand-eyed Wind Bird suddenly announced to the entire field:

"Due to the Demon Fiend invasion, this location lost contact with the outside world. Contact has now been restored."

"Following a meeting and proposal from the higher-ups, the midterm exam is hereby terminated."

"Final scores will be locked in today at 10 AM. All candidates are to cease their current activities immediately."

As Gu Ming listened to the Thousand-eyed Wind Bird’s verbal announcement, he read the plot summary on his system:

"According to the investigation, the enemy did not invade by cutting through the spatial walls of the void. The world fragment itself is still intact."

"This means that the Tree of Evil had already taken root in the world of the Golden-Eyed Dragon Gate beforehand."

"To be able to plant it in advance could only mean there was an internal problem—a traitor is mixed in among us."

"Therefore, there will be no re-test for this Beastmaster midterm exam. It is officially over, and an internal investigation will now begin."

If it stopped now... Gu Ming and his two teammates looked at each other. There was no doubt their squad would take first place.

Gu Ming hadn’t yet encountered those geniuses Teacher Ling had mentioned, nor had he gotten to fight them. It was, admittedly, a bit of a shame.

Little did he know, just surviving the great battle of the Demon Fiend invasion was a stroke of incredible luck.